Finland

Sorry for my lack of posts but it has been a bit rough getting back to the grind after all of that traveling (28 hours on the way back because I wanted to fly with my sis and we got routed through Detroit).

Finland was amazing. The scenery was much like northern Minnesota, only it was more beautiful because there were more lakes and trees. It was so wonderful to reconnect with Mari and to spend time with family and learn about our ancestry.

Things that I loved about the trip:

1. Spending time with my sister--she asked me to be her maid of honor in the airport on the way there!
   
2. Meeting Mari's husband and little boy--we hadn't seen her in 17 years (boy does that make me feel old)!
3. Seeing Leo and Pia again (they are relatives that visited in 1986) and meeting the rest of the family.
4. Spending time with our cousins Lee and Jon from the states. We don't see them often and it was so cool that we all were able to go at the same time.
   
5. Playing silly games such as "throw the boot" at the family reunion. Despite language barriers, we could all laugh and have fun with this.
6. Taking saunas--especially the one at the reunion where we were able to jump in the lake. Pretty much every Finnish home has a sauna. I will miss that!
   
7. Learning more about where I came from--we have a family tree dating back to 1515!
   
8. Eating lots of salmon (especially the smoked salmon that Pasi and Pilvi made)
9. Trying new kinds of food, including: reindeer (it was surprisingly good!), lakka (cloud berries), and I think lingonberries (not sure because the name didn't translate well)

I'll be adding more to the blog as I have time. Here's a Shutterfly site I started about the trip: http://lauraandlissagotofinland.shutterfly.com/

A Cloudy Day in Helsinki

Well it's a cloudy day in Helsinki and it's looking like rain so I figured I would take time for a quick blog post. We arrived here yesterday and are here at the Hotel Helka until very early on Monday morning. We haven't had the best weather on our trip but it has still been wonderful. We have met many distant cousins and also spent time with Mari, a woman who stayed with my family for a summer when I was 15 years old.

Here are a few pictures from the trip that Laura took. She brought her laptop so I've been able to check email now and then. That's been nice. I'll write and post more pics when I have more time.

Mari, Laura and Topi in Tampere.
A roadside stop near Multia, Finland.
Mmmmmmm....smoked salmon.
A very beautiful place where we hiked with family.

Saying Goodbye

We said goodbye to some the first people we met in Charlottesville this week. Shana and Mary are the first Ph.D. students to graduate from the music department (from the sister program to Troy's--not composition but musicology--they call it Critical and Comparative Studies).

It was a bittersweet experience to say goodbye to these amazing people that we have really grown to love. Mary and Jeff (Mary's husband--an astronomer) are going up to Colgate for jobs and Shana is headed to Yale. I am really excited for them. Great new jobs and a fresh start in a new place. Moving can obviously be terrifying (as we well know) but it is really exciting at the same time. Though I hate the feeling of being unsettled, I love the process of decorating a new place and making if feel like a home. I find that meeting people is hard but I don't think the 3 of them will have trouble at all since they are such good people and they are already connected to universities.

We had Mary and Jeff over before they left for Troy's new specialty, Thai grilled chicken (a Cook's Illustrated recipe) but I think I must have been wobbling the camera because the picture didn't really turn out. Next time I'll use my gorillapod.

They gave us a number of things that they didn't need anymore or couldn't fit in their car for the move, including a bit of an expensive bottle of terrific tequila and a nice cherry tomato plant that is producing really well (wonderful since the tomatoes that we planted in the garden that the ground hog hasn't already gotten have some kind of terrible blight)!
We also acquired some pretty flowers that dress up our front steps from Shana. Liz was nice enough invite us to a dinner on one of Shana's last nights in town. She made coconut chicken for Shana (who has an incredible sweet tooth). Alli and Sarah joined us for dessert. I got a nice pic of the 4 CCS students.

This will likely be my last post for a while as I'm leaving on Wednesday for Finland! I'll be sure to blog about that but might not have good access to a computer until I get back (the 18th).

I have made Troy a blog author so I'm hoping that he'll make some updates about his crazy work projects while I'm gone. I'm sure he'll be putting in some very long days while I'm gone. He nearly turns into a vampire, staying up all night and working while I'm away. Instead of blood, he survives on peanut butter sandwiches though.

Maybe Troy will post a picture on the blog from his recent MRI. Shana told Troy he could ask the technicians for a CD of the images from his MRI. Of course, he was all over that. He has a plan to model his vocal tract for a new music robot. He could explain this better than me so hopefully he takes a few minutes to blog while I'm gone...

Engaged!

My sister and her longtime boyfriend Ethan are now engaged! He proposed to her on a stop on a motorcycle ride. He got down on his knee at sunset on a beach on Lake Superior. We are so happy and excited for them!

They are planning a wedding in October already as they are anxious to get started making babies. ;) Laura and my mom have been looking at wedding dresses together this week. At times like this I wish I was closer so that I could be more involved. It's such an exciting process, and they are needing to move pretty quickly to get everything planned.

They are looking into sites near Lake Superior--a place they both truly love. I'm sure the wedding will be as beautiful as they are. This pic wasn't taken after the proposal, but it well could have been. I'm sure they looked just as blissful.

The gorgeous ring that Ethan had custom-made for Laura. It is made of palladium.

Finally, a Diagnosis

For those of you who I haven't had a chance to talk to and who have had Troy in your thoughts as he's been sick these last couple of months, I wanted to let you know that we finally have a diagnosis. He has Lyme Disease. The doctor had already put him on an antibiotic for it two weeks ago in case that's what was going on and he's been responding to the meds (no more facial paralysis or neck/nerve pain). This apparently explains all of the sickness/pain he has been experiencing (including the supposed case of mumps). The doc seems confident that they are catching it early so Troy should be okay in the long term. He's going to be having some follow up visits to ensure continued progress.

This is a lesson in ensuring you are getting the best care from your doctor (he had been in twice without them checking for Lyme) and also in not taking good health for granted when you have it.

Thanks for all of your good wishes, offers to help and prayers--we really appreciate it and feel good knowing how much support we have.

Not to Leave you Hanging

I've already gotten a couple of questions about the last picture of the previous posting (including Aurie wondering if we got engaged). I really didn't expect anyone to be able to guess. To be fair, I'll post another picture that explains.

Troy's mom turned to take a picture of us and he had dropped his pants--surprising us all once again as he likes to do.

Troy's Family Visit

For the last week we hosted Troy's mom, dad and aunt Joann. We had a really nice visit. We took advantage of Charlottesville's variety of restaurants and we cooked for them. They got to experience the U.Va. Grounds, Monticello, Michie Tavern and some of Charlottesville's shopping. We stayed up late talking and learning some interesting things about Troy's family history. We relaxed on watched movies. This past weekend we visited the Blue Mountain Brewery as well as the Veritas and Hilltop Berry wineries. All in all it was a very good time.
Troy had us pose with our dinner and gourds one night. You can see his family is well prepared for his silliness.
Enjoying some beer and food at the Blue Mountain Brewery.
They say that the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree...
No comment on this one. I found it on my camera but wasn't there when it happened. I probably shouldn't be posting it online but I couldn't resist.
Can you figure out why my smile is so big in this picture?