{cold and christmasy}

we must have had to shovel snow six times in one day. it just kept coming and coming. i hope the car won't get stuck in snow today when i drive sienna to playschool. should just stay home but it's so nice for sienna to play with her friends. on friday they were supposed to get a visit from a real penguin (from west edmonton mall) but the roads were so bad they cancelled. hopefully the penguin makes it there another day or the kids will be totally disappointed.

{night in town}

kuvat napattu nopeasti auton ikkunasta matkalla jayn luokan joulukekkereihin. siella hienossa ravintolassa ihmettelin laheisen poydan naikkosia joilla oli paallaan "hyvakunpepunedespeittijarinnatpursuaaulos" mekkosia. mietin etta onkohan tuo normaalia pukeutumista nykyaan mutta sitten yksi jayn luokkatoveristakin mainitsi etta onpas noilla asut. nayttivat strippareilta. ravintola oli hieno ja ruoka tosi kallista muttei minusta yhtaan sen kummempaa kuin muissakaan ravintoloissa. oli kiva tutustua jayn luokkatovereihin. kivan tuntuista porukkaa.

eilen illalla laulettiin joululauluja ruuan jalkeen. me ei olla musikaalisesti taidokkaita. lauletaan aina cd:n kanssa niin oma laulu kuulostaa vahemman karseelta. ;) sienna tietty laulaa tosi suloisesti.

meilla on ihan alyn kylmaa nyt. yolla oli -28C, paivaksi luvattu -18C. hrrr!

went to a fancy restaurant to enjoy a christmas party with jay's school friends. the food was so expensive (who on earth decided to go there, students don't have big budgets) and i thought it wasn't anything better than in a regular restaurant. fun to get to know jay's school friends. i was shocked at a group of young women who wore "barely-cover-their-butt-or-boobs" dresses. i was wondering if i was so out of touch what people consider normal dressing nowadays when one of jay's friends said "hootchy". i kept wondering the whole night if they were strippers.

last night we sang christmas songs together. we are not musically gifted so we always sing accompanied by a cd. that way we sound quite alright. ;) sienna of course sings beautifully as children always do.

{rakas suomi}

rakastan sinua Suomi! Y

ja muistan kaikkia heita jotka uhrasivat niin paljon etta Suomi saa olla vapaa ja itsenainen maa. Y

tassa on mummoni veli Leo joka kaatui talvisodassa vahan ennen sodan paattymista.

ote hanen viimeisesta kirjeesta kotiin, 13.7.1944:

Koettakaapa kuvitella miltä tuntuu, kun nälässä on taistelun jälkeen marssinut 46 km yhtämittaa ja sitten perille tultuaan saa oman äidin lähettämät puhtaat sukat ja ruokaa!! Se oli kuin taivaaseentulo. Nyt on taas kaikki hyvin. Saamme levätä varmasti ensi yön, ehkä kauemminkin. Täällä satoi monta vuorokautta yötä päivää. Me tietenkin kastuimme, sissit, aivan läpimäriksi, eikä kärsinyt tehdä tulia, paremmin kuin nukkuakaan. Hampaat mulla ärtyivät, mutta huomenna otatan pois pahimmat. Pääsen siis muutaman tunnin komennukselle kenttäsairaalaan, jossa on hammaslääkäri. En tiedä tässä hammastuskassa nyt muuta kirjoittaa. Ryssiä olen tappanut paljon ja yrittänyt tehdä velvollisuuteni parhaani mukaan. Tulkoon mitä vain, niin omatuntoni on sentään puhdas tuossa asiassa.
Y

Leo kuoli neljä päivää myöhemmin 17.7.1944 Korkeavaaran taistelussa.

Y

Ohessa ote sotilaspastorin kirjeestä sankarivainajan omaisille 25.7.1944.

Leo (luutnantti) kaatui joukkueensa edessä yhdessä lähettinsä kanssa hyökätessään vihollisen asemia vastaan. Kuolema oli seurannut heti: vihollisen konepistoolimies ampui ihan edestä. Leossa menetimme hyvän toverin ja miehet rohkean johtajan, jota seurattiin.
Y

ennen sotaa Leo soitti viulua ja voitti mitaleita nopeusluistelussa vanhoilla, huonoilla luistimilla.

Y

{parit idikset muistiin}

lahetin blogifrendille mun creative keepsakes lehden ja ajattelin ottaa kuvat muutamasta jutusta jotka haluan muistaa siita lehdesta.

ali edwards ei tule jatkamaan ck lehdessa enaa. saa nahda tuleeko lehdessa sitten olemaan tarpeeksi mika kiinnostaa. monesti alin jutut oli melkeen ainoat mika mua kiinnosti. kaipaisin muutakin kuin traditionaalista skrappaysta naissa lehdissa. en usko etta tilaan lehtea enaa itselleni mutta katsotaan mita uusi vuosi tuo tullessaan.

meille on tullut a-l-y-s-t-i lunta. talvi on tullut kaikin voimin. ajaminen on taas "mielenkiintoista". ei mua talviajaminen pelota. pitaa vaan ajaa varovaisesti ja pitaa etaisyys seuraavaan autoon. ei saa jarrutella nopeasti.

tana iltana mennaan jayn luokan joulutapaamiseen. jossain hienossa ravintolassa kuulemma. taidetaan menna pakettiautolla vaikka se nyt ei kovin hienoa ole. mutta parempi niin ettei sitten juututa lumeen iltamyohalla. seuraava auto mika ostetaan on nelivetoinen.

nyt alkaa jo joululoma kaliforniaankin tuottaa matkakuumetta. palmuja jouluvaloissa. ah! :)

sitten olen miettinyt edelleen etta mihin muutetaan jayn koulun jalkeen. :) talla hetkella tuntuu etta haluankin jaada edmontoniin. mietin etta on se tarkeeta olla perhetta ja ystavia lahella seka juurtua jo johonkin paikkaan kunnolla. saa nahda kuinka monesti muuttuu mieli viela. :)

{let's talk about hair}

i bought the hair show 2010 magazine and thought i'd share my favorites of the 1400 styles shown.
i love long, straight "hippie" hair. thank goodness for straightening irons.


love these braids!

would be fun to get a makeover by amazing hair stylists/make up artists.

every once in awhile i wish i could have cute short hair. but i can't. my hair is too wavy. it's a real pain to try to style it when it's short.

this lady forgot to put her clothes on :)
love the hair

looks angelic

to have such thick hair!

a bit too much almost, yet so funky

love the ponytail and the color

fun :)

this is the reason why i bought the magazine.

i want t-h-i-s hair!
the problem?

* i don't trust my hair stylist to do the exact color.

* i'd have to put more effort into make up every day. you need stronger make up with a stronger hair color.

* i'm worried i'm too old looking to look good with this. it worked when i was 18 but would it be too much when you're almost 42 and look tired all the time...
but oh how i love this hair!

{gotta love snowflakes}

catmil/flickr
don't forget to decorate your work place as well
emilysnyder/flickr
www.flotation9.net

www.marthastewart.com
lace doilies as snowflakes

www.bugsandfishes.blogspot.com

vikabash/flickr

i just had to bling my creative notebook :)

i got rid of that pussy willow tree that we've had for a few years now. so i had to come up with another way to hang my rusty metal snowflakes this year. i like this better.

i usually make ton of white snowflakes for our front windows. this year i came up with something different. i used old ikea wrapping paper and made b-i-g ones. less work. i kept the pattern simple too and they're all pretty much cut the same way.
yep - i Y snowflakes!

just when i was complaining about our yellow wall color... today was a good wall color day. the yellow was just right and looked gorgeous in the sunlight. i guess i just have to find different light bulbs for our lights so they won't distort the wall color.

i have been so totally in the christmas mood lately. i think it's because i've loved listening to david archuleta's christmas cd. i keep listening to it over and over again and keep getting more and more in the mood. i don't remember ever being so excited about christmas. :)

i had a pretty heated discussion with "my" jehovah's witness ladies today. last time they gave me an article from one of their magazines that discussed my church. when i read it, i got so miffed. it was about 90% truth but the rest was so way off it wasn't even funny. and even though lots of it was true info, it was so twisted and out of context that it gave such a negative impression about our church. i should be used to stuff like that already but i couldn't help but feel miffed. so when they came i ended up trying to show them all the mistakes in the article and told them that some of the respect they had earned with me was lost due to the article. usually we discuss things quite calmly and nicely but today was a bit more forceful on my part and my miffyness showed. i asked them how can they feel good about a church that blackpaints other churches. they just tried to convince me that that was what our church believes and they had heard so from some other "mormons". as if i don't know what our church teaches! i'm still getting miffed thinking about our discussion. so, whatever, i guess. it's not the first time and won't be the last when people believe weird stuff about my church. but if someone thinks i won't defend my beliefs, well, they are wrong. my name sanna means "defender" and it suits me 100%. ;) so there. :)

{finnish a cappella music}