Alaska...n? Not quite, but it's pretty!

You know that picture you have in your head, the one that imagines how Alaska might look? Forget it, it's not even close to how beautiful this place is. I find myself thinking "this is Alaska, you're in Alaska!' several times a day. It truly is amazing, and I find myself constantly in awe. I want to videotape my drive to work, just to explain how pretty even the most basic parts are.

We have been incredibly blessed since we got here, we've both got really good jobs, and who can beat free living? :) I am working as a Chiropractic Assistant (A certified one now too!) at Lucas Chiropractic up here, I can not explain how happy I was to find this job, and how well it has worked out for me. My boss is an amazing person, as is his wife, and the rest of the staff. I work mostly with the physical therapies, and patient exams... I also handle insurance verifications and records requests... and our latest accomplishment, taking the office paperless! It's been a challenge, writing and re-writing the program, inputting all of the data, and training! Anyone who works in the medical Field will understand what a job this is! I'm happy to say it's up and running as of Tuesday, and we'll see how it goes when the Doctor's go solo for the first time without me tomorrow:) All in all, I love my job... I love to watch people get better, and to be part of the healing process that our bodies are built to take on. I'm a true believer in what I do, and know that through the proper care and knowledge of our bodies, they can take care of us, and do just about whatever we ask them to do. I am also excited to tell you all that, after a LOT of strong encouragement and begging, I now have a pretty new truck to replace my poor little Honda... We bought a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac, and I LOOOOOVE her! It's fun to have a 4x4 to play in, and nice to have a bed for hauling again... although mostly she just drives me to work, the gym and home, no complaints:) We'll have the Intrepid paid off in a few months, so Nick thinks he will be getting the new camaro, but we will just have to wait and see about that... ha ha!

Nick is working at Home Depot, and he is enjoying it. The tough part for me is that we only have one day off a week together, but I am glad he has a steady job, and it keeps him entertained. He works in the lumber and building materials department, and I know he has to fight hard everyday to not tell customers what he thinks about them when they don't build things properly, since he is coming from a position where it was his JOB to tell people how to build things:) He's a great leader, and it's fun to watch him get excited over accomplishing goals that he has set for himself... Obviously it's not his dream job, and I don't know if he knows what that is right now, we're still moving on from losing what we both thought were our "dream jobs" but we are so blessed to be ABLE to move on, and still be together and successful at what we decide to do. I also have to say, that it is... Football Season... ugh! ha ha, so he is especially happy, and I am especially forgotten:)

Luckily for me, I have found a few things that I really enjoy up here too. Although, I may not be AS excited as he is over football... I have started doing Yoga at least once a week at a Yoga Room here, and working out every other day. In addition to physical exercise I have been working on my nutrition, and have lost almost 20 lbs since we got here. I am currently doing a 21 day whole food cleanse, and feel sooooo good! I'm doing my best to create new, healthy eating habits, and stay in the best shape I can... with the eventual goal of preparing my body to have a baby... but that will wait a while longer.

I do have my ups and downs here, I really really miss my siblings, and Alaska can get lonely.. but overall this has proved to be the adventure we were after, and I am so glad we are here. Nick and I are so happy together, I love him to death, and can't wait to get married and start our family together! Don't tell him, but I already have the spot all picked out and everything... Anyone up for an Alaskan wedding? ha ha. Maybe next summer, and probably somewhere a LOT closer to all of you, but either way... I'm ready!

So here are some pictures of the house, our pet moose, the tractor, and our weekend trips... Enjoy, and keep in touch! my mailing address is PO Box 870998. Wasilla, AK 99687, write to me!!!!! or, at least e-mail me, or facebook me, I miss you ALL!

Love ya!

-Me

Corrected link

Okay, here's the correct link for any of you non-facebook users:) http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3283851&l=fdef51400d&id=650105294

Thunderbird Falls

Nick and I hiked up to Thunderbird Falls, and drove to Eklutna lake today. It's taking to long to upload them in more than one place, so go look at my pictures at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=130688&id=650105294&saved

Alaskans!

Well,

We made it! We got here on Monday night, so I'm a week late in blogging. Sorry about that! I'm still getting adjusted, surprisingly the cold isn't bothering me at all, I'm actually enjoying it! It's snowing outside right now, not enough to stick, just enough to keep the old stuff from melting for now. I'm trying to convince Nick to shovel a sledding hill for me, I will be the oldest sledder, at the latest time in the season, and I will LOVE it. ha ha. It's much better now that I have proper winter attire, and yes, I did finally throw my flip flops away!

Anyways, I wish I had written more about the trip as we were making it, but I'll post things as I remember them. It was even more beautiful than I expected, and I would love to do it again someday! We took over a thousand pictures, and I've posted about 60 of them on Facebook... But it will be a while before I post more, because the Internet is incredibly slow here!

I really miss Phoenix, but only the part where I actually knew people. Otherwise it's way prettier here! (Remind me that when it's 30 below with no sunlight!) ha ha.


I have to send a Happy Birthday shout-out to my favorite neighbor Martha! We miss you and Brandon SOOOO much! I'm so glad we got to know you before we left, and can't wait to see you again!

Also, Britney's having a baby, and I just have to say Congratulations to her and Jason! I am so happy for you both!

Alright, I'm done for now... I will post more again soon, hopefully I'll get a job this week!

Love you all!

-Jen

I am really bad at this blogging thing. I have no idea if my last posted or not.


Anyways, here's the picture, I love it, and I love the people in it even more. Sorry if this is the 17th time I've posted it, I'll get better with time, I promise:)

I may have already added this one, but I came across it again today on my Mom's facebook page and had to post it. I LOOOOOVE this group of mine:)

Arika, Patrick, George and my Mom came up today to say goodbye... and to help me celebrate turning 21. I had a great visit with them, but never feel like our visits are long enough. I wish I knew them better than I do. They are great about sharing their lives with me, but I miss all the important details it seems like. I'm just proud of them, and proud that I am from the family that I am.

The closer we get to leaving, the more my heart aches knowing the length of time I will go without seeing my family.

I am so excited to embark on this next adventure, and I love Nick with every ounce of myself, I know that great things are ahead for us... But it's still unfair to have to say goodbye to my siblings who I love so very very much.

It kills me to know how much I am missing, I really think being the oldest is unfair. I feel such a strong bond to them, but I worry that they don't really know me. I've taken for granted having them so close, I should have spent more time with them. They are such amazing kids, and they grow so much each time I see them... They really are my inspiration in life.

Growing up is hard.

Tomorrow I turn 21. We leave for Alaska on the 31st. We planned out our route yesterday, and it looks like we will be headed through Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Seattle, and eventually Canada. I can't explain how excited I am for the future. I'm happy to say that I am proud of where I am in my life. I have always had big plans, and I feel like I have accomplished many of my goals, and seen countless numbers of my dreams come true. I have really been blessed, and I owe my success to my family, and all that they have taught me, and the support they continue to give.

I will be blogging all along the way, I can't let any of the memories of our adventures me lost! So keep checking in... hopefully there will be pictures too. I hear I'm in for some serious beauty along the way!

I love you all!

Because you always wanted to visit Alaska...

First off, I'm meeting HIS MOM tomorrow! Hoooray! I have been waiting a very long time to meet the woman who raised this amazing man that is now such a huge part of my life... Karen flies in tomorrow night, and will be staying with us for a week. Nick's 29th birthday is on Sunday, so it'll be great to have her here to help us celebrate! I have been in contact with her through email, so we are definitely looking forward to her arrival!

In other news, Cleo has developed many new and exciting skills... The most recent (and least cute) is that she has decided to meticulously sit outside of her litter box, and pick each individual piece of poop out, and throw it on the floor.... little brat! I figured she was just kicking it out, 'till she let me witness it first hand while getting ready for work yesterday. She's too smart for her own good. We both have some pretty good battle scars from her new found willingness to play, but they're worth it, we love our spoiled little pets.

My car was stolen again at the first of the month... I was hardly phased by it this time, and just praying that I didn't get it back. There was so much damage after the last incident, that I just had no desire to deal with it again. So, as my life goes, we got a knock on the door a few hours later, and the officer kindly told me to get in the back of his car as quickly as possible because my car had been located. So Nick and I followed him out in our PJ's and were driven around to the other side of our apartment building where my poor baby car had been ditched... Turns out the "suspect" was in major need of some oxycotten (forgive my spelling, medicinal names are not my specialty) and used my car to hold up the walgreens pharmacy drive-thru at gun point.... after which he drove BACK to our complex, and left my poor baby car running, and pretty well trashed once again. The officer's took prints, but left me all the random pills that were strewn across the floor, the car running, and no sure way of turning it off seeing as we have hardly any tools, and the steering column was basically laying on the front seat. Sooo... I drove it back around the corner, parked it where it belonged. Nick and I stood in the rain for a while, wondering what to do, at which time I broke out in tears. I just didn't want to deal with it again! Our wonderful neighbors pulled up, and helped us get the car turned off, and we found some screws that, once replaced, allowed us to restart the car using the key. I called my dad, and ended up "selling" my parents the poor broken baby car. I put new tires on it, and drove it home to them the next weekend... Needless to say, a few hundred dollars later, they have a shiny new steering column, and fancy new tires to go along with my most cherrished little friend, that I no longer call my own. Nick and I now share the intrepid, and despite my complaints, I really do enjoy driving it.

So, I'm sure you've heard, but this makes it official... well, 99% official, as the final decision will be made this next week while Karen is visiting. As of March 31st, we will be packing our bags, and headed... up, to be specific. We have decided to move to Wasilla, Alaska for an undetermined amount of time. (We're thinking 6 months to a year.) There are lots of reasons behind our decision, but mostly I am just in need of an adventure, and Nick's mom is in need of some company. So we are heading out, and are really excited to be going! The very un-official plan is to stay with Karen, get jobs, save money, and help her sell the place... then move on to the next destination.

Wasilla is about 40 miles outside of Anchoradge (So I can still do any needed major shopping, ha ha) and has a population of around 7,000 people. Previous vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's family lives down the street, and it sits on a very pretty lake... I'm being told to expect summers in the high 80's, and winters in the negative 0-30's!!! OOOOOh, what an adventure indeed.

We will be driving, which in and of itself is quite an adventure, especially with the two kitties along for the ride. I plan to see every single neat thing I can on the way up! I have no idea which route we are taking yet, so there's no set plans on who we may be able to visit. But we will figure that all out shortly... All I know is the lease is up on the 31st, and we are OUT OF HERE! I swore I wouldn't get stuck in Phoenix, so we'll see if we can manage not to end up back here in a year:)

I plan on blogging all about our trip, so look for updates! It's going to be a beautiful drive, and we get to go through Canada too, which I think sounds pretty exciting!

Oh, and I'm turning TWENTY ONE on the 22nd!!!! Whoo Hooo for birthday partying!

So, there's your updates! I love and miss you all! Come and visit us if your in town before we head out...Heck, if you really want too, you are totally welcome to visit us in Alaska as well :)

News...

Nick got the call on Thursday, that his Step-Dad has been diagnosed with non-treatable cancer. He went into the hospital about three weeks ago, with an irregular heart beat... they told him he had pneumonia, and he went downhill quickly. He had to be put on breathing machines, and his kidney's started failing. They suspected he may have lung cancer, but couldn't do anything about it till they got the pneumonia cleared up and had him breathing on his own again. Wednesday we heard he was doing better, but thursday Karen (Nick's Mom) called to tell us about the cancer, and that she has to make the decision to take him off of life support, as the Doctor's do not expect him to live more than a few days. I dropped him off at the airport last night, and he arrived in Anchorage around 3:00 in the morning. It is so frustrating to know how much he is hurting, and not be able to be there and comfort him and his mom. Last year was tough, but this is definitley the worst we have been through so far.

I just got a text saying that they were at the hospital, and now the hard part comes. I don't have much information about what the process is... I'm just getting bits and pieces as we go along.

Anyways... it's been a rough few days, plenty of tears have been shed, and I am waiting patiently for more news, while trying to enjoy my first experience of living completely on my own. I've always had roommates or siblings around before, I cannot believe how boring this is!

I need to get better at blogging, I just get so distracted by other's blogs everytime I get on:)

Let me know if any of you are in town, I'd love a reason to get out of the house! I started scrubbing baseboards today, and it hasn't even been 24 hours....... yikes! Lots of life changes are in the works, I will update once things become a little more set, for now, you'll just have to wait and see what comes next!