Being equal, equal before the law or flat.

This morning I woke up tired and I thought to myself "I am soo tired - I will sleep for another 2 hours and go to Sacrament Meeting". I have this thought often but I never follow it. I am glad that I also didn't follow it today.

I just changed from the international ward to the German ward a couple of weeks ago. I really loved the ward I had been in before and I had felt the Spirit every Sunday. The first couple of weeks in the new ward were a bit tough as the German members were a bit distant and I didn't really feel the Spirit at church. But I had felt it was the right decision to change wards so I knew that if I kept on being patient, the warm feeling and assurance would come.

Today it came. We had a ward conference today and Sacrament Meeting already started with great talks, tears and the Spirit. Relief Society was even better. We talked about "the worth of a woman". It has always been easy for me loving myself and the fact that I am a woman, a daughter of my Heavenly Father. I have never envied men or brothers because of the Priesthood for example. I love being a woman. With all the joy, blessings, strength, beauty and challenges it brings.

Our Stake President, President Berkhan, also attended Relief Society and said that in all the Temple interviews he has had in the past he learned that the sisters are more self-critical than the brothers. (Maybe it is because we worry so much.. :)) In the past weeks I have found myself being somewhat "guilty" of being too self-critical. I want to be too perfect in my job, also because my boss demands high quality from himself. And I noticed that I tend to concentrate more on the things that didn't go "well" rather than on the things that did. This is not really me, as I am a very positive person who doesn't focus on the negative things in life as these just take too much energy away.

The things I learned and realized in Relief Society today were:

• When I say my "good-night-prayer" as first task to name 3 positive things that happened that day. And if I really cannot find anything positive - that can't be. Hey, I got on my knees to pray!
  
• Pray to focus on the positive things that went well during the day and learn from negative things, but then dont pay too much attention to them anymore.
  
• Acknowledge that I maybe didn't get everything done I wanted today but being ok with it. Also realizing that my intentions are good and that I am doing my best. I cannot run faster than I am able to.

President Berkahn also spoke about being equal and equal before the law (or flat, I don't know the right translation) when it comes to women and men. Are we equal or equal before the law? It is not about being equal, as men and women are different and that is good! But we are equal before the law. Men and women have the same rights in bringing in their dissimilarity. Yes, we are different and

"neither is the ^aman without the woman, neither the ^bwoman without the man, in the Lord.

We complement one another in our dissimilarities. But nevertheless, Sam and I might complement one another better than Tom and I. (I do not know Sam or Tom.)

So this Sunday has been great and I am getting to love my ward. With all the different people that are in. And I am also learning to acknowledge the fact that Germans just are different than all the members in the international ward from various countries and cultures. And we all sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father.

Amen.

31 is the new number.

April 21st was my birthday. I was excited, as birthday, but also quite in a reflective mood in the past weeks. I thouht this would happen when I turned 30 but that was not the case - I was so happy that day. No melancholy at all!

I still had an awesome birthday and went out for dinner with friends to an art galery/restaurant right around the corner.

eat 'n' art

with Vera and Bettina! Aw - a sight for sore eyes!

Saphira, Sara's littel daughter, wanted to sit on the nice table where you can lie down on the benches and pillows. She was in her own little world. With Vera.

My lovely Sara, Vera and Bettina.

Saphira. YEAH!

Tina my colleague and Sergio my other roommate..

My "little Maife"!

All of a sudden Saphira says: "Hey, lets make a sad face". Sorry, but I just couldn't - I made a silly laughing face instead. I still cannot stop laughing! This little girl is so funny! She is 5.

"Senja, now happy face!"

"Angry." I can do better.

The group. Thanks guys - it was soo much fun! The blonde beauty on the right side, not yet mentioned, is my friend Kristina.

People I would have really liked to have with me. Sometimes it really sucks to have friends so far away and your best friend's sister getting married in SLC. I missed you guys! Love.

Alex. Travelling English man abroad.

April. In Salt Lake.

Fabian. In Celle.

Meike, Sophia, Luit, Daniel, Noelle, Pierre. In Europe, at home. Meike in SLC, home soon!

Kyle. In Provo.

- no photo - ;)

Kylie - the new knitting queen.

Lasse & Susan. Busy in Hannover.

Ryan. In SLC.

Speni & Anna. The newlyweds. In SLC since recently.

Steve. In Claremont.

Suzy. In Vegas, baby.

I have to go to bed now. My joints hurt already.

Films I want to see..

.. when they are in Germany..
Being sick also has a good side. Sitting on your parents couch and looking at trailers on apple.com. Here are my favourites from today:

Little Miss Sunshine
Trust The Man
L'enfant (The Child)
The Break-Up
The Inside Man
Brick
Hard Candy
Thank You For Smoking
Winter Passing
Tsotsi
Art School Confidential
Unknown White Male
A Scanner Darkly
Illusion
Confetti
Failure To Launch
Friends With Money
Thumbsucker
You, Me and Dupree

Ok raisin.

When I was a little girl I loved these - in Finnish "Rusina":

As I always said "nonni" - like "ok" in Finnish when I was done, my mom called me "Nonnirusi". Ok raisin.

Low cost airlines - blessing or curse?

I fly with Ryanair a lot - also to Sweden. It is cheap but the airport is also always far away from the city.
This is what my return trip from Jönköping home to Frankfurt would have looked like in a perfect world:

11:38 - catch bus from cousins place to Jönköping train station
12:05 - catch bus from Jönköping train station to Gothenburg train station
15:15 - catch bus from Gothenburg train station to Gothenburg city airport
17:25 - catch flight from Gothenburg to Frankfurt Hahn
20:00 - catch bus from Frankfurt Hahn to Frankfurt central station
21:30 - arrive in Frankfurt train station

BUT in the reality my dad looked like this:

11:38 - saw bus leave from a short distance
11:38 - prayed that i would still catch my plane
11:39 - called cousin, asked for next bus- finding out it comes too late - calling cab
12:00 - cab finally came
12:07 - arrived at Jönköping train station (bus had left 2 minutes ago!)
12:10 - prayed that i would still catch my plane
12:10 - called cousin, checked out next train connection, called mom
12:2o - 13:25 - waited at train station and watched 24 on laptop
13:25 - 15:52 - took train from Jönköping to Gothenburg
13:25 - 15:52 - said short prayers that train arrives in time
16:00 - 16:30 - took cab in the middle of rush hour to airport and paid 40€, arrived 15 min before check-in closes at ryanair
16:30 - 16:45 checked in and spoke with ryanair employee:

employee: did you know that the flight is delayed?
I: no, but really, I am happy to be here in time so I dont mind
I: but, out of curiosity how long is it delayed?
employee: 2 hours 50 min.
I: speechless (and thinking: Heavenly Father you have a good sense of humour - thank you! :))
employee: I am serious
I: no way..

16:50 - 19:45 sat on the cold floor of airport, watched more 24 and read
21:50 - arrived in Frankfurt Hahn, my bag was the first one to arrive, rushed to the bus station
21:55 - sat in bus to Frankfurt train station
23:30 - arrived
23:50 - at home finally

What a day! But all in all everything went fine!

Hej Sverige

My week is over and I cannot believe how fast it went by and how much fun I had! I spent 8 days in jönköping in the southern part of Sweden. As I learned the 7th biggest city in Sweden. I checked the weatherforecast before starting my journey and it said that it would be around 7° celsious, so I just took my springcoat with me. But - snow on the way and a cold breeze. As a half Finn I should have been prepared and taken my winterstuff with me - I guess my German half just wanted to have warm weather so bad! Oh well, I survived!

I spend most of the time just relaxing with these things:

I started reading it in the bus to the airport and couldn't stop reading it while at Salo's. Over 400 pages in 2 days!

my new addiction.

I also started reading these two:

Now we really start.

Gothenburg city airport.

My first stop with the train - Falköping - with snow.

tired but happy.

Elias 2, Simeon 4. They are truly adorable and so much fun!

Eevi made Köttbullar - Swedish Meatballs - one of my favourite dishes. Yummy!

Elias, I can still hear him giggle. He is always on the run and active!

Simeon, our thinker. He taught himself to read numbers and the clock. Talks a lot and has a alot of questions. He will soon be a heartbreaker.

My camp.

My family. Simeon, Elias, Erik and Eevi.

Amazing! They can work the computer like no other. Even 2-year old Elias knows how to skype!

In Germany we say: "Silence before the storm"..

Jönköping is a cosy and beautiful city.

I am relaxed, yes.

The Vättern.

Too bad I didn't take a photo at night. It is beautiful and looks like Italy.

On my last night I met up with some young single adults from Jönköping and got in the Eastermood. 'eggcellent".. Thanks to Viktor who organized it! Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera. duh!

Oh yes, I also continued the "holiday tradition" and gained like 2 kilos. They just have so much good food and Swedes, I mean sweets. Food of my childhood that will always accompany me:

fruitsoup - thick and thin.

Dumle - chewy caramel with a chocolate cover.

fazer chocolate - I had just a little bar! ok!

malaco

well, not all of those but no 24301!

delicious white bread - best with salty butter and cheese.


aaand - along came Polly - chewy filling with chocolate. I had too many of these.

So, Germany I am back - but not for long. Don't count on me for long. Travelfever is high again.