Lunchroom romance



From the bridge on Monday morning looking back at Sitka



View when I left work Monday

 

Monday night after an ice cream date



I don’t know about you guys, but I’m exhausted and it’s only Tuesday. Thankfully, tomorrow is Elizabeth Peratrovich Day (an Alaskan activist for the native population—kind of like Martin Luther King Jr. Alaskan style). So, tomorrow we have the day off! The sun is shining and the sky is blue this week so we will be hiking up Gavan Hill tomorrow.



Monday was my first day at work and they weren’t interested on easing me in. Sink or swim, eh. But the good news is I get to walk to and from work with Scott. The sunrise was so beautiful on the freshly snow covered mountains; pictures just don’t do it justice. At 7:30 the sun is coming over the mountains now and when we get off, a little after 5, the sky still has the lingering touches of light. I’m super excited-- Day light is here!

 I do work with Scott now but most days he’ll be out in the hospital doing other student-y things. Good news is he does like to sit by me at lunch (but we don’t play together on the playground). It was a great way to spend Valentine’s Day if we had to be working. 

Other side of the bridge on the way to work Monday.
Didn't have time to cross the street to miss the pole.



Today was a bit more hectic and a little more tiring but nothing I can’t handle. Scott was wonderful and fixed me a big plate of chicken spaghetti and made me a nice cup of hot coco when we got home. I’m so spoiled—I love it!

I’ll be sure and take tons of pictures tomorrow on our hike. It’s a part of the island we haven’t be to yet so I’m looking forward to the new views.

All our love, 

S/A

Weekend wonderland

Happy (almost) Valentine’s Day!

Russian Folk Band

Saturday day was very relaxed with sleeping in and cinnamon rolls with coffee in bed. We stayed cuddled up with good books and let the rain keep soaking the town. Saturday night on the other hand was The Fiddle Grind. Tickets were only five bucks and if you brought a homemade dessert they gave you your money back. There was a contest for best dessert but I most certainly did not enter. So, you show up with your dessert then go in and watch a couple of hours of really awesome music. There were over thirty local musicians who preformed and totally rocked our socks off.

One of the groups that performed was playing a series of waltzes and asked for anyone who wished to come up to the stage and waltz. There were probably a dozen couple heading up there and so I turned to Scott with the biggest eyes and sweetest smile and begged mercilessly. I won. It was SO fun! I had a smile stretched from ear to ear the whole time. I even told him it could count as part of his Valentine’s Day present to me. 

Our friend Nick (right)



The talent ranged from 11 years old up to someone in their 70’s. People played banjos, cellos, accordions, violins, fiddles, piano… and I’m 96.4% sure I saw a recorder in there somewhere (you know, like what we played in 5^th grade music class). There was a group that played traditional Russian instruments that I don’t remember the names of but the songs had a lot of HEY!s. One of our good friends here did beautiful shape note singing with a trio accompanied by a cello. A couple of brothers did a mandolin and fiddle version of The Blues Brothers (hats and sunglasses included). Also, this amazing cellist did a rendition of a Grateful Dead song that blew us out of the water. It was an amazing concert followed by fantastic homemade desserts. I would have paid way more than $5—Wonderful!

Today the snow has really been coming down so it killed our hiking trip we had planned. Tomorrow through Wednesday are supposed to be really nice out though… too bad I start work tomorrow. But because of that we went to the store to stock up on food so I could make some casseroles a head of time. We will be eating a LOT of chicken spaghetti… but I got Scott’s mom’s recipe so I don’t think either of us will mind. (How could anything be bad with a pound of Velveeta in it?)

I hope everyone has a great week full of love whether from your kids, or cat, or significant other.

XxOXooXOoXxx

S/A

Burrrrr... Barrow

Happy Friday our wonderful blog-ies! I’m sorry to say that the last 36 hours have been painfully uneventful. The buckets of rain we have been getting have also kept me from taking the camera out for photo adventures. I guess Fayetteville is the place to get to see all the action with record temperatures like -20 and record snow over two feet. THIS IS CRAZY! I also hear it will be in the 60’s in the next few days-- that has to be another record for temp swings. I looked at the weather in Barrow, Alaska (the northern most city in the US—and ABOVE THE ARCTIC CIRCLE) and the day Fayetteville had -17 weather… it was colder than Barrow. Please let me re-emphasize that it lies above the Arctic Circle. Unreal!

Tonight we’re having our Friday night dinner thing at our place and I’m making salmon (thanks Shawn!). Tomorrow we’re going to The Grind which is a local talent show they hold once a month here with various themes. This month is Fiddles. We hear it’s going to be the best one of the year. I’ll be sure and take LOTS of pictures and blog all about it!

Hope you're all having fun in the snow.

For the record we are jealous.

All our love!

S/A

In a nutshell...

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend and even better start to your week. Scott and I had a great time in Anchorage for interviews and family time.

Thankfully, my dear cousin was able to talk a moose into welcoming us personally to her home on Saturday-- so my life is complete. That night we kept with the moose theme and went to a local staple Moose’s Tooth Pizza where they make all kinds of fantastic specialty pizzas. We choose spicy Thai (which had a peanut sauce instead of marinara) and something Tuscan… both were delicious and we ate till we were stuffed. Later that night, we went down town to see the ice sculptures and do a little skating. It was rather frosty so we didn’t last long but we had fun.

Sunday Shawn took us cross country skiing. Scott picked it up really well whereas I failed on epic proportions. The very first hill I had to go up took me a good ten minutes while I laughed (at myself) till I cried and watched 5 year old kids and 80year old grandpas zip on by me. The first hill was definitely the hardest, but after a while I figured it out and by the end of the 5 miles I felt pretty good with my new skills. Now, when I say skills, I mean I was moving in a forward motion and face planting less than when I started. There were many wipe outs where I believe I was compared to a walrus in heat, wallowing in the snow, while trying to get back up in the skis. I did a LOT of laughing that day.  



The sun around 10am



Afterwards we hiked to the Chugach trail head and looked out at the spectacular views. Seeing Mt. McKinley (or Denali to the locals) from Anchorage is humbling to say the least. That night we watched the Super Bowl—mostly for the commercials and Christina Aguilera butchering our nation’s anthem—and chilled by the fire.

Monday, Scott went in for his Residency interview (which went very well) and Liza took me driving down to Beluga Bay to see some amazing scenery (thus today's pictures, since you've seen the others). I can’t get over how breathtaking these places are. Anchorage isn’t as lush as Sitka but the mountains are still spectacular beyond belief. Later she took me to check out the shopping down town. I must say, they have more than Arkansas in terms of shopping. Beauty and convenience--I was impressed.  After we picked up Scott and changed into some good hiking gear we headed out down Power Line Pass trail for a little decompression and fresh air.

The weather the whole trip was beautiful—20’s during the day (which Liza called “balmy”) and around 10 at night. The sun was definitely shining on our time in Anchorage. So, a VERY special thanks to my cousins the McFarlane’s for their wonderful hospitality and for showing us the potential of Alaska.

Next week I’m looking forward to starting work again but will probably neglect important things like cooking and cleaning… so I best be off to do laundry and start a hot pot of homemade chicken noodle while I still can!

Love you guys,

S/A

Anchorage-- Day 2

Edit: I added most of the pictures from the video below for better clairity.

                                                                                 I claim no musical rights to this video





 

Mt. McKinnley on the right



McKinnley through the trees



Anchorage, we have arrived.

Batten down the hatches!



The harbor yesterday



Happy Groundhog’s Day everybody! So, I hear we shall see spring after all, though I’m sure some of you doubt the folklore at this point. While having coffee with Marma over skype this morning she said something about 6 or more inches of snow that Fayetteville has. Yikes! Well, I hope everyone is hunkered down and staying warm.

Yesterday was cloudy but lovely. It was in the low 40’s and while walking around town I got so warm I had to shed some layers. The water in the harbor was the most wonderful shade of deep sapphire! The sky was grey but the water was crystal clear and every time the wind blew I could smell the salt and distinct fishiness of an island—not exactly a favorite smell, but one I’ll forever associate with this place.

While out and about I got a call back for an interview so I headed up to the hospital to interview for a pharmacy tech position. So, hopefully next week I’ll be back to my ole ways of counting pills by the 5’s. My reign of domesticity will be coming to an end and I’ll be a working gal once more. Don’t fret though, it will only be part time and I’ll still have plenty of free time for adventures and blogging.  

Today, on the other hand, has been full of rain and wind so strong I expected to see the wicked witch flying by on her broom. Needless to say, I stayed inside as much as possible. I’ve finished the rough draft of my book and am in the intensive editing stage. To alleviate some of the stress of punctuation and complex sentence structure, I baked some fudgy peanut butter brownies—mostly just so I could lick the bowl after pouring them in the pan. There’s something very therapeutic about brownie batter.

I concluded the afternoon with my dear old friends Cathy and Heathcliff. I’m afraid I’m an emotional junky and just can’t put down a great tear jerker. Scott, on the other hand has been working very hard on getting presentations ready for work and for residency interviews. His next one is this weekend in Anchorage. I try to help him with his presentations but have very limited knowledge on Extended Infusion of Piperacillin-Tazobactam so I do a lot of smiling and nodding.

Stay toasty and safe—We love you all,

S/A