June 09

During the month of June, we pretty much spent a lot of quality time together in between Michael's super busy work schedule. He was, luckily, able to take off some time during his parent's visit...however, he made up for it during June. Gotta love recruiting duty! I was finally able to get Michael up on Flattop (this is the most popular hike in Anchorage...maybe Alaska since halfof the state's population lives in this city). We were ready to go to the top, but Bracken was a little out of shape! We had to stop because he wouldn't drink any water and was about to have a heat stroke! Maybe next time, we'll get to the top!

Michael and the pups at our stopping point. I'm not sure if Bracken's tongue could stick out any further!

Me with the dogs...yes, I know, this is a very bad look for me. I, obviously, did not look at a mirror before I left the house today. I was just thinking about ways to keep my hair out of my face!

I would have to say that these are my two Alaskan Best Friends. I hang out with these two ladies most weekends and a lot of weekdays. And just so everyone knows...I met them online!! hahahaha!

Amy and me on the walk to our next bar!

This is June...it is 1132 PM and it is still light!!!! During the end of June, it wouldn't get dark until after 130 AM! So weird!

Mike and Gloria

Okay, I know it's been a very long time since I have updated this blog. I'm sorry, okay?!?! Michael's parents were in town for 17 days and then my parents were in town for 18 days! While my parents were here, we looked for a new house to buy, found one, placed an offer, and have been dealing with house stuff ever since. Michael is sitting on the couch watching tv right now, so I thought it was a perfect time to update our blog!

Okay, this post is going to be about the Hodge's visit!

They got up here May 15th. Unfortunately this also turned out to be my first day of work! Oh yeah...I finally got a job at a science discovery place! It's really cool and I hope that I can work there for a really long time! :)

While they were here, we went to Seward for fishing, sea life center, and wildlife cruising it! Then we went to Homer and stayed in a cabin, went wine tasting, fishing, shopping, and eating! :) Also, went to Eklutna Lake, Potter Creek, and checked out many different stores and restaurants in Anchorage. The Hodge's favorite (and ours too) were Humpy's and Moose's Tooth!! Yum, yum!! When you all come visit, we'll take you there too! ;)

Some of the rocks and cliffs we saw during the Wildlife Cruise out of Seward. This was in Resurrection Bay.

Mike and Gloria watching some of the ducks at Potter Creek!

Here are some of the pics that we took while Gloria and Mike were here...

Me inside the cabin of the boat on our wildlife cruise! It was freaking cold outside and I could still see everything from the inside that you could see from the outside! Michael braved the coldness to stand outside! Sucker.

At the zoo.

Exit Glacier in the background.

Mike celebrated a birthday while he was up here! We surprised him with a cake! Happy Birthday Mike!!

The Hodge trip went really well and I think everyone had a great time. It was so great to see them get here, but oh so sad when they left. :( Luckily, we will see them soon! :)

Glutten for Punishment...

So a few weeks ago, Michael and I did this hike, Bird Ridge, with the Adventurers Group. We both hated it and vowed never to do it again. Well, I was hanging out with my ladies group on Monday and they were all talking about doing Bird Ridge on Tuesday. If any of you really know me, you know how I hate to be left out. So, of course, I said "yes, I'll go!". I was dreading this all day on Tuesday, but I had to pick some people up to car pool to the hiking site. This way I couldn't say no! Well, we decided to only go to the first false peak. I did much better than the first time and this time wasn't so horrible! I'm actually pretty glad I went! Maybe it's because it didn't take us 3 hours to get to an ending point! hahaha!

After it was all said and done, I am very glad I did this hike. Hopefully, I will continually get faster and better at this hike. Then when I go backpacking in the Brooks Mountain Range, I will have no problems at all! :)

A Whole New Dog Park...

I'm not sure if you notice, but this is the same place that the opening picture for this website is at! The dog park that we always frequent is a whole new place now that all the snow has melted! There's actually a lake with ducks instead of an ice skating rink. You can see dirt, leaves, and various other things versus just snow and ice! It's so weird going to the same park, but it looking completely different than the norm! I love this place!

The lake! This used to be all ice and we could walk across it! Well, no more! Now it's all water and mud for the dogs to play in! Freedom wasted no time with that!

A moose hanging out in the park. Of course, Freedom spotted this guy before I could leash her! Luckily, the moose did not pay any attention to my annoying dog barking at him!

Ain't No Mountain High Enough...

Michael and I went hiking last weekend. Wait, let me put that a different way, we climbed a mountain!!! We met up with the adventurers group last Sunday morning to climb Bird Ridge. Now I've been hiking a few times since we've been up here and Michael has "hiked" with his job! But Bird Ridge was no joke!! It was a 2.5 mile hike up to the top peak with a 3,650 gain in elevation! I had to stop many times to rest!

Here's Michael during one of our breaks!

Me during a rest...I was afraid to sit down because I may not have gotten back up! Hahaha!

This hike took us 3 hours to get to the top, a 30 minute "wow, we did it!" break at the top, and then an hour and a half to make it back down the mountain!

Michael at the top!

Me at the top! :)

Some of the view! I apologize for all of these pics being blurry on one side of the photo...there was a smudge on the lens and we didn't even know it! Booo!!!

Us at the top!

We did it!!! Whoop, whoop!! What an amazing feeling!!

Me enjoying the moment and the view at the top! I read that some of the peeps that made it to the top before us had beer. What the heck?!?! I guess it does pay off to be quicker!

Most of the snow had melted away except for the very top of the mountains. In this picture you can see the ash from Mt. Redoubt!! The dark snow is obviously the ash. The volcano hasn't erupted for awhile, but you can still see traces of its power!


Now, I thought since the hike up the mountain was straight up, that the hike down would be awesome. I am an idiot. I never wanted to quit going up. I was going to make it to the top. However, I wanted to quit like 5 times on the way down! It was so steep and scary! The impact on my knees was excrutiating! On the way down, I told Michael that I never wanted to do that trail again. (yes, I was a whiney baby on the way down). Once we finished, we were both so happy! I had to pee almost the whole day, but the trail was so populated with people that there really was no where to go. So the run down the mountain was rough on my bladder!

The days after the hike: could barely move! Our quads were so sore! Poor Michael had to do a PFT test for work 3 days after our hike and could barely run because his legs were still so sore. I had a huge blister on my heel due to bad shoes. These groups are doing this hike tomorrow and I have rsvped NO!!! They keep trying to talk me into going, but I'm not too sure. That was a lot of pain for a little bit of enjoyment. Plus, tomorrow we're not going to make it all the way to the top. I'm seriously going to have to think about this!

McHugh Creek Hike

I have gone hiking a couple of days a week with some of the online groups I have joined. This was the McHugh Creek Trail. Kris, one of my new friends, and I ended up leaving the group and going ahead. We thought the group was only going about a mile and turning around, so we went a mile and a half and then turned around so we could meet back up with them. When we met back up with them, they asked why we were quitting so early?!?!!? Weird!

Kris and I on one of the overlooks!

Oh yeah, baby!!

Oooh, ahhhh, a nice little babbling waterfall!

Oh, and before we started this hike, they group proceeded to tell me about the to people that were mauled by bears on this trail last year! WTF?!?!?!! Once Kris and I broke from the group, I was SUPER nervous about meeting one of these bears! We didn't even have bells on! Kris didn't seemed worried and we talked the whole time (imagine that)! I was actually a little relieved when we headed back. As soon as this hike was over, I bought some bells for all of my "family" (dogs, michael, and me!)!!

Michael's Birthday

Michael turned 29 on April 22nd!!! Whoop whoop! He got home, on his birthday, at 825 PM...he's pointing to the time in this picture! Gotta love recruiting duty!

Michael with all his birthday love!

Yes, I made Michael cook the steaks on his birthday! :)

They look so solemn...

The view from our backyard, minus the snow...

Us! :)

We had a couple of friends over for Michael's birthday. The guy in this picture is Rory, Mr. Junior Alaska 2003 (I think that's the year), it was also his birthday so we had a joint birthday celebration!