When it's cold outside...

...the sun is out!

...the sky is blue!

...and the air is clear for a gorgeous sunset!

I enjoyed what turned out to be my favorite day of skiing so far!  Even though it was C-O-L-D (and by C-O-L-D I mean like BELOW ZERO) my friend and co-worker, Ingrid, and I decided to hit the slopes.  What FUN we had!  There is a funny thing called inversion that happens frequently here... it gets warmer up on top of the mountain than it is at the base of the mountain.  Today there was an 11 degree difference between the base and the top of chair 6! Once Ingrid and I left chair 3 (lower mountain) and ventured up to chair 6 (the top of the mountain), it was like skiing at a different resort.  We were in direct sunlight (for like 3 minutes at a time!!) and thanks to the inversion, it felt significantly warmer.  We spent the majority of the afternoon on the slopes with only a break for coffee.  It was a beautiful day from start to finish- good snow, perfect light, deep conversation, and great fun!

PS- When it's cold outside... nature may give you organic mascara... ;-)

SO much SNOW!

Scott took this picture while we were skiing

You know, after a couple blizzards and all... we have a lot of snow outside!  The snow this winter has been phenomenal, thus creating a beautiful and busy winter here in Girdwood.  I worked a lot of hours at the resort through the holidays, but things have slowed back down.  I found myself a little under the weather so to speak, but I am happy to report that I'm over that!

It's been kind of cold lately, with temps at and below zero.  One day while at work, I noticed it was TEN degrees warmer at the TOP of the mountain than it was at the base!  (5 at the base, 15 at the top)  I've become quite fond of the 15-25 degrees range; much warmer than 25 and it feels... hot.  It was almost 30 when I went cross country skiing with my friend Tara, and it really was too warm...

This week it has been warmer, with lots of snow!  Tuesday the winds were so intense (gusts up to 65 mph) that the mountain was closed.  Closed mountain = closed ticket office!  With my unexpected day off, I read, relaxed, and got a little cabin fever.  After a week or so of taking it easy (fending off sickness) and a day of healthy relaxation, I just had too much energy.  I met up with Tara and helped her shovel her deck, and then we went cross country skiing.  Consider the excess energy burned!  I was wiped after that (in a good way)!

The past couple days have been my "weekend" and if you really can't guess what I've been doing... I'll tell ya - skiing!  I spent a couple hours out there yesterday and another couple hours today.  Scott has been coaching me and I'm starting to feel like I can really ski.  I am slowly (but surely) beginning to learn how to ski different terrain as well as more difficult runs.  He is a great instructor!

I'm frequently asked by friends and family (in the lower 48) if I'm sick of the snow yet... if I miss anything about Atlanta (other than people & the pups)... if the darkness (late sunrise, early sunset) gets to me... My answer? I'm finding more and more that even though I miss my family and friends terribly, Alaska really fits well for me.  The pace of life in Girdwood, the people, the value set, the seasons... I just feel like I'm where I am supposed to be and where I am designed to be.

Alaska in February: Part 5

Tuesday was another BEAUTIFUL day on the mountain.  This girl forgot her camera. (I managed not to cry over it... though I was a bit put out for a couple minutes...) We spent most of the morning skiing (Sam snowboarded) with Scott, Jenn, Mike and Erin on chair 3 (blues and greens) before grabbing lunch at the Sitz.  I did snag my cell phone so I could at least get a few pictures!  After lunch, Mike and Erin headed home and the remaining 4 of us heading over to chair 6(?) and mid-mountain.  I'm not sure what it was, but having Jenn out there with me gave me more confidence.  I started finally skiing instead of traversing all over the mountain!  Jenn had to leave early afternoon, but I stayed out with Scott and Sam and finally attempted a harder blue, starting at the tip top of the mountain and going all the way down.  Yes, I was TERRIFIED, but it was soooo fun! 

Too bad I didn't have a real camera... It was so beautiful to see the sun setting on the Arm (aka the OCEAN) from the top of a mountain... The building to the right is the Tram building.  

See that skier, a little spec of nothing on the slope?  Yeah, I skied down that run!  Be proud of me...

coming down "the bowl" part of the mountain... again, it was so beautiful... 

considering how clumsy I can be, yes, I wore a helmet! 

Remember the pics of the Tram building and the slope with the skier that looked like a tiny ant?  This is the view from the top of that slope... yep, I did it more than once!

Sam snowboarding... he's so good on that thing! :-)

Tuesday was the first day I've been on skis and felt like I actually belonged on them.  I came away from the mountain that day feeling a real sense of accomplishment and in love with the sport.  It is such a fun way to connect with people! 

Wednesday I woke up with the blues, knowing it was my last full day in Girdwood.  Sam and I had plans to go cross country skiing again, but that fell through due to poles, skis, and boots in hiding!  Instead, we bundled up and took Samson (Scott and Jenn's boxer) for a hike in the woods.  We found a really cool outdoor, rustic sauna built into the side of the mountain... crazy.  Sam was all for trying it out sometime, I was thinking I'd be claustrophobic in there!  We stayed out for a couple hours... until I got good and tired.  Walking through snow is kind of tough! It wore me out quick.  We got back to the condo late afternoon and got ready for Bible study... another night of great discussion!  After Bible study, the 4 of us hung out and did some planning before Sam and I met up with Dario to catch up / say goodbyes.  

These two weeks blew by so fast... It was my first Alaskan winter experience, and a warm one at that, but I am so eager for another winter there.  I thought nothing would compare to the A-MAZ-ING summers in Alaska... But I find myself looking forward to winters as much as summers.  And that, my friends, is a great thing considering I am officially moving there!  The ball is rolling... and I'll keep you posted!

-♥-

Alaska in February: Part 3

Wednesday was my first day on Mt. Alyeska snow skiing.  Though I have spent many weekends on skis, I've never skied for an extended length of time (more than 3 days in a trip)... and looking at Alyeska was QUITE intimidating.  Scott is a ski instructor, an experienced skier, and he spent a large part of Wednesday coaching me!  It took a couple runs to get my legs underneath me, and it started coming back, kind of like riding a bike.  Scott helped me improve my form, and after a couple hours on the greens, we headed over to mid-mountain for the blues.  Um, I have skied out in Beaver Creek, CO, but the top of any run I skied there looked so puny compared to even an easy blue on Alyeska.  I'd be lying if I said I was not totally and completely terrified looking down the mountain (from mid-mountain).  :-) But... I DID IT!  I skied it with a lot of coaching from Scott and a lot of encouragement & patience from Sam (he thought I was so much better than what I thought I was!).  Mid-mountain had a LOT of powder... Coming down a couple of the runs, there were places I couldn't see my ski boots or skis because they were buried under very fluffy snow.  

Getting ready to go down one of the runs from mid-mountain (an easy blue)

Me and Sam... That's the OCEAN in the background... Alyeska is the only resort that you can see the ocean from... Pretty cool (and pretty) if you ask me!

slopes/lifts as the sun is setting

view from the ski lodge

Wednesday evening we had Bible study and again, it was just AWESOME.  Such a great group of people, great discussion... everything a Bible study should be! ;)  Thursday, Sam and I hung out in Girdwood, touched base with Dario and planned to help him and Nic on Saturday, and rested.  We had spent a lot of time going and going and going and definitely needed just a day to rest.  

Friday it was back to the mountain!!  It was fairly cloudy on Friday, if I am remembering correctly... so I think that is why I didn't take any more pictures.  I spent some time on the greens and easy blues, really trying to perfect my form...  Just after lunch, I turned in my skis for my first snowboard lesson.  A friend of Scott's (with Sam as her assistant) taught me, Scott, and a few other friends from Rotary.  That was a trip!  I was the only one "in class" that was not a proficient skier (not sure if that had anything to do with me not picking it up as quickly as the rest) but I was getting pretty comfortable on the bunny slopes!  The rest of the group headed to a green, but I stayed on the bunny slopes until they closed.  After that run, we headed into the Sitz Mark for a cup of coffee to warm up.  We had a lot of fun just hanging out with new friends.  Not too much later, I traded my board in for skis again and we made a couple runs down harder blues.  I got tired.  Very tired.  I'm sure I sounded pretty whiney, but toward the end of the day it got to be so hard just to stay on my feet ...good thing snow makes for a soft place to fall!  I can't be certain, but I am pretty sure I slept REALLY well on Friday night!  Saturday was a big day for us... Part 4 next time. :)

Alaska in February: Part 2

If you remember, Sam and I met a local musher named Dario at The Grind on Saturday afternoon.  We got to talking, and found out he owns a kennel in Girdwood.  We asked if he needed an extra set of hands or two to help out. He asked if we were good with shovels... :-)

Sunday morning we were up and at 'em pretty early. Sam and I packed for Talkeetna and then headed over to Moose Meadows (a big playing field near the resort) to meet up with Dario. Dario picked us up and started taking us on something of a tour. Both of us got a little nervous thinking, hey the plan was for us to help you, not to get a tour- was there some miscommunication?! No, there wasn't, he was just showing us around, exercising his dogs! Very, very cool.  The sled he uses for tours has a place for one rider to sit in a net/hammock type seat, a place for a 2nd rider to sit on a box behind the first rider or to stand, and then a place for the musher.  Dario took us for a long ride, long enough for Sam and I to sit/stand in both seats.

I must say, it is a great way to get around!! 

Pretending to mush ... :-)

Dario is a great guy-- loves his dogs, loves Alaska --and very fun to be around. We stopped often so that the dogs could cool off! Ha! It was like 30 degrees!! That's still below freezing, in case you forgot. Apparently the optimal temperature for running the dogs is 20 below... Unreal! He said that running in 30 degree weather is like running in 90 degree weather for us. After what seemed like a very long, very fun tour (one that we felt we should have paid for!) we made it over to his kennel.  Dario showed us how to unharness the pups and where to put them. Dario told us about his day-to-day schedule taking care of the dogs: feed, water, scoop; take team(s) out for exercise/tours/etc.; feed, water, scoop; take other team(s) out for exercise/tours/etc.; feed, water, scoop. I can't imagine what it would look like if he didn't take such good care of them all!! All the dogs were super happy with incredibly friendly demeanors.

a puppy!

After shoveling (heehee) and cleaning up the kennel area, it was about time for us to head back to the condo. We were planning on leaving that afternoon for Talkeetna.  We were so grateful for the afternoon we had we Dario and being at the kennel.  We started the short walk back to the condos and it was so cool to see them from a distance... 

Can you find the 3-story condos? Hahahaha... they look so small!

our walk back took us by the local airport... isn't it amazing?

Scott and Jenn's friend Jimmy owns a beautiful cabin in Talkeetna, and invited all of us out to stay a couple of nights.  After cleaning up and getting the cards loaded, we were off... It was going to take a couple hours to get there, and I sure didn't want to be too warm in the car, so you know, I just had jeans and a pullover on... Besides, it was like 30 degrees, and I was getting pretty used to 30 degrees being kind of warm. Big mistake. When we got there it was already after dark and we were both definitely way underdressed for the (short) walk up to the cabin. This was the coldest I think I've ever been! Within less than a minute of being outside the car my fingers were hurting and every inch of me felt so, so cold! I pulled my ski bibs over everything I was already wearing, put on two coats, gloves, hat... and hoped the walk to the cabin would be short! Jimmy had spent the afternoon there preparing the cabin for us, and a fire was already going when we came in. It was amazing to walk into and so inviting!  My fingers hurt so bad... it was unreal. Everyone kept telling me to put them closer to the fire but as they warmed up, they hurt! After a couple minutes they returned to normal, not that I was worried or anything, haha. Jimmy had prepared a stew and bread for us, so we sat down to eat pretty quickly.

Jimmy's cabin

The cabin had 2 rooms downstairs: a bedroom (currently unfinished & we didn't use it) and a "great room". The great room had a folding table and chairs, a bench, a chest of drawers, a long table (for a counter top holding our water containers and shallow buckets for a sink), a gas stove, a wood burning heater thing, camping chairs for lounging and a sofa, among other storage containers. Upstairs there was one room plus a loft, and 6 surprisingly comfortable cots. It was easily 15 degrees warmer upstairs than down... Both nights the outside temps were around ten below... The first night Jimmy manned the fire and apparently it was getting too much air... the heater unit started glowing and was above 900 degrees! Upstairs the thermometer showed us it was like -10 outside, 90 degrees inside ... Going out in 10 below weather was actually not too terrible after being a toasty 90 degrees inside.  Why would we go out in it?  That would be to use the outhouse... Ha.  Sam said you knew you had to go when you were willing to brave the cold...

Jenn at the "Loose Moose"

Jimmy had the brilliant idea to keep the toilet seat inside... to avoid "poopsicles" ... So we had to take it out with us whenever we went...  

Monday morning we got up, had breakfast, and headed into Talkeetna. It's a small, eclectic town, and it is referred to as the Gateway to Denali. Most people climbing Denali will fly out of Talkeetna. On our way into town, we stopped at one overlook. The weather was just gorgeous, and we were able to see Denali so clearly from so far away! Here's me and Jenn, with Denali in the middle. I know it doesn't look that big... just remember the summit is at 20,320 ft. Even in June, you can expect the temps at Denali's summit to be -40. Just saying.

Sam and me & Scott and Jenn

After lunch and a little shopping in Talkeetna, we headed back to the cabin and did some more cross country skiing. I still was not very good, but I really enjoyed it. It will definitely be a hobby I pursue further!

another gorgeous Alaskan sunset

After skiing, we all warmed up inside, Jimmy headed home to Anchorage, and the rest of us hung out until we were too tired to talk anymore before going on to bed. Tuesday we got up late (meant to be up at 7, really got up at 8) and packed up quickly to be out of there by 9. We grabbed breakfast on the road and met up with Nicolas Petit in Chugiak.

blocks of meat on the left, band saw on the right... Nic showing Sam and Scott how to break up the meat after it had been cut.

Scott and Sam took huge blocks of raw, frozen ground meat and cut them into about 1/3-inch strips which had to be broken up into bite-sized chunks for easy defrosting at checkpoints. For those who don't know, the Iditarod has certain checkpoints, and all the musher's supplies need to be ready to go by next week. Nic has his work cut out for him, so we were more than happy to help. Jenn and I left the guys to mess with the meat (I SOOOOOO could NOT handle it!) and we grabbed the shovels. This kennel had about 46 dogs... and the kennel only gets scooped twice a day... and I'm sure we shoveled at least 2-3 per pup. After scooping we got to "water" them. This was sooooo much more than putting water in their bowls. What they get is only about 1/2 water, the other 1/2 oil that kinda smells like fast food, and chunks of meat. The dogs, of course, love this. That grub ended up getting all over us, of course... We smelled bad. Nevermind the not having a shower for 2 days... Between the guys dealing with the meat, and us dealing with the "water" ... we were a smelly, smelly bunch. I may have gagged once...

May and me

After the dogs were all given some TLC, poop-free spaces, and "water" ... they were pretty much set. So, Jenn and I helped the guys. I tried so hard to be okay with it but it REALLY grossed me out. I ended up duct taping the gallon size ziploc bags full of the raw, chunky frozen meat. These are what will go to the checkpoints to feed the pups during the race. It is a cool feeling to be a part of it, though it really is so much more work than I had ever imagined. We spent about 4-5 hours there and barely put a dent in the things that can and need to be done!

After dumping all external layers into a big sack, we piled into the car and headed to dinner. We ate pizza at Moose's Tooth (an awesome restaurant in Anchorage) and then did a little grocery shopping before getting back to Girdwood. Tomorrow we head to the mountain for snow skiing/boarding...!!!

Winterplace

Our youth group piled in the vans on Friday afternoon and headed out to West Virginia to go skiing at Winterplace Resort. We had barely made it out of Atlanta when the van I am in starts vibrating and shaking... The side mirror blew off, the plastic casing of the mirror was beating against my window, and Shad (very calmly considering...) started pulling over 2 lanes of traffic to the shoulder. After we were stopped, we found out the front right tire had blown and the tread had knocked off the mirror. I am very thankful Shad kept control of the van so well and got us safely to the side of the road... NO WRECKS.

The girls in our van "scared" from the tire blowing off.

Lucky for us, we had some very handy men around to change the tire... Even if it did take all four of them.


Yes, I had my camera out documenting this entire thing... And while watching this whole thing, I had to ask them... Okay, how many men does it take to change a tire, really?

"Apparently four-- plus one woman with a camera." Well said, Derek... I had to wait and catch a picture of this on the way home (too dark on the way there), but right where we blew a tire, there was an entrance ramp from an exit that had this billboard... Oh, the humor...


We finally made it to La Quinta in Bristol, VA... No more problems, thank God... And though it took a while for me to sleep (too much adrenaline, still)... we all were asleep pretty fast. Saturday morning came all too quickly, and I met Shad in the morning to give him my Garmin to send him to Wal Mart to get new tires. The spare, though a good tire, is 13 years old. We didn't want to see how much trouble we could get into, so Shad bought 2 new tires (replaced both front ones). After another couple of hours on the road, a quick lunch, unloading bags at the hotel (which, by the way, the hotel was a mess in and of itself!) and renting gear, we finally made it to the slopes. Well, except for Shad who went to the Wal Mart in VA to get 2 more tires for the back... Bless him. I was eager to get on the mountain, so my camera didn't find its way out of my bag until that night... Here are a few. Check out the slopes in the first picture!


Derek & me before dinner...


Lei & me... Sam & me...

After a quick dinner, we skied (or snowboarded) until 9:30. I met up with Chip (an advanced skier) and his son Michael (a first time snowboarder). They were going down more of the same runs that I enjoyed (verses more challenging ones that the above group were going down). It was a lot of fun getting to know them. At 9:30 we headed back to the hotel... Although the lobby and upstairs of the hotel on the first trip (earlier that afternoon) was enough to make my nose bleed... Our rooms were great, or at least mine was, and I didn't have to deal with cigarette smoke at all! Again, after a quick night's sleep, we were back on the slopes on Sunday.

I decided to take a private ski lesson on Sunday, and I am OH SO GLAD I DID! So many people were saying "you know how to ski, so why are you taking a lesson?" ... I can ski, meaning I can get down the mountain kind of gracefully... but I want to ski skillfully, and I'm well on my way to doing so after my lesson on Sunday. My instructor's name is Mike, and he was fantastic! He was a great teacher, very positive, and a lot of fun. We talked about my past skiing endeavors, which led to me talking about ski ministries. He is also a Christian, he told me, and took a lot of interest in the Host Ministries stuff I do in Gatlinburg. After my hour of instruction was up, I had the option to buy another lesson... but nearing the end of my lesson (though it was great!) I didn't think I was going to. After making our final run (which was SO fun thanks to all of Mike's help!) I told him I changed my mind. We spent another hour skiing, and when that was over, he told me he'd pay for my 2nd hour... How nice!! And what a real treat.

Kelsey, Amber, me, Lei, and Kelly

After my lesson, I headed back out on the slopes. I skied with Derek, Lei, Sam, David, Kelsey and some other college-aged people for a bit before running into Chip and Michael again at the lodge. One of the youth, Laura, came back out with me, Chip, and Michael and we had a lot of fun on the blues (intermediate slopes) and greens (beginner slopes). We definitely stayed away from the blacks (expert slopes), but I was just fine with that. Remember how I said I am not an adrenaline junkie? I was just fine putting into practice what I learned on greens and blues without trying to tackle blacks. Here's a couple pictures that we took on Sunday...


Laura, me, and Michael


Chip, me, and Laura

We had a good time... Sunday night we went to Ryan's for dinner... not my favorite restaurant, but I really enjoyed that fried okra... :-) Outside, Shad took a quick picture of everyone that was in our van... Poor guy had 6 girls!

Anna, Laura, Morgan, me, Kelsey, and Deanna

Monday morning, it was get up and get on the road early!! We stopped in Knoxville to have lunch at the food court... so I had a couple friends meet us there! Jacob and Laura both surprised Shad, which was fun, and it was great to have lunch with them!

When we were within 5 miles of the church, someone called to alert us to our back left tire being very low... Seriously?! We stopped and put 2 rounds of air in it... then after the air shut off, we still heard air... What?! Apparently the little knob that you use to put air in the tire was not attached properly to the tire... Shad and I looked at each other and he said, "Let's go!" We both jumped in the van and made it back to the church safely! Someone will be taking that tire back to Wal Mart!! Overall, it was a very eventful trip to say the least!