Sharing some of Alaska's best scenery

Whew, we have been so busy! We've hardly had a chance to just breathe. My in laws were just here for their first visit to see us in our new home in Alaska. Our time with them went by all too fast but we crammed it with lots of sight seeing and a bit of salmon fishing. Alaska is such a magical place, I just have to share some of the scenery we captured on camera. Sorry if you are getting tired of Alaska pictures, but Alaska's beauty is undeniably stunning and leaves me so speechless it just doesn't feel right to keep it all to myself so just have to share it!

We saw this on our way home from fishing for sockeye salmon on the Kenai Peninsula. This is near Cooper Landing, Alaska

This is the same spot in Cooper Landing, I just zoomed in on the float plane.

So I said we went fishing right? Well, check it out- I caught my first fish! They were some big sockeye (red) salmon!  I was pretty impressed with myself and they made for a fantastic dinner the next evening! I was so glad my in-laws got to have fresh salmon at our house.

We took the scenic Alaska Railroad to Seward where we dropped my in-laws off for their Inside Passage Cruise to Vancouver. This was taken on the Turnagain Arm just south of Anchorage.

We passed countless glaciers on the way to Seward. We were so close to this one I could have thrown a stone at it.

We passed through many impressive tunnels. My toddler loved that part :)

We were blessed to see two bears on the train ride. The first was a HUGENORMOUS grizzly bear  and this playful black bear was our second sighting. He was playing chicken with the train on the tracks. Appartently, he needed to add some excitement to his afternoon, ha!

These were some icebergs we saw near Spencer Glacier.

This was our destination, Seward Alaska. We were lucky to have a sunny day for pictures. 

More of the Seward boat harbor. The water is a beautiful turquoise  color because of the glacial silt suspended in its depths. So beautiful!

Once we arrived in Seward we took a hike to Exit Glacier. The road to it was a raging river due to lots of rain and glacial runoff. We only got to go because the senator opened the road to our driver. It was really scary and I don't quite understand why they let us go on it but I am glad they did!

This is me up close to Exit Glacier (formerly known as Resurrection Glacier).

This is another up close shot of Exit Glacier. It is fed by the Harding Icefield which is over 1100 square miles!!!

After spending the night in Seward, we put my husband's parents on their cruise ship, said bon voyage, and boarded the train back to Anchorage. This was the sunset from the train on Turnagain Arm. Besides being a beautiful sunset if you look in the bottom of the picture you can see a wave...that's the bore tide! It is one of the most unique and geographically dramatic bore tides in the world.  It can be 6-10 feet tall and you can see surfers waiting it out around tide times.

After returning home I had a busy week of volunteer work and preparations for my friend's pottery painting baby shower. The shower was on Saturday and it was a huge success! We all had so much fun and I can't wait to show you some pictures and share some baby shower ideas. 

Now that the shower is over, things will hopefully start to slow down and get back to normal. I have made a decision to paint the bedroom dresser. I'm thinking my next post will be about my grand plan!

Hope you all have been enjoying the last few weeks of your summer!

A little update...

Well, I have been a little absent lately. We have been enjoying the Alaskan summer and have spent the last two weekends camping and fishing on the Kenai and Russian rivers. I never thought I would enjoy fishing but I went for the first time last weekend and I am hooked! I was out there flipping lines with the best of them and got such a thrill with every bite! We have been fishing for sockeye salmon but we have caught some kings and some silvers too. Here's a family photo of my husband's first catch of the season and a couple more of the beautiful scenery on the Kenai Peninsula...

The Kenai River. It gets it's beautiful turquoise hue from glacial silt suspended in the water.

Combat fisherman on the Kenai

I just had to snap a shot of these two old buddies with their catch.

My hubby casting on the Kenai on a beautiful Alaskan summer day.

I have also been busy preparing for my in-laws visit. They arrive tomorrow! We haven't seen them since we went home to Colorado for Christmas on our way to Alaska 7 months ago. We are so excited to see them and experience Alaska with them. We will be playing tour guide all week and enjoying all that we can squeeze into their short visit.

Besides getting ready for guests, I have had a lot weighing on my mind and heart lately. Today was a rough day. One year ago today, a C-17 crashed at Elmendorf Air Force Base, in Anchorage, Alaska, killing all four crew members on board. This was and is so heartbreaking. It resonates with me and my family because this is the plane my husband pilots. The crash came a few weeks after we learned we would be joining that squadron in Alaska. We so desperately wanted to be there to support our fellow C-17 family and our new squadron. My heart went out to them but I felt so helpless. Each of the crew members left behind spouses, children, family and friends. These families were now living my worst nightmare and my heart broke for them. In an effort to show our love and support, one year ago I organized an online donation effort with our old squadron in Washington. The donations were directly distributed amongst all four families. Some of you may remember me sharing it here on FMA. Many of you showed an outpouring of support and gave so generously. And now a year later, I wanted to insure you that you indeed made a difference in these families lives. The total effort raised a little over $2,000- dividing out to be about $500 per family. This was just from this one effort alone. There were many others as well. I want to thank you for your kindness and generosity. It is truly incredible to witness how people come together to help those in pain. These families continue to work through their grief and their strength continues to inspire me.

Well, that's what has been going on here. In the coming week I hope to poke in every once in awhile and hopefully share some progress on my master bedroom as well as a colorful baby quilt I am making for my sweet friend Beth. In the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful week!

I found some aloha, and now I'm back!

Aloha everyone, I'm back! I was blessed to spend the last two weeks in Hawaii. Even though my husband was working the entire time, we still had a great time and it was exactly what the doctor ordered.  I needed that!  My son and I took a couple space available military flights home this week so we would be here in time for our first out of town guests (my sister and her boyfriend). My husband is still in Hawaii for an undetermined amount of time. We miss him especially as we prepare to entertain our guests alone. I am suffering from some severe jet lag and I'm barely finding the energy to clean, let alone tackle all my projects. While I muster the energy, I thought I'd entertain you with some pictures from our trip.

Aloha from Hawaii!

Hello there! No I haven't forgotten about my blog or you dear readers... Believe it or not, I've actually been busy finding my aloha! A sudden series of events led up to me doing the craziest thing I have ever done. I bought a plane ticket to Hawaii leaving the same day! Crazy right? So how exactly did this happen? Well, we usually go back to Hawaii every May, but this year we weren't going to able to with the big move and all and especially now that our son is 2 and we have to start paying for his plane tickets. I cannot explain to you how bummed I was. :( But, yesterday, my husband was on-call and got summoned for a emergency business trip to guess where? Hawaii. You can probably imagine my angst realizing that my husband would be missing our wedding anniversary AND be in Hawaii with out ME! I was quite distraught until my husband suggested that we join him! Woo Hoo!!! He left on the next flight out and my son and I hopped on a plane 11 hours later. INSANE-O!! As of right now I am not even sure when we return, as I bought a one way ticket, but I do have some fun projects to share when I do get back. I have been trying to finish up some projects before we have our first out-of-state guests come in June. Nothing like guests coming to light a fire under you right? I have been chugging away at completing my son's new big boy room. He is still obsessed with trains so I'll give you one guess what the theme is ;) Its been a lot of fun to approach creating his space from his perspective. I have also been working on the guest room, and 3 months after moving in I can FINALLY say the living room is done! I just need to photograph it when I get back and it will be ready to share!  

So if you don't mind, just hang tight and I'll be back with more design inspiration but for now I am recharging and devoting quality time to my dear son and hubby.

Here are a couple snapshots in hopes that they bring some aloha to your day...

Aerial Tour of Alaska and a peek at the Supermoon

Hi everyone! I hope you all are having a fantastic weekend! Yesterday I has the unique opportunity to go on a spouse flight in a C12. My husband flies a different and much bigger plane but the C12's are apart of his squadron and our good friend flies it. A group of 5 of us spouses got to go on the flight and enjoy a scenic tour of Alaska yesterday. I snapped some neat photos of this beautiful State and wanted to share them with you!

So, this is a C12

And these are the Chugach Mountains that surround Anchorage and my home

More of the Chugach Range and a glacier

This is Shoup Glacier near Valdez, Alaska

And this is Anderson Glacier right next to Shoup near Valdez, Alaska

I am not 100% sure about this one but I think it might be the Columbia Glacier. Either way, doesnt it remind you of the Giant's Causeway in Ireland?

And this my friends, is Prince William Sound.

Gorgeous isnt it? The water is such a brilliant turquoise that you would never guess you were in the Arctic!

More of Prince William Sound. This is probably one of the most popular cruise ship destinations. This is also near where you can see whales, seals, and puffins!

Another shot of the Prince William Sound. This part of Alaska reminds me so much of the San Juans in Washington State!

And to conclude our tour, a shot of Anchorage sitting on the Cook Inlet. The Chugach Mountains are behind me in this shot and its too overcast to see the Alaska Range in the background.

Wasnt that fun? I feel so blessed to have such a great opportunity to see the plane and tour this gorgeous state. The flight was so entertaining and really helped me reset my compass and catch my bearings.

Also, did you all hear about tonight's Supermoon? It was actually an extreme Supermoon and almost precisely its closest distance to Earth. This baby was HUGE! I hope it was clear enough where you were to see it! After we played around with our camera's settings, here's a shot my husband captured...

And we didnt use a tripod! Ours broke last summer and we still have yet to replace it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the tour of Alaska! How's your weekend going? We have been running around banshee style. I have been trying to finish painting a 2 story accent wall in our living room and repainting our downstairs bathroom since Thursday. Its been slow going. I primed on Thursday but had to abruptly stop because my very sneaky two year old son somehow managed to climb up and get his Children's Tylenol off the pharmacy shelf in our hall closet. That itself is an impressive feat but then he managed to get it open and drink at least half the bottle!! So scary! I freaked out! Two calls to Poison Control and one Emergency Room visit later, my son is fine. Thank the Lord! The doctors tested the levels of acetaminophen in his blood and while it was above what they consider "therapeutic" it was not lethal or enough to damage his liver. WHEW! The most frustrating part of the whole ordeal is that I was within 5 feet of him when this happened and it all happened within a 10 minute timeframe. Those little toddlers are FAST! He royally scared the bejeezies out of his mother! So ever since that, it has been one thing after another and I just finished the living room wall tonight and the trim for the bathroom. I hope to be able to share the outcome here this upcoming week!

Iditarod 2011- "The Last Great Race on Earth!"

This weekend I had the honor of attending the beginning of the historic Iditarod Sled Dog Race in Anchorage and Willow, Alaska. This intense and rugged race has been coined “Last Great Race on Earth," and for good reason. The Iditarod Trail blazes over 1050 miles from Anchorage, through Alaska's arctic Interior, to Nome on the western Bering Sea Coast. This race is an incredible piece of Alaskan heritage, and the determination of the mushers and their teams is purely awe-inspiring. Join me for a fun recap of the race and my day out on Willow Lake...

First Impressions of Alaska

When I first learned we were going to be moving to Alaska...in the dead of winter...there were alot of unknowns and alot of fears. Alaska is a very unique place and I wanted to share a little snapshot of my experiences and discoveries... so far.

Aloha from Alaska and Happy New Year!

Well, we finally made it to Alaska! It was a long time coming and quite a journey to get here. We arrived on Monday the 27th at one something in the morning. As we began our descent into Anchorage International Airport, we peered out our airplane window anxious to catch our first glimpse of the last frontier. I was a little worried when I saw that the stars were brighter than the lights across the water. Before I could utter "where are you moving me?" to my husband, I was relieved to see the lights of Anchorage were on the other side of the plane...whew! Once we landed and deboarded the plane we were greeted with a crisp blast of arctic air on the jetway. A nice way to shake the plane funk of a 5 hour flight off a person. We were so impressed with Anchorage's airport. It's design and architecture is really stunning. The airport features these large glass sculptures meant to be reminencsent of the icy white capped mountains seen out the large opposing wall of windows.

After gathering our 8 checked bags, 6 various carry on items, and our carseat, stroller, and travel crib we were on our way to an airport hotel. We didnt get to bed until 3am Alaska time, which felt like 5am after the 23 hour day we had. We spent the next day sleeping and bumming around the hotel. We are blessed to have some old friends who are already stationed in Alaska, so the next day after they got back from their Christmas travels they picked us up for lunch and gave us a long awaited tour of our new city. As we drove around town we were surprised to see how the icy, snowpacked streets didnt deter anyone. These streets would scare the pants off anyone in Washington, and I had only ever seen them as bad at ski resorts in Colorado. We were told that you dont see the pavement until April. It was a clear sunny day so we were able to take in some beautiful views of Mt McKinley and the 6 mountain ranges surrounding the city. The next day we moved to our friend's house just North of Anchorage in Eagle River. We are staying with them through New Year's weekend. We are loving their neighborhood/town, and you better believe I have already been scouring home listings in their area! We are going to take a drive to look at a couple today. Eagle River is so pretty, nestled in the foothills its more serene than the city, and looks exactly like the Alaska I had pictured in my head. These are some photos I took from their back porch last night.

Stunning, right? Here are some more photos I took of the icy branches at night.

So far, we havent been able to sightsee as much as we might like just because of all the move-related things we have to take care of but today we spotted a moose and 7 bald eagles at the side of the road on our way to pick up our car from the shippers! Wildlife is everywhere! Apparently, over 1600 moose live within Anchorage city limits. Incredible!

Next week, we move to a hotel/temporary living apartment on base until our household goods arrive and we find a house. I am already having fun looking for our new home, though I must admit its harder than I thought. I guess not alot of Alaskan's like to move in the dead of winter...go figure. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we will find a house like these...

Riiiiiiiiiiiight? Well, I hope so ;)

After a bit of neighborhood scouting today we are going to start prepping for our traditional New Year's Eve 3-course fondue dinner! Yum!

Good food, good friends, and good drinks....cant imagine a better way to ring in the New Year in our new home! What are your plans for NYE? What are your traditions?

Whatever your plans are and where ever you are...Here's to you my lovely readers!

2010 marked the birth and growth of this blog and I look forward to sharing a new year with you!

Happy New Year!

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Alaska bound...catch ya on the North side!

Well the time has come. The movers show up in 5 hours to pack up our home and wrap up our life here in Washington. I am filled with so many emotions and stresses right now that its actually hard to express any one of my emotions. Have you ever felt that way? So emotional that you arent, or at least you cant focus on it? I think a good night's sleep will help. Tonight is our last night in our first home, the only home my son has known. We love our house, our town, our neighbors and our friends. It is going to be very difficult to leave them all behind. Usually I can combat the sadness of our moves with the excitement for our new home but I am finding that to be especially hard this time. There is just so much unknown. I have never been to Alaska and we don't have a house to move to and get excited about. We will be living in a hotel situation for up to 2 months while we search for our new home. While hotel living isnt always fun especially with a 2 year old, I am looking forward to the simplicity of it. No cleaning, maintenence, and endless projects to distract me. I'm looking at it as good quality time for us as a family and a great way to put what's really important into perspective. But, I also cant wait to get into a new house and start making it our home with projects that will undoubtably start filling into the pages of this blog. I am really looking forward to the spring so that our sweet Golden Retriever will finally be able to join us. He is staying with our family in Colorado until its warm enough for the airlines to allow him to travel. How crazy is that?

Anyway, so the craziness begins today and I am not certain what my internet access to this blog will be like for the next couple of weeks. I have asked six lovely ladies to help fill in for me and keep you company during this time...

I am so super excited and honored to have each and every one of these beautiful women here on FMA. I can't wait to see what they have planned for us! Meanwhile, I will still be popping in here every so often and I will be able to receive and respond to any emails and comments from my iPhone. Please keep my family and I in your thoughts and prayers as we embark on this incredible journey!

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