Finally! A name!!

I haven't put my name on the pictures I've done because I couldn't think of what to write. Should I put "Matilda Photography"? Lame. So, I fiddled around, and I found one that I think is pretty darn cute. Enjoy these new ones! :D

Kimmi Pics. Part II

Aw dats right! We done it--and we done it good. ;)

Collage of Kimmi that I am quite proud of--note the socks.

Senior Year-Senior Pics.

Yikes! I have kept BUSY!! Senior Year!! Oh buddy! OU classes started--LOVING college!

but...this isn't the real reason I wanted to post. I have some senior pictures that will leave you wanting some more. And, I was the lucky duck who got to take these awesome pictures! :D This is one of my besties, and one of the most gorgeous people EVER. I adore her! :D So, here's a sneak peak of the awesomeness that is to come.

I know, I know--jealous. ;)

Finland Memories

Here are a few of the most memorable times in Finland:

When Mom, Merinda, Mikaela, Katie, Kai and I made a music video, and we carried the high chair all around Jyväskylä. :) We got a few stares from onlookers.

Making food at Katie's house--this is Merinda's delicious cheesecake! YUM!!

Merinda made a friend. Yay Merinda!

Going to the temple with the Jyväskylä ward.

Playing with Kai!! I have found my new best friend!!

Tomorrow we head back to the blessed U.S.A. I can't wait to be home again, but I'm not looking forward to the long plane ride...

Jyväskylä is Simply Maawvulous

I feel the need to reiterate my love for Jyväskylä: I LOVE JYVÄSKYLÄ!!!

Okay, that's done. :)

Now, on to share all of my favorite events that have happened!

Last week, Jenni, Pihla, and I went out for Kebab! Yum! The thing took up my whole plate! (I ate less than half, took the rest home, then ate the rest and felt super sick! Never again!...or that's what I tell myself.)

After lunch, we found nail polish on sale, and we didn't know what the polishes would look like, so I showed them. They were completely bewildered that I would try the polishes. I asked them,

"How else do you know what they look like?" An American thing??

After our day with Jenni, Pihla and I started our

traditional Pride and Prejudice marathon. We had our candy and footstool--we were set. :)

When we were playing cards, Pihla gave the cards to me, thinking I couldn't shuffle. I promptly proceeded to "show her what I'm made of" and shuffle like no other! :) haha (this picture is her shuffling...I took it so I could remember the story.)

One night, when we were bored I suggested we play dress up. She asked what it was, and I told her...I shall never make any such suggestions again...she really got into it and covered me in scarves, and I made her look like a gypsy.

We spent a lot of time training and playing with Nelli, their new puppy! :) So cute!

And Pihla, Saku, and I babysat Kai so that Katie could work on her homework. :) She said, "He's pretty grumpy, so if he starts to fuss, just give him a cookie. And, to get him to go in the stroller, give him a cookie. And if he starts to get tired-"

"Give him a cookie?" I asked. :)

Merinda and I helped Katie make decorations for Kai's 1st birthday party!! :)

These are the skeletons that I made. I'm quite proud of them. ;)

Jyväskylä: Where the Piranhas are Green

You may not know this, so I shall tell you: Jyväskylä is the place to be when in Finland.

Because, honestly, where else do you:

*Make pulla the same night you arrive?

*Go swimming after making pulla (around 11 p.m.) and come home around midnight...

*Wake up the next morning at 7

*Go to a mökki (summer cottage) for several hours

*Have a Twilight movie marathon (until 3 a.m.) after going to the mökki

*Sprain your ankle on a trampoline, standing still, after jumping about like crazy for a long time (oops.)

*Spend over 2 hours baking kääretorttu (rolled cake...dessert) and cookies for the 4th of July party

*Watch Stardust, and get to bed at a reasonable hour, but the sleep until noon the next morning

At the mökki! :) Gorgeous view!!
And where else do you see Kai?? So cute!!

I LOVE JYÄSKYLÄ!!! :D

Note: So far, I have not seen, smelt, heard, or tasted any piranhas in Jyväskylä, so for all I know they could be green, but don't take my word for it...

Daringly Adventurous Chicas

On Wednesday, Mom planned on taking Mikaela to Dad's office. However, Mikaela was too scared to walk "all the way there," so she stayed home with Merinda and me. ...and we had a whole lot of fun. :)

First the girls jumped on the trampoline, and then I made them take pictures with me.

So, Merinda was just thrilled at the opportunity...well, sort of... :/ ...

But, she's still smokin' hot! ;)

After pictures in the yard/garden, we went back inside, ate, played cards, then set off on our daringly adventurous walk!

I absolutely love the crosswalk signs here! The man has a HAT!! <3

Cool, huh? :)

I LOVE MY SISTERS! Oh, gosh. They're so cute.

I told Merinda to go stand under the clock. Then I asked her, "What time is it?" She stared at the clock for a while then said "Four fifty-two." So I had to rephrase the question, or rather, demand, "No, *show* me what time it is."

"Oh." She raised her hands to the 10 o'clock position.

"No! Put your hand up a bit!" ...well, we eventually got it right-ish. :)

We have discovered a reliever for walking up hills! Just have someone stand behind you, and push! :D

This picture was taken in someone's yard, and they looked out the window, so I whispered to the girls, "Hurry up, guys. Someone's watching us..."

This is the "Caution: Children playing" sign...and Merinda chillin'.

Yay!! We made it back to the house!!

And then we went on the balcony...

This is Merinda *not* posing. ;)

And Mikaela was making a "cute" face for the camera.

And I'm just naturally like this--all the time! :)

Norge-first 3 days

The day after arriving (which took one more plane ride than we had planned on), we went on a "walk" (as my parents would like to call it, but to the truly realistic people, it was in face a sight-seeing exploration).

So, we saw the old Bergen, the original settlement of the German merchants. Note that this alleyway is right smack dab in the middle of the city, but you just turn down an alley and whalah! There you go!

Jaa!!

This lovely building is the house where plays and musicals are performed.

And this fellow, well, I just thought he was good lookin'.

Ah, yes. By the end of our excursion, I was too tired to do chase after Merinda, no matter how great the pictures could have turned out. Instead I told her to run down to the "big statue thing", and then proceeded to use the Zoom feature on my camera. Ah, what a delight.

***NOTE: Any "factual" information from this post regarding places is not 100% accurate. I may have been preoccupied during our "walk" to listen to the whole bit of information. Most of the subject matter is purely opinion...well, sort of. ;)

Dirty Alarm Clocks

4:48 a.m. The alarm goes off. I struggle to tear my eyes open, and look at the clock, even though I know what time it is... I'm really just trying to estimate if I have time to sleep more (I know, math in the early morning hours, not a good idea)... I close my eyes thinking about this... then I reach over and hit snooze. A few minutes into my happy, peaceful stay, and I find that I dreamt hitting the snooze button. The alarm is still going, playing the music on the radio. Great. Now I actually have to physically move. Yuck. So, I hit the snooze button, sigh, and roll over in hopes of getting 10 more minutes of sleep.

Stinkin' alarm clocks... I really think they go off just to taunt me...

Sunrise/Sunset-Beginning or End?

I searched for a long time--over ten minutes--looking for some funny joke about sunsets. When I couldn't find one, I decided to search for a "beginning/end" quote... well, that was harder than I thought. But, I finally found a quote I like... or a couple, rather.

"Every morning is a fresh beginning. Every day is the world made new. Today is a new day. Today is my world made new. I have lived all my life up to this moment, to come to this day. This moment--this day--is as good as any moment in all eternity. I shall make of this day--each moment of this day--a heaven on earth. This is my day of opportunity."
-- Dan Custer

"I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning."
-- J.B. Priestly

Spanish Shakespeare

In Spanish class, we have to do these individual mini-projects. We could choose our topics from a list of five that the teacher made. I chose, "If you could eat dinner with any famous person, past or present, who would you have dinner with, and why?"

So, I would have dinner with Shakespeare because I would want to ask him, "Why Shakespeare? Why'd you do it?" Referring to, of course, the several plays he wrote which poor students now have to study, and be tested on, and so on and so forth.

Thanks a lot, Shakespeare.

First Step to Getting into College

The first step for your college career is--well, actually, it depends on who you ask--but, you should at some point probably figure out which college you want to go to. To help you with this, many colleges and universities will start sending you an obnoxious amount of e-mails in hopes of recruiting you.

This just so happened to start for me this year.

A couple of days ago I received an e-mail from a College.

The message said, "We've heard of you, Matilda. Have you heard of us?"

---Well, actually, *____* university, I haven't.

***LA LA LA LA LA**** ;)

And so... well, let's just say that I'm stuck on this first step, though I do have a couple places in mind...

****NOTE: This is meant to be a light-hearted, comical tid-bit from my life; I really do appreciate the effort colleges make for students--it makes it that much easier for future college students.

Yum-Delicious

I've been using this wonderful conditioner that smells absolutely amazing, and I can smell it all day and giggle and be consumed with joy over my lovely smelling hair. But, the other day, the conditioner ran out!!! EEEEEK!!! So, instead, I reached over the the green container, and lathered this new conditioner in my hair. Then I realized it smelled like mint. And what did this mint-smelling conditioner make me think of??? Mint chocolate, mint chocolate chip ice cream, and all minty, chocolatey foods. Great. So, now, my hair smells like dessert. What's going to stop me from eating my hair????

YUM YUM!!

Future Cat Lady

My mom has confirmed my fears that I will end up a cat lady. She said, "You marry you who date."

Yes, the cats should be scared...

Sure Feels Good to be 71

Yay!! I had a birthday, shout hurray! ;)

It was fabulous, except for all of the stress from school... but, leading up to it, I made sure my family knew what I wanted for my birthday. Here is the e-mail I sent to my parents and sister.

To whom it may concern:

As you know, one of the most important holidays is approaching. The day mere mortals celebrate the wonderful life of a most beloved individual. Yes, you know what that day is. It's Justin Bieber's birthday.

...and his twin's, of course--dearest Matilda ... (and her aunt Suzanne... *minor detail).

For those of you who may be uncertain as to what this mortal goddess would accept as an appropriate offering for all of her brilliance, beauty, and other... genius, never fear! For, there is a list irrevocably decreed on Goodreads, created by the beautiful mastermind herself.

This list includes the following:

-Blackbringer (by Laini Taylor)

-The Decoy Princess (Dawn Cook)

-Poison Study (Maria V. Snyder)

-Storm Glass (Maria V. Snyder)

-Courting Miss Lancaster (Sarah M. Eden)

-Bella at Midnight (Diane Stanley)

-Surrender the Heart (M.L. Tyndall)

-Eyes Like Stars (Lisa Mantchev)

-Wish (Alexandra Bullen)

-As You Wish (Jackson Pearce)

-The Morning Gift (Eva Ibbotson)

-Winning Mr. Wrong (Marie Higgins)

-Easterfield (Anna Jones Buttimore)

-Timeless Waltz (Anita Stansfield)

-Loyalty's Web (Joyce DiPastena)

-Luck of the Draw (Rachael Renee Anderson)

-What the Doctor Ordered (Sierra St. James)

-Finding Rose (Stephanie Humphreys)

-Love on Assignment (Cara Lynn James)

-Timeless (Alexandra Monir)

-Steel (Carrie Vaughn)

-Unearthly (Cynthia Hand)

-The Girl in the Gatehouse (Julie Klassen)

-The Apothecary's Daughter (Julie Klassen)

-The Blue Djinn of Babylon (Philip Kerr)

-The Cobra King of Kathmandu (Philip Kerr)

Also, the wonderful lady has read the following, but would love receiving them.

-The Ordinary Princess (M.M. Kaye)

-Austenland (Shannon Hale)

----and if there is a way to get Sini to find that one book... that would be great...

Of course, no pressure. However, the day is in less than two days, so don't feel too relaxed.

Also... Matilda was promised a CTR ring. Don't let her down.

Regards from the lady of the day.

What?! 71 ALREADY?!! Man, how time flies!!!