Moose Attack

I took my trash out 20 minutes ago.  The dumpster is on the side of apartment building.  I noticed some tracks in the snow.  They appeared to be moose tracks, and they were large! I followed them around the corner of the apartment building and saw that they went back into the little woods behind my apartment building.  I was shocked how large the tracks were.

In my state of "awe" I did not really assess my surroundings, but got the strange feeling something was watching me.  I looked up and saw a moose fifty feet away staring at me.  Its ears weren't back, so I wasn't too concerned.  But then I heard this loud rustling noise.  I saw out of the corner of my eye a big brown blob moving in the woods.  At that instant I ran! I didn't know if it was running away from me or towards, but I wasn't going to take the time to find out.  I was so frightened! I thought the moose was attacking me! Here are some moose pictures I've captured on my phone.  I need to start carrying around my regular camera to get some better pics.

Hugs & Kisses

Happy Valentine's Day! It is that time of year again when all of the card, flower, jewelry, and chocolate companies try to sell us their products so we can express our love.  No, I'm not a Valentine's Day hater.  But I don't think that we have to show our love with materialistic items.  Words and gestures are much more powerful at expressing our true feelings than buying flowers or candy.  And why is it that we only express our love on February 14?? Most people I know express their love year-round and make an effort to do thoughtful things to show their love.

That being said... it is always fun to get mail and an unexpected surprise.  So I sent out some Alaskan postcards this year instead of Valentine's cards.  I thought it was fitting and matched my "year of Alaska" theme.  Tim is still in Hawaii for his job and is really busy there.  I am hoping that we will get to Skype on Tuesday, but if not we'll talk on the phone.  I've become very accustomed to the distance and finding creative ways to celebrate holidays/milestones being apart from him.

Do you have Valentine's Day plans? I think if I were with my family I would like to make dinner together.  I really like cooking with my Mom in her new kitchen. It is a lot of fun!  If I were with Tim I think we would probably order take-out from our favorite Chinese food restaurant and watch a movie.  This sounds perfect!

As it is, I will spend my Valentine's Day working out at the gym.  I go to spinning class on Tuesday/Thursday. My instructor said she is making a special Valentine's Day playlist of long songs for the class, so it should be fun! No matter how you spend your day, I hope you remember that I think of you all often, miss you, and LOVE YOU!

I'm including some of my favorite love quotes below.

Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same. ~ Emily Bronte 


A heart that loves is always young ~ Greek proverb 


Love is always bestowed as a gift - freely, willingly and without expectation. We don't love to be loved; we love to love. ~ Leo Buscaglia 
True love doesn't mean being inseparable; it means being separated and nothing changes. ~ unknown 

I Survived

I am so happy that January is over.  January's average temperature was 25 degrees colder than normal.  We had a six day stretch of high temperatures below zero! The low would be around -25 and the high would be around -5.  So cold! I know I live in Alaska, but I checked the average temperatures before I accepted the job and they were similar to Vermont, so I didn't think the weather would be a big deal.  Of course the year I'm here Alaska experiences one of their coldest and snowiest winters.  It doesn't snow when it is that cold.  The temperatures are now more seasonable and warmer, but it is snowing.  On Friday we had a mini blizzard and it snowed about 6 inches.

Two weeks ago I went to Seward on a day trip.  It was a last minute decision.  Seward is a popular cruise ship port.  The town area was cute and little touristy.  I will go back in the summer to do some hiking and exploring.  There is a big glacier there, but we didn't see it because the snow made it difficult to get to.

The pics below are from my drive to Seward.  My friend went with me so while I drove she took pictures, and vice versa.  The drive was about an hour and forty-five minutes.

Looks cold right?


"I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter." ~ Walt Disney.  This quote does not correspond with my post this week at all.  But, I saw it earlier this week and it really struck a chord with me.