Merry Christmas!

I know, I'm a day late... but in my defense, I worked all weekend!

Despite the unfortunate work schedule, we managed to have a very nice little holiday here on the homestead.  I finished work around 4pm on Christmas Eve, so my family came to our house for a simple, early dinner.  My mom brought quiche, salad and pie, and I made sweet potatoes, asparagus and challah knots.  It was delicious, relaxed, and cozy. 

And Hubbybunch got me a fancy schmancy sewing machine for Christmas!!  I've always wanted to learn to sew... and now I will.  I sewed my very first seam this afternoon... after spending about an hour learning to thread the machine, heh.

My talented and artistic sister created a gingerbread house for us, complete with pretzel rod "logs", sugar chickens, and licorice hula hoops :)  Adorable.

Having worked the weekend, I took today and tomorrow off... and will pretty much be doing nothing at all but chilling out at home and feasting on leftovers. 

I hope you all enjoyed the holiday as much as I did.

A new addition to the family...

It's that time of year again.  The time when the nights are so cold that it hurts to breathe when you step outside to get more wood for the fire.  It always makes me think of the poor homeless critters... strays, pets that were discarded by uncaring owners... that have no safe warm place to call home.  It makes me think that it is my duty to provide such a home for at least some of those poor animals.

So, we adopted another cat.  That brings our total up to four.  I justify this by saying that four cats hardly even equals one dog.

He is a real charmer.  We have yet to decide what his name is.  The two top choices so far are Beorn, and Mr. Wednesday.

Merry Christmas to me!

Secret nests

GI Jane, our female Muscovy, has been disappearing for hours at a time.  She's always around for her daily sprinkling of feed in the morning, but every day she vanishes from sight for a few hours in the afternoon and evening.  We looked ALL OVER the property for her hidden nest.  We looked in the giant stack of hay in the barn where the chickens had been laying eggs, along the banks of the stream, in the smokehouse... she was nowhere to be seen. 

One day last week, Hubbybunch had a project requiring some lumber.  We have a stack of scrap wood in the top half of the barn.  It's a tricky spot to get to, requiring that we climb the ladder to the hay loft, walk tight-rope style across a wooden beam and climb up onto a platform about 12 feet above the floor where we have the lumber stashed.  Wouldn't you know it, THAT is where Jane decided to make her nest.

Pretty cozy, right??  In the Spring we'll have to let her hatch out a clutch of eggs, she looks like she has the whole Mommy thing down pretty well already!

Breeding bugs

Apparently that's what I've been doing for the past five days, in the back of my throat.
Got some penicillin-resistant streptococci of some sort making my life a living hell of fevers, body aches, jello and pus.  I am not having fun.
Especially since I've now used up all of my paid time off at work and have to take the remaining time as unpaid.  And since Hubbybunch had to spend $2700 getting the transmission of his car rebuilt last week.  And Christmas is coming and I haven't even started shopping.

I sure do hate being sick.  Bring on the clindamycin.

Mice

We have mice in our bedroom wall.  Every night around 12:45am, we wake up to the sound of them knawing on some wood.  It's deafening.  Something must be done.  Suggestions?

Choices

I have many of them in front of me, and I'm feeling the pressure tonight.

I've mentally and emotionally committed to going back to school.  Okay.  That's not really that tremendous.  I've always figured I'd go back to get my BSN.  But what about after that?? 

Each time I've gone on a job interview, and I've been asked about my long term goals, I've given the same answer: "Eventually I want to get my master's degree in nursing, ideally a dual degree to become a Certified Nurse Midwife and a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner".

It sounds good, right?
I feel called to women's health... and I feel passionate about natural childbirth and advocating for women who want to have a birth experience with minimal medical intervention.  It means a lot to me.  Some people find this strange, given that Hubbybunch and I made a very final decision that we won't have children of our own.  Why would a woman who has no desire to birth her own children feel so strongly about the birth experiences of others?  I don't have a good answer to that question.  I just do.

However, it is very hard for me to say with absolutely certainty that I really want to go down that path with my higher education.  This is in part because I have yet to work in women's healthcare.  My work in the ER brings me a bit closer, as I occasionally get to care for pregnant women, auscultate for fetal heart tones, etc... but I am very unlikely to actually care for a woman in active labor.  Whenever such a patient comes in the front door, we send them straight up to the labor and delivery department.  Unfortunately, there are absolutely NO JOBS in labor and delivery for nurses who have not worked in that field for at least a decade. 

A master's degree is a huge investment of my time, energy, and money.  I'd like to know for sure what returns I can expect before making that sort of decision.  And if there are no jobs in L&D now, why should I assume that I'll be able to find gainful employment after I complete my degree?  I don't want to spend the rest of my life performing PAP smears in a doctor's office.  That isn't where I want to end up after years of study and thousands of dollars.

I could, of course, simply remain a staff nurse.  There is no shame in that... but it does limit me in my future prospects. 

It has begun...

...I am starting to seriously look at BSN programs.  The hospital I work for just increased its tuition assistance amount for full time employees, and since I've decided that I'm going to be there for a few years, I might as well take advantage of it.  Mind you, I'm not really looking forward to it.  The concept of full time school on top of full time work is rather overwhelming.  But if I want to further my career, and get paid more (I took a significant pay cut when I took this job in the ER), I need to pursue a higher degree.  And I should work on becoming a Certified Emergency Nurse (even though if we're honest, we know that any nurse who works in the ER has to be certifiable).

I'm going to aim to start classes next Fall.  Maybe by then I'll be feeling enthused?

Inspired...

...to reflect on these past few years...

Four years ago, I was living at my mother's house. I had just withdrawn from one nursing school to transfer to another... requiring that I take almost a year off from school to await admission to the nursing program of my choice.  I was very lost.  I didn't know who I wanted to be.  I was dating the wrong man.  I was digging a 3x4 foot herb garden in my mother's front lawn.  I was beginning a nine-month herbalist training course, working two dissatisfying jobs, and searching.

Three years ago, I was living at my mother's house, fitting my whole life into a single room.  I was going to nursing school full time.  I'd been dating my boyfriend for a few months, and kindling secret hope for a future.  I was excited, broke as broke can be, and hoopdancing my heart out on a daily basis. I was so thrilled to be learning again, to be loved, to be moving forward.  I felt like my life had just started.

Two years ago, I had just graduated nursing school and come home from my first time at Burning Man.  I moved in with my boyfriend, and we were fitting both of our lives into an urban basement apartment. I could not find a nursing job for the life of me.  I was terrified that I'd fail my boards.  I was digging a few raised beds in the little backyard amongst our handful of chickens.  I was working as a phlebotomist at a small community hospital, teaching hoop dance classes and taking paid fire gigs, and still barely making ends meet enough to pay my half of the rent.  I was singing and drumming with my neighbor on a regular basis.  I had my one cat, Big Girl, who has been my best friend since my 15th birthday. I was just beginning to learn what it felt to have a place of my own, and envisioning what I wanted my life to look like.

One year ago, I was still living in that urban apartment with my fiance.  I was working night shift on a telemetry and PCU unit in a small community hospital... and I was still excited about that job at that time.  I had just started talking to my fiance about the possibility of buying a home within the year.. could we do it?  Could we afford it?  Where do we start looking?  We were planning a wedding, outgrowing our living space, and desperately lusting after land.  I had three cats, Big Girl, Nano, and Sammy... and they were outgrowing our living space too.  I was reading homesteading blogs and daydreaming about how it would feel to put my hands in the earth on my own slice of heaven.  I knew what I wanted, but I didn't know how to get there.

This autumn, I am a happily married woman.  I work as a nurse in one of the busiest emergency rooms in the northeastern US, I am trauma certified and damn good at what I do.  I harvest freshly cut salad for dinner from our greenhouse.  I carry wood from our barn to feed the fire in our wood stove.  I eat scrambled duck eggs for breakfast, collected from secret grass nests along the shore of our pond.  I wake up next to the best man in the world, in our own house, on our own five acres of beautiful land.  I know what I want from my life.  I know who I want to spend it with.  I know who I am. 

Four years, and I somehow went from lost, alone, and hungry... to being Home.

We're back to Autumn... for now...

The 4.5 inches of snow we got last weekend has melted, and has left a certain amount of carnage in its wake.  We lost many trees... such heavy, icy snow falling on trees that still had their leaves was not ideal.  Our big pawpaw tree has split in two, as well as the Party Tree in the center of the clearing where we got married.... many others have lost large limbs or fallen over entirely.  It's sad to me, but at least I know that the trees will not have died in vain.  This weekend is supposed to be nice, and I anticipate hearing the roar of the chainsaw for a large portion of it.  We have a stove, and it is hungry.  These dead and dying trees will feed the stove next year, after they've been cut, split, stacked and seasoned.  They gave us fruit, shade, and beauty in life.. they'll give us warmth in death.

The ducks have FINALLY started to lay eggs!  I'd never eaten a duck egg before this past week.  Hubbybunch scrambled them up in a skillet and melted some sharp cheddar on top... and they were incredibly delicious.  They were creamier, and tasted more fatty than chicken eggs.  Now if we could just get the ladies to lay consistently in their cozy little duck house, that would be even better.  We're finding the eggs all over the place, and I'm sure we're NOT finding others!

One of our younger Ameraucanas has started laying as well, but she's the only one of the newer birds to do so.  Daffodil went on permanent walkabout one day last week... she was our best layer, and one evening she just wasn't there when we went to close the coop up.  There were no feathers, no signs of a struggle like we've seen in the past when a predator gets a hold of a bird... she just vanished.  We miss her, she was one of the original four chicks that Hubbybunch's mother gave us three and a half years ago. 

I've been granted my wish of a day shift position at work, much to my relief.  I spent two weeks on nights, and while the people I worked with were great and I slept just fine during the day... it was really hard not seeing my husband for 24 hours at a time.  Yesterday was the last day of my orientation at work... and I'm now officially counted as a real person!  Next week I'm on my own, and I admit I am a little bit nervous.  But I simply keep telling myself that time after time, I've proven that I have the skills to do this job well.  I'm still learning, but so is everyone else, even those nurses who have been doing this for decades.  There will always be something new and unfamiliar, but that doesn't mean that I won't be able to deal with it.

Right??

If it weren't for this snow...

... I'd be in costume, dancing my little heart out to dubstep on a permanently docked battleship on the river that runs along the city.  Above, what it looked like this morning when we still planned to go to the party.  Below, several hours later, when we gave up hope and the power started flickering as tree branches fell all around us.

Unfortunately, we got about 4" of wet, freezy snow dumped on us today.  Our roads turned to death-traps, our biggest pawpaw tree AND our party tree that was strung with candle lanterns for our wedding split in two under the weight of the snow clinging to their still-green leaves.  Two of our chickens are MIA. 

However, the woodstove is doing an excellent job of keeping the whole house toasty.  I'm no longer vomiting every time I eat like I was just 24 hours ago.  We're safe, warm, and together... and we even still have electricity.  Things could be much worse.

Cozy..

The Big Day

After months of preparation, our wedding day finally arrived.

It was incredible.  I would not have changed a single thing about it. 
Our family and friends helped us out SO MUCH, I was amazed at how easily things came together with so many skilled, creative and caring hands working together.
My only wish is that it could have lasted a week instead of a day!!

Photo by Deb L.

Reasons why our wedding was awesome:
- We love each other A LOT.
-We worked with a limited budget but did not feel like we sacrificed anything we really wanted.
- The only things that we bought which were "disposable" were the plastic cups for cider in our guestbook/refreshment area, the homemade placecards and table numbers, the tealight candles that lit up each place setting and our homemade hanging candle lanterns in the woods, and the fuel we burned in tiki torches, oil lamps, and during our fire dancing.  We are going to eat our pumpkin centerpieces, dry my bouquet, plant the sage and curly wllow centerpieces, and will use everything else we decorated with.
- All of the work we did hauling hundreds of pounds of stone to create our ceremony space will be with us, on our land, forever.
-We gave our business to artisans and small companies, locally and known personally to us when possible.
-Our friends and family pitched in and we got to spend a whole weekend with them setting up, celebrating, and breaking down.
-Everyone fit into our small ceremonial space, and everyone was close enough to hear our vows.
-Our first dance was a fire hooping dance.  We messed up the choreography multiple times (we hadn't had any time to practice!!), but it didn't matter one bit because we had so much fun.
- Our ceremony and celebration were truly a manifestation of who we are and what we mean to each other.  Everything felt just right, from start to finish.  No drama, no catastrophes, no compromises.  Just a really beautiful, magical, wonderful day.
-I can call him Hubbybunch now!!

Married!

And everything was absolutely perfect!

The Hearth and Stove... a heavy-lifting sort of project.

 

If the shoe doesn't fit...

... then go to your wedding barefoot.

So be it!

It's been a rough week.

This past weekend Honeybunch and I set up shop at a hoopdance festival/gathering to vend his lovely LED creations for the first time.

It was a delightful time.  In addition to some hoopdance workshops, a few good sales and some newly made friends, I got kissed by a llama, and I even got to ride a horse.  I haven't ridden a horse since girlscout camp as a child... and I have to say, it felt totally natural and right.  I got her going at a pretty good trot and it felt amazing.  I've always been fascinated by the relationship between horse and rider... maybe this Spring we'll finally get around to taking some riding lessons.

Unfortunately, I came down with a nasty cold halfway through the weekend... and being in the mountains, that meant being sick out in 40 degree weather with only bonfires to warm up by.  Smoke and cold makes for an unhappy sick Gelfling.  Then I passed a kidney stone and have been fighting a urinary tract infection ever since.  Ugh.

Today I had off from work, and had all kinds of exciting little details to wrap up for the wedding.  I was supposed to pick up my dyed shoes, do the final fitting for my dress, and do a trial run with the hairdresser.  All three of these did not go as expected.  I got to the store that had my shoes and found they didn't open until 11:00.  I couldn't hang around and wait because I had an appointment with my seamstress, so I left, still not knowing if my shoes are the right color or not.  My dress still doesn't fit.  She says she'll be able to let it out in the ribs a bit more, and should have it done by Wednesday.  She's a very talented woman, and I have faith... but not a whole lot of time.  The wedding is two weeks from tomorrow. 

So off I went, dress-less and shoe-less, to my hair appointment.  That was a total disaster.  The woman clearly had no idea how to do fingerwaves at all, and her attempt at a crown french braid looked like I'd done it myself without a mirror.  Le sigh.  So, it's two weeks away, and my dress doesn't fit, my shoes might be a completely dreadful color, and I have no clue what to do with my hair.  I didn't cry, because I'm NOT going to be one of those brides who breaks down and sobs while obsessing over the little details... but it was close there for a minute or two.

This was the first time that I've gotten the least bit stressed about the wedding.  I'm mostly over it now, and just putting my faith in the fact that it will all come together in the end.  Tomorrow I will try another salon, though they don't know how to do fingerwaves, I'm hoping they'll help me come up with some other style that I'll like and feel comfortable wearing.

The good news is that all of the wine and beer has been procured, and we will be serving:  Four Quarters Bed of Roses mead, Zeller Schwarze Katz Mosel, Yellowtail Shiraz, an assortment of Victory Brewing Company beer, and Magic Hat #9.  This morning we went to the courthouse and did the paperwork for our marriage license, and that should be mailed to us on Monday.  So, there will be a legal marriage, and there will be good wine and beer to drink, and the rest of the details will fall into place as they please.

I'm just hoping that it doesn't keep raining right on through the wedding.

After careful consideration...

... and lots of advice from friends and family, we have decided to go with the Woodstock Fireview woodstove.  This photo of the model we are getting is from Woodstock's website... isn't it pretty?

It is supposed to ship next week, and will hopefully be here by September 29th, which is when we are having the chimney installed.  Thanks to an amazing and generous wedding gift from my father, we're going to be warm this winter.  I'd always wanted a soapstone woodstove, but had always figured we wouldn't be able to afford them.  Honeybunch's parents gave us a heads up that Woodstock was having a sale, and we jumped on it. 

Last night, I'm faily certain that lightning struck the lightning rod mounted on our roof.  I was on my laptop in the bedroom when I heard a high pitched "pop", like the sound of a vaccuum being broken... I glanced up just in time to see the bedroom window fill with white light, then jumped up and screamed as I heard the loudest CRACK I've ever heard.

I ran upstairs to make sure Honeybunch was okay... he'd been soldering, and when it happened it startled him so badly, he threw the soldering iron into the air!  We ran outside, smelled woodsmoke... and started searching with the flashlight for smoke.  The smell passed and we didn't find any evidence of fire... but our internet modem was fried.  The internet cable runs out through the wall of the office and down the side of the house, very close to the cable that extends from the lightning rod into the ground.  Freaky.  It could have been SO much worse.

This past week was three back-to-back 12-hour shifts, and I busted my butt every second of it.  Last night a young man came in by ambulance after overdosing on heroin.  His fiancee's 4 year old son was with him.  The fiancee, instead of rushing to be with her young child (who was also being checked out in our ER because he was lethargic), was doting on her useless junkie boyfriend.  Her children left the ER in the custody of protective services, and she didn't seem at all upset... to the contrary, she appeared to be relieved.   Sometimes I honestly feel like everyone should need to obtain a license before having children. 

Chimney and stoves...

Well, I put down the first half of the money it's going to take to install the chimney.  Now questions arise as to whether we will actually need to go ahead and buy the new stove... the Vermont Castings stove Honeybunch's parents are lending us is an older model that requires an 8" flue, and the industry standard is now 6".  The estimate we received was all for 6" stovepipe and chimney.  For 8" pipe, it'll be another $800.  It's seems to make more sense to stick with the 6" flue and go ahead and buy a new stove now.  I'd rather put $800 into a stove than into a larger chimney that might make our future stove less efficient in its operation down the line. 

We're considering the Napoleon 1450 Independence model http://www.lehmans.com/store/Stoves___Heat_Stoves___Napoleon___Napoleon_Independence_1450_Pedestal_Wood_Heat_Stove__medium____17121450?Args=
It's reasonably priced, efficient, and is supposed to be able to heat our whole 1500 square foot house.  If anyone has any experience with Napoleon stoves, I'd love to hear about it.

Last weekend, Honeybunch and I decided to tackle the job of rehabilitating the greenhouse.  When we moved in, it was very clear that the greenhouse had not been used for its intended purpose for a very, very long time.  The previous owners had installed this weird fish pond in place of a raised bed, a hideous monstrosity of black plastic pond liner and wood paneling.  It was mostly brick, with only two actual dirt beds.  These beds were filled with dock, grass, and mint.  Several of the glass panes were shattered.

So, we pulled all of the weeds, replaced the broken panes, replaced broken bricks, pulled out the fish pond and turned it into a raised bed, killed a wasp's nest, removed some of the bricks to extend another bed, and filled them all up with yummy rich black compost.  I then planted our winter salad and asian greens, swept up the mess, and sat back to admire our hard work.

 The bed on the right still needs to have its soil broken up and mixed with compost, but it's an improvement over the bricks that used to lay there for no good reason!! 

And Shelab must have had babies, because we found two mini-Shelabs in and around the greenhouse!

We also captured one of the many groundhogs that have made our property their home.  We'd been planning to wait until Spring to embark on the catch and release project, but having one invade my basement (and refuse to leave for several hours) was the last straw.  His gluttony betrayed him... he couldn't resist the eggplant we placed in the trap.  We drove about ten miles west of here and released him into the woods.  Now if we can catch the rest of his kin, hopefully we'll be groundhog-free by the time next year's veggie garden must be planted!

This morning while drinking my coffee on the porch, a lovely little grey and green hummingbird came buzzing up to the window, not more than two feet from me, and circled the windchimes making adorable little "beep"-ing noises.  I've decided that we must now get a hummingbird feeder.

We've been getting rain for days and days... flash flooding is happening all around us, and I find myself once again feeling very grateful for the fact that our house is built upon a hill.  Half an inch of water in the basement is nothing compared to the damage that many of our neighbors have endured.  Our pond overflowed its banks, washing much flotsam onto the lawn and rearranging the ducks' favorite sitting logs.  The chicken yard is a muddy mess.  But life goes on, and the clothesline stands empty and unused.  I'm just hoping that it's all over by the time October 8th rolls around... this sort of weather is lousy for an outdoor wedding!

TNCC

Today I completed my trauma nursing certification, and now have yet another little card to carry in my wallet with my BLS, ACLS, PALS, and RN licenses.

And now, I am going to take a nap, and REALLY enjoy it!

We survived the week of the Quakenadocane!

The storm moved in yesterday afternoon and lasted through the night.  The rain is mostly gone now, but the winds  are still wild out there, making the trees dance in a beautiful and dangerous way.

My mother called me last night to tell me there was a tornado in the town where Honeybunch works, and headed west towards us.  We turned on the radio, listened to the emergency broadcast, and gathered up the cats and skunk in our central living room.  Our basement is literally cut into the stone of this hill, and our walls are one and a half feet thick hardwood logs.  I felt pretty darn safe.  The wind was fierce, but no tornado.  We went back to sleep after listening to Thistle and Shamrock on NPR. 

At 0430 we woke up to flashing lights and the sound of a police radio outside.  Apparently a tree split in two and dropped one half across our street and into our driveway, narrowly missing the power lines, barn, and our friend's car.  The firemen were out there cutting it into pieces with a chainsaw to clear the road.  After assessing the situation and seeing that no damage had been done, I allowed myself to think, "score!  Free firewood!"

This morning there are lots of downed branches, and a newly formed pond in the yard.   Our stream is a surging river, and we have about 1/2" of water in the basement.  Our greenhouse is in tact.  All of the birds weathered the storm well, and the repairs Honeybunch did to our kitchen roof held.  We didn't lose electricity, though it flickered once or twice.

 It's a pelvis!!

 I'm SO glad we took down these two trees... they used to lean WAY over the greenhouse and I'm certain they would have dropped limbs and broken more panes in this wind!

This is Shelab.  She is about 3" across from leg to leg, and she lives in the greenhouse.  She was very grateful that we replaced the broken panes and took down the threatening trees before the storm moved in.

Almost ready...

I've got tequila and lime juice, bottled water, a clean house, a clear yard, and a Kindle. 
If Honeybunch gets home in time tonight, we'll take down those two trees... if not tonight, bright and early tomorrow morning.

I think the groundhog has left the basement.

There is something reassuring about being in a 200+ year old house when a storm moves in... there's a certainty that the house has seen worse, and survived it, and will protect you. 

Storm's a-coming.

Well, I'm sure our house has seen worse storms in its 211 years of life... but I have to admit, I'm feeling a little nervous.

We have two trees that need to come DOWN before Irene hits here.  They threaten the greenhouse... which, it just so happens, Honeybunch just replaced panels in. 

We have no bottled water... gotta remedy that tomorrow.  Up until this point in my life I lived on municipal city water that pretty much always ran from the tap, no matter what was happening outside.  I haven't yet gotten it into my head that no electricity = no well pump.  A non-electric backup pump is on our preparedness wishlist... but for this weekend, it'll be gallons of bottled spring water for us.  In the meantime, I'm trying to get ALL of our laundry done in the next 24 hours so that if we lose power for a few days we'll be okay.

We have no sump pump for the basement.  We do, however, have a groundhog in the basement right now.  But that's a story for another day.

Storms excite me... but it's our first big bad storm in our new old house, and I'm just crossing my fingers that our lack of experience with storms in rural areas doesn't make this storm exciting in all the wrong ways!

Focus.

That's what we call it when an earthquake shakes our area enough to crack a major bridge... and I don't notice at all, because my head is entirely wrapped up in my job.  Every coworker I talked to felt it.  I didn't feel a darn thing.  I'm kinda disappointed :-/

Shower time!

Yes, it is raining out there... and yes, I just got out of the shower after spending about an hour mowing the lawn.  But those aren't the kind of showers I'm talking about!

My sister and mother threw me a downright classy shindig in honor of the fact that I will soon be an old, married woman.  It was awesome.

 

Chocolates in the shape of beehives and honeycomb.  AWESOME.

 And the favors?  Homemade beehive cookies and jars of lavender tupelo honey.  AWESOME.

 Homemade lingonberry tarts?   AWESOME.

 Freshly picked figs and white peach sangria and fancyschmancy glasses?  AWESOME.

 Brie, roasted red pepper and greens sandwiches on croissants?  SO AWESOME.

 Lemon pound cake with black raspberry jam filling and swiss buttercream icing, IN THE SHAPE OF A FLIPPING BEEHIVE?  AWESOME AND DELICIOUSOMG.

 Flowers and ammunition as a gift? Carol and Pete are AWESOME!!

 And the most delicious thing I have ever tasted:  toasted brioche topped with ricotta cheese and lavender honey, sprinkled with lavender buds.  Seriously.  It was food heaven.

 My mom gushed.  It was adorable.

And a good friend gave me a Fat Chicken.

It was truly wonderful to gather with friends and family and enjoy an afternoon of girly delights.  My people rock.  I'm excited to write the thank-you notes!!

All photos are the work of my friend Doerthe, who was kind enough to attend, give me super duper special presents, AND take great photos the whole time!