Life in Alaska

I have a bit of spare time today so I thought I would write a little something. The weather is nice today and we are getting a layer of beautiful snow! It is so much fun to watch it snow, but not so much fun to drive in it.

I have been staying busy while Allen has been in Prudhoe. I have volunteered with the local theatre company and am going to be helping with the costuming in their production of Anne of Green Gables. I can't tell you how excited I am. The director and costumer are both super nice ladies and they have been including me in everything. I know I am going to have a ton of fun, but it is going to be a lot of work! 32 cast members, a small budget, and a period production! Fun, fun, fun! We should be getting together with the cast sometime this week to get measurements. I can't wait.

I have been doing a lot of sewing and crocheting lately. Last week I made a 6-gore skirt (which I wasn't to pleased with), a flannel slip, a fleece wrap which is almost finished, and an amazingly cute purse. I also found a web site that has free audio books to download. While sewing the skirt I got to listen to "Treasure Island". It wasn't bad. It was a nice change from the Austen romances I have been reading.

Friday I ended up watching my friend Ami's children while she and her husband went on a date. They brought over their train set and tons of cars, I put away all my breakable items and we had a lot of fun! They pulled out everything from they toy box they brought over and my whole living room became a play ground. I really enjoyed having them over and forgot how much fun children are. They each had tons to tell me and all wanted to help with supper. So the four of us worked together to make the cornbread and it to all three boys to check and see if it was done. I think the funniest thing was when I showed them that a magnet will stick to metal. Their train set hooks together with magnets and each boy grabbed a train car a proceeded to see what in the apartment was metal. They were so funny going along one after the other in a little line and touching everything they could reach before proclaiming "yep" or "nope". They went through every room and checked each and every toy they had. It was a lot of fun!

Of course, Saturday came. Yes, I spent "Singles Awareness Day" all alone, yet I am not single. However, my loving husband did a great job of waking me up first thing in the morning to tell me ..... well the usual mushy stuff. :) He also told me that I have a gift coming in the mail and I can't wait to see what in the world he could have sent me from Prudhoe Bay Alaska. He said that during their safety meeting on Friday they reminded all the married men what the next day was and that they should make all the necessary arrangements, flowers and such. Their bosses told them them, in the most solemn tones, that they were just as concerned about their safety at home as they were on the rig. lol Well, I ended up sewing all day and then went and got some movies from the Movie Gallery we have up here. I made myself and big bowl of popcorn and had a great time staying up late! I didn't even feel one bit sorry for myself. :) lol

Anyway, that is what has been happening up here this week. I know it isn't much but hey, it's February in Alaska. 

 

My purse:

Dumping out the toys

When Kalian disappeared.

The finished track.

Micah

The legs of the table are, in fact, metal but the top isn't

Checking every toy on their pile. They were surprised at how many cars weren't real metal. :)

Allen's Week Off

Last week was Allen's week off. He had been gone a total of four weeks this last hitch cause of all the rigs getting shut down and  such. But, all that finally straightened out and he has a job for at least another three months. :)

Many of you know about all of the volcano trouble we have been having......or not having. Redoubt, a volcano about 100 miles south of Anchorage, has been acting up lately and threatening to blow her top. As luck would have it she threw her biggest tantrum on the day that Allen was suppose to fly into Anchorage. This was just what I needed. I was finally getting my husband back and just when you think that nothing else could go wrong......a volcano comes out of nowhere. Needless to say I was very nervous driving to Anchorage that day. My only prayer was that he could land so we would at least be together during the eruption. Well.......Allen's plane was suppose to land at 4:20 (I think) and about 10 minutes before that the volcano experts (volcanist...... the live long and prosper folks) said that they expected it to blow within the next 15 minutes and that everyone should remain indoors. So I waited, and waited, and waited. I couldn't read the book I had brought along cause I was right beside a cheerleading squad. I must say that when one is in a state of worry they are the last people you want for company. If they sang another chorus of "that's the way" I was seriously thinking of shoving their pom-poms down their throats. To make a long story short the plane landed fine and Allen and I were reunited once again. We drove home and the volcano decided to hold off on it's eruption. All that worry for nothing

While Allen was here we got out a lot. We went to a Mennonite church on Sunday, since there was some sickness in ours. It was my first time sitting on the "women only" side and I must say it wasn't that bad. It has been a while since I have had to play "the name game" and I am losing my touch. No one seemed to know of any Schlabachs from Montezuma, so I had to explain the Holmes county side, which people were more familiar with. I also learned that there is another Abe and Susie Schlabach that live in Trail, and they have a family full of girls, not boys. Go figure.

We also managed to stop by every snow machine dealer in Wasilla and I have this strange feeling that I am going for a ride when Allen gets back off this next hitch. We found a nice rental place that has weekend packages where you can rent a little cabin along with your machine. That way you can ride trails into some more remote locations and camp out over night. I am not sure where I am going to get my gear, but when Allen gets something like this in his head it will happen. I am actually really excited about it as he says that it is a lot of fun.

Well, it is late and I am going to head off to bed. I am going to try and post more later but I figured that this was enough to pacify all of you readers out there. I apologize if it is lacking in any way.

Almost February

Yes, I know it has been a while. I just never know what to write on here. But I will write something even if it is nothing to pacify all of my critics.

As most of you know, I went to Georgia for a week this month. I figured that since Allen had to work a three week shift, that it would be a good time. I was missing everyone and everyone was missing me (right?).The trip went well and I gave everyone a nice surprise. While I was there, God decided to test my faith. Allen knew that his rig was probably going to be shut down, but they weren't certain. If it did, they were told that all of the crew would go to a new one for a few months until summer, when they would come back to their original one. They did end up shutting it down, but they didn't send the entire crew to this new rig, in fact they only sent a handful of men. Guess who didn't go....yep, Allen. He was told on Friday that he would be out of work in two days until the summer. So....we had a serious dilemma. Do we ride out the next few months in Alaska or Georgia. (I know that at this point all of my readers are wondering why it would be so hard to chose, and that your choice happens to be the state you are in) Well, it was a tough thing for us. We would have very little money coming in and so we would have to think smart. It was really "6 one way and half a dozen the other" situation, just which one to chose. Thankfully we didn't have to make that call as Allen had a friend that pulled some strings and got him a position on another rig. The only downside was that he would have to work an extra 4 weeks! But, it was a job and we were thankful. A few days later it got shortened to 2 weeks and then by the time I came back home it ended up getting shortened to 1. Allen comes home tomorrow! The only draw back is that he will only have a week off. Again, it is a job and we are thankful!

Settling back into a routine up here has gone well. Alaska went through a thaw while I was gone and it was actually warmer in Alaska than Georgia for a while. All the snow was gone when I returned and my poor snowman returned to the earth from whence he came. It looked very different without the snow, but still beautiful and majestic. It finally started snowing yesterday! Now there is a soft layer of white all over the place. I have to admit that I have fallen in love with this white little miracle so foreign to us Southerners. I can't explain it. The cold doesn't seem as cold when it is snowing and it just seems to make you smile. I pity those of you in Georgia not able to enjoy it.

As to what I have been up to, I have not been up to much. :) The roads were very good this past week because of the thaw so I took the opportunity and went on some nice drives. I actually drove the P-W highway (Palmer-Wasilla) for the first time yesterday. I have avoided that road in times past as it has a lot of red lights and me, my Yukon, ice, and red lights haven't gotten along very well as of yet. I went to all the big stores, to my husbands dismay, and hit all the clearance racks. Would you believe that Target already has their bathing suits out! It was 11* outside, snowing and they were selling bikinis!!!! I had to laugh. When I was done shopping I went to the Shields' house for a surprise birthday party for Ami. I still don't have any pics of my friends as I always leave my camera when I go visit (not intentional). Not only that, but they love having their picture taken as much as I.

The neat thing that happened this week was that I survived my first earth quake! It was a 6.1! It really wasn't that big of a deal and didn't cause any damage. I thought it was really cool! Can you imagine what it would be like it Georgia had a 6.1! That would be hysterical. People would freak out! Just a funny thought.

Well, I have reached my writer's block and will now end my entry. I hope ya'll are satisfied with my update and I will do my best to make another entry next week.

Here are some Georgia pics for ya'll

Mrs. Mari, Tina, and I

John in the morning. This was the first time he woke up without his hair being all disheveled. I was glad I was there on this historic day. :)

Cassidy

The girls in their new aprons!

Um...Cheri, Carmen(I know that is right), then Cari...I think

Lady Kathryn (Katie for short) giving me her look.

Youth playing Skip-Bo

Entertainment for the evening provided by Steve...the left handed, guitar pickin, toe tappin, Do-Ra-Mi singin wonder.

Cephus playing along with his Daddy

Evan and Kayla

Cassidy won 1st place in her vault and balance beam! She placed 5th over all!

Highway 49

Schwatzi Dog! The coolest, most, amazing dog ever!

Kristin and I

Judith and Rett

Happy New Year!

This year has brought a lot of changes to our little two person family! Who would have thought that this year we would be bringing in a new year in Alaska!

We went to our landlord's for a new years party. We had steaks, finger foods, and best of all.........Alaskan King Crab! Yes, be jealous. It was amazing. I have never seen crab legs so huge! They were very good. After supper, we all went outside for fireworks. The only catch was that it was -25. For those of you who don't know, that is really cold. We would shoot off a few, then run inside to thaw out. It was quite the experience. They had awesome fireworks, you know the big kind that we can't even get in Georgia. We had a lot of fun. Here are some pics for y'all:

These are king crab legs!

Allen freezing outside

 

Allen and I :)

 

Well.....Happy New Year!

Our Christmas Pics

Sorry it has taken so long to post these, but I left my camera at a friend's house. When she brought it to church on Sunday, I left it there, too. It is really amazing to be a blonde. I got it back today and here are our latest pictures. There isn't many, but it is all we have.

All our presents waiting to be opened!

Christmas morning

My presents! Our landlords gave us the sign.

Allen's presents.......yes, I love the shirt!

Our landlord's decorated our snowman! Isn't he cute!!!!!

Us standing with our decorators. :)

Us at our Church gathering on Sunday.

Sunrise just beginning

The Matanuska River in Winter

 

Merry Christmas!

     Sorry it has been so long since I posted. I know some of you are wondering how we are. Allen come home last week and we have been busy with all the holiday stuff and I haven't had time to post, especially since Allen is always on when I remember to.

     Our Christmas was wonderful! We braved the post office line and got our holiday packages. The Palmer post office is the busiest post office I have ever seen! There is always a huge line, and the last three times we went there, we waited for thirty minutes. Anyway, we got our packages without pulling our hair out or being rude to the obnoxious person you always get stuck behind, and got to open them bright and early Christmas morning. Even though I am not a home anymore, I still felt like a kid. Not from the excitement, but the fact that Allen took great pleasure in making me wait to open my presents. He declared that he had to eat first, which he took his good ole time doing, and then that patience was a virtue and he felt it was his responsibility to teach me that virtue! Why husbands take such delight in picking on their wives, I will never know. He finally let me open my gifts and they were all wonderful! Both of us were very excited about them. Thank you all!

     Well, for Christmas day we went to Josh and Ami's house for dinner. They are a couple we have met at church that doesn't have family up here, so they invited us over so we could be alone together. :) They are close to Allen's age and they have four children. It was so much fun! We had an amazing Christmas dinner with all the trimmings and then we went sledding! Of course it was dark (this is Alaska) but that just added to the excitement! It was snowing (yes.....my first white Christmas!) so as you raced down the hill your froze and as you climbed up the hill you burned up. The funny thing that happened to me was that all the little fly-away hairs that I had sticking out of my hat........they froze! It was so funny, I had to think of Cool Runnings (the movie). Ami was quick to tell my not to touch them though cause they were very brittle and would break. She said that is the way to have an Alaskan hair cut ; wash your hair, walk outside, then break it to the correct length. lol

     After sledding, we went inside for desert and then watched "It's a Wonderful Life". I know that my family back home watched it without me, and since I can't remember a Christmas where I didn't watch it, I wasn't going to skip this year. It is a great movie and I always get something new out of it every time. And that is how our Christmas went!

     Allen has found some really neat web sites since he has been home and I figured I would share them with y'all:

This is the Aurora Forecast: http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/

And this tells you of all the latest earth quakes: http://www.aeic.alaska.edu/Seis/recenteqs_sub/index.html

 

I am not sure if y'all know that Alaska has lots of earth quakes! It is in the Pacific's "Ring of Fire" and so we even have active volcanoes along with all the seismic activity. Here are some awesome facts about Alaska:

-It has one fifth the land mass of the entire continental U.S. 586,000 sq miles

-33,000 miles if coast line

-19 mountain peaks over 14,000 ft.

-3 million lakes larger than 20 acres!

-Has more than half the world's glaciers; 100,000 glaciers that cover 30,000 sq miles. Malaspina, 850 sq miles is the largest and roughly the size of Rhode Island.

-Highest mountain in the US Mt. McKinley; 20,320 ft.

-70 or more active volcanoes

-Has approximately 50 quakes each year that register over 5 on the Richter scale; over 22,000 total a year :)

-Shortest day Dec. 21 (winter solstice)- 5.28 hours of sunlight (Anchorage)

-Longest day June 21 (summer solstice)- 19.21 hours (Anchorage)

-In Barrow, the sun rises May 10th and sets August 2nd (84 days of constant light). Then it will set on November 18th and not rise till January 24th (67 days of darkness)

 

BTW- I left my camera at Ami's so picture will be posted later.

Colony Christmas Fun!

Every year in Palmer they have the Colony Christmas Celebration. My landlords were kind enough to let me tag along with them this year. The whole town takes part in this, cause when you are stuck in Alaska you have to have something to entertain you. We went to the pancake breakfast at the Salvation Army, then we went to all the craft bazaars. The bazaars were all over town in five different buildings. We also went to a few stores to get the trivia answers (which are hidden all over town), but we went home cause the kids were getting a little tired. I was glad we did, cause I ended up going to Sears to buy a winter coat and a good pair of boots.

The biggest fun of Colony Christmas is the parade, yes, you heard right. We showed up a 5:00 PM (btw, it is completely dark by then) and got to watch the parade. It lasted about an hour and you'll never guess how cold it was............ -7! Would you believe that little miss Catherine stood there the whole time! Not only that, but I even stood outside for the fireworks! I can hardly believe it myself, but it is true. My nose was frozen, I couldn't feel my toes, and my face ached but I did it. I now know what it is like to have your nose crunch (ask someone from up north to explain this one) and just how wonderful hand warmers are. The locals taught me a few tricks, like how to hold your hands just right, which I can not divulge except to my fellow Alaskans. Anyway, I had a blast and feel as though my adventure up here may not be as bad as I once thought. I was told that if I could handle tonight, I could handle it all. I figured I would share this picture with yall. As you can see, my nose was frozen. That was the worst part of it all. Enjoy the pic. :)

These are my landlord's daughters. The smoke that you see in the picture, is actually steam. The photographer exhaled as he took the pic.

 

By the way, how do yall like the coat? :)