We Made It, Our One Year Anniversary!!

With Christmas so close by and so much planning to do for it and for my trip back to the US, I forgot to blog about a really important event.

Our One Year Anniversary!

Not only did Greg actually remembered not to take a work trip during that time he also booked us a fancy hotel and got me a really sweet one year anniversary present.

Paper is the gift we get for making it one year, whatever! Greg was very pleased it wasn't gold, but paper! As Gob, on the TV show Arrested Development, would say; COME ON!

Anyway, Greg got me a subscription to Women's Heath which is a magazine you cannot get here and one of my favorite magazines. I thought that was a cute idea and love looking forward to my workout magazine once a month.

So, here I am packed up and ready to go to hotel Kämp. Greg thought it was funny that I had a whole suitcase packed to go right down the street for an overnight stay. Greg might be fine sticking an extra pair of underwear in his pocket for the next day, but that doesn't mean I want to live so lightly. Men, they just don't understand do they!

Here I am all bundled up ready for the cold in my Michelin Man jacket.

For those that have heard me talk about trying to keep warm in Finland, well I found the trick. It might not be cute or figure flattering but who cares when it is COLD, and wind and snow/rain are whipping you in the face and soaking you to the bone. With this jacket, I am invincible and my bum stays warm.

We were able to get on Tram 6, right near our apartment and it dropped us off at the center of town. Here is a shot of the tram near the city center. As we go down Esplanadi Boulevard, we see the Swedish Theater (Svenska Teatern) to our right. It is a pretty building with a great little bar area up top.

In the picture below, Greg is carrying the suitcase to the hotel. Since Greg's only article of clothing fit in his back pocket he was able to carry my heavy suitcase, ahh what a gentleman.

Here are some shots to hotel Kämp, which is considered the "Creme de la Creme" of Helsinki, with it being the only 5 star hotel in Finland. Is that saying much?

um.... not sure because we are talking about Scandinavian hotels, like the kind that say 'Spa Resort', but give you and your husband wooden bunk beds for a Spa Room.... that is a whole different kettle of fish and I will blog about that later. But it is the nicest hotel in Finland, so I do have to give props to Greg.

It really was a great day and with the sun setting around 3:00 p.m., before we knew it was night time.

It was December, so the downtown area was decorated with lights. Bright lights everywhere.

They also had these little Christmas booths lined up on the main street. I have heard that this is how the Germans do it as well and it was really festive and cute. We had a good time checking out all the stalls and I bought some items as presents for people back home in Texas. I know it will be hard to see our faces in some of these photos but it will hopefully give you a good idea of what it looked like.





After cleaning up at the Christmas booths and walking around town, I had worked up an appetite. So Greg and I went next door to get sushi. It was really cute and funky in its design.

Here Greg is giving me the eye.... wondering who is going to get the first sip. I am always taking "sips" from his beer and before he knows it, it is gone.
As you can see he didn't seem to mind that all his beer was gone and he only got 3 sips.

Wow, what a year we have had. Moving to a new country (well for me), getting a new job. Trying to adapt to a new culture and way of mind. Oh, I am not talking about adjusting to Finland either. I am talking about marriage!

Did you know that when you are married you have to share the TV?! You can't just turn the channel when a Friends episode that you have seen for the 100th time is playing and you look over and your husband is cracking up, because it is his first time to see this episode. As a matter of fact, you have to share most things even food in my fridge! Oops, I mean OUR fridge. For example, the ice cream you think is hidden in the freezer only to find when you have a huge craving for it, that it has been found and eaten!

Needless to say, I am trying to adapt to this sharing business (shhh...not really. Instead of hiding ice cream, I just hide chocolate items that don't need refrigeration). Anyway, I am growing and learning how to be a better person, there are just a lot of new things to adapt to.

It has been a fun year though and I think I will end this blog with something that will make Greg blush...as you can see in the video he is embarrassed. That's another thing about marriage, the wife enjoys hand holding and a little kiss or two in public.