BACK ON (THE) TRACK

First there was too much snow, then Hanna was too tired, then the weather was awful, then we were too busy - lots of excuses have been made, but no more. As of today we are officially back on our running track. And it felt fantastic!

Sun in the face, fresh air in the lungs and the perfect running partner - what could be better?


Two bumps ;-)

There is a bench under this pile of snow, really!

HOME IMPROVEMENT ... AGAIN!

While other people spend their winter hibernating, Marko got this huge boost of energy and rearranged half our apartment. Here is (part of) what happened.

First, the old, super-heavy couch was cleaned and transported (through a tiny hallway and around three mean corners) to our office/guestroom/future babyroom.

Fits like a glove ...

Then the new sofa came - wrapped like this:

Marko unwrapped, screwed, hammered, arranged and rearranged for hours - and saved himself a workout at the gym.



And in the end: the well-deserved rest on the brand new sofa. Thank God we didn't get a treadmill ;-) Thank you, Marko!!

COLD + WIND = COSY HOME

Hanna's hopes for an early spring got crushed: It got bitter cold, down to temperatures of -22 °C that felt like -30 and colder because of the windchill - brrrr! (Marko actually enjoys the bitter cold temps. Those Finns...) The good thing about the cold was that it inspired us to do some small home improvement jobs, many of them in preparation for our new expected family member and thus especially fun. :-)) We also had several nice skype sessions with families and friends and a great welcome-back-to-school evening with some lovely friends. Winter can be fun after all!

Going for a long walk every day, or rather every night, even in the cold, is one of our favorite traditions.

Our new cosy rocking chair - heavily used by Hanna

A cosy home smells like ... pulla! Mhmmm!

Rolling rock (a new beer) and rock'n'roll (new speakers)
-> happy Marko

Finally: nightstands - hurray!

Old friends - new games :-)

Making space for baby stuff


Ahhh, to be young again and wear all this fun stuff ...

CURL IT!

When the winter is long, the best you can do is make use of it - for example by discovering new winter sports. While Hanna had to attend a conference, Marko enjoyed the icy adventure and the great company. What a neat idea to try curling! Thank you, Mandy! Thanks for the pictures, Matthew!

WHAT HAPPENS

if you are trying to take it easy for New Year's and "just" hang out with your neighbors: You end up wearing a funny hat, dancing with a princess, having a lot of good food and a lot of fun - thank you! And HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

HOMEBOUND

We spent the last two days of our trip in touristy Sedona and very cute Jerome, eating, shopping and strolling around, mostly cameraless. A perfect, relaxing end to a great adventure! We go home and back to reality with lots of beautiful images in our heads. Here's to our melancholic farewell from Phoenix Airport and to a wonderful warm welcome of many, many Christmas cards! THANK YOU, DEAR FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

MONUMENT VALLEY

lies within the Navajo Nation reservation, and is thus ancient Navajo territory, that much we knew. What we didn't know was that the place where we stayed, Goulding's Lodge, has a quite interesting history. It was the founders of this former trading post, Harry and Leone "Mike" Goulding, who established trading business with the Navajo Indians. When business came to a halt during the depression, they camped outside of John Fort's office in Hollywood to convince him to shoot his Western movies (starring John Wayne!) in Monument Valley. The rest is (movie making) history.

Since we arrived in the dark, the balcony view from our hotel room is the first glimpse we get of Monument Valley.

And here we are, inside the national park ...


admiring the giant monuments and the incredible silence of the valley.


Sneaking a last glimpse, trying to take it all in.

PICTURE IT:

It's evening, somewhere between Colorado, Utah and Arizona, we're driving along a highway that cuts straight across the desert, Heart's "Alone" blasting on the public radio channel. On our right a totally deserted ghost town, on our left this:

MESA VERDE

The "green table", today a national park, was home to the Ancestral Puebloans between about 500 AD and 1500 AD. After living in pit houses and other shelters for centuries, they built these really impressive cliff dwellings into the canyon's alcoves around 1300 AD, some of them several stories high. We came, saw, and were very impressed. Oh, funny/sad detail: Guess who holds the biggest collection of Mesa Verde artefacts outside the US? That's right, the National Museum of Finland. "Thanks to" treasure hunter Gustaf Nordenskiöld.