Fall is in the Air!

I've been meaning to wrap up this post all week and now that I finally have the time- it's snowing. Go figure.

Having grown up in Florida, I remember experiencing about three days of fall each year. Three days of perfect crisp weather.  I loved wearing flip flops 9 months out of the year, but I didn't realize what I was missing out on until I moved to Alaska- true fall weather and snow :D

Fall last longer than three days... It's amazing. The backyard is full of color and it will only get better!

My days are filled with Pumpkin Spice Lattes and crisp weather.  My nights are filled with the fireplace going, the smell of cinnamon scented candles, and apple cider (courtesy of my husband).  :)  The sweaters, scarves, and boots are slowly beginning to make appearances. Soon there will be pumpkin carving! The best part about pumpkin carving- if we have a repeat of last year, you might find pumpkins still on our porch come December 1st.  :)

Termination dust- the sign that colder things are to come (little did I know how soon)

The mountains are absolutely gorgeous 

Last  week, Fairbanks got their first day of snow. I was beginning to count the days until snow hit Anchorage.  I didn't have to count for long! This morning I woke up and thought it was raining at first, but soon realized that it was snowing.  :) Hannah has been watching the snow all morning. 

This year has flown by- October is right around the corner! Hopefully fall will stick around a little while longer.  I'm not quite ready for waking up extra early to scrape snow off my windshield. ;)

What is your favorite thing about fall?

One month and counting!

Today John and I celebrate being married for a whole month! Woo hoo!  To celebrate, we did the adult thing- went to work, had leftovers for dinner, John brought home flowers, and I was FINALLY added on as John's dependant.  We have spent the first month of our marriage battling with an office on base as to what defines being an Alaska resident. According to them... its receiving a PFD.  For us, it's my DL, voter registration, fishing license, etc. Thankfully we won the battle :)

The past month has been a whirlwind of activity.  We got home from Florida and we jumped right into work stuff. I've been having computer issues at work, so I've been working through lunch to get caught up/stay caught up.  The IT department has been hearing a lot from me lately :(    I have missed going to the gym on my lunch break. I never thought I would say that, but I do.  Maybe once work events get on a roll I'll be able to start going to the gym again.

Life has been full of house projects.  Over the course of two weekends John and I got the outside of the house ready so we could get some photos.   The basement is close to being done!

I'll admit.. we did take some time to sneak out to the state fair :)  I have never been to the Alaska Fair and was pretty excited about the trip!  Of course I had to stop by and see all the super awesome 4-H stuff. :) (Yes, I'm a little biased)

Who doesn't like a good lumber jack show? ;)

(It's supposed to be a carved rabbit)

Thanks to all the wonderful Alaskan sunshine- the veggies can get pretty big! 

Yes, those are pumpkins in the back.  Unfortunately the largest one had to be disqualified since it had an imperfection on the outside. However, it comes in at a whopping 1,400 pounds.  The owner fed the pumpkin 300 gallons of water a day.  You can check out more of the story here. 

As fun as the fair was, I definitely paid for it.  Within a week I had a sore throat and really bad congestion.  I was kind enough to share it with John. (I did try to blame it on his co-workers, but unfortunately, no one else in the office had been sick).  I'll admit... I can be a big baby when I get sick. So a big thanks to my husband for putting up with me and making sure I was taken care of. :)

In addition to me having to go to the doctor, our fur babies had to go to the vet as well :(  Begley has a mass on his gum the vet wanted to recheck (thankfully it hasn't changed any).  The cat on the other hand... Oh boy- where to start!  The vet diagnosed her with kitty acne. Which is probably a result of the automatic cat feeder we bought, which is made of plastic (apparently cats are sensitive to plastic). This is the same "automatic" cat feeder, that I'm pretty sure close to starved my cat while we were in Florida.  The feeder was working when we left, but the cat seemed like she was starving when we got back.  After a little investigating I found that the feeder either 1) was feeding her late 2) wasn't feeding her at all  3) would feed her 6 or so pieces instead of 1/4 cup  or 4) would feed her a random 3rd time during the day.  Needless to say, I am not happy with Petmate right now and will more than likely be shipping that POS back to them very soon along with a nasty gram. I will NEVER recommend the Petmate's Infinity feeder to any pet owner. EVER.

 So we are all on the mend, all while working, busting our butts on the house, and John has started his Master's program back up. Yes... we often find ourselves asking each other "what's for dinner". I hate to admit it, but some nights I have resorted to cereal in a desperate attempt to save time and still feed myself. 

Oh the joys of adulthood :)

Talkeetna, Alaska

Due to my work events after the wedding and the fact that up until 2 days before the wedding, we had no idea where/when we would be moving- we never did plan a honeymoon. However, I did make sure we had a celebration of some sort- so to celebrate our one week anniversary we headed to Talkeetna, Alaska!

We really couldn't have asked for better weather.  

The drive up to Talkeetna was beautiful! It was the perfect fall day.

Since we left the house a little too early *cough JOHN cough* we arrived at the Talkeetna Air Taxi an hour and a half early.  We checked in and went to go check out the town! There were tourists everywhere. We debated grabbing lunch beforehand but opted to wait until after the plane ride.

After a crazy wedding week, it was really nice to sit, relax, and enjoy the sunshine.

                                

         

There was a slight delay due to fellow passengers running behind, but soon we were on the plane and ready to take off! Thankfully there was another pilot on board just in case anything went wrong ;)

The plane was tiny :(  I really don't know how John flies a plane of similar size.  During our flight out to the glacier, I thought the girl behind John was going to be sick. I don't blame her.  We all had "barf bags" (AKA 13 gallon garbage bags).  

  As rough as it can be to live in Alaska, the scenery more than makes up for it. 

Things I learned during the flight: 

Alaska has 35 species of mosquitoes

Alaska has 4 seasons: Winter, June, July, and August

After a gorgeous tour of Alaska we were ready to land on a glacier! 

Getting to play in snow in the middle of August was pretty awesome!  

       

     

My handsome hubby enjoying the sunshine :)

While we were hanging out on the glacier we had some mini avalanches. :)  

It sounded like the rumbling of train tracks. 

Sadly, play time had to end and we departed for Talkeetna.

You know... it really is a small world. It turns out that our pilot is good friends with one of John's co-workers who just moved.

If you ever find yourself in Alaska... I highly recommend doing a plane tour. It. Was. Awesome!

It really has been an amazing summer. Perfect, record breaking weather. Now winter is right around the corner. Brrrrr. I'll enjoy fall while it lasts :)

Until next time...