Ian and Milly's Wedding

Okay, so I think this is the last entry as catch-up from my time in Alaska :) I ended up staying in Alaska a couple weeks more than I had originally planned. The reason? My cousin Ian announced he was getting married! And the wedding date was only 11 days after I was scheduled to leave. Well I certainly couldn't justify leaving! Especially considering that I was working for a company in Alaska that wouldn't mind my presence a little longer :) So I gladly changed my ticket!

Ian and Milly's wedding was very nice. Their marriage was a joining of two families as well - Ian's two boys, Jaden and Elliot, and Milly's daughter, Imani. The day itself was gorgeous, which was nice, especially because the ceremony was outside! The ceremony was on the lookout at Flattop mountain, overlooking the city of Anchorage. After the ceremony (which, believe it or not, was actually almost all just family!), the reception was at the Baha'i Center. There was quite the spread, and there was also an open mic. An open mic is not daunting to our family :) We were soon singing up a storm, which was lots of fun.

Please feel free to take a look at more photos from Ian and Milly's wedding. They had at least 5 people taking photos that day, so there was easily over 1,000 shots to choose from... I narrowed it down to about 60 :)

Congratulations Milly and Ian!!!

Go Elizabeth!!!

This morning I had the pleasure of dropping off my friend Elizabeth for the Breast Cancer 3-day walk, which I mentioned she was doing in a previous email. It made an early morning, setting out before the sun had even started to rise, but it was great fun driving out to the starting point, getting a chance to talk and catch up, and also giving me a chance to see her and her friend embark on their adventure. They are walking 3 days, and they have raised a substantial amount of money--Elizabeth met her goal of $2,200!!!

Way to go Elizabeth!!!

The most amazing weekend....

So this last weekend I traveled about 2 hours outside of the Twin Cities to a summer camp near Onaimia, Minnesota. A Baha'i summer school was happening, and I was able to go for an extended weekend, driving out Friday morning.

I had SO much fun! The summer school was set up as a get together for people in the area - I met people from Minnesota, naturally, but also South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois... and even someone all the way from Oregon! It's a family event, so there were programs planned for all ages. I was in the adult classes that focused on a couple different topics, including true encouragement and how all the religions really come down to one common faith. There were some very interesting discussions and presentations!

When we weren't in classes, we were socializing with everyone. There were a lot of youth at the camp, and many of them had been in youth study classes during the year that I went to as well - so during breaks for meals and such, I was soaking up as much time with them as I could. I love you guys so much!!!

We also had a talent show Saturday night which was loads of fun - there were participants of all ages involved, which was cool. After the talent show was a dance, and it was soooo much fun to dance. Even though I didn't get to the gym that weekend, the dancing definitely counted as a workout - my feet were cramping by the end, I had been dancing so much!

The only down side is that the weather over the weekend was pretty wet and chilly - so there was no jumping in a lake for me! But the lake was absolutely gorgeous, so at least it was pretty to look at :)

I didn't take any pictures, because I was enjoying myself too much, and I'm horrible about taking photos when I'm "in the moment." But the whole weekend was a blast, and it was such a wonderful chance to get to know lots of people on a deeper level than just in passing. Hooray for summer schools!

The blur that was June

Okay, so I've had it on my list of things to do to share some photos with you guys! It's just been a little crazy :) Although not as crazy as my month of June in Alaska! Seriously, when I think of June, I cannot believe that I came out the other end - and successfully as well!

Pretty much every bit of every day I was involved in something. I was either working, rehearsing (Renaissance Fair, New York plays, Valdez play), performing (the three things mentioned in rehearsals), sleeping, and sometimes eating :) Oh, and sometimes seeing my family as well :)

Okay, so I shared some photos from New York, but I wanted to share a few photos from Valdez! I had sooooo much fun in Valdez. The full length production that we brought down is called "The Head That Wouldn't Die"... and boy is it a comedy! We all had trouble not laughing at what was happening in rehearsals, long after the time when most shows stop being funny to the actors and they can focus on what they're doing. Heck, there was stuff I wanted to laugh at during our performance! It is such a funny play! It was really well received, and we had a wonderful audience that just went with us for the entire show. It was such a success, that it looks like we might possibly remount the show next summer... boy was it fun :)

The photo at the top of this entry is from that show, but I'm also including a link for more photos here. From that link you can view all the wonderful antics of being in Valdez for the Theatre Conference, whether it's readings of new plays, workshops, or dance-offs in the classroom at night, all was lots of fun. There are also some photos from the final Gala celebration, and of course, photos from our production of "The Head That Wouldn't Die". Enjoy! I just wanted to give a shout out to TBA Theatre, because they were the ones that made all of my blurry month of June possible, and I love everyone there! And while I'm at it, I should also thank my family for being so patient with me too - I love and miss you so much!

We're okay

Dear friends,

I just wanted to post a quick message to let people know that Shelly and I are okay. Neither of us were on the bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis. Thank you for your calls of concern.

I would just like to share a portion of a prayer for those who lost their lives by this terrible accident:

...O my Lord! Purify them from trespasses, dispel their sorrows, and change their darkness into light. Cause them to enter the garden of happiness, cleanse them with the most pure water, and grant them to behold Thy splendors on the loftiest mount. -- 'Abdu'l-Baha