Settling In...

Wow! It has been a long time since I last posted on here! I am sorry for the delay. Today is my sixth day in Alaska and I am loving it so far! I have taken several pictures... I'll include some later in this post.

I've concluded that moving was a good thing... I was amazed at how much stuff I had accumulated on my own over the 6 years that I lived in the Wills Street house in Muncie. Thanks mom, for helping me sort through it all! A professional moving company packed everything for us - and our stuff is (hopefully) en route. It took two guys about 10 hours split between two days to box up all of our things, label the boxes, log them, and pack them in a truck. It will take 3-5 weeks for our things to arrive in AK. I'll be ready! (I am currently sleeping on the floor in a queen sized sleeping bag at a friend's place!)

When Luke and I flew up here, we each carried on a cat... so we did not get any carry-on luggage! We each were allowed to check two things, so we checked three suitcases and a large (24x24x18) box. I have a lot of my clothes with me, and we checked the aforementioned queen-sized sleeping bag (a great wedding present), a set of camping dishes, a skillet, a small five-inch tv... we are set! My mom is the best packer ever - Mom, thank you for helping me get all my stuff organized, sorted, and packed!!

For those who were curious, "carrier time" went as well as I think it possibly could have! Both cats made it to Alaska under the seats in the cabin of a 737. Small Cat tried to claw his was out of the carrier... but did not set himself free during the 15 hour trip! No falls for Apollo.

Ok... pictures:

I really wish that this would have turned out. I took it just minutes before landing in Anchorage, at 11:30pm local time. The sun had set, but it wasn't completely dark, so we could easily see the Chugach Mountains behind the city lights. It doesn't look that cool in the picture... but, wow... it was an amazing site!


Luke took this on our first full day in the city. I think we took this while headed towards downtown... before we bought our new car! I am pretty sure that I'll never get tired of looking at the mountains! So far, this was the only day that it was cloudy here. I am told that most of the snow on the mountains will melt this summer.


This is our first new car in Alaska. White wasn't my first choice... but I really like the car. It is a 2006 Chevy Cobalt. It gets pretty good gas mileage - which is important at nearly $4.00/gallon. It doesn't have power door locks... I do miss the little remote control gizmo, but it does (at least according to the paper the dealer gave us) have a block heater in it. This concept is new to me. I'll explain this winter, once I figure the block heater out!


This is our new house!! It is a duplex... we will be living on the left hand side. We're really excited about it! It has a washer and dryer, dishwasher, tons of closet space, outdoor storage, a fireplace, and a small fenced area that will be great for our dog!


Another of the house (our side of the duplex)... with the new Cobalt in front of it! I get to move in on June 1st.

Luke was only here for three days. (See previous post.) Luckily, we got the chance to look at this place together before he left. I was nervous to pick a place out on my own... but I didn't have to!


I went to a small cook-out the other day with my friend Nate (a weather friend from college) and met a few of his friends. After the cook-out, Nate's friend Dave drove us on the Seward highway south, out of Anchorage so that I could "wet my appetite" and "get a taste of what Alaska has to offer." This was what I saw! This is at Beluga Point... about 20 minutes south of the southern edge of the city.


This is Bird Point... I can't wait to take Luke here! (He flies back with our dog on June 9th.)