London for a Day

Well, after four days of trying to get out of Alaska, five flights and countless hours spent awake, I made it to London. At the last moment, I upgraded to BusinessFirst class, because I was tired, would be flying through the night and arriving in the morning. When traveling internationally, I prefer to arrive in the evening, because I know I will be tired and I like to go to bed soon after arriving, which helps me get on the right time zone quicker. There were seats available, so I jumped at the opportunity. And boy, was I not disappointed!! Amazing service, excellent food, comfy seats, additional accessories provided AND a seat that flatted into a real bed, of sorts. Well worth the upgrade fee. 

mid-flight snack in Business class

Arrived in London about 9am. And because of flying Business I was able to take advantage of the United Lounge just outside security, hot shower and breakfast provided. Yes, please! I took my time, as there was wifi there and I needed to plot my course to my accommodations that night. 

Later in the afternoon, I ventured downtown to walk and explore a bit. I had been to the city six years prior, so wasn't really doing much in the way of tourism, just walking. It got dark earlier than I expected. And since I was there during the end of the business day, everyone around me on the streets seemed so absorbed and focused. Guess I would be too, after a long day in the office and all I'd want is to get home and relax. It was strange however, to be strolling along the streets with everyone rushing by you and hardly anyone making eye contact. 

I didn't do much, besides grabbing a quite bite for dinner and walking probably 5 miles around the Thames River downtown. I headed home early to get that sleep I needed so desperately. The next day I would head out for the countryside, the real reason I had come back to the U.K. 

on the Thames

Tower of London

famous Tower Bridge

Sister Trip to Canada, eh?

You may know by now my family is a bit hockey fanatical. Today I am a hockey fan and for that, I blame my sisters. It didn't used to always be that way. But one year I came home from a trip and all my siblings had become devout hockey fans. I trailed behind for a while, but then I jumped on board. Might as well keep the family thing going, eh?

Oilers vs. Blues

So last week, my youngest sister and I had plans to travel to Edmonton, Alberta for a couple NHL games. Began the week by driving from Fairbanks to Anchorage. Beautiful drive! We haven't had much snow yet, so the roads were clear and dry. The sun was high and bright in the clear, blue sky and hardly anyone on the road. All that equals a great road trip. Arrived in Anchorage, ate dinner, then dropped our car off and got a ride to the airport.

beautiful day for a drive

Now.... the thing is we were traveling standby, which means we only get on the plane if there are seats available. When I checked the flight, there were 8 unpurchased seats and 13 standbys. Not so good, BUT we got on! I think we were the last two on the flight. Buckled in and ready to fall asleep (late night flight). Then the captain's voice came over the intercom..... small leak on the ground outside, gonna check it out, folks.

Twenty minutes later, uh we are going to deboard you, cause you'll be more comfortable in the terminal, than on the plane while the mechanics take a look. Yeah, I work at an airport, I know what that means.... either a very long delay or canceled flight.

Three hours later, they finally confirmed that our flight was cancelled. By that time, it was after 3am. So little sister and I slept at the airport for a few hours. Gotta love sleeping with all the lights on and random announcements over the intercom every hour or so. When we got up the next morning, we went and had breakfast, then did a bit of shopping and then hung out at Barnes & Noble for a few hours. I may or may not have fell asleep in the comfy chairs by the fireplace....

Back to the airport in the middle of the afternoon for our new flight. Because of it wasn't a scheduled flight, but one they created because of the cancellation the night before, it wasn't full! We both had a row to ourselves. Praise the Lord, I could get some more sleep!

Arrived in Denver, where we had to spend the night, this time in a hotel. The next morning, we flew the three hour flight to Edmonton. I had intended to read or sleep during that flight. However, my seat companion, some guy from Alberta was quite chatty and we conversed the entire time. Well, more he talked and I listened.

FINALLY, we arrived in Edmonton! Only a day later than planned. And Kate was there to greet us! Then the fun began. :) We picked up our rental car, drove to where we were staying to drop our bags and fresh up and then we went downtown. First on the agenda was dinner. Kate had one of her favorite restaurants she wanted us to go to. It was made better when we walked in and there at the back of the very small restaurant was a table of hockey players. Ha! And they were from the Blues, the team we came into town to see play.

with part of the Blues team

downtown Edmonton

with the Great One - Gretzy

The next couple days consisted of much talking and laughter, driving around town, shopping at the huge malls, eating, later night runs to Tim Hortons and of course Hockey! We talked to a couple friendly security guards at the brand new Rogers Arena the night before the game and they asked if we had been inside. Course we hadn't, cause nothing was happening in there that night and we thought it was closed. But they told us there was an open door and to go on it and check it out. Only the big hall was open, not the rest of the arena, but it was pretty awesome to be able to look around with no one else in there! The next night we were there with thousands of people.

inside the new Rogers Place arena

nothing like giant bobblehead hockey players 8)

cheering for #55 on the Blues

One the way back home, we again spent a night in an airport, but we made both our flights. At the very last minute, which is a little nerve-wracking, but I survived. And then we had the drive home after flying all day. Arrived home at 1130pm Saturday night and I had to work at 4am the next morning. But oh well, so's life.

It was a great trip and one I'll cherish for a long time. Nothing like sister bonding time at the airport and hockey games. :)

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

Bachelor Degree- check!

Well, I did it. In a few weeks, my Bachelor diploma will arrive in the mail. 

It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears.... figuratively speaking at least. It was a ton of work including many late nights, long days, and mental stretching. Probably the hardest part of earning my degree was the fact that I worked a regular job (and sometimes 2 or 3 jobs) throughout the process. And as hard as it is to admit, I'm not as young as I once was. When I worked on my Associate degree just five years ago, I consistently stayed up to 1 o'clock in the morning doing homework. But this past year and half, that was a lot harder to do. There were nights I stayed up late for sure, but my body craved sleep way more than it did years ago. But nonetheless, I survived. Some semesters I felt that I had no life outside of school; even when I was working or driving, or trying to relax, my brain was already thinking of the next assignment. But its all over now! Praise the Lord, for his strength and grace that saw me through this process. 

Many people have asked me what's next...well for one, I plan on catching up on sleep. (though this week, that's not really happening, since I'm working nights, as well as days) I have been enjoying the Christmas season with my family and just relaxing for change. I've been able to read some books, of my own choosing, :) and work on some projects I've put off for a long time. As for what's next. Well, guess you'll just have to wait and see. I'm sure it'll be an adventure whatever happens.... :D

Here's a few random pictures from the past almost two years of school. These may represent some of the motivating factors that kept me persevering-

teaching my nephew about AK hockey :) 

Enjoying sunshine despite sub-zero temps

doing homework by oil lantern - no electricity for days

hosting friends breaks up those long nights of study

nothing like sushi and free dessert to renew the spirit

sunrise!

facetiming a very dear friend half a world away

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. 

Weekend in Selawik

This past weekend, God worked it out that my friends visiting from the states, myself and two others from Fairbanks were all were able to fly up to Selawik for a few days. I've talked to our missionary there for the past couple years about coming up for a visit, but it's always so expensive to fly there commercially. But God worked it out that we were all able to go on a private plane for the price it would normally cost for one person commercially. 

It was a beautiful, sunny day. Only bit a little bit of cloud cover during the approach into Selawik. It was a lot warmer there than I had anticipated. We had a good couple days there, exploring the town, visiting with friends, making new friends, tramping all over the boardwalks, having church activities and fellowshipping late into the night. 

our littlest traveler, Levi

Welcome to Selawik! This a village located among the tundra, rivers and lakes. It's pretty much a swampland. There are no large vehicles there; everyone travels by 4x4s or boats in the summer and snowmachines in the winter. Their road system is made up of a series of boardwalks, complete even with Stop signs and Speed-limit signs. Flights come in a couple times a day from Kotzebue, that is when the weather is good. It's a small town, but still 3rd largest in the North Slope with a population of 1000. It boasts of one of the largest ATV bridge which spans across the Selawik River. 

The Rainbow Bridge

In the center of town stands a Beacon of Truth, the Selawik Baptist Church. Our missionaries the Comptons have been a witness in this village for 18 years! They know everyone in town and everyone knows them. While Satan does have a strong hold on this area, God is still at work. The Comptons have been faithful and have remained strong in the work of the Lord. It's a hard area. While English is the spoken language and all are Americans, it can feel like you are in a different country when you visit. Pray for strength and grace for the Comptons and those who are striving to fight against the peer/family pressure to live for Christ.

the Lighthouse of Truth

Saturday night we held a teen activity at the church. I was in charge of games, though some others also introduced other games as well. We had a good group of almost twenty teens, including those of us visiting and the missionaries, we had about 30 people in the building. It can get quite loud very fast when you play an animal matching game.... Also had fun with a new game called "Mingle." It could lend to some awkward moments if one doesn't pronounce words correctly. :)

playing Assassin

the Teen group (minus the photographer, me)

One of the things I love most about Alaska is it's beauty. It's not a refined or cultured beauty, but a raw, wild, rugged beauty. Probably because I'm an Alaskan/country girl at heart, I love the wilderness. We reached Selawik after two hours of flying over just a handful of villages and mile after mile of nothing but wilderness. Lakes, streams, mountains, rivers, gorges, tundra - it's all beautiful to me. Coupled with a blue sky dotted with big, fluffy white clouds, it's breath-taking. 

Sunday was a full day with morning services, Sunday School for the kids in the afternoon and then an evening service. I enjoyed seeing some of the teens that have come to camp during the weekend. Several came to the teen activity and/or church Sunday. A couple really have a heart for the Lord, but it's a challenging place to stay true and faithful to God's Word. If you would, please pray for the teens that want to live right in a world of evil and darkness. Several asked why I wasn't at camp this summer. Really going to try to go next summer. 

hanging out on the Big bridge

crossing the "scary bridge"

Even in remote Alaska, Everts has a junkyard. :) 

old Evert's plane

We had a blast with the Comptons; with Gayle's good cooking, Warren's crazy (long) stories, Bethany's sweet spirit and Caleb's goofiness. It's a blessing to see a family so committed to where God has called them and who have stayed faithful for so many years. And even with all the trials and struggles they've been through there, they still love the Lord, love the people and want to see them come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We were on Village Time while there, so staying up late and sleeping in was the norm. I was just grateful for sleep. :) 

The Selawik Seven

our transportation

Goodbye Selawik! Until next time, which I hope won't be forever in the future. 

Selawik from the air

Lunar Eclipse = Nighttime Adventure

I've had a post on my mind for the past week and a half... but it is still unwritten. Maybe this weekend.... sometimes life just keeps moving forward swiftly and the time to write a blog post gets swept way in the current. 

In the meantime, here's a couple pictures from an adventure earlier this week. I'm sure you heard of the lunar eclipse that occurred this past Monday. Midnight hikes have been brought up a lot recently.... so it was a good excuse to go. 

We didn't plan this one very well though. It's missions conference at church, so we went in what we were wearing.... such as one individual who had flip flops on. I don't recommend wearing flip flops in April on a hike, short as it was. Lots of mud, patches of crystallized snow, fences, darkness, hills, etc. 

Even with all the "mishaps," it was a great night. Moon wasn't as spectacular as I was thinking it would be, but we still have another crazy, night time hike to laugh about! 

Lunar Eclipse (not solar!) 

with Jordan, Tanya, Travis and Justin. heehee 

Epic Weekend

I think this past weekend has to go down as one of the craziest weekends of my life. :) 

I started Friday morning off very tired - it was the end of the work week of which I had worked 5 days and 3 nights. Had to go to the airport right at 8am to get my badge fixed so I can work International flights. After that I went to my day job for a couple hours, went back to the airport to clean a Korean Airline plane (honestly I don't enjoy those) and then back to the "real" job. (both jobs are real, it's just I call my regular job my "real one.") 

Got off work at 3pm and barely stayed awake enough to drive home. Crashed on my bed for two hours. Felt a lot better when I woke up. 

I worked on some things at home, then started preparing for my night hike at Angel Rocks. Some of you may remember we went last September at night and saw amazing stars! I think the total count last year was six falling stars and one comet. We wanted to take our Chinese friend Donnia up there at night to see the stars before she leaves later this month. We planned the trip about six days prior; Friday came and it was cloudy and rainy all day, but we went anyways. 

Got my stuff together and was picked up at my house shortly after 10pm. Tanna, Donnia and I were in the back seat and the guys in the front. Micah was going to bring his camp stove so we could make hot cocoa... well he couldn't find it, so he brought firewood instead to make a real fire. I asked him before he headed up the trail if he had matches. He assured me he did. 

not sure what Donnia is doing

So we headed on up the hill. We remembered to bring more than one flashlight this year! That was good since there was five of us and it was darker than last time. Tanna and I were straggling behind; when we caught up to the others at the halfway point (where we had planned on stopping), we heard the news that Micah couldn't find the lighter! And I was SO looking forward to that nice cup of hot cocoa!  

We tossed around ideas of how to start the fire - using gunpowder, flashlight, etc. I almost bought a flint & magnesium last week, should have spent the money! Micah decided to attempt a bow drill fire. Those of you who know what that is, know it's not exactly a piece of cake to do. But I just helped out and held the flashlight. 

An hour later....... we decided to go back down the hill and build a fire down there. 

Had to wake Tanna from her nap on the rocks and back down we went. 

working on the bowdrill fire - Tim, we could have used your expertise!!

We boiled water for our hot chocolate, ate blue & white goldfish and cold Chinese food, watched the Northerns Lights, laughed a whole bunch - you have to when there's a slight language barrier that causes misunderstanding and miscommunication. Unforgettable night for sure! I was dropped back off at my house at 410AM!

huddled around the fire

on the ride back

My sister and I had planned on going to Anchorage Saturday..... my idea of leaving at 9AM didn't quite work out, seeing as I didn't wake up until nine. Finally got on the road at eleven.

First stop of the trip was at Red Robin in Wasilla! Love that place. Whenever we Fairbanksans travel, we love going to restaurants that we don't have here. I had been dreaming of a Royal Burger from Red Robin. And it was everything I remembered. :)

Royal Burger

Saturday was a beautiful day. A bit overcast and cloudy and it rained a little here and there, but it was still a nice drive. I love my state! and it is a beautiful time of year; the leaves are just starting to turn colors (mostly yellow). Both of us were on the watch for a bear, really wanted to see one. But no luck this trip. But we did see a lot of tourists. They're everywhere! Ha. 

Nenana River

shopping at Target

We did some shopping Saturday evening without much luck. I got a couple things, but Lacey couldn't find anything. So after church Sunday morning, we stopped by the mall. Plan was just to run in and look around and then get on the road.... yeah, well this entire two day trip was everything but according to plan. We didn't leave Anchorage until almost 5pm. But Lacey did find some things at the mall, so we were happy with the shopping trip. 

We grabbed some Arbys to bring home and then ice cream for the road from DQ (another two restaurants we don't have in Fairbanks) before heading north. The drive home was very wet; pretty sure it rained the entire time. We got to Denali just after 9pm. Walked around a little, stretching our legs and checking on tshirt prices. Lacey bought a few items she hasn't been able to find in town. As we were walking back to my car, I stuck my hand in my jacket pocket for my keys. They weren't there! weird, so I checked my other pockets, not there either. I asked Lacey, "where's my keys?" 

She just looked at me for a second and then said - don't tell me that! don't joke around with me! 

I'm not joking. I don't know where my keys are. So, we walked back to my car and there they were on my seat. I don't know if I took them out of the ignition, stuck them in my pocket and they fell out or what. But yep, both car keys I had with me were in the car and the car was locked. And all the windows rolled all the way up and my sun roof closed up tight because of the rain. Great. :/

eating blizzards!

Denali is two hours south of Fairbanks. And it's a tourist spot, a National Park (that's where Mt. McKinley is), so there isn't any taxi cab drivers to call to unlock a car. And the Troopers said they'd break my window to get in, but that was all. Well, thanks. I could do that myself. We walked around, trying to find a towing company or someone to help; asked at the gas station if they had a slim jim to get into a locked car. The attendant there was from Eastern Europe and didn't even know what a slim jim was. Well, that was another dead end. We walked over to the hotel to see if their maintenance or security people would be able to help us. Same thing, no they didn't have the tools to help. But they offered to let us chill in the lobby until we got back into our car.

Called some people at home, like my brother, dad and other friends. My brother's car has been acting up, so he didn't want to make the trip. And Dad had to be somewhere early the next morning, so he said he'd send my mom with my spare key from the house. Before she could leave though, a friend called me back and said he would drive my key down to us. So Micah and Tanna came to our rescue. For two plus hours, Lacey and I hung out in the empty hotel lobby. We passed the time by calling a friend on speaker phone (craziness!) and talking. I fell asleep at one point. They finally arrived about 1:20am and we got back on the road. Another night when I made it home after 4am. So glad it was Labor Day on Monday, so I didn't have work.

Yeah, it was a crazy weekend. But I now have memories with my sister and friends that I'll remember the rest of my life! and we already laugh over our trip to Anchorage. :)
Can't say life isn't exciting..... 

having fun in Denali, before I found out about my keys

pic from Lacey's phone - caused by wind? weird.