busy, busy, busy

Where did May go? Time for sure flies nowadays! I can't believe I've been back to work for a month already, feels like just a few weeks. I guess that's what happens when all you do is working, housekeeping and sleeping (and the best/worst part, when you're enjoying all of it). I also guess that's the reason I've been such a lazy blogger recently - there's simply not so much interesting material for blogging in my life right now - I'm just quietly enjoying this summer life of mine, and prefetably offline.


Seriously, I don't have anything special to write. I just felt guilty for not logging in in a month, and had to come around and try to write something. I know I will be missing these summer days later, so the least I can do now is write something about them, something to read next winter when I'm most likely freezing my ass off and broke again...

These are the busiest weeks of the summer at work, but in a few weeks it will get easier. Eventhough then we'll start weekend shift rotations again. Well, I don't mind going to work for a few hours on Saturdays and Sundays - it just stands for some extra money and makes my inner Uncle Scrooge happy ;-) I've also had some time for photographing at work, and hopefully some day I manage to put together a photopost of those photos (there's also some absolutely awesome "gag reel" photos we took with Abby!) ...yeah, work is going just fine. LMAO the other day we were kind of playing Treasure Hunt (our own twisted work related version of it, anyway) and I won by finding a whole hipbone! xD ...I still look forward to the day I'll find a skull, that would be cool (that sounded so wrong).

Besides work, I have a few little projects going on on the side. Project number one is saving money for my very own car. I've had a driver's licence for almost a decade now, but this is the first time I actually have an urge to buy my own car. I've always been allowed to borrow my parents' cars, but suddenly... I just want my own. Probably because my idea of a car is quite different than my parents - they're perfectly happy with '04 Fiat Punto, and my dream car would be something like Chevy Impala from 70s or 80s. So, I signed for a new saving account, and I'm aiming to save 20,000 EUR and buy my dream car. Laugh all you want, but I'll be the one laughing when I finally get the money together and buy the coolest car ever! So far I have something like 1,050 EUR. The great thing is that I actually enjoy saving money and think of it as a hobby (one thing to be thankful for my parents - eversince I was a kid, I was taught to work hard and save money if I wanted something). I know 20,000 EUR is a lot of money (25,000 USD, btw) but it doesn't feel impossible. Nothing is impossible, it just takes time & patience!

1959 Chevrolet Impala

And my other project is... losing weight! I was beyond shocked when I realized I've gained around 10KG in the course of the last 12 months. That's just wrong. I used to be around 62KG, but when I first weighted myself in May, I was 72KG. NO NO NO NO NO not funny at all! No wonder all my jeans felt so tight suddenly, L0L. Okay, diet it is, let's see how much I can lose by the end of August (when my Luumäki time ends and it's time to move back to the city). The bright side is that I get a lot of excercise at work, so basically all I need to do is watch what I put into my mouth (goodbye, Apple Pie, for now!) I guess it's working, since I've lost 2KG already. And the reason I'm telling you all this..? Because I'm telling EVERYONE about it! You know like, gathering some pressure to lose weight (not "letting everyone down"), and all that. So, dear Everyone, come and ask me in September how much weight did I lose during the summer, please? ;-)

Also, take a look at my sidebar: there's new gadgets for both gathering money and losing weight - you're more than welcome to follow my projects. Just... don't be too hard on me if I mess up somehow (spending money on DVDs instead of saving or eating a whole cake instead of carrots).

Okay, now I'm off to enjoy the rest of this Sunday. Watching a few episodes of Eureka (my newest TV series discovery) and finishing Agatha Christie's Memoirs. Sounds like a plan... Take care, have fun & see you around! xxo

Yours Truly-

Luumäki state of mind

Here I am - back in my summer life. Back in South Karelia, back in Luumäki, back living with my parents for the next four months, and back working at the cemetery, too. Life is easy, slow and overall predictable.

So, Luumäki is a small agricultural town in South Karelia, and the place where I lived the first 18 years of my life. The name means Bonehill, by the way. It's the greatest joke ever, like "Hey, my name is Sanna, I live at Worm Bay Drive in Bonehill, and I work at the cemetery" - like I'm from some frigging Tim Burton movie! Erm, anyway... with around 5,000 people living in Luumäki, all scattered around in their farm houses and separated by forests and fields, life is exactly like it is in any other place like this all over the globe. There's one grocery store and a small library which is open three days a week. Pretty much everyone knows everyone by name, and it comes with its pros and cons. Some serious apple pie life, I tell you! As a teenager I hated all this and couldn't wait to move away ASAP, but after years living elsewhere, I've learnt Luumäki isn't that bad. Or more likely, it not any better or worse than any other place.

My life here during the summers is simple as hell, and it goes like this:

• Get up 6AM
• Go to work 7AM - 3PM
• On your way home, go to the grocery store (and library if you feel like)
• Come home, cook, take a shower (or sauna, if it has been a chilly day)
• Be online or watch TV series for the rest of the evening
• Go to sleep 9 PM
• (REPEAT)

Honestly, my weekdays are this predictable, and I'm okay with it. It's hard to explain, but it feels like... like when you don't need to concentrate on what to do each day, you get time to think everything else. Random thoughts you usually push away thinking "I'll get back to this as soon as I've sorted out all this daily stuff". It feels like my head is full of ideas 24/7, everything from little internet projects to bigger future plans and everything in-between, you know. It's a wonderful feeling! For example, recently I've started updating my mp3 collection, returned to my Modern American Classics reading project, and started a new scrapbook - not to mention I've got some pretty neat ideas of what I want to do next fall as well! :-)

I have my own room in my parents' apartment (not the same house I grew up in, btw), and I actually love it. It's quite different than my own apartment in Joensuu, but I still feel equally "home" here. I've got my books and DVDs, and an internet connection - I'm happy.

Home sweet Home - everything I brought with me for the summer!

my Luumäki room

I've also been "living" Supernatural pretty much 24/7 recently. You know how it is when I get a new obsession... I've been reading a lot of fanfiction, and I'm especially in love with Hoodie_Time - there will never be enough awesome whump!Dean for me. I've also found the world of audiofics recently. At first it was a little awkward - listening to fics instead of reading them - but now that I've got used to it, it's great! Especially since I've started getting headaches from reading too long (damn I need new glasses!), with audiofics I can just close my eyes and let go... yeah, sweet. Of course I've also been watching SPN, recently started with the 7th season. Aaaaand since I'm also a collector by nature, I started collecting those Official Supernatural Magazines. I recently subscribed to OSM, but now I'm searching the net to buy the issues I've missed - haha, I've always loved the feeling you get when you're hunting for the pieces you're missing from your collection! So far I have issues #24, #25, #27, #28, #29, #31 and #32 (which is the newest issue, btw). I made a deal with myself - everytime I have a bad day, I'm allowed to order another issue ;-)

my SPN collection so far

lovely box I found for my SPN treasures! :-)

.

.

.

Well, that was a surprisingly long entry since I didn't have anything special to write about! Now I'm off to read The Sunflower Forest by Torey Hayden, and then early to bed again. Abby just called and said she won't be coming to work because of a flu, and frankly, I'm not too sad about it. Why does it feel I need to take some distance to her, eventhough all there has been for the whole winter, is distance? I confuse myself sometimes, dammit!

Yours Truly-

my USA roadtrip

Authors Notes: 

1. in the end I created a backup blog for myself, so this official blog of mine won't be completely taken over by my american dreams. Don't bother following the backup blog, if/when I use it, it will all go through this blog anyway (I'm planning to use it with my upcoming travels as well). Nonetheless, you're more than welcome to leave comments to the backup blog as well ;-)
2. Since the backup blog is brand new, please let me know if something there isn't working right so I can fix it!
3. Photos are mostly taken by yours truly or Caroline (thank you so much for borrowing your memory card!)
4.  I hope you enjoy reading my ramblings as much as I enjoyed writing them - in the end this whole USA Blog operation took around 16 hours of my not-so-precious time... and right now I'm too tired to read it all through - forgive me all the spelling mistakes and other weird stuff - I'll fix it all later!
5. Everything written in italics is uncencored and straight from my travel journal. 

====
====

First I would like to introduce you my lovely group:

from left: blond Louise, Fiona, Becca, Caroline, me, dark Louise. The tall guy is Flo, and the one kneeling is our leader Art.

Louises were danish, Fiona & Becca british, Caroline from Switzerland, and Flo from Germany. There was also an Austrilian guy, Will, but unfortunately he had to leave us in Santa Fe )-: I started my USA adventure in Boston, and you can read about it HERE. Then I took a bus to New York City, and from NYC a train to New Jersey, where our trek officially begun. Click the links, my ramblings will pop up in new windows.

this is my ADVENTURE IN AMERICA!


Washington D.C.


Wytheville, Virginia


Nashville, Tennessee


Memphis, Tennessee


New Orleans, Louisiana


Houston, San Antonio, Austin - Texas


Roswell & Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico


Santa Fe, New Mexico


Monument Valley, Utah/Arizona


Grand Canyon, Arizona


Las Vegas, Nevada - Part 1


Las Vegas, Nevada - Part 2


San Diego, California - Part 1


San Diego, California - Part 2


Los Angeles, California


Reyakjavik, Iceland

YES, it was the best trip I've had so far, and my heart is still aching to get back to America. Oh, one more cliché - I feel I'm not the same I was before I went to America for the first time! I... I really loved it. USA is amazing, and I cannot wait to get back.


yours truly-

xxo