3 first weeks

Hi!

I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. I've lived here and been in school for three weeks already. I thought today I'd write a bit more about school and how I've been liking it. This is probably going to be a lot of text but please bear with me.

I'm just gonna start from the beginning. I was still pretty lost at what I wanted to do with my life during my senior year of high school. It felt like everyone else had at least some kind of plan and I ended up applying to schools I wasn't really even interested in but they were much more higher education than the schools where you study to be a sign language instructor. Maybe I felt like I didn't want to disappoint anyone who had high hopes for me, like my parents. Do I even need to mention that I didn't end up getting in? Anyway, I had an amazing gap year and I got to make few of my biggest dreams to come true so I don't really regret anything. 

We don't have books but this is how many pieces of paper we've got in just three weeks...

When it was time to apply to schools again, I decided to apply without thinking about anyone else but myself. It was my future after all. I remember getting an invitation to an entrance exam for the school I go to right now and I got so happy. I left the exam feeling pretty confident but really nervous. The day I got the results, I actually cried. I really felt like this was something I wanted to do.

Now that I've been in school for few weeks, I couldn't be happier about my decision. I really feel like this might be what I was meant to do. I absolutely love sign language and everything we study is at least somewhat interesting. I also like the fact that I never end up thinking "will I ever even need this in my life?" during classes. And most of all, I actually like going to school. Sure, it still sucks to wake up early in the morning but studying something that I'm interested in is so motivating.

One thing I've been so so so happy with and what motivates me even more to go to school is my class and just people in my school. The second day of school we met all the older sign language instructor students and they were so welcoming. Also my class is just absolutely amazing. I have never got along with everyone so well in my class. Sure, I don't really talk with every single one of them on daily basis but we do a lot of group projects and I used to hate them especially if we didn't get to pick our own groups but I have nothing against them now. They were especially nice during first weeks because it was a good way to learn everyone's names. 

I decided to start this school year with a new attitude and I'm actually proud of myself for doing so. I've always been the quiet and shy one in class. I absolutely hated presentations, group projects and asking questions in class. Now I don't even get nervous about presentations, I enjoy group projects even with people I don't talk with all the time and I'm somewhat active in classes. I think big part of that is because I actually feel comfortable in the class and I'm surrounded by amazing people.

I'm currently taking 7 classes and more start every week. We take everything from Finnish sign language to ergonomics, child's speech development and professional knowledge. Right now we're concentrating on child and youth studies but soon we're also starting adult and elder studies. Our first on-the-job learning is after our fall break already.

Well that ended up being longer than it was supposed to be. Sorry! I just feel like maybe I can look back on this in couple of years when I'm graduating and see how I was feeling and how that has maybe changed.

See you soon!
~Susanna

Surprise package from LivBox

Hi!

It's been about a month since I heard that I LivBox would be sending me a surprise package in the mail because I sent them a reaction picture of me opening July's box. Because of my move during the time the package was sent, it never got to me until I emailed LivBox. They have an absolutely amazing customer service and we finally got things sorted out and the package arrived today.

Now the first surprise was the amount of products I was treated with. I was expecting like 3-4, not 6. Here's what I got:

MSCHIC lipgloss in Baby Pink I don't think I actually have a lipgloss that's anything similar to this shade so I'm pretty excited. I almost screamed when I saw this in the package because I just love lip products :D
Clarins BB skin perfecting cream I just decided to switch from BB creams to foundation again but I'm sure I'll find use for this.
Louis Wildmer Cleansing Milk 
Sally Hansen Diamond Strength nail polish in Sweetie Pie This color is soooo pretty! I absolutely love Sally Hansen nail polishes so I can't wait to give this a try.
Peppy Galore Diva toner This is the only product I knew about and I was so excited to get it. Peppy Galore closed down earlier this month and I had some regrets of not ever getting their toners but now I have one and I'm so excited to try it out.
Batiste Dry Shampoo (Original) I think I've stated earlier how much I love Batiste dry shampoos so I don't think I even need to say how excited I got when I saw this.

See you soon!
~Susanna

2 ingredient banana pancakes

Hi!

The other day I had a banana about to go bad and some leftover eggs from baking in my fridge and I suddenly remembered a super easy recipe I had seen in some blogs so I decided to try it. These are 2 ingredient pancakes and I was a bit scared the first time because I don't really like eggs and thought they would taste like an omelette but they didn't and I was happily surprised.

So the ingredients are super simple:

1 banana
1 egg.

I like to add 1-2 tablespoons of orange juice to give them a little bit more flavor and this time I decided to add some little toppings too.

I used some blueberries, chocolate and cinnamon. These gave the pancakes such a nice taste and I think I'm going to continue experimenting with different toppings.

I used really big blueberries and seems like they were a bit too big so one of the pancakes failed. They still tasted good though and that's all that matters :D

Ta-da! I made a few plain ones to eat with Nutella but out of all toppings, I think the chocolate ones ended up being my favorite.

See you soon!
~Susanna

Fairs and headbands

Hi!

There were couple of fairs going on in Rovaniemi last weekends and we thought they would be worth of checking out with my classmate. We met up on Saturday and went for a little walk around central Rovaniemi (or whatever it's called, don't ask me I've lived here only for a week). The area I live in is starting to become more familiar and now I know a few cool and really cheap stores that I would've never found on my own. Here's a few pictures I snapped on Saturday: 

There was like an international food fair going on and I just had to get some churros. The paper bag was also super cute.

We actually went looking for these haha. They're like super long pieces of licorice and you can hardly get them anywhere unless you go to a fair or an amusement park etc...

After a few hours of walking and shopping, I went to get some groceries and made myself a yummy chicken salad. 

I ended up buying a few little things on Saturday including couple new jumpers because it's getting really cold in here (it was 5 degrees this morning!!! I had to ask how to sign "it's cold outside" haha). I also got few new headbands because I'm sick of having to push away my bangs from my face 500 times everyday. I've been wearing bandanas a lot lately and I like them because they keep my bangs in place so I thought I'd get a few headbands so I won't have to wear a bandana everyday. I didn't take pictures of the stuff that I bought but I'm sure you'll see them in this blog at some point :D I did have a new headband and jumper on today tho so here's a picture:

Please ignore the messy apartment (especially you, mom), I'm still unpacking. 

Also! Because of this headband/bandana addiction, I got a name sign. Our sign language teacher referred to me with a sign for a headband in one of the classes last week and I kind of just decided to keep it.

See you soon!

~Susanna

First week

Hi!

I'm so sorry it's been so long. I was supposed to write this blog post on Monday but I've been just so busy with everything. Better late than never though, right?

So, I'm now in Rovaniemi. The move went well. I forgot to take a lot of pictures but I had time to snap a few and here they are:

This is not even all of my stuff.... whoops

My new tv stand :D I love it

This is my new lamp. It's actually bright pink in real life. It's amazing

First day of school!! eeekk

So far I've been really liking Rovaniemi. It's obviously not as big as Helsinki but it could be so much worse. At least there are a few shopping centers and most of my favorite stores can be found in here. I really like my school too. Everyone in my class are so nice and I absolutely love sign language. I was so nervous if I would make any friends here but I've already went out after school with my classmates a few times and I hang out with one today (more about that in the next post). 

I already have pictures for a next post so let's hope it won't take me this long to write it haha :D

See you soon!
~Susanna

August LivBox

Hi!

How about we ignore that fact that I wasn't supposed to post until I'm in Rovaniemi? Because I got my August LivBox today and I really wanted to share it because this is one of my favorite ones for months. A lot of people seem to agree on their facebook page too :D 

First thing that caught my eye was the tissue paper. It's usually just one color but this time we got patterns! How exciting! Also, every box has a theme and this time different Finnish bloggers had picked their favorite products to be included in the box and I'm so excited to start using these. I don't remember when was the last time I was actually excited about every single product in a LivBox.

The box included following products:
Clinique- All About Eyes I have awful dark circles under my eyes so I'm always up to trying out new eye creams :D
The Body Shop- Honeymania Body Butter not my favorite scent from The Body Shop but it still smells good. I absolutely love their body butters and I got so excited when LivBox said they started working with The Body Shop.
Batiste- XXL Volume Dry Shampoo Have I ever mentioned how much I love Batiste dry shampoos? I use them almost daily so I almost wanted to scream when I saw the bottle in my box. I also like the little bottles because I always carry a dry shampoo with me.
Dolce&Gabbana- Dolce Shower Gel As if I need anymore shower gels :D:D This one smells absolutely amazing and I can't wait to start using it.
Lumene- Arctic Sun Bronzer I've been actually meaning to buy a bit lighter bronzer but never did so this is great :D I tried to get a better picture of the color but this was the best I could do:

See you soon! (This time actually in Rovaniemi :P)
~Susanna

Is this even my room anymore?

Hi!

2 DAYS UNTIL THE MOVE!!

How is it so close already aaahh?? I still have some stuff to pack but I got a lot done just today. My desk has been a HUGE mess for weeks now and I finally emptied it. I also did the thing I've refused to do before this day. I took down all the posters and pictures from my walls. They look so empty now. 

My dad also took apart my bed today since I'm taking it with me. I'm also taking my desk and a dresser kind of thing from the living room with me to Rovaniemi. We're probably going to Ikea on our way to get me few other pieces of furniture and I think I already know what I'm getting.

When you combine poster-less walls and the fact that I can't even sleep on my bed anymore, this really doesn't feel like my room anymore. It's a weird feeling. Oh, and you can see a bag full of cleaning supplies in the bottom left corner of the picture haha. My mom surprised me today with those. At least I can cross them out of the almost never-ending "I still need to buy these for my apartment" list.

The move will take a few days and I don't think I'll be able to write anything until I'm settled in Rovaniemi with a wi-fi connection. Hopefully that won't take too long because I really enjoy writing this blog. But do expect a some kind of post about my first day of school. :D

See you soon!
~Susanna

P.S. Because my bed is in like 10 pieces and my desk is surrounded by boxes, this is my amazing laptop setup right now hahaha: