Virgin Islands update #1

I've arrived!
St. John Island is beautiful and Maho Bay Camps are great. It's all a little different than I was imagining, but that's life...
The condensed version:

I have a "tent" to my self

up on the hill

with a yellow light so it won't attract bugs, a fan, an outlet to charge my phone, camera, and computer, access to communal bathrooms with cold showers and flushing toilets,

lizards, gecko-types, anoles, etc. to eat the bugs, (and iguanas!)

boardwalks and stairs to get myself everywhere,

music from birds, frogs, and crickets,

breakfast and dinner at the restaurant,

snorkeling in beautiful coral ecosystems, abundant sea life to identify,

a textiles studio tent


with unlimited fabric

to batik and sew,

tropical plants to find and learn,

jasmine to perfume the hot air,

turquoise waters, frequent rain showers, and sun!

I also have lots of time with my good friend Annalisa - an excellent artist in EVERY medium.

You may remember her from our recycled clothing competition in Feb 2008.

She is a brave snorkeler, so I stick very close to her in the water!

Joy is a high school intern in our textiles studio:

And Deborah (somehow I don't have a picture yet) is a seamstress here for the month.

That's it :)

I intended to post a photo from each day using my borrowed mini-computer, but internet reception is spotty/non-existent. Now that I'm settled and have a daily system, I'm going to dedicate more effort to posting photos.

Thinking of you all, it would be fun to have more family and friends here to explore with!

first anniversary!

It was our first wedding anniversary this weekend!
May 8th.....

We went to Portland to celebrate.
But it was THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DAY in Seattle since March

...So we stopped to get a hotdog on our way out of town :)

We stayed in downtown Portland at The Governor hotel. It was very nice, and we loved it.
Here is the view from our room

We worked out a deal to get breakfast from the restaurant on the main floor of the hotel, Jake's Grill, included. It looked something like this:

Luckily, Portland was having the same gorgeous weather:

We walked to the Saturday Market, which was very fun

Then we got ready to leave for a session at the Portland Temple to commemorate our marriage last year

and stopped on the way at Blue Moon photography store in the St. Johns neighborhood.

It's a famous non-digital photo store and we met Zeb Andrews, a photographer Adam adores.
Here is us on the St. Johns bridge

Here is me doin' a jig on the St. Johns bridge

and here is us at the Portland Temple

On our last day, we walked around taking photos with Adam's vintage Seagull camera from China

of things like this

Happy Anniversary!

this day last year....

Lately, I've been saying to myself, "This time last year..."
It's been fun to think of all the crazy things we were doing last year to get ready for our marriage and our new life together.
For example:
Last Saturday (one year ago) I woke up early to buy cheese (Morbier and goat brie, the stinkiest things you can think of flying with in an airplane) at the University Farmer's Market to bring to California for our wedding; we packed our bags and realized Adam's wedding suit didn't fit him anymore; frantically ran errands; bought 5 different neckties so we could look at them on the plane; and ended by partying for our last time as single kids with THE FAINT. hahahaha, what a funny day!

But, today, May 5th is even better.
On this day last year...we were in California getting ready for our wedding, and I went to the temple for the first time.
It's been fun and rewarding to think back on that day and all the preparation, thought, searching, and help from others that went into my decision.
Thanks for the support, everyone :)

webs/networks

On Friday, Adam and I rode our bikes in the downtown Seattle Critical Mass bike ride. It was fun; we haven't gone in a long time - since last summer, I think.
Even though it was raining, I wanted to go to see if the person who had stolen my bike might be brazen enough to ride it at critical mass. I didn't see it :(
But we had a great time and even made two new friends!

At the end of the ride, Adam and I went to the IMAX at the Seattle Center to see the 3D Hubble documentary.
It was awesome!

We totally recommend it.
There were amazing images of star nurseries and nebula, and colorful gasses spewn across the universe by solar wind. So interesting.
At the very end of the film (only 40 min. long). there was an image of the universe and all the galaxies/stars/lightsources were arranged in a way that resembled a web or a network. They were not randomly or evenly strewn around, but arranged and grouped. There were empty spaces and and hot spots.
It immediately made me think of several things: first, of fungi and the subterranean network of nutrients and information in mycelia; second, or the internet; and third, of families or human communities.
We had a profound moment considering how networks might be the way of the universe, manifest in small scale, large scale, living and nonliving systems.
Families and communities provide the simplest way to ensure optimal care of individuals. Networking in a way where each person is responsible for a number of others as well as being the responsibility of a number of others is infinitely more effective than a top down or hierarchical approach to care.
It's simply beautiful and I love thinking about it.
But more than thinking about it, I love participating in the networks of life :)

bathing suit

I don't really want to put a picture up of me in it, but...
I made a bathing suit!

FYI:I've been meaning to make this particular suit for about 4 years...and I've had the fabric for about 11 years!
I am a saver, what else can I say...