little e updates

hello friends.

I miss you gise so very much, I miss us all together and I miss each of you separately.

So this is what I got to do for the holidays: Flew out with Phil to visit Leah and Michael (meeting of the boyfriends!) and I have to report that Michael is very nice and fun and generous and funny and I haven't ever seen Leah so happy and giggley with a boy. he gets full marks in my book. Phil said to Michael one night, "What do you think about how the last four letters of your name backwards spell..." (!) And they hadn't noticed that yet!~ that's fate for ya. We left Denver just in time to escape the blizzard, and went to Disneyland. great fun. and I got to talk to Noelle on the phone while I was standing amid crazy families frantically taking pictures of the most gigantic christmas tree. We need to talk more Noe, your last blog sounds really cool, I think that's so neat you are doing that, and I want to hear more about it.

Next we went to Disneyland for grownups: Venice Beach, and stayed with a friend from High school. We met up with Brigetta and Ben, just back from Hawaii, and JUST ENGAGED! that's right folks, weddin some time next summer. (she'll be making a formal announcement sometime soon). THey are very happy, and just the same. Nik was a no show, and Andrea too, (where are you Andi?? are you in Seattle yet? call me I want to see you) but Nik had an excuse of romancing the Sarah Jo who was up from AZ, so he's off the hook. I'm just a little gossip aren't I?

We then drove up to Selma, CA to meet all of Phil's hundreds of tall, very religious farmin relatives. Poor Phil had to defend his Parent's recent split over and over again ("they just need to find Jesus together") and fend off the marriage questions at us (we are living in sin.)THen we drove to Portland for Christmas, and back to Seattle.

I want to hear more gossip from all of you about your lives!!! I will be making calls New years eve, and I have a new number, so don't think its acrazy and don't answer (a crazy you know at least) 206-948-8198. There.

and subbing is going well, stressful and thankless, but I'm working. and those little snottys get me always sick sick sick! But they're so cute so I don't mind, most of the time.

love and good cheer to you all !!!!!

little e

Lovely Ladies

Oh my women, I miss you. It has been almost 6 months since the wedding, and I haven't had nearly close to my fill of you all. I want to know what is going on in your lives. What is moving you, inspiring you?!

Me, I am getting more and more passionate about ecological and economical development. I am gearing up to figure out how to get a group of green developers and people with general knowledge about green techonology to speak to the residents of my neighborhood here on the river (Aaron and I sit on the board, I am treasurer!). I would love for people to see how easy and economical green alternatives are to implement into their home and daily lives. I am not quite sure what, if anything exists like that, and if nothing exists like that, I will have to invent it!

Also, I have a website www.raingift.com. Check it out. It is really important to me, and you can read the story on the site.

I am also in a training program to lead introductions to the Landmark Forum, which is the most rigorous and way cool experience I have encountered. It is a 6 month leadership training and development program that essentially chips away at who you are until all that is left is a lithe, muscled agile leader! What I mean by that is that throughout the program, all that stuff that prevents a person from being in action and from being fully self expressed...all that stuff gets cut away until what is reveled is just you. The Landmark Forum is pretty awesome in itself. It is 3 days and an evening, a forum for you to examine who we are as human beings, how you got to be the way you are, and what you want for your future. You get clarity around what it is that you most want out of life. Yeah, sounds pretty f*%#$ing awesome doesn't it?!

Anyway, I miss you all and think of you often and don't say so often enough.

Love Love Love and Happy Holidays.

Noelle

HB K* 25

Happy Birthday you amazing woman you!

Hope you had fun this weekend, and will have good cake tonight.

Love from the Maidenhead...we miss you!

HB 26 NN

noey:
happy birthday my dear...
eat.drink.be merry!!!

Happy Turkey/Tofurkey Day

ladies:
I hope you all had wonderful thanksgivings!

much love,
kasia

Politicas

I'm happy to say , that Washington Democrats were also sucessful this year. One thing no one mentioned is Nancy Pelosi. Go ladies! Maria Cantwell, the incumbent senator won against this slimeball Mike McGavick, so that was good too. Yes, Rummy is out! Read the article about him in the New Yorker this week; I haven't had a chance, but the picture in it of him is awesome. I'm thinking dart board? Go www.myspace.com/alexisdiana
Love you girls
Lex
ps-Andi-I'm sorry that we didn't get to hang out more when you came up here:(

Ladies!

We have so many victories today, here in Minnesota and around the nation!! We voted in the first black man and Muslim into congress from Minnesota!! He is an incredible man to boot. He ran his campaign from Love, and even chanted that at his victory parties, and never negative campaigned, which was a huge departure from th e other campagins in the state.

We did however, keep our icky governer, Tim Pawlenty....nasty man, no integrity. He won by a slight margin of voters.

But, next time around, we can see what a difference we can make, becuase Instant Run-off Voting (IRV) will be our means of voting in these elections!! That is exciting, and is perhaps my most favorite victory of them all. We will get to rank our politicians in order of preference, and no one will ever need to fear that they are wasting thier votes. You should check it out, what IRV is all about, have a ballot innitiative in your own state to implement IRV.

What an exciting day.

Love to you all, let me know how the victories came rolling in in your own state, and where we can look for victories next time.

Much love!!

Noey

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Ladies ladies...
HAPPY HALLOWEEN...
I am sure you all brought sexy back and I want to see proof
(aka pictures of all your costumes)

much love

kasia

Where my girls at?

Where are they?

Missing the lot of you. Can we have another reunion soon? Cause I sure could use some Maidenhead love.

-L-

halloween: oooooooooo

Hey girlie q's
Well, Halloween is nearly upon us. I don't know why I'm excited though...I don't even have a costume! I think I'll just throw on a wig and some make up, we'll see what I turn out to be. Hoping to make it to em's party on Saturday with the lovely Andrea in town! Can't wait to see both of them! Sounds like Noelle might make a trip out here to have some Seattle fun (oxymoron?). I just had a meeting with a director who wants me to Assistant Direct with her. The play is call "A Dream Play" and it sounds totally out there. I can't wait to read it and start working on it. It's going to perform in May, and she wants to get started now, so I think this will be a huge piece! Lot's of crazy Expressionist stuff!
Hope you all are great and that your fingers aren't broken so you can blog back.
Ps, I'm on myspace now...I never thought it would happen!

HB 25 EC

10-4 good buddy!!!!
now it is your turn to celebrate being old!!!!
party it up maidenhead style and know that I wish I could
be there with ya.... cake....party hats...cake...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EM!!!!!

miss/love ya,

k to the p dizzle!

WE LOVE YOU MAIDENHEAD OH YES WE DO

WE DON'T LOVE ANYONE AS MUCH AS YOU

WHEN YOU'RE NOT NEAR TO US

WE'RE BLUE

oh MAIDENHEAD WE LOVE YOU

love emily

VEGAS BABY!!!

ladies:
so I was thinking 2 things:
1. how much I miss hanging out will all of you.
2. that I have never been to vegas

so.....

how about we all meet up in Vegas for New Years?
Yes? No?

I am looking into availability etc and will keep you posted.
and if $$$ is an issue, charge it baby... you only live once and
god forbid I die without seeing the pyramids in vegas.
plus we could all dress like old lady gamblers
I am thinking lots of shiny spandex! :)

let me know..

xoxo luff xoxo

k to the p dizzle

HB 25 AM

andi:
happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday my dearest andrea...happy birthday to you.

birthday greetings from the east coast to the west coast.
celebrate this quarter century mile stone as if we were all with you.

xoxo much luff xoxo

kasia

new address

Hi All,
So I have moved. I am sending out an email with my new address, but just in case you check the blog more than your email - yeah........
It was a good couple days of chaos b/c of stupid lease timing we had to move everything to my parent's garage first and then to the new apartment, even though my old and new apartments are only 3 blocks apart. But the new apartment is nice and it is almost completely unpacked.
I hope you are all still doing well. Also I updated my 'back from the ice' post and included two pictures.
e.

Wowee Zowee

Hi everyone! Emily here. What exciting adventures you have all been up to! I love the pictures and the stories:so cool. I have been bogged down in correcting papers and surviving the intense land of inner city middle schoolers. I ended up teaching 6th(going into 7th) grade reading at WA MS in Beacon Hill. All of my kids were there because they flunked at least 2 classes during the year. Because my class was added on at the last minute, my 2 classes were made up of the kids that the other teachers "gave to me" because they didn't want to deal with them. In one class there were only 4 girls, fights everyday and a lot of apathetic, self-concious namecalling. Not to mention being spit at. It was quite a learning experience. My first partner teacher quit after 2 days, the second one after a week and then we had subs. They didn't give us the curriculum until the second week, so I made up a lot of stuff. We analyzed song lyrics and did readers theatre with Agust WIlson and Romeo and Juliet. I had to fail people which was hard, some kids wouldn't do anything but sit, tap their pencils and glare. I think most of them liked me though. I've learned some new slang! It made me feel kinda old to have to ask, "what does that mean?" Anyway, now it is done, and I am moving! Phil and I and our friend Jorden have moved into a cute 3 bedroom in Shoreline, just north of Seattle. We have a great yard and fireplace! I still have lots to move in, but it is great and now we just have to get our cats to get along. WE ARE HAVING A HOUSE WARMING PARTY ON OCTOBER 28th AND YOU ARE ALL INVITED. So, if you should find yourself in the northwest, you know you've got halloween plans availiable. We are planning it now because then we can hope to get as many people to come as possible. AND WE WANT YOU. Ofcourse, I agree with Lex that Seattle is a great place to visit anytime, and please do. I really want to go to Disneyland sometime soon. Well, this overdue message is long, Mostly I want you all to know that I am thinking about you, and lookingforward to when we can be all together again. Can you believe summer is almost over?! AH! ok, by now, love Emily

Images of China

sorry, I have over 500 pictures, so I tried providing a limited assortment.

just in case you wanted to see the others. go crazy
http://www.kodakgallery.com/AlbumMenu.jsp?

China is the new Prague

Knee-How (Hello) from China. ok, actually I am back. After a flight from Shanghai to Beijing to JFK to having the 3rd flight of the day cancelled, so a night in New York, I finally arrived in Washington DC about 36 hours after I left the wonderful land of China. China looks so much like Eastern Europe, from the buildings to the transport, to people's little stores, fruit stands, clothing, advertising, etc. I had a great stay, almost 2 weeks, we did 2-3 days in Beijing (the Great Wall, Tiannamen Square, the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Lama Temple, Pearl Market, etc)Xi'an (the Terracotta Warriots, Big Wild Goose Pagoda)Guilian (river cruise, markets, crazy night life, and yes this is the city where we ate dog) and finally Shanghai (awesome bars, Chinease acrobat show). Ok, so I could go on and on, but basically it was amazing, friendly people, beautiful country and yes I ate Chinese food every day, which was surprising similar to American Chinese food (but I did try goose foot, chicken feet, duck cheecks, and dog, otherwise it was a lot of pork, chicken, rabbit, celery and watermelon) and yes I was very glad to have a burger upon my return home.

much love and peace,
kasia

Back from the Ice

Hi All,
I am back from Greenland now, and returned to a pretty intense week of heat and humidity here in Madison which has just subsided in the past day or two. It was quite the change to go from almost zero humidity and below freezing temperatures to close to 100% humidity and hundred degree heat.

I had an excellent time at Summit (named so b/c it is at the summit of the Greenland ice sheet). I learned a whole bunch and met a lot of really cool people. I also got to eat so much really excellent food. There are two cooks on staff over summer which make very yummy food for all of us at the camp to eat, and you get to eat so much b/c you burn so many calories up there digging and all, in the cold climate. The research station there was about 30 people while I was there, 10 of which are summer over staff that run the camp. The 'winter' conditions are great however because unlike winters here it is really sunny all the time (b/c the sun doesn't set), and b/c you are always dressed for the cold it doesn't seem so bad. All in all I really enjoyed it and I would definitely go back.

(The first picture is an overview of the camp from the plane on the flight in, the dots in rows are the 'arctic oven' tents, aka tent city, and the second picture is me in one of the snow pits we dug)
Love you all.
Erika.

Is anyone feeling like they need to come to seattle? Bumpershoot is coming up and this is the year to go. Kanye, Atmosphere, Steve Miller, Yellowcard, AFI, Blondie, New Pornographers, Matt Costa, Blue Scholars, and MOST importantly, Macha Monkey. We are doing a staging of the songs from our last play. It'll be fun!
If Bumbershoot ain't your cup of tea, there is always late/early Sept/Oct when MM's next show is. It's gonna be awesome too. Anne Marie is working with us, and hopefully we'll get Raz and Ellie in on it too. PS-If any of you (leah, andi, or em) know of any guys that want to audition for a play in SEattle let me know. All the guys that have audition suck...well all but one. Just a side note.
Case in point, Seattle is great place to visit! And I would love to get you guys to see some of my work. This time I'm only assistant directing (not doing both ass.dir AND stage managing) so the director is giving me scenes to direct and running some rehearsals. It's cool to know that people are going to see (and HOPEFULLY LIKE) some of my work. I'm ready to get out of the stage managing booth and work with actors more. I'm very excited :)
Hope everyone is great and call me some time.
Love Lex

Favor?

Ladies-

Does anyone live near a Zara? I am looking for a gift for Mr. Michael. He wears the homme fragrance they make and I am having a hell of a time trying to get my hands on a bottle for his birthday (mid-September).

If anyone has access to the store and could pick me up a bottle and ship it here, I would be so, so grateful! Of course I would reimburse you for all costs: cologne, shipping, gas, and maybe a little some-something for your trouble.

In other things, life goes along truckin'. Looks like we might be making a trip to the east coast for Laurie May's getting hitched ceremony in October. I am craving more travel, so perhaps this will satiate me for the time being.

Thank you all for the updates! Keep 'em coming!

Loves,
-Leah-

I'm Baaaaaack!

My lovely ladies!

How great it was to see all of you and have you in my humble abode. Thank you all again for being part of the wedding experience. I felt so fortunate to have you all with me.
Japan and Hawaii were so wonderful. I will have to post some pictures of Japan (we didn't have a digital until we were in Tokyo) when I learn how to do such a thing. We saw so many temples, shrines, Ancient castles, really great arcitechture, and met some wonderful people. Our favorite was staying with Ko, our friend in Matsuyama on Shikoku Island. Being with his family (3 kids, Yuki-9, Mina-11, Kengo-14 and wife Yuko) was such a needed rest after having been through Tokyo and Kyoto.

I would love to go on and on, but alas, I am at work!! But here is a link to the wedding photos!!

http://web.sendtoprint.net/proofbook/login.asp

login: mo

there are great pictures of all of us at the wedding, you other late arrivals, please enjoy vicariously!

Love noey

trips

speaking of totally awesome trips...

noelle: are you back?
how the hell were Hawaii/Japan?

lex: how was yosemite?

andi: how was it to be back in seattle for a few days?

leah: when was/is New York/Chicago?

em: beach house? although, more importantly-how's the teaching of 8th math(?) going?

hmmm, I guess what I am after is-how are you guys? what are you up to, etc?

luff & kisses,
kasia

Greeland eh? Don't get too close to those calvings...we want you unfrozen when you get back:) Good luck in all your endeavors there. You are awesome for venturing out there, so make the most of your trip! Lex

hello from the coast of greenland

Hi all,
Thought that I would write a quick hello as I am on the coast of Greenland waiting to go up to the ice sheet. To be specific, I am in Kangerlussuaq. Kanger (as it is frequently shortened to), is on the west coast of Greenland, somewhat inland, relatively speaking, and is on the longest fjord in the country. The people of greenland, although they are technically part of Denmark, do have home rule, and speak Greenlandic (which I have found out has way longer words than German - I know, hard to believe). I have had a couple of days here on the coast while we wait for weather to be acceptable for flying, etc. to do some hiking and touristy stuff. On the coast greenland is quite green, but it doesn't really have any trees, but it does have some cool flowers, even if they only sparsely dot the landscape. I have done some hikes onto the top of the hilly landscape here and had some amazing views. Also, about 25 miles further inland is the edge of the glacier, which is a pretty amazing sight. We got to see parts of the glacier calving (breaking off) into the river below. On the coast here the temperature isn't even too cold, about mid-50s.
Hope you are all enjoying your summer.
Erika.

photos granted

Hi all,
So I have posted a selection of the photos that I took at the Noelle and Aaron's wedding on my flickr site. Check it out if you are interested. I am also burning some CDs of all the photos and will be sending them to all. (yes, that will include you too Lex!) Hope all is well with everyone.

There should be a link here, but i don't know if it is showing up - so in non-link form just in case, http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikavons/

photos

hey all of you in digital camera land, would you mind posting a link so we can access the week(end) that was...thanks.

esKape POD

Happy love quote

Hi friends! I hope everyone is home safely, or off in exotic places safely... I wanted to share with you (especially Noelle) a quote from the book that I was reading and finished on the plane on my way to MN, I felt it was appropriate for the love theme of the weekend, and it brought a smile and sigh to my lips. This quote is from the second to last page of the book, but doesn't ruin it for you. I still also recommend any of her books:

"Once we were close, I was able unobtrusively to drink in the smell of the man, recognising, at long last, the scent of the other half of my being. I understood then why from the first I thought I had known him before. Quite simply, it all came down to the elemental fact that I had found my mate, after so many weary years searching for him..."

Isabel Allende, Eva Luna

It was like a good crazy dream time warp seeing all of you. Lets make it sooner next time. Beach house anyone?

ps- Kasia, it's not my bra!

Emily

heeellloooo beaaaauuutiful frieeeeends.

i like vowels!
(this is andrea - who only has 3 vowels in her name - how disappointing)
i'm so ready to regale and defile and reminisce and create and party and wiggle my boootyyyy and celebrate and cheer and flail around with all of you. when i'm not stuck in a social vacuum missing people, i've been spending my time learning spanish, eating reaaaaally gooooood tacos in tj and drinking altogether tooooo much beeeet juice (ok, i'll stop with the vowel thing...i'm getting annoyed with myself so i imagine you are too). i pee so pink it's amazing. but as much as 'so-cal' is trying to convert me, i just can't stop thinking about the pacific northwest, midwest, northeast/midatlantic (kasia...where do you consider yourself??) with fondness, cuz my friends are all trapped there!!! heehee.
a question: i get into minneapolis at midnight of the thursday/friday cusp. would anyone take joy in picking me up from the airport??? or maybe just giving me directions on the best way to get to where i should go? that'd be awesome. then i can come hug all of you and be happy.

jubilance is nigh'

-andrea 'vowel' magee.

5!

noey:
I can't believe that you are getting married in 5 days.
Just wanted to remind you to breathe and to get
ready for the maidenhead reunion.

much luff!

kasia

way to be posting!

Hello all,
it has been quite a while since I have visited the blog and I am happy to find that you are all busy posting messages, and so i feel the need to try and catch up.
I have been in Austria for the past week and a half visiting Todd before his stay here is up. It has been a great time, going to classes with him, doing some hiking, sightseeing, and also going to Budapest. This weekend I head to Vienna before making my way back to the states.
And then, Noelle's wedding. I will be arriving tuesday also, although I don't know what time we'll be getting in to MN given that I will be picking Todd up in Chi-town the day before we drive to good ole MN. I'll give a call Noe and let you know if we will be able to make it any of the festivities, however, I would say, don't plan on me for any of the pedicure, hair, or make-up appointments - I'm just going to wing it. :)
I am very excited to see you all there and have a rowdy fun time.
See you soon!!
-E

all about the wedding

So, I am using this as a handy tool to communicate with you ladies about the wedding details. Except that Kasia is really the only one in the wedding party that reads this blog on a regular basis, so I may have to attempt a new strategy.

But, the date is drawing near, and so are some decision deadlines. Kasia and Alexis (Erika, you are welcome to join in on any and all of this if you will be around), I am getting manicure/pedicure done with Colette Tuesday afternoon before the rehearsal dinner (K*, it will probably depend on your flight arrival time), would you like to join us? I am also going to get my hair done, shall I make appointments for any of you at teh time of mine? And, my friend Isabelle, who does organic and natural makeup for commercials is offering to do make-up for $50/person at my folks place (where we will be getting ready)....do any of you want to jump in on that, or should we just do it ourselves?

Let me know soon and I will begin making appointments.

Cant wait to see you all! I found a friend who has an air matress, so that is one more place for bodies. We should all be comfortable while staying chez moi!

A bien tot mes amis! *mwah*

X3

ladies ladies ladies...
yes Kasia's new job provided her with access to the internet
and so yes, she posts way more than she probably should.
I just wanted to say, that despite the less than savory reviews,
I still enjoyed X-Men 3-The Last Stand.

Contact Info for da pirettes

Ladies ladies...
please please please can I have all of your address
(so you can get fun things from our nation's capitol)
I am not sure if the ones I have for you are current.
as well as perhaps your email addresses, phone #'s yes? no?
ok cool, if you don't want to post them, you can always email me

k_podbielski@yahoo.com
(253) 232 6029

much luff

The Link

Kasia here are a few links to that city I was telling you about in Maryland, it is called Greenbelt. This will tell you a little more about it, and you can find names of residencies and then look for more information that way. It is pretty cool, many cooperatives and green living encouraged.

http://www.greenbeltmd.gov/about_greenbelt/index.htm
http://www.greenbelt.com/index.htm

I hope it is a help to you, or that when you are ready to look for your new place, you will have a good time of it and the cost of living there won't blow your mind too much.

Well guys, the last of the invites are out now, so I await RSVPs so I can make sure that all of you are fed and happy!

I can't wait to have you all in my home! We have a very cool place on the Mississippi River. You can go out back and enjoy the view, stick your feet in the water and feed the ducks. You can have a bonfire out back, and walk to many chic bars and restaurants. We have a couple bikes, but Aaron is pretty tall, and I only have one, so you will have to see if that is an option. Otherwise, it is all pretty walkable. Our apartment is fairly large, so you won't feel cramped in the least, and I am working on the bed situation. Oh, and by the way, I can't remember if anyone is allergic, but we have a very large black cat, and a dog (although he will be with my folks), so be prepared!

I really can't wait to see you all. Thank you for taking your time and spending your hard earned cash on coming out for this reunion of sorts. We shall all have much regaling!!!


LOVE!!

post post create new post

okay so, i am SO HAPPY!!!! you will all be here to defile with me and celebrate! I want to offer my house for you to stay in. I know that Kasia and Erika will be staying with Erika's boyfriend's parents not too far away. But, Alexis, Leah, Andi and Emily, please stay at my place!
Aaron and I are going to be in a cottage Wednesday and Thursday night, so our place is open. We will be there Friday and Saturday nights, but then, we are off to Japan.
So, there are enough spaces for Four people total to have beds. Then there are two couches and plenty of floor space. If that sounds good to you, let me know and I can ask around if anyone has any space beds or air mattresses we can bring in.
Otherwise, we are in NE Minneapolis. I would recommend staying in a hotel in the "Dinkytown" area or even downtown. There aren't any hotels in the immediate area, but we are close to everyhting and easily busable from downtown or pick-upable. I would actually say that downtown is easier.
There are a few bed and breakfsts in the area as well.
http://www.leblanchouse.com/ is one of them, and the other is http://www.nicolletislandinn.com/ and another is, http://www.waleshouse.com/ and here is a direcotry of them, http://www.minneapolislodging.worldweb.com/BedBreakfasts/ or just search for bed and breakfasts in minneapolis and look for places in NE or SE minneapolis (as indicated by the street address).

Hope this is helpful, I think the B&Bs are more affordable if you can arrange to share it together. Otherwise, if you have a good deal on a hotel with your airfare, just do that.

Call if you need anything!!!!
and I have the invites stamped and ready to go out the door, I just need your address Leah, Emily and Andi.
Can you email them to me???
Or, well, I can pick up that phone and call you too!

Okay, I love you all and can't wait to see you. This is going to be so Wonderful!!! I can't wait for you to meet Aaron, and Mo and Sumo Chan(our Cat).

Keep the posts coming, it is so exciting!

bye!

Reunion!

Well, well. It seems as though we are all going to be present for Noelle's defiling and celebration! I am planning on being there from Thursday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. I have yet to purchase my tickets, but I will most definitely be there.

One question, Noey: Where are events being held? I want to book a hotel at the same time I purchase my flight, and it would be awesome if it could be in the same building or very near where fun wedding stuff is taking place. So if it is in a hotel, let me know where I should book.

I am greatly looking forward to seeing all of you ladies!

Soon enough, compadres...

-Leah-

tickets I have purchased

Hello. Emily is now officially able to come, but only for the weekend from 23-25th, I am sorry I wont be there for the actual event, Noelle, but I am so glad to be able to be there for your defilement of course, and to see all of you and celebrate love and friends and life the way it should be: all together and having great times. I will be getting in on friday at 3:00pm. and leaving around 3:30 on sunday. I am so excited!!! I was thinking I wasn't going to be able to afford it, but now all is well and I will be there!!

yehaw, Emily

So long it has been since I have written to my friends! The only internet I get is at the library and that's only for an hour a day! But to sum it up, life's good. It's getting nice and sunny and on a consistant basis here in Seattle, and I'm loving being outside. My parents bought me a bike for the b-day and I have been riding it to work and to do errands and it's so fun. Reminds me of baby-bike em.
I'm coming to Minnnesota on tuesday for the whole shabang! It's going to be a Noelle marathon and we are so getting her defiled on Friday. I'm in Tacoma right now, and I'm definately feeling those old fimaliar vibes from collage. It's actually graduation day today and I drove past our old house and they were having a grad party and I saw through the window that that old oragne chair still lives there! Brought back the memories But it's all good: Kasia is moving for a new job! Noelle is getting married! There are so many wonderful things happening as we move on in life! I can't wait to celebrate all those things in Minn soon.
mwah
lex

KP ---> DC

ok, so it finally happened...erika and I are getting divorced.
I mean, I am moving to DC this Wednesday (May 10) because I accepted
a job as Office Manager of CEPA (Center for European Policy Analysis)
which starts Monday May 15th.

so I will be going through social withdrawl....but I hope it is a new and exciting chapter in my life....I'll keep you posted.

k to tha po

Tacytown

Hey girls,

guess where I went out last night, The Swiss! Phil and I drove down to the pungent paradise that is Tacoma and saw Dashel's band 'the Cartesians' play a Katrina benefit concert. It was strange but fun to be back at this old haunt, and of course fun to see old friends. Erica Nelson was there trailing her boy who I can still only think of as a freshman, and I saw that one dark haired bitch girl from our film class (do you remember her?) and I saw Ginger, and other youngins who I couldn't remember names of. Lauren O and Adam went back with us to Seattle to hang out, they are very cool people indeed. Lauren is thinking she will move back to Texas after school and Adam still has bright red hair chunk tails all over his head. I helped Lauren learn to vaporize; it was good times. Also, Lisa told me that Eric has moved to LA with Ben, they are now getting rich making and staring in commercials for Fox, I saw one air during American Idol. CRAZY! Well, those are some TAC town updates for the curious. I beleive I will be purchasing tickets to come east on the 23rd, looking forward to celebratin love and seeing all of you! love, Emily

i'm coming! (i'm = andrea)

just bought my plane ticket to the wedding. i get in late thursday night and i'm staying through late afternoon sunday. wish i could be there for the wedding, but have to feign responsibility at work. at least i'll be around for defilement fun. SO EXCITED TO SEE Y'ALL LOVELY LADIES I COULD PEE MY PANTS but i'm gonna run to the bathroom instead....how embarrassing to urinate myself at work!!
lovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelove...you get the point:)

OATMEAL COOKIE CHUNK!!!

Girls! There has been a return of the best ice cream ever!!! Ben and jerry's have brought back by popular demand the devine oatmeal cookie chunk, which i remember devouring in great quantities with you ladies. I saw it in the store the other day and freaked out, and of course bought some. I hope you can ifnd some too, and eat it. Yum. love love love, Emily

Wedding up-date

This was a comment, but I thought I would post it so that it is obvious and easy to find. Read on. (OH! And I get to go to my first fitting of my dress in the actual fabric that it is being made out of on Sunday! and I just saw the wax form of my wedding ring today from Brittney my Waaaayyyyyy awesome jewler friend who is making our rings...and it is so beautiful! It actually interlocks with the engagment ring!)

Okay
Here is the deal with the Wedding.
I am getting the invites out by the end of the month, and they will be in all of your mail boxes, fret not.

June 20th, Rehersal Dinner
all of you who will be in town will attend this, regardless of whether or not you are actually IN the ceremony.

June 21st, Ceremony and Reception
you are all invited, yes it is a wednesday. It is small and intimate and will be for close friends and family.

June 23rd, Bachelorette Party (actually we need another name for this!)...defile the bride party??

June 24th, Marriage Celebration
Huge Party with live music line up and fire dancing for all who can't be there or are not invited to the ceremony!

So, that is the line up. I am not so stressed out anymore by the ammount of planning yet to do but Aaron has begun counting down the days!
It is crazy.

I really can't wait to see you all.

Love,
noey

ok, so i will try the telephone instead for means of communication:)
last night i went to mexico and stood on the beach and touched 2 countries. the border at the beach is absolutely ridiculous...nothing but a cruel joke. the mexico side is populated by small beachy shops and during the day beach-going folk. and the american side is barren except for huge towering lights that blind you and hummers tucked into the hillside staring out toward the fence - which painfully mocks all those hopes of the american dream. it is railroad track material extending 30 feet up into the air. but i could, literally, fit between some of the beams. i started to do so - half in, half out - but the light got brighter on us. didn't feel like getting arrested and interrogated. met some mexicans who were trying to cross to meet up with their wives and children, and i wished them luck. strange world.

summer ize again

sorry i forgot to tell you it's me: it's me! andrea that is.

summer ize

i wish i had the time to add the words i'd like to add, but as it is, i'm at work in my nice little office surrounded by nice little people working on nice little projects. ok, so those'r lies. i don't work with little people and the projects are HUGE, but the office is small. until i actually have time to make this an authentically blogged note, please please please tell me details of the wedding so i can try and find a ticket (anyone know an airline that accepts food stamps???) :)! short review of life: sunny bananatrees topiary puppies arabiya springtime on the beach mosques mexico espanol barefoot on saturdays stolen bicycles :( and gelatto:) i love you all.

Do you Have the Stamina?

Alright all you fantastic women. I have finally succumbed to the era of technology. I have a AIM account. Unbelieveable, eh? If you want to chat via AIM, e-mail me with you username and I will do so in return. Believe me, I have plenty of free hours to bore you with while I am at work. Like now. At work. Writing this. Score.

My life has been pretty uneventful. I did sign up to take the GRE in August, so that is eating up any free time I do have with studying. It is like I almost forgot how to do it! For shame. But I feel very good about actually taking the steps to advance. It will be awhile before that takes me anywhere - but things are in motion.

I think I might be flying to Chicago this weekend. One of those last minute packages offered a round trip flight and two-night at a four-star hotel for an unbelievable price. And Chicago has been creeping up in conversation too frequently for me to ignore the signs that I must visit soon. If not this weekend, I am definitely going to go this summer. As well as a potential trip to Seattle over Memorial Day weekend for the Gorge Festival . Anyone want to come? That might make my decision easier!

Noelle - Will you send me some info about the wedding? I would love to make it, but I have to make the plans with work. Unless that is, I am no longer invited... Aw.

Em and Kasia - I share your anxiety about what the hell to do with my life/getting a job. I think wrestling is an admirable career. Teaching too. So let's find a niche for me... crepe maker?

Andi - Lovely to talk to you the other day. Your e-mail is in the works.

Lex - I am so glad to see you update here. It was almost like we were at different ends of the earth. But only mere hundreds of miles apart. Weird, I know. Nice to hear from you.

Erika - You are a rockstar!

Everyone - I miss you all terribly.

That is all from me for now. All the best, compadres,

-Leah-

Employed or Bust?

Hello friends, Emily here. I am almost officially done with my MIT program, just the annoying last paperwork to do. Now I am trying to get a job for next fall, and sub here in Seattle until then. It is all more complicated to secure than I had hoped, but I am trying to remain optimistic. For now I am babysitting, sleeping in too much, and reading a lot. Which is great, but don't pay tha bilz. I had wanted to spend this time traveling the near by states where you friends live, but it turns out I have to fill out long applications and wait around to see if I can get some interviews. Plus theres that whole no money thing. Did I mention I'm trying to be optimistic? I am bad at big changes like this... as you all may know, but I'm hanging in there and actually doing pretty good despite my crappy job catchin skilz. Plus Phil is still wonderful, though I feel he is not fully approved until he meets you gise. Well thats it from my end. I miss you gise a lot, I really do. Especially now that I am allowed to come out of my lesson writing hole and see the flowers blooming! Hell, is it really almost Easter?! Holy Mother of Resurected Guy! wow. well, thats enough Emily, you can stop typing now.

CHEERS.

unacceptable

ladies....
almost 2weeks has passed with no new blog...I am sadded by this.
in recent news, I still do not know what the hell to do with my life,
so feel free to drop suggestions, for example: gee Kasia I always that
you would make a great pro wrestler!

To give you an image

To share some pictures of this past St. Patty's day weekend, and give you all an idea of what a fantastic weekend you would have if you ever happen to decide that Madison, WI will be your travel destination of choice.

As you can see in the picture on the left Noelle is quite the lightweight. (not the most flattering picture of all of us, but quite amusing non-the-less).

And yes, on St. Patty's day we did all wear green.

Officially Unofficial

Hello to you all, friends whom I have seen so recently and those whom I have not since we were but recent grads. I have an unofficial announcement to make regarding the Wedding/Celebration/Bachelorette party!
As was discussed while Lex, K* and E were here looking for dresses, it has been determined that the bachelorette part will be held on the Friday following the wedding and preceding the Celebration! I just can't imagine having a bachelorette party without each one of you. You are my girls, and I am so lucky to have you in my life, and a debaucherous party would not be the same without all of you there!
So, just to let you know that that is the plan.
Aaron and I had a great time visiting in Madisson for St. Patty's day weekend. Mo should have been dyed green (or at least had shamrocks painted on his ears)! There was much drinking and shopping and strolling about, much talk of breakfast making, and also much sleeping in and settling on dining out. I think Aaron passed the test, and he got a very good rating, although it could have been higher had he remembered my favorite moive. It was so fun to see everyone, and here is another announcement! We found the bridesmaids dresses! They are beautiful!! They are...orchid. yes, orchid. Not the dreaded purple word (for those of you who don't know, Angela is loath to wear purple...and I have assured her that she will not have to wear that color). So, orchid it is, and they are so cool. Beaded with a sort of drop waist. We got them from the "Princess of India" if that gives you any clue. And, we ALL agreed that they were great.
So, just to share.
And, I will be writing you all of you who have been writing to me,a nd calling and jsut getting back into that good ol' communication with you all...I appoligize over and over a million times for how just sucky I am at staying in communication!
Anyway, I love you all and think of you often.
Noelle

Recipe's Please

Can I have your fabulous recipe's that we ate all the time?? What comes to mind: Kasia's Hot and sour soup, Lex's rhubarb pie, bruchetta, and of course, Andrea's zucchini bread... I know there was more! Remind me and give me a way to take tastebuds down ye old memory lane... muchas gracias, Emily

Find Info HERE!

Hey guys, I thought maybe we could all add on a comment here with our info: phone numbers, email, birthdays Etc... for those of us like me who can't seem to find all of your email adresses! If you are notwanting to post stuff like that, thats fine, just email me your preferred email then... okee doke? Em

Did anyone watch the AA's last night? How many montages can there be about movies? There were a lot of movies that I hadn't seen though, so it makes me want to see more. If you haven't seen Capote you should, but prepare yourself for a complete mind fuck of emotions. Speaking of movies, I turn on the TV this morning and Wet Hot American Summer was on! So many memories!! Ah, talking vegetable cans and crack binges...good stuff. Just wanted to check in, I have to go hump the fridge, I mean jump the bridge...SHUT UP! GO AWAY!
lex

MN in February

As per Lex's request I am posting a bunch of the MN pictures. Ones from the mall of america, of which there aren't very many, and some of the 331 Club and the Sno-Ball. However, to not have just a bunch of pictures overtaking the blog, I'm giving you a link to my new photo site on Flickr so you can check them out. http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikavons/
If you want some of the photos and they can't be downloaded from there, just let me know and I'll burn them onto a CD for you and send them, or I can email them if you just want a couple.

MN was a fantastic time. It was awesome to see Noelle, Aaron, and Lex (even though it was only a few hours).

RRRR-ight, I'm here

Alright, alright. So I get it now. With the help of Noe here, I too am now a blogger. First off Minn is really freakin cold...I have to wear long-johns, sweater, down jacket, gloves and a hat, oh and mittens to feel like my homeostasis level is where it should be. But it's worth it. It's been great catching up with Noe and meeting Aaron who is the male version of our dear friend. He's easy to talk to, and obviously can't wait to be wed to Noelle. Too bad all the bridesmaids will be naked on that blessed day. Not too much luck with the dress hunting; between crazy haired sales ladies, dresses and better dresses (?), and GLITZ!, the Mall of America did us braidsmaids no justice. I did however manage to spend much mula at H&M (my true shopping guilty pleasure)...E: post those pics you took in the mall, I'd like to see them...but not the one of me with a tail...
So my life in Seattle is great. Mike and I are better than ever I'm happy to say. My job is good (reception at a chiropractor's office) and keeps me wanting to be healthy and live a balanced life. The hours are great which allows for me to do some theatre. I sent out the email about the play I'm working on, but not sure if you all got it. I'm assistant directing The Cowgirl Play, as well as stage managing it. In the future I think I'm going to pursue directing...unless I turn out to totally suck at...we'll see. I'm trying to get involved with an all female produced festival called Mae West Fest. I've also just been asked to be a part of the Company Macha Monkey (who is producing the play that I'm working on now) and couldn't be happier about it! I'm so happy to be doing theatre and making a name for myself, but it's a big pond and I'm still a little fish...
Ok, I think I win the prize for the longest blog ever. I'll post some pics when I get home to my own computadora.
Love Lex
Japanese words Noelle and Lex learned yesterday: McDonalds: macodonodo Toilet: toire (toe-ray..my fave) surfboard: sufaborodo

Beach Time

Hello Fiends! Emily is on "midwinterbreak" from student teaching 3rd grade at BF Day Elementary in Seattle. Just got in to Portland today after spending the week with Phil and Tommy cat at the Beach House. (yes he is wearing the same outfit as in the last picture, haha) I had been parted much too long from the lovely place. Feel the same way? Then after we all have a reunion at Noelle's Weddin', maybe we should all go to the beach! I am graduating my Masters in Teaching program June 17, so I will be freshly job hunting. anyhow, anyplace, where ever we be, I am looking forward to seeing everyone again. I am shamed to say, however, that I have seen Leah much more recently than Lex, and we live minutes away... this should change! and we should all reunite this summer! and galexies will collide and stars explode with joy as the Maidenhead sails oncemore! ARRR me mateys!

Noelex

hi I am writing here on behalf of Lex who is having techno-difficulty in signing on. She has access only through her library, so there may be some issue there. However, when last we spoke she wished for me to speak in her presence.
So, Lex is doing well. She is involved in graet plays and directing and doing all sorts of wonderful things. She is happy and excited to visit Noelle on Sunday at the end of this month. It had been too long away from this wonderful friend, and she just felt a longing to visit the frozen tundra.
So, that is her message, I swear no personal bias creeped in on my part! Write her an email or call.
Love you all, and miss you
Noelle/Lex

VD 2006

just wanted to wish you all a HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!
spread the love :)

k*

Well, well. I am not the last to post. Score!

Ummm... now what to say...

Leah's Life: Colorado. Coffee shop. Irish Pub. Research for Progressive Health. Family. Mojitos. Boyfriend. Grad School?

That is my life in a nutshell. The most important stuff is all in-between the lines which I will fill in as the days progress.

Oh, and I have seen some amazing live music recently. And went to Vegas for the first time. And Kansas. And hope to go to LA. And Wisconsin.

Thanks to KPod for initiating a form of contact I think we all should excel at, and thanks to you all for posting. Lex... I'm passing the Baton.

And you all should check out the band Mute Math. Just do it.

woop woop away in the escape pod i've gone

too many nanomoments of time have passed since we were all in the same place. sinking into a sofa and watching snl. making popcorn and clothes and playing dressup and not sleeping and voting for fantasia and doing art and eating zucchini bread. a lot of zuccini bread. thankyou to kasia the technology goddess who will bring us all into merry contact again. i'm in san diego and i love it and it's sunny and sandy and every few blocks there is a different language being spoken and happy blue skies. i'm even working! and it's fun! and sadly i have no pictures of boys to offer the blog (since that seems to be the theme) but i did bowl a 163 the other day. yeah. and there were boys there, and i bowled better than them. so yeah. i love love love love love you all so so so so so much. wanna come live with me?

alright for blogs!

Hi all,
yes, we've entered the world of technology, not that i am particularily adept at using it. If you have any interest i'm including a link to my pictures from my research trip to CO.
https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/evonschneide/CO%20pics (you might have to copy and paste). Also, you have to click on the pictures to view them which is kind of stupid, but i don't know how to do it differently so you'll just have to deal.
also, i'm posting a different picture of todd and i b/c kash is posting crap pictures. :) This picture is actually with a very cute giant schnauzer puppy (which his brother now owns, and he is a loveable little shit of a dog, and getting huge).
and yes i realize the picture is sideways but i can't figure out how to rotate it, so you'll just have to deal for now until i can change it.

hell yeah!

Ladies!
Thank you for setting this up, I am just now getting tech-savvy enough (thanks to my husband-to-be at left with our dog Mo) to be able to use this kind of thing and actually appreciate its value! And yes, my husband-to-be, Aaron Neumann (we will be the "Neupporte's" when all is said and done) and I invite all 6 of you to our wedding on June 21st 2006. I just got all of your phone numbers from lovely big E and I can't wait to talk to you all and let you know how much I think of you and how silly I have been about staying in contact and why and what I have found out about myself and how much I just love you all. I will never forget our last year together and how you all really supported me and were true friends whenever I came a callin'. I would like to count you as friends for life. And you can count on me for that, a lifetime friend, wherever life may find you. This picture is from Aaron's run for Mpls City Council this past year, and Mo is a great pyranese/st. bernard mix. We also have a rather large balck cat (around 18 lbs) named Sumo Chan. We love our big animals! The other picture is Aaron on the Mississippi river behind our house, I was hoping for a different picture, but I couldn't find it and am not quite savvy enough to know how to delete pictures from here yet. I will get the hang of it though!
I look forward to talking with you and to reading more about cats and boys and parties and life here on this blog.
Noelle

Emily's boys: boyfriend Phil and Tommy the cat. I put him to work helping me cut out journals for my class of third graders.

The Chronic of Narnia

even if you already saw this SNL skit, you should watch it again and again and again.
One of the best skits to come out of SNL in the past 5 years!http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=zLElfJ9YCh0

The Speechalist, where wings take dreams

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/bushvideos/v/bushspeechalist.htm

really quite amusing...you're working hard to put food on your family

erika and her boyfriend Todd :)

(and yes, they did make/sew his shirt)

the party is waiting for all of you in Madison, WI!

the begining

like omg ladies,
what better way to start 2006 than by embarcing technology and her many virtures:
aka -the blog-!
just wanted to have a way, that however often you want to, we can keep each other updated on small and big life events...etc.

esKape POD