Wedding Bells Pt. 2

I do...again, still, always.

I'd like to blame my lack of posting on a new job or something but, alas, I cannot. Although I have been job searching and making healthy, delicious meals with all my new kitchen toys...and maybe playing some Candy Crush. 

I believe we left off on The Big Day. 

Unsurprisingly, the alarm went off way too freaking early. With a quick shower and base makeup, it was off to the salon. Mom-and Sister-in-Law arrived at the same time I did, and one of my bridesmaids was already there. As a bonus, she brought her son and sister. MIL and SIL brought breakfasty foods and mimosas, so that was nice. 
I had picked out a couple of hairstyles a la Kate Middleton...they looked very similar and I wanted to mush them together into one. What I got was...nothing like what I wanted. It was okay. The real winner was 14 year old niece. When I saw her the aunt in me wanted to tell her to take the makeup off, pull her hair down, and put on some dirty jeans; in reality I almost cried at how gorgeous she looked. But that's skipping ahead.

After the salon I had time to run back to my parent's house and mostly finish up my makeup. I was hoping to do a nice dramatic smoky eye, but it didn't turn out all that dramatic. So, in a nutshell, my look wasn't exactly what I'd hoped. Can't have everything, I guess. 
Just before I needed to leave, my niece and nephew arrived. My brother has recently gone through a lengthy and painful divorce, and he specifically requested that they be able to attend the wedding and a bit of a reception. I haven't said anything about the whole situation because I don't know who's reading my blog and what consequences my thoughts and opinions could have. But here's a fun example of the way things had gone--the kids showed up very excited that grandma did face paint with mama's makeup! It took a small army and many accoutrements, but they were very cute and free of makeup. Crisis averted and no fits thrown (that I know of).  But way to be a horrible person all the time, Mama.

So off we went to church, two of my sisters escorting me. My Phantom of the Wedding was already there getting everything ready. She wanted to show me the floral altar pieces MIL ordered; it was then that I noticed the giant memorial banner. I kind of laughed about it...Happy Wedding, here are all the dead people! It was not there the previous night but...whatever. On with the show. 
My girls continued to show up and look gorgeous and I couldn't have been happier to have them all there with me. At one point the wedding coordinator came in and said she didn't like the memorial banner so, yaaay, it came down and wasn't in all of the pictures. One of the things that cracked me up: the guests were starting to arrive and one of Mike's aunts popped in and asked if she could take some pictures. I was at the mirror, which is on the same plane as the door, finishing up my lipstick. The aunt came in and kind of looked around and went "oh, the bride's not here yet?" And as I was trying to hold back my laughter my Diplomat Sister (DS) deadpanned "she's right there." I honestly don't remember how long she stayed or if she took any pictures. Maybe she was looking for a poofier dress or something. I dunno, it just cracked me up. 

Ok. So lipstick was on, the beautiful veil that my mom made was in place, and we were all ready. While we were just waiting to walk down the aisle, my Rockstar Sister (RS) asked if we should say a prayer before we went. So we all got together and she said simply (along the lines of) "may we all make it down the aisle without tripping, and may Soldier and Laura make it through life without tripping." It was simple and kind of silly, but it was touching. Then my girls left me and my dad came in. Even though we've been married for a year, I almost cried "leaving" my daddy. He even wore the decorative kerchief I'd gotten in him Paris. Even thinking back on it now it's making me tear up. Stupid feelings and junk. 

And then it was time. The door was opened and we started to walk. Everyone was looking at us, at me, but I just kept looking at Soldier. Although I did take a second to wink at my mom. I told Soldier he should cry when I walked down the aisle, but he didn't. He just looked happy...I'll take it. Mass started, and we were about 2 minutes in when I said to myself "dear God why did we pick a full Mass?!" But then SIL did the first reading, Brother did the second reading, and other Brother did the prayers of the faithful; Little Princess was next to me and DS had the ring. I listened to everyone saying the prayers and saw how many people came up for communion, and I was so glad we did a full Mass. It made my heart ridiculously full. 
When we said our vows and put on the rings, I forced myself to look into Soldier's eyes even though I'm quite uncomfortable with direct eye contact for prolonged periods of time. I was trying to take in every moment of it and appreciate all the details of our second wedding. 

And before I knew it, it was over. We had two wonderful weddings with so many wonderful people and holy crap how did I get so lucky?! 

We rushed about to make sure we got all the family pictures and...I think that's a good place to stop. I'll try not to take so long to give you the details of the party. Because you care about that. 
Cheers!

Wedding Bells Pt. 1

I do...again, still, always.

I'm sure you've all been waiting with bated breath to hear about the big wedding. I was very excited to tell you all, but also got caught up in the shit storm that is the US. But we'll just try to put that in the back of our minds for now. 


I left for the Midwest a couple of weeks before Soldier did, and for some reason I had such a hard time leaving him. My flight was in the evening and I moped around all day, tearing up and sniffling way too much. Poor guy, he didn't really know what to do with me. We got to the airport a few minutes early and had a drink, so that helped. 
Overnight flights kind of suck, but this was the best flight I've had in a long time. Everything was on time, my layovers were long enough but not too long, and my luggage even arrived to my destination before I did. Whoa. It was a good sign. 

The couple of weeks before Soldier got there were spent getting all the final details ready for the wedding. Remember those paper flowers I bitched about making? Well MIL put them together and, oh my word, they took my breath away. This one's mine. Ready for the tearjerker part? If you zoom in or look closely you can see some grass, silver ribbon, and pearl pins...those are from the bouquet my siblings sent me last year. I'm pretty sure I choked up every time I told one of them about it. 

We were also able to get in to decorate the reception space a week in advance, which was awesooome. There were a couple of last minute additions for my Phantom of the Wedding to set up, but otherwise it was done and forgotten for the wedding week. 

Soldier got in on...Monday I think. His flights did not go as well as mine: one flight was delayed and his luggage inexplicably didn't make it with him. Luckily it arrived that night. Having gotten most everything finished, we spent most of our time hanging out with our families and friends. 
We had our respective parties that Thursday. The boys went up to his family's lake house to shoot guns, get drunk, and wrestle in the driveway (in that order). 
For mine, one of my sisters planned a really nice evening of drinks and dinner. It was small and classy; she went as far as to have a menu ready and waiting at a fantastic tapas restaurant. She also had some fun questions for guests to answer about Soldier and I. It wasn't a late night and it was lovely. 

Next day we had the rehearsal. There was, of course, a little bridesmaid drama which I guess started the day before, but what would a wedding be without one of the bridesmaids deciding it's all about her? The rehearsal went well, and I got to wear my fancy party dress. 
One thing that was really important to me was making sure each of my siblings (plus my niece) had a special task. My brothers did readings, one sister carried Soldier's ring, another signed the paperwork, and the third made the toast. 

Last summer, my Little Princess (niece) and I were sitting outside and I was telling her how things were working out with Soldier, and that we planned to get married. She asked if she would get to be involved and said that she was too old to be a flower girl and didn't really want to be a junior bridesmaid (she was 13). I assured her that she would be a regular bridesmaid. She said she was probably too young to be maid of honor, and I agreed. Since we didn't have a best man and maid of honor, I decided her task would be to stand next to me during the ceremony, but I wanted to surprise her. I'm not sure she really understood until my mom spelled it out for her at the rehearsal, but I was really glad to have her by my side the whole time. She's such a cool kid.

After the rehearsal we opted to just have a party at my parent's house instead of a traditional rehearsal dinner at a restaurant. We did have it catered, but I think it was cheaper and I know it was more fun. Plus there were just a lot of people. 
Everything went well and was fun, and it was so good to have the family together. We haven't had all 6 kids in the same place in years. It again wasn't too late of a night, but you know I didn't get that much sleep. 

Next up: wedding day!

The state of the country

We have failed. 

Like many others, I woke up on Wednesday to see the results of the American presidential election. And like many others, I was shocked, confused, and dismayed. There have been so many cries of outrage, protests, riots, and hatred...and it's only been a day.

And, of course, the blame. Conservatives, liberals, the electoral college, third party voters, etc etc etc.
So whose fault is it really? Everyone's.
For not being open minded about political issues and really listening to why someone supports one candidate. For being short sighted and ego-centric. For not acknowledging that a personal belief might not be the best or only option for millions of people.  For not thinking about our families, friends, neighbors when thinking about the future of our country. For not looking at history.

And who will lose out? Everyone.
Ok, I'm not one of those "he's not my president" people  because, whether I support him or not, he is.  So I looked at his 100 day plan, and things only got worse.  (Although I will give credit that he wants to put term limits on congress, which is woefully needed.)
But, judging by his plan, Trump would like to turn America into an isolationist, militaristic country. Close the borders...build the wall...get rid of Muslims...take away reproductive rights...cancel universal healthcare (okay, I know a lot of people aren't happy with healthcare right now, but it has also given a lot of people the chance to have it)...ignore climate change...stop trying to take care of the environment...more tax breaks for corporations. Overall, just take care of the rich white man.

I'll step aside from the doom and gloom for a moment; Soldier reminded me this morning that somebody like Trump doesn't get where he is without listening to advisors and boards and specialists. Though those people would likely be more rich white men, it would give me some hope to have others there that have a clue what they're doing.


Soldier and I are currently on our honeymoon in Mexico. I wondered how people would treat us when we went out on Wednesday. I hoped that they wouldn't assume we fed into the hatred and bigotry. Of course we're staying at a resort so they're all very professional but I still have to wonder.

I truly hope the next four years go well. I hope the end of President Obama's time isn't overshadowed and that some of the progress he's worked so hard for remains.

I know that some people won't agree with this post. I do try not to get too political, but I feel very strongly about this. If we are the Christian nation that so many claim, I hope we can call on the teachings of Jesus to love and care for one another.

Even if you're not Christian, I hope you'll all join me to go forth and not be an asshole.

169 Books: Armenia

Armenian Golgotha by Grigoris Balakian

Armenia: 

Description: 

On April 24, 1915, Grigoris Balakian was arrested along with some 250 other leaders of Constantinople’s Armenian community. It was the beginning of the Ottoman Empire’s systematic attempt to eliminate the Armenian people from Turkey—a campaign that continued through World War I and the fall of the empire. Over the next four years, Balakian would bear witness to a seemingly endless caravan of blood, surviving to recount his miraculous escape and expose the atrocities that led to over a million deaths.
 
Armenian Golgotha is Balakian’s devastating eyewitness account—a haunting reminder of the first modern genocide and a controversial historical document that is destined to become a classic of survivor literature.

Bullet points are back in full force, because that's the only way I can think of to let you know how phenomenal this book is. Balakian seems like a cross between a historian and a novelist and I love it. 

• The book starts with the author studying in Berlin, and he talks about the German people's treatment of Russians. It's the same thing they'll do about 20 years later to the Jews. And it's just like wtf, Germany? Come on, get your heads out of your asses. You JUST did this. How'd that go for ya? NOT WELL. But what's really sad is this sort of thing continues to happen. And it's almost fascinating, albeit terrifying, how fear turns people into absolute monsters.
• So, off Balakian goes to Constantinople. He's a pretty observant, level-headed guy, so he sees the need for a bit of discretion, but the Armenian people are like #TeamRussia. And he's like "well, we're fucked." And he was right. 
• This group of 250 was taken by train to some sort of military bunker, and he's still pretty much the only one who thinks it might be a good idea to mind his Ps and Qs and try not to be noticed. The rest of them are all YOLO! And guess what? MURDERED. 
• At one point one of the people in exile is in a local official's office and sees an official document: "Without mercy and without pity, kill all from the one-month-old to the ninety-year-old, but see to it that this massacre is not conducted in the towns and in the presence of people."
• WHAT?! Just...WHAT!? Just straight up, hey kill this ENTIRE RACE of people but...you know...don't make it obvious. 
• He goes through each section of the journey and holy shit. Part of me has a morbid fascination with stuff like this--how can people possibly commit these atrocities? How do they justify it to themselves? I still don't have an answer for that. I won't go into any of the details because spoilers, and also it's horrendous, but it's also unimaginable. 
• Balakian has a pretty raw deal...maybe because he speaks German, or maybe because he's a clergyman, but the rest of the exiles pretty much make him to everything. Get us bread. Take care of us. Get us out of here. Bribe them to let us stay. Do something. Do other things. Dance, monkey!
• On the other hand, there were so many people that risked their lives to keep him alive. It's pretty incredible.

Guys. Whoa. Okay, here's the most important thing to say right now. Are you listening? Lean in a little closer. Closer. Closer. READ THIS BOOK. Everyone. Everywhere. Seriously. Read it. 

This is honestly one of the most amazing, devastating, mesmerizing books I've ever read. It shows the worst and best sides of humanity and it's unbelievable how this man survived. It's devastating that people keep doing this shit to each other for what? Power? Money? Stuff? Because they're different? It's sickening, but it's something that people need to know and be outraged about. 

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now. After telling you once more to go READ THIS BOOK. 

169 Books: Argentina

Musicians and Watchmakers by Alicia Steimberg

Argentina is a rather large country in South America. You may remember it from the musical/movie Evita (which I actually haven't seen, but know almost the entire soundtrack to...it's on my list to watch.)
So here's the lowdown on the book:
Told from the perspective of an adolescent girl, this humorous and deceptively intuitive account of a Jewish family living in 1940s Buenos Aires tackles themes of identity and history through a flawlessly rendered colloquial style. Semi-autobiographical and charged with energy to match the young narrator's age, this episodic novel tackles issues of religious belonging, the first sparks of political awareness, budding sexuality, and the complications of an eccentric family.

I know for the previous "reviews" I've made bullet points, but I'm not doing that for this one. There weren't a lot of specific areas that caught my attention, and I think it would just be easier to give an overall. 

One thing that did stand out was the mention of the pogrom, the massacre of Jews in Russia. There have been so many Jewish massacres throughout history. It's kind of insane. 
Anyway another big theme that jumped out in this book was kind of crappy family. The women in this family seemed to completely hate and resent each other and do nothing but fight. It was honestly kind of depressing. 

The account of the childhood was a little disjointed for my liking; the stories didn't transition or connect very well. It was entertaining enough, but I didn't really see much of the humor and energy in the description. 

Toward the end of the book it gets a little political. It talks about Peron being elected and how most of the people that she knew didn't support him. It kind of spurred me to read a bit about him, and I'm confused. Ok, I haven't quite finished my "research," but so far it sounds like he did a lot of good for Argentina. There also aren't dates attached to the Peron stories in the book, so that makes it a bit harder to relate the two. 

Alright, so this book wasn't quite as entertaining or telling as I'd hoped. But my final thought is that it got me interested in learning some different parts of world history, so I'll call that good. 

Touristing

See the world at home

It's about time for another Juneau post, and this is going to be a long one laden with beautiful pictures for you to be jealous of. (And maybe some ideas of things to do if you ever make your way to the last frontier). 
So one of the best perks of my job is the opportunity to go on lots of the local tours. I mentioned at the beginning of the summer that we got to go on the zipline and to the Glacier Gardens. Unfortunately I had left my phone on the bus and don't have any pictures of those. But it was a fun break into the touristy side of Juneau. 
Another work trip was to the State Museum. I'm a bit of a nerd and really enjoy history and culture, so I loved the chance to learn all about Alaskan history just after the museum was renovated and reopened. There's a big population of Tlingit natives out here, so there was a lot of stuff about them in the museum. There was also stuff about the gold rush, the oil pipeline, and Alaska becoming a state. I had fun. 

Soldier and I started our rounds with a trip up the Mount Roberts Tramway. It's 1800 feet up to the top of Mount Roberts with beautiful views of Juneau from the top. 

 

Unfortunately I wasn't dressed for hiking, and Soldier isn't big on heights, so we didn't do a whole lot up there. But I enjoyed the view. 

Around mid-summer, Soldier and I finally had a day off together. We adulted first thing in the morning and got new passports. As we were leaving the post office I got a call from my boss telling us to head downtown right away. We were able to get on a seaplane tour going out to Taku Lodge. It was awesome to take off from the channel, and we flew by 5 glaciers. The lodge is nestled in an inlet and you can only get there (I'm relatively sure) by boat or seaplane. I was really excited and surprised to find that the Lodge has ties to our home town. The ride was a bit bumpy, but we had a really good time. AND! I finally saw my first bear! He likes to eat the blueberries and check out the salmon cooking at the lodge. 

When we got back to the dock, there was a text from my boss that we had a thumbs up to go whale watching with her and another coworker. Soldier and I had enough time to run home and change before meeting up with them to go to the boat. Not gonna lie, I didn't take pictures on that trip because I was more focused on hanging out with them. We did see some humpbacks, but it's honestly more exciting to see them in our little skiff. They seem so much bigger. 

Flash forward to a couple of nights ago, I got another chance to go whale watching with colleagues. (Meanwhile, Soldier was out catching us a 42 pound halibut. My freezer is now completely stuffed with fish. Literally. There's no more room for anything else.) This trip was a little different because we saw orcas. I WAS SO EXCITED. And it was so cool...there were a couple of pods that just kept surfacing next to the boat, almost going right along with us. 

This past Sunday we got to go on board one of the cruise ships. It was neat, we got a tour and had dinner. I've never been on a cruise, but I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy it. I told one of my coworkers that I'd spend the entire time with my sunglasses on looking down at everyone and not smiling, like I'm super important. 

Today was a huge treat. I was at work, not feeling great, just counting down the minutes till I could get out of the cold and wind. Towards the end of my shift, one of the helicopter tours was about to head to base with only one person, some others just hadn't shown up. The dock reps knew I'd wanted to do this tour to the all but pushed me into the bus. So before I knew it, I was strapped into the helicopter on my way to dogsled on top of the glacier. 

It was windy today, so I kind of started to understand why Soldier calls them flying death machines. He also calls them helio-chop-chops, which I like a lot better. And it's fun to say. 

It was cool to see Juneau from that perspective. I also loved seeing the puppies...and actual puppies, only 3 weeks old! A lot of the dogs at the camp have or will run in the Iditarod, and they would start barking and strain on the harnesses every time we stopped. 

 

 
 

Doing all this stuff is one of the reasons I wanted a job like this. It's been so worth it to get out and experience so many different adventures in such a beautiful location. There aren't many places in the world where you could do all this.

169 Books: Antigua & Barbuda

Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid

This one is a small island in the Caribbean:

And here's the summary:

Annie John, the protagonist of the book, starts out as a young girl who worships her mother. She follows her everywhere, and is shocked and hurt when she learns that she must some day live in a different house from her mother. While her mother tries to teach her to become a lady, Annie is sent to a new school where she must prove herself intellectually and make new friends. She then "falls in love" with a girl by the name of Gwen. She promises Gwen that she will always love her. However, Annie later finds herself admiring and adoring a girl that she called the "Red Girl". She admires this girl in all aspects of her life. To Annie this girl is the meaning of freedom because she does not have to do any daily hygienic routines like the other girls.

Annie John is then moved to a higher class because of her intelligence. For this reason, Annie is drawn away from her best friend Gwen and the Red Girl, while alienating herself from her mother and the other adults in her life. It later becomes clear that she also suffers from some kind of mental depression, which distances her from both her family and her friends. The book ends with her physically distancing herself away from all that she knows and loves by leaving home for nursing school in England.

• Let me start by saying that one description I saw of this book likened it to Catcher in the Rye. I hated that book. I even tried to read some of Salinger's other works and couldn't stand them either. Buuuut, in the interest of growing with my worldly reading endeavor, I decided to go for it anyway. Yay, me. 
• The first line is "[f]or a short while during the year I was ten, I thought only people I did not know died." Interestingly enough, I really identify with this and I've been thinking about it lately. Back home, I would sing at funerals...it was always a bit sad, but not a big deal. But every once in a while, I think about the people I love dying...and it's freaking terrifying. Like panic-inducing. We'll see where this one goes.
• Though I'm only a few pages in, we're heavily focusing on a theme of death. 
• The main character digresses, and as punishment her mum tells her she won't be in to kiss her goodnight. I remember, when I was small, having my mum tuck me in and saying that my dad would be up in "just a second." And I would say "No just a seconds" because I'd be asleep when he came up to say goodnight. Now that I'm older I appreciate it much more...Dad working hard to support six kids so Mum could stay home and raise us. At the time I would get all small-child-frustrated, but now I smile when I think about it.
• I'm a little confused about the relationships with the other girls. 
• There's a really great description of depression in this book. She says it's like a black thimble spinning around inside her, burning everything it touches. 
• The last couple of chapters got a little vague. Annie gets sick, so it's understandable that it's vague, but all of a sudden it's about 5 years later and she's leaving
• As we follow Annie to the ship, she reminisces about her childhood as she walks through town. She's happy about the decision she's made to leave, but starting to think about all the things she'll miss. I completely understand this; when Soldier and I knew we'd be leaving, I just wanted to get out. When I found out we were going somewhere I wasn't excited about, I started to see all the things I would miss.
• Annie's relationship with her mother runs the gamut during the book, but they did have a nice goodbye before she leaves. Not gonna lie, it made me tear up. I miss my momma.

I've really lucked out on the books I've picked. There were a couple of times that I was a little annoyed with the ADD feel of the book, but it wasn't as bad as Salinger. I almost wish the book had been longer to see if she ever went back or regretted severing ties. Families are complicated.