pics of the engagement are up; just click the finnish pics to the right. returning has been an interesting transition, especially trying to find employment for the few months i'm here. fortunately it looks like my old job will take me back and hopefully i'll be starting sometime next week. in the meantime i've been taking in my fill of college football [GO SC!!!] and remembering how much i love this sport; if you followed the last game at all then you'll know why all my finger nails are missing.
also, i'm training for the whisketown adventure race, which will give me something to do while i'm in so cal. this weeks training of 17m on the bike and 3 on foot wasn't too bad so the team of myself, loren palmer, ernie hernandez and my sis should be able to pull it off. leena will be here to witness our attempt at the race [which is in 4 weeks]. we got our work cut out for us as the race will be 10mile of running, 10 biking (all on trail) and 6 paddling all while navigating with map and compass.
right now i'm taking suggestions for a team name; apparently the name i picked has negative connotations (thanks aunt rocio and mark). as always feel free to leave any comments, check out the new pics and gimme a call or hit me up on facebook while i'm in town for the next few months.
'do work'

home sweet home

so i'm back now in sunny southern california; or it would be sunny if not for all the smoke that hangs in the air from the wild fires that's driving my allergies insane, but i suppose thats the least one can deal with when the real men are out there fighting them.
sorry for not posting anything over the past weeks but it has been quite a wild ride. alas, its been a long, tiring and fun filled journey back home. it began with my flight from helsinki to miami where i spent a day running around the city trying to fill a barrel of treats to have shipped for my mother's return to the island of dominica (enjoy ma!). next i flew to denver for a short trip with my sister where we walked all over denver and boulder and did a few short hikes in the rocky mountains. from here we again flew together to las vegas to meet up with dad and mom and freinds. after a few days we drove home where i was able to pack for a few hours before hitting the road for a freinds wedding in oregon. i dropped my sis off at her place in san francisco, stayed the night and shared dim sum for lunch before ensuing on my 10 hr drive up to salem [i highly recommend the drive from redding to oregon boarder on the 5 if you have yet to do it, the beauty gets me everytime].
oregon was great. it was amazingly fulfulling to hang out with great freinds and be a part of my freind steve's wedding. i made my way back to so cal with some friends and we cut away from the 5 to drive through and sleep in the redwoods, which was a great time despite how long and windy the 101 and highway1 are. and finally after 2 weeks i made it to good ol' covina early monday morning.
now that i'm home i feel slightly removed and relieved, but i have a mission. if you haven't received the news yet: leena and i are engaged! so i will be here in covina until january when i make the move out finland.
for now my mission is to find work and payoff the credit card and spend time with my beloved family and friends. thanks for tuning into this wild journey.
pics from a road trip to norway leena and i took [well, mostly leena] can be viewed if you click the 'finnish pics' to the right. engagement pics will be up soon. God bless you all