A story about teaching

Teaching is incredibly different in 2021 than it was in 2010 when I started. Technically, I started in 2008, as a student teacher and then subbed the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years, in Pennsylvania and Alaska, respectively. 

When I got my first job in Alaska for the fall of 2010, the teacher I ended up working most closely with was a veteran teacher. She'd been teaching for over 40 years at that point and wasn't slowing down any time soon. I taught there for 3 years, and we moved away in 2013.

In February 2020, I got a phone call from another teacher friend in Alaska, saying that this teacher had passed away. I was devastated. Mostly because it was the middle of the school year and how awful and I knew how absolutely ticked she would be, knowing she'd not be going back to school. 

Secondly, I had never made it back to Alaska to see her again. 

There was a moment back in 2018 where we were thinking of going back to Anchorage for 18 months for Scott's Corps of Engineers job. I had always thought how great it would've been to take Wells up to meet her and everyone else I had worked with. We'd ended up going to Pittsburgh instead.

She and I had talked on the phone a few times a year since 2013 and shared emails.

It wasn't until I read her obituary in February of 2020 that I realized she had been born in Laramie, Wyoming. There is one hospital there. If she was born in a hospital, it was the same hospital where Wells had been born. The world isn't small enough for a coincidence that big. 

I knew her family was from southeast Alaska and they'd hopped around from Juneau to Valdez to Kenai and I knew she'd gone to college in Oregon and had hated it because it was "too hot" and got a sunburn for the very first time. I knew her first teaching job had been on the Kenai Peninsula and the giant earthquake of 1964 had literally rocked her family's world with her friends dying and her dad *almost* dying in the tsunami at Valdez. He was the only one smart enough, she said, to realize what was happening when the water went out and ran for higher ground. Everyone else on the docks was washed away. 

And, a fun fact that would be absolutely unheard of today: When she had both of her children, she took less than a week off from school. In the case of her son, she "had him on Monday and was back by Thursday". I think my jaw dropped at that. She was not a snowflake, union-protected teacher of today. She'd make Randi Weingarten cry. Our district had well over 1,000 certified staff; she was listed as the one with the most seniority. 

As February 2020 dragged into March and that slooooowly dragged into April and May, I realized that she was taken home to Jesus at exactly the right time. This was not a coincidence. Virtual school? Zoom classes? Forcing your students to wear masks all day and not touch each other on the playground? 

This was not her world. It's not really of my world either. 

I don't like everything we're doing. I don't agree with it. I don't see how it's "helping kids grow and learn". But I am a unique mix experienced enough to use what I already know and young enough to maybe stick it out. 

This teacher in Alaska always told me that if I stuck it out long enough, I'd see the cyclical nature of education...everything comes back around again. Open classrooms (1970s) turned into the flexible seating of 2018, for example. Math practices that were outdated in 2000 are coming back 20 years later. There is nothing new under the sun. 

She also told me not to quit (and I have multiple times!) because I was a good teacher. I swear this is why I keep trying to go back. Knowing she thought I was a good teacher means a lot but, I'm pretty sure, it took me the entire 2010-2011 school year to win her good graces and then she realized I was more like her (at my inexperienced 24 years of age) than I was not like her, when it really came down to it. 

So part of me feels like if I stick it out, I will see this all come to an end and school will return to the way it was intended to be. 

What makes me feel awful is that there are young teachers out there who have never known what teaching is actually supposed to be like. They think teaching is 100% "social-emotional"-based (because of the HORRIBLE mental health issues that have been created in the last 2 years), they have never been on a field trip, and they'll never be able to have regular old class parties or assemblies. None of this is changing any time soon.

While sometimes I feel very old in my field, if I didn't have my experiences to fall back on, I wouldn't be doing this right now. I worry about not only the kids who are the real victims here, but the brand-new teachers who won't have prior experiences to keep them going. 

This pic is 10 years old so the kids are unrecognizable. It's a screenshot from a movie I have saved. I just wanted to share that I used to do really fun things. This class got so into a reader's theater we did that I assigned parts and let them create a set and put it on as a play for another class and for their parents. This is would never happen today. Parents aren't even allowed in our buildings anymore.

Stuff and things.

+I stayed up until 11:30pm watching the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding part of the closing ceremonies. Good Lord, Harding is a whiny brat.  I say she is, not was, because she is STILL defending the same story: "My skate wasn't tied properly", "They put me last in the program so my muscles got cold and I couldn't skate", "It's not my fault I helped my ex and his thug-friends attack someone and then lied about it."  Also, super humble of her to say that her jumps were higher and her skating was better than the gold-medal winner that year, Oksana Baiul.  No one cares, Tonya. Also, no one believes that.

Then, I was quite tired on Monday morning.

+The Walking Dead is getting to be interesting again.  It's a completely different show than it was 3 years ago. I can't decide if that is good or bad. (You know I was partial to Shane.)

+Then, after watching TWD, The Following, and The Talking Dead on Monday night, I was quite tired on Tuesday morning.

(I sense a pattern.)

+Also, Downton Abbey. A completely different show than it used to be.  Evolution is good, right?  Eh, maybe not.  This review wraps it up quite nicely.  Season 5 probably should be the last.  Period dramas can only go on for so long.  Also, I miss Sybil.

+We started watching Touch on Netflix last weekend.  It was quite interesting.  Kind of fascinating and mind-blowing, actually, the way the coincidences all came together.  Two seasons in a week? We sure did.  Actually, Scott did.  I'm not quite as far along as he is.

+I spent an hour on Monday night putting together an Alaska powerpoint.  Our reading story this week is about Alaska.  Since I'm the resident expert, I told the kids I'd bring in pictures.  I'm also going to do a bit of a project on the Iditarod, since it starts very soon.  I mean, why not?

A sampling:

Woot woot.  Iditarod 2010.

Sunrise (at noon or something like that)

+Speaking of kids…This baby name article had me in TEARS.  Real tears of laughter!

American Baby Names Are Somehow Getting Even Worse

Can I tell you how many "J" names I have in my class?  5 out of 22.  When I have my intervention group, throw in 4 more.  I can't keep them straight! SO. MANY. Jaylen/Jayden/Jaden/Jaidens……And Jaida/Jaydas.  And Jaylas.  And Jayces.  And Jordans.  And Justices…I can't.  I just can't do "J's" anymore…

I had a "Flower" once.  That, compared to the menagerie of names I see every day, seemed normal.  At least it's a real word…I'm pretty sure 90% of the names I encounter each day are made up.

Next week, I'll add a linky to this…if you'd LIKE to write a Stuff and Things post and throw it up there, please do so.  They're easy to write, random, and (I think) fun to read.  Let's make Thursday morning (or Wednesday night) Stuff and Things day. How 'bout it?

Birthday Cake Ice Cream Cake

We're car shopping.  We had it in our head that we wanted a GMC Terrain.  However, I have it in my head that I need 4-wheel drive.  Or all-wheel-drive.  Or something because the idea of not being prepared for winter slightly terrifies me.

Let's be honest: what I really want are studded tires.  I'm pretty sure they're a little bit illegal in the lower 48.  I'm having trouble adjusting to the idea that I won't have them this year.  My car + studded tires = unbeatable winter driving combination.

We are adamant on not spending more than we spent on our truck.  So AWD Terrains are out.  Since we do like my Hyundai (the brand is doing well, according to Scott-the-mechanic, but my car is losing steam fast), but the Hyundai Santa Fe that we want is crazy expensive.

We think we've settled on the idea of a Toyota Rav 4 with AWD.  He tried to talk me into a Subaru.  I vetoed that one pretty quickly.  Buying new cars gives me a horribly sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.  Truth be told, I'm probably putting it off because I'm not ready to part with my "Alaska" car.  Like my phone, that car and I have been through a lot together.  We'll see how this plays out…

Anyway, I very well could end up putting this off until January, and Scott could call it a birthday present (though it is a necessary purchase…my car has an awful lot of miles on it and it was our primary vehicle for the last 4 years).

I also have plans for an ice cream cake for my birthday.  This is the one I made for Scott's birthday last week.

I had a grand plan to make a vanilla ice cream cake with Golden Oreos.  I also thought of doing a peppermint one.  I asked Scott what he would prefer for his birthday.  He said "vanilla" without even hesitating.  When I brought up the idea of Golden Oreos, he said they were gross. Now, I wouldn't call them gross…I mean, I'd choose another flavor over them but, still, not gross.  He wanted regular Oreos.  (Actually, he wanted PB ones, but that wasn't going to work with the theme…).  I settled on Birthday Cake Oreos.

Birthday Cake Ice Cream Cake

makes  a 9x13 pan

1/2 gallon (1.5 quarts) vanilla ice cream, softened

1 container of Cool Whip, softened

Approximately 6 frosted vanilla cupcakes, frozen and diced (I used this recipe for cake and store-bought frosting)

1 package of Birthday Cake Oreos, crushed

2 T. melted butter

Sprinkles

Crush the Oreos using a Ziploc bag and a heavy pot or rolling pin.  Mix them with the melted butter and press into the bottom of an 13x9 pan.  Freeze for 20 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the softened ice cream and cupcake chunks.

Pour the softened ice cream mixture into the pan.  Freeze for another 20-30 minutes.

Spread the softened Cool Whip over the ice cream and top it off with sprinkles.  Freeze until ready to eat.  Take it out of the freezer about 15 minutes before serving so it will be easy to cut.

How to Roast Garlic

a.k.a. How to make the most delicious, simple dinner you've ever eaten in your entire life.  YOUR ENTIRE LIFE.

There's a restaurant in Anchorage called Moose's Tooth and they specialize in pizza.  All kinds of different pizza.  I was the one who would go in there and order "pepperoni" and get dirty looks.  However, their Chicken Bacon Ranch pizza made me swoon, and I've yet to be able to recreate it.  Maybe that'd be a good weekend project...

One of their appetizers was Roasted Garlic.  It came with these thick slices of brown bread and diced tomatoes.  You'd stick a butter knife into the soft golden clove and it'd spread right onto the bread like warm butter.  Then you'd top it with a few tomatoes and make a meal out of garlic and bread.  

At some point in 2010, I started making it at our house when we lived in Eagle River, Alaska.  Scott and I would eat 5 heads of garlic (and a loaf of sourdough) each week this way.

I highly recommend it.  

Once you have your roasted garlic, you can do anything with it.  Put it in mashed potatoes or hummus. You could easily make 10-12 bulbs for entertaining in the same amount as time as making one.  

I thought a few weeks ago, "Hmmm...I should make that again."  Isn't it funny how you can eat something all the time, stop eating it, and then forget about it for 3 years?  Yep.  It is.

I apologize for the picture quality.  I didn't want to wait for the weekend to post this.

You're welcome.

(The pictures are not good.  I do apologize.)

Take a whole head of garlic.

Slice the end off, just so all the cloves are cut open.

Set it on a square of foil.

Drizzle the top with olive oil.

Sprinkle it with salt.

Wrap the foil around it and put it in a baking dish.

Bake at 400 degrees for 40-50 minutes.  I start checking at 40 minutes.  It should be golden and gooey.

Serve with bread!

Enjoy!

I can't believe it's been a year

Scott came back from Afghanistan one year ago.

The first time time he's left since then, for more than a couple of days, was this past week when he went on a hunting trip.  He took the dog too, so I was alone for the first time in...a very long time.

It was different.

I ate quesadillas for dinner.  I went to work.  I went to the gym.  I spent the weekend shopping, crafting, and reading.  All by myself.  I didn't have a whole lot of human interaction and it reminded me of something...

Oh, right.  It reminded me of 2012.

I had no responsibilities.  The house got awfully messy.

I went to Target and I spent probably an hour just browsing and, I'll have you know, I have no particular attachment to that store other than it was the place I used to go to make myself feel better.  Before 2012, I never went to Target for much of anything.  It became my oasis.  My happy place.  I would always leave there feeling a little better than when I arrived.

Now, obviously, I had to spend money there on Satruday.  I started my Christmas shopping.  I bought stuff for school.  And food too.  And a dog toy.  And really now, who knows when I'll get a chance to go back, so pretty much everything I picked up went into my cart.

Anyway, it was a good weekend.  It was nice to be by myself, but it was even better to know that I'd have my family back by the time the weekend was over.

I got all hopped up on moscato and candy corn and started crafting.

I monogrammed a fake pumpkin with felt.

I also started making some Christmas decorations.

I bought a turkey for $8.  He was on sale.

A new wreath (wrapped with yarn by my mom)

...to go with the one I made last year

And it was beautiful weather all weekend long!

Thank goodness it's Friday again.

Stuff and things

-Scott went on a hunting trip last week. When Scott's away, I will eat a quesadilla for dinner every night.  4 nights in a row.  I don't ever want to see one again.  Until maybe next week.

-I will also go to the gym every night.  Without a husband or puppy, it's just me, myself, and my computer I.  Might as well do something useful.

-This is so random, but just a few weeks ago, I realized that "North West" is Kimye's baby's full name.  I thought they named her "Northwest", because that's how low Kanye flies on my radar.  I hadn't connected that "West" was his last name.

-I'm a little too chicken to watch American Horror Story by myself.  Even during the day, that witch stuff is too freaky.  As is the "sewing-body-parts-back-on".

-I about lost my cool last week.  Someone posted on Facebook that they were PCS-ing to Alaska soon and "what should I bring?".  They mentioned that they had enough clothes to last their growing children for a couple of years.  Um.  Hello? It may be a horror story, weather-wise, and there may be no Marshall's or Homegoods, but dang..  I lived 2 miles from Target (in case you've forgotten...I'm telling you again).  Do you need warm clothes?  Heck yes.  Can you buy them when you get there?  Uh, yeah.  Weirdo.  It's not a vacation.  You're moving there.  You'll have that magical thing called an "address" that websites like "Amazon.com" can "ship" to.

Too sarcastic?  Maybe.

I don't know if I'll ever completely readjust to being a lower-48-er. I'm coming to terms with this.

-I found this picture on my computer and almost started to cry.  What has happened to my baby?

Dare I even show you this next one?

...that makes me want another one.  Don't tell Scott.  

He's not-so-patiently waiting for me to give him permission.

But then again, there is nothing better than a house-trained dog.  Nothing.

Even if he does sit like a person.

An 18 hour trip

I had a great title for this post:  "Ohio: The land that time forgot".  Because I thought we were going to Ohio on Saturday.  We ended just stopping just short of the border and spending a few hours in Richmond, Indiana.

(Doesn't it seem like minutes become hours, hours become days, and days become..you know, years when you're traveling through the great state of Ohio?)

We left at 5am and made it to Richmond by 1:30pm. I think.  There was a time change. It was confusing.

Coincidentally, Indiana is Scout's ancestral home.  He was excited.

We made this trip because ever since we bought a new truck, we've had the older one sitting in our driveway.  We don't have a very big driveway.  We decided to drive up there, pass it off to Scott's dad who'd meet us halfway, and drive back.  We got home at 11pm-ish. It was a long day.

This event, to me, was really the conclusion of our trip from Alaska.  We drove that truck from Alaska to Missouri with the intention of buying a new one when we got here, fixing up the old one, and sending it off to Pennsylvania (its ancestral home...after Japan).

Scott bought this 1999 Nissan truck in October 2008, about a month after we started dating.  I talked him into it.  It was perfect.  He desperately needed a truck and this was the best used one we came across.  The mileage was low, the price was about $9,000.

At this point, he was in ROTC and I was substitute teaching.  Neither of us had any money really, let alone $9,000.  This truck was a true investment.

He financed it, and brought it home (and it was paid off within a year or so).  Three weeks later, he hit a deer with it and the poor truck spent nearly a month in a body shop.  So it goes.

In April of 2009, we drove the truck to Oklahoma, where he was starting training.  He drove it back to Pennsylvania in September of that year for our wedding.  A week later, we loaded it onto a U-Haul trailer and it traveled to Alaska.

This is where it became our truck.  I left my car in Pennsylvania because we could only take one vehicle.  When he deployed 4 weeks later, it was my truck.  It got me through the Alaskan winter.  I cleaned snow and ice off of it countless times. The 4-wheel drive was my lifeline, as I navigated my way through Anchorage, heading to substitute-teaching jobs.

When Scott came back in February 2010, we bought a Hyundai Sonata.  It became mine and  he still drove that truck.  It's been all over the state of Alaska!  He was always doing repair work, making sure it ran at its best.

Here it is, photo-bombing a picture in Delta Junction.

And then an actual picture...

For deployment #2, it was my extra vehicle.  I drove it when the snow was too deep for my car.  My car had studs on the tires, but 4-wheel drive made me feel better when I saw the snow coming down in sheets outside my classroom window.  Knowing it'd get me up the hill to our house made me feel better about my commute home.  Though, I still remember the really cold days when I'd have to let it run every day for 30 minutes or so because we couldn't fit it in the garage.  If the battery died, that would be an inconvenience I really didn't need.

We talked about buying another truck in Alaska.  We really should have because there's no taxes there. We just kind of ran out of time.  It seems like a dumb excuse, but moving/PCSing is no joke.  We truly didn't have a second to spare on car-shopping.  So we attached a trailer to the Nissan and drove it to Missouri.
There was a moment in South Dakota where it started to overheat, but luckily that was our only issue.  I can't believe it made the trip.  It's a 1999 Frontier with waaaay too many miles on it.  Scott's taken amazing care of it.

As soon as we arrived here, we bought a new truck- the first new vehicle for either of us, ever.  I guess we're grown-ups?

Coincidentally, Saturday was also the anniversary of the day we met and today is the anniversary of our first date.  Five long years ago.  Next week is our wedding anniversary. Four whole years.  We say the contract is up at five. (kidding)

Sharing at Mingle Monday

Missing it

But what if I want what I had?

Let's be honest.  I'm a classic case of "the grass is always greener".  Perhaps I always have been.  Maybe I just really see it these days.  It seems much more evident now, this month of August 2013, than it ever has been before.  In any case, I spent most of the last few years thinking it HAD to be better somewhere else.  It just had to be if there was any fairness or justice in the world.  But you already know this.

I've been in a funk for the last few weeks.  A gigantic, I-hate-everything funk.  It popped out of nowhere.  I'm crying, I'm happy, I'm sad, I'm mad, I'm discouraged, I'm tired, I'm bored, I'm bored, I'm bored, I'm bored, I'm....all kinds of things.

I had a hard time figuring out what was wrong until I looked at the calendar.*

School is starting without me.  School in Alaska where I had a place, school in Pennsylvania where I never had a place, and school in Missouri where I can't find a place.

*Okay, that's a lie. I knew this would happen.  I just didn't want to think about it.


This is only the second time since 1991 that I haven't had a participatory plan or part in the beginning of a school year (there was that year, 2009, when we moved to Alaska in September, so there was no school for me).

I love the first month of school.  What teacher doesn't?  In fact, my heart is starting to ache a lot just thinking about how I'm not putting the finishing touches on my classroom and labeling file folders right now.  And it has nothing to do with buying new pens and notebooks.  It's a feeling.  The feeling of fall in the air.  The smell of a school in August.  The kids in brand new sneakers.  It's something that only teachers can really appreciate.  Nothing compares to the smell of a school in August.

So, in order to take off the rose-colored glasses, I'm trying to remind myself of November, December, January, February, March, and most of April.  I'm trying to think back to the cold, the dark, the wind, the feeling of depression, and the lack of vitamin D.  Because I would be in love with my job for the first couple of months of each school year.  When winter and darkness set in, it'd all be over.  I'd cry.  I'd whine.  I'd wear 7 layers and second-coat.  I'd keep my headband on all day.  Heck, I had to post pictures of myself wearing real clothes everyday...just to hold me accountable for trying!  That's what winter in Alaska did to me.  That's what I have to remember.

Remember this nonsense?

This too.

Just like getting over a bad ex-boyfriend.  There's no going back.  There's nothing there for me anymore.  I have to force myself to remember the not-so-great things (I didn't think that would happen!).  Clearly, I couldn't stay.  We were being stationed elsewhere.  Even if I had loved everything about Alaska and had pouted and cried at the idea of leaving, I still would have left.  Now, I have to figure out how to start over...when starting over is less than a year..and then I have to start over again.

Sharing at Mingle Monday

What makes a blog post popular?

Your guess is as good as mine. I've yet to really figure out the formula, but I do know that, on this blog, the most popular posts are dessert ones.  If you click on the Popular Posts page, you'll see that the one with the most pageviews is Hot Fudge Brownie Milkshakes.  My favorite dessert thus far, Cake Batter Rice Krispy Treats, is also on the list.  I attribute a lot of this to Pinterest, because I do pin my desserts onto a blog board.  Some of you have been kind enough to pin my recipes too, so thank you!

However, when I was coming up with this new design, I thought, "I want to read through my blog, find the posts that mean something to ME, and then put them somewhere YOU can find them".  So I threw my favorites in up there too.

Reading back through my posts, I came to realize that Alaska made me a better writer.  I'm more amused and/or impressed by the posts I wrote when I was stuck in tundraland than I am by anything I write now.  Is there a connection?  Probably.  My best stuff came out, I feel, when Scott was deployed. Most likely because I had no one to talk to, no one to vent to, and no one to listen to me.  My creativity was simply overflowing (or something like that).

Now that I'm in a place that's not Alaska, it's interesting for me to think of other army wives as NOT having lived by themselves in Alaska.  Every army wife in Alaska went through deployment and made it through the cold, dark winters and the bright, happy summers alone.  It was a fact.  Here, that's not the case.

People ask me what Alaska was like.  I don't even know where to start!  How do you sum up almost 4 years of your life in a few sentences?  You really can't.  I usually just shrug my shoulders and say, "There was good and bad to it.  I saw it in a different light because I spent half of our time there by myself...it was kind of isolating."  Or something like that.

(It's also worth mentioning that I find it interesting to meet army wives who've not dealt with deployment.  Everyone in Alaska had been through it 2 or 3 times.  I try to be encouraging when I hear of an army wife facing an upcoming deployment, but it's hard to remember what life was like before Alaska and the army came into our relationship.  The truth was that I thought I was special and unique for dealing with deployment right out of the marriage gate.  That's not the case.  Almost everyone does it and, honestly, I think you become a better person because of it.)

So that's where we are.  When I wrote a lot of those posts I did not want to remember them. I recall that it was difficult to even publish them because I really thought I'd come off as annoying (many never made it past "draft"). I wouldn't even re-read the things after I posted them (see: Really?!).  Now, I'm so glad I have them. Which is why, of course, I want to share them with you.

Flowers from one of my students on my last day

5 things friday

1.  After watching Forks Over Knives, and after talking it over, I think we're going to stop drinking cow's milk.  I have nothing against dairy products, because I don't generally eat them in large amounts. I just don't think drinking full glasses of milk is something we're going to be doing anymore.  (Is this weird? You'll tell me if it's completely illogical, right?)

2.  I watched Pitch Perfect last week.  It was okay.  The music was good. But...um, that's it?  I liked the "finish him like a cheesecake" bit.

3.  This is my exact reaction when Scott's friends show up at our house whenever they feel like it.

Just say I'm an awful person and get it over with.  It's okay.  I won't take offense.

4.  On Wednesday, Scott backed his (brand new) truck into another car. It made us both feel awful and stabby.  You know, like how Pete often feels.

But, this prompted me to wash (and actually take care of) my little Alaskan car.  While washing it, I noticed the registration sticker was outdated.  I knew that we had taken care of this before we left Alaska because we're not that irresponsible.  (Alright.  He's not that irresponsible.)  I had no idea if we ever got the new stickers, where they might be, where the registration was, etc.  I got out of bed at 6am Thursday to check the glove compartment and discovered I'd been carrying around an expired one for the last month.  Great.  I searched everywhere and it literally felt like I'd been glamoured or something because I couldn't remember anything.  Those last few weeks/days in Alaska were such a blur!  Finally, I realized if we had gotten the registration stickers in the mail, it would've been after the car was shipped to St. Louis, therefore that paperwork would be in the old truck we drove from Alaska.  I checked that glove compartment and there it was.  I thought my resourcefulness was nothing short of miraculous.  Scott never would've found it.  Like, never, ever, ever.

5.  Speaking of our friend Taylor, sometimes she's pretty cool.

I found this somewhere.  I don't follow her, as that "Following" button would lead you to believe.

What in the... Wednesday.

Here's some things I'm shaking my head at...

Grocery shopping:  I spent so much time pining away for cool grocery stores like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods over the last couple of years.
This is my current Trader Joe's situation.

I am the red star. 

Blog shilling: situation in which you use your blog as a platform to shill products you don't care about because someone will send you a free sample if you do.  And/or recommending a product you don't know much about.  Or a product no one really cares about.

If you post in this way, I usually don't read them.  If someone asks me to shill a product (I love that word), I don't do it anymore unless there's specifically something in it for me. I know that sounds bad, but think about it: I'm not going to wax poetic about your product if you're not willing to exchange goods/services.  

A perfect example was Firmoo.  They wanted me to give away a pair of sunglasses.  They wouldn't send me a pair to review because I didn't have enough followers. But they wanted me to recommend them, talk about how great they were, post all kinds of links tracking back to their website...but I wasn't allowed to try them. Why would I recommend something I've never tried? That'd be like saying, "Go to this restaurant because it's the best ever!" when I'd never been there myself.  

I would think that anyone who takes the time to read this blog would deserve and expect better from me.

Weather:  You've all heard, I'm sure, about Alaska's recent heat wave.  The news has not stopped talking about the fact that people in Alaska can wear bathings suits now for, potentially, the first time ever.  (So untrue, actually, because Alaskans go on more tropical vacations than anyone else I've ever known.)

However, I've been getting a lot of, "Wish you were here to enjoy this, Kristin!" in regards to the warm weather there.

.....to where exactly do these people think I've moved?

Notice the cool-down on Sunday :(

A lady was staring, with great fascination, at my Alaska license plate when I came out of Target yesterday.  She said she was looking for where in Alaska it was from.  I said, "Anchorage", she just looked at me, and then I said, "Oh, it's mine".   It took her a minute to realize that I was the Alaskan car's owner...not some person stopping to examine a random car.  Like her.  

I'm drinking the Robin Thicke Kool-Aid.  This might be the catchiest song I've ever heard.  Oh well.   

Oh, and my brothers are turning 24 today.  That's older than I was when I got married, which now means that I'm *officially*-officially old.  

High 5 for Friday

1.  We picked up my car in St. Louis on Wednesday.  That took less than a month!  As I said on Instagram, my car is born-and-raised Alaskan.  This Sonata will get to experience summer this year (It should have to write me a thank-you note).

2.  Speaking of Alaska, this late season snow stuff is happening.  And I'm not there.  I would laugh.  Really, I would laugh and jump up and down and praise the Lord and all that...but our air conditioner seems to be not working as well as it should (we can't cool it down past 73 in here).  This is a different problem entirely and one I'm not used to.  I feel like I've entered an alternate universe.

3.  Our last landlord was so terrible at her job that she sent our security deposit refund to Montana.  She claims/claimed that I never gave her a new address.  I did.  I emailed it to her and wrote it down on a piece of paper while she was standing in front of me.  If you'd like her name, just let me know.  In case you want to rent from her or something.

4.  We listened to Killing Lincoln on our drive from PA to Missouri this week.  Scott liked the first half and slept through most of the second half.  I was struck with some kind of weird illness this week (Tuesday night) and spent most of the first half trying not to throw up in the new truck (I'm better now), so I didn't catch all of it.  The second half held my attention across the entire states of Ohio and Indiana.  I particularly liked the Afterword and Epilogue because he tells you what happened to every. single. character. in the saga (non-fiction).  I recommend this if you like history.  A teacher friend told me to read it back in November.  I thought, "Oh, I will".  I listened to it in a day and a half.  It made me feel hugely productive. Next up: Killing Kennedy.

Where do you all get your audio books?  We bought this straight-out at Barnes and Noble for $30 because we were desperate for entertainment (Ohio is no joke).

5.  All the stuff arrived.

It's going to be a long weekend around here.

Sharing at High 5 for Friday

New deck and new neighbors

Shorts/shirt:  Old Navy // Sandals/belt: Target

This isn't the best outfit picture, but I wanted to show the fact that I have a deck in Missouri that's just like the one I had in Alaska.  It's a little higher off the ground, but this one at least has steps down to the ground.  Our other deck didn't have steps.  It was pretty inconvenient.  

(I never showed you this outfit from March.  It was so cold that I just kept layering til it felt right.  Kind of a mess, but it was comfortable!)

Boots: Steve Madden // Scarf: Old Navy // Sweater: Target // Dress: Kohl

Anyway, behind the new house, there's a unkempt gully (a holla, if you will) and across that gully is a neighbor who likes to yell at his dog.  He was having a fit on this particular day, because the dog, that he kept chained to a doghouse, was digging holes.  He went on and on (to the dog who doesn't understand him) for a good 15 minutes.

He was also probably wondering why I was taking pictures of myself on our deck.  This would also be a good opportunity to tell you that not one of our neighbors has introduced themselves.  Who should say "hi" first, the person who just moved in, or the person who already lives on the street?  I never did talk to our neighbors at our last house in Alaska (much).  At our first house in Alaska, the neighbors were great......a few came over the day we moved in to introduce themselves. I would like to think of this as an opportunity to start over...what should I do?

Linking up to Walkabout Wednesday, Random Wednesday, WIWW

Cah-nah-dah Part 2

On Thursday morning, we left Fort Nelson, British Columbia around 8:30.  Following a sub-par continental breakfast and a Dansko sighting at the Super 8, we set out for Fort St. John, which was a ridiculously long drive.  Hundreds of miles through the wilderness, and that was the closest we came to worrying about running out of gas.  At least it wasn’t snowy though.  Plus, I’ve really gotten my fill of iced coffee in the last few days.  I don’t know how much it costs…Canadian money isn’t real, right?  (That’s a very Becky-Bloomwood-way-of-thinking, isn’t it?)

(I’m kidding.  Everyone knows that Canadian dollars are real..even if they don’t use pennies and round change up up to the nearest nickel instead.)

We spent a lot of time doing math too:  converting kilometers to miles.  And don’t get me started on temperature.  I haven’t figured out an easy way to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit yet. 

All you need to know is that it’s still kind cold, still all brown, and still SUPER windy in Canada. 

We had grand plans of getting as far as we possibly could on Thursday.  The less time spent driving through Canada, the better.  We made it through Dawson Creek, the starting point of the Alaska Highway, and kept going through Grand Prairie, Grand Cache, and then stopped at Jasper National Park for the night. 

Jasper had several glaciers (including an ice field) and, apparently, you can get on this special bus that drives you UP the glacier.  No, thanks.

The town of Jasper was a wonderful little hippie paradise.  So was the town of Banff.  If you’re coming to Alberta (as so many of you are, I’m sure, planning to), Jasper National Park would be the place to go.  There’s camping and hiking for you hearty types, and then restaurants and hotels if you’re like me.  If given a choice, we’d come back.  It was agreed upon (by both of us), that this national park is more impressive than anything we’d seen in the 49^th state. 

We saw a lot of elk and a lot of deer.  I said the deer couldn’t possibly be normal deer…they were too small.  Scott said I must just be used to moose.  Then I called a squirrel a chipmunk, and he told me I must have “Alaska syndrome”.   Probably.

On Friday, we took off for the border, going as far as we could.  We made it from Jasper to Great Falls, Montana.  Victory in a sense:  We made it to the lower 48.  

Maybe 3 more days 'til we get where we need to be?  Who cares...I'm just happy to be here.