Out and about...

Drew and I did the Virgin Creek Trail on one of these fine sunny days we've had recently.

After awhile we decided to get off the trail for a change of scenery.  We ended up coming down the mountain after a bit and popped out behind some houses.  Drew said that this was the most beautiful view in Girdwood:

Turns out we'd stumbled onto Echo Ridge, one of the places we've toyed with buying a place for ourselves.  Maybe it was meant to be...

We've also seen some moose and bears around the house this spring.  There is a mama moose and two babies that I see almost every day I run.  I love living in such a beautiful place!

Tom and Kelly Ann's Wedding

Congratulations to my brother and his new wife!  We were glad to be able to attend the wedding while we were back east this May.  It was also fun to see lots of family.  My Grandma, 2 aunts, and 4 uncles came out for the wedding.  It was fun to spend some more time with all of them.  The rehearsal dinner was Thursday.  The venue Kelly Ann chose was very beautiful.  I had no idea it would look as cool outside as it did.  It was a little rainy during the rehearsal, so we practiced inside.

I love how so many of the attendants seem to be biting their nails in this picture.  What are we all so nervous about?

 The rehearsal dinner was awesome.  My parents chose this place called Da Vinci's in Collegeville that had great food.  I definitely recommend it if you're ever in the area...

We sat with my wonderful Aunt Kathy and Uncle Darsono, who flew in from San Diego.

What an adorable family!

My parents.

 The wedding was Saturday afternoon.  It may have rained for the rehearsal dinner but the sky was clear for the wedding!  It was really beautiful, and yes I cried.  But hey, so did the groom, so I guess it's a family trait! It was fun to see some old friends from high school Tom invited as well as to dance at the reception.  My favorite moment was when we were trying to get the dancing to really happen and we decided a conga line might be appropriate.  My Aunt Kathy said, "Uncle Darsono is great at leading conga lines!"  Sure enough, he got us a good conga line going.  Drew danced for two songs with me...once I had the DJ page him to the dance floor. :)

This is blurry but their custom cake topper was too cute to leave out!

Joey and I got matched up...lucky us. :)

My nephew was the ring bearer as well as the dog escort.  They even had a corsage for the dog!  Isaac did a great job.

The beautiful bride...

Hanging out at the reception...

The mother son dance...my brother actually pulled out a few moves!

Isaac went outside to kick around his soccer ball during the reception.  Turned out that was a popular idea for most of the groomsmen as well. :)

I'm sorry, but my nephew is pretty much the cutest kid ever.

So the wedding was a big success.  The next day we took of for a family vacation in Orlando, and the happy couple left on their honeymoon to Hawaii!  More on Orlando later...

Major Recap

So it's been over a year since I have posted.  Sorry about that.  My excuses are:
1) Laziness
2) Being busy: When it's summertime in Alaska the last thing I want to do is be inside on the computer.  Then we were on the road for 4 months.  Doesn't make it easy to find a moment to blog.
3) Lack of internet access:  We got rid of the internet last summer to keep saving money for our trip, and because we just felt like we didn't need it.  We still don't have internet at our house now, and we do OK with that.  If we really need it, we can go down to the library or the coffee shop and use it.  We just felt like we were spending too much time checking our email/internet shopping/"researching" etc on our laptops instead of talking to each other, spending time with people, getting outside, and doing other things.  So this winter I actually painted something, sang, read several books, learned to crochet, worked out, and listened to NPR a lot more than I'm sure we would have if we could have been on the internet.  Don't worry, we're not total freaks, I'm sure we'll get internet in our house again at some point.  We just don't really feel like we need it now.  One of the downsides of that is that blogging has fallen lower on the priority list.
4) The longer you put it off, the more of a big deal it seems to do it.

So excuses aside, I'm going to try and recap the past year and then I recommit to blogging a little more often.

*My best friend from college, Annie, and her husband, Brian, came up to see us in Alaska.  We went kayaking in the rain and got to show them around Alaska a bit.  We love hanging out with them and it was good to have friends visit us in Alaska.

*We moved out of our apartment in Anchorage and into an awesome summer rental house closer to kayaking for Drew.  The house was the most homey we've lived in and had lots of Alaskana touches (think Caribou mounted on the wall, moose antlers mounted by the front door, whale bones by the porch, a king crab and baleen on the wall, etc.)

*We spent a weekend  in Talkeetna camping.  We took the flagstop train to Hurricane Gulch and Drew took a flight lesson in a tiny two seater plane.

*I got into biking a lot during the summer.  We have good bike paths that are really scenic nearby.

*We watched the boretide on the biggest day of the year.  Lots of people and it was warm enough to actually feel like summer.  The actually boretide was pretty disappointing though.

*Lisa, my sister, came up to visit for a few days.  We took a cruise in Seward, went on some hikes, and checked out Forest Fair.  I think she was a little cold, a little scared of bears, a little tired of how far away everything is in Alaska, but generally thought it was beautiful.  It was really nice to have her come up, but Drew totally missed her as he was on a long kayaking trip.

*Drew did several extended kayak trips this summer, as well as all his usual day trips as a guide.  He really enjoyed getting to kayak to some new places and working his 3rd season as a guide.

*I went back to PA for three weeks and Drew joined us for one.  We were able to catch up with my side of the family and also spend a week at the Jersey Shore, my family's annual vacation.  We took everybody out kayaking one day in the bay.  Very fun.

*Back in Alaska, we did a Groupon date to the Musk Ox farm in Palmer, AK.  Learned a lot and got to see more cute baby Musk Ox.

*Took a day trip down to Seward and hiked Exit Glacier.

*Hiked in Whittier to see the salmon run and view Portage Glacier.

*Went on the 26 Glacier Cruise out of Whittier.

*Hiked the Kesugi Ridge Trail over 3 days with some of our new gear we bought for Hawaii.  Our first day was rainy but everything cleared up and we had some beautiful totally clear days with a view of Denali.  I probably love backpacking more than any other outdoor thing we do.

*Drew's parents came and visited us for 2.5 weeks in September.  We got to do the Denali Road lottery with them, camp on the Kenai peninsula, Drew took them kayaking several times, we went to the state fair, and did a lot of touristy things we hadn't had the chance to do before.  They also were a huge help to us as we left Alaska just 12 hours after we dropped them at the airport.  So they were there while I quit my job and we packed up and put all our stuff in storage.  Drew also cooked up all the food we possibly could for them every night we were there.

*We left Alaska on September 18th.  We spent the next two months in Hawaii.  This was the first time for both of us and the last of the 50 states I had left to visit.  We went to every inhabited island but Niihau.  We took only our carry on backpacks and spent almost every night camping.  We hitchhiked about half the time and had a rental car for the other half.  It was amazing. To summarize the whole thing quickly:

Top 5 experiences:
- Scuba Diving - we liked it so much we got certified.
- Hiking on Kauai- the Kalalau Trail, Koke'e State Park, and Waimea Canyon
- Drew learning to surf/Jennifer falling in love with snorkeling
- Church and meeting the members in Hawaii
- Poking lava with a stick on the Big Island

5 Least favorite moments:
- Camping in muddy/buggy Manoa
- Getting stuck in a puddle jumper airplane for 2 hours circling around Maui because of the threat of a   tsunami on the ground.  Oh, and having to pee for that whole time.
- Freaking out taking off my mask while getting scuba dive certified
- Drew's ears getting messed up after scuba diving and bothering him for a week.
- Drew hurting his foot jumping off a cliff and being totally non weight bearing for awhile.

Top 5 Beaches:
- Kalalau on Kauai
- Lapahoehoe on the Big Island
- Hamoa on Maui
- Hulopoe on Lanai
- Lanikai on Oahu

Favorite Island:  Kauai

Number one quote from our trip: "It's freakin' Molokai!"

Soundtrack for the trip: Bob Marley's Redemption Song

Click on the pictures to view albums of more Hawaii pictures:

Oahu 1

Kauai

The Big Island

Maui/Lanai/Molokai

Oahu 2

*In November we flew to Utah where we spent about a week catching up with family and friends.  We then drove Drew's grandma's car that she was giving to Drew's mom across the country via I-40.  We saw friends and family in New Mexico, Texas, and Alabama.  We also visited San Antonio, New Orleans, and Atlanta.  We made it to Drew's parents in North Carolina on Thanksgiving day.   We spent a few days with them and then headed south and saw Drew's PopPop in South Carolina and visited Georgia as well.  Then we drove north and saw my family for a few days in PA before heading farther north and doing a big circle road trip around New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, New Hampshire again, Vermont, New York, and back into Pennsylvania.  We spent Christmas with my family there and then drove back down to North Carolina for one more week in the beginning of January before we flew back to Alaska.  All in all, we were unemployed and traveling for 4 months.  It was an epic trip and we are so happy we got to do it.  We had so many cool experiences and got to see so many friends and family that we have missed being up in Alaska. You can click on all these pictures for more pictures as well.

Utah to North Carolina

PA

The Northeast

*Back in Alaska we found a house to rent (we signed a year lease!) and got settled back in.  I went back to my old job and Drew now has 3 part time jobs, two in psychology and one kayaking.  Drew did a lot of backcountry skiing and I did a lot of cross country skiing.  I went downhill skiing once this year and it was the first time I actually enjoyed myself.

*In February we flew home for my sister's wedding.  It was a very short trip but we managed to do her wedding and my future sister-in-laws bridal shower, as well as spend some time with my Aunt Kathy and my Grandma Avis.

*In March we did an overnight cross country ski trip to Barber Cabin by Lower Russian Lake with our friends Jennifer and Aaron.  It was a ton of fun and when we returned we did dinner out to celebrate Jennifer's birthday.

*In April we had two lost huskies at our house on two separate occasions.  It really made us want to get a dog, but our lease doesn't allow it.  So we're stuck for at least a year.

*Went to slush cup together this year.

*Bought packrafts, cross country skis for Jennifer and another set of downhill skis for Drew. Looking forward to getting to use the packrafts a lot this summer.

*That brings us to now, which I think I'll go ahead and do in a separate post or two.  We packed our bags, left our car and house in the care of friends and are gone to the East coast for a few weeks.  Drew planted his seeds before we left, but we've heard that it's snowed since we've been gone, so I don't know how they'll be doing.

Overall we've had a great year and are so grateful for all our blessings- our family, friends, and the beautiful world we live in.  I love catching up on everyone else's lives through blogs, so I'll try and return the favor.  More to come!

Movin to the city!

We still exist!  I finally had a few days of downtime to sit and blog.  We moved into Anchorage about 2 weeks ago now.  Our friend Meghan was nice enough to let us borrow her truck while she was out of town so we were able to move all our stuff, including the motorcycle, in one trip.  Now that we have furniture and dishes and stuff, we're shocked at how much space we have!  Coming from a studio we have all these closets and a second bedroom we don't know what to do with.  Things are definitely more accessible and easy to find, but we are not used to it.   Someone can be in the kitchen and the other person in the bedroom and we can't hear each other!  That never used to happen in our old place.  But we like it, and we have a garage for the winter, which I think is going to be so nice.  And we have what Drew has always wanted in an apartment: a wood burning fireplace.  He went and picked up half a cord of spruce and birch mixed firewood from a guy in Anchorage and stacked it in our hearth.  It makes the whole house smell so good!  We are also close enough to our jobs that we can both walk or bike to work, and we have some really pretty bike paths right in our neighborhood.  We went out on a walk one Sunday afternoon and enjoyed what is sure to be one of our last sunny afternoons.  Here's some pictures:

This tree is probably dying or diseased, but we thought it looked cool.

Kicking through piles of leaves will always remind me of our street  growing up in Massachusetts.

 We also drove down along the Turnagain arm to get some pretty fall pictures.  We have had the chance to see some of the most spectacular sunsets over the water while the tide is almost all out and the tide pools and mud flats just go out so far.  We've also seen the moon rise over the mountains and the water and it's been absolutely gorgeous as well.  So we thought we might try to actually get this on film, but we were really too early and too cold to stick around for sunset on the side of the highway. However, we did turn inland to Potter's Marsh to see the swans up close.  Before we were living in Anchorage I drove by them everyday on the way to work, and there are always people out taking pictures of them.  The swans have just come this fall and last I saw there were just one or two left, so I guess they have come and gone.  But it is still neat to see them in the wild.  More often than not it seems they aren't gliding around all elegant looking, but instead have their butts straight up in the air as they dig for whatever it is they eat on the bottom of the marshes.

This picture looks like it could make a really good puzzle to me. :)

 We had to take pictures of all the amateur photographers that are out there all the time too.  I guess they are all local but there are so many of them there all the time!  It's kind of funny to see them all lined up getting that perfect picture of the swans:

Unfortunately I think these golden fall days are all but over for us now.  When you go outside it doesn't smell like fall anymore, it smells like winter.  And we've had a few flurries or "wintry mix" kind of weather the last few days.  We still have plenty of light during the day though, so we don't have to worry about that yet.  More to come with my next post!  Hope your autumn is just as beautiful!