Busy Month

This past month has been very busy. We are proud to say that we are officially homeowners! We signed on November 6th and we have been going non-stop ever since. We had to be out of our place on October 31st so we were homeless! My boss put us up in a hotel so we lived at the Hilton for a week. We got a storage shed so that we would have a place to keep our stuff so we've been slowly moving in. It has been very helpful because we have been painting the entire house so we haven't had all our stuff in the way. Basically we've been camping in our home! We're almost done with the painting process and it looks amazing. Although, I wouldn't care if I never saw another can of paint again. Now we just get to unpack and organize. I was hoping to have it done by Thanksgiving, but I don't think it's gonna happen. :( We are making progress slowly but surely. I will post photos as soon as all of the painting is done. But it has been consuming all of our free time. We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and Black Friday :)

2818 Bass Street

We are proud to announce that after months and months and months of searching we have finally found our home and had our offer accepted!!! It is the perfect little house and is cute as a button! Check out the backyard! We are set to close on November 6th and couldn't be more excited!

These are the photos from the real estate website. We'll get more posted once it has our own touch added to it! We're excited to deep fry our turkey this Thanksgiving on our new deck and then roast marshmallows in our fire pit! Everyone needs to come visit now!

1st Anniversary

September 13th was our 1 year anniversary! I can't believe how fast it has flown by. It seems like it went by much quicker than the year planning the wedding! It was my turn to plan the event and I wanted to suprise Mike. I have a hard time with this, because he guesses EVERYTHING!! But, I was successful. We celebrated on Saturday the 12th, because the 13th was on a Sunday. Mike had to work at Best Buy for a few hours Saturday evening, so we had some time during the day and then the late evening. Saturday morning I told Mike that we were meeting our Real Estate agent at 12:30 p.m. to look at a house. We had been driving around looking for houses in the morning and then I plugged in the address for Bear's Tooth Movie Theatre into the GPS. They were having a matinee showing of Transformer's 2 and Mike had been dying to see it. It's a fun theatre because they have tables and booths and you can order your lunch and then they bring it to you while you're watching the movie. So he's driving along, starving and complaining mind you:), thinking he's headed to another house, when it takes us to the Theatre. He got a big old grin on his face and I had accomplished my task! So, for the traditional 1st year gift, which is paper, we had our movie tickets. After the movie Mike headed to work and then I went into my next plan. I had gotten us a hotel room and had made dinner reservations for when he got off work. I went and decorated the hotel room with Peppermint Patties (his favorite) and took a little basket with a note, change of clothes and the GPS programmed with Destination 1 and Destination 2, so that he had no idea where he was going. He was a little embarrased when he got a basket delivered at work, but hey...I didn't have too many options! So he made it to Destination 1-Dinner @ Suite 100. Again...suprised! It was YUMMY! After dinner he thought we were going bowling, cause I had mentioned it a few days back. He was suprised when the GPS led him to hotel. Needless to say, I was very pleased with pulling this off, because it's very rare that I actually get to suprise him! The modern day gift is "Time" and Mike loves watches and clocks, so I got him a wall clock that we can hang at our new house. We had lots of fun and am so happy that I have the rest of my life and eternity to spend with my husband!

UT VaCa

A good time is...
Mexican Food with Dad @ his favorite joint
Being in warm weather
Parents and Siblings
Baptisms
New Babies
Babies peeing on photographers
Aunts and Uncles
Gramps and Grams
Homemade Ice Cream
Breakfast from the Garden
BBQ's with Old Friends

Pickleball
Shopping
Olive Garden
Outlet Malls
Telling Funny Stories with Friends
Cafe Rio
Holding more new babies
More good dinners with friends
Walking on the Salt Flats
Sinking in the Mud
Road Trips
Camping
Jet Ski's
Rope Swings
S'mores
Grandma's Taco Soup
Floating down the Green River
Sonic Dr. Pepper
Flying First Class

Thanks for all the fun. We enjoyed seeing all of our family and friends!

Fire on the Dunes

On Thursday night we went out to Kincaid park with some friends and made a little fire on the sand dunes and roasted marshmallows and made banana boats. We hadn't seen them in a long time so it was fun to catch up. We saw this momma moose and her babies on our way to the park.

Mike, Marky-Mark, Natasha, Shug Master Flash, Paul, and Kirsten

Pretty Picture...

They close the gates at 9:00 and we BARELY made it through. We were close to having a sleepover on the dunes. Thanks guys, we had a great time!

Good News Part 1

I passed my big fatty of a test!!! I am nearing the end of my school days and I can hardly stand it I'm so excited. Charter changed their quarters to 5 week modules doubled into 2 modules per quarter which = all that work in half the time...talk about crazy! This past 5 weeks I have been in my AHIMA class, which is the big Kahuna if you know what I mean. Basically, if I failed this class, and more importantly this test, the last year and a half of my life (and the school loans to boot) would have been a mere waste of time. So, needless to say, I'm quite relieved to have passed and be done! I am now just 4 weeks away from having my degree! Phew...

Big Lake

Mike and I haven't been camping all year and we've really had a hankerin' for it. Due to Mike's schedule at Best Buy he rarely has Saturday's off. So, needless to say when he looked at his schedule and he was off on a Saturday we jumped at the chance to go. It was kind of last minute as far as where we decided to go, due to the weather, but in a positive way. You see, we have been having a beautiful summer. You know...sunshine...70 degrees...perfection! So we looked at weather reports to see who was going to have the best weather so that we could take full advantage of Mother Nature and this grand summer we've been given. We decided to head on up to Big Lake. Neither one of us had ever been there and it seemed like a good idea to be around water while camping! We enjoyed ourselves, the sun, and M&M's (which are a camping must have). We did, however, become quite envious of the other patrons and their water toys and yearned to be like them on the water. We processed the idea of purchasing some sort of water-recreation enjoyment and then quickly realized that purchasing a home may be a higher priority. :) Once above mentioned home is had we will then begin filling the garage with toys! But, all in all we had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed being away from all the hussle and bussle that life has to over!

4th of July

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. Both Mike and I had Friday off during the day and it was beautiful so we went to the Anchorage Zoo. It's like no other zoo I've ever been to. Its pretty small and except for the Tiger all the other animals are native to Alaska. We both got a good laugh when we turned the corner and found Magpie's in a cage. We both looked at each other in wonder since we could both recall childhood memories of shooting them with BB guns due to their overabundance and annoyance! Now we just paid $12 each to see them in the zoo! Mike had to work at Best Buy in the evening so I went and hung out with my friend Christie and her family. They have a big blow up pool equiped with pump and all so enjoyed being outside and enjoying the wonderful sunshine that we have this year. Mike and I then had another exciting game of Monopoly. He of course annihilated me AGAIN!

On the 4th we woke up and went to the Anchorage parade. I believe this is the 5th state that I've celebrated our Country's birthday in and it's definately much different than anywhere else! Take for instance this... Do you like the duct tape used to hold the sign on the car? And I bet you've never seen a reindeer in your parade! And don't worry...no candy was thrown out (I thought that is why we had parades!) And our Grand Marshall sat in his convertable with his seat belt on (I'm sorry I missed that picture) but what happened to all those important people sitting on top of the car in the back seat? Anyone who wanted to be in the parade could be so we had lots of people just driving cars and riding their bikes.

Here's one of my favorite... They put the Alaska flag upside down on their float. And nobody noticed! Classic! We did a have a few floats, but they were far and few between. After the parade we walked around the parkstrip and ate yummy reindeer sausages. Mike then had to work at Best Buy again and I wasn't feeling well so I went home and rested. Later in the evening when Mike got off our friend Taylor came over and we grilled some hamburgers and played some games til Midnight when we were able to go see the fireworks, again a disapointment if you've seen any other fireworks...but fireworks nonetheless. All in all we had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed being outside in the amazing weather we are having with friends and had a great time celebrating our Independence!

Jalapeno Cheese Rolls

There is a yummy restaurant called the Double Musky about 45 minutes south of Anchorage. They have probably the best steak I have ever eaten, not to mention their appetizers and desserts. Mike gave me their cookbook one year for Christmas so I decided to try out their recipe for these rolls.

Before cooking...

The finished product...

They were delicious!

Poll

So researching, looking and relooking at houses has pretty much taken up ALL of our spare time (which I didn't think I had any!) this past month and now I'm curious....are there "AH-HAH" moments when both you and your spouse are like "Yesssss....this is the one?" or the infamous "get struck by lightening moment" when you both know it's the house for you? We have it narrowed down to four that we really like but I was told by one person to keep looking until you do the "Snoopy Dance" over a house! Please give me your insight. Also...am I completely ridiculous that on one of the house we both really like the address is 6328 Street Ln #A? Granted, it's a zero lot line, but I'm buying my own house I want my own address! Is it way to vane to let what seems so big to me bother me to this point? Any advice any one wants to give is welcome!

Private

So I'm making my blog private, so please send me your emails so that I can invite you to our blog.

Falling Ash

It's official, Mt. Redoubt finally hit us. Eruption began last Sunday with multiple explosions in ensuing days/nights. Because of wind direction and the height of the explosions we've missed all the ash action. Thursday we got word that we would be the receivers of all the excitement. The largest explosion of 65,000 feet had occured and apparently the wind was pushing it our way. We never got ash that day. I really thought we were in the clear. I was wrong. Yesterday there were 3 eruptions and the second one sent the ash to us. It took the ash 2 hours to travel 110 miles. Mike and I and gone into Sam's Club to make some purchase's. We were in there no more than 30 minutes when we walked out and it's raining ash. Mike ran to Schuck's Auto to get air filters and I ran to work to cover all of the computers. It reeked outside of Sulpher. I later learned that the amount that fell was no thicker than a dime, but it's still enough to be concerned about. The Anchorage Airport has completely shut down. Prior to that it was at each airlines discretion of whether they flew or not. The last time the volcano erupted was in 1989. Volcano followers believe that because of it's history the volcano is likely to continue to erupt for atleast another 2 weeks, if not longer, which could very well hinder my vacation plans to sunny California. I'm most concerned about this. I've been counting down the days until visiting family, warm weather, shopping, roller coasters, In-n-Out and Olive Garden. I'm not going to be all that ecstatic if I have to reschedule. I guess only time will tell. Until then we will focus on not breathing the ashy fumes!

Sister Beck

On Thursday we had the opportunity to have Sister Beck, the General Relief Sociey President, come and do a special fireside. She was up here visiting some family and they arranged to have her speak. The church was packed! Cars were double parked and were lined up down the street for quite a ways. It's not very often that we have such celebrities up here so I was glad that so many people took advantage of attending! She gave a great talk and I wanted to share some of the things I learned:

• All we need is our covenants
• We don't need credit to do it the Savior's Way
• Be in places you can feel the spirit
• Communicate/Pray with our Father in Heaven
• Write Questions that you want answered in the front page of the Book of Mormon and when you find the answers write them on the back page of the Book of Mormon
• Make personal connections by writing in the Margins
• Start a gratitude journal
• Transitions ARE NOT a Disease!!
• Exercise Faith
• Relief Socity is the ulimate Peace Corps.
• When behavior goes up against doctrine, doctrine will always win
• We are for family, we aren't against anyone
• The Lord takes individuals and makes GIANTS
• We are living the life we signed up for
• No ability exceeds revelation. We should learn to seek personal revelation, understand when we receive it and ACT upon it!
• We need to use our abilities for good
• We are living an experience to prepare us for the dream

It's amazing how much of the 'little' stuff I forget about, but how big of a difference it makes! I was very grateful for her words and for the experiences she shared with us. She is an amazing woman and has done so much for not only the women in the church and world but also all mankind. She is on the board for the perpetual education fund and has assisted with disaster relief all around the world. We are greatful to have a leader like her.

Only in Alaska...

Last Saturday I had to go into work for something, and I pulled into the parking lot and was trying to unlock the clinic door when I heard a noise behind me. I looked back and saw this...a moose eating our trees. Earlier in the week Mike and I had talked about how we hadn't seen as many moose this winter and then this happens! I think that this is one of my favorite things about Alaska. No other place do you see moose crossing the highways, let alone the side streets. And it's not uncommon to see bear in the city during the summer. Although a moose isn't the nicest of all animals, I'd much rather be in an empty parking lot with a moose than a bear! I'm still unable to find my camera so I took this photo with my phone, so unfortunately you can't get accurate depth perception with this picture, but I was a lot closer to this moose than the picture perceives.

The Pepper

I just want to give a shout out to my D.P. and all the good times it has brought! It's no big secret that I LOVE Dr. Pepper, but it's pretty sad how much I really enjoy it. Some say it's the caffeine addiction, but I beg to differ...there's nothing like the taste of that great nectar! For my wedding I had actually considered having a Dr. Pepper fountain. I'm also fairly particular about the 'kind' of Dr. Pepper that I let touch my pretty little lips. My preference goes in this order: Fountain, Can, Bottle. The sad part is you could blind fold me and have me do a taste test and I could tell you which was which. I crave the fountain..no lie. The bottle I can actually turn away. But it goes even deeper...I have my favorite places to get them to. For instance, Arby's has too big of a straw and for some reason that affects the taste and I just don't like it as much. Taco Bell, Wendy's McDonald's and Holiday gas station has some good stuff all around, taking in consideration all variables (location, taste and straw size as well as price!) When I'm deciding on where to go for lunch I will always take into consideration where this great sauce is served, and I could name every restaurant in the Anchorage area that carries it! But I have to say the all time, most consistent in taste and just down right refreshing is Sonic. They bubble up some good stuff! It's just too bad we don't have one here in Alaska.

Valentine's Day

We had a lovely V-Day this year. It's the first year we have actually celebrated because my brother was here last year and the year before Mike waited until after Valentine's to start dating me to avoid having to celebrate! :) On Friday Mike had these beautiful flowers delivered to me at work. On Saturday Mike took me to Campobello Bistro for dinner. I had a Halibut dish and he had Filet Mignon that tasted like Veal. We had an enjoyable night out.

Long Time

So I'm sure everyone feels as though life is a whirlwind at some point in their life, if not ALL the time, but I tell you what ...since getting married I don't think I've stopped running! It just seems if it's not one thing, it's another. Work is crazy right now. On top of being abnormally busy for a February we have been short staffed for a month, and although more is getting accomplished it does take a toll on me. Not to mention that we have been in constant training mode since August with people quitting and/or needing to be terminated (which as the Office Manager I get the privilege of doing :( ) Which has meant I've been working the last couple of Saturdays. And all of the staff is amazing and is helping out in every way possible, which I'm grateful for, but it's all still a little overwhelming at times! And then there is school. And then there is callings. My average arrival at the homefront is 8:30 p.m. And then poor Mike is the one who ends up having to make dinner, because he gets home earlier than I do and we wouldn't eat until 11 p.m. if we waited for me to get home! I believe I've had some sort of event every night this week, and I'm not as young as I used to be, so I don't bounce back quite as quick as I used to with less than average sleep! Oh...and I was asked to give a talk in Sacrament this Sunday so I've been working on that as well. I'm not complaining, because busy is good....but is it ever going to slow down? Even a little? I keep thinking that once I'm finished with school life will get slower, but I have a feeling that isn't so. Is there anyway to slow down this journey we call life?

Snow Day....Sort of

Today we are experiencing Anchorage's version of a snow day! Basically that means it's WAY to icy to travel on the roads. Monday we woke up and it was 15 degrees outside. We had been in the negative numbers for almost 2 weeks straight, so 15 degrees was a real heat wave. Yesterday it snowed for the first time since Christmas I believe. It'd been too cold to snow. Now it's warm enough to snow but of course it's still cold at night which turns the roads into an icy mess. There are MULTIPLE cars/trucks/SUV's/4x4's in the ditch along the highway. All of the schools, Elementary to University's, are closed for the day. And on top if it all there is no power at the clinic, so even if we did make it there safely we wouldn't beable to be very functional. So I took advantage of the situation and cleaned the house and am watching American Idol Season 7 re-runs!!

Callings

Mike and I have been in our ward 3 months now and we just got our callings. We did a good job of dodging the Bishopric! :) I was a little nervous about the callings we would get now that we are in a family ward. It's pretty easy to avoid Primary in a Singles Ward! I actually wouldn't mind Primary, but sometimes it's easier to get to know the other members in the ward in Relief Society. But with Mike being a fairly recent convert, and us being new I thought for sure we were Primary bound. I was pleasantly suprised. I have been called as an Acheivement Day's Assistant....I don't think it gets much better than that! So on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month we have an activity. They didn't have acheivement days when I was growing up so I'm rookie to it all, although I do have some funny memories helping Joanne when she was in charge a few years back!! She had a interesting group of girls though. We have 5 girls that come each time and I'm really looking forward to it. Mike and I have also been called as Ward Missionaries, another calling I'm looking forward to. I think my favorite part is that we get to go to church and just enjoy it! All in all we are pleased. And if you have any ideas for Acheivement Days don't hesitate to share!

Mike's Birthday

Mike's Birthday is Christmas Day and because birthdays are such a big deal, I didn't want his to fall through the cracks during all of the holiday celebrations so I suprised him with a birthday week. He had no idea and I had so much fun doing it!

DAY 7: Mike LOVES pistachio's so he received pistachios and whoopy cushions!

DAY 6: A Nerf Gun...which he proceeded to use me as a target. I'm not sure I was expecting anything less!















DAY 5: Movie tickets to the movie Valkyrie






























DAY 4: 4th Season of Lost


















DAY 3: MONOPOLY..he loves he game...I'm horrible at it!














DAY 2: Mario Kart for the WII















DAY 1: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE, Mike has a love for watches...he was really suprised! Mission Accomplished!




Happy Birthday, Mike! I Love You!