3BT: Random Days

1. Hubby warming up my side of the bed before I got to bed (usually he goes up first before me), so even though it's cold outside (-20 or even colder during the night), my side of the bed is blissfully WARM the first time I lay my body there. MMMMMHHHHH...And he has to endure the cold side of the bed once I go to my side of the bed, so THANKS SO MUCH for that, Bunny! HIGHLY appreciate your thoughtfulness!!!

2. Getting a surprise early gift bag for my birthday he he he he...You know who you are. THANKS SO SO SO MUCH!!!

3. Getting another package from a friend who has too much extra Indo stuff (spices, snacks). REALLY thankful for this!!! :-D

4. Listening to this beautiful duet...



5. Sleeping for 11 hours HA HA HA HA HA...

6. A customer telling me that I fit this kind of job I'm doing and that she likes me. THANKS for the encouragement - 'coz there are times I wonder if I really fit for this kind of job or not.

7. Someone told me about the mistake I'd made at work and I'm THANKFUL for that. Can't undo my mistakes, but I can always learn to do better. :-D

8. Hot tea with honey on cold days. Mmmmhhhh...

9. Pink sky always cheers me up. :-D

10. Frozen trees. For some reason when it's SO cold, they seem to be frozen solid - they have a different consistency of coldness than when it's been snowing all day, for example. It's hard to describe, but there's this kind of lovely undisturbed hush that permeates the air...mmmm...

3BT: Random Days

1. Finding answers for some of my biggest questions and finding peace within.

2. Talking to my friend for about 6 hours HUE HE HE HE HE HE HE...I'm really going to miss our babbling sessions once she goes back home sometime this year. :-(((

3. One colleague gives me a compliment today. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! :-D

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4. Hubby washed all the dishes after I cooked pizza for us without being asked to do it.

5. When hubby visited his cousin's place last Friday without me in tow, his cousin's daughter said that she wanted to play with me again. That's SO SWEET! ;-D

6. Knowing that someone out there is experiencing the same thing makes me feel good since we can share our thoughts and understand each other COMPLETELY. So THANKS for the chat!!!

7. Dancing like crazy in front of R2 (including spanking my own butt a few times HA HA HA...), making R2 shake his head in disbelief HUA HA HA HA HA HA...I LIVE for these moments! ;-D

8. Tucking hubby up on the sofa after giving him some kisses and squeezes he he he he...

9. Waiting for a package. I CAN'T WAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTT HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO...SO SO SO SO SO EXCITING! ;-D

What a Day!!!

Today's been an INCREDIBLE day for me HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO...

1. I received a mysterious package from Michelle Frost from Scotland (Crow's Feet). She not only sent me birthday gifts, but also Christmas gifts. Being the good girl that I am sometimes (ahem!), I'm gonna wait till X-mas before I open the X-mas gifts he he he he...

Anyhow, just wanna say to her:

THANK YOU SO MUCH for the SURPRISE!!!
IT WAS LOVELY!!! ;-D

2. One colleague asked me how old I was and then she said, "Oh, my, you look younger than your real age!" HO HO HO HO HO HO...Having just turned 30 years old the other day, "my nose grew big" after hearing such a response HA HA HA HA...

In Indonesian language, if a person is given a compliment and then she or he feels proud of himself, we say "his or her nose grows bigger" LOL LOL LOL!!!

3. This evening I received EXTREMELY good news from hubby that we can PAY OFF our debt to the bank tomorrow HO HO HO HO HO HO...Remember that last year we bought off R2's eldest brother's second-hand car by loaning money from the bank? We've been paying it off bit by bit every month but as you know, we still have a LONG way to go...but now we can pay it off HO HO HO HO HO...It's a MIRACLE!!!!!!!!!!!! ;-D

So my heart is filled with JOY JOY JOY today. WOOOOOOOOOOHHHHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

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3BT: Random Days

1. Getting positive feedback from a French couple who came to the tourist info office to ask for some information. I felt SO useful back then HE HE HE HE HE...And I'm SO grateful for people who are very encouraging, since it's very essential, especially for someone who's doubting her abilities he he he...

2. Meeting a nice Finnish lady who was VERY interested in getting to know me. She asked me about so many things, which isn't "so Finnish" at all he he he...

3. Meeting another squirrel nearby (he was only about a metre away from me). SO CUTE!!! Too bad he was too fast, so I didn't have time to snap a pic with my mobile he he...

4. People who don't care about perfection and frills, esp. when it comes to my in-laws and hubby's family HE HE HE HE...No matter how bad or screwed up my baking is (last year there were some failed efforts in baking), they still eat it and they still say it tastes good HE HE HE HE HE HE HE...

5. Receiving a package I've been waiting for. I can't tell whom it is for, but I'm SOOOOOO excited about it HO HO HO HO HE HE HE HE HE HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...

6. Feeling that this second week of training is MUCH MUCH better than the first week. I've gotten to know more things, even though I still daren't pick up the phone as the callers are always Finnish and they speak Finnish he he he...

7. People who smile. I must say that it's ABSOLUTELY nice to receive a smile without any specific reason. :-)))) Plus it's also SO nice to get a smile back when you're smiling at someone he he he...

8. Finding some cute baby stuff for my brother's baby again at the Finnish auction site. I hope I'll win the bids HO HO HO HO HO HO HO...

9. Not experiencing too hot days here in Sodankylä, since we have no fans or air conditioner, so it's gonna be hell if it ever gets too hot he he...

10. Getting back in shape by doing Tae-bo regularly again. YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!!! It feels great, babbyyyyyy!!!! (esp. after too much eating during the car trip and my trousers were getting tight HA HA HA...)

11. Two of my best friends visited my Mom even though I'm not living in Bandung anymore. I LOVE the fact that they love visiting my Mom despite my absence he he he...THANK YOU, GIRLS!!!

12. Receiving SO MUCH support, kind words, and encouragement from my friends and blogger friends when I was down. What else do I need on earth? I'm such a BLESSED woman!!! So here's my wish for you:

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Mailboxes

In Indonesia, not everybody owns mailboxes. People who live in housing complexes normally have residential mailboxes, since the developers have included them in their housing plans. My parents had only started to own a mailbox around 7 years ago, since they were renovating something in the house and the main handyman said that he could make a mailbox for them. Even so, the mailman doesn't always put the letters in the mailbox. I guess he loves handing the letters or packages personally, eh?

Speaking of mailboxes, it reminds me of the time when I tried working in a factory. They also didn't have any commercial mailboxes. If there were packages from UPS or FedEx, then they would be piled on top of the reception desk. Then each of the person who was waiting for the package themselves had to check whether the package had arrived or not. There was nobody assigned to give them out to the appropriate person or department.

Here in Finland I notice that people have their own mailboxes or at least mail slots on their apartment doors and in offices there are commercial mailboxes, as well. What is it like in your country? Does everybody have their own mailboxes? How about offices? Do they have commercial mailboxes, too?

My Adventure: Cutting My Own Hair

HA!!!! I finally did it! I cut my own hair last night. Arttu didn't help at all except to cut just a few strands of hair that were longer than the rest at the back of my head which I obviously couldn't see.

I think I didn't do the job very badly, even though I managed to mess up my fringe HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...So, I need your honest opinion. What do you think of my new haircut? I'll show you the picture of before and after HE HE HE HE...The before picture was taken last October, so my hair was actually longer than this prior to the cutting adventure (I just couldn't find a nice picture of my hair without being covered by a pipo in January or December!).



And here we gooooooo...my new haircut hi hi hi...Tell me the truth, do you think I look like a D I S A S T E R????????????



OK, OK, so the bottom isn't too good, but what can you expect, right? HE HE HE...After all, it wasn't easy to cut one's own hair ha ha ha ha...

Anyway, yesterday I received another book that I won in eBay (What to Expect When You're Expecting). Arttu brought the book home from work and I was a bit confused since I hadn't received any notification about it. The postman had come already earlier without any notification about it. I asked him then how he found out about it and he just giggled like crazy. He said that he just knew. I couldn't believe it! Impossible!

The naughty guy kept on giggling and wouldn't tell me. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHH!!! After he had fun giggling and making me confused, finally he admitted that his friend who worked at the post office had called him to tell him about the package. GRAAAWWWWRRRRRR!!! How could I forget that his buddy worked at the PO? HE HE HE HE HE...

Oh well...so now I have three new books to read. OHHHHHHHHH JOY he he he he...OK, I'm going to blog-hop now! ;-D

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3BT: Weekend Wrap

1. Getting a warm reply from my Aussie friend whom I found in Facebook. YAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!!!

2. Being able to see pictures of his CUTE sons!!!! ;-D

3. A foggy Saturday. Everything was white. So beautiful!!! It was -15'C when we left home to go to Kelujärvi and it went down to -17'C when we came back home.

4. The package for my family has arrived safely in Germany and my friend liked the warm socks I sent her HE HE HE HE HE...

5. Sitting on hubby's lap while he hugged me and swayed his body. Mmmmmm...

6. Receiving an email from my mother and Shen (my sister-in-law). ;-D Mom told me that they had fun watching my brother taking part in a music competition. He played the bass. It was a fun time out for my parents with my brother and his wife. ;-D

7. Playing jigsaw puzzle (920 pieces) for the first time in my life HA HA HA HA HA HA...Arttu bought a puzzle for his parents a while ago and we played it yesterday.

8. Realizing I sucked at playing puzzle whereas Arttu and my mother-in-law could find and match the pieces rather quickly. WOWWWWWWW!!!!

9. Winning another bid at ebay. So I'm REALLY looking forward to receiving and reading all the books I've won in ebay. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!! ;-D

10. Chatting with one of my closest friends and hearing that she's been doing fine despite the hard circumstances in her life. She's letting go and letting God. :-)))) Superb!!!

11. Strawberry-blueberry dessert made by my mother-in-law. YUM YUM!!!

12. Mother-in-law telling me that she liked the risoles I gave her. ;-D

13. Watching snowy tree tops blanketed with sunshine. ;-D It is SO sunny today and the temperature has gone rapidly down. It was -18'C this morning and it's now -21'C.

3BT: January 18, 2008

1. Sending a package for my family to my friend in Germany. I also slipped a small souvenir for her, made in Finland. Hope she likes it he he he he...

2. Finding out that I could send the package cheaper by sending it as a maxi letter. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!!! I saved €20 that way!!!!!!!!!!!

3. The very informative woman who works at the post office. Actually she's one of MC's good friends in Finland. She speaks good English, too. YAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!

4. Getting my new English Bible from the post office (I left my English Bible in Indo and brought my Indonesian one), along with C.S. Lewis' "A Grief Observed" that I ordered from the International Church in Helsinki.

5. Giggling uncontrollably when hubby made SUCH A FUNNY face. He's really a clown!!! I couldn't believe he could show such a funny face. Even now while typing and remembering it, I want to burst out laughing HI HI HI HI HI HI...CHEERS to being forever young since I have to live with his sense of humour HI HI HI HI HI HI...

6. Finding plums on sale. Believe it or not, I'd NEVER bought fresh plums before in my life and today was the first time I found them on sale. LUCKY ME!!! ;-D

7. It's Friday. ;-D

8. Hearing birds chirping while walking to the post office this morning. Mmmmm...SO beautiful! ;-D

***** I wrote the above list before I heard the news about my uncle. Even though today I heard that my uncle was dead, it reminds me that death is what makes life SO precious. Life's so fragile, yet precious...........

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"Death is psychologically as important as birth. Shrinking away from it is something unhealthy and abnormal which robs the second half of life of its purpose." - Carl Jung

"It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live." - Marcus Aurelius

"It is hard to have patience with people who say 'There is no death' or 'Death doesn't matter.'' There is death. And whatever is matters. And whatever happens has consequences, and it and they are irrevocable and irreversible. You might as well say that birth doesn't matter." - C.S. Lewis

"Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind." - C.S. Lewis

"Life is but a brief moment. The years go by quickly and old age arrives suddenly before we have an inkling. People desire so many things and waste their days in vain. Some yearn for gold, others for power, yet others for glory and a higher station. But when death's moment nears and they look back at their lives they've lived, they realise they've been happy only during those moments when they've loved." - Borje Vahamaki

Quotes taken from here.

Blah Blahs Again

1. One thing I like about exercising with Billy Blanks Taebo CDs is the fact that in one CD, there's this huge banner on one of the walls: "Walk by Faith, Not by Sight". Each time I exercise using that CD, I'll always read that banner and remember to walk by faith, not by sight.

2. We've all heard this adage "Life is what you make it", but I think in marriage life, "Love is what you make it" applies.

3. This evening's class is cancelled again since the teacher's still sick. I sure do hope she'll get well enough for next Tuesday's class. After all, we'll only get 22 lessons and we've already lost 2 of them.

4. "Tai" in Finnish means "or", whereas "hai" in Finnish means "shark".

5. My orders have arrived at the local PO today (the condoms for my brother and for us), so I should burn the DVD for my brother and a CD for a friend of mine this evening. Busy, busy, busy...then tomorrow morning I should get up early to send the package to my friend in Germany. I sure do hope the package will arrive soon in her office (she says that packages have arrived late in her office recently) so that she can bring it to Indonesia next March. *crossing my fingers* I think I'm going to send it using priority mail he he he he he he...

A Surprise Package!

This morning the postman rang our doorbell while I was washing the dishes. I wasn't expecting that since the postman had come already earlier. At first I thought it was hubby teasing me or he must've been bringing something big on his arms so that he couldn't open the door himself. Turned out it was a special package. Again at first I thought it was something that hubby ordered, but then after I took it inside, I realized it was for ME!!! Yes, for ME ME ME ME ME HE HE HE HE HE HE HE...

I was surprised since it was a HUGE box!!! And what did I find inside? So many different Asian spices, sauces, instant mixes, and a pair of skiing pants!!! The package was from one of my beloved friends who's now living in Holland. She packed everything SO well that I truly appreciated the time and effort he he he he...

I'm SO SO SO excited since I can't find any of the Asian spices, sauces, and instant mixes here in Finland. Plus I haven't got skiing pants yet HO HO HO HO HO HO...What amazed me TOTALLY was that the skiing pants fit PERFECTLY!!! *gasp* A few years ago she sent me winter gloves that also fit me PERFECTLY. Amazing!!!

She said the pants were for my b-day gift whereas the rest of the stuff was winter survival package. THANK YOU SO MUCH, Dear Friiieeennnddd!!! God bless you more and moreeeee...MWAH MWAH MWAH MWAH MWAH!!!!


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And yeahhhhh dear reader...you're right, of course. The pants are children's size since I'm only 145 cm (SUPER) TALL HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...LOL LOL!!!

Anyway, here are the pics. I hope Blogger will upload the pics this time!!!! YEEESSSS!!!! My fellow Indonesians will recognize all those Asian foodstuff. Yummy!!!

LUCKY MEEEEE!!!! *wink*

The Mysterious Package Has Arrived!!!

Just wanna tell you that the mysterious package has arrived. It's packed really well with a cardboard box and there's no sign or label on the box except my hubby's name and our address, so I can't figure out where he ordered it. Dang! I'm SO curious! I try to shake it up but I couldn't really feel what was inside of it since the cardboard box is pretty thick. Oh well...I still have to wait till tomorrow 'coz my birthday isn't here yet he he he...

On a lighter note, this evening is actually our last Finnish class for this year's agenda. So it'll start again next year (dunno when yet). We have to register again. Our teacher's supposed to give us two more lessons next week, but she can't do it since she has to move to another place. They're having their house remodeled but turned out that it wasn't finished yet, so they had to move to another place until their house gets done. At least that's what I think she has to do.

Did I tell you that one of the three pregnant ladies in my class had finally given birth? She was 2 weeks late, so she had to be induced. Her baby girl was born 4.2 kilos. Such a HUGE baby!!!! I was born 3.3 kilos only. How heavy were you when you were born? I think these days babies are bigger than they used to be, don't you think so? ;-D

Plus when I was born, in my generation, babies were born with eyes closed and they only started opening their eyes when they were a month old (if I'm not mistaken). These days babies start opening their eyes right after they're born. Plus they have SO MUCH hair. I was born pretty bald. In fact, my hair was SO thin until I was 2 years old that my parents were worried about me.

This evening my teacher's going to review my homework. Yesterday she got to review two other homework. Let's see how many mistakes I did he he he he he...This morning when I woke up, I was obsessing over my homework already. I realized that there might be some mistakes that I should have noticed. Yeah, yeah, I have a tad OCD tendency ha ha ha ha ha ha...

Now I'd better study some more. Even though I won't have classes starting next week, I still have to force myself to study regularly. After all, we all know how easy is it for our brain to forget new words and rules of a new language we're learning if we don't practice is regularly. GAMBATTE KUDASAIIII!!!!!!!!

P.S. A close friend of the pregnant lady who gave birth, another pregnant lady, bought a card for her which each of signed he he he he...Then our Finnish teacher told us how to write sentences in Finnish to congratulate her for the baby girl and to say that we wish both of them are well. ;-D

Marital Bliss

Last night I had the best "nighttime rendezvous" than EVER before!!! It just kept on getting better and better and last night topped it all off. I never thought it could get any better than that! I think my mood was set right by some reasons.

1. Hubby warned me last night, "If you receive a package in the mail tomorrow, don't open it, OK?" HE HE HE HE HE HE...It must be my BIRTHDAY gift!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!! At first I teased him by saying that I'd open it (I have a habit of opening everything that comes to our mailbox, except personal letters), but then I promised not to do it. I CAN'T WAIT to see what it is HUE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE...*big grin*

2. I had a talk with my Estonian friend prior to our Finnish lesson. I asked her if her hubby was Finnish and she said that her hubby had died already. Ugh...I felt SO bad asking about it. With broken English (her Finnish is WAY better than her English), she told me that it had been hard on them (she has three sons) at first, but since it happened 8 years ago, it wasn't so painful anymore. Then I asked her what happened. She said it was an accident. She said that whenever she thought about it, she felt sad, but she tried not to think about it so often nowadays. Her youngest son is only about 8 years old, so I imagine that he must've been just a baby when the accident happened! Goodness!!!

That conversation made me feel SO grateful that I'm still given another day with my hubby. I'm SO LUCKY to be able to love him and be loved by him another day. That really helped me set the mood for last night. I want to make the best out of my time with him. I don't want to regret not having given my best when the time's up. Tick tock tick tock...nobody knows when their time's up.

So far my marriage's started off pretty well. We haven't had any fights yet (differences, yes, but no arguments - bantering? Definitely! We love joking with each other!) I hope it's still going to be like this all the time until the end of it when one of us dies (or perhaps both of us die at the same time, who knows?). All in all, I never thought that being married could be THIS MAGICAL! There's just something amazing in serving each other equally and getting our love tanks filled up to the brim. My cup's still runneth over. I couldn't have expected a better life than this. THANK YOU, Lord, for having given me today to be spent with him!!! I've been SO blessed!!! ;-D

Today when I woke up, this song kept on repeating in my head...here let me share with you the lyrics of a song that I've always loved he he he he...Our English teacher in High School made us listen to this song and write down the blanks in the lyrics that she had photocopied for us, then she made us sing this song together he he he...I'll ALWAYS remember that lesson! ;-D

God Will Make a Way
Don Moen


God will make a way,
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me
He will be my guide
Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength for each new day
He will make a way, He will make a way.

By a roadway in the wilderness,
He'll lead me
And rivers in the desert will I see
Heaven and earth will fade
But His Word will still remain
He will do something new today.

Image taken from www.heartlight.org