If I had know it was that kind of party...

I would have prepared my Tyrannosaurus Rex Knight with his dinosword! DnD fail. Why can't I be a dinosaur? I'd have little arms!

I am a little drunk right now.

We had my fellow roommate's going away party tonight. It was fucking awesome.

We played some fucking Wizard Staff. I only got three cans. There were some champions tonight.

We had a mother fucking dance off. We just fucking boogied until we had no fucking clue how to dance anymore.

There was a fire.

And tasty food.

You have no clue how rad tonight was. I'm too fucking drunk to tell you.

Running through daisies

I have been back at home for the past few days now.
It has been genuinely amazing. Although there has been some internal conflict and some confusion, I didn't think I could be this happy.

I did get sick, waking up Thursday morning with a totally obnoxious sinus headache which actually led to a loss of voice and a stuffy nose.

But I've been hanging out with my friends. My truly amazing friends.
You think that leaving your home town you'll learn who your true friends are... but in actuality, it's when you come back. Those are the friends who are still there for you, even after you've been gone and lost contact for almost 3 years.
They ask about you and your trip and then it just feels like you never left them in the first place.

My friends have made me feel amazing. They make me feel really good about myself and I'm quite sure, that even behind the voice loss, the 4 to 8 cups of ginger tea, and the stuffy nose, I am glowing bright like a winter sun.

My friends have made me feel beautiful, smart, funny, talented, and just plain "fucking awesome" since I have returned. All of that in just a few days.
I look forward to getting over this cold so I can be my usual 110%.

I have also had the more important things taken care of. I went to the DMV to get a new license and Bank of America to get a new debit card.
I am finally moved into my brother's house, although I do need to finish painting the walls of my room and move in a desk and such.

I am so impressed with how things have turned out here.

I have gotten sick, and I woke up last night at 4 am to blow my nose and my brother just knocks on my door and basically hands me a hot cup of theraflu.

When the Theraflu kicked in and I started dozing off, I had images of me and my steaming hot cup of theraflu running hand in hand through a field of daisies.

Definitely a promising start to my life.

Am I shrinking?

A part of me hopes so! That means I can finally buy smaller pants and not feel like such a whale anymore.

I had a great day yesterday. I got major errands taken care of.
I applied for a new Driver's License with my new name on it. I also went to the Bank to apply for a new debit card and credit card with my new name on it.
I also exchanged my left over Funny Money for dollars. all of which got deposited directly to my account.

I also had the best breakfast I have had in years. The most amazing sausage and cheese omelette with cinnamon raisin bread and... wait for it... a cup of sweet tea. Oh Pankake Palace, how I love and adore you.

I then also dropped by Best Buy to get an FM transmitter for my mp3 player. In the process I received a new Best Buy Rewards card and quizzed the girls there on how to pronounce my last name. It seems I am not longer the esteemed Anna Mylläri I once was, but I am now, "Anna Mylar". I wonder if the plastic company will pay me for advertising such a great thing.
I know, I for one, am the Awesomest Anna as it is.

I then met up with Mun Sisko. I helped her get dressed and look a little more fabulous (those shoes she wore were amazing. Totally jealous!)
We went to Targét and I purchased necessary feminine hygiene products. You know, soap, shampoo, face wash, hair straightener...
Then we went and got our nails did!
The name of the color is Russian Navy. It looked purple in the store, in the bottle, but once we got outside, it looked blue! DAMN YOU RUSSIAN NAVY! GETS US EVERY TIME! Fantastic color though. It almost looks black. Totally up to code with this season's fashion trend.
I would definitely give up candy and soda to get a manicure pedicure every two weeks. (Is that acceptable?)

We grabbed some lunch and then went back to her house.
We colored her hair, it looks better but still not what we want yet!
And we went through her clothes. She got rid of a lot of crap, thanks to me.
If someone had told me, 5 years ago, that I would be my sister's eyes for fashion I would have laughed and not believed it.
But here I am, helping my sister look amazing again and giving her fashion advice I never knew I would have.

It has been decided though that since I will be a hairdresser I must know what is on trend. Can't go around looking all last season when someone wants a haircut, you know?
It's all about the accessories.

My sister and I also LOL'd about Vagazzling. Please, if you don't know what it is, Google it on your own time. It's most likely (N)ot (S)afe (F)or (W)ork.

Today I plan to collect applications and apply for jobs.

Now tell me, am I shrinking, is my coffee mug of normal size or is it just huge?

Country roads...take me home

I finally arrived home in Savannah, GA last night. About 7:15 in the evening.
I was greeted joyously by my mother and my sister, who was hopping up and down and dancing and wiggling. My sister, mind you, is 5 years older than I am. I assure you, I'm an adult.

My flight was amazing actually. I never thought I would say such a thing.
First, the taxi driver was just how i want them: quiet.
Then at the airport, checking in was easy. I had 3 suitcases, I was figuring they would charge me for the 2 extra suitcases, which would have cost 200€. The lady says she's charging me for 20 kilo overweight, instead of thirty and tells me to go to the office right over there, they should be open soon.
I figure the office is open at like 5:30 so I take my receipt to pay for my luggage and wait.
The office doesn't open until 5:45 and there's a bunch of anxious flyers ready to go.
The little window opens at 5:45 with a bing and someone said a hail mary.
Then I was only charged 40€ which blew my mind.

I made it through security and got to my gate on time.
The flight itself was nice because I had a window seat and my row had 3 seats but the other person was a guy sitting in the aisle seat. He also put my carry on away in the overhead compartment. He was nice and it was a pleasant flight and dare I say I even napped a bit.

I got to Frankfurt and had enough time to get off the plane, go through security and then get to my gate. No ham and cheese sandwich for me, which is fine, because my flight from Frankfurt to Charlotte was fantastic as well.
Everyone was nice and cheerful and chatty and it made me more at ease. We even had a Missionary and his wife on the plane, totally felt safe then. :D
Also, on the flight, I had a window seat and my row was just two seats. The seats were narrow, but the woman sitting next to me had a husband on the other side of the plane. He brings her some wine and they ended up finding two seats for them to sit together.
I had the row to myself and slept happily.
The food also wasn't terrible. It was questionable of course. How on earth do they come up with these meal ideas? I was at a loss.
Chicken with mushroom risotto and some green beans: I get it, makes sense, tasty too.
Cold bean salad: what the fuck is this? I didn't even touch it. I already had green beans. This also had olives. Ew. It didn't make sense to me.
Dessert: Lemon poppy seed muffin. WHAT? How is this even a dessert?

Based on the compilation of the meal, I am quite sure they got the idea from what someone ate for lunch, someone's left overs, and someone eating a lemon poppy seed muffin RIGHTATTHATVERYMOMENT.

Thanks to my 3+ hour nap the flight went by quickly. The children on the plane were also well behaved. Just one fussy baby which was easily blocked out with my mp3 player.

Arrival in Charlotte, NC was the most amazing feeling. Of course I was completely dumbfounded I even made it there at all. At the airport the people were so nice and so cheerful.
I had to recheck in my luggage and the guy at the counter told me I looked fantastic and that I was working it. Definitely made my day. Everyone told me, "Welcome Home" which just made me feel better.
I cleaned up in the bathroom at the gate and waited to board my flight.
Everyone was so talkative and people were asking about my story.
The flight to Savannah was comfortable and spacious and the fantastic woman sitting told me, "I might have to hold your hand when we take off. Flying scares the shit out of me."
She clutched my hand with everything she had when the plane was taxi...ing(?) down the runway and to the point the plane was finally level.
She chatted with me and then she napped while I spaced out and enjoyed the most amazing sunset I have seen in years. The sky never gets that beautiful in Finland.

Once I got to Savannah everyone who spoke with me wished me the best and I even made a future potential customer for a haircut. Which is rad.

All my luggage made it safely home with me.
I ate some delicious Mexican food and had the best damned Margarita ever.
It's good to be back!

I'm an adult now

I always try to find the right inspiration for writing blogs.
I was thinking about writing a blog to just write about my experiences moving from Finland back to the states.

So, I started. I was going to make it more personal, just for myself and maybe publishing it later... but fuck that.


The first day of the rest of my life.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

I just bought my flight tickets to go back to my hometown, Savannah, GA, last night.
When I was riding the bus back home on a brisk autumn evening in Espoo, Finland, I watched everything fly past me at 30kph.
It dawned on me that in 5 weeks I will no longer see these things again for a long time.
Something which has become a part of my daily routine will be no more in my routine.

I almost cried a little bit.

Change is a really scary thing. Although this change will be easier for me than any other change. It's also far more interesting and more preferred than no change at all.

Over two years ago I made a decision which will change my life. I made the decision with the intentions that it will change my life for the better.
I put on my big girl pants and set off to Finland. I wanted to find my roots and hopefully discover what it is I would like to do for the rest of my life.

I never expected it to work so well.

My first six months in Finland were like a vacation. I spent my summer in Lohja at my parents' summer cottage. We were doing repairs most of the time; scraping and repainting doors, tons of yard work, a lot of cleaning. We went to the dump so many times. Which I was ok with because it was called, "Rosk and Roll". (The word "trash" in Finnish is "roski").

My best friend, Thomas, came to visit me in September and then he traveled Europe for some time and came back to visit for another week or two before he left back to the United States.
It was when Thomas was visiting when I unknowingly met my future husband.

I had opened up an account on an online dating site in hope of meeting some people to be friends with in the Helsinki area.
I had received a message from a handsome man offering to show me around Helsinki, as a tour guide. In a partially inebriated state, I agreed, informing him of Thomas' presence. Which was fine.

We met the next day, and I was compelled to hug him, but I resisted. That's just creepy in Finland. You don't hug strangers or people you just met.

His name is Lauri. Not to be confused with the American woman's name, Lauri. It sounds more like "dowry".

I was instantly comfortable with Lauri. After Thomas left for Europe I spent almost every evening with Lauri.
Going out for dinner, stopping by a café to get hot chocolate and looking over my Finnish homework together.

He invited me over to his place one night for his famous hamburgers and to watch The Orphanage. He's not a fan of scary movies, so I offered to hold his hand if The Orphanage got scary for him.
There was some serious sexual tension between us, but I didn't want to seem like a slut and make with the sexy times so soon.

Eventually I was staying almost every night at Lauri's house, dropping by my parents' house to pick up clean clothes and what not. They didn't seem to mind, although they kept asking when they get to meet him.
When they finally got a chance to meet him, they loved him.

Lauri was frequently invited over for Dinner and became a part of the family almost instantly.

Lauri and I did have our differences quit often. Especially since I was depressed due to the culture shock and adapting to a new place. I went to the doctor and was put on medication and went to therapy two or three times.

I did cheer up, but I think it was more psychological than the pills, only because I felt like I was finally battling a problem I was sure I had for years. Eventually the combination of antidepressants and birth-control fucked me up royally and I was worse than before. I quit taking anything which had hormones in it.

I had quit the antidepressants too quickly, rather than wean myself off of them, I pretty much stopped cold turkey. I was in bad condition for a few weeks. I recovered slowly and was eventually in a much better state of mind.

After dating for a year, we got engaged. A few months later we decided we were going to move back to the United States. We needed to save up money and figure out the Visa situation for Lauri.
We got married in May 2010.

We've been saving up money.
I've been attending hair school to become a hairdresser.

Things have been quite magical.

I'll now be moving back to my hometown in November 2010.
My husband wont be coming with me, as he will still be working in Finland, saving more money.
I'll be going home to get a job to save up money as well and will be meeting Lauri in California when the time comes.

Although we have been married since May, once we finally make it to California together, we can finally start our life together.

The moment we confirmed the payment for my flight ticket to my hometown was the beginning of the rest of my life.

It's a gateway drug...

Coffee.

Coffee is a gateway drug.
I don't mean you're going to start smoking pot, shooting up heroine, and eating LSD.

For someone who has decided to stop drinking soda and other sugary drinks, coffee will fuck that up.

It starts out pretty innocent...
You drink a cup or two of home-brewed coffee in the morning before school/work.
One day you sleep in and don't have time to make your coffee so you grab something fancy, like a Cáfe mocha, since, you know, you hardly drink them anyway.
Then after a while you realize how easy it was to sleep a little bit later and just have someone else make you this delicious chocolaty caffeinated beverage...
So you start taking it every day.
You start to crave more sugar, and so you have a diet coke with your lunch every now and again, still drinking a lot of water too.
Then you want even MORE sugar... so you switch it up to be a regular coke...
THEN you're having a cafe mocha every morning and a regular coke with your lunch every day.
The sugar cravings get horrible.
You want more candy and chocolate and ice cream and you want more caffeine too.
So then you have a coke later on after lunch every so often...
Then every day...
Then one day you buy an energy drink, which you haven't had one in over two years...
You've hit rock bottom.

"Then next thing you know you're hiding in basements drinking hardcore energy drinks!"

Coffee turned me onto caffeine and sugar. It got so bad that I was gaining weight, always tired, and my skin looked awful.

So I quit coffee.
I will, from now on, only drink green tea for my caffeine.
Low fat milk, cranberry juice, water, and green tea with honey.

I started yesterday. I happily consumed four "grande" cups of green tea.
Today I only consumed two and a half.
I am sleepy, but I've also been exhausted from school.

The honey in my tea definitely helps me fight any sugar cravings.
I will eat a little bit of ice cream after I finish my dinner.
I'M NOT HOUDINI, OK! BACK OFF!

I quit coffee, and I think you should too. Unless you have fantastic self control. Asshole.

Dont' want a paper gangster...

I'm currently printing out 19 pages of information in relation to getting my husband's Visa.
19 pages of stuff to read on the computer is hell. Fuck that.

I'm printing out the whole Affidavit of Support stuff.

I'm a bit surprised, actually. I did think this was going to be ridiculously difficult work.
The only pain in the ass is reading everything to make sure you don't fuck up.
The only people I know with any experience in the Spousal Visa area is my parents... and things have changed in the past ten years.

What I have learned in my experience with getting a Visa. A Spousal Visa, actually.

Originally, we were thinking to get the Fiancé Visa, but it came to be our understanding that since I am a permanent resident (for now!) in Finland, it would be easier for us to get married and apply for the Spousal Visa.
So we happily got married, had a nice little wedding, real pretty.
I had my name changed to his, I no longer "live with my parents". A lot of fun and exciting things.
I'm a real person now! I'm almost an adult!

So, anyway, the process began.
We did all sorts of research. We discovered which forms we needed to fill out, the fees, etc.
First step was the I-130, the Petition of all petitions.
We also filled out the G-325, our biological information.
Included necessary stuff and mailed it in, along with a receipt to prove we paid the fee.

Who knows what we did wrong?
Yes, we fucked up by mailing it in.
But you know what was rad? I just had to show up to the Embassy a week after they got it, because they called me. I had to bring my passport (and apparently money).
They refunded the money, since it was to the wrong account, and then gave me all the forms which were needed for my husband to fill out, and plenty of instructions.

The lesson learned: Contact the Embassy if you're even remotely unsure about something.
Nothing is in black and white, except the text, as long as it's on a white background. I found that the forms really like the color blue...

So my husband is doing his part, working on the medical stuff and all the important papers he needs to prove he's not a criminal or will be bringing with him some crazy European disease, like Polio or Swine Flu (he needs the vaccinations :D).

My current job is supply The Affidavit of Support (I-864). The tricky part is I am not a permanent resident (although I am an American Citizen) and I have no income whatsoever.
So I have to rely on my family, or someone close to it for this.
Which is tricky, seeing as how the economy took a nice dump on my family.
We're not poor by all means, but our best choice was let go from his job (as we were expecting due to foreseen events) the day after he went to an interview, fingers crossed he gets the job!
Our preferred choice has been unemployed for two years, although they have the funds to take care of my husband, as the guv'ment desires.
So I'm just doing the research to see if my family member qualifies...

Let's hope for the best!

Once I highlight important information in these 19 pages of Affidavit of Support information, I'm going to "buy" new furniture, to see how much money it would cost us. Shipping versus buying new shit...