Summer Love Happened So Fast

Well I have always hear of the term summer romance, and I knew they never lasted long...but I did;t know that literally my summer was going to be short as well!

It is almost August and I still have that feeling as if I am waiting for summer to begin. We had maybe 5 "warm" sunny days...but the rest are cold,cloudy, and rainy about 50 degrees. So when I hear our friends saying that there is a possibility for snow next month I felt like I was in a nightmare and couldn't wake up. I mean whats the point of trying to make your grass grow in your yard? I just don't fully understand people who invest a ton of money into something that will just have snow dumped on it.

Summer in Alaska is like going to the movie theater and watching the coming attractions or trailers. Your sitting in the theater waiting for your movie to start and u see this awesome preview for an upcoming movie, your smiling, and laughing...I mean its the best two mins of your life, you even grab for some popcorn because you have really started to enjoy yourself...and then...cuts to black screen with Fall 2050...back to reality...your not watching that movie. Well that's what summer is, a short preview that you'd actually rather not see because truthfully it makes you less excited about the movie that you came to watch.

Well Alaskan winter is our movie, and we watched a preview of summer...and now I am just really not looking forward to staying and watching the winter.

I also posted a picture of how bright it is at 10pm when I and driving home from class...oh and it had a moose in it so it was a win-win picture.

Hello My Name Is:

Brett...well mom you should have know this would have turned into a blog story sooner than later. Well 21 years ago my mother gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, as she looked down at those bright blue eyes and blonde hair the name...Brett...came to mind...keep in mind this is still the 80's and drinking durning pregeancy wasn't as frowned apon as it is now.

Now if my mother was reading this behind your sholder this is what you would be hearing, "I had no idea that people wouldn't consider that a girls name, because you know after all it is both boys and girls name...just like Kerry ( My sister )."

...well the name Kerry is held by 52% girls and 48% boys...Brett on the other hand is only shared by 1.3% girls which to be exact is 23 girls in the whole united states...so yes I think it is fair to say that this is NOT a little baby girls name.

Since I was a little baby I have always gone by Ali, which is short for my middle name Alison.

However, no longer am I ashamed to named Brett...even though the number one question I get it, why is that your name, did your parents want a boy? ...maybe on my moms death bed she will actually tell me the truth behind my name, but my mom's healthy so you all just need to hold on and wait for that blog.

So at both work and school I now go by Brett

Earthquake

Wednesday around 7pm was just another typical Alaskan summer night...bright, with a slight chill added to the air. Kingston and I, both tired from a long day of work were sitting on the couch doing homework. I felt, thirsty...

As I approached the kitchen sink the floor rumbled below me, I grabbed the counter, and then the whole house shook. Kingston didn't even know where to start investigating to find out what had happened...but I knew. Only such a ride as Earthquake at Universal Studios in Orlando could have prepared me for such a moment...minus a bus crashing into my house filled with flames, sun burnt tourists, and a D list college paid actor leading the tour.

Consumed with excitement, I googled to find all out my first Earthquake. Well it happens to be that it was the 4Th one this week, it was a 5.3 and will forever be special to me.

Below is a link to what I experienced

...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJJSyZ3MUAA

To the Russian...finally.

So a couple of weekends ago we headed down south toward Seward to meet some friends at a local fishing spot called the Russian. I think that mostly Josh and I were looking forward to the drive along Cooks Inlet, because we hadn't had a chance to really get out that way.

The drive started off with us following a train along side the water, and mountain goats to our left. It was really just breath taking, and couldn't believe how pretty it was. The temperature was a little bit colder, in the morning it started off in the high 40's and later on got up to the 50's...we really felt like we could do this drive forever.

Well by forever I mean two hours, driving is driving no matter what your looking at. So when Josh and I came up on three hours we were starting to get a little worried. It was only suppose to be about 2-2 and half max. We were going off directions that we had gotten from our friends who are originally from Kentucky, so you have an idea of about how detailed they were. "Drive south, turn right off a road and then call us when your here". Well I really don't believe it but somehow we missed the "turn off", maybe because there were about a million, but we ended up in a town called Moose Pass. This town had a bar, gift shop, a plane and a church.

Long story short, we did make it to the Russian, we went about 75 miles more than we needed to, but the Florida Licences plate really helps explain a lot.

It is hard to tell from the photos, but standing on land looking into the water you could just see hundreds and hundreds of salmon swimming by, and the fishing gets really hostile!

Grrr....

...Said the bear that didn't have time to upload any photos for his readers.

Okay so I am bleeding from the ears hearing myself say how busy I am, but it just seems that every time I want to write and upload photos I just never have enough time.

Today was no exception, and it seems that anchorage is starting to look like Orlando...in a bad way! So I work from 8 to 5, and then go to school from 6 to 10pm. I know this seems crazy but let me just put the cherry on top of this, my class is located in Chugach, Alaska.

Well normally I don't mind this, because the drive is normally about 30 mins and is extremely pretty because it is north of Eagle River (which is north of anchorage). Well today on my voyage I encountered...hold on...wait for it... TRAFFIC! I couldn't believe it, I mean this is Alaska, where only 1% of the whole state is populated....so what am I doing hanging out in traffic? So my 30 min trip turned into 3 hours, lots of back wood roads, and by back wood I mean through the snowy mouhtian, around lakes, and with the moose.

Well I really wanted to upload photos from last weekend because Josh and I headed down south to what the locals call, "THe Russian" for some salmon fishing. SO look out, I am a government employee and I have four days off so hopefully I will get a chance to upload.

OH and a word to the wise, enjoy this 4th of july...because after all Obama does whatever he wants in this country, and I bet next on his plans are taking away holidays.

BIRTHDAYS!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHUA!!

DEEP Breath...

OKay... so took my finals today, and I am so thankful that I have so many people that support me. Thank you for all my prayers, I am so happy to have those classes done with, but following today I start working tomorrow, and then Wednesday I start my second summer session classes. So I was able to take one deep breath and that was about it.

Tomorrow morning I start working on base at one of the childcare centers. I am really excited because I love working with kids...I mean I get paid to play ALL day long! I will be taking night classes as well as online. So I will still be extremely busy for the next five weeks, but for tonight I am going to be a bum with Kingston on the couch!

SAVE THE DATE...I will be flying into Tampa airport on Oct 27 at 8am!

elephants can run after all

So as of Saturday afternoon I am a runner...

Never in my life have I run in a race, or more than a mile at a time, it is a sad thing to admit but it is true. I just never was blessed with being a natural runner.

Well all that changed come Saturday when an opportunity came about to be a part of my new community. The women's 5 mile run took place downtown anchorage with over 7,000 women running to raise money for breast cancer.

There were brief moments when I was able to enjoy myself while we were running along the coastline and look up and take in the beautiful mountains that ran along with us. Those moments were only possible because my good friend Carrie was dragging me along through the race. And it is only because of her that I was able to run the 5 miles in an hour. She was the perfect cheerleader, and several other women ran behind me to get the motivate from Carrie as well.

After we reached the end I felt so good...was sore for the rest of the weekend, and I am sure Josh is tried of me walking around like a frail old grandmother, but I am so happy that I did it, and am so thankful for Carrie!

Blog...what's that?

So I am super busy in school with a sickness on top. I haven't been able to blog or put photos up, and I am sorry. I will get around to it this week because I want to share how pretty it is now. I remember before we moved up here I would try to google stuff about anchorage's summers and what they are really like but always came up short, I couldn't understand.

Well now I know why, the summers are amazing and after being inside for more than 7 months, everybody is outside enjoying themselves. Summer in Alaska is true paradise, and it is America's hidden secret. With weather in the mid 50's-60's (except for last weekend it was 70's) and the sun shinning all day ( and by all day I mean it never sets), there are endless things to do.

Alaskans really make up for lost time from the winter during the summer. Your neighbor is mowing the lawn at 9pm at night with the sun high in the sky, seasonal depression is out the window and everybody has taken the stick out of there you know what, and is using them for bonfires.

I would say the perfect time to come visit Alaska is in June. All the snow is dried up and the trees and plants take their place.

Check back and hopefully I will have some photos uploaded! :)

Flip of a switch

So summer is here and it doesn't even seem like anchorage to me anymore. We have gone from shoveling snow and scraping ice, to mowing the lawn and picking weeds. Well really when I say our lawn I mean weeds.

At first I was so excited, all these little yellow flowers were popping up all over Alaska, and we personally had a ton growing in our yard...the most in the neighborhood. We had finally succeeded at something, having the most and prettiest yard full of flowers. Well soon to find out nobody else had these in their yard besides us.

The flowers knew that I had a soft spot in my heart for color and they took advantage of me, and told all their other little flower friends to come to our yard because I wasn't killing them. Well I am on to the little flowers now, who's true colors came out to me...that the little yellow flowers were a victim of identity theft...they weren't really flowers but WEEDS!

So we no longer have weeds...and come to think of it we don't really have grass either.