life lately

... has been miraculous - really! Full of Christmas Miracles. But it has also been very crazy!! That is why tonight I decided to update the blog. It was over due. Tonight I went from having 3 measly posts for the month of December to having 8!! I hope you have some time to browse, you never know what you'll find!

And no.. the Winnebago isn't ours, but it was kinda fun looking sitting in the snow a couple of weeks ago. It probably has a fun history tied to some hippies up here. 

winter

Before running our errands this afternoon, Mark and I drove Buckwheat down to the end of the street. Remember what this looks like in the summer? yep.. so different!! You can tell where the fog lies low in the valley because the trees are all white and iced over. The sun doesn't even touch down here anymore. And tomorrow is the shortest day of the year. Since we're inside the Arctic Circle up here, it is a huge deal! We can start adding on minutes of sunshine every day. Bring on the sun! 

Squadron's Christmas Party

Friday night was Mark's squadron Christmas Party at the Captain Cook hotel in downtown Anchorage. It was a great party!! Lots of funny people, a live band, yummy food - steak and salmon! - Door prizes, we won 2 tickets to the Symphony in January (thanks to a pair of friends). I forgot that so many people still hadn't seen me with blonde hair - it was fun to see people's faces change from normal to ultimate surprise. It's just hair, right?? ha!

Festival of the Nativities

At one of our chapels in Wasilla (near where Sarah Palin lives, actually!), the community brought many of their nativity scenes together. These scenes and set ups combined with live music, and our church art, it was quite event. They closed off the chapel, but as to not let it remain a mystery room, they opened the accordion doors to peek in. It was nice, I thought.

In each of the classrooms around the church, there were elaborate set ups and themes; many themed around other countries and cultures. Entire rooms were swathed in cloth, ornaments and lights. Below is a Chinese Paper umbrella from one of the prettiest rooms. 

Here is a really interesting nativity from Germany:

And my very favorite nativity is below. It is so elaborate. The wise men were riding a horse, elephant, and camel. Everything about it screams 'don't touch.' The person who allowed this to be on display was very trusting:
They also had cute ones where the entire scene was portrayed by families of black bear, moose, or little mice. The animal families even had little angels. Here is one of the black bears.. notice the bear-mule? The little bear-angel on the right, looks like he's straining so hard not to slip, and then the little bear-sheep? I couldn't get enough. 

I'm glad I went this year! I don't remember the ones from when I lived in Las Vegas, by my mom said they do this in lots of areas. It was great!

Christmas from WA

When Mark went on my 'special trip' to hand-deliver my parent's Christmas present, they gave him something for him to hand deliver to me!  How splendid! This is a lot of my own things from when I was growing up; dolls, blankets, clothes, books (lots of books), and other keepsakes. When Mark said how much stuff it was, and that the other members of his crew kept laughing, I was so embarrassed!! They said that Mark has the new record of bringing things home for his wife. AH! 

Unloading all of this, Mark had to ask the help of our friend Josh Q. It wouldn't even fit in our suv - and we have moved a lot of things with that car. Goodness!

strange

We are under 6 hours of daylight now, so it is dark when I drive to work and home from work. But I actually have been enjoying it; it's really relaxing and it makes things seem extra Christmas-y. 

What's weird has been that the last several weeks it has been snowy and foggy, but the last couple of days, the snow and ice have been melting! The Chinook winds have blown in from Hawaii and it has been raining in Alaska, in December! It's just too strange, but it happens every year, so I guess it's nothing out of the norm. 
Though winter is still looming, it hasn't been as biting as it has been the last couple of months. 

*the snowflake-picture were snowflakes that had fallen on my windshield before the glass warmed up. The car is freezing after work. So much so I have to wear gloves and touch the steering wheel as little as possible (just like a hot steering wheel in Las Vegas). 

gifts

The first of the gifts are wrapped, shipped (hand delivered, by my hubba-husband, a pilot-perk I suppose!), opened, and eaten! I sent some of the best caramels to my mom and pop. 

With the little black bear ornament for their down-sized tree. Happy Christmas, Mom and Dad!

who's got it?

The button(s)? I have them! And I used them...To make this cute little guy, today! At quilting, Jodi C. (C standing for the Creative genius that she is) came up with this 'mystery'. She gave us the measurements and the fabric, we just brought the embellishments. Little buttons and ribbons. I didn't use the ribbon, but I sure used the buttons! Most people doing this snowman did an entire face of small buttons or x-stitches. Jodi found these two antique buttons for me; they didn't even have holes for the needle. I just poked it through the fabric to stitch to the fabric. I LOVED their Wallace & Gromet effect they had when I put them on just a little crooked. So that's how they stayed. I skipped the nose and smile because they were just too charming by themselves. 

More buttons are on our tree! This year we skipped the shiny balls and only hung our shiny bells and all our cute, comely ornaments. It is so cozy...

Who's got the button? Yours truly!

a mighty change of hair

Yesterday, I went here: 

To do this to myself: 

After moments of panic, laughter, more panic, relief (when Mark saw it and said he loved it), then sobbing (after scary thoughts of showing up for church and work) and then finally acceptance... here is the proof that I did away with my brown trusses and exchanged them for some very golden locks. And oh my goodness, are they gold. 

 

What? you want a closer look? here you are... be nice: 

Then we went to see the Nutcracker in downtown Anchorage, featuring the Oregon Ballet Theatre: 

It was beautiful. I would have taken pictures during the performance (no flash, of course), but it was not allowed. All the costumes and stage pieces have strict copyrights, unfortunately. I love the names given to the different sequences of dancers in the Palace of the Land of Sweets. Here are the cute little candy-land names: Spanish Hot Chocolate (my favorite), Arabian Coffee, and Tea from China. These cute and 'magical' numbers were followed by the Candy Canes, Marzipan Shepherdesses, the mighty Mother Ginger with her Polichinelles, and the beautiful Dewdrop and her flowers (Mark's favorite). The ballet company were guests from Oregon, and my friend's daughter was one of the little angel fairies (too adorable for words). 

mother nature

is freezing: 

After running out of room in our refrigerator for 2 liter sodas, we had to resort to alternative options. Thank you, Mother Nature. 

Sidenotes: 

1. This magnificently dynamic and artistically advanced photograph is the first one to be posted on my blog from The Beastly Camera! Good to know that it's living up to it's potential, right? 

2. It has snowed almost 9 more inches since this picture was taken on thanksgiving day. I love it!

NPR

Breakthrough: I FINALLY found National Public Radio up here in Alaska. It took me a ridiculous amount of time and searching, asking and googling. Even when I'd ask someone up here what station it is, they would never be able to give me a straight answer. When I looked it up online, the station was not what it said it was. When I searched through the lower digit stations, I found lots of Christian Talk Radio, and even a Celtic channel, but no NPR. It was uncanny the way I could never find the station. I thought I found the station once a few weeks ago, but when it completely faded to static as soon as I reached the city limits, I didn't know what to do. 

Turns out I was just a couple of clicks too shy. What a joke. Maybe it really is only for smart people. Because I think I must have been going through IQ deprivations for the last long while. But now I am feeling intelligent again; filling my mind with current news updates and Car Talk hysterics. hurray for strange patients who give straight answers and love radio. Hallelujah!