3BT: Random Days

1. Telling hubby that I was checking out his sexy behind (ahem) when he was doing something inside our classroom HO HO HO HO HO HO HO...I CAN'T HELP IT (and I don't want to)!!! *GRIN*

2. My teacher showed me a pic of her son and told us that he was 30 years old. I told her, "He's the same age as I am!"

Then she jokingly said, "Oh, really? I thought you were 16!"

HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO...Yes, thank you very much, being told that made me HAPPY HA HA HA HA HA...

3. Resisting temptation to eat snack late at night and preferred to eat yoghurt instead he he he...

4. Coming home early from the trip to SGO and having plenty of time to take a nap, which I TRULY needed.

5. Anticipating a LONG holiday this week PLUS going to spend a night at my in-laws again HO HO HO HO HO HO...

6. Writing this post using draft.blogger.com so that I can spread my posts into different days. THANK YOU, blogger draft! ;-D

A Trip to Sodankyla Geological Observatory (SGO)

Today we visited the observatory. Turned out that it was very near downtown (only about 10 minutes away by car). It was the first time I had ever been there. First we went into a medium-sized conference room to watch some slides and to hear the explanations in Finnish. Thank GOD the slides were written in English HA HA HA HA...since technical terms aren't easy even in English.

To be honest, the first guy who gave us explanation had an unclear voice, so it was tough for me to understand him, so I just read the slides he he he he...

My homework is to explain to the teacher tomorrow what we had heard today. I've made some notes, but I still need to write them down in the form of sentences he he he...

Then we were taken to a different building where we had to take off our shoes ha ha ha...There another guy showed us more slides (unfortunately the slides were in Finnish, but he talked in English!!!) and the equipment they used there. Then we were asked to sign their guest book in our own language HA HA HA HA HA...so I wrote "thank you" in Indonesian. ;-D

After that we went out to see how the guy moved the huge satellite dish outside. To be clear, let me just show you the pictures I made he he he...Not too many as it was such a short visit!!!

First pic: a relief made by a Finnish artist. It's obvious that the colourful stuff above is aurora borealis HE HE HE HE...


Second pic: the nice coffee room (?) in SGO's main building.


Third pic: Signing our names in the guest book he he he...


Fourth pic: Me and the HUGE satellite dish! ;-D


Fifth pic: I got to take this pic while the other guy was moving the satellite dish around he he he he he...


Last pic: USSSSSSSSSSSS!!! The guy in the above pic took it and unfortunately it seemed that he couldn't get a good pic of us and the whole dish. Oh well...no worries, though.


Tomorrow is the last day of the week at the course, since we're having a long May Day holiday. YIIIPPPPPPPPPPIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Arttu says that we might go to Kelujärvi again and spend a night there tomorrow evening, so I may only be able to blog-hop on Thursday night or Friday.

I still have to do my homework nowwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Abundance This Weekend

As I've said in my other post, last Friday we went to my in-laws. That same day in the morning I weighed myself and realized that I had GAINED WEIGHT!!! ARRRGGGHHH!!!! I didn't even know that I weighed that much now as it didn't feel too much. I'm back to my highest weight now and I need to do some diet (cut off some snack, esp. if it's late snacking!) before I go back to Indo, since I KNOW I'll gain weight there.

Yeah, I know I'm fussy right now about this weight thingie since I'd made a commitment to myself prior to moving to Finland that I'd stay in a certain range of weight he he he...I don't want to be too skinny, but I also don't want to be too heavy as it's hard to lose weight (but don't worry, I still love myself HA HA HA HA). But why do I talk about this topic here? Because it's related to "abundance" LOL LOL LOL!!!

And here's one joke for you HI HI HI HI HI HI...

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Anyhow, after going back from the mine, for some reason I was SO tired that I took a nap. I think it only took me less than 2-3 minutes to fall into dreamland. At around 4 pm Arttu went home and I woke up. He had initially thought that I would've been ready to leave right away, but I just woke up and I was still sleepy hi hi hi...

Hey, come to think of it, I've been more tired than usual these past few days. Must be PMS he he he he...;-D

Well, back to the story: we packed our bag and brought everything we needed. We had decided to make some pizza there, so we had bought all the necessary ingredients. Arttu also bought some hamburgers since he thought we could eat them on Friday night and we could make the pizza only on Saturday. It was a nice sunny day to start with and we left home at around 5 pm. ;-D

When we arrived in my in-laws, we found a note written by my mom-in-law. She gave us instructions on which house plants to give water to and how much water we should give. They're still inside now since it's still too cold for them to grow outside. After all, they're still so tiny he he he he...but she's going to take them all out in summer. ;-D

She also said thank you for our willingness to spend the night there. Hey, it's MY pleasure he he he he...She had actually bought PLENTY of food for US!!! Dear goodness...you should've seen how much food she had in her fridge. She bought a WHOLE roasted chicken and also two slices of uncooked steak and as usual, she had plenty of milk, bread, cheese, and other stuff.

Amazing woman!!! I haven't actually told you this before, but twice Arttu was making coffee in her house and twice he forgot to put the coffee pot below the coffee maker. The result was of course obvious. Coffee trickling all over the counter and at one time it even trickled down to the cupboard below the counter so he had to take out all the stuff from that counter and cleaned it.

But what was her reaction? She just laughed!!! Can you believe it? Another amazing thing about her is what she wrote in the note. She said that later on it would be her turn to help us out "if" and "when" we had kids HE HE HE HE HE...

She actually wrote down "if" and "when" just like that and I TRULY appreciate that. She had never told us that she would love to have more grandkids (she only told me that after I had told her that I would want to try having a kid at the end of this year). I'm SO SO SO LUCKY to have such a grand mom-in-law HE HE HE HE HE HE...

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Back to the topic hi hi hi...Arttu and I brought a big box of game we bought at Lidl some time ago. There are many different types of games in that box, including chess and backgammon. We played different types of games during the night and then he introduced me to Mikado. Does anyone else know what kind of game Mikado is? I had NEVER heard or seen it before, but it was VERY interesting hi hi hi hi...

Just click on the link to read about it. We were giggling and laughing while playing it. We had to really concentrate on picking up the stick one by one without moving the others he he he he...We went to bed at around midnight. My mom-in-law had prepared clean sheets and pillows for us to use on their big bed HE HE HE HE HE...

Arttu watched Jackie Chan's Tuxedo on TV for a while (their TV is in their bedroom). I couldn't bring myself to watch it till the end, though, since I was SO SO SO tired. Zzzzzz....

In the morning we woke up late HO HO HO HO...BLISS, BLISS, BLISS!!! Arttu made some coffee and we drank it. Then since around the yard there was still plenty of snow, I played potkukelkka (kicksled) for a while...sliding around the VAST yard here and there while Arttu changed the car tyre hoods.

It was 10'C and the sun was shining, so I had to put on my sunglasses while playing with my mom-in-law's potkukelkka. YIPPPIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! After a while I got sweaty hi hi hi hi hi hi...Then he had to bring in more firewood to the living room. After that we started making pizza together. FUN, FUN, FUN!!! ;-D

After eating pizza, he watched TV for a while as I read some magazines. We only got back home at around 7 pm. At home I watched "P.S. I Love You". I think the movie's OK. I had some teary moments in the movie he he he...

I like the fact that at the end of the movie, the writer doesn't "force" the main character to have a relationship with anyone in particular. I like the fact that it's so clear how one needs time to grieve and let go. One good thing about the movie is that it reminds me to cherish every little moment with my hubby and that I shouldn't sweat the small stuff in love.

One of my fave quotes from the movie is this:

"We're so arrogant, aren't we? We're so afraid of age, we do everything we can to prevent it. We don't realize what a privilege it is to grow old with someone...Someone who doesn't drive you to commit murder. Or doesn't humiliate you beyond repair."

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Note to Self: The other day Arttu had a car accident. He had to leave to a certain place very early, so he got a bit sleepy while driving to that other city. He crashed into a pole and broke the right rear-view mirror. I was SO SHOCKED when I heard about that. I'm VERY thankful that he's okay. I hugged him SO tightly after he told me about that. Phew!!! I hope God will let us grow old togetherrrrrr...and hopefully grow wiser.

Gold Rush

The trip to the Gold Museum went fine, though it was COOOOOLLLLDDDD since the area had SO MUCH snow still for some reason. We arrived at the wrong end of the museum at first, but then we managed to go to the right one HA HA HA HA...The firm who organizes our course paid for the taxi rent and the entrance fee, so we didn't have to pay a thing. We arrived there at around 10 am and there was a guide who explained many things to us in Finnish.

The museum also boasts many different pictures and mining tools from different countries as well as the copies of the big gold nuggets found in some areas in the world. The biggest gold nugget found accidentally in Australia is called "Welcome Stranger". Do you know how heavy it is? It's 72 kg. *GRIN*

OK, now let me just share some pics with you, shall we?

First pic: This is the information board about Tankavaara Gold Museum.


Second pic: The woman on the right is our guide. Our teacher's the one with purple pipo (woolen hat).


Third pic: Me, a friend, and our teacher. ;-D


Fourth pic: Me again. ;-D


Fifth pic: One of the tools that the miners used back then.


Sixth pic: One of the paintings on the wall.


Seventh pic: Look at the B/W picture next to my female friend. The dark "dots" you see there are PEOPLE climbing up to the mountain post. They each had to bring around 800 kg of tools and equipment and food and clothes to the post as beyond the mountain was a harsh, uninhabited place. And the wooden sled in the picture is the miniature of the sled they used to carry their stuff up the mountain. Click on the picture to see a larger version of it. ;-D


These three pictures below were taken when the guide showed us how to pan the gold. In summer, guests can pan their own gold outside for a price. Since it was still cold, the guide just showed us how to do it inside the museum. Well, I don't think you can get much gold even if you try panning it outside, anyway he he he he...probably just tiny gold "dust" just like in the third picture below.




Can you see the gold "dust"????? Click on the pic to enlarge he he...


This pic below is the replica of the school near the mine in the old days.


Surprisingly enough, after the tour was over inside the Gold Museum, we went outside and found this outdoor museum. There are some replicas of buildings from several gold rush centres around the world.




This one below is a house made of bottles HA HA HA HA HA...


Then we also visited a Stone Museum which was located very near the Stone Museum. The Stone Museum building was VERY cold, though. Here I found very interesting shapes of stones.

Look at the below pic. There's this "mushroom-looking stone" there he he he...CUTE!!!


And look at this beauty!!! ^___________________________^


And here I am with MY HUGE diamonds HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...*wink*




As a souvenir, I bought this bottle of gold flakes. It cost me €6, but hey, it looks VERY nice, don't you think so?


While we were waiting for the taxi to come pick us up, we found a reindeer in captivity near that area, so we ventured closer to it as I had never had a good close-up picture of a reindeer before.


LUCKILY for us, the reindeer came even CLOSER to us!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!! My Thai friend threw some bread to it and it ate the bread HA HA HA HA HA...Apparently they eat just about everything! Geez...

I have another classmate whose hubby's a reindeer man and she's got many reindeer. She said that two reindeer of hers LOVED DOG FOOD!!! The dog was obviously mad since the reindeer ate his food, but what could he do? After all, he was MUCH smaller than the reindeer HA HA HA HA HA...





And I managed to capture a short video clip of this reindeer HE HE HE HE HE...

Relaxation Weekend

Been busy again. Soon I'm going to bake some sausage bread to bring tomorrow. Tomorrow our class is going to visit the gold mine and the stone museum and we ought to bring our own food. Everything else is free, though HE HE HE HE...

And tomorrow evening we're going to Kelujärvi to spend a night there since my in-laws are going to Pori with Arttu's second brother to visit the eldest brother. Since their living room uses a wooden fireplace, we're given the task to warm it up and to water her plants. ;-D

At first Arttu thought that we'd just pay a visit on Saturday. His mother suggested that we could stay there a night, but he thought that it would be a bit boring to do. However, I managed to change his mind HA HA HA HA HA HA...YYYEEESSSSSSSSSS!!!!

After all, we do need some quality time WITHOUT computers around. *GRIN* It'll feel like a quick weekend getaway for me ho ho ho ho...and maybe we can bake pizza or something there in their fireplace on Saturday. Or if we're lazy, at least we can cook some sausages in there. YUM YUM...

I CAN'T wait for tomorrow!!! But that means that I'll only be able to blog-hop again on Sunday or Saturday night, so wait for me to returnnnnnnn...

In the meantime, now it's time to bake some breaddddd!!!! :-D

P.S. About my friend in the last post before this one...she's doing better after crying for two days. The biggest problem is that her best friend had done something so awful to her that it had literally crushed one of her dreams for her own future. No wonder she was so upset!!!

After all, having one huge dream crushed due to someone you trusted with all your heart, someone to whom you had given much help, is more than enough to shatter one's world to pieces. I DO hope that later on she can rebuild that dream or create new ones. :-D Who knows that things might actually be better than she expected much much later in the future, right? One has to keep hope inside one's heart. ;-D

P.P.S. A QUESTION FOR EVERYBODY:

Is it a habit in your country for a married woman to change her surname into her husband's surname or use a double surname?

In Indonesia, that's not the case. I don't think I've known anyone who changes her surname into her husband's surname. I DO want to do it after hubby and I got married, but the bureaucracy process would take some time to finish and I didn't want to wait longer in Indo. After all, I had to report the name change and then change my passport and everything else, so it would be such a hassle. I'll just wait until I get Finnish citizenship to do so he he he...

The Straw That Broke the Camel's Back

That was what happened yesterday in our course. One of us cried and became very emotional. At first I thought the problem was her frustration over learning Finnish. Turned out that her personal problem had been building up and yesterday the "bomb" exploded. Today she told me in brief about what had happened and she said that crying and talking about it helped her somewhat.

Don't we all experience that kind of moment? When the "bomb" explodes since we've put everything aside and the pressure gets bigger and bigger and bigger until we can no longer hold it? Sometimes it may seem as if the cause is something relatively lighter, but when we looked back, we realize that the big issue isn't the trigger. The trigger is just the straw that broke the camel's back.

Let's become more aware of ourselves so that we don't allow ourselves to experiences such "explosions". We all need someone (at least one person) we can trust to share our burdens and problems with. Women especially need to unleash their emotions by speaking it out loud. Blessed are those who have true friends to turn to. :-D

One thing for sure, though, when you've just moved to a new country, expects crying days. :-))) That's only a normal phase of life.

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Our Group Photo

Haven't had time to do anything much in the blogosphere, but just wanna share one quick picture with you. Our group picture. :-))))


Our teacher's the one at the back on the left, with short hair and blue sweater. :-))))

We've only got about one month left to learn Finnish, then we'll start learning some bits of computer for 2 weeks, then my training starts in mid June. I don't really know what we're going to learn during the computer session, but it seems that it's connected to how to find a job online ha ha ha ha...

We're moving on to the second thick book now, but I don't think we'll have enough time to cover everything. It doesn't matter, though, since at least we have the book for ourselves, so we can study it further later. ;-D Free books are always appreciated HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE...

OK, time to get prepareddddddd!!! I'll blog hop tonight, OK? Hope you're doing well. ;-D

The Ineffectiveness of E-Petition

Found this article that may be handy for us.

The Ineffectiveness of E-Petition

HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY!!!

Why am I happy? Let me count the ways and be thankful for each and every one of them.

1. Today I received my passport back. I sent it last Monday to the Indonesian Embassy in Helsinki to report myself. Why do I need to report myself? Well, one other reason other than the obvious is that once I've reported myself, my new address is now written at the back of my passport, so when I fly back to Finland, I don't have to pay 1 million rupiah tax at the airport HUE HE HE HE HE HE HE...Plus I'm RELIEVED that the passport has arrived safely HE HE HE HE HE...

2. Because of reason number 1, I can use the money to go to a SPA in Bandung in October HUA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...I'm gonna pamper myself in Bandung. *WIDE GRIN*

3. My new book's arrived (Jostein Gaarder's Maya). Hubby asked me if I wanted to buy a book since he wanted to order something online, so I picked one. I still have many other unread novels, but I just love stacking them up to read in the future ho ho ho ho ho ho...

4. My Brit friend and husband and teacher have told me that I may be able to teach Finnish to foreigners later in the future. It's something I'm considering seriously, since I think I'd love to do something like that. ;-D I know it'll take me years to be able to be as good in Finnish (compared to my English knowledge), but I'm in no hurry. ;-D

I'm THANKFUL for their encouragement and support.

5. Tonight we were supposed to go to the bars with hubby's brother and girlfriend, but they cancelled it. I don't mind that since it means I have plenty of spare time to relax (read comics or do whatever I want to do today) ho ho ho...

6. Seeing hubby's SATISFIED GRIN as I tucked him to sleep on the sofa just now.

7. Hubby bought pepper steak for us HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO...I LOVE pepper steak! ;-D

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8. A little while ago while hubby was doing something in front of his computer, I went over to smother him with kisses and I noticed that between the pages of his notebook, there was my Post-It Note from the day when he was sick and he had to stay home while I went to my Finnish course. I left him the note before I went to the course. I LOVE the fact that he keeps it safe, even though it's just a Post-It note. ;-D

9. Today's been wet again. It rained water for a while. I don't mind that since it means that the ice isn't slippery. That means that I'm SAFE from falling HO HO HO HO HO...

10. Cleaning up hubby's ears with a special tool from Indo. I LOVE cleaning up his ears ha ha ha ha ha...Sounds gross, eh? ;-D

11. My class is going to visit the Gold Mine next Friday. I've never been there before, even though I've lived in Finland for a little over a year. And it's FOR FREE since the company who organizes the course is paying for that. YIIIIPPIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!! I'm gonna bring my digicam to take pics. ;-D

12. The other day when I walked home, I noticed something very cute: as the snow was melting and water was running fast to the drain all over the village, three birds were cleaning themselves up in the running water nearby my apartment building. What a sight!!! I even stopped to watch them. Mmmm...

13. Spring is comiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg!!! And lately here in Sodankylä, the day is longer than the night (17 hours versus 7 hours). YEEEESSSSS!!!

14. This conversation:

Me: Am I demanding?
Hubby: Sometimes. (smile)
Me: What? When?
Hubby: No comment.
Me: Okaaayyyy...does it bother you, then?
Hubby: No.
Me: GOOD! (BIG grin)

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Other than those, here are other things I'm thankful for:

1. My family, husband, husband's family, and friends. They're always so supportive, understanding, and kind to me.

2. My blogger friends. Without them, I wouldn't be the woman I am today. ;-D

3. Peace of mind.

4. Being able to sleep well at nights.

5. My health.

6. Enlightenment.

7. Wonderful food, tasty snack, and refreshing water.

8. People's thoughtfulness (strangers or non-strangers alike).

9. Open doors and closed doors.

10. Love, hope, and farts. *GRIN*



*START COPY*

In order to be able to achieve and maintain happiness we need to, actively, be able to do two things:

1. Complain and then let go (Dump the baggage, the roadblocks to happiness.)
2. Openly Express Gratitude (The open expression of gratitude promotes happiness.)

After all, everyone has something to be grateful for and/or something to complain about. If you would like to accept the challenge, please follow the appropriate link and do so: "Are You Grateful?", "Complain Complain Complain."

Contributors to "Are You Grateful?" & "Complain Complain Complain" are: 1-Attitude, the Ultimate Power 2-Max 3-DianaCA's Metamorphoses 4-Mental Poo 5-My Thoughts 6-Baba Doodlius 7-Wake Up America 8-Life is a Roller Coaster 9-Life and Me 10-pinay mommy's love blog 11-My Happiness Haven 12-And Life Goes On for a Filipino Mom 13-Blessed Sanctuary 14-Expressions And Thoughts 15-Memories by Jenn 16-Reminiscence of My Adventures 17-In the Life of Mne 18-Juliana's Lair 19-Pinay Wahm 20-Lucid Creativity 21-Winged Words 22-Irresistible Fascinations 23-A Little Time 24-See Me For What You Will 25-Greatest Reviews 26-ETC ATBP 27-Gandacious 28-We Are Family 29-Journey to this thing called LIFE 30-www.rajeshrana.net 31-www.rajeshrana.com 32-BaReFooTeD Me 33-Uncomplicated 34-Points of View 35-Pride & Prejudice 36-Colorful World 37-Nora's Notes 38-A Daily Walk With Bill & Gina 39-Strange but True 40-Everything Under The Sun ( Beth Rebokon ) 41-Kaleidoscope 42-Fil-Oz Blog 43-By Osc@r Luiz 44-Comedy Plus 45-Blogging by Sandee 46-Soul Meets World 47-Mae's Memoirs 48-Beyond the Rave Reality 49-Amori, poesie, arte, chat by Hanna 50-Attached at the Hip 51-Carver's Sight or is that Site? 52-Empress Reviews 53-Simple Pleasures In My Heart 54-Lourdes' mia 55-A Grateful Heart 56-Majorsleepyhead 57-Scrappy n Happy in Ohio 58-CHOC MINT GIRL 59-Extraordinary Things 60-ZOOROPAZOO 61-BeNolSatuEm 62-As The World Turns 63-Your Caring Angels 64-Life Is Wonderful To Know Everyday 65-Sugar Magnolias 66-Little Peanut 67-Creative In Me 68-Me and Mine 69-Pea in a Pod 70-the diary of the Pink & Brown Wedding 71-good thoughts, good trades, good life 72-My Blog - all things me 73-Rainbows 74-Little Corner of Mine 75-Me, Myself and I 76-My Planet Purple 77-Amel's Realm 78-A Handful of Surprises 79-A Detour 80-Something Purple 81-Vanity Kit 82-Are You Grateful? 83-A Simple Life 84-BlogTips.Com 85-Balitang Kalye 86-Mariuca 87- Emila Yusof 88-A Total Blog 89-My Life in this Wonderful World 90-MommyAllehs 91-Things That Suck 92-A Mother's Stuff 93-Princess Vien 94-My Inner Thoughts Revealed 95-Roxiticus Desperate Housewives 96-Apples Of The Eyes 97-Nita's Random Thoughts 98-Nita's Corner 99-Thomas Digital Services 100-A Mother's Thoughts101-Meltwater. Torrents. Meanderings. Delta 102-My Perfect Escape 103-Vanidosa. Marie 104-Confessions of a Supermodel Wannabe 105-Lynda's Loft 106-Listening..Learning..Living 107-LadyJava's Lounge 108-The Painted Veil 109-Poeartica 110-Maryannaville 112-CARPE DIEM 113-Turn-u-Off 114-asian mutt international 115-Petty Ramblings of a Petty Queen 116-LIFE IS A ROLLER COASTER 117-AZZY'S BLOG-A-ROONIE! 118-glad to be here 119-WilStop 120-Dare to Blog 121-WebGeek Journal 122-Foster Me Up 123-This is My Life 124-124-DaveylynneDR 125-Life Realities 126-aNgRiAniWorld Dot Com 127-All That Matters 128-My Inspiration Sharing Land 129-Hidup Biar Sedap 130-Mutiara Hati 131-EM Muhammad 132-I Digress 133-Mapped Memories 134-Working It 135-Startin' A New Life too, 136-Little Secret 137-FEEL FREE to Express Yourself 138-iAM-Mai 139-SOLOFLIGHT 140-BLACKNICKEL 141-NEUROPATCH 142-EMJEI SAYS 143-Big Money List 144-daily information 145-TRCoach 146-LOVE YOUR LIFE! 147- INSTANT MESSAGES 148-MEME ME 149-mEldita's untamed world 150-mEldita's uncensored life 151-i.MEL.dific 152-SNAPSHOT 153-DAILY STOCK PICKS 155-Pet's Garden Blog 156-Ketuk_angel Weblog 157-Laketrees 158-WannaSmile 159-YOU

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Somewhere In Time Part 2

The more you interact with other people, the more you learn about others and yourself. I find it intriguing that sometimes upon reacting to something I read or hear, I start to wonder why my reaction or comment is such and such. Then I start tracing it back to my past, trying to find the missing link(s). When I find it or them, then I begin to experience enlightenment.

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Enlightenment is crucial since you'll then (hopefully) know what to do next, even though it may be painful. Once you realize something important, you need to take actions: heal yourself, forgive yourself, forgive others, move on, let go, etc.

Sometimes when you interact with others, you might also experience seeing a mirror of your present or past self. It can evoke frustration, sadness, shock, guilt, joy, or it can even make you want to help the other person get through what you've left behind.

I think one of the hardest things to do is to love ourselves. A while ago a man and I had a talk. He said that he had always been too hard on himself, since he was a perfectionist. I don't know if he was born a perfectionist or whether he developed into one. He said that it was a miracle that he didn't turn out as a drug addict or drunkard considering his past.

I didn't probe more as it didn't seem appropriate. His being too hard on himself made me think, though. I used to be that way, too, but I'm slowly learning to be kinder to myself. Some days are easier than other days, but I'm getting there. But if one has "mastered" the art of loving oneself, would it feel wrong? Is there something wrong if I'm able to love myself despite myself? I don't think that anyone can love themselves without ever experiencing guilt or shame or anger toward themselves, but if at the end of the day one can truly love oneself after experiencing all those emotions, is it all right?

I have to be honest with you that a few times in the past I enjoyed feeling guilt within me as it seemed to have made me more humane. But that kind of idea also feels wrong. And here I am going in circles again, yet I do enjoy this process so much...

I'm Type B+

You Have A Type B+ Personality

You're a pro at going with the flow You love to kick back and take in everything life has to offer A total joy to be around, people crave your stability. While you're totally laid back, you can have bouts of hyperactivity. Get into a project you love, and you won't stop until it's done You're passionate - just selective about your passions

Do You Have a Type A Personality?

Worldwide Link Love

Toby tagged me to do this one, so I'm gonna do it even though I'm not going to tag anyone (no time, sorry he he...)

Got this tag from Happy. :)
~ start copying here
~Join the Worldwide Link Love!

Benefits of Worldwide Link Love:
1. Make new friends around the world.
2. Feel the Link Love.
3. Gain new readers and subscribers.

Rules:1. Copy from ~start copying here ~ to ~ end copying here ~ and paste it on your blog.
2. At the end of the list, put your name and the country your in, it doesn’t matter what’s your nationality just put the country where you are publishing your blog. Don’t forget to put links at your name.
3. If u have many blogs, you can link all of it, just make sure you post the same on each blog.
4. Tag eight (8) or more of your blog friends.
5. Tip for blogspot users: make sure you copy and paste the code in Compose mode.

Wanna join, and you can’t find your name on the list?

Just leave a comment here.Worldwide Link Love! Participants:

1. Julia (Philippines)
2. Catherine (Malaysia)
3. shimumsy(u.s.a)
4. Mitch (Philippines)
5. Hailey (Philippines)
6. Sexymom (usa)
7. Summer (usa)
8. EED (Philippines)
9. H & S (Philippines)
10. Petradear (usa)
11. Happy (Philippines)
12. Papams
13. thaiteacher
14. caca
15. piebuko
16. vina
17. manel
18. cc
19. toby (Philippines)
20. Amel (Finland)

I'm Disturbingly Profound?

You Are Disturbingly Profound

You're contemplative, thoughtful, and very intense. Taking time to figure out the meaning of life is a priority for you. Because you're so introspective, you often react in ways that surprise people. No one can really understand how you are on the inside... and that disturbs them.

Are You Disturbingly Profound or Profoundly Disturbing?

3BT: Random Days

1. The national Finnish test is OVERRRRRRRR HA HA HA HA HA HA...I FEEL that I could only answer pretty well 50% of the whole test, but never mind that...it's over now and I feel relief. Why? Because I don't have to try to jam in too much info in such a short time anymore. I can enjoy the process of learning Finnish without being too much in a hurry he he he he...

2. Talking to my friends on the bus. SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!! ;-D

3. Still being alive and being able to witness some of Arttu's hair turning grey. ;-D And I still think he's SO sexy HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...

4. Splurging a little bit of money by buying shrimps prior to the test. I decided to indulge myself a little HO HO HO HO HO...

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5. Feeling grateful that I can go back to Indo in October (read: that we have enough money to buy the tickets). I would never have imagined that we could have been able to buy two plane tickets to Indo so soon. ;-D

6. Mom telling me via email that she's going to take time off while Arttu and I are in Indo so that she can be with us. Mom's THE BEST! ;-D

7. More stolen kisses at the course during break HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...

8. The teacher decides that we deserve one free day after doing the tough test last Saturday, so we're going to have a LONG holiday on Vappu (1st of May). May Day falls on a Thursday, so we'll have Friday off as well (and of course the whole weekend off). YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!!!

9. A VERY good post office worker. I sent my passport and a form and photo to register myself. The whole thing was sent to Indonesian Embassy today through registered letter (and I had to enclose enough postage for them to send it back to me), but the post office worker helped me go through it as I was so confused about so many things HA HA HA HA HA...Plus he speaks ENGLISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!! ;-D

LOVE that guy!!! I'm SO grateful that he understood what I needed even more than me!!! Don't you love that kind of service? ;-D

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A Foodie's Website!

By now most of you probably know that I'm a foodie. I love browsing for recipes online and trying out new recipes. Unfortunately I haven't had enough time to try out more recipes lately, but I've found another good recipe site for you to try in case you love cooking and baking. And if you're also fond of sharing your own recipe, you can become a member of this site and put up your recipes there.

What I love about this foodie's website are these:

1. They provide complete nutritional facts for every recipe. Thus if you're truly health-conscious, you can search for the most suitable recipes for your needs here. Plus if you want to know the nutritional values of a recipe for FREE, then you can submit it to this website.

2. A very practical glossary. The words are highlighted, so if you're a newbie in cooking and baking, you don't have to search high and low for explanations.

3. Readers can submit their own reviews. I've always loved this about a food website. After all, even though people have different tastes, but if more people mark the recipe as a great one, then I'll be more liable to try it he he he...

4. They have ALL KINDS of recipes on their site, starting from appetizers, salad, sandwich, diabetic recipes, vegetarian recipes, etc.

5. Becoming a member is FREE!!!

Even if you're already an expert in cooking and baking (like my Mom), sometimes you want to try other people's recipes, right? Then this is the right website for you to go to, especially if you're planning to have a party and you want to try making or baking something different. You can also discuss ideas to make new recipes and cooking and baking techniques with fellow members.

Ahhh...on my free days later on, I'll make sure I drop by this site again to try something out. Why don't you visit this site, too? ;-D

Somewhere In Time Part 1

The author of this blog will be absent until the beginning of next week as she is busy preparing for her Finnish test this Saturday. She thanks everybody who has been very supportive. She TRULY appreciates her blogger friends.

She'd love to tell a little secret, too, though! She says that she's been reading Japanese comics online every now and then to help release the tension due to the upcoming test HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...*wink*

She's going to her in-laws on Sunday instead of Saturday, so she won't have much time to blog until Monday. She hopes that everybody will be in good shape until she comes back to the blogosphere. She misses everybody SO much!!!

She'd love to share this story with all of you as she doesn't want her blog to be boring...

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Somewhere In Time Part 1

The stories of people's lives intrigue me, impress me, induce me to feel a mixture of emotion churning inside me. Recently I have heard glimpses of other people's lives and that made me feel that I had been living quite a protected life. It also made me wonder about the crossroads in our lives. Had we chosen a different route, everything would have been SO different. Had our parents chosen a different route, would we have been born on earth?

This woman whom I had recently met decided to open up to me about her life. She said, "When I first met my current husband, I didn't love him. My first husband left me for another woman when our second daughter was only about a year and a half. I worked too hard and that drove us apart. Then years later I met an expat who was interested in me. We became a couple, yet one day I found out that he had a wife. I broke up with him right away.

From then on, my trust in men gradually became lower and lower. Building a relationship based on love becomes such a stupid thing to do for me. It even crossed my mind to sell myself for money. After all, I needed the money to support my two daughters. I never really did it, though it did cross my mind a few times.

But then my current husband found me and he asked me on a date. He doesn't drink, he doesn't smoke, whereas I sometimes go to the bars to drink a little and have fun. He didn't mind that, though. We went on several dates and finally we got married after I got to know him for a few years.

Things were rough in the beginning, though. His family didn't accept me right away. I cried a lot and asked my husband why they didn't accept me. It took them a while to open up their hearts to accept me. I think one reason was that my husband had never had any girlfriend before he met me. He just lived to work and he even worked on weekends. I told him that when we got married, I didn't want him to work too hard as I wanted to have some quality time with him, as well."

I nodded and nodded while listening to her story. Her family life history was a tragic one, as well. She lost her mother when she was young, then her Dad found another woman who was only interested in his money. After some time, the other woman left him to be with a richer man. Then in the end her Dad died due to some illness. One brother died to some illness and she lost a sister due to a car accident. Another sister died from drowning as she was swimming after she got heavily drunk.

Her story made me feel amazed. I feel that life has forged some people into warriors and warrior princesses. Whether or not you choose to be negative and bitter and pessimistic, it's all up to you. It's supposed to be easier to be thankful when everything is fine and smooth, but the fact is that we are prone to grumble and grumble and grumble. It's so easy to lose perspective on the most important things in life and scrutinize all the little things in life with a magnifying glass.

Humans are fascinating. Have we really learnt so much more important things compared to those cavemen? Are we so much more sophisticated than them when we're still struggling to understand what happiness means? When our technology creates more problems as well as giving more solutions?

Questions, questions, questions...I shall continue next time with another story. Until then, adieu, my friends, and take care!

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Animals!

On Saturday I got a chance to see a VERY beautiful punatulkku. Click on the link to see the picture of this beautiful bird (especially near the bottom of the page - that picture is BREATHTAKING!). I really wanted to take a good picture of it myself, but unfortunately I didn't bring my camera with me.

It snowed THE WHOLE DAY on Saturday. When we got back from my in-laws, the snow was already as high as my ankle, you know? But today the sun's shining brightly and this morning when I was about to have breakfast, a little squirrel was climbing up and down the tree in front of my kitchen window. The fellow must've been quite young as it was still tiny he he he he he...but it was really nice to see another squirrel after some time. ;-D

Since I need a nap and then I need to study and do my TOUGH homework, I'm gonna leave you with this image below (click to be able to read it more clearly). I'm gonna blog and blog-hop more after my test this Saturday. Wish me luck, everybody he he he he...I need to cram as many new words as possible into my brain he he he...