Life Changes, Reunions, Travelling... My 2015

I'm about to leave for the airport soon, destined to spend New Year’s in a land far, far away. Okay, maybe not as far as I wanted as last New Year’s I swore I would spend the next one in New York. Well, I didn't get quite that far but I'll tell you, this option is not bad at all. 

Reflecting back on the past year, I realized that for me 2015 was a year of changes and reunions. My life situation changed and for the first time in my entire life I was the master of my own household. Also, I started in a new, more demanding position at work. And this was only January. Oh, and we also did a little renovating and changed the floors of my apartment to the white ones I had been dreaming of for the longest time!

In April, a friend came to live with me for a couple of months due to completing an internship in Helsinki. I would be lying if I didn't admit it was nice to have somebody to gossip over a glass of wine with and somebody who was always ready to go out. In April I also took a trip to Sweden to visit friends who I hadn't seen in roughly seven years.Crazy, huh? We went to school together as kids back when I lived abroad and it was really great seeing them again!

As the summer was approaching, I knew I wanted to travel but I didn't know whom with (I'm not a fan of travelling alone for a long time). So I decided to ask around from friends I met in Spain during my university exchange and sure enough I found myself flying to Berlin to see a friend I hadn't seen since the exchange. Which ended three years ago! After spending a few days in Berlin (which I kind of fell in love with) we took off on a little trip visiting Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia. In September, a good friend from Spain came to visit me in Helsinki and we had the greatest time! With the exception of a little mishap at the end of her stay. 

The year has also been about growth; personal as well as professional. Being alone, you really learn a lot about yourself, at least that's what happened to me. Professionally, being at a fast paced position where you have to be on top of your game all the time has challenged me and taught me so much and I am so grateful for the opportunity and the responsibility I was given.

Despite the great times, the year has not been all roses and rainbows and I would like to thank all my friends who have helped me through tough times and listened to my endless wondering of what to do with my life. I can't say I have reached the absolute answer to this question yet but now I have an idea of what I want to do for the near future and a sense of direction where I want to go. And I will work my a** off to get there!

All in all, I've met and worked with some amazing people this year and I would like to thank everybody for making my year as incredible as it was! Now I'm off to spend New Year's in one of Europe’s coolest cities with some great company!

Happy New Year everybody and bring it on 2016! 

(Almost) Guilt Free Brownies

Since the time between Christmas and New Year's is the time to stuff your face with turkey, chocolate and whatever, I thought I would do a little post about a healthier treat.

I like to try baking sugar free things (I think try is the correct word here). Some of you have been victimized by my not so successful experiments of sugar free goodies, maybe even traumatized to the point of not wanting to eat anything I make. Well, I will let you in on a little success story (there are a few, believe it or not!) that I whipped up for Christmas; sugar AND flour free brownies!

I bet that right now you're thinking; a success story, yeah right, there's no way those can be any good. Well, I would suggest to give them a try before judging! I first made these for my friends on my birthday. Due to my not so successful baking in the past, I had also bought a mud cake that I hid in the freezer but I'm very proud to say that I didn't have to break it out! Or my friends were lying when they said the brownies were good. I guess we'll never know.

The reason I like this recipe is that it's natural ingredients and no artificial sugar or other bs. Oh and they are also raw.




(Almost Guilt-Free) Raw Brownies

1 dl pecans/walnuts
> 1 dl fresh dates (remove stones)
2-3 Tbsp of raw cocoa powder
1 Tbsp liquid coconut oil
a dash of salt

Frosting

0,5 dl dates 
1 Tbsp raw cocoa powder
1 Tbsp coconut oil 
~ 2 Tbsp water 


Blend the nuts into small pieces using e.g. a blender. Mix the nuts, dates, cocoa powder and coconut oil together and blend it into a smooth mass. If you want it to be sweeter, you can add honey or stevia but note, the dates make it quite sweet already. Spread the mass into a dish (rectangular if you want squares) and press to make it compact.

Make the frosting by mixing all the ingredients together with e.g. a blender. Spread the frosting over the brownie and place the dish in the freezer for about an hour to let it set.

Enjoy!

--

We definitely did NOT have an entirely guilt-free Christmas since Lindt chocolates belong to the Swiss Christmas (I'm guessing).


Any other sugar-free baking enthusiasts out there? :D

On Top of the World

I thought I would do a post that some of you might have been waiting for... About THE BEST sport I know... Ice skating!

As some of you might know, I'm a little into figure skating... And by a little I mean it's the best sport ever and I'm so in love and all I could do is skate if I was given the chance. Okay, maybe not all but you get the point. I did synchronized skating for several years as a kid and a few years ago I rediscovered it and fell in love. So I was at the top of the world (literally on the top of the world) yesterday as we took a little trip to Mürren on the mountains to go skiing.

Once we got there, we found out that unfortunately almost all of the slopes were closed due to the lack of snow except for a few black ones. The last time I was on skis was about ten years ago and it's been about five years since I snowboarded so we decided to pass. Instead, we found an ice skating rink! I mean skating, on the top of a mountain? THE best thing ever?! That's some ice skating goals right there if you ask me...

Look at that smile! That's true happiness right there. On a side note; no, I did not buy into the whole Mom Jeans- trend, I am actually wearing my mom's jeans... Ski pants were a little big for skating ;)

After a while on the ice I noticed two little girls giggling and getting closer and closer to me. Finally, they got up the courage and came over to ask something in German. I told them my German isn't that good (the Swiss dialect is especially hard to understand) and they switched to perfect English! They were wondering if I can do the flip and begged me to teach them. I was happy to show them how it's done step by step and they were over the moon!

Looks like I figured out a plan B for Berlin; skating instructor for kids! Haha. Not totally sure if I'm actually kidding or not...

Getting to skate after way too long (it's been over two weeks!) I wanted more. I googled ice skating in Bern and found an outdoor rink at the PostFinance Arena. So instead of a run this morning we headed for the rink! It's open almost all day every day from October till March so if you're in Bern and into skating, I highly recommend stopping by to do a few rounds! They also have skates for rent if you don't have your own.

Got in a good two hours on the ice and oh my god, it was so much fun! I plan on going again tomorrow. Besides being so much fun, skating is also such a good workout. You burn off a lot while having a blast! What's better than that?! And I hear that skating gives you the best... look in jeans, if you know what I mean. ;)

Here's a little video today's skating sesh.

Can't wait to get back to properly training! I'm currently researching where to train in Berlin. OH and I hear there's the Adult Skating Competition in March, I will definitely go watch! I'm expecting to see some familiar faces there!

Anyone have tips for skating in Berlin? :)

The Big WHY?

Since the turn of the year is always a time for reflection and looking back on the past year, I thought I would let you in the on the big WHY. Why in the world someone would come to a decision to leave everything and head for the unknown with no guarantees? Well, there are many reasons but I guess it all goes back to my past.

I’ve grown up being a bit of an international kid as we moved abroad for a few years when I was 11. At that age, having your parent drag you out of the country where all your friends are into one where you don’t speak the language is probably the worst thing that can happen. It was. I left kicking and screaming and I was not happy (to put it nicely) with my parents’ decision to move. However it didn’t take me long to make new friends and learn English that was spoken in school. I can proudly say that I have been fluent in Finglish (crazy mix between Finnish-English) ever since!

Looking back on it now I can honestly, without a doubt, say that it was (one of) the best gifts that my parents could ever give me and I am SO grateful for it. Learning to adapt to a completely new environment and new situations as well as learning new languages have been such big advantages. I wouldn’t be here right now writing this and having the guts to go for what I want if it wasn’t for them.

So if you are wondering whether to move abroad alone or with your children, I would say do it! You will gain amazing experiences yourself and from the experience of being that kid that got dragged to another country against her will I can tell you; they will thank you later for it. Besides having lived abroad then, I've also lived in Spain for some time later on in life but more on that another time.

Getting back to the present, now I had the opportunity of a lifetime. For over a year now I’ve been dreaming about going abroad again but the dreams were put on hold for a year when I managed to score a really great job at the company I was working at. So when the contract came to an end, I had the perfect chance. I had also been feeling a little stuck, in a rut. Like I was going nowhere and definitely not towards what I wanted in life. I know is mostly my own doing but I felt like I was not being challenged enough. I guess I like to thrown myself out of my comfort zone from time to time to keep things interesting.

I’ve also come to realize that I need projects in my life. When I don’t have one I become extremely frustrated. Whether it’s renovating my apartment or planning a trip, I need something. I'll tell you this much; it took me a whole hour between leaving work on my last day and getting to the airport that I already started writing this blog. And why so long? The drive took a while and I was forced to spent some time hassling with my luggage!

So all in all, the opportunity was just too good to waste so I went for it. Some might call that crazy but I call that the opportunity of a lifetime!

To be completely honest with you, sometimes I do wonder if I’m making a huge mistake. But then I remind myself that I really have nothing to lose giving this a shot. Chances are that this will lead to something amazing and I do believe that whatever happens will be worth the it.

The higher the risk, the higher the reward, right? ;)

Finding (Winter) Wonderland

Since us Finns just can't seem to get enough of the cold and the snow (haha not me though, see the size of my jacket! I'm pretty sure I was latina in my previous life...) But getting back on the subject, we just had to head for the mountains to get some fresh air. And we got a glimpse of a white Christmas meanwhile in the town of Adelboden! Switzerland really is a wonderland, at least during Christmas time.

On our way back stopping at the city of Thun for some hot lattes was necessary and it turned out to be an awesome idea! Speaking of lattes, here's a tip; when in Italy, make sure you order a 'CAFE latte' and not JUST a 'latte like you might be used to. Otherwise you end up getting just a hot milk accompanied by a weird look from the barista... This might be a true story which might have happened to me. Should have realized a liiiiitle sooner that 'latte' is Italian for milk... Duh. Getting off the subject again so back to Switzerland; Thun really was a wonderland!

After sipping the lattes we walked around and explored the town. It was pretty quiet due to all the shops being closed for the holidays, only a few coffee spots and bars were still open. I'm getting in a real meditative state of mind here which is SO good after all the stress of trying to figure out what to do with my life while trying to finish everything up at work before I left.

Hope everyone is having relaxing and peaceful holidays as well!

Till next time!