A Fresh Start in Alaska

We are official residents of Alaska!

I've been thinking about and hearing a lot of encouragement to start a blog and since I have a lot of free time right now, I don't really have an excuse.  I can't make any promises I'll keep up with it though, as I believe this is my 3rd attempt at a blog.  If I get more than 2 entries on here it'll be my personal best. 

We made it to Alaska in mid June and things are pretty settled now.  We love our little studio apartment.  We definitely have some things crammed in a few corners, but overall it's a good size for the 2 of us.  And the Murphy bed makes it seem pretty spacious when we have it up!  Our little town has definitely taken more adjustment.  Most of the streets aren't paved, including the one we live on and there are no stoplights.  We have a gas station and a tiny grocery store that has most things you would need if they haven't sold out of them for the day.  No mail delivery, just a post office with PO Boxes.  Several restaurants, a few specialty shops, a health clinic, a school, a park, and a library.  That's it.  I have never lived in a small town, not on my mission or anything, so this is a definite change for me.  Here's a few pictures:

Our town is just between those front two mountains.

This is what they call the new part of town.  It's the closest thing to downtown we have.

This is the main drag in town.  I know, exciting.

This is the street we live on. Everything is set back in trees so you don't realize how many houses there are here.

Even though we live in a tiny town, the booming metropolis (pop: 300,000) of Anchorage is 45 minutes away.  So we can get things we need fairly easily, but I'm definitely learning how to cluster all my errands together.  You have to weigh how important the thing you want is with the hour and a half you'll spend in the car to get it.  I also make that drive for work, which isn't as bad as commuting from Provo to Salt Lake because there isn't ever traffic, it's just a long pretty drive along the Seward Highway.  There are often bighorn sheep, bald eagles, moose, and other animals along the way.  The water beside it is technically the ocean, people whale watch for Beluga whales there. It's called the Turnagain Arm and has huge tidal variation, so depending on what time of day it is, it's either all water or there are huge stretches of mudflats.  Yesterday on my way home I took a few pictures at different pullouts so you guys could get an idea how beautiful it is up here: