Almost there!

Tonight we are in Little Rock, Arkansas!

I wish I could say today's drive was more exciting, but it wasn't.  We did make a pit stop in Oklahoma (to get gas and pick up some DQ- yum!).  It was an interesting stop.  While we were waiting in line for John to get his gas receipt one of the cashiers yells out "Next victim,, please!" I did a double take because surely someone wouldn't yell that out.  Sure enough, a couple of minutes later she yells it again.  I had to chuckle- it was different and it definitely got your attention and I will never forget that stop.

Thankfully (at least for me) we haven't seen too many cop cars during this trip.   We did pass one today and for once in my life, my lead foot was in check.   I would hate to disappoint my family and get another ticket!  I need to give them some time to catch up and take this lovely title I hold in the family for having the most tickets :P

Tonight we went out to dinner with some friends who were a part of the 517th squadron.  It was great to sit back, relax, and catch up!

I'm pretty sure road trips are meant to be a test.  A test of driving capabilities, a test of patience, and a test of your bladder.  I'm so glad this test is almost over! Tomorrow we are on the home stretch.  We head to Florida to drop off the cat with my parents and then off to Alabama to spend Christmas with John's family, then back to Florida for New Year's. Around mid January we'll begin the trek to Delaware!  We are both excited about the opportunity to see all of our friends and family!

Mom, I apologize in advance for 

whatever furniture Hannah decides is

appropriate to climb on.  I love you!

Are We There Yet?

What a day it has been!  Thankfully it was a rather quiet 12 hours of driving. Hannah was her ridiculous self.  Yesterday Begley "accidentally" sat on her, so today she got a little creative and found a new napping spot.  (way in the back of the jeep)

Hannah has been the main source of entertainment for this trip.  Begley just stares out the window or sleeps. Or in the case of today, coughs up part of a toy that we haven't seen since we left Alaska

                                       

John did most of the driving today (because he is awesome like that!).  I enjoyed the view as we passed through Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and into Colorado.  We couldn't have asked for better weather and the traffic wasn't too bad.

 Idaho

                                     

 Utah

Wyoming

I made an attempt to start a knitting project. I got 15 rows in and realized I somehow managed to miss stitches and in turn had 3 lovely holes.  I couldn't take it. So as the sun was setting in Wyoming I was  carefully redoing the knitting from the beginning. *sigh* Maybe one day I'll get the hang of knitting.  If any knitting pros out there have any tips for fixing missed stitches, I would appreciate the advice!

While John was driving I  tried to make sure the cat didn't cause too much trouble.  She LOVES the windows, crawling all over us, and trying to get onto the dashboard.  Oh yeah,  I also had to clean up my sunflower seed mess from yesterday.  Yesterday, I was trying to be helpful and open the sunflower seed bag for John and *POOF* half the bag went flying all over the jeep.  :(

We managed to track down Chik-Fil-A for dinner (yippee!) and after we got settled in at the hotel, our friend Jenn came to visit for a bit.  It was great getting to see her and catch up!

Tomorrow is a brand new day full of adventures.  Here's to hoping that Begley coughed up all of his toy today and we don't get any more surprises tomorrow ;)

Times flies when you're having fun!

 It seems like only yesterday it was snowing on the first day of fall.  Fall in Alaska is absolutely beautiful!  The view in Alaska never gets old, and its one of the many things I'm going to miss when we move.

Life has been crazy busy.  September and October were full of work events.  That meant plenty of skipped lunches, weekends worked, and alarms slept through :) By the time October 13th had rolled around, exhausted doesn't begin to describe how I felt.  As exhausted as I was, I live for the craziness that comes with event planning.  There is something about the adrenaline rush of getting everything prepped the morning of an event that I can't get enough of.  Sure we had some hiccups (like when I accidentally stabbed myself in the leg with a pair of scissors) but over all I think everything was a success! Now, the planning for next year begins! :)

I have to give a shout out to my husband for putting up with my overly tired, slightly grumpy self for a month. He was so awesome and supportive (and made sure we always had chocolate in the house!)

We are finally down to one month until the big move!  It's hard to believe that John has been here for three years and I've been here for almost two.  Moving up here wasn't the easiest thing I've done.  I quit a job I loved, left behind some amazing friends and family, and started all over in Alaska. The move did provide a great opportunity for me to grow as a person, and I've met some amazing ladies who have helped me figure out this military spouse thing :)  Alaska has been full of a lot of adventures.  From hikes, to motorcycle rides to playing dodge the moose on the Glenn Hwy. I don't think there is a thing I would have changed about my time here. I survived Alaska- the good, the bad, and the ugly. If I can survive that, I can survive any place the Air Force sends us :)  I do have to admit... This Florida girl is pretty excited about California!!

We'll be driving across the country with two pets- twice.That should be fun, right?  The vet recommended taking Hannah on short car rides to get her used to being in the car. Biggest mistake ever! Within 10 minutes of a car ride, I'm silently trying to talk myself out of stuffing the cat in the trunk or pulling over and letting her out of the car.  Eventually, I cave and let her out of her carrier- then we have Hannah the curious cat.

                                       

We'll be visiting the vet very soon to get Hannah set up with some nice drugs for the trip. :)

We are still scrambling to finish up the basement.  The bathroom is 99% complete and we have a few things here and there to do in the main room. With both of us working full time, its been hard to find the time and energy to finish up these projects.  We are almost there!!

Today, John and I celebrate our 3 month anniversary!  If the last three months are any indication of what our life together is going to be like... we better buckle up because its going to be a crazy ride!

Photo courtesy of the  amazing Patsy Brown

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 :)

Oh Sweet Summertime, cont.

John and I decided to have another go at salmon fishing.  We drove down to Kenai early last Saturday morning (another 3AM departure). I'll admit... I'm not the best travel buddy.  I was good for two hours, then Zzzzzz. I was out like a light!  Anchorage was a little drizzly, so I didn't get to see that great of a sunrise, but the view was beautiful nonetheless.

 After we parked and settled we ventured down to the tent city to see if anyone was catching anything.  Things looked pretty slow. After we ventured back to the Jeep it was nap time!  Despite the uncomfortable sleeping quarters, I was out like a light. (yet again)  John on the other hand... He might have gotten a 20 minute nap. 

This is the "room" a $20 parking pass will get you

 We finally woke up around 8:30 and sat around until the tide came in.   The one thing I'm not a fan of when it comes to fishing is all the waiting you do.

Begley had a lot of fun while waiting 

Eventually the ride was in and we were off fishing!   I almost lost my boots in the water.  The sand creates this suction that makes moving around in the water just about impossible. Thankfully there were safe spots where I could stand and not fear losing my shoes. :)  We might have been out there an hour before we made our first catch of the day. Over the course of 3 hours, fish were caught, fish got away and we threw a couple of flounder back in.

Here is the lesson I learned about fishing... you have to knock the fish out in just the right spot. Here is how my first experience knocking a fish out went:

Beat it twice on the head

Picked the fish up and took it over to cooler to bleed it

Picked up the knife

The fish starts flopping around again.

I drop the knife and start screaming "Noooo!! Dont' come back to life!!!" 

Then I beat it on the head again

John comes over to investigate

It comes back to life. Again.

John officially kills it

Later, while John was trying to clean our salmon, the tide kept creeping in further and further. So while John is cutting away on the fish, I'm chasing after my boots that were floating away, chased down the wet wipes that the tide wanted to take, and tried to keep the cooler from floating away so we wouldn't lose any fish.  It was a workout!

We attempted round 2 of fishing when the tide started going out.  I lasted about 20 minutes.  This is what we were dealing with....

Waders of water.  :)

After 20 minutes in the water,  I was beyond exhausted, wet, cold, and I reeked of fish.  We ended up staying in Kenai until 6, hoping that salmon would reappear.  They didn't :(  Then we had our adventure home.  Much like the trip to Kenai, I lasted 2 hours and I was out.  I did manage to get some pictures :)

Here is one thing that can be difficult to deal with- all the daylight. This picture was taking around 10:30PM. 

Despite our exhaustion we were super excited to see a double rainbow on the way home :)  

Alaska has been a great adventure that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world :)