SURPRISE!!!

So I just got off work get a shower and ready for my first skype date with Lauren when knock knock SURPRISE!!!

MY PARENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy crap..in the back of my mind this entire time I've secretly wanted them to come and visit but totally get if it was not possible and haven't mentioned anything to them about it. So apparently they had made the decision the day they dropped me off at the airport and I said "I'll see you in the fall".

Many of the people I see everyday knew they were coming..even my chef and roommate who were tortured with the secret all day.

So after my parents came to my house and I showed them around I walked them around the lodge proudly showing them off :) Then we headed downtown for the five minute walk around town tour and grabbed dinner. We already have the next few days planned and I can't freakin wait!!




Dinner at The West Rib


Who cares if I have to go in every morning at 5am and work my butt off like a crazy lady. I get to spend the afternoon and nights with them.

Tomorrow we are driving up to Denali, then Tuesday going on a jet-boat tour, then Wednesday flight seeing tour up to Mt. McKinley and the rest of the day free. THEN on Thursday I am going with a bunch of friends white water rafting for the day. JAM PACKED

I'm so excited..but gotta go and try to get to bed for an early morning. Lots more to come !



In the Lodge



A Must Read

Fox Island, Alaska

Just a little saying

       Alaska: We are all here, cause we are not all there............

       Alaska: Where great women lower their standards............

Alaska:  Where the odds are good, but the goods are odd...........

Talkeetna: Where the road ends and life begins..........

solstice

so as i promise i made to myself last night when i was blogging, here i am blogging again cause i'm trying to be more "in the moment". i'm finding as i try to blog about something that happened a week ago it's not as genuine as something that happened an hour ago.

so today is the summer solstice. the day where the sun shines the longest, skims the horizon then rises again.from here on out we start to loose daylight. as part of celebrating the solstice it's a fun time in town and everyone heads down to the river to have a good time and watch the sun.

i admit it. i went. i caved into the peer pressure of " you have to go....it's the solstice".

but all night long in the back of my mind i was making mental notes. things i haven't noticed, the fact that i'm starting to get used to alaska. in a way my time here is not to get used to alaska, it is to look at everyday as something so awesome and lucky to be here.

tonight riding my bike up the hill back "home" i stopped at the viewpoint and stared at the mountain eating pineapple. mckinley had finally come out of her hiding, the sun was shinning it the weather perfect. and i realized i haven't looked at the mountains in over a week. i've become used to this place. i even sleep well now.

a feeling just comes over you once in a while where at a specific place and time u look at yourself and smile. to be proud of the adventure and to be living in the here and now.to have met a good friend who you can be yourself with after such short of time and who "get's it".

crap i even expressed tonight that i would like to come here in the winter for a few weeks to a month. just to see what it's like. i can only imagine, how beautiful it's becoming everyday and how amazing the winter landscape could be. sooo picture perfect.

it's way past my bed time but i managed to hack out a few words before i settle down.

p.s. what i miss most tonight: turkey hill mint choc chip ice cream



Watching the Sun



No Woman Left Behind

Roadtrippin' again with two of my awesome friends.

    Friday night around 10pm we left for Denali to spend the night with some friends then have a great day of hiking Saturday.

     I have to admit even though I did not want to leave so late it was wayyy worth it. Driving up we got to see the sun setting behind Mt. McKinley and get some great shots.

Along with this midnight sun adventure I had my first experience of staying overnight in a house with no running water or electricity. Have to admit I was intimidated by this at first and thought how am I going to survive the night! How will I wash up for bed or see at night to take my contacts out.

Oh but yee of little faith...

This is where we stayed. It's a work in progress but it is a very nice house. To the left of the front door is a sink area with a bucket system for your "running" water. Also notice the pile of bones next to it. They are from a moose and I did take a bone home for a keepsake.

Oh and the outhouse I was soo scared of was actually kinda cool...if an outhouse can be cool.
It was decorated with all kinds of inspiring sayings and art work inside.
The bone on the door is a moose pelvis...what other way would u mark an outhouse right?..














Ok so back to the hiking. Technically we were in Denali State Park not the national but either way it is ALL beautiful. We set out for our adventurous hike around 11am. Gorgeous sun shinning, nice short weather and loaded on the bug spray. (bug spray is key)
Byers Lake is an 8 mile hike that goes up a small mountain with a fantastic view at the end. It starts out nice and level but very quickly turned into steep, tree routed and loose dirt. IT WAS A HIKE...but the first rule of hiking is never leave anyone alone, especially in Alaska.
After huffing, puffing and some complaining we had made it half way....



Christine, Me and Kelly

Just had to stop to play in the snow

Onward ho we go. Even steeper now and even more complaining. Seriously thought we would never get to the top.

There is always a reward and sometimes the sweetest rewards in life are free...



McKinley poking through the clouds



On the hike down the mountain we got caught in a little rain which of course washed all the bug spray off. Mosquito's suck!!! We were an all you can eat buffet for those buggers. I totally double timed it out of the woods and to celebrate the hike and completing the strenuous journey jumped in the lake with Christine...clothes and all.

It feels so free to just go with it and do something impulsive....







swimming in an Alaskan lake!!!



Honestly even though the lake was freezing and we didn't swim for more then ten minutes it has been one of my top adventures here so far  solely based on the fact that was impulsive.

I can't wait to do it again...next time SKINNY DIPPING

Alas my moose has arrived

I've been here just over a month and I have finally been graced with the presense of a moose in my back yard!!

Woo Hoo!! I've seen three moose since I've been here to be exact but they have all been in passing. On a train or in the car..just a quick blur.

Just a few feet from my door is a small sandy clearing where we play volley ball and bad mitten. My roommate and I are sitting at the table talking with some new friends from the Ukraine when the moose meanders on by. So exciting! 

p.s. sorry if you were one of the people i texted back home. i couldn't contain my excitment and had to share with you even if it was past midnight and you might be alseep.

who u know

so just a warning it's 2:30 am and i just got home. lesson learned for the night. it's who u know not what u know.
 in the

just got home from hip hop night....u know ur living in alaska when u ride ur bike to a run down bar to dance the night way to some hip hop from the 90's. oh well it's what we do. i'm a summer resident now don't ya know.

so chilling with my girl Christine and her friends we found out her friend Brian lives and works just outside of Denali. so don't ya know. tomorrow after we sleep in... due to parting all night... we are headed up to denali for the night tomorrow with out sleeping bags and gonna hike all day saturday in the park. word.


so it's not what u know it's who u  know. now i have a way of going to see and experience denali for free. and christine is going to france in the fall and 'm seriously considering going or visit for a good week. free of charge ALL I GOTTA DO I BUY MY TICKET. HOW could anyone pass up opportunities likes this. off to bed cause i can't type or spell at the moment. thank god for spell check cause u wouldn't understand a thing i said without it


oh yea and i almost forgot to say how awesome it was biking home, buzzed, with a full awesome moon on the way home and an awesome sun set on the mountains behind u.

oh alaska.
how i wish i could scoop up my loved ones and have them here for a day to live this dream

Here is a little birthday cake I made at work today..

It's a dude on top of the mountain yelling happy birthday dan

Talk About Town

              It's been a month since I've arrived in Alaska..land of the midnight sun. It has been very sunny, hasn't rained since I got here actually. The sun "dims/sets" around 12ish I guess and brightens back up around 5:30ish. Don't know exactly cause I'm never awake during those hours, but it always looks like dusk. June 21st is the summer solstice and apparently it's a big deal up here. It's the day where the sun just skims along the horizon then comes back up. The day with the longest amount of light. From then on out we lose some everyday. Then I hear that by Agust and September it will be dark like back home.

Ah back home. What I'm missing most this week:

Chic-fil-a

The moon

Easy places to tap mac (people look at me weird when I say tap mac, no clue what it means)

HUGS..haven't had a good hug in a while

A cozy couch

   Spring is in full bloom here. All the daisies are up and these cool purple flowers are popping up all over. I haven't been into town for a while but there isn't much to do there so don't miss it too much.

    It's actually kind of interesting how the different towns in Alaska vary. Talkeetna is super small with a few gift shops, places to eat, a tiny WAYYYYY over priced food store and that's about it. The main strip is dusty and rather run down looking. Town has a great mix of the tourist walking around, the town dogs wandering all over the place, shoeless, dirty hoola hooping people..guess they would be the free spirits, I'd thought I'd find a little more of around here. I'm a little let down now that I come to think about that part. I had hopes of coming here and finding these awesome free spirit tree huggers who would help me express myself but I haven't. At least not yet. And people are referring to me as the hippie one. And another thing, since town and the surrounding area is so small EVERYONE knows each other and their business...

    Talkeetna is a cute little town with an awesome view of McKinley and The River and a few hiking trails and lakes to canoe on. Many of the locals live in cabins way off the road a few miles from town. Quite a few have no running water or use a well to get it. The others have to drive to haul their water. To do laundry and take a shower they go to a restaurant in town that offers all that plus lodging on the cheap. And for a bathroom they have an outhouse. I'm still so intrigued by this and want to go with a local coworker to check out their house and how they live. In the winter many collect unemployment or find side jobs haul wood or doing things like that. Also by being a resident in Alaska every year you get $1-3,000 just for living here from the oil companies.

    So while I love Talkeetna and this entire experience living here once is enough....I   think..haha

      But Seward on the other hand...

   Seward is a coastal town maybe four hours south of here. I went there for four days last week for an adventure. Seward has a huge port and major fishing there along with a main street that has much more and looks way more modern. The landscape is different there. It is a bit more mountainous but more rounded not so jagged like Talkeetna. There is a larger variety of things to do in Seward. Many more hikes are available, places to go, things to do and see. But gas is OUTRAGEOUS!!! I'd say around here and heading down south average right now is $4.16 but in Seward $4.56...crazy!!  And along with Talkeetna I hear that in Seward everyone knows each other and their business. I actually overheard a guy talking about Chester County when I was there. Went over to him and he is from Coatseville! Small word, that is crazy. Many people in Alaska are from Michigan, Minnesota and one other state I can't remember right now. I enjoyed my time is Seward but it rains a lot and there are many other places I want to get to before I go back.

 I'm loving my adventure up here and wouldn't change it for a minute. It's nice to be a bit more relaxed and not have the east coast hustle bustle all the time. Still no bears....

I also counted how many days I have let here. It's around 102 days. I count for two reasons:

1. To know how long it will be till I see my family

2. To be aware of my time here to make EVERY DAY COUNT

Work it is

Man, where to start...

It's been awhile. You are probably wondering if I'm still alive up here..if I've gotten trampled by a moose or eaten by a bear. Well neither but I have seen three moose in passing, all too fast to get a picture.

There is much I need/should write about but lately I have been rather busy!! No more sitting around I'm finally settling in and getting comfortable and making some good friends.

I should blog about my job or my four day adventure to Seward or my last minute trip to Anchorage for a concert, then the two hour drive home at three am, white knuckles the entire way praying for no moose, or maybe just about Talkeetna and what I'm discovering about myself and my surroundings.

Work It Is..

So as many of you know I'm the baker at the lodge. THE BAKER...one and only...

This is not what I'm used to. I'm used to my little cake decorating world that I was immersed in for eight years...but now it's another ball game.
In the beginning I felt like I was back at school.
A kitchen first thing in the morning has a certain smell.
And I look a certain way. Fresh and clean.
          
                .....and I think about my mom EVERYDAY when I'm at work cause M do get rather messy. maybe not my area so much, but me. I've gotten a lot better. I'm not as covered in chocolate and muffin batter as I was a few weeks ago..but it's a work in progress. When I used to bake at home my mom would always say how messy I am and that I never cleaned up good enough..haha so cheers to you mom. Thanks for sending the stain stick :)

My job is to produce and have a stock of the following items for the restaurant:

giant chocolate chip cookies
giant muffins ( 5 flavors)
layered chocolate cake with chocolate mouse and a moose cookie (this is where i get messy)
berry cobbler (this is where my hands ache after making 40 in one day)
panna cotta with fig compote (super easy but still don't know what compote means..haha)
coffee cheesecake ( I HATE YOU )
vanilla ice cream
gelato ( white choc., white choc cheesecake, chocolate cake..some flavors I've made)
sorbet

THEN if I have any free time I'm allowed to have "fun" and make a feature dessert. Yea haven't gotten there yet. Although I did make a banging white chocolate rum bread pudding.

AND EVERYONE wants me to make them a birthday cake or their friend a cake or any type of goodie. That's the last thing I want to do when I get home..haha

Being the baker can be pretty sweet though. There is nothing like eating chocolate cake scraps at 7:30 in the morn or munching on muffin overflow. I have a good routine going and have a good stock at all times so maybe soon I will get to try some different goodies. But let's not get too crazy here. I'm a cake decorator, not a pastry chef, not yet at least.

Crap I don't even know my measurements..pint a pound the world a round?? huh? Teaspoons in a tablespoon wha?? Ounces you just intimidate me. But I will get it.

Despite the burns and blisters I've gotten and the sore back from heavy trays, it is a satisfying job. I enjoy the feedback from people who munch on my goodies. And I feed off the rush, even though I can get a little snippy when I'm overwhelmed. And one thing has not changed. When I'm stressed it shows..haha and people know or should I say are slowly learning to back off a little and not bug me for scraps or ask stupid what are you making questions first thing in the morning. Thanks captain obvious I'm making chocolate cake ah buhh...

Oh yea but back to liking my job..
It's really pretty good. I go in at 7 and get done by 3 and get a free meal. And that is key around here!! Free food what!!!

Who knows what I will do when my journey up here is over. I don't have a job to go home to. It will be interesting to see how I feel about working in a kitchen when O get home. or who knows maybe I'll pursue my Sweet Michelle's baking again. Only time will tell..

One thing will always stay true... I sure do  LOVE my sweets, even after working with them all day :)