I do not heart snowshoes!

On Sunday, Michael and I met Amy to go for a nice hike. We were actually meeting to go snowshoeing, but that didn't last too long for Michael and me. We both really dislike snowshoeing, but our friend, Amy, hasn't been able to do many winter outdoor activities because of ankle issues and she asked us if we would go with snowshoeing with her. We happily said yes since it was Amy. :) We met at a trail that we have hiked in the summer, Potters Creek. This is a really nice trail. The snow along the trail actually turned out to be pretty compacted, so after about 5 minutes, I took off my snowshoes!


Michael ended up taking off his snowshoes too a little later. Amy kept hers on the whole time though! :)

The views were amazing! It was such a gorgeous day and I'm so glad Amy invited us to go! It was also pretty refreshing to be outside in the fresh air! The above photo is of the mud flats splattered with ice! Alaska looks so different every season!

During our hike, we came across a tree that had been decorated for Christmas. I know one of our online outdoor groups does this and they are supposed to go back out and collect all of the ornaments after a few weeks. Maybe whoever decorated this tree hasn't gotten around to undecorating it. You don't want to leave the ornaments out too long because the animals could eat the ornaments. However, this was a pretty nice surprise to come across a decorated tree! :)

Roller derby!

After tubing, I had organized a trip with the Girl Group (my online friend group) to go watch the roller derby! This was awesome! Michael and I went to see the derby movie "Whip It" when it was in theaters and I fell in love with derby then! I'm even more in love with this sport after watching it in person! It was so cool and these girls were hardcore! This league is a flat floor league, though, so it's a little different than the movies.

Everyone I went with wanted to stand in the beer garden, but it was really hard to see in there because of all of the people in that area. Well, since I couldn't drink and really wanted to watch the bout, I left everyone so I could go sit near the floor. As you may be able to tell, I am sitting right next to the court! This is the suicide section! Skaters push and get pushed when going around the court. Sometimes, the girls get pushed so hard that they fall into the crowd! They even had a sign on the floor where I was sitting stating that you were sitting in this area at your own risk! It was awesome!

The theme of this bout was "Black and Blue Hawaii". If you came dressed up in Hawaiian attire or as Elvis, you were entered into a drawing to win tickets to the next bout. Of course, my group got into this! :) We also gave ourselves black eyes (with eye makeup, of course)! This was a real hit and we were actually asked several times if we had been in fights! hahaha!

Michael and me at the bout. He is wearing a Hawaiian shirt under his jacket. :)

A lot of people asked me if I bought my jewelry just for this event...I told them that I used to live at the beach and that is what kind of jewelry we wore! Hahaha! I guess seashell earrings, necklaces, and bracelets do look kind of odd up here in Alaska! Unfortunately, it is way too cold up here, so I had to wear jeans under my grass skirt! Boo to that!

We had several other girls show up for this event, but these were all of the girls that were dressed up! From Left to Right: Amy, me, Jill, Kate, and Kristen. The next bout theme is "Brawl of the Wild". We are totally hoping to wear some animal prints! Rarrr!!! :) We may even have bloody noses, in addition to our black eyes!

Rubber Doughnuts!

On Saturday, a group of us went to the base and went tubing! They have a pretty good set up for this. If you notice the "groomed" hills behind Michael in the picture above, this is the area for tubing. You actually ride in real intertubes to go down these lanes.

The best part of this whole tubing process was riding up the hill! Once you are ready to go back up, you take your tube to the operator, he wraps your tube rope around the master cord that pulls everyone up the hill, and then you just enjoy the ride! This was pretty sweet! This is the best winter activity ever...you get to be outside, do something exhilirating, and be lazy!!! What more could you ask for?!?!?! This photo is Michael all bundled up riding on his tube to the top of the hill.


This is just some of the view that you see riding up the hill! How beautiful! That building is the place where you rent skis, tubes, snowboards, etc. The lake is behind the building and I'm sure if you notice the little red tent on the right side of the lake? This is an ice fishing "shanty". This is also the lake where we were able to ride the dog sled!

The tubing crew! From right to left: Jill, Me, Michael, Linnea, Amy, Bryan, Cory, and random girl walking by! haha! Michael and I were both so glad that we went with a big group. It was so much fun with all of us!

Michael and me all bundled up after our tubing session was over. We had planned on tubing last year when we moved up here, however, we weren't immune to the cold yet and could not even fathom being outside for two hours to ride on a tube! Hahaha! Look at us now!

Mush, Mush!!

Michael, Jill, Kate, and I all went to base this past Monday to go tubing! However, all the snot-nosed little kids bought all the tickets and they were sold out for the session we wanted. This was a huge bummer, but there was also dog sled rides going on this day!! We went down to the frozen lake to check this out. A local dog musher brought some of his dogs out and took people on a 3-5 minute ride around the lake. I really wanted to do this because how many people can actually say they have actually rode on a dog sled pulled by dogs!?!?!! Michael and Jill both really didn't want to ride when we found out that they would only allow one adult (plus the musher) to be pulled at a time. They both felt like the ride would be boring. However, I convinced them all to go! Everyone LOVED it! The ride was so smooth and actually quite fast!

This is the view from inside of the sled. There were only 8 dogs pulling the sled at a time. Normally, for the Iditarod, there are 16! They did swap out the dogs after each ride. The dog handlers also fed and watered the dogs in between rides. The musher owns 40 dogs!

Me on the sled with one of the mushers. These dogs are so obsessed with running that when they are waiting by the truck, they are going nuts waiting for there turn to run! It was quite impressive. The musher said that he had to run his dogs at least 10 miles the other weekend before they would even slow down because they had so much energy!

Michael's turn!

The dogs are also super skinny and wirey. If you remember the pics from my post on the 2009 Iditarod, you will remember seeing these skinny dogs. I just always thought sled dogs were big huskies or malamutes! Little did I know...

So for all of those that still need yet another reason to come up and visit us in the winter, we can take you on a dog sled ride! :)
Mush, mush!!

Dirty Thirty!

I turned thirty last week. I have some really great friends that helped me celebrate this milestone of a birthday, even though I couldn't drink. :( The night before my birthday, Kate came over and brought some my favorite Moose's Tooth pizza! It was so yummy and it was good to hang out with Kate!

On my actual birthday, I had tons of calls from all over the place wishing me a happy birthday! Thank you to everyone that called or texted me! It was nice to know that you all remembered my special day even though we are so far apart.


I met my friend, Amy, for an early lunch at Moose's Tooth (I do love that place!)! I was somewhat pizza'ed out, so I got soup, salad, and breadsticks to eat! hahaha! It was a nice lunch and I'm so glad I got to spend some time with Amy.


My friend, Jill, then met me at a nail salon and she got me my very first pedicure!! I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about someone rubbing my feet, but it was WONDERFUL!! I got the spa pedicure, so it was an extra special treat! The man that did the pedicure told me to bring Michael next time so he could teach him how to do the pedicure! Hahaha, I liked the way that man thought!




Michael had some beautiful roses for me when he came home from work. He's gotten really good with this flower thing! :) We then went into town to pick out my birthday present. He got me a laptop computer!! I was kind of hesitant at first, but now that I have the laptop, I LOVE it and never have to leave it! The way we look at it is that I will be able to stalk everywhere now! hahaha! We picked up some Taco Bell for dinner (my idea), a cheesecake, and a scary movie! It was a really great way to spend my 30th birthday!

The day after my birthday, we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant with some of our closest Alaska friends. It was a really fun dinner with presents and ladybug cupcakes too! Thank you so much to everyone that came out for dinner. It really meant a lot to me and thank you so much for all the wonderful gifts! Amy, thank you again for the wonderful ladybug cupcakes made completely from scratch! They were amazing!

On Saturday, Michael went with Kate, Jill, and me cross country skiing at Hatcher's Pass. It was a great day and I think Michael really enjoyed himself too! The dogs definitely enjoyed themselves! :)




Then, finally, on Sunday, Michael took me to the Double Musky Inn for a very nice belated birthday dinner! Double Musky is voted one of the best restaurants in the country!! It is really good and definitely a special treat! I have a the best husband! :)

Hole-in-one?

Michael, Amy, Bryan, Jill, Paula, and I decided to do it old-school and play some putt-putt a couple of Fridays ago. Since it is so cold and snowy up here, the putt-putt course is indoors! However, it is very old and we don't think it has been renovated or updated...ever! This was a lot of fun though since we were all together and we aren't serious putt-putters! If we were pros, we may have had a heart attack over this place!

Michael standing over the "little river" that runs through the course. He is trying to concentrate!

The ladies of the course! From left to right: Amy, Me, Jill, Paula

Amy actually got a hole-in-one on the 18th hole! Hahaha!

A funny pose with the ladies!

Damn!!! No hole-in-one for me!!!

Rusted Root!

Alaska does not get many big bands to visit, at least not at the frequency of other cities in the Lower 48. Moose's Tooth/Bear's Tooth put on this concert once a month, called First Tap. Moose's Tooth is a brewery, as well as, a great pizza place. They make a new beer every month and introduce it at "First Tap", which is the first Thursday of every month. In the winter months, it is held in the Bear's Tooth auditorium. During the couple of warm summer months we have, they hold it outside in the parking lot at Moose's Tooth. They are all pretty fun and they do get some good bands. Most of these bands are smaller and not as well known as, say Ludacris or Puddle of Mudd.

Last night, Rusted Root played. They sold out for this show almost two months ago! I love Rusted Root and actually know their music, so I got our tickets back in November! (most of the time, I don't know the bands, but I go because it's good music with good beer!) This was my first First Tap sober. It wasn't too bad. We went with a bunch of our friends up here. They wanted to be as close to the stage as possible, but I was having a hard time with the heat and crowds. So Michael and I moved up to the balcony. We were able to really enjoy the music and show from up there, until the people right in front of us started smoking up. We had to get out of there. Then we went back to the main floor, but stood along the wall where it wasn't too crowded. It was really a great show! I'm so glad we went. I'm not sure if Michael really enjoyed the show, but I am so happy that he put on a happy face and acted like he enjoyed it for me! :)

Good Ol' Dog Park

One of the drawbacks from living out where we do now, is being so far from the dog park. It's a good 40-45 minutes to get there. Whenever I go into town, I try to do all of my errands at one time so I hate taking the dogs and then having to leave them in the car for hours and hours in cold weather...I know, I know, their dogs, they have fur, they can deal with the cold! I still feel bad!

However, I was supposed to meet Amy the other night so I thought before our cupcake date, I would take the dogs to the dog park. Oh, how they miss that place! There was fresh snow everywhere and lots of dogs to play with! I may have to make it a point to take them to the dog park at least once a week.

This is the face Freedom gives me when they want to go to the Dog Park!

Michael's Ice Fishing Trip

Michael and one of our friends, Kevin, went ice fishing the day after New Years. Kevin is from Michigan and goes ice fishing a lot, so Michael was pretty ecstatic to have a "guide". They took our Durango and were able to drive out onto the ice! They also picked one of the freaking coldest days ever to go! Michael had rented a fishing tent and little space heater from base. However, this heater did not do a very good job from what I heard. There are not many pics from this trip, since they were boys and they don't think about Liz and my blogs! :)

Michael and Kevin caught a bunch of little fish, but nothing outstanding. Above is a picture of Kevin with their trophy fish!

P.S.- You may ask yourself where I was on this trip...it was 0 degrees!!! I not only said no, but HELL NO! I was actually supposed to go skiing with the girls this day, but I backed out of that because of the coldness! Brrr!! I went to Moose's Tooth and a movie instead! ;)

2010!!!! :)

We decided to have a New Year's Eve party at our house this year for several reasons. First off, Michael nor I wanted to be on the roads...period. Even though we didn't have to worry about which one of us was going to drive or getting a taxi, we didn't want to be stressed out about OTHER people driving! People are stupid, especially on New Years Eve. Second, we didn't want to go to a club or bar where they would most likely be charging a cover charge just to get in! So with the persuasion from some of our friends, we decided our place was to be the party pad!

At first, the party was going to be pretty small because a lot of folks wanted to go to a large party or bar hopping. However, we had a lot of peeps decide last minute to make an appearance. Luckily, I still had time to get extra food and supplies. Most everyone brought something to munch on, alchohol, and sleeping gear.

The highlight of the party was not the ball dropping at midnight or all the dogs we had here, but the "Just Dance" Wii game I had received for Christmas! We started playing this game at 9 PM and it was played until 3 AM (with a 10 minute break to watch the ball drop, of course)! Even some of the guys got into it. It was a lot of fun, and these pictures just don't do it justice.

Ski lesson!

The Sunday after Christmas, Michael, our friend Kate, and I finally took a cross country ski lesson offered by base. We were supposed to have taken this lesson last year, but that's when we were still not used to the cold! Now that we are seasoned Alaskans, we jumped at the opportunity to finally take this class! Do you see the two sets of lines in the snow? These are the tracks that we use to cross country ski. The tracks make it a lot easier to classic ski.

Michael and I all bundled up and ready to start the lesson. We actually were not wearing enough clothes to stay warm for all the standing around and slow moving we were doing during the lesson itself. We were all super cold. However, once the lesson was over, we did some skiing on our own and then we warmed up!

This was the second time that Michael has been cross country skiing. He did pretty well, but I don't think he's as in love with this sport as I am. Unfortunately, he does not have much free time so he can not practice as much as I do.

This was one of the three moose that were hanging out on the golf course. These moose seemed really mellow and used to all of us skiiers. Fortunately, we were done skiing so we didn't have to bother the moose.

Me practicing my snow plow and turn. I think I did pretty well, especially seeing that I did not fall on my butt! haha!

Me!