Adventures in AmyLand

Adventures in Crocheting a Purse

2011-10-25T17:33:00.001-08:00

I found the cutest pattern a few weeks ago on Pinterest (if you have not been to Pinterest yet, check it out...... awesome!) The pattern can be found on Ravelry (another awesome site). Anyways, I usually just stick with afghans and hats, easy to make and not hard to screw up. The first thing I thought of when I saw this purse was my older sister. She got me turned on to purses and this is just something I could see her using. The main body of the purse turned out great (well it is a little smaller than the pattern called for.....whoops). It was when I decided to add the handles that it didn't turn out too well. I'm not sure if I underestimated the size of the handles I would need (I don't think so), but I think I needed to make the purse bigger in general and possibly rework the opening and handles. Also I didn't realize that I put one of the handles on backwards until I got it all sewed on :( I think this will be a chalk it up to experience piece. I have a few of those!

Catching up on Four Months

2011-10-17T17:22:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been 4 months since I posted and I really have no good excuse except for life and of course Facebook and Pinterest have taken over my life. Back in July Eric's parents came up for a visit and we did alot of the touristy Alaska things. We went halibut fishing, went to Denali National Park, took a trip on the river and went gold panning at El Dorado. In August I went home to visit the family for a couple of weeks. Always love those trips. Got to see my 3 cute nephews and the bestest friend in the whole wide world. September wasn't really eventful, but I didn't enjoy the little bit of fall that we received. I think I missed most of it though! It seems like one day we were having gorgeous days and now it's snow! I will admit that it is looking beautiful outside with the snow covered trees.

Anyways enough chit chat. The real reason I'm updating is for posting some of my crafty creativeness. I have been participating in a card swap on Facebook with a friend and a few of her friends. It's been a blast. Here are the contributions I made to the previous months swap!

All paper, stamps and punches are Stampin' Up. The next swap is due Nov. 15 and I have 1 card done already and have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing with the other.

Enjoy the cards!

Some pictures of Flowers and a suprise guest

2011-07-09T20:58:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from around the house of different flowers.

I've also included a couple of pictures of a surprise guest that Eric found visiting our yard. Said surprise guest ended up going to the Animal Shelter because we didn't find the owner and we were both going to be out of town for a few days.

We have had other visitors that have somehow figured out how the climb the siding of the house to get to the bird feeders. They also make a huge mess tossing out the seeds they don't want!

Knock, Knock.......Is anyone still reading this?

2011-07-09T20:44:00.000-08:00

Don't know if anyone is still reading this or not, but thought I would update it anyway. Since the last time I updated I have been working a few cards. There's a wedding card for some friends, a Father's Day card for my dad, and then 2 cards for my facebook stamp group.

Crafting......yes I still do that!

2011-03-22T21:10:00.001-08:00

Well, since we have officially moved into the new house, I have been slowly getting my craft room back in working condition. And it's about time. I was going through some serious withdrawls! I have been able to get back to stamping and crocheting. A friend of mine on facebook decided to get a group of people together to do a card swap, so I am actively stamping for that. I just finished the two cards that will go out in the mail this week for the ladies. I had alot of fun making these. If anyone wants directions let me know!

I have also been spending some time with a hook in my hand. Actually quite a bit! Eric asked me if I would make a thank you afghan for the gentleman he stay's with out in Mekoryuk when he goes Musk Ox hunting. Since widlife in general is in all of the Native's blood, we decided to go with something I've never done before. Behold a walrus on an iceberg! This is the "before". I use this type of graph as a pattern and work from there. I was a little skeptical of the design at first because I had a hard time finding a piece of clipart that would work and capture the being of the walrus. Most of my afghans are for kids/babies so I can usually just go with something cute and baby-like. Not this one. I don't think a 6o-something guy would appreciate or use something like that. Anyways, I was thinking I had at least 3 weeks to work on it, but nope! Eric decides that he is going to go out a week earlier than planned, so I have been hooking my butt off trying to get this bad-boy done. And finally it has come to an end. I'm really excited in how this turned out. I'm hoping that the gift is well receive, which I'm sure it will be. Turns out he was more than appreciative. He immediately went and put the afghan on his bed!

Next up was a baby afghan (yay!). I love doing these because they are so much fun. A friend of mine asked me to make a blanket for a fellow co-worker of hers who just recently had a baby girl. They live in Nome, so wildlife is once again people (they work for the Alaska Division of Fish and Game). I originally found a clipart drawing of a penguin, moose, bear and fish totem pole, but I knew that wouldn't work considering penguins DO NOT live up here. I decided to rework it a little and get rid of the penguin. Design turned out great, but I was informed that they REALLY wanted a Musk Ox in the design. I had fun re-creating the design by hand drawing (okay, light table coping) of the Musk Ox and the bear and fish from the totem pole. Here is what I came up with!

alive and kickin'

2011-02-08T11:52:00.000-09:00

Has it really been two months since I last posted? I really don't have an excuse. It's just easier to keep up with life on Facebook than here.

So much has happened recently. One month ago, we became the brand new owners of a 7.5 acreage. We have a decent house, a great shop for the hubby, a few little sheds/outbuildings so we can raise some animals and a greenhouse. You know sometimes when you move into a new places it takes a while to get use to how things are set up, etc. Not this place! Since we moved in, the house has felt like home. Even on the first couple of days before our belongings got delivered. This house wasn't the "oh wow, I have to have it!", house when we first looked at it, but apparently it was "the one". We love the feeling of being able to get outside and not having to worry about if the neighbors are watching you. We are surrounded by lots of trees......too many actually :( Well only too many to get Direct TV or Dish Network. Guess we will just have to work with the pre-attached antenna that is on the house. Luckily with the digital flat screens we are able to get the local stations. Nothing like 4 PBS stations to get your daily fix of public broadcasting!!!!

That "box" you see just off the left side of the house is actually a hottub, which is currently full and running. I've been too chicken to give it a try though because our daytime temperatures haven't gotten over 10 since we've moved in and have been more like -5 to -10. Maybe once March hits and temps start to warm up I'll brave the conditions and give it a try. Anybody is more than welcome to come visit and give it a try if they like though!!!!! We have a spare bedroom that we are willing to put you up in! Once we get a little more settled (or at least a few more boxes out of the way and picked up off the floor) I'll go around and take a few more pictures to show you all what the inside of the house looks like and some of the renovations that we are planning on trying to do!

Along with the property, we have been honored with the presences of a few moose. The first moose that graced our humble abode woke us up at 5:30 AM as they trampled by the house. This was a mom and last years' calf. Scared the living daylights out of our cat Chubbs! Our big, bad, not afraid of anything cat is afraid of moose. The cat that stares down dogs and traps them in a corner. A few days later, Chubbs started acting all weird. He didn't know what to do and then took off to hide. I had a feeling that there was something close by and I was right! This gal was within feet of the house. The table and tiki torches are only about 4-6 feet from the house.

Where Have I Been?!?!?!?

2010-12-01T18:49:00.000-09:00

I've been working from home in Fairbanks, that's were I have been. Let me catch you all up a little since I last posted back in August. The months of August and September were spent house hunting. We did not have any luck finding something that we thought we could work with. There was plenty out there, but nothing screamed "buy me I'm your new home"! We had the opportunity to hear Amy Roloff speak about the Americans with Disabilities Act. For those of you who don't know who Amy is, she and her family are the stars of TLC's Little People, Big World. Eric went out on a solo moose hunt towards the end of September and was rewarded with an awesome moose. The antlers measure 76", that's 6 ft, 4 in.

In October, I was able to get back to SD and MN for a few days since I missed out on my annual trip in August because of the move/house hunting. My aunts put together a 90th birthday party for my grandma. She doesn't turn 90 until the end of December, but they wanted to get as many of the grandkids home as the could before the weather got wintery. I've seen more cousins that I have not seen in years, a few probably in a decade or more! The rest of October seems to have passed without much excitement.

Here is a picture of all of the grandkids and great-grandkids that showed up for my grandma's party. The sweet, adorable little vikings boy is my youngest nephew. He's such a sweetie!

November started to get a little more exciting. Early in the month the local PBS station brought Red Green to town. Of course we had to take the opportunity to see the hilarious Red Green. Since it was an early gift for Eric's birthday, we did the whole VIP thing and got to meet Red Green and get our picture taken with him. Towards the middle of the month, we took a huge step and put an offer in on a 7.5 acreage (with house, shop and greenhouse) about 10 miles from town. After a counter back from the sellers, we are in the process of inspections of all sorts. I'll keep you all posted. We had a simple, quiet Thanksgiving with the upstairs neighbors.

Here's a picture of Eric and I with Red Green. If you don't know who he is, look him up!

Hello From the Interior

2010-08-23T12:12:00.000-08:00

Well we are finally (as well as one can be living in a hotel) settle in Fairbanks. The good thing is that the hotel has a little fitness center and a small pool. I've been able to work out almost every day since we got here. Tomorrow it will be 2 weeks. First off, the weather for the most part has been gorgeous! We have had temperatures in the high 60s for most of that 2 weeks. Today is a little chilly because it's partly cloudy, but it is still 65. I haven't taken any pictures, but I will have plenty of time for that.

We went on our first official house hunting trip on Friday and took a look at 5 different houses. Didn't really see anything that looked promising. One of them had a gorgeous kitchen that I would love, but there were really close neighbors and the garage was way to small for the truck to fit. The first one we saw was really dated, I don't think the current owners spent any money to update anything in it from when it was built in the 70s! Plus, it smelled like dog really bad! Another one had potential, but a bachelor lived there and it was completely a bachelor house. I just couldn't picture myself in that house at all. We have another trip planned on Tuesday afternoon with 4-5 more viewings. We are looking for something with a little land, so I think that might limit us.

I've been enjoying having some downtime, but I am definitely missing not being back in SD/ND/MN like usually am during August. Come September, I will be working again for the university, but it will be from home, er hotel. There is only a year left on the grant that I was working on while in Bethel, so I was able to convince the director to let me stay on. I will have to make a few trips back to Bethel throughout the year and I will be back in Bethel next summer for the final season of summer camps. It is going to be so sad next summer. I started to let the kids know this year that next summer would be the last year and I had so many students ask me why and said they didn't want the camps to be over with! I even had a few of the high school kids tell me that they would write letters of support for us. So sweet! I'm hoping we will be able to go out with a big bang!

Well, I will try to post some more after the house hunting tomorrow. Later!

Final Post from Bethel

2010-08-06T10:57:00.000-08:00

Well, summer camps have wound down, but the summer is long from being over. Quite a few of you have heard, but for those that haven't we will be moving from small town life (Bethel) to big town life (Fairbanks, abbreviated FBX from now on). Eric got a job with one of the refuges there so we will be moving the beginning of August. The movers are here and packing us up. Boy, you don't realize how much stuff you can accumulate in 4 years! Good thing we are being moved! We have the reservations made for housing and I just completed the car rental reservations until the truck gets there. The hardest part so far is having to decide what to keep back and what to have the packers pack and move. There is a possibility that we may have up to 60 days without our stuff!

House hunting is going okay. We found a few online that we want to go check out, but we need to actually be in FBX to do that. We know a few people who have recently moved to FBX and they have given us a few recommendations as far as who to go with (realtor wise) and where to live. We are hoping to find a few acres not too far outside of the main part of town. FBX is spread out and there are 4 or 5 smaller towns surrounding it plus Ft. Wainwright and Eielson Air Force base.

Well, this is the final post from Bethel. Next post will either be from the Anchorage airport or the hotel in Fairbanks.

Mighty Hunter

2010-07-17T21:02:00.000-08:00

No, not Eric, but Chubbs the cat. He's more into the catch and release in the house type of hunting. During the summer we will let the cats wonder around outside, but we usually keep an eye of them so the don't go too far. Well, the other day Chubbs was wondering around just outside the garage and saw something moving that he wanted to keep an eye on. Of course, I was in the house doing a little crafting and all of a sudden Eric yells up at me that Chubbs is coming up with something. I go into the hall to see what he has and he's got a little vole and it was still alive! He wouldn't let Skeeter come anywhere near it. It was his! We let him play around with it for a little bit, but finally scooped it up and took it back outside.

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T08:26:00.001-08:00

Happy Father's Day to my dad and father-in-law! Here are the cards I made especially for each one of them! Since Jimmy Joe is a cowboy at heart, I had to make him a cowboy boot card. I found a template online and printed it the size I wanted. I had a lot of fun with this one!!!!!

Next up is the one that I made for my dad is a tribute to his life on a far and a familiar saying we heard growing up! Opening up the barn doors you read the saying "I'd Walk 10 Miles in the Snow Uphill Both Ways". The inside of the card says "to Wish You a Happy Father's Day"

The should have received the cards in the mail Friday or Saturday.

Latest Crochet Project

2010-06-19T15:04:00.000-08:00

When I look at this picture I think, "Wow! That looks like it came right out of a catalog."

Guess what! I made that blanket. That room that it's in is the babies room for one of my coworkers. I cannot believe how awesome this picture is!!!!

We had a baby shower at work a few weeks ago for our Student Services coordinator. Him and his partner are having a little baby here in a few weeks. I was able to get him to talk about the decor in the babies room one day at work when the power went out for 15 minutes. It was too easy! Here is the picture I took for keepsake purposes.

After I finished the main portion of the blanket, I was contemplating how I wanted to finish the edging. I was wondering what it would look like to use both the white and tan yarn and I alternated the stitches. One tan, one white, one tan, one white................... It took awhile, but it was well worth it. To me, it brought the right finishing touches to the blanket!

David Green Master Furrier

2010-05-29T14:23:00.000-08:00

While in the big city, we also stopped at David Green, Master Furrier, again. Eric's been talking about having a beaver fur coat made for me, so we wanted to stop and see how many beaver Eric would need and the cost. Talk about a fur lovers dream! That store is so awesome and you only see a little portion of it on the showroom floor. The lady answering our questions showed us the vault! Yes, the vault o' furs. Oh my WOW! I fell in love with a little v-neck jacket made of goat and chinchilla. Gorgeous gray body and beautiful gray/white/black collar and cuffs. This is the general design of the jacket. The next picture shows the correct coloring and length. Just imagine that color with a v-neck collar. Ya gettin' the picture?

It looked so exquisite hanging there just asking me to try it on. Good thing I decided to look at the price before trying it on. Anyone want to try to guess the price?!?!?!?!? Only a measly $15,000. Yep, that's right. I DID NOT add too many zeros or forgot a decimal point.

So, needless to say I won't be getting that item of fur.

The Alaska Zoo

2010-05-25T21:48:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month, Eric and I ended up going into Anchorage for a few days. We had the chance to go to the Anchorage Zoo. They have some pretty cool animals there that they don't normally have in zoos. We also don't have some of the normal zoo animals (monkeys)!

The first picture here is the sleepy brown bear. It just happened to roll over and "pose" for this picture.

Next we have a Dall Sheep. I just had to take this picture. It cracks me up every time I see it. Look at that goofy looking "smile" on his face.

This next picture are the famous Musk Ox. These guys are not very tall. Maybe 4'. They are cool though!

Here is a polar bear. Not sure if it's male or female. It was restless in the enclosure. Kept walking up to the white fence and tossing its' head back then walking around going back to the fence and repeating this habit.

This next animal is only found in Alaska. It is a Sitka Deer. It sure was a pretty little guy.

This pretty little kitty is a snow leopard. I'm not sure how they keep it cool during the summer. The like alot of snow, hence the name. It was also restless like the polar bear.

This guy would not stand still for a picture. I think the only time it stopped moving is when it had to pee! It was fun to see him run around the cage. This is a wolverine. Pretty cool, but not as pretty as Eric's though!

Finally, I think this is probably the mandatory photo that a lot of people have to take when they are at the zoo! That was our trip to the Alaska Zoo. I hope you have enjoyed your/our journey.

Eric's 2010 Bear Hunt

2010-05-25T08:44:00.000-08:00

Well, I suppose I should put pictures up since it has been almost a month since he went out on the hunt! He had a successful hunt that last about 10 days. This bear was bigger than last years. Huge claws on him. He also had a really large head!

Since the weather wasn't being too cooperative when Eric was trying to get back to Bethel, he had a few days (3) to sit and wait. So, what do you do when you get bored waiting for the airplane to come pick you up? You build a snowman! I had to laugh when I saw these pictures. I figured you must be pretty bored to build a snowman while you wait. Then I started thinking about that Tom Hanks movie were he takes the volleyball and makes it into "Wilson".

I was thinking that this snowman must have taken awhile to build, then I saw the next picture and just about died laughing. Apparently it was only about a foot tall.

Well, that was Eric's hunt in a nutshell. I'll have another post soon about our early May trip to Anchorage.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-08T20:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Mother's Day to all of those mom's out their, especially mine and the mother-in-law! The first is the card I made for my mom. The second was made for Eric's mom. The one I made for my mom is suppose to be a shadow box type look to it with the green frame popped out from the base. Didn't turn out quite like the sample I followed but it's still cool because it's different.

The following pictures are from when our stamping group got together last weekend. These are some bookmarks that one of the ladies made and then there is the picture of our table.

Administrative Professional's Week

2010-04-28T19:00:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked by the Asst. Director of the Campus if I had any ideas / would make something for the Admin Professionals. After a lot of searching and thinking, I decided to do an "Administrative Professional Survival Kit". I had plenty of the plastic Crystal Light tubes and they actually make good holders. I also made corresponding Thank You cards to match the kits. They were a big hit and I had a blast making them. Glad I was able to use up all of my Crystal Light tubes! They were taking up way too much space!

Stampin' Up Color Renovation

2010-04-20T21:23:00.003-08:00

Well if you have heard already, Stampin' Up has come up with a new Color Renovation that will take place with the new catalog in July. They are getting rid of the old color families and making some new ones. This also means that they are getting rid of some of the main colors that they have had for awhile and then bringing back some of the past In Colors that were more popular.

If you are interested in any of the retiring colors, I suggest you put an order in as soon as possible. It's hard to tell how much stock Stampin' Up has on hand and how fast they will sell it! Note that alot of the purples are retiring. Also, they have rename the color Kraft to Crumb Cake.

Has It Really Been 1.5 Months?

2010-04-19T21:23:00.001-08:00

As the title states: Has it really be 1.5 months since I last posted? I guess it has. It's so easy to forget about this little blog site with Facebook around, but I do have some big news....
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just kidding! But I got your attention, didn't I?

Okay, all kidding aside, I have been busy doing a little crafting. My latest crochet project turned out great (at least I think so). Check it out!

I have also done a little card making. The first one was a thank you for Eric's dad and the second one was a birthday card for Eric's mom.

Girl Scouts Women of Science

2010-03-07T17:36:00.000-09:00

I had so much fun helping out at the Bethel Girl Scouts Women of Science program. I spent most of my day yesterday helping out the Girl Scouts leading a group of 1st graders and taking pictures. I also had the opportunity to meet Callan Chythlook-Sifsof, who is an Olympic snowboarder from Alaska. She flew in for the day to support the Women of Science program for the Girl Scouts. I had the opportunity to get her autograph and picture taken with her. She is a wonderful inspiration for the native girls and such a nice person. She wanted to stay longer in Bethel, but needed to catch a flight today to Europe for the World Cup. Busy girl and she is only 21.

I think this has to be one of my favorite events that I volunteer with. I get to see so many of the younger kids in town that I normally wouldn't see otherwise. The kids got to learn about wildlife, methane bubbles, blood pressure, making casts, wind turbines, mining (with cupcakes and cookies!), rockets, tv production and ethnobotany. Can't wait until next year!

Stampin' Up Sale-a-Bration and new Mini Catalog

2010-01-11T16:45:00.001-09:00

Here's the new Sale-a-Bration (SAB) catalog from Stampin' Up. SAB is an annual event that Stampin' Up does. For every $50 you spend, you receive something from the SAB for FREE!!!!

http://xmission.com/~stampinup/catalogs/NovCatalogs/SAB_10_US.pdf

Here is the new Mini Catalog. Since Stampin' Up has gone to 1 catalog a year they have come out with a couple of mini catalogs. This is the newest one. This catalog introduces the new clear mount stamps (still the great red rubber, but you use them with acrylic blocks!). They are also debuting a new punch design. This design will help with storage.

http://204.228.150.61/catalogs/20091231/OccasionsMini10_US.pdf

Let me know if you are interested in placing an order for anything!!!!!

New afghan

2010-01-03T13:28:00.004-09:00

Well - for those of you that are on Facebook, you probably have already seen this picture but I still wanted to post it here since I seem to be lacking in the posts lately. I finally finished another afghan. This is for a lady I work with. She just had a little granddaughter a few months ago and ask if I would make her one. I wanted something easy and something I could make with year I had already had on hand. Here is what I came up with.

Why Santa Didn't Leave me Anything

2009-12-29T12:30:00.002-09:00

'Twas the night before Christmas, I'm glued to the tree
I'm wondering what Santa brought just for me
Could it be cardstock or inkpads or lace?
Or some stamps, I said, with a smile on my face.
And that's when I heard him...
"Hi Santa," I said
He replied, "You know...good girls should be in their beds".
"I know I should Santa, and now I've been caught.
But I was just so excited to see what you brought."
"Well, let's take a look in this room where you work".
He shook his head quickly and left with a jerk.
I heard him exclaim as he put it in gear.
"You've got enough crap,
I'll see you next year!"

This was just too cute not to post.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T12:56:00.002-09:00

Christmas Quiz

2009-12-18T10:22:00.002-09:00

I usually don't do these types of things, but i thought it would be fun. Also I realized that I have only posted 1 time in the month of December and thought I should try to bump that up a little!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?:
I love wrapping paper and especially home wrapped gifts!

2. Real tree or Artificial?:
I love real trees, but unfortunately we can't get them up here unless you want to pay a hefty price. The past three years we have been putting up a white artificial tree (2 years with gold and red, this year I did green and silver).

3. When do you put up the tree?:
Family tradition has always been the Friday after Thanksgiving. I remember putting up the tree as kids all the time on Thanksgiving break.

5. Do you like eggnog?:
yuk!

6. Favorite gift received as a child?:
Would have to be my Mini-Bake Oven! I love to cook and bake to this day.

7. Hardest person to buy for?
My Dad - unless I win the lottery and can afford the farm equipment he seems to put on his list EVERY year!

8. Easiest person to buy for?
My mom or my older sister.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?
Nope. Never have been into them.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Via mail... although this year they are going to be a little late again! I should be getting them from the printers sometime early next week.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
I think all of those years that we received socks and underwear as kids! Although they were needed they just didn't seem like they should be under the tree.

12.Favorite Christmas Movie?
Never really had a favorite Christmas movie, but watched all of the Christmas cartoons growing up.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
I start in August with my nephews while I'm home so I don't have to worry about shipping stuff!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Of course not - okay I am guilty ;-)

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
I am a sucker for pretty much any type of Christmas treats.

16. Lights on the tree?
Definitely! Currently have white but I think next year I might want to do a different color.

17. Favorite Christmas song?
Elmo Wants a Hippopotamus for Christmas - Just Kidding, for some strange reason I really like Santa Baby and Baby It's Cold Outside

18. Hmm...where did 18 go??

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?:
dasher, dancer, prancer, vixen, comet, cupid, donner and blitzen…and Rudolph,

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Star, never really was into the angel topper.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Tradition was always Christmas Eve with Santa's gifts on Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
not having enough snow to make it feel like Christmas :-(

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?
as mentioned earlier, green and silver - this year

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?
It was ham growing up, now Eric and I usually do a roast of some sort. This year I believe it will probably be a Musk Ox roast.

25. What do you want to do for Christmas this year?
Relax, open a few gifts and just spend the day vegging!

2009-12-01T13:18:00.003-09:00

WOW - has it really been almost 1 month since I updated this thing!?!?!?!?

Guess that means that nothing interesting has been happening here. Well, I did make it back to ND about a week after my last post. Nothing too exciting but seeing family and friends we haven't seen for 2 years since the wedding. We did have to take a picture by Eric's tree that he has grown from a seedling tree. He got it in elementary school when they used to give out seedling trees for Arbour Day. That tree is getting big!Eric's buddy Kevin (one of the groomsman - one right) was able to make it up to Edgeley to visit for a few hours before heading home to his parents in Bristol, SD. Jeremy (another groomsman - on left) also came to visit. He was also our ride back to Bismarck, ND to catch our return plane. We spent the night in Hazelton at Jeremy and Krista's place. Got to see their little ones (the 3 girls and 1 boy). Bridger was just a tiny baby at the wedding and now he's a pretty big 2 year old. He was my little guy while there. We were sitting down for supper and he was beside me. He leaned over and said "I love you". I love the sweetness and innocence of little kids!
While we were in ND, we celebrated Eric's birthday with some good beef steaks and baked potatoes and for dessert we had angel food cake with raspberries and ice cream. YUMMY! When we got back, we had to celebrate Eric's birthday again, but this time it was at a 7 year olds party! Karlyn just happens to have the same birthday as Eric and it started last year joking around about them sharing a birthday party. While this year Karlyn actually remembered that they had the same birthday and had her mom email me to see if Eric wanted to do an "iCarly" birthday party! We ended up going over for cake and ice cream. Here's a picture of Karlyn and Eric.
For Thanksgiving we went over to some friends (Karlyn's mom and dad). There was just a small group of us with enough food to feed a small army! We had ham, turkey, roast, mashed potatoes, 2 different stuffings, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, gravy, baked corn, dinner rolls, a grape salad and a whole lot of desserts!!!!!

Now it's time to start working on Christmas cards. I think I have it figured out, but I like to change my mind alot!

Well, I should really get back to work. Lunch hours just don't last long enough!

halloween treats

2009-11-08T22:03:00.002-09:00

Well, I figured it was about time I posted my halloween treats that I did for work. i did a couple of different types.
I made little coffins and bats. I had a lot of fun with the bats, but I had to trace each one and then cut it out by hand.

Now I need to start thinking about Christmas treats!

Stampin' Up Deal of the Week

2009-10-19T18:36:00.002-08:00

Well, I completely forgot to put up last weeks Deal of the Week, but it wasn't anything to extra special (at least I didn't think so). This week we have 4 different accessories on sale.

1/2" Library Clips Regularly $6.95 NOW ONLY $3.99!!!

Basic Jumbo Grommets Regular $6.95 NOW ONLY $4.49!!!

Circle Designer Brads Regular $5.95 NOW ONLY $3.99!!!

Mini Library Clips Regularly $12.95 NOW ONLY $8.99!!
If you would like to buy any of this or order anything else, let me know. These are great deals and will only last until early Monday morning.

Stampin Up Deal of the Week

2009-10-01T17:11:00.003-08:00

Stampin' Up has brought back the Deal of the Week for the weeks of October. This week deal is actually 3 different punches. My Way, Trio Flower and 5-petal flower punches. These punches are available at the discounted rate of 10.99 each (originally 15.95 each). If you want any of these punches let me know and we can get an order placed!!!!
The sale prices on these punches are good until Monday, October 12 at 9:50 am (MT). The next deal will start at 10:00 am that same day. Once I know what it is I'll post it hear for you all.

Interesting Day - The Almost Moose Hunt

2009-09-18T13:26:00.004-08:00

Those of you on Facebook have probably already heard about our almost moose hunt. For those of you who haven't or want a longer more detailed story, sit back, grab a drink and let the good times roll. Eric and I were all set to leave for our moose hunting trip yesterday. We got all of our equipment down to the lake (we were taking a float plane). Before I continue, I need to tell you that this was my first experience in a float plane so naturally I was a little nervous. These planes seat 4 people! We got everything loaded and the pilot takes off. We are only flying about 500 ft above the ground. You can see everything and it looks so awesome. Well about 12 miles into our 40ish mile flight we hear a POP and then the engine goes quite. Good thing we were above a pretty good sized pond. Eric taps the back of my seat and tells me to brace myself. The pilot set us down on the lake like it was a natural landing. As we landed we could see oil in the pond draining from the engine. Luckily he was talking with the owner of the plane/company (Renfro's Alaskan Adventures) and he just happened to be flying in that same area. He double check to see if he would be able to land in that area on tundra tires (big, fat tires, not regular tires). He was able to, but he had to land about 1 mile from where we were at. That meant hiking across uneven tundra! This was were the fun really started. For those of you that don't know what tundra is like, it is rather spongy and there can be little creeks running through it. Some of these creeks are really shallow and others can be really deep (keep this in mind!) We came across one of these creeks about 1/4 mile into the hike. Eric was walking a little ways to my left and Chip (the pilot) was walking a little ways to my right. We all were trying to find the best place to cross. I was watching Eric and it looked like he was having a hard time finding a spot so I kept looking for my own. I found a spot that looked good. I took the first couple of steps just fine and then with the third step I almost disappeared. I'm not lying. Before I knew it I was up to my chest in this little creek and for the life of my I COULD NOT, I repeat COULD NOT find the bottom of this creek. I was in waist waders thinking I would be okay, but my momentum kept me going forward and I ended up filling my waders!!!!!! Eric had already crossed by then and came running to me and Chip was still searching for a crossing and came to help also. Luckily Eric was able to help pull me out since I wasn't able to find any footing to move myself forward. After I got out we still had to go about 3/4 mile and I think I was a good 5-10 lbs heavier. Not good especially when walking on the spongy/uneven tundra. By this time we could hear the "rescue" plane coming so we started hurrying as fast as we could. Chip (who was only wearing hip boots) was still trying to find his way across. Eric and I got to the rescue plane (which was on tundra tires so it could land pretty much anywhere) and I was loaded up immediately (it was a Cub 2-seater; me and the pilot). This was my first time in a plane this tiny also! We got back to Bethel in about 10 minutes and I was unloaded so he could turn around and go get Eric. We were in a time crunch because the sun light was fading fast.

So now we sit and wait to see what actually happened to the plane to see if it is an easy fix or if it was a major fix. We may or may not get out moose hunting.

Two in one day!

2009-09-07T10:26:00.004-08:00

Posts that is. I have had this afghan done for awhile now, but I didn't want to post pictures of it before the recipient received it. Got the official confirmation of receival (is that a word????) this weekend. So here is my latest crochet project...............................................
Just ignore Chubbs in the upper right hand corner. He always thinks he needs to be involved in my photos of my crochet projects.

I had so much fun making this one. This is the first farm animal one I have made and it was worth it. Plus I made a mom very happy! One of my dearest friends from the year I was going to school in Watertown was this recipient of this for her first little boy.

Long time, no update

2009-09-03T18:17:00.002-08:00

I know it's been a long time since I've updated this thing, but there really hasn't been too much info to update with. I got back a couple of weeks ago from a wonderful trip back home. Here's just a few of my favorite pics. The first one is of my 6 year old nephew Caden playing soccer. In this picture he is waiting down the field to play defense.
This picture was taken by my sister "experimenting" with my camera. Since it's a point and shoot she was trying it out seeing if it is something that she'd want to get instead of dragging her big Nikon around. This chubby, cute little boy is my newest nephew Canon. He's 3 1/2 months in this photo.
And finally, here is the 3 year old Colton. I love this picture. Don't know if my sister realized that I took it or not. Colton is such a sweet, lovey boy. He's always running to mom for hugs and to let her know that he loves her!

How to Birdwatch......

2009-08-02T10:12:00.005-08:00

..........according to Chubbs and Skeeter.

First of all you need to be able to have some nice sun shining weather and have parents that are willing to let you get outside instead of cooping you up in the house. Once outside stroll around until you find a spot that looks like a prime spot for birdwatching.Skeeter decided to sit on the ground and watch the birds in the trees. This is a good spot for some recon work for scouting from below.While Skeeter was hanging out on the ground, Chubbs decided to try to take a more hands-on approach. He sits in one of the living room windows and watches birds flying around and to this one particular birdhouse. Since he mastered climbing the stairs outside he has been able to get closer to the birds than ever before. Now you need to be able to climb to the middle platform. Once there he's thinking that this could be a good spot to maybe try to watch some birds.On second thought, maybe this side will have better access.Once you know the birds are in the the birdhouse you need to carefully balance your chubby body on a nice wide 2x6.Once you're balanced, you need to scoot your body closer to the house and so carefully reach up to try to get the top off.
And that is how you birdwatch according to Chubbs and Skeeter!

VC Rocks II

2009-07-16T21:21:00.006-08:00

The other day I posted some pictures from my virtual stamp group. Those were the gift card swap. Here are the pictures from the quilt card swap. The first one is mine and the rest are the ones I received in the swap.

VC Rocks!

2009-07-14T12:30:00.000-08:00

VC Rocks is a Yahoo group that I am involved in. It is a "virtual convention" for those involved in Stampin' Up that cannot make it to the Annual Convention in Salt Lake City. This is my second year being involved in the group. I do the minimum required to stay involved because it goes on during June and July when I am busy with my summer camps. This year I decided to join 2 swaps. I did the Gift Card Swap and the Quilt Card Swap. Here are the pictures of the Gift Card Swap.
I'm not sure how many pictures I can upload in one post, so I'll do another post that has the pictures of the Quilt Cards in it in the next couple of days.

Stampin' Up Deal of the Week

2009-07-13T20:33:00.004-08:00

Have you ever wanted to try the Stampin' Up Fire Jeweled Brads?? Now is the time to try them. Originally $10.95, you can get them this week for $6.99.
If you want to order some let me know!!!!! I'll keep you posted on the next deal come Monday or Tuesday!

Stampin' Up Deal of the Week

2009-07-06T20:21:00.003-08:00

This weeks "deal" with Stampin' Up is the Big Shot Doctor's Bag. Normally it's $69.99, but you can get it for $49.95 from July 6 (10 am MT) - July 13 (9:50 am MT). This bag is used for transporting the Big Shot.
If you are interested in this bag or any other Stampin' Up products just give me a shout! I'd be more than happy of order you something.

New Stampin' Up Catalog

2009-07-01T13:40:00.004-08:00

Well, the new Stampin' Up Catalog is out today. How exciting is this? I'm very excited because stamping/card making has become one of my favorite hobbies and it has turned into a side job for me. I really don't make any money on it, but it's nice to get the discount. Here's a peak of the catalog.

Stampin' Up is also doing something different this month. They are having "weekly" specials. This weeks special is the scallop edge punch. Normally this punch is $15.95, but for the next 5 days you can get it for $10.99. They are not letting us know ahead of time what the specials are so keep tuning in if you are interested.

If you are intersted in a catalog our would like more information about Stampin' Up please let me know.

Happy Father's Day....

2009-06-27T13:00:00.005-08:00

one week late! I've been so busy with my camps that I haven't had too much time to post. I did call my dad on Father's Day and talked to him for about 45 minutes. Here's the card that I sent my dad.On the inside of the card it said "I Whaley Love You" and it had a picture of a whale. I love using stamps like this to make cards for my dad. He appreciates them so much and loves showing them off to people who stop by to visit.
For Eric's dad I went a different route. Since his parents have been know to fish and camp, I decided to use this bear/camping set.
Well, my stamping group is getting together in about an hour, so I need to get going to finish getting my stuff ready. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures.

Busy Summer

2009-06-15T19:14:00.002-08:00

Well, summer has officially started up here. Two weeks ago we had two days that were around 71. That's really warm for this time of year. Usually we are in the low 60's, like today. I am onto my third week of camp kids. The first week went pretty good, except for a student missing her flight (it was all my fault). I had the wrong leaving time on our travel sheets. I had her flight at 5:00 pm and it was actually 4:00 pm. She had to spend the night because that was the last flight to the village for both airlines that service the village for the day. Week 2 started off quiet and slow, but once the kids got to know each other they were a great bunch. We are on to week 3 and everything is going good this week. The students are really getting along good even though they are from 8 different villages. This week will be the first time that we have a few returning students. Cross your fingers that it goes well. Well, I'm going to enjoy the rest of my evening before I have to go into work tomorrow.

Another Crochet Project

2009-05-28T20:55:00.003-08:00

Well, I finished another afghan about 2 weeks ago and am finally getting around to posting a picture of it. I am now almost finished with the afghans that I needed to make. I have one left and this has been the toughest one yet to come up with some type of design. It's for my new little nephew. My sister has not been very helpful coming up with a design. So sis, since I know you will be reading this, got any ideas for me?????

Belated Birthday

2009-05-20T20:12:00.003-08:00

Well, my birthday has come and gone for another year (it was on Mother's Day). I wanted to share with you a great present that one of the girls I work with put together for me. She went around collecting 'well wishes' one the little cards she put inside of the jar. I thought it was a great birthday present from the people at work. Now I really need to come up with something great for her birthday here next week!!!!! Any suggestions big sis????

Goldilocks has got a bear!

2009-05-16T12:12:00.005-08:00

Okay, Eric actually got the bear and my hair isn't as blonde (hence Goldilocks) as it used to be, but I've wanted him to get one since we moved up here.Look at this beauty! It measured 8 ft tall (okay, I was just informed that it is 8 ft from nose to tail, if it stood straight up it would be about 10 ft). The head is huge and so are the paws. The claws are longer than my fingers. Check out Eric holding one of the paws.
Eric has been thinking about how he wants to mount the hide. He was originally thinking of doing a hanging rug, but also thought a full body would be cool too (on all fours not standing). Guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Happy Mothers Day!

2009-05-10T09:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Mother's Day to my mom and mother-in-law. I sent them cards earlier in the week and hopefully they have gotten them by now. I have been wanted to post a picture of the cards I made, but wanted to make sure they got them in the mail first before I posted them here. Well, I'm not waiting any more. Drum roll please.........................................................
It was hard to get a decent shot of the cards because there is glitter on the petals and leaves and it isn't showing up as glittery as they really are. Here's a link and here too that I found the idea from. If you want the directions on how to make them follow this link. I hope all the mothers out there reading this are having (or had) a great mothers day.

Teacher Appreciation

2009-05-09T17:59:00.005-08:00

So, late in the afternoon on Wednesday, the campus director came to my office and asked me what I was doing the next couple of nights (the first thought that came to my mind was that she needed a babysitter for her boys. Don't ask me why that came to mind, but it did.) She said that she forgot that it was Teacher Appreciation week and was wondering if I could make cards for the faculty.

I said "Sure, how many?"
"Oh about 30 of them" she replied.

Good thing I had two nights to make them. I told her if she got my the sayings she wanted on them I would get to work. Well, she turned that job over to the Assistant Director, who was too busy to get anything to me on Wednesday evening. I didn' want to start a card until I knew how long the saying would be. Well, I finally got something on Thursday. I spend from about 6:30 - 11:00 pm making 34 cards. I was lucky I found something that was simple, but looked nice. I was able to use up alot of my papers from my stamping group. Here's just one of the cards and then a picture of the pile of cards. No two cards were the same (okay, maybe one or two were the same, but I think there were 30 different paper combos!)
Well, I'm off to do some more card making or maybe a little crocheting. I still have to finish the basketball blanket. I'm done with the base, but I need to decide what type of border is going around it.

Hello Spring? Are you out there???

2009-05-05T22:02:00.002-08:00

Well, I hope you all in the lower 48 are enjoying your spring weather. Currently at 10:00 pm we are at a cool 34 degrees. Spring has been trying to show it's wonderful self, but winter just doesn't want to leave yet! The light is coming fast gaining more than 5 minutes a day. Sun rises about 6:00 am and sets about 11:30 pm. This past weekend we had temperatures in the high 50, low 60s. I don't even think we hit 40 today. We have had some flooding upriver about 150 miles working its way down. The river isn't quite ready to go yet, but the warmer weather this past weekend has loosened some of the upriver ice. Reports are that there are ice chunks as big as cars and houses.

In other news, Eric is currently out grizzly huntin'. He left on Saturday with a buddy to go looking for grizzly bears. They are only about 70 miles from here, but they had to fly into their dropoff site. I'm hoping he comes back with a 9 footer! That would be awesome. Mount that sucker full body, cool!!!!

I have some pictures of the mother's day cards I'm sending out, but I can't post them yet because I think a mom or two checks this thing out. I'll post them either this weekend or early next week. Well, I'm going to start getting ready for bed. Talk with you all later.

Happy Earth Day!

2009-04-22T09:41:00.003-08:00

This is the official poster of Earth Day 2009 according to www.earthday.net

*****Oh big sis, is this day also the birthday of my newest little nephew, or is he still hanging in there?????????

Weekend in Anchorage

2009-04-15T21:48:00.004-08:00

Well, I was lucky to get to Anchorage over Easter weekend. Mt. Redoubt has calmed down and didn't give me any problems. We spent Friday and Saturday doing some shopping. Kohl's just opened up last week and it's right next to Target, so I got to do a little shopping at both places. Friday night we decided to do dinner and a movie. We went to the Bear Tooth Theatre which actually does dinner with a movie (dinner theatre). The great thing is you order your food and then go sit down and start watching the movies and they will bring the food out to you when it's ready. We were lucky enough to see Paul Blart: Mall Cop. We just missed it back in January when it opened. I was suprised at how good of a movie it actually was. I was expecting the typical Kevin James comedy, but it was really good! On Saturday we decided to go to a regular movie. We went and saw Observe and Report. Horrible movie. It's another mall security movie and it is horrible compared to Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

On Easter Sunday we decided to take a road trip. We drove down the Seward Hwy to Girdwood. This is the first time I've been somewhere else in Alaska besides Anchorage, Bethel and Marshall!These pictures (above and below) are pictures of the mudflats south of Anchorage. Those big chunks you see are actually huge pieces of ice. The get hung up on the mudflats when the tide goes out.

Here are a couple of pictures of Eric and I. The one above is at Beluga Point. It's a stop on the Seward Hwy where you can sometimes see Beluga whales in the water. We didn't see any. The picture below is the mandatory "in the vehicle while traveling" picture.

The above picture is a view of the mountains from the airplane. I wanted to get a picture of Mt. Redoubt, but we didn't have a clear enough view of it from our flight pattern. The pilot was talking about there being an ash cloud at about 15,000 ft, while we were traveling at 30,000+ ft.

Finally I will leave you with this picture. This is Bethel from the air on April 13, 2009. You think we have a little bit of snow left?????? This is the second pass we had to take for the landing. The first pass we were lined up, hand the landing gear down, descending nicely and all of a sudden the plane starts going back up. Apparently some other smaller plane was either coming in or going out and we had to back off. I like this picture because you can see how far spread out Bethel is. Our house is out of the picture on the bottom right.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T09:41:00.000-08:00

Happy Easter to everyone out there in blogging land. (I'm doing a little scheduled post here because if the weather and Mt. Redoubt work with me, I will be joining Eric in Anchorage over the weekend.)

Here are some pictures of the Easter treats I made for everyone at work. I thought they turned out pretty good.

And I just have to show you the cutest card. This little "chick" is made using the Big Shot Top Note die and some punches. I made a few of these for the people I work with.

I'm Going to College

2009-04-08T21:53:00.007-08:00

*****Sidenote - Just realized that I started this post on April 8 and never got around to posting it.

Well, actually I've been to college already and I've been working at colleges for longer than I can remember. Okay, I remember, but I've always worked at colleges so it seems like forever. Anyways............2 1/2 weeks ago today, I (my program) helped to host an I'm Going to College program for 4 different 6th grade classes here in town. A total of 64 kids came to the college to learn about different careers.

The kids were supposed to get piggy banks with a penny in them as a start to their college savings. Unfortunately there wasn't enough money in the budget to actually purchase the piggy banks, so I came up with a clever idea for a "nest egg" for the kids. Here's how they turned out. This is actually the matchbox die cut for the Big Shot from Stampin' Up.

'Tis the Season

2009-04-08T21:31:00.004-08:00

Application season that is. I always love this time of year because I start getting a whole lot of applications in the mail for my summer camps. This is what my mailbox looked like today.

By measure of the ruler, it almost measured 5 inches. I'm not sure how many applications there was, but there were alot.

On a side note, I made a card to go along with the baby afghan I finished (the moose/plane one). It doesn't have anything to do with mooses and airplanes, but I love how it turned out.

DU Banquet

2009-04-05T18:38:00.002-08:00

I hear $150, who will give me $175.

Well, it didn't raise as much as I would have liked, but neither did alot of the other auction items. The main competition to my afghan was a Flannel quilted quilt. Usually the quilts go for over $300, but last night the quilt only went for $225. With that being said, my DU afghan went for $150. One of my good friends and her husband actually bought it. Their 9 year old son put claims on it before they were out the door. I know it will be well used and cared for. Now, it's time to get busy working on the basketball one I'm doing for cash. I think I have all of the yarns I need, so it's just getting started.

Well, supper should be here soon. We decided to order out since Eric leaves for Fairbanks tomorrow.

The Flying Moose

2009-04-01T19:33:00.004-08:00

Well, I have finally finished the Moose afghan. I think it turned out pretty good. Hopefully the recipients will think so too. It's for one of Eric's buddies. Him and his wife are both moose biologists and the guy does a little flying. They had a little girl about a month ago. It will be sent to Kenai to them provided that Mt. Redoubt doesn't decide to throw-up any more ash.

This Saturday is the Ducks Unlimited banquet. I have been told that my afghan will be going on the live auction. I'm so excited. I'll keep you posted on how much money it brings in.

I'm still trying to figure out what to do for my sister who's expecting her 3rd boy here in a few weeks. She's given me some vague ideas, but I haven't been able to come up with anything yet. In the meantime, I was asked if I would make a blanket (for profit ;) ) for a lady at one of the agencies in town. The baby is a year old and the parts are really big into basketball. This is what I came up with for her.

And the Volcanic Pops

2009-03-26T17:56:00.004-08:00

Mt. Redoubt has finally popped it's top. There has been a total of 7 burps of the volcano since late Sunday evening. The most recent 2 just happened this morning. They are saying this can happen for months. Air traffic is going to be hit and miss. Yesterday they had some traffic, today all flights from Anchorage were canceled because ashfall this morning was blowing toward Anchorage. Here's a couple of pictures of the ash clouds from the eruptions today.
Both of these pictures are courtesy of the Alaska Volcano Observatory. Mt. Redoubt is about 400 miles southeast of Bethel. The closest reports of ashfall have been about 200 miles upriver almost directly east of us in a little village called Crooked Creek.

Spring?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

2009-03-20T10:23:00.003-08:00

Well, I think today is suppose to be the first day of Spring, but that sneaky Mother Nature has different plans for us here on the YK Delta. Does this look like spring to you?????
Yes, that says -10. I'll try to get a picture later today and update this post with a picture of just how "springy" it is not here in Bethel!

Stampin for Skyler

2009-03-13T12:55:00.005-08:00

Last Sunday we had a Chili Cook-off and Silent Auction fundraiser for Skyler Twitchell. He is the son of co-workers of Eric and mine that was shot over Christmas. He's doing remarkably well. He's currently in Seattle for physical therapy and they are trying to get him to Denver to a center that specializes in spinal injury therapy. They need help financing the therapy, the home remodels and for the wheelchair.

I was impressed with all of the people that donated their time, chili, desserts and silent auction items. I decided that I would put together a little box of Thank You cards. Winning bid was $23 and the lady that bought them said she was willing to go alot higher if she needed to.

What do you all think? What would you have paid for something like this? It's all Stampin' Up stuff except for the brad looking things.

Overall it was a good day. Last I had heard was that there was about $8,000 raised. This will help greatly. The wheelchair itself is around $27,000.

On a side note, I made my first official sale as a Stampin' Up demonstrator on Wednesday. Granted it was for my Stamping Group, but still I was a sale!!!!!!

1 Afghan Down, 2 to Go

2009-03-09T20:13:00.000-08:00

So I think I have finished the afghan for the Ducks Unlimited banquet. I haven't backed it yet, but I don't know if I'm going to. It's going to be really hard to find material to match the burgundy that I used. I'm excited about how it turned out.
Next I'll start working on the moose in the plane afghan. The third one will have to be a suprise until it gets mailed to my newest little nephew when he's born. Since my sister reads this blog, I can't let her see it this way. Also, she really hasn't given my any good ideas on what she's doing in the little guys room. I may just do something I think is cute and suprise her.

I've Started a Business

2009-03-08T08:30:00.001-08:00

So, anyone out there that reads this thing interested in Stampin' Up?????? I recently have decided to become a demonstrator for the company.

Need some new stamps - I can order them.
Need some cardstock or Designer Paper - can do that too.

Want to become a Demonstrator yourself - I can sign you up for that too!

I haven't been able to do any workshops yet, because I'm still waiting for my starter kit to show up in the mail. Should be here early next week. I'm so excited. Hopefully this will be a nice little side business for me. Any of the Bethelites that are reading this, if you would like to book a show please give me a shout and I would be more than happy to set something up.

Now that I'm a demonstrator, I can offer you a sneak peek and earlier ordering of a few new stamp sets from the new Occasions Mini catalog that will be available starting April 1. If you are interested in ordering any of these stamps let me know and I would be glad to order them for you.

Another Muskox Bites the Dust!

2009-03-07T17:07:00.005-09:00

The freezer is once again full with muskox. Eric went out to Nunivak Island last weekend for the big hunt. He got out on Saturday morning after a snow storm came through (we got a few good inches!). His flight was the only one of the day out there (the other companies decided to cancel their flights). He had a day of hunting on Sunday and got halfway back to the village of Mekoryuk where he was staying when another system hit. Luckily he was only about 15 miles away and had GPS. He was able to get out of the village on the only flight late Monday afternoon that came from the village. We've had really strange weather patterns come through here the last couple of weeks.

For those of you questioning the size of the muskox, here is a picture of Eric starting to cut up one of the front quarters. It's the top of the shoulder bone to the elbow joint. We still have 1 quarter left to cut up.Eric is out today possible getting us a caribou. He wanted to get all of his snares from upriver pulled out this weekend and if they ran into some caribou they were going to try to get one.

What are you working on????

2009-02-25T20:58:00.004-09:00

I am currently back in "crochet" mode. Here is a glimpse of what I am working on. This is for the local Ducks Unlimited banquet. I'm going to donate it to the live auction hopefully. Every year they have a couple of ladies that make a quilt. The quilts always go for quite a bit, but honestly I don't think they are that great. (Sorry if any of the makers are readying this and I hurt their feelings!) I am still working on the border, which I don't have on this picture. I'm thinking I'm going to do a few rows of gray and a few of black.Here is what I'll be working on as soon as I get done with the above project. This on is for one of Eric's buddies. John and his wife both work at the Moose Research station and I guess John is also a pilot. They are expecting next month and I have been told that they are pretty sure it is a girl. I hope so because the airplane is going to be PINK! I can't wait to get started on this one.

Crazy Weather!!!!!

2009-02-18T08:18:00.003-09:00

Okay - what is going on with this crazy weather of ours???? On Monday we woke up to temperatures in the low to mid 20s. Yesterday morning we woke up to temperatures 27 below (yes -27!). And then today it is right around 30 at 8:20 am. It's been a rollercoaster of temps for the last week or two. Nothing like the past few days though! I'm glad we have a garage because we would have been "breaking" into the truck this morning. I pulled into work and the vehicle beside me looked like it had 1/2 inch of ice on it.

On a sunlight note - we are starting to see it about 9:00 in the morning now. It's so great to see the sun this early, but seems to make the day seem longer. I'm starting to receive calls at work about the applications for summer camp. I have alread received an application. I didn't have the new ones online for more than a couple days. That's exciting! To make it even better it is a high school applicant!!!!!!!!

Well, I better get back to work, but just wanted to post an update about our crazy weather.

Valentine Treats

2009-02-13T19:05:00.004-09:00

These are the treats I did for the people at work. They were so easy and I had fun making them. I even dyed my own ribbon!
I took a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock. Stamped it with valentiney stamps and cut it into 4 pieces. I punched the edges, folded it up, glued the edge, punched the slots and added the treats. The I finished them with some nice ribbon. In the single picture it shows the ribbon I dyed myself. What do you all think?????

A few of cards

2009-02-11T20:52:00.003-09:00

These are a few of birthday cards that I did for my dad and my best friend Alethea. I had so much fun with dad's card and he loved it. When I called him for his birthday he had to mention something about how he liked the saying "here's a little birthday cod".This is the card I sent Leath. The flowers are stamped underneath and colored. The top layer is a vellum (see through sheet of paper something like tissue paper but thicker and more see through).This is the card I made for the Twitchell family. They are the family that had their son shot during the Christmas holiday. The were finally able to move Skyler to Seattle to a rehabilitation center. He's doing good and has some movement in his arms!

This final card is one that I did one weekend out of the blue. I feel in love with it and don't know if I'll be able to part with it.

Snow, Snow, Snow

2009-02-05T19:51:00.002-09:00

We have had snow on and off for the past day and a half. I'm not sure how much we have got, but it's been so beautiful and soft and fluffy. The only downside is that Eric is currently stick in Anchorage. They have taxied out a couple of times only to sit and have to come back to de-ice. Third times a charm hopefully. If they don't get out within the next 30 minutes, they will probably cancel the flight.

Woohoo! Finally the plane has left. It's about an hour late, but it's showing that it's airborne. I'll have to go to the airport about 9:00 pm to pick up Eric. Later!

New Snowmachine and 5 hrs in the ER

2009-02-04T20:05:00.005-09:00

I don't know if I ever told you all that we had gotten a new snowmachine this past summer. Eric has been putting the miles on - about 800 to be exact! This past weekend he apparently decided that it was still too new. He did a little "cosmetic" surgery on it Tundra Style.

This picture shows the debris trail really well. Eric said it was approximately 80 feet.

Here's a closer look. The hood is flipped forward and there is no windshield. To make a long story short, he was on a trail that was pretty icy and bumpy. He looked back to check on the sled and his ski must have caught something and sent the machine rolling.

We spent the afternoon in the ER to get him checked out to make sure there was nothing wrong - possible mild concussion but nothing else. CT scan was clear and there were no broken bones. We were there for 5 hours just to keep him under observation and to get the CT results back. The CT was done and the scan was emailed to Anchorage to be read. Crazy!

Earthquakes, Computer Withdrawl and other ramblings

2009-01-25T17:03:00.004-09:00

Oh, man! I missed the earthquake! There was an earthquake yesterday about 120 miles from Anchorage, but it was felt there. A 5.7 on the Richter. If only we had gone to Anchorage this last week instead of the week before.

I need to get 2 days with of computer usage in in the next 6 hours. Eric will be confiscating the computer so he has something to do while he goes in to sit for a cow musk ox tag. He'll have the truck and the computer. Guess I'm really stuck at home unless I want to spend $6 on a cab ride (one way). I went to the store and bought him some goodies for sitting in the truck. He said I could actually have some of the quviet from this musk ox!!!!! I'm excited about that.

On another note, while I was in town buying groceries I had to return a movie that we rented yesterday. I was just going to pull up real quick, run the movie in and leave. I pull up into a spot that everyone pulls up into and this older gentlemen (60/70 something), comes up to me and says you can't park here. I told him I was just going to run a movie in and he's like "this is a fire lane only!" First of all, I don't know why it's considered a fire lane, because a fire truck CAN NOT get through. Second of all, people do it all the time! Someone just pulled out right before me. So to make the guy happy, I told him "thank you for reminding me" and then went to park half way down the parking lot to return the movie. No sooner than I had left though, someone else pulled up in the same spot and ran into the movie place! Okay, I know it was wrong, but everyone does it. How did I get so lucky as to be the one confronted. I felt so guilty afterwards :(

Okay, I better get this wrapped up because I want to get it posted soon.

I'm Back!!!!!!!!

2009-01-19T12:40:00.004-09:00

The last 7 days have been interesting to say the least. We made it to Anchorage without a problem, but things got interesting really fast on Tuesday morning! We woke up about 6:30 (Eric had to be at his seminar by 8:00). As we listened to the radio we realized that there had been some freezing rain going on early Tuesday morning (1-2 am). The schools had been cancelled, they weren't running the city buses, even the Air Force base was running late. Good thing Wal-mart was right next door to the hotel we were staying at. It's been a long time since I've been in a Wal-mart!!!!! I was also trying to contact the lady I work with that was in the hospital with her son (I had a laptop to deliver to her, see a few of the previous posts). Since the roads were better Tuesday afternoon (temps warmed up to 47!), Eric and I decided to do a little shopping. Wednesday morning was much of the same. Not as icy, but still icy enough. I was planning on taking the city buses to one of the other malls, but they weren't running again! So I went to the mall that was right next to the hotel. Prime hotel spot isn't it???!!!! The have an Old Navy and a Gap. Wednesday afternoon Eric and I did more shopping. Thursday morning we had a break through! The buses started running at 9 am and I was able to get to the mall I had been trying to get to all week! The have a "big" Joanns store!!!!!! I had fun, but it took be almost 90 minutes to get there, so I did have very much time to shop, but it was enough. Look at my "craft" bounty from my trip. This includes stuff from both Joanns and Michaels. The first is a general picture of everything. The second is the yarn, ribbon and buttons. The third picture is one of my favorites. These are the $1 stamps that both Joanns and Michaels have. I love the $1 spot!!!!!!

The bummer of the trip is that Anchorage just opened (back in October) a Target. The first for the state. I wanted so bad to go to Target, but it is located way out by the base and unfortunately those roads were never really great enough were I felt comfortable travelling them. The buses were also not running that far out of town on Thursday. We got back to Bethel on Friday night on one of the few flights that had left in the past 3 days.

The weather was bad enough to cause problems for the K300, Bethels Dog Sled Race. They were suppose to start on Friday, but because of the warming weather and rain, there was too many "swimming" holes. They didn't want a repeat of last years race. Luckily on Friday night we had a cooling wave with high winds come through to help refreeze what had thawed. We had temperatures drop into the teens and winds of 50+ mph and gusts past 70 mph. They finally got things going Sunday afternoon at noon and they cut out the last leg of the race. Racers are already on their way back to Bethel. They should be coming in early tomorrow morning.

The Big City

2009-01-11T18:17:00.002-09:00

Tomorrow Eric and I leave for Anchorage on the afternoon flight. I'm so excited to get to do some shopping. About this time of year you really need to get out of Bethel for your own sanity. I get to go to Michaels, Joanns, Walmart, Target.......I'm so excited. I'm going to take the camera with, but I don't know how many pictures I'll take. I'll post again when I get back.

Finished Sweater (almost)

2009-01-09T12:07:00.004-09:00

Well, since it's been extrememly cold out (we haven't been about -10 in about 10 days) I decided I needed to do some crocheting! I got my box of yarn in the mail on Wednesday and finished the sweater last night. Okay, it's almost finished. I don't have any buttons for it yet, but I'm hoping to find some in Anchorage next week. I made it in a size medium, but I think it's too big. I'm going to make another in a different color, but in a small. The first one shows the neck down and the second shows the neck up but with no buttons.
I'm really liking this pattern and I think I'm going to enjoy making it again. I love how it's crocheted, but doesn't look crocheted. What do you all think??????

Tis the season to be Crafty

2009-01-04T13:20:00.005-09:00

Okay, the "season" may be over, but I just realized that I forgot to show you all the treats I made for people at work for Christmas.

These were so easy to make. All you do is take a white CD sleeve and do a little stamping! I added some patterned paper into the envelope for a decorative background. I made just plain old sugar cookies for the final touch. I tried to make some candy cane type cookie, but they failed miserably.

Here's another card that I made yesterday. I decided that I was going to start trying to do some of Kristina Werners Card Color Challenges. This challenge was to use SU (stampin' up) Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive and Whisper White.

I think I'll be enjoying working on cards like this. I like being "told" what colors to use. Makes it a little easier to decide.

Happy New Year

2009-01-03T12:34:00.003-09:00

I know New Year's was a few days ago, but nothing really exciting has been happening here. We are enjoying th new year with extrememly cold temperatures. Right now as I type, it is -27 with wind chills around -57. It's been cold like this for the past few days. There hasn't been any more good news on Skyler, the kid that was shot I guess they have tried a few times to take him off life support, but his lungs keep on filling up with fluid.

I've been enjoying my time off, doing pretty much nothing! You would think now would be the perfect time to get a few things done, but it's been so relaxing NOT doing anything. I do the typical Cinderella duties (cooking, laundry, cleaning) but that's about it. I need to take a few tips from Cinderella on how to do the deep cleaning :) I've also been doing a little crocheting. I'm working on a sweater from one of my latest Crochet Today magazines. I'm just waiting for more yarn to come in the mail so I can finish it.

I'm using close to the same color. It's an intermediate pattern, but I don't think it's too difficult. Once I get it done, I'll make sure I post some pics.

Update on Fairbanks Shooting

2008-12-31T10:43:00.002-09:00

Well, there is good news and bad news on the shooting that I blogged about a few days ago. The good news is that the guy who shot Skyler is in police custoday and Skyler is still fighting. The bad news is that it sounds like he'll be a quadrapalegic. They have had him in an induced comma for the past few days. I guess they tried taking him out of it and off of the ventilators, but his lungs started filling with fluid so they had to put him back on and back into the comma. Eric gets updates at work every once and awhile. I would like to send the family something, but I'm not sure what to send. Get well doesn't seem appropriate, but Sympathy is even less appropriate.

Shooting in Fairbanks Bar

2008-12-28T10:47:00.002-09:00

Normally something like this I wouldn't even think twice about. First it's in Fairbanks and secondly, I don't know alot of people up there. Well, this just happens to be the time that I work with the victims mom and Eric works with the victims dad here in Bethel. Apparently some jealous guy came into the bar and shot the victim because he had started dating the guys ex. He fired 4 to 5 rounds and at least one of them hit the victim in the chest. He's currently in the hospital in Anchorage in what I can only assume in very critical condition. I'm sitting here trying to still process the information. I can only imagine what his parents are going through and what his brothers are going through. His one brother just came back from a tour in Iraq/Afghanistan about a month ago. His parents were so worried about him getting shot/IED, etc. I'm sure they never thought that they would have to worry about one of their sons here, safe in Alaska. I'll keep you all posted on how the victim is doing.

Work Christmas Pary

2008-12-26T20:59:00.004-09:00

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Eric and I spent the day at home relaxing and were gald we didn't have to go out in the blizzard that we ended up having. We had light snow and 30 mph winds with gusts up to 49 mph. I did some reading (Ann Brashares new book The Last Summer (of you and me)) and a little crocheting. I'm working on a cardigan I saw in one of my newest crochet magazines. Hopefully I have enought year in the color I chose to finish it.

I finally took a picture of the gift I received at my work Christmas Party. The lady that had my name, her husband makes a bunch of different native crafts. He teaches a native dance fan class, but I didn't know that he also does some jewelry carving. Here's a picture of the earrings he made. This was my gift.
They are spoons. I'm not sure what the significance of them are suppose to mean and I feel a little embarassed about that. If I do find out I'll let you know.

Merry Christmas!!!!

2008-12-25T00:01:00.001-09:00

The cats wanted to wish you all a very Happy Holiday season!

Since my sister has finally "gone public", I can say something here. I'm going to be an aunt again! Raquel and Doug will be having their 3rd boy sometime in April. We are all excited for them.

Also, a congratulations goes out to my old high school/college friend Ellen and her husband Bill. They had a little girl (Kaylee) at the end of October. Best wishes to you all!

The little fat guy

2008-12-21T10:46:00.004-09:00

Friday morning at work we had a surprise. The ABE Center (Adult Basic Education) had an unwelcomed student trying to get some education. His name was Mr. Ondantra zibethicus. He was a fat little guy that waddled as he ran. He came in to get some coffee and decided to do a little chute running since he was in the position to anyways. We got the little guy outside and he ran away, never to come back again.

Translation of story:

Mr. Ondantra zibethicus is actually the scientific name for the Muskrat. We had the doors propped open because the building was a little warm. Apparently the muskrat thought it needed to come in and warm up. It was sitting under the coffee stand, so a couple of the guys mocked up a chute to shuttle the little guy outside. The muskrat was a chunky little thing. Unfortunately they were able to get him out of the building before we could locate a camera to get a picture of him. Here's a general picture of one for those of you that don't know what a muskrat looks like.

They are about the size of a very fat hamster. I had to call Eric as soon as I got back to my office to let him know. The first thing out of his mouth was "you let it go?" I knew he was going to say that. He's been trying out a few muskrat traps this winter on his trapping excursions.

Happy B-day little Sis!!!

2008-12-18T08:36:00.000-09:00

Happy Birthday to my little sister. She is 27 years old today. Have a wonderful birthday and I'll give you a call tonight. By the way, Chubbs wants to say Happy Birthday too!

Door Decorating Contest

2008-12-15T13:57:00.005-09:00

The students at the college had a door decorating contest last week, with the voting held on Friday. This morning, Cindy and I had the chance to count the ballots. My door won!!!! Alex Nicori from Kwethluk decorated my door and did a remarkable job. And what does the 1st prize winner get - - - a roundtrip plane ticket on one of our local carriers. Here's a picture of the winning door. Door #2 went to my old office and it's current occupant Jaclyn. Yeah Jaclyn!
Third place went to Carol Sanders door. She is the Admin Assistant for the NSF Grant and a few other projects.Fourth place went to the Janitor's closet.

Cardmaking with Preschoolers

2008-12-10T21:21:00.003-09:00

The Little Red School House Preschool has a auction every year during December to try to raise money for the preschool. This year I was asked to help (actually lead) the preschooler in some cardmaking with stamping. They want to auction off the cards that the kids make. Well, today was the day! There was about 10 kids and only myself and the preschool teacher. Yikes! I was told that there were going to be some parents or more helpers available. That would have kept us a little more organized, but actually it was alot of fun. Here are some pictures of the kids enjoying themselves.Here is a picture of a couple of the "final" products. These are they types of creations that only a family member could love. Or someone who loves the craft of stamping and cardmaking! Hopefully these cards make alot of money for the preschool.Finally, here is a picture of the 10 little cardmakers. Some of them were really into it and some didn't want to do it at all.
One thing I did learn is that if you are going to be working with preschoolers, make sure you have everything cute ahead of time!!!!! I need to spend more time with the nieces and nephews to learn what to do! Well, hopefully you all will enjoy this pictures. The auction is this Friday and I'm hoping to make it. Maybe I'll have more pictures.

Back from Portland

2008-12-07T15:49:00.003-09:00

Well, I don't know how many of you knew, but I was recently in Portland for a work conference. It was the regional (Oregon, Portland, Idaho and Alaska) meeting for the TRiO programs. TRiO is the program at the Dept. of Ed. that the Educational Talent Search program falls under. I left the Saturday after Thanksgiving and returned Thursday evening. The meeting didn't start until Sunday evening so I had some time to do a little shopping on Sunday morning. There is the Pioneer Place shopping center about 8 blocks from the hotel I stayed at. They also had a movie theater. So naturally I had to watch a movie. I decided that I wanted to see Twilight. Excellent movie, but not as good as the books. I'm addicted to the series. I'm currently about 1/2 to 3/4 through Breaking Dawn (the 4th in the series) and am dreading finishing it. As of right now there are no more books in the series after this one. The had a Ross Dress for Less and I went a little sweater happy. During the winter I like to dress warm, but I have a hard time paying full price for anything - hard time paying full price, but yet I pay about 2x as much for things living in Bethel?????? Anyways, I got 6 different sweaters that I plan on wearing alot!

Back to the meeting. We stayed at the Marriott Downtown. I helped with registration check-in and met some nice people. We had some good sessions on our different TRiO programs (Talent Search, Upward Bound, Student Support Services, Educational Opportunity Centers). I got to meet one of our big supporters in Washington, DC with the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE). Angelica Vialpando (who is actually from Laramie, WY) is a great asset out there. Since she grew up in Wyoming, she understands the rural, small town thing. They are trying to talk me into Policy Seminar in Washington, DC in March to talk about my unique situation out here. We'll see.

On Tuesday night we had our Banquet and Silent Auction. I made a qaspeq for it. A qaspeq is a short-pullover type of top that the Yupik Alaskans in this area wear alot.

This is one that I made for myself to wear for our Thanksgiving potluck at work, but I also took it to Portland to wear at the meeting so I could show everyone what the qaspeq actually looked like.The qaspeq only brought in $35, but that's okay. It's all for a good cause. It goes to scholarships for TRiO students.

I spent all day Thursday either in airports or on airplane, 8:00 am to 9:00 pm. I'm now enjoying what little is left of my weekend before I have to go back to work tomorrow!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

2008-11-27T20:02:00.002-09:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!!

Eric and I spent a quiet morning hanging around the house. About 11:00 am, Eric went out to check on a few of his muskrat traps. At 1:00 pm, we got in the vehicle and drove over to Greg & Amy Ponsness' house for a mid-afternoon turkey feast. The dessert spread alone had 7 different types of pies/cakes/bars. We met some new people that work with Greg at the pharmacy at YKHC. We sat and talk and then played some dominoes. Greg & Amy have 1 boy Lars (10) and 2 adorable girls, Ashley (8) & Karlyn (6). Karlyn's birthday is the day after Eric's. We teased her that she was going to have a joint birthday party with Eric.

Well, I think it's time to relax a little and then go to sleep. I hope everyone had a great Turkey Day.

Dog Days

2008-11-25T20:32:00.002-09:00

Well, our dog sitting days are a little early this year. For the past 2 years we have dog sat over the Christmas holiday for one of Eric's co-workers. This year they have decided to go on vacation early. They are leaving for Anchorage tomorrow and then for Hawaii on Saturday. They will be gone for a 3 weeks. The cats are in a re-acquintance period with Sadie, the dog. Sadie has been her for about 2 hours and she has spent the whole time downstairs by the entryway. Poor thing.

We had our Thanksgiving potluck at work yesterday. Oh my gosh, did we have food! One thing we know how to do well is potlucks. We had it all from bacon wrapped scallops to pumpkin pie! I'm so excited we get off early tomorrow from work!!!!

Happy Birthday Eric!!!

2008-11-18T18:18:00.004-09:00

Well, today is Eric's birthday. His mom sent us a wonderful present..... Pizza Corner pizza!!!! This is one of the best pizza's there is in the midwest. It just so happens that there is a distributor in Anchorage and Eric's mom got in touch with them and had some shipped (as in cargo plane) to us!After we picked up the pizzas at the Cargo place we stopped at the post office and I hoped that my gift for Eric was in the mail. It was! For a few months now since his supervisor brought one with him to work, Eric has been wanting to get a SPOT Satellite Messenger.

This is actually a very practical gift for him because during the winter he likes to go out trapping on the snowmachine. He can send me email messages be to me to let me know he's okay. I was able to get a good price on this because I'm a certified Hunter Instructor. Plus, 10% of my purchase goes back to the IHEA (International Hunter Education Association). I also got a year of tracking (normally $50) for free. Yeah IHEA!!!!

Well, I better go check on the Angel Food cake that we are having as a birthday cake. Catch y'all later!

Stamping Sunday

2008-11-17T19:52:00.004-09:00

My stamp group got together yesterday and we had some fun. I was working with a set of papers called Bella Rose and the colors Pink Piourette, Riding Hood Red and a little bit of Kiwi Kiss. The Bella Rose paper is much better in person then what photos show.

Can You Hear Me Now?

2008-11-16T18:38:00.002-09:00

This is a line that some of you may be familiar with. If you aren't, you haven't had the chance of watching Brock Lesnar on UFC. Last night there was a pay-per-view fight for the Heavyweight Title between Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture. So naturally Eric and I had to get it. We invited a few people over, had some good food and watched some good fights. Some of you may be asking what is so important about Brock Lesnar? Well, Brock kinda grew up down the road from me in a sense. He went to school in the next town over that was only 20 miles from my parents' farm. I think we might have even gone to CCD (catechism) classes together when we were younger. Anyways, back to the fight. Brock towers over the guy he's fighting. Randy Couture is only 220 lbs and stands 6'2" while Brock is 270 lbs and stands 6'3". I don't think these heights are correct though because Brock really towered over Randy. Weight wasn't the only think that was a major difference. Randy is 45 years old, while Brock is only 31. Round 1 was a very good round with both of them showing strengths and weaknesses. Round 2 is where it all happened. Brock caught Randy offguard and it was them his for the taking. The punch floored Randy and Brock got on top of him and started wailing away. Randy didn't have a chance. If you get a chance to see the fight it is worth watching. I can just imagine the excitement around Webster, SD today. Nothing like a hometown boy making it, especially with a Title belt around his waist. Good job Brock! Make South Dakota proud.

Harlem All Stars

2008-11-13T19:00:00.000-09:00

I'm sure you have all heard of the Harlem Globetrotters. Well, the Harlem All Stars are kinda like a branch of the Harlem Globetrotters. MeadowLark Lemon started the All Stars after he retired from the Globetrotters. And now what does this have to do with me? We were lucky to be graced by the presence of 4 of the All Stars on Monday night. They were up here to go to one of the small villages (Goodnews Bay) to boost village moral and it just so happened that someone talked them into doing a show here in Bethel. Since it was a Monday night, Eric and I didn't have anything going on and thought we would check out the show. It was a 7:00 pm show so we left the house at 6:35 pm. When we got to the high school there was a pretty long line already. We stood in the line for about 15-20 minutes. By the time we got to the doors, the line was even longer then where we started at. The show itself was pretty typical of the Globetrotters. The figure 8 passing, the audience purse trick, the water on someone in the crowd, the "we want you to make a basket, down there". We couldn't hear alot of the banter because the guys weren't wearing mikes. The show was done as a fund raiser for the Bethel Rec Center/Pool fund. They raised over $8,000! We desperately need a Rec Center or someplace in town where the kids can hang out at.

Friends of the NRA

2008-11-09T18:44:00.001-09:00

Bethel had their annual Friends of the NRA banquest last night. For those of you that don't know NRA states for the National Rifle Association. Eric and went with another couple. We got to hear about some of the things that the Friends of the NRA are doing in Alaska. Sponsoring shooting programs and such. FNRA has sponsored a few of the programs that we had Olympic winners in. We had a young lady from Valdez that won a silver medal at the Junior Olympics in shooting. Also at the Bejing Olympics we had an Alaskan women take home the bronze medal. She also benefited from some the of FNRA monies. It's good hearing that the money goes to support programs like this. Way to go WOMEN!

Now back to Eric and I. We didn't win any guns :( We bid on a few things in the auctions, but stuff went pretty high. It was mostly going to get out of the house and talk to people you know. Eric was the only person from his office to go. There were a few people from the College, maybe 6 of us. I wish more people would get involved with events like this, especially since gun accidents are a major cause of alot of emergency room visits. There was just 2 boys up in Little Diomede, which is an island really close to Russia, that were playing around with guns. It was loaded and one accidently shot another and he died. We always hear about the bad things like this, but we never hear about good things. Good things which are actually because of programs like the Eddie the Safety Eagle program that the FNRA does. A girl up in Aniak (a village upriver from us) had spotted a loaded gun of some sort somewhere and called the State Troopers to let them know. This was directly because of the the FNRA program.

Anyways, that was my Saturday evening. I'll write more later!

What Have You Read Lately?

2008-11-05T20:41:00.004-09:00

I thought I would do something different here and write about a book I have recently read. For months, my older sister has been telling me about a book series called The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer. Well, I was finally able to get my name on the hold list at our library for this book and let me tell you, it was definitely worth the wait. Once I started the book I could not put it down! I read the book (about 500 pages) over a 2 day span. Just to give you a little background on the book, it's about a teenage girl who falls for a vampire. It may not sound like much of a book but believe me it's worth it! Now I'm just waiting for the next book in the series to get brought back to the library. I made the mistake of not going to the library to check out the book when I saw that it was in. I check about noon on Monday and there was 1 of the 2 copies still available. I decided that I would go over about 3:30 pm to get a little break in the afternoon. SOMEBODY CHECKED IT OUT!!!!! I can not believe that. Now I have to wait about 28 days to read the next book in the series. Actually I won't because I'm not that patient and I order the rest of the series on Amazon.

Going back to the Twilight book, they are making (actually have already made) a movie out of the book. It comes out on November 20. From the previews it looks pretty good, but I love the book so it will have to be pretty great.

So if you are in the mood for some quick reading, but a great story I highly recommend the Twilight Series. But if you get to New Moon (the second book) before I do, don't spoil it for me. I'm trying my hardest to stay away from the spoilers on Stephenie Meyers website;)

History is Made

2008-11-04T19:26:00.002-09:00

Well, most of you should have heard before you went to bed, but it looks like history was made today. Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States. This means that you all are making us take back VP candidate Sarah Palin. How dare you all! Just kidding. She actually has been pretty good for the state of Alaska. Rumor has it if Senator Ted Stevens gets re-elected and then booted out, she may replace him with herself. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Happy Halloween

2008-11-01T09:11:00.003-08:00

Happy Halloween Everyone!!!!
We had a pretty good halloween up here. At work we always have a halloween party. A good portion of the faculty, staff and students dress up. Here is a picture of me as Wilma Flintstone with one of our Financial Aid coordinators as a punk rocker. She wanted to go for the spiky hair look, but couldn't get it to stand.

This picture is of our other Financial Aid coordinators. She came dressed as a tornado. She used her kids toys with pins and thread to hold them on. She also did a great job of getting her hair to go straight up.

And finally here is a picture of our Campus Director sitting on our Wellness Coordinator who was dressed as a Whoopie Cushion. She had a little can of noise putty that she would play around with.
All of my hard work must have paid off on the costume. I ended up tying for Most Creative costume as voted by Employees and students. I ended up tying with Jaclyn the Tornado.

When we got home from work, I got all the candy ready for all the trick or treaters. Yeah, I guess you don't get too many trick or treaters when the High School has there carnival on the same night. Something I will never understand though is the trick or treaters that come out after 10 pm. We had the doorbell ring at 10:10, 10:30 and 11:00 pm. Needless to say, we didn't answer them. So that was my Halloween, how was yours?

Stretch Hummer

2008-10-19T13:19:00.001-08:00

Well, I started this post a week ago hoping I would have some pictures to post with it, but alas people have not sent any to me yet.

The night started off like any other Bethel evening. Eric and I were having supper with Greg and Amy, some of our friends here. About 8:30 pm, Amy gets a call from someone asking her if she could do something. Amy explains that she has company and hangs up. Well, I find out that the someone happens to be Andy (one of the high school science teachers) that we both know and she invited Amy to a 40th birthday party for one of the high school teachers. I was actually invited to this party too but told Andy that I couldn't make it because I already had plans.

Apparently a bunch of her closest friends (not Amy & I, we're just friends) splurged to get her a ride in the Hummer Stretch Limo that Bethel has recently acquired. For those of you that know Bethel, you are probably thinking, "what, Bethel of all places has a limo?". Oh we don't just have 1 limo, we have 2. We have a regular Cady limo and then the Hummer.

Okay, back to the story - Amy and I were debating if we wanted to go into town for the party when about 9:30 pm we get a knock on the door. As Amy opened the door, we see the Hummer limo outside. I guess the limo was a little late and was trying to make it up to the birthday girl. Since the birthday girl actually only lives 2 houses down from where Eric and I live we decided to go and have some fun.

The hummer has seating on one side and in the back and comfortably fits 8 people and you could probably squeeze in another 2. The other side of the limo has a "counter" with spots to stick bottles and hold glasses. Of course, since Bethel is a damp town the limo company has decided that there will be no alcohol in the vehicles. And since Bethel can get a bit muddy, everyone has to take off their shoes before they hop into the limo. All shoes are corraled into a rubbermaid tub and given back when you get out of the vehicle.

We got to go through town listening to the awesome cd/music system while strobe type lights were flashing all over. Once we got to the party location (the b-day girl's house) we had some champagne to toast and then they had a bunch of smoke oysters (about 20 lbs worth!). Amy and I partied until about midnight, but a few of the die-hards partied until 2 am.

So, that was my first real experience in a limo and it happened in Bethel of all places.

ps - once I get pictures (if) I'll try to post a few

Bootleggers Playing Hide and Seek on the Tundra

2008-10-13T14:20:00.003-08:00

This is the title of an article that was featured in the New York Times. You know you have a problem when the New York Times does an article on your community. Check it out for yourself here. If for some reason the link doesn't work to to the New York Times and search for Bootlegger on Tundra. That should bring it up. Basically it's talking about the problem we have with the sale of bootlegged alcohol. A fifth of R & R (Rich & Rare) whiskey, which is a bottom shelf brand, costs a mere $10 in Anchorage, but can sell for $300 in a dry village. Two months ago, state troopers in Aniak, about 90 miles to the northeast of us here in Bethel, reported chasing two drunken bootleggers 25 miles up the Kuskokwim River, sometimes at speeds topping 40 miles an hour. The suspects were finally caught — with five bottles of vodka.

Alcohol is a battle that way too many rural Alaskans have to deal with!

Cards I forgot to Post

2008-10-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

I made some cards a few weeks back and forgot to post them so you all could see. Here they are! I liked the idea of using black as the main card in the following example. Not sure on the designer paper and stuff, but it was just an experiment.Same with this one, an experiment. I love everything about this card, but I don't know about the designer paper. When I'm trying a card for the first time and don't know how it's going to turn out, I like to use scrap type paper. That won't be as easy now considering I donated alot of that paper to the TWC (Tundra Women's Coalition).This is probably one of my favorite cards that I have done. I love the idea of having a cut-out with a spinner focus. This is actually pretty easy to do. I send it as a birthday card to a friend. Hopefully she likes it as much as I do!
Once again, I am using one of my favorite stamp sets, the Embrace Life. This is a pocket card. I made about 6 of these for a swap, but ran out of time to get signed up. Guess I'll just wait for another swap or send them out as RAKs (random acts of kindness).

Stamping Saturday

2008-10-12T09:30:00.000-08:00

Well, I was fiinally able to get some more stamping/crafting done on Saturday. Here is one of the ideas I had for Halloween treats for the people at work.These cute little things hold a peppermint patty in them. I saw this on one of the blogs that I follow and thought it was just the cutest thing.

Here's a box full of spiders. Don't you wish all spiders looked like this? I love the one in the bottom center. It's looking over at the one beside like it might be trying to attack him. I also love the ones that are really cross-eyed. I think everyone at work will love them!

Some of the other things I did today are three different cards. The first one includes stamps from one of my favorite stamp sets. It's called Embrace Life.This card uses the stamp set Delight in Life. Another one of my faves. I also tried something new on all of these cards by dyeing my one ribbon. I took plain white ribbon and ran it across the stamping pads. Taada, customized colored ribbon! I also trying chalking on this card. I took my embossing pens and "colored" in the flowers. Then I put the chalk on top of the embossing liquid. I love how it makes the flowers look watercolored.This card uses the Berry Bliss papers from the old catalog. I had some leftovers from my stamping group that I thought I would try to use up. Once again I dyed the ribbon using the Chocolate Chip color. I like this technique and think I'll use it alot.

Well, I can't wait to see what I get done today. Happy stamping to you all!

Snow

2008-10-11T21:27:00.004-08:00

No, we didn't get more snow but I wanted to show you all the snow we did get on Thursday and Friday. Someone said we got about 4 inches. I'll let you decide for yourself.

This is looking outside our front door from the second floor.This is looking out to the north from the same spot. No snow today, which is good. I'm hoping that we get warm enough to melt all of this snow.

All of this snow is getting Eric excited for the trapping season though. We went down to one of the repair shops to see if Eric could get his sled (snowmachine, er snowmobile) ready for the season. He's got all of his trapping books/magazines/catalogs spread out seeing what he needs to order. We've also had the pleasure of watching a few trapping dvds. I think he is going to try to snare some wolves this year and hopefully more lynx and wolverine.

Where did Fall go?

2008-10-09T13:54:00.006-08:00

Well, I can say winter is finally here. Fall has decided it didn't want to stick around. Yesterday was the perfect fall day. The sun was out and shining bright. The trees still had some beautiful leaves on them and the temperatures were chilly but not too bad.

Fastfoward to this morning.......................

Temperatures hovering around 30 degress, but a nasty wind causing temps with windchill to be right around 8 degrees. Since it's dark here until about 9:30 am, you cannot tell what the weather is really doing outside unless you are standing in it. Once the sun came up we could tell that it wasn't going to be a pleasant day. It has been blowing snow all day. I don't think much has accumulated, but we cannot really tell because of the wind. I wish I had the camera here at work to show you. It's the type of snow that fall sideways, parallel to the ground.

I should have just stayed home this morning. On top of the blowing snow, they are still working on trying to get the siding done on the building before it gest too bad. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but since it was so cold this morning, they had to put their air compressor in the entry way that just so happens to be on the other side of the wall of my office. I was joking around with one of the workers and he said that it would only go off every 10 minutes or so. Well, at least it's not every 5! Since a few of these guys had started with the project when it started in July I got to know a few of them when my camps were gong on. Apparently they were joking around about putting the compressor because they knew I'd be getting the noise. Anywho, so every 10 minutes roughly I would hear the air compressor kick on to build back up the pressure. They about noon, since they had the air compressor where they did, it over loaded the breaker and it tripped. This just so happens to be the same breaker that my computer is plugged in to. After resetting the breaker, I thought we would have our (my) problems fixed. Boy was I wrong. They did decided to move the air compressor outside, but they are now working RIGHT outside my window! The scaffolding is literally 2 feet below my window and they are screwing in the siding right above my window. Although it has been quiet the past 30 minutes. Maybe they are gone for lunch. I can hope.

Anyways - I just wanted to let you all know that no matter how cold you are right now you could always be me!

First Official Snow Fall

2008-10-01T11:40:00.002-08:00

It is officially snowing in Bethel Alaska today. Of course it is the big heavy wet stuff that doesn't stick around, but still it's snow! When I looked out my window this morning I saw rain that didn't look like rain. It looked like the consistancy of snow, but it was falling like rain. Very strange. I've never seen anything like it.

On a side note to make this post a little longer, Barrow which is the northernmost city in the country will host it's first ever post-season football game. This will be the only game in the history of football (I think) to be played above the Artic Circle. Barrow only started football at the high school in 2006. The team is 7-1 and is excited about hosting the post-season first round game. It will be this Saturday and average temps for this time of year in Barrow is 21. Record lows were -12. Here's hoping to them not having a record season with the temps! Actually they are thing in the mid 20s.

Well, I better get back to work. Happy Belated Birthday Karen! You need to update your blog! I'm sending you a card, so you should expect it sometime early next week.

Quivet Smoke Ring

2008-09-30T20:35:00.001-08:00

Well, there was a guy at work the other week selling some of his wife's home made items. One of the things he was selling was quivet smoke rings. I've wanted a quivet smoke ring since we moved here and I first saw them. Quivet is the underhairs of the muskox. This is what keeps them warm in the harsh Alaska/Canada winters. I finally decided to get one. Here's a picture of Eric's muskox with the smokering beside it.
Here's Chubbs modelling the smoke ring. I think he should become a professional kitty model. Look how he is sitting so proud with it. Actually we kinda had to bribe him. Eric was petting him until I was ready with the camera. When I was ready, he pulled his hand away causing Chubbs to look up at him. That's when I snapped the picture.Now here's me modelling the smokering. Quivet is suppose to be much warmer than wool be not even half as thick. I'll let you know here when it gets cold enough to wear it. Might not be too long the way the morning temperatures are going. It's been in the high 20s the past few mornings.

Groceries are Here!

2008-09-29T19:32:00.005-08:00

Well, the barge has arrived early and I went down to get the groceries. You would think $1000 in groceries would look like alot more. I'll show you a picture and let me know what you think????Here is the main stock. We have everything from papertowels to canned veggies to cereal to laundry detergant to kitty litter and food. I'm not exactly sure how much this would be down in the lower 48, but I'm sure it would be around the $600 range.Then of course, Eric needed to get some gardening soil for next summer. Here is what 15 bags of soil/fertilizer looks like in the back of the truck. We need the soil pretty bad up here. Our garden didn't do too well this year. This is what our garden yielded.

We had a few more peas and strawberries that were picked earlier this fall/summer maybe another 2 batches like this one. This was all the bigger the carrots got. We planted alot of them and weren't able to get to them to weed them out. Oops!

The Mighty Hunter

2008-09-21T15:17:00.005-08:00

The mighty hunter is back with a semi-successful hunt. The main reason for the hunt was to get a bear, grizzly that is. They saw something like 60 bears, but over half of them (40-ish) were sows with cubs. This one was just sitting on its butt eating blueberries! It's the tiny blob in the white circle.Here is the mighty hunter waiting to get himself a caribou.Here's the caribou that the mighty hunter got.Here's the caribou head on the back of the mighty hunter.This is what a covered piano on a raft looks like.

No, I'm just kidding. It's actually the caribou headSo that is the trip of the mighty hunter. No bear, but a pretty nice looking caribou!

After 2 weeks, it's nice to have the husband back. It's hard to believe it's been a year already (actually last Monday was the "official" date) since we've been married. We're still working on the whole annivesary gift thing. I'll keep you posted!