3BT: Random Days

1. Having fun creating an imaginary world in my head. :-D

2. Getting my dose of cat photos or videos every day. Can't stop rewatching this one for example. The ginger cat Marmalade reminds me of our cat back in Indo. SO CUTE!!!!!


3. Watching this makes me feel so relaxed...



4. Reading this post: Ten Things I've Learned About Trauma.

5. Had my yearly work appraisal and it turned out well. The appraisal showed that I neither overestimate nor underestimate myself. Plus we got to discuss what other things I could do to improve myself, which was great! :-D

6. Ginger, herbal tea, Neti pot AKA "sarvikuono nenäkannu", and sauna. I've been feeling under the weather lately and they've all helped.

35th Birthday

Today is my 35th birthday. When I woke up, I was greeted by the gorgeous pink sky outside as the sun was starting to rise (yeah, I woke up late because today was my free day LOL!!!). 


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Today I just want to be thankful for these things:

- For this breath that I still have. The gift of life. 

- My husband. When I was preparing to marry him, I thought that I was sure that he was the one for me. What I knew then deep down in my heart versus what I know now shows me that my choice was right - my faith in us back then was blind, but now I've seen the proofs and what I see is far more beautiful than what I could have known then. The longer I live with him, the surer I am that he is definitely the one for me and the more thankful I am to have him by my side. Just by being himself, he makes me feel like I'm the best version of myself. He helps me be the best version of myself. And it helps a lot to be accepted and loved just the way I am - even when I'm cranky, even when I make mistakes, even when I'm obsessed with some things, even when I'm having my PMS. 

Honey, marrying you is one of the BEST decisions ever in my entire life. Each day spent with you is a day full of fun, laughter, love, and tenderness. I just hope and pray that God will keep us hand-in-hand and heart-to-heart until death do us part - and I hope that He will give us plenty of time together still on earth because I want to grow old and I want to grow together with you. I cherish you and I still want you even after all these years.

- My parents. For letting me make my own mistakes, for trusting me to make my own decisions, for never nagging me to come visit, for never making me feel guilty for anything (either deliberately or not), for loving me without choking the life out of me, for letting me be my own person and letting me choose my own path.

- My mother-in-law. Thank you for accepting me into the family with such warmth and love, for teaching me things tenderly and patiently, for never criticizing me, for supporting me and for your constant appreciation. I couldn't have asked for a better mother-in-law.

- Friends - old ones, new ones, online friends. I'd especially like to thank my blogger friends and new online friends here. Even though most of us have never met, but you've supported me and showed me your love and compassion and I'm very thankful for that. And all the friends I've met either online or in real life have taught me so many things and inspired me in many different ways.

- My boss and coworkers. Thankful that I'm accepted in the team without being treated differently, that I still have a job despite the tough economy. 

- My kind customers. I've talked to some people about this and they all confirmed that there are so many nice and kind customers here in this village and I'm thankful for that. When I first started work, I made so many mistakes, but none of them said anything harsh to me. They reminded me of my mistakes tenderly and over time they've forgiven my other mistakes and they have also shown appreciation towards me and I'm forever grateful for that. 

- Infertility. Infertility has taught me so many things that I wouldn't have learned otherwise and it has also allowed me to meet so many lovely ladies that I wouldn't have met otherwise. I'm thankful for the many lessons and the gift of new friends that infertility brings. 


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OK, now I've finished the list, so it's time to enjoy my mud cake topped with berries. :-D 

Training Trip

The other day my coworkers and I were sent to a city to have some training. It was two day training, so we had to stay overnight in a hotel. My first trip with my coworkers that included an overnight stay in a hotel. The first day was an evening shift whereas the second day was a morning shift. One funny thing happened on the second day. I was walking ahead of my coworkers towards the front door of the store where we had the training the day before and the girl who was standing behind the door looked confused to see us. I had a big backpack 'coz we had checked out of the hotel already and she probably thought I was a crazy tourist or something LOL!!!

She waved one hand to show that the store wasn't open yet, then she opened the door when I kept on walking towards her and she said in Finnish, "We're not open yet."

I explained to her why we were there and she smiled apologetically. She wasn't there the day before, though, so it was only normal that she had no idea that we were coming there that day HA HA HA HA...



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After the training, I had a chance to meet my friend at her new place, so it was all good. She cooked a great dinner for me and then she drove me to the bus stop. It was already around 8 pm by then but the sun was shining low on the sky and it was shining right at us. VERY warm and nice! I was glad it wasn't raining 'coz the weather report said it would rain when I checked it a few days beforehand. 

Anyway, the trainer was excellent, but I wasn't sure how well I was doing considering it was all done in Finnish and there were just LOADS and LOADS of new pieces of information to absorb and remember. While waiting for my friend to pick me up, I managed to write down a list of the most important things to remember so that I had something to hold on to before the real practice day came. We also had some practice during training and I felt a bit all over the place to be honest.

However, today I went to work just to buy some stuff and then my boss was there and he told me that the trainer was pleased with my effort during the training. I was really surprised and TOUCHED!!! (I remembered to thank him). I was surprised 'coz I didn't even ask how I was doing, but it was nice of him to let me know verbally anyway.

You see, being the only foreigner in the group, I do rely perhaps more heavily on other people's feedback to figure out whether I've performed well enough in my tasks, esp. when I'm doing something I never did before in the past (because I want to make sure I understand fully what I'm supposed to do and what they're expecting from me). I'm VERY thankful that my coworkers and boss don't treat me differently and they treat me as well as the other coworkers. I'm also VERY thankful to hear any type of feedback so that I know whether what I'm doing is right or wrong.

Anyway, I hope you'll all have a blessed weekend ahead! I surely will enjoy mine fully! :-D


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3BT: Random Days

1. Having to wear a uniform to work (the top and jacket provided by work) and not having to wonder about what to wear. Only need to invest on dark-coloured pants (no need to wear any skirt 'coz it's just not practical for my kind of work - a treat for a tomboy like me!).

2. Hubby's "sunbathing" sleeping pose. Sometimes I go to bed later than he does and then I get to see him lie on his back with both hands under his head. SO CUTE!!!!

3. Scratching hubby's head (giving him a sort of gentle head massage) and hearing him "purr" in delight ha ha ha...


4. Dealing with a past "ghost" once and for all and facing it face forward without shoving it to the back of my mind anymore.

5. Realizing even more now how perfect the timing of FIL's passing, because it coincided with BIL's and my holiday, so I could spend more time with MIL without any distraction during the first week, which was probably the toughest for her.

6. My boss and coworkers who don't treat me differently because I'm a foreigner. I'm VERY THANKFUL for this.

7. My period is finally here, so I can say goodbye to my mellow mood earlier due to PMS HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE...

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8. Watching these talented kids and thinking how much time they must've spent practicing. I salute them and wish them a beautiful future.

3BT: Random Days

1. On nights when hubby goes to sleep earlier than me, I LOVE tucking him in bed and kissing him goodnight. :-D

2. Watching this interesting video clip:


3. My boss called me yesterday to tell me that if needed, I may have to work longer on a certain day. How thoughtful of her to call in advance first to warn me about it because that day we'd be visiting my MIL (my boss didn't know this), so I could tell MIL in advance that we may be late.

4. Hearing a funny thing that my nephew said about a certain circumstance. Apparently in the middle of a heated argument somewhere, a woman passed out and my nephew then asked his mom, "Mom, why did she pass out? Was she hit by a car?" LOL LOL LOL!!!!!

5. Listening to this podcast about Living Without Children After Infertility. At one point I even shed some tears. 

6. Had a weird, romantic dream. Even though it was weird, it felt nice to have a romantic dream once in a while. In the dream, two blind people fell in love and the last scene of my dream was when they were holding each other tightly (it seemed that they had been separated or something and that made the meeting all the more sweeter!). :-D


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7. Hubby started chanting "Informer" before we watched a movie and it made me laugh uncontrollably - which in turn made him laugh along with me. LOL LOL!!!

3BT: Random Days

1. Hubby had a pre-Christmas weekend party in Luosto with his online gaming buddies. When I was going to work and he was preparing to go there, I told him, "Have fun, but not too much fun that you won't remember coming home."

He said without missing a beat, "But the fun part is coming home after the party."

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW...my heart melted right away. :-D He's not often verbally romantic, but he does drop "romantic verbal bombs" like these every now and then and it always catches me by surprise. :-D

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2. Reading these words that made me laugh: "You're incapable of being destroyed. Like a cockroach." ROFL ROFL ROFL!!!!!!!!!

3. My appreciative and thoughtful direct superior who is fair in treating us all.

4. Watching snowflake patterns on my bike saddle when I had to run some errands downtown.

5. My first attempt at recreating Zuppa Soup was a success (and I found a cheap ceramics bowl that could be put in the oven). WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!


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6. I made some oven baked pancake (actually pannukakku) and I'm going to eat it soon with some strawberry jam. The smell is spreading to the other rooms, too...mmmmhhhh...

7. Dark Belgian chocolate that just melts in the mouth. I've never had anything like that before. Today I bought a few more packages of the same chocolate for Christmas gifts (and for us as well LOL!). HEAVENLY!!!!