Random Tuesdays 12/31/2013

Happy New Year 2014 on Random Tuesdays! 

Two tapir cuties at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska in 2008

p.s Don't forget to take part in the giveaway :)

Reminder: Take part in the Giveaway! And Happy Holidays :)

Just a quick reminder, don't forget to take part in the Giveaway!

This gorgeous Golla bag could be yours! Excellent chances of winning ;)

Hope everyone has been having the most wonderful Christmas time!

300th blog post and a Giveaway!

This is the 300th post of the new Sugar Antelope and to celebrate it I'm announcing the second ever The Sugar Antelope Giveaway! As mentioned before, I really love giveaways and raffles (and take part in every single one I see haha), so I'm happy to be able to do one again for this blog as well.

This Giveaway is being done in cooperation with the Finnish design company Golla. 

And here's what we are giving away:

Golla Mobile Purse

Mariah / G1407

Color: red 

(looks a bit orangy in the photo, but it's red)

You can find more information about the bag here, but it's a real handy smart phone/camera/whatnot purse and it comes with a detachable wrist strap making it a handy wristlet as well. There's also a zipper pocket in the back and and a small pocket inside. I have several of these mobile purses and absolutely love them. 

Rules

* In order to join the Giveaway, please leave a question (something I am able to answer ;) in the comment box of this entry. Each comment equals one entry, you may comment up to three times (per person).

* If you are commenting as "anonymous", please leave a nickname and preferably an email address, so I can contact you, if you win.  

*The Giveaway ends on Thursday, January 2nd, 2014 at 11 pm CET. The winner is selected by a drawing, unless there's a ton of entries, in which case I will use the random number generator :)

Good luck everyone!

  Since this is a milestone entry, I would also like to thank all of you who read my silly blog! I really appreciate your comments, they make writing so much more interesting!

gif from here

Random Tuesdays 12/17/2013

Gators hanging out at Everglades National Park, Florida in 2006.

Photo a day on Instagram

Those of you who follow me on Instagram, may have already noticed I'm participating in the FatMumSlim's December Photo a day. If you don't have Instragram, you can still check out the photos.

Here are my December pics so far:

1. Red:

2. Where I stood

3. Silver

4. Tiny

5. In the cupboard

6. Shadow

7. 6 o’clock: I missed this one! :(

8. I shop here

9. This is the weather today

10. R is for…

11. Green

12. Joy is…

13. Composition

14. Drink

15. Lights

Hope everyone is having a wonderful December!

Random Tuesdays 12/10/2013

Sue, the jolly T.Rex, at The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, 2008

Haaste/Blog challenge: 11 facts tag!

It's time for another blog challenge, courtesy of the wonderful Pabe of Palmun Alta and lovely Veera of Kaukana Kotona, both from gorgeous California, thank you Pabe and Veera! 

The rules of the game: 

1. tell 11 facts about yourself

2. answer the 11 questions asked by the person who invited you

3. come up with 11 questions for the new participants

4. select 11 new bloggers for the challenge

5. thank the person who invited you, and let the lucky 11 know they have questions waiting for them. You can’t tag the person who challenged you. 

I've done this challenge a couple of times before, but it's such a fun one I'm happy to answer questions again :)

My 11 facts, super-random as always :)

1. I love doing nails, both my own and my friends'. I have all the equipment at home to do gel polishing so whenever my friends visit me overnight, I ask if I can do their nails :D

Random photo of my nails

2. Right now I have I have blue glitter-y nails (Harmony Gelish Holiday Party Blues) with some rhinestones to celebrate Finnish Independence Day, which was yesterday.

3. My grandpa turned 90 this summer and he is a Continuation War veteran, so Independence Day is extra special for him. He is extra special to us.

4. I'm really interested in genealogy, but don't really have time for it right now. My family tree spreads in Finland, Sweden, the United States and Canada. My husband's family tree is way more interesting though, not to mention our little man's. 

5. I've been told many times I look Swedish. I, on the other hand, think my high cheekbones look really Finnish!

6. My Swedish skills are extremely poor, I'd really like to brush up on them.

7. My health is a bit poor too, I really wish I was healthier :(

8. I live a rather healthy lifestyle tho, but sometimes it's not enough. I do think it makes a big difference though, things could definitely be worse!

9. This fall has been by far the busiest in my whole life: I work 40hrs a week and write two master's theses.

10. I try to spend as much time as I can with my family, so this blog has been a bit quiet lately. I hope to turn in my first thesis next month, which will be a huge relief.

11. I hope that by the end of next spring I'll be both Master of Arts and Master of Business Administration :)

And here are the answers, first to Pabe's questions (in Finnish):

1. Onko ollut hyvä päivä tänään? Mikä oli parasta?

Tanaan on kieltamatta ollut oikein hyva paiva :) Vietin aamupaivan ystavan kanssa ulkoillen ja iltapaivan perheen kanssa shoppailemassa. Illalla istuimme kaikki sohvalla ja rouskutimme kaikkien herkkua eli sipseja :D

2. Miten aiot viettää joulua?

Vietan joulua serkkuni luona, koko suku kokoontuu sinne.

3. Mitä odotat ensi vuodelta?

Enemman unta :D Kunhan saan ekan gradun alta, niin unitilanne korjaantuu huomattavasti.

4. Mikä on seuraava matkasi ja minne se suuntautuu?

Ensi kuussa menemme taas Tukholmaan ystavani luokse, kaymme siella noin joka toinen kuukausi.

5. Oletko hyvää pataa naapuriesi kanssa?

Itse asiassa, en ole tutustunut naapureihimme "heippaa" enempaa. Meilla on yksi yhteinen seina (paritalo) ja he ovat hyvin hiljaisia. Suomalaisia unelmanaapureita siis ;)

6. Missä uskot olevasi 5 -vuoden kuluttua elämässä?

Uskon asuvani Suomessa, ehka viimeistelemassa vaitoskirjaa.

7. Mitä asiaa kadut juuri nyt?

Kadun etten ostanut enempaa irttareita kaupasta, olen kohta jo syonyt koko pussin! :-)

8. Ketä haluaisit juuri nyt kiittää ja miksi?

Haluaisin kiittaa aitiani, en tieda ketaan parempaa, ihanampaa tai auttavaisempaa ihmista!

9. Mikä on ollut parasta tässä vuodessa?

Sain ihkaensimmaisen vakituisen tyopaikkani ja viela myohemmin palkankorotuksenkin :)

10. Tapaatko tehdä uuden vuoden lupauksia ja jos niin millaisia?

Kylla yleensa teen. Nyt aion luvata nukkua enemman ja vahentaa irttareiden syomista :D

11. Tykkäätkö blogihaasteista?

Kylla!

And then to Veera's questions:

What is your favorite weekday and why? Mikä on lempi viikonpäiväsi ja miksi? 

Saturday, because it's a day off from work, so I can sometimes sleep in and stay up late, since there's still Sunday :)

Describe your day with 3 words... Kuvaile päivääsi kolmella sanalla... 

Outdoors-y, sugar-y and lovely :)

Do you make New Year's resolutions? Teetkö uudenvuodenlupauksia? 

Yup, I do and I try to keep them too!

What is your favorite song right now? Mikä on lempi laulusi juuri nyt? 

Let it snow :)

Do you ever sing alone? Laulatko koskaan yksin? 

I sing all the time, alone too :-)

Do you have any guilty pleasures? Onko sinulla mitään "kiellettyjä" nautintoja? 

I eat a lot of candy!

What is the most memorable vacation you ever took? Mikä oli ikimuistoisin lomasi? 

I really can't pick one, they're all memorable!

Where would you like to travel next? Minne haluaisit matkustaa seuraavaksi? 

I'd really like to go to Peru.

What is your favorite sound in the world? Mikä on lempiäänesi maailmassa? 

Our lil man singing, he has a really cute voice!

If you were an animal it would be...? Jos olisit eläin, se olisi...?

Otter, cause they're adorable!

Your one wish for Santa? Yksi toivomus joulupukille?

Merry Christmas to all!

My super-random questions:

1.  Do you celebrate your birthday? If so, how?

2. If you could go back in time, which time period would you like to visit?

3. What's your favorite dish?

4. How many names (first, middle, last...) do you have?

5. What's your favorite dog breed? If you don't like dogs, you can skip this question ;)

6. Do you wear perfume? If so, which one are you wearing right now? 

7. Do you follow politics in your country of residence?

8. Which book did you read last/are reading right now?

9. What's the first thing that comes into your mind about the State of Nebraska? :)

10. Do you believe in ghosts, aliens, witches and/or leprechauns?

11. What's the funniest joke you've heard lately?

I'm going to challenge everyone with a blog, who haven't yet done this challenge to do so!

And I also challenge each and every one of you to answer my questions in my comment box :)

p.s Stay tuned for another Giveaway celebrating the 300th post of the current Sugar Antelope :)

Random Tuesdays 12/03/2013

University of Vermont campus, 2006.

Random Tuesdays 11/26/2013

Icicles on a window in Burlington, Vermont in 2008

Random Tuesdays 11/19/2013

Chicago, IL in 2008. 

Something non-Scottish for a change, view from the (then) Sears Tower :)

Random Tuesdays 11/12/2013

Stromeferry, West Highlands, Scotland in 2013

Random Tuesdays 11/05/2013

Eilean Donan Castle near Kyle Of Lochalsh, Scotland in 2013

Random Tuesdays 10/29/2013

Somewhere in the Scottish Highlands in 2013.

I'm posting these phone photos until I get our camera photos from Scotland sorted out, so bear with me :)

Random Tuesdays 10/22/2013

Loch Ness, Scotland in 2013.

No, we didn't see any monsters, but we sure did enjoy the view! :)

Immigration nightmare continues...

I've been meaning to write more about our immigration stuff, but nothing, absolutely nothing, has happened since my previous immigration related post, Immigration Limbo. It's now been over 5 months since we sent our petition and it hasn't even been looked at. Calls to USCIS have given us a variety of time estimates on how long it will take for them to approve our petition, the answers have usually ranged from a year to two years. So basically it could take about 2,5 years to get a spousal visa. USCIS customer service has been very inconsistent with their answers and their level of service has been extremely poor. Husband waited once almost two hours in line only to be disconnected. Lovely.

Ania approached me (as a blogger) on Facebook and asked if I could forward some info in my blog, so here it goes. I'm only copy/pasting this and have no further info in the matter. This is especially important for those who are in the same immigration limbo as we are:

"AS you probably know I-130 petitions are terribly backlogged. Also, Overland Park is not fully operational yet. That means that petitions have been piling up there since MAY.

Please, please read our VisaJourney forum thread. We are trying to make some noise and get noticed. 

We need our Letter to be viewed and commented on many times before we sent it Pres. Obama and others.

We need it to be posted all over FB, Twitter and wherever else 

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/459909-usc-green-card-petitioners-committee/

That being said, I am asking you if you'd be willing to post the Letter on your blog and on FB?

The processing times for I-130 are beyond ridiculous.

I-130 petitions have the lowest priority right now.

The link to The Letter is here uscgreencardpetitionerscommittee.blogspot.com"

Wishing everyone, whose visa process is going nowhere, much strength while we play this extremely annoying waiting game!

Random Tuesdays 10/15/2013

Head of Gudea of Lagash, Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 2006. 

Random tidbit; for my Bachelor of Arts degree, I had minor in Assyriology :)

Random Tuesdays 10/08/2013

Edinburgh Castle, Scotland in 2013.

We just got back (today actually) from Scotland, so I'll be posting more photos from our Scottish road-trip later this month :)

Random Tuesdays 10/01/2013

Townshend Dam, Vermont in 2006. 

It sure is green in the Green Mountain State! :)

Random Tuesdays 09/24/2013

Deer in the headlights without the headlights in Great Sand Dunes National Park, 

near Mosca, Colorado in 2009.

She just kept staring at me, so I took a photo :)