thursday thoughts pt. 47

This quotation felt apt for the season. It's been full of present wrapping and giving and receiving (I assume for you as well as it has for me), and I know it'll still continue when seeing more family and friends going into the new year. And I know I am not the best at showing gratitude any time of the year. Especially now that I've been such a Grinch for weeks. There's one New Year's resolution idea, though, if that's something you do: showing gratitude. Would be easy to start with sending thank-you notes or messages to everyone! Although, as my use of the words 'thank you' are mostly in a sour manner of saying "thanks, but no", it'd be even easier for me to actually be more genuinely grateful and thankful for everything and everyone in my life. Because I do feel both grateful and thankful, but - as someone who struggles with showing feelings in general - have a hard time or plain forget showing it. That's where I'm at with gratitude and, clearly, really could use this quote as a reminder. How about you, is gratitude and showing it quite natural to you or was this a reminder that you could do more in that department, too?

winter wonderland

Merry Christmas from this here Grinch in snowy Lapland!

I hope you're all having the loveliest time alone or with loved ones! Or that you're even managing - that's good, too. I've had absolutely no Christmas spirit this year, but have still enjoyed my Christmas ham, sweets and the snowy, wintery weather! Only from the inside, though - it's been quite cold (-23°C so far)! Looking forward to having more relaxing days of doing nothing - and hope you're too, if that is something you can and want to have!

the beginning, vol. two

Hullo friends!

It was seven years ago today that I started blogging, if you can believe it. So I figured I would finally make a wee comeback after my short unintended break from blogging that turned into a rather long, half-intended and half-procrastination-fuelled one. Honestly, I feel like beginning with the same phrases as in 2010: "I've been wanting to start a blog for years but somehow I never did it. I always thought I wouldn't have anything to say and that my life wouldn't be interesting enough. Now I've decided to give it a go.." Because, frankly, isn't that still very much the truth!

Here's some spoopy yet atmospheric photos that I thought best represented me and (maybe) my blog to start off. I've been thinking a lot about the direction I want this lil' blog of mine to take and am probably still just figuring it all out. So excited to be back, though! These are from a cemetery in Pori where the only mausoleum in Finland and the other Nordic countries resides. It was my favourite; the perfect combination of beauty, melancholy, morbid. (The mausoleum was built for an 11-year-old girl and was completed in 1903. It is so gorgeous and definitely worth a visit.) And the weather was perfectly foggy and spooky - unlike now as there's lots of snow and everything's pretty in a different way. Cemeteries are my favourite but perhaps I'll get into something resembling a more Christmassy mood soon (and maybe even blog about it, ya know!).