Monday, November 23, 2015

Just smile and wave...

It is the end of season craze. Schools are ending, gymnastics season is coming to an end, pole show performance and we are travelling to Finland for Christmas. In TWO weeks time. Needless to say there is a lot on my plate.



And of course because life would not be fun otherwise I get a massive bacterial infection on my leg. Wuhuu!. So last week was spent in and out of doctors' offices to get me back to normal. Healing is finally happening but definitely harming my productivity. Anxiety is settling in and I'm trying find coping methods in an effort of not becoming the wicked witch by the time that we board the plane.


So I'm making lists of things to do, I'm listening to calming music, making healthy snacks, ticking of todo's and making plans of taking care of those items. I'm learning to say no, and learning to seize control and relax too. Organizing, cleaning and breathing through my anxiety. I'm painting my nails (so I won't bite them into nothingness) and taking moments to myself. And using my innate finn-ness to bite my teeth together, put on a smile and go coach even when all I would want to do is take a strong pain killer and have some sleep.

How come it's always like this? I'm seriously going to put a reminder in 1 October 2016 to start taking care of things for end of season craze. Until that happens - I'll be busy figuring out 10 different performances for the groups, the set up, music, getting the message to everyone on time and writing a feedback to each and every child over 5.... But hey, in two days I can start playing Christmas music. There's always that to keep me going...





Monday, October 19, 2015

Happy Birthday Julius

I can't believe Julius is five. FIVE. Five. Five. It's been such a hectic two months that this post is long overdue and actually he is already way more than that. Time seems to have that habit, or has been having that habit for the past five years.


I remember when Julius was born, and the older and wiser told be to savor every moment because all too soon he won't be a baby anymore. I'm glad to say that while getting more and more independent and strong he still enjoys a cuddle with äiti and baba. Handsome, cute and kind. But within this year he has become even more confident and is not afraid of defending himself. His sense of justice is beyond his years. If there is any incident at school he is not afraid to bring it out and confront the people doing wrong. For this I couldn't be more proud of him. I guess he is our little Mandela.

My sweet sweet Julius. I am so proud of you. Proud of the little man you are becoming. Proud of the confidence you are finding. You astonish me with you memories (of things that happened when you were two) and you incredible language skills. Your kindness and loving care makes my heart melt. Always stay strong, confident and kind. That combination doesn't come by very often. Rakastan sinua - äärettömän paljon.




He got the most amazing party with Aaron and Alex. (Hey, why not?) The boys didn't ask even once why are they sharing the party, and because the joined effort the party was all the more fun. Swimming, food, treasure hunt and cake. What else do you need???










Sunday, October 18, 2015

the big 33.

Older. Wiser? No idea. But happier and happier every day. Even though pretty much every night I fall into the bed exhausted from the days activities, oh God how I am happy. Content. I guess 33 is a good time to find that path.

What makes me happy? Regular pedicures and beach.

FRIENDS

As incredible it sounds I have new friends. Real friends that I can count on and trust. Kids just know how to do it. Adults not so much. But I am here. I am thirty three and I got to share my birthday with my new friends.


I also have THE friend. You know the one that I have shared 30 years of my life with. She is the one that I can call and no time has passed. She is the one that sends me a mindfullness book, apologizes for adding clutter (honey, you didn't) and shares a Anja Niskanen song with me. Knowing it will make me laugh and tear up at the same time. These bonds are just too strong to be broken. Ever.

WORK

I think I have found balance. I think it was about a year ago when I figured that there is no perfect job. Especially A job, that would satisfy me and my goals and dreams in every way. But slowly I am building two very different businesses that equally give me a sense of giving, teaching, and offers me a creative outlet. For this little epiphany I am truly grateful.

The beautiful Mbudya Island. Just a 20 minute boat ride from Dar. Heaven on earth. 


FAMILY¨

Oh god I miss my family in Finland. They are opinionated, hard headed and out spoken, but that is how I am too. They keep me on my track and make me prove my point. I can't wait to see them at Christmas.

And our little family unit of four. (Although this is Africa, there are days when I am lugging around quite a few extra kids with mine). It is so precious to be together in Tanzania. We have way more freedom and more time to each other. We love it here.


I'm going to leave you off with some Anja. Enjoy!


Tuesday, September 22, 2015

the most amazing soap in the world

A year ago I took this amazing trip to Pemba island for work. It was a work trip, a photo shoot for a customer, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the beautiful views, and soft soft sands on the island. To this day it is the most amazing place I have ever been in. So beautiful, soft beaches, no one around. I hope I get to visit it again some day soon.
The lodge we stayed in is an eco lodge, and among other things they also provide the rooms with locally made clove soap. This soap changed my life.  Luckily after knowing the owner for years he stocked me up and gave me contacts to find it in Dar. I use it to wash my face, hair and body. I've shared it with my friends and family and everyone loves it. Since it is handmade natural soap it does not dry your skin, and the properties in clove clear up even the most troublesome skin. Clove has been said to help with aches and it is anti bacterial and anti inflammatory. Either way it clears up any heat rash, sun allergy and whatever you can think of. All at the whopping cost of 600 shillings = 30 euro cents per bar. Of course this is my personal experience and I am no scientist. But hey, I've struggled with my skin for Y-E-A-R-S.



I'll be loading up my luggage with it when we come spend Christmas in Finland, so please let me know if you want to try this amazing bar of natural skincare.


wardrobe update

I have read. And re-read. And Pinned and googled, anything and everything about minimalist wardrobe. There several main stream solutions for this. There is project 333 where you choose 33 pieces of clothes to use for three months. Emphasis is mainly on finding items that match that you can keep combining and changing outfits all the time. And then there is 10 item wardrobe by the Daily connoisseur, who two times a year creates a 10 item wardrobe of beautiful outfits and then sticks to those until the next season. None of these seem to fit perfectly. But I think I am finding my path to my minimalist closet.

I don't need to have everything match. 10 items seem a bit extreme, but what attracts me in that one is that she focuses on rather having 10 perfect, high quality outfits that hundreds of H&M pieces that unravel within months. A good example is underwear. I have been struggling to find good underwear in Tanzania. Firstly all except one set from Finland has lived its life. Sadly last time I was in Finland I didn't focus on quality, and living in 30+ degrees with uncomfortable underwear is not fun. Learned that lesson. The one pair that remains was a gift from the hubby in 2010. It is still like new, and crazy comfortable. So good quality items definitely are the key.

So is it 33 or 10 items that I will go with. Actually I think it will be close to 30, excluding (as the "rules" state) lounge wear, underwear, workout gear: that I currently need several because of the daily coaching sessions. And a couple of nicer dresses that I keep around for the weddings, embassy events etc that seem to be somewhat frequent.

This step took me a lot longer than I assumed it would. Actually identifying the clothes that I want and need. I actually had to think about the weather, and my life style as well as the style I want to portray. I think I am somewhere between fun and chic. I want to look like an adult: put together and polished to a certain extent but I also want to look 32 (soon 33) instead of 52. So finding the balance between fun, young, energetic and chic, polished, poised has been my challenge. BUT I finally feel like I have been able to identify the list of clothes that don't overwhelm me in quantity and options but also offer me enough variety to work with my different roles.

So without further rambling here you go, my updated minimalist wardrobe plan:



If you would go through your closet and choose just the clothes that you love, really truly love, how many would that amount up to? Could you live with just those? Do you think it would make you life easier or harder? 

I love the fact I can get dressed in seconds every morning, that everything (except those jeans) are super comfortable, and fit me perfectly. More variety? Maybe at some point, but for now I'm happy with my selection - or will be once it is complete.




Tuesday, August 18, 2015

our minimalist life - chemicals: the health factor

Sorry this is going to be a long one.

Two years ago I had a wake up call.

They say things happen for a reason and looking back now it seems that there was always a plan. For some reason on our first family trip to Tanzania I happened to find Jessica Alba's book the Honest Life. I was not looking for anything in the category, I don't even remember how I found it on Amazon. Now the fact that it was written by Jessica Alba was crucial. I don't know if I would've noticed it otherwise, and beyond that the message in that book was simple enough for me to understand and to start applying to my life. She wrote about all the aspects of honest life, living in sustainable way, as chemically free as possible. And she did it nicely, no guilt, no pressure, no "throwoutallyouhaveandbuyallnewstuff".

So when little J over night woke up with a HORRIBLE rash all over his body I already had some data to help me through that chaos. I believe that had I not read that book, I would've just rushed him to the hospital, gotten a load of meds, cortisone, antibiotics etc that might have fixed that situation but I would've still been treating the effect, not the cause. I spent one night with google. I figured out that we had been in Tanzania for about a week and that means our clothes had been washed. With OMO. Now I have nothing against it, except that it makes us all sick, but with J it became pretty much life threatening. You can imagine that in the morning when I announced that ALL of our clothes and sheets and towel have to be washed at least 5 times with REAL soap and vinegar. There is no washing machine at my in-laws. They had to do it by hand. Pole sana. But within two days J was doing ok. He is massively allergic to detergents.

I still struggled with this in Finland, because by the way detergents are everywhere. Our own soaps and bed sheets and towels to day care. Cleaning the house, with soap, but hey you can't use soap for laminate floors, or that there is no detergent free dish soap available in Finland... Trying to visit the best allergy doctors I could get my hands on, only to discover that most lotions have a from of detergent in them. I hate chemistry, and I guess I should've paid attention at school, but all those words in the INCI lists just make my head hurt. He was not feeling better and we tried everything. By the way, after re-introducing the foods, he is not allergic to them at all.

Fast forward we move to Tanzania and lo and behold: he is healthy here. And my hair is curly and my skin (that I have struggle my whole life with) is clearing up. I actually started to wonder that maybe he just grew out of it until my mom came to visit and we took a trip to Zanzibar. I didn't even think to bring our own bedding or towels, that is how healthy he has been. But after a couple of days, his face started to swell, and skin got itchy and then the coughing started again. I am glad that we have been able to reduce the chemicals from his life so well here that he can be healthy, and none of us is exposed to those nasty chemicals.

This has made our life very simple too:
We have laundry soap: a very basic olive oil based soap that we use for laundry, cleaning, dishes etc. I costs about 10 cents a bar. Then we have some beautiful handmade soaps (mainly clove, but some variations) that we use in the shower and I clean my face with. They cost about 30 cents/bar. Then we have vinegar and baking soda, to be used as hair conditioner, or to disinfect or to clean or to shine or to scrub. And then we have coconut oil to moisturize, shave, treat hair, cook etc with. And that's it. All of these can be eaten so what is safer than that.

At the same time we have been slowly turning our closets into more sustainable ones, which is not always easy, living here. My next step is my make up. This is something I can't do here. Organic cosmetics just don't exist here yet, but I am anxiously waiting to our Christmas trip to Finland to replace my make up with non-toxic versions. While at the same time I am terrified to see how J will manage in the land of chemicals :(

I would recommend anyone with constant runny noses, rashes or itchiness or even asthma to take a look and see if it could be caused by detergents. By the way neither T or I can even walk into the detergent section in the shop without sneezing or getting an itchy nose.

It is a headache in the beginning but hey, what wouldn't you do for your child???

from sick, always in pain with the torment of itchiness he turned into a happy healthy kiddo!!!


Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Inspiration board

I've stumbled (in my endless blog reading) several times on the internet into Inspiration boards. These are not new years resolutions, but thought to inspire you and keep you on track, as well as give the room for your mind to travel to new extremes instead of going the adult route of why CAN'T this idea or a goal work.

I loved how Christy (as if I know her :P) wrote on the meaningfulmeandering.com about inspiration boards:
First of all, if you are rolling your eyes and thinking this is just another “time-wasting touchy-feely hippy-dippy” exercise, I challenge you to hang in there with me and read on. This is not about giving self-hugs and visualizing a trust fall with yourself. This is a truly effective way to unstick your overly programmed thoughts and perceptions and discover or rediscover pieces to a larger picture that realistically illustrate your true nature, desires, creativity, and even fears.

I'm going to have a very heavy couple of months of work up until our holiday trip to Finland. I can't wait, and I want to keep my eyes on the price but also enjoy the ride. So I wanted to try to make one. Instead of printing one out and figuring a place for it, I've put it as my desktop background, something that I am bound to look at several times per day. I did it over the weekend, and every time I close my browser and see a glimpse my spirits are uplifted. It contains motivation to work out, quotes to work hard and believe in myself. Something that provides focus on my work in the world of social media and my gymnastics business. But it also contains picture of winter, to uplift me when I'm tired and need a reason to work hard (Christmas in Finland) but there is also a silly one of perfect nude manicured nails to remind me not to stress out and bite my nails :). It is not the end of the world, but it's a piece of my world.




Try to sit down and think - what would keep you inspired and motivated without rules and boundaries that limit us in life. What would you put on your inspiration board?

Monday, August 10, 2015

In the market of something to read


Ha, ha. That's me laughing. Rejoicing even. I have time on my hands. And I would love to get some suggestions. On a side note I'd like to point out that this is exactly what I am trying to accomplish with my more minimal life style - time to do the things I love. And reading has always been something that I love to do. I love the feel and smell of a book, when it takes me to new places and I also love the ease and convenience of kindle books and online blogs. I can find a book and with a click I can get started. Variety (and prices) are not great here in Tanzania, so Kindle is perfect in that case. Anything I want to read I can get it. I also love the clutter free version of Kindle. I just keep the ongoing book on device, rest are in the cloud if I want to re-read some of them. No crazy big book cases in my house (again a time saver). And the prices are far lower in digital books.








Books to read?
This year I've followed up with my new years goals of reading more books. I lost count around 45, but definitely my reading has been upped to a new level. I devoured our Finnish book library criminal stories, loved to read about Komisario Koskinen (Seppo Jokinen) and his adventures in Tampere. For some reason I loved the personality of the character. It felt like I knew him.

At the same time I've used Kindle books to my guilty pleasures. Luckily they also have some free books there so my budget can stay on track. I'm running out of things to read though - so comment please if you've come across a nice book to read.

Blogs to keep updated with?
I also love a good blog. I've just updated my blog list with minimalist/light living related blogs: one more serious The Minimalists - who turned their journey into a true lifestyle, and probably became millionaires on the waya. And Light by Coco. I've actually watched her videos on Youtube and if you can ignore the echo in many videos, she actually simplifies things quite nicely. These blogs keep me on track.

I'm in the market for more to read, so please link anything interesting that you've come across. I'd much rather spend my time reading the blogs than searching for them.


Tuesday, August 4, 2015

I'm stealing back my time


 




Do you feel like you time is never enough? As a mother of two, with a full time job, and a growing gymnastics business that is more like a status quo here. Or at least it has been. Our normal day used to start from around 6:30 in the morning and would end around 8 pm when the kids went to bed. After 8 pm even though I could have "free time" I can't function. I'm just to tired to do anything that requires a brain. In my quest of finding a solution, I did what any modern woman would do - I turned to my beloved Pinterest. If you are not yet familiar with this social media tool - head on over. For a visual person it has been a life saver.

Back to the story. Time management. I posted about it here asking for comments and solutions from other time jugglers, complaining about not having everything together. It seems I'm not alone in this.
My search has now moved to the "testing" the new way stage. I have changed three things: 1) week planner and  2) early mornings 3) financial management.

I figured out that my stress and chaos can be controlled. I am not saying my life will now be a perfect little doll house, but I am hoping there will be less late mornings, less forgotten responsibilities, and less emergencies. This goes very well together with my minimalist life approach. Less of distractions, so I can focus on the things that I love.

Step 1) A week planner:

I have been an avid digital calendar user for years. And I love it. My choice is google calendar, because I can share it with my family, friends and business partners. I can also synchronize it with my phone so I will never forget that dentist appointment again. But online calendar doesn't give room for visualizing the week as a whole. I felt like I needed something that I can lay out all of my weekly responsibilities into it. Have my to do list constantly there and with a quick glance I know if and when I have space in my schedule. Enter my very own week planner: now I can plan easily the days I can work from home, or when I definitely need to go to the office. This should also help if and when the little guys get a flu or something (the basic way of falling into chaos when you are a mother). With one look I will know what I need to move around so I can stay home with them. I'm on my second week testing this method. So far so  good. These two weeks are feeling much more held together. 


2) Early mornings

Second thing I figured out that was creating the sense of chaos was mornings. I was always looking for the charger, while rushing the kids out of the door, checking my hair and probably forgetting something important that I would have to come back for that would make me even more late. And let me tell you, being late is like the end of the world for me. I get physically sick to my stomach immediately when I realize I will be a minute or two late. Can't even imagine what it is doing to my heart.

So I implemented early morning strategy. And I am saying EARLY. 5 am early. Like I said I never got anything done in the evenings anyways after the kids are asleep - I am just too exhausted. So I've decided to implement a sleeping strategy by Steve Pavlina. He has combined two most popular sleeping methods. Only going to bed when tired and always waking up at the same time. Two mornings now I have woken up at 5 am. The first seconds I feel like dying. But boy do I feel like I'm in control. By the time kids wake up at seven I have showered, had breakfast, read, relaxed, had a nice hot shower, listened to Radio Aalto and worked on some items from my to do list. I am dressed, my bags are ready and I can truly focus on the kids. Yesterday was the first morning to implement this and we were ready 15 minutes early. Can you say wow. The peaceful morning was worth the 5 am wake up. And I wasn't much more tired, actually my sleep was better and deeper this second night. 


3) Financial control

The third thing that we have done to curb chaos in our lives is budgeting. This menial task is almost as hated as going to the dentist, but money seemed to be coming and going out without any control. It doesn't help that we have both country's finances to keep track of with lots of mail lost on the way, and some banks refusing to update our address. But last Saturday we sweated through the session of figuring out our budget for Tanzania and Finland. That day food shopping (which by the way covers the whole week excluding fruits that we buy daily) felt fun and it felt like we are making the most of our money. This again has reduced the daily quests for food, and dropped the expenses because we can shop at the wholesale shop to get the best possible quality and price, and won't be enticed by the sale of the day items at the supermarket. We are long way from financial freedom, but control feels good. And frees up a lot of my time worrying and remembering the bills that needed to be paid, but never made it to tz.

Have a nice day! I hope my quest can inspire you to find your balance. I will keep you posted. They say that to learn a habit it has to be maintained for 30 days solid. Let's see if I can make it to the end of August. :)



Wednesday, July 29, 2015

update on the cutie pies

I'm long overdue in giving general update on the two mini people that wreak havoc and fill my heart with love and are also known as my sons. They keep growing, no one warned me about that they keep growing!!! It's unbelievable, one second they are little toddlers thinking about cars and Fireman Sam and the next day they are singing along to "See you again" by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth and my heart just swells with pride. J is almost five now, and is truly a big boy. He is still him though, following rules and reporting any incident, but also has become a master negotiator. Mr M is still filled with energy and courage and there is NO stopping him once he makes up his mind about anything. My daily prayers are about him staying safe (read: Please make sure M doesn't try to fly out of the window like Batman) about them finding their way in life. They are growing up so fast, their personalities are shining through so brightly.





I feel blessed that I can spend a lot of time with them every day, that I control my time, and my schedule. I don't mind waking up early in the morning to catch an hour or two of productive time on the laptop, if that means that I can be there when they get home from school in the early afternoon.
Life is good in Tanzania.


Thursday, July 23, 2015

When life gets too busy to write about

I thought my summer was going to be slow. Kids started their holidays in June and I had some camps scheduled for some mornings, but otherwise it was supposed to be just some easy days enjoyed with my guys. Now it's end of July and I haven't even taken a week off. The gymnastics camps were such a success that I added some for July. Now next week is the last week and I plan on taking three weeks off when the gymnastics season starts up again. I am very grateful that my groups are growing and more and more kids (and some adults) are finding an active lifestyle - which is not maybe the normal lifestyle in Tanzania. There is a feel of change in Tanzania and it's nice to be part of it.



I'm loving this new path I am on, and I am feeling that all the pieces of my "life puzzle" are falling in place. I'm feeling healthier than I have in years, kids are growing (too fast in my opinion) our businesses are growing slowly and surely and finally I feel like I know what I want to do in my life. I have found my minimalist life style, balance in life and first time in years I have a sense of direction in my life. And that's a feeling that makes me giddy and excited like a little girl again.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

My little monkeys

Old post that didn't get published Due to internet issues. And then was forgotten...

I finally started bringing the kids to class at gymnastics. They love it of course - my boys - and I love to have a new place to spend some time with them. Fun and games :)

Last Saturday rain season really showed up and only the Finns were brave enough to come to class. At least I had some time to snap pictures...



This is so easy äiti!


That way?


Balance.


First cartwheels over the block!!


Loving it...


Can I try?


Who needs hands on a headstand anyways???


Oh, so cute 😍!!!






Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Ninaitwa Maiju

Living life in Tanzania has had a strange effect on me. The things that I value the most are changing. Actually strike that. I believe my values have always been the same, just that the external pressure I felt in our previous life geared me away from those values.

Here in Tanzania, you are easily defined by external factors. I am a wife. I am a mother. I get frequently called Mama Julius or Äiti. So much so that on some days I feel like screaming that my name is Maiju. I am more than a wife and a mother. I also get called "mzungu" - a white person a lot. My Finnish friend brought it up the other day when we were fabric shopping (OMG! That is a whole other story - the beauty of print fabrics), she asked me if it bothers me to be called that. And it does. I don't walk around the streets pointing to every person and calling them black. Who does that. And yet in this country people don't mean it in an offensive way. Or so I am told. I shrug it off most of the time, but...

The interesting thing is that in this country of many definitions, I am still more in touch with who I am. And who I am is starting to resemble a lot the little girl I once was. Does that mean that my true self is emerging again or does that mean that I am just so tired working mother of two that I no longer care to pretend ;). Who knows, but so far I am liking it!! 




Tuesday, June 2, 2015

School is out for summer

The cutie monkeys finished their school year last Friday and to keep them busy I try to provide some activities. Today's challenge was junk-storage-make over. While I have embraced the new minimalist life style and we keep a very few items in our home there is still some of things you need to keep around even though they don't bring any added value to my daily life. Like tools - I hate that I have to keep my hammer close by, but I do need it every once in a while. Other one being medicine. You need it couple of days a year but it needs to be in the house. Don't want to be looking for a pharmacy while sick. Sewing kit, cleaning supplies finally some shoes that don't get much wear. It is not much but definitely enough to create chaos. And the thing is that I'm not that kind of minimalist that just wants to have less stuff and everything organized. I want everything to look beautiful too. 


So back to the chaos. Originally built for kids toy storage (under a bed when we were living in one room at the inlaw's place). The shelf unit was pushed into our back corridor to hold said items. But it would get messy and definitely became a catch all for all things random at our house. I forgot to take a before picture of the chaos but here is a "we just started" picture of the little helpers sanding the old paint off.


When it was a under the bed unit, it didn't need a top, since the bed was acting as a top. Also the finishing was not very well done. We sanded it down, painted it with a couple of coats of fresh whiteness and added two pieces of wood to act as a side table/folding table etc. 


I was really wonky and I feel like I wasn't able to finish it perfectly but it serves it's function and looks kind of pretty too :).
Maybe now that it is pretty I won't be crowded with stuff.


At the final location. The shoes found baskets at the bottom. Middle baskets hold tools, cleaning supplies and meds. I'm looking to purchase two small boxes for the meds and sewing kit that I can now place on the top. To be out of sight but still one step away. 

The top shelves host soap and cat food. Both used daily. I'm so pleased with the results and it was a fun and easy activity for us.



Tuesday, May 26, 2015

How do you define you?

I have been lacking time and energy to keep up with the posting, but with DSM gymnastics on a break it's time to get talking again. I have been keeping up with the news in Finland and more than one friend of mine is struggling with lay offs and job losses. I feel for them and can realte well to financial struggles that they might be having. This has gotten me thinking thinking of why am I so much happier here than I was with my life in Finland, because on paper I definitely got the short end of the stick.

this little guy takes away all the worries of the world... it does, really, he is magical, as is his big brother

Let's compare.

In Finland
1) new house designed with anything and everything we wanted
2) nice, well paying job
3) new Nissan qashquai +2 car
4) 2.0 kids and a husband
5) new phones, ipads, clothes, whatever we wanted at our fingertips

In Tanzania
1) small 2 bedroom rented apartment, BTW no oven
2) couple of companies to run to make ends meet
3) used Nissan Safari car - (that is currently in the garage for the fourth month because the insurance we had for it turned out to be fake)
4) 2.0 kids and husband (some things have not changed)
5) still struggling to find most of the things that belonged to my everyday life in Finland

During my journey into the life of an immigrant I have learned some things that might have been self evident to others but were not for me.

Money does not define me. My bank account does not define me. And by the way it is very liberating to say that sorry, can't afford that now, rather than trying to pretend that I can. Money is just money: "pieces of papers with numbers on it" -Buffy (:P)

Who I am, how my children look at me defines me. Working on projects that might make loads of money some day but are at the start up level for now makes me happier, and more content than anything else. The fact that I can work around my kids schedule, and be there for them while they are still small gives me happiness beyond anything else. Yes having less money to work with gets irritating - and at the same time "normal" things for me are super duper expensive. But in the end, does it matter?? Does having less money here make me lesser me somehow??? 

Every once in a while I take a step back and think if I made the right choice. I sit down, go through a relaxation exercise and when I have brushed away the stresses of every day life I ask myself. If tomorrow would be the last day of my life, would I be living it here doing this or go back to Finland and sell insurances. (Of course if it was the last day I would spend it with all my loved ones but you get the idea...) I always always always choose this life over that. I am not saying that this is the life for us forever, but this is THE life for us for now. So happier me is worth a millon euros more than the actual million euros on the bank account would. I'll get the money someday. I hope. <3 font="">


Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Ámate, part 2


For the past few weeks I have been asked "did you lose weight" about 100 times. And I have no idea. I have no scale, my mirror is 20 x 30 cm, so in the traditional sense I have no idea. Yes the clothes feel loose but coming from a culture where I used to weigh myself atleast weekly, it feels rather strange to not know.

A year ago when I moved to tz I know I dropped some kilos. But some of them came back when I spent the summer in Finland. The way I eat there just doesn't seem to suit me. Toward the end of last year we did a work related photo shoot at the beach and to my horror when I was going through the pictures I had been captured in my bikini. I was not very happy about how I looked in those pics. 

I can't say that I was very big, I was just not in any shape at all. Like a 20 min walk would exhaust me. But the funny thing is I didn't go on a crazy diet/fitness frenzy, but slowly learned to love this Maiju and take a better care of this Maiju. 

A few weeks later I started to coach again and beginning of this year found a sport that I truly enjoy: pole fitness. For the first time in years my lifestyle is active. It's not a plan to get fit for the summer, or for anything else. Just being more active and eating loads of good fresh food. (It doesn't hurt that a plate of fresh octopus costs around 4 euros😉) I eat less bread, because it's not as good (or cheap) here, but I will have the occasional chocolate, ice cream, brownie, cake, pizza or a burger if there is a reason for it. I have learned that if I try to cut down all the sugary sweetness I eventually go off the deep end and it gets ugly.




So to answer the question. I guess. But for me it's just been a journey back to an active lifestyle and a fun new hobby. And hey, if I get re-aquinted with my abs because of it - it's all good. 😘




Thursday, April 16, 2015

Update on Minimalism

In my pursuit for happiness (= minimalism in my head right now), I've made a discovery of my personality. I am picky. This is how I found that out.

I've been going through the steps of creating a dream wardrobe. And let me say thank you Pinterest, because getting dressed has evidently become a scientific experiment that no normal person can manage in their own.

For those of you still in the shopping is my cardio-zone here's what you are supposed (😜) to do to achieve that killer wardrobe.

Step1 the purge

Clearing out the closet. Donate, throw away, keep. I got that down so bad that I actually had to stop before I was happy or I would've had to join a nudist community.

Step 2 design your style 

This is the best excuse ever to enjoy the world of Pinterest😍, the haven of visual people. Identifying that I have three different roles that I need to function was the key point. There is the work-at-home-busy-mom-of-active-boys-do-it-while-looking-32-and-cute-Maiju. Ha! Easy😜. This turns into outfits that have to be comfortable, but look nice. If I stay in my pajamas the whole day, I won't be able to kick in the work-Maiju. I also don't want to wear a suit at home. Nooooot. So I identified that easy uniform for this is some cute blouse and shorts, maybe a stretchy dress or skirt - sometimes. 




The other Maiju is business Maiju. Very minimal role in my life but sometimes I do need to attend meetings and look professional. It can't be just one outfit, so the customers don't think I only have one dress. I have one dress now. 😝






Then I have the coach-Maiju. It's hot. Like really really hot. And I can easily have 17 kids to coach. And I didn't prepare to have this role in Tanzania. Still no idea what to wear to be comfy, not sweating like 🐷 in 2 minutes, and also somehow not be too naked. Respecting the fact that there is a mixture of cultures going on here.

Step 3 shop to complete
The shopping is supposed to be about grabbing pieces that will bring together the whole wardrobe and makes it mix-and-matchable. In Tanzania. Yeah, right.😎

So I'm back in being picky. I keep going to shop and coming back with empty hands. This is coming from a person that at age 14 was given an hour to shop (this was a competition trip and tight schedule) and actually came back with one of those massive sacks (jätesäkki) full of clothes. Is it Tanzania? Have I changed? The directions keep saying that really think if you want to bring this item into your home, will it match with several other pieces? Will it? WILL IT? And I keep running out of the shop in panic thinking it won't, it won't... 

So I've become picky. Who would've thought??? And soon will be writing my application to the nudist community.

Enjoy your day!!

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Hey, it's Easter..flu

I caught flu last Friday night. Unfortunately on the worst possible moment, since Saturday morning I had 5 hours of OPEN GYM coaching: parents are welcomed to the class and will observe every little thing I do with their little Angels. I actually do enjoy this type of class, that I do every season, but doing it when you are sick is not a piece of cake! My savior became the last bag of Finrexing (FYI Päivi I hope you can top me up on your next route over here) - the magical fairy enegry flu kicking dust that makes you feel invinsible for about 4 hours. There was no evil feedback so maybe I managed ok :)

But the flu stuck. Normally I can kick almost anything in a day or two but it's now Thursday and this is the first day I feel a bit better - and when I say better I'm about a cm above "oh my &/((%%("#, I will die with this flu" and heading towards "it's ok I can't breath or talk or hear that well, I don't feel like I'm dying anymore". My super kit of natural and medical remedies are helping me push through this. It has to be over soon. Right? Pretty pleaaase????


Needless to say last Sunday was not very Eastery for us. I'm glad there is the second weekend to work on that, and get some egg hunting going on around the house for my little monkeys. For now, I'm happy that Suomi-koulu classes brought some Easter feeling into this house.




Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Time management

I've always considered myself as a quite good time planner. Growing up with school, gymnastics and piano classes several times a week I had to. I never missed an assignment or was late anywhere, and those lessons have carried me until now. Now I'm baffled. 



Balancing work, DSMgymnastics, my little guys, my big guy and myself seems to be a bit too much. I set up plans beginning of this year to take care of all that, and yet like a house of cards the plans have fallen apart and I have failed to keep those promises. Every couple of weeks things just fall apart and I have to slow down. It might be a that one of the kids had a bad night, or just some stress at work or with DSM but like clockwork every three weeks my shoulder gets this pain that is telling me to slow down. So something is not working. Then I start skipping my workouts, which actually makes it worse, and yet against all sense I still skip them. Which means I'm cranky and tired in the morning when the kids get up and rushing around the house to get everything ready. I even miss breakfast sometimes, I who for the last 9 years have been lecturing T the importance of it, and then I'm hungry at the office and struggling to get anything done. Which makes me over eat at lunch and tired after it. See the wheel of badness happening? I usually get a grip after a day or two of badness and hold on to the routine for a few weeks and enjoy life as it is working out until things fall apart again.

So, now, you busy moms, working moms, stay at home moms, or dads even, give me your advice. Do you have it all figured out? What tools (like real actual tools like apps or planners) do you use to make it work? Clearly I need some aid in figuring out a multi-project-based life with some sanity.

Friday, March 20, 2015

SMILE



I’m feeling down today. Is it the Finnish gene in me that activates when the weather gets dark and rainy? Or is it just being over exhausted from this weeks busy work schedule? All I know is that I don't want to do anything but listen to Robert Downey Jr. CD (my official theme cd when feeling grumpy since 2004). The only thing pushing me today is finishing the day with the adult gymnastics class - I get energy from my little group of adults, sometimes it feels like a little therapy session to complain about what is happening here - other times it's just nice to be around people who love a hard workout as much as I do.

But I am grateful weekend is coming and it will give me a chance to reload and recuperate. I love weekends. Saturday mornings are still busy for me with my gymnastics classes but when it hits 13:30 I get to go home and switch off for the rest of the weekend. Eat good food, do the same puzzles with my kids at least a hundred times, and read books. Sunday mornings are lazy: we all cuddle up in the bed and eat pancakes for breakfast. What could be better than that?

It's dark and rainy in Dar. Feels like September in Finland. At least it's not cold by my standards (+25) - I'm not that much of a Tanzanian. Yet. :) And hey I get to end up my night we these little darlings... There's a silver lining to everything 😘😘😘