Meet the Bridesmaids!

I just wrote this all up so that they could meet each other. But I thought, heck, why not make it public and let the whole world meet them. So withour further adue, meet the female cast of the Schnake-Kolbas wedding (coming June 13 to a Forest Reserve near you. Or... maybe not so near you... depending on where you live...).

Julia Larsen
My sister Julia is of course my Maid of Honor (er... "Matron of Honor" technically, I prefer Maid though. I'm still gonna make her work ;-). Though most of you have either never met her or not seen her for a few years, she’s still my dearest friend. She’s only a little over 2 years older than me. We grew up doing everything together. Even in high school she always let me hang out with her, and even drove me to ballet classes when mom and dad said they wouldn’t let me add a fourth class. Everyone calls her one of the nicest people they know, but she’s really smart too, and also quite funny (she is a Schnake after-all). Right now Julia, her husbad Viggo, and their 17 month old son Daniel, are in Tanzania Africa starting a bible translation project from scratch for the Mbugwe people. Julia enjoys reading, being in raptures over nature's beauty, and playing with her son Daniel.

Jennifer Bulthuis

Jenny (or Jennifer as I think she prefers these days) has been my best friend since high school. I’m her Anne of Green Gables and she’s my Blonde Diana. We’ve really been there for each other through thick and thin and we’ll always be close because of that. She got married last summer to a hansom young man named Bjorn, and they now live just across the border from Vancouver CA on the U.S. side. She has worked the last year as a bilingual education specialist (well ok, technically only as a teachers aide, but really that’s what she does) for Lynden (?) school district.

Rebecca Chase
Rebecca and I met at bible school in England and continued on together in Austria in ’04-’05. She is truly a kindred spirit. Our hearts seem to track together in a special way. She is one of the kindest and funniest people I know. I’ve always felt it is a special honor to call her a dear friend. She and Chaz met at bible school and have been married for over two years now. She is from VA Beach, VA, but this spring they moved out to L.A. to live with Chaz’s sister and brother-in-law. She has worked for the last couple of years as a case manager for women’s shelters. She’s really crafty and spends a lot of time sewing and making cards and other crafts which she sells.

Michelle Kolbas

Michelle is Michael’s sister, my soon to be sister-in-law. She has been so warm and welcoming in the past year, really letting me know I am welcomed as part of the family. The funny thing is that I’m actually closer in age to Michelle (just 11 months younger) than I am to Michael. She is also currently planning her wedding with her long time love Ryan and will be getting married in September. Michelle loves sunflowers and Disney princesses. I think she really is something of a Disney princess. Right now she’s finishing up her last year of school to become an elementary school teacher. Her fiancé Ryan is a hard-core fire fighter. Together they are going to single-handedly ensure that California’s youth are safe and well educated.

Hannah Dorr

Shoot, we really need a better picture together Hannah. But anyway, Hannah and I have been friends since middle school. I first remember her driving home from youth group when I was in 7th grade, she in 6th and I had a major crush on her brother David, and thus made a joke at her expense (which he thought was funny so it was totally worth it). She didn’t like me at that time, but I didn’t know it. We became friends my 8th grade year, I think, and our friendship has steadily grown ever since, up to now when I would call her one of my closest friends. The thing I love about Hannah is that we have fun together. We like to go for bike rides, pick berries, build forts, and walk to DQ. Hannah is the only unmarried/engaged and the only dark haired member of the bridal party. She is currently studying Sociology at George Fox University in Newberg OR and has a cute boyfriend who I haven’t met yet named Mitchell.