Memorial weekend in PWS 3

More photos...a lot of these are posted to my Facebook account as well.

I was snuggled up all warm and cozy in my sleeping bag when this photo was taken from the door of our tent. Good morning! We had a leisurely breakfast of scrambled eggs and fruit as we watched boats go by.

A really great first haul of shrimp for the weekend (and my engagement ring too.)

The dog gets pretty freaking excited when D pulls up or drops the pots.

D has been soaking the shrimp in seawater before shucking - seems to clean them out a bit.

Some of our biggies...guess what we had for dinner when we returned to town?

Just kidding, I didn't eat it. I'm not that crazy. Even the dog is weirded out!

Crab that crawled into our shrimp pot - we threw him back since legally we're not supposed to keep crabs. D says there is some way to tell whether it's a male or female by looking at the back?

D put the crab down so I could photograph it and it scooted clear across the surface!

It's no Alaskan King Crab, but still the biggest one we've ever caught.

Memorial weekend in PWS 2

After dropping the shrimp pots and setting up camp we headed over to D's bear bait station in the woods, which was about an hour-long boat ride from our campsite.

The puppy rides up front and his ears tend to flop around in the wind.

Tide was still going out so we had to make sure the boat didn't get stuck on the beach. Otherwise we would have had to sleep overnight in this area and wait for the tide to come in and float the boat again!

A cruise ship on its way into Whittier harbor.

Memorial weekend in PWS 1

This was my first trip on the boat since last year and I was looking forward to getting out of town. The sea forecast for the weekend was really good (seas at 2 feet) but the weather didn't look that promising. However we've been tricked by the weatherman before and packed both rain and sun gear this time.

Going through the tunnel to get to Whittier and the boat launch.

Some views from the water's edge.

The tour operators, glacier cruises and marine ferry all dock on this side.

Motoring out of the harbor area. That big building in the photo below is the Inn at Whittier. I tried to get info on their wedding packages but no one ever called me back!

Finally arrived at our home for the next couple days - from this beach we have a good view of our shrimp pots in the water. It's a good idea to keep an eye on them since very bad people sometimes steal pots.

It was difficult to get the dog out of the water. He just wanted to play in the surf the whole time.

Played around with the macro feature on my camera again.

A better look at one of the mini crustaceans that stick to the rocks.

Neat things pop up at low tide.

Memorial Day fun

Hi everyone - I've had a huge dip in posts because D was able to fly home for Memorial weekend!!! We spent a lovely couple of days on the boat in Prince William Sound, and then partly lounged around / worked on house projects on Monday. I dropped him off this morning at Lake Hood for his hour-long flight back to the lodge area.

Photos of the beautiful weekend to come!

Walk in the woods

What a gorgeous week we are having! Temps in the 60's and mostly sunny days. Drift and I decided to take a couple hours on Saturday and walk to the Campbell Creek Science Center. It's very close to our house and Drift really likes to cool down and splash around in the creek.

The mountains are still sporting a bit of snow and it will take at least a few more weeks to get rid of the white stuff permanently.

SO happy!

Moose like to come around and rub their antlers on the trees, and also eat the nubs off the branches.

One of the trails we took -- didn't see a single person (or animal) the whole time! That's a good thing because I usually sing or talk to the dog in order to keep from surprising bears that are hiding. I feel pretty foolish doing it, but think about the alternative.

I am 99.9% sure these droppings are from a horse and not bear scat, but we got the heck out of this area pretty quickly anyway. The bears are awake and hungry!

Yay, summer is here

Is anyone still reading this blog? Feels like ages since I have posted! Going on 15 straight days of work, with one day off. I'm TIRED. The good news is Memorial Day is coming up and it looks like I may be able to take a 5 day weekend! Even better, D is flying home for 3 days to celebrate the holiday with me. Yippee!

In my opinion, Alaska (or at least Anchorage) has 2 official seasons - winter and summer. If you count construction, then it's three seasons. Spring only lasts a couple weeks, as does fall. Somehow, seemingly overnight, summer has arrived!

I took these photos last weekend during one of our two health fairs. Seriously, who thinks it's a good idea to plan concurrent healthfairs on a Saturday AND a Sunday?!?! WTF. Anyway, it was a gorgeous day and I snuck upstairs to my office a couple times to take a break. This breathtaking view is from the waiting area on my floor.

I am so going to miss these vistas when we move to a new building on campus. I have a feeling I'll be sitting in a cubicle. Horrors!

A little bit of midtown Anchorage. Downtown is further northwest. You won't see many tall buildings around town because of earthquake codes. The tallest ones are found downtown and are grandfathered in (obviously) to the city buliding codes.

Update on everything

Here is a quick update for you peeps, then it's back to pressing my nose against that pesky grindstone...

There is practically no new construction work in town, so D agreed to take on a job out in the boonies to ensure he'll have a job later this summer. The downside is that he will be gone for 5 weeks and return one week before the wedding! So much for all the trips and home projects we had planned. But we'll make it work - we always do!

We decided to refinance our home loan since D found a great rate through a credit union. He completed the paperwork before leaving but I met with the appraiser yesterday at lunch. Quck process (30 minutes) and the lady was pretty impressed with all of D's home remodel work on the house.

Alterations on the dress are complete, but I want my mom to see it in person before proclaiming it finished! Truly AMAZING how different the dress looks from its original state. Honestly, it's hard for me to believe this gown is 40 years old. Since D isn't home, I have the dress hanging in our bedroom so I can bask in its loveliness.

I'm getting bits and bobbles together for wedding decor, and am hoping to schedule a trip down to our Moose Pass venue in the next couple weeks to talk with the owners about catering, setup, etc. Will maybe throw in a scouting visit to some hair salons too.

The weather is getting better every week. Gaining 3-4 minutes of light each day and temps are up in the 60's. I did some yardwork yesterday and pulled the rest of our deck furniture and flower pots out of the shed. Technically we are supposed to wait until Memorial Day weekend to plant anything outside but I don't know if I can wait!

Working all weekend so I will be pushing for one (maybe 2) days off next week!

San Diego 2

Worked today at a health fair. Next weekend I have 2 in a row, so Monday starts 12 consecutive days of work. Yikes! Maybe I can sneak in a day off somewhere.

More San Diego photos...this guy was pretty amazing. All of the rocks were stacked without the benefit of glue, wires, etc. He balanced this one in front of us in the space of about 2 minutes.

This picture is driving me crazy - it won't load correctly.

Boats in the San Diego harbor - some were for rent and the prices weren't too outrageous.

Intently studying the foreign language of my soon-to-be husband.

Wonder if there's a "How to Talk South Dakotan" booklet out there?

Love the PB (Pacific Beach) area of San Diego. We always drive over and hang out for a day.

Oh man, we were loving the sunshine! And D got to be outside quite a bit as he played disc golf with my dad and Gabe. He's a nautral at the sport, we've discovered.

What the...?!

Who steals an organic food box? Well apparently, someone at my workplace does! I always pick up our box as I leave for the day and ours was missing. I emailed the company to see what their policy is in this type of situation and also notified our security department. This sucks - $41 down the drain!

**Update - the company is refunding me my money! Excellent customer service.

San Diego 1

"Enjoy the ride - you'll never come this way again"

Saw this quote on another blog and it really resonated with me. I tend to get bogged down in the details and the stresses of everyday life, but sometimes you have to see the forest through the trees and look at the whole picture. This is a GREAT period in my life! We're happy, healthy (for the most part) and will be getting married in a month and a half. Life is good. My job may be difficult at times but the stress doesn't last forever - there is an end in sight. And I need to enjoy the process of planning a wedding and remember what all of this work is contributing towards.

Ok, enough of the pep talk...on to our recent vacation! I did not realize how badly I needed time away until we were down in San Diego. We really enjoyed ourselves and it was so nice to have D meet my mom's whole side of the family! They kept saying how handsome he is...I agree. :-)

My sister and Gabe totally surprised all of us by making the 7.5 hour drive down from San Jose on Friday! Risha kept saying how her work and school schedule would not allow them to join us for the weekend. And then they just showed up at IKEA as my mom and I were finishing up our shopping extravaganza. It was a great surprise.

My dad showed D the ins and outs of disc golf and it turns out D has some serious natural ability for the game. Dad and Gabe each gave D a disc (isn't that nice?) so we may visit one of the courses here in town for some practice.

If you are my friend on Facebook, chances are these photos will look familiar!

A pair of cool bikes parked outside of the Harley-Davidson shop along the water. My dad has a real chopper/motorcycle at home that he built - the shape is similar to these bikes.

What photo montage is complete without the obligatory funny hat image?

Girls' Weekend

Had a fantastic time in Girdwood for Girls' Weekend 2010! This all took place last weekend and we had 14 girls total over the 3 days, but some had to come or leave early - so 12 each night. The house was amazing - 5 bedrooms, big kitchen and huge hot tub!

The house was located in the heart of Girdwood and very close to Alyeska Resort. Since everything was conveniently located near our rental, we parked the cars and ended up walking the whole weekend. The restaurant we tried on Saturday night (Jack Sprat) was no more than a half mile walk -- it was SO YUMMY.

Covered hot tub in the backyard with a great deck and walkway. We spent a lot of time in the hot tub.

Beginning our 3-hour walk/hike around town and up to the resort.

At the base of the mountain - this is approximately 1 mile from the resort. There were snowmachines everywhere...some sort of sno-cross event.

Near the Sitzmark and chalet. Snow is melting fast but skiing is still open.

Some of our group inside one of the resort's lobbies.  

Beginning of the Winner Creek trail. So beautiful - it winds through the woods over the creek.

In the summer this a great blueberry-picking trail. Just watch out for bears!

We had planned on hiking all the way to the hand tram and going over the gorge, but there was too much snow and we lost the trail!

A really gorgeous weekend. Couldn't have asked for better weather.

Back of Alyeska Resort. A friend of mine used to be the Marketing Director here, so we'd always get free passes for the aerial tram!

The tramway - it runs really fast in the winter for the skiiers, but in summer they slow it down and tourists can go up to the top and sightsee. It's a great ride -- I've seen bears on the mountain in the summer.

One year the girls and I climbed to the top of Mt. Alyeska during the Blueberry Festival. It's 2,300 feet and my left knee was killing me by the end! The trail starts behind the hotel, winds around the back of the mountain and then heads straight up the face. But the nice thing about the climb is that you can ride the tram down for free.

This weekend went by way too fast, but it was nice to reconnect with all the girls without husbands, fiancee's, kids, work stress, etc. We're already planning for 2011!

Off to SD

D and I will board a plane around 1 a.m. tonight (red-eye flights are par for the course for Alaskans) and arrive in sunny SAN DIEGO tomorrow morning! Our next door neighbors just returned from SD a couple days ago and said the temperature was perfect. Lately the weather here has been lovely as well -- bright blue skies and temps in the high 50's. Seems like everywhere I look people are riding dogs, riding bikes, walking, running, etc...anything to get out and enjoy spring!

Had another dress fitting on Sunday after I returned from Girls' Weekend in Girdwood. The alterations are really coming along. The top is cut down and we figured out how low the v-neck should go. I also want the bodice to come in a bit to look a little more svelte. Hello, I have a waist and want to show it off! It's really neat to see my dream dress coming to life.

So far 4 RSVP cards have rolled in and we really look forward to those coming in the mail. And the rehearsal dinner invite from D's parents also arrived this week -- it looks great! Things are coming together...it's very exciting.

Favors

People who know that I have a side business (and know that I occasionally take on wedding favors as part of that business) have asked if I am creating a special set of favors for my own wedding. The answer was always "no" because I could not decide on what to make! Soap? Magnets? Then my sister offered an amazing gift!

Here are the amazing ceramic pieces that Risha and her boyfriend Gabe handcrafted for our wedding favors. I made mini tissue paper poufs to place in each cup.

I do love the bright green of this tissue paper, but it looks slightly like lettuce to me...

Each cup/bowl will also include a favor tag with a thank-you note. This is a lot of tissue paper and I am SO OVER making these things. :-)