Kirsten Comes to Visit: Three Days in Stockholm

Kirsten came to visit Finland! Having visitors is always the highlight of our trip, or I guess I should say season, even though Rusty's seasons do feel like extended vacations :)...Anyways, so far Kirsten has been our only visitor and it may stay that way until we leave, but that's okay cuz we're just happy she could make it out and her timing was great because we got to have her for Thanksgiving! Plus we were lucky enough to see every one for Christmas when we went home! 

Kirsten and I wanted to travel around outside of Finland as well, so I decided to meet her in Stockholm, Sweden. I have always wanted to go to Sweden, I have no idea why, but I was pretty excited about it. And we had a place to stay, thanks to one of our friends who served his mission in Finland. Lucky for us, he has friends in both Sweden and Finland, so he arranged places for us to stay!

DAY ONE:

Fortunately, I was able to find a flight that landed in Stockholm just 30 minutes after Kirsten's flight landed. So, we met up at the airport, bought three day transportation passes, and headed over to the place we were staying so that we could leave our luggage before sight-seeing. Our awesome host had sent me detailed directions of getting from the airport to her house. We had to take a bus and then a train and then find their house from the train station, but thanks to her great directions, which we followed step-by-step, we managed to get there easily. They were gone at church, but had left us a spare key. They were the nicest couple ever and had thee cutest daughter. They were the best hosts and we are so grateful for them and their hospitality!

Now that Kirsten and I were luggage free, we hopped on a train to go downtown. We ate at Pizza Hut, thinking it would be cheap and quick since we were anxious to start exploring the city, but boy were we wrong. It was the fanciest Pizza Hut I had ever been to. It was a sit-down restaurant complete with chandeliers and servers- who knew fancy Pizza Huts existed?! After lunch, we walked around the city. It got dark quickly, so we made plans for what we wanted to see in the daylight.

De-icing the plane

DAY TWO:

The next day we got going early since we knew the sun would set around 4pm! We took the train back downtown and went to a lot of the same sights we briefly saw the night before. We walked to the Royal Palace and saw the changing of the guard. I didn't even know there was a King and Queen of Sweden...first the Pizza Hut, then royalty...Sweden was full of fancy surprises haha.  We also saw City Hall, which sits right on the water, and my favorite- Gamla Stan, which is the old town of Stockholm.

We decided last minute to go to the Vasa Museum, which displays the only 17th century ship that has been recovered from a shipwreck. We got there just 30 minutes before they closed, but luckily that was enough time since the museum only consists of the ship. We finished off the night at Vapiano, an Italian restaurant our hosts recommended- the pizza there was delicious! And I recently saw they have one in downtown Chicago, so hopefully I can go back one day!

The wonderful breakfast our host prepared for us. They had the best bread ever!

When we first arrived to our host's house, there were deer right outside!

Waiting for the train

Eating Kirsten's Swedish Fish in Sweden!

Sweden is home to the Nobel Peace Prize

DAY THREE:

Our last day in Stockholm, our flight to Helsinki left around 2pm, so we got up early and headed to the Stockholm LDS Temple. It was the most unique temple I had ever seen. The angel Moroni, which sits at the top of almost every LDS Temple, sits on top of a tall pillar right outside of the entrance. Kirsten and I chatted with the worker, who was the sweetest elderly man from Sandy, Utah! I especially love seeing temples outside of the US. It makes me feel right at home. And not only that, but it also makes me excited to know there are enough members of the church in the area for a temple to be built. 

We hurried to catch the train to go back to get our bags, said our goodbyes to our host, and then headed to the airport. While going through airport security we were stopped because of the two large cans of pumpkin Kirsten had in her carry-on. We debated with airport security for about 15 minutes whether or not, the pumpkin was liquid. The worked said the only way we could bring pumpkin was if it was a whole pumpkin haha. But after the long debate, she told us if we had a Dr's note saying we needed the pumpkin then she would let us through with it. I think that was her way of telling us to go forge a Dr's note, so we followed her directions ;) and she let us through! Our Thanksgiving was saved! Next stop- Helsinki!

Home Away From Home

I recently read a quote on Pinterest that said "Home isn't a place. It's a feeling." I immediately thought- Wrong!- home is a place. It's the place you grown and learn; the place that brings family together; the place you hold closest to your heart! But as I kept thinking about it, I realized maybe the quote was right...for me, "home" is really wherever I am with the people- or sometimes person :)- I love. 

The places Rusty and I have lived are so completely different and yet they all became home so quickly. We went from living in a tiny apartment in Greece- home of gyros, feta cheese, and the most beautiful islands you'll ever see- to living in arctic weather, surrounded by technology and saunas. And we get to call Utah and Chicago "home" as well since our families are there. So while at times I may feel homeless as we move around, I actually have multiple homes and wouldn't want it any other way.

So, as for our home here in Oulu- we wanted to make it a little more "homey", so we decorated our apartment! I use the term "decorated" loosely because I am too cheap to purchase very many home goods that we will end up leaving here when we go back to the US. Luckily, I have made some great friends here who let me borrow and even have things for the apartment!

Hoping to find a few more things to spruce up our place, Rusty and I went to a thrift store, Palejekiirpis. We ended up buying a few throw pillows for our pink couch and glass frames to hang on our wall. We decided to get artsy and fill the frames with hand-drawn Sharpie art, so we went to Prisma, which is like Target, and bought a white poster board and also a shelf for our projector. The project turned out better than expected because Rusty had the brilliant idea of using the projector to project whatever we wanted to draw and then trace it to the poster board. Before leaving to one of his away games, Rusty surprised me with candles, flowers, and pumpkins, which also helped add some color. It's far from designer quality, but I am happy with the finished product. It makes for a cozy little Nordic apartment! 

While I am happy with the decor, I have come to appreciate the little things about our apartment that make life easier, like having a microwave and dishwasher. It's hard to believe we lived without them in Greece! Oh and I can't forget the central vacuum! Hooray for not having to sweep all the time! I am also a little obsessed with our drying rack which is built right in to the cupboard- I'm a little OCD about making sure dishes are completely dry before going in the cupboards and yet I don't like drying them with a towel because I feel like I'm rubbing germs on them, so to me, this is genius!). Since it is the middle of winter, I am especially grateful for our heated bathroom floor and the heater on our deck. But as I mentioned before, the location is by far the best quality of our apartment. I love looking out at the sea every single day- (which is now frozen over and covered in snow!) But, with or without snow, the view never gets old.  

(P/S- I waited too long to post about this, so some of the pictures are from back in October! I included some from now too so you can see fall and winter in Oulu!)

Our finished products!

Our tiny washing machine

Our "patio"- so glad it's enclosed! 

Etta's Christmas Party

Rusty's team- Etta, had a Christmas party! I was especially excited for it because last year, the team in Greece didn't have one, and well, who doesn't love a good Christmas party? 

There were more people there than I expected- it was also for the girl's professional volleyball team and all the people who help at the games. It was held at an indoor rock climbing place that is owned by a friend of one of Etta's employees- and also a friend of mine, Johanna. It had a sauna, of course, (Finns love saunas- it's a way of life here) and a spa. The guys used both of them, but since they did it Finnish style aka naked, us girls just chatted while we waited for them to be done. After, we all enjoyed a traditional Finnish Christmas meal! which consisted of: ham with dijon mustard, bread and cream cheese, carrot puree, rutabaga puree, potato salad, and a dish with chopped beets, carrots, and pickles. For dessert we had tortu's, which are kind of like danishes, and gingerbread cookies- so different from an American Christmas meal! And much healthier! haha 

The team did a Christmas gift exchange by drawing names, so at the party, each guy stood up and said something to present their gift and then the next guy would open it and give theirs. Rusty gave the guy he drew slippers and cookies. Josh drew Rusty and gave us chocolate! Well technically I should say he gave Rusty chocolate, but of course I got to eat half haha. After the gift exchange, a group of people played a game like telephone; Five or six people went into another room while the coach told a story to one person. They called one person out at a time to listen to the story and then retell it to the next person. Rusty was second to last, so by the time it got to him, the story had gone from about 10 sentences to 2. Plus it had gone from Finnish to English, so somehow a city here in Finland turned into Cozumel- it was pretty funny to listen to. 

It was a great party and I am so happy we get to be surrounded by such great people!

Seppo- the team's helper! 

Rusty listening to the story

Rusty re-telling the story

Tehane- Josh's wife, and Noora- Rusty's teammate's girlfriend

Essi- Rusty's teammate's friend

Jani, the setter- (pronounced yani since j's sound like y's here- they actually say Lavaja right!)

The trainer and the coach

The president of the volleyball club. He is the cutest!