Happy New Year!

Just wanted to wish all of you out there in the blogosphere a very Happy New Year!! God Bless!

Merry Christmas!

I hope that everyone is having a very Merry Christmas, and that you all will have an awesome New Year! God Bless!

Christmas is almost here!!!

I can't believe that Christmas is just next week! It really snuck up on me this year. Probably because I have been a busy bee with school and all. Oh, and I passed my first Finnish Level 2 test! Hooray! Aside from passing the most difficult test I have ever taken, Kai and I finished up our Christmas shopping today. I am so glad. Almost every year we are buying something last minute, and I absolutely freak out because I am afraid I am going to leave someone out. This year we made a list and checked it about 100 times! No one is left out...not even my family back in the States! All of my Christmas cards were posted a few days ago so they should be arriving at their destinations about Monday. So all that is left for me to do is wrap all the goodies we bought!!! :-) That and relax! Tomorrow we are having a small party at my school, and then tomorrow night we're having another class party in the city center. So I am looking forward to some much needed fun out on the town!

Cheers!

Hyvää Hääpäivää!

Today my husband and I have been married for 2 whole years! WOW! Good for us! Happy Anniversary Kai! Minä rakastan sinua!

Also, Happy Birthday Dad! Or as they say here in Finland, Hyvää Syntymäpäivää! I hope that you and Grandma have a good day finishing your Christmas shopping! Love you both!

Hyvää Itsenäisyyspäivää!!

Happy Independence Day, Finland! December 6, 1917 :-) You are 91 years young as an independent country. Of course they were really governing themselves long before that. So bring on the boring televised party where we all get to watch the president shake hands with people for two hours! It really is boring, but these Finnish people watch it. Monday everyone will be discussing who looked fashionable and who looked disasterous. And my friends that will probably be the highlight of the entire week. I kid you not! :-) Gotta love the Finns! I know I do!

Getting to Know Your Friends - Christmas Edition!

OK, so I decided not to do this as an e-mail, but to post it here on my blog. I've been at a loss lately for things to write about, and since Christmas is one of my favorite holidays I thought this might start getting me in the Christmas spirit!


Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends.


Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy this entire email and paste into a new e-mail that you can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you......Tis the Season to be NICE!



1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I utilize both depending on the gift!

2. Real tree or Artificial? I am actually allergic to the real ones, but we're having a live tree this year. In the U.S. we normally have an artificial one though.

3. When do you put up the tree? The day after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? The day after New Years!

5. Do you like eggnog? I do! I prefer the Land O'Lakes bought brand!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? That would probably have to be my Barbie Dream House and 57' Chevy Convertible! I think it was my brother's fave too, but for different reasons. He would prop my barbies up in the house and then shoot at them with his Ninja Turtle Pizza Thrower!!!

7. Hardest person to buy for? My husband is by far the most difficult person I have to buy for! And you can never get him to tell you what he would like either! Talk about frustrating!

8. Easiest person to buy for? My Dad is most definitely the easiest person on my Christmas list. His gifts involve a trip to Lowe's Home Improvement store! A bonus really because I love most everything in that store myself!

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Both! I will take cards anyway I get them. Of course I always buy a ton of cards and mail them off to everyone I know!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I really don't know. I usually love everything that I get!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? White Christmas is a must watch, and then of course all of the old Christmas cartoon movies like Rudolph, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Frosty the Snow Man..and etc. are also on my to watch list!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I started today actually! I've been online shopping for my family in the U.S. all day, almost!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? My Grandmother's Chicken and dressing! Yum!

16. Lights on the tree? Of course! We use colored lights one year and then white the next.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Don't make me choose!

18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? These days I do both, but there is nothing like being all cozy at home for Christmas!
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen! And of course you can't exclude Rudolph, the most famous reindeer of all!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? We do both..just depends what we're in the mood to use!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Here in Finland you open your gifts of Christmas Eve and visit on Christmas day. At home in the U.S. though my family opens gifts on Christmas day!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Last minute shopping! You can never find what you need when you need it!

23. What theme or color are you using? It just depends on what decorations we want to use!

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Traditional meal shared with my family!

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Just to be with my family having a nice time! I don't really need things. I never ask for anything.

26. Who is most likely to respond to this? Probably someone who wants to take a Christmas survey!

27. Who is least likely to respond to this? Someone who doesn't want to take a Christmas Survey?!?

Stressed at Work

I stole this from a myspace bulletin someone posted! I thought it was cute!



I urgently needed a few days off work, But, I knew the Boss would not allow me to take leave.


I thought that maybe if I acted 'Crazy' then he would tell me to take a few days off. So, I hung upside-down on the ceiling and made funny noises. My co-worker (who's blonde) asked me what I was doing.


I told her that I was pretending to be a light bulb, so that the Boss might think I was 'Crazy' and give me a few days off.


A few minutes later the Boss came into the office and asked, 'What in the name of good GOD are you doing? ' I told him I was a light bulb. He said, 'You are clearly stressed out.' Go home and recuperate for a couple of days.' I jumped down and walked out of the office...

When my co-worker (the blonde) followed me, the Boss asked her, 'And where do you think you're going?!' (You're gonna love this....) She said, 'I'm going home too. I can't work in the dark.
'

A Crap-tastic Morning!

Since beginning my class I have had to ride the bus everyday. Now that isn't necessarily a bad thing, it saves loads of money, but you have to deal with interesting characters when you choose this form of transportation. My morning started out like every other morning, but changed rapidly! A guy who had issues (it was very noticeable) got on the bus and sat two or three seats behind me. He was obviously suffering from some sinus issues since he kept making extremely loud and obnoxious sucking noises during the first half of the trip. Flash forward about 4 minutes, a little old lady decides to exit the bus so she pushed the 'Stop' button and moved to the door. This guy hops up and rushes to the door as well. I thought he was also getting off of the bus, but instead of leaving when the door opened he spits. When I say spit, I mean almost the size of a golf ball gob of gunk! It almost hit the poor little old woman who was getting off of the bus. She turned back and gave him a look that could literally kill!

So homefry doesn't get off the bus. That is fine. Sometimes people don't have to. Whatever! There were only about 8 people left on the bus after the little old lady he almost spit on got off. He could have chosen to sit anywhere else on the bus, but as lady luck would have it he picked my seat. Lucky me! Now, I know this fellow has issues, but he smelled as though he had not showered in days. Most likely he hadn't. So he is sitting beside me and whips out this digital camera and begins to take pictures of people as they enter and exit the bus. Most of them were not amused. He was also mumbling incoherently to himself in broken Finnish. Oh joy! Then he gets the bright idea to begin just pushing the 'Stop' button. Did he get off of the bus? Nope! When the bus driver would pull over to the nearest stop and open the doors this guy would lean forward in our seat and take pictures of road signs and trees. After the 3rd time the bus driver fussed at him very loudly. The guy shouted back and the only word I could make out that he was saying was teacher (opettaja). At this point he begins to cry, leans over, props his elbow up on my leg and starts looking through the pictures on his camera. This lasts for a good 10 minutes. Then he decided to begin pushing the 'Stop' button again. Again the bus driver, who was an older guy, shouted at him again. At this point the guy beside me screamed back. Again, why!!?? At least he was no longer propped up on my leg (which still is a little sore from his elbow).

Moving along, the bus driver resumes driving and then I begin to hear awful, graphic, loud grunting and straining noises coming from beside me. A second later I was met by a noxious odor. This 22/23 year old, retarded guy crapped in his pants! On the bus. Right. Beside. Me! I thought I was going to toss my cookies right then and there! I had to breathe through my mouth until he got off of the bus, which was 3 stops before I got off of the bus. As soon as I got off of the bus I broke out my hand sanitizer and used about half of the bottle. When I got to school I headed straight to the bathroom and scrubbed my hands in very hot water. Now I know I did not actually touch this guy, but I felt dirty. Thanks to him I have felt that way all day. Luckily the rest of my day was pretty nice. I love my classmates!!!! :-)

So...how was your morning commute?!? :-p

PuppyCam

A couple with 6 Shiba Inu puppies installed a Puppy Cam in there home in order to keep an eye on their puppies while at work, and it has turned into sort of a craze! I am guilty of spying on the little guys myself. They are just so cute! If you are an animal lover you'll enjoy seeing their antics!

A Happy Day!

I passed my Finnish Level 1 test from Friday! I am also pretty sure that my instructor told me that I would be in the Finnish Level 2 course that begins this Friday. I made 91% on this final test. It had all of the information we have been going over in class on it, so I am pretty pleased. Of course I made plenty of dumb mistakes, but I can only learn from them. I was told that my writing was really good and that I just needed to talk more in Finnish. Guess that means the hubby is really going to have to start speaking to me in Finnish more!

What Have You Done Lately?!?

I found this on ElleBee's page, and I stole it because it looked like fun!



Copy and highlight the ones you have done!

Swam with wild dolphin
Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
Been inside a Pyramid--Does the Luxor count?
Held a tarantula--not in a million years!
Taken a candle lit bath
Said I love you and meant it
Hugged a Tree
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris
Watched a lightening storm at sea
Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
Seen the Northern Lights
Gone to a huge sports game
Walked the stairs to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa
Grown and eaten your own vegetables
Touched an iceberg
Slept under the stars
Changed a baby’s diaper
Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
Watched a meteor shower
Gotten drunk on champagne
Given more than you can afford to charity
Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
Had a food fight
Bet on a winning horse
Asked out a stranger
Had a snowball fight
Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
Held a lamb
Seen a total eclipse
Ridden a rollercoaster
Hit a home run
Danced like a fool, not caring who watched
Adopted an accent for an entire day (well I tried at least!)
Actually felt happy about your life, even for a moment
Had two hard drives for your computer
Visited all 50 states--close, but only 37
Taken care of someone who was too drunk
Had amazing Friends-- still do!
Danced with a Stranger in a foreign country
Watched wild whales
Stolen a sign
Hitchhiked in Europe
Taken a road-trip
Gone rock climbing
Midnight walk on the beach
Gone sky diving
Visited Ireland
Been heartbroken longer than you were in love
In a restaurant sat at a stranger’s table and ate with them
Milked a cow (It is not as easy as it looks!)
Alphabetized your CDs
Pretended to be a superhero
Sung karaoke
Lounged around in bed all day
Posed nude in front of strangers
Gone scuba diving
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud
Played in the rain
Gone to a drive-in theater
Visited the Great Wall of China
Started a business
Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
Toured ancient sites
Taken a martial arts class
Played a computer game for more than 6 hours straight
Gotten married
Been in a movie
Crashed a party
Gotten divorced
Gone without food for 5 days
Made cookies from scratch
Won first prize in a costume contest
Ridden a gondola in Venice
Gotten a tattoo--not in this lifetime!
Rafted the Snake River
Been on television news program as an “expert”
Got flowers for no reason
Performed on a stage
Been to Las Vegas--got married there!
Recorded Music
Eaten shark
Had a one-night stand
Gone to Thailand
Bought a house
Been in a combat zone
Buried one/both of your parents
Been on a cruise ship
Spoken more than one language fluently
Performed in Rocky Horror
Raised children -Still at it.
Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
Picked up and moved to another city
Walked on the Golden Gate Bridge
Sang loudly in the car and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
Had plastic surgery
Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have
Wrote articles for a large publication
Lost over 100 lbs
Held someone while they were having a flashback
Piloted an airplane
Petted a stingray
Broken someone’s heart
Helped an animal give birth
Won money on a TV game show
Broken a bone
Gone on an African safari
Had a body part below the neck pierced
Fired a rifle, shotgun or pistol (more times than I can possibly count!)
Eaten mushrooms gathered in the wild
Ridden a horse
Had major surgery
Had a snake as a pet
Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
Slept for more than 30 hours over 48 consecutive hours
Visited more foreign countries than US States
Visited all 7 continents
Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
Eaten Kangaroo meat
Eaten sushi--every chance I get!
Had your picture in the paper
Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
Gone back to school
Parasailed
Petted a cockroach—who the heck PETS cockroaches?!
Eaten fried green tomatoes
Read the Illiad
Selected one important author who you missed in school to read
Killed and prepared an animal for eating
Skipped all of your school reunions
Communicated with someone without sharing a common language (I do this on a daily basis now, or so it would seem!)
Been elected to public office
Written your own computer language
Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
Had to put someone you love in hospice care
Build your own PC from parts
Sold your own artwork to someone that didn’t know it was yours
Had a booth in a street fair
Dyed your hair
Been a DJ
Shaved your head
Caused a car accident
Saved someone’s life

Finnish 1 Final Exam

Tomorrow is the written portion of my Finnish Level 1 Final Exam! On Wednesday I had to go and take the speaking portion. I did not think it went so well, but the teacher I had to speak for said that I was only a Finnish 1 student, so I really did not do that bad. I just hope I did well enough!!! I am keeping my fingers crossed that tomorrow will go well. I have had a "reading day" today, so I have been able to stay home and study. For the last 6 hours that is all I have done. I feel confident in some areas, and no so confident in others. That is normal though. I mean the worst that can happen is I not pass and have to retake the Finnish 1 course over again. LOL, and a refresher course can't be bad, right?!? Gee, I sure wish my Finnish husband would help me study more!! :-) Minä rakastan sinua, Kai! I know I must drive him crazy with all of my questions, but he married me and it is his duty to help me learn this difficult language! At least that is what I keep telling him! :-) Ah, it's back to studying for me!!!

It's Election Day!

So go vote!

Happy Halloween!!!

What do I write about?!?

Lately I have done nothing but schoolwork! Maybe a little housework, but mostly schoolwork. So I have sat around all week wondering what I could blog about in my spare time, and I have come up with nothing. How sad is that, right? In a way I feel as though I am back in college because I never had any time on my hands then either. It was all work, work, work! I am lucky to have my husband around to pry my away from my book sometimes though. I think my brain would explode if he didn't make me take breaks every now and then. This weekend I am going to try to take it easy and only study 1 day! So unlike me, but I am going to do it. My goal is to do something exciting, or at least something outside of the apartment. I'll even try to remember to blog and let you know how that works out for me! :-) Hyvää Viikonloppua!!!!

:-)

I got my test score back today! Out of a possible 90 points I scored 83,5. I am so pleased to have scored a 93%! Not to shabby if I do say so myself!

On a different note, I went out with my husband to a really nice restaurant Saturday, and he took my picture when I got home. I can't believe I wandered through the city looking so washed out!



I really need some sun!

What a week!!!

This week has been hectic! At least it has felt that way. It was actually pretty easy to tell you the truth, but with all of the studying I have been doing, it feels like it has been non-stop! You see I had my very first test on Friday. I am pleased to say that I passed it, I just don't know how well I passed it. I can only think of a few things that I know I missed. So needless to say, I am quite pleased with myself. Anyway, before my test I had a reading day. A reading day is when you get to stay home and study. How cool is that? And in high school you get like a month or two of them consecutively before your end of the year exams! I wish that had been the case in my high school. Anyway, I digress, so I had a reading day on Thursday. I spent pretty much the entire day studying. I studied Finnish until I couldn't see straight, and then my husband made me go to bed!!!! Not to mention that Monday was easy. I didn't have to go in at my usual 9am, I was able to sleep in and go at 12! Tuesday my teacher wasn't even at school, so we had a sub that just let us play games for the class period. Of course all of these games had to do with Verbs and such, but it was still a game day. Wedesday we just studied for the upcoming test, so why was my week hectic? To be honest I have know idea, it just felt that way. Overall, it was a pretty light week. I wish that I had more of them. The highlight of my week was Thusday though. I just happened to get a note in the mail letting me know that Kela had finally paid me for going to class! Yay for me! I would take classes all the time if I got paid for it. So my husband and I went to the movies after my test on Friday and saw Wall-E (which is really cute and you should go see if you haven't done so already). Then we went to the store and I bought myself 6 books and a nice new Winter coat!!! Again I say, what a week!!! :-)

Slacker

When it comes to blogging I haven't been doing a very good job lately. I have just been on Finnish overload!!! My class is so intense and moves so quickly that all I do is come home, fix food, study, try to spend some time with my husband, and sleep! Tomorrow will be one month since I started my classes, but it feels like it has been so much longer than that. I have a 1 1/2 inch, 3 ring binder that is already half filled with handouts from my class. I am not even halfway through the first course yet!! Tomorrow we even have a drama class. I am not sure what to expect. This will be a new thing. I hope it isn't difficult!!! I also have my first test coming up next Friday. I am a bit nervous about it. I want to do good so badly! I am proud of myself though. I have learned a lot more then I thought I would. And my husband is proud of me, and that just makes it all worth it. It is not a good excuse for being a bad blogger though. I promise I will try to update more often!

Another week...

Tomorrow will begin week four of my Finnish classes, and I must say that as much as I like the class and the people in it, I really don't feel like going back. Of course I will though. I am just so exhausted from it. Finnish is really very difficult to learn, and I knew this going into the course. My head feels like it is about to explode. Of course I have learned a thing or two in the class, so it isn't all bad. Unlike most other languages, I don't have anything to compare it to except for Hungarian and Estonian, and they are really nothing at all like Finnish. It really is a language all to itself. So tomorrow morning I am just going to suck it up and go try to enjoy myself in class. *sigh* The things I do for my husband. I cleaned the apartment from top to bottom this weekend, and got into every nook and cranny, so I will only have minor stuff to do during the week. That thought makes me feel much better. Now I am off to study some more, I have a quiz tomorrow! :-)

I Missed the Bus

I missed my bus today. It wasn't my fault though. I went out the stop about 5 minutes before the bus was suppose to come, and I waited. This was an early day for me so I had to be at the stop to catch the 7:13 bus. I saw my bus coming and stuck out my card and reflector to flag it down, I even began hopping a little bit and waving my hand when I realized that it wasn't slowing down. The driver just looked right at me and kept on driving. I was pissed. Since I had missed that bus, or rather the bus missed me, I had to wait for the 7:31 bus. That bus was 5 minutes late. Now my bus trip takes 30-35 minutes and then I have a 10 minute walk ahead of me, unless I am able to catch bus 69. Today I was not able to wait for the second bus because it would have made me even more late for class. I had to be there at 8:15. To top things off traffic was a nightmare. My bus didn't even make it to the final destination stop until 8:09. So I got to my class 5 minutes late. Lucky for me the door was propped open.

Update: I just felt like saying that even though my morning started off poorly, I actually had a nice day. My husband met me at the door when I got back from my class, and was just so sweet. I love his days off!

Tough Class!

Today my class was really difficult. Why do there need to be so many different ways to say/ask the same thing?!? I will be so glad when Friday rolls around. Tomorrow is a media tech day, so I have to wake up at 5:45. I am just not a morning person, Tuesdays and Thursdays are hard to get up for. I am just thankful that class lets out at 12:45. In other news, I got a new pair of scales today. I've been needing a pair for a while. It tells you your weight in kg, pounds, and stones. It also does other fancy things, but I haven't time to figure those out at the moment. Maybe I will do that later. Anyway, I had two 10 euro gift cards to use, so those plus my discount card left me owing 5,40 out of pocket. Not too shabby! I also got a personalized travel card today. I am excited about that. So now I just put 44 euros a month on the card and travel all of the public transportation (bus, tram, subway, etc.) I want. This is a good thing since I have to take the bus to and from my classes. I travel for about 35 minutes and then walk for 10. I suppose overall I have had a productive day. I even have a pork roast in the oven that I need to go check on. Supper is going to be yummy!!!

Passed it!

I am happy to annouce that I passed (100%) my first Finnish test today. Of course it was just labeling pictures, but when you have to remember the names of objects in a very different language (spelled correctly) it is an accomplishment. I am proud of myself. My teacher (opettaja) even let us out of class early today. Talk about having a good Monday (Maanantai)! Although, when my husband gets home he is going to have a lot of explaining to do, what we went over in class today went over my head a bit.

I Survived!

I did it! I sucessfully survived my first week of Finnish classes. My brain is fried, but at least I learned a few things. My husband is very proud of me, and greeted me with hug when I got home from class today. Now I plan to study and sleep the weekend away. Unfortunately, my SIL is sick with a high fever, so she will not be coming to visit us like she had planned. I hope she will feel better by Monday. I hope I am over my cold by then as well. I am looking forward to next week! Finnish is a difficult language to learn, but it never hurts to try.

Dazed and Confused!

What a day! My Finnish instructor was out sick today, so their was another instructor filling in for her. The substitute instructor was very difficult to understand, and she was also a little too fast paced for those of us that are in my beginner Finnish class! Thankfully, the guy that sits next to me sort of knew what was going on and was able to help me out a bit when I got hung up on something. I hope our regularly scheduled instructor is feeling better tomorrow because I want her back. I am also going to have a million questions for my husband tonight when he gets home from work!

Baby steps...

I managed to make it through my second full day of class today. Five hours of Finnish is a lot in one day. That doesn't even include the 2 hours of homework that we have! Somehow I did it though, I made it through the day. I even managed to recall a thing or two that we learned yesterday. Fancy that! Just three more days left for this week (and a million homemade flash cards to go!) and I can have a semi-relaxed weekend. My youngest SIL is coming for a visit, so I plan to have her drill me on what I have "learned" this week. Oh...and I mean drill! She really is a little drill sergeant. I know this because she has helped me with learning words before. She is fun to have around though, so I think I can overlook that other part!

A First Time for Everything!

I had my first full Finnish class today. I can't possibly tell you how many times I made myself look like an idiot today! For instance, I should be completely, 100% sure that I am from the United States. Guess what question I couldn't answer about a million times today? Yup, you got it. I could not tell when the instructor was asking me where I was from. You would think that after having gone around the entire room before she got to me, I might have caught on, right? Not I! I'm a slow learner apparently. This is going to be a LONG class. My husband did point out to me that I could only learn from this class, and that there was no way I could possibly come out of it knowing less than when I first went in. Thank you! I'll try to keep that in mind tomorrow! Now I must get back to my homework.

Mikä sinun nimesi on?

Minun nimeni on Stacy. <- At least I know my name!

Smuggled!

When I came back from the U.S. in June, I did not come back alone. The morning that I flew back to Helsinki, my Grandmother gave me some twigs from her Chenille plant to bring with me. Just call me Han Solo! We wrapped the chenille twigs in a damp papertowel, put them in a ziplock baggy, and I hid them in my make-up case that I put in my checked luggage. Somehow I actually managed to get them through customs without a hitch. Now my little chenille plant is looking lovely with its blooming chenille's! As long as you have a little bit of root you can be sure they'll grow!! I am thrilled that my plant is doing so well. I even had to call my Grandmother and tell her all about it. Below are some pictures!


This was my baby when I got her home. She sat in a cup of water for two days until I had time to go out and buy her a permanent pot!


This is my Chenille now. I know the picture is dark, but you can see how much she has grown in just the last 3 months. I love this plant. It is by far one of my favorites. My Grandmother has a love for plants and flowers that she passed on to me. If I had a larger apartment it would be full of flowers and plants of all kinds. I think soon I am going to need to transplant my Chenille into a hanging basket and find somewhere creative to put it here in the apartment where it will get plenty of sunlight. In the meantime, it will continue to reside in the window, creeping up whatever happens to be sitting next to it!

Give me back my bus stop!

For about two weeks now the city has been doing work right outside of our apartment. Our internet and hot water have been iffy. Sometimes the internet works and sometimes it stops right in the middle of trying to pay bills. Nice. They say that there was some sort of leak at our building, and they dug up a block and a half of the road trying to fix it. When I took a look outside yesterday, it looked like they were finally trying to wrap up this work they're doing. My husband and I will both be glad when they are done.


This is actually right beside the door to the apt. They have finally taken down the cones and tape from around it. It is just a huge, deep rectangle cut out of the ground that extends to the road.


Soon I will have the bus stop back!




All of the big machinery is gone. It was a such an eye sore. Everyday for two weeks that was all you could see when you stepped outside. It ought to be much easier for the cars and buses to get down the road now.

Happy Birthday to Me

I have had an extraordinarly good day. I turned 26 today, but do not feel a day over 25. I do plan to quit keeping count when I hit 29 though. So for my birthday, which has been all day today and such fun, I attended my very first Finnish class*. I am the only American in it, and beginning on Monday we will not be allowed to speak English in class. We aren't allowed to speak any language other than Finnish. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I won't make a complete idiot out of myself in the class.

Moving on...after class I came home to some beautiful roses that my husband went out and bought for me while I was at class. He had them sitting in a vase on the kitchen table when I got back. He also got me a yummy toffee cake. And when I say yummy, I mean yummy! To top things off I had an extra hot Birthday Sauna today. I felt so good afterwards. The best part of the day was just getting to spend time with my husband. Sure, we have been together since 2001, but this is only the 2nd birthday that I have ever gotten to spend with him. Needless to say, this birthday makes the top 10 list!


Aren't these just beautiful!?!?



I could eat one of these everyday!


*My poor Dad!! I was so excited about my class that I decided to call my Dad to talk to him before it started. Well, I seemed to be so enthused that I completely forgot which direction my 7 hr. time difference ran in. I ended up calling and waking him up at 2:30 this morning instead of the 4:30pm that I believed it to be. He wasn't mad though, he just went right back to sleep! Thanks, Dad!*

I hate my student loan!

Have you ever had one of those days where you just knew you'd end up having an aneurysm before bedtime? Really? Me too! The past two days have been exactly like that. The reason: my student loan! You see I pay it online because I am not in the U.S. It just makes it so much easier. I don't have to worry about getting out the little payment book, tearing out correct payment page, writing a check, remembering to write my account number on the check, finding a stamp and envelope, and dropping the bugger in the mail. I just don't have to worry with those little triffles. So when Monday rolled around I sat down at the computer first thing and found the loan site and logged in. So far, so good. With a click of the mouse I went to the 'make a payment' page. Still good. I see that all of my info. is still there so I just type in the amount I want to pay. Then I click on 'next'. We are still on the right track at this point, the end of my session is just two clicks away. I am on the verify page and everything looks to be in order, so I click 'submit payment'. The very next page then notifies me that we are no longer doing good. It reads: Unable To Process Your Change....(Error 2005). Well, what is that suppose to mean? There wasn't any change to process! At that point I try about 10 more times to make my payment, but I kept coming back to that same screen over and over again. I'm sure that by the 5th time it was mocking me.

What do I do? I go to bed (I also grumble to my sick husband who could really care less).

Tuesday rolls around and I hop on the computer and go to pay my loan, or so I thought. I log onto the site, I make my clicks, I get to the 'submit payment' click hoping that this time I will succeed, and what do I get for all of my troubles?

UNABLE TO PROCESS YOUR CHANGE....(ERROR 2005)!!!!!!!

The least they could have done was given me a message that read, "SORRY we are unable to process your change....Not even a sorry!!!

At this point I lookup the customer service number and call them. This normally toll-free call was not free because I am not in the U.S. Lovely, just something else that I have to pay for, right? Anyway, I call and the nice woman I speak to informs me that they have been having trouble with their site, and that is should be back up and running sometime that day. She also informs me that there is a 14 day grace period (when did these people start giving grace periods), and that I am actually a whole year ahead on paying my loan back. That translated into, "Even if you don't have your payment to us on time, there is no need to worry. You can quit pulling out your hair and know that you will not be having that aneurysm that you were so looking forward to. You are ahead on your bill. Good for you Stacy, have a cookie!"

So today rolled around and I skipped over to the computer with a goofy looking grin on my face, I logged into the site, made all of the appropriate clicks, and my bill was paid! I think I deserve another cookie!

A Very Different Day.

Back on the 12th when I went to take my Finnish placement test I met another woman taking the test. Turned out that she lives 6 minutes from me. Pretty cool in my opinion. She's a bit older than me, but not much. Moving along-that day she took down my number and out of the blue yesterday I received a call from her. Again I am thinking this is very cool. Anywho, she invited me to her apartment for lunch today. Of course I went and took her some flowers from the little florist that is beside my building. She and her husband are both Russian and she is really sweet. She is the first person that I have met since moving to Finland a little over a year ago. Her and her husband also lived in the U.S. for a few years and taught at a Uni. in Colorado, and their 1 yr. old is actually an American citizen. These people are seriously getting cooler to me by the minute. Anyway, she made a yummy meal for lunch and it was so nice to talk to someone that I actually had a bit in common with. My husband wanted to know all about my lunch date as soon as I walked in the door this afternoon. And you know what? I didn't really know what to say. I was stuffed and ready for a nap. So today was a very different day for me, but it was a nice change.

I Got In!

When the mail arrived today I was thrilled to find that I had received something from the employment office. I immediately opened my mail and ran to wake my husband up to read it to me! It was a letter of acceptance into a Finnish language course. The class still begins on the 5th of September and I know how to get to the class because it is in the same place that the testing took place. I wish I was going to be closer to home, but I'm not going to complain because I GOT IN!!!!

Say what?!?

Recently my husband transfered roughly 250 euros from his bank account to mine for my student loan. I don't go online and check my Finnish account regular, but I did happen to check it out yesterday as I had transfered some money to my U.S. account. Turns out that my husband uses the "memo" section everytime he sends money.

LILJA KAI MIKAEL
THANKS BABE ...YOU WERE GREAT <-- What lucky people those bank workers are!

Great Place to Visit

The husband and I haven't done too much this Summer as we are saving money. We're trying to send me to the U.S. for Christmas, and with rising airline prices we need to save all the money we can. Lucky for us there are plenty of places to explore right here in Helsinki. One of these places is Seurasaari. It is an open museum. It is sort of like going to Old Salem in NC. You get to walk around on this tiny island and see what life was like "back in the day". It only takes my husband and I about 15 minutes (maybe 20) to walk their from our apartment. We've been two or three times this Summer already, and you don't have to pay to just walk around and enjoy the place. Of course if you want to go inside any of the museums on the island it costs, but it is relatively cheap. It's all of 4-6 euros! Not bad at all. Of course we've never ventured inside, but we will on our next trip.


One of the houses.


A Squirrel my husband thought would attack me if I didn't stop taking pictures of it.


The "little" barn


A church on the hill.


The Mid-Summer Pole. There is a story behind it. I'll post it sometime.


Crossing the bridge to the island. That is my husband and his crazy hair!


The first church. It is quite small.


Horse Stable.


Several different buildings that were attached to one another.


Food Storage.

Point of Interest

There is at least one Mormon church in Finland. I know this because my husband pointed it out to me on a bus ride earlier this week. Kind of neat, huh? We made this discovery while looking for the building I had to go to in order to take my Finnish Language test. I did that on Tuesday and it was confusing! Everything but my interview was in Finnish. Now all I have to do is wait for them to put me in a class. Which will begin on my birthday (Sept. 5th). Cool beans!

Special House Guest

My BIL and his wife went out of the country last week and let us keep their dog for them. Of course I was totally excited about it. I LOVE their dog. His name is Nacho and he is a Cavelier King Charles Spaniel, and too cute for words. He is an extremely well trained dog. Sometimes it is a little difficult for me to get him to do something because my accent is horrible when I try to speak in Finnish. We get along just fine though. I enjoyed Nacho Cheese's visit (or as my husband calls him, Nacho Picchu). He was so much fun that I didn't want to give him back to his mom and dad on Sunday night. He does have a standing invitation to come and visit us whenever he wants to though!!



Guardian of shoes!



He is so happy!



I think I'll rest my head on your face!



Good Morning! We're still in our PJ's



Nacho the happy dog!

You Are Invited...

to come and take the Finnish Language test on August 12, 2008 at 13:00 (1 o'clock). I can not even begin to tell you how excited and nervous I am about finally getting my invitation to test for my language course. The only downside is that the course I am testing for begins on my birthday, Sept. 5th. Not that I'm complaining, nope, I was just expecting to begin on a different day. It's all gravy though, at least I am going to be in a course, and that is all that matters to me. If I hadn't been so dang tired when my husband read the letter to me I might have got up and jumped around the apartment. I didn't though, so maybe I'll make up for that later. Jump around a bit before I go to bed or something.

I have been living in Finland for a little over a year now so the language course was a little overdue. Now that that is out of the way the next big hurdle will be applying for my second resident permit. You see the first one you receive is only good for a year, then you have to apply again. I think it is sort of like a trial run. They are not going to give you one that lets you stay for 5 or 10 years if you aren't actually going to stay here. My current permit doesn't expire until the 12th of December, but you can submit your renewal application up to 6 months prior to that. Next month (tomorrow?) we'll be getting right on that. That and looking for a job (to appease the employment office until my language course starts). Fingers crossed!

A Golden Girl

Growing up I watched the Golden Girls religiously! Estelle Getty portrayed my favorite character, Sophia. She was so perfectly sarcastic and extremely funny. So I sadly mourn her passing.



"Why do blessings wear disguises? If I were a blessing, I'd run around naked."


"Look, you didn't ask me for my opinion, but I'm old, so I'm giving it anyway"

~Estelle Getty as Sophia

Must have Pepperoni!!!

I LOVE pizza like a madwoman! To me it should be its own food group. I could honestly eat it on a daily basis (like popcorn, which should also be its own food group). Of course I would have to run 20 miles a day to work off all of the foods that I love. Anyway, today Kai and I went and got Pizza Hut pizza for lunch and got their lunch special. We both got a Classic Pepperoni pizza (what use to be a small size in the U.S. before they came up with these ridulously small personal pizza mini things) and a 20oz. drink a piece for 14.80 euros. How cheap is that? So I enjoyed my pizza lunch and am going to have to chain myself to something here in the apt. from now on to keep me from going to get myself a pizza every day. Anyway, I said all of that to say this, I love pizza! I just wish I didn’t feel guilty for eating it, but that too shall pass. Now I am off to treat myself to Smash (Bugles that are covered in chocolate) as dessert.




Our beloved Pizza Hut that is just 5 short minutes walk from the apartment! How tempting!!

Bank Card

A couple of weeks ago I went to the Op Bank and set up and account with the help of my husband. A few days ago I finally got my brand new Visa Electron bank card, and I was really excited over it. I somehow felt like more of an adult if that is possible. It is really cute so I thought that I would share it with you, that and I am just so darn excited about getting it!



I know it isn't the best quality picture, but you can still see the card pretty well. Also you will notice that I am technologically challenged and are not "computer savy" one little bit, so I had no idea how to edit out my card number. So I stuck with what I did know and that is how to use post-it notes! They did the job just as well. Anyway there she is in all her glory (minus my digits). My bank card! Now if I can just keep money in both my U.S. account as well as my Finnish account then I will be doing well for myself!

McDonald's anyone?

Kai and I walk by this Mickey D's everytime we go to the Center or whenever I walk to meet him after work I float by it, but I could never figure out just where the actual fast food joint was because of that pesky wall. All I knew was there was a huge Golden Arches sign in the middle of a wall!!! Also, I kept seeing a sign for the Mcdrive, but where on earth is the driveway?!? Well, I took a picture of the building the day that we decided to mosey on in and have a look see. You know what? That McDonald's is right there on the bottom floor of this big round building, and yes they do have a drive thru. You have to turn left, or right, at the stoplight there and drive around to the back side of the building to get to it. It is just a big round McDonald's! Now I cannot begin to tell you what that odd black cage looking thing surrounding the building is. I still haven't figured that one out yet. I can however tell you that it is not a cage. That is all I know. That and the cheeseburgers are really good! Yum!

Blistered and Tired!

For the past two days I have walked all the way to my husbands place of employment to pick him up from work. Normally we would meet halfway, or what I consider to be the half way point. I'm not actually sure if I make it halfway or not. Anyway, as I've said the past two days I have walked the entire way. Now my husband says that one way just to his work place is a mile and a half, well, when I get there I only have 6 minutes of relaxation before we jet out the door and walk all the way back home. Needless to say this is more walking than I am use to. Hence the reason why I am tired. Now, what I don't understand is why I have blisters. Sure we walk to the center of the city every now and then (2 miles from the apt.) and I don't get blisters, so why in the past two days have they appeared on my feet?!? It makes no sense to me. My shoes are good and broken in. I mean I have been wearing them for a little over a year now...they feel nice on the feet! And to top things off, the blisters are in odd places. They aren't on the heel or the ball of the foot, they are in the spot where my big toe bends. That's the darndest place for a blister I've ever seen. At least I have never managed to get one in the spot before. LOL. So...I am hoping that by tomorrow when we are ready to walk to the Center of Helsinki to go to the movies that the pesky jokers are gone. We are walking (correction: I am walking) a lot more than usual because I am not currently happy with my outward appearance. I'm not very big, I am just a few pounds heavier than I want to be, and I can tell when I put on my clothes. Seriously though I am just trying to get rid of a few pounds, nothing major!!!! Now if only I could do it without being tired and getting odd blisters! Only time will tell. As long as I am getting a good workout I am not going to complain!

Happy 4th Of July!!!!

I hope that everyone has a fabulous 4th! Finland's Independence day is not until December 6th, so no fireworks here today. I'm sure we'll find a way to celebrate though!!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

Movies...lots of movies...

My husband and I went and saw the new Indiana Jones movies yesterday after walking roughly 2 miles to the center of the city. Now this was his second viewing of the movie so I am pretty sure he slept through most of it, but it was my first time. I enjoyed the movie, but it isn't my favorite Indy movie. I do think that Harrison Ford did a great job of reprising the role, especially since he has put on some age! I also thought it was nice that they brought Karen Allen's character back. Overall, it was an enjoyable day and I am so glad that we didn't walk home after the movie. :-)

Speaking of movies, we are going to go see the McAvoy/Freeman/Jolie, Wanted, on Wednesday evening. My younger SIL is coming for a visit, although she is staying with my oldest BIL (bless her heart), and since she is going to go see the Hulk with him and possibly Narnia while she is with him, we are going to go see the other movie. I think we are planning to go see Narnia ourselves next week. Lucky for me I managed to get through The Magician and His Nephew, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and The Horse and his Boy over the course of the past two days. That means I am finally to Prince Caspian. I read the Chronicles a long time ago when I was in Middle school, but I am rereading them for the movies. Why? I love to read. I do it daily. It can't be helped. Anyway, the whole point of the post was really to point out that I just saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and that I am going to see Wanted and Prince Caspian in about a weeks time. Last week we saw the Hulk. It was a lot better than the Eric Bana one. Anyway, this is going to be a summer full of movies for us. I love movies!!!

Joke

I got this off of a forum that I frequent. I thought it was cute. Enjoy!


Never under estimate a woman :-

One morning the husband returns after several hours of fishing and decides to take a nap.

Although not familiar with the lake, the wife decides to take the boat out. She motors out
a short distance, anchors, and reads her book.

Along comes a Game Warden in his boat. He pulls up alongside the Woman and says, "Good morning, Ma'am. What are you doing?"

"Reading a book," she replies, (thinking, "Isn't that obvious?") "You're in a Restricted Fishing Area," he informs her.

"I'm sorry, officer, but I'm not fishing. I'm reading."

"Yes, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. I'll have to take you in and write you up."

"If you do that, I'll have to charge you with sexual assault," says the woman."But I haven't even touched you," says the game warden.

"That's true, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment."

"Have a nice day ma'am," and he left.

MORAL: Never argue with a woman who reads. It's likely she can also think.

Now we wait

I had a nice appointment at the employment office again on Monday. It went well. I brought home tons of papers to look over, and a couple of applications to fill out in case I found a class that I wanted to take. The girl I spoke with (I didn't get her name) put me into the computer and I am now "actively" looking for a job. I say "actively" because that is how you are suppose to do it. On the other hand, there are language classes that you take through the employment office (integration program) and I am waiting for those. I will actually be getting an invitation to go be tested on my Finnish Skills before classes begin, that way they will know where to put me. I can go ahead and tell you right now though that I will be at the bottom of the barrel. My Finnish skills are nonexistant. The words and phrases that I do know I can't use in polite company, let me put it that way. I have to check back in with the employment office in 5 months, November 25th to let them know how I am doing. Easy peasy.

In the meantime, I (along with my husband) went to the bank yesterday and set myself up an account. Actually, my husband did all of the talking. The woman at the bank started out trying to speak to me in English, and then ended up switching to Finnish and talking to my husband. All I did was sign the papers. I still got my account and therefore I am happy. I couldn't tell you what happened at the bank though, not a blamed thing. It was a good example of why I need to take Finnish courses! Needless to say, I have had quite a productive week, and I am glad the weekend is almost here!

Cheers!

Getting busy!

I finally made my way down to the employment office on Monday morning. Of course I had help from my husband because there is no way I would have happened upon it on my own. We found the proper area in the huge building it is located in, took a number, and waited for about 20 minutes. Can you believe it? ONLY a 20 minute wait! Amen! When our (my) number came up we sat down with a really, incredibly nice lady who informed my husband that he won't be seeing me much anymore. The reason being that with the Integration Program your language course is something like 20-25 hours (or more) a week. So really it is like a part-time job, and they will pay me for learning their language. Nice, huh?

While at the EO I filled out a small document, I don't even remember what was on it. I believe it was mainly about where I live, phone number, ID number, the soul of my first born child, and that sort of thing. Everything went smoothly while we were there. I had my passport with me and my ever important KELA card which said that I was in the computer system, as I have my handy-dandy personal indentification number on the card. The lady we spoke to was thrilled because I made her job way easier than she is used to having it. Upon leaving she gave me a really confusing (which really isn't confusing, but I am the one having to fill it out, so yeah it is) form to bring home with me and fill out. When I go back on my appointed day, June 23rd, I will get to skip ahead of all the people without appointments and get a different sort of number, and wait to speak with someone and fill out more forms. Why do there have to be so many forms for everything??? I need to have my teaching licensure (which I do) and my college diploma (in the mail thanks to my Dad) with me so they can see how "smart" I am. At least that is what I am assuming. Actually they need those for when I actually begin looking for a job. Right now I am just doing the language course thing. So I am excited that things seem to be going so smoothly. I hope I haven't jinxed myself by saying that, but so far so good! Now I'm off to the grocery store!!!

Cheers!

Say What?!? Moment

I was folding clothes and my husband was at the computer:

Me: I wish I had a new cardigan. (of course I meant a sweater)

Kai: Which one do you want? (obviously meaning the Swedish Band)

You are too cute sometimes hubby! :-)

I'm back.

Ok..so I am feeling better now. I am conquering these evil sinuses of mine. All Hail Zyrtec! Thankfully, the U.S. got its act together and started selling it OTC. I bought myself a bottle while I was there. Anyway, I am back and really don't have much to report at the moment. I have (after being called a slacker by my husband this morning) begun the slow process of washing, folding, and putting away all of my clothes. Now I just have to find places for the things (non-bookish) that I brought back with me. My husband is working all nights this week (except the 2 days he has off), so my scedule is a bit off. I am currently bright eyed and bushy tailed and it is 10:15pm. So I plan to get off of the computer in a minute and do a days work tonight! :-) Oh...and enjoy my garden pictures...all of the lovelies you will see were put in the ground by me when they were just sprouts and seed. Now they are all "growing like a weed"! Too bad I'm not around to baby them. Oh well, my Grandmother and Dad will have something to enjoy doing while I am away! We are a gardening family!





A picture of me and my cousin for good measure.
I saw him more than my own brother (hint, hint)!


The tomatoes.


The squash, turnips, peas, peppers, and cucumbers.


A view from an angle.


The half-runners, and okra (which had just started
to come up.)