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Highlights of 2022

January

Kuopion torilla Puijo Kuopio Hotellin altaalla

The year 2022 started off with our little trip to Kuopio, a Finnish town famous for its large market square and kalakukko, a traditional fish baked inside a loaf of bread. Despite the freezing weather and corona restrictions in Kuopio (you weren’t allowed to serve alcohol after 5 pm), we had a lovely time exploring this Eastern Finnish town.

Our travels continued from Kuopio’s chilling temperatures to Tenerife’s warmth. In Tenerife, we visited Teide’s national park, went on a tour around the island and just took it easy by the pool. The first trimester of my pregnancy was behind and I was feeling great. We got back our private NIPT test results and found out that we were having a healthy baby boy!

February

Vohvelikahvila

Old town Malmö

Lilla torg

Lilla Torg in Malmö, Sweden.

In February, we travelled to Isak’s home town, Karlshamn. I took time off from uni, didn’t work much and totally dive deep into the bliss of doing nothing. Well, I did something – visited Malmö for the first time!

Isak and I had received bad news about layoffs in January but our luck turned in February. Isak started his new job at the beginning of March and I started mine two weeks later. His new job turned out to be better than the old one, so sometimes when one door closes, a new better one opens!

March

In March I begin my work at a lovely chocolate shop located in my home town Tampere (Check out Tallipihan Suklaapuoti if you are ever in the area). I adore the place! Well, who wouldn’t want to work around chocolates and other sweets?!

In March we celebrated Isak’s birthday and reached the midpoint of the pregnancy. My belly started to show a bit and it was difficult to find fitting clothes anymore.

April

Around Easter, we visited Riga in Latvia and Vilnius in Lithuania. I was still feeling pretty fine but having occasional back aches. Maybe that’s why I can remember being so stuffed with food throughout our trip because I needed to take lunch, snack and coffee breaks every 2 hours.

Read more: 9 tips for travelling while pregnant

In April my work took me to Helsinki for the annual Chocolate and Ice-Cream Carnival. Four long days of working felt a bit heavy but luckily my lovely colleagues gave me a bunch of energy. It’s so weird to think that this was the first time not wearing a mask in public!

May

May was a special month because we bought our first apartment! I’ve been renting for my entire life but now with a baby on the way, it felt like the right time to make this big investment. Our offer got accepted and we received the keys to our flat in July. Besides home hunting, I just worked and began to study Italian.

June

In June I had my baby shower and started my maternity leave (in Finland you start 30 days before your due date). We also had a lot of baby / birthing courses both in Finnish and Swedish. I felt so lucky to live in a country where I get all these and my health checkups for free.

July

We took it really chill in July. It was hot (like +25 degrees which is HOT in Finland) and I felt so heavy and huge. We visited Turku’s medieval market and a small town called Naantali. At this point, sitting for two hours in a car was already so painful that this trip felt exhausting.

August

Lillan-aamiainen-arvostelu

I celebrated my 35th birthday in August. We had a lovely breakfast at Hotel Lillan. I can really recommend the place for anyone wanting a bit elevated breakfast experience in a peaceful environment.

Apparently, I had still some energy to go to the gym with my big belly. Not for long, though, because our little boy decided to come into this world on the 10th of August (after being 4 days in delivery!). Time truly flies once you have a baby. When I’m writing this, he is already over 5 months and the most gorgeous little goofball I could ever imagine.

September

We just stayed at home in September and learned parenting 1.0, haha! Well, we also got visitors from Sweden, when Isak’s parents came to meet their grandson.

October

Karmiva karnevaali Särkänniemi sisäänkäynti Särkänniemi esitys

October was a pretty uneventful month. We went to a local amusement park, Särkänniemi and spent several days at my dad’s place. I restarted my gym routine and tried to get a bit of own time every week.

November

In November we left for Tallinn for 5 days. This was our first trip overseas as a family. Travelling by boat with a baby was surprisingly hassle-free. We had our car with us and booked an apartment hotel with a fully equipped kitchen that was a total lifesaver. Isak is working 100 % from distance, which allows us to travel as much as we want – almost at least. It was so nice to get a change of scenery and spend hours in Tallinn’s cute little cafes and restaurants.

December

I took some work shifts in December, which was so refreshing after staying so many months at home with a baby. In Christmas week, we flew from Tampere to Copenhagen, from which we continued to Karlshamn, Sweden. I got to experience Swedish Christmas with Jansson’s casserole, herring and the legendary Kalle Anka show.

We welcomed the new year at Isak’s childhood home, where we are staying still this week. After that, it’s time to return to Finland.

Thank you 2022. You have been the most memorable year.

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