bunko

The Air Force has many deep rooted traditions for the spouses which lend support and friendship while their husbands are gone. When I married Mark, his mother gave me a book that had every sort of etiquette in order to be an Air Force Wife. It is such a fun book, I love to browse through it and extract ideas for parties and place settings. It has such things as 'how to set proper place setting' to 'invitation cards for different types of parties.'  To establish new friendships fast, or just to keep girls busy while their husbands are away, there are things such as "Coffees" where the wives get together for snacks, and a couple of games of Bunko. It is a 3-die game where you role for different numbers and rotate to different tables depending on your 'win-lose' status. I had a great time, and this silly game brought out my competitive edge. Normally only tennis or catch-phrase can do that! On the Bunko link provided above there are score sheets you can print off, and you can play without drinks or money (like we did), ad there is a way you can do without 4 people at your table. You just play with a 'ghost partner.' If you ever need an idea for a Young Women's or Relief Society Activity, this game comes highly recommended. It's a great way to have fun and get to know your table-mates... if you're not glaring at them through dice-glazed eyes. 

*the above picture is of a group of Air Force wives back in the day playing this vintage game of rolling dice. Try it! You won't be sorry. 

happy things

Hope everyone had a happy St. Patrick's Day! Today we thought we had a touch of Irish luck, but we decided we were being scammed. O happy day. Why can't there just be a lucky chair? 

*the picture above is of Kylemore Abby in Connacht, Ireland. I didn't take this picture, but I love it.  Who wants to go to Ireland with me?

in with the new

Yesterday I gave in to the camera temptation and ordered a Canon A570. 

Aubrey mentioned her Canon A-series and I thought to follow suit. After much research, I found it. Ordered it. Now I wait. 

*The home inspection was on Thursday and went very well. We love the house even more now. 

goodbye camera

Meet: our camera. 

Hear: it's history. 

Mark has had this camera (picture found on ebay, under a caption "broken parts only") since he got home from his mission. He said, in about 2003 is when it was purchased. What a noble camera it has been. It even has gone to the Orient with him when he and a few other friends went to China for the Academy. It has been getting older the last few months. Aubrey heard how old it was when we met, and she said, "That is really old... for technology." I think she added the "for technology" part because she saw Mark's saddened face. 

Girls drop everything. It's a wonder we're the ones entrusted with babies. It's no exception when it comes to cameras; even when they come with safety, drop-proof straps. Which I wear most times I use it. Poor camera. So, for as many times as I use it, compared to as many times as I have dropped it, it is pretty good odds. Now that you know about my dropping tendencies, I will continue.

I am in the market now for a 'temporary' digital camera. There is a site called "woot.com" that every night at midnight, it showcases something electronic. The amount being sold varies with what it is, but this is what I will be checking in 15 minutes when it is updated. I'm crossing my fingers that there is a nice camera for the price of dirt. This site really is pretty incredible. Click on "product stats" to see how many are selling every hour after midnight. I dare you to check it if you're ever up past midnight. 

So long camera, it has been a wonderful few years that we've known each other. You have done a tremendous job in teaching me even the smallest of cameras can be used to capture beauty. 

we bought what?

We bought a house! I blotched out the numbers, so I feel safe putting this on here. But I'm too excited not to share. After house hunting for a mere two days, we saw this house on the second day, loved it so much, and made an offer. The nice military couple accepted the offer and in May we'll be moving in. We wanted to give them time to move out and get to their new base, etc. 

It is three stories with an unfinished basement (we're very excited about this project), but all the wiring and plumbing is already done. Whew! It's next to a part of the green belt, which is where there cannot be any development, the trees and wildlife is left alone, so Buckwheat will be able to have his glorified space. Granted, if there's no dangerous eagles, wolves, or bears... or moose! 

We've seen three moose so far. All the rest must still be dead. Mark had a briefing on bear safety, and then relayed it to me. Here's what I learned: guns don't stop a bear, it only makes them mad. On hikes, carry a "bear size" pepper spray. It's as big as a can of spray paint, I guess! Then you are supposed to 'react' differently to different bears, and also different situations. If you startle the bear, stand still and let it bite you (essentially). WHAT the heck. Then it'll leave you alone. It just needs to feel like it's done it's job of not being the weak one. But if it scares you, yell and throw rocks. Oh my. Still no wolves yet. Thank goodness!

the break up

The past two days here, it has been above freezing = it has been 40 degrees, so the "break up"  has begun. For now. This weekend it should fall to freezing again. The break up is when the ice starts to melt and break apart, as does the snow. Because I meant to take a picture for you all of these extreme roads and parking lots, I had to run out tonight at dusk when I remembered (hence yet another grey set of photos) my mission. You see how thick the ice is? And in the morning when it's all frozen again it's all nice and rounded because of the melting. And that means it's even slicker. How is everything not bashed in? I'm still trying to figure that one out. 

happy things

Something is in the works...

meet at See's

This morning after breakfast, I had an overwhelming craving for chocolates. Last week (the day we boarded the ferry), I got a box of See's Chocolates, which are my all-time favorite.  They had been frozen the whole journey, so I had to wait for them to thaw. They're delish. And while I was enjoying a sweet piece filled with the softest caramel, I was reminded of what else had happened that day. I had attempted this blog-post last week, the day of, but the internet on the boat was not the best. So a week and a half ago, I wrote: 

Today I had my first blog-meet with my blog-friend Aubrey; she is a cousin of my friend Mauri's. I have now put a face to a blog. It was my first, so I have to admit I was a bit nervous, but she was such a sweet person, she made me feel like we've known each other for a very long time. Very enthusiastic and encouraging. I can tell her kids love her for it. Her sweet children came a long as well and loved to watch Buckwheat and hold his leash as he traipsed around the park. 

After we left my aunt's and uncle's Bellevue home, we went to a QFC (fantastic grocery chain if you ever get the chance to go to one - mom I got you a QFC benefit card already) and then to See's Candies where we met Aubrey. My Aunt Lynn drew us a fantastic map.

Aubrey I'm so glad we got to meet. I'm sure I'll see you again now that my parents will be nearby. Good luck with all this week's events! Enjoy those Ghana stories. 

'o8 Iditarod

Earlier this week, Mark and I ate chinese food, and along with the food came a cookie for us each, of course! Mine gave me the prediction of doing something new this weekend... wonder what it could have been?

This morning was when I did the 'something new'. We attended the start of the 2008 Iditarod dog sled races! Here's a video, courtesy of yours truly. 

*enjoy my first blog-video. It took a while to figure out, so enjoy!

I thought they would shoot a gun and they all take off at once, biting and barking for first place, but it was much more relaxed, but still very interesting! They must have an listed order for who starts to run first. I was also surprised to see that they run with two sleds and three people. I suppose there is safety in numbers. As a side note, all the dogs had booties on! I heard that they have been doing this because it saves time of stopping every so often to get the ice out of the dogs' paws. 

No ice, less stops, more running = faster time. It was awesome! We were on the lesser crowded parts of the streets. Down were all the ice sculptures were, there were crowds and crowds of people. We walked down there and I had to hold my camera to take pictures just so I could see anything. The dogs were pulling so hard. I only could tell this when they would pass us and I was looking at them from behind; they would be leaning in the farthest-forward direction from where they had been tied to the team. They are good examples of loving their job. What extraordinary animals! Buckwheat needs to meet these dogs. He'd have some role models.

driving the Alcan

Monday around 11:00, the ferry docked in Haines, Alaska and we drove off to a "Welcome to Alaska" sign. It was snowing and pretty dang cold. But it was beautiful!

We stopped off the side of the road to wait for the other two cars in our caravan before driving to the hotel. The water was still that slate grey because of the cloud cover, and there were so many bald eagles. At the hotel the next morning when we were packing up the car, Buckwheat got really nervous and would stand on top of his kennel so he wouldn't be forgotten. Poor guy! 
When we were driving through the part of Alaska before British Columbia, Canada, we counted 15 bald eagles, and 1 golden eagle in only a distance of 20 miles or so. They were everywhere.  When we drove into British Columbia we saw these two tractors plowing and blowing snow off the highway. It looked like they were trying to make a bunny hill or something.
I had to use the restroom a short distance into Canada, and the only things they had were these little outhouse rest stops off the sides of the highway. That was the coldest seat ever! My family and cousins will know what I mean when I say it is even colder than the Judd cabin's toilet seats early in the morning. 

After British Columbia, Canada came the beautiful Yukon:
After leaving British Columbia (which was desolate tundra nearly the whole way - awfully depressing!), we made it to the Yukon. It was beautiful. Below, this is the largest lake in the Yukon. It was all frozen. In one part of it, there were parts where an actual wave had frozen; almost like it had been frozen while it was crashing. It was bizarre. The caps were even frozen. It reminded me of The Day After Tomorrow. Sorry about Buckwheat's blatant sniffing. How about that hoodie on him, eh?

Leaving the Yukon, we saw the Alaska sign! It was huge, and the people we were driving with took a few other pictures of us but said we looked "too cold". So this is us "not looking cold."

About 80 miles outside of Anchorage, there was the biggest glacier we have seen yet. It looked a lot like the lake in the Yukon that was frozen because it looks like it has white caps like the ocean would. It came spilling out of a mountain, about 4 miles behind us (you can't see it in the picture) and kept going! We pulled over to all get a picture with it.  Where we were wasn't even the end of this glacier. I'm so excited to see it in the summer time when it's green around it. 

We are so excited to be in Anchorage. There are stores, restaurants, forests, inches of ice in every parking lot (I don't understand how everything isn't bashed in), and indiscreet moose that apparently don't like me! Last night we went to The Moose's Tooth (delicious pizza and home made root beer), then afterwards our friends drove us around to find a moose. They were so surprised we didn't even see one with where we were driving; I had warned them that they must not like me - that or they're all dead. 

Alaska Ferry

These pictures are some of my favorites from the ferry-cruise. The above picture I took Sunday morning when we pulled in to Ketchikan.  It was the first stop we made, and the first thing we saw after we passed through Canadian waters. This next picture would fit the right of the one above; the sun had lit up all the fog on the water. The sunrises were beautiful!

In Juneau the following morning (Monday), Mark's cousin Shelly came out to visit us; it was extremely nice of her because the ferry docked at 4:3o! She and her two kids had to wake up so early. But they came out with their beast of a car and took us through the dark snow to the glacier and told us about this "friendly" black wolf who plays with other dogs who are on walks with their owners. Mark says he must have realized that it was easier to get food if he was nice. Makes me nervous (especially if you remember the 7 things post).
The first night we were on the boat, I woke up at 4:00 because it felt like I was falling downwards in my bed (feet first because we were rocking a bit). I woke up to find our first light house. I woke Mark up to see this ghostly white lighthouse with it's beacon light shining our boat every 3 seconds. The lighthouse above we saw on Monday morning after leaving Juneau.  The scenery was picturesque.
This picture above is full color, it's not in black and white. Everything looked like Ansel Adams photography.  We kept seeing little glaciers every now and again, but this one took the cake this day. 
Here's another light house we saw on Monday before we docked in Haines. It was pretty far away, so it's sort of fuzzy because of my crop job. 

Sunday night, we were standing at the stern of the boat and it had gotten dark while we were standing there. So dark in fact we couldn't see anything. All the sudden a huge spotlight turned on with a huge metallic noise. It swiveled on its axis to this iceberg! It wasn't too big or anything, but it was about 10 feet long out of water, so it must have been pretty big under the surface. Shortly after we passed that one, another spotlight turned on so they could spot even more icebergs. I felt like I was on the Titanic and was happy to go inside and play Skipbo and not think about the cold! 

ferry day 1

We arrived at the Alaskan Ferry on Friday at about 2:00, made some friends as we waited in line, and then boarded the biggest ferry I have ever seen at about 5:30. There were U-hauls, and semi-trucks being loaded! The red expedition with the roof box on top is an awesome military family we met who are going to Anchorage as well. They have three kids (the oldest is almost my age, a little strange thinking I've been married 2 years!), a dog and a cat. We will be caravanning with them on our way up through Canada and back down. 

If you enlarge this photo, you can see into the hull of the ship, this is where we parked and where Buckwheat remained a champ throughout the entire ride. On a side note, the cop on the right was wearing the greatest boots. Their motorcycles looked like fun as well. 

We got situated in our room, #171, and were happy to find that it was on the right side of boat. If we never left our room, we still would have had a great view.  This picture was right after we set our bags down. This is a coast guard boat that followed us up for a while. 

A little while after we started moving, there were small islands and inlets everywhere: 

This picture was taken the first night, when the clouds got a little thinner. We were closer to the open ocean, so it's a little rockier. Never got sea sick!

Mark and I spent a lot of time playing a new game his family gave us: Skip-bo. It's a great past time game that doesn't take much concentration, but Mark is still beating me every time! I think he's a bad shuffler. 

This picture was taken in a lounge at the front of the boat by a guy who Mark knew at the Academy who will be in our 3-car-caravan. He just got a new Canon, so I guess he was trying out our old Sony. 

The internet was really weak on the ferry, so every time I tried uploading pictures, it would fail. Now we're at the Captain's Choice Motel in Haines, AK and the internet is off-and-on stronger. Ferry day 2 coming up! 

a new view

Yesterday we stopped at a new home for my parents, and we loved what we saw! In the back, there's a blackberry bush. I am so excited for summer, when these shriveled berries will be rich, purple, and sweet with juice. 
In the front of the house I saw a huge Bumblebee, but it wasn't scary because it had a lot of fur on it, so it looked like the ones in stories - right. I got about 2 shots of its behind, then in this shot it started to take off and fly towards me! Buckwheat and I ran for the house. 
I turned around, and this is what I saw; it's breathtaking. My parents are going to get sick of me with how many visits I'm hoping to make.  

indian snow

A patchy here, a patchy there. 

* in this picture we're driving in Oregon, but across the river is Idaho. 

happy things

We're all packed up - o o oh!

The car is packed, the jerky and water is in my orange striped beach bag, Buckwheat is bathed, and Mark and I are excited. 

Watch out Alaska! Here we come!!

U2

Last night, Mark took me to go see the U2 Imax concert. It was so exciting! The messages of peace in their songs resonated so powerfully and loudly, that you couldn't help but be moved as Bono was singing 3 feet from your face. This 3D recording was done while on a final stop of their Vertigo Tour to Latin America. 

We thought that it was even better than a real concert! You weren't bumping up against sweaty people, you get all the close-ups you want (6 inches from Bono's outstretched hand), messages relayed on the screen, and it still seems like the crowd is all around you. I almost sang along as all the audience did when he held out the microphone; good thing I had the constant reminder from the big glasses that it wasn't real. 

If you like U2, the 3rd dimension, and you have an Imax somewhere near, I highly recommend this experience. 
* these photos I took through the glass' lense. I was pleasantly surprised that it worked (still 2D, but you get the gist). I had to get Larry Mullen (the drummer) because whenever you have a good drummer, it brings the music to life. Good drumming + excellent vocals + great guitarists = U2. Go see it. You won't be sorry.

2 years

2 years ago, my ring on the left was joined by Mark's ring on the right. His has more wear on it, just like any good man-ring should. These two rings have been with us through pilot training, four moves, dancing, yard work, game nights, and some unfortunate cooking incidences. But what is even more important than these two pretty rings is what they represent. The past two years of our marriage have been very wonderful, and not as hard as many people warned us it would be. We are very grateful for our experiences and our love; that like Elvis said, isn't as strong as it will be tomorrow.  

happy things

Happy Valentine's Day yesterday, and happy 2nd Anniversary to us tomorrow. I like to call it a mesh. What a happy mesh. 

2 years already?

reef exhibit

Tonight Mark and I went to the Shark Reef Exhibit at Mandalay Bay with Mark and Carli (these two Marks were roommates before we were married). 

It was beautiful! I don't know if it's because I have been landlocked in Oklahoma for too long, or if this was just really something. When you got to the big tank, there were so many sharks! Not huge or anything truly great-white-spectacular, but there were many many sharks, and the fish were hiding in the faux ship wreckage. There was a monster of a shark under this plexiglass you can stand on; it was the biggest one by far. I wish that one would have moved. Where's my poker? 

The lion fish was elusive. In a couple of shots I only got it's tail: 

And when I cropped/zoomed onto it to see the peacock-spots I realized it looked like it had been painted! Its scales look like a watercolor:   

After living here for as long as I have, I am glad Mark decided I needed to see these fish, sharks, and gators up close. Thanks, Mark!

so far

Thursday morning, before we left Oklahoma, we took donuts and OJ over to Ruth's house for a last game of Scrabble. It was a bittersweet goodbye, but we'll stay in touch, so we'll remain good friends. 

We left Altus, OK last Thursday morning, and we needed air in the tires, but we had the hardest time trying to find air!! So many of these gas stations were closed, or didn't have an air machine; sort of weird.

 

This is an oil well somewhere in northern, central Texas.  There were soooo many of them. I think we rely on other countries' just because we don't want to use up our own. Just a theory.

This is the view from the front window (of course) about 1 hour outside of Del Rio. I loved the hazy yellow for some reason. When we got to Del Rio we made a couple of house calls seeing old neighbors and friends.

This is Dan+Macey, Mark, Sven+Soren at the bowling lanes on Wednesday night. It was a good time! This time Chelsea, aka the Hustler, didn't cream me! 

This cute couple are good friends from Mark's flight class in T-6s. They are awesome. This is Tyler and Julie. Sorry, I'm still learning how to crop on our new computer.

Buckwheat was a trooper! He was in his kennel for most of the two day drive, and was sweet about it the entire way. When we let him out at my parent's house, he went nuts! He was going mach 3 for about 15 minutes. 

We had the best driving weather we've ever had on this trip. Before it was sometimes snowing, or hailing, or just raining. But it was breezy, sunny, and warm the whole way.  It was crazy driving through Phoenix. There are some insane drivers. Mark even thought so, too. Mauri, you're brave! The cactus were beautiful though. Before we got to the Hoover Dam, we were stopped in construction traffic, so I snapped a picture of the cactus on the side of the freeway - look how many there are!

When we got to the dam, I was surprised to find Lake Mead's water level even lower than normal. It is now lower 100 feet.  

In non-picture news, we have visited lots of family, and have just been enjoying the time with my parents.  It's weird having my sister away at college now that I've come home for a visit.  Right now Mark and I are about to go fill up my Grandma's water softener with salt, then it's off to spend the evening with my good friend Megan and her husband Bryce. He and Mark haven't met yet, so it'll be great to finally all get together. 

an itinerary

Thank you to everyone who wished us well in our 'journey'. There have been a few people who have asked when I will be where. So for friends and family, here is a reference. I hope to see as many people as I can!

Friday, February 8, 2oo8
pm - arrive in Las Vegas

Thursday, February 14, 2oo8
pm - arrive in Salt Lake City

Friday, February 22, 2oo8
pm - catch ferry in Washington

Monday, February 25, 2oo8
am - dock in Alaska

Friday, February 29, 2oo8
pm - arrive in Anchorage

I left out specifics for privacy reasons, but give me a ring, text, email, or comment for more details. We have missed Del Rio a lot. It is so fun being on a base where the neighbors are like your college roommates/friends. We will greatly miss the friends we have made here, but are looking forward to making more friends and seeing the old ones too.