Hayden Graduates... from the Beginner Class

Today was Hayden's last day of the Beginner class at obedience school. It was also our first try with my new camera. It was a bit tricky (so, you'll have to imagine better pictures)... we couldn't figure out how to get the flash to work (you had to LIFT--duh).

Birthday

I had a lovely birthday yesterday. Thank you all for your wishes.

It was wonderful having Dad and Margo here and made my first birthday out of Arizona really nice. I have been homesick (the most since I arrived) the last couple days and having them here has helped.

It's hard to see them go, as they are the last of the family visits planned... We've been so lucky to have Mom, Jimmy, Mina and Dodd, and Dad and Margo all visit. Plus, it's getting cold--I had to scrape ice off of the windshield today--which must be difficult to relate to, as I hear you're still in triple digits. While I'm enjoying Anchorage, I'll love the warm Arizona weather, family, and friends at Thanksgiving.

Anyway, it's been a nice couple of days. Here are some pictures from our dinner at Jens' Restaurant tonight (they weren't open yesterday, but I got a sparkler tonight!!), our dessert at home (cake from the Cake Studio) last night, and Dad and Margo's moose and calf and salmon pictures.

For better or worse, this ends Dad's guest-photography.

Keeping Warm

Apparently it's too early to break out my winter parka, but Dad and Margo thought Hayden needed a coat (in addition to her fur one). They've outfitted her accordingly.

Glorified Rain

--We are having our first SNOW!

It's not even showing up in the forecast as snow; but, it's obviously colder high in the clouds than the 37 degrees at ground level.

It is chilly. The snow is pretty and falling in little white flakes-- just glorified rain as it melts as soon as it touches anything. Crazy!!

Here's the snowy picture Dad took ... not glamorous (all squinty) and not really showing the snow either. How apt... we just finished breakfast at Snow City Cafe ;)

More Photos-- by John

John's role as a photographer of the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. (The military planes flew over when we were there.) My favorite were the grizzly bears... Joe Boxer and Patron (brother and sister cubs-- named by the highest corporate bidders) and Hugo. They were really neat bears. We saw them eating-- avocados!!

Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

Today we visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center between Girdwood and Portage. Dad continued his photography for the blog as he took pictures of our visits to the grizzly bears, the fox that looks like Kyle and Tracy's dog-Taro, John feeding the wood bison, and my visit to the gift shop.



We also saw a cool shirt with a great Tundra comic on it. It is available as a mousepad too... though I think I'm going back for the shirt ;)

UAF

Among Alaska's Supreme Court clerks, there are many Michigan fans. (2 people who attended as undergrads and 3 who attended for law school... including people's 'others') At any rate, Michigan's hockey team is playing at University of Alaska at Fairbanks in early November. The following video has inspired this clan to plan a drive up to Fairbanks for a hockey game. I'm not sure about the game, but the video's pretty awesome.

Shoulder Season

Dad and Margo arrived. It's cold. Many, many of the local attractions are closed --this is considered "shoulder season"... it's after the summer and before the winter.

They're committed to having fun though and it's great to see them!

Also, Dad has decided to take over the photo-documenting aspect of the blog for his visit, starting with this tree. :)

The Defenders-- the lighter side of "Law and Order"

I like Law and Order, but it's a bit "heavy". The new show The Defenders has chuckles (Come on...Jim Belushi?) and some reality... John enjoyed it... although he did scoff at some of the legalities. After John's work this summer, I have a whole new appreciation of this side of the law ;)

Whales

Drew Barrymore's new film, Everybody Loves Whales is being filmed here in Alaska. We've seen the signs for filming just outside of our neighborhood. Kinda crazy!

Winter Produce

Squash? Potatoes? $6 Avocados? The produce in Alaska in winter is supposedly quite limited. You can get winter produce like squash and potatoes or you can buy expensive imported produce.

A fellow clerk and his girlfriend decided to order a produce box (every other week from Arctic Organics) locally. However, Mary and Kevin said the winter options make the $41/week box not that appealing. Mary and Kevin have decided to get a produce box from Full Circle Farms. We are fairly certain we will also order one from there... we're hoping we can convince the other clerks to switch over with us and share a bigger box. Full Circle Farms let us switch out the yucky stuff for better stuff.

I'm excited to try it! Will keep you posted.

Brushing up?

Arizona drivers' licenses last for a REALLY long time. I got a letter from the AZ MVD and they need me to take a new picture... because, while the license lasts forever, apparently the picture of me at 17 doesn't. Difficult to do from here. So, I'm going to have to study up here and get my license :( To boot, the manual is 75 PAGES... just in case you always needed to know the ins and outs of driving in Alaska, here it is-- the Alaska State Driver's Manual.

Alaska Points Awards

It's that time again... for comments between August 2nd and August 30th,

First Place goes to Mom with 270 points.

Second Place goes to Andrea with 80 points.

Third Place goes to Auntie M with 40 points.

Congratulations!!


Comments have been very low over the last month. Remember to do the anonymous posts you don't have to sign in (or shouldn't have to), and I really appreciate hearing from all of you. I miss you too, you know??

Hope all is well... and hope to see more on the--

Alaska Points Score Board: (as of 8/31/10)
Mom-- 30 points
Andrew-- 20 points
Kyle-- 180 points... he's back!!
Chris-- 20 points
Andrea--40 points
Tracy--10 points

Campbell Creek Science Center

Last Tuesday we went to the Campbell Creek Science Center on a field trip. Here are a couple pictures from around the creek and my kids (but only with utterly obscured faces...sorry).

Feeds and Email

If you want to read my blog, but don't want to check it, there are 2 options.

The first (and the easiest) is to go to http://feeds.feedburner.com/MyYearInAlaska and subscribe.

The other choice is to email me, and I can try to set it up on this end.

I Feel the Earth Move

Under my feet
I feel my chair go rolling round
a rolling-a-round
I feel the floor shake
whenever there's an earthquaaake


I'm not sure Carole King would approve, eh? --but today I truly felt the earthquake. My kids were at special, and I was sitting at my desk, when literally my chair kind of bounced and rolled. It took me a second to figure it out and then, I did just what I was supposed to do... ducked and covered!

It was a 4.9 about 19 miles away from Anchorage. It felt strong to me, but my kids were in P.E. and didn't even feel it.

2 interesting sites:
*feeling earthquakes
*Alaskan earthquakes (we truly have dozens a day)

Hope, Alaska

We spent the weekend in Hope, Alaska with Mary, Kevin, and Isabelle. Hayden came with us and played ceaselessly with their dog, Cassie.

Mary and Kevin rent a "cabin" in Hope along with 3 other couples. The cabin is actually called the "teacher's house" because it was the assigned house for the teacher of the school. (We did get to see the school, which is now the Hope Library, but was the school from the early 1900s until 1986.) Mary and Kevin even got married in Hope with their reception in the Hope Social Hall (with cake walk squares painted on the floor).




Kevin, John, the dogs, and I went for a hike and saw where mining used to occur in the area. It was beautiful as you'll see. John and Kevin made it to the top (and Kevin over the first ridge). I only made it to the first lake, but enjoyed my time.










The drive back was equally beautiful :)

To Hope :)

We're off to Hope, Alaska for the weekend... staying at Mary and Kevin's cabin. Will let you know how it goes on Sunday.

Foggy Weirdness

It's so foggy!! I ran a couple errands and when I came back to downtown, it was FOGGY. I didn't see it roll in... it was just there. These are pictures from our living room and kitchen.