New Beginnings...

Hey Hey Hey!! Happy New Year... I know, it's a little late but I've been on the go and had a bit of a "writers block." LOL It's been a great 2010 so far and I rang it in with some great friends at our favorite local bar Humpy's! Amy had to work, so we hung out there, watched the anchorage fireworks and then sang Happy Birthday to yours truely! ;)
We spent New Years Day watching the Sugar Bowl, of course since it was Tebow's last game and it was a great one at that! He will be missed, but I'll follow him wherever he goes... Hehe It was overall a great Birthday and then my friend Van, who happens to be a baker made me a 4-layer funfetti Gator colored cake that was awesome!

Bored one night, Amy & I decided to go ice skating...something we haven't done in about 15+ years! LOL It was fun and somehow we made it out alive without breaking anything! Hehe We took our friends little girl and Josh met us and just had to show off next to us beginners, but he was a great help with Milan!
Last week Josh (My Alaskan Man...Hehe) was over and Amy called saying to come out back because there was a Moose out there. Y'all know my infatuation with those things, so I ran down the stairs and headed out back. Turn out there were 3 Moose.. a Momma and her 2 babies. Josh told me to grab my camera and we stalked them for a little while, got pretty close... Like within 5 feet! I know, not the smartest thing, but they seem so harmless. I was totally amazed, and Josh got some great pics.

Been a little stir crazy in the city lately, so Josh and I decided to get out of town for a bit... 1st stop was Seward! It was a warm 45 degrees down there and it turned out to be a nice, relaxing weekend. Went to the Sealife center, out to the waterfall and to some delicious Mom & Pop restaurants.
Next stop was Healy, a small town north of Denali. We stayed in a 'dry' cabin, which was a whole new experience for me...Dry cabin meaning no electricity/running water. It was very peaceful, right on a lake which was of course frozen solid. I got to see a Lynx and the Northern lights...but wasn't able to take any pictures. It was a brisk -10 outside and we decided to bundle up and go out on the snowmobile. We road out to the bus from the movie 'Into the Wild'... Very cool I must say and a true story. This place had beauty that really should be illegal...
That wraps up the past month or so in a nutshell... I'm happier then ever and living life to the fullest. I'll chat with ya soon and i promise to have more pics of Josh! ;)

It's Snowing, It's Snowing....

Well, I sure am full after Thanksgiving and I hope everyone had a great one back home! You were all missed, but know that I was surrounded by a great group of friends here in chilly Alaska. :) Amy and I slaved in the kitchen for hours, but it was well worth it! We had about 15 people at our turkey Dinner and it was great.. Of course you know I had to find humor in the kitchen somewhere...

The forcast called for snow all week and we didn't see a flurry until late Wednesday and it continued on through Thanksgiving Day. We got about 5 inches and I was lovin every minute of it!!!








Chat with you guys soon... XoXoXO

Say It's Great To Be a F-L-O-R-I-D-A GATOR!!!

So Amy and I woke up bright and early Saturday morning to prepare for our Gators to stomp LSU! It was an interesting morning between watching ESPN, waiting to hear if Tebow was cleared to play and of course listening to all the crap talking about how the Gators were going to Death Valley and no undefeated team had gone there and won in over 20 years! Anxiety started to set in as we're listening to all this and before we knew it... it was game time and Tebow had been cleared to play!!! Whoot Whoot! So, we headed over to the Peanut Farm and had a great time arguing with LSU fans and chanting FLORIDA chants!! It wasn't a great game, but we wone 13-3! :)

Operation Pacific Angel

Operation Pacicifc Angel is a recurring joint/combined humanitarian assistance mission designed to bring humantiarian assistance to areas in need in the Pacific region. This year the U.S Air Force decided to head to the Quang Tri Province in Vietnam and I got to be a part of this 2 week long mission ! It was pretty amazing and we saw over 5,000 combined patients in a 5-day period. It was exhausting, but very rewarding. Like so many other poor, communist countries most people simply cannot afford healthcare. On the way there we stopped in Hawaii and Guam to pick up more people, I had never been to either of those places, so I took advantage of every second. First stop in Hawaii was the Pearl Harbor Memorial. Only went to the U.S.S Arizona, but it happened to be on September 11th, which gave me a lot to think about that day. :( It was a very memorable experience.

Then it was beach time!! I have a friend who lives there and him and his family took me for a drive around the Island. It was awesome, we went by the "Chinaman's Hat" then up the North Shore and on to "Pipe" where they do the national surf competitions! There were 12 foot waves that day... Incredible! We also decided to do some snorkeling at Hanauma Bay! I loved this place!!



The next day it was on to Guam. I must admit, I'd would have a horrible case of Island Fever if I ever got stationed there, but the beaches just kept getting better. The water was a warm 82 degrees and crystal clear. I remembered I had a waterproof camera and decided to try it out on some beautiful scenery.



Then it was time for work... Off to Vietnam! We flew on a KC-135 Refueler which was a rather comfy ride if I must say... LOL You can see me lying on the floor, reading a magazine.

So after a 12 hours plane ride, we arrived in Vietnam just to have to get on a bus for 4 more hours to get to our destination. LOL We worked hard and played hard, trying to enjoy as much as we could. For some reason I'm always blessed with amazing people wherever I go, so that make my job very easy! All went well other then the interesting meals we ate... Fried Shrimp with the heads on them, Frog soup with the skins in it and you can't forget the rat/roach infested restaurants! I can only laugh about it now, cause you had to remember where you were. Overall it really was a great experience!







That pretty much sums up my trip! Winter is quickly approaching here, so I'm sure I'll have something new for you guys shortly! Love ya!

All Good Things Must Come To An End...

Well summer's coming to an end here and quick, but have no fear.. I've been taking complete advantage of what Alaskan summers have to offer. We started it off with a crazy camping trip at Kenai Lake which was amazingly beautiful and a TON of fun. Then this past weekend my friends and I decided to hit up the State Fair and while roaming around people watching, we found a fair hair stand and decided that since the 1st Florida Gators game was the next day we should get our hair colored..... Let's just say it was a good idea at the time.

Though we had a blast with it, it took 3 shampoo washes to get it out! SO, needless to say we wont be doing that again anytime soon... I think! ;) Oh and BTW they won their first game 62-3... GO GATORS!!!

We enjoyed the rest of the fair and headed up to Denali for the weekend to see some friends and so I could go and find me a moose... Which I did as you can see! LOL

Haha... Just playing! But, I did get to see 2 Moose after a late night out with the girls. We walked up stairs and looked out back and there they were licking away at the salt lick... Too cool! I couldn't get any pictures cause to was to dark, but it totally made my trip and lead to me buying a shirt that says 'Moose make me happy' which is SO very true! While in Denali you can't help but get trapped in the surroudning scenery and the beauty of the leaves changing .

We ended the weekend with an awesome hike up Flattop Mountain. Flattop Moutain is 3,510 feet high and has beautiful panoramic view of Anchorage! Although I wanted to quit 5 minutes into the hike, my roomie Amy pushed me to keep going and I was glad we did because we felt good about ourselves afterward :)

Phew.. so that was a long, but fun and entertaining 2 weeks! I'm headed out on a humanitarian mission for a couple weeks, so I'll talk to ya'll soon!

Halibut Fishing

Well, I went on my first Alaskan fishing trip this past weekend and had a blast! We went down the Kenai Coast to Homer and launched the charter boat out of there and had an adventurous 6 hours trip. The first couple of hours weren't so good due to my weak stomach.. Had a little bit of sea-sickness, so I laid down and took a litttle power nap and then woke up to begin my fishing!! I caught about 10 Halibut in-a-row.. one 30 pounder too :) It's really fun/easy fishing because as soon as your bait hits the bottom you get a bite and then BAM! Halibut is a really ugly fish, but it sure does taste yummy.

Me and my roomies and our fish!

After we left Homer Amy and I stopped at this river to try some Salmon fishing. We didn't have any luck, but it sure was beautiful and the weather was great!

Me in Amy's wadders.. These things are great!