Photos from Alaska

Jeff put some good photos on his Instagram today.

First, the mountains...

Jeff said that the mountains are not "out" much - usually behind clouds.  Looks like he got lucky this time.  Can you imagine - this is his view from near his office!!!!

just in case you were wondering the names of the mountains.

Did you read that?  If not, go back and read it.

Really, largest active volcano in Alaska?!?!?!  I did not read that sign before I agreed to this!  Luckily, Mt. Wrangell is fairly far away, which is why, although it's so tall, it looks small in the first photo.  Mt. Drum is the mountain that looks so big, because it's so much closer than the others.

What's more - I noticed those flowers in that picture.  Aren't they pretty?


And here's one for all you Deadliest Catch and Captain Phil fans...

Jeff took Rhyanne to Valdez a couple weeks ago, and saw the Cornelia Marie at the dock.  I'm looking forward to more "close encounters" with Alaskan TV celebrities up here...

Until next time...

Getting lost near home

I was headed home today when I saw that there was a major backup on the interstate.  I am NOT the kind of person who sits patiently in traffic, so I took a quick right to the exit ramp to go home the long way.

Once on the long way, I saw a sign for the park that is just North of town, so I thought maybe it would be a good short-cut.

That was the first step in what ended up being an extra 20 minutes on the road.

First of all, I had forgotten that there were such hills and twisty-turns in Dane County.  I really don't get outside of my commute route or Madison that much.

Second of all, sometimes you think, "I won't get lost because I'll hit a road that I know soon enough" is not necessarily true, what with all of the aforementioned twisty-turns.  When I thought "I've seen that already" I knew it was time to turn the other way and try again...

Third of all, had I been the passenger, I would have been taking photos.  It really what very pretty.  You forget that "the country" really is very close when you only ever see if from the interstate.  Of course, had I been the passenger, I probably would have had my phone out looking for the way home.  I think driving around trying to find the way home was better.

All in all, what could have been a very exasperating experience (like I said, not patient in traffic), ended up being a nice one.

pretty pictures

Over the years the landscaping around the condo has been worked on and has really been maturing.  After the rain on Friday night, everything seemed vibrant on Saturday morning.

I just loved those water droplets on the leaves!

And boy, did these flowers look super vibrant!  The color does not always pop like that.

The lily photo was from a dark evening, where the flash ended up making the photo really nice, in my opinion:

motivational phrases

As we all know (if you've read any of my blog posts, that is), I'm on Pinterest.  A lot.  So it's probably not a surprise that I have an Alaska board over there.  Of course I put some of my pictures from when I blogged our Alaskan Honeymoon, I've also pinned some great pictures of Alaska, some different things to do there, some houses up there once Jeff started having interviews, stuff about repelling mosquitoes, and motivational phrases.

I'm in that board today, cleaning some stuff up, moving some stuff to my new Gardening board (really?  I can't even believe that I want to garden), and thought I would share with you.




(side note - we went to church the Sunday before Jeff's interviews back in June, a nice WELS church in Eagle River.  Silent prayer I asked God to help me to trust Him and to trust Jeff.  It's not always easy, but I can't help but believe that God's hand has been in this entire process.  We are just being guided by Him.)




And my personal favorite:


I've not taken too many risks in my life.  I never snuck out of the house.  I never tried drugs.  I've not done too many things that one might call "outside the box."  In fact, I can only count 4 instances:

• Leaving home to go to college (Mom was super surprised, and I never planned to go to Millikin, but it was the best thing I ever did...  within the first 20 years of life, that is).
• Moving 2 hours away to a new state where I didn't know anyone, to take a job.
• Joining a dating website, which is something that I said I would never do.  Within a week, I had been messaged by my future husband.
• Moving to Alaska.  That's 3200 miles outside the box.  How will it turn out?  Well, in my experience, taking that first step out of the box has always been worth it.  So why the hell not.

Vilas Zoo

Back in June (sorry, I've been kinda too busy to be prompt at blog posts), Tina & the boys came up for a weekend.  The three shortest of us went to the zoo!

Tina is a big fan of the Vilas Zoo because not only is it free, it's a 3-hour zoo!  Meaning you can totally get through the zoo in 3 hours, even with looking at all the exhibits.

Trekker has many pictures with this tortoise over the years.

When we walked back past those (alligator or crocodile?  I don't know) later, they were still in the same positions...

Sad to say, I think this buffalo was sniffing his own number one...

We really liked these guys, so cute standing up!

and babies too!

Trekker played at the playground for a bit

And then we saw the giraffes.  Last time I took a picture of Tina in front of giraffes, she was pregnant with Trekker!

The aviary was very hot, humid, and smelly.  We did not stay around for very long.

This summer the zoo is hosting a special dinosaur exhibit.  I can't remember which of the boys it was who said, many moons ago, that they would like to go and see real dinosaurs.  I asked "Like in a zoo?"  "Yes." Fun times with naive little kids...

This lion statue is near the entrance of the park.  Just like the tortoise, there have been many pictures taken with this guy over the years.

We were done with the zoo in less than 3 hours.  Just in time for lunch!