Iditarod 2010!

It's that time again! The 2010 Iditarod started this past weekend! Michael had to miss the ceremonial start in Anchorage last year, so we went to check it out this year! The musher with the number 49 on his bib is Lance Mackey. He has won the Iditarod for the past three years. We wonder if he'll be able to win it again this year?

Michael enjoying a reindeer dog from a street vendor! We have made reindeer dogs at our house, but they're never as good as they are from the street vendors! Our favorite vendor is hot dog man located on 4th Avenue in downtown Anchorage.


Us watching some of the teams race by!

Luckily, it was a lot warmer this year than it was last year for the Iditarod!

Who are these girls on my man?!?!?!

Wait! Those girls are our friends! :) (Jill, me, and Amy (left to right))

Have you ever seen "Cool Runnings" with the Jamaican bobsled team? Well this is a Jamaican dog sled team!!! Awesome!

Fur Rondy!

Amy and I went to see and participate in some of the Fur Rendezvous festival activities (Michael was working, as usual, so he didn't get to go with us!). We visited the snow sculptures.

Unfortunately, a lot of the sculptures had melted due to our very warm temps during Fur Rondy.

However, some of the sculptures were still standing!

One event we wanted to see was "The Blanket Toss".

This blanket is made out of several bearded seal skins sewn together to make one giant blanket! The Native Alaskans are permitted to hunt whales, seals, and walruses to survive. These hunts are a very ceremonial and traditional part of their culture. The Native Alaskans truly do respect and honor these animals.

People, or the tribe, all gather around this blanket and pull together in unison.

This blanket is so strong that it can hold a grown woman (Amy, in this case)! The pullers pull and pull (kind of the same motion as rowing a boat) until...

they pull one hard time, and BAM! The person in the middle is thrown up into the air! It's kind of like a trampoline, but not as bouncy or soft when you land! (Due to my pregnancy, I did not pull or bounce...I just took pictures!)

What a busy weekend!

A couple of things...

First off, when Anchorage's minor league hockey team scores their first goal of their game, fans throw fish heads onto the ice. Yes, I said fish heads.

Secondly, I'm not sure if I told you guys, but I have never had a cavity in my life...until I moved up here! Then, I got FOUR within six months!! I've been really baffled by this phenomenon and just attributed it to getting older. However, there really is a real reason for this decrease in dental health. There is no fluoride in the water up here! Well, damn, no wonder my teeth have been rotting out!

Hell's Belle's

Friday night, Michael and I went with my online girl group to see an all-female AC/DC cover band at a local club. The band was AWESOME! The above photo is with some of the ladies that were at the show! The club did get super crowded, but we did have a great time with all of our friends.

Fur Rendezvous, or Fur Rondy!

Every year, Anchorage has a festival called Fur Rendezvous. Even up here in the frozen tundra, they have fair rides! At first, I was like "hell no, I'm not going to ride any of that stuff because it is cold!". Then, Michael reminded me that I couldn't ride any of the rides, anyways, because of being pregnant! Damnnit! If you look at the thing in the left of the photo, that is the snowboard ramp. We watched this show on Saturday. It was pretty cool. Snowboarders and some skiiers from all over the state came to compete in this board show. After seeing these stunts in person, I am even more in awe of the Olympians!

A Friend's Birthday Extravaganza!

Our friend, Kelly (the one in the red shirt), turned 33 years old so we all went out dancing to celebrate. Originally, I did not plan on staying out all night, but we were having so much fun that I didn't even notice it was 2 in the morning! I ended up being the DD for a couple of our friends and being the photographer of the evening. I kind of liked this job of photographer and mind-filler in person! Haha!

Michael and I even danced a few times! Notice the liquid courage in Michael's hands!

Running of the Reindeer

During the Fur Rondy festival, they have this race called "Running of the Reindeer". This is exactly like it sounds! Runners race down a couple of blocks in the city and a few reindeers are released in the street to run through the runners! The runners don't run very far and the reindeer are nothing like the bulls in Spain! I think these reindeers really just wanted to get the heck out of the crowd and get back to their reindeer trailers! A lot of people also dress up in costumes for this race.

The three cowgirls waving in the photo above are three of my really good friends that competed in the race. I really wanted to compete, too, but the pregnancy put a stop to that. Oh well, next year.

One of the reindeers running through the streets! Run, runner, run!!

Nice winter walk

Last Thursday, my friend, Amy, and I went on a nice little walk on the Coastal trail. This is the trail we walked a lot during the summertime and for the Planet Walk in December. Since we haven't had a tremendous amount of snow this year and the snow that we do have on the walkways is pretty compacted, it's not that bad for a winter stroll! We went after 430 PM, so the sun was slowly going down. The above photo was taken about 530 when the sun was hitting downtown Anchorage.
Me and Mt. Susitna! I can tell that I have not done much walking this winter because during that small little walk, I got freaking shin splints. My snow boots are also not meant to be "walking" shoes because the bottom of my feet were on fire after this walk. Geesh!

Me and Denali (the mountain on the right)!!!

Downtown before the sun shone down on it! The mountains behind the city are the Chugach Mountains.

Talkeetna Mountain Range

Mt. Susitna, or the Sleeping Lady

Denali (Mt. McKinley) on the right and I can't remember what the mountain on the left is. Denali is a 4-5 hour drive from here if that gives you any perspective on how large it really is!

Fairbanks

Michael has to visit one of his Marine recruiters up in Fairbanks once a month and since I am currently available all of the time, I went with him to Fairbanks last week. Michael has been up to Fairbanks a few times, but this was my first time going. It was a very long drive from our house, but very pretty. I had all sorts of plans to go sightseeing while he was working, but unfortunately, he needed to use our vehicle for work stuff. This meant I was stuck in the military base hotel the whole time. Boo to that, but it was still nice seeing the city and going out at night!

This was some of the view we saw coming back to Anchorage. It was absolutely amazing and this picture really doesn't do this view any justice whatsoever. Fairbanks is the second largest city in Alaska...which really doesn't say much! haha! However, everyone was telling me how small Fairbanks was, but I was actually surprised about how large and spread out the city really was. Next time I go up with Michael, I will make sure that I will have the vehicle so I can do some exploring.

Tiki!

A couple of our friends decided that they had enough cold and snow and threw a tiki party a couple of weekends ago! This was a lot of fun! (if you are wondering, one of the party hosts was the same guy that threw the backwoods/redneck party back in September!) We were all dressed in our tiki clothes. I wore a dress with my snow boots to the party! hahaha! Once we were at the party, I put on my flip flops. I can tell that I haven't worn flip flops in so long because the shoes were starting to irritate my toes after awhile. This makes me very sad because I was such an avid flip flop wearer. :(

Me and one of our friends, Jill, tiki'ing it up! :) These friends are awesome because they had all kinds of mixed fruity non-alcoholic drinks for me to drink...once I got my serving, they would add the liquor! hahaha! Thank God for great friends! :)

The Birthday that never ended...

One of my friends, Andie turned 30 on January 31st. We were going to have one big joint birthday party, but most of you know that I want my birthday to be all about me! So we decided to have separate birthday parties. Andie's celebration was this past Saturday. Just when I thought I was done with all of my 30 celebrating, I showed up at Andie's party and they had a few items for me! They had a "30" tiara and some happy birthday beads! Andie and I both got to be the bells of the ball! :) We ate dinner at Andie's and then we went out dancing. Michael and I, originally, weren't going to go out dancing, but we were both feeling good and energetic, so why not?!?!

Amy and me at the dance club. This was my second time in a dance club since I've been pregnant. I danced the first time I went (it was like when I was 6 or 7 weeks), but it was super hard to dance sober. I actually had a GREAT time dancing this time! I really enjoyed it and realize how much I miss shaking my boot-a! It was also pretty cool wearing the tiara and beads in the club because the DJ wished us a happy birthday over the sound system and all kinds of random people wished me happy birthday! However, I do think Andie wanted me to wear my tiara and beads in the club so she wouldn't be the only one wearing a tiara! haha! I did love the attention! Thank you so much, Amy, for buying this stuff for me! It was a great way to end my birthday month! :)

Oh, and I had to show you all my new shoes. A couple of my friends got my some gift cards to a local shoe store up here. I've been really wanting to get a pair of fun Dansko's but have been putting it off since they are so pricey. I got these gift cards on my birthday, but I've been nervous about using them since I've heard your feet grow during pregnancy. However, I wear a 10.5...which they don't make!! So if my feet do grow, maybe they will only grow half an inch and then I would be a solid 11. Then, no more wrong fitting shoes!!! Hallelujah!! Anyways, feast your eyes on my new beautiful shoes...


I was going to get some black ones that look like an oil spill because I could wear those with most things. However, I saw these shoes and fell in love. When I tried them on in the store, I walked around in a circle, snapped my fingers, and told myself (in the mirror) that I looked fierce! Hahaha! I had to forgo the practical and get these! I HEART them so much! Now, mind you, I have nothing that matches them, but that's okay. All my outfits from now on will be picked out to match these beauties! :) The salesman at the store called them tiger print, but I call them snakeskin!! Rarrrrr!!!! You can all be jealous...I know they are beautiful! ;)