Anchorage moments

Home. Unalakleet, Alaska. Back to wind and snow and the freedom to go and hunt for my dinner. It's good to be home. Here are a few moments from Anchorage.

My rental this go was rather high tech for this village girl. Eventually I figured most things out. The most amazing thing? These little lights that told me someone was in my blind spot. The vehicle was huge (and kind of looked like a hearse) so I was always paranoid about my blind spots until I figured this out. The next best thing? Being able to call and talk through the car. Amazing.

These boys and their iPads. Attached to their hands and faces permanently. I see little zombies. Once they get cell phones it'll probably be even worse. I shudder to think where we're going as a human race with technology sometimes. And I'm sucked right into it to. My cell crapped out on me during this trip. It crippled me for a half a day until I could get a spare phone sent in to me (hand carried on a flight out of Unalakleet.) Yep, I was that desperate.

Had a blast two nights in a row with these two! Yes there was bull riding. Yes there is a video. No, I probably won't post it. But know that it happened.

Sweet boy brought me a present from his travels. It smells delicious and makes my lips nice and soft.

AK Forum on the Environment

This week I've been attending the Alaska Forum on the Environment. It's the environmental specialist portion of my job. That being said I've had a meeting with the accountant, personal banker, and finally was able to migrate a legacy account and update a registration on the general manager portion of my job. I feel like I've just been bouncing from one meeting to the next. I'm using that as my excuse for not posting Friday (travel day) and Monday (lunch meeting and dinner meeting). Tonight is another dinner meeting but it's more and less casual. Wining and dining. I love it especially when I'm the one getting wined and dined. Beacon is taking some of it's clients out to Crush for dinner. Since I'm such a fantastic client, I was invited. Love it. Plus it means more time with my friend Shauntel.

So far my favorite thing about the conference has been these sculptures. They were created with marine waste that floated ashore. The jelly was created by an artist, who then inspired students in Kodiak to create Ophelia, the octopus. It really is incredible how beautiful the sculptures are considering it's all stuff that's been thrown away and was a hazard to the environment.

Giant, gorgeous jelly

My favorite keynote speaker so far is Annie Leonard. She created the story of stuff. The way she spoke just captivated my interest, there was such passion and conviction in her voice as she talked about her life's passion. She made us all chuckle when she said that it was humbling for twenty years of her life to be summed up in twenty minutes. However, that twenty minutes speaks volumes and has started some amazing dialogue about how much of the earth's resources we're using and just throwing away.

Meet Ophelia. Soon she'll be moving to the Sea Life Center in Seward.

Run away! run away!

I'm running away to Anchorage for the weekend! Goodbye Unalakleet, see you on Sunday.

Photo taken by Bobby Evans

Chemtrack Christmas Party

Lawrence invited me to the Chemtrack Christmas party so I could catch up with everyone and meet his wife.  Of course I had to go.  I impulsively hopped a plane into Anchorage after I okayed it with the prez.  The forecasted weather was iffy in both Unalakleet and Anchorage.  So I ended up here in Anchorage Tuesday night.  I haven't been able to do much (I've been getting a lot of work done though, which I guess was part of the deal with myself.)  Then Thursday rolled around aaaaand so did the Christmas party.  Meet Margie, Lawrence's wife.  She was super duper nice.

She's from St. Michael

And of course the boss and lead operator.  It was really good to kick back and visit with these two.  Dale and Lawrence both had nothing but good and encouraging things to say about me from this past summer.  We told fun stories to Dale's wife Nancy and to Margie about the summer and the silly things that ended up happening on the job site.  And there was free beer.  So basically it was fantastic.  Also, Dale looks crazy different without his beard!  I almost didn't recognize him, but I absolutely recognized his mannerisms when he was chatting with people.

Dale, me and Lawrence

James - the most steadfast guy on the project

Byron stopped by after working a 12 hour shift! Harmony stopped by too, but I didn't get a picture with her. Boo

Lawerance, me and Margie - hahaha... this was the blurry portion of the evening

Definitely worth the miles and $40 fee from Alaska Airlines. Seriously, it's only 10,000 miles to fly round trip from Unalakleet to Anchorage. Awesome. Pure awesome. So awesome, in fact, I'll probably go back to Anchorage for New year's.

Steak. Done right.

After the photo shoot on Tuesday I needed some mad sustenance.  So after my brother dropped me off I bundled up and headed off on a mission.  I ate a dozen oysters (have I mentioned that I'm a glutton?) but that just wasn't enough to satisfy my little hunger monster.  So I went to crush and ordered their rib eye on special and a glass of wine.  Naturally one glass of wine lead to two and then to celebrate me finishing my glorious delicious steak of course I had to have a glass of champagne (told you, glutton).  It was decadent.

Pretty blue lights in the city park on the way to Crush.

Crush is losing Johnny to San Francisco.  So tragic.  He's such a staple at Crush.  He always knows what kind of sparkling yumminess to give me and he tells me about books to read.  It's very sad to see him go.  Tuesday was the last night that I will ever get to see him there.  I asked for something sparkling and he told me to read English Passengers written by Kneale.

Yes.  I say yes to you.

AvaKate Overload

 

This little angel came into our lives November 2, 2012 at 8:13 am.  She's the most beautiful little girl that I've ever seen in my entire life.  I adore her, even though all she does is eat, sleep and poop.  She's perfection.

Blurry pictures, it's not just your eyes.

Turns out that babies get ankle monitors just like prisoners!  I had no idea.  I'd never seen such a new baby before in my life.  She is so super tiny.  Her weight at birth was 7 lbs and 4.8 oz.  I got to hold her when she was two days old.  Two days!  That's such a brand new person with out any bad feelings in the world at all.  I wanna look at the work from the perspective of a 2 day old.  Everyone loves you and thinks you're the best person in the entire world.

This is my big brother with his little lady.

She sleeps a lot.

I didn't get to see her on day 3 of her life.  But I got to hang out for an extended period of time on day 4.  One of my brother's girlfriend's friends (mouthful) bought her a sitting for a photo shoot.  They schedule it for today and I was a lucky Panda because my brother came and picked me up from the hotel so I could be there.  I got to hold her again and give her little auntie kisses.  I'm really excited for the pictures to be edited and to be able to get some.  The photographer was really sweet and super nice.  And she seemed like she had super reasonable prices.  Here's a link to her fb page.

Here's one of the poses.  ADORABLE.

I had to take of picture of this.  Meet Miss Pink Bear that came with the flowers we sent.  :)

I babysat for five whole minutes by myself.  This is proof.

Any chance I get I run away from the hotel to just be around this little soul.  I'm entranced by her presence.  Brother and his girlfriend were at the mall so I skipped out on the last half of an evening session to run and hang out with them for the half an hour that they were there.  Even that was magical.

She has a frog binky.  My mom would be so proud.

Avacation Part Five

 The last of the pictures off my phone from the trip.  Captions only folks.

Okay the last picture from the Crush night.  I swear.

I so wish they had these in big people sizes.

A woman has her priorities.  I celebrate everything with champagne and sparkling wine.  Everything.

We shopped a little bit too much.

This little beauty I bought for trapping.  I'm in love with it.

It was a clear beautiful day for flying home.

Kinley.  :D

Avacation Part Four

Here are a few shots of the full outfit for crush.  I ended up crashing at Shauntel's and took this in the morning when I came back to the hotel.  Classy!

I love love love these boots.

I tend to forget what a shopping fiend my Momma is.  She can wear me out and that lady is more than twice my age!  On one particular shopping trip we went to JoAnn fabric for some specific fabric needs.  We picked out what we needed and headed towards the fabric counter.  The charming lady that helped us was wheezing and sweating all over our fabric.  She claimed dizzy spells.  We suggested she take a day she mumbled something incoherent and kept on cutting.  At.  A.  Glacial.  Pace.  It was painful.  Also, she didn't fold the fabric she just piled it up and passed it over.  So we refolded it all.  Even with us refolding things it took about twenty minutes longer than necessary.  Afterward, a little something-something was in order.

Mom and I needed treats after a particularly stressful trip to JoAnn fabrics.

Nap time is a necessity when on vacation.

So is television time.

Free cookies and coffee are a bonus.  So is free fast internet.

Everyday the hotel brought out fresh, freaking hot cookies at noontime.  It was my downfall.  My pants started to get a little bit tight by the end of the trip.  However, that could have also be due to all of the delicious food that Momma treated me to.  I really am a spoiled little girl.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Avacation Part Three

On Tuesday night Crush held a wine dinner partnered with Owen Roe Winery.  When I found out the dinner was going on and I was going to be in town I emailed Shauntel immediately.  She called the restaurant immediately.  And we were immediately excited.  And for good reason.  Here was the menu:

Apéritif (served with Amuse-Bouche) paired with 2009 Corvidae Ravenna Riesling
Oysters on the half shell with dry vermouth granita paired with 2009 Corvidae Ravenna Riesling & Owen Roe Sauvignon Blanc
Golden & Red beet terrine with basil-oil and goat cheese crème fraîche paired with 2011 Owen Roe Sinister Hand
Espresso rubbed Dry Aged Prime Ribeye with tomato gratin and sautéed endive with blue cheese fondue paired with 2009 Owen Roe Cabernet Franc "Rosa Mystica" & 2010 Owen Roe Ex Umbris Syrah
and finally, for dessert, Stone fruit crème fraîche crêpes paired with 2007 Owen Roe Late Harvest Semillon "Parting Glass

The oysters.  Fantastic.

Beet terrine.  Very different, yet delicious.

This.  This was amazing.  So mouthwatering and amazing.

Fantastic.

Avacation Part Two

While we've been here, we've had some great family time and visiting.  We don't all run errands together but we sure know how to eat dinner together.  This is the first time that me and my brother PK's mom and Lara's mom have been able to meet.  It's been super nice.  The lobby in this hotel is very bright and welcoming.  There is coffee 24/7.  A lot of time has been spent sharing stories from each other lives.

Moose's Tooth.  A must for Momma.

After some running around and Christmas shopping Momma and I decided that we needed some lunch.  She loves Moose's Tooth so I drove our awesome mini van with fancy blue track lighting on the ceiling over there.  We had just spent an hour or so poking around Kohl's.  I think we both scored.  Mom got an appliance and I got a tank top for $3.25.  What's better than that?

I went with a small salad.

Their Hungarian mushroom soup is glorious.  Seriously.  Devour a bowl or at least try a cup if you ever get the opportunity.  The pizza crust is pretty fantastic, go with any pizza that has roasted garlic on it, or add roasted garlic to any pizza.  Their beers are delicious.  Blending the Hard Apple and the Raspberry Wheat is an amazing combination.  I recommend it for anyone that likes a light. fruity beer.

And their glorious hungarian mushroom soup.  YES.

We went to Michael's.  I found a panda figurine.

Panda!

I found two panda figurines.  I may or may not have left them in a compromising position for some unsuspecting individual to find.  After all, one must entertain themselves after shopping for hours.

Pandas.  *snicker*

Avacation Part One

This week Momma and I decided to come into Anchorage to spend time with Lara and PK while they're waiting for little Miss AvaKate to come into the world.  She's not scheduled to arrive until November 2nd, so we're a little early, but it's what was planned.

Plane ride into Anchorage.  This is Momma.  Everyone say hi.

The flight was significantly delayed coming into Unalakleet. Our weather was down and PenAir didn't even leave Anchorage until about 3.  But this gave us plenty of time for a bacon filled breakfast and a few games of Catan with Kaitlyn.  A perfect way to spend a delayed flight day.

Snow covered mountains!

The delay put us into Anchorage pretty late.  We had a loooong stop over in Aniak, mostly due to the stupid FAA guy that was on board the flight with us.  Not to mention the plane was on the ground in Unalakleet for almost an hour.  Whine, whine, whine...  I know.  It's a plane right.  By the time it landed and we picked up the rental I was starving.  So I consider it legitimate whining.  I don't think we were hunting a restaurant down without a wait list until around 8 o'clock.

Gosh it was a beautiful sunset though.  The timing was perfect for that.

And we could see the moon.

On my last trip into Anchorage I saw a preview for The Perks of Being A Wallflower.  I had NO idea that it was being made into a movie.  Aaaand the gentlemen that wrote the book, Stephen Chbosky, also wrote the screenplay and directed the movie.  Talk about rare.  I went on Sunday night.  I adored it.  Adored.

Perks