30.

Its my birthday & I'll cry if I want to*.






*Actually was yesterday but nevermind

Northern Amazingness

This is my second trip to Finland.  The first time, I was determined to see the Northern Lights.  We went on a night snowmobile safari just to look for them but it was too cloudy, and in the village there was too much light pollution.  We decided not to do a night safari again this time, so I didnt think there was much chance we'd see them this time.  But last night was beautifully clear, so after pizza and beer, we decided to take a walk towards the lake where we were told you could sometimes see them.  As we were walking, we were in awe of the number of stars you could see, thousands and thousands compared to in the UK.  We spotted the northern star, then as we were walking further out into the darkness, we saw a greenish haze under the northern star, kind of flickering.  There were too many trees though, so we carried on walking (getting very very cold) almost out to the lake.  When we turned around and looked where we had come from, we saw them, and wow.  What we had seen earlier was nothing in comparison.  It was like a huge rainbow over our heads with a greenish light, and either end flickered like a candle.  It was quite spectacular, we just stood there with our mouths wide open!!!  I tried to get pics but my hands were too cold & I can't really do long exposure with my point&shoot/no tripod.  The lights faded after about 5 minutes, although there was still a green glow on the horizon on the walk home.  We might try again if we get another clear night.  What we saw was similar to the pics above although not quite as wide or bright as obviously these are time lapse pics.

But wow, I feel so incredibly lucky.  They were so beautiful.  A very special moment.

Morning world!

It's been a long, long time. I've been working very hard (busiest Christmas/new year in the ED ever known!) & passing my exam, finally!! But I have this week off, so I just slept for 15 whole hours and woke up to a beautiful morning in Finland! Off skiing shortly, then plan to light the fire in our little chalet, maybe have a sauna and do some more relaxing!
Bye for now!

In stark contrast

to my hideous shift on Sunday, yesterday was pretty good - a few of my friends were working, we had sweets AND I found a little happy baby inside a woman's belly.  She was having some pains and the obstetrics doctor said if I could see hear the heartbeat, I could reassure her.  We have an ultrasound in the ED but it's basic and we don't usually use it for baby scans!!  I was very wary of my poor ultrasound skills but I found it!!  Heartbeat, and little head, arms and legs, all wiggling about.   I'm not sure who was more emotional - me or Mum & Dad!!!  It reminded me of why I love my job, which I really needed after Sunday (which I do not want to share the details of on line sorry).

Apologises for the absence

I have so incredibly busy - mainly with work, but also trying to fit study time in and other bits and bobs - all non-fun bits and bobs.  Did my Advanced Life Support course last week (we have to do it every 4 years) and I got recommended to be an instructor which I am hugely happy about.
The dreaded exam is 2 months away and pretty much every day off has to be spent studying - other than the occasional few nights out for halloween, concerts (Black Keys) and friends birthdays, I will be sat at my desk studying.  Which makes for very little to write about in blog land, so expect it to be quiet around these parts for the next couple of months.

Oh and for those who know about all the crap that happened 6 months ago - the builders FINALLY started in our Cardiff house today! Yey!  They reckon it will only take a month!

Someone killed the dinosaur!

(from Portsmouth News)

Bastards, I had grown rather fond of the Southseasaurus.

Autumn

It's kinda my favourite season - I like the colours, the smells, the cozyness, the build up to Christmas, but I also know that after it comes winter which always seems to go on forever and ever.  But for now I will enjoy mugs of hot chocolate, smells of burning wood, evenings drawing in, leaves (slowly) turning to orange.  Thought I'd find some autumn loveliness via Flickr.... (I am queen of procrastination when I am supposed to be studying!!)

From Sebastian Mary

From kisses are a better fate than wisdom's

From Just us 3

I always want to go to Disney land at this time of year, they do it pretty good.