Playing Catch Up

Holy spring, Batman! How is it already the end of March?! There has been so much going on here it seems like just yesterday Bill's brother and Carissa were visiting...

A quick recap:

Bill had a birthday! He turned 37 years young and we had a blast celebrating his life and the fact that he's awesome. :) I made a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and could have eaten every bite by myself. So.good.

That's my horrible attempt to make a 3-7 on his cake...not great, but you get the point. There is a story behind the balloons...they've been on every cake I've ever had since I was 3-ish. It just wouldn't be a birthday cake without the plastic balloons!

Bill's birthday was also the day we ran out of propane. Wah-wah. So much for the pizza I had planned. But we did something much better. Bill had caught some dolly varden earlier that day so we hooked up the Coleman cookstove, battered the fish, and fried them up out in the shop. Delicious! We've decided that's the real way to cook fish. :) Just look at that happy face! And that delicious dinner!

Needless to say, we had quite the birthday success. :)

After that, the weather turned and we've had some of the warmest, most beautiful spring days lately! Here's a little montage in honor of our newest season:

So nice to have some warmer weather, see the lake without ice, and get running again! Most of these photos were taken on afternoon jogs through the tundra. Lovely!

As we head into April, it's time to think about birds flying, longer days, and planning summer adventures. Seriously can't wait to hang up my teacher clothes and have sweatpants Saturday every day! Springtime also brings the great wood roundup for the coming year. Bill and I have been spending time on weekends gathering wood for our steambath and for next winter. This is honestly one of my favorite things to do--the smell of the wood, the smell of the chainsaw, using my muscles to pack out the rounds...what's not to love? :)

What's your favorite thing about new seasons? 

Have a most wonderful weekend!

Visitors!

Living where we do...in bush Alaska...it's always so lovely to get visitors. Especially if those visitors are family!!

Last week we had the pleasure of having Bill's brother, Nate, and his lovely wife, Carissa, visit us here in our humble home. Over the years, we haven't had nearly enough time together, so to get them to ourselves for a whole week? Wonderful. :)

As far as adventures, we had some backbreaking Honda rides around our village, we got to show them our incredible power plant and show off the sweet way we electrify our community, we went on lots of walks and Carissa and I played a sad, sad game of Scrabble while the boys tried to ice fish for dinner. Ice fishing was relatively pathetic this year, due to lack of ice...a rather necessary part of ice fishing... They also got a taste of our community's love affair with high school basketball. We had our regional tournament here last week and our kiddos (boys and girls!) made it to state...again. Needless to say, they got quite a taste of village life!

Anyway...I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but after they left on Tuesday, just know that there was too much room at our kitchen sink when I was brushing my teeth, and not enough competition for coffee on Wednesday morning. We love you both and miss you already!

Brothers! 

A little afternoon exploring at the Rapids.

Army Camp--Newhalen River

Tazimina River valley

Tazimina Falls--so gorgeous!

Mushrooms on trees--so cool. 

Exploring around home!

Checking out an old boat motor--has to be ancient...

Stonehouse panorama.

Checking out the Stonehouse cave--full of porcupine poo and quills. 

Nate and Carissa!

Eagle Creek on a gorgeous March day.

Eagle Bluff

View from the top of Eagle Bluff. Insane.

Huge eagle's nest near Stonehouse

George giving us the power plant tour--120 feet under the earth!

Last day of their visit--we went ice fishing--it was about -14 with windchill...

Whew. Such a grand adventure with 2 of our favorite people. So lucky! Hope your week was as fabulous...

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy 2nd of March!

Or should I say...Happy Dr. Seuss Day!

This is one of the happiest days of the year, in my opinion. Dr. Seuss is one of my all-time favorite authors and I love that there's a whole day taken to celebrate him. At least...I take the whole day to celebrate him...and Green Eggs and Ham...and The Lorax...and...you get the point. My sweet friend, Jamie, painted this for me last year and it makes me smile to look at. :) (In case you're not a Seuss aficionado, it's from The Lorax...)

I showed my kiddos "The Sneetches" today in class (one of my favorites!) and, since it was something out of the ordinary, they loved it! Not only is there really cheesy singing and a toast with marshmallow sticks, but it has a pretty wonderful message. One that says, I'm ok...you're ok...we're all ok, JUST the weird way we are. :) *Sigh* If only things were so easy in real life, right?

That's one of the reasons I think I admire Mr. Geisel so much...he really preached being happy with yourself and everyone around you, no matter what the situation. There is so much wisdom in each of his books--thus, the reason his legacy is still kickin' today!

On a different note, March came in like a lamb here in Southwest AK...yesterday was one of the most beautiful-bluebird-sky days we've had in a while!

Remi and I took complete advantage and went out for a long tundra run. It felt so good!! I often feel like I solve the world's problems, or at least my own, when I'm out for a jaunt. :) I get completely in my head, which can be interesting sometimes, but I always feel so peaceful when I'm out and so refreshed when I'm done. It can be difficult to take the first step out the door, but one of my goals for this year is making exercise time, in other words, me-time, more of a priority. It just feels right, you get me?

We also took advantage of the nice weather yesterday to get some work done around the house. We took the stove stack outside and cleaned it with a wire brush--hysterical with all the wind...my face was COVERED in soot by the time we were done! I felt like I should have been singing "Chim-chiminy, Chim-chiminy" and been jumping from rooftop to rooftop. :) BUT...we got the stack cleaned and we got the ceiling finished up!! We've had one open space in the tongue-and-groove where the stack goes through the roof and it's been a source of aggravation for both of us for quite some time. So, we finally did something about it! Here's the finished product:

Isn't it pretty?! I love our little house. It makes me happier than it probably should. :) 

I also climbed up on a ladder and washed our one tough window...the triangle window opposite the loft. Good lord...talk about dirt smeared... Feels so good to get some of these things done!

Tomorrow, my brother-in-law and his lovely wife are coming to visit for the first time! Can hardly wait to have visitors! We got a delivery of fresh fruits and veggies today from a fabulous friend in town today, and I made chocolate chip cookies in anticipation. Life is always better with cookies...

Ok. I'm going now. Have a most lovely week! :)