cold toes

hmmm...i'm sitting in my little apartment, toasty warm with the wood stove.  but it doesn't really seem to matter.  my toes just stay cold.  they are the last part of me warmed by snowboarding and even 2 layers of socks can't keep them warm tonight.  bummer.

in other news, this is me in unalakleet, ak.  its up by nome, in the crook of the seward peninsula.  my back is to the bering sea.

the bering sea!  good gawd, it was cool.

and cold. (note the puffy coat my mom gave me for christmas!)

and full of great people. i head back out that way next week--to st. lawrence island.  get out your google maps, folks!

a good alaska day

ah, a good day. g brought me coffee in bed. i snoozed with no particular place to be. and then i realized it was sunny outside.

so we rolled up the hill to go snowboarding.  it was warm enough that i didn't even have to wear my extra sweater layer.  we decided to hike out to a place called "west bowl." oh my.  gorgeous, spectacular scenery.  we could see mountains and mountains, endlessly. and we were on the other side of the island (douglas) than we started, looking across the inlet at admiralty island. maybe the most beautiful place i've ever been.

and the snow was powder; glorious, easy to turn in, suck me in and enjoy it all day long, snow.

after three hikes, i was pooped. so we went home & onto the grocery run.  we notice the traffic going the opposite way is stalled...not because of an accident, but because everyone had stopped to look at orca whales in the channel!  so we whipped the car around, ran down to the harbor, and watched them chase a seal.  

we unloaded groceries by the light of the full moon.  

all in all, a spectacular day to be in alaska.

2008.

really?  its 2008?  happily, 8 is more fun to write than 7, but sheesh.  2008.

i can remember being a teenager and how impossible it was to imagine being more than 21, 22 at most. and this is the year i'll turn 28.  

2007 was a good year, despite its rather ugly-looking ending number. its oh-so-cheesy to do a year in review, but i can't help myself.  it was a dramatic year for me.  there were the natural highlights: graduation, discovered a love of studying religion (catholicism) in america, marriage, move to alaska, new job (first salary!).  but then there were the nuances that life are really about...

• discovered breyer's mint chocolate chip ice cream.  yum! poor body.
  
• discovered the fells way in medford, ma. beautiful trail...saving grace of living in the city.
  
• bought renters' insurance for the first time ever.
• renamed blog.
• discovered the gourds.  hope to visit austin soon.
• e-bayed for snowboard.
• learned to recycle without curbside pickup.
• learned how to make scones.
• traveled as far north and as far west as i ever have (delta junction/fairbanks, anchorage

and through it all? kept oregon drivers' license.  no kidding.