I believe...

This is what I believe in:


1. I believe there is only one true God and He is a triune God (God the Father, God the Son Jesus and God the Holy Spirit). I believe that the Father sent His Son to earth, to save us from our sin and from the evil one. I believe that this one true God was the one to create our whole world and universe. He is a miracle worker, a creator and an amazing friend! He loves me so much, just as much as he loves you!

2. I believe that everyone has good in them. We all have the ability to love and that is because God created us in His image, an image of love.

3. I believe that God has a plan for me. I trust in Him that my life will be wonderful because he is guiding me to everlasting life.

I'm trying to think of other things I believe in, but to be honest after those three things everything is moot and insignificant!

Let me know what you believe in, in the comments!! Would love to hear from you!

TRAAAA...DITION!!!

If that title didn't put in your head the song from 'Fiddler on the Roof' than go find a copy and watch this beloved musical so you do!!! 

So the question on my mind at the moment, leading up to Christmas and every year around this time, is 'What tradition do I want to have with my family'?

Coming from a very conservative Finnish and close Australian family, traditions are integral to life. You could almost say family is built on traditions. The fondest memories I have with my family are those of times we were upholding our traditions. Traditions like the birthday person choices the cake flavour and choice of meal for their birthday dinner or opening gifts on Christmas eve instead of Christmas day. Putting up the Christmas tree early is one of my favourites, along with our special Christmas eve nights. 

The ones I can see my own family having are the opening gifts on Christmas eve and having a special sit-down dinner. I would like to also make it a tradition to have an advent calendar each December, which we focus on the Christmas story with.

My husband's family tradition is that everyone gets to put in their order of their favourite foods for Christmas lunch/dinner. They also open gifts on Christmas eve. 

So what tradition(s) do you have in your family? Tell me in the comments! Would love to hear from my readers!

Bad Habits

For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God. Romans 3:23

Thankfully God forgives our sins when we ask and we then can receive his mercy. 

But seriously we all have faults and have sinned. I see bad habits as continual happenings of a certain sin. My bad habit is involving the sin of greed. My weight does not disguise this sin. I know of this sin and regularly ask for forgiveness for it. I'm working on being so greedy and glutinous but it is a long journey and I have my ups and downs, just as everyone has problems with giving up their own bad habits. 

I can see this habit developed when I was young, being told from a young age to eat what is put in front of you and then growing up in a family that enjoys socialising with lots of food around did well to develop this into a habit of eating lots of food. I enjoy food and am blessed with plenty of money so I can afford plenty of food. I hope to retrain my brain to add in the concept of enjoy food but less of it, only enough to be healthy and not overweight. 

So what's your bad habit? Are you open enough to yourself to admit and confront your bad habit? Self-improvement comes through admitting something is not right and then doing something to change it for the better.   

What I'm REALLY good at

I asked my husband what I'm really good at because right now I can't think of anything I'm good because I feeling down and out.
His response was:

- Your job
- taking care of people
- keeping the house looking good
- cooking
- making people laugh
- kissing and hugging
- waking up and looking beautiful 5 seconds later
He finished with, 'Honestly, you are good at a lot of things!'

Very flattering and loving of him to say those things. I also can agree I am good at those things. Well almost all those things.

Right now thinking is difficult for me. I have known I've been pregnant for the last 11 weeks. Yesterday, my husband and I found out our little one has no longer got a heart beat and has grown past the 7 week size. Everything seemed to be going so smoothly until yesterday morning when I woke up to find my underwear the wrong colour.
This coming after last year's ectopic pregnancy. You would think that this would just break me. Well it hasn't. I don't know how but I am at peace and of course upset but somewhere in my mind I have this reassurance that God has a plan and He knows what He is doing.
I know that I will one day have at least one child. I don't know when but I will.
That is reassuring to me.
Now I suppose after writing this and forcing myself to think, I can realise that something I am really good at is, trusting God.
I hope I never lose the ability to do any of those wonderful things I am really good at. They all help me to pick myself up again after a tumble.

My Dream Job

I think my dream job would have to be a librarian...sounds a bit boring but it is what I love!
Organisation. Books. Quiet. Structure.

I loved spending my lunchtimes in the library when I was at school. I found it a comfortable and welcoming place.
Now that I'm a teacher, I only need one and a half more years of teaching experience before I can go train to be a 'Teacher Librarian'!
This will combine my current job with my dream!

When I was in Year 6 I wanted to be a missionary. I still feel passionate to give to missions but I know it isn't where God has led me to be....yet.

My mission in life is to show God's love to children and I can do that through teaching and I hope to one day do that through the books and service that I provide in a library.

So what's your dream job?

Lions and Tigers and Bears

Like Dorothy was afraid of lions, tigers and bears...I am afraid of a few things.

Being physically alone in the unknown darkness. I do not like to be left alone in the dark as I have watched too many scary films and scenes where it is out of darkness the scary happen.

Spiders. Only if they are on me though. They are all nice and peacefully a good metre away from me but if they begin crawling towards me suddenly then I freak and panic!

Crashing my car. I am constantly on edge while driving and it is often I think about what may happen if I suddenly drift onto the wrong side of the road or off the road/bridge.

Rest assured I am a safe driver and I think of this as a healthy fear to stop me from doing anything reckless.


But despite these fears I am comforted in the knowledge that God is with me wherever I go. He is in the darkness and created those little creepy crawlies (for knows what reason!) and he is with me while I drive.

So what are you fears?

My Best Friends

I have a small circle of best friends and I'm sure everyone does but I reckon mine are the best! :P

So roll call! Her are my besties and why I love them!

Nathan - My hubby who loves me and understands me! He always has time for me and listens to what I say.

Steph - One of my oldest best friends. We have been friends for over 13 years! We get each other and enjoy doing similar things like crocheting and watching Chick Flicks! I remember fan girling over 'Kind Peter' in the Narnia movies together. Also we love shopping together!

Joanne - Married to my husband's best friend and totally awesome! We love doing crafts, baking and reading together. Part of a book club together and love catching up!

Kaisa - Missing this gal heaps because she is so far away in Hong Kong! Also one of my oldest best friends. Met around the same time as Steph. We are both teachers and love our Finnish heritage! Kai taught me to love dancing!

Emily - went through uni together and I miss her heaps as she lives in country QLD. She has a great faith and always keeps praying for those around her. She loves to sing and play guitar. Love to hear her sing. She was there for me when I was grieving, I wish I could be closer in this season when she is.

So why do you love your best friends? What makes them awesome?

Favourite Books

Books are a wonderful part of being a human! Think about it. We get to read what others have creatively written for entertainment and enjoyment.
My favourite books and why I love them are as follows:

The Bible - I hope to read it in its entirety before I die. If I had to hazard a guess i think I have read about 40-50% of it. So many wise words! I have full faith in God and His word. I know it sounds crazy to love a book that you haven't read entirely but I just do.

Bookends - I love the relationship between the main characters. A true love story.

Books by Jodi Picoult - She truly does her research on the main topic of her books and varies her narratives. Very interesting reads.

My Free time

I love routine and I have a 'timetable' for my personal life as well as my work life.
So naturally for me I schedule in my free time as well.

I rotate through my list of free time activities so I never get bored of the different things I like to do.

Here is my list of activities:

• challenge (On pinterest I have a board of 'challenges' I could do when I'm bored, my current challenge is to do blog posts on 52 topics. This is actually what I'm currently doing for free time!)
• work (This means I complete some task for work when I'm at home. I try not to bring work home with me but sometimes it is helpful to get something done in my free time.)
• craft (I have many craft projects and this means I get to work on them)
• bake (I love baking, and baking for others is always great!)
• pamper (This means I get to do a facial or anything else that I feel will pamper me)
• game (Play a boardgame or videogame by myself or with Nathan!)
• TV show (watch some more of our current favourite TV show)
• gardening (potter around my pot plant garden!)
• colouring in (get to complete one of my adult colouring pages I have.)
• exercise (get moving!)
• bath (enjoying a luxurious bath time is so relaxing!)
• movie (watch a movie at home)
• nails (I love doing my nails with Jamberry or nail polish!)
• nap (because why not?!)
• listen to music (and dance!)
• write a letter (I love writing letters to others. It's so nice to receive a written note/letter because it means someone took the time to sit and hand write to you.)
• call a friend (catch up with someone I haven't spoken to in awhile)
• candles (light a candle and relax!)
• read (I always have a book I'm reading, especially because I am part of a book club!)
• cuppa (and the last of the list but by far my favourite! Have a cup of tea!)

Today in my free time I read and had some ice tea (T2's Apple Crumble) and I watched 'Frozen'. 

So what do you do in your free time?

Pros and Cons of being a teacher

So I'm a teacher and as with any job there are pro's and con's of being one.


Let's start with the cons:

1. No freedom to go to the toilet when you want or need to! Seriously the first few years you are training your body to go when it is break times. No wonder my students have trouble too!
2. Dealing with bratty, snotty, clingy or selfish kids. It's no bed of roses and a lot of kids need training in manners and hygiene...guess that's my job!
3. Having so much to do! Our 'to do' list never ends. I have literally had a list of things to do all year and not gotten to them. Thankfully they tend to be wish lists of things you want to get done. But somehow all the important things do get done on time.
4. Having your holidays scheduled so no choice on when you want to go...especially if you wanted to travel in the off-peak times!
5. Parents who aren't helpful. This could be either not helping you with your job as a teacher or not helping their child in their learning.
6. After school commitments. (Parent Teacher Interviews, meetings, phone calls etc.)

Ok I think that's all the con's. Let's see if the pros outweigh them:

1. Having a pretty well structured day. You know where you should be for majority of the day.
2. Having input into developing minds. You actually are teaching them something new very day!
3. The days/lessons when it totally all clicks together and works like clockwork!
4. Hearing the kids laugh at a joke you made...like yeah parents you get to hear a couple kids laugh but having a more than 15 students laugh makes you feel like a comedian!
5. Having regular holidays, despite half of the time you spend it working anyway...but no kids to hold you back on planning/marking/learning.
6. Usually being home in time to still go grocery shopping or do some cleaning...that is if you aren't completely exhausted!
7. Getting to dress up in crazy costumes a few times a year, like it is normal!
8. Getting to sing songs and dance with the kids because you have to.
9. Learning things - it is proven that a learning, growing mind is a healthy mind.
10. Being in control - you get a whole classroom to control...you are the boss...like a mini boss in an organisation and you get 15+ kids to order about!
11. Having students who will do things out of the goodness of their child's heart!

Well that's all I can think of for now but wow look at that almost double the amount of cons!

Also yesterday I read this verse:

 Ecclesiastes 5: 18-20

“Then I realised that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labour under the sun during the few days of life God has given him – for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work – this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.”

I love being a teacher. Do you love what you do?

Season of life

'Season of life'...what does that mean? Is it a month? A year? A decade?
I'm going to go with my mid 20's...so what are some of the things I love about being in my mid 20's?
Well here's a list:

- Not having kids yet: yes I would like to have children but I am realising just how precious this time is before having children. It means I get to know my husband very intimately and we have the freedom to do whatever we want without the responsibility of taking care of children.

- smooth skin: I know it is a very worldly thing to think about this kind of thing but I truly love having smooth skin and I know one day it will gain 'wisdom wrinkles'. I know I will love my wrinkles too as they will be a part of me but for now I will enjoy having the smoothness of skin!

- Nail art: another worldly thing but I do love doing my nails weekly and it cheers me up so much throughout the week to see this little bit of beauty and effort I made when I choose not to use makeup daily.

- Cooking various things: I love learning new recipes and in this season of my life I have cooked and baked more than when I was a teen and love how much I have learnt!

- Learning about myself: I learnt so much about myself when I was teen because I tried 'finding who I was' and I did. But everyone does change and I know I have since being in school. I am learning so much about myself while I teach little ones. I have realised I have some degree of autism and am reflecting and learning about how I managed to cope without the support I would have received if I had been diagnosed as a child.

- Book club! I love the fact that I am in a book club. I know this may not last forever but right now I am loving it! We have stuck together for over a year now! I can't wait to see how long it goes for!

Well that's all I can think of for now..what do you love about your season of life? Tell me in the comments!

I love you too...

The last person I said, 'I love you' to is....you guessed it! my husband!
We regularly say this to each other.
When we were dating we decided that we would never say, 'I love you MORE (or most)' because it makes the other feel bad for not loving the other the most. So instead we say, 'I love you just as much'.

Each day I definitely love my husband more and more.
Today I grew to love him more because he took me grocery shopping and even suggested a diet that we could try (keto). I love him more for this because he is willing to share the mundane task of grocery shopping with me and sometimes even will do it by himself happily! I also love him for looking into the health and welfare of both of us and searching for ways to increase our health!

So who was the last person you said 'I love you' to?

5 Big Goals for my Life

Goals are good. They help us move forward and to be productive. They help build character (because you are doing something). However, to be most helpful goals needs to be achievable.

My 5 big goals in my life at the moment are:

1. Walk faithfully in God's family.
 I want to always be learning and growing spiritually with God. He is  the most High and deserves number 1 of my goals. I love following Christ and the blessings I receive from Him are boundless. Which means I will forever be sending praise and giving all for Him.

2. Be faithful to Nathan.
I love my husband so much. He often thinks he doesn't deserve the love I give. But that is what unconditional and never ending love is. True love is loving someone even with their faults and failings. I know I have faults and failings and he loves me no matter what too! So this means I want to make sure I keep faithful to Nathan until I die.

3. Become the best teacher I can be.
I love my job. I am only three years into teaching but I love every part of it and want to become better  at it as each year goes by. I look forward to passing on my pearls of wisdom to future teachers and to help each child in my care grow in all ways.

4. Have a home that is full of love.
I want to create a home with an atmosphere that vibrates love in every aspect. Whether it is from the garden I grow to the family members we have. I look around at my current home and see the progress I am making. It still has a long way to go...I can several piles of clutter in places  where there shouldn't be any...Each year of being married I have learnt a lot about house keeping and being a dutiful wife but I know just as with my teaching I have a long way to go to emulate the women I grew up seeing with wonderful loving homes!

5. Be as healthy as God blesses me to be
I want to become healthy in both diet and weight. I have asthma which prevents me from being truly 100% healthy but I won't let that stop me from being in the 90% healthy range! I want to lose the excess weight I am carrying around and I want to  eat healthy...that means I will have to limit my chocolate and sugar intake I know but I want this so much because it means a longer life and a hope for a family.

So tell me what are your 5 big goals for your life?