The Christmas gifts has appeared...

This evening the Christmas presents has appeared next to our little Christmas tree. Santa Claus will probably not come to visit us anymore ;) My family is a little lazy this year and doesn't want to have a big tree at home. So we only have a small one. All the presents doesn't fit under or next to it, so the rest are under the sofa table.

An ecological way of  using news paper...

 The Christmas cards we've gotten this year hangs on one of the pillars in our living room. Tomorrow is the last day to open the (chocolate) calendars. Today I've been giving and receiving Christmas presents to/from our family friends and Hanna nr. 2. My little brother counts the hours until we may open the presents. He has already been poking and shaking the gifts; guessing what's inside. So cute :) I've somehow grown up from that. No, not really, my reasons not to touch them are pretty simple; I want to keep my expectations and not get tempted to open them. Tomorrow it's time to get curious!

Something I'm giving away :)

Out little Christmas tree and some of the gifts.

Merry Christmas! :)

Anniversary!

Today is the anniversary of this blog! Yay, I've written my blog for a year. Awesome that I've made it this far.

I started writing here for my own sake; because of my difficulties two years ago I still had negative thoughts last year. By writing here positive things and other stuff it helped me see the happy (small) things in life. I felt happier after writng here. It has been like therapy. Even though I'm not seeing this as therapy anymore, writing on my blog is my way of striving for good health and spreading joy.

My English has probably developed, because of my regularly writing. At least I hope so :) As it looks this blog has been a positive thing in my life! I'm not regretting starting with this. And I'm not sad about not having so many readers. It's good not to have pressure on writing.

A few days left until Christmas! I've just bought the last presents. Have a happy holiday! Spread the joy! :D

Day 14: Which is the last movie you saw?

I think the last movie I saw was The Last Song (2010). It's based on Nicholas Sparks novel with the same title. The film is a romantic drama and stars with Miley Cyrus, Liam Hemsworth and Greg Kinnear.

I borrowed it from the library, because I hadn't seen it before and I'd heard it's good. I realized it's better than I expected. I don't know if the book is better. I should read it, I guess.

http://www.iswimforoceans.com/2010/04/monday-movie-review-11-last-song.html

Speaking of books and reading; I finished reading Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins last week. Now I'm excited about reading the last book in the trilogy; Mockingjay. I want to know how the whole story ends! :)

Christmas feelings

I've noticed that I truly have some Christmas feelings. Finally! A few weeks ago I only had the graduation & the parties in my thoughts. Now I've baked some gingerbread, listened to Christmas songs and bought presents. Today we've made some Christmas cards and tomorrow I'm probably gonna meet my friend and shop more presents! ;)

Baking gingerbread on Friday.

At the same time I'm feeling a little sad and anxious because my big brother will leave for Australia next Wednesday. Before Christmas!! Argh  >:D The things I'm worried about is how me and my family will be able to have contact with him, 'cause he will be traveling around the world for several months; until April 2013 when he'll be studying in Japan. I'm gonna miss him so much! He's my role model on a lot of things and it's so fun to be with him. Hopefully he'll be safe wherever he is :) Wishing him good luck!

<3

PS: when adding the pictures I felt so tempted... So here I am eating a gingerbread and I want MOORE! Yummy! Hmm... will there be any left for Christmas...? ;-D

My graduation parties

I graduated from high school on Wednesday 5th December and I've had two lovely parties after that. The same day I got the white cap at school and celebrated with the most of my friends and some family friends at home. Next day I had a bigger party with my relatives and other family friends. It was the Independence day and my big brothers nameday so we had much to celebrate. It was very nice to meet everyone and it felt a little weird to be in the center of attention.

I love the cakes we had! Not just how they tasted, also the looks. I asked to get a Japanese spitz (type of a dog breed) as a decoration on the cakes and the girl who made these was happy to make these white ice bear looking dogs. The dogs I care so much about; Emiko, Gizmo & Mixi are Japanese spitz, so that's why I wanted particularly that dog breed as a decorate.

I got beautiful roses in different colours and lovely presents. Thank you all for celebrating with me! <3

Day 13: Someone you would like to meet

I think many of those who answer to this question first think about a celebrity. So did I. I would like to meet Katy Perry. Her music is awesome and I admire her courage to dress and be herself. At first I thought of a hot male celebrity, like Enrique Iglesias or Channing Tatum, but then I thought no. I want to meet a person who inspires me, not someone I would like to fall in love with (and hope he would fall for me ;)).
I'm not saying it wouldn't be cool to meet these celebrities, but it just seems impossible! But I can always wish ;)

Katy Perry

Even though this is very, veeeryy cliché I would like to meet the love of my life at some point, hopefully before I'm too old to start a family :)




http://www.glamour.com/beauty/blogs/girls-in-the-beauty-department/2012/11/katy-perry-is-expanding-her-fr.html

A relaxing hour

Today I've been to a beauty salon to get a facial treatment. It made me very relaxed. I must say I've never had a facial treatment by a professional before. My skin is cleaner and softer now and hopefully it will stay like this a long time ;)

Next week I'm going to the salon again, but this time to get manicure and hand care. Then I won't get the opportunity to just lay down and relax in the same way. But it's still going to be great for the hands!

I believe I'll take a relaxing facial treatment again sometime. I recommend it! ;)


http://www.themdayspa.com/facial.php

I MADE IT !!!

Hey! I made it !! :D In a few weeks I'll be standing with a white graduation cap on the school stage. Afterwards I'm gonna party with the ones I love. And more partying the next day, 'cause I'm having two parties in a row.

I'm so happy; I was thrilled when I got the results on Monday :D My results are not that good, but I passed the exams and that's good enough for now. I've been thinking of writing one of the exams again, maybe in next spring, just to try to raise the grades. I need to have made up my mind before Friday this week. We'll see.

Sunday and Monday I've been making invitation cards for relatives and friends. My mom and I made them from scratch, so it took very long time; two days, to get it all done. But it was also fun! Hopefully all those who get one will appreciate the work we've done.

"Inbjudan" means invitation.

These are some of the invitation cards.

I love the colours of the cards! :)

Day 12: What is the best time of day?

I won't give a precise time of the best time of day. I would say at least not morning, 'cause I'm always tired in mornings. Maybe midday or evening. At midday I get the feeling that I have much time for whatever I need to do. I'm pretty much relaxed at that time, depending on the situation of course. But at evenings I usually meet people, like friends, and then I'm much, much happier. I think I say evenings are best time of day. I'm mostly energetic late into the night...


 http://www.imagineyourselfthere.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/time_flies.jpg

Day 11: Write about your favourite TV-series

Finally I'll continue with this challenge. It's not a "30-day challenge" anymore, it's more like a challenge to finish. To get it done. I hope you are not so disappointed in me, but it just happend. Time runs fast.

My favourite tv-series are many. I'm also gonna mention some that I've watched too much and therefore they have been my favourites but are not anymore. I must say I need humor, some romance and action or a mystery (to solve) that I would be interested to watch.

For many years I watched the American tv-serie "Friends". I loved the sense of humor, the romance and Chandlers' jokes. I love the thing that the six of them know each other more or less and deals with different, funny everyday problems. Phoebe and Joey are not so smart and rich, which gives the audience something to think about. Everybody doesn't have to be rich and clever to fit in the society. I don't remember when I first started watching "Friends", but I know it was with my big brother. Now I've watched all episodes at least five times. So many times I remember everything by heart. It's not my favourite anymore, but it was a few years ago.

"Pretty Little Liars" is another one. It's an interesting tv-serie because of the mystery with the person "A", that no one knows who it is. In every episode something exciting happens and I get addicted to it. It's not enough with one episode, I have to watch more!! That's why I've taken a break from watching it. It's a couple of months since I last time watched and now I could continue with this serie. I think I'm somewhere in the middle of season two.

Cold Case

 I love watching criminal tv-series; there's always a mystery (a murder) to solve and I have to use my brain when watching. "Cold Case", "Miss Marple" and "Scott & Bailey" are some of my favourites in this category.

Leanne Marshalls' collection, season 5 winner.

Some reality tv-series are also nice to watch; like "Project Runway" or "So You Think You Can Dance". Sometimes I've even watched "American Idol". I know these are very commercial, but they are entertaining.
In "Project Runway" the designers make beautiful clothes, in dance shows they dance in a cool way. I admire those who have managed to come so far in their "own thing", whether it's art, clothes, dance or something else.

Finally, "Downton Abbey" and "Solsidan" are the latest tv-series I've added to the favourite list. I've watched "Downton Abbey" since it started a few years ago. Now the third season is running and I'm thrilled to watch every episode! I love the fashion, romance and the characters' lives changing. Sorry, if I spoil, but Mary and Matthew are so good together!

"Solsidan" is a Swedish tv-serie about young couples' lives in a district called Solsidan. It's a comedy serie about their everyday problems and other things that happen. I started watching the serie this fall, even though it's been running since 2010.


https://somedayandnever.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/friends.jpg
http://cartermatt.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Pretty-Little-Liars.jpg
http://therogersrevue.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/cold-case-00.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CZqO7CZ09Oo/Tib-pda0h4I/AAAAAAAAsgk/ihMrIoEDG1U/s1600/project-runway-season-5_archived%252817405285-9A93%252B22-573%2529.jpg
http://cartermatt.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/DowntonAbbey.jpg
http://aroundbooks.blogspot.fi/2012/07/solsidan.html

Father's day celebration

A few days ago me and my family celebrated Father's day. Most of the Nordic countries celebrate it on the second Sunday in November. So did we. My dad and mom made the delicious dinner; a beef stew and potatoes, I helped with the starters.

The starters.

My grandparents came in the afternoon to eat with us. They brought red roses and a caramel cake. Mom had made a pear cake, so we ate two cakes for dessert. Okay, we couldn't eat everything so there's still some left. Dad got a tie and a card from us.

The caramel cake.

The pear cake with vanilla sause and strawberries.

It was lovely to be together again. I am happy to have all my grandparents still alive. They mean so much to me.

Soon, in five weeks, my big brother will leave us and will be travelling for eight months! First to Australia, then Singapore and Hongkong... Or how was it again? Well, in April 2013 he's in Japan studying, that's certain. And in the end of summer he's back home again. How am I gonna survive? We'll see. Luckily I still have others around. Others I love. When am I gonna be as brave as he is? :)

Coffee with cake.

 

Feeling like a maid...sometimes

I've been over a month off from school, 'cause I have all my courses done. I don't have to be there anymore. It's a relief not to have to wake up when it's still dark outside. Even though I still do it when I'm going off to work. But it's at least not five times a week. I can choose when I want to work; which days.

I've not done many things since I left school in the beginning of October. I left to Italy for a week, I've worked only four days at kindergartens, I've shopped, been sick, met friends and started in a driving school.

I'm pretty much free to do whatever I want now and that's why I've been showing my lazy side of me; sometimes having days when I'm not taking a foot outside of the front door. Those days my parents wants me to do household work. Yes, of course I can do some, but at times it feels unfair to have to do almost everything of the daily work at home. Of course I understand that it can be stressful for my parents in work and a relief when they doesn't have to do household work when they arrive home. But sometimes I feel like a maid. I do the same things like everyday; wash laundry, hang up the clothes, empty and fill the dishwasher and cook.

Today I haven't done any of those things, because I was at work 8 hours and now I'm tired. I wanna sleep :-P So why do I complain? I can do those household works everyday when I'm not working. I should be happy to have a roof over my head. I'm a maid in my home when I'm not working at kindergartens? OK! :)

By the way, my little brother and I baked these brownies on Monday.

Yummy! We might serve these at my graduation parties. We'll see ;)

The new dress!!

My graduation is coming up in just a month so it's important to know what to wear then. Last week I panicked when my friend asked if I've found a dress, my answer was of course "No". But now I have, yay :D Since Tuesday I've been running to different stores to find the perfect dress. First I loved a red dress, but it was too expensive... but two days ago I found another dress, this time with my mom. Actually I bought two, hehe ;) The first one is totally black, but not as festive as the "winner" dress;  in a colour of champagne and black. As you can see the colours are mixed from the waist downward.

Now it's only to find shoes and a thin sweater or a bolero to match with the dress. And of course make other plans about the graduation party.

My holiday to Italy

View from Porto Valtravaglia at sunset.

It's two weeks ago I came home from Italy. I'm sorry, I've had much going on plus I was sick once again, so I've postponed writing here. Now I feel like I have the time to tell you shortly about my holiday to Italy and actually also to Switzerland.

Friday 12 October we took a flight to Milano and rented a car for the whole week. We stayed in a village named Porto Valtravaglia (difficult to write it, I learned the whole name in the end of the journey :D) in north Italy. We lived in a rented house near alps and lake Maggiore. Only once we visited Milano and it was cool; we saw the Duomo church and Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping center from 1860s. The shopping center was different from the ones I'm used to; this was more beautiful and it was easy to guess it was old.

Duomo church, Milano.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (one of the entrances)

 My week with my family and grandparents was nice. Every day we went on excursions by driving with the car to some places. We ate much out, especially pizza and spaghetti, well... Italy is famous about those dishes. The trip would have been better if it would have been sunnier and warmer. But the views were so incredible; it was easy to just stop for a minute and watch the extraordinary views! :) Of course those who live there all the time may not see the same beautiful nature as I see.

Somewhere near lake Maggiore.

Lugano, Switzerland. A very beautiful place <3

During the week we had time to visit or at least drive by all the cities/villages by the coast of lake Maggiore. The lake is actually very big, but not so wide. We took ferries a couple of times to come from the west part to the east. We also drove over the boundary to Switzerland a few times; there we visited cities, a chocolate factory and went hiking to Monte Tamaro.

Pedal boats, we hired one for half an hour.

Taken from the pedal boat, still Lugano.

I'm happy with the holiday, even though I would have been glad with more sun. I understand the fall shows also there, so I should return in a warmer season.

Maybe I will ;)

Italy here I come!

Today I'm leaving for Italy with my family, we are gonna be there a week. Our flight is to Milano and from there we rent a car and drive to north Italy to live in the countryside. We will of course visit Milano a day or two, but not live there. Hopefully it won't rain all the time, 'cause October is a rainy month...

I've packed everything already and in an hour I'm going to pick up my little brother from school. In the afternoon we are on the airport. This is my last post before taking holiday from writing. But it's only a week and then you hear from me again! :)

It wasn't this difficult packing...I think ;)

Have a good time! :)

http://technorati.com/lifestyle/travel/article/audio-tips-on-the-art-of/

Something purple ;)

This is something I found over 10 years ago in my backyard! It's an amethyst, one kind of a stone which is used in jewelry. In this country it's unusual to find it, so it must have been someone elses' before. It's probably bought somewhere and that person hid it here. I still remember myself finding it with my former friend. Loviisa and I played in the backyard beside a huge stone and I started digging right behind it. And then I found it; this beautiful purple stone! It felt amazing :)

I remember that I gave a small part of it to Loviisa, you know, I kind of broke parts of it. In school I told about it and divided it to some of my friends there, until the teacher said it was forbidden, haha :D

But I think it's gonna be a mystery for eternity. I can't know whose amethyst it really is, or was. Now it's just mine and it has a sentimental value to me. I remember the moment of excitement, happiness and the former friendship when I look at it. It means memories to me. Loviisa was my neighbor and best friend for some years when I was about seven years old. Then she and her family moved away and our friendship was lost.

I don't blame her. That's life, we move on. And those who are most important to us, keep in touch whatever happens :)

FINALLY FREE !!!

As the title says I'm finally free from school!! Wohoo :D My last "real" school day was on Friday. It was okay; I had a biology test which went really great! A few hours later I got my course tests back, and I got a 9 in both biology and psychology! Yay :D (we have a scale from 4-10, 10 being the highest score). Three days ago I felt panicked about the biology test, I was soooo afraid of getting a 4 :( but at the test I realized I know more about biology than I thought. My parents are very proud over me; 'cause I'm usually not a geek, especially not in biology. I'm a mediocrity (=medelmåtta) in most subjects.

A beautiful rose in summer.

 Now I have a holiday for a pretty long time, I can do almost ANYTHING I want to do!! :D Well, my future plans are quite clear for now. Next week I'm not going to plan anything too tough, just enjoy life. And do stuff I've wanted to do in the couple of months, but not let me do them. Next Friday, nevertheless, I'm leaving for Milano, Italy, with my family. It's gonna be fun!

After a week in Milano and the countryside of north Italy, I'm planning to continue working as a substitute nanny at kindergartens. I've noticed that I love being with kids and therefore I've decided I want to study to officially be a kindergarten teacher. Spring 2013 I'll search to a University which gives me the right programme. Hopefully I can begin at the University, maybe I'm there in a year!
 


I've made a list of things I want to do soon, here it is;

1. Buy a new diary
2. Write more at the blog (and continue with the 30-days challenge!)
3. Learn to use Skype and therefore discuss with some of my friends there
4. Read more books (this time literature, not school books!)
5. Learn to knit and make some new socks
6. Clean my room, like my wardrobe and throw papers away
7. Work at the kindergartens :)
8. Take a trip to a city named J. to meet my friends S. and M.
9. Go to the gym, more than twice a week
10. Shop (clothes and whatever)!!! :D

Well, it wasn't much things really. I did the list a month ago, when I thought I list stuff I want to do after my final exams. So that I won't forget ;)

 I've been so stressed out the last weeks that I've had weird symptoms. Like hard pain in my stomage for a few days in a row. One night I couldn't sleep almost at all because of the pain. I had to cancel all my programmes for a day and just lay in bed. It was boring, but it made me think I have to slow down a little and listen to my body. And now I can do it; I'm on holiday :)


Have a good time! :)

Kinda relieved

Beautiful flowers nearby.

Yesterday I had the big final exam in psychology. I don't know how it went, but I won't get full scores. I hope I'll at least pass the test. And the stupidest thing is that I can't do anything about it anymore, it's just to wait for the results. The prelinimary results comes next week, but I can't count on them for 100%. The real, final results comes to my acknowledge only weeks before I may graduate. Sucks...

I had a Spanish lesson in school today; we only repeated important stuff for tomorrows test, but it's only a course test, not biggie. I have also two other course tests next week plus exams in Spanish (on Monday). I haven't read so much Spanish that I would score well, but I'm only there for testing my skills, not to stress :)

Somehow I feel relieved about the psychology exam. It's over, yay! :D But at the same time I need the strength to work my butt one more week. Only six days in school anymore, hopefully :)

Keep your fingers crossed for me on Monday! ;)

Kind of random pics, but they're so lovely.

  

Pretty flowers in fall? Unusual here...

Meeting Emiko & Gizmo!

Today after school I went out with Emiko and the new puppy Gizmo! :D These two dogs are not my own, but I've known the owners for years. I visit the dogs now and then, it's been a routine to walk with Emiko every time I visit. If you remeber the post about Mixi, these dogs are living with the same family as she did. Emiko is now 6 years old and I've known her for almost her whole life. We've become good friends over the years.

Emiko <3

Now there's also living a new, fluffy and cute puppy; Gizmo! I met him for the first time today, but he's only lived two weeks at this new place called home. He is only two months old and he is wild, energetic and playful. What I've learned about his behaviour today is that he likes to bite ANYTHING he can find, he likes me at least a bit and he loves (dog) candy :) 

Gizmo in my arms <3

He is so cute, but I bet he means a lot of work. You know, he needs to learn how to behave and especially to stop biting people. He was a little slow today at the walk; I took both dogs at the same time and it was sometimes a little tough for me, but at the same time I enjoyed it. It was funny to see how Gizmo thought (nearly) everything in the nature were interesting and worth to sniff on. Sometimes I had to carry him 'cause he didn't want to walk all the time. But Emiko wanted to. She seemed to be a little jealous about me giving so much attention to Gizmo. She hasn't really gotten used to the idea of having another dog at home.

Emiko is a good girl; watching me, but Gizmo had something better to do...

 I was so happy to meet both Emiko and Gizmo! :) They are both so beautiful, social and in general great! <3 This made me miss Mixi a little. I thought of the time Emiko moved in (6 years ago) and Mixi behaved just like Emiko behaves to Gizmo; a little rejecting. But hopefully that's just temporary! :)
Hopefully I meet them soon again!

Have a nice weekend! Mine started in a great way ;)

Gifts from London

Yesterday evening my dad showed up with some gifts he had bought in London. He was there the whole week (at a business trip) and we missed him here at home. I didn't know he would bring some souvenirs to us.

I got this awesome drawing-book;

and as always; the whole family got much candy. I think this candy box is cute and delicious ;)

Sadly I don't have time to use the book right now, I should make school work... But I will try to improve my drawing skills later, after a few weeks. Thanks Dad :)