3BT: Random Days

1. Hubby let me create a character for a game he was playing. So now he's playing the game using the character that I created for him he he he he hehhhh...

2. Had a rough day the other day after waking up to pee during the night and then couldn't get back to sleep again, but thankfully I could take a long nap after work.

3. Talked to my coworker about number 2 and found out she had the exact same problem that same night (after she went to pee). Ha! What a coincidence! She was laughing and wondering if it was the full moon or something like that which kept us awake he he he he he...

4. Not being able to go back to sleep inspired me to write this (click on pic to read):

5. Listening to this epic song. It just sounds SO GOOD in my ears!


6. After some rough days at work, I had some days off and lately work has been pretty well. Having some easier days make a whole lot of difference for a change!

Walking Home

Lots of snow was falling slowly. Slow enough for me to almost be able to distinguish the forms of the snowflakes falling from the sky. The roads and sidewalk were almost empty that Sunday evening. The rather chilly temperature didn't dampen my spirit, because I was on my way home from work and the scene was just too beautiful to describe. When the snow fell down slowly like that, it felt as though life were moving forward in a slow motion. I felt reminded to cherish each moment in time and not to rush forward. To focus on the moment.

I took out my mobile phone and plugged the earphones to my ears. Then I chose a song from my list and chuckled when I realized that a pair of snowflakes that had attached themselves to each other fell on my mobile phone's screen. Oh, how I wish I could have taken a picture of that pair of snowflakes! All around me the snow kept on falling steadily, gently, slowly.



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While listening to one of my favourite songs on the list, I sang along out loud on the sidewalk. Bliss! Where else can I do that without bothering anyone except here? The world seemed so hushed.  No need to hurry. Enjoy the moment. Enjoy the song. Sing your heart out to your delight!

I took out my mobile again after the song had finished to choose another song after that one was finished because I didn't want to listen to the next one on the list. My mobile had no capacity to do a random play of the songs on my list. Soon after my thumb hit on another song title, my ears welcomed the song with a smile (if they can smile, they were definitely smiling widely). And I couldn't resist the temptation to sing out loud again.

I felt free. I felt at peace. I felt as though the world was big enough for everyone of us. And my heart almost exploded with joy when I arrived home and I was welcomed with bear hugs and kisses. Oh, the simple joys of life!

"I Am Worth Loving Too" Challenge

Was visiting Crow's Feet yesterday when I found this lovely challenge, so today I browsed through my long list of beautiful songs in youtube in order to find at least 10 songs he he he...Here's the aim of the meme from Infinite Sadness or Hope?:

“Get a pen and paper (or pull up a blank word file on your computer) and compile a lit of songs which remind you how loved you are and/or remind you that you are worth loving.

 

They should be songs that mean something to you and my advice is to aim for about 10-12 songs.

 

Once you have written your list or lists set about finding and obtaining those songs.

 

Once you have them all, burn yourself a CD or set up a playlist on your music player, that you can use any time you are feeling down or lacking in self-worth and need some encouragement.

 

And how about sharing the fact that you have taken up this challenge on your blog and sharing your list with others.  You can even share why certain songs mean so much to you.  Oh and feel free to link back here so that I can check out your songs too.”

OK, here goes. To make it easier for you to listen to the songs, I'm linking each song title to its youtube video. :-D

These first two songs were my anchors that held me up while I was in my IF hell and I always cried like crazy when listening to these songs during those darkest infertility moments, but afterwards I always felt better. :-D

1. I Will Lift My Eyes - Bebo Norman

2. Bring The Rain - Mercy Me

3. Like a Satellite - Thunder

This third song is a special song for me, 'coz it was one of the songs that hubby sent me while we were on a long-distance relationship. The lyrics are really suitable with our situation at that time, so it sort of becomes our unofficial love song ha ha ha...

4. I Knew I Loved You - Savage Garden

When I first heard this fourth song, I also thought it was so suitable with my love story with hubby. I knew I loved him before I met him and vice versa. Here's a brief recap of our relationship for those who don't know: On Trust and Relationship.

"I knew I loved you before I met you
I think I dreamed you into life
I knew I loved you before I met you
I have been waiting all my life..."

5. Crash 'n Burn - Savage Garden

Another Savage Garden song ha ha...These lyrics really uplift me (and I REALLY love the sign language at the end of the video clip):

"When darkness is upon your door and you feel like you can't take anymore
Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone"

6. Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars

No need for more words, eh? The title says it all ha ha...

7. Home - Michael Buble

This song was my comfort during the time when hubby and I separated for around 4 months after our wedding and honeymoon 'coz I had to deal with paperwork before I finally got my residence permit. It was HELLISH to be apart after such a lovely wedding and honeymoon and we cried a lot during the separation...

"May be surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh, I miss you, you know

Let me go home
I’m just too far from where you are
I wanna come home..."

I'd listen to the song and cry my heart out while singing along he he he...

8. Love in a Peaceful World - Level 42

I've always loved this song and again I think the title says it all, no?

"Ego and pride the great divide
I was but I'm not crazy now
don't multiply the tears we cry
I want love in a peaceful world"

9. You Were There - Southern Sons

This song always makes me feel mushy mushy inside.

"But you were there, and you were
everything I'd never seen.
You woke me up from this long and endless sleep.
And I was alone.
I opened my eyes and you were there."

10. Broken - Steven Curtis Chapman

When I feel world weary and jaded, I always listen to this song and I feel instantly better. :-D

11. Beautiful In My Eyes - Joshua Kadison

This one is an additional song I found while browsing through the songs from Infinite Sadness or Hope's list. I've always loved this song, but I forgot all about it. It's a lovely song about growing old together and true love (again ha ha ha...). So I just have to add this one 'coz I felt bliss while listening to it. :-D

Music + Memories: Salaisuuksia

This Finnish song was played on the radio a lot when I was doing my training at the library, so this song got stuck in my head and whenever I hear this song, I just close my eyes and am reminded of the days I spent there with the lovely library ladies. 

It was the first training place where I had to engage in active conversations with many people at one time (usually around the coffee table) and I still remember how overwhelming it felt at that time because when they talked to one another, they talked REALLY fast, but if one of them tried talking to me in particular, she always tried to speak more slowly. THANK GOD for thoughtful people! :-D 

I remember doing a presentation on blogging in front of them (of course R2 helped me prepare it at home and I had memorized what I was going to say anyway), but it wasn't that stressful because I had known the ladies for a while, but still I still remember the feeling of having achieved something different in my journey to learn Finnish. I wouldn't have been able to do it without them. It was actually the boss who had asked me to do the presentation because she was talking to me about blogging and she wanted to know more, so she challenged me to do the presentation. I'm REALLY thankful for her challenge! :-) Here's a post describing my last day at the library: A Sentimental Day.

OK, now let me just post the song and the lyrics in Finnish and English. If there are mistakes in the English version, pardon me or let me know what to fix. Here's "Salaisuuksia" by Johanna Kurkela.


The lyrics in English:

SALAISUUKSIA (SECRETS) - Johanna Kurkela

Do you remember our childhood summer
When the mornings smelled like honey?
When our feet got wet in the grass
When nothing else seemed to be more important?
I also remember the rainbow
Arching over the field 
Near the standing stone
The rowboat embedded among the rushes
And the meadow covered with mist

Reff: You were the boy with sooty hands full of strawberries
I went with you to steal the apples
With a picnic basket full of kittens
I was the girl who had a flowery dress and a treasure map
With a hoody and a handful of seashells 
Covered from head to toes with secrets

Reff 2: Those memories remain
When everything has gone away
Those memories remain

Do you ever miss going back in time?
To our hiding place in the granary?
At midnight under the starry sky
We lay down on the meadow
There I'll look for you again
While I roam the realm of memories
Where time is precious like gold
There will I build a fortress

Reff
Reff 2

Where do the secrets belong now?
What kind of treasure have you found since then?
Are you still the one who can ignite the sparks
And burns like fire?

Reff
Reff 2

In Finnish: 

Muistatko sen lapsuuden kesän, 
kun aamut tuoksuivat hunajalle. 
Kun jalat kastuivat ruohikossa, 
eikä mikään ollut hetkeä tärkeämpää. 
Minä muistan myös sateenkaaren, 
pellon yllä luona kivipaaden, 
soutuveneen uponneena kaislikossa 
ja niityn joka usvaan häviää 

refrain:
Sinä olit se poika jolla oli nokiset kädet täynnä mansikoita
eväskorissa kissanpentuja, matkalla kanssasi omenavarkaisiin
Minä olin se tyttö jolla oli kukkaleninki ja aarrekartta
huppari ja kourallinen simpukoita ja salaisuuksia päästä varpaisiin 

refrain2:
Ne jäljelle jää
kun kaikki häviää
ne jäljelle jää 

Kaipaatko koskaan takaisin
piilopaikkaan sinne vilja-aittaan
Sydänyönä alle tähtitaivaan
niittyvillalla sijattuun vuoteeseen
Sieltä etsin sua uudestaan
Matkalla muistojen valtakuntaan
Missä maailma on ajankultaa
sinne merenrantaan mä rakennan linnakkeen 

refrain
refrain2
 
Mihin salaisuudet kuuluvat nyt
minkä aarteen olet sittemmin löytänyt
Vieläkö oot se, jos kipinä saa
sijan syttyä ja tulena palaa 

refrain (2x)
refrain2

Music + Memories: (I Wanna Take) Forever Tonight

Some songs help me remember certain memories and this time I'm gonna talk about Peter Cetera's and Crystal Bernard's "(I Wanna Take) Forever Tonight", which became a hit in Indo in 1995.

Here's the video clip:


This song took me straight back to my High School trip to Bali because they kept playing this song on the radio during our Bali trip. I was on my last year in High School and was in a different class than my closest friends. There were 6 classes altogether (about 40 students per class) and we went by buses.

I was in a bus with some of my closest friends. Luckily the teachers weren't very strict on things like this he he he he...However, I spent most of the bus trip resting 'coz I had such a bad case of motion sickness despite the fact that I took some medication already prior to the trip. If I remember correctly I threw up 6 times altogether during the bus trip and once on the ferry trip to Bali. Yeah, my sea sickness is even MUCH worse than my motion sickness. Mind you, the ferry trip only lasted for 30 minutes but my mistake was looking at the waves!!! On the way back by the ferry, though, I sat down and closed my eyes the whole time and it went fine! Phew!!!

Anyway, our bus stopped for a few hours during the night due to an accident. I was asleep at that time so I didn't know what was going on. It was dark outside and I woke up 'coz the students in the bus were getting hyped out about something. Turned out that the driver must've dozed off and then our bus accidentally hit a minibus. I don't remember anymore what happened to the minibus or how bad the damage was. :-( So we had to wait for the bus company to send us another driver while the police took the other driver. I certainly hope the driver and the people in the minibus were fine in the end. There was at least one teacher in each bus, though, so we didn't have to do anything much because the teacher dealt with it.

The delay meant that we were late when we arrived in Bali (it was probably around 2 or 3 am when we arrived at the hotel) and we went straight to our own rooms to sleep (again luckily I could be in the same room with some of my close friends - the main point was that each room was filled with 4 students). Back then there were no ATMs whatsoever (no debit cards, either), so everybody took cash for the trip. There were no mobile phones, so many of the students went to a phone rental place (there were several booths of phone that one could use to make long-distance phone calls) and I remembered having to queue for a while before I could contact my parents.

Every day there was special programs for us where we toured around the place together by buses except for one free day when we could do whatever we wanted. My close friends and I rented a car and we went around for a while, though it wasn't really effective because we got lost many times (no GPS at that time!). 

Here's a pic of me and two close friends at the beach. Yeah, I had that kind of face 'coz my naughty friend took off my hat!!!!!!!!!!! Pardon the quality of the pic 'coz the photo was taken with a regular camera ha ha ha ha ha...

And what did the teachers do while we were having fun at the beach? They had to watch our belongings he he he he he he he...

One last memory that I'd never forget. A bunch of us were already in a bus somewhere in Bali, waiting for the other students to come so that we could go somewhere else when all of a sudden this young blonde tourist just came inside the bus, smiled at us (with the tip of his nose covered in lots of sunscreen) and then went out from the back of the bus whereas some of the girls in the bus shrieked out and tried to snap a pic of the guy HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...oh dear goodness!!!! Memories!!! :-D

Autumnal Bugs

I've been busy with work after the holiday was over and then I got sick. I'm still not feeling 100% well yet, but I'm gradually getting better. It's the usual time of the year for me to catch viruses. Ugh!!! 

Anyhow, I still have some more holiday posts, but that have to wait until later 'coz my brain's still a bit murky (if I can call it that). At the moment, though, I'm trying to rest while watching X-factor videos on youtube ha ha...

And this one touched me in so many different levels, so hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!!! There are so many other auditions that also wowed me, but this one stays close in my heart. :-))))

Regional Language: Sundanese

While Indonesian language is Indonesia's official national language, but Indonesians have so many regional languages spoken in different areas. While I was a child, I learnt not only Indonesian but also Sundanese by immersion. Sundanese was also taught to us from Elementary School until Junior High School. I don't know how it's like nowadays at schools (not sure if they still teach Sundanese at schools), but if you come to my hometown, Bandung, you'll hear Sundanese spoken all over the place. 

As an nation that consists of lots of islands, it's no wonder that people from different islands (and even areas) had their own regional languages (this link says that there are over 300 regional/native languages in Indonsia). And even if you live in the same island, there are still differences dialects, though I guess this is a normal case for other languages in the world as well.

However, basically speaking Sundanese and Indonesian language are two different set of languages. Even if you understand Indonesian language, but if you hear me speak only in Sundanese, you would probably not have a clue what I'm saying (or maybe at the most you'll understand just a few words). If I hear someone use Javanese language or Makassarean language or Balinese language, I won't understand almost all of the words either.

Here's what it's said in Wikipedia: Sundanese Language.

Sundanese has two different forms: the "normal" form (the rather crude form) and the "polite" form. The polite form is really tough to learn (the vocabulary for the polite form is different than the normal form) and most people use the less polite form (or combining the polite and less polite form). If I talk to someone much older than me and they talk to me in Sundanese, I'd feel safer using Indonesian language rather than use the "normal" form of Sundanese. However, it's fine to use the normal form of Sundanese to speak to people your own age or younger than yourselves. 


I must tell you, though, that there are so many lovely, expressive words/phrases in Sundanese that are irreplaceable because there are no equivalents of those words/phrases in Indonesian language, so many times when I speak with my friends or Mom, I use a hodgepodge of Indonesian with Sundanese words in between - simply because those Sundanese words can explain what I'm trying to say better than any other words in Indonesian.

One friend of mine spent her childhood in the USA for a few years during childhood because her Dad continued his education there. That also resulted in the loss of those years learning Sundanese by immersion. Even though she did end up learning some Sundanese at school until Junior High, even until now she gets confused if we use too much Sundanese in our emails. Or it'd take her longer time to understand the Sundanese texts compared to Indonesian. 

Oh yeah, one more thing about Sundanese - the Sundanese scale comprises of "da-mi-na-ti-la-da" instead of "do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do". Before you get all confused, let me introduce you to some Sundanese songs then he he he he he... 
  
First song in two versions (the traditional one and the modern one) called "Mojang Priangan". Mojang = girl (if I still remember correctly it usually refers to an unmarried young woman). Priangan = the area that covers Bandung, West Bandung, Subang, Garut, Purwakarta, and Sumedang.

And another song in two versions as well: the traditional one and a more modern one (with Japanese influence and Japanese words). It's called "Es Lilin". Click here to find out a pic of es lilin.

Busy Like A Bee

The lack of real posts this week is because of the fact that I've been so busy at work. Two coworkers got sick this week and another one has started her summer holiday, so this week I have to work for 6 days straight (the first 3 days were full-time). Today would be my 5th day and after tomorrow, I can relax for a bit 'coz next week shouldn't be that crazy. Phew! 

Just wanna share a video clip again here ha ha...I'm gonna write more later on when I have time. Introducing some Indonesian artists singing "Heart You": Glenn Fredly, Sandhy Sondoro, and Tompi...enjoy it! Make sure you watch until the end of the song!

FYI: I can't find any album videos 'coz I read somewhere that this trio has decided that they would mostly only do live shows 'coz they're fed up with people pirating albums and singers that lip sync in live shows.

 
 Actually here's another fun song to listen to by this trio (Trio Lestari), Malam Biru (Blue Night):

Technology: Then and Now

In this modern age where kids start using computers at such a young age, it seems that my childhood was like a "caveman period" for the new generation of kids. The other day in Facebook someone posted somebody else's picture that made me laugh so much.

It was a picture of a cassette and a pencil next to it. Below it is written: Kids These Days Wouldn't Know The Link Between These Two Objects.

It took me a split second to realize what it meant, then I started laughing. I remember the first time I had ever bought my own cassette. It was a NKOTB (New Kids on The Block) cassette which my cousin and I played over and over again on the tape recorder. One time it was jammed and the roll of tape got entangled inside the tape recorder (see the pic below). I had to stop it and take it out manually and then roll it back neatly using the help of the pencil. However, the second time it happened, I had to actually open the case of the cassette and roll it into place by hand VERY VERY slowlyyyyy so that it wouldn't slip 'coz then I'd have to do it all over again...

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Today I've also been talking to another hometown girl who's just married a Finnish guy and has just moved to Finland two months ago. They also met online, but I realized how different it was back then when I started getting to know Arttu and the time she spent online with him.

She told me that they spent a lot of time sending messages via Facebook because it was cheaper than sending SMSes. When I first got to know Arttu better in 2000, mobile phone providers had just started their SMS services. Back then I still had my 56 Kbps modem to connect to the internet (yeah, so very slow!), so for me it was much cheaper to send SMSes compared to being online all the time. These days in Indonesia there are so many internet providers with faster connections and cheaper prices, so it's natural that it's getting cheaper to connect with people via Facebook or Blackberries compared to sending SMSes.

Talking to the younger generation makes me feel like I came from a distant age and time ha ha ha ha...It doesn't necessarily mean I feel old, though, but it's such a huge contrast that happened in just a few years (I was still using the 56Kbps when I left Indo in 2007 and nowadays the internet connection can be as fast as 1Mbps or even faster than that - depending on what kind of services you subscribe to).

When I look back to my childhood, I remember so many wonderful traditional children's games that we had with my friends and neighbours. Kids these days don't know those wonderful games anymore 'coz they grow up with Wii and stuff like that. These are some of the wonderful games that we played in the olden days:

Congklak
Bola Bekel (explanation can be found in the middle of the page)
Hopscotch

There are also some running/jumping games, but I don't really remember the rules anymore nor could I find any info in English. All I knew was that we had so much fun!!! :-D

August Rush

The other day I watched "August Rush" and one thing that really hit me was when Wizard (played by Robin Williams) asked Evan/August, "Close your eyes and tell me what you want to be when you grow up. It can be anything. What do you want to be?"

Evan/August answers, "Found."

Why did it hit me? Because the story is about an orphan boy whose mother and father didn't even know he existed. How could that be? I'm not going to spoil the story to you he he he...but anyhow, can you imagine his wish to be found by his own birth parents? He's always got this strong feeling that his own parents want him, thus he wants to be found by them.

This part hit me so much 'coz I've always known that I'm wanted by my parents. Even my Dad (a Chinese who usually wants boys as heir) had always wanted to have a girl as a first child. I just want to cherish that fact that I've always been wanted, 'coz not everybody is wanted that way.

To those of you who feel unwanted, I hope that out there in this big big world you'll find people who WANT you just the way you are.

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P.S. The movie is not a regular movie 'coz it incorporates lots of music in it, but it makes it different than other movies.

New Header + 3BT

Yeah, been tinkering with new header designs and I came up with this one. The background was created by Alevtina Design, the butterflies were taken from Debra Anderson Designs and the flower image on the upper right corner of my header was designed by Carola Okeke/FWTS. So THANK YOU to all of them!!!

The flower pictures themselves are all my photos, of course he he he...now that summer's here, I thought it'd be nice to change the header once in a while. Hope you like my new summery header!

**************************

OK, here's my 3BT list:

1. This morning when I woke up I wanted to jump in joy 'coz I saw one little bud coming out in a pot. I almost thought that I had killed all the seeds 'coz the temperature had been so cold. Last night I was just thinking that perhaps they wouldn't germinate at all, so maybe I should use the pot to plant other seeds. Of course until now there's only one tiny bud coming out, but that's better than nothing, right? HE HE HE...Here's the pic of the bud (this is the seed of a climbing plant):


2. Seeing more buds coming out of the pot filled with seeds of chives. YEEEAAAHHHH!!!

3. Having "FUN" in sauna again after we played Wii on Wednesday. Oh yeahhh!!! *wink wink*

4. Having cleaned all the windows on the first floor (remember there are double windows everywhere, but I'm not in a hurry anyway).

5. Holding hands with hubby and listening to his heartbeat. Thump, thump, thump...the precious sign of life...

6. Music. Listening to music is really relaxing.

7. Chatting with different friends around the world. ;-D

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8. Watering the plants while listening to birds singing outside. Mmmm...what a life!!!

Downtown Sodankylä Video Clip

On Saturday I took a video clip of downtown Sodankylä, especially the main street he he he...and I tinkered with it a bit. I managed to add some music (since my microphone doesn't work anymore, so I can't record any sound or voice) and a little bit of info about the places there. You can see one part of the river which pics you loved so much from my previous post. However, make sure you brighten up your monitor since I took the video when it was around 8 pm, so it's a little bit dark ha ha ha ha ha...

In the video clip you can see how "small" Sodankylä is HA HA HA HA HA HA...

The song is "Will You Be There (In The Morning)?" by Heart. Enjoy the video clip!!!

First Wedding Anniversary: Starry, Starry Night!

Venue: My parents-in-laws' cabin. No electricity. We lit the fireplace, some candles, and an oil lamp. Dates: November 2nd - 3rd, 2007. Occasion: First Wedding Anniversary.

Food: Hamburger and sausages, cooked in the fireplace.

Drinks: Cold cider and plain water.

Music: Anything the radio played that night.

Temperature: Around -5'C to -9'C. (I got out a few times to pee in the outdoor toilet)

Bonuses: A box of Praline chocolate, a VERY starry night sky, and a crescent.

Note: It was an AWESOME sight! The cabin was located far away from city lights so the stars were prominent in the sky. I didn't know that the stars could be seen even very low above the horizon. There were literally tens of thousands or probably a million stars that I could see everywhere I turned!!! Gosh!!! I almost wanted to throw a sleeping bag on the ground and just camp there under the stars he he he...

Magical Moments:

1. Hubby gazed at me for a LONG time as though he was looking at me for the first time, with lovey-dovey eyes. Mmmmm...*drool*

2. Se on salaisuus. It's a secret. *wink* Too personal to tell here HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE...

3. Having enough quality time with my hubby. We talked about our rough plans for the future. I just wanted to make sure that we were on the same track. We also talked about the past, about last year's wedding and honeymoon. We both agree that this year is DEFINITELY MUCH better than last year. ;-D

4. Gazing at the stars whenever I came out to pee in the outdoor toilet. Mmmmh...I kept on turning my head round and round and round and there was no spot in the sky that wasn't covered by the stars. Amazing!!! Then when I came out the second time, I saw a crescent in the sky along with the stars. My, my, my!!!

5. My mother-in-law has already planned to give me something for my upcoming birthday on November 29th. BLESS HER HEART!!!! How can I not love that woman? ;-D She was going to give me some money for a haircut he he he...Hubby helped me explain to her that I wasn't planning on cutting my hair yet as I wanted long hair to help warm up my ears during winter. ;-D

6. Receiving so many anniversary well-wishes from family, friends, blogger friends. ;-D

Here are some pics:

We arrived at the cabin at around 9 pm. We arrived in Kelujärvi already at 6 pm, but then Arttu had to go to the cabin first to warm it up. He got back after a while and then we played some cards after drinking coffee and eating some buns (we = me, Arttu, and my mother-in-law). The sky DID look GORGEOUS like that in the morning (I took the first pic at around 7.20 am).


The below pic was taken right when we arrived at the cabin. It was pitch dark already by then.


Ta-daaaa....here I am eating sausage ha ha ha ha ha ha...


The below pic was taken at around 7 am. It was so foggy.


This crescent pic isn't too clear. Next time I'd better bring my tripod 'coz there are just some things I can't capture well without it.


The sun was shining brightly at around 10 am. We were preparing to leave the cabin to go back to my in-laws' place to enjoy breakfast there.


Me posing in front of the semi-frozen lake in front of the cabin he he...


This is the inside of the cabin. Yes, we had to cram ourselves by sleeping on that single bed he he he he he...Right on to the right side is a long table, then you can see the two single beds, and two fireplaces on the left side. The open fireplace is no longer used.




The below pic was taken in summer. I posted it here so you can see the other side of the cabin. Yeah, as you can see, one of my most fave spots on earth is Arttu's lap he he he he he he...


Arttu had to scrape ice layer from our car windows. Our car was covered by a thin layer of ice.


This below video isn't too clear, but you can at least see what we did with the burger steaks ha ha ha ha ha...

Fun Fun Fun

Okay, I know I've only been living together with my hubby for 5 months, but I have to admit it never crossed my mind that marriage life would be or could be SO MUCH FUN, IN and OUT of bed, that is. *wink*

He just brings out the playfulness side of me that only a select few manage to bring out and he told me that I also brought out that side in him. We totally laugh a lot and he's managed to make me laugh SO hard a few times already (it doesn't happen often with other people). I just hope that our marriage will stay this fun together. WHOOOPPPPEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

I have to admit that prior to moving here, I was slightly apprehensive. Once in a while a little voice inside me said, "I wonder when we'd have our first quarrel or fight." The voice stayed there for the first 2 or 3 months, but then after a while I thought to myself that it was so silly to think of bad things. I surely didn't want to "jinx" our relationship by "expecting trouble". And gladly we haven't had any quarrels or fights until now. Disagreements? Sure, but we managed to discuss our differing points of views and wishes. Well, one thing for sure, IF we ever have our first fight or quarrel, I bet you'll be the first ones to know in the blogosphere he he he...Meanwhile I'll just hope for the best and pray that God'll lead me into becoming the best kind of wife I can be.

Btw, the other day my hubby and I watched "Premonition" (starring Sandra Bullock). It wasn't too special, but the movie made me realize that I should really cherish every single moment I have with my hubby since nobody knows when God's going to take him away for good. May I remember this always. *nodding*

Anyway, enough babbling. Just wanna share this song that I thought as one of the "perfect" songs to depict our relationship...I Knew I Loved You (Before I Met You) by Savage Garden. Enjoy it and ENJOY your day!!!

SAVAGE GARDEN lyrics