MoM's visit

My mom arrived in Finland safe and sound. The day she came it was snowing! So right away she got a taste of what I have been living with the last few months! The day she got there i still had a practice that night since we had started the finals. But I think it worked out perfect because she needed a nice long nap! The next few days we just walked around my town and I showed her what my life has been the last 8 months. We walked around the castle, around the lake, went shopping a few times,went to a hockey game to watch my friends in the semifinals, ate at the lunch place i eat at everyday, visited my friend/bartender at the bar next to my apartment and showed her a few of my favorite things in town.



Once the finals ended we were able to go outside my town to the bigger cities. We spent a day shopping and walking around Tampere, one of my favorite cities. It was perfect weather for sightseeig and walking around. We also ate at a yummy restaraunt for dinner that has great food and also brews its own beer!





One of the days my friend had hooked us up with a day at a reindeer park! I was so excited to go see the reindeer and have my mom see them too. What comes to mind when you think Finland....reindeer!! So we had a great time at the reindeer park feeding the reindeer, petting them (they were so friendly!), learning to lasso a reindeer, trying some reindeer food and then finally the owner of the reindeer park insisted that I try on some traditional outfit worn by the Sami, a group of people that live up north in Finland. The owner of the park was real nice altho he didnt speak much English, but we made it work and im sooo glad we got to spend the day there!!





The last part of our trip we headed to Helsinki for a few days. My mom, Thais,Anni(libero on our team) and me stayed at one of the girls on my teams home and they took us sightseeing thru Helsinki. We walked around and saw many churches, museums, the parliament, and went to one of the bigger shopping malls. We then had some nice Finnish meals at her house that her mom had cooked for us!!





We had a great time while my mom was here visiting but I think we are both looking forward to going home!!

sidenote....

My mom is coming on Wednesday and staying for 2 weeks and then we will leave together on the 21st!! I am soooooo excited for her to come out here and see where I have been living the last 8 months, meet the team and amazing friends that I have made here, watch the finals and just experience life in Finland!

Playoff update!

Going to the 'ship!!! HPK is in the finals!!! We had a great semfinals series, taking the series to 5 games. We won 4 and lost 1. The first 3 games were close going back and forth and those 3 games going to 5 sets. The last 2 games that we played our team definitely came together and played great to win in 3 sets! It was nice to get done with the semis in 5 games so we would have at least a week to rest. We had played 5 games in about a week!

We start the Finals tomorrow against a really tough opponent. They have gone undefeated the whole year! It is a best of 7 series. Our team has been playing great lately and we are all excited to play in the finals and have a chance to break their undefeated streak! One team, one dream!!! Simply the best!!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!! Out here in Finland they celebrate Easter all weekend. Everything is closed all weekend, except for Sat. and everyone is spending time with their families. I spent my Easter weekend by practicing, weights, spending time with some of the girls, and even trying some Finnish specialty foods for Easter. One dish was an appetizer called Mammi, and they say either you hate it or you like it, but most people hate it and if you like it, it is because it is an aquired taste. But to my surprise I actually liked it!! :)

On Easter Sunday I decided to make myself a nice yummy Easter brunch. I made an egg and bacon casserole, deviled eggs (my favorite and i always make them for easter), apples, oranges and cinnemon rolls. It was delicious!


Once again I am away from home on another special hoiday, but the great thing about this holiday is that I can celebrate it one on one with my God! It was a great to take time out and thank Him for the life He gave and the life He has given me. When I was cooking I had my worship music on and when the song Above All by Micheal W.Smith came on it really made me stop and think about the events of His death and resurrection. It is amazing to stay still and think about His love,sacrifce and power!

Above all powers, above all kings, above all nature and created things,
above all wisdon and all the ways of man, You were here before the world began.
Above all kingdoms above all thrones, above all wonders the world has ever known above all wealth and treasures of the earth, theres no way to measure what Your worth

Crucified, laid behind a stone, You lived to die, rejected and alone, like a rose trampled on the ground, You took the fall and thought of me above all