Great news!

We were approved for a loan to build our house!!! I am so excited. We are still looking for property, it seems to be a long process. We will start the building in the Spring (around April). This is the picture of our future home. Keep the prayers coming and anyone who wants to help, come on up!!!!!

Homer, Alaska

John and I went to Homer, Alaska, to go Halibut fishing. Homer is about 200 miles south, as far south as you can go in Alaska by road.

We had a really great time. We stayed at a really nice place, Lands End Resort, we ate at good restaurants and did some shopping. We caught a few good fish and the weather was gorgeous!!! It was really nice and we enjoyed spending the time together after being apart all summer.

Life In Alaska, 2006 & Jan-Sept 2007

2006 was an interesting year. A lot of ups and downs and turn arounds. When we arrived in Anchorage, we were totally broke, our apartment wasn't ready so we stayed at church members house for a night. We moved our stuff in to our apartment and realized we didn't bring any necessities with us, toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning stuff, so we went to walmart with a couple of bucks and bought a roll of toilet paper and some other things. The first week was very hard but Johns Grandma sent us some money so we could get the things we needed, like food (thanks grandma!)

I started working beginning of May, and John left for the lodge around the same time. This was my first time alone...terrifying!! I was in a new place, didn't know anyone, and didn't know where anything was. A lot of praying and a blessing from Members of the ward and I was OK enough to survive.

The summer was a lot of fun. Every couple of weeks I was able to go out to the lodge to see John and have some fun and do A LOT of fishing. My dad calls me a "Fisher- woman". The lodge staff was very nice and treated us like family. John had a blast!!

The fishing season ended around September and obviously I survived the summer without John, I think I became more independent and able to live on my own. Although, I was more than excited for John to come home!

John came home in September and got a job at a tire shop. Tire shops are very busy that time of year, between summer and winter, for "changeover", when people change their summer tires to winter tires. And again in April when they change them back! John was very busy.

Winter was a blast!! SNOW EVERYWHERE!! I thought it would never go away! It just kept coming and coming and coming.......... But surprisingly it wasn't too cold. Only in the wind (warning: stay out of the wind!!)

In November, I got a serious eye infection in my left eye.

We were lucky enough to catch it in time, a day later and I would have gone blind in my eye. Unfortunately, it hasn't gone away yet and I am still having a hard time of it.

I was able to go home for a couple of weeks after Christmas. I had a great time visiting with my family and friends. We are hoping to make it a yearly thing, next time with both of us though.

In March we were able to go out to the Lodge for the Iditarod (dog sled race from Anchorage to Nome). The Mushers go right in front of the Lodge. We had a big bon-fire on the River (yes ON the river, on the ice!!). We went Snow-mobiling on the river and in the back country. It was a lot of fun!! I cant wait until next year.

The day we came home from the lodge I had a steroid injection in my left eye. It was pretty gross, and painful.

In April, John went to Oregon the get some more of our things out of storage. Genevieve, Johns sister, came to Alaska and has decided to stay.

So far 2007 has been pretty good. John did very well at the Lodge this year, over 100% retention. He is booked for next year King Season. He does so well because he love his job and it shows in his work and his clients love fishing with him. He has fun and they do too.

This summer was easier on me, I had Genny to keep me company, and we had fun! I wasn't able to go out to the lodge as much as I would have liked to but it was still a good summer.

I am still managing at the Fifth Avenue Mall, I am expecting a new store in Wasilla, Alaska, about 45 min from here. I will be managing that store when it opens. There are 3 stores here in Anchorage. I might get a promotion to Area Supervisor where I will be supervising the 4 Alaska stores and some stores in Washington. I will be based here in Alaska but travel a lot to Washington. Hopefully I wont be too busy to see my family there.

We are planning on moving to Wasilla next year, it's a smaller town outside of Anchorage. We are hoping to build a house there.

Hope you are all caught up now. I'll try to keep you posted as our adventure continues.

Starting Over

Well, since we just started this blog, I decided to get everyone caught up on our adventures in Alaska.

We moved to Anchorage in April of 2006, John got a job as a fishing guide for McDougall Lodge, and I transfered to the Mastercuts here in Anchorage.

The trip up was absolutely beautiful. The scenery undiscribable. Luckily I was able to take a lot of pictures. Here are some of the pictures for all to enjoy.

Well, I thought I would try this whole blog thing. It seems like a good way to keep in contact with the family. I will try to keep it updated. Any suggestions, just let me know!!

This picture is of us last year, July 4, 2006