Christmas from Dad!

Got an adorable little card in the mail from my Dad today letting me know that I am going to be receiving a subscription to Our State North Carolina magazine. It has definitely been one of the things that I have missed from home. Dad has a subscription to it and every month he would let my Grandmother and I read it first before reading it himself. So as a Christmas gift from him and Linda, Kai and I are getting the magazine. I can't wait to get my first issue, although I have to admit that my favorite one is ALWAYS the Lighthouse Issue. I really have a thing for Lighthouses.

It's about time...

I have been wanting to buy some plants to put in the apartment for a while now. I have always loved African Violets and my Grandmother always has 10-12 of them in her living room. I would sit in there for hours when I was little (even now if I were home) and read or nap, and just take in the plants and flowers that she has. I love plants. Needless to say, I wasn't sure if I would be able to find too many flowers that I knew here in FI, but I was lucky enough to run across a Blue Violet in a flower shop a few day ago. I know, I know, some people are going to say but it looks purple...well yeah it does, but it is called a Blue Violet. My Violet is also smooth leafed. I didn't see any that had frilly leaves. Oh well, I am just happy that I have a plant. On the way home the hubby and I decided to shop at our street vendor flower box, as I like to refer to it. There we purchased what he refers to as a Christmas flower. It smells really good and make the entire room smell pretty. Yes you did read that right, the room smells pretty! The Christmas flower reminds me of a small Amaryllis, but I am not actually sure what sort of plant this is. Therefore it will continue to be known as the Christmas flower. Hmm...I am thinking that this place could use another plant or five!



She'll be getting repotted sometime this week!


Christmas Flower will also be getting a new home as well!

Until that time though both little plants live on saucers. That isn't any way for a plant to live!!!

Bound and Determined!

The hubby and I plan to be at Helsinki University first thing when registration day rolls around for January classes. We are going to enroll me in the Finnish for Foreigners class. Apparently this class gets filled quickly (we went by the University and asked) so we plan to be there bright and early. I'll camp out if I have to!!! In the meantime, the hubby and I have found a book that he approves of to help me along the way while I am attempting to self-teach myself. It is entitled From Start to Finnish. This by no means will make me fluent in Finnish. However, it is a good start and the hubby thinks that it will be helpful. So far I have gone over the first two lessons in the book. There are forty lessons total. The book has practice work at the end of every lesson which is a plus I think. The hubby seems to like to test me as well by asking me questions about what I have been over. I think with enough drilling some of this information might actually sink in. The author of the book explains things very well, and it actually makes more sense when I can see phrases and how they are put together instead of just listening to them and trying to catch on. I even bought myself a handy-dandy little notebook to practice writing words and phrases in Finnish. My next goal is to purchase some index cards and make myself flashcards. Seriously, I would really like to be able to understand basic questions and phrases while interacting with people in public. I am all for foreigner trying to learn the English language when they move to the U.S., so I expect myself to try and do the same while living abroad. It only seems fair. Besides when I decide to have children there will be no speaking to Mommy in one language and then talking about her in another! Lol!



The new book + my handy, dandy notebook!

Friday Funny!

A minister wound up the services one morning by saying, "Next Sunday I am going to preach on the subject of liars. And in this connection, as a preparation for my discourse, I would like you all to read the seventeenth chapter of Mark".

On the following Sunday, the preacher rose to begin and said, "Now, then, all of you who have done as I requested and read the seventeenth chapter of Mark, please raise your hands."

Nearly every hand in the congregation went up. Then said the preacher, "You are the people I want to talk to. There is no seventeenth chapter of Mark."

Who would've thunk it?

So I am missing Thanksgiving this year. I love Turkey Day! Not only that, but I do not get to meet my "little" brother's girlfriend who came home with him either. No one in our family had met her until either today or yesterday. I believe it was yesterday that they drove down from the mountains where he is in school. Anyway, this is my little brother's first girlfriend from my understanding (or he may not have told me in the past, who knows!), and they have been together for months now. They were dating before I even left to come here to Finland. Being the eldest sibling I feel that I have the "big sister" preogative of sizing this girl up and bestowing my opinion to A., but since I am way on the other side of creation I do not get this privilege. AHHH! Well, I just hope I get an invite to the wedding (j/k, I hope! Boy better not be engaged!!).

Nutella!

The stuff is pure heaven in a jar! I had never ever tried it until yesterday. It just happened to be a spontaneous buy. The hubby happened to mention how much he liked it so I said I would like to try it. Now I am in love! He told me that we can't buy it very often though, sniffle. Anyway, I made some yummy homemade brownies this evening with almonds in them. For our evening snack we ate a couple of them and put nutella on them. I don't think I will ever be able to eat a plain brownie again!!! Yum! If I keep this up I'll have to start exercising like a mad woman.

Aunt Stacy

I'm am so excited! My best friend finally had her baby on Friday after 5pm. So now I am officially Aunt Stacy to an adorable baby boy! He is 7lbs and 21 inches long, and has a head full of brown hair! I can't wait to go home for a visit! I'll have pictures as soon as J can send me some!

Friday Funnies!

A woman walked into the kitchen to find her husband stalking around with a fly swatter "What are you doing?" She asked. "Hunting Flies" He responded. "Oh. ! Killing any?" She asked. "Yep, 3 males, 2 Females," he replied. Intrigued, she asked. "How can you tell them apart?" He responded, "3 were on a beer can, 2 were on the phone.

(You might have to be Finnish to appreciate this one, or at least own a Nokia phone)
After having dug to a depth of 10 meters last year, Norwegian scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the Norwegians, in the weeks that followed, Swedish scientists dug to a depth of 20 meters, and shortly after headlines in the Dagens Nyheter newspapers read: "Swedish archaeologists have found traces of 200 year old copper wire and have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the Norwegians."

One week later, Lapin Kansa, a Finnish newspaper, reported the following: "After digging as deep as 30 meters in potato fields near Sodankylä, Ananias Aikio, a self taught archeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Ananias has, therefore, concluded that 300 years ago Finns were already using wireless."

Call back in a month!

I was really excited for Monday morning to roll around. The hubby and I were going to call the Immigration Police and see how my application for residence was doing. Monday came and we called. Apparently, my application hasn't even been processed yet. Lovely! So the woman on the other end of the phone line said to call back in a month. So now we wait some more. Not that it is horrible having to wait, it's just that I want to be a resident now!! Not later. Am I being impatient? Well, yeah. At least I don't have to go home. I can continue to wait here until they process my application and give me an answer. If they say no I will just appeal and stay here longer. There is no way they are going to send me home!!

Accomplishment?

I'm not sure that I should classify it as such, but today I finished up watching the Thundercats! I kid you not. It was definitely a blast from my past. I use to watch this cartoon when I was a kid. I happened to mention it to my husband one day and he downloaded all 130 episodes for me. I watched them in a months time. I guess that could be called an accomplishment. As corny as that sounds it has nothing on my Sailor Moon record though. I watched the entire series (200+ episodes) in 3 weeks time back during the Summer of '05 when I was visiting here. Subtitles and all! Sigh, the things this man will actually download for me to watch. It's silly stuff I know, but hey, I'm a silly kind of gal. I guess it sort of makes me feel like a kid again, lol! Cheers!

A Random Fact

So both Finland and the U.S. celebrate Father's Day and Mother's Day. Cool beans. Today is Father's Day in Finland. It is kind of weird for me since I associate Father's Day with the month of June. To this point November has strictly been for the observance of the Turkey Day. How many people can say that they celebrate Father's Day twice a year?!? I guess I am now one of those people. Mother's Day is the same as the States though. Who would've thunk it?!?

So......HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Did someone say Christmas?

Seems like every store I venture into is already putting up Christmas decorations and rolling out merchandise like there is no tomorrow! I love Christmas just as much as the next person, actually it is my favorite Holiday--next to Thanksgiving which isn't celebrated in Finland for obvious reason; however, I am not ready for the Yuletide holiday! Not in the least!! My Mom and Dad have both been asking, begging, crawling on their hands and knees, pleading to know what the hubby and I want for Christmas, but we honestly do not know! On the other hand, I have no idea what to get for my parents, the hubby's parents, my brother, the hubby's 4 brothers and sisters, or my lovely friends back home! I feel as though I am suffering from some sort of 'Shoppers Block'! If nothing else everyone can expect to get foreign Christmas cards!



With all of our Christmas shopping woes and confusion, the hubby and I have managed to at least make one decision about the holiday. We are not going to have a tree this year. Nope! No tree. Normally this would bother me, but since we have moved and are not sure where to put a tree in the new apartment we are just going to forego having one this year. Tree or no tree though we have plenty of decorations! We have our stockings and nicnacks that I plan to pull out after Thanksgiving! We may not celebrate that holiday here, but I refuse to put up Christmas decorations until the day after! In the spirit of Christmas, I did buy some adorable doggies all decked out for Christmas to have as new decorations. With my love of dogs and Christmas I just couldn't leave them on the shelf at the Tiimari (gotta love that store)! Now if only gift shopping were that easy and spontaneous!



My new Christmas dog trio, soon to be a quartet!
I found another dog at the store the other day
and I plan to go back and get it!

A Novel Idea

I love having a dish drying cabinet. At home in the US I did not have a dishwasher and I do not have one here either. So when I did the dishes they would be put into a drainer that sat on the countertop taking up room. When I knew company would be dropping by I would have to dry the dishes and put them in their respective cabinets. Since moving to Finland I have had the pleasure of just not having to worry with drainers that take up counter space, putting dishes up out of sight, or any such (albeit small) annoyances. Here I have a cabinet over the sink that I just put the dishes in as I rinse. They drip dry into the sink and I don't have to put them in their proper cabinets until I feel like it. Now that I have a smaller kitchen it is nice to have the extra work space. Although, a dishwasher would be nice!!! Beggers can't be choosers though and I love my cabinet!!


Cabinet with the door open.

Sunday Outing!

The hubby and I went out with his brother to visit some family yesterday, and check out a shopping center that is about 15 minutes away from where we currently live. The entire day was pretty much a delightful experience. We drove to Lahti to visit with Mummu (Grandma) who is 94 years young because she was the in hospital about 2 weeks ago. Apparently that was the first time she had been to the doctor in about 10, or something to that affect. I don't understand a thing this little woman says, but she is funny and enjoyable to be around. She likes to knit everyone wool socks that you can wear around the house, and things like that. We had coffee and cake together, and got to visit with the Aunt that she lives with.



Me and Mummu




After a trip to see Mummu we went to visit the in-laws and Maaria. As soon as we arrived Äiti (Mom) pointed out to us that there were Swans in the backyard. Apparently, the Swan is the National bird of Finland. There were about 25 of them there. It looked like they were migrating (which I highly recommend since it is quite cold now). They just hung about in there little groups eating something. I thought that it was just really neat to see them. I've never seen more than one or two Swans at a time, so this was really cool! Later we ventured to the shopping center near us (Prisma) and bought a few things and just looked around. They had quite a little collection of Moomin collectibles that I would like to go back and check out. They also had gloves on sale for 1,90. To top it off these gloves fit my hands! I picked up a pink pair for myself while we were there. It seems I am writing a lot about nothing much. I had an enjoyable weekend, hope everyone else did as well!




I couldn't get any closer, but that is one group
of the Swans!




Tiikeri (Tiger)-He was watching me watch the
Swans and wanted a little attention. So I gave
him some!

It's snowing!

The downside is that it is not sticking! It has been snowing lovely, fluffy flakes ever since I woke up this morning, but it won't stay on the ground. Sure, we have a few patches here and there, but I am ready for the snow to come down (in waves) and stay down! I really want to have a white Winter this year. The last time I was lucky enough to have a white Christmas was in December 2003 when I was visiting Finland. When I got married in December 2006 I didn't get to see snow. Sad! Coming from the Sandhills of NC you just do not see much snow. When you do you only see about 1/2 an inch of it and it might last for an afternoon. Living in Finland now I expect to see snow, and I expect to see LOT's of it. I have had such an enjoyable morning looking out of my window while I go about my daily routine and watching it fall. Personally, I like the combination of snow and Birch trees. The trees are a lovely site by themselves, but looking at them through the falling snow they are just beautiful! I guess I'm a little odd, but I can sit and watch the snow fall all day and be quite content. That is how I plan to spend the rest of my day! Cheers!