While of course, our intention was to provide updates about the wonderful married life Liz and I lead, as well as publicly thank everyone for celebrating us in October on our blog space, and now we find ourselves in the second quarter of our first year of marriage when I’ve finally got around to this update!

In case anyone is wondering, married life is pretty sweet! We had a lovely winter vacation visiting family in New Mexico, the Twin Cities, and enjoyed making our first batch of Kandace’s Grandma Creel’s sugar cookies to send far and wide as part of holiday love packages!

We also were excited to learn the running totals on the amount of money our generous friends and family raised for the three organizations we wanted to support as part of our union celebration. We are so amazed at the endless generosity of the support of love you all showed to three organizations that mean so much to us!

Each of the organizations shared that they thought it was possible that even more had been donated in our honor that they may have missed, and TYSN said it was their largest fundraiser ever! We came very close to our $1000/each organization goal we had set internally!

Tri-College NEW Leadership Institute – $734 with many more online we do not have access to for the total (we estimate over $1000)

Trans Youth Support Network (TYSN) – $1,117

Media Literacy Project – $792

Thank you all again for your support and love! We plan on continuing to use this space for updates, our writing projects and continuing to engage it as a platform for our fundraising efforts.

We are excited to share that we are heading to Cuba as part of a Witness for Peace Delegation and will certainly have some updates on that experience we are calling one of many honeymoons!

In case you haven’t heard the news, it’s true! We’re taking the plunge and giving this crazy thing called marriage a go! We are so excited to be making this commitment to one another and as you can tell – we are over the moon with excitement about all we have in store. For some back story – lesbian/gay or “same sex” marriage was signed into law during the last Minnesota legislative session (thank you wonderful elected officials and friends who voted for our right to get married). It becomes official August 1st for same-sex couples to be recognized under the law as married and we are excited to be among the first to take part in the legal benefits of marriage in the state we both love dearly.

While it is great that we have this privilege – we do not believe that the momentum of positive social change should end with some people being granted the right to marry. To that end, coupled with the fact that we’re two adult, independent women who already have too many toaster ovens between us, we have also conceived of a wedding celebration that does not center around receiving traditionally registered gifts, but rather hosting a series of fundraisers for causes that are important to us. Additionally, we are a couple that has roots across the state, so in effort to bring out as many supporters of lesbian love we are hosting three celebrations across the state for people to come and celebrate, and again, raise money for causes that are important to us in the name of love and celebration of our nuptials. Please check out our Gift Registry Post for more information! Please also click on the links here or above for each of the parties we are hosting in Moorhead, Twin Cities, and on the Iron Range, and most importantly plesae don’t forget to RSVP! #lovewins

Follow @chicfinn on Twitter for more instant updates on our happenings up to the big day!

Three Parties Three Causes

Check out our links to our party pages for more details on the actual celebrations we are hosting to bring people together to wish us well on our journey as a married couple. Instead of your typical registry we are raising money for three causes that are near and dear to our hearts. We will share what is so special about each of them at each of our parties, but for those not attending or for those wishing to make a gift in our name before the party, please read on and find out how you can donate as well as more information about each cause, why we love it, and how you might learn more about it. Please consider making a donation in the amount of a typical amount you might spend on a wedding gift – but know that it will be going to support good work in our communities and will serve as a lasting reminder of spreading good in the name of love.

Tri-College NEW Leadership Development Institute

Is a five-day leadership institute for women aimed at developing their leadership capacities in Minnesota. Kandace and Liz have both been involved in various capacities helping to organize, serving as Faculty in Residence, staffer, and speakers for the event. As feminists, Liz and Kandace see the work of NEW Leadership as a valuable means to increase women’s confidence and commitment to public service. We are particularly excited about the diverse, inclusionary, feminist frame the organization uses to bring women together – as well as the support for developing rural women’s leadership in our state. The organization hosts this leadership summit every summer at no cost for their participants. Your contribution helps to bring fabulous speakers, sponsor participants, and secure staffing for the valuable organizing that is necessary to pull of this large of an event.

To donate – please send your check directly to the institute. Make a Gift please also note it is for Kandace and Liz’s wedding on your check.

*UPDATE – You can also donate to NEW Leadership online by following these instructions –

1. Follow this link to the MSUM online donation page
2. Under “Donation Information” select an amount and then in the “Designation” box, select “Designate – Write in a Scholarship or Department Name” and then enter “R594 NEW Leadership Institute” 
3. Follow the instructions to complete the transaction

Further reading – Why support women’s leadership development?

Trans Youth Support Network (TYSN)

Is a Twin Cities based non-profit committed to elevating the lives of trans youth in our community. Too often when we think about coalition politics trans issues are left out of the picture, marginalized, or erased. While state sanctioned marriage is touted as a “win” for the LGBT communities, many trans folk, particularly those of color, lack fully supportive communities needed to ensure healthy and safe lives. TYSN works to address racial and economic disparities for trans youth – have been active organizers of the Free Cece movement and continue to build leadership capacity from an anti-racist framework for young primarily trans youth of color. After meeting with the amazing ED of TYSN, Katie suggested donations in two ways – consider becoming a sustaining member of the organization by pledging a monthly donation for a year – ($10x12months = $120 gift – or the monthly donation you feel good about giving) OR submit a general donation to go toward supporting a youth participant in the Leadership Academy. It costs approximately $1000 to support one participant through the leadership academy and we would be so excited to say that our wedding helped to support at least one participant for the next academy.

To donate – visit their main page and become a sustaining member or make a one time donation by clicking on the “support us” or “one time gift” buttons on the upper right side of the page.

Further reading – What does “trans” mean and  represent?

Media Literacy Project (MLP)

Is a New Mexico based non-profit media literacy organization that works to empower communities to be engaged consumers and makers of media. From deconstructing media to leading nation-wide coalitions of grassroots media organizations challenging policies related to media that do not serve the interests of diverse communities, MLP is a leader in media justice movements. From trainings on deconstructing media to programs helping young women make their own media, MLP is an organization everyone should know about. As Kandace is from Albuquerque, she wanted to send some love to her home state in the name of her love of Liz. Please consider becoming a sustaining member for a year to celebrate our love, or donating a one time gift in our name. We would be so excited to hear about your support on making the media more reflective of our diverse society and of course helping to direct funds to the organizers setting good policies for maintaining communication tools as free, open, and accessible to all.

To donate – visit their donation page to make a gift on our behalf.

Further reading – What’s media literacy?