Connections

Let me tell you a little story about connections...

My friend Amy and I met through a mutual friend, Bree. Bree grew up in Portland, which is where she met Amy, and now lives in Chicago, which is where she met me (before I moved to AK, obviously). I almost never met Bree, but through an awesome turn of events, we met and became friends. Then I was invited to her bachelorette party several years later (which is now several years ago), where I met Amy. Amy and I hit it off, partially because I had just moved to Alaska when I met her, and she was bound and determined to teach in Alaska...just as soon as she finished the Masters program she had just started. So, a couple of years after Bree's wedding, Amy landed a gig teaching in Homer, Alaska, about 4 hours drive from Anchroage! I get to see her more than I ever got to see Bree in Chicago! Small world.

But the connections continue... Seldovia is a small town across Kachemak Bay from Homer, and had been on my hit list for a while. So when Amy invited me to a music festival in Seldovia my response was something like, "Hell yes!" I highly recommend the music festival, which highlights artists from all over the country, not just those from good 'ol AK. But I'm not here to tell you about the music; I want to focus on how the connection chain kept going. That weekend I met a slew of people who are friends with Amy. Among those people were two guys, Ross and Cody, and Moses, a big brown dog. Ross and Cody are brothers, and Moses is the dog of yet another brother living in Homer. But the third brother was working in Valdez for the summer, so while I heard stories about him, I had no idea who this third brother was. I was just there for the music, after all!

Well, many months later, well after Scott and I broke up, Amy invited me down to Homer for a Halloween party weekend. Again, my response: "Hell yes!" I can't pass up a chance to hang with Amy, and if it involves costumes, even better! I knew it was going to be a good weekend when it was requested that I bring wigs to Homer, and when I walked in the door and Amy said, "You have to meet Jedd," and then Brandon handed me a "Juicy Lucy." I had never before worn a wig, met Jedd, or ever heard of a "juicy lucy" (which, is two burger patties smashed together around a gob of cheese and tossed onto the grill...in other words, edible heaven). So, while taking my first bite of the "juicy lucy" I met Jedd. This was the third Homer brother, and Moses's dog dad...in the flesh! I'd heard a lot about him, but I wasn't expecting him to be so fricking cute! I did the best I could to say hi and shake his hand, which was kinda hard considering I had cheese practically dripping out of my mouth, and my hand was covered in burger juice. Ah, first impressions. That night everyone gathered at Amy and Brandon's place for a fire pit party. It snowed on us, we smashed pumpkins, and passed a bottle of whiskey around the flames. Ingredients for pure fun, I tell you.

The next night everyone got dressed up for a costume party at one of the bars in Homer. I went as a flapper. Here's proof:Wigs rule

Jedd was "The Dude." I had an epic fail and didn't get a picture of him in his robe and slippers with a white russian. And I'm happy to report that it was in fact a costume, not the way he dresses all the time. Anyway, we hit it off that weekend, and the rest, as they say, is history. Here's a pic of Jedd (center), Brandon (left) and their friend Mark (right). This is the most "Dude"-like picture I have of him yet.

Stay classy, Homer.

So, to summarize: I meet Bree (2003) --> Bree introduces me to Amy (2006) --> Amy finishes up grad school and moves up to Alaska to teach (2009) --> Amy introduces me to Jedd (2010). A 7 year connection chain that almost never happened. Whew!!

Happy Anniversary

Today is my 5th Anniversary in Alaska. I love it more every day!

What a Year!

I am very good at reading blogs...just not so good at keeping up with my own! This has been quite a year! Here are some of the highlights.

In March I escaped the legislative session and hit up Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee with Julia and one of her friends. Holy hell, that was fun! The snow there was amazing, and Grand Targhee might just be my favorite resort (out of the 3 I've been to!). I found a run that was just my style and cruised it all afternoon while jamming out to tunes. It was like I was in a Warren Miller movie. I still could use another big tele break through though. I have to put on serious mileage in 2011!

In April I jet-setted across country to celebrate my college swim coach's retirement. That man had been coaching Yale swimming since 1978! 1978!?!? I was BORN in 1978! So, after 32 years, he hung up his towel, and went out with a bang. It was great to see all my former teammates there. I miss you guys!

In May, I took the marine ferry over to Cordova (east side of Prince William Sound) with my two kayaks and Scott and his two surf boards. The goal: Hinchinbook Island. There's a cabin on the south side, where the swell from the Gulf of Alaska creates some sweet surf. But, as you can imagine good surfing = bad kayaking, and good kayaking = bad surfing. But we were ready for adventure, and adventure is what we got! We took off from Cordova around 10 PM (gotta love long AK summer days), crossed over to Hinchinbook and set up camp around midnight on the eastern shore. It wasn't quite the remote experience we had hoped for - there was a jet boat fishing fleet heading out the same time as us, and we got to play frogger in our kayaks. The next day we attempted to get to the cabin via the Gulf. Epic Fail. We flipped in 4 foot waves. I've never flipped in a kayak, and was kinda freaked about what it'd be like in Alaskan waters. But it wasn't the cold that was bad, it was the waves. I thought it'd be ironic for me, a swimmer, to die by drowning while on a kayak trip (only my favorite thing to do)! But obviously, I made it. :) We eventually made it to the cabin by kayaking up a river on the back side of the island and then hiking up and over the mountain with surf gear. It was a ridiculous slog, but man was it worth it! We had 5 miles of shore and surf all to ourselves (and LARGE grizzlies - we saw their prints only...they were HUGE), and had 5 days of sunny, 70 degree weather. That is UNHEARD of. What a great trip!

I did a few other kayaking trips this summer: Derickson and Deep Water Bays south of Culross Passage, and Unakwik Inlet, which is between Whittier and Valdez. Both were awesome, as all kayak trips are. :) We had a mix of weather, though I still kept up my luck of having some sun on every yak trip. Here are a few photos from the Unakwik trip. The glacier, Meares, is very rare. It's advancing, so it was really cool to see that it's plowing down the forest (the farthest northern yellow cedar forest in the U.S...or is that the world?), as compared to most glaciers that are retreating and are surrounded by exposed rock, not trees. Very cool.

In June I went over to Seldovia (across Kachemak Bay from Homer) for the town's annual music festival. They had some serious talent there! Though the Cat-in-the-Hat emcee was nightmare inducing.

In July I went down to Colorado for a high school friend's wedding. Now that was a damn good time! I contemplated moving to Colorado after that trip, for all of 5 minutes. I love coming back home to AK!

I also had the chance to float the Nenana and the Matanuska this summer. Yee haw, I love riding the waves of crazy rivers!

And I actually did more than just get outside for adventures; my yard and downstairs got some revamping this summer and fall. I enclosed the yard (dubbed "Wrigley's Field") and expanded my garden, so I had some serious veggie bounty going on. I even had basil growing in my house till a couple of weeks ago, and the jalapenos are still going!! What the...? As for the bathroom, yay for jetted tubs post skiing!

An adventure of its own was my relationship with Scott, which came to an end this fall. Let's just say it wasn't the type of adventure that I like, so it's good to put it in the past. Many, many lessons were learned.

I haven't been doing much backcountry skiing this year yet b/c Mother Nature hasn't been kind, but did make it out for my first turns October 9th. We hiked and hiked and hiked with our ski boots on and our skis strapped to our packs for about 3+ hours. We had to cross a huge boulder field. We were desperate for snow, apparently. We made it to Lane Glacier and did a couple of super fun laps before heading back for pizza and beer. I can't wait to get out on more BC trips. And there's a good chance I'll be doing more skiing from a snowmobile...now there's the life!

I went to Palm Springs in November to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with Mom, Dad, Loren and Mike. I got to have my own villa, which was a major score. Loren brought me cocktails to kick off the evening every night. Does it get any better? We'd all pick lemons and oranges and tangerines as we walked through the neighborhood. And I even managed to get some mountain hiking in! I had to watch for rattle snakes...yikes! Here is a view from the back deck of my parents' place, cacti and mountains (looked like caribou cacti to me!), my villa, and Loren and I in Joshua Tree National Park.

I was in Homer for Thanksgiving, and back to the midwest for Christmas. I visited Loren and Mike's new diggs in St. Louis and then drove to Chicago via Springfield. I got to see Julia and my second set of parents in Springfield, and then the rest of the fam in Chicago. I didn't realize I'd done so much traveling in 2010! Now I'm back in Alaska hoping for more snow, and planning a fun New Years celebration. I'm ready for 2011! Happy New Year everyone!

Already in the works for 2011: kayak trip to the Na Pali coast in Hawai'i!!!!

Meese Attack & St. Louis

Scott (I'd like to say "and I" but that's sorta a stretch) finished up the fence he's been installing at my house. The one thing left to do is build the gate. So just as he finished up, I mentioned to my neighbor that it was amazing I hadn't gotten any moose in my garden this year despite the yard not being totally fenced in. And guess who came to visit that same night? Yep, a meese! He/she stepped on my onions and lettuce, but then went ahead and ate a BUNCH of peas, snowpeas, and lettuce. At least I'd already eaten my strawberries! And I took a big harvest out the day before the attack, so all in all, I 'spose I don't mind helping feed the locals. Just once I'd like to catch one in the act though - that would make some for some great photos!

Loren and Mike are closing on their house tomorrow. Watch out St. Louis!

Recap, Part 1

Wow, getting so far behind is a baaaaad idea. It's daunting to try to catch up all in one post, so let's just start with Loren's wedding. Scott and I flew into Chicago, drove to Springfield, and hit the ground running. We met a slew of people at my parents' house where wedding weekend festivities were underway. I hadn't showered in a day+, but no one seemed to mind the airplane stench, so Scott and I joined the crew out at the bars. There are pics of this on facebook, so I'll spare you pics of my unwashed self. But I cleaned up for the wedding, so here are a few shots. It was F-U-N! That Loren sure knows how to throw a party!

On the Trolley after the ceremony on our way to get pics taken at Illini, and then on to the dancing! Actually, I was really nervous about giving my maid of honor speech at this point.

The band was amazing, and had most people on the dance floor all night. Good times! That's Marco on the right. You'll never see him in a bar in Springfield for more than 5 minutes. He's really good at getting himself kicked out of every bar. Crazy German. You'll notice I'm having a good time - I'd given my speech and the pressure was off. Phew!!

My sister was so kind as to feature VIDEO of my dad and I during the rehearsal dinner in front of a gazillion people I'd only met the day before. My family has a tradition of playing Cranium when we get together, and some of the video featured my dad and I acting out a few clues. Since everyone had already seen our video, why not break out our moves at the reception? Here we are revisiting our Cranium skillz. My dad thinks he's doing a vulture. Uh, right. I'm obviously the Crocodile Hunter. It's so clear. It's also clear that I'm much better at this game than my "vulture" dad. And Mike doesn't even have to act...he's thinking, "What the h*ll have I gotten myself into?!?" My mom kinda looks the same way. At least the bride is amused!

So after we shut down the kick-ass reception, we took the Springfield bars by storm. Loren made an appearance in her wedding dress...along with TWO other brides! Scott and I entered the bar, thought we found the bride and and crew, only to discover, no, that was a different bride and her crew. Oh, and another bride and her crew. Finally we found Loren with a t-shirt over her gown (gravity started taking over the strapless dress by the end of the night). We proceeded to dance the night away, and then we took the party back to the hotel. What's that? Lindsey and Michelle are asleep in the room? Not for long! Just look at the shenanigans. Every single one of these guys made it his mission to pester Lindsey and Michelle, who'd passed out hours before in their bridesmaid dresses. They were sports and partied a little more with the raucous bunch. I think we were all in bed by 4 or 5 am?? Not sure, but what I do know is that we all had a blast!! Thank you Loren and Mike for getting married...can we do it again next year??