After Blizzard

I was chatting with my youngest brother in law who is 9, almost 10, on MSN tonight. And out of the blue, he says this:

Nathan says:
i want you to be pregnent shell
it's about time yuo guys have a baby!

Hmmm, no, don't think so!

In other news, we pretty much had a blizzard yesterday. It was insanity. I went and hung out with a good friend and we had lunch and ran around town. It was so cold, windy and snowy. The road was impossible to see, and the roads and intersections were really slippery. We had lots of snow yesterday. Then we woke up this morning to lots more! I think there was probably only 4-5 inches in the street and on the car, but when you have to shovel that in the cold at work...brr. It was heavy snow, too.

Of course, the sun randomly came out this morning and stayed beautiful the rest of the day. I had a good time with my coworker today, and another coworker stopped in. She's been gone for 3 months, so it was fun to see her.

And lastly, I got promoted today on the forum at the site where Caleb works...I am now a "Hylian Hero" yippee! (I'm including this more for myself for a record than for anyone else. Doubtful that anyone will really care!)

And the volcano is still doing its thing of nothing right now. Happy trails everyone!

Don't you love my signature thingie?

Redoubt's Acting Up

I'm stuck inside today. My car wouldn't go, which is fine with me. This is the 3rd day in a row we've had snow, and it is coming down like crazy right now. There is probably a good 6 inches outside. I haven't driven my car since Monday, so it's buried. It's cold and windy out there, so I'll just stay inside.

Redoubt, the volcano, is expected to erupt soon. Apparently AVO's website has such high traffic right now that they have an extremely basic, boring white page for the homepage. Slightly amusing. But I don't remember there being such a big deal about when Augustine erupted or not. That was 3 years ago, already! I hope that when/if it does erupt, it isn't snowing anymore. Then we could actually get pictures of it!

I've been thinking for a while about getting stuff ready for an emergency like this. Buying jugs of water and storing them, buying lots of non perishable food. We just haven't done it. I called C at work to tell him to go to the store and buy food. His work sells dust masks and they're already all gone. What would we do if we had no power? I couldn't do my homework. And if we couldn't leave the house, then what? Ugh, I don't want to think about it.

Living in Alaska has a lot of natural disaster risks. We have earthquakes, and volcanoes to worry about. And bad fires. Not to mention bad weather, though it could be a lot worse. BUT, on the flip side, we don't have hurricanes, or tornadoes, and hardly any thunderstorms. To be honest, I prefer to live here with the disasters we have. AND we don't have snakes! :P

So, if out there, you all hear that the volcano erupted, and don't hear from me for a while, I would imagine that C and I are cooped up here, going crazy. And I'll plan on posting again when I have a chance.

Update: I just read an editorial that came out in the paper 3 years ago. Those out of town probably won't see the humor in it, but it is a classic example of what transpires in this town. Read and enjoy!

Twitter

So I caved in last night and joined Twitter. I then started looking for local friends and the only one I could find was Scott Dickerson, who I don't even know personally! Not so much fun when none of my friends have it. So join people! :)
Feel free to follow me here! http://twitter.com/alaskanjark

Apartment Tour #4: Living Room

And the final installment in the apartment tour! The living room!

I told you we would come back to this! The doorway is going to be covered in photos of our families. Mine on the left and C's on the right. I just have run out of photo frames to finish my project.

Looking to the right shows the dining room, to give some perspective. Along the wall on the right, I have these photos. This is becoming the friend wall. Yet again, I ran out of frames, so this is a work in progress.

Stepping into the living room a bit shows what is seen when walking into the front door. Now I have a big basket next to the couch with throw blankets in it. The shortest bookcase is probably going to be moved once C finishes the shelves he is building. I've been wanting to put up a painting in the space above it, but I've decided to wait. As you can see, I love books. I have my scrapbooks on one whole shelf to themselves. The coffee table is my scrapbooking work station.

Here are close ups of the short shelf. This is basically the wedding/us shelf. My bouquet, our unity candle is on here. I also used to collect rocks and sea shells back in the day, so I have several bowls of them on this shelf. The kiss shaped thing is what C used to propose to me with. :)

I love these little puzzle type box shelf things. Not sure what to call them. The green thing on the top is a candle holder that can have things on the outside. So I put the flat pieces of green and white sea glass in it that C and I find. The flat plate next to it is a tray that my grandma had that I received when she passed away. It's from my town and features a popular attraction in the Bay. Down below, the little pyramid is from Mexico when C and I went. The white bowl is from my coworker. She purchased it for me from her last trip to the Netherlands. The next box over has a vial of gold, and a few rocks. Back to the bottom again, my clover box. A friend gave it to me when she didn't want it any longer. I wanted it, because my birthday is St. Patrick's Day. And lastly, the teacup was my step grandma's.

The tallest bookcase we have currently has my CD collection on top. And on top is our bamboo plant that we received for our wedding! It is thriving and has grown a lot :)

My windowsill with goodies! I've always wanted a windowsill to put things in. The two big wood pieces are made by my grandpa in Cali. Next to the kitty is a jar of sea glass. Then a mini cactus that my sister brought from Arizona :). In the last picture, is a vase with white rocks that we have collected from the beach.

And lastly, here is where we spend the most of our time! Yes, we have 3 computers. The one on the right does not work all the time, so it is just backup. The green and white rugs aren't there at the moment. They have a new home in the closet.

So that's our place! Thanks for enduring my myriad of photos!

Apartment Tour
The Kitchen
Dining Room and Bathroom
Bedroom

Apartment Tour #3: Bedroom

On to the apartment tour part 3! This post will cover just the bedroom. From the bathroom, straight ahead is our bedroom.

There is no door frame, and thus there cannot be a door. Many people have said there are solutions to that, but our land lord is in charge and we came up with a simple solution: a curtain rod and a shower curtain. We don't have people spending the night often, and it's just us anyway. We don't need a door. It stays warmer anyway!

To the right of the doorway, is my dresser. Filled with all kinds of stuff, and then stuffed animals everywhere!

Our bedroom is tiny. So we have a bed, and 2 night stands and that is all that fit in there. But it works just fine for us.

Apartment Tour
The Kitchen
Dining Room and Bathroom

Apartment Tour #2: Dining and Bath

On to the Apartment Tour part 2! This time we will cover our "Dining Room" and the Bathroom.

Directly after the kitchen is the tiny almost non existent dining room. I haven't gotten great photos of this area, because it is constantly cluttered with dishes and as a catchall.

This is the wall close to the fridge. It has become the wall of our photos. As you can see, there are only the 4 frames up so far. I'd love to add more. The second photo is our table. Mainly focus on the tablecloth! There is little room here for the table, so it is up against the wall, making it awkward to have a dinner party. It works for what we need, though and I think that is what matters.

These are 2 of the 4 chairs C put back together. They were from the thrift store, and had a green upholstery that was kinda junky, and they were a brown wood that needed help. Plus they were very rickety. C's coworker, who used to work in a furniture store, helped him reupholster the cushions, and tighten and rework the wood. He also spray painted them a sleek black. We have 2 white and 2 red ones. I'm very proud of C and the chairs. I think they look fantastic.

This is the doorway leading to the bedroom on the left and bathroom to the right. I'll talk about the photos in the next(?) post. And as you can see, the closet is right there for all to see.

I am pretty proud of this part. Just behind the doorway is a little nook. We have some chimes hanging from the ceiling that we received as a wedding present. The corner shelf below is a favorite of mine. I purchased it at a garage sale. It's filled a bunch of beach decor. I have always wanted a bathroom with a beach theme, and I sort of have it, but not really.

Coming into the bathroom, we have our washer and dryer, cupboards, and beyond the wall, the shower. Nothing too terribly exciting. Just past the shower is the clock, and matching 3 photo hanging frame. I filled it with scenes from the beach I have taken through the years. Don't mind the glamorous breaker box. The top of the toilet just has a fish dish that has no real purpose!

Next to the toilet to hold magazines is a box that holds magazines. Moving onto the sink, which is right to the toilet, there is a soap dish in the shape of a sea shell. The little cow frame is a tiny nic nac C bought for me in Mexico when we first started dating. I think it's very cute. And lastly, the floor has an odd assortment of rugs. There's a sort of beach theme, but they all kind of clash. Ah well!

Stay tuned next for the bedroom, and possibly the living room!

Apartment Tour #1: Kitchen

Things I've learned, Week 1

What I Learned This Week

This looks to be a fun blog carnival. I might try to participate every week, we'll see.

1. Last night I learned more about differences between men and women and relationships...hopefully I can implement those learnings in my relationship.

2. This past weekend I learned that I really don't want kids right now. And that I don't want my house to have such an open policy as my in laws'. I already knew this, but it was just another reinforcement.

3. I also learned another reason why when you get married, that you move out! And try not to have kids before then. You literally get no time together, because younger siblings want attention all the time.

That's all I can think of. Next week I'll have more time to think about this. Did you notice how these all have to do with marriage? Hmmm..

Weekend Photos

Well, C called me at lunchtime to tell me he forgot his lunch this morning. So I took him to lunch at a restaurant we haven't been to in a while. It was a nice lunchtime :) I came home and made brownies with Andes, and cleaned a bunch. Then we went to small group and they sang happy birthday, and gave him a card. And then Matt showed up with a bar of soap. He set it on the ground and told C to jump over it..."Now you've been bar hopping on your 21st birthday ^-^" Haha. I took a movie of it, but didn't get a photo.

We started a video series for our small group tonight. It's called "Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage" and it was actually very funny and insightful. I think we were all impressed with it. We're looking forward to next week!

Ok, here's a whole bunch of photos from the past weekend and today.

Dannah Gresh on Friday night

C is making me a bookshelf. While we were at the in laws' house, he worked on it and enlisted the help of his brother and his friends.

The cake for the baby shower. Tracy had fun with it :)

The computer desk hutch after the earthquake. The far end is off the desk.

Me, Nathan and Lily the cat this weekend.

C and Nathan

The caged tree today. We got new snow yesterday and it all looked pretty.

I bought C this "Rose Opulence" bouquet today. And these are the Andes + brownies that I made today. Very yummy!

Here we are at the restaurant for lunch. And at small group after blowing out his candles.

Happy Birthday Love

Today is my husband's 21st birthday. There aren't any plans for today, as he works until 6, then at 7 we have small group. But tomorrow we will celebrate. I think I'm going to take him to lunch and we can have a real date. We've been wanting to go somewhere for like a month and haven't had a chance to. I'm leaving it up to him what we do. I'm also planning on making him Andes brownies today. I bought him a pack of Andes mints for Christmas and it came with a really good looking recipe. I don't really have any grand plans for his day and he honestly doesn't care, but I feel a bit bad. It should be fun either way though :)

Ready to go home

I am so ready to be back home!

Friday night, went to see Dannah Gresh. It was a really amazing time. She was a fabulous speaker and made a good impact on everyone there. 

Came to the in laws afterwards and am sick of being here. It's very chaotic most of the time, with lots of extra kids around. Not so right now, thankfulluy. C and I have to stay here until his parents come home. Which is supposed to be after 10.  

Saturday, I woke up and was eating breakfast when we had another earthquake. It shook pretty good and then it got a whole lot harder. I actually thought we might be having the "big one" because it kept going and getting harder. The shaking lasted quite a while. My boss called soon after to see if I could go into work early to make sure nothing had broken. Nothing had, and only a box of candy fell off a shelf, which is amazing. It measured 5.7, but was only 50 miles from us. I guess it made national news, which doesn't usually happen. It wasn't THAT big of a deal. Everyone in town was talking about it, of course. I didn't think about our apartment though. I went home today and it had been hit hard. I'm glad I wasn't there. C's computer desk hutch is not attached to the desk itself, so it had slid off his desk an inch so one side was sloped against the wall, treacherously. And several picture frames fell off a bookcase. One broke that I saw so far. All the pictures on the wall were crooked. Some things from my dresser in the bedroom fell down. That's all that I noticed, but it's the worst that I've heard about so far. 

Left work at 2 for a baby shower. It was fun. Nothing too noteworthy to note, it was just fun and enjoyable. 

Yesterday was my mom's birthday. I felt bad that I didn't get to spend time with her then, but she did come to the Dannah Gresh thing and I got to hang out with her today. Happy birthday again, Mom!

Today the church had a chili cook off, and there were 14 different kinds of chili there. I tried 2 kinds. Definitely liked one more than the other. I stuck with the mild :P

Ran into my favorite professor at the store. I haven't seen him since college graduation last May. It was good to give him and update and see what he's up to.

Then I went home with my groceries and found that our landlord had put in our new washing machine! I don't think I mentioned it, but our washer was making an awful racket when spinning. It sounded very violent and was getting worse. Our landlord figured out what the problem was and decided it would be better to buy a whole new machine. And then it came yesterday, and they called us twice to let us know that he was going to install it, but of course we weren't there. When I got there today I saw the new machine and called them right away. So that's exciting!

Mom called me with bad news today. One of my California cousins, I think he's 17 or 18, was in a car accident last night. He was with 3 others and he was the most badly hurt. They medevaced him to a University hospital. He fractured his femur, did something to his elbow, and had head injuries. I'm not really sure what else. I can't remember the details really. But he's in bad shape. If you all could please please pray for my cousin Sam, and my whole family, that would be awesome. I really appreciate it.

So now we're just waiting a few more hours until we can go home!!!

Apartment Tour #1

I decided to do my apartment tour a bit early :P

Welcome to our apartment! I figured we'd start in the kitchen. When we first signed the lease on our place, our landlords were still working on the place. It wasn't painted yet or anything. And they didn't tell us anything about it and we didn't think to ask. A week or so after we signed the lease, we stopped by for a look and we shocked by the kitchen walls. The only colored walls in the place, and they painted them this bright, olive green. C was not impressed, and I was pretty shocked. We got over it and I can tolerate it now. There are times it just feels gloomy, as we don't have a window or anything in there, but it's fun too.

Here's our lovely refrigerator, brand new when we moved in. I have since covered up the wall closest to the door with restaurant menus and such.

Above the fridge, we have lots of cabinets. There isn't room in this place for a pantry, so we took the space above everything to make a pantry. Not terribly attractive, but it's easy to see what exactly we have!

Here we have one side of the kitchen. We have since filled in the bare wall, which you will see in a moment.

These are our adorable salt and pepper shakers! My mother in law got them for me one Christmas because they are so cute. We haven't put anything in the cow yet, but the sheep has cinnamon and sugar in it. The coloring looked right for it :) And behind them is our vase of spatulas. My brother in law (my sister's husband is a ceramics instructor and an artist of his own work) made it. We received a ton of spatulas and pancake flippers for our wedding. C thinks I should make a real post about it to show the myriad of different ones we received. I probably will sometime soon. These shown are most of them.

Here's the blank wall! No longer blank. This is a photo by Pat Shields, a teacher who passed away a year ago. He was a family friend, and I picked this up at his estate sale.

Our blender, toaster and our silverware holder. The toaster doubles as an egg mcmuffin maker. We received it as a wedding present from one of C's coworkers. My mother in law was so intrigued by it that she insisted on coming over soon after we set it up to try out an egg mcmuffin. It makes them fine, but they need some kind of seasoning to taste more exciting.

I love the frog sponge holder. I bought him from Kohl's. We don't actually use him, but he's a fun decoration.

And this is my pride and joy from this afternoon! I put up the photos earlier today after I received more hooks. I got the frames from IKEA, and I thought they went perfectly with the wall...not always with the photos, but they'll work! :) None of these are any of my photos. The 2 matted ones I bought from my company, and I think someone from Anchorage took them. The vertical photo is actually not a true photo in a sense. I clipped it from my company's catalog a couple years ago. It's a beautiful shot that I wanted to save. The remaining 3 frames are notecards from Bill Scott, a local photographer. He has amazing work and I couldn't resist putting them on my wall. I love how it looks awesome with the clock. My parents bought the clock for me for my birthday a couple of years ago. The bright colors of the frames and the clock look pretty good against the wall. I wasn't sure there was much potential with the wall when we first moved in, but I know better now!

That concludes my first post on our place. Stay tuned next time for the "dining room" and possibly the bathroom.