2 YEARS

"If there is no struggle, there is no progress." - Frederick Douglass

Let's start off with the good news. The blog is now two years old sooo... Happy birthday to us! It's amazing to think that I started this already two years ago. If you compare my first posts to my recent posts you definitely see the difference. My first posts were shorter, talked more about my recent week but now I'm focusing more on my feelings, thoughts and activities over a month period.
About the bad news now. I'm thinking about doing a pause with the blog because I really don't have the time to post regularly. I'm studying, I'm working hard. I don't want to start posting sh-t, I like to write long posts with over ten photos at least but these take a lot of time to make. Anyway, let's better continue to my recent activities. I'm not going to talk about my activities this time, I'll let the pictures present my doings.

@ my town's New Year party with Johanna

 I smile because I can

 With my fella Madis aka the mayor of Viljandi

Kristjan 20 (Vello 80)

Raiko 18 & lots of 8 pool lately 

Well. Like I said, I'm doing a small pause but I have an idea. I'm planning to go study abroad the following academic year (that's why I'm working so much too). I'm always up to new challenges and this might be my next one. I have my eyes on Mexico, USA, Canada and Spain. Good thing is then I finally can write about travelling like I've always wanted. My longest posts so far have been about my journeys in Austria and Hungary and that's so because I loved writing about my experience in a foreign country. That's my real passion I'd like to follow on this blog. And damn, life is a highway and I want the highway to be as long as possible crossing many borders. Also, Arctic Monkeys is back and Simple Session 18 starts tomorrow!

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Kasabian - Re-Wired

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The Final Grill & TB 2017

"First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you." - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Damn it, I wanted to write a post before the new year but I totally forgot.. But, f*ck it, let's do it the other way then - firstly, I'm going to share my wonderful Christmas period with you, secondly, you'll hear about my free time during the holiday a bit, thirdly, I'm going to tell you how I sent the past year by and finally, I'm summing up 2017 with my favorite posts and videos from that year.

If have you read my last post then you have some sense of what I have done in December mostly, right? Anyway, I spent my Christmas with my family, peacefully. It was something I needed, a rest. Furthermore, I realized that a theory which states that the older you get, the more pleased you'll be about getting socks as gifts from Santa is true. I got lots of these and at least they're practical.

My lil' bro working hard to get his presents

Well, about my free time now. My favorite band is Arctic Monkeys but as they still haven't released a new album, they aren't doing any live performances either. Some time ago, I discovered an Estonian band called The Boondocks who produce similar music to my favorite band - garage/indie rock to be more specific. When I found out they're going live in their hometown Parnu, I called some of my friends and we attended the event. It was rad! The feeling when you know most of the songs played live is fantastic because singing along at a concert makes you feel united with the performers.

The Boondocks - U and Me

There were some other sit-togethers which you can see on the following photos. The most unique one was the one when we decided to have a mid-winter BBQ - #paegrill. Anyway, the end of the year was fantastic.

#paegrill with Kermo, Pae, Lars, Kevin, Kaspar & Kaba 

@ Villa Mähma with Merili, Kristel, Kaido, Mark, Simon & Caspar

The last day of the year was lit! Merili invited some of our best friends over and we had a blast. We bought lots of trashy food because then it's maybe easier to start the "new year new me" thingy later. At first, we stayed at the house and then we went to the city center to see the fireworks and all the friends and acquaintances. I also made myself a promise that in 2018 I'm going to start working out again. Last year, this promise was fulfilled, this one is no different I hope.

Arctic Monkeys - From The Ritz To The Rubble

According to Spotify, the song mentioned above was the song I listened the most in 2017. I'm going to say that again that Arctic Monkeys is my favorite band but this was surprising even for me. But that wasn't all. I have my moods where I love to listen symphonies composed by Mozart or Beethoven but the thing is that three of their masterpieces made into my top list - I was amazed haha.
Well, about my activities that year.. I hadn't had traveled by myself before 2017. Thanks to Erasmus+ program and my university's organisation called BEST, I got the chance to do that. In spring, I visited Austria (#NOVACATION). The 7-day course on migration issues in Europe was amazing. I met many new people and even met up with one of them in autumn when I went to Hungary (TARARA). I attended a regional meeting of the Board of European Students of Technology there and this was an experience of a lifetime for sure.

For me, 2017 was a Year of Adventures!

And now the three favorite posts of mine that I promised to list here.

TOP 3 FAV POSTS

SCHOOL'S OUT

#NOVACATION

WKND 2K17

If I wanted to tell you simply what I did in 2017, it would go like that.
I finished high school. I started studying in university. I was a teacher for primary school students for a while. I organized a camp about programming and creating video games for children. I succeeded in two contests, failed in several. I tested my social skills as a salesman in summer. I visited Austria and Hungary. I had a lack of motivation to write the blog for some time. I attended the youth song and dance celebration. I got on Merili's nerves more than I should've. I found a new cool band called Kaleo. I attended some awesome events like WEEKEND festival and Simple Session. I turned freaking 20 already!

I don't have many videos from the past year but quality over quantity, right?

It's like a tradition to visit Simple Session every year for me, Mark, Härold, Simon and Kaido - ACED IT

My vlog in Hungary, it's my first vlog and I realized I don't really like filming myself - TARARA

A collection of clips and one of my favorite videos, filmed and edited by my good friend Mark - MOMENTS

Well, that's all - 2017 out, 2018 in!

Squads & Squats

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." - Oscar Wilde

I stayed in Tallinn for 5 days and it included attending the blog awards event, 3-days training course, seeing an old friend and meeting new ones. First of all, I'd like to thank all of you who voted. 404 votes isn't bad and if I had participated in an only-men category, I would've came 3rd. Unfortunately, I chose the category for newcomers where only the first place was recognized and I didn't qualify for that. Still, I'm a huge fan of the blogger who came first. Her name is Kadri-Ly and she's really inspiring because while she's fighting cancer she doesn't stop to pursue her dream to become a bikini fitness star. Go check her blog out in HERE! Furthermore, my very-very great friend Mariel obtained the youth blog award again (2 years in a row). You can check out the last year's post and also her blog (what she calls not fashion or fitness oriented..but it is). The event was great. We went there all together - Mariel, Kristel, Lotta, Kevin & I #squadgoals.

#blogsquad

 Mariel with her bodyguard

Enjoying drinks with Kevin

The following day, the others went home but I stayed in Tallinn and met up with Mery-Ly. Those who have been reading my blog for a while may know her from the post I wrote in last summer. We met at the media seminar I attended in August and now decided to catch up. We chatted about things going on in our lives lately, went to cinema and watched Wonder Woman (OK film but nothing special), attended a street food festival and somehow ended up doing maths (?!), wtf, right? :D I was really glad to see her.

Punishment 

Arctic Monkeys - One for the road

And the remaining 3 days I spent learning at a training course provided by the company I work for and arguing with my sister about feminism and veganism.
After I came back to my sweet hometown I had my first workdays, Mery-Ly came to visit me this time not the other way around and I attended my friend Kärt's birthday sauna party.

I squat one Mery-Ly, how about you?

Critical

"Sunset is still my favorite color, and rainbow is second." - Mattie Stepanek

As some of you might now, I'm keen on energy and economy topics. I like to dream of myself working in Tesla Inc. in future and I want to contribute to green energy technology because in 21st century humanity needs to change its behavior towards our planet. Otherwise, we will run out of fossil fuels, global warming deepens and the results of these two would be catastrophic.
Tesla Inc. is one of my favorite companies. I like how Elon Musk takes actual steps towards his dreams about future. Even though I have a huge passion for cars that aren't really environment-friendly, I find that the usage of these cars should be decreased. The point I wanted to reach here was that Tesla company is planning to build a few gigafactories around the world and there is a campaign in Estonia that tries to get Musk's attention. The name of the campaign is Tesla Country is Estonia and a week ago I attended an event where we discussed about positive and negative aspects of our country's suitability for the company's new factory. I'm not gonna go specific but in my view, building the gigafactory in here would be perfect FOR ME because therefore I would have a bigger chance working in Tesla Inc.

Me & mi hermana being critical about the discussion 

@Tehnopol

Furthermore, I've been working as a programming teacher with my classmate for primary school students in an NGO for a month or two now. Unfortunately, the NGO has a summer break same as schools but we want to continue with this work with Sander. Therefore, we decided to run a course on our own and currently most of my spare time goes on that. The job is great for me because I get to do something I like and at the same time give something to the youth.
However, everything isn't so perfect as it might seem so far. I had two running competitions coming up a few weeks ago I was ready for them, I was in shape. Well, what happened then? The first race, half of the distance ran and I was just behind the first three, I felt great but all of the sudden my nose started to bleed. I tried to continue but it just went worse and you have no idea how mad I was at myself when I had to forfeit the race. I've had this problem occurring in springtime because of my allergies for years now and I hate it. Because of that, I was removed from my school's representative team for the next race. F**king great, isn't it? Okay, enough of this negative crap. The exam time is actually quite easy. I was ready for worse but right now I've been playing basketball in school with my classmates more than done actual studying.

Trickshot by Kev

You should've seen the outcome of this

I need to recommend you a show which I recently watched - 13 reasons Why. It's quite viral right now and if you haven't seen it then just watch it. Brings a tear to your eye for sure.
I'm participating in a contest called EBA (Estonian Blog Awards). Make sure to give me a vote in HERE and wish me luck! Let's see how many true fans I got! ;)

1 YEAR

"Creativity takes courage." - Henri Matisse

Days are going by so fast and by now, I should've posted at least 2 posts. Well, I'm not gonna go into detail about what I've been up to lately because the post would be massive then.
I just returned home from Simple Session 17 in Tallinn. I'm going to share my impressions about the event in the next post because we just arrived and I'd like to rest at first.
There is one thing I forgot to mention in the previous post - my blog's birthday. My blog is now a year older and shows no signs of stopping. I know 1 year isn't much but it's still quite special I like to think.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LIFE IS A HIGHWAY BLOG!

Our folk dance group was reviewed the other day to see if we are ready to dance at the 12th Estonian youth song and dance celebration in the summer. That went well but can't say the same thing about my research work. I've worked so hard on my grades lately, I'm trying to get as many 5s as possible but the research work literally flew into pieces. Let's just hope that we can fix this with our group. Furthermore, because of Merili's huge love against animals, we've visited a local dog shelter a few times with her. It's heartwarming to see so many friendly faces in one place.

Two great buddies of mine

But going back to the school topic. As you know, I can't paint. I'm not talented but my art's teacher invited me and my friend Mark to pose for the artists of our school. We had to sit still for 1,5h and it wasn't an easy task to do. Can't wait to see the results tho!

@ art atelier

Like I said, this is only a short update post. Wait for the next one - #SIMPLESESSION17 !

TB 2016

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

So, the year has ended and it's already been a full week of 2017. 2016 was a good year. I finally understood that I'm a grown up and have to think about my future more and thanks to these thoughts, I kept myself busy and active by taking courses and studying. Even though my parents have said that I concentrate on my social life too much, I find it balanced - my grades are great and I do my chores at home regularly (in my opinion).

Educating myself at the media seminar I attended in August

But what I'm proud of the most is that I had the motivation and inspiration to start this blog. It's been almost a year now since I started it and I find it really great that I haven't stopped so far. The blog isn't popular but I somehow managed to get into the local newspaper Sakala and from time to time I get some positive feedback from my readers and damn it feels good when that happens.
I made many friends and aquintances this year but I realized the importance of close friends. It's good to have contacts but everyone needs to have someone to lean on or share impressions with. I'm glad that I have my best friends still surrounding me.

At our safehouse #SimpleSession16

With Kristel #summer

Joker with his Harley Quinn

Best moments of 2016 were mostly in the summer - work, Weekend Festival, media seminar, Folk festival, sauna nights with friends. Furthermore, Simple Session 16 was lit and we managed to took a picture with Courage Adams who is my favorite BMX rider. We're definately going to SS this year too. There were many more cool activities and events that I can re-experience by reading my blog.

#SimpleSession16

For me, 2016 was a Year of Self-improvement

Furthermore, I'm going to list my top 3 favorite posts of my blog and a few videos which I haven't posted in here yet.

TOP 3 FAV POSTS

TIGER

ONE ROOM

SMILE

So many memories, so many thoughts. These were the posts I like the most but for example Weekend Festival was also unforgettable but the post should've been written better. I just didn't have enough time to focus on writing the post about the festival at the media seminar. To fulfill the potential on describing my moments and memories, I have some videos of the past year.

Weekend Festival VLOG with Mariel Pähkel

HOME ALONE - FC Hälvikud

A video with Mariel, Kristel and Karlis; related post - Savage

2K16 SNAPS

Disparate Youth

"The purpose of life is a life of purpose." - Robert Byrne

We definitely aren't all the same. I feel like I'm weird, different from all the others. It's been hard to wrap my head around the fact that I might leave my family soon and go to university. I have so many thoughts in my head that I think it's going to explode.
First of all, if I really want to travel the world, the first step would be to study abroad but I'm scared of the thought that I might fail. There are so many risks included with studying in England for example althrough many have said, if I really want to do it I will cope with it. Some of my friends have asked, why am I writing my blog in English when most of my readers are Estonian. I'm not really sure but the most influential bullet point about why my blog is in English is that I want to improve my grammar and vocabulary. I know my language skills have to improve if I want to study somewhere else than Estonia, so I think I'm taking the right steps towards my goal right now, aren't I?

Diesel

Secondly, I can't just write everything in here - it's a public blog so some things have to stay private. The problem with that is that as I consider myself a really open and sincere person, I need to express my feelings with other people. Through that I'm often too much talking about myself and not listening to others. For example, when I see my best friends, I talk about all the things I've done and I see how they really don't care about the s*** coming out of my mouth (Sorry about the language). I might be overreacting but that's what my pessimistic side sees. You see? I'm talking about myself, again.
Now you saw some of my negative thoughts, I hope I didn't ruin your mood. There are some good things too - I'm happy that I have some friends who sometimes mention my blog and want to be in it and it really warms my heart. I've been also doing some designwork lately and designed a notebook for myself and you'll see it soon, I promise. I'm still trying to create a new look for the blog but it's really depressing because I want it to look perfect.
Finally, I'd like to thank two of the most important people in my world currently - Mark and Marga. The pictures above are also taken by them.

With Mark

Santigold - Disparate Youth

Wooden leg

"I don't love studying. I hate studying. I like learning. Learning is beautiful." - Natalie Portman

It's been a while again. I haven't been able to make a post because I've been really busy studying and organizing an equestrian competition with two of my schoolmates. I'm going to write about the event in the next post because we haven't got photos of the contest from the photographer yet. Anyway, pretty much everything in school goes quite well right now, actually it went until now. My average grade right now is 5.0 - a mathematics test, a biology presentation and a laboratory work of chemistry, all went really fine. But today, just before I started making this post, I had to do an English test. Let's just say it went south. It was one of the hardest English tests I've ever had - the vocabulary and structures of the clauses there were horrifyingly difficult. Now I find my dream of studying abroad ridiculous.
Found the following poem when I was helping Merili with physics at her place. Not a fan of poetry but this one's golden.

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kui mõte on vaimutoit

siis tasub eelkõige

mõelda taimedest

kaladest ja lindudest

inimestest mõtlemine

on kannibalism

- Margo Vaino, 100%

I'm sure that my English isn't good enough to translate it as perfectly as it's written in Estonian

Talking about my dancing experience so far: folk dancing lessons have been hard for me because I've never danced folk before and Margaret is giving me a hard time due that, social dancing is thankfully something that I'm quite familiar with, also because Margaret couldn't come to dance with me in that class, I'm dancing with Liisa instead. But what can I do, they're both better dancers than I am. A characteristic word which Marga described my dancing skill with was "puujalg" (in En. "wooden leg") - that's how "great" I am. x)

Busy with dancing (Ingrid & Margaret on the pic), jogging till I'm breathless (like you can see on the picture) and spending time with my bro

I only have one thought that I want to share with you left. So far, I've been using this blog to impress my optimistic and positive side. I have a Twitter account in Estonian to show that my life isn't really that fun and great as it seems from the blog, I want people to understand it. I like to write about the good things happening in my life, it's like I re-experience them. That's all, have a good day! :)

A song which describes my current mood perfectly

The Black Keys - Lonely Boy

Proud

"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life." - Muhammad Ali

It's been a long time since the last post but I've been keeping myself really busy lately and the blog can't catch up yet :D. I was in a camp for 5 days last week but I haven't got the pictures of the camp yet so I'm waiting until the photographer sends me the pics and then I'm going to make a HUGE post about it. The camp was spectacular!

Dimitri Payet 8

But now let's talk about what has happened lately after I came home from the camp. I've been studying a lot because tomorrow I have a physics exam - I'm scared, I'm nervous, I'm frightened. I can't study properly because UEFA EURO 2016 has begun and I want to watch this too. Need to support France and England. :D After the school is over, I'm going to work for a month.

Also, my really good blogger friend Mariel just won the Estonian Youth Blog 2016 award and I'm really proud of her. She has been blogging for many years now and she deserves the award 100%. Go check her blog out! She told me that next year we'll go to the blog awards ceremony together - #squadgoals.


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Talking about more sad stuff then the boxing legend Muhammad Ali recently passed away. He's one of those persons who make me want to live in 60's, 70's and 80's - decades what many people call golden. He is the greatest of all time. Rest in peace, champ!

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." - Muhammad Ali