There's No Place Like Home

There's no place like home,
there's no place like home,
there's no place like home...

Closing my eyes, tapping my heels, thinking of sunny warm days and friendly people with smiles.
-nope still here in Finland.
YIKES

It is Good Friday today, and here in Finland we have it off as a public holiday oh and Monday too....but don't be jealous there isn't much to do. All stores are closed, ALL STORES, ALL restaurants. Closed over the whole weekend!

Since everything is closed today I thought it would be a good time to reflect back to January 2008, when I was back home in Texas.

The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm with temperatures in the 60's! ahh! God was looking out for me because it didn't rain one day that I was there. Not one!

My sweet cousin, Leslie, and her cowboy husband, James, picked me up (in a truck of course) at the airport. It was really nice having warm friendly faces hugging me and squeezing me tight.
It made the 18 hour flight and the fact that American Airlines lost my luggage a little more bearable!
I arrived at night, so I didn't really get to appreciate how great being in Texas really was. But it didn't take me long, the next day I woke up to a sunny sky and temperatures in the 60's.
I saw the sun and couldn't wait, I pulled the sleeves up on my long sleeved turtleneck shirt and ran outside. I think Leslie thought I was going to die from exposure to such harsh weather, but I told her that this was summer in Finland and not to worry.

It has been an ugly time in Finland since the temps have been right above freezing and so when a daily storm comes in, it just rains instead of snowing. But enough about Finland, I am reminiscing of good times back in Texas.

ahh Texas and Tex-Mex! No, not Mex-Tex, silly Norwegians in Bergen!



I almost poured the bowl of queso down my throat when we went to Gloria's the first night. I think I made myself 10 pounds heavier on margartias and chips and queso. YUM!
Leslie was really sweet and threw a fabulous New Years Eve party with wonderful food. yumm, the goat cheese stuffed dates wrapped in prosciutto and basil were such a wonderful delight...i can send you the recipe if you ask.


yumm Cream Cheese with Raspberry Chipotle BBQ Sauce.

Even though I was having a blast, I had to make it over to see my best friend Tamera, and her new baby Soleil.
ahh she was sooo small and so beautiful
Mommy looked great and Sal looked like a very proud papa.

I was very impressed that he was taking such an active roll and was really helping Tamera out. Soleil was so tiny I was afraid I would break her but after watching Sal change her, I figured if he can do it I can surely do it. See Sal isn't a real gentle type person, he loves to ride the skateboard in the house hooping and hollering and scaring the heck out of Tigger and Zahra. Vacuuming Tigger is his favorite pass time.
Anyway, He told me I would not break her and just handed her over in my hands.
I started sweating and freaking out a little but when she didn't fall out of my sweaty palms, I figured I had this holding a baby thing down pat! I surprised even myself when I offered to change her diaper.
See the baby is still in one piece.

I was really excited to see my friends Staci, Amber, Jennifer, Summer, Sandi and Trinette.
Since Tamera just had her baby it was good timing to have them come over to visit with me and see Soleil as well. Soleil got all of the attention but I didn't mind sharing the spotlight with such a pretty little girl.

Amber gave me a beautiful picture of her family and one of all the girls and their families. It is up on my fridge and I always smile when I look at it. Thank you Amber, it was such a sweet gift. What a great photo, wish I could of been a part of it :-(

My dad drove up all the way from Houston and came over to Tamera's.
He took me out and about doing all the things I can't buy or do in Finland, like Walmart shopping. I miss Walmart! All the stuff, all those great prices! Finland doesn't have anything that can compare but I think they are proud of that...well too bad for them!
I walked in and went down every isle. EVERY isle. Taking it all in.
I stocked up on items like Playtex tampons, green chillies, jalapenos, and thin white t-shirts. I love those really soft Hanes thin shirts. I sleep in them and workout in them....poor Greg he is always seeing me in these shirts. Maybe I should add more to my wardrobe than than white shirts?? hmmm...

Central Market & Whole Foods. Again I love going in on a Friday or Saturday and eating my way from one end to the other on the free samples. I stocked up on items like peanut butter, the kind that has no sugar, just nuts in the ingredients.
There isn't any peanut butter, not even Jiffy in Finland! A can of pumpkin, Karo syrup (for pecan pies)
Then I drug my poor dad to the mall. We went to North Park and the Galleria. Poor dad, he didn't mind me trying on clothes after clothes. You are a good sport, dear ol' dad. I have to brag on my Dad a little, after all I am a daddy's girl and have a boat named after me to show for it.


Picture of my Dad and my brother Byron

It was nice catching up with Dad, but I then had to go to my Mom's on the 5th to make it for her belated Christmas dinner.
The smell of the house when I walked it was heaven. The smell of bread, cornbread dressing, turkey, pies (pecan, pumpkin, apple, minced meat) ...yeah my Mom went all out. It was me, my brother Byron, Mom, Randy, Memo and my cousin Casey.
I also invited Jan and her finance Mark over and we all had a blast! Jan has been my
friend since I was 18 when we worked at Eckerd Drugs. When I went off to UT we lost touch but later on when I came back to UTA I ran into her again at my
job as a teller and she was working at the same bank. We didn't lose touch since and she is always makes me laugh. Crazy fun Jan.
Oh and her man Mark can put up with my loud mom. As a matter of fact he thinks she is really funny and those two sit down and crack each other up. Christmas part deux was great. Thank you Mom for such lovely yummy food

and thanks Jan for making it so much fun.

Shopping was a great part of the trip but packing all that stuff was not fun. I thought the weight limit was 75 pounds for my two check-in luggage but when I verified later on after an hour of trying to get in just to the correct weight in each I found out it was 50! HA! remember Byron all that stepping on the scales and then getting on with the luggage. My poor brother spent the whole night trying to help me figure it all out and I finally had to get another suitcase from my mother to use as a carry on. YIKES! and thanks Little Bro....you are the best!!!

I had a really good time and it ended way too quickly. Until the next time I will dream of Good Ol' Texas, Tex-Mex, Sunny Warm Days, and Good Friends and Family!