(ay-yah-FYAH-lah-yer-kuhl)

The airports in Finland opened yesterday for a few hours.

This morning, I heard they were opened again, then I learned that they were closed this afternoon.

This is all thanks to the volcano Eyjafjallajokull (a lovely name, if I do say so myself). We're now waiting to see what happens with the volcano Katla (much easier to pronounce). Hopefully, the airports will be open the 29th, so that we can still go to Spain, but if not, that they will be open in the summer so we can go home. I'm positive they will be, but I've heard some others say otherwise... and, of course, that keeps me calm. :/ oh dear.

Ah, completely stressed. :/

Happy Wednesday!

Centerpieces

Exciting news!!! My dearest cousin Jen is getting married!! <3 Everyone is ecstatic, probably Jen the most. And she has asked me to be apart of her bridal party, and to help out. So, my first task was to find a centerpiece. Me, as overeager as I was, got right to it, after receiving the "mission" this morning, and this is what I've found.
Okay, we'll start with this one. I think it's a simple centerpiece, but maybe too tall?But, by putting something around it would make it look smaller, and more "apart" of the table. And, my mother thought that if the lower part were hollow, that it could be filled with glass rocks, or petals, or something else just as lovely. :)
This is the first picture I found, and I thought it was gorgeous, but with only this, the table would look bare. So, sprinkle some lovely petals. Downside to this: it only has pink, but the colors could easily be exchanged for others.
Depending on what kind of tables are going to be at the reception, this setup has the brown, matching the tuxes, the pink, and the cream. (Also, the long wooden block doesn't have to be there...? or! a round wooden block. How lovely, just the thought of it. ;) )
This one has a bit more of a pop! to it color-wise... and the tree bark around the glass, I think it has some sort of purpose to it... but I would exchange it for a brown ribbon to be more "elegant."
Ignoring the other two, the pink and white roses are stunning in the glass vase and stones. :) Love it!
This is just a pretty picture I found!

This, I am not particularly a fan of, considering the flowers, but I wanted to show you how they used the mirror for a base, and the candles stationed at the corners, then the glass marble/stone/rock thingies spread out to cover a greater portion of the table... (but, not too far. We don't want little kids nibbling on those good-looking rocks.)

Point to Finland

When I last posted, the score stood at: America-176 , Finland-0

I am, of course happy--thrilled, in fact-- to report that since then, I have experienced the outside ice skating rink down the street. Point to Finland.

Over the past--has it been four months I've gone without posting?--well, in that time, we've celebrated several holidays, namely: New Year's, Valentine's Day, Kimmi's Birthday, Matilda's Birthday, April Fool's Day, General Conference Weekend, and Easter. :)

New Year's was spent at a Youth Conference, and that was an experience.

Valentine's Day, or "ystävänpäivä" (friend's day) was on a Sunday. Lovely!

Kimmi's Birthday-- happy birthday dearest kimmi!! You 16-year-old you!!

Matilda's Birthday:

This pic. is my favorite from my birthday!! The card is from my mummi (finnish grandmother), and I absolutely love it!! <3

April Fool's Day--...well, nothing really happened, except-haha! I did get merinda!!

-Merinda was staring at me with really wide eyes, and I told her, "Merinda, if you keep staring like that, the blood vessels in your eyes will explode, and your eyes will turn red." Then I proceeded to walk out of the kitchen. Merinda was terrified, and followed me. "REALLY?! But what about the people who do staring contests?!!!!?" hahaha.. oh, dear. That was good.

General Conference was wonderful! Just inspiring, and incredible! Loved it!

Easter--well, the second day of General Conference was on Easter, so we didn't have anything until 3. In the morning, we had an easter egg scavenger hunt. The kids (or, Jonathan, and Jusa) found the candy in the attic, in our suitcases.

One of the "easter foods" in finland is Mämmi. :) AH! How I love mämmi! It's hilarious since you ask other people, even Finns, and they'll tell you that they don't like it.

:) This picture was taken after I had been playing floorball, so I was all sweaty, and I decided to eat some mämmi, and my mom informed me that we didn't have any pictures of anyone eating the stuff, so I was the lucky guinea pig. :)

That pretty much brings you up to date on ...some things. :D

Next week is test week, and that will be a blast. ;)