Crabbing in Maryland!

We’re all about new experiences lately and this definitely fit the bill.  My in-laws live on beautiful Chesapeake Bay and they invited us over for a crab-eating shindig before we left the country.  All in all there were 7 of us there, 6 of which were employed in the foreign service at one time or another (I was definitely the odd-one out!)  The beautiful crabs you see above are straight from the Bay.

Eating a crab is way trickier than you think and requires lots of tools: a mallet, a fingerbowl, towels, paper on the table and a garbage nearby!  Crabbing is also NOT a formal affair, I learned.  As you whack your mallet down on the crab, those shell pieces fly everywhere!  I recommend apologizing to your neighbor in advance… it saves time later!  For the Minnesotans like me who perhaps haven’t had the opportunity to whack a crab with a mallet, here’s a 2 minute instructional video on the process from my father-in-law:

I’m afraid I haven’t mastered the process yet, so I’ll have to pass any questions you have on to the experts …. Happy crabbing!

Getting to Know my Crab

Required accessories for Crab Eating (look at it all!)

My hubby delicately eating his crab

Our view off the deck over Chesapeake Bay

Some Observations I’ve Made…

               

Whenever I’m new to something, I like to observe and information gather for a period at the beginning.  Given that the Foreign Service is like an entirely new planet that I landed in, you can make the assumption that I need to do lots and lots of observation.  This helps me in a variety of ways.  It can minimize embarrassment, help me feel acclimated faster and overall just identify trends and themes that pertain to what I’m trying to learn (which potentially identifies more places to dig for information).

Over the past month I’ve been doing my standard information gathering and noticed that the Foreign Service is disproportionately made up of people from 3 groups: The Peace Corps, The Mormon Church and Minnesotans.  Random, huh?  Let me explain what I’ve learned thus far.  The Peace Corps is perhaps the easiest to rationalize.  It exposes them to life overseas for an extended period of time and is a natural progression for a career move when their mission is done.

The Mormon Church puzzled me for awhile until I started doing some digging.  I was not aware of this, but a majority of Mormons participate in an overseas Mission around their early 20′s.  The mission is 2 years long and they are assigned somewhere random in the world.  It makes sense then that being exposed to extended living overseas at an early age would lead more people from that population to look for careers that would accommodate future overseas experiences.

The one that continues to baffle me is the unbelievable amount of people from Minnesota.  I’m not kidding, I have met an insane number of people that are linked to Minnesota in some way and I can’t figure out the connection.  Nick insists it’s because they want to escape the cold of Minnesota, but I refuse to believe that.  Perhaps it’s because we’re an adventurous group or committed to serving a cause we believe in?  I just don’t know.  Any hypotheses?  I’ll entertain any theories because I’m stumped.  I guess the research must go on!

 

Look what arrived today!

Oh my goodness gracious.  What is happening to my life!? I just picked up a package at the post office and learned that I am now the proud owner of a Head Flashlight.  Nick was in charge of ordering us some nice durable flashlights and THIS is what he got for us.  Note to self: do not delegate shopping to Nick anymore!  What the heck does one do with this contraption?!  Suggestions anyone???  Perhaps I’ll wear it out on the town as a very sexy fashion accessory.  Or maybe it’ll come in handy for all those nights we spend in the jungle??  Seriously Nick, what were you thinking?!?  Try not to be jealous of my new delight!

1 Month ’til Wheels Up!

Oh my gosh.  This is really happening.  We are exactly one month out from leaving!  That is insane.  For those of you wondering about the Wheels Up reference above, it references the wheels going up on the plane (during take-off).  Yet another term that I needed to be educated on for my new life!  Send us good vibes over the next month, we still have so much shopping, packing and prepping to do before we’re ready to get on the plane.  I honestly would rather be planning another wedding than completing our to-do list for Manila.  It’s been surprisingly frustrating thus far.  We’re hanging in there though.  Stay tuned for updates throughout the month!  Here’s a sampling of what we have left to purchase:

• 200 cans of Chef Boyardee Ravioli (my guilty pleasure)
• 150 Vanilla Caribou granola bars (again, for me!)
• 48 jars of Newman’s Sockarooni Sauce (for me – are you seeing a trend?)
• An etiquette book
• Heavy-duty rain gear
• 5 Surge protectors
• 300 rolls of toilet paper
• Diet Coke – we’re still debating how much I get to bring!  Nick is caving a bit more each week…

Well, I hope you enjoyed that.  Today’s to-do list includes hiring an attorney and tax person (who specialize in foreign service familes).  We need to finalize our permanent place of domicile for tax purposes, get a will, do a power of attorney, and create medical directives.  What fun!  :)  So many new things I’m learning…

More New techie toys: The Kodak zi6 HD pocket video camera

Nick and I had been debating the merits of taking a video camera with us to Manila.  Initially, we were looking at full-size HD cameras, but then we stumbled upon the pocket camcorder.  We ended up purchasing the Kodak zi6 HD pocket video camera for $179 at Best Buy.  We’re planning to take it around on the streets of Manila to shoot everyday life (instead of just taking it with to the tourist destinations).  It really feels like an everyday video camera and the price makes it much easier to swallow if it gets lost or stolen!  If you’d like to see a sample of the video quality, scroll back a few weeks on the blog and check out the 3 wedding videos.  Those were all done using this camera!

Here’s a rundown of some of the features we like about it:

• Small enough to fit in your purse or pocket
• Great entry-level price (not a high investment in the event that we don’t shoot much video)
• Quick uploading to You Tube via the pop-out USB connector (see above picture)
• Minimal, easy-to-use buttons
• Shoots HD video (720 p)
• Utilizes an SD card instead of an internal hard-drive, allowing you to take longer videos (you purchase the SD card separately).  The flip Mino, for example, typically can shoot 2 hours of video before it’s full and you need to download the content to your computer

Ice Cream Season starts TODAY!

Perhaps you didn’t know this, but I am an ICE CREAM JUNKIE.  I love it, love it, love it.  In fact, in 2007 I committed to eating ice cream a minimum of once a day from Memorial Day to Labor Day (successfully completed)!  I also allow myself to eat ice cream for all 3 meals on my birthday (July 9th – perfect timing).  And so I’ve tried quite a bit of ice cream in my day.  In order to get the rest of you as excited about ice cream as I am, we’re going to go over a few of my recommendations in various categories.

And the winners are….

For the Store-Bought Category: Edy’s Slow Churned Ice Cream. Top Flavor Picks: Peanut Butter Cup, Mint Cookie Crunch and Raspberry Chip Royale.  What makes Edy’s so fantastic is that it’s softer and creamier than any ice cream I’ve ever purchased from the grocery store.  It’s easy to scoop and easy to eat, making it a sinful delight at only 120 calories per bowl (it has 1/2 the fat and 1/3 less calories than typical ice cream).  How often is it that you find a light variety that’s better than the full-fat version??  Get out and buy some NOW!

Largest Cone for your Money: Nelson’s Ice Cream in Stillwater. Nelson’s is a MN institution, especially in the summer.  Their cones are gigantic!  Honestly, I usually get a child’s size!  The single often makes me a teeny bit sick as it’s just so much to consume in one sitting.  But how can you fault them for providing good value, especially with the ridiculous prices they charge?  A bit of history: Each year I’d put together a group to go canoeing down the St. Croix River from Taylors Falls to William O’Brien State Park and on the way home we’d drag our exhausted bodies into Nelson’s for a pick-me-up.  Knowing that cone was coming got me through the 20 miles of paddling…

Best Fast Food Ice Cream: McDonald’s Cone. Some of you may be shocked at this one, but I must say that it fits the value criteria ($1) and it’s reasonably healthy (150 calories per cone).  I do have some complaints to file with McDonald’s though, specifically: Why did you reduce the size of the cone?  AND   What happened to chocolate?  I miss twist cones!  I’m still recommending it though, because I haven’t found anything more worthy.

Best Locally-made Ice Cream: Izzy’s Ice Cream. Mmmmm, Izzy’s.  Good stuff.  Not overly cheap and most likely not healthy (I’d rather not know) but such a treat.  They make over 200 flavors throughout the summer and have that cute little Izzy “sample-size” scoop that you get on top of every cone.  (I always use mine to try a flavor I haven’t sampled yet!)  I like to think of Izzy’s as the “Special Outing Destination”.  It’s not somewhere I’d go to every week, but it’s the one thing I’d choose to have on a special day (such as my wedding).

Behind the Wedding: The Ice Cream Buffet

Never been much of a cake girl, so the thought of spending loads of money on something I don’t enjoy pretty much seemed pointless.  Now ice cream, that’s a different story!  Izzy’s Ice Cream had long been our favorite ice cream shops, as it was the site of one of our most memorable dates.  We had attended their Ice Cream Awards , a dream day in which you get all-you-can-eat of 26 different “new” ice cream creations.  After eating yourself sick, you then vote on your favorites in each category.  How fitting then, to serve their wondeful ice cream at our event.  So I called up Izzy’s and worked with their catering department to select our buffet.  We decided on a mix of ice cream sandwiches and 6 different flavors of ice cream, which included:

• Mango sorbet
• Butterfinger
• Raspberry Chocolate Chip
• Chocolate Hazelnut
• Norwegian Chai
• Coconut

It was a spectacular assortment and everyone seemed to find at least one that they loved (if not 2 or 3)!  Izzy’s took care of all the set up, take down and provided servers, so it was incredibly convenient!  The rough cost ended up being about $3.50 per person, which in many cases is less expensive than cake.  For ice cream lovers, there’s just no other way to go!

Behind the Wedding: Our Calypso Band

From the very beginning Nick and I were set on not having a DJ.  Originally, we thought a concert would be neat, but I couldn’t get the artist to agree to do it (he doesn’t do weddings).  Then we tried for a Dueling Piano group but they were out of our price range unless we did a Sunday wedding.  So I kept digging around, trying to find some good LIVE music.  When we were brainstorming one day, we came up with the idea of a Calypso band (in honor of our trip to Grenada last spring).  I scoured the internet and started making calls.  I came upon Cyril Paul and the Calypso Monarchs.  Originally from Trinidad, Cyril leads a group of 6 other musicians and does weddings and other social functions.  The only thing I was adamant about was that there had to be a steel drum.

We couldn’t have ended up with a more spectacular musical group.  It added the perfect flare to our globally-themed event and was ideal for either dancing and/or listening.  We had a blast!  Cyril was beyond accommodating, having the band learn a new song for our first dance (we just had to get him the sheet music).  Their rates were fantastic for live music – only $1250 for 7 musicians!  That’s an amazing deal, especially considering the quality of their playing.  And so we danced the night away…. and even got a massive Congo line going!

Behind the Wedding: The Reception Venue

The choice of venue for the reception was perhaps the easiest decision I made.  We were set on St. Paul for the location, so I set up tours for 317 on Rice Park, The James J. Hill Library, The MN Boat Club and Christos Union Depot.  It was no contest.  We walked into the Union Depot and I knew this was where the celebration was supposed to take place.  First of all, it’s steeped in history, having been used as a train depot starting in the 1920′s.  The selection of a train station as our venue set the tone for our global-inspired travel theme and everything else took shape from there.

So besides having a stunning venue that needed NO decoration, the site also came with a few other perks, namely:

1.  Greek Food from Christos, the designated caterer for the site – For those of you who haven’t eaten at a Christos restaurant, it’s a must!  Authentic Greek food at its best and for a very reasonable price in the Twin Cities.  It was the perfect choice for us because it met our criteria of being different than a traditional wedding and our first kiss happened after eating out at a Greek restaurant.

2.  Georgia, the on-site wedding coordinator – Georgia was one of the best wedding presents a bride could receive.  She made my life SOOO easy, offering suggestions as to what has and hasn’t worked in the space based on her extensive experience.  She was also very open to my crazy ideas – such as a wedding painter, calypso band with steel drums, etc.  She insisted that no one from my immediate family stop at the site the day of – her staff would execute our wishes to perfection.  And that they did.  Unbelieveable service!  They assisted with clean-up, handed out sparklers before our exit and invited the guests through the buffet 2 or 3 times.  This is the kind of service that you don’t find often.  We were delighted!  I would hire them again in a heartbeat.  There is no price you can put on the gift of being able to relax on the big day!

Behind the Wedding: The Wedding Painter

Perhaps the hands-down coolest thing we did at our wedding was hire a wedding painter.  Yes, that’s right!  A real, live wedding painter who created a complete picture during the course of the reception.  I’m sure you’re curious how I found her.  Well, my whole motto for the event was that if I’d never seen it done at a wedding before, it was going to be done at ours.  So I called around to various service providers and happened upon Bellagalla.  I was talking to a representative there and asked what was the most random thing they had that was just starting to become popular.  And so I was introduced to this fabulous concept….

Here’s how it works.  You pay $2000 to get your own custom piece of art, created at the event.  We spoke with Nicole in advance to tell her what was important to capture about the big day, in addition to the colors that we liked.  We gave her a list of people to be included in the painting and she painted them in as well.  Nicole sketched through the social hour and then began to paint as dinner started.  She painted the entire night, finishing up just before the dance ended.  Guests were delighted with her, stopping by hourly to check on the progress.  It really added a signature element to our event and now we have a keepsake to hang on our wall in Manila.  The final painting ended up being 3 feet x 3 feet, so it’s really a statement piece.  We couldn’t be more thrilled with the final product!  She really honored our wishes and created something that we’ll enjoy for decades.   CLICK HERE to learn more about Nicole.  Click the link above to book her through Bellagalla.  Here are a couple of shots that show the progression of the painting.

In this final picture you can see Nick and I in the front right corner, our parents in the front left, the Miller sisters up on the balcony in their red dresses, the harp on the left side of the painting, the band in the rear center, and our two friends that gave speeches (Lou and Sarah) next to the harp on the left side.  Pretty cool, huh?

Behind the Wedding: Our Cocktail Hour Harpist

Today’s wedding vendor feature is the harpist that we had play during the cocktail hour.  Her name is Laurie Leigh and I found her at a bridal fair.  What I loved right from the start about her was that a.) she played the HARP (so cool) and b.) she played very non-traditional harp music (showtunes, Enya, etc).  Her rates were also incredibly reasonable at $350 for 2 hours of playing time.  I was sold.  We came up with a fun mix of selections with the first hour being contemporary tunes and the second hour being world music (to go along with the global theme).  She was a huge hit with the guests and SOOO easy to work with.  Highly recommended!  Check out the link above for her website.

Making of the Wedding: Behind the Event

Being that I have event planning in my blood, it’s hard to wrap up an event without sharing some of the magnificent resources that I came across during the planning.  I’m all about sharing and I was so darn pleased with how it went off.  So what we’re going to do is each day I’m going to feature one of the different vendors that I used and provide a link to either their site and/or give you their contact information directly.  Because we all know that the best resources always come from referrals, don’t we!

Today’s featured vendor is THE PAPIER PALETTE.  Ashlie Kalkofen is the owner/operator of this design-oriented wedding operation.  She listens to you describe the themes and colors that you want present in your event and custom-designs a unique identity system for the day.  I ordered the following paper pieces from her, all of which coordinated: Invites, Thank You’s, Placecards, Table Numbers, Groom’s Dinner Invites, DVD covers, Menus and signs.

What I loved most about working with Ashlie is that she just had this intuitive sense for exactly what I wanted.  I’d describe an idea vaguely and she’d come back with a couple working concepts, one of which typically nailed what I was looking for.  Why I’d recommend using her is that she paid exceptional attention to detail, was easy to get in touch with and had incredibly reasonable rates for custom-designed product because she’s just getting into the business.  I knew from the instant I sent out my invites that going with Ashlie was the right idea because my guests didn’t reply about how excited they were to come, they just responded about how much they liked the invite!  Check her out… she knows how to put a signature look on events!  Here are some of my favorite pieces from our event:

My new techie toy: The Kindle 2

I know some of you never thought you’d see the day when I would be an early adapter for technological goods.  Heck, I didn’t even own a cell phone until I was 21.  WHOA.  I’ve come a long way!  I think my new interest in this area is largely due to the increased quality of life technology will bring us overseas.  One of our recent wedding gifts was the Kindle 2, a fabulous electronic book reader.  This thing is crazy-light, only 10.2 ounces (lighter than a typical paperback)!  Also, it’s only 1/3 of an inch think, the equivalent of a magazine.  You turn the pages by pressing on a button on the left or right side.

It contains a 3G network (without a monthly fee) which allows you to download books from anywhere – you don’t need to be plugged into the internet or in a wi-fi zone.  On average, books only take about 60 seconds to download.  I’m currently in the middle of my first book, Handle with Care, the Jodi Piccoult book I highlighted a few months ago.  It’s like a whole new reading experience for me.  Some of the benefits I’ve seen:

1.  It’s easier to carry in a purse or small bag.

2.  It’s easier to use when walking on a treadmill because you don’t have to hold it open like a typical book.

3.  It feels exciting and fresh to read again.

4.  You can take over 1500 books with you in one Kindle, a great advantage for lighter traveling!

5.  You can change the size of the text, depending on how large of print you like to read in.  No more eye strain for me!

The Complete Wedding Photo Gallery!

I know this is what you’ve all been waiting for – our COMPLETE wedding gallery.  Warning.  There are approximately 900 shots in the gallery, so we’ve broken them down into smaller chunks for your viewing pleasure.  For those of you wanting to see just the highlights, select the Wedding Favorites Gallery.  This will be our permanent photo sharing site for our adventures going forward, so please bookmark the link or subscribe to the RSS feed.  Pictures will be a large part of how we communicate with our friends and family back home, so we plan to use this often!

www.minnesotagal.smugmug.com

I just wanted to take a moment and give a big shout of thanks to our FEARLESS wedding photographer Tom Stukel of Ella Studios.  This man worked his butt off and we have the beautiful pics to show for it.  He is exceptionally talented and does weddings, family shots, kids and design work.  Check out his web link above.  PS- Did I mention that he’s incredibly easy to work with and VERY reasonably priced?  Here are a few of my personal favorites:

The Great Hat Debacle…

Seriously, who’d have thought choosing a hat or two would be such a challenging thing?  Now, you may ask, “Why get a hat anyway?”  I’d be thinking the exact same thing if I weren’t porcelain-skinned and heading to the equator.  I’ll probably have skin cancer within the first month!  And so I thought, “How hard can this be?  I’ll just pick up any old hat…”  Here’s the problem.  I’m NOT A HAT PERSON.  I’ve never worn them, nor do I think they look particularly good on my head.  But I was determined… and after trying on close to 100 over the last month I’m here to report that I’ve found my hats.  Please say you like them – I’m still a bit self-conscious about the whole hat thing…

The Runner Up.  I thought I liked this hat, I really did.  But the brim was just too wide and it felt a bit too floppy.  And it was $80 and that felt like a lot for a hat.  But I thought it was the one.  Until I found this one…

A Keeper.  Again, $80 but I rationalized that if I wear it every day for 2 years it’s 11 cents a day.  That’s not so bad, is it?  I returned the first one for another Helen Kaminski hat, but this one’s made of organza instead of cotton and had a thinner brim yet the same general style.

Another Keeper.  This is the beach hat.  The smaller hat is going to be for roaming around Manila, but I also wanted a beach hat.  And since I’d already spent $80 on the first one, I thought I better get the second one for $20 or under.  And I did just that.  $20.  Then I only had to tell Nick that I got 2 hats for $100.  Honestly, I hope I don’t need to buy a hat again for a very long time…

Could you be a mentor too?

Many of you know this, but for the past 6 years I’ve had the honor of being Estelle’s “Big Sister” in the Big Brother, Big Sister program.  We have grown incredibly close over the years, so much so that she was one of my personal attendants for the wedding last weekend.  When I signed up right out of college, I thought it would be a great way to give back and mentor someone.  Little did I know how much I would be impacted.  In fact, I’m proud to say that I’ve known Estelle even longer than her adoptive mom has!  How’s that for history!  One of the best moments I remember witnessing was when Mary officially adopted Estelle.  It was such a blessing to be a part of such a milestone in her life.

Estelle and I closed our formal program relationship last month due to my leaving the country, but we will continue to stay in touch for years to come.  I already purchased her a webcam for communicating and we’re discussing when she can come over to visit me.  For those of you looking for an impactful volunteer experience, look no farther.  The time commitment is 5-10 hours a month (1 or 2 outings) with occasional emails or phone calls in between.  Couples can also sponsor a “little”.  It was one of the best risks I ever took and I challenge you to consider it for yourself.  Last time I heard, there were over 500 kids waiting for a “Big”.  Males are especially needed to mentor boys.  For more information, CLICK ON THIS LINK!

In celebration of the long-term success of our match, we were selected to be featured as this month’s spotlight.  Here’s the write-up:

The May Big Spotlight features Big Sister Sarah Miller and her Little Sister, Estelle.  Sarah and Estelle celebrated their 6 year anniversary in April.

As Sarah and Estelle have been matched for so long, one can imagine that they have done quite a variety of activities including an outing to a local apple orchard to pick fruit for a pie that they made together, an evening at the “World’s Toughest Rodeo,” days at Valley Fair, and many trips to the theater.  Both also look forward to their annual trip to the cabin where they join Sarah’s family for a weekend of fun and relaxation.

Sarah stresses that the key to making their relationship work over all these years has been flexibility.  She said that she has tried not to get attached to the idea of making the match look one way and as a result, their match has grown over the years to accommodate the changes that have happened in both Estelle and Sarah’s lives.  At times, the match got together weekly for fun activities.  However, there were also times where they talked on the phone more than they met in person.  Regardless, the foundation this match has built will undoubtedly be strong enough to weather the next change in their relationship: Sarah is moving to the Philippines!  The match already has plans for regular e-mails and Skype chats and have even made arrangements for Estelle to visit Sarah in the future.  In the meantime, Estelle will be the personal attendant at Sarah’s upcoming wedding!

Sarah has been a fantastic Big since day one.  She has been there for Estelle through every up and every down.  To this point, Estelle’s Mom has said, “Being a Big doesn’t cost a lot of money; it’s about maintaining contact.”  She could not have said it any better.   Sarah and Estelle, as your match comes to a close, it is only fitting to celebrate all of your successes together!  We wish you a lifetime of friendship and the best of luck in all of your future endeavors!

Thank you, Sarah, for being such a supportive and enthusiastic Big Sister!  And thank you to all of our committed Bigs who give their time and energy to provide positive friendships to our Littles!

1 More Speech & Our First Dance!

Here it is folks, the last video from the day.  SIGH.  It’s hard to comprehend that it’s over.  I can see why brides go through a little post-event let-down period.  Rest assured, I’ll be on to something new by the afternoon.  Nick’s off learning to save me at CPR class (I told him to pay extra attention today) and I’m going to start on thank you’s.  More posts coming soon!

Highlights from the Reception

Here’s the first round of speeches from Janet (Sarah’s Mom), Robert (Nick’s Dad) and Sarah Jansen (Sarah’s friend)… I’m working on the last upload for tomorrow (another speech and our first dance).  Enjoy!

The Wedding of the Century!

Yes! I’m married AGAIN!  The 2nd time was equally magical.  Over the next week or two, I’ll share some of the details of the event – from the vendors I used to my favorite pics.  Today we’ll start with a highlight reel from the Ceremony.  I’d write more, but I’m just getting settled in DC (FOR GOOD) and am exhausted!  The video will have to speak for itself…