Two Years

I am not sure how time flies by so fast. April will mark 2 years living in Alaska. It does not feel like I have been here that long. Even with all the dark snowy nights during the winter, it doesn't feel that long. The military brings a lot of headaches in life but one of the great things about it is moving to new places. We have been blessed with living in some great states.

If I could take the ladies from New York, the weather from Kentucky, the lighthouses and shorelines in Maine and mix it with the scenery here in Alaska, I would have the perfect place! We won't be leaving here for a little while longer but I am already wondering where God will take us next! Alaska will be the place we have lived the longest since Aaron has been in the Army. It has been a great place to live!

If you ever get the chance to come to Alaska you should do it! And as crazy as it sounds, the winter is a great time to visit. The mountains come alive with snow. They are magnificent! The only downside is a lot of the touristy things are closed until after Memorial Day. Just an FYI if you are planning on visiting at any point.

Here are a  few ramblings about what I enjoy about Alaska:

There is wildlife everywhere. Heck, there are moose waiting on the corner of 6th and Fairbanks Ave in Anchorage waiting to cross the road. I have seen it! When my mom was visiting we saw over 50 caribou on our way to the North Pole. You are probably wondering, how close you could get to a moose. You could try to get close (not the most brilliant idea) but you might get kicked. Just ask the dumb lady who got kicked a few weeks ago downtown because she was violating the personal space rule.

You drive 10 mins outside of the city and you are in the middle of nowhere. Ok, so maybe not in the middle of nowhere but you better have used the restroom before you start your trip to the next major city. Anchorage, Wasilla and Palmer are all kind of close together but other than that, you are in for a nice road trip. Fairbanks is the 2nd largest city in the state and it is over 6 hours away. But you will see beautiful mountains and previously mentioned moose all along the way!

The daylight in the summer is one of the coolest things I have ever experienced! When you are outside at 11:30 PM you would swear it was 11:30 AM. All the darkness in the winter is more than worth it for all the daylight we get to enjoy in the summer. And contrary to popular belief there is daylight in the winter. It just doesn't last long! Random side note: When they shoot the fireworks off for the 4th of July, they do it at almost midnight. And you still can't see them because it is too light out!

The Northern Lights freak me out a little. They are so beautiful but so mysterious! I always feel like I am going to have a close encounter of the third kind, if you know what I am saying! I have only seen beautiful splashes of green across the sky. But I do hope to see more of them before we leave.

The people here are very welcoming! There are not many people I have come across native to Alaska. I  can probably count them all on both hands. And I am pretty sure there are all from the same family. The people here are always happy to meet new people and hear their stories. They have really big hearts to go with the really big state! And I have never heard them say one bad word about this place. I have even met people who went away to college and couldn't wait to get back here. The only complaint is about the lack of certain restaurants. But let's face it; if that's the only complaint in life you are living in a pretty great place!

There are many more reasons I love this place but this is just a few. I am so thankful we have gotten to experience this great state. And how fun that when people ask Kinley where she was born she can say Alaska!?

Wordless Wednesday: Evolution of a first meal

Chillin

Our church held it's winter luau last night. It was a lot of fun! It was a great excuse to wear flip flops. My toes were freezing just getting to the church but it was totally worth it! Here is Kinley in her outfit. The pictures were taken on my iPhone so the quality stinks but you get the idea!

She wasn't big on the sunglasses. There were way too big! So I only tortured her with them to take this photo.

Practice makes perfect or at least less crappy photos

In the past 6 months, I haven't spent much time with my camera. Aaron, for a Valentine's Day gift, signed me up for an Outdoor Photography Workshop. Very cool and creative gift I thought! The workshop was this past weekend both Saturday and Sunday.

I learned all about f/stop, apertures, shutter speed, etc... I learned a lot about how do everything manually with my camera. Not easy. Now that I have learned some valuable lessons, it is all about practice. I am not posting any pictures from the workshop because I didn't really like them. I was working so hard on figuring out the histogram, I didn't really get great shots. Oh well. This gentleman's pictures are pretty cool CLICK HERE.

[Side Bar: Some of you were asking if the title picture was from the workshop. Nope. That butterfly had landed on our driveway in KY (2007) and I couldn't help but try and capture the beauty of it's wings.]

The workshop also made me realize how much I missed my camera. It isn't easy in life to focus on yourself but this is one thing I really love to do and am looking forward to learning more. Not too mention practicing A LOT! I like photographing the outdoors but I am hoping to get better with humans! I don't need to be great just good enough to capture our life's journey.  I hope Kinley is ready for it. ha ha! Poor girl.

Here are two pics of the pumpkin I took today. I am posting these as a jumping off point. In a few months hopefully, I will have much improved pictures to share.

(tedddy) BEAR ATTACK!

 There was a teddy bear attack at our house tonight. It was a little touch and go at first.

They both fought hard.

 In the end they called a truce.

And someone is a little bitter about it.

* Dear Blogspot,

You are really starting to irritate me. My photos were not saved that way so why you are showing them sideways, I HAVE NO IDEA. This is only one of many issues lately. Keep this up and I am moving my blog to Wordpress. You have been warned.

Sincerely,

Irritated in AK

A Trip to Seward

Aaron had a four day weekend, so we thought we would take advantage and go on a little road trip. We traveled to Seward, AK which is about 2 1/2 hours south of Eagle River. It was a great time to visit the town. It was off season, so the streets were peaceful and we were able to take in all the beauty without all the hustle and bustle of too many tourists. Here are a few pics from the trip...

 Poor girl, she has no idea how many pictures she is going to have to be in during her life!

 One of many cool murals in the town.

  Awesome tile art. It was all about organ donation which I am a big fan of!

 Hanging out with the beautiful scenery.

 I can't remember what this is but I thought it looked cool!

Headed out to sea...

  A Seward Christmas tree :)

 Kinley enjoying the ride.

I didn't know this was the original starting spot.

Beautiful boats everywhere.

The start of her first sea life experience. She slept the whole time! The following are some of my favorites. And don't ask because I don't remember what most of them were called.

It was only an overnight trip but it was great family time. We stayed at the military lodging in town. It was a great place with friendly people. I would recommend it to all other military families up here!

Moose 1, Rosebushes 0

We have seen a lot of moose since moving to the great state of Alaska! We have however, only had two moose in our neighborhood.

This baby moose was born in my neighbors back yard Memorial Day weekend 2009.

My friends who live on post had a moose visit there house the other day. CLICK HERE to navigate to Ginna's blog. The pictures were too great not to share with all of you! You won't be disappointed!

4 Months Old

All Soap

I hate automatic car washes. No seriously, I do. Ask my sister Nickie. I feared them when I was little. Do you remember the ones you would drive into a conveyor and then it would pull you through? Ugh. Hated it.

Every time we would enter one my stomach would turn into knots and I would start to feel really warm. At 33 years old, this still happens. I don't know why. I have  never had a bad car wash experience. The car wash has never come to life and attacked my car. But never the less, this is my life.

I don't fear small spaces. I used to ride the elevators when I was stuck in hospitals for enjoyment. You could stuff me in a closet and it wouldn't bother me (well, maybe a little but if you gave me a book and book light I would be all set!).

I know washing your car is a necessary evil. And living in AK, I am certainly not going to stand out in the cold and wash it by hand.

Not only do I hate car washes, I haven't had the best experiences with the car washes around here. Once someone stole my car wash. They didn't pull all the way out of the bay. They pulled up a bit, tripped the sensor and reversed right back, causing the door to close before I could even pull in. I swear this happened. I had a friend with me and we both just sat there laughing and honestly, cussing the guys actions. Luckily, there was a worker there to get me my free car wash. He said people have started doing it more and more since they learned how to trick the sensors. Who steals car washes!?! Idiots. That's who.

Moving on...I decided to wash the Trailblazer today. It was so dirty that it was getting hard to see out of the side windows. I choose the Laser Wash on Muldoon. I drove up, paid my money and pulled hesitantly into the  bay. I turned up the music and starting singing away bracing myself for when the door would close behind me. Singing helps, sometimes. (I also sometimes close my eyes. It makes me feel like I can control something even if it is only the darkness. I know I am a freak people, how do you not know this about me already!?)

Anyway, I sat there ready for the pain when I realized there was no water. The arm spit soap unto my car and some spotless crap. NO WATER. I had no clue what to do so I pulled out praying the dryer would at least blow off the soap. It worked, a little. I pull back around the get the customer service number off the console where you pay your money. There was a guy getting ready to pay the machine where I had just gone through. I threw the car in park, jumped out of the car and ran at him screaming, "Don't do it!" I can only imagine what this guy thought of me. But once I explained, he was grateful I saved him $10.

I called the customer service number and shocker, no one answered. I had to drive to Eagle River in search of another car wash to get all the soap off.  So $18 later my car is free of soap and still not clean.

I know the car wash is my nemesis. But someday, somehow I will win.

Boone

I knew I loved the furry little guy but I guess I didn't realize how much. It's that whole, don't know what you got til it's gone emotion. (You know you were singing that 80's tune in your head!) He was always there to greet us when we came through the door. He always made you feel important and loved no matter how bad your day had been. And even though he would eat 8.5x11 sheets of paper off the desk and slob water all over the place. He was still a great dog!

We have gone through 2 deployments together and spent countless days/night together hanging out because Aaron didn't come home because of training. I have spent more time with Boone than I have with Aaron in our marriage. He was a great friend, a fierce protector (so he liked you to think) and provided countless hours of entertainment (seeing a dog pounce like a cat never gets old!).

It has only been a week, yet I feel like it has been months since I have snuggled his head. He was definitely my little boy.  I already told Aaron I never want another dog. Ever. I know this isn't true. But the truth is no matter how many dogs our family will have, none of then will replace Boone.

I guess Kinley and I will embrace this upcoming deployment alone. And with smiles like this everyday, I think we might just make it through.