My Italian Family

 About six months ago, I met this crazy Italian family- in Bulgaria no less. It didn't take long for me to love them all.... not sure how they feel about me, ha! But for better or worse, they're stuck with me now. :) Besides my family had already claimed them as family, long before I met them face to face. It was nice to finally get to know them all in person, as I had heard all their names countless times from my family; we had even emailed quite a bit and I talked to them on the phone once or twice. 

After only a few days, it was like we had always known each other... and the adventures began. We played trampoline soccer, worked crossword puzzles, built sand tunnels & castles, ate uh... interesting chocolate at church, and of course... climbed the Varna monument- that my friends, is a story all in itself. My time with them was vastly too short.

building castles and tunnels

by the Black Sea

on the Varna monument

first week with these crazy Italians

So.... after a conversation about our separate travels back to the States, we realized that we flew back in the same US city just a day apart! Not sure who first suggested we meet up again in the States, but that's what we did! And because we did, I got to meet another great family in NJ! Glad the Jersians were okay with a strange girl tagging along with the Italians and bombarding their house! 

While in NJ, I got to swim in a creek for only the 2nd time in my life! Hey, when you're from Alaska, its not a normal summer event. Our creeks are still FREEZING cold even in July! But I got to swim and swing off a rope into the water (a first for me! and I had huge bruises to prove it), kayak (another first) and overall have fun in the warm water. Those couple of days in NJ also included a trip to a National Cemetery on Memorial Day, a birthday party and latenight shenanigans. 

Well, time went on, I came home to Alaska and the Italians began their long journey around the US. Remember that baseball game I flew to Chicago for? Yep, that was the same family. Another awesome (crazy) adventure. 

And then.... last month, I flew down and met up with the Italians once again. This time on the Western side of the US. We drove/explored parts of Utah, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, having fun along the way. We played lots of Uno, Assassin (style of tag), basketball, football, crawled into an mini castle in an awesome Grandpa/Pastor's house and ran through sprinklers in the dark, all bringing volumes of laughter.

scouting out some caves

Snake River - too close to the edge? 

intense Uno game in the back of the Limo

I love families who I can be friends with both the parents and the children. Though sometimes its a bit nebulous as to where I belong exactly.... while in WA, we went to a family's house for dinner. The host announced dinner was ready and then said, "okay, the kids are outside on the patio, the adults in the livingroom and the teens are wherever they want." I got asked which group I belonged in... and frankly sometimes I don't know! :D

Travel Adventures

If you've read through my Bucket List page at all, you might have noticed a trend that a lot of items revolve around travel. Have to admit, I'm slightly addicted. I came to this conclusion once again this summer. After a 4 month trip over four continents and numerous new cities and countries, I came home to humble little small town Alaska. It is always nice of course, to be home for a bit, but it never takes long before the travel urge comes upon me. Several weeks after being home, I worked an early morning shift at the airport. I entered a commercial plane from the rear through a catering truck. It was one of those random times where the lights were actually off on the plane and no one else was on, besides the 3 of us who just entered. At that moment, standing in the back facing forward past all the rows of empty seats, I took a deep breath. And the all too familiar aura of airplane flooded my senses, I don't even know what it is, or how to describe it. All I know, it brought a smile to my face. I realized then that if an cold, dark, empty plane can bring me such happiness, I must be addicted to aircrafts, airports and travel.

One of those travel items on my bucket list is to book a flight for the next day. Well, I can now scratch that one off. At the end of August I headed out to the Lower 48 for a friend's wedding. Usually when I leave the state, I try to make it worth my while, so I figured I would stop in a different state on the way to the wedding and another state on the way home. What I didn't count on, was a friend texting me randomly as I was getting ready to leave AK that I should come to Chicago. For a baseball game of all things. Now, let me be very blunt. I love sports, almost all sports, but baseball is definitely NOT one of them. However, the person doing the inviting I like a lot. And I like her family. So, I tossed the idea around in my mind for a couple days.

I was chilling in OK visiting other really awesome friends, all the while, I kept checking flights, prices and the status of my passes. Finally, I decided to just do it. I only live once right, and this family is only in the states once every 4-7 years (or something like that). Why not!? Just a booked a flight with miles and just went.

Arrived in Chicago in the early/middle of the afternoon, then had to wait for 45 minutes for my bag to show up at baggage claim. Rode the metro to downtown and got off right at Wrigley stadium. Had to wait a little bit for my friends who were driving up for the southeast part of the suburbs. We had pizza at a local place before heading into the game. Now remember, I don't like baseball but the company was great. Even made a new friend and it was actually a somewhat exciting game.

Wrigley Field

great company at the baseball game

Also got to spend the next day chilling with the family. We hung out at the house, playing games, singing, had lunch at a gyro place, ran around and played an intense game of Assassin at a nearby park. Even changed my ticket out and went to church with them Wednesday night. I had an 5am flight out the next morning, so since we were an hour away from the airport, I told them to just take me at midnight instead of getting up at 3am for the drive. Figured I'd get into the airport and find a place to sleep for a couple hours before my flight. Buuut.... arrived at the American airlines terminal and it closed from 10pm-3am. So, in a quiet empty terminal entrance I laid down on the cold, hard tile floor and tried to sleep. Not exactly what I was hoping for, was counting on a somewhat comfortable, at least softer, bench to lay on. And they painted the side of the post I was laying behind while I was sleeping. Crazy.

Not my favorite to only get 3 hours of intermittent sleep at night, especially at the airport, but I still think it was worth the crazy trip. :D

Back to Mongolia. Again.

The middle of April I found myself in Outer Mongolia, one of my favorite countries. I continually have people asking me what my favorite place is that I have visited. Honestly, I kinda dread that question, because there isn't a simple, easy answer. But Mongolia is one of my favorites, probably because it was the first country I lived in outside of North America. This was my 5th visit in the past 10 years. It was good to see old friends, who are now grown, married and have their own families, as well as make some new friends. The night I drove into Khatgal, there was a crazy blizzard;  I had to climb over major drifts on the porch to get into the house. But most of the weather was nice. It was spring, so warmish sunny days, but really windy. 

one of my favorite views ever

did I mention that it was windy?

Sorry for the lack of blog posts. I've been on the go for the past few months, the longest I've been in one place was 18 days in Mongolia. Otherwise I've been changing locations every 2-8 days. Its been an adventure and soon I hope to have some blog posts up about this trip. :) 

Back in Xinjiang after Three Years

Three years ago, I experienced the trip of a lifetime. Friends and I went on a ten day trip around the Xinjiang province. We had an amazing tour guide, so we got to see and do a lot more than we would have if we had been by ourselves. This past month I had to awesome privilege to visit these wonderful friends, who are now living there. We had a grand time exploring new places in their city and even nearby places. 

One day we went to a park across the city, and they actually had water in their fountains and manmade creeks! There are a lot of parks that have fountains or places for water, but lack the H2O. Not sure if that's because its so much trouble to clean it out all the time, or what. Anyways, we had brought a picnic lunch and enjoyed being outdoors. The pond had been freshly stocked with fish, so there was goldfish out the wazoo. 

My little buddy/nephew and I had fun! especially with the big bell at the park. During my time there, I taught him all kinds of fun things... hehe Isn't that what aunts are for? and he has an unique laugh, just like me! There's his regular baby-like laugh and then sometimes he starts chuckling in a deep-throated base voice, like an old man. I love it! 

Some days we sure wore out Little Man. Sometimes we just relaxed around the house, but other days were long days filled with adventure! Stay tuned for more adventure stories.... 

Roadtripping in the South

Roadtripping is one of my favorite ways to travel in the US. I flew into Pensacola mid-March and after a couple of days visiting friends, my dear friend Whit and I set off for a long weekend roadtrip! We had gorgeous weather the entire time and it was a blast getting to spend so much time with her. We headed north out of Milton, FL Thursday afternoon and drove almost the entire height of Alabama. Our final stop for the night was Huntsville, AL. We were getting close to our stop for the night and Whit asked me the names of the people we were staying with. When I told her, I mentioned that we had never actually met before. :D She was a little anxious and intrigued by that bit of information.... but it's not the first time for me! hehe, besides, I knew the family of the people we were staying with, and of course it was totally fine. Our hosts were incredibly amazing! And their 3 kiddos were a blast. We fell in love with them and I think they returned the affection. 

our Huntsville hosts' kiddos 

 The next day we spent half the day exploring the Space and Rocket Museum- which was a blast! (haha pun intended) Space exploration isn't totally my thing, but it really is fascinating. We watched a couple imax movies which were intriguing. And tried out the Helicopter and Hummer simulations.... don't ask about who can't fly a helicopter.... haha. 

when someone offers to take your picture and doesn't get the whole rocket in. :/ 

That evening, we grabbed something to eat (another new restaurant for Whit) in downtown Hunstville, then walked around a bit enjoying the city. It's a really nice area, at least what we saw of it. Then we went to the Havoc hockey game! It was super hero night, so the two teams were wearing Batman and Superman jerseys. Pretty epic, especially the intro. video. Two of the Havoc players are former Nanooks, so pretty awesome to watch them playing in the pros. It was a good game. On the way home, we took an unintentional detour... haha Driving in the dark in a new area isn't always the easiest. 

The next day, we set off for Scottsboro, AL where the epic Unclaimed Baggage store is. Supposedly, it is the only place in the world that buys unclaimed luggage from airlines and sells it to the general public. The building is jam-packed full of all kinds of items. It would take a couple days to fully look through everything for treasures. I only bought a couple books, but it would be fun to go back through to take my time looking. 

Then it was on to Chattanooga, TN. We explored part of downtown, just walking around, enjoying the sunshine. Then drove up Lookout Mountain for a view of the city. While up there, we read about the Civil War battle that took place on that hill and walked around the old buildings still from that era. 

on top of Lookout Mountain

Road trips are so much fun when you have great company! Thanks, Whit, for a great week and memories made!

Relaxing before the Grind

My time in the Canadian Arctic was a blessing. It was a great couple of weeks to relax and unwind after a summer of working long days, and before a crazy semester of college. It is always a huge blessing to be with my Canadian family and friends. With nothing on my agenda for days, I could read, or watch movies, or stay up late talking, and even sleep in! 

And as well, got to enjoy some more of God's great creation. 

I am so thankful that 10 years (wow, how time does fly by!), I had the incredible opportunity to spend a winter living in Inuvik. It was my first time living away from home and looking back, wow, I really was clueless about a lot of things. Still amazes me that the D's welcomed me into their family and ministry when I was so rough around the edges (immature?). But that was a refining time in my life and God taught me SO much! 

dear friend/travel buddy K

Canadian sis

One of my favorite things to do in Inuvik is cooking out on the back porch. The fire pit going, tea steeping, yummy food to enjoy and then S'mores! :D As Mr. D says- there's just something about sitting in the fresh air and letting your worries and cares drift up with the smoke of the fire. Refreshing. The colors were still spectacular that night. After that though, the weather turned ugly. 

s'mores!

 Also, got to fly over to Aklavik for a couple days. Almost didn't think we would make it out, since the weather was pretty rough. We got word they were flying, and headed out almost immediately for the airport. 
So, glad I was able to go. While there, they had a ladies meeting at church. Several women have been saved recently and they gave their testimonies. It was one of those indescribable, spiritual-connection times, when God is praised and hearts are uplifted/encouraged. 

welcome to the AK Airport

Missed having C, M and A around. No one to be crazy and silly with, or stay up late watching movies or to take me for a (cold) boat ride. Something about life moving forward, people getting married, going to college, etc. that changes things. But of course, still enjoyed my time with the Mr. & Mrs. :) 

always new little friends

and the crazy old friends

Camping + Our Men

While in the states earlier this summer, I had the privilege to go camping with some of my most awesome friends. Took us forever to decide on where to go, but didn't really matter, since we just wanted to hang out together. Camping in the States is different than here in Alaska. Here you can pretty much go anywhere and set up a tent. Finally got to a campsite and alas, it wasn't as remote as we had hoped for. We were near a road, though actually it was the more private site in the area. We went behind the actual site to set up our tent. 

Our tent story is a good one also.... its all about who you know. ;) When we first began talking about this camping trip, I told my two friends, I wouldn't be able to bring any camping supplies, as I was flying to the States and didn't want to lug that stuff around. Both of them have plenty, so they would supply what we needed.... somehow there was miscommunication. When we finally got all together, we discovered each of them had thought the other was bringing the tent! Now, I don't mind sleeping under the stars (though I wouldn't do it here in AK cause I would die from mosquito exposure), but a tent surely would be nice. Down there they have lots more insects.... spiders, ticks, etc. 

Anyway, we were at church the day before our grand camping expedition and I was talking to a family, who knows people here in Alaska and I mentioned our lack of a tent. Well, they let us borrow a tent! And it was plenty big enough for all 3 of us, plus our bags. Problem solved! 

We only camped out two nights, but it was fun just to sit around the fire talking long into the night with some amazing, godly people. I cooked most of the meals and at times even surprised myself at how well they turned out. :) The second day out, we went for a hike through the hills and forests. Nothing like Alaska of course, but still pretty. I really like huge trees (something we lack here). And then we sat next to a small pond and soaked up some sun! 

Our wet wood campfire. :) 

After the camping trip, we went into town for the annual WV conference. This year's group was awesome; again got to see people I haven't seen in a while and meet others that I've only heard of or spoken to via phone or email. Always a blessing to be around so many people who love the Lord and want to be involved in Bible Translation worldwide. 

One day we headed into town to walk around and enjoy friend's company. I was looking through pictures to include with this post and randomly selected several. After I uploaded them, I had to laugh.... the ones I had chosen were of three of us girls with "random guys!" Not sure if this has anything to do with the types of guys we actually like... haha. 

First up is the hardworking, dwarf man... Guess C likes 'em short. At least she didn't chose the pig behind her. 

Then there's me with Honest Abe. Tall, honest guys... I could go for that. Though I prefer one who doesn't get assassinated. 

And finally, LL with the easy-going, happy guy! She does like to have fun and laugh, so good choice. 

Beach Wedding!

I've always heard how beautiful the Pensacola Beach is and I finally got to experience it for myself. It was quite pretty. Especially since I was there at sunset. The only thing was - it was incredibly windy! Like REALLY windy! Course I had worn my hair down, because I thought it would look nice for the wedding. Yeah, bad idea. I had a mop of curls billowing around my head like a Cumulonimbus cloud. 

Pensacola White Sand Beaches

Of course, it was a beautiful wedding, because it was two amazing people joining together for life in the sight of God, family and friends. I've known the bride for almost 20 years and the groom for the past 10 years. You know what makes me feel old? -is the fact that I've taught them both! I have great memories of sitting around the living room coffee table working on ninth grade Algebra with Ang. And Norman, ha! a great student, when he wasn't drawing cartoons in his math notebook. :) 

They have both grown into wonderful, godly adults and our relationship has changed from tutor/student to friend/friend. Ang has been my Canadian sister ever since I lived with their family years ago. So, there wasn't anything to keep me from being there on their special day!

beautiful bride, right before the ceremony

Like I said, the wind was crazy. Ang ended up ditching her veil, cause it just wildly blew all over the place. And you could barely hear them say their vows, but it was still beautiful! And an excellent testimony to the lost family and friends who attended. God was honored.

I really enjoyed getting to spend so much time with the extended family. Especially all the granddaughters! I had a blast hanging out with all the girls. And of course, it's always good to see my Canadian parents. :) I love having family all around the world. Seeing good friends come from various locations in the world to gather together makes me long for heaven! Can't wait to be with my Saviour and for those I love to be all in one place. 

with the cousins

Had to take a picture of course with the other curly-haired girl! :) We have to stick together you know. Controlling these curls is a battle (one I lose quite frequently), so we have be friends. This one is rambunctious little girl! haha, just the kind I love being around.  

curly-hair friends