Profile: Alisha Saulnier (aka “The girl with no shoes on”)

Alisha Carole Saulnier. She keeps unwrapping the longer I know her, kind of like her name.

When I first met Alisha, I assumed she spelled her name A-L-I-C-I-A. But no, no… her parents had to go and use the S-H version.

And then I asked a friend what her last name is, and he said, “It’s something that starts with an ‘S’, but I’ll never remember how to pronounce it.” So I had to find her on Facebook through someone I knew who’d already added her.

And then her middle name. I think she said it means “faithful,” but I can’t remember why. I wish I could – she’s all about the meaning behind names…

Yeah, she’s a lot like her name in that.

How I met Alisha

I walked into the Growth Group meeting one night, and she was sitting alone at the table. She’s always early.

“Did Pastor Bill tell you about me?” she said.

“No,” I said, “I have no idea who you are.”

And so began a friendship that’s now spanned three continents.

Who Alisha is

  • World traveler
  • Nanny
  • Friend

What Alisha likes

  • Traveling
  • Dancing
  • Tea and cookies

One fact about Alisha

She danced ballet for 13 years. I didn’t know this about her when I met her. I knew her as this young lady traveling to six different countries in six months, making YouTube videos as she went. It wasn’t until months later that I realized how much dance has been a part of her life.

One reason I like Alisha

I like that she asks questions, especially the questions that start with, “I probably have no business asking this, but…”

One memory I have of Alisha

So I go to Alaska, right? And there happens to be this place in downtown Juneau playing bluegrass music. I had no idea. I guess bluegrass music, folk music in general, is popular up there.

Anyway, Alisha likes to dance so of course she wanted to go. I grew up in Louisville, but I didn’t know anything about bluegrass dancing. I’m pretty sure people in Kentucky just drink a bunch of moonshine and then call whatever they’re doing afterward “dancing,” as long as there’s music in the background.

Turns out, there actually are dances for bluegrass music. I know because we looked them up on YouTube. They looked a lot like Celtic dances to me, but what do I know?

Answer: not much when it comes to dancing. Oh well, we ordered some weird drinks, because everything you order without alcohol after midnight is weird, and danced.

Okay, that’s not really accurate. First, we sat upstairs and watched for a while – I wanted to see what everyone else was doing. Maybe that’s more the memory: sitting up there way too late at night, listening to bluegrass music way too far away from bluegrass land, and watching everyone dance way too far away.

Alisha in one word

Curious.