Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We've been having a very relaxing time with Keith's family in Iowa.

I made some tasty cardamom bread (Tess, this is for you!)

Keith enjoyed playing with the new video camera we got from Celia's mommy and daddy for Christmas.

We got all dressed up and went to the Christmas Eve service. Keith, Celia, Sarah, and Rebecca sang in the Choir. (Keith and Celia also played Gounod's Ave Maria together on cello and organ at church on Christmas morning.)


Here's the whole family! Too bad Joseph and Catherine couldn't come. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Christmas Letter

Greetings, friends! Several important pieces of news:
1. Keith gave his final presentation on Wagner's Parsifal on Thursday. He worked really hard, and I have to say that the highlight of the presentation were Keith's fantastic MS Paint drawings of the plot of Parsifal.
2. Keith graduated last Friday, on December 16!! Yay! He didn't actually attend graduation, since we didn't feel like making all our friends and family sit and be bored for several hours.
3. We moved out of our apartment in Grand Forks. We're spending Christmas with Keith's family, then we'll be with my family for a few days, then we move into our new apartment in Vancouver, BC! Of course, this means we have a new address that I'm not going to post here, but if you want it, email me. Our permanent US address is my parents' address in Washington. We still have our cell phones, but we'll have a new phone number in the beginning of January.
4. In January, we're starting at Regent College where both of us (not just Keith) will be studying Theology.
5. We wrote a Christmas letter this year! We hope you enjoy it. Please click on each page to enlarge and read. Merry Christmas!

Sugar Beets: Edible or No?

We received a sugar beet as a gift of sorts from a friend (Kyle) who was driving a beet truck during the harvest. He assured us that there were many old Norwegian recipes that could be found online. So, we took the thing with the intention of serving it to him the next time he visited... Take note: the sugar beet is actually white beneath all the dirt. Have you ever seen one this clean??

Mmm... can't wait to eat it!

We're finding it a little hard to cut through.

Now it's all chopped up and ready to go. All we need is a recipe... nothing on the internet... except a hint that you can use them in place of parsnips...

Woohoo! A wonderful dish of sugar beets (they were supposed to be parsnips), carrots, onions, rosemary, and garlic! Who would have thought it possible? When asked if they would ever eat a sugar beet again, all those polled said a resounding "no." I didn't think it was THAT bad... it was certainly a worthy experiment.

Wedding Pics are Online!

Hooray! We finally got the first batch of wedding pictures up on Shutterfly for your viewing pleasure! You can order them if you would like. They're pretty cheap on Shutterfly.

Coming soon: the preparation of a sugar beet to make it fit for human consumption... we in North Dakota are easily amused.

Wedding Pics

Hi! Just to let interested parties know, I will be posting wedding pictures on Shutterfly soon. Our photographer will be scanning our favorites. This is a great way for you to see our pictures, and if you wish, purchase them inexpensively. I'll send you an update as soon as I get them up on the web!

Our Apartment!

Greetings! Here are a few pictures of our apartment, which we recently finished unpacking. All the pictures are up on the walls and everything... This is one half of the living room. We tried to cover the icky paneled walls as much as possible...

The other half of the living room with Keith in his favorite chair...

The kitchen (relatively clean)...

Our bedroom... lovely curtains made by Keith's mommy, lovely quilt made by Bill and Audrey... not so lovely freight train going by outside.

Greetings from North Dakota

Greetings. Some random news items from North Dakota… Keith and I are (almost) moved in. We finally got the books on the shelves, and we’re in the process of hanging pictures. Unfortunately we are sleeping on our couch (a futon), so our living room looks a little empty at present. I managed to find a job working the desk at Scott’s Fine Art Studio, and I’m hoping to get some students of any sort (cello, viola da gamba, German, music theory, historical performance coaching, chamber music coaching, etc.) Initially, I applied at a bunch of coffee shops, but no one wanted to hire me for only five months, since it takes time to train people (man, those people are missing out… we got an espresso machine for a wedding present, and I make DARN GOOD COFFEE.) Keith started his LAST SEMESTER at the University of North Dakota today. Hooray for Keith! By the way, I mentioned we moved. So, if for any reason you don’t have our address and you need it, email me and I’ll send it to you. Well, it’s back to writing thank you notes and making business cards for me…

We got married! Here's one of our wedding pictures. More will come soon. (For those of you who didn't already know, Celia will be changing her last name to Olson.) Photo credit: Sharlane Chase.

The Trip Back to North Dakota

We camped in Montana on the way back to North Dakota after the honeymoon. Dinner that night was marshmallows and cookies, which we made into some darn good s'mores. Unfortunately, our car broke down the next day, but we amazingly found a Subaru dealer in Butte, MT, and the problem was quickly fixed.

Canoeing

We went canoeing near a glacier, and Keith ate some glacier ice!

Fishing in Ketchikan

We went "fishing" for eagles: when someone caught a rock fish, we would lure the eagles closer by throwing the fish out into the water close to the boat. Once four eagles swooped down to get it! Keith took this picture. :)

Reeling in my first fish...

I caught a beautiful pink salmon in Ketchikan! It was about 6 pounds, the biggest of the day on our boat. We had about 40 pounds of salmon sent home smoked and canned!

A moose once bit my sister...

Bears!!

We saw 11 bears from the Denali National Park shuttle bus! Here are four of them: a mama bear with three cubs! We saw many other fun things: golden eagles, caribou, dall sheep, Mt. McKinley, etc. Having a good time so far...

Bellevue Hotel Information

Greetings! Here are links to hotels close to our wedding events. Contact us if you need help!

Red Lion Bellevue Inn
Hyatt Regency
Doubletree
Embassy Suites
Homestead Studio Suites

BEMF Fringe Concert!

You're invited to my fringe concert at the Boston Early Music Festival! This is very exciting (and a bit scary), so please come and support Akiko and me on June 17... and help us break even! This is my first concert EVER that I'm actually trying to play as a professional musician. In addition, there are lots of other concerts to see during festival week, so I encourage you to go see as many as possible! Please look at my poster for details (kudos to Keith for the lovely MS Paint drawing!) and click here for venue information.

Some Suggested Sightseeing

Hi! Here are some of our favorite Seattle things for those of you who are visiting for our wedding.

Ferry rides. We recommend going to Whidbey Island from Mukilteo or to Bainbridge Island from downtown. You can just walk on the ferry and ride both ways, or drive on and look around on one of the islands.
Space Needle, Science Center, Seattle Center: many fun things to see in this area.
Museum of Flight: many cool airplanes. We are members, so we can get you free tickets!
National Parks: Mt. Rainier (Paradise and Sunrise) North Cascades and Olympic: hiking, looking at pretty mountains, lakes etc.
Alpine Lakes Wilderness for hiking (we can suggest hikes of all levels)
Alki Beach for wading (it's too cold for swimming), looking at boats, walking, etc. (See engagement pictures. They were taken at Alki.)
Coulon Park for (nearby) swimming, walking, playing various sports, and eating at Ivars
Boeing Everett Plant tour: very cool for engineering types (and others--I thought it was cool!)
Pike Place Market: What trip to Seattle would be complete without a visit to Pike Place?
Washington Park Arboretum: walking, canoeing (you can rent them there), admiring the pretty plants
Calcutta Grill at Newcastle Golf Course: gorgeous views, great food (incidentally, it’s also a lovely place to play golf, not that we would know)

Also, I found this visitor information site. Enjoy!

Schedule of Wedding Events

Thursday, July 7
6:30 Barbeque for family, wedding party, and out of town guests
Location: Dan and Joann Wilson's house, 8428 144th Pl. SE, Newcastle
Directions will come later.
Take note: Map quest and Google maps will not get you here!

Friday, July 8
1:00 Bridesmaids Tea
Location: Dan and Joann Wilson's house (we think)
4:00 Rehearsal
Location: Newport Covenant Church,
12800 SE Coal Creek Parkway, Bellevue
6:30 Rehearsal Dinner (family and wedding party)
Location: Pogacha, 120 NW Gilman Blvd, Issaquah

Saturday, July 9
4:30 Wedding
Location: Newport Covenant Church
7:00 Reception
Location: Woodmark Hotel, Marina Room, 1200 Carillon Point, Kirkland

Sunday, July 10
12:30 Lunch with gift opening for family, wedding party, and out of town guests
Location: Dan and Joann Wilson's house

Welcome, wedding guests!

I realize that most of the stuff on this site at present really has nothing to do with our wedding, but that will change now, since I'm about to send out invitations with a web address on them... So, here's links to what is here so far:

Engagement pictures 1, 2, 3
Web page at The Knot (needs to be updated)
Registries at Bed Bath and Beyond (search for my name) and The Porcelain Gallery

Shortly I will be posting a calendar of events and information for out of town guests!

Hiking in the Cascades

Our first hike of the season: a 9 mile round trip to Melakwa Lake! Here Mom and Colin are crossing the log jam across the outlet of the lake. When we got there, it was so foggy that we could only see about 50 feet out into the lake! No stunning views, but it was still pretty cool. As you may be able to tell, I'm at home in Seattle with my family this weekend. Keith is with his family in Grand Forks, ND, where his sister Rebecca just graduated from high school!

So many pianos, so little time!

We took a trio field trip! At the piano museum in Ashburnham, MA, we played our Brahms with 2 different Streichers and a Bosendorfer! There were many other pianos to try as well, from 1795-1907. Here we are trying a Bosendorfer, which sounded beautiful, if a bit boring. The Streichers had more character.

Graduation!!

Here I am receiving my diploma (yes, there really was a diploma inside the cover). Check out the ugly polyester gown with funny long sleeves (convenient for storing cell phone) and my awesome master's hood!!

Mission accomplished: we (Bryan, Tess and me) have masters degrees. Yay! (that's an understatement.)

Pat the Bunny

At our engagement party (a make-your-own grilled cheese bar with homemade tomato soup) Finny reads Pat the Bunny to Zach. Isn't that sweet?

Historical Brahms

I'M DONE!!! All that is left of my master's degree is to show up at graduation and get my diploma!! Last night I lectured on the Brahms Piano Trio in B Major and performed it with my trio. This was the culmination of my obsessive research on historical Brahms: a lecture recital, which was essentially my master's thesis. If anyone is interested in the text of my lecture, I can email it to you!

Brahms! Woo hoo! Not just any Brahms... historical Brahms!

After the recital, everyone (my teacher, Sarah, me, Jung Sun, Peter, our coach, and Julie) gathered around the piano... check out the awesome music stand with built in candle holders! Jung Sun found them a bit distracting!

The first of the "wedding-related" events...

Here is our Bible study group last night before we had dinner in Chinatown! We were celebrating our upcoming wedding and Hanna's as well, which is in September. It was so good, and we were so stuffed... Thanks to everyone for coming and to Pamela for organizing it! (sorry, the video wouldn't upload...)

Hanna dishes up some excellent (very long) noodles.

Eric samples the interesting garlic flavored Duiran drink. (he drank more than the rest of us could!)

After dinner...

...fat and happy.

Concerto!

I played a concerto! It was the Boccherini concerto in G Major, and I played it with the BU baroque orchestra, directed by Martin Pearlman.

These people are crazy.

These people are crazy. Not the people giving out water, the ones running the marathon. Watching a bit of the marathon was a cool experience, since even though there are definite winners, everyone who manages to finish is really a winner. It's got to be a rush to have people cheering for you for 26 miles. This is definitely an advantage to living in Boston: an extra day off in April!

Weekend Visit

We just got back from a weekend with Keith's Great Uncle Bob and Great Aunt Gerry. They live in Enfield, Connecticut. We had a lot of fun meeting lots of Keith's cousins, eating some good food, visiting a butterfly garden, and sniffing lots of candles at the Yankee Candle outlet.

Wedding Update

I finally ordered the invitations. I think they're going to be gorgeous. I also ordered the bridesmaid dresses and made some decisions about music. This wedding planning thing is such a hassle. There are so many decisions to be made, some of which are important, and some of which are not. I feel a lot better having accomplished these three things, though. Currently I am procrastinating from practicing and doing homework. Did I mention I have a few concerts coming up?

Recital Picture

Here is another picture from my recital. I actually ended up not wearing these shoes. They were just not working with the viola da gamba... Isn't the harpsichord pretty? Dad took this picture during our warmup.

Public Garden

Hooray! It looks like spring again! There were some sleepy ducks and some flowers on the trees in the public garden. Very nice!

A Hat

I just finished a knitting project! It is a hat (obviously) and isn't actually for me, but here is a picture of me wearing it. I was rather pleased with myself, since it actually turned out the right size. Lately I've taken it into my head to knit hats for cancer victims. This is the second this year.

Beethoven Concert

A quick concert update: the performance of the Beethoven sonata is actually April 26, not April 12. I'll let you know more details soon!

Viola da Gamba Recital

I'm done! My recital is over! Well, I'm not really done (see list below of upcoming concerts), but this is one thing I can check off my list before graduation. Next will be a Boccherini concerto and a Beethoven sonata, followed by a Brahms trio and a concert of Bach viola da gamba sonatas! More pictures will follow, when I get the ones off Dad's camera. This picture was taken by Keith. I thought it went pretty well. There were some scary moments, but there always are. There were also some very nice moments, I think. We'll see how I feel when I hear the recording...

Recital Program

Just to whet your appetite... my recital program!

It's All About the Bass

Masters Recital
Celia Wilson, viola da gamba
with
Akiko Sato, harpsichord
Laura Jeppesen, viola da gamba

Saturday, April 9, 4:00 p.m.
First Church, Congregational, Cambridge
Lindsay Chapel

Program

Selections from Captain Hume’s Musical Humours
Tobias Hume
(c. 1579-1645)
Rossamond
I Am Falling
My Mistresse hath a pritty thing.
Hit it in the middle
Tickell, Tickell
Tickle me quickly
Touch me lightly
She loves it well.

Sonata IV from Le nymphe di Rheno, op. 8
Johannes Schenck
(1660-after 1710)
Ciacona
Bourée
Rondeau
Menuet

Sonata in D minor, op. 5 no. 5
Arcangelo Corelli
(1653-1713)
Adagio
Allegro
Adagio
Allegro
Allegro

Intermission

Sonata in D major, BWV 1028
Johann Sebastian Bach
(1675-1750)
Adagio
Allegro
Andante
Allegro

Les Folies d'Espagne from Pièces de Viole, Deuxième Livre                                           
Marin Marais
(1656-1728)

Birthday

Here I am in the kitchen, celebrating my 24th birthday (a little early). Am I old or what? It seems like just yesterday I turned 18. What happened to the last 6 years? Keith made me steak for dinner. We discovered that there are barbeques out in the yard! Hooray!

BEMF Concert

I have an exciting announcement! Akiko Sato (my favorite harpsichordist) and I will be playing a "fringe concert" at the Boston Early Music Festival this June. The program will be the three Bach sonatas for viola da gamba and obbligato harpsichord (BWV 1027-1029). It's June 17 at 3:45 p.m. at the Church of St. John the Evangelist on Bowdoin St. I'll post more details and directions later.

Tess's Recital

Last Friday was Tess Wakim's recital. Keith took some pictures during our warm-up, and this is my favorite. Tess sang like and angel. (Guess what? She is going to sing at our wedding!!) I played both cello and viol, which can be scary, since there are both similarities and differences between the two instruments. It was also fun taking the subway to rehearsals, and cramming people and instruments in the car for the ride home. The string players decided to form the Sox Consort in honor of our favorite baseball team. Right now I should be practicing for my recital, which is Saturday, or at least doing some homework so I can have more practice time later. However, that is not what I am doing. I am procrastinating by writing stuff on my blog.

Easter

We did not hunt for Easter eggs. However, we did watch this adorable child (Zachary) hunt for eggs, which he decorated himself and helped his mom (Tara) hide. After getting up at 4 a.m. for the Easter Vigil service at the monastery, just about anything was amusing. The service was awesome. Anything with Psalms chanted antiphonally by candlelight and the Gospel reading sung in Fauxbourdon style has got to be pretty darn cool. Then again, perhaps I'm just biased, being an early music person.

Engagement Pictures

Here are a few of our engagement pictures. This one is my favorite. These were all taken in January on Alki Beach in Seattle. It was very, very cold and windy, and we were not wearing coats. We were undaunted, however, thanks to some coffee and a lot of styling gel. Many thanks to Sharlane, our photographer!

This is also one of my favorites.

Here's when I bit his nose...