Thursday, July 31, 2008

{topic: religion/lds, you've been warned :)}

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I try not to write too much about religion here on my blog. I don't want people to think I'm preachy. But every once in awhile I have a day that I just have to write about something related to my faith. Today is one of those days. Don't read more if you are not interested in this topic. While my sister + family was here I chose not to go to church or do much spiritually. I sacrificed this part of my life for three weeks (yes, I actually LOVE to go to church each Sunday and love to spend time reading the scriptures etc) so that I could spend more time with my sister and her family and also that there wouldn't be any fights about this topic while they were here. Now that they're gone, I'm getting back to my spiritual routines and oh how I missed them! I love the gospel of Jesus Christ! There, I've said it. I don't care what others think. It is not a popular thing to say and most people tend to think of religious people as some sort of nuts (there they do have a hint of truth - I can be quite nutty :D). But I really, really, really do love the gospel. It has changed my life for better and brought me so much peace, joy, love, understanding and good principles to live by. When I do nourish my spirit - I feel uplifted, edified, taken to a higher level from this sometimes depressing and sick world. I become a better person. I remember to be less selfish, more loving, more generous, happier, optimistic... The list goes on. Which brings me back to the above book. I was reading it last night and I couldn't put it down. Finally my reading woke Jay up at 1am and I felt I had to put it down. I LOOOOOVE Neal A. Maxwell. He is one of my favorite church leaders ever. He was the very first "general authority" I ever heard speak. To those not familiar with that title - general authority is basically one of our church's leaders. It would be too long to get into the details of it so I'll just say that. I wasn't LDS yet, I had barely started to investigate my current faith then (if I remember right). I don't remember a word he spoke that evening in Marjaniemi, Helsinki, but I do remember how I felt. I couldn't stop crying as the things he spoke about touched my heart so. It wasn't until years and years later when I had been LDS for a long time, I realized he is one of my "favorites". I always enjoyed his talks (he has passed on) so much. He has a special talent with words and the way he "paints pictures with his words". His talks are full of doctrine and after reading his words, I always understand details of the gospel so much better. I remember how years ago I always had to read his talks with a dictionary in my hand. He uses big words. Now I can get through his talks ok, usually without a dictionary. :) Anyways... I was reading about "Service and the Second Great Commandment" and pretty much highlighted the whole chapter. It talks about how so many people in our day are getting more and more selfish and less and less keeping this commandment (Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself). People are becoming so self-centered. The gospel is not about fulfilling your own needs above anything else. It's about working toward a common good, the good of mankind. Often you are required to sacrifice of yourself to help others. But by doing so you become a better, more whole person. It is so opposite of what the world teaches us today and I LOVE IT! Whenever I let myself slide into the "think of yourself the most" trap, I become miserable, depressed and NOT happy. Taking my "happiness temperature" all the time (using Neal A. Maxwell's words) just makes me self-centered. Yesterday was a bit like that. I heard some news that made me think of certain sad aspects of my childhood that relate to the present as well. All day I kind of thought about myself and how sad it was that certain thing was in a certain way in my life. I was wallowing in an Olympic-size pool of self pity (again Maxwell's words). I was not happy even though I got to go to a baby shower. Not until I got home and was reminded to "live the gospel" by reading this book was I uplifted from my misery. Now I'm "all happiness". The circumstances of my life/past haven't changed but my spirit has been uplifted to a higher level by the gospel. THIS is why I LOVE the gospel of Jesus Christ so much. It's not just some abstract thing in my life. It's as real as real can be. It affects my daily life for better. It is a true source of power and inspiration.
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Some people say that "Christianity has caused so many problems". Well, those people weren't Christians even though they claimed so to be. They weren't living the gospel (= Christ's teachings). If you live the gospel, you do not hurt anyone and your influence in the world is positive, not negative. The more you understand the gospel in it's purity (there are many twisted versions of it available) and try to live according to it, the better person you are. Short and simple. If you are not living good, loving people, serving, helping, uplifting, being good - you are NOT living the gospel. Plain and simple. So you can't judge the gospel by some claimed Christians. People are far from perfect and most of us aren't living the gospel 100% (often not even close). You have to judge it as a doctrine. Will it make you a better person? (YES!!!) Will it make your life better? (YES!!!) Will it help you understand life more? (YES!!!)
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Anyways... I'm sorry today's posting is so religious but I am so excited to be "back on track" that I was ready to burst and had to spend the bursting energy somehow. You, the reader, certainly don't have to agree with me or even read this. I just had to write. This is my faith and I LOVE it! I do always love to share my beliefs as in doing so I think I'm making the world a better place (if people lived the gospel = people wouldn't hurt each other in any way = better world!). But I only share if someone likes to listen. Hence the warning in the heading.
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Lastly, a quote from this book:
"...How ironic it is to envy someone who has a pretty figure but who is a spritual cripple... Sophisticated selfishness is still selfishness, even when cleverness tries to pose as substance. Glibness by someone who leads a flawed life cannot cover, except cosmetically, the spiritual speechlessness that afflicts that person. Nor can large bank accounts fill the empty vault of the soul.
Think for a moment how different it would be if people took on that physical appearance which would reflect distinctly how well they are doing spiritually. How would some of today's so-called beautiful people really look? A highly publicized movie star, if her life were fully represented in her appearance, might be ugly, perhaps with a hunched back, a prune face, and a withered arm. In contrast, think of Quasimodo, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, whose beauty was not seen by the multitude. Under such telling circumstances - when the outer person reflected the inner person - whom would we applaud? And who would really deserve our pity?
...Are not the real heroes and heroines of today those who are givers rather than demanders, those who are selfless rather than selfish, those who share rather than grab... and those who do their duty quietly without the accompaniment of crashing cymbals and trumpets?"
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Y

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

{layout #28}

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Instead of cleaning our home today, I scrapbooked. (roll eyes)
The circle/flower/bling bling theme continues. Still not sick of it.
I'm thinking of painting backgrounds for the photos but I have a feeling the minimalist in me won't let me. I always think "could do this" or "could do that" but I always end up doing as little as possible to still make it a layout. Could but won't. :)
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Klikkaa kuvia jos haluat nahda ne tarkemmin.
As usual - click on the pictures to see them clearly.
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The large letter are vinyl letters. You can see the texture by clicking on the picture.
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I did get lots of laundry done at least + grocery shopping.
Sienna had a very off day today (yesterday too). Not much appetite, cranky, anxiety... I wonder if she's getting sick.
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Helle jatkuu: +30C.
Eika olla ostettu sita makkarin ilmastointilaitetta viela. (roll eyes)
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{elossa}


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Capital Ex, Edmonton (vempeleita, kaikenlaisia show:ta ja tapahtumaa). Ennatettiin tannekin siskon + perheen kanssa. Paras kai oli kun kavivat ihailemassa 20 tuhatta perhosta. Perhoset ei olleet suljettuina mihinkaan vaan lentelivat ihmisten ymparilla. Robin pelastyi pahimman kerran ja juoksi huitoen sielta pois kuulemma (mina ja sisko missattiin perhoset). Sienna oli ok kunnes juuri kun olivat lahdossa aivan alyn iso perhonen laskeutui sen naamalle. Some people had 20 butterflies on them even. Sienna kuulemma tykkasi myos alyn paljon kun katsoivat BMX ajajien temppuja (moottoripyorailijat kieppuivat ilmassa). Oli huutanut kaikkein kovimmin koko ajan ja ollut aivan onnessaan.
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I love peonies. I won't charge you anything to come and stare at this beauty in our back yard. :D It's even more open now. Wow!!
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Took these this morning.
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No, elossa ollaan ja en ole edes kauheasti itkeskellyt siskon + perheen lahtoa. Auttoi kun piti Siennan takia olla urhea. Sitten oli jotenkin niin alyn kiva yhdessa olo talla kertaa (ei edes tapeltu yhtaan!!! :D ) joten ei voi muuta kuin olla hyvalla tuulella tasta yhteisesta ajasta. Kivoja, rakkaita muistoja tuli paljon. Y
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Auttoi myos kun eilen kavi taas vieraita. Vancouverin grandma & grandpa kavivat visiitilla.
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Saturday, July 26, 2008

{lisaa lomakuvia - jasper}

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Sienna cuddling with her teddybears.
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Playdough fun.
Made by Minkku, my niece.
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Baby big horn sheep by Medicine Lake.
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An inushuk at Medicine Lake. Jay made one too. I ran out of the battery in my camera so I have to wait for my sister's pictures to show you Jay's inushuk.
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Maligne Lake.
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Jasper Park Lodge. Fancy place. Lots of fun stuff to do. Minkku & Ansku rode horses here and while we waited for that to start, we relaxed by the lake and ate yummy, fancy food.
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Sienna rode a small, old horse too!! Her first time. She was so excited!
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Indian paintbrush flowers. My flower pictures never turn out very nice. These are all over the place and they are so pretty.
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Then it totally amazes me how the flora here is so similar to Finland's. Valkovuokkoja, noita toisia joiden nimia en muista, koiranputkia, jopa puolukoita loysin...
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The wild rose is Alberta's provincial flower. These grow in Finland as well. They smell so nice. When we were in Banff, there was an older Japanese man who was taking TONS of pictures of the wild roses. He didn't take pictures of anything else. Just the roses. He was so cute. :)
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Kauhea olo - huomenna lahtevat. Nyyh jo etukateen. Paniikki iskemassa.
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Tuesday, July 22, 2008

{trip #2}

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Cute messy hair.
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As usual - click on the pictures to see them better.
Kuten aina - klikkaa kuvia ja naet ne isompina ja selvempiona.
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Banff, Alberta.
Hiking, shopping (my sister bought 4 pairs of moccasins for herself), eating, gondola ride to the top of the Sulfur mountain, yummy east Indian food...
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Johnston Canyon, Banff.
I really enjoyed this hike. Even when it started thundering and we got wet a bit. Beautiful waterfalls (my pictures don't do justice so I'm not posting those pictures), rushing river, chipmunks coming right next to you, a cave where you get splashed with the waterfall water...
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Beautiful details along the hike. Amazing colors in nature.
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So much fun! Refreshing.
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Sienna has started to pose for me a little bit. !!!
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Cutie.
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Cameron Falls, Waterton, Alberta.
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Nature at it's best at Cameron Falls. Everyone was watching this deer for at least half an hour. There was a bear in town as well. A black bear. Imagine sitting on your porch and a bear walks by. :) We saw many bears on our trips.
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Cameron Lake, Waterton, Alberta.
This mountain on the other side of the lake belongs to the United States (=we were close to the border, as south in Alberta as you can go).
+29C weather.
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Hiked up to the Bear Hump in Waterton (about 30-40 minutes of vertical climb, a straining hike but worth the effort, the view is amazing). Not the best pictures this time as it was evening. Last time the water was brilliant green/light blue colors, for example. Saw two bears wrestling below in a forest. Met Elder Jensen and his family and took family pictures for them. Had a little chat with him. Felt like I've always known him. LDS celebrities... :D
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Writing-on-stone provincial park. I can't believe we never went to this place when we lived in Lethbridge. Awesome place!!!! Fun to hike in the hoodoos. It was +30C though and the heat tired us out a bit too fast. Must go back to hike some more there. Didn't see any rattle snakes. While in Waterton & here we stayed with our friends. Sienna loved playing with E & M again. Little girls are so cute!
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Jay and Sienna on top of a hoodoo.
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After the sweaty hike we went to this sandy beach by the river. Yours truly even swam in the river. Well, if you can call it swimming. We were floating in the current of the river. It was awesome!! We kept going back to the start and doing it over and over again. Ahh!
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Friends. Y
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A perfect summer day.
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The girls.
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Bye. Hope to see you again soon...
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Back at home and feeling exhausted but happy.
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Tuesday, July 15, 2008

{jasper}

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Love this picture. Sienna jumping on a mattress in our hotel room.
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Medicine Lake. I loved this place. The pictures don't do any justice to the beauty of the area.
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Medicine Lake. It was overcast (drizzled a bit) but there were moments of brilliant sunshine as well.
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Sienna's favorite thing to do was to throw rocks in the lake.
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Maligne Lake. Beautiful but somewhat too touristy.

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Just a few pictures for ya. Click on the pictures to see them bigger (!!). I took 212 pictures. Few of them actually turned out ok. :) I never said I was good at photography. :D

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{ahh!}

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I haven't downloaded my pictures yet so I borrowed this one from the Internet. Medicine Lake, Alberta. One of my favorite spots where we went this past couple of days. (Click the picture!) Canadian Rocky Mountains is the most amazing, beautiful place to go to. It is magical there. One or two days there is the same as if you've been on vacation for a week or two. So relaxing and refreshing. So breathtakingly beautiful. I love the mountains!!!!! This spot was a favorite of mine this time. This picture doesn't do justice to the beauty of this spot. I hope my pictures will turn out great. The water in all the lakes is crystal clear, often turqoise in color. Some lakes seem to be multicolored: turqoise/green/dark blue/light blue. We saw more animals than we could see in the Edmonton Zoo (which is not that hard to accomplish I should admit). We saw deer, big horn sheep, a black bear mommy + two cubs (!!!!!), caribou, tiny squirrels, woodpecker birds, mountain goats, huge spiders, neon blue dragonflies (mating season, there were tons of them by a lake we visited)......... One of the mountain sheep (or goat, I can never remember which is which) came right to our van and tried to eat some kind of crumbs on the steps of the van. He was like RIGHT THERE. It's actually sad that the animals aren't scared of us humans. They are supposed to. I'm sure some tourists feed them. It's not good for the animals. But they do come right next to you and it was amazing to see the fuzzy soft antlers on the caribou right up close. We stayed in the van for the bears of course ;). I think that was my favorite animal to see. The mama bear was not that big. The cubs were so tiny and so playful and cute. I totally fell in love with them. They were right beside the road so we got to enjoy them for quite a bit.
Beautiful flowers everywhere too. Valkovuokkoja!!!! Isoina rykelmina ja tosi isoja. Ah! My favorites were the Indian paintbrush flowers. It's always amazing to me to see the same flora that is found in Finland.
My sister and her daughter went horse back riding and while we were waiting for them I took Sienna for a pony ride. I was imagining a tiny little pony of course and was very surprised when the pony turned out to be a quite big horselike pony. He was very old though and we had no problem with him. Sienna loved riding. She kept saying "I can't believe I'm riding a pony!" Probably because that's what I kept saying. :) She seemed like such a big girl once again. They grow up so fast...
On our way home yesterday we were going to stop at Annette lake for about 10-15 minutes so that Sienna could throw some rocks in the lake before the long drive home. We ended up staying there for almost two hours. Sienna played in the sand and ended up going swimming with her cousin. Annette Lake is were the locals go to swim when it gets hot. Hard sandy beach and once again a crystal clear lake. Mountains all around you. Breathtaking. Amazing experience. Jay and I will have to go back there with Sienna many times.
I have a book about the trails in the mountains and that helped us so much. It was easy to choose places where to go. It's easy to miss things if you don't know where to find them. There is so much to see though. Always new places to see and explore. I once again vowed to myself that I would make more of an effort to go to the mountains more often.
Speaking of which... We are leaving for Canmore/Banff/Waterton/Writing-on-wall soon. Yey! :) Gotta love nature! The work of THE BEST artist ever!!!!!
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It has been so wonderful to have my sister here!! It's kind of an two-edged sword though. It's almost painful to have her here as I'm already treading the day they leave. At times I totally tear up as it's so painful to have her here. It's just too nice and the thought that we only get to see each other so rarely makes your heart hurt. Sienna has enjoyed these guys so much as well and I think she'll be crushed when they go. I'm trying to convince them to move to Canada. *sigh*
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Sunday, July 6, 2008

{my work}

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Since my scrapbooking contest thingy didn't work out, I guess I can share my layouts now.
Didn't want to cover the beautiful paper too much in this one. Felt flowers.
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My old necklace at the bottom.
I didn't have tons of money for supplies (this stuff gets pricey - that's one reason I had hoped to make some money with my work) so I made my own butterflies. You can buy all kinds of cute ones. But lack of money doesn't have to stop you.
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Afterwards I realized I should have reversed this layout so Sienna wouldn't be looking away from the page.
Most of the paper I use looks like linen. You really have to see it in real life to really appreciate the pretty paper and other products.
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I love the saying and the villainy feel of this page. :)
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The new daddy writing should be more to the right.
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The suede strap goes through the "first day together" letters.
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Like I've said - simple = me. Me lovey my work even though it's not contest winning stuff. :)
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