Nick and Teresa celebrated the holidays last year by visiting friends in Europe. We watched the ball drop in the town square of Leuven, which is a small University town near Brussels, Belgium The most remarkable moment of the party was when they played a mix of techno-beats with Barack Obama's acceptance speech! The international crowd went wild, and we were brought to tears with feeling of pride and hope. Teresa was also overjoyed by the delicious Belgian chocolates and beers. Nick liked practicing his German language skills, in memory of his Grandmother.
This year is Nick's second year of law school in the weekend program at Hamline University. He enjoyed studying family law, and looks forward to learning more about immigration and environmental law. Nick works at Thompson Reuters, a research company.
Teresa was promoted this year in her position at the University of Minnesota, and is now the human resource representative for her department, focusing on the onboarding process for new employees in the Department of Medicine. Teresa has been taking graduate courses at the Center for Spirituality and Healing and has focused her studies on Ayurveda and Tibetan Medicine. This coming semester she will take a course from the Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs called "Leadership for the Common Good".
In July, Teresa and Nick were invited to become property managers of two apartment buildings on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul. This shared part-time job takes a lot of effort, but it helps us save money to reach our goal of home ownership. This recent move brought us a little closer to our Unitarian Universalist church, but a little further from Nick's school. We love the neighborhood. Come visit us in historic Saint Paul!
Our biggest event of the year, long awaited and carefully orchestrated, was our August wedding! We chose to be married in Omaha to make travel easier for our Nebraskan families; our relationship is eased because we are from the same hometown and similar cultures. We were wed at 6 o'clock on the 7th day of the eighth month of 2009, in a riverside ceremony on the banks of the Missouri. Our spiritual wedding ceremony was followed by a ballroom reception with a chocolate fountain! Teresa wore "her" new gown for the ceremony, and her grandmother Isabel's wedding gown for the reception. Peacock feathers became a theme for the wedding decorations, inspired by a few peacock feathers Teresa inherited in one of grandma's houseplants. Friends and family contributed their time and energy toward our wedding weekend, which was truly a community effort. We're especially grateful our parents Mary and Pat and Rich, siblings Chris & Melisa and Ben & Kat, goddaughters McKayla and Mary Grace, and friends Amber, Kala, Doug, Zach, Jennifer, Jenni, Amalia, Ellie, Adam, James and Jay. Thank you!
Our honeymoon began at the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo with our goddaughters, where we enjoyed the free-roaming peacocks. Then Nick and Teresa drove far far north, for a honeymoon on the edge of Lake Superior. We followed the tradition of an old northern European custom in which newlyweds would, for a month, consume a daily cup of mead, a brew that is made from honey. That's a lot of mead, but we're happy to support our nation's beekeepers. Our time on the edge of the Great Lakes further deepened our love for Minnesota and our bountiful fresh water. We canoed, kayaked, hiked around waterfalls, ate fish, and, as aforementioned, drank mead.
On the honeymoon, Teresa finally made a decision she's been considering for a long while. What to do with her name? Teresa's last name at birth was C_, which changed later by an adoption into the K_ family. Names are meaningful and the choice was complex, involving politics, loyalty, convenience, cultural affiliation, feminism, and familial feelings of togetherness. T tried to convince N to change their name to "Kicker", but, well, everyone thinks that's silly. The S family are a loving clan of generous, spirited, intelligent people and Teresa is happy to now legally call herself a S_.
Notable births and deaths in our families marked the passage of time. Nick's Uncle Joe passed away after a short illness with cancer. Joe was Nick's godfather, and father to Nick's goddaughter McKayla. Teresa's brother Chris, along with his wife Melisa, welcomed the birth of Macy Jade to the family on November 2. Life is a circle.
Finally, the decade went out with a bang. We braved the elements and made it to Omaha just before the great blizzard of 2009. After a few days of weathering the storm, we went ice skating outdoors on a sunny New Year’s Day. Life is beautiful.
We look toward building a better world with you in the coming decade. We wish you stability and love for 2010.
Teresa and Nick
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