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 :)