zawadi

Taimo, in memoriam

2011-04-14T23:23:00.001+03:00

Taimo Laitinen was active in God's work all over the place. He served as youth leader, camp director, pastor, mission trip leader, pathfinder leader, just about everything.

I can remember him from different places ever since I was a kid. Laura was dedicated by him as a baby. There have been pathfinder camporees (Osh Kosh '99, Denmark '06 and Finland '10), Maranatha trips (Ghana '04, Norway '08, and many others with Dad), and many other events - campmeetings, Maranatha meetings, General Conference meetings... He's always been there. It's difficult to try to understand that he isn't anymore.

Päivi

Taimo was active in Maranatha work, leading out on short projects in many countries over the course of many years. Ghana in 2004 was the first time I remember being on a project with him. There we started work on a a surgical theatre building for Akomaa memorial hospital.

This was our group in Ghana, Taimo on the far left.

Another project we've been on together was the Leknes SDA church renovation in Norway, 2008.

In 2010 we were in Atlanta at the same time for the SDA GC meetings. Here Taimo is representing Finland with Eliisa (left) in the closing meeting. Photo by Linus

Päivi telling us of messages Taimo had a habit of leaving for her. This was the last one she received. It says "SHMILY rakas!" It stands for "See How Much I Love You dear".

Mom and I at the funeral

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away... Blessed be the name of the Lord

2011-04-11T23:21:00.000+03:00

Long-time church worker, youth director, camp director, pathfinder leader, Maranatha leader, ADRA director, friend Taimo Laitinen passed away suddenly a month ago. Lots of people came to pay their respects and say farewell.

these are part of a Maranatha group that Taimo led to India in November

The pathfinders honoring a dear leader

family

drive carefully please

2011-04-11T22:48:00.000+03:00

Slushy roads, soft shoulders, ruts, etc... make for interesting rides.

I'm glad Dad wasn't hurt!

It could've been worse

cake decorating

2011-04-11T21:57:00.000+03:00

The boys hosted a special night for the girls and I got to be a part of it since they wanted help decorating and filling cakes. I don't think I've ever decorated a cake before, but with Juha's (below) expert help we figured it out and had fun!

The boys had gone to great lengths to make the evening enjoyable for the girls :)

They had a nice show with homemade movies, the sweetest self-written love song ever, snacks, cake and all kinds of good finger-foods, and a pool party with the sauna decorated with white cut-out messages and hearts and UV-lights. It was neat :) I didn't stay for the pool party, but could hear them for a long time since I live right above the pool :D

Hyvä pojat!

play day

2011-04-11T20:57:00.000+03:00

One of our many days of playing around with equipment

morphine - check, adrenaline - check, alfentanil - check...

Everyone basking in the few lone rays of sun that day :D

Church visitation

2011-04-10T21:36:00.000+03:00

At the beginning of March I went along with a group of students to visit the Nummela SDA church. We had the whole church service with them. Sabbath School was a prayer course with different prayer assignments at different stations. For church we had a music sermon, singing lots of songs and sharing thoughts in between. I think we all enjoyed it :)

Here they are setting up one of the prayer rooms

Afterwards Suvi's parents treated us to a wonderful meal in their home before we left to drive back to Toivonlinna. I think we should have more trips like this!

Spring break

2011-04-08T22:19:00.000+03:00

Lily and I enjoying the sunshine and snowbanks :)

I went home for spring break and worked for most of it. When I wasn't working I was reading Prince Caspian and Voyage of the Dawn Treader to my sisters. It was fun.

home :)

One morning they came by with a helicopter and an attached saw and knocked snow off the trees and sawed off branches that were too close to the power lines. I wonder if they ever hit the power lines themselves?

I got to practice more :) Mom's veins were easy to hit

Pictures don't properly show how much snow there was, but it was almost to my hips. The van is just over 2m high, the snowbank in front of it was almost that high. It was pretty!

ok, well.. that snowbank was actually closer to my waist than hips

winter wonderland :)

Gala

2011-04-08T22:07:00.000+03:00

Around Valentine's Day the school had a banquet.

It was pretty sweet to come down and see a lobbyful of guys all dressed up with roses for their dates :) I think this should happen more often :D

the cafe spruced up a bit

dessert :)

photo shoots

first-aid practice

2011-04-08T22:01:00.000+03:00

Our school in winter

Boys posing with "Justus". Poor guy doesn't even have shoes...

Scenario: a carful of crazy young adults is hit by a russian family in another vehicle. There was a bicyclist involved in there somehow as well :D

Here the 'russian' mother (who of course doesn't speak finnish or english) is all worried about her son who is losing consciousness.

'Russian' child is lifeless

What too many accidents can be blamed on.

Alcohol

Debriefing afterwards

blood-thirsty

2011-04-08T21:48:00.000+03:00

We finally got to the fun part of school, where we get to practise poking needles into each other :)

It can be either really easy or really difficult. Kind of depends on whether the pokee jumps or not, or whether they faint or not...

Here's a willing patient :)

Getting poked wasn't something I overly enjoyed, especially the first time. I think I had nice bruises for quite a while afterwards. The first time Petri went for my vein it disappeared. The next time I think he had more luck.

Blood is pretty cool :D

(Notice the support of a classmate in the background, since I was a bit squeamish...)

Even though a bigger vein can bleed a bit I think it would be interesting to see a punctured artery and see how much more pressure there is. Pity they're harder to get to...

Happy happy :)

2011-02-13T00:00:00.000+02:00

Nathan came from Newbold to recruit at Toivonlinna and Emilia came with him, all the way from Spain. I had a great time seeing them and getting to catch up with Emilia again :) We sat and chatted, drank tea and watched Nathan take on every ping pong playing guy in the dorm :D I think he beat most of them too :)

Two day later they got engaged!! and I'm very happy for my dear friend :)

Felicitaciones queridos, y muchas bendiciones!

sunshine again

2011-02-12T23:49:00.000+02:00

One free morning I woke up to the sun shining! So I headed out and hiked up the hill behind the school in order to enjoy it more. It's actually a bit of work hiking through deep snow!

There's the school, down by the sea

of blood and bruises

2011-02-12T23:46:00.000+02:00

A few weeks ago I went along with Ida and her mom to donate blood. For them it's routine. For me it was the first time :)

First the lady taking my information couldn't get the computer to print out all the information, so I had to wait awhile. Once that was done I got to proceed to the blood tests. My hemoglobin was acceptable, as well as my history. Hard to believe, but it will soon be 3 years since I've been to a malaria area... Time flies.

I have a low blood pressure as it is, so all day I had tried to drink lots of fluids to give myself more volume. Even with that my blood dripped slow enough that they almost didn't let me donate.

I decided to look the other way when the nurse stuck the needle in my vein. Being stuck with needles isn't very high on my list of things that I enjoy..

Then I lay there for about 10 minutes pumping my hand into a fist over and over again, feeling my strength literally flow out of me. It's a weird feeling really.

Afterwards I felt a bit weak for a few hours, preferring to sit on the floor rather than stand, when possible. But that passed pretty quickly and I felt fine.

That was on a Friday. Sunday morning I woke up with a pretty bruise and apparently fresh bleeding inside my arm. Maybe I slept weird and made it bleed?

Battle scars :D

Maybe I'll go back once my 3 months have passed. It's not that bad of an experience, and they can always use blood. Besides, I'd really like to know my blood type!

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord

2011-02-12T23:32:00.000+02:00

Last fall we met in Sweden and gathered around a piano to sing in order to pass the time. We liked it so much that we decided to get together more often and actually practice together. Our first practice happened now at the end of January in Tampere in conjunction with a youth leadership training meeting.

It was great fun seeing each other again and getting to sing together. We'll be meeting more as the year progresses, maybe even get to sing somewhere.

This was the delicious lunch the we ladies whipped up at Anna and Joose's apartment after church. Making food happens pretty fast when there are 5 girls working on it together :)

Bible and volleyball

2011-02-12T23:23:00.000+02:00

Each year Toivonlinna hosts a weekend of spiritual and sports fun. This year there were 11 teams participating from all over Finland, as well as one from Estonia and 3 from Sweden.

On Sabbath they have a Bible bowl/quiz in two parts, and then Saturday evening and Sunday they play a bunch of volleyball games to determine the winner.

I don't know the outcome of the games, since I only stuck around for a few hours and then continued to Ida's house to play rook :) It was quite entertaining and fun :)

Here our pastor Jyrki is calling out questions to the Bible bowl finalists and Gunnevi is translating them into Swedish.

I had the honor of coming up with the semifinal questions, 25 in all. It was great fun! There was one question which no team got right.

Where was King Solomon crowned king?

Bible bowl finalists on Sabbath afternoon. Ida keeping score.

Toivonlinna

2011-02-12T18:45:00.000+02:00

After Christmas break I moved to Piikkiö, to the SDA academy Toivonlinna. I'm now living in the dorm, with a room to myself. The idea was to live on campus and help with spiritual life in the dorm. I started out with a few ideas and it seems that more and more keep presenting themselves :D

Basically I'm here in the evenings, since I still study in Turku during the day.

Here's what the room looked like in December when we dumped my stuff here over break

Moving in in January

I have too much stuff!

The view out my window over the yard and the sea

my 'extensive' hallway :)

I was happy to fit my rocking chair in one corner!

My Kazakhstan wall.

Over break I printed out 160 pictures with these walls in mind. It makes the room much more cozy and personal.

My library of nursing books keeps growing. The sudoku book is also an essential part of nursing studies. It helps me stay awake through some classes :)

My room

The wall over my bed has pictures from Argentina and Kenya

Author unknown

2011-01-21T12:23:00.000+02:00

Be careful of your thoughts,

For your thoughts become your words.

Be careful of your words,

For your words become your deeds.

Be careful of our deeds,

For your deeds become your habits.

Be careful of your habits,

For your habits become your character.

Be careful of your character,

For your character becomes you destiny.

Great is the Lord - Starfield

2011-01-14T22:58:00.000+02:00

If all I've done
At last should come to nothing
And all I love, like sand be washed away

Still I will sing
Of Your unfailing glory
On bended knee
I'll lift my voice and say

Great is the Lord
Great is Your name
Till my last breath
I will proclaim

Great is the Lord
Great is Your name
I give my life
To sing Your praise

If You should speak
Or should remain in silence
Should give me light, or lead me through the dark

Whatever the cost
Whatever joy or sorrow
I'll worship still
Because of who You are

When death becomes
The end of all my labors
And Christ alone my rest and reward

May all I've done
Be one enduring echo
Resounding on to shout
Great is the Lord

walk in the snow

2011-01-04T20:25:00.000+02:00

Christmas pictures

2011-01-04T20:19:00.000+02:00

Alina and Ludi

Alina

Laura

Ready or not... here it is!

2011-01-01T00:34:00.000+02:00

2011

Maybe it's some sort of sign of getting older, or then a phenomenon that affects everyone as time grows older, but each year seems to go by faster. I tell you, soon I'll blink my eyes and find myself in a nursing home (as a patient! since I'm there anyways already...)

No matter how fast the years go by though I'd like to be able to look back someday and say that I've lived every moment to the fullest. Elämä on elämistä varten. 'Life is meant to be lived.'

I'm thankful to be able to say that I lived a lot during this past year :)

And I intend to live even more this next year!

May this year be filled with exciting opportunities, life enjoyed fully, new experiences, friendships, wisdom acquired, encounters with our Maker, and no regrets :)

Happy 2011!

Kakkuparty

2010-12-31T23:17:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we had a cake party with the girls at Elina's house. The idea was to experiment with some new recipes, also with gluten free variations. Some were a success, others... maybe not :D

Alina, Elina and Laura ready to dig in.

This cake consisted of chocolate, butter and cream :D

Needless to say, it was rather rich! But oh so good :)

This was some sort of blueberry crumble pie. Basically blueberries with sugar and a crumbly oat-mixture on the top :) Also good!

There were also two other cakes, one a carrot one made by Elina for the day before and which we finished after lunch. No pictures, but it was good, of course.

The other was made by Alina, a sort of chocolate cake, but moist :) Also good!

And we come to the winner :D

It was supposed to have the consistency of a cheesecake... It looks more like a plateful of melted ice cream :D

Also, with yoghurt and cream cheese and lemon, it tasted too much like sour milk :/

I don't believe I'll be making that one again...

Family

2010-12-31T23:06:00.000+02:00

As every year, we had a Christmas dinner with my dad's family on the 26th. My aunt raises Leonberger dogs, we used to have one too, years ago. They're huge!

This is me with Late, one of their bigger ones. He's like a bear :)

Ludi with Late

Jade, my cousin's 10 month old daughter :)

Kisu

2010-12-31T23:02:00.000+02:00

Snow :)

2010-12-31T23:00:00.000+02:00

Let there be light!

2010-12-22T23:13:00.001+02:00

During dark winters every single ray of sunlight is appreciated (unless you're driving south on an icy road...)

It's so pretty how it turns trees pink :)

This picture was taken at noon on the shortest day of the year, December 21. For the one hour the sun could be seen from our house it never got higher than the treetops and traveled just a few degrees southward.

May summer come quickly! :)

LIGHT

The sun :)

A long dark night

2010-12-22T23:06:00.000+02:00

When you work a morning shift you won't even see the sun at all. It's kind of dark. But we've had a beautiful full moon that brightens up the long nights and makes the world seem almost enchanted. It's really incredible to take a late night walk in a forest covered in snow with moon shadows all over the place, bright stars in the sky and sparkling snow on all the trees :)

And lights! Candles, fireplace, christmas lights... candles make my life happy :)

moonshine

snow :)

somebody got us funky neon led lights for the tree outside...

Home for Christmas :)

2010-12-22T23:01:00.000+02:00

I get to be home this Christmas :) At least most of it, after working Christmas Eve.

They found an interesting tree for us this year... It has a bald spot. A big bald spot. I feel kind of sorry for it :D

The cats like the tree :) Last year our tree dried up way before Christmas since they drank up the water. This year the tree has survived thus far :)

hei hei Turku

2010-12-22T22:54:00.001+02:00

After my birthday I spent four weeks doing a practicum at a nursing home in Turku. It was great fun and I also learned some things :)

I moved. Packed up my things and left. This is what the room looked like after I had moved most of my stuff out.

The day before I moved I succeeded in locking myself out of my apartment. Oh the joy :D

So I took a bus to the other side of town to pick up a spare key and walked back. The church happened along my way and I stopped for awhile :) It's so calm and peaceful inside!

Happy half a century ;)

2010-12-22T22:45:00.000+02:00

Mom turned 50 on Dec. 13. I went home for it and Laura flew home from Sweden as a surprise :) It was great fun planning all the details and trying to keep it all a secret. I ended up taking the bus from Turku to Helsinki Thursday night and met Laura and Dad at the airport, then in the morning we drove up to Ristiina and had the lady at the post office call Mom up and had her come 'sign for a special delivery' - Laura. She was rather surprised and happy :)

On Sabbath we had cake and hot chocolate at the church with our church family and then had friends over for the afternoon. These two cakes were made by Alina.

Only now do I realize I don't really have a picture of the birthday girl... :/ Sorry Mom!

There's Mom, dishing up stir fry

Our colorful fruit salad on Friday evening :) with grapes, kiwi and pomegranate, among other things

With my Kisu :)

with most of my sisters. Ludi couldn't make it home for the weekend :/

Alina, Elina, me, Laura

Oi Suomi katso, sinun päiväs koittaa...

2010-12-06T16:33:00.000+02:00

Finlandia - Sibelius

I found these words written to Finlandia. I'm used to singing Be Still My Soul in english, so This Is My Song was new to me.

This is my song, o God of all the nations,

a song of peace for lands afar and mine.

This is my home, the country where my heart is;

Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine;

But other hearts in other lands are beating,

with hope and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,

and sunlight beams on clover leaf and pine.

But other lands have sunlight too, and clover,

And skies are everywhere as blue as mine:

O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,

a song of peace for their land and mine.

May truth and freedom come to every nation!

May peace abound where strife has raged so long;

that each may seek to love and build together,

A world united, righting every wrong;

A world united in its love for freedom,

proclaiming peace together in one song.

Here's still the original Finnish version on YouTube :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL6z2XjFsuQ

Finlandia

2010-12-06T00:01:00.001+02:00

Today we're celebrating 93 years of independence :)

I think I'll celebrate by listening to Sibelius - Finlandia and the Karelia Suite :)

As kids we'd dress up fancy and go visit friends and watch the presidential Independence Day Ball on TV. It was great fun to evaluate all the ladies dresses! The men were rather boring :D They all looked the same..

This year no TV, no party.. maybe I'll have my own :D

Representing my country on Mt Kenya

Hopefully I can do the same on many more mountains!

Our prayer

2010-12-02T19:28:00.000+02:00

Lord, open up our eyes,

let there be no disguise

of the pain we see.

Lord, open up our hearts,

to not ignore

the cries of a world in need.

And open up our ears,

so we can hear

Your call to share the hope

You freely gave.

And open up the path,

so we will have no fear

as we go out to reach

the world you long to save.

Celebrations :)

2010-11-28T19:48:00.000+02:00

Both Ludi and I have our birthdays this month, so when she came to visit me the other weekend we celebrated by buying Ben & Jerry's ice cream (amazingly good stuff!) and making fruit salad. It was good :)

Feliz cumple Ludi!

Pizza, anyone?

2010-11-28T19:43:00.001+02:00

Ludi's 9th grade class had a pizzeria to raise money for their class trip to Nice, France.

The theme for the pizzeria, not coincidentally, was Paris.. :)

Mom, Dad and I helped out in the kitchen, and Ludi was a waitress.

Mozzarella pizza. I so wanted to taste one the whole time we were baking! Finally in the end, after about 5 or 6 hours of baking pizzas, there were enough left over for us to have a few pieces.. :)

Nice would be located where that yellow blob is

my 'french' sister :)

inside the workshop.. all in all I think we baked 213 pizzas. It was crazy at times with impatient waiters at the door asking every 30 seconds whether their pizza was out of the oven yet, and new ones coming up with orders of 6 or more pizzas.. But it was fun! :) We had a great team and I think we all enjoyed the evening :)

EH

2010-11-28T19:30:00.000+02:00

In our great lab clothes ;)

Me getting a ng tube in my nose. It didn't get far though :D I think it balled up in my throat and Olli had to pull it back up. Not a fun feeling at all :/

Me putting a ng tube down Timo, succesfully! :)

practicing putting on diapers :)

diaper models..

We go through 12 years of school to get to play with dolls.. here we practiced catheterizing. I suppose I'm thankful we got to play with the dolls instead of practicing on each other...!

Fall in Turku

2010-11-28T19:06:00.000+02:00

Bethel SDA church in Turku. This year the Finnish young adult weekend (NAP) was held here, on the last weekend in October. The speaker was Tanzanian Baraka Muganda who spoke about Who Do You Love?

Inside Bethel

Aurajoki

fall colors :)

Nordic Youth Congress

2010-11-28T18:24:00.000+02:00

Fall at Ekebyholm

15-17.10.2010

Finnish, and almost Finnish girls ;)

Alina, Elina, Larini, Laura, me, Victoria, Leena, Venla, Tea and Senni

Mikkeli youth - Matti and us girls

Innebandy tournament Saturday night. I can't remember who won..?

After all the other countries had left on Sunday we hung around singing and playing rook :)

Elina, Matti, Laura, Daniel, Leena

On the boat back to Turku with my cabin-mates Henkka, Leena and Matti.

Stockholm Viking Line harbor

A cabin full of people playing president and rook :) Once some went to bed we moved out into the hallway and continued until the wee hours of the morning..

Stockholm

2010-11-28T18:09:00.000+02:00

In the middle of October a group of us took the boat to Sweden for the NYC at Ekebyholm. NYC as in Nordic Youth Congress, not New York City.. It was a weekend for SDA young adults from Scandinavia. Next year instead of a weekend, we'll have a 5-day camp in Denmark. August 16-21, 2011. It'll be great! :)

Since the program at Ekebyholm didn't start until supper, we decided to spend the morning in Stockholm. The first few hours went by at the Drottningholm grounds. The sun was just coming up and the trees were really pretty with yellow leaves all over the place :) It was cold though!

Me, Leena, Tea, Elina and Alina

Allu and me

Elina

Henkka with the ladies ;)

Suvi

part of the castle

feeding the swans

Once the stores opened up we drove into town and walked around. Our first stop was a muffin stand in a shopping center :) Leena and I wandered around looking for coats, since it was cold outside, but didn't find anything..

Suvi hunted down a few geocaches in the center of town. This one was in the middle of the street at an intersection.

I found a coat (or two or three..) that I wanted in this Haglöfs store :) Unfortunately I didn't have an extra 400e on me at the moment :D They were nice! But I'll have to wait on that..

Coffee shop stop with good tea and really good chocolate cake :) before leaving Stockholm

Fall break

2010-11-28T17:37:00.000+02:00

At the end of October I had a nice week and a half of break from school, and spent it at home.

Originally I thought I'd work on all kinds of school work that needed to be done.. but in the end I don't think I got any of it done :D oh well.. At least I had a great time relaxing :)

On the few mornings that it was sunny Lily and I took long walks out in the woods.

Home sweet home :)

The water level was down about a meter from what it should be.

Sabbath afternoon we visited the Haikarainen's and had a great day stuffing ourselves with good food and playing rook for hours :) It snowed that day and the moon was full. We took a walk once we got back home that night and it was beautiful! No need for flashlights or anything..

2010-11-26T18:48:00.000+02:00

Before the throne of God above

I have a strong and perfect plea

A great High Priest whose name is Love

who ever lives and pleads for me

My name is graven on His hands

My name is written on His heart

I know that while in Heaven He stands

No tongue can bid me thence depart

When Satan tempts me to despair

and tells me of the guilt within

upward I look and see Him there

who made an end to all my sin

Because the sinless Saviour died

my sinful soul is counted free

for God the Just is satisfied

to look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the Risen Lamb

My perfect spotless righteousness

The great unchangeable I AM

The King of glory and of grace

One with Himself I cannot die

My soul is purchased by His blood.

My life is hid with Christ on high

With Christ my Saviour and my God

Definitivo, como tudo o que é simples

2010-11-20T22:21:00.001+02:00

Definitive, like all simple things - Carlos Drumond de Andrade

Our pain is not caused by the things we lived, but by the things we dreamed but didn't come true.

Why do we suffer so much for love?

The right thing to do would be not to suffer, but only be grateful for having met such a good person who generated such an intense feeling and kept us company for a reasonable amount of time, a happy time.

Why do we suffer?

Because we automatically forget the things we enjoyed, and we start suffering because of our unrealized projections, for all the cities we wish we had visited with our love but we didn't, for the children we wish we had had but we didn't, for all the concerts, books and silence we wish we had shared, but we didn't. For all the cancelled kisses for eternity.

We don't suffer because our work is exhausting and pays too little, but because of all the free time we didn't have to go to the cinema, to chat with a friend, to swim, to spend with our love.

We don't suffer because our mother is impatient with us, but because of all the moments when we could have shared our deepest concerns with her if only she had been interested in understanding us.

We don't suffer because our team lost, but because of the suppressed joy.

We don't suffer because we're getting old, but because the future is being taken away from us, stopping our thousands of adventures from happening, all those adventures we dreamed of but never really experienced.

How can we relieve the pain of not having lived something?

The answer is as simple as a verse:

By having less illusions and living fuller

The more I live, the more I understand that the real waste of life happens when we keep our love for ourselves, when we don't use our force, when we don't risk anything because of our selfish prudence. It's by avoiding suffering that we lose our happiness.

"Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional."

Sverige

2010-10-02T23:25:00.000+03:00

Mom and I visited Laura at Ekebyholm in Sweden last weekend. I flew to Turku from Denmark in the morning, spent a few hours at home, then flew to Stockholm in the evening. Laura and Mom were there to pick me up :)

The dorm and cafeteria at Ekebyholmsskolan where Laura is studying in the Bibellinjen.

Out Laura's window on the top floor.

The building is fascinatingly beautiful :) It's about 400 years old with all kinds of arches, thick walls, old furniture...

After church on Sabbath Daniel, Laura and I sang for a few hours :)

Mom learning to make noise :D

Laura's first time bowling :) Not too bad either

waiting in line to get on the ferry in Stockholm

Viking Line smokestack. Mom and I took the night boat back to Turku and went over kidneys until I fell asleep :)

The lights of Stockholm

Aalborg

2010-10-02T22:57:00.000+03:00

On our 45 min stop in Aalborg I called up Morten and we were able to meet up :) We caught up on current news and walked around town. There was a wonderful yarn shop that I drooled over for a while, but resisted :)

A homeless Tapio found a good-sized bench to sleep on

I don't think you see slow food advertised very often?

What country was this in?? :D

Crossing the Storebælt bridge on the way back to Copenhagen

Our lodging at the Union office in Copenhagen.

The Union building we stayed at

new friends at the Copenhagen airport

the coolest corridor at the airport. It reminded me of elephant ribs

Goodbye Denmark :)

Tak for alt

2010-10-02T22:40:00.000+03:00

A little church along the road to Ålborg that we stopped at

Sirpa, Vilde, Gina

inside the church

Tapio being inspired to preach..

I liked this tombstone. It says 'thank you for everything'.

København

2010-10-02T22:31:00.000+03:00

On our way from Finland to Himmerlandsgården we spent a few hours wandering around the streets of Copenhagen. They have nice shops :) All kinds of things for decorating a home, food places, and a delicious bookstore :)

I really liked this window

A french crepe restaurant. Really good! Themed Asterix and Obelix :)

Inside a pretty church. There was a choir practicing somewhere upstairs and their voices could be heard in the sanctuary :)

Mr. Muscle

With the real mermaid on a visit to China, I decided to 'step' in

The Danish national food must be bread!

A cool collection of pictures on the Rites of Life from around the world

Uplift planning

2010-10-02T22:07:00.000+03:00

Uplift is an SDA Nordic young adult camp taking place in Denmark next summer August 16-21.2011. If you're between 18-30 years of age, Nordic, and interested in meeting other Nordic young adults and spending time with God, write the above dates in your calendar! It's going to be great!

Sirpa, Tapio and I went to the planning meeting in Denmark a few weeks ago. Here we are leaving Turku. Tapio is clearly excited about the trip :)

Thomas leading out in planning the daily schedule

Berny, from Sweden

Vilde and Gina from Norway. Victor was there too, but only for a few hours.

Niels-Peter and Laura from Denmark

The main building at Himmerlandsgården camp

an upstairs room in another building

naked lady? in a room. I guess I should have administered first aid...

fire bowl

one of many fields

dried jelly by the sea

the mosquito infested path back from the sea

Camporee volunteers

2010-10-02T20:57:00.000+03:00

In the middle of September those of us who had volunteered at the pathfinder camporee were invited to a get-together at Kallioniemi. Out of 130, about 60 showed up. It was nice and relaxing :)

On the 4h drive up, Ida and I played this cool game :) You have to move the other vehicles to get the red car out of rush hour traffic. It can be surprisingly challenging :)

Kallioniemi :)

a FEW mushrooms

up the 304 stairs again...

I should have taken Kuutti's example and ridden up on my Dad's shoulders

This is more what the view is supposed to look like (not the gray fog from a few weeks back). Actually, I remember this view being a lot more clear. I suppose it's because I haven't been up there in MANY years and the trees have grown up.

taking shelter under some trees when it started raining and listening to Dad's skunk stories :)

Dad, Megan, Ari

Kärpässieni. Who knows what it might be in english?

Megan, originally from NZ, now in London, flew over just for this weekend! It was nice to see each other again and relax in the sauna :)

with my other sister Elina :)

On the way back we stopped in Tampere and this beauty caught my eye ;) It had moss growing out of the roof :)

Home sweet home (for now)

2010-10-02T20:41:00.000+03:00

This is the building my apartment is in. I'm on the third floor.

Our hallway. I live with two other girls. We each have our own room, then we share the kitchen, bathroom and shower.

our kitchen

view from my window

The first few nights I slept at Ida's house and rode in to Turku with them. Then once I got the keys to this room Ida helped me move in. This is how it looked for the first week, before my parents brought more stuff from home.

with my junk :) Not sure where to put it all.

Ludi, tasting a lychee we had gotten at the store.

dinner :)

Mom took me to Ikea this week and I got two little bookshelf-thingys. I spent some time trying to screw the screws in..

I was too strong for it :) Fortunately it didn't break bad and it's in a place where it's not noticeable.

finished product

Here's what it looks like now

It looks cozier with the curtains shut and lamps and candles burning.. :)

Ensihoito, emergency nursing

2010-10-02T20:18:00.000+03:00

On August 30 I started my emergency nursing studies at the Turku polytechnic school (AMK). There are 22 of us in my class, 12 guys, 10 girls. So far we get along great :)

my school

I've completed the first month now. Only 4 more years to go...!

Inspired!

2010-10-02T20:09:00.000+03:00

At the end of August about 35 of us young adults got together for a wonderfully inspiring weekend at Kallioniemi. Most of the weekend was cold and rainy, but the messages we heard warmed my heart.

Tihi Lazic, from Serbia, shared real experiences of God working and intervening. The stories were incredible! He also sang for us and with us :)

Sabbath afternoon we hiked up to Multamäki in a drizzle. There are 304 steps. I counted.

Our struggles up the hill were rewarded with this view :) Usually you can see the lake and hills and forest out there. This time it was gray...

Game of ultimate

Sirpa & Jukka Iivari

2010-10-02T19:45:00.000+03:00

Once upon a time...

... a girl and a boy went to school together, went their own ways for a long time, then found each other again and were married on a beautiful day in August :)

Markku and I took pictures of them beforehand. Markku's pregnant wife Riikka is holding the shade.

The Happy couple with Sirpa's sisters and brother-in-law.

Newbold people :)

Leena and Anita, from Australia

Craig, from SA

Ermira, from Albania

Palma and Tamas from Hungary

Elsa :)

Anita with the bouquet, Craig wearing the garter ;)

...and they lived happily ever after :)

August

2010-10-02T19:27:00.000+03:00

I spent most of August at home with my Kisu :) working and getting ready to move. On the 10th I got notice that I was accepted into emergency nursing in Turku. On the same day I reserved a flat, without really knowing where it was or what it looked like :)

Laura left for Ontario to study theoretical physics for a year. She left Turku right when I was to move there.. But hopefully she'll be back next year!

Fredrik and Victoria stopped by on their visit in Finland. We spent a nice few hours playing Ligretto :)

Ludi got her hair cut

Lilli, my companion in the woods

Kisu...

Peaceful lake Saimaa and Ristiina

...

Celebrating Allu's 17th birthday :)

a delicious! cake the birthday girl baked for herself

and cupcakes

an afternoon of games on the front lawn :)

One evening Mom and I hiked out to Astuvansalmi. It was gorgeous. A perfect evening, calm, no mosquitos..

Mom, worried about me falling off the cliff

Astuvansalmi

Laura

2010-09-24T20:50:00.000+03:00

Me, Ludi, Laura, Allu

A few days after the Camporee Laura and Morten left for Denmark and Laura continued from there to Ekebyholm in Sweden to study in the Bibellinjen (Bible course) there. It lasts for one semester and mainly they study the Bible and learn how to witness etc. So far it seems she has really enjoyed it :)

As I write this I'm sitting in the Turku airport waiting for my flight to Stockholm. I'm going to see my sister :) This is a picture of us about 4 years ago on the ferry to Stockholm.. that was also a fun trip ;)

It's been a month and a half since she left, so it'll be nice to see each other and catch up on things :)

hehe, I forgot...

2010-09-05T20:58:00.000+03:00

The advertising posters for the camporee featured a picture I had taken :) and the model is my sister Alina.

Four years ago in Denmark Kris and I were up front for the closing program featuring Finland...

... four years later we were back! This time for the opening ceremonies in Finland :)

Friends :)

2010-09-05T20:33:00.000+03:00

Fredrik (fi) and Victoria (no/uk)

Maya (no)

Emilia (fi) and Anita (nz/au)

Marjukka (fi)

Dad (fi)

Anna (fi/bg)

Laura and Morten (dk)

Sisters in black :)

Laura, Elina and Alina

Ludi :)

with our beautiful Anni (fi)

I went armed with so many games and I think we only ended up playing Uno and Rook? I think lack of time was the biggest reason for that. But thank you friends for keeping me company :)

All good get-togethers involve food :) Enjoying popcorn in Norway with Victoria and Maya

Victoria tasting danish pancakes

In Denmark with Newbold people: Fredrik, Victoria and Thomas

international

2010-09-05T20:19:00.000+03:00

Norway

There were over 20 countries represented at our camporee. There were participant clubs from most of the TED countries, with visitors from the US, SE Asia, and other neighboring countries.

Sweden

Israel

Polish scarf

Visitor from France

Estonians in their uniform

Russians lowering their flag in the evening

Market day

2010-09-05T20:12:00.001+03:00

Oona modeling our beautiful flag :)

On market day all clubs had the opportunity to sell crafts, games, massages, face painting... you name it :D All the proceeds then went toward a vocational school in Sudan.

Ludi with our Russian friend Slava

Miika selling warm hugs

Latvians

Ida getting her hair braided

painting little Russian dolls

leave it to the Norwegians to offer us dried fish...

an Icelandic specialty :D

Victoria and Maikku promoting Newbold College

An active observer :)

Camporee activities

2010-09-05T20:00:00.001+03:00

Each country came prepared with some activities that the pathfinders then were able to participate in on different days.

The first days of camporee were spent building up camps: fireplaces, tables, seats, rain shelters, gates... I think this one was from the Estonian camp.

Water activities were very popular. This was one of the beaches, with a water slide built by the germans.

Canoeing and kayaking

fishing

beach volley

wrestling :)

ropes courses

tower building

The Germans had their swing again

There were also many many different crafts and other things to work on. I didn't make it around to see everything, but what I saw looked like fun :)

Behind the scenes

2010-09-05T19:51:00.000+03:00

My masseuse-sister Ludi helping me out :)

Besides all the pathfinders at the camp, there were about 160 volunteers working behind the scenes, making sure everything ran well. There were people in food distribution, toilet cleaning, AV, cooks, maintenance, kiosk, info, lifeguarding, office... From our family mom and Laura were in the info, dad in food distribution, me in the office, Alina in the kiosk and Ludi and Lily along for the ride.

Our volunteer kitchen prepared food for all us volunteers so we didn't have to spend work time on that.

lunch with Mariel, Ari, Megan and Marjukka

Elsa, Jani's little girl, whose smile warms my heart :)

Anytime I wasn't at my computer there was a line-up of volunteer kids wanting to watch TV programs on the internet...

Camporee men hard at work.. Bobby, Jani and Thomas

Part of the video crew: Peter, Orvo and Mike

slicing a few thousand strawberries for fruit salad on Friday evening

My faithful companion and comforter relaxing by the lake with me one evening while everyone else was at the meeting.

working vacation

2010-09-05T19:16:00.000+03:00

I didn't go to the Camporee only to observe but spent almost the whole time working. It was fun :) After the camporee I slept for 17 of the first 24 hours and a lot for the days thereafter as well...

This building housed our camp office, downstairs where you can see the open doors. I'll tell you, it was comparable to sauna in there! Besides it being up to 35 deg outside, the cooling systems for the cafeteria upstairs blew their hot air into our office :D

My boss :) Jani. He's the Finnish pathfinder director and also director of this camp, in charge of the practical side of the camporee, making sure everything ran smoothly and people had what they needed for camps, activities, programs...

I was his secretary for the camp

Merja, who worked night and day arranging food distribution

Country directors' meeting every day. The man standing is Paul, the TED youth director, the man overall in charge :)

Faithbook Camporee

2010-09-05T19:00:00.001+03:00

The 10th TED pathfinder camporee in Keuruu, Finland 27.7 - 3.8.2010

main meeting tent with good room for over 2200 of us

Our speaker for the week, Bobby Bovell from England/Denmark and translator Marjukka Ostrovljanovic

View from the back of the tent

Our Faithbook band :)

Jussi playing his harmonica

Thomas enjoying himself at the piano

Johannes, from Sweden, explaining procedures

Estonians performing for international night

This man on the left, forgive me but I've forgotten his name and country, has been to all 10 TED camporees! For me it was my second...

We made it in the newspaper for central Finland. If you look close you can spot my name in there too ;)

Mom and Jen selling postcards at the Info kiosk

The camp area was surrounded by a lake on almost 3 sides.. :) It was great for water sports and swimming, especially since temperatures were record high during the camp.

The Finns set up camp in the forest while everyone else had to make do out in the open fields

Baptism on Sabbath with 9 young people making the decision to follow God

900 of the 2200 pathfinders were from Great Britain. They looked pretty smart in their uniforms marching down the road!

setting up

2010-09-05T18:36:00.000+03:00

At the end of July I spent a week and a half camping with my family and 2200 other people in Central Finland.

The occasion was a pathfinder camporee for the Trans-European division.

Pathfinders is a club for 10-15 year olds who learn skills ranging from outdoor survival and first aid to housekeeping and all kinds of hobbies. Besides the general skills, pathfinders also learn about God and serving people with the skills they have gotten.

Home sweet home :)

2010-08-09T11:03:00.001+03:00

I left Atlanta on the 21st and got home the next evening. Of course, the smart person that I am, I had stayed up again the night before.. Our plane left Atlanta two hours late, wherefore I missed my connection in Paris. Their next flight to Helsinki was full, so I waited about four hours for a flight. But the Air France people were nice to me and gave me a meal voucher so I could have lunch while I waited. By the time I got on my flight, I was tired :) I slept from the moment I sat in my seat until we landed in Helsinki.

Mom and Ludi met me at the airport and we talked all the way home. It was such a nice evening that we still went swimming once we got home, around 11 pm.

I was home for two days before we took off for the pathfinder camporee in Keuruu. We swam a lot during those two days :)

In the sauna with Morten and my sisters

Laura, Alina, Ludi

Last Greyhound trip for a while

2010-08-08T19:56:00.000+03:00

After three days in Traverse City it was time for me to head back home. This time Greyhound took 27 hours, through Grand Rapids (where I made my connection by 5 minutes), Detroit and Nashville. The trip wasn't as eventful as the one coming up :) I did see my first Amish people (below), which I thought was interesting.

I tried sleeping most of the way. A guy got on in Dayton around midnight and sat next to me. I just kept dozing. After about 10 minutes, he taps me on the leg and asks: "Do you want to hold my hand?" ??!?

I told him no thanks.. :D I was amused by it though :) It's not that often that anyone asks to hold my hand, let alone strange guys.

By the time I got to Chattanooga I was so ready to be done with buses! It was great to be met by a good friend and be able to forget traveling, at least for a day...

Sleeping Bear Dunes

2010-08-08T19:42:00.000+03:00

This is at the top of the dunes

About 130m of sand going right down to Lake Michigan

My good-looking and fit Uncle Eric who ran down and climbed back up with me once again

Looking up from the beach

There we are, climbing up. It took us 21 minutes to climb up and we were passing people barely crawling (literally), or sitting down and looking beat.

me with my uncle :)

Mishe Mokwa

2010-08-08T19:28:00.001+03:00

Tradition tells how long ago a forest fire raged in what now is Wisconsin, making food scarce for a mother bear and her two cubs. Fearing for their safety, she led them on a long swim across Michi Gama to escape the flames and search for a sustenance. They swam more than fifty miles, leaving from the western shore and heading east.

The mother bear, whom we call Mishe Mokwa, reached the eastern shore and collapsed on the beach, exhausted from her ordeal. She had just enough strength left to raise her head and look across the water for her cubs. The youngsters had lagged far behind, however, and could not be seen. Soon Mishe Mokwa fell asleep. Her cubs continued to struggle as they approached shore. Finally, too young and too weak to endure, they drowned a few miles offshore, under the light of the moon.

Mishe Mokwa eventually woke and continued to wait for them, refusing to move until they arrived safely. Sadly, they never did. To this day Mishe Mokwa still watches and waits for her cubs. A mountain of sand covers her now, which is called Sleeping Bear Dune. It was believed that Manitou was so impressed by her loyalty that he created two islands where the cubs perished, called the Manitou Islands.

South Manitou Island seen from Sleeping Bear Dunes

Lakeshore

2010-08-08T15:28:00.001+03:00

At least in Northern Michigan the lake is flanked by sand dunes everywhere. They're really pretty and fun to climb.

Platte River

2010-08-08T15:23:00.001+03:00

Canoeing the Platte River is something we've done nearly every time we're in Michigan.

stones...! :) Both Barb and I love gathering stones, so we were in heaven. We even found some Petoskey's. I found the best one the next day though while climbing up the sand dunes. It had the pattern on both sides and was pretty clear.

Where the Platte meets Lake Michigan

Traverse City

2010-08-08T15:16:00.000+03:00

This is my Uncle Eric and Aunt Barb. Eric and my mom are twins. Eric and Barb live in Traverse City and I visited them for 3 days in July.

Barb is big into crafts and has a whole room devoted to supplies :)

This is Boo Boo, their spoiled child

Greyhound

2010-08-08T15:08:00.000+03:00

I really wanted to go visit my uncle and aunt in Michigan while I was in the States, so I bought tickets on the Greyhound and figured it would be a good experience. Well.. it ended up being such a good experience that I'll probably not do it again. At least alone. It's a long trip to do alone!

My trip up was scheduled to take over 22 hours. I was to leave Chattanooga at 21.30 and get to Traverse City around 20.00 the next evening. Even before we start I'd like to say a word to the wise.. make sure you're rested BEFORE your trip. The night before I left I had stayed up all night (smart, right?) and the two nights before that I'd gone to bed around 3 am or later.. haha

So I got to the Greyhound station after meeting a friend for tea. The guy at the ticket counter tells me my bus is overbooked and I'll probably have to wait for one coming at 11pm, but that one only has a few seats left too. Ok. Well.. we waited. Casey was with me. My bus came and took on a few people from the front of the line and they were full. I figured I was going to wait until the next one then. But the driver came back in and got about 10 people more! He had them and their stuff sitting in the aisle and the front steps. I was the last person to get on. He even skipped over a few others. I think I got picked because I was smaller and younger and could handle the floor easier than the others. So I rode the 3 hours to Nashville on the top step of the bus, with my back against the drivers cubicle, with my hips smushed against another woman's hips. A third lady was down by our feet, on the bottom step. I must say I have had more comfortable rides. But none necessarily as interesting :D or at least not many..

A girl sitting in the aisle behind me was singing out songs she was listening to on her headphones. Not quietly either. All around people were talking and swearing. The bus driver took me under his wing and called me Lil' Mama.

Finally around 1 or 2 am we reached Nashville and most of the people got off. It actually took our driver a few attempts to find the station, since this was a temporary one. That made us a bit late. Our food stop in Chattanooga also went longer than intended.

We waited inside the station until we could board again. This time I got a seat and was able to doze a bit. Of course the person sitting next to me was a rather large guy who fell asleep and started leaning on me and snored in my ear for half the trip...

Louisville we hit at about 5 am and continued our journey at dawn. At the stops most people get out and have a smoke. I didn't see very many people not smoking. There was one guy I noticed, who was dressed neatly and didn't smoke. I thought he looked out of place.

In Indianapolis I was supposed to have 30 min transfer time for my bus to Kalamazoo. We got there 45 minutes behind schedule. Of all the greyhound buses that are always late, this one had left on time. I had missed my bus.

The lady at the counter tried to reroute me, but could only get me as far as Grand Rapids that day. Traverse City is another few hours north of there, but it's a small enough place that buses don't run there that often. There were actually four of us trying to get to Traverse City from Atlanta and Chattanooga. That was quite random. TC isn't a common destination. The neat guy I had noticed earlier was one of them.

We sat around the station for a few hours waiting for a bus to Dayton. I sat next to the door with my things, reading a book and charging my phone. Chris, the neat guy, was looking for a plug for his phone charger, so I called over to him that he could use mine. He ended up almost forgetting his phone there. twice :D

I slept the whole way to Dayton. By that time it was afternoon and I was getting hungry. Chris and I asked around and found a place to eat. and we talked. He said his brother was coming to pick him up in Grand Rapids and offered me a ride up to TC with them.

We shared our stories and our reasons for going to Traverse City etc. He said he had lived in the Chattanooga area earlier. I told him I had been to a friend's wedding there.

On the bus to Detroit we decided to sit together so we wouldn't end up next to any weird people.. so we continued talking. He had an iPad and we looked up Finland on Google Maps. At some point in our discussion he asked where in Chattanooga the wedding had been, and I told him Collegedale. He said he had lived in the Collegedale/Ooltewah area. (!) Then he was quiet for a moment, thinking. and asked me if I was affiliated with the SDA church? haha. I said yes, and he said he was too! It's a small world, really. What are the odds of me riding the same bus with another Adventist all the way to Traverse City, and even talking to him and sitting next to him?!? All I can say is God is good :)

Our bus from Detroit to Grand Rapids was about an hour late, but it finally came and we each got our own seats with room to spare. I rode up to Traverse City with Chris and his sister-in-law and got to my uncle's place around 1 am.

With all the difficulties and inconveniences it still was a great experience. If for nothing else, at least as a reminder that God does see our lives and cares about even the little details. He's the best travel agent I know of!

Chris

New friends

2010-08-08T14:26:00.000+03:00

I spent an afternoon and evening with Daniel and Anna Romanov. Their mother's family is friends with my aunt Rosie and we met at the GC meetings in Atlanta.

We took a drive up to Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga and walked around Covenant College for a while. Afterwards we went out for some really good fish and finished the evening with a game of Phase 10. It was fun :)

The church at Covenant College

The main hall

Lobby. I had been here once, about 8 years ago. This is the college my dad got his degree from and our whole family came up for a dinner one evening. I remember it had a mystical feeling to it with the big structures and dark beams and decorations. The day was quite foggy and we were up at the top of the mountain. I thought it felt like we were in a Scottish castle a few centuries ago.. :)

Holes in the ground

2010-08-08T14:15:00.001+03:00

A seemingly random hole in the ground.

...going down there...

Some people don't have enough excitement in their lives, so they decide to create some :D

Hanging off ropes and little metal slides at least got my adrenaline going.

falling up

down under

ghosts and the darkness

Sunny coming up. For the second time ;)

After the first pit we stopped at Taco Bell for supper on our way to the next one.

Apparently the little Taco Bell hot sauce packets are numbered from 1-12. You'll see it if you look closely at the bottom edge (not necessarily in this picture though.. go find yourself a Taco Bell hot sauce thing and check for yourself). And the number is supposed to tell you how 'hot' the sauce is. So a 1 is the mildest and the 12 is the hottest. I never knew...

So, for kicks, we dug through the hot sauce bowl until we found all the numbers from 1 to 12 :D

From there we continued to a bigger hole in the ground near the Alabama border. A thunder storm seemed to be headed the same way as we were and foiled our plans of summitting, or rather, pitting (??)... umm.. getting to the bottom :D But we sat around the edge in the darkness, watching the lightning and enjoying the nature and 'peace' around us. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was a big hole. The blackness is where it drops off.

Casey, Stephanie, Sunny, Shannon and me

Tennessee

2010-08-08T13:48:00.000+03:00

Emilia and I stayed with Grandpa and Grandma Parker while in Tennessee. They took good care of us and it was nice to be 'home'.

Fawnna, my cousin, turned 27 and we went rollerskating. I carried a bruise for weeks as a reminder :D

the cat

Emilia baking pulla

Rebekah stayed with us for a few nights before taking Greyhound up to NJ to see Aizhan. Here we are out eating with Casey and the girls, before she left.

bye bye...

Me and Emilia at church

at church with pathfinder people :)

Independence Day

2010-08-08T13:40:00.000+03:00

We celebrated the 4th of July in Collegedale with friends

The Crutcher's hosted us at their house and we had a wonderful time :)

Eisia and her family were there, from Kenya. It was wonderful to see them again.

Corn on the cob

potato salads and beans (and olives!!)

watermelon :)

I didn't get a picture of it, but there were also cut up peaches and homemade vanilla and peach ice cream.. :)

With my amor, Ronito :)

People of the GC

2010-08-08T13:17:00.000+03:00

The GC meetings were a perfect place to see SDA friends from all over the world, some that I hadn't seen in years.

Here are the Crutchers, Kent was our pastor when we lived in Tennessee. Now they're working as missionaries in Kenya. I spent a year with them there at Maxwell Adventist Academy. Good friends :)

The Erickson family I ran into. They went to college with Mom and were living in Finland when my parents moved here. Now they are missionaries in Papua New Guinea. It was good to see them!

Friends from Argentina (2006-2007)

Sebastian and Andrey

Sebastian was actually working in Kyrgyzstan with his wife last year, so I got to visit them a few times :)

Andrey (from Belarus) I hadn't seen since Argentina and wasn't expecting him to be in Atlanta. It was great seeing him!

Sebastian's wife Marly

Nancy and John Thomas, the principal and registrar at Maxwell Academy when I was there (2007-2008)

Also very dear people :)

a whole bunch more Maxwellites. And there were still more that weren't in this picture..

Had to include this picture. This is Alex Vyhmeister, my twin. I hadn't met him before, but I taught his brother Erik at Maxwell. Alex and I were born on the exact same day, same year even :)

Newbold College people (2008)

Thomas and Angie

Rebekah! :)

My friend and roommate from Kazakhstan times (2009). Countless experiences and good memories shared :)

Jobir, from Uzbekistan

another friend I was happy to see again :)

Had to include this picture too :) they look so cool!

The Sormunens from Finland

GC 2010 Atlanta

2010-08-08T12:56:00.000+03:00

A view of Atlanta from the Omni hotel

an empty Georgia Dome on the first evening, before most of the people had arrived. The dome seats about 70 000 people and by the end of the week, it was almost full!

having lunch with Rebekah at the CUC booth in the exhibit hall. yummy :)

an afternoon of Ligretto with Rebekah, Linus and Oona

it's hard to get an accurate picture of the crowds, but this shows a little. The escalators were usually packed. At the end of each day my brain was exhausted from continually scanning the people to see if I recognized friends. On the other hand it was great though :) Running into people I hadn't seen in years and probably won't see for many more years.

Election of the GC president, Ted Wilson, for the next 5 years, until the next GC meetings in Texas 2015.

One of many many booths in the exhibit hall. This was for the ESD, Euro-Asia Division, that Kazakhstan was a part of. Here Rebekah and I are with more friends: Talgat from Kyrgyzstan and Gulya from Uzbekistan.

On the last day the dome was rather full. Trying to get out of there was quite the mission!

a random sight that made us smile :)

Arriving in Atlanta

2010-08-08T12:43:00.000+03:00

Wonders never cease :)

One of the main reasons for my trip to the States was to attend the SDA General Conference meetings in Atlanta. I had planned to meet a Finnish friend the first day and stay with her until Rebekah (on the left) came. But Emilia and I had no plans of where or when we'd meet, or how we'd find each other :D Minor detail in a city of 5 million people...

I flew to Atlanta from Baltimore, right into oppressing heat and humidity. Lacking any other plan I decided to find the MARTA, take that to the Congress Center where the meetings were to be held and try and locate Emilia. It felt kind of hopeless, but I decided to trust God anyways.

I got my bag from baggage claim and was walking down to the metro when I spied a familiar figure. David Helbley (2nd from the left) of all people! He and Gina were very dear friends that I worked with in Kazakhstan last year. I knew they were coming to the meetings, but really didn't expect to see him already at the airport! It was incredible :)

The rest of the day worked out great too. David knew what stop to get off at on the metro, a random guy walked by as we were buying our tickets and gave me one he wasn't using anymore, a Finnish friend walked by when I was trying to find Emilia and carried my heavy bag all the way to his hotel room for storage, I ran into another dear friend from Argentina, one I didn't even expect to see, and I finally found Emilia at the end of the day :)

God is good!

Capitol

2010-08-08T11:24:00.000+03:00

Uncle Bud took us on a tour of the Capitol building in DC.

me with the Bond's, visiting from Florida at the same time I was

Capitol dome

Uncle Bud's office in Fredrick

with aunt Rosie :)

Baltimore aquarium

2010-08-08T11:14:00.000+03:00

One day Leesa and Clay took me to Baltimore to see the fishies

Rosie and Bud

2010-08-08T11:08:00.000+03:00

Flew up to Maryland. Middletown to be exact. To see my aunt and uncle. It was nice to spend time with them and catch up and relax.

Rosie's flower beds

Sabbath lunch with family

with Leesa, my cousin

shopping with Clay

Clay's new toy :)

He found this flower out in the grass. Growing up, it was my favorite flower.

Kannusruoho in Finnish, I really have no clue in English. I think it might be a weed though :D

90+ F (32 C) pool :)

Taco Bell

2010-08-08T10:59:00.000+03:00

One of the first mandatory stops on my visits to the US is always Taco Bell.

(that might change now that I've been to Moe's though...)

Here we are at one, with a friendly Taco Bell guy :)

reminiscent of the 'good old days'... :D

games of 'who can make Lahja turn red the fastest'

good times :)

Larisa and Mike

2010-08-08T10:50:00.001+03:00

Once upon a time... Larisa met Mike. And they got married!

it worked out perfectly that I was able to be there for the big day :)

My other family :)

a little reunion of us 8th grade people,

Casey, Michael, (Mike), Larisa, me and Jason

... and they lived happily ever after :)

Sister love

2010-08-08T10:25:00.000+03:00

This was me leaving for an entrance exam in Turku and then on to the States for the summer.

The party

2010-08-08T10:21:00.000+03:00

Laura's graduation party was held here at home, after much preparation

These are all the cakes and cookies, and cupcakes, and sweet rolls...

Here is the main chef :) Alina

Elina, our guest of honor all the way from Germany

Elina, Laura, me, and Simi, Elina's friend from Germany

Laura's classmates, Esko and Kristiina.

Laura actually started 1st grade with Esko, 12 years ago.

with Mom and Dad

The Ladies :)

Hyvä Laura :)

2010-08-08T10:10:00.000+03:00

Laura graduated high school at the beginning of June.

The ceremony was held at Toivonlinna, near Turku. Dad and I couldn't make it, but the rest of the family was there to witness it :)

marching in with her class

in her Spanish gown, found after MUCH searching :D

The whole class

with Kristiina

Charles

2010-08-08T10:02:00.000+03:00

Charles left at the end of May. He had been here in Mikkeli for over two months for an exchange program, studying public health. His hometown is Homa Bay, near Lake Victoria, in Kenya.

He was a frequent visitor at our house on Sabbath afternoons and we enjoyed getting to know him while he was here.

Catching up

2010-08-08T09:57:00.000+03:00

So.. Summer is nearly over already!

I guess it's time to put up some pictures, eh?

This was at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore in Michigan, about 3 weeks ago.

Happy 25!

2010-06-23T05:40:00.000+03:00

23 June 1985

Thank you for being great parents and good examples to us and for sticking with it through ups and downs. I admire you both and am very grateful for you!

I hope you have a wonderful anniversary and may there be many many more!

"Many waters cannot quench love,

Neither can floods drown it."

"So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

Onnellinen

2010-06-05T16:34:00.001+03:00

Minä lukitsen sydämeni

Minä viskaan pois sen avaimen

Koko sydän on ruusuja täynnä

ja laulua lintusten

En tahtoisi näyttää, en

miten syvästi iloitsen

miten pienistä, pienistä seikoista

voin olla iloinen

Vaan poskiini ruusut karkaa

ja suuhuni lintu piiloutuu

vain liverrystä arkaa

joka sana on, minkä lausuu suu

Ja minussa onni sykkii

kuin ihmeellisesti sykkii maa

kun kaikki lähteet pulppuaa

kun kaikki lähteet soi

Minä salata en sitä voi

Minä salata en sitä saa

koko sydämeni aukeaa

koko sydämeni soi.

- Aale Tynni

wedding

2010-05-24T22:59:00.000+03:00

My cousin Mari got married on Saturday in Vihti

the four of us

me, Laura, Alina, Ludi

Mummo, our grandma

just married

Ludi and Allu

the main course

my beautiful sisters :)

me with Jade

Kesä :)

2010-05-24T22:57:00.000+03:00

When we left for Spain after Mother's Day our yard looked like this.

Upon our return 10 days later it looked like this :)

Summer is here!

Madrid

2010-05-24T20:21:00.000+03:00

the bear and his strawberry tree

El Retiro

poor confused windmill fighter

in front of the palace

dessert on the last evening :)

Amapolas

2010-05-24T20:17:00.000+03:00

Along the road to Madrid we sighted this field and had to stop to enjoy it close up.

الْحَمْرَاء La Alhambra

2010-05-24T20:08:00.000+03:00

La Alhambra in Granada

with the Sierra Nevada in the background

from the gardens of Generalife

honeycomb

my reason to go to Alhambra was this court of the lions, that ended up being hidden from view, under restoration..

Sierra Nevada

2010-05-24T19:44:00.000+03:00

Pico Veleta 3398m, second highest of the Sierras