Christmas time update

Greetings from the other side.

It's been a while, hasn't it? Since my last blog entry, I mean. I have been meaning to write, but things have gotten in the way or the energy just hasn't been there at the time to write something. Then again, it is Christmas time. Hopefully I will get the writing back on track soon again! :)

So, what's been going on since last time? Well...

We went over to visit my parents in Sweden over the weekend a couple of weeks ago. It was good to be back in Sweden again. Strange feeling coming home again after 4 months living in Finland, and a strange feeling going back to Finland again. I've always felt at home here in Finland, so it was a bit like leaving home in order to go home. I can't really describe the feeling any other way, and it wasn't like any other feeling I have felt before.

My fiancee and I also got to visit a couple of friends while we were there. It was good seeing them again. They had recently moved to a new apartment, and it was nice seeing their new place for the first time as well. :) I wish I could have visited more friends while I was there, but sadly there wasn't enough time. I guess there is always next time though! :)

As of December 15th I am done with the 4-month trial-period for my job and I am now a regular employee! :) In practice this doesn't really change anything. The trial period is only there to give the employer and myself a period to try each other out. It feels good that it is over though, as I am quite enjoying my job here. :)

Speaking of my work and the people I work with, we went out for Christmas lunch together last week. We went to a place where my father-in-law used to work. He can even be found on a painting there, together with 3 other chefs who worked there at the time.

Last weekend my fiancee and I, together with her parents, went for an hour-long drive to listen to a Christmas concert with my fiancee's brother's youth choir, which he is heading. It was really nice, with a live band and some really good singers. It was a really beautiful church as well. :) Well worth the long drive to get there.

My knee is finally well enough again that I have been able to roleplay (tabletop roleplaying) with my friends again! :) See, in order for me to do that I need to go upstairs since we usually play late in the evenings and my fiancee needs her sleep. So I can't really sit downstairs and play. But now that my knee is better I have been able to go upstairs and play again. For those who don't know, we play over the internet, using Skype to talk and a program called MapTools for maps, tokens, dice-rolling, etc. Works a treat when we are all scattered across the globe. Anyway, it is really good to be back playing again. I've missed it.

Time for me to head outside now and help bring in the Christmas tree. I hope you all are having a wonderful Advent-time and if I don't write again before Christmas I want to wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS! :)

See you all on the other side!

Advent time

Greetings from the other side.

It's been a week or so since my last update here. Though I suppose due to the season I've had other things occupying my mind.

With the help of my father-in-law I have gotten 3 Christmas trees for my employer, and decorated two of them with lights. The third one is going inside the church, and it isn't my job to decorate that one. The two that I HAVE put lights on though, have been fighting me a bit. After some issues we finally got the one outside the church to light up, which was a good feeling. The one at the cemetery still hasn't managed to light up though, and I am not sure what the issue is. We have tried the lamps and they all light up individually, but when we connect the whole thing it doesn't light up at all. Only thing we can think of right now is that one of the lamps isn't of the correct type, so it works individually but not together with the others. I will try out that theory as soon as possible.

Last Saturday we went to celebrate my fiancee's brother-in-law on his birthday. It was enjoyable and the food was great! :) I think someone mentioned there were something like 80 people there to congratulate him on his day. Good to see so many people come to celebrate a really good man. He had made his own birthday cake as well, and salmon soup, for all the guests.

Today is Finlands independence day. It marks 99 years since they became an independent nation, having belonged to Russia before that, and Sweden before that. Technically you have a day off from work today, but I went in to work this morning to raise the flag. I'll be going back later to bring it down again at sundown. Next year will mark the centennial of Finland's independence, and I expect there to be massive celebrations going on. It is a big deal after all. :)

We have snow on the ground, albeit not a lot. While there is a white blanket on the ground, you can still see tall grass sticking through in places. The last couple of days there has also been ice under the snow, making things a bit more 'interesting'.

In a way it feels like there has been a lot going on, but at the moment I can't think of anything else. That is kind of a strange feeling, I have to admit. Oh well, I am sure if I think of anything else, I can always write about it later instead. :)

I hope that you all are having a wonderful Advent, and that the Christmas preparations are going well. My thoughts also go out to all those who are alone this holiday season, and to those who try to do something for these people. I wish you all the best.

Until next time my friends.

See you all on the other side!

Advent Sunday weekend adventures

Greetings from the other side.

The past weekend was a calm one, and really relaxing. Today though, I am feeling a bit 'off' for some reason. Hopefully I won't come down with anything. A cold is the last thing I need right now.

We've had snowfall in the last few days. It started Saturday evening and on Sunday it was a full-blown snowstorm.

Saturday, my fiancee and I ate warm sandwiches (or is it called toast... my brain isn't fully functioning today, so am a bit uncertain) rice porrige for dinner with her parents. Then we went to spend some time with her friends and celebrate Little Christmas (lilla Jul in Swedish. I wrote a bit about it in a previous blog entry which you can find here). It had started snowing for the drive home though, and the winds had begun to pick up.

On Sunday the snowfall and winds were even worse. At one point we had 26 m/s winds and heavy snowfall. The power went out about half-an-hour before the Advent Sunday service was scheduled to start at church. We managed though. It actually turned out quite nice with no lights and only the lit candles to light up the church. Very atmospheric. There was a children's choir there to sing and an adult one too.

After church we went back to my fiancee's parents place for a bit of lunch. After a while her sister and her husband and youngest son came by as well for a visit to see the two new kittens before we all headed over to celebrate my fiancee's niece's 9th birthday.

There is something special about Advent and Christmas music, I think. For some reason it always feels more atmospheric. Granted, that could partly be because you only really listen to it for about a month every year. Still though, I like it and it is always a special time for me. This year I will be spending Christmas and New Years here in Finland with my fiancee's family. I am looking forward to it and towards seeing how they celebrate. I will however also miss being with my family back home in Sweden, of course. This is the first time that I am not celebrating with them, so it will definitely feel a bit different. They will be in my thoughts though.

See you all on the other side!

Advent Sunday is a coming

Greetings from the other side.

As Advent Sunday approaches, the Christmas spirit is on the rise in this household. My fiancee has made gingerbread cookies, and Christmas music has slowly started to filter into the ambient atmosphere. Both of us are people who love this time of year. We have even got a bit of snow and frost outside today, which was a pleasant surprise to wake up to this morning. It isn't much, and you can still see blades of grass sticking out through the snow cover, but it is better than nothing. :)

I got calendar from Sweden in the mail today from EFS. For those who don't know, EFS is an independent organisation within the Church of Sweden, which focuses on missionary work, voluntary work, and every-day faith (according to the website. They can say it much better than I can. Though I had to translate it from Swedish, so hopefully my translation is acceptable). I spent two years at an EFS church in Umeå, Carlskyrkan, doing work-training, and even more time as a volunteer. It was a really good time in my life and I have a lot of fond memories. I met so many really good and wonderful people there, including the people I worked with. I am really thankful to all of them for giving me the opportunity to be there, and for receiving me with open arms! :)

I am happy that the calendar has arrived, because we were talking just the other day, my fiancee and I, how we needed one. :) It is now hanging on the wall above my desk at home.

On Sunday, which is Advent Sunday, I am scheduled to work at church at the service. I'm not sure what the job is called in English, but in Swedish we call it "Kyrkvärd". Basically, I make the preparations before the service, I make sure everything is where it needs to be, I handle the sound equipment, and just make sure everything is in order before, during and after. I've done it on a couple of occasions already, but I am still nervous because it is my first Advent Sunday and there is going to be a lot more people there. Wish me luck!

I've had to go back to my moving-boxes and rummage through them to find the Christmas CDs I brought with me from Sweden. I've only found two, but I am pretty sure there should be at least one more in there somewhere. Granted a couple of boxes at the back of everything could contain some CDs, but I didn't feel like bringing everything else out of storage just to get to them. Luckily my fiancee has quite a collection of Christmas music CDs that we can listen to as well.

See you all on the other side!

2 new additions to the family

Greetings from the other side.

A few days ago my future in-laws got themselves 2 new additions to the family, in the shape of two little 9-week-old kittens. :) They are just adorable little bundles of cuteness and fun right now.

They have been named Molly and Freja, with Molly being the one sitting closest to my mother-in-law there in the picture above. So my fiancee and I have been pretty busy visiting and spending time with these two adorable newcomers in the family. :)

Took them a bit to get used to the family's Newfoundland dog as well. The poor things had never seen a dog before in their 9-week-old lives, so they were in for a bit of a shock. Luckily the dog, named Bamse, is one of the calmest dogs you will ever meet and he is also fairly used to cats from before. The cats however, weren't as calm as he was. You could see their different personalities in that moment though. Molly hissed at him, but stayed put, while Freja mostly wanted to run and hide. They've gotten used to him by now though, which is good.

Beyond that, it has been a fairly grey week over here. It's been raining, and even when it hasn't been raining it has still been fairly wet outside. As well as a bit windy. It has limited me a bit as to what work I have been able to do outside, but then again my knee is pretty thankful for it.

Speaking of the knee it has been getting better. Now it only complains if I put strain on it instead of all the time, which is a HUGE plus. :) I am hoping it will soon be well enough to not complain at all, but I am still taking it a bit easy because I know how easily I could accidentally aggravate it and make it worse again. Still, I am able to do more now than I was a week ago, which is a good feeling. :)

Yesterday, my fiancee and I started putting up Christmas decorations around the house. Feels good to get it all up, even though it took a bit of work. It looks nice, I have to say. I am really looking forward to our first ever Christmas together in the same place! :)

Until next time!

See you all on the other side!

A look in the rear-view mirror

Greetings from the other side.

A few days have passed since my last entry into this blog. It has generally been a calm few days, so I think this will end up being a fairly short entry, but it is an entry none-the-less.

On Thursday we went to celebrate one of my fiancee's nephews on his 20th birthday. It was a bit of a drive to get there, but nothing too big. We went there together with my fiancee's parents. It was a good evening, I thought. Good company, good food at a restaurant, and then we rounded off the evening with some coffee/tea at the birthday-boy's apartment. One of the things I love about my fiancee's family is that they are all so friendly and nice people. It has definitely helped my settling in here in Finland after my move.

I have to say, sitting in the car as it drives through the country-side over here, you could see patches of light on the thick cloud-covered sky. This light came from greenhouses on the ground below which were using what appeared to be pretty high-powered lamps to simulate sunshine for their plants in order to grow them all year around. It was interesting seeing that light reflected on the cloud-cover above though. You could definitely tell exactly where all the greenhouses were.

Went grocery shopping, and ran some errands, on Friday. It was a bit of a rainy day, but not too bad.

With Advent Sunday closing in, but my fiancee and I are eagerly awaiting the time when we can start 'officially' listening to Christmas-related music again, and plans are being made for decorations, etc. She's started baking in preparation for Christmas as well. Sadly, there is no snow on the ground anymore, but we are quietly hoping it will return at least in time for Christmas.

Yesterday was a pretty quiet day in this household. I got around to start listening to an audio book by Brandon Sanderson called "The Last Empire". I've heard from friends that the Mistborn series, the series of which "The Last Empire" is part of, is really good, but I haven't had the chance to get around to it until now. I have to say that so far I am really enjoying it. It feels a bit strange listening to it as an audio book though, as I am generally a person who prefers to hold a book in my hands when I read. It's ok though. I might get the actual physical copies of the books later, rather than just have them as audio books.

I think that will be enough for now.

See you all on the other side!

A mix of Seasonal things & Life

Greetings from the other side!

We still have snow on the ground over here. Something which I didn't think would last this long. I was fully expecting it to have melted away by now. It even snowed a bit more last night. Though we have warmer weather now, so it might still melt away before the week is over. I am kind of silently hoping that it will still be white outside come Advent Sunday (1:a Advent, in Swedish).

Now, Advent Sunday happens on November 27th this year. The day before that, there is a custom to celebrate what is known here as "Little Christmas" (lilla Jul). It is not a major thing, and I personally don't recall having ever encountered it back home in Sweden (though I know it exists there as well). As far as I have been able to understand it, "little Christmas" is most common among families that have children. One tradition associated with it is the tradition that a secret "Santa" throws presents in through the front door and then disappears before anyone finds out who it was. I can definitely see why that would be exciting for the kids in the family. :)

It has been a fairly calm week for me, but at the same time it feels like it has just flown by and like I haven't had the time to do all the things I wanted to do. Then again, time has flown by ever since I moved here to Finland. I guess it is a good measure for how much I enjoy it here.

Last Sunday was Father's Day, and we celebrated it by having my fiance's parents over for lunch, and then we went over to them, together with my fiance's brother and his family, and had dinner there. Both occasions were really nice. I had, of course, already called my own dad earlier in the day and congratulated him on Father's Day as well. Am looking forward to visiting my parents in a few weeks time. :)

On a sadder note, something is wrong with my new phone. For some reason, when people call me they some times cannot hear me while I hear them perfectly on the other end. Sometimes hanging up and calling me back can help, but not always. On those occasions I have to call them up for them to be able to hear me. Other times they hear me, but then the sound keeps coming and going for them, i.e. they hear me and then they don't, then they hear me again and then they don't. It's annoying, so I will have to take the phone in to where I got it from and ask them about it. The phone itself is only a few weeks old, so it shouldn't have these issues.

That will be all for today. It has turned out to be a shorter post than I thought at the start of it, but that is just the way it is. Hopefully I will be able to write something longer next time.

See you all on the other side!

Winter-clad greetings!

Greetings from the other side!

Ok. Time for my second attempt at this. I sat down to write my blog post and had gotten a fair bit into it when my laptop suddenly decided to erase everything I had written. Sadly I had not remembered to save it before hand. Not that that would really have mattered as the blog auto-saved just after everything was deleted so it was gone anyway. Oh well.

It has been almost a week now since my last blog post. It's been a busy week and I haven't really had the energy to sit down and write blog entries in that time. Today however is a day of rest of relaxation for me so I figured I would see if I could write something. Well, when I say "rest and relaxation" I neglect to mention that so far today I have already been to the chiropractor about my knee, been grocery shopping and ran some errands with my fiancee, and been called out on a short, job-related errand. Now though, I am back home and hopefully the rest of the day will be calm. Normally, doing things like that in a day is no big deal, but with my knee being a bit sore after the visit to the chiropractor, it's a slightly different story.

My knee has been getting better, but is still a bit stiff and swollen, so I went to the chiropractor to have a look at it. He treated it and for the next week or so I'll need to take it easy and be careful with it. I'll still be able to do my job, but I do need to take it a bit easy so I don't twist the knee or strain it excessively. Hopefully it will be completely well in about a week or two. Keeping my fingers crossed.

The first snow of winter has arrived here now. From talking to relatives and friends over on the Swedish side I know that they have been getting quite a lot of snow lately. I know that my dad has been shoveling snow quite a lot. We, however, have had some cold temperatures, but no snow. Until now. It's not huge amounts, but there's maybe a decimeter of snow. From what we've heard the weather should be getting a bit warmer again this week so we might see some rain and the snow will most likely melt away.

I am still keeping out hope that we will get a white Christmas this year though.

I have also been working a bit on the tabletop RPG world building project. The map-making has been at a bit of a stand-still, but I have been getting a bit of writing done, which I am pleased about. It is a good vent to have after a long day of work. Especially since I have a physical job it feels nice to exercise the brain instead from time to time. :)

I think that is enough for now.

See you all on the other side!

All Saint's Day

Greetings from the other side.

Happy All Saint's Day to those who celebrate it. Yesterday evening, my fiancee and I went to the local graveyard together with her parents to, like many others, light candles in remembrance of loved ones and relatives who have passed. It was dark outside, and the graveyard was lit up only by the candles that people had put on the graves. It was very beautiful, and gave a sort of serene feeling inside. Even though it was a bit chilly outside, the beauty of it sort of made you warm on the inside anyway.

I have always liked All Saint's Day. It, much more than Halloween, was a part of my life as I grew up. I guess that is why it, with its quite remembrance and honoring of those who have died, hold a much more special place in my heart than Halloween ever has or will. I respect other people enjoying it, and it does seem like fun, but I guess since I didn't grow up with it it doesn't mean as much to me.

Today my fiancee and I, together with her parents, have sung in the local church with a temporary choir that was put together for All Saint's Day specifically. It was a nice ceremony, with remembering all those in our parish who have passed away in the past year. A candle being lit for each one, while the pastor reads their names out loud. I am happy I was able to be part of that, and I hope that our songs will have given those there some comfort.

The weather is beautiful outside, though a bit chilly. Currently it is -3,3 degrees Celsius, so not that bad but still starting to get a bit chilly. I am thinking I might go for a walk later if my knee is ok with it. It feels good to be able to take walks again. I've missed it when my knee-issues have been getting in the way.

Work has been going well. I just need to remember to let my knee rest from time to time and to think about how I lift and carry things, etc. It is quite enjoyable working outside this time of year. It is one of the things that I like about my job, that I get to work outside and get fresh air. In the winter time, however, there will be less work for me to do outside, so most of my work will take place indoors instead. Which, depending on how cold it gets outside, might be a good thing.

Now I am going to rest for a bit.

See you all on the other side!

Halloween, and other things

Greetings from the other side.

So, as 'some' of you might have noticed if you were paying attention, yesterday was Halloween, a day which in this household wasn't really celebrated in any particular fashion. Neither my fiancee nor I grew up with it and since we don't have any kids that might want to dress up, or any neighborhood kids that might come knocking on the door to trick-or-treat us, we just had a calm, normal, day instead. Which was fine with us. I did stay up late and watch my friends play a tabletop rpg (role playing game) online called 'Slasher Flick' though. It is a game that is based off of so called 'slasher movies', things like Friday 13th, A nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, etc. It was quite fun watching them and I really wish I could have been able to play as well. Sadly I never got around to making my two characters for it, nor did I really have the energy to focus on playing, but listening in and watching them play was fine. I would highly recommend it to people to try out on another Halloween some time. I know I will definitely take the chance next time we decide to try it out for a one-shot game. Then again, only try it if you enjoy the idea of playing a tabletop role playing game in that genre, of course. It was a good, fun and creative way to spend a few hours in the company of good friends, and that's never a bad thing really. :)

My knee is slowly getting better. Hopefully it is well enough now that I won't have any issues with it going forward. There's always that slight insecurity when it comes to physical issues such as my knee problems. Even though it feels alright it doesn't mean you shouldn't have rested it a day or two more, and there is always the risk that the issues might return if I am not careful. The chiropractor did give me a couple of exercises to do to help strengthen the supporting muscles around my knee though. There's one of them that I haven't had the chance to try properly yet as it requires me to sit down on the floor and with my knee in the shape it has been that wasn't much of an option. Getting down was painful, but getting up was even worse. I am going to try it out soon though, as my knee is feeling better and, crucially, it seems to recover much faster after it has been under strain, which is good.

My fiancee will give my knee another reflexology treatment later today. Hopefully that will be the thing that pushes it over the line and makes my knee completely well again. Keeping my fingers crossed at least! :)

See you all on the other side!

Halloween and life

Greetings from the other side.

Halloween is now upon us. Everywhere you look online there have been Halloween sales going on for he past week or two, and 'spooky' images and images of pumpkins carved in various ways have been popping up everywhere. I have to confess though I have never been that much into Halloween. I guess it is because it wasn't really a part of my childhood as such, I didn't really grow up trick-or-treating, and I don't really remember it being a 'thing' in general where I grew up until I was too old to really go trick-or-treating, etc. I get the idea behind it and the draw of it, but I just don't really feel very much about it when it comes down to it. I do think that I am probably a minority in that these days, which is fine. I don't mind Halloween as I think it is probably a fun holiday for kids, and grown-ups get a chance to be creative with their decorations. :)

I realize that I might sound like a really boring person, but hopefully I made it clear that I don't mind Halloween. All I am saying is that it isn't something that I grew up with so it doesn't really hold any special place in my heart. I can understand why others enjoy it though, but it has never been a big part of my life.

The sky is blue outside the windows for the second day running. It is beautiful. The air is cold and crisp as well. :) I really wish my knee was well so I could go out for a walk, but in the long run it is probably best that I stay inside and rest it until it is well again. I hope that will be soon because after something like four weeks I am getting a bit tired of it being like this. Granted, it has been better at times and worse at times, so it hasn't been all bad all the time. Which I am happy for. I just wish that it would go to being good ALL the time soon so I could start doing the things I want to do again, and help out more around the house and everything that goes into that.

Winter tires are finally on the car now, thanks to my father-in-law. I would have done it myself but because of my knee I really couldn't. He was also with me yesterday when I was working at a memorial service to help me out so I wouldn't strain my knee more than necessary. I am really thankful to him for that, and so is my knee. The knee was sore afterwards, but not as sore as it could have been. When we were driving there it was actually a bit slippery out on the roadway, and at one point the tires spun a bit. It wasn't too bad though, and we got there in one piece without any scares. I guess winter is on its way now. I have been told by a couple of people that they are expecting this winter to be really cold and bad. What I guess in Sweden we would call a 'varga vinter' (wolf's winter). We will see though. I remember last time I saw someone promise a "varga vinter" (the newspapers that time), while I was still living back home in Sweden, it turned out to be a really mild winter instead.

I think that's all for now. Time for me to go stretch my legs a bit. Need to still keep moving my legs from time to time so the knee doesn't get too stiff. I just need to be careful when I do it.

See you all on the other side!

The last couple of days - An update

Greetings from the other side.

Yesterday was the final work-day for me this week. At least going on my regular 60% schedule. I also have some extra work on Saturday. Which is good, because every little bit helps, really. :) I have gotten a lot of work done this week however, so it should be ok even if I don't work today or tomorrow.

I visited a naprapath ('naprapat' in Swedish. I translated it via Google. Though it seems about the same as a chiropractor.) today about my knee. I figured that since I have already seen a doctor about it and it hasn't gotten well yet I might as well try other options as well. I really don't have anything to loose. Hopefully the treatment he gave me will help, though I have been ordered a few days rest for the knee to allow the swelling to go down so I won't really know until after a few days. He also gave me some light exercises to help strengthen the muscles around my knee. Wish me luck!

I was thinking of not working Saturday to allow my knee to heal up better, but my father-in-law has promised to help me out, and it isn't as physically demanding as my regular job can be, so I should be fine as long as I take it easy and remember to rest when I can. I am lucky, and thankful, that he is able to come help me out though.

This evening my girlfriend and I are going, together with her parents, to go practicing with a temporary choir, that has been put together for one performance in church on All Saint's Day (Alla helgons dag), also known as All Hallow's Day according to Wikipedia. Luckily for my knee we will be sitting down the entire time, or most of the time at least. :)

Yesterday I spent some time practicing my map-making again. I am quite enjoying it. :) I have not had the time to do so today yet, but I might do it again this evening. It feels good to be back working on it again, as I have been feeling it is something I need to do for my continued world-building exercises.

Time for me to go get ready for this evening's choir practice.

See you all on the other side!

A visit from my parents

Greetings from the other side.

It's been a busy few days with my parents visiting. It's been good to see them again for the first time since my move here almost 3 months ago. It is also a bit of a strange feeling, having guests in the house for the very first time. As we were setting things up for their arrival we noticed little details that we hadn't thought of before, such as the need for a couple of not-so-wide mattresses for the sofa-bed. In the end we were able to sort it all out though.

My parents brought with them some more pieces of my furniture that I had to leave behind in Sweden in the original move over. It is good to have them here now. The book-case needs a fresh coat of paint, but aside from that there's really not that much that needs doing with the furniture besides deciding where to put them. My guess is that most of it will be going upstairs, as we are starting to run out of room in the downstairs apartment. Not that it is cluttered with furniture, etc, everywhere or anything like that, but more that in order to prevent it getting too cluttered it is better to put it upstairs instead where there are more spaces to put them. We shall see.

I also got my winter tires over, which is a good thing. :)

It was great having my parents over for a visit, but it was also a bit exhausting entertaining guests for 4 days straight. Now, it may not sound like much to some, but neither my girlfriend nor I are used to having people staying over for that long. My parents did their best to help though and they were good guests. My girlfriend had it a bit rougher than I did as she was having trouble sleeping. Though those problems started before my parents arrived. My father-in-law was kind enough to drive them, and me as I tagged along, around to different places so they could play tourists a bit and see the different sights. I would have done it, but I have not really learned to find my way to all these different places yet, so I am glad he was able to help. It also gave my girlfriend a chance to lie down and rest while we were away.

We also celebrated our engagement together with my parents while they were here, and they brought with them engagement presents (and a couple of birthday presents) from family back home in Sweden.

My girlfriend and I are planning on trying to go over to Sweden for a visit some time before Christmas if we can. Looking forward to meeting up with some family and friends in Holmsund and Umeå when we do. :)

See you all on the other side!

A nice day & some thoughts

Greetings from the other side.

Today is the day my parents arrive for a visit from Sweden. Not sure what effect that will have on my blogging in the next few days, but if I have time I will try to post something at least.

It's been a busy but very good day so far. I had a really good day at work and got to spend the time there with some wonderful and kind people. :) After work we have been cleaning the house and getting everything ready for my parents arrival tonight. They will be bringing a few things over from Sweden for me. Things such as the winter tires for my car, a book case, and a few other pieces of furniture. Though I can honestly, at the time of writing this, not quite remember what it all was. Oh well, I will be reminded soon enough.

It has been a beautiful autumn day outside today. The sky is finally blue again after a few days of thick cloud cover, there's been very little wind and the outside air has felt crisp and cool. Today would have really been a perfect day for a long walk, if we had had the time to do so. Granted, I should probably rest my knee a bit when I am not working as well, to give it as much recovery as I can, so going for a walk might still have been out of question anyway.

Things have now calmed down in the house, and now we are just settling down to relax while we wait to go pick up my parents at the ferry terminal. 4½ hours worth of boat ride can be quite boring at times. Trust me, I know from experience. Though that can vary quite a lot. Some times it feels like the minutes are crawling by, and other times it actually goes by relatively quickly. I am fairly glad that my girlfriend and I don't have to make that journey every time we want to see each other anymore. It was well worth it at the time though, but it is nice to have reached another stage in our lives together, and not having to be apart like that anymore.

My old choir is performing in my old church this evening at a fair trade-themed music café that is being held there. I really wish I could go and listen to them, and meet my old friends. Unfortunately that is not possible, but I wish them all the best.

That's it for me for this time.

See you all on the other side!

Sleepless night & busy day

Greetings from the other side.

I didn't sleep very well last night. First I couldn't sleep at all and found myself getting a bit frustrated about it. I am normally a person who will fall asleep fairly quickly, but last night I just couldn't. Honestly I have no idea why either. Once I had finally managed to fall asleep I was plagued by nightmares. I wish I could remember them, but I can't. I just know that I had them. Unfortunately my girlfriend didn't sleep too well last night either, so we are both a bit out of it today. She probably a bit more than me, unfortunately. Hopefully we will both be sleeping better tonight. Especially since we need to pick up my parents at the ferry terminal when they arrive from Sweden at 11:30 pm local time. My girlfriend isn't much of a night owl, so normally she would be in bed by that time, but I need her to guide me to the ferry as I have only driven there once, or rather from there, as it was when I arrived here in Finland 2½ months ago and we drove from the terminal to where we now live. Since then I have learned to find my way to various places, but I have not had a reason to drive to the ferry yet, so it's at times like this that I get a chance to learn.

In preparation for their arrival we have been shopping for groceries and other things today. It is amazing how much stuff you need to feed 4 people for 4 days, and then also enough stuff to last us after they have gone back home again until we go shopping again at the end of next week. It feels good to have it done though.

I have found a couple of apps for my cell phone now that I can use to help me learn some Finnish words. I am not expecting any miracles though, and I know they will only teach me words. Grammar and actually forming sentences beyond very simple ones like "My name is...." and ""How are you?" is probably beyond the scope and capabilities of these apps. They are better than nothing though, and hopefully over time I will at least be able to learn to understand some of what is said to me. It is an interesting challenge, I think. Especially since Finnish is so different from any other language I have studied in the past. My previous languages being (apart from Swedish, because that is my native tongue), English, German, Icelandic and Japanese. As far as German goes, I understand it pretty well, but it has been years since I had any training in speaking it so my ability to find the words and forming sentences will most likely be very rusty. As for Icelandic and Japanese I only studied that for a short while and haven't really been using them since, so beyond a few words I wouldn't expect much.

See you all on the other side!

Autumnal reflections & the day after before

Greetings from the other side.

This might have to be another short one. Brain is still a bit fried.

Today kinda feels a bit like 'the day after'. The day after my first day back at work. The day after my birthday. It is also the first day of being one year older. Another day closer to my parents coming to visit. All in all though, it has been a good day. I was able to get a lot of things done today at work that needed to be done and, as has started becoming the norm over here now, I have met and talked to some more really nice people.

The sky is still cloudy outside, and there is that autumnal chill in the air that kind of tells you that winter is around the corner. The leaves are falling from the trees and gathering in great, big carpets of red and yellow on the ground. Autumn is a very beautiful season. It is a great time for stopping, taking in a deep breath of cold autumn air, and look at the beautiful scenery. Sadly the autumn has claimed many leaves from the trees now, and some of them stand almost completely barren at this point. At least where I live. At the same time there are other trees who still have almost all of their leaves remaining, some even carrying some green leaves still.

There is something meditative about this time of year. Looking at the colours and feeling the crisp, cold air, can really spark your creative side to life. It can also be calming and soothing for the mind, and the soul. It is as if you are given one last vibrant display before winter comes.

There is something almost magical about autumn, I think. It is filled with vibrant colours, and that silence that feels so typical of both autumn and winter. As if nature itself is going to sleep, in dreaming slumber waiting for spring to arrive once more. Every season has its charms, I think. :)

See you all on the other side!

A special day

Greetings from the other side.

This will be a fairly short post. It has been a wonderful day, but also a long day, so I'm a bit tired.

Today has been a busy day for me, but also a day filled with good feelings.

It was the first day back at work having been on sick-leave last week due to my knee. Lots of things to do this week, but got off to a good start. The weather didn't quite cooperate, being a bit windy and chilly with cloud cover so you didn't really see the sun or the sky much, but it was ok anyway. It felt good being back, and good to be working and doing something again. I think this past week of immobility made it a pure joy to be able to do stuff again. I've really missed it. The knee still feels a bit tender and stiff, but I am able to work and do all that stuff as long as I am a bit careful. It hasn't gotten worse from working today, which is positive. Today went fine, so now I am resting my leg for another day of work tomorrow.

Today is also my birthday, and we've had guests over for dinner and coffee. It was really nice and everyone was in good spirits. It is always a pleasure spending time with my girlfriend's parents and siblings and their families. They are all so easy to get along with, honest and really good people. My girlfriend had made a ham and cheese pie for dinner, and then a healthy version (raw food) of a mars-bar cake, which was delicious. :) I am blessed to have her in my life, and she truly helped make this day a special one.

See you all on the other side!

An eventful weekend

Greetings from the other side.

This has been a fairly eventful weekend, but also a weekend filled with a lot of joy, music, good food and good people.

Yesterday my girlfriend and I went together with her parents to sing with a choir that they are in. It was my first time rehearsing with this choir, so I was a bit nervous. However I soon felt right at home. Everyone was incredibly nice and friendly, and there were a lot of familiar faces there as well, including some other members of my girlfriend's family, such as both her siblings and their spouses. It was a good feeling being back singing with a choir again. Though I admit it was a bit of a tough start. One afternoon to practice 8 new songs and then performing them in church after dinner. Luckily, being part of a choir you can hide a little bit, but I think I did alright anyway and didn't need to 'fake it' almost any. We also had a very energetic choir leader who was smiling the entire way through and did her best to spread positive energy to us all. Besides her, My girlfriend's brother was also playing the piano for us when we were singing in church. I have to say he is a really great pianist, and it was a joy hearing him play. We could probably not have sung a single song, and the church would still have been filled with wonderful music from his playing.

All in all it was a very positive experience and I am looking forward to next time we meet. :) Unfortunately it seems that this choir only meet up once a month, or every other month, or something like that. I am not entirely sure.

I have missed being in a choir and singing. I used to be part of a choir back home in Umeå called Cantare. I had roughly 3 years with them, and it was nothing but a joy. :) Though that choir met and practiced once a week, so with this new choir I am probably going to need to do more practicing at home instead.

Today we have just gotten back home from fist visiting church and then the church hall. There were a lot of people there today as they had some visitors from abroad. All in all it has been a nice day. I love meeting new people and so far everyone I have met here in Finland have been nice and friendly. My girlfriend was also scheduled to sing today, which she did really well. She had her brother playing the piano as she sang as well.

We are still getting people come up to us to congratulate us on our engagement, which is nice. People seem truly happy for us, and we are very happy for that.

Tomorrow is the beginning of a new week, and I return to work once again. I will probably take it easy in the beginning and see how my knee responds, but it should be alright. It feels good to be back to being able to do things again. Having an injured knee really hampers your ability to do things.

See you all on the other side!

The passage of time

Greetings from the other side.

Another week has almost passed now. Where did it really go? Time seems to fly by ever since I moved here. I can't believe it has already been almost 2½ months since I moved from Sweden to Finland. I guess the fact that time is flying by rather than slowly trudging along is some form of proof that I am happy here and enjoying myself though. In all honesty I am happy here. I have job that I like, a wonderful fiancee, good people around me, and Finland is a nice country. Just two years ago I would never had thought that I would be where I am today. Since then I have moved country, gotten a job there, and gotten engaged to be married to a wonderful woman, to name just a few things. Life, and God, works in mysterious ways some times. You can never fully know what life will throw at you next. Though I suppose that is part of what makes life interesting as well. Imagine if we knew all the things that would happen to us in our lives. Wouldn't that be boring? And somewhat scary as well? Imagine knowing when you were going to die, and how it would happen? Or knowing in advance of a serious accident you would be in - also knowing that there was nothing you could do to change or prevent it? I wouldn't want to know anything like that.

My parents will be coming over for a visit next weekend. Looking forward to that. They will also be bringing with them my winter tires, which will probably be needed soon. This will be their first time visiting us here since my move, so it will hopefully be nice for them to see where I live and what it is like here. :)

My knee is feeling much better now, which is a HUGE positive in my life right now. It isn't fully well yet, but in the last day or two it has been making big strides towards becoming well again. Hopefully it will be fully recovered by Monday when I start working again. :) It has taken almost 2 weeks for the knee to recover. Granted, in the first week I did still work even if I wasn't able to work full-on at my normal pace.

This weekend my fiancee and I are going to go sing with a choir that she is a part of. I am looking forward to it, though I still miss my old choir, Cantare, back in Umeå. This new choir doesn't have a name yet, from what I understand. I am sure it will be fun though, and some other members of my fiancee's family are part of it as well, so there will be familiar faces there. I hope my voice is up to scratch for them though. Always a bit nervous about these things at the beginning.

See you all on the other side!

A morning bird story & a bit on stress and relaxation

Greetings from the other side.

The day started quite interestingly, as my girlfriend opened up one of our closets and a small bird flew out. Poor little thing was so panicked. We managed to confine it to one room, and then I went in and opened the window so it could get out. It must have been a terrifying experience for the little bird, feeling trapped and not really knowing what was going on or who us giants were. We have found where we think it got in, and we are now taking measures to make sure it doesn't happen again.

One aspect of living in the country side that I find very relaxing is looking through a window and watching all the small birds fly and jump around outside. You feel a lot closer to nature and the natural world out here, than I ever did while I was living in a city. Though Umeå as a city did have quite a lot of forested areas within the city as well. It still wasn't the same as this though. That's not to say I didn't enjoy living there either. It was a nice city to live in, and I highly recommend people to go there if they haven't been there already. It's also a good place to study if you are a student. Though I should probably stop talking about this before I start sounding like an advertisement. Just saying it how I feel having lived there for many years. :)

Now onto the subject of stress and the importance of relaxation.

Stress is such a negative thing for us humans, at least in too high quantities it is. A bit of stress is fine, for the most part. Excessive amounts of stress however is part of the issue with today's society. And different people have different thresholds for how much stress they can handle. People get burned out, stressed out, suffer from depression and anxiety because of stress and the weight of expectation. I know this because I have been there myself in the past. As have my girlfriend, and many others. Therefore I think it so important to find those peaceful moments in life, enjoy them and cherish them. Being able to just relax for a moment is so incredibly important. Some people have a day a week, for example Sunday, that is devoted to rest. No, I am not talking specifically about Christians here, as that doesn't hold true for all Christians. It is more the idea I am talking about. Having a day devoted to rest, relaxation and re-charging of your inner batteries can be so incredibly important. I'm not saying you should stay in bed all day or just lay around on the couch watching movies. What I mean is that it should be a day where you do things that you enjoy, that aren't stressful to you or weighted down by a bunch of "musts" or "have to"s. Living in the modern society can be very stressful to a lot of people. There are a lot of expectations, work, etc. So having a day when you can just relax can be incredibly important.

I am not saying that letting yourself rest one day a week will keep you from burning out. All I am saying is that it can't hurt to focus on yourself and the things that make you happy and relaxed once in a while, rather than the things that you "should" or "must" do. I think that is good for your soul.

See you all on the other side!

A short update

Greetings from the other side.

This will have to be a shorter post unfortunatelly.

Yesterday was a good day. We had friends and family over for coffee to celebrate my girlfriend and I getting engaged. A good time was had by all in my humble opinion. Sadly my family or friends from Sweden were unable to attend, but as I think I mentioned in my previous post, we will celebrate with them as and when they are able to come over for a visit. We already have my parents coming here at the end of this month, which we are excited about.

In less exciting news my knee is still not well, so I have been to see a doctor about it and I am now officially on sick-leave until Sunday. I am under instruction to take it easy and rest my knee as much as possible. I hope it will be better by Sunday, so I can go back to work again. Feels strange sitting home when I know there are things that need to get done. I am trying not to to think about it though, and not to let it get to me. There is no point in me stressing over it, as I can't really do much about it anyway.

I can't wait until my knee is well again. Not just because of work, but also just simple things like being able to help out in every day life. Things you normally take for granted that you are able to do suddenly aren't so simple anymore. Luckily it is something that can get better again.

That's it for me for today, I think.

See you all on the other side!

Living in the countryside & more

Greetings from the other side.

Living in the countryside is very different from the life I was used to back home in Sweden. I've always lived in a town or city, so transitioning to life in a more rural area is definitely something different. Yet somehow it is also similar, and I have found it surprisingly easy to do so. You really have access to all the basic things you need out here. There is internet, a store, a church, good people, and anything you need that you can't find here is only about a 20-minute drive away in the city. I like the calm here, the d.i.y. mentality and the helpfulness that people exhibit on a regular basis. People help eachother out and it is the most natural thing ever. I like this mentality. I think it is the same thing in smaller communities back home in Sweden as well.

I love how open everything is here. There is forest, fields, open landscapes, and the sea. All clad in beautiful autumn colours. It is getting colder outside though, which is a minus. Pardon the non-intentional pun there. You can see the frost on the ground in the morning, and I have had to move my car indoors now to avoid having to scrape the frost off of the windows every morning before I head to work. At least I probably won't have to do any more lawn-mowing this year, which helps. Because of the warm weather all the lawns were growing like crazy up until a week or two ago.

As the days are getting inevitably shorter and it is getting darker outside, I sometimes wish I could gather a few friends and play some tabletop RPG. Go out on an adventure with my friends and get away from the darkness outside for a little bit. Sadly there is nothing set up here at home for that at the moment, except for the tabletop RPG books that are currently stored in the bookcase in our 'office'. I might try and get something set up in the future though, and see if I can scrape together some people to play a game or two. :)

Tomorrow we have my girlfriend's parents, siblings with their families, and her friends over for coffee to celebrate our engagement. Celebrations with my family and friends, who are currently back home in Sweden, will have to wait until they are able to get over here. I am looking forward to tomorrow. I am sure it will be a nice time and that lots of merriment will be had by all.

Had a chance to sit down and brain-storm a bit with my girlfriend today regarding my world-building. Even if she wasn't able to come up with too many ideas herself, she asked questions about things and let me speak freely, both of which helped get my brain-juices flowing. It is one thing sitting down in front of the computer with a blank document in front of you and try to write something, and something completely different when you get a chance to talk about and/or discuss it. I am grateful for her help.

One issue that has come up with my new phone is the ringtone. I can't really find one I really like amongst the ones that are already on there, and for some reason my mind has been drawing a complete blank on good music that would make good ringtunes. I am sure it will come to me eventually, but for now I am stuck with the default option, unfortunately. Other than that I am happy with it so far.

See you all on the other side!

A slow day

Greetings from the other side.

This is going to have to be a short blog post unfortunately.

My new phone is finally "assembled" and in functioning order. Didn't really take that long. Longest bit was probably all of the updates and re-starts it wanted to do. Didn't get around to it yesterday, but now it is sorted. Feels good. :) I have also been sorting and putting all of my papers into a folder today. The papers I have aquired here in Finland that is. Things like my job contract, the contract for my new phone, etc. It's good to have it all sorted and in one place so they are easy to find when I need them. It has also helped me reduce some of the piles of papers that are currently adorning my desk, freeing up some much needed space there.

My knee is still stiff and sore, but getting better. It is a slow process though, so I can't really give a time frame for when it might be well again. I am hoping it will be well before Monday though, so I can get back to working normally again. My girlfriend gave me a reflexology treatment for my knee today. Some of the points she put pressure on hurt like *beeep*, but hey if it helps it was well worth it. She's good at what she does, so I know I am in good hands.

Thinking of moving my weights indoors again so I can do some lifting again. Though it will probably have to wait until my knee is better. I don't much look forward to draging them over here with my knee the way it is. Nor should I really be training while the knee is like this either, as it is a bit less stable than normal.

Weighed myself again this morning, and I am still loosing weight, even though I have been hobbling around all week and not been nearly as mobile as I have been previously. I am glad that I am still loosing weight, and I can't wait to reach my target some day.

Sun is shining outside and the sky is blue. Seems to be a bit windy looking out, but not too bad.

Right. That's it for today. I seem to be lacking a bit of blogging inspiration today. Hopefully it will be better by tomorrow.

See you all on the other side!

Autumn Reflections & some other bits

Greetings from the other side.

Autumn has really painted this place in a lot of beautiful colours by now. Sadly the leaves don't stay on the trees for very long, but the ones that fall instead cover the ground in a beautifully coloured carpet, that rustles so gently when one walks through it. Autumn feels like a great time for reflection and inner soul-searching. If you are an artistic person I am sure you can find a lot of inspiration in the beautiful natural scenery and colour-palette that the world around you is painted in. For someone like me, who loves writing as well as creative and philosophical thinking, autumn is a time for reflection and philosophy. Granted, I think each season has its charms, and they are all beautiful and wonderful in their own way. My advise to anyone is to go outside, preferably away from the city to a place where you can be in natural surroundings, and just take a deep breath of cold, crisp autumn air. Let the clouds, the sky, and the colours of your surroundings fill your senses. It is a very serene and calming feeling. Just let go of your troubles for a little bit and enjoy the moment. It is very important to take moments. Moments of relaxation and serenity. Moments of introspection and meditation. Take a moment to realize just how beautiful our world really is. Regardless of whether you believe that it is God's creation or not, one thing I think we can all agree upon is that it is a beautiful place and we should all try and take care of it as best we can. It is our home, and currently the only world we have. It is our responsibility to look after it. :)


In other news pertaining more to my life here in Finland:

My knee is still aching. I have pushed through at work this week however, rather than calling in sick. If I did, none of my work would get done. At least if I am there I can do SOME of my work, if only at a slower pace than normally. At least I am not in constant pain, but the knee still feels stiff, sore and swollen. It looks a bit swollen as well. At least I am getting today and tomorrow off plus the weekend due to only working 60%, so that is very useful when I have these issues. I hope my knee will get better before Monday. Otherwise I might have to go and have it checked out.

My girlfriend and I went shopping earlier today and we had some errands to run as well. My knee wasn't too happy, but we got everything done. We are now set for having some of my girlfriend's family and friends over for engagement coffee on Sunday. Too bad none of my family are able to attend, but with the ferry out of the water for a two week period, that wasn't going to happen anyway. My parents will probably come over for a visit towards the end of this month anyway, so we'll get to celebrate with them then. :)

My knee seems to have survived all the walking between shops, etc, but my calf is really tender and tense. I think the poor thing has been taking the brunt of me limping around. So now I will let it rest as much as possible together with the knee. I am noticing that the knee usually feels best when I wake up in the morning, probably because it has been resting all night and not had any strain put on it for a few hours.

One of the things we managed to get for me today was a new phone! Yes. I finally have a finnish phone number. I still need to actually put the SIM card in, etc, but the fact that it is here now feels great. I didn't have much hope considering how things have gone previously when we have tried to get a cell phone for me. Happily we were more lucky this time around. Hopefully this means the end of overly expensive phone bills for my girlfriend when she tries to call or text to me.

I have not been able to go home to Sweden for a visit since I moved here some 2 months ago or so. It's a shame, but it is the way it is. I am feeling quite at home here, and I know I will get to go home soon enough. :) Now that I am not working so much I have more time to take a trip across the water. :)

I am also making slow progress with the finnish language. Due to a busy schedule and other things getting in the way, as well as me not having found a good app or other thing to help me study the language, I have only been able to take small steps so far. Learning a word here and there, and my father-in-law gave me some great tips on finnish pronunciation. I am not setting my sights too high, or aiming for impossible things, but I am hoping I will be able to at least understand it in the future, and make myself understood as well, even if I perhaps won't be able to hold too advanced a conversation. :) We shall see how it goes!

See you all on the other side!

Tales of a mixed weekend

Greetings from the other side.

The weekend went by in a flash, or at least it felt like it did. On Saturday my girlfriend and I went together with her mother to a music café. It was really enjoyable with good music, nice people, and a pizza buffé. The only downside to the evening was that I somehow managed to hurt my knee. Again. Same one that has been hurt before. I didn't really do anything to cause it either, as far as I have been able to work out. As I got out of the car when we arrived there, my knee suddenly started feeling stiff and sore. It is still sore, stiff, and feels swollen even though it doesn't look it. From what we have been able to work out it seems to be some kind of inflammation or similar thing in the places where the muscles attach to the knee. It's a bit difficult for me to explain in english, but hopefully that made enough sense.

Luckily though, it has been slightly better today than it was yesterday and on Saturday, so I am hoping it will keep getting better from now on. It does restrict me a bit in my work, which sucks, but at least I am able to work, just not at a very fast pace and I need to be careful so I don't put too much (or any really) unnecessary strain on my knee while I do it.

When you have an 'injury' like this you quickly realize how much it affects you in your job and in your everyday life. I can't wait until my knee is better again.

Yesterday was spent resting and taking it easy. The knee meant I wasn't going to be very mobile anyway. My girlfriend and I got our engagement photos taken by a friend of hers, and later I got some work done on the world-building, as well as on some game mechanics for the tabletop RPG stuff.

We also got the bookcase assembled and put up yesterday, and it currently has about 3½ shelves filled with binders and my tabletop RPG books and boxes.

We had our first 'proper' frost night last night. By that I mean, we might have had other cold nights with degrees dropping well below zero degrees Celcius before, but this is the first night I can remember where the temperature was still below zero when I woke up this morning. Only -1 but still. Second morning so far (though not in a row) where I have had to scrape the windows free of ice on my car before I drove off to work.

See you all on the other side!

Cell Phone Adventures & Life

Greetings from the other side.

The weekend is here again, after another week of work. Starting on Monday things will be a bit different for me as my job now goes down to 60%. I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I have more time on my hands to do other things, and admittedly some of those things will probably involve more work in other places. On the other hand my salary also goes down to 60%. That is less good, but as I said I can fill it out with working extra at other places, so we should be fine.

We had a lot of errands to run yesterday. Included in that list of errands were to get me a finnish cell phone so that the people living here wouldn't have to call 'abroad' every time they were trying to reach me on my swedish phone. Turns out it isn't that simple to get a phone when you are newly arrived here in Finland. I can buy a cell phone if I pay the whole sum for it up-front, something we had decided was too big a sum to splash on a phone right now, all things considered. That just left us with one option: paying in installments. Granted, they did have that option - you could buy one and pay over 6 or 10 months - but it requires me to have lived in Finland for a minimum of 3 years. 3 years. To buy a cell phone. And my girlfriend couldn't get it in her name either as she is currently recovering from her burn out and is thus, technically, still considered unemployed. The fact that I have employment, a salary, and would have no problems paying for it didn't matter at all. So technically together we meet all the pre-requisites: I have a steady job and a steady income, and she has lived here all her life. Unfortunatelly that wasn't enough.

We are still going to try calling and asking Sonera (service provider) whether there is something we can do with them. Why Sonera? Because of the fact that with them I can call in all the Nordic countries (or it might just be Sweden and Finland, I'd have to double-check) without paying extra. If that doesn't work I might just have to buy the phone at some point when I am back home in Sweden visiting instead. Which, considering I will now only be working 60% in my main job, will probably be a bit easier to find time for.

The weather has been pretty up-and-down this past week. We've had a rainstorm one day, sunshine the next day, storm winds the following day, etc etc. You can definately tell that the autumn is here. It is quite beautiful out here this time of year with the trees donning their autumn-dresses. Especially when set against a clear, blue sky.

The house is getting into better and better shape with regards to the two floors. Soon we will hopefully be able to have people from Sweden come over to visit, something I am definately looking forward to! :) We have brought in the book case now which will get assembled soon.

That's it from me for this time.

See you all on the other side!

Energy levels & Thoughts

Greetings from the other side.

I finally seem to have my energy back again. It has been very strange how my energy-levels have been coming and going in the last couple of weeks. Hopefully it is back to stay now, as it has been affecting me quite a lot. I have soldiered on as best I have been able to, but admittedly some times I have been working at half-speed because of it. :-/ I have been able to do my job and do the tasks I am required to do, but I would have much rather been doing it with my normal energy rather than feeling like I'd rather go lie down and rest. Keeping my fingers crossed that my energy-levels have stabilized now.

Going through a period of time like that makes you realize how important it is to be able to feel like you have the energy to do things. Not tired like you haven't been sleeping even though you have been making sure that you get the required amount of sleep. It's a weird thing because no matter how much you sleep you still feel like you haven't been sleeping much at all. I wasn't showing any other symptoms either, like fever or anything like that which might have helped explain the sudden lack of energy.

Besides that though, I have been doing alright. Things are going well at work and I am still feeling like I am growing with the job. I have had a chance to meet a lot of wonderful people, and it is always a pleasure talking to them. Today I was helping out at a meet-up for people above the age of 60, and I really enjoyed it. They were really friendly and it was a joy helping out.

Only cloud on my work-related 'sky' is that, starting on Monday, my job goes down from 100% to 60%. I will probably be able to fill out the rest by working extra in other places, etc, however. So my girlfriend and I should be able to manage.

I am hoping that my energy-levels will remain at their normal level from now on.

See you all on the other side!

An update

Greetings from the other side.

This will probably be a short update, as I am a bit short on time and energy today.

The last few days have been eventful. I proposed to my girlfriend on Friday, and I got a yes! :) YAY! We went out and bought the rings and now we are settling into our new, engaged, life together. It feels wonderful!

Not sure what is wrong with me today, but I am severely lacking in energy, and have been all day. I hope I am not coming down with something now. :-/ Will probably make an extra early night tonight and hope that I feel better tomorrow.

This is my last week working 100% at my current job. Starting next week, and for the coming 6 months, my job is at 60%. I will be able to work extra in other places to make up for it, but it still feels like a bit of a hassle. Oh well. It could be worse. At least we are healthy, happy, and we know we'll survive on the lower income.

I am starting to feel very much at home here in Finland now. :) My biggest hurdle is still learning the finnish language. Considering it belongs to a different language group than Swedish, that I haven't studied any language like it before, and that I am somewhat limited in when I actually have time to study, I have a feeling it is going to be a slow process for me. I'm still going to try though! :)

I think that will be all for now. I'll return with a better post later when I have my energy back.

See you all on the other side!

Reflections under an overcast sky

Greetings from the other side.

Another fine day of working in the sunshine. Well... not quite "sunshine", more like "cloudy overcast", but it has been a nice day none the less. The temperature outside has been decent, though unfortunatelly, because of the overcast, the grass isn't drying very well, which is causing me some issues with the machines that are supposed to cut said grass. It's been a struggle at times, but eventually I got some done at least.

It has been a day of quiet contemplation while working. There is something almost meditative in loosing yourself in thought while you work. Some times it can even help you solve a problem you have been struggling with for a while, or it can give you new inspiration for something. For me, both things were true today. I was able to figure something out that I have been pondering for a while now, with regards to my world-building, and I also found inspiration for something new which I could add to it.

The weeks just seem to be rolling by. It's monday, and then suddenly the week has passed by again. I guess it is a good sign that I am enjoying myself here, but at the same time sometimes I wish that time would slow down a little. At least on occasion. The weekends would be a good time to do it in. Though I have a feeling that would be asking for too much.

We're still unpacking and moving stuff, little by little. My working long days does put a little break on it, but we'll get it all done eventually. We also need to get the upstairs ready as well, as we did move some stuff from there downstairs. Soon enough we will be able to have people from Sweden visiting. Something I am quite looking forward to! :)

Time for me to go help out with the dinner.

See you all on the other side!

A thought-full entry

Greetings from the other side.

A few days have gone by since my last update. During this time I have been busy with work, moving, every-day life things, and a tad of role-playing related stuff. In short: I have been busy. Yet for some reason, as I sit here to write about it, nothing in particular comes to mind. Strange that. I know I have been very busy, but at the moment I can't think of anything to write about. I guess it must be the tiredness, and I have plenty of that. Though that is partly my own fault as well. I did sit up later than usual last night playing a tabletop roleplaying game with my friends over the internet. It was fun, but it also resulted in me only getting about 6 hours of sleep last night. Luckily it only happens once or twice a week, so it won't effect me too much. You do feel some effect from it though, as working 8 or 9 hour days combined with not enough sleep does tend to leave a mark. But as I said, I only sit up like that once or twice a week, so I'll be fine.

Still haven't gotten any extra TV-channels installed, so I still can't watch the football (soccer for you North Americans out there). I do miss it, but due to a few different factors we have postponed getting them to a later date. It will happen eventually though, and I am quite looking forward to that day.

In my job there's a lot of work, but it also lends itself to a lot of time for reflection and thinking. I quite enjoy that about my job as well. It is an interesting mix of physical labour, and creative thinking. It lends itself well for my world-building, without taking anything away from performing my actual work. In that sense I guess I get the best of both worlds in this job. I think it is beneficial to both the mind, the spirit, and the body.

The physical nature of the job still leaves me tired in the evening, though I suppose that shows I am actually doing something during the day.

Another factor I love about my job is that I get to meet and talk to a lot of people. It gives a sense of connection, that I wouldn't get otherwise. I work in a church, and even though the church is my employer I serve the parrish. The contact with people, talking to and listening to them, is an important part of the whole. I believe in meeting everyone with kindness and an open mind, no matter who they are.

See you all on the other side!

Another 'Moving' Story

Greetings from the other side.

Today has been a busy day here at the house. We have been moving floors to live in the downstairs 'apartment' instead of just upstairs. We are not done with the moving yet, but most of the big stuff has been carried to where it needs to go at least. There's still work to be done getting everything in order though, so still some time before we are done. It feels good to finally be able to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel though. We will still be utilizing the upstairs apartment however, and it will also serve as a place for guests to stay when I have people visiting from Sweden. :)

Been very tired after this past work-week, and my body has been aching a bit in the last couple of days. Especially my back has felt a bit sore. So I was a bit hesitant about carrying all the heavy furniture today. It went by without a hitch though, but tomorrow will definitely be a day or rest for me. We had some glutenfree pizza for dinner, together with my girlfriend's parents, after we were done to celebrate. I can assure you all it was delicious! :)

My weight keeps going down, which is good. So far I have lost about a kilo every week, and two kilos this past week. I am also noticing that I feel lighter, which is good. :) I am putting it down to my girlfriend's healthy cooking, and the physical nature of my work which has me working outside all day.

This will have to conclude my post for today, as I am very tired.

See you all on the other side!

Reflections on the present

Greetings from the other side.

Another week is slowly coming to an end. It still surprises me how fast time seems to move since I moved over here. I know I have been here over a month now, but it doesn't feel like it. In a strange way it simultaneously feels like I have been here forever and like I have only been here a week or so. It's the strangest feeling, but I suppose it is ok anyway. I am enjoying it here, which is the important thing. I do think about my family, relatives and friends back home in Sweden from time to time though, wondering how they are doing, and looking forward to when they can come visiting me here in Finland.

I haven't been able to go back home to visit yet, and it might still be some time before that can happen. There's a lot going on at the moment with work, preparing the downstairs apartment, every day life stuff, etc. I'm not sure exactly when things will slow down enough for me to come visiting over a weekend or so. Thing is, I also work some weekends, which also narrows down the options a bit. I will when I can though.

I am slowly learning to find my way around over here, which feels nice. :) It gives a whole different sense of freedom when you know you can find your way around without getting lost.

I have started making friends over here though, slowly but surely. Also, going off with work yesterday was really rewarding as I got to meet and talk to a lot of new people. One 'part' of the experience was entirely in finnish, but luckily people were very helpful with translating and explaining to me what was being said. I do think I need to try and learn some finnish at least, so I am not completely lost when someone speaks finnish to me. Though someone did say to me that looking at me while someone was talking finnish, you would never guess that I was completely oblivious as to what was being said. It looked like I understood it.

I think that will be all for today. It's been another day of hard work and I am feeling quite tired.

See you all on the other side!

Moving in mosquito land

Greetings from the other side.

Short post from me today, as it has been a long day, and I have to make an unusually early night because I have to get up extra early tomorrow morning.

Lots of mosquitos around today. Been working outside all day, and most of the work has been done in a cloud of mosquitos. They haven't been a major issue all summer, but now all of a sudden they are back in force for some reason, and have been for a little while now. I wonder if it's the same thing back home in Sweden? I'll have to ask.

Not counting the mosquitos though, it's been a very nice day with warm, sunny weather. A bit more wind to keep the mosquitos away would have been nice, but I suppose you can't have everything.

Things are shaping up ahead of the move downstairs. We have gotten a couple of furnitures in, and my girlfriend and her mother is trying to sort out the curtains. Slowly but surely it is getting to the point where we can finally move in there. :) Not that we have any issues living in the upstairs apartment. That will still be in use after we move downstairs. It is just that it will be nice to have a proper bedroom and an 'office', and it gives us an opportunity to create a home for 'us', where some of my stuff can also find a room to be.

See you all on the other side!

Something new

Greetings from the other side.

I am seriously lacking blogging inspiration today, but I will give it a go anyway.

Went running some errands with my girlfriend today and found something I have not tried before, coconut water. 100% pure even, according to the label. So I figured I would buy one and give it a go.
Having tasted it now, I am not sure it was worth the 3 euros and 15 cents I paid for it (just above 30kr according to the online currency converter), for a tetra pak containing 33cl of the stuff. I mean it was ok, and I know it is probably very nutritious and good for me, but the taste didn't make me go "WOW" or anything.

I might buy it again some time, but then again I might not either. Only time will tell. :)

The sun is shining today, which is great, but I am feeling slightly low on energy again, which is not great. Hoping it is only a temporary thing though, and that I will feel better again soon.

Wednesday I go with work off to some place somewhere. I like the idea as I get to meet and talk to new people and get to know more people who are in the same line of work as I am. Downside though is that we leave at 7:10am. Those who know me, know that I am more of a nightowl than a morning person, so it might be a bit of a struggle to get up at 5:45 in the morning. I am sure I will cope though, even if I won't necessarily like it.

Other than that it has been a slow day for me. As I mentioned earlier in the post I am a bit low on creative energy today, as well as energy in general. Hopefully it is a passing thing.

See you all on the other side!

A Sunday out of the ordinary

Greetings from the other side.

So far this has been a day of new meetings and experiences. I had the honor of being "kyrkvärd" today at the morning service at church. I have tried translating "kyrkvärd" into english, but found two different terms - "churchwarden" and "sidesman". I have not been able to ascertain which one would be the most appropriate term to use however, so I will leave it at that. Being my first time doing this, I was happy to have my girlfriend's dad with me who has a lot of experience with that kind of work.

After we were done at the church, we went off to buy some salmon and met a relative to my girlfriend's family there. He was probably one of the happiest, and most cheerful people I have ever met. It's the kind of happiness that just beams off of him, and infects everyone around him. It was also the first time I have ever walked into a store and gotten a hug from someone working there. :) lol I guess I am part of the family now.

Yesterday's fog has lifted from the land, but the cloud-cover still remains. From what I am told the sun will come back again tomorrow, which will be welcome.

I seem to have gotten my energy back now, which is welcome after a long week of feeling heavy in both body and mind. Not sure what was up with that. It was like I hadn't been sleeping even though I tried to sleep more than normally to counter it. Hopefully my new-found energy will stay with me going forward. :)

I was able to do a bit more world-building yesterday evening, which felt nice having not been able to do any work on it in the past week. :) I was unable to do any more work on maps however, but I am sure I will get to doing that soon as well.

See you all on the other side!

A 'Moving' Story

Greetings from the other side.

The bottom floor of my girlfriend's house has been empty since her tenant moved out about three weeks ago, and since then we have been slowly working towards getting the downstairs apartment fixed up and ready so we can move down there. The plan being that the bottom floor will be our main living quarters, and then also make use of the upstairs apartment, plus use it as a separate apartment for guests when people are visiting.

It's been a slow process getting things ready downstairs however, partly because I have been working long days and then am exhausted when the weekend comes, but also because there have been a lot of work that needs to be done. We have fixed up the bathroom, including having a plumber over, we've repainted a lot of stuff in the kitchen and other places, and we've gotten some new wallpaper to replace the ones where the tenants cats had left scratch-marks. We are currently in the process of putting up said wallpapers. Luckily we have had a lot of help from my girlfriend's father. We are also expecting an electrician to come here as we need to do a bit of electrical re-wiring for when we move the stove from upstairs to downstairs, and the one we currently have downstairs to upstairs. It is bigger than the one that is currently downstairs, and will need to be put in a different place, hence why we need the new electrical socket to plugg it in.

It will be good once it is all done however, and we can't wait for it to be all finished so we can finally move downstairs. My girlfriend is getting a little bit impatient about it all taking so long.

There's more to think about when you move like this than you would think. And this will be my second move in a bit over a month. Granted this move is happening within the same house, but there's still furniture that needs to be moved, painting and preparations that need to be done, and a lot of other things.

We also had a little mold-scare in the bathroom in the beginning, but it turns out it was nothing so that was a major relief!

I'm really looking forward to having people come visit from Sweden once we are done with everything. It will be really nice seeing my parents and friends again. :)

There's fog outside today, and a bit of rain. Was kind of hoping for a bit of sunshine, but that might happen later today.

See you all on the other side!

Thoughts from a tired mind

Greetings from the other side.

Another day of work has passed, and now the weekend is upon us. Except I work this weekend. Granted, it is 'only' on Sunday, but in return I get Monday off so I guess it evens itself out. This is the first job I have ever had where I have had to work on the weekend on occasion, unless there was anything special, so that's a new experience for me. I'm sure it will be fine though. As I said, I get Monday off instead, which is nice. :)

Life here on the other side is moving along quite nicely for me. Only downside really is the tiredness and heavy feeling in my body and head that is currently affecting me. I have a feeling I will be doing a lot of resting on my days off.

Hopefully I will get my creative spark back soon. I have a feeling it will return when my head clears up a bit. I had so many ideas that I wanted to figure out and make use of before this happened, that I can't work on until I feel better. Luckily I have them written down at least.

For some reason there were a lot of mosquitos out today. I thought we were just about done with them for this summer. Apparently not. Luckily there were a bit of wind today, so they weren't that bad, but coming home from work there was no wind and a lot of mosquitos outside.

Right. I think that's all my brain can muster for now.

See you all on the other side!

One day at a time

Greetings from the other side.

In my last post I mentioned that I wasn't feeling too well. That is still the case, unfortunatelly. I hope that some rest will do me good this weekend, even though I work this Sunday.

It isn't really affecting my work that much yet. Only discernable issue is that everything I do seem to take a longer time than it normally would, and I get tired a lot quicker. It isn't ideal, but at least it isn't keeping me from doing my job. I've only been working there about 4 weeks, so I don't really want to come down with a fever, or something, now that would keep me home.

Outside of my work, the thing that annoys me the most about this tiredness is that it is also having an effect on my creativity, which has been almost zero this week. After I get home from work my mind is just too tired to be creative, or at least that is what it feels like. I might try and do a bit of writing today, just to see how it goes, but judging by the way I feel I don't have high hopes for it.

Even coming up with things to write about on the blogs is difficult right now, but I am trying to push through it. Might have to be a few shorter posts until I feel better, we shall see.

It is kind of strange, ever since I moved here from Sweden I seem to have been suffering from one thing or another. First it was my knee, then I got an eye infection, then my current issues. I will persevere though. Hopefully I will be all better soon. :)

Now to try and write something for my other blog.

See you all on the other side!

Less than 100%

Greetings from the other side.

Not sure what is up with me today. My head is feeling heavy and clouded, my body feels heavy as well, and it feels like I haven't slept in days. I don't have a fever however, nor do I feel like I am coming down with one. I have been feeling like this all day today.

Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow. I have a lot of stuff to do at work this week, so hopefully I can stay healthy and get my head back in order again soon. I am trying not to get stressed about it though. I know that stressing won't help in the slightest, and it would probably only succeed in making things worse, which would probably make me stress even more, etc etc.

I'm even having a hard time being creative and writing stuff or working on maps today. Which is a shame because I love doing that stuff. It gives me a "vent" of sorts, to focus on doing something I love doing. It's a good way to relax for me, doing things like writing about creative stuff such as the world-building, making maps for the world-building, playing tabletop roleplaying games, reading about historical stuff, etc etc. I have already written a post about how doing things you love is good for you so I won't go into any more details about it here.

I have a hard time focusing my thoughts right now, so I will end this post here.

See you all on the other side!

Creativivity & Everyday Life

Greetings from the other side.

Another work week is under way, starting out with a 9 hr work day. The weather was nice though, and the day went by fairly quickly. Feeling tired still despite having had a very calm weekend. Hopefully I am not coming down with something. Need to stay healthy now that I have just started my new job.

The new blog is working out well so far. Only three blog posts on it as of yet, but there will be plenty more. :) Not really had much issue keeping up with two blogs either. I know I am not able to update every day, but I am trying to update about every 3 days or so at least. Keyword there might be "trying" on occasion, but for the most part I will try to keep that up for both blogs.

I have been working more on the map-making for the world-building project. I have some of the major land-masses outlined, but still need to fill in the details. I am still learning, and I don't really want to fill in the details until I have learned the program better. It is a process, but I am learning a bit every time it feels like. I have also tried working on the writing, and I have been brimming with ideas. :) It's just been a matter of actually getting it all down on paper.

Football (soccer for my north-american blog-readers) season is underway, but sadly I have not been able to watch any games yet as I don't yet have the required TV channels to do so. Will need to get it soon, but honestly with the expenses we've had in the first month of my stay here I would not have been able to justify it. Things should calm down soon though on that front, so it is definitelly up there on the list of things to get. Another thing is a finnish phone so it is not so expensive for my gf to call my swedish phone. A big problem for her has also been that whenever she sends me a text message, her phone seems to send me 3-5 copies of the same text message. An example: Day before yesterday she sent me a short message to let me know she was on her way back home. I got that message 7 times, including one the following day. We'll need to talk to her service provider about that, and if it is not on their side then we'll need to see what can be done about the phone.

On a more positive note, life is moving along quite well over here. :) I am enjoying myself, work is going well, and I am surrounded by wonderful people. I am trying to get around to learning a bit of finnish, but after an 8 or 9 hr work day of hard work, I'm not always in the mood to do some studying when I get back home again. Hopefully I will pick things up as I go along and learn a bit at a time.

See you all on the other side!

Doing things things you love, is good for you

Greetings from the other side.

Today's blog post is brought to you from a, so far at least, sunny place somewhere in Finland.

Lots of things have been running through my mind lately, especially with the new blog coming up and writing stuff for that, but also things about life in general. Living here, I live a reasonably calm and "simple" life, in the country side. I have a job to go to, beautiful surroundings, and a wonderful girlfriend. Living here gives you lots of opportunities to reflect on things, which is great for when you have a blog to write. :)

A few days ago, I was finally able to return to roleplaying, having only been able to play with my friends once in the past 5 weeks or so. It was such a nice feeling to be back and doing something that I truly love doing, together with people that I love playing with. I don't think I had fully realized how much I had missed playing tabletop roleplaying games with my friends until I was back. I think it is important that you find things in your life that you truly love doing, that you keep doing them, and that you let them act as a vent for you. Only doing what is expected of you, or things that you "must" do, whether it be work-related or otherwise, is not good for you in the long run, I think. You need a vent. Something you love doing that gives you a very good feeling inside. Something which helps you relax and that you always enjoy going back to. Not because you HAVE to or NEED to, but because you WANT to. It may not be something that is good for you financially, materialistically, or anything like that, but the important thing is that it is good for your well-being. It is a social thing that you can do in a relaxed atmosphere together with friends. I wrote a piece recently on my other blog about why you should play tabletop RPGs, which touched on that a bit, as well.

My point is, finding things that GIVE you energy and joy is extremely important and good for you. They are the things you love doing in your spare time, either together with friends or on your own. They give you energy and happiness, and is something you do because YOU want to do it. Maybe it is a hobby, an interest, or even playing a sport. What is important isn't WHAT it is, but that it is something you enjoy. It can even be a good way to relieve stress, and just enjoy yourself for a while. So if you are suffering from a lot of stress in your life, and you haven't already found something you love doing that can help give you back some of the mental and emotional energy that stress can steal away from you, then I highly recommend that you try and think of something you want to do.

My gf has, stuck on the door to our fridge, a saying that goes "Do more of what makes you happy", and I subscribe wholeheartedly to that. I believe that doing things that make you happy is good for you, both mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

See you all on the other side!

Blog news & bits

Greetings from the other side.

Another busy day has passed and it feels good to be back home again. The weather has been good, though looking out the window I can see that the wind has picked up a bit again. Not too bad yet though. I am silently hoping that it won't get too rough. Tomorrow there might be some rain, so I will probably be doing most of my work indoors if that happens. The kind of job that I do tends to make me walk around a lot, so I have been seriously thinking about getting myself a stepcounter of some sort. Would be interesting to know just how much walking I do in a day. At least for me it would be interesting. :-P

I got recommended a language app called "DuoLingo", as I am thinking about starting to learn at least a bit of finnish. I figure I might as well if I am going to be living here. :) Sadly though, the app in question doesn't feature classes in finnish, so the search will have to go on.

Blog news! I have started up a new blog today, for my blog posts that relate to tabletop roleplaying and tabletop games in general. With all my other ideas for things to write about in this blog it felt like a logical thing to put that stuff in a separate blog. I probably won't be moving any of the stuff I have already written in this blog though. It isn't that much and some of it tends to be mixed in with other stuff. I will try to link to the other blog in the sidebar of this blog, once I have sat down and figured out how to do it. As I have mentioned before this is my first ever blog, so I am still learning all the ins and outs of blogging. Once that is done I will also post a link there to this blog.

I have not yet posted anything in the new blog. I will see if I have the time, or inspiration, to do that today, but hopefully I will have something there this upcoming weekend at the latest. That is what I will be aiming for at least.

I have not yet decided where I am going to be writing about my own world-building, and things that relate to that. A part of me figures it would probably fit best in the new blog. I am sure I will figure it out as I go along.

See you all on the other side!