You will have many friends when you need them

So I haven't posted to my blog in quite a while. It's been a bit of a whirlwind, to say the least :) But just the other day I had a fortune cookie with the title of this blog entry as my fortune, and it compelled me to write.

One thing that I have been conspicuously quiet about on this blog was a relationship that I was in. And I intend to continue being quiet about it, except to mention that I was in a relationship, and now I'm not. Because I'm very aware of what I share on this blog, this wasn't something that I wanted to write about. But when it's the thing forefront in your mind, it's kind of hard to write about anything else. I would feel kind of phony. But it has now moved from the forefront of my thought, and much of that had to do with the many friends I have when I need them (and probably when I don't, either--they're just that good!).

So now I can move on :)

So, last time I checked in, I was still in Israel. Much has happened since! I returned home to Anchorage and hit the ground running. Well... almost running. For some reason, jet lag hit me pretty bad this time. I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that because of shuttle schedules I had to spend the night in the Tel Aviv airport before I ever even got on a flight. I was a bit tired, and then the light of Alaska at night was playing all sorts of tricks with my head :) I now know what it's like for people to experience an Alaskan summer for the first time... yay for me?

I was able to kick it with my friends in a Renaissance Fair for one weekend, which was a joy. I was then able to travel down to Valdez, Alaska, for another installment of the Last Frontier Theater Conference. Initially I thought that I might start a job right away, and so when I was able to go, I was particularly happy. It did not disappoint. I really love this conference, and I love the road trip down there and back. It is so much fun.

Right when I got back we jumped into rehearsals for The Head That Wouldn't Die. This is a play that I performed in at the theater conference in Valdez last summer, but this time around we were doing a full run of the show. We got some pretty good press on it. In fact, here are some links:

Anchorage Daily News Review of Show

Anchorage Daily News Article Featuring the Show
Stage Talk Radio Interview with me and Elle

I absolutely LOVE this play. It is so full of comic gems that every night it was fun to try and get it pitch perfect in timing and delivery. And I just absolutely loved the character of Penny who I got to play. While I was happy to get my life back after this run was over, I was sad to stop performing the show. I really love it. And the playwright, Rand Higbee, came up from Minnesota for a weekend of the shows--I think it's pretty cool that he wanted to come up and see us do his show again (he had seen the original performance in Valdez).

And now I'm settling into day-to-day life :) I'm working for a small IT company here in Anchorage, and I am having a blast. I'm living with one of my bestest friends, Megan, and so I luck out once again with a rockin' roommate (Shelly being previous, who I still miss!). And lots of hanging out with friends, Olympic watching and Wii playing.

Yeah, life is good :) It's nice knowing I have many friends when I need them :)

My beautiful friend Megan

Dear world,

I thought you should know about a special person on this planet, in case you ever have the bounty of knowing her. Her name is Megan, and she's my friend :)



Megan is a great friend. I feel like I don't deserve such a great friend. She is one of the most selfless people that I know. She always wants to help people out. World, she sacrifices sleep for this! Precious sleep!

As a case study for your review, world, I present this situation: I was living in Minnesota, and Megan was living in Alaska. Both of us met up with 28 of our friends for a cruise, so we both flew down to Florida. After the cruise, she then (I kid you NOT!) flew back up to Anchorage, worked three days, and then flew overnight from Alaska to Minnesota. I picked her up from the airport as the sun was rising (barely), and then she got in a car with me for over 12 hours! And then, if that wasn't enough, had 4 more days like that as we drove across Canada to move my stuff back to Alaska. Oh, and did I mention there were snow/wind storms? Oh, and did I mention that she used vacation time for this? Oh, and did I mention she used her own airline miles to pay for her flight down? Unbelievable.



You would think this one story was an outrageous, extreme example of Megan's generosity and service to her friends. But trust me, it's not. I could go on, and on, and on. And it's not like I'm anything special--I mean, we're really good friends, and she makes me feel special, but the way she acts is because that's HER! She is like this with everyone in her life. She simply amazes me.

She's also very cool :)



So, today is Megan's birthday. I'm so grateful you were born at this time. I'm so lucky to know you, and I'm so happy that we will get to live together when I'm back in Alaska! I mean, come on world! Aren't you jealous that I get to spend my time with this incredible woman?




Thankfully,
Megan's friend Lindsay

Hey look! I'm famous!

Even though I haven't set foot in Australia...

Australia Bahá'í History

Thanks Marjon for sending me the link (she's the one just below me on the right)! And hopefully I get to visit Oz sometime in this life of mine :)

It's been snowing in Alaska...

...and this is what I have here:


Not too shabby :) I have about 7 weeks left in Haifa, and while I desperately miss home, I'm trying to stop and smell the flowers too :)

Camping at Jordan River Park

This past weekend I had a wonderful opportunity to get out of the city and into some nature... so nice :) We went out to the Jordan River Park, which is close to Lake Tiberius. It was a quick camping trip, as we only stayed one night, but it was so much fun!

We arrived late afternoon on Friday, set up camp, and proceeded to get our dinner Feast ready. This camping trip had one component that I was all for--eating our way through the entire time :) We had gathered plenty of wood to keep our fire going that night, and pretty soon it was time for bed... and for the jackals to come out :)

At least I think it was jackals :) I never technically got out of my tent to check it out... because I'm SANE! For the record, jackals are actually pretty skittish of humans, so I doubt there would be any harm, but I woke up in the middle of the night, and I'm unsure why I did. But a few minutes later, something brushed up along my tent right by my HEAD! Needless to say, I was wide awake at that point, and the only one in my tent... so I lay there for a while, and a little later I could hear a jackal howl in the distance. Nothing more came by my tent (that I know of) and I proceeded to fall back asleep. I think I even convinced myself that it was one of my friends walking their dog, or something like that. But that theory was debunked in the morning, so I'm convinced I had a close call run-in with a jackal. That just sounds cool and dramatic :)

ANYway! Our full day on Saturday was a blast. We had a great breakfast (following our tradition of good food) and then a group of us decided to trek down the river IN the river. It was a lot of fun, and there was much mischief of some of the people on our trek in convincing others of snakes and the like, which made it that much more amusing. After we had packed up camp, we went to Susita, which is an old fort on a mountain that has been excavated. It's fascinating to see the columns and ruins of this old place. We stopped by a Baha'i cemetery that was on the way back that I had never visited before, and we said some prayers. Then we drove back to Haifa, plenty satisfied from our adventure. Enjoy the pictures!

Where I Work

I just wanted to share a photo of where I work. This is the Seat of the Universal House of Justice. I work on the top floor, which you actually can't see in this picture. But it's a pretty spectacular place to walk into each day :)

A New Beginning

Hello! Obviously I've been a little absent from this blog :) I've had more than a couple polite reminders. I have plenty of excuses, but I think ultimately, I just wasn't drawn to post for a while. After all, I never want this blog to be something of a burden, to me or my friends :)

Nevertheless, I now feel compelled to write. The Bahá'í World has just welcomed in the New Year, and I wanted to check in :)

I've been working in Haifa since the middle of January. I've been quite busy, but I'm really having a good time. I'm here until the end of May, and I am quickly realizing that if I blink too slowly, this could all be over sooner than I expect. So I'm trying to enjoy each day and live in the present.

The weather here is drastically different from Anchorage at the moment. It's strange to think that we were in the high 80's today, and that Anchorage... well, wasn't :) Here are a few pictures I took over the weekend, at both the Naw-Rúz (New Year) celebration, out at Bahjí (where the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh is), and walking down the terrace gardens below the Shrine of the Báb on my way home.

So far so great!

Hello! I'm just about finished with my first week of work here in Israel, so I thought it was an appropriate time to check in. There has been so much that I wanted to share, particularly about my pilgrimage. But I also feel like I'm still processing things. I think my goal is to maybe share some photos and quick summaries of the places I visited while on pilgrimage, particularly for those not familiar with the area. So hopefully I get around to that soon.

Anyway, life is good :) I've settled into my apartment (I'm living with my friend Shaghayegh, for those who know her), and like I said, I'm almost finished with my first week of work. I really just dived in! But I was really excited about it too. It's strange being back in a work environment that is so familiar to me, yet so many of the people around me are different. But there are some familiar faces in the crowd, and I'm meeting also sorts of wonderful people.

So that's it! I hope all are well. And I promise to do better at keeping in touch :)

In Israel

My brother and I have made it safe to Israel! Our luggage... well, that's another story :) But it will be delivered to our hotel by tomorrow morning, so all is well - it's a good thing our mom taught us to have extra clothes in our carry-ons :)

So our travel was pleasantly not challenging :) We had a long layover in Chicago, so we took advantage of the time and went to see the Baha'i Temple for the the North American continent, which is located there. It was a really nice way to pass the time, and it was great to get out of an airport for a while.

Currently I'm sitting in the airport in Tel Aviv. We'll be heading into Haifa tonight, so we're just killing a little time before catching a shuttle. It feels great to be here, and I'm glad that we didn't get stuck somewhere along the way :)

Colin and I will be on Pilgrimage for 9 days. I don't know if I'll be updating my blog during that time or not - I'll be sure to share some pictures at some point though.

I'm already missing you guys from home - I have a feeling that will be the case for the whole 5 months that I'm here. But I'm also really looking forward to all the adventures to come and to seeing friends here in Israel.

Shabat Shalom!

Home Sweet Home

Hi everyone! This is just a quick note to let you know that I have made it safe and sound to Anchorage. I have my friend Megan to thank for flying down to Minnesota and driving back with me. It was so nice driving with her, and she kept me in good spirits... even though I hogged so much of the driving :) I love you very much Megan!

It's nice to be home for Thanksgiving. As I write this, the tasty aroma of all the Thanksgiving food is wafting through the house. I don't think it's totally hit me that I'm home yet... it's strange to be home, only to turn around and leave for Israel for 5 months. But I'm happy to be here... I have been smothered with dogs, so it's a good day.

I think the thing I miss most of all in Minnesota is my Aunt Shelly. We got to talk on the phone today, and it made me miss her even more. We created a very nice home in Minnesota, and I will always miss this chapter. But for now, new chapters are opening :) G, you know I love you!

So I'll write more about the road trip later and include some pictures as well. For now, I'm on mashed potato duty, so I better go get to mashing. For those who celebrate, Happy Thanksgiving! May you have as much to be thankful for as I do :)

Squinchy Ball

We are safely in Fort Nelson. We went to dinner at a place recommended by the hotel manager, and as we arrived, there was this banging we could hear from inside. I commented to Megan that it sounded like a bowling alley. We were amused, I even laughed at the thing that "sounds like a bowling alley, but I'm sure it's not a bowling alley." We walk into the restaurant... and there's the bowling alley - awesome! But it was only 5 pin bowling, which the waitress said didn't have a separate name. So I've named it squinchy ball - start circulating the term people :) It will be all the rage, I'm sure :)

Okay, we're exhausted, but on schedule! Good night for now!

Lindsay and Megan :)

Oh Canada!

Well, it didn't seem like it was going to be possible, but somehow everything fell into place for me to leave Minnesota the actual day planned :) I can't believe it... It still hasn't totally hit me that I'm not going back, that this is not just a visit.

So, my friend Megan flew down from Alaska and is helping me on the trek back to Anchorage. We are currently in Edmonton, Alberta. This means that so far, we have been in two US states (Minnesota and North Dakota), and three Canadian provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta). So far the roads have been pretty good. We ran into an area where there was some slushy snow on the road, since the winds were high and they hadn't cleared that section. But other than that, we've had clear roads so far... wish us luck with the rest of the trek!

Our first night we were able to stay with a friend of mine from the Bahá'í World Centre, Ailsa, and her family. It was so nice! I got to meet her daughter Aleta and husband Dale for the first time, and it was really nice have a visit, even if it was short! Thanks for letting us stay!


We're on to Fort Nelson, BC, tonight, where we've been promised wireless as well - so hopefully I can get another update in.

Ciao for now,
Lindsay

Western Caribbean... here we come!

As I have no idea if I'll have internet access on the cruise ship, I thought I would send a quick note before leaving.

There are 30 of us going on this cruise. THIRTY! We had some surprise additions to the trip to make a nice even number. It really is great to see everyone. We started to trickle into the Orlando airport in the afternoon, and when the flood of remaining friends arrived, we were most definitely a site to be seen. Luggage alone...


Thank goodness, people in the group had the foresight to plan a shuttle for all of us to ride to Cape Canaveral. I can only imagine how crazy it would have been otherwise. But with such a huge group, we filled a bus... it was awesome...



We stayed the night in a hotel with a great pool and sleep number beds... pretty darn swell :) And about noon today we will be heading over to the port.

Ciao!

In a bit of a panic...

Well, if I didn't feel the time crunch before, I certainly feel it now! When I realized that I have only 7 days left in Saint Paul, this sent my mind reeling! I kind of have a lot to do before then...

I'm currently sitting in the Purple Onion café in Dinkytown (part of Minneapolis), using their wireless to work (and blog, apparently) while my car gets the front brake pads replaced. Considering that I had the whole car checked out in preparation for my road trip up to Alaska, I am extremely lucky that I didn't need more work done on the car. So at least I'm checking something off my list.

But boy, do I have a lot more...

So I'm working through Thursday, and then I am off from work until after Thanksgiving. But here's the run-down:

I leave on Friday for a Western Caribbean cruise with 26 of my friends. I am SOOOOOOOO looking forward to this! But I need to be really adept in my packing for this cruise, because I'm sending suitcases back with some friends. This times out beautifully for getting my clothes and such up to Alaska. My friend Megan is even going to bring my violin back as a carry-on—how nice is that? So my first priority is to make sure I have everything that I need for my cruise, and then filling the rest of the space with clothes and such that I want to return to Alaska... I also need to find someone who has a scale I can borrow to make sure my bags are within weight restrictions...

Meanwhile, I'm still in the mindset of how the heck am I'm going to fit the rest of my stuff in my car. I'm going to have 4 days between the cruise and hitting the road, and in reality, most of the work of stuffing my car will go on during this time. I just have no idea how things are really going to fit. I've given stuff to goodwill, sold some other things, but then the fitting of everything else into the puzzle piece of my car is going to be the challenge. The good thing is that there is not tons of stuff that I would cry if I had to leave behind... I just want to be economical and try to not have to replace things when I'm up in Alaska. All I'm saying, is that goodwill might end up with some pretty good things :)

Okay, I've got to get back to work, finishing some things before I take off all this time, so that I can truly enjoy the time off without feeling like I left some things hanging. Sorry, this post ended up being pretty boring. I guess it was more therapeutic for me, figuring out what all I need to do before leaving. So if you got this far, you're awfully sweet!

Ciao for now,
Lindsay

Life Changes

So I have a bit of news :)

As many of you reading this know, I served at the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa, Israel, for 2 and 1/2 years. I loved my time there, and I've missed it many times over. So how fitting, that in the month of September, the month I left Israel in 2004, I find out that I have been invited to serve again at the Baha'i World Centre! This time will be for a shorter period, from January until May, and I will be helping out in my old office. I'm so excited!!!

That being said, this news brought on another life change. I am moving back to Alaska. I have loved living in Minnesota, and the thought of leaving so many friends here makes me sad, but ultimately I am really excited to be moving back to Alaska. It's where my family is, and it seems to be the place that I left my heart. Heck, those who know me here in Minnesota know that I can never stop talking about Alaska :)

Prior to my news of going to Haifa, I was already pretty sure I was going to move back to Anchorage at the beginning of next summer. Since now I will be in Haifa until the beginning of next summer, I've decided to move my belongings back to Anchorage beforehand. Which means my time in Minnesota is short. My friend Megan is going to fly down from Anchorage and drive back with me, and we'll be hitting the road mid-November. This will afford me a month at home with family and friends before my brother and I head over for our Baha'i Pilgrimage and then I stay on for my service.

I'm a whole ball of emotions. Mostly I'm very happy, but of course I'll miss being in Minnesota. It has become another home to me, so I'm sure I'll be back to visit... there better be some couches I can crash on!

On a completely separate note, it has been pointed out that my blog title could be sung to the tune from Smurfs. I leave you with that :)

Shelly and Lindsay go to the Fair

Once upon a time, there were two girls, Shelly and Lindsay, who went to the Minnesota State Fair:



Upon entering the fairgrounds, they encountered the end of a parade, with tiny ponies:



After walking and eating, Shelly and Lindsay went on a quest to find the busts of butter. While they thought it would be nigh impossible, because they didn't know the name of the building they were in, they were fortunate to encounter kind people who had been to the fair before, and could put them on the right path:



With their bellies full of tater skins, and their eyes amazed at the sites already seen, they decided to ride the Ferris Wheel in the Midway:



Ah, but at this point in their adventure, Shelly and Lindsay decided that sitting and watching something would be a nice rest from the walking. So they ventured to the skate park, where they watched some superb skateboard tricks:



To end the day, Shelly and Lindsay ate what any self respecting person at a State Fair in the Midwest would eat - cheese curds!


And they lived happily ever after (with only slight stomach aches from all that cheese).

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!