Man vs Wild ( Alaska style )

Sorry that I haven't posted at all this week, our Internet wasn't working and as much as I love my iPhone I wasn't about to be blogging from it.

( I am blogging this story for my dad because when I told him he thought that was the funniest thing!)

I finally was able to meet our door neighbor...it happened to be on some not-so perfect circumstances. On Monday morning Josh had to take the car because he had an appointment before he had to be at work, so I decided to keep myself busy. Our back yard is fenced in and has about four feet of snow, the other day it snowed and you could barely open the door. So I decided to just shovel the snow by the back door so we would be able to open it. This was something that I thought wouldn't take me more than five minuets, so I just went outside with my house slippers, sweat pants and a sweater. After a few minuets it was taking longer than I had thought, so I wanted to go back inside and warm up...but the back door had locked. It was 3 degrees outside, no cell phone, no shoes or gloves and believe me I started freaking out. The panic didn't help because it only made me feel colder.
After a few minuets I knew what I would have to do...it was Man vs Wild and I was 'Bear'. I had to take my shirt and tank top off that I had on to wrap around my feet and I started walking in snow that was up to my waist. Only half way on my walk I lost the shirt around one of my feet and started digging in the snow when I realized that I would just have to continue without it. Ever try running in snow past your waist? It feels like your getting no where, and I could barely even feel my feet anymore. So once I finally made it out of the snow and around the house I still wasn't safe because I couldn't get in.
So half frozen to death in the Arctic I still had to run to each of my neighbors houses knocking on their doors trying to get inside. ( So I have no shoes on, I have a shirt around my feet with snot flowing out of my nose ) Finally somebody opened their door and let me use their phone. It was an actual blessing that this happened the day that it did because Josh had not yet gone to work and came home to let me into the house. Lesson learned, or what I should say is Lessons learned, never go outside without socks, a cell phone and a key hid in the snow.

Thank you to everyone who has sent me birthday cards and packages! Love you and Miss you all.

Weekends!

Busy Weekend...and starting to fit in!

This weekend our friend Jennie turned 22, her husband and Josh met during improcessing when we first got here, and Jennie and I have been hanging out now! So Saturday we all went to Benihana, which is a Japannese resurant where they cook the food in front of you. Sunday was Jennie's actual birthday and since the both of us have weddings in December we went to a Bridal/Wedding Expo downtown which was a lot of fun.

The Fog!

So today the temperature was 4 degrees and foggy! When it gets foggy in Anchorage the roads are a danger zone because of the black ice. So for some reason I thought that today would be the day I drive by myself into town, and to the mall. I needed to get more comfortable with driving on the ice and snow and also learning the roads. I walked around the mall today, and I was a bit suprised. All the stores were putting out their spring stuff...which is werid for several reasons, one Anchorage doesn't even have a spring season, and who wants to put a tank top on when its snowing until may! All the scarves and jackets are being put on sale and disapearing...and its only 4 degrees!!!

Everything that you purchase in Anchorage, and I am pretty sure all of Alaska, is tax free. When we first got here I was really excited about that. Though the prices are at least 10%-20% higher than back in the lower 48.
- One tomatoe = $1.69
-A bag of chips = $ 3.50-%5.00
-Fresh pineapples and strawberries...forget about it
- Gas (which has gone down since we got here) = $3.23

Josh and Ali go skiing!

Another beautiful day in Anchorage, so we decided to head to the slope located on base, Hillberg (which is also where I went dog sledding). The video that I uploaded is driving out to the ski lodge, which is only 15 mins away from our house, which is located at the base of those mountain! Josh went snowboarding and I stuck with the skis, we both had so much fun, some friends met us out there. The temperature was 14-16 degrees and sunny so we had perfect weather, and it had snowed so much earlier this week. We got on the ski lift and headed up the mountain with our fingers crossed, Josh seemed to have difficulties with getting on and off the lift. By the end of the day both guys working the ski lift recognized Josh and would slow the lift so he could hobble off instead of falling. Besides that we made it down the 'bunny slope' (I would question if you can consider that death drop a simple bunny slope or not) with no problems. We have much time to improve our skills so we will keep you up dated.

Fun in the city!

Hey how did Stella get in the zoo?



Goodmorning!!

We woke up "bright" and early this morning to get some breakfast downtown anchorage. We went to a place called Snow City Cafe, most of Anchorage seems pretty quiet on Saturday mornings, but the cafe was busy. This was a young and trendy hotspot, which also is open for lunch. They had amazing food, and for the first time in a long time Josh was "full", those of you that know him know that this is not an easy task for most meals.

Since it was a warm Saturday ( 20 degrees ) we thought that because we didn't have any plans after breakfast we could drive out to the Anchorage Zoo. I don't know what we were thinking, but when we arrived to the zoo we realized that ALL of it was outside. We made it through the day, not without having to hangout in the bathroom for breaks from the cold though. It wasn't the biggest zoo, and those of you from St. Louis it doesn't really compare, but they did have a moose, polar bear, all kinds of fixes, wolves, swans, and a raven. So when we could no longer 'bear' the cold we got back in the car and headed home. And what do we see a quarter mile outside of the zoo...a moose. So if you ask me the only difference of seeing a moose in the zoo compared to the wild is that you can take a picture of it eating bannans. My sister pointed out a good question to me after I told her this, "If a moose escapes the zoo how will they know which one it is?".

Snow Snow and more Snow

Where is the street! See its hard to tell where the lanes are if you cant see them!


After (okay so I am defentaly not the best snow shoveler)


Before (where is our driveway!?)

We have gotten over 6 inches of snow today, I feel like I am in a personal battle with snow flakes! This morning I decided to shovel our driveway since it snowed all night. This was a task that is no longer fun, though no more than a week ago ( when Josh purchased the snow shovel) I can recall the both of us fighting over who would shovel the snow. This is no longer something that I am craving to do. So after an hour we had the best driveway on our street! Later when I got home the snow flakes had won the second battle, now I have 4 more inches on our drive way. I laugh at them, they may win this battle but tomorrow they will soon discover they are loosing the war...I will introduce SALT to them, and boom the Floridians have the best driveway again.

I did accomplish more than just talking to the snow flakes all day, my friend Jennie asked me to go with her while she tried on wedding dresses. She is recently married as of Decmember 1, however they were not able to have a wedding in time, so they are planning to have it this December...humm wait that sounds...Jennie is a new snow driver like myself, oh and not to mention we were exploring our way around Downtown Anchorage in a snow storm trying to find this little wedding store. After only spinning out 5 times and cutting off countless drivers, oh and driving off of a curb because come on who can tell what lane is what and where the curb ends when snow is EVERYWHERE, we made it to the store. So to answer many questions, yes Alaskans wear the same type of wedding dresses back in the lower 48, they do not include long sleeves or turtle necks, and surprisingly you can buy one for a reasonable price, unlike everything else here.

Update: Gas prices have gone down, $3.23 gal!

One Month! 35 to go

This is Josh when we got home from work yesterday, the temperature was -11 when he had to head into work!

We have officially completed our first month in Alaska, and it is hard to believe it has only been a month because so much has happened. We're really excited about the up coming weeks, though it is still getting colder each week but another thing is happening, it is getting lighter! We can already see a difference, the sun it up by 10ish, where as when we first arrived to anchorage the sun wouldn't come up til noon and set by 3.
We have also made some friends, one being a couple who are newly married and just moved here December 12th. The husband is a firefighter in the air force, so his wife and I are able to hangout durning the day and have been hitting up the gym!!!

DOG SLEDDING!

Only in Alaska could you go dog sledding!
Down by the ski lodge there was a husband and wife that brought their dogs and were taking some people out on the frozen lake. Also there was an ice fishing tournament going on, we felt like extreme Alaskans. There was only 8 dogs on the team but they told us that for the actual Iditarod they have 16 dogs. The husband and wife own 42 dogs and they spend $1000 monthly just on food. The dogs were all so nice and you could tell that they love what they do! I had so much fun, but was completely frozen!!!

More Moose!

So today josh was eating lunch in our dinning room and as he looked up out the window he saw a moose staring back at him. The moose casually walked through our backyard! I did manage to take a photo and a video! I also took a video of us going up the mountain sledding.

bus stop

So early this morning, at a frosty 17 degrees, I had just warmed up the car and was driving josh to work ( since we only have the one car), I was just about to feel sorry for the both of us trying to warm up in the honda when I turned the corner and there they were. The bus stop kids, standing by a stop sign in the pitch black of Alaska's cold winter. I use to complain about standing outside for the bus back in Florida, but these kids put me to shame. So I would like to take a moment of scilence for these kids every morning five days a week...( Sorry there is no photo I thought that it might be a little creepy).

On another note we finally went sleding this weekend with one of josh's friends in the airforce. There is a whole ski lift and lodge on base that we had never know. So we decided on one of the coldest days so far ( 4 degrees ) that we would go play in the snow. So for starters we just went sleding instead of sking or snowboarding. It was intense, they had something to pull you up the "hill" inside your tube. To me this hill seemed more like a moutain and going down was intense. I almost couldn't hang with the boys.

Moose

Really Short Clip...basically I was freaking out because we were so close and my window was down.

New Years Eve....eskimo style

Where we ate dinner!




The moose...not the best photo

Downtown, the fountain froze over and everybody brought their ice skates

Sirloin Steak ...yum yum!

Alaskan King Crab!


Happy New Year! Today we are just hanging out at the house watching the Rose Bowl, half time right now were happy.

Last night we had an early dinner reservation at a restaurant called Glacier Brew House, awesome meal and were able to try Alaskan King Crab Legs...goal # 1 completed. There was a block party going on downtown, which we walked by and wanted to hang out, but with the temperature 12 degrees it was almost unbearable to be outside, but didn't seem to stop any Alaskans...give us a year and we will be there too.

On the way home from downtown we saw three moose on the side of the road, I rolled my window down to take a photo and they were no more than a foot away! It was surreal!