Summer 2010 Recap

Okay, I know this blog has pretty much been dead for almost a year, but now that we're heading into fall and basketball season hasn't picked up yet, I have some dead time to update this thing.

First, a quick recap of the summer...
Barrus Family Reunion, Los Angeles California

In June, Jake and I flew to southern California for a Barrus reunion.

We had an amazing time with everybody, but especially with our two nieces, Kylie and Maura, and loved hanging out with Brody, our sole nephew on my side of the family.
<---This is Brody and Kylie at Magic Mountain. They did this game at the beginning, and since all participants get a prize, they both got to rock superman capes around the park that day. I really wish I would have gotten a picture because they looked fabulous.

Erin's Wedding in McCall, ID
Mid-July I had the chance to fly down to Boise and be the maid of honor in my best friend's wedding. Unfortunately, Jake chose to use his time off to go on a caribou hunting trip later on in the summer, and I went by myself. But, being there by myself gave me the opportunity to have a week long girl power party! The week before wedding weekend, I was able to run around with Janny and her best friend Lori. Seems like there's not much we can't find something to laugh about. Then, it was time to drive to McCall for the big day. The wedding was gorgeous, and I was finally able to hang out with Erin's new husband AJ and see for myself what a perfect couple they are. If you need evidence, just observe the picture to the left. SO ADORABLE and yes, I know typing in all caps means I'm technically yelling that but I mean it...SO ADORABLE

These are all the bridesmaids with the blushing bride right before we walked to the pavilion for the ceremony. That was my first time visiting the Shore Lodge but it was a fantastic venue and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. Unfortunately I didn't get any good outside photos of the fabulous view of the lake from the ceremony or the reception hall, but take my word for it...it was amazing.





Girl's Camp, LaDaSa Camp Willow, Alaska

I am glad Mary Ann doesn't read my blog because I'm pretty sure she would murder me if she saw I put this picture of her on here. In any case, four days after I got back from my week in Boise I left for girl's camp as I was the ward camp director this year. It was rainy, cold, and gloomy most of the week. Luckily Jake outfit me with all his waterproof camo gear and I found the cutest pink polka dot rain boots, so I was dressed appropriately. And since this year we almost completely certified the girls before they even got there, we had little responsibility and got to party most of the week. Perhaps it's a bad sign when girls come out of their cabins in the middle of the night to scold noisy leaders, but it sure was fun for us! I also swam outside for the first time since moving to Alaska during an excursion to swim across the lake with Mary Ann. Had I known she was planning on doing a full on sprint freestyle, I might have reconsidered, but it was a fun way to end the week.

I literally walked into my front door from girl's camp and met up with Jake's parents who had flown in that morning from Boise. They took a much needed three week vacation, and it was a riot having them here! Our trip was packed full of fishing, hiking, drives, good food, card games, and movie nights. I didn't take too many pictures, but I hijacked this one from my mother-in-law's facebook. The cute couple on the far right is Jake's cousin, Lael and her boyfriend Dan. They came to visit from Portland the week I was at girl's camp. Luckily, they stayed through the weekend so Dennis and Laraine could hang out with them before they returned home.

Throw in a couple basketball camps, trying to find an investment property to buy and continuing to finish the never-ending trim and outside work needed on our own house, we had kind of a crazy summer! And somehow we figured out how to enjoy it even with it being the gloomiest, rainiest summer on record for Anchorage. My poor in-laws suffered through all the rain Alaska had to offer, only for it to clear up the day after they flew out. It's been nothing but sunny skies since then, so I guess we'll settle for a beautiful fall.

And So It's Begun

Basketball season that is. Not that I was posting more than monthly before, but now it's been all too consuming. Our games started last week, and after four we are 2-2. I am so excited with the girls I have this year, most are young but have incredible potential to be rockstars in the next two years. This week our schedule is four games straight on the road, two being in Kenai where I get to re-live my high school travel team days of sleeping in a gym. Good thing Jake insisted I buy a mini-blow up mattress for our backpacking trips!

Happy Birthday Jake!!!

I have been super light on the posting these days, and don't anticipate I'll have enough time for the next few months to really get consistent with it, but I did want to post a quick 'Happy B-day' to my honey. Today Jake turns 27, and so far it's been a pretty pleasant, yet uneventful day. It's been the year of home gifts-- dishes, towels, and deep fryers...I feel like we're getting wedding presents all over again.

We don't have any huge plans for birthdays this year, which is kind of abnormal for this house; I make it a point to set aside a full 'Birthday Week' celebration for each of us to keep with the traditions from my family, and usually Jake's begging me to STOP GIVING HIM STUFF FOR HIS BIRTHDAY by the time its all said and done. This year, we're playing it pretty low key...for our joint birthday gifts to each other we went to the Lion King two weeks ago, and that was fantastic, but unfortunately that left us with no excitement for the actual birthdays...

So I'm off to take a birthday nap with my sweetie and we'll see where the night takes us. I'd love to post a mushy heartfelt post about him and how wonderful he is, but he wouldn't know how to get to my blog even if he wanted to, and I'm not thinking the rest of you really want to hear about this amazing husband I happen to have...so we'll just leave it at Happy Birthday JAKEY! :)

More Ice Cream Please

So...what to say about today? (I must apologize in advance to my mother-in-law who despises the following phrase) IT SUCKS. I won't go into detail and list all the events that have led to me wanting to kick an unsuspecting stranger in the kneecap, but trust me...that's the point I've reached, and it's hardly 1 in the afternoon. So instead, I'm still in my pajamas and am catching up on the last week's worth of my soap that I have to DVR. Yes...those of you that think daytime soaps are 'below them'...I watch One life to Live every weekend marathon style while I fold a week's worth of laundry and do homework. Judge if you feel it necessary, but I've been hooked since I was a wee pre-teen and would watch everyday with my Mom (who would change the channel with the 'smut' scenes would play).

Outside we are finally getting our driveway excavated today and there is large machinery tearing up the entire yard. I can't get my car out of the garage to go anywhere and I'm stuck...STUCK I TELL YOU in my house until it gets leveled out.

I'm off to drown my sorrows in another hot fudge sundae!

Finally! First Visitors this Summer

Since we moved to Anchorage four years ago (Wow...it still is unbelievable that we've been here for FOUR YEARS...we planned on staying for a year to prove to our nay-saying family that we could handle all Alaska could bring...and now we'll be here forever...) Where was I? Right. Talking about the number of visitors we get. Until this summer, our routine was to drop off one bunch at the airport and pick up another group until the end of August when the smart ones retreat to much more sensible places to spend the winter.

But this year?? I'm not sure whether we should blame it on the economy or take it personally, but we are one day away from August beginning and we are only getting our first visitors to the great state of Alaska this season. What have we done with the summer since the usual tour guide trips haven't taken place? (Last summer I swore off Flattop, Saturday's Market, Whittier, and church in Girdwood after making weekly trips with new people). I'm not really sure...but Jake and I are back in the loop with all our fav TV shows and have gotten through five seasons of 24 in a month, so I'm actually really excited for the company and excuses to visit all those places I grew sick of. So, we get two weeks to hang out with Jake's little sis Jessica and her new husband Alex. It will be a blast; and we'll finally get to spend time with Alex, who we only met two days before their wedding last January.

Also, to give them a plug to whole four of you that read this: They are here for two weeks and will be bringing up their supplies for window washing---they have a side business to pay for school down in Pocatello. SO...if your windows look half as bad as mine, give me a call...They do a great job and are the cheapest you'll get around. *Win Win*

Okay maybe it wasn't this bad...

This morning, while attempting to appear busy at the office, Jake was telling my father and me about the outing he had with his friend Clint. They drove down to the Russian River, infamous for being one of the most red salmon populated rivers, and hiked to the falls where you can see salmon jumping through rapids and over rocks to continue on their journey of death. Jake continued to rant about what a wonderful time he had until we decided working wasn't all it was cracked up to be...isn't that the main reason people become self-employed? To slack off on a whim? We packed the car up and took of towards the Kenai Peninsula for a day on the river. Fast forward three and a half hours later, we were experiencing all the success we had dreamt about...meaning Jake and Dad had limited (aka caught 3 salmon), and I only had one left to catch before we were done for the day. As I ventured out mid-river, the boys began to clean the fish and pack them for the hike back out. And, keeping with the trend we'd enjoyed all afternoon, the first cast resulted in a huge salmon hooked. Because I tend to get overly excited when I catch fish, I was making a lot of noise cheering myself on while Jake and Dad continued to coach me to the shore to beach my prize. Suddenly, I heard Jake, in a low cautioned voice, say a dirty word.

As I turned around to follow Jake's eyes behind me, I came face to face with a brown bear, 20 feet upriver from me, entering the water. As I continued to inch towards the shore, both Jake and Dad stepped in between me and my new furry friend. Making an effort to scare it off, they both were waving all their extremities and yelling at the top of their lungs. And because I am obscenely ignorant in situations like this, I continued to fight with the salmon to get it on shore and bring our tally to 12.

Oh yes...and did I mention that this sow had two cubs? And that she was inching closer every second while keeping her eye on what she saw as a delicious free meal? (The meal being my fish and us being her only obstacle)... I just needed to make sure the tension was building appropriately.

Jake quickly realized that her goal was the fighting fish on my line, and instructed me to immediately cut it loose...and so I immediately began tripping over myself in my over sized waders in search of a sharp object as to avoid a sudden and excruciating death. As I cut the line, the bear must have continued coming towards us because it entered Jake's comfort zone, and he made the appropriate decision to shoot a round in the air with his .45.

As the smoke cleared, I saw the sow change directions, step back, and continue giving Jake one hell of a stink eye until she found her cubs and ran off up the hill.

Fearing that we were still in danger, I was trying to rid ourselves of the cursed fish that was still flipping around on the beach by kicking it back into the river. My Dad, an avid salmon eater, saw me trying to free a perfectly good salmon, and knowing we were bear free, started raving like a mad man to keep the fish on the beach. After all, one fish is worth two fillets, and two fillets is good for two salmon dinners. To ensure I wasn't going to continue attempts to free the little fella, Dad grabbed the knife I used to cut the line, picked up the fish, and cut its head off. At least he had his priorities straight.

Happy ending: We limited on salmon and hiked back to the car safely. Also, in light of the recent events, Dad decided it was a good time to learn how to use the bear mace he had been carrying around for protection for the last year. Nothing like a brush with death to make one realize the importance of being prepared.

Blah

Jake just ran into the house in a panic because evidently my shouts at the television can be heard twenty yards down the road. What can I say? Presidential News Conferences bring out my True Texan side...