We have never had a TV in our home with Laura (except for a few times when we have stayed in our friends´ houses a few months), we have realized that we do not really need one.
But on the other hand, we do really enjoy good movies. So we came to the conclusion that we would have a projector in the living room, so it would double as our movie room. That way it is not a highly visible part of the furnishings, but rather just an empty wall painted in a gray, and a projector up in the ceiling.
 
The sound I hope to be able to set up with a discreet wireless system, but we could also prepare for a wired system during the build.
 
Now my job is to research what kind of projector and sound system to buy and which shade of gray (no pun intended!) to paint the wall with!
If anyone has any good insight for choosing the projector and/or sound system, let us know!

I know some might think that we don´t need it! And that is true, we do not need it, but we really enjoy a good sauna! And it is so relaxing, so we really want it.
 
Some things you need to know about us weird people from Finland, is that although Finland only has about 5,5 million inhabitants there is more than 2 million saunas.
Finns who have moved to almost any place in the world have been known to build saunas, sometimes the sauna is built before the actual house! The sauna in itself can look very different from other saunas; there are small saunas and big saunas, there are wooden heated saunas and there are electric saunas, there are also the smoke saunas (they are the best, although they are not that common).
On our trips we have build a tarp sauna in Jamaica and Canada, and realized how important it is to have the right kind of stones for the heat and löyly (the steam that comes from throwing water on the hot stones).
A sauna for a Finn is not luxury, as it might seem for people from other countries, but rather it is a big part of our culture.
 
Our plan is to build a wooden heated sauna, and we hope that someone from Finland who has built saunas before will come and help build it!
The sauna stove (kiuas in Finnish) is likely that we need to bring/ship it from Finland and it is probable that we would ship the stones at the same time (because most of the local stones are not suitable as sauna stones- we Finns are very peculiar about our saunas! :) )

I will start a little multi part series with details on the house.
I might have a guest writer appear at times (AKA my lovely wife).

The idea with these small detail descriptions is that you can follow along in how we think and what we are aiming to achieve with the building of our house. We hope that you will enjoy the process of getting to know the future Casa Sarajarvi.

I feel like every day I start to have a greater need for a bigger home, with the kids growing and getting more and more active, I need my own space to prepare for preaching’s and teaching, and just to study and also to relax.
One of the facts of being a missionary and actually enduring long term, is that you have a place where you recharge your batteries, and for us that is the real reason to have a home of our own. With all the small details that we are going to present to you during the coming posts!

Some people will ask us that question, since it will add on to the construction costs.
To elevate the house on pillars and to pour a concrete slab as a floor, with a structure in metal that supports it all, instead of just make the foundation directly on the ground will have it´s extra costs.
 
Today we had an experience that only strengthened our decision! It rained today, it was not the worst rain but it rained quite heavily. And we ended up with water inside our house, since the waters from the mountain/hill behind our house runs down towards all of the houses and in some cases in to the houses also.
We figured that with a raised house we will never have that happen to us, and that will help us to have a peace of mind during heavy rains (especially during the nights).

Finally the day has come, when we have the final (or almost) blueprints of our house!
We are excited about seeing the process going forward. Now we have to wait for the official approval from the right offices, and then start the process of preparing for the build.
We will need to look at the costs of making the foundation and septic tanks and so on, since those would be the first things to build.
Also preparing for the electric cables and anything that will come from underneath the house.
But right now I don´t want to think about all of that, just rejoice in the fact that we have some great drawing of the house, I hope you can rejoice with us!