As an Alaskan, spring is not my favorite. The only green it delivers is in the form of envy when I see others basking in sunshine and sandals. Sometimes it’s hard to believe we live on the same planet, let alone the same country. Alaska’s spring is all about mud, Xtratufs, and squishing around the yard cleaning up everything that’s revealed as the snowpack recedes. … Continue reading Spring Fling
It’s been 3 months since we moved the kids to college, so we are officially empty nesters. And I’m just sayin’: if we had a dime for every time we’ve heard the phrase “empty nest” the past few months, we’d be able to bankroll both of the kids’ tuition bills! (Actually, that’s fake news. Have you seen the cost of higher ed these days?!) Costs … Continue reading The Kids are Alright
Maggie is heading to college in a few weeks, so it’s time to set aside the denial and write a celebration of her senior year in high school! Here’s how the year started and ended. A little less hair, but a lot more hardware. But those are just the bookends. So much happened inbetween! We had another great experience with Shalem Photography for Maggie’s senior … Continue reading Senior Recap: Our Last Eagle
Spring Break 2024: the year we went to Vegas, didn’t gamble a cent, and still hit the jackpot! The odds were in our favor thanks to two different school calendars that shared a single week for spring break. Las Vegas provided a central(ish) location to meet between Alaska and Nebraska, and the perfect springboard for a road trip through the American Southwest. Our flights were … Continue reading Canyon Country
One of my favorite witches recently turned 50, and we celebrated her birthday with an outing to Six: The Musical. We were more than happy to trade our broomsticks for tiaras and spend an afternoon with the doomed Tudor queens. Our witch photo was taken over 12 years ago, but here we are today: three friends celebrating five decades at Six. We all loved the … Continue reading Queens for a Day
We’ve been blessed to visit the Hawaiian Islands a number of times, but this January we enjoyed our first trek to Kauai. Most of our Hawaii trips go something like this: sleep in a bit, board a late morning plane in Anchorage, endure a bit of de-icing, and happily land in Maui six hours later. This time we flew on a red eye flight to Portland, hung … Continue reading Kauai Love
Our annual quest for the perfect Christmas tree is one of our family’s most sacred holiday traditions. Last December (in 2023) Sam was over 2,000 miles away in his first year of college, so plans had to pivot. Maggie was plenty capable of harvesting her selected spruce all by herself, but we sure did miss having our full team together that day. We brought the tree … Continue reading Traditions in Transition
The sky has been alive this month, from ombre sunrises over the Chugach Mountains to stunning sunsets reflected in the Turnagain Arm tide: I find it challenging to photograph the moon, but trust me when I say this Hunter Moon was a treat to watch rise over Cook Inlet. It made for a beautiful drive to work one morning: And northern lights, in October! The … Continue reading October Skies
In Alaska, fall is one of those “blink-and-you-miss-it” situations. Last summer’s deluge of rain kept things green longer than usual, but eventually our world turned golden. For maybe a week? It was still chronically wet outside, but I guess that’s why God invented raincoats. (Or maybe that was George Macintosh? One of those two.) Maggie was the lottery winner of the season. She made plans … Continue reading Falling into Winter
I use air quotes whenever speaking about the “Summer” of 2023. It is easily confused with Winter 2022, minus the daylight of course. Sure, we had to mow the yard instead of shovel the driveway, but the moral of the story is we wore the same coat for both chores. And a person shouldn’t need a coat to cut the grass. The saying “there’s no … Continue reading The Little Summer That Wasn’t
Profoundly Ordinary 