Chasing Groundhogs

Christmas...Again

2011-10-14T18:37:00.001-07:00

I can hardly believe that fall is here again. Another year has gone by. The girls turned one this year, they are walking, talking, laughing little miracles. I love them more than anything. It also has become so hard to stay in touch with friends and family. Time just seems to fly by. However, I love sending out Christmas cards. Last year we used Shutterfly and I loved, loved, loved our cards. Part of the purchase price also went to the Livestrong organization which was a bonus. We are having the girls' holiday pictures taken early this year which is why this on my mind now. Beating the rush and avoiding any mall photography all together. We will capitalize on the beach setting while we are visiting the east coast with our favorite photographer. Help me decide on the card. I definitely want to go with the story card from Shutterfly. My three favorite, in no particular order are this one, this one and this one. What do you think? What is your favorite place for holiday photos? Who does your cards?

Holiday Card

2010-11-05T12:49:00.000-07:00

So I have been a bit absent lately. I have lots of really good excuses, but I'll save that for later. I am sitting her trying to come up with a creative holiday card design. I love sending and receiving Christmas cards. There are several companies with many options, but last year I went with Shutterfly. They have a lot of unique options for unique cards that I have not seen on other sites. I think my days at work with go by quicker if I had a photo calendar on my wall too! And I saw the story cards that would replace the traditional holiday letter that comes along with the Christmas card. So many options to choose from, which one will I decide on....I think just uploading the pictures from my camera is a major accomplishment for me these days. That's it for now, but I promise to come to this again soon, well maybe promise is too strong of a word. I will give it a good effort to get back here, that's more realistic.

Shame On You

2009-07-24T21:08:00.001-07:00

President Obama. Making such inappropriate remarks against a police officer doing his job. And wait tell me again why you had the right to make such a comment? Oh because you are president that is right, I keep crawling back into my hole of seclusion and chanting, this must be a dream, really it must be a dream. We cannot really have elected this guy, right?

I read that he and his wife (who I do agree is a knock out) went to the Marine Parade this evening. I wonder if they threw tomatoes and told the Marines how to march.

Only 3 years and five months left....

Baby Bad Kitty

2009-07-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

Ledyard is growing so fast, he still only answers to bad kitty instead of Ledyard. We are working on it. His new favorite place to hang out is the refrigerator....

Time Spent Doing...

2009-07-10T06:49:00.000-07:00

Certainly not blogging, which I do miss, but it just seems lately that my time has been spent doing other various tasks and I really have not had much to say lately - about anything really. I have been learning how to knit and I love it. Throw my in a flannel night gown and my husband will realize he is married to a grandma. But for now, I suppose I will stick to my normal night clothes and try to avoid drinking peppermint tea in bed while knitting. But seriously, I really am enjoying it. I will be learning this weekend how to finish my first project which is a felted handbag. Exciting stuff right?

On Tuesday it was Andy G.'s birthday. We had a few friends over and I made his favorite cake. He was thrilled with his presents. Now I am just finishing up his AARP paperwork...just kidding honey.

There are various other rumblings in progress in the family expansion topic area, but nothing really to report except for the adoption guidelines in this country are screwed up. Which also brings me to another point - have you ever noticed that when a republican screws up (such as the South Carolina Gov.) that it is mentioned in every article about 70 times that they are republican (which by the way I don't care, announce the party, both sides screw up) but when a democrat screws up it is NEVER mentioned in an article or if it is it is grazed over quickly. Don't believe me - go ahead read the article of former Washington DC mayor this week about his arrest for stalking or go back a few years and read the article when he was busted by the FBI for smoking crack in a hotel room with a bunch of hookers....if you can find the audio that is even better. But anyway, maybe these are two extreme examples, but it really is true that the media is incredibly jaded.

Also I recently made the best face/makeup product purchase of my young life - Magix Face Perfector from Avon. I do not know how this works and why it works but I do know, I have never had the appearance of that "perfectly done up make up look" and now I do. You can get it from my friend Tara and right now it is on sale for $7.95. I know this might seem like a paid advertisement, but I assure you I have not been prompted or encouraged to write this. In fact I do not even think I have mentioned this to Tara yet. So Tara - thanks, I love it. Can they make it in a tinted form because then I would be set.

Ledyard is growing every second and he is still a very ornery kitty. He plays and gets in to everything. He is really sweet though and he has certainly quickly become Templeton's best friend - which I did not expect.

We are taking a small holiday in August and I'm pretty excited to get to see our family. Andy G. has to come back a bit early for work, but a few days away together is better than none!

So that is about it in our little corner of the world...

Worth The Weight

2009-07-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

So this picture probably will not mean much to anyone, but when I saw this it was cause for celebration in our house. I know the world is constantly producing new weight loss products, new diets, books, websites - you name it when it comes to weight loss it exists. But what about weight gain? I've never seen an infomercial on that yet, we have a book and its pretty pathetic and as far as I know no magic pills for weight gain either. You can go to GNC and buy "weight gainer" and load your body full of toxins and preservatives that will allow you to gain water weight despite what the label says, but in all honesty gaining weight is just as hard as losing it, people just do not talk about it.

When we moved here Andy G. weighed about 185 pounds. By February of this year he was down to 150 - sometimes even less. Despite eating, working out - he stilled was losing weight. It was scaring me a lot. I sent him to three different doctors - all who reported that he did not have a tape worm or any other aliment. Of course we were dealing with a lot of stressful situations that caused a lot of anxiety. Anxiety is one of the biggest factors in unexplained weight loss. Now that we are past a lot of all that, the weight is starting to come back - slowly, but nonetheless it is coming back. Ten pounds is a lot of weight, weather you are trying to loose or gain, so when Andy G. hopped on the scale this morning it was an exciting day. Now only about 15 more pounds to go!

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-04T15:03:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July! What a great holiday to celebrate. I love living in a free country!

I know I have been a bit absent lately - I promise to be more faithful with updates. In the meantime, enjoy the fireworks and hug a marine. What amazing work they are doing for us right now on the birthday of our nation.

Labels? Anyone Labels?

2009-06-25T18:25:00.000-07:00

Lady: I like your jeans, what are they?
Me: Jeans
Lady: I mean what kind
Me: umm..denim?
Lady: No what label?
Me: I have no idea – you wanna check?
Lady: (checking) oh, I’ve never heard of those, where did you get them?
Me: Thrift Store I think or maybe from my friend Paige, I can’t remember
Lady: How do you not know what kind of jeans you are wearing?
Me: How do you remember what kind you are wearing?
Lady: Well they all fit differently
Me: Which is what dressing rooms are for right?
Lady: I only like certain labels, most are really expensive
Me: Well I guess my pants are safe then

I hate labels. I reject pigeon holes and categories. I am more than my brand of jeans, which I still don’t even know. I can be a wife, a mother, a daughter, pet mom to 26 Andy G. just said I could not be that, but anyway I can be a lot of other things without using a label. I can give an impromptu kiss to my husband or hand a $20 bill to a stranger. I really don’t see how wearing a specific brand of anything really changes that. If you ask my hubby what kind of jeans he wears he will tell you the ones that are like denim sweatpants that my wife found for me. I hope we raise of family with such innocence. After all no sense trying to force a square peg into a round hole right?

So Here's The Deal

2009-06-16T20:52:00.000-07:00

I believe in God. And Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Three Wise Men, Noah, Heaven and Hell. It's ok if you don't, that is really not my business. But I'll pray for you anyway.

I would rather see a cop killer put to death immediately after conviction than see someone senselessly kill an animal. Period.

Sometimes when my husband is working at night I sleep with the light on to stamp out bad dreams. I am fully aware of my age and I need no reminders.

I hate the fact that we have become a disposable nation. I do not need fancy cars, gadgets or modern cut jeans (does anyone know what this is?) to make my world turn on its axis. It's ok if you do, I have no comments except this one - I like my 1981 RCA console TV, it works great, fantastic picture and is a fine piece of furniture. I do not even know what HDTV is, most likely I would not be able to tell the difference. Again - you may need this and I'm really ok with it.

When you come to my house and ask for a napkin, I'll most likely give you a cloth one, go ahead wipe away, they wash. I'm not sure when the last time I purchased paper towels, I'm sure there are a few around somewhere, but I don't know where they are. I'm not trying to save the world or even reduce my paper consumption, I just like the idea of using cloth napkins. It's ok if it grosses you out, go ahead use paper, I don't mind. One of my best friends is a big wig money chic for a paper company. I like her being employed, really.

Plastic freaks me out. I don't know why, it was long before the FDA started cracking down on toxins and the heat/don't heat debate. In addition, I just think things taste better in glass, metal, ceramic or paper. It is just my thing. Ziploc bags drive me crazy, so I just flow without them. I wrap sandwiches in cloth napkins, I have reusable snack bags and I gotta tell ya folks, wax paper can do amazing things. Its ok if you like plastic, continue loving it, just don't tell me I'm the weird one.

Fad diets drive me nuts, there is no magic diet pill and for the love of pete, either embrace your body or decide to change it, either way, let me know and I will cheer you on, but no flip flopping. It did not work for Kerry, it will not work for you. Eat healthy, exercise and get at least 8 hours of sleep. No you cannot function on only five, you only think you can.

I am a registered republican and I am proud of that. I support my party, I work on campaigns and I contribute my two cents. You know what else I do, I vote. So if you want to talk about the state of our nation, I will be glad to oblige, but if you have not registered to vote, I don't need to hear the concerns until you do. It's free.

I do not use hormonal birth control, nor will I ever. If the worst thing that could happen in your life is to get pregnant, by all means, don't take my advice. But before you swallow a pill think about what you are doing - chemically altering your body's natural abilities. Refer back to my first statement, I believe in God, he does not make mistakes.

You see it's pretty simple, the world don't beat to the tune of just one drum....

A Week In Review

2009-06-12T18:53:00.000-07:00

1. The kitty is adorable, but he is a BAD KITTY. In fact, he does not even answer to Ledyard, he only looks at you when you say BAD KITTY. He is just adorable and can be so sweet, but he is always into something. I mean all the time, never sleeps. In fact the last time I saw him sleeping was the day I took the picture that is posted below. All night, he is scaling the bookshelf, climbing the decorative tree behind the TV, jumping on my head, biting my fingers, biting my eyelids, torturinzing (I just love that word) the dog, running amuck. He just never stops. There has not been a full night’s sleep in this house yet. It is a GOOOOOOD thing he is cute….

2. Alaska Airlines had a sale for Alaskan residents. So we can fly to Anchorage for only $700. I know what you are thinking – that still seems REALLY expensive and you are right it is REALLY EXPENSIVE, unless you live here, then that price is all you talk about with your friends for days. You dream of places to eat, hotels to stay and driving more than 25 mph. I booked two flights for August, I’m pretty darn excited about that.

3. On Tuesday I received a phone call from my good friends at Holiday Inn Express Anchorage and they gave Andy G. and I 50,000 ALASKA AIRLINE MILES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In Alaska these miles are better than sex, chocolate, champagne or money. I could not believe it. I was so excited I nearly collapsed. We love Roxy and Mr. Merrill at Holiday Inn Express, they took tremendous care of us during our many sick surgery trips. I’ve stayed at a couple other hotels in Anchorage because of business and I always feel like I am cheating on them. They have my lifetime business for sure. Oh where will be journey too with so many miles…..

4. I’m dreaming of a Mediterranean cruise a lot. I found a very reputable company that is have an economy sale. You can lock in the current cruise prices now, but you can go anytime in the next 24 months…..I’m feeling that I should go ahead and reserve two spots, but I’m still feel a bit reserved as well

5. I made fried zucchini after having it at a restaurant in Anchorage. I’ve never actually friend anything myself I do not think, so I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect in the process. But they were delicious. Also I learned that about 10% of the nutritional values are absorbed through frying. So while I thought using a cup of oil to fry in was going to immediately going to add 15 pounds to my mid-section, according to the recipe I used, the zucchini only contained 5 grams of fat per serving. I served them in place of potatoes with turkey burgers, so I thought it was pretty even trade. Problem being, I want them every day now.

6. I’ve been making/buying birthday gifts a lot, what is up with June and July having so many birthdays and such. Not that I mind, it is so much fun shopping for other people, especially when they are nieces and nephews!

7. What are you getting your dad for father’s day? I can’t think of a thing. Not a thing I tell you.

8. I think I have decided to get my master’s degree in landscape architecture. This is not for sure and more than likely I will change my mind, but I think I would love doing landscape designs and working with different types of plants and flowers. My inspiration comes from Mrs. Marks and watching Rosemary and Thyme. This degree does not really relate to any of my “dream jobs” but I really think it would be interesting.

Welcome To Our Family

2009-06-07T12:34:00.000-07:00

My husband came trotting into my office after a midnight shift on the morning of our anniversary. In his arms was this little guy.

This is Ledyard. Named after Ledyard, Connecticut. All of my husband's childhood stories start with "while we were in Ledyard" and end with the "Ledyard firefighters dropped us off at home". Ledyard also happens to be the perfect name for this ball of fur and energy. He had me at meow.

Even when he began climbing up the furniture and the electrical cords. He decided to pose for a picture on Andy G.'s anniversary present. Look at those blue eyes....he is going to be trouble.

He is a pouncer. I anticipate many mornings of playing attack mum's feet when she gets out of bed.

He was completely tuckered out after a long day of enjoying a new home. He sleeps face planted with his little arms straight out. He is so cute and he is perfect. Welcome to our family little guy, we are so glad you are here.

Sunrays and Saturdays

2009-06-06T04:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Virginia Beach, 64th Street, beach spot in between trash cans and the hip old ladies,

How I miss you today. I long to feel you touching my skin and wiggling your sand in between my toes. I want to feel your warmth on my exposed skin and rake my fingers making imaginary lines. I want you to hold my diet coke at the perfect level next to my hand and create a secure place for my low beach chair. You were always so nice to let me just sit and read, no conversation was ever needed. You allowed mother nature to visit too, her crazy seagulls that I would always feed even though the “tourist” were glaring at me in disgust as if they could not be bothered by seagulls, the crashing waves that always ended right at my toes and oh the smell of the salt was inebriating. Oh and remember that one time when Mother Nature had that surprise storm and unloaded on me? I was drenched by the time I ran down the board walk to my secure, maybe slightly illegal parking space (thanks for never telling on me). Oh…that was fun.

I also miss my friends and the laughter we shared on your sandy shore. Stacy and I would lay out for hours, reading smut novels and trashy magazines, sipping dt. Cokes and talking about the stresses of the week. I told her I was getting married and that I was leaving to go to Alaska while observing the endless coastline you shared. I’ve left a few tears mixed in with your sand, but mostly it is all laughs and good feelings. I miss the group of old ladies who seemed to be on the same visiting schedules. They were hip and funny, possibly alcoholics. I did not mind one time folding out their beach chairs and setting up their umbrellas. The entertainment value they brought to our day was amazing. Who knew ladies pushing seventy were so in to sex, alcohol and rock and roll?

After a full day of baking we would head back at 4. The car ride home we would smell just like you. Oh to have that smell in a bottle right now, I think I would pay a lot for that. Those days were as close to a utopian day as I think I will ever get. I don’t think you would recognize me right now. My once golden skin is pasty white and my calloused feet from flip flops and sand are now so tender and soft. Oh and professional pedicures are not available here, you would be embarrassed to call me your friend if you saw my toenails. Well, I really must go now. Please send crashing waves and warm sand when you can. I promise to visit real soon.

Missing sunrays and Saturdays,
me

What Do You Pack For The Future?

2009-06-04T02:22:00.000-07:00

Dear David Wallace aka Andy G.,

Its been an entire year. I can hardly believe it. I'm not sure what I was expecting, I guess everything I had always been told - marriage is hard. The first year is the worst. Well baby, if this was the worst, I'm not sure I can handle the excitement of the future. In fact, I have to say I disagree. I do not think marriage is hard, I think it is the most amazing relationship I could ever desire. You have unlocked my inhibitions, you have made me take many steps of faith that I would not have taken without you. Simply put, you have helped shaped me into a completely different person, but for the first time ever I now feel that I have discovered my true role in life - to be your wife. There are no words that can describe the amount of love I have for you. Sometimes I wake up thinking that I must be living a dream. No one person can be so kind hearted, so funny, so entertaining, so romantic - it is just impossible. But then I look over my left shoulder and I see your tender profile, your arm stretched over to touch me as you sleep, always protecting me. Sometimes I can't prevent the tears that roll gently down my check. I'm not sad, I'm simply amazed. Amazed that God answered my prayers with you. You have always provided for me and I know you will always provide for our family as we grow old together. I am irrevocably in love with you. Nothing will ever change that. I will always walk beside you, not in front, not behind, but right beside you. I promise to always open my heart to you, allow you to guide our family, remain confidential when you share the secrets of your heart and the horror that you see each day. I promise to support you always in all your decisions, for I know that you would never make a decision that would be harmful to me, our animals or our babies. It has been said to us time and time again, it is rare to meet two people that are completely enamored by one another. Our love is deeply rooted in Christ and in each other, I think that is an equation for perfection. We are not merely newlyweds, our behavior and unconditional desire to please one another will never end, I believe that in my heart. I will always be attracted to your stunning beauty, amused by your witty vocabulary and my heart will smile when you sing your silly songs to me. You create joy that is tangible. I pledge to continue saving energy wherever we might live by showering with you whenever possible. I cherish our conversations over shampoo and Aveeno itchy wash. I pledge to always create healthy meals that will nourish your body. I pledge to continue to pray openly and honestly with you, hand in hand, to allow God to nourish our souls. I pledge to engage in civic conversations and problem solving with you to nourish our minds. You amaze me that you have never been untrue, not one broken vow and you have never walked away when I really needed you to stay with me. I promise to never give up on pleasing you. I've always been the one who struggled with my mission in life. Now that I've found you, I am at peace. My mission in life is to be your wife, your best friend, the mother to your children and your biggest supporter. I will never stop loving you, I will never be in love with another person - only you - I will always love you more. I'm not certain exactly what our future holds, but I know that I was born to give my love to you. It is said that every stage of a flower is in its own way beautiful, but each new stage is more beautiful than the previous. It is also said that the last stage is the most glorious. Here is to reminiscing to the previous stages of our marriage, growing to more and many, many more years until the most glorious memories will be sparked. Happy Anniversary Pup Pup.

I remember packing a few days before our Wednesday twilight ceremony. I was packing for our wedding day, our weekend away...our future. I love you.

Music In The Air

2009-06-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

Andy G.'s anniversary gift came yesterday. We live in a rather small apartment, so hiding a box of its size was not really something I could do very well. So he got to open it early!

My husband is an incredible piano player. He does not read music, but what he does do is listen to a song once, maybe twice and then plays it perfectly on the piano. In our home in Virginia we had an upright piano and he played for a few minutes almost everyday. I missed hearing all of our silly songs and of course love songs, so I thought this was the perfect gift. I know paper is the traditional gift and music is printed on paper, the lyrics to the parody songs we write on written on - you guessed it - paper and the electric piano came in a paper box. So I'm sticking to tradition as much as I can. So happy almost anniversary puppy pants...although we are selling this when we by a house - the offer on the baby grand has had my mind spinning.

Recorded by Numbers

2009-05-31T09:21:00.000-07:00

Will you take this woman to be your wife 6-4 19:30

For better, for worse 11-24

For richer, for poorer 5-15 16:20

In sickness, in health 9-27 11-18 2-16

To love and to cherish 360

Until death do you part....eternity

The Animals, They Came In By Twosee Twosees

2009-05-27T18:15:00.000-07:00

I think the biblical story of Noah and The Ark has a lesson that we can all learn from - besides of course the one about listening to God even when other folks think you are nuts. A hidden message if you will. One about animals coming in as pairs, as in two. Two of each. Not one but TWO. Where am I going with this you ask?

Well, I want a puppy. We have one, but I believe God wants us to have two. I have puppy fever so bad that I ask Andy G. almost everyday, Can I have a puppy? Not just any puppy - I want Ollie, a great dane/chocolate lab mix male, floppy, soft ears, big paws, an excellent nose nuzzler and he will most certainly be a great snuggle dog (I have not met this dog yet, I just already have a name picked out for him). It is not that I do not love Templeton, I mean how could you not? She is adorable and has plenty of PERSONALITY!

But, much like Noah, I am just trying to follow God's command and have animals in twos. Pairs. Like dice, much better with a pair. Pair as in two, not pear as in fruit. Tempe needs a friend, she misses Brown Dog so much. I want a puppy.

Happy Memorial Day

2009-05-22T20:14:00.000-07:00

So what are your plans for this wonderful 3 day weekend? BBQ with the neighbors? Decorating the graves of passed love ones? Whatever it may be I encourage you to take a few minutes to seek out the reason that our nation celebrates this special day. Give a thought to many lives that have been lost fighting for our freedom, protecting our nation and its leaders. To the many men and women still serving over seas and their families who live life here, without them.
Happy Memorial Day.

Dear Husband

2009-05-19T21:57:00.000-07:00

Thank you for the most amazing short vacation. I had a wonderful time, enjoyed the scenary, the sights, the food, but most of all having you all to myself. It is good to be home.

This Happens All The Time Here

2009-05-11T09:38:00.000-07:00

And I've never seen it on MSN headlines. Check it out here. The three and one half hour flight from Anchorage to Dutch can take days sometime. You can wait for hours circling in the sky right above the airport or (if you want an element of fun to be added) you can land in Cold Bay in the one room, four chair airport for even longer. Weather too bad to make it back to Anchorage you say? Well snuggle up b/c there is NOTHING in Cold Bay. No warm hotel, no yummy food, not even a sleeping bag to borrow. But you put a writer from the wall street journal on a flight that is held up by an airline where this happens maybe once per year and all the sudden it is an issue for Congress. God save the Queen.

Two killed, One not

2009-05-10T16:14:00.000-07:00

I married a man with a badge, gun and body armour. And I love it. Since moving here, I have to be honest, I really have not worried about the possibility of my husband not coming home from work. In Virginia if he was ten minutes late I nearly had a panic attack - I was sure he had been shot, was laying in a ravine screaming my name or some other scary activity. Here, if he is late, I make the assumption that he is busy doing paperwork. I'm usually right. So even though we stay in touch with all of his other badge bearing buddies in more dangerous areas - I've gotten a bit spoiled...I no longer fear the worst and to be really honest, I rarely have fear at all. So last night as I was padding around the hose in Andy G.'s socks the last thing I expected was for the phone to ring. I'm not even sure what I said, except for husband pick up the phone, he could have died. Everyone is ok (except the bad guys YEAH!!!!!!!) but every time I closed my eyes the innocent, cute face of another officer was burned into my head. I would have given anything to touch him, hug him, know by the feel under my fingers that he was truly okay. Then I read the morning newspaper. I'm scared again. I have that fear boiling around in my stomach. Those tears are escaping my eyes. I know that in a few minutes, my husband will walk through the arctic entryway (by the way it is snowing here today) and I can watch him take off the gear that protects him. Then I have terrible thoughts - I'm so glad hubby is not there, I'm so glad it wasn't him. I mean that in my heart, but I don't want it to be his best friend either. I don't want it to be another wife reading that newspaper, knowing that her husband was likely the first responder to that shooting or that he was on duty at that exact moment, in that exact area. Having the sinking realization that maybe he might not have walked through her door this morning in time to give her flowers for Mother's Day, kiss his babies and spend another sunny Sunday with his family. It is not fair and I will never understand how a human can come to the conclusion that they have the right to take another life. I just cannot imagine that stream of consciousness. I know this really does not make sense to read, I can tell you it does not really make sense to write or even to think. I'm just raw today - tired too, one does not sleep with all of this running through the mind. But one thing I know for sure - God answers prayers. See we pray for these badge bearing hot cops, we pray for their safety, that God will keep them alert, reactive and quick. So for today, Mother's Day, this single father to three beautiful children it is another day to wrap his arms around this crazy ride we call life.

Dear God, please protect those who protect me and please let them always come home at the end of the day.

What Would You Pick

2009-05-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

During our little quiet time together last night the question in our devotion book was "If your house was on fire and you had time to grab one inanimate object, what would you pick?"

Andy G.'s Response: My Charlie Brown PJ Pants

It is never a dull moment in this house.

You might be able to get your very own pair of Andy G.'s Charlie Brown PJ Pants here from my good friend Tara, but they might be seasonable. It is apparently worth the looksey though.

Could It Be?

2009-05-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

I read an article today on Slate that was written as a research topic - Is it cheaper to make everyday items at home instead of purchasing. It talked about bagels, yogurt, crackers, bread, etc. The writer came to the conclusion that it was about half and half. Somethings were cheaper, some were not. She also was of the opinion that overall, a higher quality, more tastier version can almost always be created at home. My recent adventures in the kitchen have proven this in almost everything we have tried, except for pizza. That is until tonight. I always liked my homemade pizza, but not more than my favorite - Joe's Pizza and Pasta in Franklin, VA. Everything from the crust to the sauce and the price was just perfect. Since we are no longer in the delivery area, we have no options for take away pizza and my husband hates cheese - I have been forced to adapt. Once again - until tonight. I am about to share a recipe with you that will change your life. Consider yourself warned. I am actually going to share two recipes with you. I know what you are thinking - I'll save this for a weekend project - don't dismiss the idea of homemade pizza on a weeknight. Give me a chance. I whipped up the crust in about ten minutes on my lunch hour. It was ready to go when I arrived home, about five minutes to shape, three minutes to "decorate" and ten minutes in the oven. That's it. So here we go:

Pizza Crust - Better Than Delivery
1/2 c. warm water
2 1/4 tsp. yeast (that is the amount in one package fyi)
1 1/4 c. room temperature water
2 tbsp. olive oil
4 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. sugar

Step 1 - Combine yeast and warm water. Let swell for about five minutes (I do this in a two cup measuring cup)
Step 2 - While the yeast is swelling, combine the dry ingredients.
Step 3 - Add the room temperature water and oil to the yeast mixture. Give it a good stir. I use a fork. You can use whatever you want.
Step 4 - Combine water/yeast mixture with the flour mixture. I use Ms. Peacock - my KitchenAid mixer - with the dough hook. You could easily do this with a wooden spoon though.
Step 5 - Transfer dough to an oiled bowl, cover with a towel and leave for at least an hour. The dough will double in bulk. Just punch it down.

This recipe actually makes two crusts. As stated before Andy G. hates cheese. So we have to make two separate pizzas in order to achieve maximum happiness. Divide two into two equal balls (you can freeze one if you want), roll out in the shape of pizza, put on pan.

My Sauce Recipe - I like thick sauce and lots of it. Here is how I make mine:
1 can of tomato paste
1 packet of splenda
1 tsp. or so of garlic
A healthy shake of oregano

Give it a stir - top pizza. YUM! I'm sure you could add crushed red pepper, thyme or any other spice. I just keep it simple

Decorate your pizza to your heart's content. My favorite toppings are fresh mushrooms, ricotta cheese, black pepper and mozzarella. Andy G. - lots of pepperoni and fresh mushrooms, black pepper.

Bake for about ten minutes at 425 degrees.

That is it. It is so easy and it is soooooo good. Seriously, better than any take away pizza I have ever eaten. Of course, unlike my cab driver in Anchorage (when I asked where I could get a good pizza) I have not recently dined on a slice of pie in Italy...maybe it is not as good as that pizza. But it is pretty darn close.

Summing It Up: I Can See Clearlly Now The Rain Is Gone

2009-05-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

1. Last night my husband and I spent an evening together and it was blissful. We made homemade hot, soft pretzels, giggled as he stuck dough on my nose, watched a new British murder mystery and tried to keep our eyes open until really late - we made it until about 10:00.

2. The sun has been shining here! The grass is visible and it may have the lightest hue of green. It only rained two days out of the last seven.

3. I do not miss spring allergies. This time last year I was miserable - sneezing, snotting, eyes of fire, itchiness everywhere and just forget about trying to breathe.

4. I discovered Tylenol Severe Allergy and it became my best friend. It is tough to find in pharmacies for some reason. So much better than the three prescriptions I tried. Very thankful there is no pollen here.

5. I have finally worked up the courage to seek out an illustrator for a book I've been working on for a couple of years. I will conquer my fear of failure.

6. Tomorrow I am going to the shooting range with my husband. I plane to smoke him in speed and accuracy.

7. In a little less than two weeks we get to leave on holiday for a short time. I cannot wait.

8. I want to bring back a rack of lamb in my suitcase. I am not kidding.

9. I've started doing pilates at home since it is not offered as a class here. I love it.

10. We also wrote another little song together. Andy G. is supercalifragilisticallysexy talented on the piano. I cannot release anymore details at this time in regards to the song. I just think it is better than the one we wrote when we moved here.

11. Speaking of piano, I am thinking of purchasing Andy G. an electric piano to have in our home for his birthday. I don't think it will be a good surprise present because his hands are the size of mitts and I want to make sure he is comfortable playing it. Any recommendations on brands, models, etc.?

12. I miss hearing him play everyday. There is a baby grand at my work, but I miss the music, the songs and the silly dancing at odd hours of the day when we had a piano in our home in VA.

13. I also miss being able to get good spaghetti squash. I paid so much money for one this week and it was crap.

14. I want to plant a garden in Alaska. I think our living room would look great with growing lights mounted everywhere. Andy G. said no.

15. About a year ago, we invested in Andy G.'s eyesight. Yesterday I paid off that surgery. His vision is nearly perfect. It was worth every penny.

Happy May Day

2009-05-01T18:21:00.000-07:00

Whew. I am glad it is Friday! And our new vacuum came in today! That might not be exciting in your world, but you try living on an island where the wind blows everything everywhere, not asphalt, just rock roads, only one vacuum sold on the island for $800 and not having a working vacuum at home. It is truly an equation for disaster.

So the winner of the police entry contest is:
Two Lines On a Stick said...
I think the cameras are a ridiculous idea. I think cops should be able to do whatever they want to do to get a situation under control or to protect themselves. I have the utmost respect for cops and would rather have them be able to do what they want/need to do and kick the asses of some bad guys without it being on film.

Congratulations Tara! I'm sending it with signature confirmation, no more lost mail for you!

Thanks for playing and have a great weekend.

Give Away #2

2009-04-25T20:17:00.000-07:00

Wanna win this? Directions to follow.

This includes an Alaskan Ulu Knife, reindeer sausage sticks, salmon jerky, Alaskan smoked salmon, an Alaska kitchen towel complete with a bear cookie cutter and magnetic Bear Hugs from Alaska notepad.

A few nights ago Andy G. shared with me information that he had heard from his best friend Mr. Pug, who is a police officer in another state (by the way ladies, he is single, CUTE, sweet and simply an amazing cook did I mention he was C-U-T-E?). It was his belief that by this time next year every police officer in his neck of the woods will be wearing body cameras. Every move (noise) they make will be recorded and able to be viewed. Now I know I have a bit of a skewed belief, but you know what, I know my husband has probably done a few things that under a stupid attorney's scrutiny could be considered inappropriate. With that said, my husband in an AMAZING LE officer. That is not just my opinion, I hear it from the folks that stroke the paychecks all the time. So I think that if a crack head spits on my husband, tries to bite my husband, makes a move that threatens my husband's life or puts him in danger to contract a disease that will harm me and his family - yes I do believe he has the right to use the appropriate amount of force to gain control and let the said crack head know who is in charge. Excuse me the ACLU is now banging down my door...oh I crack myself up. Ok, back to the subject. I think this is an outrageous waste of money to outfit an entire department with body cams. I know there are bad cops, but you know what there a lot more murderers, rapists, drug thugs and other really mean people. And bad cops are generally pretty clever, so what is a body camera really going to do? It is a sad state of affairs when police officers need video to back up their account of an arrest, traffic stop, shooting, etc. If we cannot trust the folks that we count on to save our lives, then what does that say about us as Americans? Kind of scary don't you think. So if you want to enter the give away here is what you do -

Leave a comment answering this question:

Would you give police officers more power in exchange for a lower crime rate in your city, town or county? Why or why not?

If you also put a link to this post on your blog and let me know in the comment section, I will enter you twice. On Friday, May 1st, all submissions will be entered and randomly drawn.

Disclaimer: This is my blog. If this post offends you - next time you need help call a crack head to come to your aid.

Home Again Home Again

2009-04-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

Jiggety Jig. That is what my grandpa used to say. It is so great to be home. Even though my suitcases look like they were thrown into Mt. Redoubt and blew back up into the plane. I tell you Alaksa Airlines and PenAir is T-O-U-G-H on luggage. And the bright orange HEAVY stickers they throw on the it makes it even more appealing. Speaking of Mt. Redoubt, we fly directly over it and you can still see some tom foolery brewing.

And Then There Were Three

2009-04-25T08:48:00.000-07:00

So I left DH airport with one suitcase - medium size. Now I am returning with 3 suitcases - 2 large and the said one medium. I spent a lot of money. I don't feel guilty about it since we never go shopping and all the stuff I bought at Wal-Mart would have cost three to four times what I purchased it for here in Anchorage. Not that I think Anchorage is all that cheap. I have lots to share about the Hilton and how I think full service hotels are WAY overrated. I cannot wait to return to my peeps at the Holiday Inn Express. But overall, it has been a great week. I miss Andy G. soooooo much. I'll see you this afternoon pup pup!

So Far....

2009-04-21T14:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I am pretty street smart - I did live in St. Louis (county...) but still. However, I think living on an island where everyone is so nice and never would try to harm you has made a little...well maybe a tiny bit...you know a bit....naive. There I said it. I do not take fault for this, not at all. I am a product of my environment, I will shirk responsibility every place I can. Last night I decided that since it does not get dark until around midnight, I had at least four hours to get a few errands out of the way. So I TOOK A CAB (see honey, I am keeping my promise - by the way my husband thinks I am not capable of renting a car and navigating through Anchorage. The sad thing is he is probably right) and headed to Barnes and Noble and Wal-Mart. The cabbie saw quickly that he was picking up a young girl who was staying at a pricey hotel downtown. Immediately the rate was clicking away much faster than it should have been - they have a button for that you know. So I said - Hey pal, want to switch that back over to the Alaska resident rate. Immediately the fare went down by eight bucks. Ohhhh, I am so clever. Then at Barnes and Noble I needed to return a few items that I bought twice via late night Internet shopping. I swear it was more difficult to return those items than canceling a gym membership at Bally's. Then when I went to check out and handed the store credit card to the same lady, she conveniently "forgot" to use it. In order to credit my payment back she would need to call the floor relations manager. Well call away sweetheart. Wal-Mart was a hoot as always. I navigated through the store like a marathon runner checking each item off my list, I had to be back to the hotel before dusk per Andy G. Then as I was leaving a man buzzed by my left side, sending me into a cartoon spiral. He was SHOPLIFTING - a PS2 (I don't think I know what that is). I was so excited! He was quickly tackled by a few Wal-Mart associates and the goods were obtained - OUT OF HIS PANTS! And though this may seem so trivial to you, I have enjoyed fountain diet cokes....I am floating on cloud nine. The only downer is I really miss my husband. But I realized that this was the first time I have been in Anchorage without him and without it being a medical emergency. YEAH!

Flying To Anchorage

2009-04-20T16:10:00.000-07:00

Well I made it to Anchorage, which was no easy task. As always with trying to fly out of Dutch Harbor, there are always some sort of delays, problems or winds blowing at 1,000,000 miles per hour. Wanna see pictures from the plane?

I still have a day and a half before the conference starts, so I am off to do more shopping (don't worry honey - I am taking a cab) and of course be 15 minutes early for my spa appointment. Oh love me tender....

Come Monday...

2009-04-18T15:51:00.000-07:00

I will be boarding a plane and heading to Anchorage for an entire week. Which means real stores, airline miles, fancy dinners...and a week away from my sweet Andy G. I know pathetic right? I just cannot help it, I miss him when we cross paths because of work schedules. I hate being away from him. But duty calls and work is work, so if they say go to Anchorage then I guess that is where I will be. I have to go again in May, but Andy G. will be traveling with me during that trip, so it will be so much better!

So I am working on my last load of laundry, have filled the banana bread jar, made dinners to freeze with written instructions on top, scheduled Maria (I should really post about how she has revolutionized my life just by teaching me how to be organized and sparkling bath tub clean) for next Saturday so I come home to a clean house and wrote love notes for each day of the week. I'm exhausted! I still have to pack, finish the necessary supply list (there is a Wal-Mart in Anchorage!) and gather the stuff that needs to be returned to various stores - mainly Barnes and Noble. Someone should stop me from online shopping at 3AM, never a good turnout. Never.

On Thursday after a particularly rough day at work and realizing that my husband is able to feed, bathe and care for himself without me doing all the above mentioned stuff I got a bit teary eyed and battled homesickness for awhile. So on Friday he SURPRISED me by telling me how I am going to spend my Tuesday afternoon in Anchorage - Allure Day Spa . I am so excited - I will be having the full works - a vichy massage, pedicure, manicure, facial and hair at one of the top five rated spas in the nation. I am already there in my head, I can already full the luxurious terry cloth robed wrapped around me and the mindless chatter with the treatment people. Ohhhhh....I can hardly wait. I do not know where he learned that a day at the spa is cure for homesickness (honey, it would probably work for everything too), but I love him and I love my surprise. I know ladies, you are turning green with envy - but hey, I have never claimed not to have the world's most perfect husband. Ahhh...it is a rough job being married to perfection, I'm constantly doing squats, lifting dumbbells and ironing my apron.

Enjoy your Sunday....I'll let you know about the spa.

Big Sigh

2009-04-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy at work that I feel like my head is spinning. I also have not had any real great things to blog about, in fact I still don't. I can tell you that it is the ides of April and it is blizzard conditions here, has been since last Friday. And you know what - I WANT SUNSHINE. My skin is craving light, my body is craving vitamin D, my sunglasses are begging to be worn, my pigment is asking to change from death white to pale. I'll let you know when winter ends here, but if you happen to know, please share. And if you want to write a letter to mother nature on our behalf - that would be great.

Speaking of letters, I sent a four page nasty-gram to Bank of America today. I really think that company is ran by monkeys. Every month EVERY month there is some sort of "bank error" normally resulting in a huge chunk of money being wrongfully withdrawn from our account. Then it takes them up to sixty days to correct it, by then I have two more complaints started. It is a never ending battle. Yesterday when the supervisor decided to finally call me back and kept mispronouncing my phonetically spelled name after repeated corrections, I decided that I was just going to write a letter. I'm sure it will be put in the round file, but I feel better. Anyhoo, if you are looking for a bank home I would not recommend Bank of America, in fact I would recommend putting in a sock under your mattress before going into that bank. I know what you are thinking, just switch banks. Can I remind you - live on an island, no real bank here, 850 miles from mainland...you get the picture. Then since I was on a roll of writing letters, I decided to send one to the office manager at the surgeons office in Anchorage after I got yet another rude phone call from medical secretary Lynda. Same lady who threw luggage at me the day after my second surgery, accused my husband of not wanting to pay bills, or "not having the money" to pay a NON EXISTENT BILL, made a rude comment about my wedding ring, told us she had called a cab, but really did not and then called me today to tell me I needed to reschedule my appointment (that I have to fly to and have already made plane reservations) but she did not when/if I could reschedule and had no suggestions. So I wrote a letter to her and copied it to her office manager. I wanted to sign it, wife of husband who flung money at you and bought his wife a nice wedding ring, but I used some restraint and just used the words "with regard". I might have used the words "God complex" though....

Anyhoo, that is about all that is going on here, except for we have sweet, little Calie again for three weeks while her parents are in Hawaii...the weather cleared for about 2.2 seconds so the plane could take off. Lucky ducks.

Happy Birthday Athena!

2009-04-10T18:23:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a kind of surprise party for Andy G.'s co-worker and my friend, she is so cool, she can play lots of roles. I call it a kind of surprise, because it is my opinion that every girl deserves to fix her hair before any event where pictures could be taken, so I told her. Which is good because that gave me a chance to see what kind of cake she wanted. It was a lot of fun! She leaves for Hawaii on Wednesday, weather providing and volcano behaving. We get to have Cali again, Andy G.'s sweet little girlfriend doggy.

This is Athena. And her coconut. Some folks say we kind of look alike. We do think alike...so much it is scary really.

Basil, Tomato, Mozzarella Capre Tart - Ummm....YUM!

Andy G. made stuffed mushrooms, beautiful!

And Athena really wanted a turtle cake...this is the best I could do.

And I even had time to dress up as a bunny

Sometimes The Answer Is Right Under Your Nose

2009-04-09T18:12:00.000-07:00

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9

About 75 - 80 times a day I ask myself "What are we doing here". In fact today I spoke with a lady that I did not even know and she said "what are you doing in Alaska". The answer, that is where God sent us. It is a tough pill to swallow sometimes, ok MOST of the time. But here we are and you know what, we are doing really well compared to a lot of folks who are without jobs, hungry, cold, sick, sad, alone.

Of course we have our 5 year plan, but that is our plan, not God's. We are along for the ride and wherever he navigates us to go, we will go. But, hey God, in case you are reading my blog, if you could just send us somewhere a bit warmer with maybe a Wal-Mart or a Ben Franklin?

Who Knew A New Mouse Pad Could Get Me In Trouble?

2009-04-07T22:39:00.000-07:00

Once I took this picture of my husband after his shower while he was air drying on the couch. Does your husband do this? It drives me nuts, the big wet stain after the fact. Anyhoo, the picture does not show anything risky. Basically it is a picture of his back and triceps. The reason I took the picture is because he is RIPPED, such big muscles. I have not sent out the picture, posted it on my blog (sorry, trust me you do want to see it, he won't let me) or made it into a postcard to send to friends and family. However, I included it in a photo collage mouse pad that I made on Snapfish one night when I could not sleep and he was working. It FINALLY arrived in the mail, I promptly tore into the packaging as he pulled out of the post office. I held up my new present for our house proudly and here is the conversation:

Me: Look honey, we finally have a mouse pad!
Andy G: The naked picture?!?! Well you cannot use that at work.
Me: Oh really, the first thing I was going to do was take my I Love Andy G. photo collage mouse pad to my professional office. I think it would be a great conversation piece or ice breaker while I'm meeting with folks.
Andy G: I'm serious, it has to stay at home....in a drawer.

I was kind of insulted that 1) he thought I would take a mouse pad that literally said "I love being your wife" on the top it to my office and 2)that I would lower my professional standards to put such an article on my desk at work, besides staring at his picture all day would not allow me to get any work done.

List of Nothing, Really

2009-04-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

1. I have been SOOO busy at work this week. I had really gotten spoiled with my eight hour work days. Missoula Children's Theatre is in town and my department is hosting them. Without going into a long story, two tour directors arrive by plane with a whole lot of bags, heavy, heavy bags. They put together a set, hold auditions and five days later put on a community play. It is rather impressive and its been fun, but boy when the plane leaves on Sunday I will breath a sigh of relief.

2. The flights are FINALLY coming in and out, which means MAIL! And produce shipments! Even the grocery store shelves were stocked once more! This is very exciting.

3. I fell hard and fast in love with the Amazon Kindle 2. Oh how I dreamed of holding the sleek design in my hand. Right before I made the one click purchase, I thought "I better check the coverage map". I don't know why I was surprised to find out it will not work here. Sad.

4. The one week that I have been working long days, long nights, Andy G. has been working all days.

5. I watched him do weighted squats today in the weight room. It took all of my professionalism, every ounce I say to you, to keep from marching straight into that room and challenging him to a weight lifting contest.

6. We watched Marley and Me tonight. I loved the book, in fact it is probably one of my favorites, but the movie was way too emotional for me right now.

7. Which reminds me, life is unfair. Stupid people can reproduce and here we are struggling. Again, not a big surprise.

8. Since being so sick I cannot eat milk or meat. Every time I think, oh today's a new day, I can probably eat it today....still cannot eat it yet. Milk I don't really miss, but oh to sink my teeth into a juicy chicken breast or a teriyaki turkey burger with sprouts and cheese.

9. My island doctor told me that I am so much fun he wants to jostle me. Which is kind of weird, because my husband says the same thing and he does jostle me.

10. I believe ginger ale is the cure all for every ailment. Better than windex

11. I am currently on the look out for a 1950s pin up dress - non costume - ish. I can't really explain it right now, but if you know where I can get one...

12. I made chocolate chip banana cookies this week, my boss bit his finger trying to eat one faster. It made me laugh so hard I almost peed my pants in my office chair.

13. I washed 50 some costumes: Frowny face tribes, Oscar the octopus, a lizard, and some other creatures that will accompany Robinson Crusoe on his journey tomorrow night. I will never complain at Andy G.'s uniform stains again.

14. Currently I am sleeping under six layers of cover, but I discovered lavender linen spray and those layers are like sheer Heaven. You too should try it.

15. Templeton is throwing a party every night between 2 - 4 am. I have threatened her with an overnight tour of the pound. Here is how she looks at me:

A Night At The Auction

2009-03-29T10:16:00.001-07:00

Last night Andy G. and I were invited to a fundraiser for women's rights/activist kind of thing. Usually I do not support (especially financially) these types of groups. I have a few reasons why:

1. Normally they all hate men, every man. I don't. I love men, especially my husband and the men that can fix stuff and the man that created my husband and the men that have been my professors, mentors and friends. I really have no issues with ALL men. There are a few I don't like, but I think there are more women I don't care for than men.

2. I'm glad I have rights, equal rights as a man. However, I think women tend to forget that MEN voted to give us rights...maybe they don't hate President Wilson who spoke the words that gave the amendment to the constitution. Or the 304 men in Congress who voted for women's suffrage, do they count? Sheesh, give me a break.

3. I simply believe that there are some careers/jobs that women are much more suited for and there are some that men are much more suited to perform. I think as a society we should accepted that. As you can guess, I'm not really a trail blazer...

4. I like it that my husband is the head of my household. Not only does it help with doing our taxes, but its the way God wants it.

5. I think if your dress like a slut, you will be treated like a slut. SOOOO the message that women should be above being treated in unfair manners, blah blah blah, really does not ring well in my head if they are standing on a street corner smoking crack out of a light bulb. You have to appear to be the woman you want others to envision.

Now maybe you totally disagree with all of this and that is ok. We can agree to disagree, but we did go to the event last night and we had a great time actually getting out of the house. At one point I raised my auction paddle for a really cool date night on a tug boat in the middle of the bearing sea to the tune of $550. Then Andy G. took my paddle away and spanked me, all the women's right activists gasped and gave him the stink eye. It went for $560, but I am prettier than the other lady. Oh and HER husband was bidding against me, not her. Maybe she wasn't allowed to spend money. Anyhoo, we did end up with a whole lot of loot in the form of unique Dutch Harbor Fishing and trawling vessel clothing. Andy G. was shocked to find out everything was XL even though it said clearly - XL pack. I do love his attention to detail. All in all, I was happy to stroke a check to the organization. Regardless if I believe all of their mission, I do believe that no one should have to be the victim of abuse and I'm glad this group helps folks to get away from that.

However, to the one CRAZY lady who told me my husband was way too dominate:

1. You really gave him a complex

2. I love it that he tucks me in every night and

3. I'll send you a recording of his songs to me: Schnookie Bookie Schnookie Books, I love my schnookie bookie.

Oh and check out his shirt, all the ladies (and Dr. Baines of course) were commenting on it!

Congrats

2009-03-28T22:12:00.000-07:00

I printed out all the comments and emails, covered the names and put Andy G. to work on picking a winner of the sweatshirt. There were 13 entries, I must say some were, ummmm, very, ummm, blushing??? So for those, I appreciate you emailing instead of leaving those in the general comment section. And thanks for all the ideas, I'm sure we will stay very busy during the next few weeks with all the suggestions (especially since we are in the midst of another blizzard and Mt. Redoubt erupted five more times yesterday - still no flights in or out). So congratulations to the winning suggestion:

deirdre said...
Ok so here's my comment... I am not even sure if it will qualify. From reading your blog and talking with Andy G, I have come to this conclusion. There is nothing you could do on one said day that would be more romantic than your average day together. All the thought you put in to what you do, all the love that is between you two surpasses any night, any date or any romantic notion. Your whole entity seems to embody romance. You are inspiring. So my suggestion is to spend the night or day just completely being the two of you; as that seems to be more romantic than most movies, books or tv shows.

Please just contact me (or Andy G.) to let me know what size and where to ship it. Never fear, there will be more free prizes in the future. Cheers!

Simple Things

2009-03-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

Today I was reading to a 6 year old little girl. Here's our conversation.

Girl: Your soul is beautiful
Me: Thanks, how do you know?
Girl: I can see it.
Me: Oh yeah, what does it look like
Girl: Its blue with yellow dots and patches of brown
Me: Do the colors mean anything
Girl: That your nice and really pretty
Me: Wow, that's pretty special. What color is your soul.
Girl: I don't know. You can't see your own soul (said as if I should have known this)
Me: Why?
Girl: Because God only lets you see the soul of other people so you know if they are nice or mean
Me: How did you learn that.
Girl: I just always knowed. Are you going to be a mommy?
Me: I sure hope so, someday soon.
Girl: I think you already are
Me: Why do you say that?
Girl: Cause I can just see it
Me: Well I'm not a mommy yet
Girl: Hmmm, but I see it, maybe it is just soon then
Me: Maybe, I hope so.
Girl: You'll be a really good mommy. I know cause you are a good reader to me.

I'm glad I left my office today to mosey down to the kids room. It was definitely worth it.

This Lady Did It All Wrong

2009-03-25T18:18:00.000-07:00

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/792960/us-woman-handcuffs-herself-to-husband

This happens about two – four times per week in my house. Although I’ve never changed the bedroom door locks, we have a loft bedroom without a door, but I do bite! I can honestly say it has never even been a kinky thing, just playing around with all of his work tools. Andy G. has never dialed 911 when this happens, but he has given me a strong warning a time or two how doing this could lead to a very embarrassing situation. Personally, I think if we ever cannot find a handcuff key (amongst the 900 that litter my home), no matter what the real scenario might be, Andy G. will be termed a king for getting to handcuff his woman. I’m not worried. The story in our house normally ends with me saying, Sweetheart, I’m stuck in your duty belt again….those buckles are tricky I tell you.

My First Give Away!!!!!

2009-03-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

So I suppose you have heard about Mt. Redoubt, erupted five times. While this volcano is not close to us, it has put an end to our mail, our produce deliverers and GASP - NO NETFLIX! With virtually every flight cancelled out of Anchorage, the best predictions right now is once they start flying, it will take about six days of flights to get all the people where they need to be and then another four days to start sending cargo....

What does this have to do with my give away? Well everything. Without our endless supply of little red envelopes from Netflix, Andy G. is very sad. So here is what you have to do to win this:

Of course the fisherman is not included, but you will get an official Alaska Ship Supply Sweatshirt, size of your choice. This are the heaviest sweatshirt you will ever own, I promise, and the shirts were made very popular by the TV show World's Deadliest Catch. So back to the rules of the give away - tell me your idea for the best romantic evening. Keep in mind we are VERY ISOLATED. If they sell it on Amazon, we can most likely get it, but there are no flower shops, no movie rentals/cinemas, one restaurant (which we are not very fond of). However, we have amazing scenery, I'm a fairly decent cook, lots of trails and I am very creative. So leave a comment with your idea, on Friday I will print them out, cover the names and see which one Andy G. picks. Make sure you to tell me how to get in touch with you so I can see what size (youth small - 5XL) you want. Have fun!

What Is Wrong With People

2009-03-21T13:28:00.001-07:00

My brother (more than once) has accused me of thinking I am better than other people, my mom at one time actually agreed with him. Although I do not think either of these statements/opinions are true, I think sometimes I might give off that impression by my non response to folks. For instance:

Me leaving a meeting

Random Lady, No idea who she is: Are you the new girl from Virginia?
Me: Yes ma'm
Random Lady: Was your husband a mercenary? I heard he was.
Silence from me, then I turned and left.

I really had nothing to say to her, I did not even know who she was. But to answer the question, unless Andy G. had another life I do not know about, no he was never a mercenary. Not that I really have a problem with mercenaries. I mean, hell, I love waking up and living in a free country. I know it is not my given right, but a privilege. One that is made available to me because so many folks are willing to fight for it everyday. Sorry, soap box, not the point of my post.

I guess the reason why I don't respond to people a lot of the time is because I truly have nothing to say to them. Or I want to say something laced with four letter words and that would not be appropriate either.

I don't really mind what opinion others have of me, including said brother. I think if more people would just take the "Zip It" approach the world would be a better place. I know I for one would be less annoyed on a day to day basis. I made the plea for my case with one of the two friends I have made here. She's a clinical psychologist, also from the SAME area in Virginia as Andy G. and me. She thinks its a great idea and she told me the other day, she thinks I am one of the most sane people she has ever met. What are the chances?

Can't Do Anything But Smile

2009-03-20T22:19:00.001-07:00

I am married to an animal...but check out those muscles, at least he is a a ripped, adorable animal.

The Breaking Continues

2009-03-19T13:31:00.000-07:00

I know, I know he is cute and that is a greatshirt. But take notice to the cup in his hand. Looks like a paper cup right? Just an average paper cup from an average coffee shop. WRONG! It is a Not A Paper Cup ceramic travel mug with a non plastic lid. Guess what, it is broke. Million little ceramic Not A Paper Cup travel mug pieces all over. I loved that mug. I just can't make him drink from plastic and paper, disposable products cost a fortune here (which reminds me, a box of Jello - $3.87, I'm not kidding). Mrs. Green, one of his high school teachers, told him in frustration one day that he would never get by on his looks alone. Well Mrs. Green, while I sympathize with having to try and teach the twins, you were wrong. He gets by everyday on those charming good looks. I'm going to have to remember to ask his mom how many sets of dishes she went through when all of three of the boys were growing up. I'm going to guess 4. Do you have a guess, there might be a prize for the closest answer.

Snowy Sunday

2009-03-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

There is only one thing you can do on a snowy Sunday.

Our Thoughts Often Turn To Him

2009-03-15T09:03:00.000-07:00

Our sweet loving brown dog. Here he is asleep with his blankie on his enormous, fluffy, tempur-pedic bed. It had to be during the day since at night he slept in the middle of us. We had a full size bed with a dozen legs in it each night. Maxwell passed away in November, but he was with Andy G. for about 15 years. He was the designated chic magnet for a house full of college guys during his puppy days. He would walk with all the girlfriends of the week to the gas station near their house at night, protecting and intimidating any danger. He could easily clear a fence in search of a tennis ball, holding 4 in his mouth during his prime. In Andy G.'s early years of law enforcement he moved in with his parents, quickly becoming the center of attention there. As shifts begin to get a bit more regular Max moved back in with Andy G. I met Brown at the I YMCA where I was working. He sauntered up the sidewalk and I fell in love instantly. He was so distinguished and tilted his head just enough to a let me know he was interested in me and allowed me to rub his ears. I used that same tactic of ear rubbing to keep him in bed with me at night when Andy G. would pop in to see us and Max would want to go with him. Just a little ear rubbing and back in bed he would fall. I have always said that Brown Dog is the reason I fell in love with my husband. In fact one night I made Andy G. sign that if anything ever happened to us, I would get to keep Maxwell Brown Dog. I still have that little sheet of pink notebook paper. So many nights I spent with the two dogs while my husband was working late. We would take bubble baths together, have waffle time (which even had a little song that I would sing and they would both wag their tails), read the latest novel out loud to them while they laid on each side of me in bed. I would fall asleep with Templeton curled up on my left side and Max would be in Andy G.'s spot, resting peacefully with his arms tangled with mine, covers pulled up to his chin. Max changed my life, as much as I love my little Templeton, Max showed me what the meaning of unconditional love truly looked like. He made me fall in love with my husband, on the one day I wanted to leave he made me stay and now knowing he is in Heaven protecting our future babies keeps us going each day. Max is so much more than just a dog, he was our best friend, a furry ball of love. Every day almost we still mention some small memory that makes us laugh and sometimes makes us teary eyed, but simply put that Brown Dog makes my heart happy.

Bravo Charlie Delta

2009-03-14T11:16:00.000-07:00

There are two things about cops that are consistent everywhere, they LOVE coffee and donuts. My husband is a bit different, he has a weird obsessive stalker like love with both coffee and donuts. We are able to have his favorite Trader Joes House blend coffee shipped here, but unfortunately there are no donuts on the island. This makes for a very cranky police officer. Now, I wish I could tell you with the addition of my wonderful mixer I can now make donuts, but I can't, I lack the knowledge to that. However, I found a recipe for Andy G.'s favorite Boston Creme Donut in cupcake form! So last night I came home from work, whipped up dinner and then made basic yellow cupcakes (any recipe will do) and set them on the counter to cool. Knowing that Andy G. would not be able to wait until completion, I made him an extra mini loaf with the left over batter. Then I made the filling and the ganache frosting:

Filling:

1 3-oz. box French vanilla instant pudding
1 cup half and half
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup powdered sugar

Mix the pudding with the half and half in a small bowl. Set aside. Mix the heavy whipping cream, vanilla and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form in an electric mixer on medium setting. Combine the pudding mixture with the whipped cream. Fill a pastry bag with the cream filling, using a large point tip (I used the large star).

Ganache:
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tbsp. sugar

2 tbsp. water

Bring the cream, sugar and water to a boil, stirring constantly. Pour over chocolate chips and whisk until smooth. Set aside.

Once the cupcakes are cool, insert the tip of the pastry bag into the cupcake, gently filling. I had never filled cupcakes before and I was not sure what to expect. I knew to be cautious not to overfill, but unfortunately I think I was overcautious and under filled. So for the final cupcakes, I waited for the top to start to crack just a small amount and considered that a "full cupcake".

Once all the cupcakes are filled, dip the tops into the ganache, lightly swirl to get avoid a whole lot of dripping. Let the cupcakes set for about an hour, or four seconds if you have a husband/child like mine who just can't wait.

HOT DOG!

2009-03-13T20:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, few things get me more excited than a diet cherry fountain soda with crushed ice, a bendy straw and a hot kosher Hebrew National hot dog on a soft bun, BUT I might just be a bit more excited today. In 2004, I worked on the campaign for Bush/Cheney. Along my journey, I learned many things and met many VIPs. Few of whom I actually kept in contact with, I doubt they even remember me or ever new my name, but the most important contacts I made I have cherished and made them into friendships. I received an email today with TERRIFIC news! While Andy G. and I are vacationing in Southern Shores, NC come November, we will get to spend one full day at The Sanderling Spa compliments of one of my supervisors from the campaign trail. Now I have only spent one full day at a spa and it remains in my heart right up there with my wedding day. This upcoming event will be even better since we will be together. Couple massage, salt scrubs, facials, vischy showers, pedicures, manicures...oh the possibilites are truly endless. I think I might have to start counting down the days now!!!!!

Movies, But No Popcorn In Bed

2009-03-10T20:32:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but we live in a VERY isolated place. Oh, I have mentioned it, several times? Oops, sorry. Well its true. Anyhoo, back to my blog point of the day, movies. We spend a lot of time curled up together watching movies. In fact, we are probably two out of the twenty that still watch VHS tapes. Our player is a combo, VHS/DVD in one. Yeah, we are so rad, it goes great with our 1981 console RCA TV. We also subscribe to Netflix, the company with the BEST customer service. In fact Andy G. recently talked me into upgrading our membership level. The one cable option here is less than desirable. Twenty channels, no other options. So, movies it is! This has become one of our favorite pass times, so I thought I would list a few of my current favorites.

Best British Murder Mystery Series (this is the TOUGHEST choice for me): Foyle's War, but I cannot leave without mentioning A Touch of Frost, In the Heat of the Sun and Blue Murder. Oh and Rosemary and Thyme and Last Detective. There, I'm done for now.

Chevy Chase Favs: FLETCH!, Foul Play, Caddyshack

Best Date Nite Movie: A River Runs Through It (I fell in love with my husband again after I watched this movie knowing he picked it out)

Best Discussions: Fargo, Ladykillers and No Way Out

Animated: Dr. Katz - specifically Season 1, Episode 3, Title: Bully. I've watched it 100 times and I still laugh, hard.

Current: Burn Notice and Psych

So maybe you have never heard of some of these, but each is worth a watch. However, I do make this disclaimer: I'm a prude. I don't go for movies that use the F word with every line, I hate movies about cheating on your husband/wife/mistress, heavy drug use, etc. I don't know why I'm like this, I mean I drop the F bomb every now and again, but its just the way I am and really always have been.

I LOVE Mail

2009-03-08T18:29:00.001-07:00

The mail just making it to the island on some days is a miracle, but when I open my post office box (no home delivery here folks) and see a little yellow slip I get so excited that I can hardly contain myself. That little yellow slip can be redeemed at the postal desk for an exciting package of love each and every time, even if it is something I bought for us myself. It is even more exciting when it is from someone else and unexpected though. Most times I can't even make it out of the post office before tearing into the package to reveal its contents. Yesterday this was the case, but the package from Andy G.'s parents was so carefully packed with lots of packing peanuts that the slight shake of Andy G.'s head was enough to tell me that I had to wait until I got home to see what this big magic box held for me. There were many things that we needed for everyday use that is not available here, but it also contained theses!

Little small "food shaped cars" that are being driven by an array of animals. They are so silly and fun, both of us flipped over them. They have taken up residence on the ledge of our kitchen. My favorite is the bunny driving the carrot, Andy G.'s favorite is the monkey (of course) driving the banana.

The Wind

2009-03-06T20:52:00.000-08:00

So this morning on my way into work I nearly went head first into the bearing sea. The wind was blowing at 87 mph. It hurts my bones, it hurts my eyes, it is near to impossible to walk in - at least for me. My boss went blowing by me (he seriously is the fastest walker I have ever seen in my life), snatches the hood of my sweatshirt and drags me to the door. Only then did I realize I had not grabbed my stuff for the day, turning to go back. Now my back was to the wind and I am not sure if my feet were ever firmly planted on the ground or if I was more like a tumbleweed desperately out of place. When I opened the car door I was 99% sure it was going to blow straight off the hinge as I watched it bend as far back - pushing the limits of a foreign made KIA. After struggling with all my might, I finally got it closed and began the journey BACK to the building. By the time I got into my office, it was twenty-two minutes after I left my house - I live maybe 1 minute away. As I came flailing into the office, my boss just looked at me and said "you look beat". A few minutes later a GIANT eagle came soaring past the window only to get caught by the wind and his poor head and body slammed and kept slamming against the glass. May he rest in peace, that poor creature.

Anywhere else in this country, Red Cross would be setting up shelters and passing out bottled waters in preparation for a tornado or something. No matter where we end up I will NEVER and I do mean NEVER complain about the weather. Oh and just real quick before I leave, a very similar thing happened to Andy G. the other night while he was on duty, only it was him, a dumpster, the Bearing Sea and another officer. Unfortunately that little tango is not on video tape....crazy wind. Crazy, crazy wind.

A Bull In A Kitchen Cupboard?

2009-03-05T19:26:00.000-08:00

My husband is adorable in every way, truly see:

However since we have been living together he has managed to break all my stemware glasses that match my dishes, all of the cereal/salad bowls with the exception of one, random other (mostly bowls) dishes that don’t match anything but that caught my eye on different occasions and then last night my matching vegetable serving bowl came crashing down from the cupboard and shattered into several pieces. He turned his cute little eyes to me and said “I sorry, that was my favorite bowl”. It was indeed his favorite bowl since he used it as an everyday ice cream bowl instead of a serving dish. But it was STILL a serving dish, my only one in fact. The brand of dishes that I have does not ship to Alaska, but maybe it is for the best. I think I should probably switch to Correlle or some other shatter proof type. It is a darn good thing he is so cute. I could not even get mad at him, in his defense he does have abnormally large hands so maybe that is some of the problem. I don’t know, but dish by dish our cupboard is emptying out. All of that in only about a year…what does our future hold I wonder.

Some Really Good Stuff Too

2009-02-25T18:36:00.000-08:00

So despite the fact that about fifteen things in last two weeks have went wrong, unplanned, not pleasant and I could probably file nine lawsuits and win....some really great things have happened too. So since I feel like I have been doing nothing but complaining, I thought I would share this with you.

First, after about three months of listening to my debating, watching me read endless consumer reports, Amazon reviews, listing things out loud, claiming to not want to spend money, etc. My husband bought me this!This picture it looks black, but mine is a really great shade of blue! Add he found it on sale at Kohl's for under a $100! I am so freakin excited I could do a kart wheel. Except that I can't do a kart wheel and not just b/c I have a gazillion stitches but b/c I really just cannot do it. I am on restriction and cannot lift more than 5 lbs for the next two weeks. This weighs about 10 pounds apparently. However, my wonderful husband took it out of the box and held it up for me to touch last night. Then he put it away with a strict reminder that our bag of flour is 7 pounds. Hmph!

Second, in the mail today I received not one but three get well cards. One from my grandma and grandpa and the other two from my ADORABLE nieces (I one is learning how to "wead" in kindergarten!) in Virginia. They made me beautiful pictures that now haven taken residence front and center on my fridge, but I smell framing in the near future. I miss them so much, it is just incredible. I loved playing with them and joining in when they called my husband "Aunt David" instead of Uncle. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT! Down to them writing their own names on the outside of the envelope, I will treasure it forever.

Third, I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw my husband's paycheck. He is such an incredible provider (please see great thing #1) and you know what, we can say all we want that it doesn't matter, but that is simply not true. Money is important in life. It is certainly not the center of our relationship, not even close. But it is important to both of us to have a well planned future (as much as we can) and to raise our someday baby puppy pants up in a home that is very stable (in the finance part, not so much the level of sanity, sorry, but his genes are just what they are). In addition, I was watching him sleep for awhile today and I just cannot get over how much he cares for me, physically. He did everything for me last week, it was a humbling experience, it has been all three times. He took care of my medication (very important from a pain perspective), our hotel, our flights, our bags, getting my magazines, books, food, making sure I was comfortable and packing by himself. Most importantly he stood by my side, holding my hand, not in front of me or behind me, but right beside me. Some might say this is what husbands are suppose to do and you are right. But, sadly, it is not always the case. When I told him thank you, he said I just am doing what my dad taught me. So thank you to dad and to my wonderful husband.

Fourth, I created a shirt design for a local race (part of my job), but upon my return I received a hand written letter from a local VIP saying they had never seen a more professional, crisp and well received design locally done before. He was mucho (his words, not mine) impressed. Also a little sad he did not buy one and wanted to know if we could order more, sorry no, even I did not get one. However, it made me feel really good being new here and all. Especially since has a hand in getting my paychecks signed and I have had to take medical leave three times in six months....

Finally, today I made it through almost a whole day of work, 7 1/2 hours, before I started to feel the desire to go lay down. This of course was with an hour nap at lunch, but hey no one is wonder woman...right?

Clearing Something Up

2009-02-24T17:51:00.000-08:00

Thank you for all the emails, prayers and well wishes. They really are well received and much appreciated. So I've gotten quite a few questions regarding the availability of health care. Despite what you see on Deadliest Catch, Dutch Harbor/Unalaska is EXTREMELY RULE. We are 850 flight miles from the mainland (nearest hospital) and we are further west than Hawaii. The doctors/providers do an amazing job with the facility that they have available to them. However for any type of "procedure", to see a specialist or any serious emergency, one has to be flown off the island to the nearest hospital in Anchorage. Depending on your status and insurance you either go to Providence, the city hospital or the native hospital. Three options - we have always went to Providence (in six months, we have now visited there three times). In Alaska, most villages, bush towns and cities (which Unalaska/Port of Dutch Harbor is considered) there are facilities known as Community Health Centers - The Clinic for short. We are fortunate to have a really great clinic and a really great doctor there (he is world renowned and knows A LOT). However, in cases like last week, sometimes the weather here predicts if and when someone can get out. There is an emergency ambulance plane called Guardian that is membership based that can fly in more severe weather than PenAir's prop planes that service the island. However, it happened that last Tuesday, Guardain was at another island helping another patient, so despite our membership, that service was not available at the time when we needed it. So on Wednesday no planes could fly into the island (typically unless grounded the previous day, planes do not overnight here) because of the gusting winds (80 mph was the last I had heard had been recorded). So while I was considered an emergency patient, we just had to wait.

The other side of the whole flying to Anchorage is that if you fly with PenAir, you have to pay the seat price for your same day flight. We are very blessed that our insurance will reimburse us for my ticket (although it takes MONTHS for that to happen), not Andy G.'s b/c apparently it is not medically necessary to have your husband with you, obviously they have not been through three surgeries, but it is what it is. So on Wednesday when we finally got the word a plane had landed, we had to pay PenAir $3000 for our seats round trip. I feel incredibly blessed that we are in a financial position where we could pay for the flights, the $400 in hotel fees, meals, misc. expenses, etc. My heart is heavy though because I wonder what families do that cannot pay that amount of money. That is nothing to sneeze at, I don't care what you kind of paycheck you are cashing each month. My husband makes really good money, I do fair, but even we will have to cut back for a few months to make up for it. It literally makes my heart so sad that another woman on this island could be in my same situation and not be able to get the helps he needs. Or worse - a child, a more severe problem, a potential life threatening disease that needs investigation. This has bothered every time we have had to fly into 'town' as they say here. This time I am not going to just let it float into my memories. I'm going to research the community here and see how they help people in need that have to get off the island. That is just really scary to think about.

Back, Again

2009-02-22T12:37:00.000-08:00

So last Sunday (a week ago today) we spent a fair amount of our evening in the "emergency room" at the clinic here. Despite our efforts from September - now, things have not really been better. We had been trying for days to get in touch with our doctor in Anchorage, well his secretary had not been giving him the messages (which we of course did not know). So after coming home from work around noon on Tuesday and honestly feeling as if I was going to die any second, we decided that maybe we needed to take some steps toward handling this ourselves. My wonderful husband took me again to the clinic, I could barely walk and I really do not even remember getting there. Apparently I had to pass out in the lobby before the staff realized this was truly an emergency. We saw one of the two doctors that have been taking care of us. Apparently me grabbing her wrist and looking her in the eyes saying "something is wrong with me, I need to go to Anchorage now" works. Who knew? The staff there really tried to get us out on a flight that day, but the Guardian flight (emergency medical flight) was on another island and the commercial flight was leaving at 4pm. They tried really hard to get us out of the clinic, but not in time to catch the flight. So there we were, stuck in Dutch Harbor again. We woke up early the morning (what sleep I was able to get...) and headed out to the airport. The first hint of trouble was the fact that we blew to the airport. The winds were blowing incredibly strong and fast. So the 10AM plane was not flying, minutes ticked by and it became clear that the 1 PM flight was not going either. The surgeon's office was updated that we would not be arriving for our 3:30 appointment. He graciously (cough cough) agree to come in to see us on Thursday, his day off...We finally left Dutch Harbor around 5:15pm on Wednesday evening, landing in Anchorage around 8:00. My husband treated me to a wonderful trip to Wal-Mart, which was done in a little under a half hour and everything I bought fit into the empty duffel we brought with us. (This was a task Andy G. was sure was not going to happen). We checked into the Holiday Inn Express and I just have to say, the staff there was amazing. On Thursday we packed up and headed to the doctor's office. By 11:30 we were in Providence Hospital gearing up for another surgery. I was scared, upset and in a rather rotten mood. Surgery began around 1:00 and was finished around 3:45. The MEAN nurse finally went to go get my husband about an hour later. They have never waited this long to let me see my husband coupled by the fact that I could not see and the nurse was yelling at me post surgery was not good. Once we switched nurses and rooms, things really did not improve all that much. The new nurse could never get the pain under control and I was hurting. She kept saying she had given us so much pain medicine, she went to go call the anesthesiologist (but never mentioned that she called our doctor) twice and then another nurse came and started ripping everything off me and out of me telling us to go. She was barking orders left and right and when she ripped the curtain back to expose me topless, that is when I lost if and took back some control. I'm sure I was the one she talked about that night. I do not care. So original nurse came back and said, well you guys can stay and we will admit you, but we cannot give you anything else for pain medicine. So we went back to the hotel, where the staff took wonderful care of getting us everything we needed and wanted. I cried, then cried, kept waking Andy G. up and he FINALLY called the doctor's office to find out what in the hell was going on with me. He got another doctor in the practice who said, 'well she should have stayed in the hospital' and told Andy G. a cocktail of pills to try, if that didn't work he needed to take me to the ER. We did not have good luck in the ER before, so neither of us wanted to do that, but I was hurting and NOTHING was helping. We decided that Dr. Lindeman, the surgeon needed to do a little post surgery explaining, so on Friday morning instead of heading to the airport, we headed to his office. FYI - Andy G. finally stuck up for me while we were there with the secretary who has treated me like crap since our first visit, I was so proud. Dr. Lindeman seemed to think all the pain on the opposite side of my stomach from where he removed things, was from the larger incisions, stitches and the complexity of the surgery. I kind of felt like he was saying "suck it up and deal with it". He also explained to us that he had talked to the nurse, we were suppose to have stayed the night, etc. That is not what happened at all. We decided together that going back to Dutch in the amount of pain I was in was not a good idea. So we went back to the hotel and stayed another night. The flight itself yesterday was miserable. Small prop plane, totally filled, they put us all the way in the back of the plane, we had to stop in Cold Bay for fuel, the flight attendant was annoying and a lady butted in front of me when I was hopping to the bathroom. But we made it. I've been laying in bed ever since since my husband will barely allow me time to go the bathroom. So that is where we were all week. In Anchorage for yet another emergency surgery....

The Final Whip

2009-02-15T13:37:00.000-08:00

The final gift that was created in honor of St. Valentine was a cake for Andy G. He loves chocolate, he loves peanut butter and the combination of the two makes him sing. I created a Reese's Peanut Butter Cake for him from Annie's Eats blog

I'm still very much a novice when it comes to decorating cakes, but maybe one day when we are living in a more populated area I can take advantage of a class or two. But the uneven icing, the slope to the layers and even a few broken Reese's peanut butter cups did not seen to deter my hubby from enjoying this cake very much. His favorite part: the icing. The recipe made a lot of icing, so with the leftover I took graham crackers, put some icing in the middle, cut of bananas, added them to the middle, stacked another graham on top. Then I wrapped each graham sandwich individually in wax paper, stuck them in the freezer. Its a quick snack that he can enjoy whenever he desires.

A little Glue, A few squeezes of the Scissors, Markers and Imagination

2009-02-14T01:36:00.000-08:00

Andy G. and I have started a few traditions of our own and one is homemade Valentine's. All day today I wore a sweatshirt that says I LOVE Being a R***** (my last name). That was my Valentine I made for Andy G. We also made and exchanged cards. The cards turned out so great and both of us included a Brown Dog in our makings. Wanna see?

Outside of the card I gave to Andy G.

The inside of the card Andy G. gave to me

Ode To A Glock

2009-02-13T19:45:00.000-08:00

Oh to hear these words in my house some day:

"Hey Dad, can I ride on your shoulders? Hey Dad, shoot any bad guys today?" the poem reads. "Hey Dad, can I have candy? Hey Dad, put any bad guys in jail?"

This a nonprofit I ran across through MSN today. I think you to should buy the calendar. No one likes a cop killer, but everyone loves a good calendar.

Homemade Pizza Rolls

2009-02-10T18:50:00.000-08:00

I received a fair amount of emails requesting the recipe for the homemade pizza (cheeseless) rolls that I made for Andy G. for date night last weekend. The thing is, I don't really have a recipe, but I can tell you how I made them. Will that work?

I made Andy G. nine, but I think he could have eaten a few more. So just take a stab at how many you want to make.

I used Rhodes rolls (whole wheat), pepperoni, Italian seasoning, Pam cooking spray, chopped red bell peppers and red pepper flakes.

Thaw out the rolls using the quick defrost in your microwave until the dough is flexible. Smash out the dough to about the size of your palm. Lay the pepperoni (four or five slices) and red peppers. Fold the dough over, enclosing the insides and pinch shut. Repeat for number of pizza rolls. Spray each roll top with Pam and sprinkle with red pepper flakes and Italian seasoning. Place in warm oven (I turned on the oven to 200 degrees and then shut it off when I put the rolls inside) and allow to rise for two hours (or until your husband starts whining). Cook on 350 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes until golden brown. These are VERY hot temperature wise so proceed with caution. Use any type of marinara/pizza sauce you wish if you like to dip.

Licks

2009-02-09T23:52:00.000-08:00

He really is this cute all the time.

And an update on my MIL. She was in the hospital (and apparently a rather crummy one to boot) for four days once they reached shore. They were given the ok to fly home from Florida and once they arrived, it was obvious that something was still not right. My FIL immediately took her to the ER in their hometown and she has been there every since (almost a week now). However, the doctors have determined what is causing her electrolytes and sodium levels to go crazy. It is a specific condition that I am under the impression is very treatable. I just cannot remember the exact name. She is limited to only 32 ounces of fluid per day - this will be an adjustment for anyone. Thanks for all the prayers and emails. We are hoping she will get to go home in the next day or two. In the meantime she is just getting used to being dry, dry, dry with nothing to drink.

Date Night

2009-02-08T10:15:00.000-08:00

Andy G. worked an 18 hour shift, leaving me at midnight on Friday night/Saturday morning (whatever) and returning to me Saturday afternoon. Ugh. I can count on my one hand the number of hours we have had together this week. But yesterday afternoon I laid in his arms while we did nothing. That's right, absolutely nothing. We occasionally flipped the channel and around five our tummies started growling. We contemplated going out to eat, but quickly realized PJ's and Saturdays just go together. So I made homemade pizza rolls minus the cheese for my lover and a mini pizza for myself. Apparently I had never made Andy G. my homemade pizza sauce before. He flipped for it. Then we showered together, still saving energy, and I kid you not, we were laying in bed at 6:45pm. We watched The Office and Mary Tyler Moore, season 3, Disc 2 of each. We prayed together, talked about how much we miss our Brown Dog and talked about Andy G.'s twin brother. I heard stories about his job that made me cry. At first I did not want to hear anymore, it was just too painful thinking about it, but then I realized how selfish I was being. Twin brother is a Marine. Not just a Marine, but a kick ass, specially trained, very unique Marine. He's been deployed four times in his career. Thanks to him I live in a free country. The destruction he has seen, the fear he has felt, the nightmares he must have...I am happy to hear his stories now. Our whole night was so intimate. There is no other place I would rather be than in my husband's arms. I feel so safe, comfortable and beautiful when he has his strong arms around me.

Oh, and we have a sweet little house guest for a few days. Its kind of a stab to my ego to admit, but she definitely loves Andy G. more than me:

Sad Heart

2009-02-05T18:47:00.001-08:00

Some days here in Alaska my heart just hearts. There are some really great things about living here, but some days the things that happen here just make my heart hurt. Days like today I just stare into space and wonder why we ever moved here. When my husband is sad it is so apparent in his eyes. Today his eyes looked so sad and it just broke my heart in half. We can use some prayers today if you want to send some for us.

The Easiest Dinner EVER

2009-02-03T20:20:00.000-08:00

I really do try to fix dinner at least 5 nights a week. I must say, tonight's dinner was fabulous and so easy. Main Dish: Chicken Picante (I don't know if that's the real name or not)
throw 5 or 6 or 7 chicky breast in your crock pot
add a jar of picante sauce (I used mild, use whichever flavor you prefer)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
cook on low (I put mine in during my lunch hour, it was ready when I got home around 5:30)
About 1/2 before serving it shred the chicken in the crock pot (I used a wooden spoon)
Give it a stir and add maybe 2 ounces of cream cheese (unless your husband FREAKS out if you even say the word cheese)
Let it cook while you are preparing some rice. I used our fabulous rice cooker from Target. Which is the single most used kitchen appliance we own. Serve chicken over rice. Tada. Dinner is served and you've only spent about 8 minutes in the kitchen. Your tummy will thank you.

Now, on to a more important kitchen decision. For the past two weeks we have been debating moving the microwave from its prime spot on the kitchen counter to the storage closet upstairs. I've kept a notepad beside the microwave to tally our actual usage. Results: twice. Once I heated up my lunch, which could have easily been done on the stove top, which is what we usually do. The second time was to make this chocolate cake in a mug cake that I got in my email. Definitely will not be doing that again. YUCK! You see, I really, really, really want a kitchen aid mixer. My husband gave me the okay to buy one, but we have no counter space. None. Not even an inch. All food prep has to be done on a pull out cutting board that is mounted inside a drawer. However, by bidding the microwave a temporary farewell, the mixer could take its spot. I love my microwave because it is so pretty - electric blue and silver, simply amazing. Which is why I would not even think of sending it to live with another family. But we really never use it. Twice in two weeks...both times could have been avoided. What should I do?

More Winter

2009-02-02T19:15:00.000-08:00

So he saw his shadow. 6 more weeks of winter. I believe it - it has been snowing here since Saturday. However, today it started into what I would call a blizzard. I've never been in a blizzard, but since my husband took a call for service this evening, I got to WALK in a blizzard. Without my snow boots. Life has been good today.

In other news, I am really very worried about my MIL. Andy G.'s parents went on a cruise last week. We received word on Friday (I think) that his mom had been in the ship's sick bay for several days. Once they hit Florida, my FIL took her straight to the hospital instead of flying home. Now she has been admitted, not expecting release until at least Wednesday. It's so hard being so far away sometimes. Even if the situation warranted us going to her bedside, there is no way we could leave right now. There are no planes flying out in this. I don't even think we have had mail delivered for several days now. Not that I'm complaining or anything...nooooo that is not me.

In other news, I destroyed a library book. Who knows how much that is going to cost me. Not to mention the embarrassment of going to the library and saying "I think I need to pay for this book." You see I was preparing a wonderful bubble bath for myself, laid the book on the edge of the tub, juggling about six other things plus the dog and before I knew it, the book was in the bath.... The book is an inter library loan as well from Anchorage. The library assistant was so nice about it, she just kept saying accidents happen, I'll just call Anchorage. Don't worry. I'm sure I will be put on some list and from this point on I will never be allowed to check out a book from the Anchorage Public Library. I think that was a Seinfeld episode...

Happy Groundhog's Day

2009-02-01T18:28:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the annual event. The big predication. How much longer until spring? Only one little furry critter knows and he's not telling until tomorrow. I can't even think about spring, it has been snowing for about three days here. I wish someone would have said to me "Hey you know it snows a lot in Alaska..."

Anyhoo, this week has been a blur for the most part. Andy G. is ALWAYS working. ALWAYS. I do feel safer here and do not worry AS MUCH as when we were in VA, but I still worry when he is late. One night this week he was suppose to be home by eleven. Of course I am in bed WAY before that, but I woke up to an empty bed at 2:30 and nearly freaked out. We had a talk about calling one's wife so she will avoid calling 911 and reporting her husband missing. Also on Tuesday I contracted one great cold. I'm telling you I have it all, stuffy nose, sore throat, headache, horrible cough, etc. You know why I have it? BECAUSE PEOPLE WHO ARE SICK REFUSE TO USE A DAMN SICK DAY. THEY STILL COME TO WORK, HACK ALL OVER ME AND THEN ARE SURPRISED WHEN I GET SICK. WTF. WTF. WTF. It just pisses me off so bad. Then they have the audacity to say, Oh you didn't get sick from me. Well who the hell else did I get sick from? UGH! Enough about that, I took a sick day. I really hope Andy G. does not contract it, but his chances are very high. I've had him drinking Airborne and taking Zicam, so let's all keep our fingers crossed. Men (especially mine) are such babies when they get sick. Good thing they are such CUTE babies.

Plans Made

2009-01-27T20:58:00.000-08:00

While Andy G. was away I made one very crucial decision. VACATION LOCATION. Living on an island that is 850 miles away from any other piece of land makes you daydream about getting off the island a lot. I knew two things: some place warm and we really wanted to see our family and friends. So where to go? VIRGINIA! And North Carolina. Ok, so its not until November, but nonetheless I am totally excited. I have not made all the plans yet, but one thing is for sure we will be spending quite a few days here:

HomeCOMING

2009-01-24T08:28:00.000-08:00

Today is the day! Andy G. will return on the first flight that comes in this morning. Oh what time you ask? Silly you, the flights here do not work like that. The airline here has no idea when planes will be in or when they will leave. Its annoying and creates a lot of problems. However, the tale tale sign if the planes will come in for the day is if you can see the top of Ballyhoo Mountain, currently I can! However, I've seen it before and blinked and it would be gone. But I believe that just a few short hours I will leap into his arms. Reunited....(I sang that, did you get it?)

So the homecoming celebration:

3 gifts

The meal:
King Crab
Beef Wellington
Grandma's German Potato Salad
Asparagus (I FOUND FRESH!!!!!!!!)
Dessert:
This adorable monkey cake I stayed up most of the night finishing (Andy G. was not suppose to be home until later in the afternoon). Why a monkey cake you ask? My husband has a weird fascination with monkeys, I do not know why. Here it is all finished though:

Then of course there might have been a new lingerie purchase for after dinner and dessert...it really depends on if the mail FINALLY made it in last night or not. So that's my weekend line up, I hope your is as exciting as mine!

Am I On The Right Path

2009-01-21T18:51:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I feel like I’m just staying so stagnant in line. I have an incredible husband and we have a wonderful family, complete with a dog. But when I reflect on what I have accomplished or even my age, I often wonder “what if?” and then I think about decisions that I have made that have shaped my life. For instance, I almost did not move to Virginia, it was down to the wire. Andy G. almost stayed in Connecticut. As far as I can tell, we may have never met. Unless you believe in divine intervention, which I do. But to think about it in a way that every decision I make will affect the rest of my life is a bit overwhelming. Who am I kidding, it is A LOT overwhelming. There are so many things I want in life and one of those has always been my career. But now I find myself even questioning that as I get older (you know in my later twenties….) and as my priorities have changed. I dread being away from my husband, I enjoy being home rather than going out, I no longer really care if I am in a social circle, I have about four really good friends and I’m happy with that. I know I’m rambling, but to be honest I do not really have a clear thought pattern here, I’m trying. Sometimes I think maybe I should be in a different career field, sometimes I think this is the only one I would be good at, then other times I daydream about staying home with my kiddos and lots of puppies. Spending lots of hours volunteering for amazing organizations. Then of course other times I daydream that my husband is a world renowned top secret spy and how great it would be just to move to amazing places, but leave before different things started to irritate me (when I have this particular dream, I often think of the show Burn Notice). Then I snap back into reality, put my weather proof boots on and tromp off to my daily tasks.

I love The Prayer in Solitude written by Thomas Merton, in fact I have a copy hanging on my wall. If you haven’t read it, do it, just google it or something. But there is one part that I have had in my heart since deciding to move to Alaska. “…the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.” So I hope that even though some days I feel so completely lost in a big world, that the decisions I am making still are pleasing God. I am certainly old enough to know that every decision will indeed shape not only my future, but now will also shape my husband’s as well. This is a lot of responsibility.

Random Confessions

2009-01-20T19:40:00.000-08:00

1. I hired a cleaning lady for my one bedroom apartment simply because I can never get the bathtub very clean, I despise spending all day Saturday cleaning and I hate dusting.
2. Often the only sustenance I consume before noon is a diet coke. Pathetic I know.
3. Daydreaming consumes about 30% of my day. I dream about taking exquisite vacations, what the future will bring and about ways to make a million.
4. My dream job is to be a Trader Joe’s manager.
5. Sometimes I wear the same pair of socks two – three days in a row. Just one particular pair, they are so warm, comfortable and they never shift on my foot.
6. Socks that shift around on my feet drive me nuts.
7. When my husband and I go to the store together, I never push the cart because I do not want the bacteria that are all over the handle to get on me. While he is pushing the cart he makes car noises, it makes me laugh every time.
8. While my husband makes car noises with the grocery cart, I make turn signal noises and use my hands as indicators. People stare at us. I don’t care.
9. When we lived in Virginia I often wore a wig, scarf and large sunglasses inside the store in order to avoid getting into conversations with people. It worked well.
10. I hate surprises.
11. My pledge in helping the US use less energy was to take showers with my husband at least three days a week in order to conserve water and expend less energy to heat the water. I have kept my pledge.
12. One time while my husband and I were showering together to conserve energy he peed on my foot. Now I am always scared he will do it again.
13. When it comes to bread, I have a weakness. I could never do Atkins, I love any kind of bread, but my favorite is Marbled Rye.
14. I have a strong interest in Judaism, I do not know why.
15. I hit the snooze button more times than is even reasonably normal. I hate alarm clocks.
16. It annoys me when people claim to do something out of the kindness of their hearts, then continually tell you about how great they are, I wonder if they are looking for some type of sticker, a gold star perhaps.
17. I am in love with online banking. It has made my life easier; however Bank of America has the worst customer service.
18. Sometimes I wonder where we would be if we did not relocate to Alaska. Sometimes I wonder how we were courageous enough to move to Alaska…and then I remember pay day.
19. I prefer hot sandwiches to cold sandwiches. I hate any type of “salad” sandwich.
20. I have a hard time working with aggressive ignorant people who are looking for any excuse to shirk responsibility or try to intimidate me. Generally these people just give me a headache, then when I see them in the grocery store all car noises stop and I whisper to my husband, ”that’s the person that blah blah blah”. Then the car noises resume.

2009-01-19T15:32:00.000-08:00

More often than not, my husband and I dance to no music. I love being in his arms. I miss him.

Just A Few More Days

2009-01-17T00:16:00.000-08:00

Andy G. will be home in just a few more days. I miss him like crazy. Physical pains in my heart. I love him so much, for so many reasons. But there are two reasons I would like to discuss today. First, he got me these earrings:

So the quality of the picture is not that great, but Andy G. has MY camera so I'm making due here. If you cannot tell these are dangling pb&j sandwiches on white plates. They are handmade and I might I say the lady who made these is TALENTED. When we moved here I lost at least one of almost every pair of earrings I owned. Seriously the wind is unbelievable here. My wonderful husband has both me such cute earrings and even my classics, the silver hoops. This is why I love him reason #872.

So the second reason (which in reality is reason #24) is our finances. I have no idea how this topic came up today in my office (you know, my corner office with 3 windows), but apparently Andy G. and I are weird. Who knew? I had one wife and a one husband in my office. Both were complaining about financial struggles, one spends too much money, one's spouse spends too much money, etc. I mostly just listened, but then I asked a question, "So you just purchase things without talking to your husband before you do it." Both of them just starred at me, I quickly checked my nose to make sure I had no cliffhangers. The wife said, so you ask your husband before you buy anything? Is he dominating? My response, yes I ask him before I buy anything, he asks me before he buys anything and do you really think a man who wears Charlie Brown PJ pants (compliments of my wonderful Tara) is dominating. The answer: No. Then we just kind of all looked at one another. The husband said, Everything, you never just buy something for yourself? Well yes of course, I buy things for myself, but I ask my husband about it first. I mean, is this really just completely out of the realm of normalcy? Then it started to become clearer, not only to me but the others as well, maybe the reason why I have nothing negative to add to this conversation is because we ask each other PRIOR to purchasing things? Could it be? Is this the secret to financial stability? Probably not. But does it prevent having to have long conversations about what to do now that you just blew an entire paycheck? Yes. I guess maybe its just us and we are kindred spirits, but I just think it is more respectful to communicate about money. If you start hiding what you spend your money on, what else are you going to end up hiding?

Holy Free Holy

2009-01-16T16:07:00.000-08:00

The weather here is HORRIBLE. Wind gusts - 80 - 95 mph, Snow - Check, Sleet - Check. My car got stuck TWICE in the parking lot at work, once in the parking lot at home. The fourth bird that flew into my office window was my cue to check out for the day and come home. I want my husband.

I Just Don't Know

2009-01-16T07:30:00.000-08:00

There is a small TV/Radio station in town that produces various "shows". Mostly a news series called Flash and radio programming. A few weeks ago the producer on the TV side approached me about doing a cooking show. Ummm...how about no, I'm not a chef, even by the loosest of standards. She is probably one of the nicest and perkiest people I have ever met, so a simple no she did not take. She approached me again a few days ago about doing a type of "reality" series she want to name is "At Home With The R******". It will consist of making dinner for my husband (which is nothing exciting), Andy G. and my constant ramblings, singing and laughing (seriously that is about all we do) and I suppose her video taping us going to bed at 8:30pm to watch British murder mysteries. I mean, this does not sound like a hit to me. In fact, if I heard about this, I would have no desire to even watch a preview.

But then I made the mistake of telling Andy G. I'm pretty sure he jumped clear out of his pants with excitement. Reality SHOW=Dream Come True for him. How is that I didn't know his secret desires? I just really do not think it is a good idea, I mean I know that no more than about 150 people could ever watch it at one time, but I think it is better for us to keep a bit of a low profile. I mean as much as one can in a town this size with no way to get out of town. Inviting a camera into our home, I can just see people judging me for my dust bunnies and the fact that my husband eats out of a serving bowl because we have no bowls. Or what about the days we do not make the bed or when my husband just detrows in the middle of the living room or bedroom or kitchen. I mean it is endless the number of times I've cracked up laughing because I look up and see him standing there with his pants around his ankles. I bet growing up with him and his two brothers would have been a riot. Anyhoo, back to the issue at hand, would you jump at this opportunity or would you be more reserved like me?

Then I Almost Threw Up

2009-01-15T20:51:00.000-08:00

So I came across this article today and it made me physically ill. I am so glad that Obama is willing to sacrifice a little to become the leader of the free world, most powerful man in the world. Of course with his WEIRD obsession with Lincoln....what is one to expect. I mean you don't want to give up your ridiculous blackberry. I am most concerned about our country today.

Blah Blah

2009-01-14T21:25:00.001-08:00

That is how I feel today. Of course Andy G. got out on the first plane on Sunday because he is so special...yada yada yada. The power men who carry guns have...just ridiculous. I guess though it works out better though. I mean just because I can't sleep, I have no desire to eat anything (this is not a bad thing, maybe I'll greet my husband a bit thinner) and not even a diet coke or diet cherry coke sound appealing. I'm so tired I can't even think straight. I want my husband to come home. NOW.

Plus it has been raining every since it stopped snowing on Sunday. So it is basically a giant slush pile outside.

However, the 18th of every month is a special day for us, but the 18th of this month is VERY special. Since we will not be together for it this month, I have been busy planning some surprises for when he returns. Of course there is the obvious...but in addition to that our WONDERFUL island doctor gave me GIANT red king crab (which is the creme de la creme), two fresh salmon steaks and some instructions and I'm creating an insanely creative dessert that my husband will love for his homecoming. And of course a few gifts for him to open as well is in order, but I can't give all my secrets away in case he really does read the blog. But the best surprise of all, was actually totally unexpected. I sent a letter to Alaska Airlines after they SCREWED US royally during our last medical flight and they called me today. I'm still not completely satisfied, but more so than before and the lady I spoke with was really nice. So she asked me if there was anything else she could do and you know I'm a quick one. So I said my husband will be flying back in a few days, he's never flown first class, what can you do about that. After a few keyboard clicks and a "we typically are not allowed to do this", my husband will be leaving his partner to go to the "other side of the plane" on his way back to Anchorage. Of course there is not even a bathroom on the plane from Anchorage to Dutch, so the last leg will be as uncomfortable per usual. I can't wait to hear how excited he is when he gets home about how his flight was with all the added perks. My luck he will be sitting by Sarah Palin....I'm going to send her a letter now, enclosing a picture of my wedding ring.

Maybe I Have Special Powers

2009-01-10T20:14:00.000-08:00

So Andy G. was suppose to leave today for a work trip. But this whole week I have been dreading him going and sort of in my head wishing for something to happen for him not to have to go, even though I know in my heart that he does have to go. So the alarm went off at 8, he headed to the shower, I headed to the kitchen to whip my baby up some banana muffins to pack (you always take food with you when flying into/out of here, you could literally be in the air for up to ten hours if weather gets bad, you just circle and circle and circle some more. Then if you are lucky you will land in Cold Bay which only has an outhouse. Seriously.) in his bag. I was just about in tears (yeah, yeah, I know women watch their husbands deploy for months, years, etc.) and then I looked out the window. Hmmm...looks like we got snow, but visibility is still good. We drove to the airport, I could see the top of the mountain which is the official indicator as to whether or not planes will get in or out. We pulled up, started unloading and it began to snow. How romantic, a send off in the snow.

After checking in we met up with his partner and waited. Met his partner's wife (how is it that I live in a town of six people and had not met her?), loved her immediately and waited some more. Then we waited more, then his partner got hungry, order some fries at the seedy bar in the restaurant, then we waited. And it snowed and snowed and snowed. Are you getting the picture here?

So after about two hours of sitting with all the fish folks in the airport, they finally announced that all the planes that were suppose to come in had landed in Cold Bay, it would be at least two hours before any planes would be able to land. So we left. We had a casual lunch together at the one and only hotel, laughed, played in the snow and snuggled on the couch watching the playoffs. We periodically called the airport, still no planes. So the good news: I had one more great day with my husband, very unexpected. The great news: I think I have special powers, this is exactly what I had been hoping for the whole week! The bad news: No planes = no mail :( and tomorrow is another day with more chances of planes getting in to take my husband away. But that's what I like about the future it only happens one day at a time.

Seriously, Make These Today

2009-01-09T04:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I made pancakes for dinner. You see pancakes are probably in my top five favorite foods. I love them, in fact I wanted to have my wedding reception at IHOP, but alas my hubby did not jump at the idea. However, if I eat pancakes before 11AM, I get a terrible upset stomach. Weird I know, but my mom had the same issue when she was my age. Anyhoo, back to the most amazing pancakes that have ever been in my mouth. Yes, (my sweet friend Paige) better than IHOP's cornmeal pancakes. I know, it's hard to believe. So my advice make these today.

Here it goes:

Oatmeal Banana Pancakes
1 cup old fashioned oats (not the quick cooking kind)
1 cup whole wheat flour (I'm sure you could use white flour too, but I'm on a wheat kick)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 container of vanilla yogurt (you know the single serving ones)
3/4 cup milk (I used half and half, we are not a milk drinking family)
2 large eggs
2 mashed bananas
1/4 cup melted butter

I know it seems like a lot of ingredients, but you only need one mixing bowl and it is truly worth it. I promise, money back guarantee!

Whisk the first six ingredients in together in a bowl. Mix in yogurt, milk and eggs. Fold in the bananas and milk (who the hell knows what folding is, I'm pretty sure I just mixed). Thus completing the pancake batter stage. I am no expert at cooking pancakes, in fact I still have not made a perfect shaped pancake. So just cook them normally, you know hot pan, sprayed with cooking spray, etc. Wait for the top to get bubbly then flip. If you are like me you will flip, swear because your pancake broke in half, then continue cooking. The recipe makes about eight pancakes, maybe more if you make them smaller. I always know its a hit when my husband groans after every bite and when I do not let him eat the rest of mine. These are so delicious. Sorry about not having a picture, but by the time I thought about it there were only a few bites of my pancakes left and I did not want to leave Andy G. alone with the last few morsels to get the camera. So enjoy!

We Believe

2009-01-08T18:53:00.000-08:00

So the day before Christmas Eve we found out that I had a third cyst....this almost certainly meant that yet again I would be facing surgery, the THIRD TIME. We were crushed and of course I cried, there were even tears in our doctor's eyes. However, Andy G. and I decided that we were not going to focus on it, that we were going to have a wonderful holiday season. And we did. Then of course the weekly visits and the pain set in....and we continued to pray, everyday, together. Hand in hand we prayed that God would give us strength and see us through this. We did not pray that God would just take it away, we just prayed that we would be strong enough to get through this again. We left it in His hands, but we still worried. The last few days the pain was almost unbearable, but life still continues and so you cannot just stop.

Today we had another follow up appointment and explained the pain as I was laying back for the ultrasound. Andy G. had assumed his position as the doctor's assistant (seriously, there is a big lack of any type of medical professionals here, so my husband is the official assistant during our appointments) and we got started. I told the doctor at the start that the cyst would be gone, that there was really no reason to do this again. He just nodded his head and continued explaining how to fillet a salmon to Andy G. We all three starred at the screen and kept looking... and looking. There was nothing there. So apparently all the pain I have had was the cyst rupturing, which apparently normally sends people to the ER, but we do not have one of those here. So the news is: IT IS GONE. There is still a bit of residual fluid, but nothing to be concerned about.

So in a nutshell, God answers prayers. Plain and simple, if you asks he does indeed give you the desires of your heart.

A Domestic Diva....Not Quite A Diva

2009-01-03T22:34:00.000-08:00

So today I slept in until 10, washed, fluffed, folded four loads of laundry, made homemade pancakes for brunch, filled my husband's coffee cup thrice, watched a chilling 48 hours mystery, tried to fix the closet doors, made a homemade chocolate chip banana cake to accompany dinner of grilled chicken, zucchini and sweet potato and became OBSESSED with this puzzle:

Seriously this is all I have been doing during the breaks of household chores. Should I be mopping? Yes! Should I be dusting? Yes! Should I write a few letters? Yes. But I can't I have become fixed on getting this puzzle of Mystic, Connecticut completed. I have never even been to Mystic, of course I watched the movie Mystic Pizza and LOVED IT. Then my husband crushed my spirit by telling me Mystic and Mystic Pizza is nothing like the movie. Thanks baby. Anyway, no more time for posting a blog, I must get back to the puzzle. What did you do with your Saturday?

Still Chasing

2009-01-01T17:29:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Resolutions, promises to each other, dreams formulating, a vow to change. No matter what, I think there are still groundhogs to be found, to chase and to discover. Groundhogs, being those dreams, problems, challenges and new found discoveries. The only difference in my hunt now is that I have prince charming right by my side always.

I don't really agree with setting resolutions, I have daily, monthly and even yearly goals, but for the most part I don't really share them with anyone. However, my mentor Tom told me something as we were trying to decide if we should move to Alaska. I wrote it down on the inside flap of my journal and read it often:

"Its what you say yes to that determines your life. The no's just end, leading no where. Eventually you stop getting the option of saying yes."

In the past year I have really said yes a lot to many things I never thought I would be strong enough to accomplish or live through. But sure as the sun is shining in Dutch Harbor today, here I am, alive, happier than ever before in my life. So cheers to saying yes a whole lot more in the upcoming year.

Honey, Which Would Be Better

2008-12-31T15:41:00.000-08:00

I am not sure which would get more of a reaction out of my husband. If when he came home from work and I was standing at the door in a saran wrap dress or if I was standing there in my PJs holding a plate of homemade cookies. The later was his welcoming reception last night.

I made him Magic in the Middle chocolate and peanut butter cookies. I must say, it was one of the most time consuming recipes I have ever ventured to make. Basically you make two doughs (chocolate dough and peanut butter filling), roll balls with each dough, one bigger than the other, then cover the peanut butter filling with the chocolate dough. Thus creating a brilliant cookie with a fantastic taste and texture.

Fork Licking Yummy!

2008-12-30T20:00:00.000-08:00

I had a bit of ham left over from our delicious Christmas ham and let's face it, one can only eat so many ham sandwiches on rye with pickle and cheddar. I came across this recipe on Allrecipes.com. It is fabulous. My husband and his mate were incredibly impressed. The secret, from start to finish this dish took me about twenty-five minutes. Love it! So here it is:

1 pound of shell pasta
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon butter
3 cups diced ham (0r in my case whatever was left over)
diced peppers (I just used a half bag of frozen bell pepper strips, we cannot get fresh ones here)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 can of chicky broth
few dashes of lemon juice
parsley

Boil pasta as directed on package in salt water. Heat olive oil and butter in pan, add peppers and garlic. Cook until tender. Add ham. Cook together for about five minutes. Add chicky broth, basil, oregano and few dashes of lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then allow it to simmer until the liquid reduces. And it will, just be patient. Once it is reduced, add the pasta, give it a stir to blend. Sprinkle with parsley and cover for about 2 minutes so flavors will absorb. The end, you have a great dish and depending on your family size, enough for tomorrow!

Thoughts On A Snowy Saturday

2008-12-27T14:14:00.000-08:00

My favorite gift I got for Andy G. was a book called What I Love About You. It is about 100 pages of prompts, pages for drawings and questions. I filled them all out, attached different mementos from the past year, and wrote a lot of funny, sweet and inspiring messages. This took a lot of time, probably about a month from start to finish, but his reaction was worth every pen stroke.

When we moved here, we realized the only thing that got broke in the move was our cereal/soup bowls. I had three random bowls, a white one from IKEA, an incredibly unique blue one with baby chicks on it that was the PERFECT size for I everything and one that matched our dishes. After a massive ice cream accident two nights ago, we are down to one bowl. Andy G. did not mean to.

I decided to go to a game night on Christmas Eve. It was a lot of fun, incredible food and it did pass the time until my husband was done working. I'm not tooting my own horn, but I think I am rather good at word games. We played the game Taboo. When it was my turn to give clues, there was not one time where I did not get at least six points, my high being twelve. It helps that my partner and I think identically. But this one lady looked at me and said "You are really good at this, I would have never thought you would be good at word games, being from the south I would have thought you would just be good at baking and serving your husband". My response: "Oh I always make my cakes from scratch and every night I rub my husband's feet until he falls asleep. I of course keep my make up on until he is sound asleep and rise promptly in the morning to reapply. Oh, and sugar, I am not FROM the south." WTF? I kind of wished I was as witty as Amy Sedaris at that point.

Tomorrow I have invited all the young, single policemen over to our house for sanMANwiches. I already have stage fright that they will not like the meal. And silly me, I thought we would have enough chocolate banana cake left over from the one I made on Christmas Eve. Then I watched Andy G. eat 3/4 of it out of the pan with a fork. He does love to eat. I really need bowls....

Hmmm....

2008-12-26T22:13:00.000-08:00

Andy G: Cute Boots
Me: Yes?
Andy G.: Can I buy a glock?
Me: Yes
Andy G.: Really?
Me: Yes
Andy G.: Can I pull your hair?
Me: No
Andy G.: Why?
Me: Because I don't want you to pull my hair
Andy G.: So I can buy the glock?
Me: Yes
Andy G.: Can I throw Tempe's up in the air and catch her
Me: No
Andy G.: Why
Me: Because you cannot, you will hurt her
Andy G.: No I won't
Me: Yes you will
Andy G: I'm telling my mom
Me: Really, what are you going to tell her, that I won't let you yank out my hair unless we are involved in wild sex or that I won't let you send a 2 lb. dog flying into the air?
Andy G.: I'm not calling her
Andy G.: I need an extra laundry hamper, one for kinda, but not really dirty clothes
Me: What?
Andy G.: Cause you wash them when they are not all the way dirty
Me: I'm sorry baby that I wash, dry, fluff, fold and put away your laundry. Most men would have wet dreams thinking of that option
Andy G.: I'm calling my mom

Sometimes I just giggle even thinking about our conversations

Yeah! It's Christmas!

2008-12-24T17:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, so it's the night before, but it is so close! I really thought I was prepared to be here, just Andy G. and I celebrating together. Without family. But I'm not. I miss my family, I miss all of them. I want to be at the celebrations with Andy G.'s brothers, I want to be with my family snuggling on the couch in comfort. I want to see my friends, in Missouri and in Virginia.

It did not really set in until we got word that the city was closing down at 2PM today. Of course not for law enforcement...anyhoo, that's when it sat in and my heart just broke. I'm here, on an island, farther west than Hawaii and I'm alone. My husband is working, so it's just me and the dog. I've been invited to a game night...but I would rather go with my husband to it.

But here we are and at least we are together. I know many people are truly alone and that makes me even more sad.

On a different note, I caught some day time TV. What the hell is up with the Duggers? It is like a train wreck, 17 kids and one on the way? Are you kidding me? That woman has been pregnant since she was 21. Ugh. I guess if they are happy who am I to judge, but really a TLC TV show and that fits into their "religious views". Talk about off the subject.

So in the end, we want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas from our Alaska home to yours.

Barefoot but not Pregnant in the Kitchen

2008-12-21T16:14:00.000-08:00

This weekend has been spent in my tiny kitchend making consumable gifts for my staff. My mom taught me a few years ago how to make the world's best chex mix (husband tested and approved). I made 10 batches yesterday. Thankfully I bought most of the ingredients while we were in the lower 48 or else it would have costed an arm and a leg. They all turned out scrumptious. I also tried my hand at two new things: 1. my first yeast rolls and 2. making my own chocolate and carmel, both of which covered pretzels. See!

Pumpkin Yeast Rolls

Carmel Chocolate Covered Pretzels.

They certainly do not look as pretty as I was hoping, but I could not find a squeeze bottle for the white chocolate and I was forced to use a spoon. I did not have near the control I was hoping for using the spoon.

I also made homemade vegetable barley soup. I have been tweaking a recipe in order to get it perfected for a soup off competition that I am hoping to enter in February. According to Andy G., this is the route to go. He actually used a serving bowl instead of a soup bowl to eat out of last night. He reasoned that by using the large bowl, he would not have to get up for a refill. He is adorable.

Plus received MORE Christmas packages! I cannot believe how many presents (that I am not even allowed to open ONE) are under are little tree. We got a box from my family, a box from Andy G.'s grandma, a box from my best Virginia gal pal Stacy and from Taz, Andy G.'s best friend and fellow officer who live in Virginia as well. We did get to open that box and it was filled with Lance Golden Cheese Crackers for me and a great DVD for Andy G. Plus Andy G.'s brother and sister in law sent us a package that we did get to open, it was full of various movies for the long winter days.

So I will leave you by revealing our Christmas card picture for this year:

Yes those are indeed bald eagles

A Year To Remember

2008-12-20T17:43:00.001-08:00

In the past year I have:

Heard the words "I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you" come out of the mouth of the most amazing man.

Became the mum of a sweet, sweet Brown Dog

Attended the Army v. Navy football game in Baltimore, MD. which was the first official weekend away together with Andy G.'s family. Also our seats were so close we could touch the players. It was an AMAZING weekend. I loved every minute of it.

Wrote many, many letters of recommendations for some amazing teenagers who are all in college for their first year. I miss them like crazy

Battled many health issues and have won. Thanks to our God and my wonderful supporting husband, family and friends.

Spent my first Christmas away from my family.

Stayed in a Beach Mansion in Southern Shores, NC. Which is also the first time Andy G. and I really decided that the next big change in our lives would be to get married.

Moved into a new home with Andy G. and fell in love with our neighbors.

Met Andy G.'s twin brother when he FINALLY returned from Iraq. Loved him instantly.

Began considering that while I loved Virginia, my friends and my job, that maybe it was time to move on to a new challenge.

Took a road trip to Georgia to see Andy G.'s twin and met his beautiful girlfriend, Manders Panders Puddin 'n Pie. Also found out that any destination beyond four hours requires me to fly.

Married Prince Charming one Wednesday night in June at sunset. It was beautiful and perfect

Announced on July 14th that Andy G. and I would be leaving Virginia to move to Alaska. I held my teenagers in my arms as we cried together. Leaving them was one of the hardest things I have ever decided to do.

We received so many lovely wedding gifts and money, so we bought real, grown up furniture for the first time in both of our lives.

Watched tearfully as the moving company packed and loaded all of our things into a sea bonded container to start its journey all the way across America and through the bearing sea.

I bought a size 8 pair of jeans, which I am currently typing this entry wearing them!

Celebrated my birthday in Williamsburg, having a picnic on the yard on Andy G.'s parents house with the two puppy dogs. Their neighbors still talk.

Took a lot of Valium and boarded a plane, flying from Richmond to Atlanta, from Atlanta to Seattle (which is where I had a complete melt down and wanted to go back), from Seattle to Anchorage, spending the night there. We woke up the next morning, took showers and boarded the plane to fly into Dutch Harbor.

Started new jobs, both Andy G. and me.

Waited two additional weeks for our container full of belongings to arrive, then it finally did arrive and it was like Christmas.

We both fell in love all over again when we faced a life threatening situation with me. As the city officials wrapped their arms around us, literally putting us on the plane to Anchorage, we cried together, we held hands, we prayed and we met wonderful surgeons. We also made it back. Together.

We struggled still and faced several more months are being scared, being emotional and holding hands every week at my doctor's appointment. We have fallen in love with our doctor and nurse on the island. The all star team as we call them, have went above and beyond any call of duty that we have ever expected. Late night phone calls, weekend emergency visits, letters to the insurance company, manipulating the airlines...they do it all.

God decided to bring Brown Dog home to play tennis ball in Heaven. I know that our family who have went before us are rubbing his ears, giving him nose nuzzels and singing to him. Not to mention the endless buffet of doggie treats.

We faced a second surgery and meet Nurse Mary. She changed my heart. Her husband was slain in the line of duty in Virginia. She told me to never take one day for granted. I never will.

Then we finally got to see all of our friends and family, it was too short, but the feeling of being in the arms of someone who loves you can last so much longer.

Now we are spending our first Christmas together as husband and wife. I'm excited and we are happy to announce that we have faithfully donated to four nonprofits this year that are close to our hearts. Wounded Warrior Project, Garden of Angels, YMCA and Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. We hope you will find a nonprofit that is close to your heart, believe in the mission and donate your time or money. These organizations truly do change lives. I know, because they have changed my life.

In the next year, I have no idea what to expect, but I know this has been the best year of my life. I do have a few wishes of what I hope next year will bring:

Andy G. and I becoming stronger together and stronger in our walk with God. Faithfully staying in the center of His will.

To have an incredible vacation somewhere together

Seeing tiny little clothes and lots of diapers taking residence on the shelves of our house

New muddy, puppy paw prints to adorn the carpet

To put a business plan that I have had for awhile into action

To love, support and be the best wife that I can possible be to my husband, putting him first always.

To grow and learn more in my career.

Crummy Day

2008-12-18T20:04:00.000-08:00

So the last two things I have baked have flopped.

My day at work was crummy thanks to people who are mentally unstable

My husband reminded me this evening that he will be leaving me on this island by myself for fifteen days. Very soon. I am contemplating feeding the plane tickets to the dog.

Speaking of the dog, for the past two nights she has thrown a party between the hours of 2 - 4AM.

There is currently no doctor on the island. I was actually told today by a physician assistant (what are these people anyway?) maybe I should try ibprofuen. Which I guess would be ok, although completely not a helpful solution, but it is not sold on the island anywhere. The nurse and I just kind of looked at each other, then after the PA left the room we decided it would be more helpful to just drink martinis and hold a bake sale.

I am craving a Hebrew National kosher hot dog on a really soft bun. Let's just say that there is not a high demand for kosher food here.

On the bright side:

Our honeybaked ham arrived today at our door. All 13 pounds of it.

I'm finally getting my hair cut tomorrow. Of course I have to take out a loan to pay for it.

I am married to a really gorgeous man that other wives request to teach lessons to their husbands.

I successfully submitted a design for an event that was most creative and what I consider one of my most incredible submissions yet. Yet another woman took credit for it.

Wednesday WOW

2008-12-17T20:03:00.001-08:00

Welcome to the new edition. Each Wednesday I will be posting a new WOW. These are just little things that make my life easier so I thought I would share them with you. So on to the first edition.

I love soft towels that smell fresh, but I only do laundry once per week. Even though we use a lovely softener that smells fresh and clean, my towels tend to still smell a bit "musty". Not dirty musty, but just not as fresh as I would like it. I have been turning to alternatives for many household products. In my research I have discovered that vinegar can do amazing things. Including cut the smell of mustiness in towels. So for about $1 you can get an entire gallon of white vinegar, for another $1 you can get a measuring cup to keep in your laundry pantry. When I add the laundry detergent, I also add one cup of white vinegar. After my towels are fluffed and dry, they only smell like Bounce dryer sheets. They smell that fresh always, even after being on the shelf for days. In addition to smelling great, vinegar has the ability to cut mildew bacteria that might be trapped in the fibers of cloth. So while it seems weird, this truly works. So I give it my official WOW stamp.

A Serious Flaw

2008-12-15T20:41:00.000-08:00

I have a terrible flaw...it is horrible. I get so excited about a gift that I purchase for someone, that I cannot keep it a secret. I know, I told you it was bad. I think with the exception of about two small things, Andy G. knows exactly what is under the tree for him from me. In fact a few days ago his last gift came in the mail. I got so excited that when I opened the box I immediately ran upstairs, jumped on the bed, woke him up and said LOOK BABY!

And behold, his eyes lite up, the same way they would have on Christmas morning. He was so excited about The Woody Allen Collection I purchased for him (that was 50% off on Amazon) that we immediately started watching Annie Hall. He even told me yesterday that it is one of the best gifts he has ever received, at least in the top 10. But what in the hell is wrong with me? Christmas is only ten days away. it is a perfect box shaped that is easily wrapped and it was a really good surprise gift. But noooooooooooooooooo, I had to tell him already.

I think I need to see a therapist.

Just Can't Fight That Feeling Anymore

2008-12-11T05:03:00.000-08:00

I have about three different topics to blog about today (fyi it is about 4 AM here, I cannot sleep!)

First, sometimes when I close my eyes and picture Andy G. he is truly wearing a prince charming crown. I know I married as close to perfection as one will ever get. This is not just my opinion. Seven different people yesterday, aging in range from 8 to I would guess around 70 has told me how wonderful my husband is and how they have never seen a husband take such wonderful care of his wife. You know when I was going into surgery, actually in the OR, both the surgeon and the anesthesiologist told me how it is so apparent how much he loves me. People ask me if there is anything he does not do for me, I really cannot think of one thing. I mean sure the toilet seat gets left up occasionally, but I am sure that it is Templeton doing that. I know that neither of us are "experts" of any kind on marriage and some may same it is just being a newlywed. However, as I have claimed before, we are truly together because God designed each of us to fit together. It is really the only explanation on how we even met, how we get along and how I continue to giggle with him when he poots in the middle of the night and starts giggling. So as I get teary eyed looking at the gifts he spent so much time wrapping, with awful bows and tattered paper, I just can't help but pinch myself. Could it be true, the love that I read about while growing up is not merely just a fairy tale?

Moving on....

On the way home from a board meeting last night we were in the car talking about Christmas and how one particular young, adorable cop does not get to go home (no this is not Andy G., he is old, not young), how much we are going to miss our families, but mostly how much we are going to miss the melt in your mouth Honey Bake Ham that arrives each holiday season at Andy G.'s parents house. I did not think I liked ham until last year when I put this piece of Heaven in my mouth. Mostly because I thought of ham as a giant salt block, one bite and you can rest assure that your wedding ring will no longer fit and instantly gain 15 pounds of water retention weight. However, Honey Baked Spiral Cut Ham is not salty, it is not to sweet, it is quite simply perfection. So I gave Andy G. the side eye, a rub to the hand and said:
Me: Puppy do you think maybe we could order one online and have it for Christmas? Its ok if you say no I don't mind cooking for you.
Andy G.: Sure baby that is a great idea. How much do you think it will cost?
Me: Well.....if I were guessing off the top of my head about $100
Andy G.: Ok, you can buy it
Me: You are prince charming....I know it.
So I came home, ordered the ham and yes it was expensive. Not quite what I quoted above, but there was a required minimum order for those of us who live in Alaska. But to have a succulent ham delivered to our door next Thursday? It was worth it.

But then my conscious set in...I just spent a weeks grocery bill on a hunk of meat, 10 lbs to be exact. We can't eat 10 lbs. of ham. Why did I succumb to temptation? What about the MANY people who will be lucky to get one hot meal today, or even those who will go without completely. What the hell is wrong with me? Andy G. is not really of the same opinion. Don't take that the wrong way, we donated our turkey coupons we received from work to a family that has a lot of kids and I'm pretty sure not a lot of money, we donate to several charities (including Wounded Warrior Project, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and Garden of Angels, all donations are tax deductible, now is the time to give!!!) and I've never seen him pass up a child peddling something for a school fundraiser. But my baby loves good meat and 10 lbs. just seems like a few meals to him. So to ease my conscious of having spent a ridiculous amount of money on a ham, I have decided that the young public safety officers who have to be away from their moms too on Christmas will just have to help us eat. Even if I have to deliver it to the nick.

And on to a little more giving...
Yesterday we finalized the rest of our Christmas gift giving....KING CRAB! So those of you who have been promised Crab in time for Christmas it is on target, we should be receiving a firm delivery date today! Those of you who were promised crab after the new year, we haven't forgotten you, but hey it costs a lot to ship this!!! So grab your special crab cutters, your napkins and a camera! We want pictures of you enjoying our hard, cold work catching all those pinching creatures!

Product Review - Just In Time For Christmas

2008-12-08T20:17:00.000-08:00

Before we left for AK I determined that we were spending about $50 per month replacing razor blades on Andy G.'s Schick Quatro. It is a fabulous razor, with a close shave, yet it is expensive to buy the refills. Not to mention that his face would often break out from shaving so often. He has a thick, coarse beard that grows quickly, so he was shaving just about everyday. I began the research on electric razors. He was completely against the idea, saying that electric razors were junk, did not cut close enough and tended to crap out with such frequent use. However, when I showed him that we had already spent almost $400 in one year on razor refills, he agreed to try it. After a lot of research and reading a lot of reviews I selected the Philips Norelco Arcitec. This razor was reviewed for having the following:
1. A really close shave
2. A transitional neck so it bends and is flexible against a man's face, neck and lips.
3. It has a straight razor on the back for those stubborn gray hairs and tight places

Andy G. has been using it for a little over four months now and loves it. It is super convenient and quick to use. It really does have an extremely close cut and his face never breaks out, even with daily use. The blade lasts for about one year, so replacing it is not a big deal. I cannot remember exactly, but I think I paid about $170 for the razor, I just bought him a replacement blade while we were in the lower 48 for $60. This razor has more than paid for itself, even in the short time he has owned it. In addition it came with a travel case that is hard so the razor will not be damaged. The case has an internal battery pack inside, so you plug it in with the same adaptor that it normally charges with and viola the razor will remain charged for up to five days. Putting this to the test, the razor did indeed stay charged for the entire time we were gone.

Cleaning this razor is really easy. Let's face it, its made for a man, so it pretty much needs to clean itself. All three blades simply pop up (but stay attached, men also loose everything!) and it can be cleaned by just running it under hot water. The display on the front of the razor even tells you when it needs to be cleaned, charged or time to change the blade.

Andy G. did have two complaints in regards to the razor. First, if he goes a few days without shaving, he does not get a great shave with the Arcitec. Two, he feels that it could have a closer cut on the sides of his neck under his jaw line.

Overall though he is more than satisfied and prefers shaving with the electric razor as opposed to the Quatro. Especially since it is not as near as painful.

So there is a quick product review in case you need an idea for a great Christmas gift!

Our Tree of Christmas

2008-12-05T19:22:00.000-08:00

This afternoon Andy G. and I finished decorating our little Christmas Tree. We were so blessed to receive quite a few ornaments from the teenagers that I used to work with, that I miss LIKE CRAZY! In addition we got a few bride/groom, first Christmas and new home ornaments as wedding gifts, so we have quite a few. Enough for our 4 foot tree anyway.

After we finished, Andy G. was off to work. He has not had a day off since we returned from our short "holiday" break. I know what he does is important and a lot of people depend on his service, but just one night together would be nice. He's off on Sunday as am I, so we are planning a nice "stay home all day" day.

After the decorating was finished I made soup. I found this recipe a year or so ago, it is probably the easiest soup recipe ever, but anyone who eats it swears it had to take a whole day to make. Not the case. The longest part is prepping the veggies. So I thought I would share it with you!

1. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter/margarine in a soup pot (I use Brummel & Brown)
2. Add prepared vegetables (it varies, but tonight I used red potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, green beans, carrots, corn and celery), let steam over the butter for about five minutes.
3. Add one large can of chicken stock and one 14 ounce can of chicky stock.
4. Add one jar of traditional marinara sauce (we use Prego - it doesn't have CHEESE in it - my weird husband!)
5. Add 1/4 teaspoon of each: salt, pepper and thyme.
6. Give it a good stir and set it on medium-high heat until it starts to gently boil
7. Reduce heat and let simmer for about 45 minutes. The "done test" is if the carrots and potatoes are tender

Viola! I have used all different variations of vegetables, it is pretty much a no fail recipe and perfect for a day when it is snowing. Like today in Alaska.

Just For (The Most Part) The Eyes Today

2008-12-02T19:12:00.000-08:00

These are in no particular order because trying to put them in order is driving me crazy.

These are my two best girlfriends. Germ Donkey, Tara and myself. We met while working together at what I would consider one of the most memorable and amazing summers of my life. The funny thing is, I have a picture of us in this very same pose, taken that summer. Only we were dressed as fairy princesses, I think that's what we were. The thing I remember most about that day was picking Germ Donkey up in the golf cart with Tara at the wheel and me riding shotgun. Tara gunned it just a little before GD was on, and the saga began, accusations of attempted murder and over reaction was heard everywhere. It makes me laugh thinking about it. We have been friends since. My husband said that when I saw Tara my eyes lit up so bright. It had been so long since I had seen her. I was equally as excited to see GD, but I had gotten to see her in July before coming to AK.

There was a GIANT bear in the hotel lobby where we stayed, Andy G. just needed a hug.

We flew back into Dutch in the middle of a blizzard, landing sideways. It was so scary I had wet pants once we were on the ground. However my hubby did say that I was unusually calm and collected. Good to know when so close to death.

Here is the family in front of the mural on the wall of our suite. In fact now that I am browsing through my photos, I think we are kissing in just about every picture. Some may say "newlyweds", but I say "marriage blessed by God". Tempe was so good the entire trip, oh except for the flight into Dutch, you know when visibility was ZERO. She was a little anxious and moody then. Some flight attendants are so sweet when you have a puppy (although she is 4 years now), some are the true sky bitches. Luckily this trip on all the flights everyone was so nice and even brought her water!

This was a small Asian guy's carry on. Does anyone else think he is pushing the limit of "must fit under the seat or in the overhead bins"?

Here we are about 20 minutes after the three hour surgery. We had wonderful Nurse Mary who insisted that she take a picture of us. She was so nice and sweet. She told me right as I was leaving that her husband had died in the line of duty in Virginia 12 years ago. It made me cry, but she did say that while the wound will never heal and there will never be enough justice for the man who fatally shot him, she has found love again. I hate cop killers.

My best friend, germ donkey and her beau. Out of the boyfriends I have met I like this one the best. I'm always so jealous of Germ Donkey's sense of style and good hair.

This is my very funny Grandma. I did not get to spend near enough time with her, but
I love and miss her very much. Plus she thinks my ripped husband who does many manly things looks "tender". In addition she wanted to know how he was in bed....ahhh I do love my G-ma!

Here are Andy G.'s parents at the Italian restaurant where we ate dinner one night. I didn't think it was all that good, but I think it was just my choice of meal, everyone else seemed to enjoy it.

Around the World in 8 Days

2008-11-28T10:23:00.001-08:00

So we are back from our little "vacation" which is a word I am using extremely loosely. I had surgery a week ago yesterday. The doctor ended up doing 4 surgeries instead of one and it was much more invasive than we thought it would be. However, a few hours after surgery, I felt ok and was released from the hospital with the doctors ok to fly the next day. We arrived safely and honestly due to the wonders of pain medicine, I really do not remember the ten hour flight.

It felt really good to be home and wonderful to see our family. We had a great get together on Saturday evening where I got to see many friends and family, a small celebration that was absolutely wonderful.

Day by day though it seemed as if the pain was increasing instead of decreasing. There were many complications that were arising. So I made the extremely painful choice to leave a few days earlier than originally planned. I wanted to be able to see the doctor in Anchorage to get his opinion on what was going on, since he would be leaving for vacation, I wanted to catch him before I had to fly back out to Dutch Harbor. After a bit of a family feud, in the lobby of one of the most remarkable hotels I have ever stayed in (which I plan to talk about more later), it was addressed that I would indeed be leaving at the same time as my husband, although that meant not enough time with family and a lot of hurt feelings. Which ultimately has created an ulcer in my stomach due to guilt.

I think the most important things that Andy G. and I learned are:
1. Do not combine a surgery with a vacation
2. Sometimes families just don't mix and that is ok
3. No one likes change, no matter the reasons, it is just not accepted
4. It is best to set standards and stick up for yourself no matter how much it hurts.

But all in all, no matter if the time was short or long, it was so great to be in the arms of family for long hugs, kisses on the head and laughter. Nothing will ever replace the feeling of friends and family. When I am a bit more awake, I will post some pics of our trip. Along with a post about the incredible hotel where we stayed.

A Bit of Chocolate Bliss

2008-11-16T19:32:00.000-08:00

I love the fall for many reasons, but one of my very favorite is pumpkin. I love pumpkin. I always cook a pumpkin and freeze the puree. I find that fresh pumpkin taste so much better than canned pumpkin, but that is just my opinion. My husband cannot tell the difference.

Anyhoo, I made Andy G.'s favorite white chocolate pumpkin scones yesterday for him at request. It is a great recipe, but very time consuming. He polished them off this morning, only sharing one scone with his co-worker. So today I still had pumpkin thawed out and I did not want to waste it. So I flipped through my recipe binder for some more pumpkin recipes that were easier than the scones. And I found Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread. It was a quick recipe and absolutely delicious!

I thought I would share it. It was so quick to make and a snap to clean up. Not to mention it is scrumptious.

1 2/3 cup of flour
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (I did not have this, I just used all the spices separately)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin (I used fresh, but I'm sure canned would work fine)
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup chocolate chips (or if you have a husband like mine, it ends up being more like 2 cups)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Stir pumpkin mixture into flour mixture. Add the chocolate chips.
Bake 20 - 40 minutes, until a toothpick poked into the middle comes out clean.

A Few Things We Would Not Want To Live Without

2008-11-15T09:38:00.000-08:00

There are a few things that we have come to greatly appreciate while living here.

1. Lance Golden Cheese Crackers I discovered these little gems when I moved to Virginia. One of the very special teenagers I worked with there introduced me to them a few years ago. Unfortunately I cannot get them in any stores in Alaska, nor will Lance ship to Alaska. But thanks to my very good friend Stacy and our favorite big city police officer Mr. Pug, I have received three care packages since moving here that have been overflowing with them. These have been about the only thing I can keep down since starting all the medicines I have been taking.

2. Cloth Napkins. All paper products here are ridiculously expensive. Paper towels - $4 per roll, 300 pack of cheapo napkins - $13, 12 roll pack of toilet paper - $12. While I have not switched from paper to cloth toilet paper, we have pretty much cut out all other paper products. We use cloth napkins every meal, to wrap up a sandwich on the go, etc. Wash, rinse, reuse.

3. Britta Water Pitcher. Again, those convenient little water bottles, a case at Wal-Mart - $3.88. A case here $12. We just keep the pitcher in the fridge, fill up water bottles and we are off.

4. Flat Rate Shipping Boxes. The USPS has made a great move by switching to these. You can overfill, over stuff the boxes, wrap them in tape and head to the post office. A package that would cost about $30 to ship priority (which gets here in 4 - 5 days) only cost $9.80. We also ship things from here to other people for the same rate. Parcel Post is much cheaper if shipping by weight, but it can take anywhere from 4 - 8 weeks to arrive.

5. Drugstore.com. They offer free shipping on any order over $25 and they have EVERYTHING that I could find at Walgreen's plus a bit more. I order about every two months (2 orders since we arrived) and I am able to get laundry detergent (which cost more than a home mortgage to buy here), over the counter medicines at a more reasonable rate and particular shampoos, conditioners and Andy G.'s favorite Burt's Bees Shaving Cream for his melon. Since I am allergic to all the many sulfate products and sweet almond oil, it is very difficult to find shampoos, conditions and lotions, but drugstore.com has every brand imaginable. We mostly stick with Avalon Organics, which has been buy get one free both times I have ordered.

6. Trader Joe's House Blend Coffee Beans. Andy G. is a coffee connoisseur, but this is the brand that I introduced him to early on in our relationship. I do not like coffee, but I love keeping my husband happy. While we do not have a Trader Joe's, nor do they ship, his parents sent him 6 cans shortly after we moved here and he is on his last one. Perfect timing since we are traveling.

Weekend (not so) Fun

2008-11-14T20:14:00.000-08:00

The weekend has arrived again, funny how that happens. My wonderful husband was suppose to have the weekend off, but alas he was called in for a shift tomorrow. Do I hear overtime pay in the near future? Its probably better this way. I have much to do. House cleaning, laundry, dishes (why is there always dishes, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS) and packing.

I leave on Tuesday for scheduled surgery to take care of all the NUMEROUS issues that have accumulated. Andy G. will hopefully be there by Tuesday night, but the MEAN lady at the Pen Air counter (which is the only airline on this island) refused to even change my ticket from Wednesday to Tuesday even with my medical bump sheet (which is equivalent to the Supreme Court Law here). So I am sure that I will be facing surgery alone with my husband arriving Wednesday night. This is very scary. Actually it is not something I even want to think about, but I can't help thinking about it. I had an appointment today with our WONDERFUL doctor and told him all about the experience at the airline counter. He said he would work on it for us, there is just something so calming about him. I know if anyone can fix it he can. So we are hoping and praying that we get out together or at least on the same day. This is one part of island living I do not like. There are 3 flights a day that leave here, but they are filled to the brim with fisherman and the sort. In addition the workers do not have to be nice to you because, as stated above, they are the ONLY airline to fly with to get off the island. I thought monopolies were illegal in this country. Anyhoo, if you want to offer up any good thoughts and prayers for us, we will take them.

On a brighter note, after surgery we are going to get to fly out and see friends and family for a few days. And by few days, I literally mean a FEW DAYS. But we still get that time and I cannot wait. I am sad still that my brown dog will not be greeting me.

We have made a list, well I have made a list, of things to purchase while we have regular stores, you know like Wal-Mart. I was reviewing it last night with Andy G. and I cracked up laughing. Why am I so excited about buying things like razor blade refills and Ziploc bags? Is that pathetic or what? Seriously with the exception of two items (brown snow boots for me, an electric razor blade replacement for Andy G.) everything on the list is probably $10 and below. Sad right? But that is the exciting thing about going "down south" as they call it here. Of course everyone and there brother needs us to pick up a few items. Ummmm....sorry airline luggage limit blows your chances of that. Except of course for the items needed by Dr. Baines and Nurse Michelle. Those are considered priority.

That is all the lame news to report from here. Except for I am working on Andy G. I want him to do a bit of "guest blogging". That should be a real treat!

Oh and one last thing, check out Tara's Website and help her win the Avon contest. Its free shipping, great products and she is a great gal. So if you live in the states that she is missing, order. Do it NOW.

A Little Political Talk

2008-11-12T18:30:00.000-08:00

So this article was extremely interesting and well written. I do agree that Spitzer should face charges and I agree with the article that it sets a terrible example for how laws should be carried out. However, unless I am missing something, the word DEMOCRAT does not appear anywhere in this article. However, Senator Ted Stephens of Alaska was convicted of various charges involving misuse of campaign funds and there is not an article out there that is covered by Newsweek that does not contain the word REPUBLICAN at least 4 times. Of course when Democrat senators get caught trafficking human beings or smoking crack with prostitutes in hotel rooms paid for by the federal government, no one really seems to advertise that. You slap a Republican in the same situation and all the sudden someone needs to be executed. I just find this interesting.

Sunchokes

2008-11-11T12:16:00.000-08:00

When we first arrived in Dutch Harbor we knew there would be a big adjustment. I think one of the ones that shocked us the most was the cost of food. But what are you going to do, you have to eat and the checkers at the grocery store do not find it humorous when you try to barter. One of the biggest sticker shocks we had was with fresh produce. A bell pepper, $6, average. If it less than that, you have to pretty much eat it in the store, its on its last limb, it cannot make the trip home. It really just spans in price depending on seasons like any where else, except times four and the selection is very small. So we joined CSA Farms, which is an organic farm in Seattle that runs a co-op for Alaskan residents. For our town, they pick and package the produce on Wednesday, put it on a flight on Thursday morning and we pick it up about a block from our door on Thursday afternoon. It is wonderful. We get all sorts of fruits and vegetables, fresh, in beautiful condition and mouth watering delicious.

They have amazing customer service and wonderful choices. Basically it is a flat fee, you choose if you want a small box (which is what we get), medium or large. On the Friday prior to the ship date, you login, and start shopping. Normally you get a variety of 15 - 20 items in each box. The staff at the farm design it for you. However, you can have permanent exemptions, for instance I hate onions, so those will not come in our selection. Once you look at your contents, you have the options of switching out products. We learned that the cut mixed salad greens never make it in good condition, so we always switch them out for something else.

This week we received sunchokes, which are very similar to potatoes in taste, but look a lot like ginger root. You can cook them any way you cook a potato, but they are so yummy! We also have become huge fans of plutocs, which is part plum, part apricot.

A Typical Sunday Conversation

2008-11-09T18:26:00.000-08:00

This conversation typically takes place with me standing at the bottom of the steps and Andy G. upstairs.

Me: Puppy Pants can you bring your laundry down?
Andy G.: I don't need you to do any laundry
Me: Just bring down your basket please
Andy G: WHYYYYYYYYYYYY
Me: B/c it's Sunday and I do laundry on Sunday. You know most people do not have anyone to fluff and fold their laundry
Andy G.: I'm calling my mom and telling her
Me: She'll tell you to do your laundry yourself, do you want that?
Andy G.: No she won't. I'm the number 3 son so I'm the favorite
Me: I think you are still consider number 3 in the list, now please bring it down (I'm usually giggling by this point)
Andy G.: Twin brother is at the bottom and NOOOOOOO, I don't want to get it
Me: I'm sick and I'm still doing your laundry, I'm going to call your mom
Andy G.: Coming baby

He brings down the basket

Me: Funny that you didn't need any laundry down when all of your dirty clothes are spilling down the stairs and cannot fit in one basket
Andy G.: Funny that you .....(he is a great imitator)
Me: Are you sure you got everything, did you check the bedside
Andy G: (jumping on the couch to turn on football) Yep baby I got everything
Me: Positive?
Andy G.:Yep, your cute

Two hours later while I am putting the laundry away

Me: Hey sweetie, why is their a pile of clothes on the floor
Andy G.: Your cute
Me: grrrrrrrrr
Andy G.: Love you baby, your pretty

I mean it is just a laundry basket, you finish with clothes you put them in the basket. It is a good thing he is hot, sweet and absolutely the most wonderful husband in the world.