My Trip to Marshall

**Warning - there are a few pictures that show some dead animals**

Well, from a previous post you should all know where Marshall, Alaska is. Our trip started out leaving Bethel at 9:00 am in a pretty small plane. The plane had room to fit roughly 8-10 people. We were the only 2 passengers on the plane. All the other seats were filled with cargo and our luggage. This was the first time for me being on such a small plane. I didn't know how I was going to handle it. Well, I handled it well. We weren't very far off the ground, so we were able to see alot. The pilot got us up in the air and set the auto-pilot and then he did something I wish I would have gotten a picture of. He pulled out a book and started reading!!!!

We landed in Marshall and got a ride to the river from some locals (very friendly people). We got a ride to the camp, which was held at the Fish Camp of Nick and Nastashia Andrew. The first picture is of the fish camp (the brown weather port is normally not there). The second and third pictures are views from the fish camp. We don't get those types of views in Bethel!

We spent day one getting to know the kids and elders. The guys went out that evening to try to get a moose, but it was too cold and drizzling out. On Tuesday the day started about 10 am. Eric gathered the kids and elders to talk about moose. Some of the kids were having fun with the collars Eric brought. Poor Mukluk (the camp dog) seemed to get the poor end of the stick on this one.

After the talk, he took the kids down by the water to have the kids try to track a collar that was hidden in the trees. The boys ended up finding the collar, but the girls gave up because of the mosquitos. Check out the mosquitos on the back of the red sweatshirt!

On Tuesday night the boys got to give moose hunting another try. This time it was a success. They went out at 8:00 pm and didn't get back to camp until sometime around 1:00 am. They just got a little spike bull, but it was delicious meat!

I've got a little trivia question for you. What looks like carpet, but is actually part of the inside of an animal? Don't know? Check out this picture and let's see if you can guess what it is.

Do you have any idea now? No, still nothing? Well, believe it or not, this is actually the stomach of the moose. You see, moose have 4 stomachs like cows do and it just so happens that stomach #1, the rumen, has the carpeting appearance to it. Interesting isn't it? That's the science lesson for the week!

Wednesday was our last day at the camp. We got to listen to some talks on diabetes, drugs and alcohol. Stuff that we as kids heard all the time, but they don't teach as much here even though it is a huge problem. We also had some down time so I got an opportunity to learn how to do some simple beading, while Eric got a lesson in how to string up a fish net.

Here's a picture of some of the fish that the kids/elders caught with the fish net while they were out. What they do is filet the fish, but backwards. They filet out the center/bones but keed the tail part intact for hanging. The will score the meat down to the skin without cutting through it and then they hang it to dry, all the while keeping a smoky burn going to give it the smoked taste.

On Wednesday evening, one of the boys whose nickname is Be-Bob, asked me why we had to leave. I told him that I needed to go back to work or I would get fired. He told me to get fired and then I could move up to Marshall and teach. I asked him what would Eric do and he said that he would "eat". How fair is that? Eric can eat and I have to work? Be-Bob was a pretty good kid. He was one of those trouble-makers that you can't help but love. We started the saying "you've been Be-Bobbed" (inside joke, kinda had to be there). Here is a picture of Be-Bop with Mukluk.

Well, Thursday came and when I woke up, I had a very strange feeling in my right eye. It was like I could only open it halfway. I asked Eric is there was something wrong with my eye and he said it was swollen. Apparently sometime on Wednesday night/Thursday morning I received some type of bug bite just below my eyebrow low enough to make my eye swell. It was like a black eye, without the black eye. Anyways, we left early in the morning to go back to Marshall and catch a ride home. This time the plane was even smaller then when we came out. I believe that this one was a 6 seater (including the pilots). Once again, we where the only 2 on the plane. This trip wasn't quite as pleasant as the first one. I think it was because I was starting to feel dehydrated.

So, in a nutshell (a long nutshell) that was the trip to Marshall!

And Breathe

The kids are gone and we are all doing the happy dance! I'm glad this week is over, not just because of the trying kids, but for other reasons also. Yesterday was just not a good day. First of all I start the day off with a call from Washington DC saying that they are not happy with the numbers we have been turning in. Every Talent Search Program - no matter where you are or what the circumstances is - has to serve a minimum number of 600 students. We definitely have that many students here that need our program. The problem is we don't get any more money than the other programs. We have no road system between villages. I spent on average $300 per ticket for the students that we brought in. I'm spending $60,000 on room and board for the students, yes $60,000 and that's in the dorm with the dorm cooks cooking. So what does all of this mean you may be asking? Well, it means that they can pull our funding if they don't think we have given them a good enough reason why we haven't been giving them higher numbers. I spent all day yesterday and this morning putting together a report on why we haven't met our numbers and why we deserve to keep our funding coming. Oh, by the way, did I mention that my salary is strictly from the grant? I don't get paid any other way except for the grant funds.

Now if that isn't enough to spoil a day, we've had a girl at camp this week (returning student from last year) that has been suffering from major migraines. Imagine being 12 years old and suffering from migraines. Monday she had a brief 15 minute episode. Tuesday she had another 15 minute episode. Yesterday - a 30 minute episode. Talk about physically/emotionally draining. She gets them so bad that she's yelling, crying, almost passing out. She was using me as a back stop yesterday while holding my hand and squeezing every time she had a bad pulse in the head. This went on almost straight for the half hour. This happened about 1:00 pm. After this, I couldn't sit at my desk and type for a good 1/2 hour. I was so drained last night when I got home.

Okay, enough depressing news. I'm excited to go to Marshall on Monday to experience a whole new world of the villages. I am planning on taking the camera along, so hopefully I will take plenty of pictures and can post some next week. Well, signing off for now.

Free for the Taking

No, I'm not talking about puppies or kitties. I've got 21 students ages 11-13 that are ready for the taking. We've had nothing but struggles with these kids since they came in on Sunday. Monday we had to give them a stearn taking to twice. On Tuesday we had to talk to them again because one of them took a few dollars in tips that the local coffee cart had. Today I actually yelled at them! I've never yelled at any of my camp kids. I felt so bad doing it, but we have about 6-8 of them that just aren't listening. As of right now, they have their shopping privledges taken away from them. I will be so glad when Friday gets here. They starting leaving about 11:30 am for check-ins at the airport. I'm looking forward to next week.

Speaking of next week, I have the opportunity to go up to a Yukon River village with Eric and the Fish and Wildlife Service. My Program Leaders will be in charge of our camp kids on Monday-Thursday afternoon. I'm going to see if we can collaborative with the Native groups that are hosting these camps with my summer camps. We can't afford to continue doing what we have been doing with the way costs have risen.

Okay - I know this isn't the best map, but Alaska's so big I couldn't do it with any better of a map unless it was huge!!!! The smiley face represents Anchorage. The X marks the spot where Bethel is (that is where we live :) ). The star represents Marshall where Eric and I will be going. I'm going to take the digital so I will hopefully get plenty of pictures. This will be the first time I will be travelling to one of the villages so I'm excited about that. I'll post something about this trip late next week when we get back.

Oh summer where art thou?

Well, we are now into June and there really is no sign of summer yet. Today has been chilly and rainy all day and currently the temperature is 37. It is 10:15 pm, but that has been the temp most of the day. The warmest we have been in the past 2 weeks is about 58. I want summer! Or at least temperatures a little more above freezing. I have camps starting tomorrow and the kids are expecting to go kayaking. How can I let them go kayaking when temps are this cold? It would be ridiculous to even think about doing it. I know the water temps probably aren't much warmer. Guess I'll have to make that decision on Monday afternoon.

I'm not sure how postings will go for the next 6 weeks. I'm hoping I will be able to keep it up. I have the luck of having 4 helpers this year instead of 3, which should mean I only work 8 hour days instead of 12-14 hours like last summer. Well, I better get to bed. I have to work tomorrow at 2:00 pm, so I need to enjoy the rest of my free time!!!!!

Being Creative

I joined a group on Yahoo that is all about stampin and you can join in on SWAPs to make for other people and in return they make you stuff. Here is a picture of one of these swaps. These are called Inchies. They are exactly what they sound like. 1 inch x 1 inch creativity. Oops, I guess I didn't take a picture of the ones I made before I mailed them out. Here's a picture of some I found on the web that I borrowed the idea from. These are a 10+1, where you make 11 of them and you get 10 back. You make 11 because one of them goes to the person hosting the swap as a gift/thank you for hosting.Here is the other one I am involved in. It's called Card Candy. These are embellishment type things that you can put on your cards or scrapbooking pages. I had alot of fun with these. Once again, I didn't make myself any, but I did write down all of the colors/stamp sets I used and I have this wonderful picture so I should be able to recreate them. The Card Candy is a 5+1. You make sheets that are half pages and have a minimum of 6 different things on them. Again, the +1 is the same thing as above as a gift/thank you for the hostess.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Well, it's not the way I pictured my 3-day weekend! Yesterday was raining on and off all day and today has been raining for the majority of the morning and it doesn't look like it will let up any time soon. Maybe it will rain itself out and we will see some sun tomorrow.

To answer a question in my comments the other day from Karen, I use both clear acrylic stamps and the red rubber wood mounted ones. I've been really getting into Stampin' Up lately, so I have quite a few things from there. I find that I can't use just one brand though. There are so many cool things out there that I want to use them all. And speaking of stamping, I will probably play around this afternoon. I've signed up for a group on Yahoo! that is a Virtual Stampin' Up Convention. I have a few swaps to participate in that I need to make things for.

Signing off for now!

Blanket for Brady and other stuff

Well, now that I have the official word that Alethea has gotten the gift for Brady, I can post a picture for the rest of you to see. I originally had a different design in mind, but I wasn't feeling it. I searched around for a long time to find the perfect design and I findally found it. Now, here it is for your viewing pleasure.

And here is the card I made.

There were a couple of ladies at work that had birthdays yesterday, so I made them the following cards. I just love this background stamp.

Shout out to Cody

This one goes out to a little boy out there named Cody Caraway. He had a request to see pictures of the fat kitty (Chubbs for the rest of us). So here you go Cody, pictures of the fat kitty.

I'll try to do a bigger update tomorrow!

Snow?????

Woke up this morning, looked out they window and couldn't believe my eyes. It was snowing! Yes, you heard me right, snowing! It has since changed to rain because it is now 37 outside (11:00 am). I'm suppose to start my camps in 3 weeks. How can it be snowing? Okay - back to work.

Right day, wrong time

Well, just like last year, I guessed the right day of the river break up but the wrong time. Last year I was 5 hours too early, this year I was about 5 hours too late. The jackpot was around $6,000. Guess this means I just have to try again next year. There's a big Break Up Bash tomorrow night down by the river. They usually have a band playing, but this year there are currently no bands in Bethel. They are also giving away free hotdogs. I doubt we will go down to it. There is usually alot of people, especially kids, running around at things like this without parental control.

Champagne Wishes and Cavier Dreams

Well, not exactly. Bethel is not the type of place where you can celebrate a birthday like that. Oh yeah, by the way, it's my birthday today so that's why I titled the post this way. I did spend the day relaxing, doing a little crocheting and some internet surfing for stamping stuff. This afternoon Eric and I were lucky enough to see a really Spotted Seal. One of Eric's co-workers parents were given a seal and he called to let us know so we could come over. Not too many seals come up the river this far so we never would have seen a live one in Bethel. Granted this one wasn't alive, but it was still cool to see a real seal. I took the camera over with the intent to take a few pictures, but they were already in the process of skinning the seal by the time we got there. It wasn't looking too pretty by then. Eric was lucky enough to help out with some of the skinning. Seal is a pretty big thing around here. Natives will actually save the fat and render it to oil to use for dipping fish and other things in. You would not believe the fat on a seal. I bet it was almost 2 inches thick. What they do is cut it up into strips and then put it in a 5 gallon bucket and let it render. It basically sits in the bucket and the oils come out of the fat and float to the top. This one seal will probably make 3-4 gallons of oil. Once the fat is done rendering, they will eat the remainder of the fat. Now seal oil is something I have yet to try. Just the smell alone is very strong. I have actually tried seal though. Seal can have a very fishy taste to it and can leave a greasy film in your mouth. Maybe if it was cooked different it might be better.

Back to the birthday, we did go out to eat tonight at one of the local eating establishments. VIP is a Japanese/American restaurant which does sushi, different type of rolls (california rolls, etc) and of course burgers. I usually get the 007 Rolls. They are like california rolls, but are topped with shrimp (cooked), avocado and a little spicy sauce. Very good! Eric had the shrimp basket with fries. Not too much of a variety from restaurant to restaurant. On the way home we stopped at the movie place and picked up the movie Juno. Can't wait to see it. I've heard good things about it and I love the previews.

Well, it's about time to put the movie in, so I will chat with you all later.

Sad News

I just wanted to let you all know that after a 6 month battle with cancer, Rachael passed away earlier this week. Condolensces go out to the Bloom and Grover families. She will be missed, but lives on through her daughter Makayla.

crafts

Well, here is the latest version of my crafts. The first few pictures will be of the cards I made at our latest Stampin Up group meeting. The last picture will be of my latest afghan that I made for a co-worker of Eric's.



Here is the blanket along with the card i made for the co-worker.

In My Thoughts

This is just going to be a quick post for a few of my friends out there. Some with good news and some with not so good news. First let me start out by asking everyone to pray for my friend Rachael. I went to grade school with Rachael before she moved away. We got back into touch in college and have stayed in touch since. About 10 years ago Rachael struggled with melanoma. She had remained cancer free until this past November. She was again diagnosed with melanoma right after she had her daughter Makayla. Unfortunately the past 6 months have been a battle and it isn't looking good. Rachael's husband Isaac has been updating a blog about her struggles and it's to a point where they are making her comfortable. The melanoma got into her blood stream and spread throughout her body. They are only giving her a couple of weeks. This is so sad. She is so young and has so much to live for. It's really not fair. She's only 31 and shouldn't have to be going through this. So, everyone, please pray for Rachael, Isaac and Makayla.

Also, my friend Karen has been struggling through IVF treatments for the past few weeks and just found out that it did not take. Rich (her husband) and her have been trying so hard and this is devastating news. Please pray for them.

Now, for some happy news. A big congrats to my friend Alethea. She and her husband Corey welcome Brady William into the world yesterday morning. He is joining big brother Cody. I wish you all the best and I cannot wait to see the little guy!

My Trip to Anchorage

Well, I finally got to see something other than the airport in Anchorage. I headed in on a Thursday morning and got to Anchorage about 11:00am. Eric still had his conference going on until 5:00pm so I ended up sitting through some of the talks. Good thing my friend Letty was there. She's a wildlife biologist for the state. Thursday night we went to eat at Applebees. What a change of pace of restaurants then we are used to. After eating supper, we did a little exploring. The mountain views were beautiful and I thought that I would take pictures on Friday or Saturday.

Friday, April 25
I wake up and I hear what I think is rain coming down outside. So, I get up and look outside. To my horror, it is snowing big, heavy, wet snowflakes. I'm thinking that it will let up later in the day and I'll be able to get a few pictures. Yeah, right. It snow constantly all day long. By the end of the day, we had almost 2 feet of snow on the ground. We did get a bunch of errands done. We also got to see our first movie at a movie theater in a long time. We saw Harold and Kumar - Escape from Guatanamo Bay. NOT RECOMMENDED! It was definitely not what we expected.

Saturday, April 26
The snow finally decided to quit, but it was overcast the whole day. So no mountain pictures. More running around was done today.

Sunday, April 27
Time to head back to Bethel. Of course the sun was out today. I wasn't able to get any pictures before we had to leave. Bummer!

That was my Anchorage trip in a few paragraphs. We are hoping to plan more trips to do more fun things in the future.

Goodies

Well, this is a post for my sister really. She keeps bugging me about seeing pictures of my goodies I got this past weekend in Anchorage. I'll post a few pics and try to post a more detail trip post this weekend. So this one's for you Raquel!

Fun Facts about Alaska

Well, I'm here at work right now searching the internet for Fun Facts about Alaska that I can use for my camps. I'm sure there is alot of things that the kids don't know. I can across this interesting fact:

September 15 is Marriage Fidelity Day in Alaska
"Therefore, I, Frank H. Murkowski, Governor of the State of Alaska, do hereby proclaim September 15, 2004, as: Marriage Fidelity Day in Alaska, and encourage Alaskans to remember and observe their vows of marriage."

Guess Eric and I picked the right day to get married. Married on Marriage Fidelity Day!

On another note, for those of you that are just dying to see pictures of this humble town we call home, check out this website: http://www.bethelak.com/photos/

There are all sorts of pictures here that will amaze and shock you. The guy that takes all of these pictures is a native and he works for the local radio station.

Certified HIT

Sounds kinda cool, doesn't it? Certified HIT - could it be a hitman? Nope, just a certified Hunters Information Training Program instructor. That's right, I'm certified to teach Hunter's Ed in the state of Alaska. I spent all day yesterday, along with Friday evening in training. I though this was something I could do with my camp kids this summer. There is a definite need for at least firearm safety all over the YK Delta. I'm not sure how many deaths a year happen from firearm negligence (is that spelled right?), but it is probably a minimum of 1-2. Most of it is because the natives will leave their guns sitting in their artic entries loaded with something in the chamber. Doesn't take much for a curious kids to pull a trigger. It would be a little more difficult if the kid had to actually had to load the chamber. Last summer during my camps there were 2 kids (brothers, under 10) that got made at each other, so one of them got the gun and shot and killed his brother. This happens all too often here, so hopefully with some proper firearm use things like this won't happen.

On a side note, I'm breaking free from Bethel for a few days. Eric will be in Anchorage this week for a meeting and I was lucky enough to get a cheap ticket so I'm going to head in too. I'll head in Thursday morning and we'll come back on Sunday. I'm looking for the freedom, actually I need it to refocus, particulary on work. This past fall I was excited because we got the new grant and we had about $20,000 more dollars then we did last year. Well, now that I started figuring out costs of airline tickets and room and board for the kids, I'm in no better of a position then I was last year. It's frustrating. Anchorage's Talent Search program gets $514,000 to service the same number of students that we need to service and we only get $226,000. That sucks!!!!! Okay, enough work talk. I'll update when we get back from Anchorage. They have a JoAnns, Michaels, Walmart, etc. I'm so excited!!!!!!!

Spring where are you?

Borrowing the subject title from my sister, Spring - where are you????? Well, we definitely don't have it here. Temperatures are okay, hovering around freezing, but we got snow yesterday and today the winds are blowing pretty hard. It's nice to see the temperatures where they are considering it was -9 on Friday morning.

I had the opportunity to help out the Girl Scouts Women in Science yesterday afternoon. I did a little microscope work with them. At the elementary level here, students don't get to do anything with microscopes in there science classes so they had a blast looking at the pond water samples and the paramecium. I was having fun doing science with kids again.

On a sad note, my friend Letty will be leaving us soon. She applied for a biologist position in Nome and recently found out that they wanted her. Letty, what will I do without you!!!!!! I guess I might have to take a trip to Nome!

Well, I have a sweet little kitty sitting in my lap so I shall say farewell for now to enjoy my baby!

Being Crafty

Well, I have done quite a few crafts over the past couple of weeks and thought I would show you all some pictures. And I saved the best for last, so make sure you read all the way down.

The first ones are from my stamping group. We use all Stampin' Up supplies.Here is a little something I did for the people at work as an Easter treat. These were pretty fun to make. I even was asked to make some for a graduation present.And finally I've been working on an afghan for a work associate of Eric's. Him and his wife had a little boy 2 weeks ago. He's a wildlife biologist for the state office. I think it turned out adorable.