Catching snowballs

It is an absolutely gorgeous, peaceful winter day....perfect for taking Jack to the "park" to play. His preference: catching snowballs.

Holidays 2010, Part 1: Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from the Zrelaks!

Thanksgiving, as well as the other holidays celebrated this year was a little bittersweet. Having Joe home to spend this special day with was wonderful. Of all of the things I am thankful for, he ranks right up there in the top three (being edged out of the number one spot only by "Knowing God") so his presence made my heart glow a little brighter. However, being so far from our dear families and others we love made it a bit harder to cradle a thankful spirit. You'd think that after 11 years of being away, we'd get used to it, but that is just not how love works. We're resilient, though, and we did our best to remember the amazing blessings we've been given.

We have a warm, cozy home. Joe has a good, steady job. We both enjoy good health. Our marriage is balanced and forgiving and full of love. Every year, I get new, amazing, beautiful nieces and nephews. Our dog makes us smile. We make incredible friends every time we move and have a network of "places to stay" all over the country. Our bellies are always full. I feel deeply loved by my family, even from 3,800 miles away.

And those are just the big things. The little, everyday things could fill every last little bit of free space on my hard drive. I'm thankful that I realize this.

This particular Thanksgiving day was shared with friends. I spent the morning making side dishes for the meal with our neighbors Dana, Jen, Trevor, and Tyce. My contribution: cranberries, stuffing, green bean casserole, and festive broccoli (yes, broccoli has high amounts of festive potential). Dana fried a turkey. Yummmm. If you haven't ever tried fried turkey, I highly recommend that you do. It is not oily or greasy. It is tender and delicious. Trust me, I was hesitant at first too.

Our Thanksgiving spread

Our meal with the Cunninghams was delicious. We enjoyed each others company and stuffed ourselves silly. There was simply no room for dessert so we cut a couple of pieces of homemade sweet potato pie (courtesy of neighbor Roni Harden) and pumpkin pie and brought it home for later.

When "later" arrived, we had our very good friends, Ryan and Lindsay, over for dessert and wine. I had baked up a delicious apple pie (courtesy of Mrs. Smith) to add to our spread of tasty treats and we uncorked a bottle of Frog's Leap Zinfandel.

So thankful for good friends.

Also thankful for Ryan's festive sweater!

The wine was delicious and the conversation quite enjoyable. We filled our bellies with pie and had many good laughs.

While Lindsay and I enjoyed a good chat in the nice, warm house, Joe and Ryan enjoyed a good cigar on the back deck, huddled around a heater.

Smoking by the light of a propane heater

That evening just kind of felt the way life is supposed to feel. Relaxed, safe, connected, and fun. I'm so thankful for those moments.

Overall, the day went well and by the end Joe and I were ready to curl up together in our warm bed and simply rest in the thoughts of our blessings.

"Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name." 1 Chron 29:13

Snow Angels

Monday night, 10:52pm:

"It's beautiful outside....a fresh layer of snow three inches deep covering everything."

"Sounds nice...."

"Let's go make snow angels!"

"You are kidding me, Joe. It's cold out there! We're not dressed for it."

(Sexy grin)

"Ok, ok. Can I at least put shoes on?"

"Sure."

Joe has the coolest ideas. Literally. :)

Halloween

It's Halloween today. The celebration of Halloween is such a moral dilemma for me because it is SO much not a Christian holiday. Its traditions are steeped in superstition and pagan practices and don't glorify God. However, while I don't want to honor the foundation of the day, it seems to me that many of the roots of the traditions of Halloween have been forgotten. Kids (and most adults) don't realize that pumpkins were carved to scare away spirits or that costumes were worn to hide from evil entities. The traditions have morphed into more positive, family-connecting, neighborhood-gathering activities.

I love seeing the little kids dressed as ladybugs, firefighters, ninjas, and cupcakes. I love gathering with friends to carve big smiling faces into pumpkins and roast the seeds that we pull from them. I love the neighborly spirit that comes with filling all of our kids' pillowcases with candy. There is nothing evil left in these activities, so I do choose to take part in them. I don't go to haunted houses, try to scare kids, or decorate with webs, witches, and ghosts. That is where my line is drawn.

As for this Halloween: It is rainy, windy, and cold outside and I'm a bit concerned that I won't be able to get rid of all of the candy I bought for the kids. It will then end up on my hips and that is bad news....a negative side effect of Halloween. We'll have to see what happens....I'll keep you posted.

The moment of truth:
It's 5:00 and the kids are trickling slowly to my door. They are bundled up and wet, but I see that some Kodiak kids are used to this kind of stuff and a little rain and wind won't stop them on their quest for exorbitant amounts of sugar. It is miserable out, but the sparkly little fairies and butterflies are wearing rain boots, the foil-wrapped tin man is sporting a heavy layer of long underwear, and the whoopie cushion is wrapped up in a beanie and warm scarf.  I'm rewarding their efforts with handfuls of goodies. I'm just so glad I'm not out there.

It's 6:20 and I think that all of the bold souls that were going to brave the weather have done so. The dark, wet street is empty and I have a lot of candy left. I think I'll just ding-dong-ditch my bowl on my neighbors porch and watch her hips expand. (Yeah right. Megan could eat the entire contents of Willy Wonka's factory and not gain an ounce. I'd hate her for it if she wasn't so darn likable.)

Thinking about how wet and miserable the trick-or-treaters must be makes me want some hot cocoa, so I'm off to make some. I leave you with pictures of a few of my favorite kids. I hope you all had a great (dry) Halloween!

Little Ladybug Alison

Dinosaur Tyce

Firefighter Trevor

Changes

Mmmmm.....a hot cup of coffee, a down blanket on my bed, a snoring dog curled up by my legs, blowing cold rain outside, a pink MacBook on my lap....it's most definitely time to write a blog.

Wow, it's been a long time since I've written a post. The end of August was my last one. The end of August was also when I started working again (as a substitute teacher for the Kodiak school district) and when Joe left for a three month stint at law enforcement school in Georgia. I think I switched over from exploration mode to survival mode and that's why I haven't written in so long.

I ended up having a wonderful summer. In May, I couldn't say that I was very appreciative of Kodiak. I might have actually been pretty close to making one of those paper chains where you rip a link off every day to see how much longer you have before something special happens, like moving. By August, however, I was asking Joe if we could add a fourth year to his tour here. Great friends, a cozy house, a little bit of sunshine, and endless amounts of outdoor adventure had quite an impact on me in three short months. My heart just swallowed Kodiak up.
Side note:  By the time we actually have to tell the "higher ups" whether we actually want that fourth year or not,  it will be the middle of January. My opinion might be a little different again as I'm slipping all over the icy roads in 50 mph winds and starving for even just one little ray of sunshine to hit my face again. I'm wishy-washy like that. It's my parent's fault for raising me in beautifully sunny southern California, where my skin and my brain became addicted to those golden rays of light. I'm supposed to blame my parents for everything, right? So, while I'd love to tell you how long we will be living here, I'm afraid that I just don't know at this point. Ask me in February.

The shift to working again has gone smoothly, for the most part. I miss my freedom and friend time a little bit but have just learned to shift activities to the evenings. I guess this is what "normal" people with "normal" jobs have to do. It's been years since I've had a day job....it's a little surreal. The job has been fun, though, and I've met some great kids and great adults-who-work-with-kids. Being around kids all day alters the way I think and keeps me on my toes. It also makes me wish I lived closer to my nieces and nephews. Families sure do spread out these days, don't they?

As far as the Joe-being-gone-for-three-months (for which we still have a month to go) situation goes: not loving it. We've been apart for three months before. We've been apart for nine months before! In all honesty, we're just pretty used to him being gone a lot. That's just the way our life is. But, I still never get over being lonely for him. Me and him....well, we're just one. Intertwined. Stronger together. A single entity in two bodies. It's just a little bit harder to do your best when you aren't all there. There's no question that we both survive, and we do it quite well, but it never really feels right. To make things worse, Joe pretty much hates the school that he's at this time and wishes every day that he didn't go. I'm so glad he's not a quitter, though......it makes me proud when he accomplishes things, even if he hates them. Makes me feel secure. He only has 27 more days to go and he'll have another great thing to add to his already excellent resume.
My friends are doing an amazing job of taking care of me during Joe's absence. I rarely have to cook, I have workout and bible study partners, our lawn and vehicles are taken care of by their husbands, and I always have a cozy couch and friendly conversation available to me. I feel loved and can only hope to be able to do the same for them when they need it.

Hope this little update helped. Again, please forgive me for my lack of posts. I'll try to realize that they don't always have to be amazing adventures.....maybe you just want to know how I'm doing. And me, well, I'm not so amazing all the time. But that's ok. The fact that I'm surrounded by super cool friends and family who love me tells me I'm doing something right. And that's amazing.

My coffee is cold now...but I finished a post and it was quite enjoyable to write. It's going to be a good day.

Two days in a row?

It was simply amazingly gorgeous again today. I'm still energized from all of the sun that warmed my skin for the past 8 hours. It was a day where we did everything we could to avoid being in the house. Or any covered place, for that matter.

I started the day with a nice 2.5 mile run, which almost killed me because I'm not used to warmth anymore and my internal ventilation system didn't want to work properly. I basically didn't know whether to sweat or not and my body chose not to when it should have. No worries, it didn't kill me.

Jack and I then examined the new flowers that bloomed this morning....they are finally responding to the good weather we've been having. Aren't they beautiful? I'm so excited that we grew them from seeds.

We then played fetch. I sit on the back steps and toss the ball down the hill, he scrambles down for it, then he bounds back up to drop it back at my feet.

Jack is not so good about knowing when he should stop playing fetch. He got so tired and hot! Although it was technically only 72 degrees out, it felt much more like 90 or so. The atmosphere must be thinner up here.

The rest of my afternoon was spent hanging out with friends and spending as much time outside as possible. We got some color on our skin and caught up on the latest news while we lounged around on the grass and our dogs found shady spots under the trees.
My neighbors and I ended the day with a BBQ on our back porch. Chicken Kabobs, pasta salad and a wonderfully sweet and delicious watermelon.

Dana cooks the Kabobs on our grill

It was a perfect evening to be on the deck

Tyce loved the watermelon

As did Alison

We couldn't get enough of that melon....such a rare treat to get a good one up here!

Everything is cleaned up now, Jack is tucked under the dining room table, recouping from his day, and I'm looking forward to a nice bath and a cup of tea. Again I'll say it: Life is good.

Simple Things

It was a gorgeous day today. The weather could not have been more perfect...the temperature hovered in the low 70's, there was a gentle warm breeze, the bugs stayed huddled in their little holes (or wherever they live), the sky was as blue as blue could be, and I got to wear a tank top and capris. Jack and I spent the morning sleeping in, then we played ball, played with Megan and Kloe, watched Jake mow our lawn, and discovered new blossoms in our flowerpots. I got to spend some time video chatting with Joe, who is currently at the police academy in humid-hot Georgia, and phone chatting with a good old friend from Marquette. I had a great dinner with the Lindsleys (which included chewy chocolate chip cookies) and then Jack and I joined Megan, Alison, and Kloe for an evening walk around our neighborhood. Jack even got to be off-leash and he and Kloe frolicked around the fields, darting back and forth aimlessly but having a ton of fun. The day ended with a few hours of quality hang-out-friend-time with Megan and Alison. It was a day where nothing went wrong and everything was comfortable. There were no huge adventures but instead lots of little things that reminded me how good my life is and how much I have to be thankful for.

It's off to bed for Jack and I now. I hope tomorrow is just as amazing.

Megan, Alison (in stroller), and Kloe on our evening walk

Jack and Kloe frolic in the fields

Catching Silvers

The Silvers (Coho Salmon) are "running" throughout the Kodiak rivers right now and last week Joe had the whole week off of work. Boy, did we have a good time.....living in our waders, soaking in the Vitamin D enriched sun rays, getting red-stained fingers from handling Joe's home-cured salmon eggs, watching the spawned-out Pinks do flips and dances across the water in front of us....for four straight days we hung out in the river with a goal of catching as many Silvers as the Department of Fish and Game would let us (which, if you'd like to know, is 2 each per day).

The river of choice for our fishing adventure was the Buskin River. The river is less than a mile from our house and is well known for it's excellent salmon numbers. It has a beautiful deep greenish-gray coloring to it and when you have polarized glasses on, you can see fish after fish after fish swim by. The bottom of the river is covered in slippery smooth rocks that you have to be careful to walk on (especially if you are bit clumsy like I am. I only fell once and I caught myself with my hands so only my arms got wet. The all-important iPhone made it through the fall safely in a dry pocket. Phew.)

I was glad that my waders were insulated as the river is a bit chilly. I really couldn't ever feel my numb toes which made walking weird but I was not uncomfortable in the least bit. The wind was very strong the first two days that we fished and it was a task trying to stay upright when the big gusts blew down the river corridor. I almost lost my hat a couple of times.

Over and over again, we cast out our hooks that were laden with cured Sockeye Salmon eggs. Our line would drift down with the current as we slowly reeled in. Joe says that Silvers like eating the eggs of competing species as they float down the river. He seems to be right. It was only a matter of less than an hour on our first day that I hooked into my very first salmon ever. I felt the nibbling....I waited in hopes of her eating a bigger bite....my line tugged.....and she was hooked! She pulled line from my reel as she swam back and forth, bending my rod and making me squeal with excitement. I literally screamed as she jumped up and danced in the air, trying to get the hook out of her mouth. I looked at Joe, afraid he'd be upset that I was making so much noise but he had the biggest smile on his face - he was as excited as I was. After a short fight, I finally got her to the bank and Joe unhooked her for me. She was beautiful.

I pushed my finger up through her gills and pinched it tightly against my thumb so I could hold her up for my "first salmon ever caught" picture. She still had a lot of fight in her and she thrashed around, cutting up my finger with her razor sharp little teeth. Luckily, Joe had forewarned me about the teeth and promised she wouldn't cut my finger off or else I might have dropped her.

We continued fishing and within an hour I caught another, even bigger Silver. My limit for the day was maxed out. Unfortunately, Joe was not having the same luck. I told  him to start fishing wrong and maybe he'd catch something since he is obviously a more skilled fisherman than me and I was catching all of the fish. I felt bad for him but he was so happy that I was having success that it didn't bother him that he was getting skunked.

The whole fishing experience was a team effort when it really came down to it because even though I was catching them, Joe played a vital role in pulling the strong, flopping fish off of my hook and then quickly stringing them and gutting them right there in the river. It was neat watching him make the skillful cuts that allowed him to pull all of the insides out of the fish in one easy tug, leaving just the beautiful red meat. He saved eggs for curing and then tossed the guts into the fast-flowing current of the river (a practice that helps ensure bears don't come around, attracted by rotting fish smells).

We hooked the stringer to a tree and let the fish float in the current as Joe tried to catch his limit for the day. I loved the way the sun glinted off the scales of the salmon and had no doubt in my mind as to why they are nicknamed "Silvers". When they are swimming through the river, all you see is a flash now and again as they twist their bodies through the current. It's how you know that the Silvers are there: you watch for the quick flashes.

Eventually, our growling tummies got the best of us and we called it a day. Crystal: 2, Joe: 0. We brought the fish to the filleting station on the Coast Guard base and Joe made quick work of portioning and bagging up enough fillets to provide us with at least six dinners. Yummy!

The next day, we headed out again. I was still riding on the high of having caught two fish the day before and was excited to try my luck at catching more. We went to the same spot, baited out lines, waded out into the cool water and started casting. Our goal was still to catch Silvers, but there were spawned out pink salmon everywhere.

We saw proof that bears had visited the river, taking bites of the slow-moving, dying Pinks. Half-eaten dead ones littered the floor of the river, taking their place in the ever-important circle of life that the river harbors. They are ugly fish when they are in their last stages of life....the males grow large humps on their backs and their mouths mutate into a mean, beak-like shape. The females turn into splotchy gray and white "lepers" with rotting flesh and milky eyes. We had to watch where we walked so we wouldn't step on them. While the females slowly swam around us, the males were busy trying to protect eggs and were darting around, jumping out the water, reminding us of ballet dancers as they flipped and twisted in the air. It was actually quite entertaining to watch. Luckily the Pinks had no interest in our bait, as hunger is not something they are thinking about, so even though they were everywhere we didn't have to worry too much about catching them. Not that it was impossible:

Joe managed to "snag" a couple of pinks as he pulled his line through the water, getting his hook accidentally caught in a hump or tail. These fish were quickly released, allowed to get on with their process of dying.

I had luck again on this day and managed to pull in two more gorgeous silvers. My second one was huge and really fun to fight with.

Fish #1

Fish #2

We got a video of my fight with the above-mentioned second fish:

That was so fun!

While Joe didn't catch any Silvers again on day two, he did catch a little Dolly, which he released.

We were able to get a lot of meat off of the two Silvers we caught and it's a good feeling putting meat in the freezer. I can see why Joe likes fishing so much.

We were able to save eggs from three of the four fish I caught and Joe cured them so we could use them for bait. On days three and four of our fishing excursion, I had no luck at all. We did everything the same and I couldn't pull a Silver out of the river to save my life. Joe finally caught one Silver on day three, which I was so glad about (I'd post a picture, but forgot to download them before Joe took the camera to Georgia....I'll add it in later).  We have a theory that may explain our luck over the course of the four days. On days one and two, we were using Sockeye eggs for bait. They worked great! On days three and four, we used Silver eggs for bait. We basically got skunked. Our theory is that the Silvers didn't want to eat their own eggs....you know, for survival of the species. Everyone will tell us this doesn't matter, but we wonder....was it a coincidence?

It was a really fun week of fishing, even if we didn't limit out every day. Again, Joe and I loved being in each others company. And again, as I watched Joe puff on his cigar, knee-deep in a beautiful Alaskan river, casting out with his antique reel, and having a completely contented look on his face, I realized how lucky I am to be married to a man like him. His hobbies bring joy to both of us and his patience with me as I ask him to unhook my fish and gut my fish and take a picture of me and my fish and tie a new hook for me never ceases. He is in his true "happy place" when we are out there. The contentment that surrounds us is hard to explain.

I hope that each one of you that reads this has their own "happy place" to escape to and that you use it often. I know I'm anxious to go fishing with Joe again soon!

Salmonberries

It was a windy, cold, foggy, damp day.....the kind that was perfect for cuddling up in bed and reading a good book or two. Of course, Joe, who doesn't like reading, had other ideas for us. The abundance of beautiful, ripe, juicy salmonberries that he had spied when he went hunting earlier in the week were calling his name. We had a mission. Being the ever-obliging wife, I crawled out of my wonderfully soft and warm bed and piled in the car with Joe and Jack and we made our way towards Fossil Beach, where the bountiful crop lay. I actually couldn't believe Joe thought it was good berry-picking weather....it was pretty miserable out. The windy road was making me carsick, the rain and wind were tossing our Prius around, and I couldn't help but think that Joe had ulterior motives for the trip - he had lost a deer that he had shot in the aforementioned hunting trip and I thought he was still trying to find it (not that it would be good anymore.... I just felt he needed his conscience eased). 

We finally arrived at the spot and my breakfast was somehow still safe in my stomach. The rain had stopped, there was a beautiful fog settling on the area, and Joe pulled out his berry container. I was wrong about his motives. He didn't want to find a rotting deer; he really was dreaming of having salmonberry crepes. We let the incessantly whining Jack out of the car and he ran off, bouncing in and out of the berry bushes until he found a river at the bottom of the hill. Joe started his search for the biggest, ripest berries the bushes had to offer while I took pictures of the beautiful dew-covered foliage. Jack ran and swam and ate berries off the bushes. Slowly, the berry container started filling.
When we felt we had covered most of the area we were in, we hopped in the car and found another spot just down the road. There were more berries there than we could ever gather and Joe could afford to pick only the sweetest, juiciest ones. I loved walking around and taking in the scenery at this new location. The fog on the hills all around us gave everything a soft, calming feel. We meandered around, being careful to avoid buffalo doody, and worked on topping off the half-full berry container. We stopped to examine new plants and flowers, chatted about the wildlife that we knew were just out of sight, and laughed at Jack's exuberance as his darted here and there and everywhere. Eventually, we started to get hungry and were satisfied with our harvest, so we headed home, stopping a couple of times to watch some surfers take on the big waves that the heavy winds were creating.
Joe washed, separated, froze, and vacuum-sealed the berries. They now await being added to a fabulous crepes recipe that I have yet to find. In the meantime, I hope to get out berry-picking a few more times so I can add to our small stash. The experience was too good to not undergo again. Anyone care to join me?

Salmonberries

 

Joe picks berries while Jack locates the water

I find a few berries too

Jack does what he enjoys the most...

but he also works at finding berries too!

The foggy scenery was breathtaking, quiet, and calming

I found some more of the intriguing dew-covered plants I had seen on Barometer...

as well as some new little plants I hadn't seen before.

It was a morning that my boys and I truly enjoyed :)

Becoming an Outdoors Woman

If you need help camping, surviving in the wilderness, or taking an ATV on an adventure ride then I'm your girl! I recently went to a Becoming an Outdoors Woman conference here in Kodiak and had so much fun improving my adventure skills. The conference was created to help women feel more confident in the outdoors, especially since the target of instruction for many outdoor activities tends to be at men. There were lots of different classes to choose from and the activities spanned a range of outdoor activities, including hunting, fishing, kayaking, archery, and camping. Some girls even field dressed (dismantled) a buffalo! Lindsay and I chose to attend Camping 101, Survival, and ATV Adventure.

The camping class, for me, was mostly just a fun recap of things I already know, given that my family has been camping with me since I was born. I did learn a few things, however, like how to make a featherstick to help start a fire, how to make a pineapple upside-down cake in a dutch oven over a campfire, and the ins and outs of bear safety, including using bear spray and bear fences. Lindsay and I are excited to take Ryan and Joe out camping soon so we can demonstrate our amazing new skills.

 Making feathersticks

 Roasting marshmallows over the Pineapple Upside Down cake

Lindsay enjoying the S'mores

The survival class was very interesting. I've always assumed that if I got stuck in a survival situation I would probably just die, but I think that is because I've watched too many TV shows were the people were eating bear poop and had larvae growing out of their bug bites. I just don't know if I could handle that. I realize now that those things are somewhat unrealistic, especially since I will probably never get stranded in the Amazon or Siberia. This class gave me a reality check and a bit more confidence and I feel like I would last a few days longer now if I got stranded in the wilderness (something that I really hope never happens). My survival gear now includes a big black trash bag, which will be very useful if I need to get warm or stay dry, and vaseline-infused cotton balls, which are super handy if I need to start a fire. We even headed out to the woods, where we each had to demonstrate our newly learned fire building skills.

 Lindsay building her fire

My fire. Yes, there is a fire there.

On Sunday, we had our ATV Adventure class. I must say that I was a little bit out of my comfort zone on this one. The five of us girls popped on helmets, got a crash course on four-wheeler operation, and headed out with our two guides to a place known as Saltery. The trail was full of rocks, rivers, and muddy holes and we were zooming down it with a top speed of 38mph. There were times when it felt so reckless even though I know it was perfectly safe. My personality just doesn't line up with reckless-feeling behaviors and it made me a little tense. I admit that overall the ride was very fun, though. There were times when it felt so freeing to be barreling down the trails at high speeds and being somewhere that cars can't go. The trail to Saltery (and Saltery itself) is a place I would never had seen unless I hopped on an ATV. It is beautiful there. Open fields, salmon-filled rivers, mountains on three sides and the ocean on the fourth. The whole experience is one that I'm glad I did, mostly because it WAS out of my comfort zone and I actually survived it and had fun in the process. Plus, I got super dirty which I haven't done in a really long time. Those types of things grow me.

 Rockin' out on the camo ATV

 We went through rivers,

 rocks,

 and mud puddles.

 A view of our destination: Saltery.

It was a good weekend and I actually do feel a little bit more confident about being outdoors on my own. I would still rather have Joe with me when I'm out adventuring but that is because I enjoy his company so much and not because I need him to start a fire for me. I'm an outdoors woman now.