Landed Stateside and hit the ground running...or sprinting, rather

    As many of you may know I got back to the States a few weeks ago, July 26th, to be exact.  Flying through Chicago(where I had a lovely, relaxing, 5-hour layover) I landed in Billings late where Mom and Dad were there to greet me with big hugs and bigger smiles. As we drove the two hours back to Lewistown, I did most the talking as they wanted to hear about everything that had happened since May. After they came to visit at Easter, our communication with each other slowed down quite a bit. We all got so busy and caught up in the end-of-year festivities, it was hard to find much time to fill each other in regularly. We finally made it home safe, I unloaded my bags, went to my room and collapsed on my bed. The next few days were a bit of a blur as my body wasn't exactly up to speed on my travel itinerary(London is 7 hours ahead of Montana).  If you've never experienced jet-lag, let me tell you, it is one of the most confusing but fascinating experiences you might go through.  I was quite impressed with how my body could sleep 15 hours one night...then 2 hours the next. Talk about frustrating.
   Besides the spontaneous bouts of utter exhaustion, the next few days were wonderful as I got to reconnect with friends and family and become reacquainted with life in Central Montana.  It was fair week in Lewistown so I got to see quite a few old classmates, many of whom I'd not seen since we graduated. It was so interesting to hear where everyone has been; it seemed like we were all in such different stages in our life. The ones that I'd talked to that had gotten married and/or had kids already seemed quite keen on hearing about my year overseas. I heard everything from excited questions and hopes of traveling to fear and doubt in their ability to take on such a lifestyle.  I was shocked to hear that some of them have never left the state, or even the town. Of course, it made me realize, again, how I'm in such a completely different stage of my life than a lot of people my age. Some of them said they would be terrified to move to another country for a year. I said I'd be terrified to have kids right now.
   Though I didn't pick up much of the British accent, I seemed to acquire somewhat of a more expansive vocabulary.  My brother Kyle did not hesitate to make fun of me when I asked if he had the same "mobile number" instead of "cell number"...and my friend in Minnesota got confused when I said "I'll meet you at half six" instead of "six thirty."  The first few days back, my brain was hurting. I've never had to think so hard when trying to keep a conversation going. And to think, I was still speaking English!
   I had about seven days home before I left for Minnesota for my brother Justin's wedding.  After a few days full of rehearsals, family reunions, overindulging in fruits and salads, hair and makeup appointments, and a few hours of photo shoots,  Justin and Julie tied the knot on August 6, 2011 at First Evangelical Free Church in Maplewood, MN.  After the ceremony, we headed to Lake Elmo for the reception which was full of delicious food, the best cake I've ever had in my life, heartfelt and helpful toasts, and, of course, lots of music and dancing.

Shobe fam

Shobe kids

Blonde Bombers~
(Cousin Ilsa & niece Hadlee)

   Justin and Julie had chosen "I Hope That's Me" by Brad Paisley for their first dance and then they wanted it to go right into "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" by Jet to which they had asked me to choreograph them a swing dance for. We had so much fun rehearsing the Thursday night before the wedding, I was so proud of them and how fast they picked it up! During rehearsal I told them they only got one shot at this so they had to go big or go home.  They gave it everything they had and went all out. I couldn't stop smiling through the whole song.

Welding shop-wedding style

   After the wedding, I stayed in Minnesota for a few days visiting friends from Concordia.  I made my way home on Wednesday and then on Friday I spent the whole day helping set up for the Lewistown reception for Justin and Julie, which was on Saturday. They realized that 13+ hour drive to Minneapolis is rather a long trek for a lot of people so they wanted to have a celebration here as well so everyone could be a part of it.  The reception was held at my uncle's(Tom Spika) welding shop. Sounds crazy, I know. But that place cleaned up well!  The reception ended up being bigger than the wedding with over 300 people(wedding was about 200). It was nuts! But so much fun as I got to see so many people I'd been looking forward to reconnecting with but didn't know when I was going to get the chance to.

a glimpse of the celebration

  Pastor Paul Seastrand gave a short blessing and Kyle and I sang the song which we sang at the ceremony("I Will" written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney, also sang by Alison Krauss). After the food was served, Kyle, Jodie and I shared a little program we had put together to tell the story of Justin and Julie(which they had no idea was coming).  As J.R. Lund (groomsman & Justin's best friend since childhood) and Steve Astrup(Concordia buddy) read the story, the rest of us added in a little musical flavor.  We had rewritten the words to some songs to make them more fitting while trying to keep the embarrassment at a reasonable level.  It wasn't perfect, as we didn't have much rehearsal time, but we sure had fun with it. 

Justin & Julie performing their
swing dance in Lewistown

  We really did party til the cows came home. It was about midnight when the dancers began dwindling and the music faded. What a wonderful night!  My family felt so fortunate to have so many caring people there to show such love and support.
I'll be honest, the whole week was quite a whirlwind yet it was one I'll never forget.  Though I had people asking me about England every chance they got, I felt so blessed to have the chance to share my story and be a witness to the ministry of YAGM and SPEC.  I also have to say that I'm forever grateful to Justin and Julie(I don't know if they're reading this) for putting their wedding plans on hold until I returned.  I know my being gone kind of got in the way but I was so happy to be able to be a part of their special day and share in the love and joy of their marriage.