Home for Christmas!!

I was ecstatic about going home for Christmas. 

But not just like 'yay I get to see my family'- but like, 'ahh this is the highlight of my year!' I wasn't homesick, but there's only one place you should be come December 25th and that's at home with family. 

On account of my love of Christmas, I subconsciously have these high expectations of how it will go, and this year, my expectations were exceeded. Spending last Christmas in Greece, just Rusty and I, has given me a whole new appreciation for getting to be home for the holidays...and for the song I'll be home for Christmas (which naturally, I kept singing before coming home). Although it was a fun experience in Greece- newlyweds, spending Christmas just the two of us in a foreign country- it isn't something I would care to experience again haha. Eliminating the one thing I disliked about living overseas, has made this volleyball season perfect!!

Rusty had two weeks off, so we spent one week in Utah with my family and one week in Chicago with his! We flew into Salt Lake first. Needless to say, I was super excited to see everyone. It was my parent's year to host my sister Cassie's family who live in Arizona (some years they are with my brother-in-law's family) so we got to see them too! 

I love how I can return home after being gone for months, and we all just pick up right where we left off- as if I have just seen them the day before. I like to think it's because we hold each other in our hearts wherever we go, even if it's 5,000 miles away...and Facetime helps too! The only thing that surprised me was that my eleven-year-old brother is now taller than me! He's grown up so much. Even though it had only been four months since I had last seen him, I felt like he went from a kid who I would play with, to a friend who hangs out with me. Kids just grow up too fast ;)

Another thing that never ceases to amaze is Utah's beauty. I think it took moving away- to flat places- to truly appreciate Utah's mountains. When I moved there for school, I thought they were pretty, but I took the scenery for granted. Now, whenever I go back, I am in awe of their beauty, especially when they are snow covered and seem like they are right in my backyard.

Our time spent in Utah was great. It was filled with ice skating, trampolines, shopping, matching pajamas, good food, and more fun memories with the fam!
Unfortunately, however, the flu did make its rounds in the Whittaker household. Worst. timing. ever. Luckily, we were all healthy on Christmas day, so I was grateful for that. I got sick on my little brother's birthday and the day we had to fly to Chicago- that was the worst! But, try as it might, the flu wasn't able to hold us down! We were able to get over our sicknesses and enjoy hanging out with each other before heading to Chicago!

Life in Oulu

Rusty and I have gotten more settled here in Oulu. Our apartment is coming along, we have made new friends, I joined a gym, we got library cards, and we finished our visa paperwork...we're official residents of Finland! 

I haven't posted much about Finland, so here are some things we have been up to...

Exploring the City

Sometimes I feel like I need to pinch myself- Who gets to hang out and explore new places with their husband pretty much all day, everyday?! 

Oulu is pastel-land and I love it!

NFL Sundays

Rusty and his teammates, Josh, and Juho watch football most Sunday nights. I join them, but for me it's more "baking Sundays" than NFL Sundays haha- not that I'm very good at it, but I have been enjoying trying new dessert recipes!

Chocolate cake for Josh's b-day. It didn't turn out exactly as expected, but I'm just happy it turned out!

Salted Caramel Apple Crisp- was so good we made it again for Thanksgiving! 

Lunch 

The team has worked out a deal with a couple of restaurants- Rauhula and Tuba, so we are able to eat at either of them for free! The restaurants are owned by the same people, and they are right next to each other, which is super convenient for when we want to compare menus :) I like that both of them have buffets everyday- so we have a variety of options, and luckily, we really like Finnish food. I love their bread. They always have so many different kinds and they are all good!

Hockey Game

Hockey is big here in Finland- no surprise there :) I was excited about the hockey game for many reasons: 1. It was my first hockey game ever, 2. Oulu's team, Kaarpat, is a good team and recently won the National Championship,  3. It was free since the volleyball team gets tickets, and 4. (the most exciting reason) We got to dress up in costumes! The game was the day after Halloween, so it was a costume party theme. Rusty and I, a few kids, and the employees were the ones ones dressed up, but since my Halloween consisted of watching shows at home while Rusty was away at a volleyball game, I wasn't going to miss the chance to dress up. I hate to admit it (since I pride myself on putting together really great costumes) but this year, our costumes were not good haha. We threw them together last minute, so we did the easiest thing we could think of- we dressed in black, cut up one of Rusty's old shirts to make masks, and called ourselves robbers. As you can see, the masks were not very becoming haha.