Weekly Photo Challenge: Express Yourself

by Christine M.January 29, 2015

Mia and I along with the crowd expressing ourselves by dancing and parading down the street at the Market Square in Helsinki, Finland during Vappu!

This is one of my favorite shots from while we lived in Finland. This was our last month there and it was during the Vappu (May Day) celebration. After a very dark and cold winter, it was the most exciting day we had seen in Helsinki all year! Although it was still gloomy, it was amazing to see so many people out and about and truly having a great time. We had no idea so many people actually lived in Helsinki!

This candid shot my husband managed to get after we danced around for a long time with this crowd is my favorite not only because it shows the genuine good time Mia and I were having on our faces, but also because of the people of Finland it shows in the background. There are so many expressing themselves: The bright pink lady blowing her whistle, the lady with the plaid long skirt banging on her tambourine, and the guy behind me showing the peace sign. I also had no idea there was a guy that looks like Kid Rock to the left of us and a very sad faced guy with pink bunny rabbit ears to the right of us! Good times!!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Descent

by Christine M.November 5, 2014

This series of photos are from the Suomenlinna Sea Fortress in Finland. It was a very cold and breezy day, so there were not a lot of people visiting the fortress. We decided to go down this empty street where we stumbled upon a big friendly kitty and around another corner I spotted a guy standing on a boat coming out of one of the buildings. It matched with the building nicely, so at first I thought it was a part of the building. I believe it is a boat that was just finished being built and was making its ceremonial descent down the little ramp and into the sea! There was a Finland flag flying and as you can see from the last photo, they lowered the flag right after the boat had successfully made it!

This is when I came around the corner and spotted the beautiful boat sticking out of the building.

The boat making its descent down the ramp.

This image shows the Finland flag being lowered after the boat was successfully launched into the sea!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Threshold

by Christine M.April 7, 2014

For this weeks challenge, I have chosen 3 photos. The first one shows this past years point of beginning for my family after we donated almost all of our belongings and left Florida with only suitcases and moved to Finland! It was a new beginning for us with so many changes and certainly at the time, a very scary new adventure!! Well, almost one year later, it is not so scary anymore and our lives are much more simple, peaceful, and at times pretty adventurous! It has changed us all in so many ways and we have now been to so many wonderful places and experienced some pretty amazing things like seeing the northern lights in Lapland!!

Made it to the Airport with all 15 of our bags! Thanks to my brother, Richard for getting us there. Whew!!

Off we go…. We moved to Finland with only ourselves and these suitcases! We were ready for a new life adventure!

We have been able to visit some pretty neat places this past year… This photo is from Tallinn, Estonia.

I was so excited to be standing in front of such an amazing show from the northern lights… one of the most exciting moments of my life happened just this past weekend! What an experience this was … this moment also changed my life!

Winter in Helsinki & Aurora hunting in Lapland tonight

by Christine M.March 27, 2014

All the snow has melted here in Helsinki, and it is finally starting to really look like spring after a little tease we had a few weeks ago. Mia was lucky to wake up on her birthday to a beautiful fresh snowfall, which I am hoping was the last one for the season. I am way behind again on a blog post, but I have plenty of photos to share from around beautiful Helsinki during the winter as well as a few shots from a few places we have visited in the area. I am very happy to say that we managed to survive the darkness and a winter in Finland. We brought Florida with us and were very lucky as we heard this was the mildest winter in Finland in the last 20 some years!

My family and I are flying up to North Finland (Lapland) this evening for one last shot to see the northern lights. We are also signed up for skiing lessons as we have all never been snow skiing before. We only have about two months left here in Finland (yes, we are on the move again… this time to some place warmer)! I will post photos next week from our adventure this weekend and hopefully some aurora shots will be included. I am better prepared this time and have a tripod packed and ready to go… Aurora hunting here we come!!

Mia in front of the beautiful Helsinki Cathedral.

Helsinki Cathedral through a window…

Mia and her daddy in front of the Helsinki Cathedral.

Helsinki Orthodox Church.

I spotted this guy ice fishing while on a ride on the metro.

Mia having fun one day on the metro. Hmmm… I wonder where everyone was that day?

Relaxing at Starbucks!

Birds camping out on the frozen sea!

Mia and I on the bridge we cross often… with the frozen sea in the background!

Mia and her crazy stuffed fish! I wonder if people thought she really caught a big fish!

Doggy footprints in the snow!

Mia's woke up to this beautiful snow on her birthday after we thought all the snow was gone for the year!

Mia woke up to this beautiful snow on her birthday after we thought all the snow was gone for the year!

Birthday snowball!

We enjoyed viewing an art show close to our apartment one Sunday afternoon (Kaapeli).

I enjoyed visiting the Iittala factory with some of the other moms from Mia’s school.

One of my favorite artists now (Tove Jansson) – a lovely Moomin display at Iittala!

Me with the Moomin mugs at the Iittala factory in Arabia!

This is our porch covered in snow after a crazy storm one night!

Reindeer anyone? It was surprisingly delicious! It’s a popular dish here in Finland!

Dog Sledding with Huskies & Seeing the Northern Lights in Lapland

by Christine M.December 29, 2013

One of the huskies close-up during the ride. This is one of my favorite shots I took from our adventure!

My family and I had the chance to go Dog Sledding with Huskies and also to see the Northern Lights while on our visit to Rovaniemi, Finland a few weeks ago. Our trip to Lapland was one of the most exciting trips that we have ever taken!

Dog sledding with the huskies was probably one of the most exhilarating and relaxing experiences of our lives. The huskies were so excited before we went off for our ride… they kept doing this weird jump that reminded us of a fox while hunting. They couldn’t keep still and could hardly wait to go on the run!! We signed up for a one hour safari at the resort where we were staying (Santa Claus Holiday Village). When we signed up for the safari, we had no idea that my husband would be the one to actually drive the sled. Wow!! He had to go through a little lesson on how to use the brakes by pressing down on a wedge with his foot that went into the snow. He was also told how to assist the huskies while going uphill by pushing off in the snow with his feet. Mia and I sat in the sled and were covered in blankets since we were going on a pretty long ride. There was one sled in front of us with our tour guide and another sled behind us with another dad and his daughter.

After the huskies took off for our ride, all you could hear was Mia and I screaming with such excitement for about 10 minutes straight!! We were not expecting them to go so fast and we also went through such a twisted path at the beginning which went so close to so many big trees covered in snow. We kept thinking our sled was going to run right into them!! After the first 15 minutes of total excitement, we found ourselves in the middle of the most beautiful snow-covered forest. We were able to sit back and truly enjoy being in the Arctic Circle and Lapland! There were moments during the ride that we could not see the sled in front or back of us and it was just my family and I alone with the huskies in the forest. Although our tour started at noon, the sun was already setting around 1:00. The sun would rise around 11:00 and would be set by 2:00, so there was very little daylight there. Here are some of the photos I was able to get while riding in the sled and a few shots from right after our exciting ride:

This is the entrance to the husky sled dogs. It was so beautiful all covered in snow!

I saw this husky sleeping so peacefully in the snow when we first arrived for our sled ride.

Danny and another dad learning how to drive the sleds!

Danny and Mia getting ready for our sled ride.

Mia and I in the sled getting ready for one of the coolest rides of our lives!

The huskies getting ready for our sled ride.

The beautiful huskies getting ready for our sled ride.

The sun setting on our ride in Lapland.

Enjoying the peacefulness… we were all by ourselves with the amazing huskies at this point during the ride.

The beautiful scenery and the sun setting on our sled ride.

The huskies working hard on our ride through a beautiful snow covered forest.

Mia and I right after our exhilarating husky sled ride! Our faces were frozen!

This amazing husky loved on Mia right after our sled ride! So sweet!!

Meeting a cute husky puppy while thawing out by the fire after our sled ride!

We met a cute husky puppy while thawing out by the fire after our sled ride! Our camera was fogged up from the heat in the hut!

Mia enjoying a gingerbread cookie after enjoying the yummy Salmon.

Mia enjoying a gingerbread cookie by the fire after enjoying some yummy Salmon right after our husky sled ride.

This little hut has the best Salmon… cooked over an open flame by Konsta the chef!

One of my dreams has always been to see the Northern Lights in person. We knew that it could be hit or miss when trying to see them. We only had two nights to see them and we had no luck the first night of our trip even though the sky was completely clear that night. So, we had one last night and I was really hoping that we would get to see them on our trip to Lapland. I researched the internet to see what our chances would be that evening and what the best time to go out to look at the sky for them. I found out that the best time would be between 10:00 and 11:00, but we only had a moderate chance of seeing them according to the Auroras Now! website.

It was so cold (-6 F) and we could only stand to be outside for short periods of time, so we got all bundled up and headed outside at around 10:00. We looked around and didn’t see anything and then I noticed a slight arched light gray hazy line about 2 feet in height started to form across the sky not far from the horizon. We decided to climb up this snow mound close to our cabin and waited to see if anything would appear. Then slowly right before our eyes this arched line started to change from the grey to orangish to a bright green!! It would change in shape and disappear and then slowly appear again and at one point took up much of the sky at the horizon. We were in complete shock!!! The whole show only lasted about 20 maybe 25 minutes top. I wish I was better prepared to take photos… I didn’t even have a tripod! I hope that one day we will have the opportunity to go back and I will be able to getter shots. Here is what we were able to get… Not great, but I’m sure you can tell that they are the Northern Lights:

The Northern Lights only gave us a show for about 20 minutes, but it was a dream come true to see them in person!

One of the coolest things we have ever seen!

The Northern Lights in the sky right above where we stayed.

The amazing Northern Lights suddenly appeared in the sky right in front of our eyes!

The snow mound were we viewed the Northern Lights.

I took this shot the next morning before leaving Lapland… this is the snow mound where we viewed the Northern Lights.

I will have one more post to end the craziest and most exciting year of our lives so far. To end 2013, I will share the story of a little angel who has been traveling with my family this past year.

We can now cross off these latest Red Pin Adventures off our travel bucket list:

~~Dog Sledding with Huskies~~

~~Lapland – See the Northern Lights~~

The Magic of Meeting Santa at his Home in the Arctic Circle

by Christine M.December 13, 2013

Mia getting ready to meet Santa’s Reindeer!

This past weekend my family and I took the short 1 hour journey by plane to the beautiful Arctic Circle to visit the “real Santa” in Rovaniemi, Finland. We stayed at a very fun resort for families called Santa Claus Holiday Village where you get to stay in cute cozy cabins which include a sauna in the bathroom. Breakfast, dinner, and wi-fi are also included. Mia and I had never seen so much snow in our lives! The resort was a great experience and had many activities for families to do including: Snowmobile rides, sledding, shopping, restaurants, husky sled rides, Santa’s main post office (where all the children’s letters to Santa arrive), Santa’s ice park, the chance to see the Northern Lights, Santa’s reindeer rides, and of course Santa himself! Here is a link to their website: http://www.santaclausholidayvillage.fi

Here are a few photos from around the resort:

The cozy cabin where we stayed.

The beautiful scenery around the cabins.

Mia’s first experience sledding and seeing so much snow!

We were in love with all of the beautiful trees in Rovaniemi!

Mia and her daddy at the line for the Arctic Circle!

The temperature at the Arctic Circle. Brrrrrr!!!

One of Santa's beautiful reindeer. There are more reindeers than people in Rovaniemi! It was amazing to see a real one in person!

One of Santa’s beautiful reindeer. There are more reindeers than people in Rovaniemi! It was so amazing to see a real one in person!

We decided to travel to a secret place in the middle of the forest to experience the Dream of Joulukka. It was an experience our family will never forget! If you get the chance to experience this through the eyes of a child it is truly a magical and unforgettable experience. A white van came to pick us up at the resort and we stopped to pick up a few others on our way to Joulukka. We drove for about 30 minutes out to what felt like the middle of nowhere into a mystical forest. All of the kids also magically fell asleep on the ride there and back. So, it certainly is a secret place and the kids have no idea where they were! There were 12 of us total on this adventure and we were greeted by a cute little elf! She took us to a cozy hut with a fire pit in the middle which said elf school above the door. Her, another elf and a troll told us elf stories and taught us a few of the elves secrets. We also had fun decorating gingerbread cookies and receiving our Santa’s Helper Diplomas after graduating from elf school!

We made it to Joulukka and were dropped of in the middle of nowhere (a mystical forest)!

The entrance sign for Joulukka.

We were greeted by this cute elf after getting dropped off!

We were greeted by this cute elf with a pointy nose in a red dress after getting dropped off in the forest!

The elves getting ready to take us into their Elf School Hut.

The cozy fire in the Elf School Hut.

We enjoyed decorating gingerbread cookies in the cozy hut!

One of the elves signing our Santa’s Helper Diploma!

Mia’s Diploma after graduating from Elf School. Each of us received one of our own!

After graduating from elf school, the elves took us through a candle lit forest to a fire where they told more stories under the beautiful clear star lit sky of Lapland. We enjoyed roasting marshmallows and sipping on hot chocolate to keep us warm and cozy! We then took another journey through more of the candle lit mystical forest to Santa’s Command Center where we saw many cool things including Santa’s world map, his mail machine, his desk, and at the end we enjoyed a very magical experience of meeting Santa Claus himself!

Our walk through the forest to Santa’s home which was hidden under a huge pile of snow!

The elf doing the secret knock to enter Santa's Home.

The elf had a secret knock to enter Santa’s Home.

Santa’s World Map showing the other command/toy distribution networks around the world!

Santa’s radar and elf cam!

Santa's mail delivery machine delivers children's letters to him no matter where he is!

Mia putting a letter into Santa’s mail delivery machine which delivers children’s letters to him no matter where he is!

After going through a secret door, we met Santa himself! Mia had the opportunity to tell him what she dreamed of for Christmas and Santa also presented her with a gift (we secretly gave it to an elf ahead of time) and he even walked outside in the snow to talk with us before we left his home in the forest!

Mia telling Santa what she dreamed of for Christmas this year!

Mia receiving her special gift from Santa!

Mia with Santa and one of his elves in the snow-covered forest at his home!

Here is a link to the Dream of Joulukka Santa experience:

http://www.joulukka.com/programs/dream-of-joulukka/

My next post about Rovaniemi will include our Husky Sled Ride experience and seeing the Northern Lights! We can now mark another Red Pin Adventure off our travel bucket list:

~~Visit the Arctic Circle & Santa Claus~~

Off to meet Santa in the Arctic Circle

by Christine M.December 5, 2013

Mia’s first time trying to make a snow angel!

It’s been a little while again since my last post…. and now the craziest year of our lives is almost coming to an end! We finally had a nice snowfall today which was enough for Mia and her friends to play in after school today. We had so much fun running around laughing and throwing snowballs! We had zero snow in Florida, so it was an exciting afternoon for us!

We did make it to Florida a few weeks ago. The strike did not happen and we were very happy to go home even if it was only for a few days. We felt right at “home” as soon as we saw this Mickey in the photo below at the airport in Orlando. Mia had so much fun visiting her school that she attended for 3 years in Florida and it was nice to spend some time with our family. Mia and her dog Audrey were so happy to be reunited! She has been talking about Audrey since we moved. They were just like two peas in a pod again!

Mia and her BFF Audrey, reunited in Florida!

Mickey and Mia at the airport in Orlando!

Mia also had her first piano concert at school this week. I think we were more nervous than her. She went right on stage and played her song with such confidence. We were so proud!

Mia playing the piano at her first piano concert.

Our next stop is to visit with Santa Claus in Rovaniemi, Finland! We leave very early in the morning and we are super excited to meet the real Santa in the Arctic Circle. Mia has her letter to Santa all ready to give to him. We are also looking forward to being in Lapland and to hopefully experience a dog sled ride with huskies!

Here is a link to where we will meet Santa Claus:

http://joulukka.com/en/the-secret-of-joulukka/

We are Now Official Finland Residents… We have a Sauna in our New Place

by Christine M.August 16, 2013

Saunas were invented in Finland and are a very important part of the culture here. There are only around 5 million people in the entire country (there are around 20 million just in the state of Florida where we just moved from). We have heard that there are over 2 million saunas here in Finland. That’s a lot of saunas for only 5 million people! And I know what you are wondering… and the answer is YES, they do go naked here in their saunas!! We have also heard that sometimes after a sauna they also go jump in a hole in the ice into the freezing water of a lake or ocean… and yes, still naked!! Yikes! I wouldn’t mind trying this, but only if I had a wetsuit on!

When we were looking for an apartment here, we were very surprised that pretty much all of them included a sauna. When we came to look at our apartment, I remember us looking at the sauna and thinking that it could be another bedroom or a walk-in-closet! The apartments are much more expensive here and a lot smaller, so we were thinking of other uses for the space at first!

Well, we moved into our place about 2 weeks ago, and decided to give this sauna thing a try. We were also battling a cold that we picked up from our London trip and thought that maybe the sauna would help a little. Our first evening trying it out ended up with me at one point coughing like crazy and having to run out of it!!! I think we were way too excited about pouring the water from our wooden spoon and bucket into the sauna heater with the rocks! All that steam just about killed me!! Lol

We have used our sauna about 5 times so far and have learned not to pour so much water into it anymore and are beginning to love the experience now! I am starting to wonder how we ever lived without one!! No wonder Finland has saunas everywhere. The Finns love their saunas, am I am finally understanding why. You feel so relaxed after the sauna, and are able to go right to bed afterwards and sleep like a baby. This is great for me since I have always been a night owl and now I am finally able to get to bed earlier!

Here are a few photos from our sauna:

Our sauna heater with the cool rocks… still not too sure if we are using this thing correctly.

Eukalyptus mix that we used while we were battling our colds and our wooden spoon and bucket.

Eucalyptus mix that we used while we were battling our colds and our wooden spoon and bucket.

Starting to heat up the sauna… this is our temperature gauge.

Our sauna has two platforms to lay on and a moveable bench on the floor.

I’m sure this Florida girl we will be hibernating in our sauna this winter! I’m not going to want to leave the apartment once it starts snowing here, but at least I will have our sauna to thaw out in! 🙂

The Tall Ships Races 2013 in Helsinki, Finland

by Christine M.July 21, 2013

Above photo: The breathtaking Mexican Tall Ship, Cuauhtemoc!

Above photo: My favorite photo I took from the event, the breathtaking Mexican Tall Ship, Cuauhtemoc!

What an exciting time to arrive in Finland! We were very excited to be able to experience The Tall Ships Races right here in the neighborhood that we just moved to!

Over 100 vessels were here this weekend for the races which began on July 17th and continued until July 20th. The event ended with the Parade of Sails, when the ships go onto the next Tall Ships Races location, the Port of Riga, Latvia. The races will later end in Szczecin, Poland the first week of August, 2013.

We enjoyed viewing all of the beautiful ships on Thursday, July 17th after they were all docked:

The highlight of the event was watching the departure of all of the beautiful ships during the Parade of Sails event on Saturday, July 20th:

Mia enjoying the Parade of Sails!

Mia and I having a great time on Saturday!

We were a little sad to have to say goodbye to all of the ships. What an amazing experience it was to see so many beautiful vessels in one weekend/location:

For more information on this event, please visit:
http://www.tallshipsraceshelsinki.fi/

Our Visit to the Office

by Christine M.July 9, 2013

Mia and I were finally able to see where her daddy has been working since November. We had a great time visiting the office on Friday and meeting some of his co-workers. Many were on their summer holiday, so we will try to visit again after the summer is over. Mia thought that her daddy’s office was a very cool place to work!!

Mia and I at the entrance to the office.

A cool display in the lobby.

Mia and I sitting on one of the chairs in the store.

One of the cool work spaces!

Mia and her daddy at the cool slingshot display.

A fun work/play area.

Mia and I having fun at one of the little break areas.

One of the cool meeting rooms. Mia loved this room!

Mia had a lot of fun writing on one of the creative boards.

Mia and I in the Mighty Eagle room! These two girls are ready for business! 😉

One of the drink coolers at the office.

Mia was checking out the beautiful view at the office!

Happy 4th of July from Finland!

by Christine M.July 4, 2013

We decided to take our first journey on the train today and made it downtown. We celebrated the 4th of July at the Hard Rock Cafe Helsinki. They were giving 20% off to anyone from the U.S.A. today!
We also went across the street to check out their big department store called Stockmann. It was really nice and we ran into a reindeer!

They were celebrating the 4th of July at the Hard Rock Cafe downtown today!

They were celebrating the 4th of July at the Hard Rock Cafe today!

Made it to the Stockman Dept. Store Downtown today and found a reindeer!

Made it to the Stockmann Dept. Store downtown today and found a reindeer!

We made it! Our first few days in Finland… Wow, there’s so much daylight!!!

by Christine M.July 2, 2013

We arrived safely in Helsinki late Saturday afternoon, and have been busy unpacking and exploring all of the different areas around us. After the first day, we knew we needed to find Mia something to help her get around. We have been doing so much walking, so we found her a cute little scooter to easily keep up with us. She is really getting around great now and having a lot of fun with it!

The time zone difference (7 hours ahead of Orlando) has really been tough on us these first couple of days. It is also daylight out most of the time. The sun set on our first night around 11:00 p.m. and then sunrise was at 3:58 a.m.!!! We have to wear sleep masks just to try to keep some of the light out to sleep (we have blackout shades on some of the windows too). On our second night, we were wide awake from 2 a.m. to around 6 a.m. We went out for a walk/scooter ride at 3 a.m. and made it over to Mia’s school so she could see it. Not one soul was out! I was a little surprised since this is the capital city of Finland! We have been here for almost 4 days now, and I have yet to see a police car or officer and have not heard any sirens from ambulance or police. Seems very strange for a big city. I heard at least two or three a day in Central Florida! It is certainly a nice peaceful change. It is also refreshing to see so many people out with their families, walking their dogs, bike riding, and just simply enjoying this beautiful weather!

Danny was back to work Monday morning and we start to look at new places tomorrow. However, we are really enjoying the simplicity of going from a 4 bedroom home to a cute little studio apartment with a view of the beautiful canal…. Not sure if we really need a little bigger place anymore! We’ll see how tomorrow goes. 🙂

Last photo of Mia and her dog, Audrey before we left. My parents are watching our two dogs while we are away. Not a day goes by that Mia is not talking about her dog. :(

Photo of Mia and her amazing dog, Audrey before we left. She was originally my parent’s dog, but quickly grew attached to Mia after she was born. Grateful that my parents are watching our two dogs while we are away. Not a day goes by that Mia is not talking about her dog. They are like two peas in a pod! 😥

Made it to the Airport with all 15 of our bags! A big thanks to my brother, Richard for getting us there. Whew!!

In Orlando, getting ready to board our flight to Manchester.

On the plane, ready to go!! Not sure why Mia wanted to show off her toothbrush they gave her! Lol Total travel time was about 14 hours from Orlando to Finland.

First part of our flight was from Orlando to Manchester. 2 hour layover, then to Helsinki! Whew… it was a long journey!

Ready to explore! We hit the ground running (and scootering)! Mia on one of our journeys out to explore the area!

Our cute little studio apartment. Love it!

View from our apartment! So peaceful!

Mia having fun on her new scooter at 3 a.m. We were wide awake (it was only 8 p.m. Florida time)!

A cool sculpture on one of our many walks. Hope someone can tell me the name of this beautiful sculpture!

I will end with a glimpse of the perfect weather and the sunrise/sunset times!

All packed and ready to go!! Less than 20 hours until our big move…. Finland here we come!

by Christine M.June 28, 2013

Here we go!!!! We are finally all packed and ready to go! Moving to Finland in less than 20 hours!!!! Our master bedroom turned into packing central this past week. Only moving with suitcases and donated about 3/4 of all of our belongings to various charities and friends in need. Whew…. It feels great to simplify our lives and we are now ready for our adventure in Europe!! We will miss you all!! ♥

The beginning of all the packing! Moving with only suitcases!

A bunch of our furniture went to the Salvation Army today. This was the 2nd truck to visit our home for the move. Feeling great! 🙂

Finally all packed and ready to go!!

It’s finally almost here…. Only 30 Days until we are reunited as a family again!!

by Christine M.May 1, 2013

Mia and I are so happy that we are finally down to only 30 Days until our family is reunited!!! We also only have 59 days until we all depart for our big move to Finland! I received our flight confirmations today…. Wow, the time was going by so slowly and is now suddenly flying by…hope we are ready for this!