Horseshoe Lake

A few nights ago, I went on a little hike with my two friends David and Jeff. Something I learned last summer up here, going on hikes with girls and guys are two completely different things. In general, when girls go on hikes we tend to stick with trails and go at a slower pace. Hiking with guys is a whole other story, it's much more adventurous.. trails aren't really involved. If they see a rock that they want to climb, they will climb it. So what usually is a relaxing hike around Horseshoe Lake was a little more vigorous for me, but I had a blast. We went late at night so keep in mind that these pictures were taken around 11:00 pm to midnight. I love Alaskan daylight!

First time in the park this year...

The other night my friend Jason and I drove out into the park together. It was a fun drive, very relaxing and we saw a few animals along the way. Here are some of the photos I snapped.

An Eventful Week!

(Hanging out with friends on my b-day)

Well my job at the Mercantile is off to an interesting start. My Manager has already been fired and they're looking for a replacement without much luck. So with that happening the work schedule has changed and now my days off are Thursday, Friday and they have me closing the store three days in a row which sucks because the shift is 3:00 - 11:30. By the time I get off work I am completely exhausted but it is nice to sleep in so late. But I just don't want the closing shift so I'm going to try and switch and work mornings instead. (6:45 - 3:30) Hopefully I will get it approved!
Other than work I've had a really fun week! Wednesday night was a Chili Cook-Off at Creekside (about 10 miles away) and I was able to hitch a ride with some friends. It was such a fun experience! They had a band playing, bon fire, and like 16 different types of chili's that you could try - all for free! There was one chili in particular that was really good. It was a green curry chili that had some kick to it and was delicious! I would love to have the recipe to that one...
(pic of the band playing at the cook-off)

I will say I really do miss good food! The Aramark food is just awful, it truly is. Everything seems to be soaked in fake butter and is just so unhealthy. I've been depending upon the salad bar mainly but I would like to enjoy a good meal here and there.
If I had kept up with the raw food diet, I wouldn't be able to eat anything! Well, at least I wouldn't have any sort of variety. The salad bar is always the same: lettuce, spinach, onions, beets, cucumbers, tomatoes, sprouts and occasionally cottage cheese. And the fruit is usually just apples and sometimes oranges, and bananas when you get really lucky! But all the fruit/vegetables have been frozen before - I'm pretty sure because they don't have any flavor to them! Oh well...
Friday was my 24th birthday, and it was a pretty great day! I had the day off and was able to sleep in and just be lazy. I went to a yoga class with some friends and it was so relaxing. I really want to try and get into the schedule of doing yoga every day again. My body needs it!
The weather here has been so beautiful. I hope that it keeps up and we don't have a repeat of last year when it rained for 30 days straight!
Anyway, life is good. I'm grateful to be here and experiencing a different side of life. The people here are amazing. I'm so blessed to have made such fantastic friends! But I do miss my family, especially my nephews!!! Seeing pictures of them makes me a little sad. :-)
Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes! You all helped make it such a fun day!
Love you all.

Warm mittens and fire wood.

I just enjoyed my first "weekend" in Alaska for '09. My days off should officially be Friday and Saturday, which I'm crossing my fingers for. I've been VERY lucky because both of my days off were beautiful sunny days- just a little on the chilly side. Friday I was able to enjoy a walk down to the "Canyon" area. I'm horrible when it comes to distance guessing, but I think it's about a mile and half to two miles to walk down to the Canyons - not too bad. A lot of the shops are just going through the process to open doors, but I'm sure within the weeks things will be in full swing. So Friday night Allison and I were hanging out in our room playing games and we ended up getting quite a crowd in our room. (At one point there was 17 peoples crammed inside.) But it was a really fun night! Saturday I was able to get my laundry done and walked to the Riley Creek Campgrounds with some friends to attend a bon fire. It was a lot of fun to see more friendly faces that are arriving every week! It was a beautiful night and when it came time to walk back to campus at 11:30 it was still light enough that we didn't need a flashlight or anything. I love all the daylight!
Now I'm off to my first day of "real" work after two days off and do not want to go back yet. :-)

Work at the Merc

I'm officially done with the JV training and am now working at the Mercantile. We spent all day today stocking and getting everything ready for our opening on Friday. It's kind of crazy all the work that goes into a simple shelf of candy bars. I will now appreciate store set-ups more. :-)
The best way I can describe the Merc to those of you who have never been to Alaska is... it's similar to the Cedar Fort Country Store (except no fuel.) Just a small convenient store that offers food, camping supplies, and liquor. So far it's totally chill and I think I will enjoy it. The atmosphere is pretty different than the WAC and should be a lot more easy going.
The weather has been cool, it's snowed/rained everyday except today. But it was still cold enough at work that I wore gloves and a beanie the whole time.
Anyway, all is going well! I'll try to keep updating my blog on what's going on. Hope all is well with all of you!
Love you and miss you all.
xoxoxo

p.s.
Happy Birthday Rett!!! My big brother just turned 29!

Arriver!

I have arrived at last. The trek to Alaska was long and ungodly but I've made it in one piece. The flight in Phoenix was delayed over an hour due to problems with the fuel tank, so we didn't even arrive to Anchorage until after 2:00 a.m. I was very relieved to see two familiar faces on my flight. Marley and Gentry, two brothers who worked in Parkside with me last year. So after we landed in Anchorage, I just stuck with them. When the Yukon Trails shuttle picked us up at 7:30, there were only two people on it - Julie and Matt! So the long ride from Anchorage to Denali was quite nice with only 5 people in the van and knowing all of them.
We made it to Parkside just after noon and filled out all the paper work when we checked in, then I was able to settle into my new room. Allison and I have been put in the backside of the Northern Lights dorm, which is exactly what we wanted! So I feel very lucky thus far with how things have turned out.

Happy Mothers Day!

I just want to wish my mom a Happy Mothers Day! I'm sorry I can't spend it with you but I hope that you have a fantastic day! You're a beautiful person and I'm so blessed to have you in my life. Thank you for all your love and support.

Ready. Set. Go!!!

Right now I'm sitting in the Phoenix airport for my layover. I'm still confused as to why my layover is in Arizona and not Washington, but oh well.
I have a long night ahead of me, it's currently 7:20 (Mountain time). I left SLC at 5:30 and am scheduled to arrive in Anchorage at 12:50 a.m. (Alaskan time) Then I will just camp out at the Anchorage airport until 7:30 when the shuttle will pick me up to take me to Denali. I'm crossing my fingers that my friends Julie and Matt are on the same shuttle, it'll make it so much more enjoyable to share the long ride with friends!
I should be getting to Parkside around 2:00 and be able to check in. I'm really anticipating where Allison and I will be living. We assumed that we'd be put in our old room from last summer, but we just found out that someone else is living in it now. So hopefully we get a decent room!
And I'm crossing my fingers that they've turned the water on in Parkside! I don't want to have to go to the Chalets to shower. It's bad enough to have to use communal bathrooms, let alone having to walk 2 miles to shower!
Anyway, that's the latest here! Everything is going well.
Love you all!

Crazy Countdown

Last weekend I went to San Francisco to get my student visa. It was a crazy trip that involved too much driving and not enough sleep. But we made it there alive and even managed to have some fun.
First thing we did was visit the Golden Gate Bridge. We tried to walk across it but the fog was so bad it was kind of pointless. Then on Sunday we had tickets to see Wicked. It was such a fun and entertaining show. The singing and dancing was amazing! I would love to see it again sometime. We also spent some time in Chinatown, where Seth was in heaven. He bought more Samurai swords then he could ever need!
Then Monday I went to the French Embassy for my visa appointment. After being there for 4 hours I finally was approved and we headed back to Utah. It was a long trip and we didn't make it home until after 3:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. I basically used the entire day Tuesday to catch up on my sleep then Wednesday and Thursday I packed.
Tonight the family came out to the house to celebrate Jenn's, Rett's and my b-day's and also an "early" Mothers Day party. It was great to hang out with the family one last time before I leave on my journey.