This past weekend I made a big trip by myself up to the Twin Cities for my Gustavus Adolphus College 5 year reunion and a wedding vow renewal service for Erika and Brendan. It was thus far my longest solo drive at 4 and a half hours, and I am happy to say the drive and my crazy run-around weekend all went very very smoothly. I stayed in my old childhood bedroom at my parents’ house in the Twin Cities for two nights, which is always an adventure in itself. 😉
First off to Brit’s Pub in downtown Minneapolis for Gustie Reunion Part One. I only have 1 photo from the evening because even though I did in fact have a whole bunch of really great friends in college, I hardly knew anyone who came to the event on Friday night. I spent a good chunk of the time working the crowd, introducing myself to people and making “new old friends.†I also kind of forgot I had a camera until the end. I have to admit I was pretty disappointed with the odd turn-out. There were a few bright moments when I actually found people I knew, like Hasse who came all the way from Sweden. The best part was when I realized I knew Chris the bartender (and a former coworker of mine from Hubbard) better than anyone else in the room. Ha! Here’s the one survivable picture of Hasse and me from Part One of our reunion. My mom recommended I wear bright green to pop out. POP!
On to Part Two of the Gustie reunion – this time actually at Gustavus. We had a reunion tent set up at the end of the football field with root beer floats and a great view of the homecoming game. And!! I actually knew people!!! The first of course being my kid brother. 🙂 Stephen is a junior at Gustavus this year and was working the 20-year reunion tent right next to ours, so we could conveniently peek out of our tents and make faces at each other.
Look! Friends! I really do have Gustavus friends!! I could only stay for two hours before jetting all the way back up to St. Paul, but it was so fun to reunite, exchange stories and laugh. Even if only for a short while.
Next up: Erika and Brendan’s vow renewal, or as I keep accidentally calling it, “Vowel.†Erika was my maid of honor 4 years ago and I was her matron of honor 3 years ago. While I was driving there I realized Erika and I have been friends for 9 years now. That’s a long time and there’s a lot of history there. We’ve gone through some big struggles and we’ve shared even more goofy moments than I could ever count. I must admit I was a little frustrated with having to leave my Gustavus reunion in such a rush, but quickly realized Erika and Brendan’s “Vowel†was so much more important. They have been very good friends and there’s nowhere I would rather have been. It was an incredibly meaningful service and an honor being a part of their special day. I wasn’t sure how dressed up to be, so I dressed all the way up to make it special! Might as well, right? I have since donated the bridesmaid dress I wore for their wedding so I wore a fun strapless number from my brother Jonathan and Erin’s wedding. The blue forget-me-not ostrich eggshell necklace I wore was an Alaskan gift Erika gave to her bridesmaids. Erika re-wore the dress from their outdoor wedding reception. Neat fact: The dress she wore for their original wedding service was an antique lace and satin gown worn by her grandmother and her mother and their weddings. It was also fun to give my toast again from their wedding. Brendan’s seminary classmate gave a great sermon and Erika’s coworker Margherita gave a beautiful and emotional talk which set the significance and power of the day. Very cool and lots of fun.
After the service Erika and Brendan spoke about each friend who was there, how they had been important in their marriage and gave each person a rose. It was cool to hear about each person and how we were all woven together in their lives. It was such a gorgeous day. My college “X-Roommate†Alexis and I started an impromptu photo shoot outside the chapel as we walked to our cars.
Afterwards we all went out to the always-delicious Key’s Cafe for some dinner, conversation and laughter. While at Key’s we made a few discoveries such as: Anna doesn’t like taking goofy pictures, Alexis makes a spooky nun and Erika hates peas. Especially the canned variety that comes with the walleye. But it didn’t matter because it was a dinner of LOVE.
When I returned to my parent’s house I found my brother Jon and Erin’s awesome teeny tiny puppy Mia zipping around at her usual light speed – and wearing a cone! She had recently been spayed but that hardly slow her down. Here she is in a rare moment of pause, and an action shot. She’s moves with the energy and enthusiasm of a spring loaded snake out of a peanut can. Kaboom!!
Sunday was drive-home day for me. I like to take the route from Minneapolis to Sioux Falls that meanders it’s way through St. Peter. It’s a bit longer of a drive, but I can’t pass up an opportunity to see Gustavus. It just so happened that while I was already planning on driving through St. Peter, there was a Jazz Brunch happening in the Gustavus cafeteria with live performances from the two Gustavus jazz bands in honor of Homecoming and Family Weekend. My parents were already planning on driving down to have brunch with my brother Stephen and go to the “sampler platter†concert of a bunch of different music ensembles, so I tagged along to see Stevie one more time. While jazz brunching I met a very nice family that actually lives about 4 blocks away from our new place in Sioux Falls. Small world! AND!! I ran into Brenda!!! Hooray!! Brenda and I were in the Gustavus Band together, lived just a few doors away from each other in the dorms and love to laugh. A lot. I had noticed a grown-up classy looking lady in the background with an impossibly cute kiddo (she’s even behind Stephen’s head in the first picture), but was shocked when she turned around and said my name. I can’t get over what a cutie her little Abi is. It was SO good to see them! We’ve been keeping in touch by way of emails, Facebook and her hilarious blog. Her family lives pretty close to Sioux Falls so hopefully one of these days we’ll finally be able to get together for real and meet each other’s husbands. I hear Pizza Ranch calling…
On my way home, I realized I had been at Gustavus twice without the prerequisite photo with the Gustavus Sign and Old Main. So as I turned off Ring Road, I took two quick final pictures. I’m planning to start a car-with-Old-Main photo trend.
