the inaugural wedding blog

Okay. It's set in stone.

SEPTEMBER 26, 2009 is the big day. At the Millenium Hotel, overlooking the float planes. There will be booze, food, tunes, and merriment. Best of all, there will be a reunion of friends and family. Tragically, one of the people I was looking forward most to having at our wedding was my Aunt Eva, who passed away on February 22, 2009 and will be forever remembered and loved. See my previous blog for details on my beloved Aunt Eva. I know she will be there in spirit, and I plan a toast in her honour.

The wedding party is as follows:

BRIDE & GROOM


Duh.


Bridesmaids:

Sarah Torgerson: We met when I was 3 years old and she was 2. We have been neighbours ever since and as close as sisters.


Amanda Jorgenson: We met in the fourth grade and discovered amazing similarities between the two of us. People always mistook us for sisters, and our favourite talent was speaking with one another in German so no one else could understand us.


Amberrose Thornton-Metzger: We were ski instructors at Alyeska when we were 16. She and I got ourselves and each other into great amounts of trouble. We fought like sisters but fiercely defended each other if the situation called for it. We've seen each other through pretty much the worst of times.


Magdalena Harrer: My closest cousin, living in Vienna, Austria. We would always play and frolick together in our younger years when I visited Europe.


Sarah Friedrichs: My soon-to-be sister in law. Kevin's brother proposed to her while they were in Mexico. She lives in Minnesota, and, as you can see, is buckets of fun.

GROOMSMEN:



Bryan Trinka: Kevin's brother. He is older by just a year and a half and is an air-traffic controller in Minneapolis Center.


BJ Kirschhofer: One of Kev's closest friends, as well as mine. I met BJ through Kev and he lived a couple floors below me in the dorms. We'd spend every weekend drinking jugs of wine in his dorm room while he played Bob Dylan songs on the guitar. We still keep in touch and he recently came to visit us in Alaska en route to the Arctic Circle to conduct polar bear research.


Daniel: my brother, naturally. He brings life to any party and everyone is his friend, whether he knows them or not.


Joshua David Bleznak, as I like to call him. He is Sarah's boyfriend, and we've all come to be pretty good friends since he moved from Phillidelphia to be with Sarah. I love Josh because we get along like siblings and we are really blunt with one another. He and Kevin always have much fun (and rum) when they hang out. We love to dog-sit for his German Shepherd, Bromley.


And that's that.

Yes, there is one more bridesmaid than groomsman, but who the hell cares. I do believe Josh will get two ladies to escort him down the aisle or wherever the ceremony will be taking place. I just really wanted my cousin to be a part of the wedding party for traveling all the way from Vienna to be there, and I didn't find out until the other bridesmaids were notified so what the hell. It's my damn day and I'll do what I want to!!!!!!!! bwaaahahahahahaaaaaaaaa!

Location:



The Millenium Hotel, roundabout the time this photograph was taken (mid-Oktober 2007 - but a few weeks earlier). This is basically the view you get, but from a higher vantage point. The farmer's almanac predicts a warmer-than-ordinary fall in 2009, but this is Alaska and I'm not banking on anything, so pack a variety of gear, haha.

CAKE:


Bird cake, because of my love of birds and flying. Will be created by Superstar Pastry Design.

DRESS:


Valentino for Pronovias.

Okay, maybe not, as it costs upwards of $5G. But something with the same clean lines, simple fabric, and lack of embellishment.

I am now officially wedding-ed out. Signing off, --chantal

Aunt Eva

My aunt Eva in Austria, a beautiful, worldly, chic, clever, and very loved woman, passed away last night.



This photo was taken in Austria in 2002 at a cafe in the lower Alps. Eva, my mom, and me sipping Eiscafe.

She is the mother of my two cousins Magdalena and Michael, to whom I am very close. She was only 56 years old, and leaves behind a 22 year old and a 24 year old.


This is Aunt Eva in 2004 giving Lila a taste of ice cream.
,
Eva was a flight attendant with Austrian Airlines for at least two decades. Her work uniform made her look fantastic. It was all red: Red pumps, red skirt, red nylons, red blouse, red jacket, red neck scarf, red leather handbag, and red lipstick, and the look was completed by a simple gold pin of the Austrian Airlines logo. She would fly to Moscow, to London, to Marrakesh, to DC, to Toronto, to Shanghai. She loved travel and exotic places and would collect elephant figurines from her various destinations.

She was considered the most fashionable of the three Schnuerl sisters. She had good style outstanding wardrobe that I always admired. Her hair was usually cut in a blonde bob, highlighted, and worn tucked behind her ears.


This is my aunt, me, and my mom in the Audi Cabrio we rented in 2002 to drive around the Austrian hillside with on her birthday.

Eva took over as 'mom' when my mother and father would go on long bicycle trips around western Europe. She would spend hours in the backyard of my grandparents' house with me and Magdalena, as we splashed in the pool, ran around the yard, and climbed trees. She made us delicious lunches and would take us to the Danube to get ice cream.

The last time I saw her was on my last visit to Austria in October of 2008. She looked fabulous and vibrant. She was my grandparents' caretaker, as they are getting older and needed her help from day to day remembering things. She was their rock.

I will miss her so much. I'm still in shock.

High School

The beauty of being out of high school is encompassed in several factors:

1. You get to be on your own.
2. No 'detentions'.
3. Not having to hear the pledge of allegiance every day.
4. Not having to partake in stupid activities like pep rallies and spirit day.

I thought my days of high school revelry were over.

However, this is not the case.

For some reason, Dimond High School chooses to broadcast loudspeaker announcements outside as well as inside. Being that my dwelling is approximately 892 feet from the front door of the high school, my daily wake up call at 9:45 a.m. begins with,

"Good morning Dimond! Please stand for the pledge.

I pledge allegiance-
to the flag-
of the Unitedstatesofamerica.
And to the Republic-
For which it stands-
one nation-
undivided-
with libertyandjusticeforall."

Monday through Friday, every morning. Then it's followed by announcements about the start of basketball season or the big game or upcoming spirit week, or, as it was last week, by a tinny rendition of an overplayed Motown hit of some sort, sung by 4 or more high schoolers, in recognition of a choir concert. Even the pillow over my face refused to drown it out.

On another note, the LSAT is done and over with, and the next three weeks shall be filled with a mixture of apathy and anxiety until my test score is received.

What's a girl to do?

good band, strange music video, quite hilarious.

And damnit, the damn thing won't let me upload it so go to here and check it out.

2009 - a makeover

My biggest resolution for the new year (although I typically don't bother with such trivialities) is to end the night EVERY night with no dishes in the sink.

Morning is already volatile enough without having to deal with crusty plates and milky glasses. So far, so good on keeping this resolution. I got a few days' head start just to practice.

Also on the resolution list:

-make the bed every day (this one has not been kept. No, not even in the short two days of 2009)
-remember to take vitamins every day (this one's not too bad - even though I take 9 vitamins, one for each ailment, real or imaginary. Biotin for skin health, B12 for circulation, Borage oil for joints, Folic acid for heart health, fish oil to counter dry weather, carrot seed extract for eye health, etc.)
-get up at 9:30 on weekdays.

Nothing on my list screams failure besides the bed making resolution. Somehow, I still can't see the harm in crumpled blankets all day. It's not like people come over to my house to ogle my bed. This is one habit that my parents were not successful instilling in me.

In other news, my boxing day was quite successful. Four boxes or rubbish later, my house is rather empty once more, much to the pleasure of my minimalist side. If there's one thing that gets me starting to itch, it's pack-rattish behaviour. There's nothing like clutter that makes one feel like she is providing kindling to a potential fire. The more things one has, the more one has to lose, and that makes me very uncomfortable.

Currently it is -4 outside and I'm off to walk the dog. In moonboots, because I have the worst shinsplints in history, thanks to a 12-hour shift on New Years Eve. Luckily, the spendhardy fools that splurged for dinner at Corsair tipped enough so that each server ended the evening in one night with as much as we usually make in one month. HA! Take that, economy.

the injustice

I was fully looking forward to a relaxing night off of work, beginning with a day of snowboarding with my friends (accomplished), a delicious sandwich at the Bake Shop in Girdwood (accomplished), a beer or two apres-ski (accomplished), as well as a hot shower, a movie, and going to bed early (all FOILED!!!) Why were half my plans foiled? Because I was called unexpectedly into work. aaaaarrrgghhh. Then I threw a hissy fit in front of my coworkers, insisting on taking Sharice's* day off in return, but then felt like a lump of coal for my childishness.

Not only was I there for less than 5 hours, I also made enough money to pay for my ski ticket for the day, the sandwich, the two beers, and another few days' worth of equal or greater activities of the sort. I need to put things into perspective as far as this economy goes.

*names have been changed.

Europe: The Finale

Okay i'm wrapping this damn thing up now after several months of having returned from Europe, but this is the best part.

Matt flew back home to Frankfurt after a wonderful lunch at a Gasthaus named Bonka, where we all indulged in Goulasch, Raeh, Apfel Strudel, and espresso drinks with the family (Mom, Per, Grandparents, Eva, Magdalena, Michael, Matt, and me and Kevin), for a kind of farewell celebration for all of us departing. Matt concluded his visit to Austria was one of the best weeks of his life, and he felt extremely at home in my lovely country, what with the classy people, the stylish couture, the extravagant castles, the expensive riches, and the fabulous food.

The next day (October 6, 2008), Kevin, my mom, and I took our bikes to Tulln, the next city over from St. Andrea, to complete my Euro-shopping trip (basically a gathering of things you can't get in the states). Obviously, Kevin quickly tired of my repeated trips to the changing room, but I was relentless. I don't care how crappy the dollar is compared to the Euro, EVERYTHING is cheaper, from clothes to food, than Alaskan goods. It may not hold true for the rest of the US, but our choices are both extremely limited, and far overpriced in the 49th state. I walked away with a chic leather jacket, a bunch of neon yellow tank tops and sweaters (my new favourite colour), some purple accessories (purple pom-pom hat, tights, earrings), and a strange necklace consisting of a bird in a little cage. Not sure when I'll ever wear it, but that's not why I got it.



The ride home from Tulln, along the Danube.

Well, we were riding our bikes home after this shopping extravaganza, and the most beautiful sunset was happening to our left, reflecting off of the Danube River. My mom kept slamming on her brakes to stop and take photos, causing Kevin to ram his bike into the back of hers, which I found funny but Kevin not so much. Anyways, the plan was to stop at the Yacht Harbour and drink some Sturm while the sun went down. My mom determined, when we got there, that she'd rather go home and help make dinner, so it was just me and Kevin. We sat there with our drinks as I pulled out my newly purchased wardrobe items, and proceeded to show them off to Kevin. THat's when Kevin said, "I bought something for you too", and pulled out a LITTLE BLACK BOX, with, you guessed it, a DIAMOND RING inside. That's when he asked "Will you marry me?", and me, without thinking twice, plucked the ring out of the box and squealed with excitement and I flung it on my finger. "I take it that means yes", said Kevin, to which I replied "OF COURSE!"

So there you have it. Nearly 6 years together, and we're engaged.


The beautiful sunset from the dock.


So. The rest of the story is simply the travel home, which was less than stellar, as we had to get up early, the airports were too hot, the airplanes were too hot, I elbowed Kevin in the nose trying to get out of our row so I could use the restroom, and we were extremely tired to the point of delirium until we finally got home, four flights later. The cat, needless to say, was fairly distraught at our long absence, and proceeded to lecture us with "meow"s until she made her point.

So that was the trip.


And this is the ring.


THE END.