It's June Already!

I'm having a hard time believing it is June already! For one thing, our weather has been less than stellar so far this summer. It was nice and warm in April and then May left a lot to be desired. We've had lots of gloomy days since then. On Tuesday, I had my first day off in weeks that was actually beautiful and warm all day. A couple weeks back, it wasn't sunny, but the temperature was nice. This week was warm and sunny with blue skies all day. I watched the Venus transit from my yard with a lawn chair and enjoyed every minute :)

Tuesday morning, I went out on the Spit to explore the shops that were not open a couple of weeks ago. There are some wonderful items that I would love to purchase out there (that I don't need :P) but I went with a mission in mind of getting a sweatshirt and I found one that I adore. I'll post a photo of it soon.

C had a cold over Memorial weekend and I was praying that I wouldn't receive the gift, but I did. *sigh* So I battled it for a week, and I am finally feeling better, but by Tuesday evening, I felt terrible. It put a kink into some socializing plans [:(] but I'm glad that I postponed them, especially because it poured rain on Wednesday!

I had a productive weekend though, getting ready for our upcoming trip and cleaning the house like crazy, which is so satisfying :) More details on the trip to come...

Can't it Slow Down for a Minute?!

It's amazing how life suddenly starts going without any chance of slowing down in sight. For the past month, I have been in a daze of work and life, struggling to stay afloat, really. I was sick for 2 weeks, and it hung on for another week for the most part. I was healthy for a week, and then a week ago Friday, I woke up in the middle of the night with a stomach bug of some kind (I'm thinking food poisoning) effectively forcing me to slow down. I had plans for that day to be going from 9am to 11pm with no breaks in between, and I missed out on everything I had lined up for the day.

I recovered by late afternoon and felt much better by bedtime. I worked Saturday and felt even better as the day went on. Can't really miss more than a day of work when sick pay is nonexistent :)

 My silly pinwheel that turns when the heater is blowing. Puts a smile on my face :P

Last week, we had a family dinner at my in laws' house. My husband's brother was in town for a month and the sibling out of town flew into town for less than 24 hours and we had a nice family dinner with all seven children under one roof for the first time in years.

 When I was sick last week, before I realized that something was wrong with myself, I had two panic attacks, one worse than the other. Looking up the symptoms for a true panic attack, I don't think I was having a diagnosable one, but I was sure stressed out. I thought maybe I had stressed myself into being sick from work responsibilities, but some of my symptoms of the bug were a bit hard to fake :) So anyway, I basically wound myself up pretty good and stayed high strung for several days.

One Lord Sunday - March 18, 2012, Homer High School Gym

Tuesday, I was pretty unbearable to live with, I think. As a child, I would stress over something, and then cry it out and it would all be fine. I was a sensitive one and cried pretty frequently. Growing older, I still cried easily, but not as often. It was when we got married, that C started to pick up on a pattern to it all. If I became more needy for attention, whiny, and downright obnoxious, I probably needed a good cry. Probably hormonal, but it was usually not at a set time every month. But generally every month at some point, something will set me off and I will cry for a while, and then everything will be right again. That was Tuesday. I was being obnoxious, starting to drive C crazy, I think, and we both acknowledged that I probably needed some release. Finally, before bedtime, I finally had a cathartic weeping session that went on for an hour, and got all of my stress released from work, life, housework, etc. I felt much better, and C and I both noticed an impressive change in my mood and attitude the next day. Pretty crazy, really. Since then, I have been much less stressed and generally happier (though I am usually a happy person).

Monday evening, I was waiting for the northern lights to appear, blazing in the sky. They never materialized for me. I went out before 11pm, despite there being some daylight still! It was a rather dark evening and the parking lot I chose to camp out in was a bit too crowded and creepy for my tastes, and also included a motorhome!! NO! I ended up going for a drive to search for a less lighted location to watch for the lights, but they never materialized for me (and did not for anyone else in the state either, but the Lower 48 got an excellent show!) and I headed home around 12:30. *sigh*

Wednesday, we drove out to my hometown to change our snow tires with my dad. We bought milkshakes at my favorite restaurant there and enjoyed them in the beautiful sunshine (54 degrees at one point!). C's car ended up causing us a bit of grief. Last fall, one of the studs connecting the tire to the car broke off. Dad bought a new one to replace it with. But all the remaining studs on that section of the car were ornery as well, and 3 more of 5 ended up breaking off! After doing some calling around, I ended up going back to town on a parts buying mission, and then turned around to go back. But it was a beautiful day for a drive. I even ended up turning the A/C on, and I loved sipping on my shake as I journeyed.

The car was put back together without another problem, and C went home. I stayed for a memorial service for a woman I knew growing  up. Had a nice potluck dinner and then conversation and observing of locals from my hometown. It was a nice service and it made me want to hug my loved ones.

Beautiful dog in town :)

I felt a bit silly, while working on the tires. I watched a guy fly down the road on a 4wheeler and thought about how normal that is for my hometown, but in my new town, 4wheeler's aren't supposed to be driven down the streets in town. A silly difference, but it reminded me of the good times I had exploring the area and living the good life in a tiny Alaskan town - playing in puddles, bike riding through town, etc.

Last night, after work, 2 of my coworkers and I went up to my boss's house for dinner. She's still laid up with her broken leg, so we went to her. My coworker of 6 years is moving this weekend, and I worked with her one last time today and then we had a farewell little party for her. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and I will really miss her. Sad to see friends move on, but she is going on a grand adventure and I am excited for her.

So, all this to say, I haven't had much time to think about blogging. I finally got my house clean after 4 weeks on Tuesday! I keep thinking of things I want to talk about, but I never have a chance to sit down and write it out...so hopefully I can again soon!

Today's Happenings

Whew! I'm glad today is over :) I had a doozy of a day at work, and I'm glad it's over. Retail is simple concept in theory, but it is always more complicated in reality. I hate to leave the new employees alone, because inevitably, they will be asked some random question that's never been asked before, or just something outrageous will happen. But anyway, I'm glad I am done with today, since it was one of those days that just made me want to quit :)

In other news, we officially started riding our bikes to work this week. C has ridden the 4 days out of 5 so far, and I started Saturday morning. It felt good to be biking again, but boy can it be a work out sometimes! This morning's ride for me was twice as long because I was fighting a really strong wind the entire way! I'm looking forward to saving money on gas this summer :) Last summer, I was pleased to note that C didn't buy gas from June sometime until September sometime, because he rode to work nearly every day. I skipped gas one month, but I was also running to the beach and other places for photo ops, so that explains that. But it all helps :)

I'm finally over my cold, I think. It took me well over a week this time to kick the worst of it, but some of it hung on for the last 2 weeks. I think it's FINALLY gone. Happy to send it on its way!

We had beautiful sunshine most of this week, and it really helped get rid of a ton of snow. Feeling more and more like spring here everyday!

Whew! I'm Back...Sort of

Wedding we went to in September

I apologize for the lack of blogging the past two months or so....I have been busy with my last semester of college, as well as working full time. I have not been shooting much, and when I have, I've been up to a month behind on the editing....I've been missing blogging though!

Northern lights in September

I have been eagerly looking forward to being done with school...I won't know what to do with free time! I've been pondering many things for the coming months. I'd like to push my photography harder, and move this blog to Wordpress, among other things.

Fall

When I do have free time, I've been helping work on our house repairs...but now it is cold, and the snow is coming soon, so we are wrapping up our outside project and starting on the inside. Beyond that, I have been making time to read lots of books. I usually don't have this luxury during the school year, but I've had a voracious appetite for reading the past couple months...I've been reading up to 4 books at a time O.o, but I'm down to 2 at the moment! Heh.

Mt. Augustine at sunset

Here's a list of a few books I've devoured lately:
- Anne of Green Gables. I'd never read them before! I found the whole series at the thrift store this summer, and am on book 6 now.
- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and the other 2. What a fascinating story. I could have done without the sex and the graphic sexual abuse, but it was an incredible story.
- Whisper on the Wind by Maureen Lang - Interesting fiction story in the time of WWI. Quite gripping!

I've read several others, but these are the ones I figure many of you may be interested in.

My new Canon 7D!!!

I caught a cold a month ago, and I actually missed work because of it, which never happens. C caught it after me, unfortunately. One of those days, when I was feeling a little better, I sat on the floor in front of the heater, drinking tea, and watching the yellow leaves flutter down. I sat there thinking, "Despite feeling awful, life is good. I can't complain." It was a nice feeling :)

I emailed my college advisor a couple weeks ago about making sure I was ready for graduation. I had not understood that graduation and commencement are two different things! Or rather, when I applied for graduation with my AA, I didn't really know what I was applying for. I missed the deadline for graduation by 3 weeks, and had to apply late, something I had not understood until right before the deadline. Now I have applied, and I went into my local campus to ensure that I could walk in the ceremony in the spring. I was surprised to learn that my college will have to send someone to represent the school, because UAA is different from UAS. So...tax payer money is going to be spent because I am graduating college. Hmm. But anyway, I'm happy to report that things should be moving that direction, and I pray that I pass my classes!!!

My sunsets are coming back and getting more glorious the closer to winter we come. Unfortunately, now that Daylight Savings Time has come around again, I will be at work for most of the sunsets, and I am mourning that :(

C's Halloween costume...an expired ice cream sandwich

I was shooting the other day at one of my favorite beach locations, and this truck with out of state plates pauses by me as I'm walking by, with my camera around my neck. Two guys in the front seat and one rolls down their window. "Excuse me miss, would you do the pleasure of marrying me?" I was confused for a couple seconds, staring at them, and then just turned and kept walking. What on earth was that?

Oh yes! The biggest news lately: I purchased a new camera!! I bought a Canon 7D with my dividend for the year. It's been fun working with two cameras when I am shooting. I haven't been out enough yet to have a great system down, but it's very satisfying. I bought a Luma Loop strap to alleviate the neck strap stress, and it is pretty nice.

Lynx at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

We've had a couple of good snowfalls since Halloween, but then it rains and it disappears! We do still have some on the ground right now.

Bear at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

We made a couple trips out to my hometown to spend some time with my parents, which was nice. I also made a trip up to the big city with a friend, which was a lot of fun.

Wood Bison at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

I will probably never get caught up blogging the photos I have missed blogging, but this is a random collection of what's been happening :) Thanks for not giving up on me! I hope to come back and blog after the semester is over...less than 6 weeks now!

Flu

I caught the 24 hour stomach flu Saturday night. Not too pleasant, but the worst was that it did not let me sleep well.

I'm definitely on the mend now, and just in time for school to start tomorrow!

Better

Well, I caught the swine flu by Saturday. I was miserable until Monday and then started to feel better. It definitely is not as traumatic as the media is making it sound.

Winter is officially here. We've had several snowfalls now, but most have not stayed. It feels really strange to be halfway through the month with barely any snow.

I have a month left of classes! That seems so hard to believe. I guess it's time to settle down and get cracking on those projects!

Hubby Feeling Icky

The husband is ill.

Yesterday, he didn't get a very good night's sleep and woke up being sore. That's nothing new for him, so he thought nothing of it. We went to a friend's house and he started to get a headache, but he said nothing about it till we got home.

He walked in the door and immediately started shivering uncontrollably. He ended up laying on the couch for nearly 3 hours after that. And he had a fever.

He called in sick today. He is now coughing quite a bit. The Dr's office wasn't much help. He's to stay home from work until his fever has been gone 24 hours. They have been prescribing Tamiflu, but apparently there is none in town right now! Many people have H1N1 right now, so I'm sure that has depleted the supply.

C's feeling pretty good right now. I hope this does not get worse. And I don't want to get it either!

Icky

We are a sick family this week. C started getting a cold on Friday or so of last week. He still has it. By Thursday, I started getting it. I have no choice but to go to work (there is no one else to work..) but I am skipping church this morning. It is giving me a chance to play catchup on the housework (I feel good enough to do that, might as well). But I am definitely ready to feel better!

Monitor and Anniversary

I think I posted about buying a new monitor with wedding money. Well, it came yesterday. It is huge! We went with a 19" View Sonic flat screen. It is going to be awesome to edit pictures on! I'm pretty excited about it and I can't wait till my desktop arrives as well. Oh and the best part about the monitor is that it can be pushed back against the wall on the desk giving me tons of room to do schoolwork on this desk, which I have never been able to do comfortably anywhere. YAY!

Yesterday was our Friday and also 4 months since our wedding. So we went out to dinner at Boardwalk Fish and Chips. We hadn't been there in 2 years. The food was ok, not really spectacular or anything. It was more the celebration which was fun. I had been wanting to walk on the beach afterwards, but it rained the whole time. The Spit looked pretty cool shrouded in fog, though.

Caleb's sister lent us Juno last week and we might finally watch it tonight. I've been cleaning around the place this morning to make it look more presentable again. I also want to scrapbook today. We'll see how it all goes!

I kind of got a cold this weekend. Saturday I had a sore throat and by the time it was 6pm, I had a weird headache that hurt my neck and stuff. I came home from work just exhausted. I didn't go to church cause I wanted to make sure that I could go to work for my boss's sake. I went to work and felt better. Then yesterday, I had no appetite for breakfast or lunch, but was queasy cause I hadn't eaten much. It was a frustrating cycle. Today I feel better and I have more of a cough than anything else. I took some medicine several times and I think I wiped out a lot of the cold before it really got started, but my voice is funny and my throat hurts some and I couch. Oh and I have no taste, apparently. Caleb just made brownies and I couldn't even tell they tasted like them :(