Tender Mercies

My sister Kristina is one of the most thoughtful young ladies I know.  Every holiday, birthday, or half birthday, I get a homemade card in the mail.  I even get them thoughI am married and live in Alaska.  Yep, I feel loved!! So this is just a post about my awesome sister who always thinks about others, and is just so lovely and special. And I am just so excited to spend the next month with her in Arizona!  See you on Tuesday!!

I love reasons to dress up and look like a princess!  Yesterday I went to our Battalion's Holiday Formal and  had a really handsome date. Me and my handsome date! We decided to take our pictures in front of the Christmas tree, instead of paying for professional ones :) It was fun getting ready for the ball because I have AMAZING friends who were willing to do my hair and my makeup.  I think there were five of us ladies who all got together at Janye's house to get all prettied up.  We couldn't have done it without the expertise of Audra with hair and Lizzie with makeup.  They were seriously amazing!  Here are pictures of my up-do for all you ladies out there :-). I had to get to the Westmark Hotel at 5 o'clock so that Marshall could rehearse for color guard.  Social/cocktail hour began at 1830, and then Marshall led the color guard as they presented the Colors at 1930.  I was happy that Sarah was sitting in the front of the room, so she got a great pic

Denali in the background No one wants to feel like a newbie, so a common practice before traveling to a new city or country is to learn the language of that particular place.  Well, when my Aunt Joan picked me up from the airport last December when I first arrived in Alaska, one of the first things she told me was if I didn't want to sound like a tourist, I needed to refer to Mt. Mckinley (the tallest mountain in North America, located some 120 miles south of Fairbanks) as Denali .  Denali is the native Athabaskan name for the mountain, and means "The High One."  So, from day number one in Alaska, I refered to that majestic mountain as Denali instead of the name I had learned growing up.  This is just about what it looked like yesterday morning! Another thing I learned recently is how to say the temperature.  I was saying "Gosh it's cold outside because it's negative 30 degrees."  But luckily, a kind skating mom told me that Alaskans say "

I like this man! Like a lot. Today I was able to pin my husband as he was promoted to Specialist from Private First Class!  I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, but I am going to count every blessing that comes our way and notice my husband's every accomplishment.  Typically the Army automatically promotes a soldier to Specialist after he has been in the service for two years.  Marshall has been in for 18 months, which means that he had to get a waiver to get the early promotion.  It means a lot to me that he is so diligent in his job and works hard for our small family. He is always trying to improve himself and learn and grow.  It was an honor to pin him this afternoon, and I am looking forward to every other promotion in the future! And of course, we had to go home and celebrate with homemade vanilla ice cream and chocolate hazelnut cookies. 

I never wanted to be a figure skating coach.  It is just something that I started to do when I turned 16 to help pay for my ice time and my lessons.  And then I continued to do it to support myself when I went to college.  Now I am living in Alaska, and I still find myself coaching. Maybe I do like this coaching thing after all. I think I like it best because I get to interact with so many people.  I teach Learn-to-Skate lessons at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, and the kids that I have met and skated with have just about melted my heart.  I love them so much.  For example, at the end of the most recent session, one of my students ran up to me before class and handed me a picture she had colored.  On the bottom of the page she wrote, "I like you. Laura."  Seriously the cutest thing ever!  Another wonderful moment that happened more than once occurred as I was walking out of the rink to my car.  As I walked across the parking lot I heard "Hi Coach Jenessa!&q

One year ago our "Grand Adventure" began. I married my best friend in the Mesa Arizona LDS temple on November 25, 2011.  Marrying into the military is a lot different than a typical marriage, but oh how I am grateful for all the adventures and lessons it has taught me! As I look over the past year, there are so many fun adventures that we have experienced. 1) Living apart for nearly 6 months...not ideal, but it sure made our reunion that much sweeter! 2) Moving to an unknown land called Alaska! 3) I graduated from Drury University with my Bachelor's in exercise physiology in May. 4) We both bought cross country skis and learned how to ski. 5) Hiked Granite Tors in August and went rock climbing and berry picking (and made homemade jam!). 6) We enjoyed driving to Anchorage 3 times to spend time with my Aunt and Uncle and cousins. How grateful I am to have family in Alaska!! 7) Attending the Temple with my sweetheart. Those have been special moments in our ma

Whoever thought that teaching the three-year-olds in nursery would give me reason to fall in love all over again?  I sure didn't think so, until my sweet husband helped me this past Sunday since the other lady who does nursery with me was sick.  There are six to eight two and three-year-olds in my class.  They are all great kids, but you can expect what would happen when you put them all together for two hours during their nap time (2-4pm).  Those kids loved Marshall.  It was so cute to see them all sitting in their chairs that were lined up, pretending to be riding on a train.  "chuga-chuga-chuga-chuga-CHOO-CHOO!" was their cry.  They must have played this for 10 to 15 minutes.  And each time they would "stop" at a certain destination.  My favorite was when they stopped at the fair and ran up out of their chairs to get pretend cotton candy from him.  Another game they played was animals.  At one point they were getting really loud because they were preten

There is about a foot of snow on the ground.  The daily forecast for the next week is in the single digits.  I could just stay inside and read or watch TV.  Or I could cross country ski in my free time. I pick the later! On Friday, my sweet husband bought me my own cross country skis and boots, which we found for a pretty sweet deal at Play it Again Sports.  I was so excited to go out and try my skis for the first time on Saturday, but it was a little trickier than I thought it would be. Everything I have learned from ice skating, and everything I have trained my muscles to do on the ice had to be pushed aside.  For example: --You learn in skating to NOT skate with your toe picks.  This is like the biggest no-no.  But in touring cross country skis, you glide in a straight line and you DO push off with your toes.  At first I wasn't using my toes when I was skiing, and Marshall was like,"push with your toes!" and I would respond, "I can't!"  It was rea

I am always trying to figure out what kinds of snacks and foods my husband really enjoys eating, but the one trick is that he doesn't always articulate exactly what he wants.  "I just want food," he tells me.  While I am grateful that he is not picky, I know he has opinions.  So I was grateful to find a sticky note on the desk one day that he had written.  "Marshall approved Snacks," it read.  Hallelujah! One of his "approved" snacks is Fig Newtons.  I've looked on the ingredient list of Fig Newtons before, and I haven't been too impressed, and I don't want to pay for mediocrity.  So I thought that I should make my own.  I immediately went to work to find a homemade version of the cookie bar that seemed delicious enough to make and eat.  After reading dozens of recipes, I narrowed down on one, and altered it to fit our taste buds.  It only cost me about $5, and it made 48 cookies the size of the commercial brand.  I also did a gluten-free

As an Army wife without any kids, I find that I have a lot of time to devote to my husband. Coaching does not take up all of my time, which I am grateful for, because I get to focus on ways to strengthen my marriage, show love to my husband, and take care of my own needs.  And through this new full-time job of being an Army Wife, I have found a new hobby:  creating commercial foods and snacks at home.  While it may not be convenient or fast, I have a handful of reasons why I do this.  1). It is often times cheaper than the store-bought version 2). It is a time for me to be creative in the kitchen 3). I can control what I put in, so I know there are no strange chemicals or additives 4). I can improve in my baking and culinary skills 5). I can use ingredients that are not genetically modified (GMOs) 6). It's a way for me to show my love for my husband, because it is something I created, rather than the manufacturer. 7). It is just fun ! Photo Credit I have done

Happy Halloween!  While I may not be too keen on dressing up and trick-or-treating for Halloween, I do love carving pumpkins, roasted pumpkin seeds, cooking with pumpkins, and everything that has to do with pumpkins, butternut-, carnival-, acorn-, spaghetti-, and every other kind of squash out there!  Normally I would say I like the autumn colors outside, but as it is already winter here in Alaska, that is not a perk of Halloween anymore, at least for the time being.  We had another couple from church come over to our house on Saturday to carve pumpkins with us.  I made chili and we enjoyed being together.  I had a difficult time coming up with what to carve, but I knew that if I wanted it to look good, I had better keep it simple.  So I decided to stick with an Alaskan theme and carve the big dipper that is on the state flag.  Marshall was a little bit more creative than me, and carved a pretty cool haunted house.  Alex's pumpkin was so thick that he thinned it out a little by

Wasn't Conference so wonderful this past weekend?  I sure enjoyed watching all the sessions with my husband and friends.  Although I take notes and pay attention to the speakers, after it is all said and done, it is hard to remember specific points that stood out to me...because so much was said. So I tried something this year.  I took a 3X5 index card and wrote a point or two from each talk.  Now I can keep that card with me in my scriptures and always have it to joggle my memory at a moment's notice.  A 3X5 card has all of the highlights from the most recent conference. I highlighted each name so that I can differentiate easily between the  First Presidency, The Twelve, The Seventy, and Auxiliary leaders. 

Last Friday, my husband and I went out for a lunch date.  It had been over a month since we had eaten out, so we decided to go out for lunch on his day off (since of course, lunch is going to be cheaper).  I think what made this date so much fun was that we had planned for it on Monday, so I had all week to look forward to it.  From the many restaurants in Fairbanks, I think I found my new favorite, though I am ALWAYS up for trying something new.  From the moment we sat down at Pad Thai Restaurant on College Road, I knew it was a good pick.  The waitress was so cheerful and the occasional voices heard from the kitchen were speaking Thai, a good sign when eating at an authentic restaurant. It is a slight pet peeve of mine when I go to a Japanese steakhouse, only to be served by someone from Korea or Mexico.  Not that I have anything against them...but I digress.        Not the best picture, but it does capture the most important aspect: the delicious food! Coconut curry, s

The Aurora in Fairbanks, Alaska on October 8, 2012.  (My friend, Janye Wallace, took this beautiful picture from Ft. Wainwright. Thanks for sharing!) It seemed like every time I would get on facebook, I would read posts about people seeing the Northern Lights in Fairbanks.  I would see their gorgeous pictures of the dancing lights, and then grab a coat and run outside, or even drive out away from the city on one occasion, but would still see nothing but a black sky.  I felt like I would never see them!! Last night started out like the one described above.  Out of frustration, I downloaded an Aurora forecast app for my phone, and then opened it up.  It said it was at 70% strength, so Marshall asked if I wanted to run out to the Creamer's Field behind our house to look, just in case.  We only got to the parking lot of our Apartment when I looked up and saw green dancing lights above my head!!  The experience truly was magnificent.  If I have to live through sub-freezing tem

I love Japanese food, and I just picked up a great cookbook from the library that has helped me produce 3 wonderfully delicious Japanese and Chinese dinners over the past week!  Tonight I made tonkatsu , breaded pork cutlets pan-fried to deliciousness (though I used turkey cutlets instead, because they were on sale).  I served the crispy breaded cutlets on top of a bed of cabbage, with a sweet sauce on top that reminded my husband of an Asian-infused barbecue sauce.  On the side we had tomato wedges, brown Japanese rice, and tamagoyaki--a slightly sweet Japanese style egg omelet, often times served in sushi. My hungry stomach was oh so happy with the results, and my husband was pleased as well.  I had no complaints whatsoever about dinner tonight, and that is a big deal for me!  I have posted the recipe below for your enjoyment :).     Our dinner.  Tonkatsu, shredded cabbage, rice, tomato wedges, and tamagoyaki. So delicious! (Sorry for the poor photo quality!)  T

I've watched flash mob videos on YouTube, and I've always thought they were pretty darn clever. But I never imagined I would be in one. A lady from church had her birthday this week, and since she had always wanted to be in a flash mob, she organized one as a way to celebrate. And this is where I come in. About 25 participants showed up to her practice on Friday night to learn the dance, and then we performed tonight at the Bentley Mall at 5pm. The important thing to understand is that we live in Fairbanks, Alaska. In order to have a "successful" flash mob, you need to do it in a large crowd of people. Ya, there are none of those in Fairbanks. Actually, the mall was the most crowded I had ever scene it. (And that was probably because all of the Alaskan residents received their Permanent Fund checks in the mail, so they had extra spending money.) I know it was a success because as the third dancer started to dance, a person in the mall said, "it's a flash

101 ways to relax.  Ahhh, just those words make me feel relaxed already!  I could have titled this post, "100 Ways to Relieve Stress," but that just doesn't sound as positive to me.  Positive thought is the first step to feeling relaxed and happy! If you have any ideas that I have missed, please feel free to share! (These ideas are in no particular order). 1. Go on a walk. Even five minutes in fresh air can do the trick! 2. Eat spicy foods (hot foods release endorphins in the body) 3. Smile 4. Call your sister 5. Bake something really yummy! 6. Deliever some of the treats you made to somebody 7. Look through a picture album 8. Write in your journal about something fun that happened in the recent past 9.  Write in your journal about one thing you're thankful for 10.  Try a new recipe 11. Buy a chocolate bar and leave it in your husband's car to surprise him 12. Listen to Latin Pop 13. Dance around your living room to your favorite song 14. Go on a ru

I am blessed to have a friend who not only is in the same company as us, but goes to our chuch as well.  I have enjoyed getting to know her and her family through church activities, teaching her three-year old in nursery, various company activities, and dinner get-togethers.  But I have been wanting to get acquainted with the other wives because I just like people!  You can't just have one friend either, because in the Army, families are moving all the time.  This is why Janye is such a great friend.  She ALWAYS invites me to get-togethers and events that happen.  For example, this past week she asked me if I was going to the "Coffee" get-together at Barnes & Noble on Saturday.  I was so happy she invited me becasue it gave me an opportunity to get to know a few more wives. I'm not going to lie; before I went, I was a tiny bit nervous because I didn't know anyone except Janye.  But my fears left immediately after I arrived at B&N and met up with the ladies

Labor Day weekend 2012.  It was the weekend I didn't know we really needed, that is, until we were headed back home. ---In order to spare you too much reading, I will try to keep the details from our trip to a minimum.---  Where's the rest of the temple, you ask? This is it! Yep, the Stake Center is bigger :)  We left Fairbanks for Anchorage on Thursday, August 30th, and drove my Aunt and Uncle's home just outside of Palmer (about a 5 hour drive).  After a great night's sleep, Marshall and I drove to Anchorage Friday morning to go to the temple.  It was a rainy and cloudy day, but the experience I had inside the temple was really special.  When I was growing up, I thought a 1 hour drive to the Oakland Temple was a long trip.  Then I moved to Missouri, where the closest temple was a 3 hour drive.  And now it is 6.  It is a sacrifice, but I am happy to make the weekend trip every 2 or 3 months when Marshall can get a pass. We look forward to our trips ev

(Just a random picture from July at a church BBQ & 5K) Compared to many couples, I feel like Marshall and I are pretty traditional. On the one hand, he goes to work everyday, makes sure the cars are running properly, works with the youth in our church, and still has time to open the door for me and tell me he loves me. I, on the other hand, only coach ice skating part time so that I have time to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner for him, keep the house & laundry tidy, and to be available whenever he may need me. I probably should add a disclaimer here: Marshall is by no means incompetent of taking care of himself. We see our roles as husband and wife as separate but equal . I could work full time if I wanted to, and he would support me. Some might think I should be furthering my career because we don't have children yet, but I have thought long and hard about my working full time, and feel like it would not strengthen our marriage if I had a full time job. That said, I

Its funny how many life lessons you can find while participating in athletics.  I had a realization today during my morning workout with Marshall as we were running through the birch forest behind our apartment: Pick your plan of action before beginning, then proceed as outlined. Let me explain. Before a run, it can be tempting to say, "I am just going to see where my run takes me." The danger with this sort of workout plan, or lack thereof, is that when you start to feel your muscles burn and your heart rate increase, it is tempting to turn around and run back home. We all know that improvement in any area, including fitness, doesn't come without hard work and sometimes pain, sweat, and tears.  Our backyard! This is one of the many trails in the birch & boreal forest behind our house that we love to run on.   Before we headed out this morning, I asked him what we were going to run.  After discussing it for a minute, we made a plan and then beg

 Don't mind the crooked picture. The rock obviously needs to practice his photography skills! The weekend forecasted temperatures in the mid to high-70s.  Yes, summer decided to stay for at least one more weekend, so we had to take advantage of it.  Only in Alaska do you take advantage of every summery moment, and dread winter when it is only August 10th, while those in the lower 48 are suffering the worst drought the United States has seen in years. So after work on Friday afternoon, we drove an hour north of Fairbanks to the Chena Recreation area and began our 15 mile hike of Granite Tors.  We made it an overnight backpacking trip so that we would be able to enjoy ourselves a little more.  This was my first backpacking trip in about 5 years, so I was pretty excited.  Lucky for me, my husband is a stud when it comes to camping/hiking stuff, and he packed my pack for me, so I didn't have to worry about it. 15 miles may not seem like a lot for a hike, but it was b