hirviniemi.net

the brave little sister

2008-09-23T13:04:00.002+03:00

Some shots of the brave little princess. She might be quite cautious with the stuff like loud noises, but the boldest of sibling as it comes to getting in touch with people and animals. Here she is investigating juniber at the near by woods, and socializing with she-coats at Kotilainen ranch - which we visited to celebrate Oiva cousin's birthday - of which pics will follow...

so tragic

2008-08-23T07:55:00.002+03:00

All ashamed I now continue the set of posts related to our current life change. This is hard to make sound tactful, but I'm canceling my participation in the CTS Challenge 2008. It overlaps so bad with my first days in the new job that I just can't think of going.

This doesn't mean the challenge would be dead. We've got some 10 people in the list, and I wish that everyone goes ahead to beat him/herself into longer life expectancy. Wyrwals at CTS has promised to host the after race alumni re-union, and I regret us missing that even more than missing the race.

cheers to all you joggers, and pardon for my unsportsmanlike manner.

we are still called hirviniemi

2008-08-19T17:00:00.002+03:00

It's time to open up. The last three months changed basically everything in our life, except the name and the blog... new town, new house, two new jobs. So, it's the time to give you a major update.

We now live in Lieto, a little village by Turku, south-west coast of Finland. The reason for moving was my new job as the Pastor for Young Adults and Families in Turku Pentecostal Church. The church made the decision this Sunday, and now we are in process of discussing with the church' leadership the starting date and other details.

The other job is my temporary job as an assistant to my brother in law who builds stone patios etc. Basically I carry stones, make cement, shovel grit and sand. It's quite not like my life time calling, but for a month are two I can't think of more relaxing job. Eight hours days, meeting nobody, thinking nothing and worrying even less, no planning, no working out the plans, no meetings, no nothing. Just picking up stones in a good company of fun bro-in-law - who, on the contrary, does a lot of thinking and planning and all other difficult part of the trade. I'm just the assistant.

However, it's a good way of re-orientating for the new challenges that come along with up-coming job. It looks like really exciting thing, and centers around many themes that have grown important to me over last few years. The bottom line of the job is uniting the church 25-40yearers better together, and bringing their perspective into church leadership. Which means like a lot of challenges, but in very interesting themes. So, while still acting Obelix for few more weeks, I'm getting more and more eager to start with the new office.

All this has happened since May when we made up our minds that we are leaving Kotka and looking for a new set-up for our life. We knew back then that if things are to work out, they should work out at once, and we gave it a change. What we saw, was God helping us with every detail, and now we're feeling peace to settle our life around here.

I'll post some pics sometime soon.

Birthdays

2008-07-20T09:18:00.002+03:00

Olivia turned two this week and on yesterday Joonatan had the party for his upcoming 7th birthday. Here are pictures of them at the cakes and candles.

Katarina Park

2008-07-18T17:54:00.006+03:00

We took the kids down to Katarina park in Kotka. It's the south-most tip of Kotka island that went through a major transformation from abandoned oil harbour into a gorgeous park just a year ago. Here's some pics.

Last week an expert from the USA was interviewed in the local free paper. She had come over to check out the labyrinth that's laid out in the park, and told that walking it through fixes basically all your worries and by balancing your energies... ...perhaps we did not have right kind of worries to start with, but the effect wasn't earth shaking. Nevertheless, the kids had fun and ended up running - surprisingly - a nearly kilometer of path way.

sweet summer days

2008-07-12T19:37:00.003+03:00

A couple of photos from the last few days.

Olivia asked to be shot by the flowers with her new pants and skirt.

the 10th Anniversary

2008-06-15T13:27:00.003+03:00

We took our 10th anniversary trip to Tallinn, Estonia. We have developed a habit of visiting a new beautiful city on each anniversary. Previously always in Finland, but since our marriage goes on and on, we are running out of beautiful Finnish cities... =) (We are open for recommendations if you have one in mind - it has to be one that neither one of us is previously too familiar with ) Besides this, the 10th anniversary was a good reason to stretch the qualifications.

We had three relaxing days in Tallinn, eating nice, shopping and seeing the beautiful Old City - and enjoying the great company of just the two of us. Here are some pics.

Graduation banquet

2008-06-07T07:58:00.005+03:00

Sarita's sister, Heidi, graduated from high school, and the families got together for a celebration. We had a great time seeing the extended family and some friends. The weather was beautiful - luckily so, because just the families counted over 120. Congratulations, Heidi, and thank you for a great banquet.

Here's the whole tribe - Sarita's family - the parents, their four daughters and a son with their spouses and kids, missing only the oldest of the youngest generation, Aleksi, who had to leave early

The kids, the cousins and second cousins - of which here's a fraction - had a more of a sporty party. It surely wasn't the most phlegmatic and mute reunion, but they got along great.

Here's the two girls of the ten cousins, Sofia and Olivia.

way to go, brotha B!

2008-05-02T15:44:00.003+03:00

Benjamin beat the beast and forsook the training wheels. A half an hour training in two occasion made it and here goes the hero.

Mysterious Gourmet Girl

2008-04-16T17:36:00.010+03:00

I(sarita) thought to blog about some funny events with Olivia... One day I was lucky to capture Olivia's determined face as she was coming out of the boys' room. She had been there for few minutes alone and as I shouted her, she came out quiet and mysterious... (she had been playing with the cards and cause quite a mess)

I was doing something in the kitchen and turned my back to Olivia (as I turn my back to her I'm normally prepared that something unusual may happen). Suddenly Benjamin was shouting " mum look, Olivia is eating an onion!" She was eating it like people normally eat apples, and seemed to enjoy it. Her breath was smelling "great" as I gave her a good night kiss.=)

Brussels Marathon - site opened

2008-04-14T07:46:00.003+03:00

Just a quick note to the folks who's picked up the CTS challenge 2008 - to run Brussels city half marathon in October 5. The site is opened for registration, so go ahead and engage yourself into the plan. You know, it's always better to be running for your money than just your life...

So far we've got some 11 people sign up, mainly from alumni and staff, which indicates an awesome reunion celebration after the race.

cheers to all trainees .

springtime bliss

2008-04-12T18:30:00.004+03:00

I've been fortunate to have my free weekends at each meaningful spots this spring, sarita's birthday, Easter, my birthday, and momma's day (yet to come) Besides, I did have the first two months off, but that wasn't pure luck. This weekend is the third in the list above, and to celebrate me getting 29 we've been doing some special stuff. We'd probable have done all the same without my birthday, but once it's around let's call it the excuse.

Today, we went outdoors. We grabbed some sandwiches and coffee & juice and spent nice two hours in sunny woods. Brothas did some research with a magnifying glass, tested they limits jumping on the rocks, and all three of them cast stones, and had papa join them building a dam. It must be some 20years since my last dam, but it still is as exciting as it's always been. (just go ahead and check my word) and o'yeah, Mr. Frog was there waiting for Miss Mouse.

finding nemo

2008-04-10T18:22:00.002+03:00

We took the kids (and ourselves) to see some fishes in SeaLife, Helsinki. It was kind of tricky shooting memories since they prohibit flash, but we had a great time. Here's a couple pics. Boys watch a shark swim by, and the nemos, as that sort of fishes apparently are called for some years to come.

winter fun

2008-03-28T13:27:00.002+02:00

a couple of pics from last weekend when the boys and I spent a great day in my family's cottage with granddad and grandma.

Kinda weird, but whereas rest of the southern finland has very little ice, the lake at our cottage has ice solid enough to carry a car. One of the neighbors keeps the ice road clear throughout the wintertime, and all the cottage in the island have a private parking right in place of the jetty in summertime.

Next week the weather is forecast to get a seriously warmer, so the road's not going to be open a lot longer. It sounds like a good idea to keep an eye on the forecasts before parking a car there for a long weekend. Or else, you might end up having to buy another car for the summer.

Succesful Leadership 101: Principles: Communication Always Fail - Except Sometimes

2008-03-28T11:42:00.006+02:00

We made a deal with the brothas that they should clean their room before they can go on watching dvd. Strictly speaking, Sarita told them to "clean the room of the legos because it's such a mess..." As not usual, the boys replied just "ok" and started working. Unusually - or better, spectacularly, I heard them shout "done!" just three minutes later - and then disappeared back to watch the movie.

All amazed, Sarita and I went to testify this miraculous event, here's the results. See the difference? - Me neither - at the first glance. But, when the boys were asked what sort of a cleaning was that, the reply was quick: you only spoke about the legos.

And, francly say, the lego part of the mess at the center low, is in fact visibly different.

when the darkness fall...

2008-03-17T13:53:00.003+02:00

Benjamin throws out the stuffed squirrel and bear every night before he goes to bed. In the daytime they stay on his bed serving well as toys, but when the night comes - they eyes become scary.

So, out they go - with a swing - and sleep in the hallway. One night we took a picture for later evidence.

...and she passed the pole

2008-03-17T13:38:00.003+02:00

Sarita reached 30 on the 13th of March. We had a couple of nice parties with families - a couple of them because of scheduling issues, but enjoyable anyhow. Here's a pic of my Mrs sweetie. Congratulations.

trouble comes in pyjamas

2008-03-17T10:41:00.003+02:00

Olivia figured out sometime ago that a stool can provide for what's she lacking in height. Since then, it's become one of her favorite hobbies to lock herself in a room and shout for the the rest of us.

This time, with the brothers playing on the computer, she was left out of the room - but not unnoticed, she decided. The message itself was encrypted from the rest of us, but the point was made anyhow.

trying out the ultimate boredom

2008-02-16T11:25:00.006+02:00

Alright, I admit it. I can be boring company at (so many) times. Today, Olivia took a big chunk of it. I was alone with her waiting for the food to be ready in oven. She was desperately hungry, so i handed her a bread and got into reading the day's paper again. Next thing i noticed was - so rare, so wonderful - silence and when I looked up I saw her sound asleep.

She did not even slightly open the eyes when i picked her up, dressed and took her out to sleep.

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T08:12:00.002+02:00

As up here in Finland, Valetine's Day is celebrated as the Day of Friendship, I'd like to give a word of gratitude from Sarita and I to all our friends reading this blog. It's been our great joy to have run across so many fascinating people along the years of our lives, and we are thankful from each and any who has been willing to stick with us.

Life entangles us all in so many ways, and it's impossible to keep in touch as frequent as we'd wish, but often times Sarita and I sit and chat, smile and laugh about all the occasions we've had together with great friends. We find it as our wealth to own these memories, and thank you for making them meaningful.

Happy Valetine's day our friend, near of far!

Boss's getting emotional

2008-02-10T09:39:00.000+02:00

Couple of illegal diamonds from the muds of youtube - or better, one diamond shattered. Land of Hope and Dreams from Bruce Springsteen. Why in parts - well, you can't compete the price.

Plug in the headphones and hum along, it's got all the classic tricks for an crowd stirring rock ballad.

If you dig it, go buy it. Sounds fair.

(it might get deleted at some point, and the embedding stops working on this post too, but check it out whilst it's there...)

talking about the desperation of illigal immigrants...

2008-02-03T16:24:00.000+02:00

This week, a drunk driving swed - chased by swedish cops, was rescued from the icy waters of Baltic sea, into which he had hopped himself, determined to swim over to Finland.

Given all that courage, I'm sure he'd have a great future as a cheer-up consultant over in Morocco. Compared to swimming in Baltic sea in january, no Mediterranian storm is nothing.

warm me up, sun

2008-02-02T10:23:00.000+02:00

I found myself in a lately image. Like in the lone gull in burnout half a year ago, but now it's a lot better. Warm me up, sun. =)

I'm heading back to work in a month, and feel great about. Now it's mainly about (slow) re-orientation and catch-up with the folks who's been backing me up. It's been quite amazing, revealing, and - hopefully - educative 6months. But at this point - unlike at lots of points during the fall - I can honestly say that I feel good about the whole process which revealed me my uttermost limit, and the sets of borderlines before it. I'm planning to watch out for the borderlines in the future, and avoid seeing the final spot ever again.

Some other photos from this week.

The technique here is called HDR, which is a way to cover-up the biggest disadvantage of current digital tech over traditional film. In an scene that has strong highlights and deep shadows, and the photographer wants to capture details in both, digital cameras are way beyond film, and you end up with an image that has either washed out - "clipped" as they call it - highlights, or great highlights but flat black shadows.

The technique to get over this limit is to take multiple shots with varying exposure: e.g. -2 EV from the measured exposure to capture the highlights, "normal" shot for the average tones, and +2 EV to see inside the shadows. It's not complicated because most cameras can be set to do it automatically (bracketing) and with one click it takes a burst of three shots. Not much harder than a single shot, but just take care not to move the camera shot to shot, or you ruin the set.

With the set of three shots you then run back to your computer an open them in a program that does the trick. The shots are merged together perfect, and then it's only about adjusting it like you'd adjust any image.

Downside, you can't shoot people or animals because they move, and you can't get three similar compositions.
All the images on this post are done like that.

This turned out quite creepy. It's the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kotka, built in 1898. The image is treated with Paint Shop Pro X2's "Time Machine" which generates an photo to certain age photo techology's characteristic look. This is supposed to be a replica of Platinum film. I did not take photos back then so i don't know, but to me it's look like the church of the end time beast

(xx disclaimer: do not make any theological derivatives from the look of my photos. xx)

How to kill a dream without hurting the dreamer?

2008-01-31T21:20:00.000+02:00

The boys both found out somehow that pets are a cool. We've done our best to keep them from the idea, but you can only protect the innocence of the young minds up to a point; and so it appears, that we've just passed that point. They now are more determined than before; and furthermore, this time the twist came with a spin. They don't want a dog, cat, or a hamster, but worse.

Benjamin wants a millipede. (Click on the word to find out what it is.) And worse, he is really excited about it. He even has a name for it: Pertti (Bert, the best English equivalent) because he things that it's great match: Bert the millipede. (Pertti tuhatjalkainen)

Sarita and I are both quite puzzled because it's sounds like an easy pet to maintain, which destroys all our previous excuses for not having pets. Plus, I myself still need to work on couple of emotional issue before any creature like that enters our house. Apparently, I've passed the issues on Joonatan. He commented on Benjamin's dream rather blatantly: "That thing is so-o disgusting, that I will kill it on the minute I see it." Now we have settled to wait and "think about it" but the three of us are quite unison in wishes that the Benjamin comes back to dream of dogs and cats. (that we cannot take because momma is allergic... - easy)

Joonatan himself wants a turtle. Allergy doesn't work as an excuse for that either, so when heard about it, I quickly came up with a plan of making it sound difficult. Joonatan is quite responsible by character, and I played cheap and tried to use that as his weak spot. So, I told him (from the top of my head) that turtles can live as long as humans do, so you should be prepared to take care of it for the rest of your life.

Joonatan turned silent for a moment and just when I though I'd scored it, he replied: "Dad, it's no problem. When I get tired of keeping it, we can always cook it."

How about that? I did not know what to say. So we put the plan to rest along with Bert the millipede, and Sarita and I now have sometime to come up with a better strategies.

pics from the harbor

2008-01-25T17:20:00.000+02:00

We had a first sunny day for a long, long time. Since I happened to have a day off, like I still do, i went to take some photos from kotka harbor. Here's a couple that I like the best.