What's on top of the hill?

Hey,

So it happened. We reached the new decade, 2020. By the last few weeks I've been full with work and traveling. So I'll have this short recap a little bit late.

Let's start with going through what heppened during the holidays. I spent the Christmas with my family in Finland for the first time in 4 years. I was planning to go there as soon as I would have the possibility. I couldn't have ended the year in a better way. I enjoyed my time with my niece and family in a snowy Finland, ate well, took a lot of sauna and shared some presents.

Niin se vain tapahtui! Saavutimme uuden vuosikymmenen. Viimeiset viikot olen ollut täynnä töitä, joten kerron vähän myöhässä loppuvuoden tapahtumat. Joulun vietin ensimmäistä kertaa Suomessa perheen kanssa 4 vuoden jälkeen. Tarkoitus oli mennä sinne heti kuin mahdollista. Vietin joulun oikein mainiosti perheen ja siskon tytön kanssa lumisessa Suomessa. 

Straight after my holidays I started to work in a new place. I found myself back in the retails with more responsilbilites. Since then it's been mainly work. The New Year we recieved together with my boyfriend and a group of friends. We didn't have a big party. Just us and good food, as we like the best.

Heti lomien jälkeen aloitin työt uudessa paikassa työskennellen loppu-ja alkuvuoden täysin. Löysin itseni taas muodin jälleenmyynnin puolelta, mutta tällä kertaa vastuullisemmasta roolista. Uusivuosi vietettiin yhdessä poikaystäväni ja kavereidemme kanssa. Ei pidetty mitään suuria juhlia, vaan söimme hyvin ja oltiin rauhallisesti. 

The first day of the year we had our first trip with the motorcycle. Accompanied by friends we went to the Garraf National Park to see a Buddist Temple which is located on top of a mountain in the the heart of Catalonia. How strange is that right? The place was such a dream for a photographer. I couldn't stop taking photos. Here are some of them.


Vuoden ensimmäisenä päivänä me tehtiin ensimmäinen retki moottoripyörällä. Mentiin Garrafin luonnonpuistoon, jonka päälle on rakennettu buddhalainen temppeli. Aika jännä löytää buddhalainen temppeli keskeltä Katalonian luontoa. 

The next bank holiday we went to Tona to see a church located on top of (another) hill. There we were able to see the whole glory of the village. The scenery looked like we were in Scotland. So I took some more photos. I couldn't leave anywhere without my camera anymore. The beauty is everywhere.

Seuraavana pyhäpäivänä me menimme Tonan kylään vierailemaan (taas) vuoren nyppylän päällä olevassa kirkossa. Kukkulan päältä näimme kylän koko komeudessaan. Näkymät olivat kuin Skotlannissa. Tämäkin paikka oli niin kuvuksellinen. En voisi mennä enää mihinkään ilman kameraa. 

Don't want to go through what happened in 2019 because that is already in the past and we can only look forward. In a nuttshell gotta say that the 2020 has had a kickass start. When I'm working like crazy I enjoy more of the free time I have. Right now I have one week off. Therefore this weekend we're going to another trip. Can you guess where we're going? One tip: It'll be a snowy place! Gonna talk more about it next time.

En halua käydä läpi mitä tapahtui 2019 vuonna, sillä se on jo menneisyyttä. 2020 on alkanut raketin lailla. Tehdessäni töitä hullun lailla nautin enemmän vapaa-ajasta. Tällä hetkellä minulla on lomaviikko. Siitä syystä lähdemme huomenna viikonloppureisuun. Siitä kertoilen seuraavalla kerralla enemmän. Arvaatko minne mennään? Ensimmäinen vihje: Kyseessä on luminen paikka. 

Hasta Luego!
xxx- millamartta

November Thoughts

Hey you,

It's almost the end of the year. Soon gotta do a recap about what has happened. Past few months have been complicated with it's ups and downs. These changes forced me to have a good look in the mirror and accept my faults as well as the way I've treated myself. These months have been a time of growing emotionally. I've become more aware of myself and others. I have been struggeling for a long time now of what I really want to do. Therefore I started to do things that I love in order to clear my head.

I've been doing yoga and boxing as well as taking photos. I got myself my first ever gig of photography while taking some pictures of a friend's nail salon opening party (you can see some of them on this post). I have to take care of myself first. I realised that I have to take risks and put myself out there. It's not easy as sometimes I rather stay in my comfort zone. When the comfort zone was taken away from me I had to become brave again. These months and the whole year has been about slowing down, learning to love myself and trust in the journey. As they say, nothing good comes easily. Luckily I'm Finnish and will always have that "sisu". I finally found a course that suits me well. I will start studying in January. Besides that I want to become better in photography. Next year is time to bring up the big guns.

I've been thinking about this whole social media scene. I have been in Instagram since the first years having now only few hundred followers. The reason I have Instagram is because I like to take photos and share them. One interesting thing that I've realised is that the photos I publish of myself get more likes than photos of landscapes i.e. This made me curious. The biggest influencers (who have most followers) in Instagram mainly share photos of themselves. Why is that?

My question to you my dear reader is:

• Why are you following an account X?
• Do you think that a selfie earns a like more than a travel photo i.e.? Why is that?
• Why do you want to follow a model X?
• What kind of account do you follow and why?

I  believe that we would have less mental issues and eating disorders without Instagram. Since the beginning of time there has been "an ideal body type" for women/men but now a days it's more out there. When I was a teenager I mainly compared myself to the other girls in my school not that much what I saw in the media. Today you can see these perfectly beautiful models in Instagram all day long.

Luckily today's body image is healthier than what we used to have in the 90's. What everybody should understand about the fashion industry is that models look like they do because it's their profession. It doesn't come easily. It's a lot of hard work. If you don't want to be a model you don't need to look like one. Of course this is not so clear when you're a 15 year old teenager. Luckily the new movement of body positivity is changing the game.

I believe that at some point the social media will fall. Social media brings so many good things as much as bad (i.e addiction to your phone and low selfesteem). It has been said many times but I say it again: What you see in Social Media is not real life! More and more girls are using lip and face fillers, lash extensions etc. This happens i.e. in my home country. I am not judging as I would love to have lash extensions and a microblading too. I just feel like to you need to do these changes out of love to yourself not hate.

Compared to Spain, where I live now, the trendy is to be natural. Catalan teenagers hardly use make up and they look stunning. I personally feel like I use too much make up compared to them. But what I've realised within these 27 years is that the most important thing is to do what you love, lots of exercise, water and a good diet. That takes you a long way already. I think learning to accept yourself the way you are is a journey of a lifetime. For some it comes easier than the others. I think they should teach more about psychology, understanding yourself and your emotions in high schools. It would also be good to be taught how to cope with stress on a daily basis. These are real issues that the thirth world countries are dealing with and these things affect everything you do in life. Love within is the answer for a good and a happy life. Cliche but true.

PS: I'm writing about these things because I had issues with my body image when I was younger. Sometimes I still struggle with that. I always thought that I was too muscular to be a teenager. Thankfully now a days that is "trendy". This is purely my personal opinion about social media a body image.

Photos by me of -Studio By LA Nails
Instagram: @studiobyla_nails

Next time more photos again!

xxx -millamartta

Free like a kite

Hello world!

Few Sundays ago we went to do some kite/wind surf in Castelldefels. I got a perfect opporunity to take my first action photos with my new Olympus. Here I'll present you few shots I took.

Muutama sunnuntai sitten me käytiin harjoittelemassa hieman leijalautailua Castelldefelsissä. Tämä oli täydellinen mahdollisuus itselleni harjoitella kuvien ottamista uudella Olympuksellani. Tässä muutamia otoksia. 

I would have so many more photos to choose from. But I believe it's better to cut it short. I hope you enjoyed these few shots from our beach day few weeks ago.

Minulla olisi niin paljon enmmän kuvia tältä päivältä, mutta parempi jättää se näihin muutamiin. Toivottavasti tykkäsit näistä otoksista. 

Gracias a Hermanos Wadskier por dejarme tomar y compartir estas fotos. 

Models: Cesar and Julio Wadskier Barco.


Untill the next time!
-millamartta