Yearly Evaluation

Bitter Chocolate has written about her yearly evaluation, so let me think about mine. What has happened this year?

1. Miraculously there was a full-time Finnish course for the FIRST TIME EVER in Sodankylä!!!!!!! We all thought that they wouldn't open one since there weren't enough students. Plus our teacher was EXCELLENT!!!

2. My residence permit extension went well and I had enough money to pay for it ---> got the money from blogging, so I didn't have to use my savings. Plus the new residence permit is valid for 4 years, so I was HAPPY! ;-D

3. Got very bad news from my brother that my uncle died alone in his house (he was never married) and his body was found out a few days later. :-(((



4. Because I received some student money during the course, hubby and I could afford buying plane tickets to Indo already in the beginning of the year. This was really unplanned, so it was the GREATEST surprise ever!

5. Got GREAT news from my brother that his wife was pregnant and that the baby was due around the time when I would visiting them in Indo.

6. In the middle of the Finnish course, the firm who organized it decided to pay for us if we wanted to try taking the Finnish National Language Exam (if we took it ourselves, we had to pay €75). I took the test without believing that I could pass, since the speaking and listening part were SO hard. But again I got a NICE surprise by passing the test! This means that after living here for 4 years, I only need to pay a lump of money and fill in some forms to apply for Finnish citizenship. YIIIIPPPPIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!

7. In July R2 and I had enough money AND time (R2 could take the holiday since he had worked overtime) to do a car trip to Southern Finland. We enjoyed our stay in Oulu VERY much at Lasaretti Hotel and it felt like a honeymoon!!!

8. In October R2 and I not only went to Indonesia, but we also had enough budget to go to Singapore AND buy a new digital camera! Such beautiful blessings!

9. On our trip to Indo/Singapore, we managed to meet Blur Ting and Trinity. WOOOHOOO!!!

10. Amazingly enough, R2 and I were able to be there for my brother's baby's birth. I was literally right outside of the labour room. He decided to come out 1,5 days before our flight back to Finland. YAAAAAAAAAAAYY!!!

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11. After going back to Finland, I could start training at the library and I've met VERY nice women there who encourage me and make me feel useful. :-)))) Plus my boss is VERY thoughtful (not just to me, but also to the other women).

12. R2 got some surprise money, so we could pay off our car loan to the bank. No more debt! YYYEEEESSSS!!!

13. During the year, I've managed to hang out with my Indo friends, Finnish friends (though they're not Finnish), and also blogger friends. COOL!!!

14. Baby program hasn't succeeded yet, but that means we can enjoy our time together "freely", so we're going to cherish this "honeymoon period" still. Plus that means that we have more time to save money ---> because if and when I get pregnant, we need a bigger place to stay and not only will we have to pay more for that reason, we also have to buy the baby's crib or bed and whatnots. So better save, save, save!

15. Work-wise: AT LEAST I know that working at the library is suitable for me (even if getting a job there isn't possible yet). I know that there are many more tasks to do if I were really working there, but I've really enjoyed my time there so far.

16. Family-wise: My Dad's mind has gotten slightly worse off than last year, so this saddens me, but at least my Mom has my brother and his wife to help. Plus my Mom is close to her sisters and brother, so they are always ready to lend an ear or give support whenever she needs it.

Concerning R2's family, his Dad's condition isn't going any better (he was diagnosed with Alzheimer last year). Sometimes he's stable, sometimes his condition gets worse, but he can still function well. It seems both our Dads aren't doing too well, but at least they're alive and they can still enjoy life.

17. Language-wise: I know more and more Finnish words, but since I haven't been actively speaking Finnish like when I was in the course, my mind has gone rusty (read: it works SLOWLY and it takes time to formulate an answer PLUS I'm starting to forget my grammar!!!). I don't like this "degradation", so I'm going to try to fix this problem next year. I MUST start reading my grammar books again and try to talk to R2 in Finnish.

18. I've received unexpected gifts through the course of the year. My, I'm such a lucky girl!!!

19. Still no fight record between R2 and I ---> not that I expect/hope any, thank you LOL LOL!!! Of course we sometimes rub each other's fur the wrong way (or sometimes I get cranky when I'm on my PMS or when I'm tired), but he always managed to minimize my state of being-almost-angry to laughing-with-him. Strange but true.

There WERE a few times when I could have lashed out at him, but EVERY SINGLE TIME he made me laugh with what he said or did. He's really like my "fireman". He douses my flames so quickly that I never had the chance to be burnt away by my emotions. Plus his unbelievable patience truly helps me. Bless him!!!

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OK, I think this is long enough. Of course there have been MANY more events during the year, but the list sums the major events of this year. There are bad news among all the good news, but I think all in all it's been a pretty good, eventful year, don't you think? ;-D

I'll blog-hop tomorrow. Wish you a FUN weekend ahead, friends!!!