Creepy Crawling Cupcakes

There was a fundraiser at the school. I saw this book that showed step by step how to decorate really cute cupcakes. It has all holidays, a lot of animals and birthday themes. I flipped through it and decided to do the one that looks the easiest.
I think the scorpian is my best one. It's because it was my last one and I started getting the hang of it.

Halloween!! a little late & weather

So, I know Halloween was last month but I figured it is never too late to post about Halloween.
My pumpkin is the spider and web, Jim's is the skull.
Our ward does not celebrate Halloween due to a Bishop we had a few years ago that doesn't believe in celebrating it so therefore, we have an entire ward that does nothing for it. However, James and I still celebrated without them knowing it. We carved pumpkins again this year. We also went to a Fall carnival at the elementary school I work at. We were walking to the door when the fire alarm was pulled so we went back later and it was pretty fun.
Our current weather: 5 inches of snow, negative 7 this morning, currently 1. Sunrise around 8:30, sunset around 5:00. Forecast, blizzard this weekend. We are supposed to be getting 18 inches of fresh powder this weekend.

Our Dishes Taking a Stroll, Sally Needing to be Washed, and Dark Northern Lights

Sally had a playdate with one of my co-worker's dogs. They ran everywhere and slobbered on everything. Sally needed a bath afterward.


We stayed up till midnight last night standing in the driveway looking up into the sky at green wavy lights. Northern lights are pretty cool. We were not able to get a picture. Evidently our camera is not hightech enough because they came out black. It was our first time seeing the northern lights.

Our dishes decided to take a little stroll through our kitchen. It happened because our dishwasher is still not bolted to the floor and so when I rolled out the bottom drawer I forgot to push it back in when I rolled out the top and the bottom decided to roll away.

2 Really Exciting Things in my Life!!!!!

I found out Monday that I will be a long term sub for a teacher that is going on maternity leave. I will be paid teacher SALARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is so good to have a full time teaching job lined up even if it is only for 3 months.
ALSO, something else happened that I have wanted and waited for for a little over a year. You see, when James and I moved up to Alaska, we were not able to see our house before we moved here and the company pays rent so I wasn't too concerned. Well, the very day I got here, I saw the kitchen and was not very happy because of the size, amount of storage space (we keep a lot of our kitchen things in the garage, not just food storage.) Well, there also wasn't a dishwasher. I came up with the brilliant plan to buy a portable dishwasher and put it where the fridge was and move the fridge across the kitchen. Well, we checked with our landlord and he said that if we bought a regular dishwasher, he would install it and put an extra cupboard in. We bought a dishwasher about 6 weeks ago. It had been sitting in the kitchen in a box till yesterday, when Jim had the day off and went and bugged our landlord to come install it. It is still not 100% put in. As you can see it needs a counter top and also needs to be bolted to the floor. But IT RUNS!!!!!! I am ecstatic.

Tae-Kwon-Do..... GREEN BELT!!!!!

Yeah!!!!!! I am a low green belt in Tae kwon do now. I just got it. I am really excited in case you haven't figured that out.

2nd snowfall of this autumn

This is the second time it has snowed this fall. It won't stick forever yet. It is slowling melting. Last time it snowed it was here for about 2 hours.

No longer just a substitute

I am happy to report I finally received my Alaska State teaching Certificate in the mail. I also have a new job. I am no longer a traveling subtitute. I am a building substitute.This means I am guaranteed work till the end of the school year and don't have to sit at home and wait for the phone to ring. I show up at one school everyday no matter if I am needed in a classroom or not. If I am not needed in a classroom as a sub. teacher then I float around and help make copies, tutor, and so on. Today out of almost three weeks, was the first day I wasn't in the classroom and I kept myself plenty busy. Building sub looks really good on a resume for future full time teaching positions.

Our Growing Family

Well, I am happy to report that our family is finally starting to grow.
We got a dog from a family in our ward that had to get rid of her because their son is allergic. She is a very sweet 2 two year old. She seems like she is missing her old home though because she started to whine a little. The other family has 4 children and since we have none, she seems to just lay there and do nothing.
Her name is Sally.

Work

Well, I started back to work last week even before school started and no I do not have a full time teaching job. It is really competitive up here. I thought it was bad in Washington, it is worse up here. However, I am subbing full time and am in the same classroom for the first 2 1/2 -3 weeks. Today was the first day of school and we all had fun. Sorry, I don't have any pics.

I no longer sleep with my husband!

Yes, you read that right. I sleep with Darth Vader.


Jim was diagnosed with sleep apnea about aweek ago. Now he sleeps with a mask on. He says he feels like Dumbo because of the tubing. He sounds like Darth Vader, so that is what I get to hear all night. The good news is, he doesn't snore anymore and the machine is actually quieter than his snoring. It is hilarious when he tries to talk with the machine on. It sounds like he is plugging his nose and trying to breath and talk at the same time.

Tae-Kwon-Do and Birthdays

So, does he look 30? Yep, I am telling the world that Jim is 30 but when I turn 30, no one better know!

This is a picture of one of the Birthday cakes I made. I found these really cool food coloring markers at Wal-Mart and decided to try them out. They worked well.
I tried to light candles on the other cake, but when I was half way done, the wind came and blew all of them out:-(


All the kids, we were the only ones there that didn't have kids,and Jim and I had a water balloon fight. It was a blast. The people in the background are our guests picking up the water balloon scraps. (don't worry we helped as soon as our picture was taken.)


This is me and with my high yellow belt. I broke my first board tonight. (For those of you who don't know, they changed the ranking of the belts it is now, white, low yellow, yellow, low green, green, low blue, blue, low red, red, recommended black and then black with all the different degrees in the same order. Sometimes the yellow or blue or green and such is refered to as high blue, yellow etc.)

No Christmas for us :-(

So, James and I are not flying home for Christmas this year. Instead, we are flying home for a wedding in Janurary. My sister-in-law, Nancy, is engaged. So, I don't believe she has a blog so I decided I would post about it.
Yeah, I know my life is so boring I have to post about other people's excitement.

Mushy Strawberry update

Okay, so our strawberries are turning hard now. I think it was too much clouds and not enough sun.

The Second Ammendment

I believe we have the right to bear arms. I know that if the government starts to rule over us and takes away our guns we will not have the ability or the means to defend ourselves against the enemy.
I feel strongly toward the right to keep the Second Ammendment.

mushy strawberries

I know this sounds weird but we have mushy strawberries. We think it is because they are not getting enough sunlight. I know I said that we have about 23 hours of daylight but it has been overcast a LOT lately and I think that might have something to do with it. It is not because they are overripe either because I picked them and ate them as soon as they got ripe. Does any one have any suggestions?

Missionary

Well, some of you know that I have been sharing the gospel with my cousins for many years. I kept telling her we are saved by grace and judged by works. No matter how many times I told her, it seemed it went in one ear and out the other. I couldn't figure it out. Last night I made the realization that she was getting her information from anti mormon literature and it had stated somewhere that we believe we are saved by works because of the verse in 2 Nephi 25:23 which states "after all we can do." I told her her via email that we do not believe we are saved by works, that she should be careful what she reads and that the Book of Mormon is true. One may read it and misinterpret it and not believe it and therefore say it is false, but then again one could misinterpret the Bible and therefore not believe it. We must remember that different people interpret different things different ways. I told her the "after all we can do" phrase just means we are judged by works.

Humanitarian Project

So, since I am not currently working full time, I decided to do some service that I won't have time to do when I start work. I looked on the church website and found a pattern and a list of items that newborns need in third world countries. I put together two kits and home sewed two blankets and two gowns.
I am so proud of myself because I have not sewn anything other than hemming jenes and other quick simple stuff since I was about 12.

Alaska Summer

Here are some pictures of what I have been up to since my parents left. We have about 23 hours of daylight. It seems like 24 because when the sun is down, it doesn't seem like it is and then it comes back up again. It is really nice. Last night was summer solstice so we will be decreasing in our daylight now. It is sad!!!!!! very sad!!!!

This table was free from some lady Jim knows. (I think from work.)I love it because it makes more counter space available in my kitchen now since I have the microwave and toaster on it. Before the table, I did not have much room at all to do my baking that I love so much!


I know this sounds weird (with all the daylight) but I have been enjoying reading a book. Most of you have probably heard of it. Talk about a guilt trip. I am taking this time off work since there is no school yet, to read some books that I have been wanting to read.
I have applied for full time positions. I have been told they are running behind and will not interview until the middle of July. I do not know if this is true or not but I actually don't need the job, I just want the job.

I have been teaching piano lessons to a young girl in my ward. We started about a month ago and she is doing great. I will start with three more students in July.


This is the big basket that I showed a picture of in the post titled my indoor garden. Well, it is now an outdoor garden. We have not had any ripe strawberries yet, but as you can see, we will have them soon. They are turning white!!!!! I can't wait and neither can Jim, strawberries are his favorite!
In addition to the strawberries we also have 5 plants of greeen beens (out or 4 rows) :-( Radishes coming up real quick and doing great, carrots like enough to can, zuccinni, lettuce, spinach, and one potato plant I found this morning while weeding (out of 4 rows) :-( Oh, and I almost forgot, we have tomatoes and bell pepper plants doing great. They are not producing yet, but will soon. They are getting big.

Tourist Season

My parents and grandma are visiting. Here are the pictures of some of what we have done.

This is Blitzen. We saw 5 of the total reindeer. Blizten is the oldest reindeer that Santa has.

This is in the Santa Claus House with the real Santa and my dad.

I found a hole in our gable end a few weeks ago. Jim told the landlord but he didn't get to it. Now we have a bird's nest in there and the robin sits outside guarding her nest and dive bombs anyone who comes near it.



This couch has been on the side of the road leading to Denali for a little over a year. Each time we go by there is another chair and or couch with more bears.

Here are pictures of my indoor garden!

It still freezes at night so we have not transplanted our plants outside yet. I have never done this with strawberries but it seems to be very interesting. I hope I did it right. They are in the basket and the green things in the small containers are my numerous bell peppers and tomatoes. (23 bell peppers and 18 tomatoes to be exact. I gave some away. So now we have 12 of each.)

Snow Bunny in Our Front Yard

This guy was sitting outside in our driveway for a really long time. I was surprised he didn't move. He was so cute. Zoom in to look at the feet. They are big.

I was kicked in the head by a horse!

Okay so not really, but it really feels like it. I have been sick for the past two weeks with a nasty, horrible, good for nothing cold. It recently turned into a sinus infection. I feel a little better today since I am on antibiotics.


With me being sick for so long, James has started to pick up on the cleaning a bit and he realized how much I was vacuuming. He started to notice a lot of leaves accumulating in the house. He vaccuumed them up and then decided to get rid of the problem all together and rake the yard! I have a wonderful husband!!

While I have been sick I have taken the time to read a really good book, "Behind Every Good Man" by John Bytheway. It was truly uplifting, and funny of course.

Cops and the E.R.

Last night, or rather, very early this morning, at 2:45 A.M James woke me and said take me to the E.R. I was like what's wrong? Come to find out he had numbness in his arm and he didn't know what it was caused by because he hadn't been sleeping on that side of his body, so we knew it wasn't asleep.We thought it might be a mild heart attack. So, I rushed him to the E.R. Apparently a little too fast because I was pulled over for the very first time in my life. We told the officer what we thought was going on and he wrote down some information and sent us on our way.
It was not a heart attack, but we still do not know what it was.

Thawing? What a yucky process!

Well, we are thawing! We still have a little ways to go but here are some pictures to show our progress. It is so exciting, I can open our back door to take pictures now. (whereas before it was through our bedroom window. lol Daylight- sun sets around 11 PM and rises around 5:30 AM (according to Jim because I am not up at that time.)
It is nice because the sidewalks are clear and I was able to walk to and from my Tae Kwon do class on Tuesday.

My boring life

I don't currently have any new pictures.Our snow is ever so slowly melting. I slipped on the ice and hurt my wrist. I am visiting family.My sister-in-law, my future sister-in-law and I cleaned my in laws house today.That was a big chore.
School is coming to an end in Alaska which means I will have more free time but I will also have this syndrome called lack of moola! I am looking for a full time job since we do not have any children YET!? Where are they and why won't they come. They have this thing about teaching their mother patience!I guess?
James and I joke about our seeds in our garden being our babies and if that is the case we have 8 tomatoes and 8 bell peppers. (Started in the house of course).
Well, I just thought I would update since it has been a while. Talk to ya later.

Snowed in!!!

Well, this isn't new news but we have snow! Here is an updated picture of how much snow we have. I do not have a ruler long enough. So, I do not know the inches. We are literally snowed in on the back side of the house. (I shoveled the front side).

The temperature is in the low 20's usually and single to negative digits at night.
It is beginning to look a lot like spring!!!!!!! It is so exciting. The sun is coming out a lot and it is "warm." We have about 12 hours of daylight right now. the snow will start to melt in about 8-10 weeks given on what we here from people that have lived here for years.

Chena Hot Springs!!!

As a belated Valentine's Day, James and I had the cahnce to go to Chena Hot Springs. ALthough we did not go into the hot springs, we did eat in a very fansy restaurant. (okay so it wasn't that fansy but it was the fansiest we have been in up here in AK)The waitress set us my the window and while eating we were able to snap pictures of these snow birds.

After eating, we headed toward the dogsled teams and took a guided tour. During this part we kind of got wrapped up in the excitement and forgot to take more pictures but here is a picture of the dogsled puppies.
While we were there we also got to learn ho to hook the teams up and in what order they go. I actually messed up and put the harness on backwards lol. It was very interesting. Next time we go we will try to get more pics.

My Explorer Addicted to Nicotine??!!

Here is a picture of my explorer's old air filter before we changed it. The only explanations that I could think of were "mouse" or the person who owned it before us had a habit and hid it from his/her spouse very well. Jim and I had a good laugh about it saying my car needed to go talk with the Bishop.

IT'S REALLY WARM ALMOST HOT!!!!!!!!!!!

We are having record breaking temperatures for January in Alaska. About half of our snow is gone. (This is a first. It is always here until at least April.)It has been in the high 40's for the past 4 days. This is bad news because the snow is melting and the forcast states it is supposed to get cold again this will present a problem for wells, sewers and other pipes that have running water in them. The snow acts as an insulation during the winter and therefore the pipes do not freeze. Well, when the snow is gone and the temp is cold enough, our well, sewer and our pipes will freeze. YIKES!
The reason we still have half the snow is because the ground is still forzen, therefor, keeping the snow cold and only the top gets warm enough to melt.
Also this causes other problems for our driveway. I had to shovel snow today because all the snow fell off our roof. I was told this wouldn't happen until April or even May. I had to use my four wheel drive to get into the garage last night. This morning I would have had to put on chains, which we don't own.
Well, so much for getting a picture of the sign about thawing your car.
This is "before" I started shoveling. (I forgot to take a before picture so I took a picture of what I didn't shovel.)

This is after

It's warm!!

Well it warmed up today. Most of the ice on the inside of our windows in our house melted. It was -3 last I checked. It was so nice to go outside and not have your nose hairs freeze almost instantly.
I finally got my visiting teaching route this morning.
I also have a calling now. I teach the Valian 10 class. There are 10 students! I have not had my first lesson yet, (do to bad weather for church)So I have not taught yet.
Up here they do not cancel for snow, they cancel for temperature. When it is -30 there is just Sacrament meeting and when it is -40 or colder Sacrament is served and we go home. They do this because there is not enough plug ins in the parking lot for all the cars. So, this means everyone has to leave there cars running. That can run up the gas bill.
I saw a sign a few days ago that said something like, "Rent a stall to thaw your car." I will try to remember to get a picture of it. It was pretty funny but it is truly needed up here for those that don't have a heated garage at home.