Tender Mercies

Merry Christmas Eve!! 3600 miles so far, and we have yet to make it to our new home. 1500 miles to go. But that's okay because we are spending the holidays with family in Henderson and Mesa. This is a nice break. I've been really surprised at how smooth our road trip of 7 days in the car went. No flat tires. No accidents. Wonderful scenery. Big Skies. Wildlife. I am so grateful for the chance we have had to drive the Alaskan Highway. Below I have written a rough sketch of our journey. British Columbia is truly beautiful. This doesn't even capture it. Tuesday: Departed Fairbanks at 1:45 PM and drove to Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory by about 9 PM (PST). We stayed the night at 1202 Motor Inn. Wednesday: Woke up without an alarm clock at 7 AM and drove 12 hours to Watson Creek, Yukon Territory and stayed at the Big Horn Hotel. I took a lot of cat naps this day, and I soon came to realize how much these cat naps saved my sanity during the week.  Highlights o

As I sit here in my hotel room in Yukon, Canada, my heart is full of gratitude and peace about the past two and a half years, though I feel like part of my heart has been ripped out and left in Fairbanks, Alaska. It was such a wonderful life, my first home with my husband. A final picture in front of our cabin in Fairbanks as we were driving out. I will miss it dearly. And for the record, it was 9:45 AM at the time the photo was taken. I will miss that too. It was in Fairbanks that I grew up, got to know my husband, improved my relationship with Christ, and learned to truly love the outdoors. I also had opportunities coaching skating that I would not have been able to have if the skating program were larger.  During the good-bye/appreciation dinner the skating club put together this past weekend for my colleague and I, I realized how incredibly lucky I was to have been able to coach SO many amazing skaters and work with great parents. I have to admit that there were times when I

Hello again! The final countdown has begun until we drive out of Alaska onto our new adventure. I coached at UAF for the last time this morning. It was surreal. One thing I am going to miss about my town is the continual winter wonderland. I'm also going to miss the short winter days, although I know that sounds surprising. There is just something magical about it. It has been very important for me to get out every day during lunch time to get some sun, even if the sun isn't directly overhead. I've heard a study that explained how a rainy day in Seattle provides far more lumens--the amount of visible light given off by an object--than a bright TV studio.  Wow! So, I use this as a reason for me to get out in the winter, no matter how cold it may be. In order to accomplish this, I have chosen to walk to the rink instead of drive. I've counted myself lucky that it has been a warm winter so far, staying above 0 °  F most days, so all it takes is some proper bundling u

"So do you think you will have as many adventures when you move to Kansas?" asked my friend and colleague at dinner the other night. Hmm. That's a good question! While I know we will be having our own Kansas adventures, I am pretty sure they won't be looking like this: Per our anniversary tradition on Black Friday, we began the morning at the Anchorage LDS Temple for a session and then had a lovely lunch at Sack's Cafe  (seriously a great spot for foodies and families alike!) I have a difficult time sitting all day, so I suggested that we go on an "easy-ish" hike, something we could see great views of the city and surrounding mountains. We chose to hike the popular Flattop Trail , a 3.4 mile round-trip hike with a 1300 feet elevation gain. Doesn't sound too bad for a fun afternoon with your hubby does it? Though I am so glad I completed this hike (which would have been impossible without Marshall), it was the most difficult hike I have ever don