Life in general.

I have been pretty absent in my blog. At the beginning of this year I lost my grandfather and so it's been hard.. I haven't really felt like writing. I have just been trying to go along with everyday life - work and rest at home. It's Sunday night right now and I am going to have a dinner soon. I love weekends. I had my sister and her kids over here yesterday and we had a nice Saturday brunch. And today I have been just at home, Jay and I also went to the foodshop. I have had some very bad stomach issues so I have been extra cautions of what I eat.. But it seems that I have figured the problem out and I know how to get my digestion and stomach issues back to normal. At least I hope so. It will take a while, but I truly hope that eventually it's all right again :)

I can't tell there's anything super interesting happened. Life has been pretty normal (apart from my grandpa's death). I obviouslt went to Estonia to his funerals. Besides that I have been working, I have met with my friend Jane two times, been going to the Finnish classes and zumba. So, I would say during the workdays I am pretty busy. That's what makes weekends even more enjoyable and special :) :) I especially love loooonnggg sleep :D Nothing beats that! And these lazy and slow mornings.. half a day in PJs.. ohh I could go on and on.. :D Weekends rock!

I have also gotten quite a few mail this week: letter from my friend Shawny from AU, letter from Rebecca from USA and a nice late Christmas gift from my besty Elisa from Mexico :) I am such a lucky girl to have such great friends! 

all that food!!! + fun times with our guests :)

I have been coughing for 2 weeks now and therefor I have been so tired and weak. Last work week was actually very nice and quite calm. On Monday I managed to go to Finnish class after work and on Thursday I went to the movies with Jay to watch "The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay - Part 1". It was so good and I cannot wait to see part 2 next year! 

It started snowing on Friday and it made me sooo happy :) At work kids even were sliding in the park :) Oh, I love snow! It gives me such a good mood. I think the snow came down just at the right time..I am so ready for Christmas season!!!

My mom and her bf came to visit us yesterday. They arrived around 4pm, so we had late lunch and went to the shops for a while. After that we were just at my place, chatting and catching up, had dinner ect. Jay had to go to work today morning so we let mom's bf sleep long. Me and mom had breakfast together and just talked about life. It was nice :) Later when Maarek woke up and had his morning coffee we all went to the shops again :) I had few things I needed, so did they. I think we all got what we went looking for. I got a new rug for our bathroom, birthday gift for my nephew, soft and comfy pj pants (which I am use as home-pants :D), some Christmas stickers for work, Christmas-y table runner, pillow cases, outdoor Christmas ornament... I think that's it. I also bought food and such. 

Like always mom asked what we wanted from Estonia.. so I gave her a small list that mostly included food. The most I was excited about my fav Christmas dessert: gingerbread kohuke (curd snack). It's seasonal and so you can only buy it from November till January. I am going to keep them in the freezer so I can have one whenever I want :D She also bought blood sausage that I wanted because it's my fav Christmas food :D We are going to have it for dinner tomorrow, among with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes..oh I cannot wait :)

I also bought my fav Creme Brulee that Lidl always has at Christmas time. We had it for dessert tonight. So delicious!!! And to end all of this food talk, I made my very first gingerbread cookie dough today! I got mom's recipe so I am sure I will have the best gingerbread cookies ever! I am going to bake the cookies next weekend :)
Mom also bought some of my old puzzles (I will take these to the kindergarten) and old pictures, letters ect that I had made/written. The oldest one was a painting I made when I was 1 years and 9 months old :) I am so glad she had kept them all! I had tons of fun going through them yesterday!!! I am definitely going to keep them safe and treasure them :)

The best curd snack in a world:D I love Christmas time!!!

Fun times :)

Last weekend was so great because Jay didn't have to go to work on Saturday. So, on Friday he went out with his friend and when he came home early morning I woke up too. Neither of us were tired, so we just chatted and laughed and just had so much fun :) I enjoyed that early morning with my hubbies company a lot! Finally we fell asleep. In the morning I made banana bread and went to the food shop.When I got back Jay woke up as well. We had agreed that he'll make a dinner. He went to the easiest way and bought frozen pizza and baked it in the oven. It was very good! And I just liked the fact that I didn't have to cook :) The same evening we went to the cinema to see Dracula. It was such a good movie! When we walked back from the movies we laughed again so much and had such a nice time together! I think it was one of the best days together in a while. He's been working so much and he has weekends off very seldom. Luckily upcoming Saturday he's off again and we are planning on going to the cinema again :)

On Sunday my sister Anni-Brit came to visit us. So, in the morning I made banana cake. I asked dad over too so there would be more people to eat that cake :D Anni and I went to the shops, watched a movie (A Single Moms Club) and just caught up on each others lives. She's going back to Estonia on Thursday morning.

The weather has been pretty changing. Saturday was super sunny but cold. Sunday was not cold but so rainy. And Monday and Tuesday were cold, but cloudy. Today actually even snowed a bit. Because the weather has mostly been cold I have been eager to bake :D Halloween is coming closer and at work we are preparing for our Halloween party (doing decorations, planning activities ect). My friend from work found canned pumpkin puree (we were all looking for it everywhere, but couldn't find). But she found it and I asked her to buy me two cans. I had never had any pumpkin sweets (pumpkin pie or pumpkin cookies..). Yesterday when I got the puree I knew that when I got home I would make something. I made pumpkin cookies with chocolate chips. They were sooooo delicious! Recipe will be up soon as well :) I never thought they could taste SO good! I am definitely addicted and I have a new favorite thing to bake now!

Over all these past few days have been so much fun and I have been enjoying my time with Johannes and my sister!

Weekend in Estonia, ViPR workout, book reading and more

Last weekend I went to Estonia to visit my grandparents. It was nice to see them!!! I also spent time with my mom and my friend Laura. Laura and I had so much fun! We had real girls night in! We cooked, chatted, did online shopping and ended our night with a facial mud mask :) 

In the morning we had delicious breakfast (porridge with almonds and fresh strawberry jam + chai tea). I also did some shopping while I was in Estonia. I managed to buy two pairs on jeans and boots. I also bought some food stuff that we don't have in Finland.

Last week at work was pretty busy. But I still had time and energy to go to ViPR class with my workmate Ashley. I totally loved it. It was definitely the most hardest and intense workout I have ever done in my life. But I felt so great after it was done! Of course the next day all my muscles were sore and to be honest the seconds day was even worse. At nights I couldn't even turn.. everything hurts..still! But I definitely want to continue. I am thinking of buying a monthly card for that gym. It's pretty expensive so I want to be sure that I am ready to commit and that I have energy and will to go to some workout classes after work.. Lets see how it goes and what I decide :P
Besides that one workout I have been reading books. I read through the newest Bridget Jones book called "Mad About the Boy" and a book "The Beginning of Everything". I loved them both so much! Currently I am reading "The Book Thief". I just started with it so I don't have an opinion of that book yet. But I mostly end up loving all the books I read. 

It's weekend today so I feel relaxed! When I came home from work yesterday I cleaned our apartment and made apple jam. I know it's so random. But my mom gave me some apples and I can't really eat them :/ For some reason apples make my stomach hurt and give me huge digestion problems :S That's why I decided to use these apples to make apple jam. I love apple jam and it was my first time to make my own. It came out sooo good and I am looking for tomorrow's breakfast porridge that I will top with that homemade apple jam! I also got a jar of apple jam from my workmate whose grandmother in law had made pretty much, more than she could eat. It was so nice of her to share some of the jam with us at work :)

I made a delicious and healthy banana bread today. I love baking on the weekends. But I try not to do that every weekend because otherwise I would be eating only cakes, pies and muffins (they always last for so long since my husband doesn't eat them). I also made a next week's dinners menu and went to the foodshop to buy all the ingredients that I need. I find that method so good. Firstly, it's much cheaper to really think through what I need for the week and buy them all at once, it's also so good to come home from work and to know what I am going to make for dinner and also to have all the ingredients in the fridge. I got that menu idea from my workmate Ashley and I have been doing that for a month already. It works so well! :)

Life update

Another week has passed. It was pretty busy! First of all, on Wednesday I took hygiene exam and I passed it! Yay! I had been studying for it past few weeks. I actually enjoyed studying. I never thought I would say that, but since I graduated I have been feeling that I want to study more (for myself, just little things, things that interest me and don't take too much effort and energy). So, that leads me to another thing. Jay and I are taking Finnish course now:) It started last Monday and it's twice a week (Mondays and Tuesdays). It's the beginners course so it's super easy (I took A1 and A2 lever course in university). Teacher told us to go to the next level course, but it's already full. So, we will still stick around in the beginners course. It's actually so fun there! They might open another 2nd level course, and I will go to that one if it's possible..but we'll see. I actually really enjoy studying together with Jay!!! Talking about him. He's also in driving school now! So, he has even more studying to do! I am so proud of him! :) 

Work wise things have been also pretty busy. On Thursday we had parents' coffee evening. So it was a very long day. I arrived home a bit before 9pm and I had awful headache so I went straight to bed. But the evening with parents was successful and very nice :)

I am totally enjoying this weekend! I only want to rest and relax! I made banana-avocado muffins today and for dinner I made broccoli puree soup :) I will eat dinner when Jay wakes up. He must go to work by 7pm and he will do 12 hours shift. They have crazy times at work right now..

Last week I barely saw him.. But this upcoming week should be better!!!

I finished reading "Never Let Me Go" and now I am reading "Across The Universe" which is very interesting so far! I think that's what I am going to do tonight - read and maybe watch some episodes of New Girl. Oh, I am loving Fazer Pure Dark chocolate with roasted corn! So delicious!!!

PS! I love the weather right now. It's chilly, but sunny. I love the colorful leaves on the ground and the smell of apples everywhere! I am craving for apple pie, carrot cake and pumpkin muffins :D I will do all of these this autumn for sure ;)

Weekend, mushrooms & an apple pie recipe!

If anybody says mushrooms or apple pie I instantly think of autumn (or the end of summer). Last weekend dad and I took out bicycles and went to pick mushrooms. We had so much fun! We found so many mushrooms and I totally enjoyed being out in nature with him :)

The same weekend I of course was boiling the mushrooms and marinated them. I got 10 glass jars of marinated mushrooms! Dad asked me yesterday again to pick some mushrooms and marinate them, but I think I have enough right now.

I also made an apple pie last weekend. Apples are obviously in season right now and they taste so good, sweet and juicy! I was craving for an apple pie so I made one. I know I would be eating it all by myself so I made the healthier version. I found the recipe from a cookbook called "Maitseelamused tervise heaks". (she was using rhubarbs, but the season is over, so I used apples!) I like that the author is using so good ingredients in her recipes and so you don't have to feel guilty! It's all about clean and natural high fiber ingredients! I am definitely going to try more of her recipes :) I must also mention that it's so cool how her book is divided into four chapters - recipes for each season! That for you can really use ingredients that are fresh at that time of the year ;) Clever!

I'm kindly sharing the recipe:

Base:

250g wholegrain flour

125g butter

50g cane sugar

1 egg

Filling:

apple jam 

about 4 apples

Crumble:

50g butter

30g cane sugar

100g oat bran

Instructions:

Mix all the base ingredients into dough. Cover the bottom of cooking pan with the dough and cook in the oven 5-7 min in 185 C degrees. After that put apples and applejam on a base and cook about 10 more minutes. Meanwhile make the crumble: mix cold butter, sugar and bran with your hands till it has a nice crumbly texture. Crumble it on top of the pie and cook in the oven about 20 minutes. 

It tastes good warm and cold :)

This weekend I have been at home (it's still Saturday evening..). The weather is so nice, sunny and warm! When I went to the foodshop earlier and passed apples on sale I just got a feeling that I need to make another apple pie this weekend. I would actually like to make a pie or a cake using avocado instead of butter. I must find a good recipe for that, but I'd like to try and make a cake even more healthier! Besides I love avocados!!! If I make one I will share the result ;)

Have a nice evening, everybody!!!

Weekend in Estonia

I ran to a harbor straight after work on Friday to go to Estonia. Jay went there the same morning already because it was his granny's birthday and he went to visit her at countryside. By the time I arrived to Tallinn Jay was back and picked my up from the harbor. We went to the mall to buy some things, but that's where our plans got changed... Jay saw his old friend and he was going to celebrate his brother's birthday and asked Jay to join them. So, Jay went out with his friends and I drove to my sister's place alone. It was so nice to see my sister and my little nephew :) Next morning Jay came there as well. We were supposed to go to Tallinn for few hours on Saturday, but since Jay hadn't slept all night I let him sleep. 

My sister's birthday party was very nice. She had some relatives and friends over. We ate, chatted, grilled, did sauna, had waterfight ect. It was a nice day! I really enjoyed being there because I always love summertime in graden! It's so green and all the berries and apples are ripe! :) 

My sister and her son Jonathan :)

Unfortunately, I got a bit sick last night..and today I was feeling even worse. But I wasn't the only one. Came out all the guests got sick :S There must have been some sort of virus (my sister's stepdaughter was sick while we all were there). So we all caught her virus :S As I heard most of the guests have been vomiting today, but luckily Jay and I haven't. I just have nausea and headache, stomach hurts. Because of that we also came back to Finland quite early today.. we both were just feeling so bad. In the boat we took a cabin and slept the whole way..

It's nice to be back at home :) I made myself oatmeal and then had peppermint tea with lemon slice. I am still feeling weird, but I hope my stomach gets better. I have to go to work tomorrow!!! 

Three sisters :)

 Birthday girl :)

 Back at home.. drinking tea to fight my illness :P And watching New Girl :)

This weekend

Ma lihtsalt ei leia enam aega, et kirjutada..vähemalt blogisse mitte. Tööpäevad on kiired ja kuidagi kukub nii välja, et ka nädalavahetustel on alati midagi teha. Täna näiteks veetsin suurema osa oma päevast arvuti taga oma magistritööd kirjutades. Vahepeal tuli isa külla ja tõi eriti häid vastlakukleid :) Jõimegi koos teed ja nautisime mõlemad üht hiigelsuurt vastlakuklit, mille keskel oli martsipanikreem :) Kavatsen sel aastal vastlapäeval ise kukleid küpsetada. Kui hästi välja tulevad, siis postitan siia ka :) 

//It's very hard to find time to write these days..at least to my blog. Workdays are so busy and on weekends I also have so much to do. For example, I spend most of the day today writing my master theses. Then my dad came over with cream buns and we had tea. I am actually planning to bake my own buns on Shrove Tuesday this year :) It they come out good, I will write a blog post about it! //

Peale magusat lõunat käisime koos toidupoes, sest ma pidin natuke lihamaterjali ostma, et õhtusööki teha. Pärast seda tulingi koju, tegin süüa ja jätkasin oma magistritööga. Kell 18.00 otsustasin lõpetada ja natuke puhata. Vaatasin kolm osa "Switched at Birthi" ja sõin õhtusöögiks wrapi mozarella ja avokaadoga. Teen Johannesele iga päev tööle ühe wrapi kaasa, vahel endale tööle ka. Aga täna mõlesin õhtusöögiks endale ka ühe wrapi teha. Mulle meeldib wrapi juures see, et sellest ei tüdine ära, kuna alati saab sinna midagi muud sisse panna...mida iganes kodus on või mille isu on :) Ehk mingi päev postitan ka oma lemmikute wrappide retseptid koos piltidega! 

Peale söömise olen ka raamatuid lugenud :) Just eile lõpetasin "Insurgent"i lugemise. Nüüd vaja selle triloogia kolmas osa osta ja läbi lugeda. Siis saan blogi postituse kirjutada.

Homme on õnneks ka veel nädalavahetus. Ma plaanin homme ka natuke magistritööga tegeleda. Johannesega läheme homme ka üht korterit vaatama. Peame nimelt juuni lõpuks välja kolima, aga otsustasim juba varakult uut korterit otsima hakata. Ega neid jalaga segada pole...

Ilm oli täna imeline. Päike paistis ja nii kevadine tunne oli! Ükspäev tööl olles oli ka super ilus ilm. Olime lastega pargis tavapäraselt kauem, istusime pingil ja nautisime päikest. Loodan, et selliseid päevi tuleb nüüd rohkem ja rohkem. Päike teeb mul alati tuju nii heaks. Veebruar oli kuidagi nii pingeline ja raske kuu. Loodan, et märts on positiivsem ja kergem. Ma tegelikult ootan juba aprilli. Usun, et aprill tuleb super äge. Siis on mu sünnipäev ja aprilli lõpus sõidame Johannesega mõneks päevaks Pariisi puhkama :) Ma juba nii ootan!!!

//After the tea, dad and I went to the foodshop. I needed some ingredients for dinner. Back home, I made dinner and kept writing the theses. At 6pm I finally decided to stop for today. I watched 3 latest episodes of Switched at Birth and had a nice mozarella-avocado wrap for dinner. I love making wraps! I make one for Jay to bring to his work every day. I also sometimes make one for my work. I love that you can put anything between it..so you never get tired of it! I might do a blog post of my fav homemade wraps :)

Besides eating I have also been reading books. I just finished "Insurgent" last night. I now need to buy the 3rd book of the trilogy ;)

I am glad it's Sunday tomorrow and I can still rest a bit. I actually need to keep writing my master theses. And prepear some work stuff. Jay and I are also going to look at one apartment tomorrow. We need to move out of our recent apartment by the end of June and we decided to start looking for a new one already. Because there aren't that many apartments for rent at spring time..

Talking about spring. Weather was super nice today. Really sunny. And that makes me happy. Sun gives me so much energy! February was such a hard and stressful month for some reason. I hope March will be more happier and easier. I am actually looking for April because then it's my birthday and at the end of April Jay and I are going to Paris for few days! I cannot wait! :) /

Welcome December!

Tere tulemast, detsember! Eile sadas lumi ka maha. Ideaalne ajastus. Täna hommikul avasin oma advendikalendri esimese akna ja sõin ära ühe magusa šokolaadi :) 

Tänane päev on möödunud suhteliselt vaikselt...põhiline on olnud ikka enda ravimine. Mul oli vahepeal nii jubedalt hääl ära, et ma ei saanudki üldse rääkida. Töölt tulin kolmapäeval poole päeva pealt ära ja neljapäeva veetsin ka kodus. Ravisin end igal võimalikul viisil. Nüüd on hääl tagasi ja palju parem olla. Kahjuks köha on ikka. Imelik, et just õhtul hakkan köhima, päeval pole nagu midagi. Viimased neli ööd olen köhinud nii hullult, et selline tunne, nagu köhiksin kohe enda organid välja. Magama jäämine on muidugi eriti keeruline. Nädalavahetusel oli suhteliselt ükskõik, sest teadsin, et hommikul saan kaua magada (kuigi ei maganud, sest hommikul korra üles ärgates tuli köhahoog jälle peale ja no siis ei saa enam magama jääda). Homme aga pean juba kl 7 hommikul üles ärkama, mis tähendab, et ma pean kiiresti täna öösel magama jääma..mul pole aega kella 3ni köhida! Loodan igatahes parimat! Tegin täna kaks korda auru ja korra tegin jalavanni. Jõin ka ingveriteed ja võtsin köharohtu. Enne magama minekut plaanin raviteed juua ja veel köharohtu võtta. Ehk see laseb mul kenasti magama jääda.

Tulev nädal tundub päris pöörane tulema. Teisipäeva õhtul pärast tööd lähen Eestisse. Ja kolmapäeval on mul magistritöö nn eelkaitsmine ja veel üks loeng. Pärast seda tulen tagasi Soome. Neljapäeval lähen jälle tööle..ja meil on sel õhtul ka jõulupidu. Õnneks reede on vaba, kuna siis on Soome iseseisvuspäev :) Seega tuleb kolmepäevane nädalavahetus :D Ma arvan, et siis pean küll jõulukinke ostma minema!

NB! Preagu on eriti suur tuul väljas (torm) ning ma kardan, et meie rõdu aknaklaasid purunevad selle möllu käes...aga ehk ikka mitte. Loodan, et homme sellist tuult pole, kui ma tööle lähen! 

//Welcome December! It snowed yesterday! Yay! Today started december which means that I got to open the first window of my advent calendar. The chocolate inside was so delcious!

I have had a pretty easy and quiet day today. I haven't been out at all. I am still a bit sick (coughing) and I have been treating myself any way possible. I was actually home from work on Thursday because I has lost my voice..and working with kids wouldn't help me to get it back. So, I needed a day off when I didn't have to talk at all..and of course I was drinking million cups of tea and taking other medicines. But right now I am just coughing. It sucks mostly at night time because I just can't fall asleep. I have to wake up tomorrow at 7am, so I hope I can fall asleep tonight without problems. I might have some medicine tea before I go to bed ;)

This upcoming week will be quite crazy and busy. I am going to Estonia after work on Tuesday because on Wednesday I have to be in university. After uni classes I will go straight back to harbor and comeback home :) Then on Thursday I have work again and after workday we have our Christmas Show. So, it'll be a long day, but hopefully very fun! Fortunately Friday is off because it's Finland's independence day! It means I'll have three-days weekend! Lovely! I think I will use some of that time for Christmas shopping!

PS! It's such a strong wind outside right now. I hope the window glasses in our balcony will stay aput and won't shatter. //