The Mystery of the Slashed Windows

The other day, I discovered two big slashes in the plastic helping to insulate the large window by the stairs. The next time I went upstairs there was another! Where could they be coming from?!

the large window by the stairs

the office window

Finn doesn't get his nickname Destructo Kitty for just any reason! We guessed he was the culprit and sure enough, the next morning I found his little body wedged between the plastic and the office window. Our friends educated us about some glue on caps for their claws (they come in fun colors too!). I can't be too mad at the little guy though. He found out the hard way, that the wood burning stove is hot on top and burnt all his little paw pads :-(. He hadn't been acting like himself and was having a hard time moving around. Poor, little guy has been getting wet food and kitty rubdowns all day.

Lucy misses her big brother and keeps trying to run in and play with him, so she's pretty beside herself. It's a good thing she's not an only child! I took her on a long walk (well, for -15 degree weather) and she seems to have calmed a bit. Lulu learned how to shake about a week ago and soon she'll start her Canine Good Citizen Class. Lucy and the word "good"in the same sentence? hah!

We're still settling in, and the place still needs a few more finishing touches, but we really do love it here. We're much closer to town, we use all of the rooms, and it feels so cozy! Just the other day a moose was racing me home...

You know I won! :-)

Moving it

       Wow!  We're almost moved in! The worst part is left ; unpacking the boxes of stuff from the junk drawers and the bottoms of closets, trying to figure out how to cram a 3 bedroom house into a one bedroom cabin, and final cleaning touches at the old place.
        Everything happened so quickly! Our new landlord is a very, eccentric lady and emailed us the contract only a day before we were supposed to move in. A couple surprises in there, but it all worked out. I have never heard of paying 1st month's rent, a security deposit equal to rent, AND last month's rent. In addition to paying all fuel and water upfront as well as some pro rated rent for moving in at the end of the month. Needless to say, we were a little overwhelmed.
        After we worked it all out, Graham got excited and decided to start a day early (Sunday). Our friends offered to help us on Monday, so we rented a small UHaul at 3pm and attempted to move all our things on our own. Poor Graham ended up moving the king sized mattress into the truck all by himself. We celebrated by driving our truck over to the new place, unloading a few items and drinking root beer floats in our new (!)  kitchen.  We drove back home and with the UHaul mostly full, we passed out on the air mattress.
        At about 3am Graham woke up to start the UHaul (so it didn't freeze- thanks Alaska!) and opened the garage door to find water spraying and three inches of water on the floor. Our pipes had burst from the cold. He had to call an emergency water guy in, who ended up capping the water and dryer. Sadly, we weren't able to do the last couple loads of laundry (our new place doesn't have a washer/ dryer).
        Later that day, our friends (Thank you Justin and Michelle!) helped us haul everything inside in the -30 weather. We definitely took some warm up breaks! Our couch wouldn't fit, no matter how hard the guys tried to cram it into the living room, so we'll be on the lookout for a small couch. Unfortunately, the pipes at our new place are frozen. We already had someone come out, but they are frozen again, so it's showering at the old place and gym for now. Whew! We love the new place though, even with all the little snafus. Hopefully, it'll give Finn some more exercise so he can lose some of the pudge he's been acquiring. :-)

Kitty loves his boxes and Lucy loves trying to get him out!

Pooped from moving- so sweet!

Restless

It's late at night, but I can't sleep. Today Graham and I looked at another house in Fairbanks. It is much smaller than the current residence, but so cozy. January/ February is a terrible time to move, considering the frigid temps, but we both really liked the little cabin. There are big, open windows that will be perfect during the summer. It's closer to town, yet tucked away in the woods on a six acre plot. As I close my eyes, I can't help imagining it with our things. Or wondering how it's going to be without Graham.

Thankfully, I have Lucy, Finn, good friends, and wonderful family.

Refresh

It's a New Year, a time to reflect and grow from last year. I'm excited, hoping for a new job and maybe even a new home. The only thing that isn't going to be so great is that Graham will be gone for most of it, because he is deploying. I'm so thankful for the unexpected time we did have together this past year.


This New Years Eve, we headed down to Anchorage to meet up with some friends, who were the perfect hosts and generously offered to let us bring our two stinkers. We woke up early slept in, grabbed some bagels, then headed to REI where we rented cross country skis.  The nice thing about the sun only being up for a few hours, is it makes it unnecessary to get up at the crack of dawn. We spent a few hours going up and down the gentle slopes, and it was so much fun! I thought cross country skiing was done on a flat level, open field- boy, was I wrong! We were on trails winding up and down. Graham and Dana were such naturals (boys make everything look easy!). We even saw some wildlife.

Later that evening, we watched the fireworks downtown then headed to a restaurant and enjoyed each other's company. Tiffany found the cutest NYE tiaras and hats! We made it back home just in time to watch the ball drop and fall into beds. :-)

    

Christmas decorations are now stored away, and it makes me sad. I love the twinkling lights and the house feels a little empty in the spot where we kept our tree. (although it's probably a good thing it's gone, since guests enter through that door...)

         

And of course the obligatory New Year's resolutions:

1. Complain less and focus on being positive/ thankful

2. Exercise more

3. Write more blogs ;-)

tis the season

Finn and Lucy got their picture taken with Santa last weekend! Our local animal shelter (where we found Finn!) was having a fundraiser and we decided to stop by. I was so proud of my babies and how well behaved they were! The workers even remembered my little Finn. Did I ever mention how his name used to be Cloudberry? He was born from a litter of berries... Strawberry, Blueberry, you get the idea.  Thankfully, the name was changeable. 

I'm feeling so spoiled! A new down coat and warm, winter boots are always welcome! Those bad boys can keep my tootsies warm down to -40 temps. Perfect for the dog park or long walks in this wintry wonderland. The last time I was in this cold of weather, I was in Russia and wearing my host mother's thick coat (a dublyonka) as I hobbled my way to the trolleybus. Hopping onto a warm, crowded bus seemed like solace from the icy embrace of winter. When it dips into the negatives, the inside of your nose freezes, making every nose hair noticeable. It hurts to breathe too deeply and after a while, the frigid air seems to burn any exposed skin. BUT the snowflakes are beautiful. And the dark night glitters in the light of the street lamps. And it is magic.

credit

Tip of the Day

Can't find your phone? More than I'd like to admit, I use this website to call my phone, so I can wrestle it out of the seat cushions, untangle it from twisted sheets, or save it from the bed or my pockets.

I'm back!

Hello again bloggers!
I'm back on the bandwagon again. My laptop broke, but I'm remedying that and there have been a lot of happenings around here.
- Graham is back! Hurrah!
- Lucy and Finn are twice as big and into more trouble than ever.
- Fairbanks hat hit the - 30s and after the ice storm we had it's a bit of a relief.

This is what last Monday looked like. We had a bit of a mini vacation once our works shut down.
- Thanksgiving was a blast. We went to our friends' house and brought my best ginger cookies, pumpkin whoopies, and green bean casserole from scratch! Graham's sister even came up to enjoy the festivities.
- Did I mention my love is home?!!

It feels good to be back. :-)