Anniversaries

How can one summarize 6 weeks of experiences in one post?  Each picture deserves more than 1,000 words to fully appreciate the specialness of each moment.  It's painful that space and time limit the amount of back story I can share for each of the pictures. Thank you all for your friendship, love, and kindness.  My heart has been stirred as I've gone through the hundreds of pictures and remembered the incredible experiences we've shared together.  So here goes...

60 hours of transcontinental travel...

 

 

+ 22 hours driving from Utah to Texas with Rachel and Mike...

 

in order to celebrate their wedding with them...

 

+ spend time with family and friends... 

= one happy Sarah!

The wedding was held in the LDS temple in San Antonio where they were married for time and eternity.  A massive thunderstorm hit just as they were being married.  Rachel loves rainstorms so it made the moment even that much more special.  It also, though, prevented us from taking pictures as it was pouring when we came out of the temple.  :)  Here are pics from the reception afterwards:

 

Aww!  My little bro and sis.  And my beautiful Aunt Adrian in the background.

What a sweet moment captured here.

Bryan Parkoff was the first deaf person I met.  He taught me sign language.  I'm grateful for his friendship and for all he's taught me...which started me on the path of interpreting.  It was wonderful reconnecting at the reception.

And my "best bud," Michael, melts my heart time and time again (he's holding my hand in the pic)!  When the music to Rachel and Mike's first dance came on, he came running towards me from the back of the reception hall and asked in an outside voice,  "Will you dance with me?"  AWWWWW!!  I absolutely LOVE my "best bud."  Such a sweetheart.

My dear friends from my parents' lamp store. 

John! The night before R & M's wedding, this handsome, tenderhearted brother of mine and I cut a rug two-stepping and swing dancing to country music.  Those are the moments when you wish time would freeze. 

I love this guy!

Sue Smith is one of my mentors in life.  I continue to reflect on a letter she wrote me when I was an undergraduate encouraging me to continue to pursue my studies.  She is a noble woman!

What a tender moment.

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage.  This is what R & M have to look forward to! 

 Rachel and G'ma Belle.

My mom's sisters (Adrian on the left and Sharon on the right) and G'ma Belle.

Our classiest moment of the evening.

Or maybe this was.  :)

Alisha Ririe.  The owner of the Musketeer Mansion.  Love, love, love her.

Kati Uminski.  We've been friends for decades now.  I love this woman!

Leading up to the wedding, there were many great festivities.  Like...

Rachel's bridal shower.

Where Sadie (my little sweet pea) stole the show.  What a cutie pie!!

Making the floral arrangements for the reception... (thank you G'ma!!!)

as well as her bouquet.  (Lisa, you're hired!)

Dinner with the little ones.

The night before the wedding.  Quality sister time.  :)

And trying not to disturb Max when needing to get something out of my suitcase.  I feel so loved.  After the bride and groom left on their honeymoon, there was time for...

Building interesting things with rocks from Grandma's garden.

Breakfast at the Guenther House with my professor one last time in San Antonio before he moved to Sweden.  (I think, actually, this was before the wedding...)

Then off we went to Provo for R & M's open house for Mike's family and friends.  Lisa and I (and Rachel's new niece) were assigned to put up signage for those coming to the reception (the house was a bit tricky to find).

I had a dream that night after the reception was over that I misspelled their last name.  I was relieved to know that that dream  hadn't come true.  :)

At the reception, we saw several of our extended family, including Sariah (who lived with us for 3 years during high school).  It was wonderful to catch up!

I was so happy, too, to see Ed and Laurel Dennis!!  When I was called to serve a mission in Chile, I spent the first 7 weeks in the Missionary Training Center in Provo.  I was assigned to a group of 7 other missionaries and we, along with 3 or 4 other groups, served under the direction of President Dennis.  I learned so much from him and his wife.  It turns out that Mike's (Rachel's husband) mission president (Mike served in Washington state) was Pres. Dennis's companion when they served together as missionaries in Taiwan 30 years ago.  What a small world.  I love how we're all connected...sometimes more closely than we know.

While in Utah for the reception, I was able to meet up with other dear friends.

Steve Cieslak.  What a friend!!  I miss our adventures in Chicago.

Laura Campbell.  One of my roommates from DC.  Love this woman and what she's taught me!  And she brought me these...

Alfajores.

Aubree Weeks.  My dear friend from DC.  She is another true friend of mine.  Love her dearly!

Whitney Heywood.  I recently posted on her FB page that I'm her biggest fan.  It's true.  I used to not understand how someone could be the biggest fan of more than one person in this world.  But after developing friendships with so many equally inspiring people, I no longer wonder.  Instead, I wonder how it is I'm so, so, SO fortunate to be the biggest fan of the most incredible people in this world.  This caption equally applies to all of the pictures in my blog.

 Jenny Jane Willis.  And her husband Kyler.  And Noel Carter. Jenny and Kyler were married the same weekend I was in town for R & M's open house.  I was able to sneak away to their wedding brunch.  What amazing people they each are.  See caption above.  :)

We also had time to stop by our old house in Orem, Utah.  It seems so much smaller than what I remember.  Perhaps that's because I was 1/2 the size I am now (actually more like 1/4 the size.  :) )

From Utah, I flew to Helsinki where I waited 4 or 5 hours for my next flight to Berlin...

 where I attended (and presented) the Sociolinguistics Symposium.  The next conference will be held in 2014 at my university and my professor is the chair of the organizing committee.  Awesome!

Then back to Finland I went.  I didn't do any sightseeing in Berlin as I was pretty wiped out from jumping time zones and continents while also trying to squeeze in as many visits with friends and family.  The parts that I saw traveling between the conference venue and the hotel, though, were really nice.  I can't wait to go back and actually see the city.

After arriving back in Finland, I spent the weekend at the temple in Helsinki.  I was very much looking forward to being in the temple once again.  And it was a really special way to celebrate my 1 year anniversary since arriving to Finland.  I'm grateful for Tuula, another awesome friend, for shuttling me from the airport to the temple.

I actually took this picture.  It's such a striking edifice.

This is the guest house which is down the hill from the temple.  It's dormitory style (6 beds in one room) so one of the other women staying there was from Moscow.  We got to talking and it turns out that we both entered the Missionary Training Center at the same time and then served our missions at the exact same time as well.  She served on Temple Square in Salt Lake City.  She flies from Moscow to Helsinki once a month to attend the temple.  

The train ride from Helsinki to JKL was, well, interesting.  First, I nearly missed my train but thanks to a really, really nice guy, I made it just in time.  I was hauling 3 suitcases and he came to the rescue.  I'm grateful for kind strangers who step in without asking to help those who are in need.  I didn't even catch his name.  

Second, I was looking for the WC.  I had only learned not even a week before this train ride that in old train cars, you should only use the restroom when the train is moving.  I now understand why (and glad I learned that very important info just in time...)

 I love these things.  I can't, literally, live without them.  (I'd refer you to the previous picture...)

Back in JKL, Hanna (on the left) invited me over to her sister's place for a birthday celebration.  Pihla (Hanna's sister) and Jaanne (in the middle) both had their birthdays that week.  Hanna also came to the rescue and picked me and my 3 bags (plus my backpack) up from the train station.  Thank you Hanna!

I arrived home and the next day looked out the window to see...

 

Another rainbow that started on one side of the lake and reached across to the opposite side.  Wow.  I have very mixed emotions about leaving this view to live in student housing.  More about that next week.  The move never could have happened, though, without the help of many friends with cars, muscles, and interior design skills.  Laura Manni, a new friend I made over the last few weeks, came to the rescue with her car and fashion design.

Her sister won this car after sitting in it for 50+ days as part of a radio show contest.

Here she is!  Tuomas (Eija's son) was modeling for the fashion show (I can't believe it's been a year since I was attending his fashion show after being in JKL for less than a week) and it was fun to run into him before hand and get to chat with him.  Laura is such an amazing young woman and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she moves back to JKL very soon.  :)

The week I got back one of my colleagues from DC was in town for a conference.  Joy Peyton (on the left) and her colleague Nancy stayed with Eija for the week.  Joy was kind enough to treat us to dinner before she headed back to the US.

 

But not before enjoying some Finnish lettu at my new place.  We had such a lovely evening together!

And the flowers Eija brought were so cheery and kept me company all week. 

Helena invited me to her place for lunch when I first came to Finland.  She's been so kind in inviting me over many times since but this was the first time when I was able to make it.  Again...it's so hard to believe that it's been a YEAR since I first arrived to this beautiful country.  I now have a 'history' here and instead of these experiences being my 'first', they're now 'familiar'.  It's so surreal.

But now I can enjoy hearing about another American's 'firsts' in Finland!  Kayla Walker (on the far left) is a professional volleyball player who joined the top women's pro league in Finland.  She arrived in mid-August.  She lives in a small town 140km from JKL.  We're thrilled to have her in our congregation, even though she lives so far away!!  She's a brave soul!  She was contacted by the team and 3 weeks later had quit her teaching job in Utah and found herself on a plane to Finland.  I thought 3 months was a quick turnaround time for me.  But 3 weeks...?!?!  She's amazing!!  :)

I'm grateful for family, temples, and friendships. 

Now that I'm back in Finland and have internet (HOORAY!!), my blogging schedule should be back on track.  Thanks to all who have encouraged me to continue to share my experiences here in Finland.  It's been a great way for me to feel like I'm able to stay connected with my family and friends even though we're thousands of miles apart.

Hugs from the student village in Finland,

Sarah