Hope

I'm feeling hopeful after the election. Not only the fact that we are no longer under a Republican regime but also the fact that so many people voted. Troy and I had to wait in line in the rain to vote for about 1/2 an hour (even though I left work in the very late morning to vote) but the Obama volunteers were passing out umbrellas, food, and water. Pretty cool to see and smart!

I heard on the radio that a 100 year old woman in Charlottesville who had never voted before in her life registered to vote for Obama. Now that is inspiring.

There is a lot of work to be done though. I liked that Obama recognized that in his speech and that he called upon people to rise up to help to bring the change. I hope that Obama is able to keep motivating people and able to stick to his guns and remember who got him elected in the midst of pressure from big time politicians. I'm pretty worried about that. Only time will tell.

One person that that is incredibly inspirational to look to in a time like this is the late Senator from MN, Paul Wellstone. Troy and I happened upon his memorial when we were home. It was a beautiful fall day--the Tamaracks all golden--and we saw the sign for the memorial and knew we had to go. We had never had the opportunity to visit the site before.

It was a truly powerful experience. Walking through the memorial we were both brought to tears. Just thinking about the strength and perseverance and the good that he worked tirelessly for. And his wife Sheila, who also was killed, was a strong advocate for battered women. Wellstone was never apologetic, always standing up for what he believed in and for the "little guy." As a politician he was one of a kind, he was not immune to the suffering of the world or the misfortune of others--but recognized and rebelled against these things with all of his being. What a tremendous example for all of us.

Halloween!

Halloween this year was a bit mischievous for me. I went as the Green Fairy--equipped with a bottle of Absente to share. The bottle didn't last all that long but most people got to at least sample some of the green, anise-flavored liquor. Here's me pouring some for Little Red Riding Hood (aka Sarah). I love her expression!

Troy always loves to dress up and typically goes all out with his costumes. This year he was actually in NYC on Halloween with the robots for a concert but Loren was kind enough to move his party to Saturday so that the composers could still attend.

This year Troy got Dutch hazmat suits and gas masks for the bot squad (as Sarah B. likes to affectionately call Troy, Scott and Steve). Of course, Troy had to adapt his costume so that he could still drink somehow.

Here are some more of the fun costumes



Can you name this 90's vocal trio?
They even sang for us. And I have had "Hold On" stuck in my head ever since!

Vanessa was a hot biker chic with real chaps and Dave was Captain Riker from Star Trek.


Loren just got a car that runs on waste vegetable oil. At one point Troy decided that he wanted to taste-test Loren's veggie-oil filtration system.


After that, things continued to devolve. It may have been the absinthe...

Some costume-swapping ensued at the end of the night.

Those chaps fit pretty snugly!

A few of us ended the night by dancing to old tunes from bands like Aerosmith and Guns n'Roses. We may be in our 30's but we still know how to rock out on Halloween!

My Family Knows How to Party

At the dinner and reception following the wedding we really had a good time. There were something like 220 guests so it was really big and a good majority of those people were our family since our grandma Maki had 10 kids.

We grew up pretty close to our cousins, as they all lived in the area when we were young (and most still do). Let me just say right now, the Maki family likes to party. I have such great memories about dancing all night long with my cousins at family weddings.

Here's me with cousins Kelly and Rusty.

At some point, I think I've heard it was at my cousin Rob's wedding back in the day, a crazy dancing tradition was started at the weddings. When the song "Wipe out" plays, you can see all of the family (even though they have that reserved and even shy Finnish blood in them) run to the dance floor. Each time the drum solo comes on, people drop to their backs and kick their legs up in the air. I think the dance is called the Turtle? Anyway, it's hilarious to see the reactions of the other unsuspecting other family at weddings. We know things are going to be okay if they join in the fun.


We danced until nearly 2 a.m. and then our cousins Lee, Jon and Rusty hosted us in their room for an after-party. Troy and I didn't get back to our room until 4 a.m. and my dad had stayed almost that long too! It was great catching up with the cousins and with friends I haven't seen in a while.

A Perfect Wedding

Sorry for the continued posts about the wedding and nothing newer but I just can't keep thinking about what a wonderful time it was. There was a bit of last-minute stress but other than that things went really smoothly. Many people came up to me afterwards and commented that it was the most beautiful wedding they had seen. It was a chilly fall day on our grandma's farm but the sun came out at just the right moment to warm us and to give a gorgeous light to everything. The photos, courtesy of their photographer and friend--Kristi, are amazing.

My sister looked absolutely stunning.

And our families cleaned up pretty well too.

Above are the Coles, with Delia Dog.

And my sis and me with our dad.

Here we are with my mom, stepdad and brother. I was hoping Troy could be in the pictures too but he was out at the last minute, putting up signs for us so that people wouldn't get lost coming to the farm! More pictures will be coming though. He did make it into some of the big group shots after the wedding at least.

The wedding party, which included Ethan's friends Medora, Nino and Will. And on Laura's side me, Molly (Ethan's sister) and our brother Patrick. Laura told Molly and I to get dresses in "fall colors" but otherwise left it up to us. It was pretty cool though because Molly's and my (Sarah's) dress matched almost perfectly, as if we had planned it!

Troy and Hank (Ethan's dad) did readings for the ceremony and Ethan's friend Ron, who is Ojibwe, performed it. Ron added some humor and practical advice for them and an Ojibwe song. It was really lovely.

Groom's Dinner

On Friday morning after the bachelorette party, I helped my sister get ready to go up north to prepare for the big event. We stopped at the Duluth mall to purchase a few odds and ends, like a purse, shoes and a garter belt for her. Yikes, nothing like waiting til the day before the wedding! ;) It was a little bit stressful so thankfully we had manicures and massages waiting for us in Virginia (MN). I got Laura this package for a shower gift and she insisted on getting me the same for being her maid of honor. So, we treated each other and it was fabulous!

Laura and Ethan had their groom's dinner at the Whistling Bird--a Jamaican restaurant in the middle of Gilbert, MN a town of only about 3,000 people. We all really love the place. They have excellent food and a wonderful owner who always comes around to make sure everyone is having a good experience.

Troy and I shared the coconut shrimp and the jerked pork tenderloin which was wrapped in bacon. Yum. There were plenty of sweet potato fries to go around too. What a treat it was! Many thanks to Ethan's parents--the Coles!

Me and Troy

My brother Patrick and his girlfriend Sam

The Coles

Laura and Ethan

My mom and stepdad with Troy, Patrick and Sam.

It was a wonderful time but a little bit of an interesting negotiation. My mom and dad have hardly spoken in the last 27 + years that they have been divorced so I was worried about how things would go. I was pretty nervous and tense. At one point when Troy was taking a picture of me, Laura and our dad, my mom popped her head into the frame at the very last moment (we all had no idea until everyone started laughing hysterically behind us). Thanks for breaking the ice mom! We all had a really good laugh about this one and this is a priceless photo.

Later that evening my aunt and godmother Barb and her husband Hank joined us at the bar for a drink. They are really a lot of fun to hang out with. Do you see a slight resemblance between my mom and her sister?

Bachelorette Party!

Troy and I were very suspicious as we waited to board our very small plane last Thursday with a flight from Detroit to Duluth when a large group of people pre-boarded without an announcement. They all had ear pieces but weren't wearing the usual secret service agent suit and tie. They looked like they were trying to emulate northern Minnesotans, with flannel shirts and Carhart pants--one was sporting a McCalin/Palin ball cap (though the area largely supports the DFL). After landing in Duluth, we found out that seated two rows in front of us was none other than Todd Palin! Apparently he was doing a northern MN tour, trying to appeal to hunters and such. Crazy. I never knew what he looked like, but when I saw his picture in the local paper the next day I recognized him.

We were met at the airport by Troy's brother Casey and his wife Cassie--thanks to them for picking us up! We immediately headed for our favorite brewery--the Brewhouse for some beer and grub. I had some yummy wild rice soup and a pretty tasty apple beer.

Then Troy headed up north and I was left to spend some time with my good friend Courtney. Eventually Laura picked us up, we got dolled up, and headed out on the town for her bachelorette party.

We had a great crowd for the party. Our cousin Angel joined us, and Laura's friend Jen drove all the way down from Virginia. I provided a crown and sash that said "bachelorette." Those didn't last long, but Laura really enjoyed the large, blinking, "diamond" ring.


Two of Laura's colleagues in her social work program went all out, dressing up as "Pink Ladies." They got the party started at Carmody's Irish pub.

Then we moved to the Red Star martini bar, where we danced all night.

Me and my sista--looking a little bit buzzed up.

Laura really loved the Madonna glove that Tamara (one of the Pink Ladies) provided her with. She ended the night with a bang, crawling on the ground outside and singing "Like a Virgin" as loud as she could.
What an amazingly fun girls' party!!!

Wedding Blog

No time to really post right now, but here's the photographer's blog for a preview of pictures from my sister's wedding. http://kristi-blackbirdphotography.blogspot.com/