My California Trip!

The many adventures of my California Trip! In addition to spending time with Adam and Becky, I was able to do some sweet bonding with my niece, Mia (almost 8 months) and nephew, Toby (20 months)! I had such a good time! Those kids are just the sweetest! Okay, Toby may have his moments, but just look at that cheese he gives the camera! How can you resist! As you can see, I was able to take a quick trip up to see the monstrosities they call Sequoia's! Are they really trees?!! I also had the opportunity to see my old college roomie, Merv! Her real name is Miriam Hofer, but you know how college nicknames stick! In fact, she's the one who "christened" me Melli! My entire trip was wonderful with only one exception, that I missed my hubby! Later I'll show what he was up to while I was gone!! I know the suspense is torture! Thanks Adam & Becky for such a wonderful time!

Trinity Greenhouse

Here are some photos of where I'm working Monday's and Thursday's - Trinity Greenhouse! The top pictures are of the soil machine that we fill our flats with! The lower photos show where I've been working, specifically potting plugs of flowers, and then a beautiful potted Passion Flower that is growing in one of the greenhouses! It is a beautiful place, and since I can't have a garden (since we rent), this is the next best thing! I am enjoying the greenery and bloomin' things, especially since we still have the occasional snow fall! At least half of the snow has melted showing more ground than snow, but I'm getting excited for summer when it's all green and lush!

$$$ Pipe Welder $$$

I'm now a certified pipe welder!!
I hired on as a structural welder building cat walks, stair towers, and other large structures associated with the oil field. Now, after much practice and help from the more expierenced welders, I have passed my pipe test. In the oil field, a welder who only welds structural is really handicapped because so much of the welding has to do with actually moving products through piping. To pass the test, I had to weld two pieces of thick walled pipe together beveled end to beveled end. Sounds pretty easy, but it's not so simple. The pipe was clamped at a 45 degree angle which is the toughest position to weld in. The pipe wall is very thick, so about 15 welds stacked on each other were required to fill the "v" shape. A quality control inspector examined the welded pipe inside and out. the inside of the pipe must have evidence of correct weld penetration. the other "filler" welds should flow together to form on nice piece. (The pipe in the picture is not complete.) The test piece was then split with a saw into four pieces and the pieces were bent with a hydraulic press to find weakness and impurity in the weld. None were found, so I passed the test.
Pipe welding can be very stressful. The welds are x-rayed at night after the crew goes home. A welder has all night to think about welds not passing. Any little impurity in the weld zone will cause a weld to fail, and that goes on a welder's record, but pipe welders draw very high wages.

Affinity Salon

Here's my work pals! From left/back: Ann, Jasmin, Danielle, Michele, Me!, Katie; front: Laurie (my boss), & Jessica
This picture is now on our work website, so I'm out there! Work is going well. I'm getting a little busier! I have also taken a job at a local greenhouse on my Monday's and Thursday's! I'll have a busy summer!!

Lot's of Light!

Just to let you all know, there is an hour more SUNLIGHT here than in Kansas!! It get's light around 6:30 and gets dark around 10:00! Click the title to go to the website and check your daylight hours!!

Busy Week!

This week Pat had a few days off, so on Wednesday night, we left and drove to Seward! We stayed the night in a lovely hotel right on the coast with a view that was breathtaking! Seward sits right on the tip of Resurrection Bay - appropriate for Easter time! It looks out on the Kenai Fjords. It is gorgeous! We spent some time at the Seward Sea Life Center, ate some fudge for breakfast, and enjoyed the day! Then this weekend we took off after church up past Cooper Landing to Kenai Lake. Where the lake turns into the Kenai River is where we launched our canoe and began our first river fishing! We had a tough time on the fishing end, but the canoeing was unbeatable! We ran a few rapids and remained in awe of our surroundings! We felt so good, that we let up on our paddling intensity and hit a rock a bit sidwards and almost tipped! Oops! We made it back safely, and felt good about our first experience of the season!! We will likely not go much more on the Kenai as it will get very fast and deep with all the snowmelt! When the lakes open up, we'll head out there!

Gettin' Ready

FISHING time is almost here! Pat is getting ready by tying flies to fish with this summer! This photo with the window was taken around 8:15 - PM!! It's getting lighter and lighter!!

My Spare Time!

As you can see, I've completed my first project; a scarf! I am working on my second project; a "funky boa" that is all fuzzy! I'm surprised at how much I enjoy knitting! Guess what everyone will get for Christmas!!! Just kidding! I don't think I'll get that much done! I don't plan on being inside much this summer!! Have a great day!

Spring Has Come!

This is what Spring gave us yesterday! Isn't it beautiful!

MVC - SWEET 16!

Wow! WSU is in the Sweet 16! I am impressed and wonder who they will beat next!

Madness is right

I am a sad, sad jayhawk. I will sulk in their loss, and then move on to cheer for WSU!

March Madness Begins!!!

Hooray! Wichita State just won it's first round game! AND Oklahoma lost! he he he!

Margaret

Here is a very special lady! Margie is the "Elder" of our church & just had her 85th birthday recently! She is at church any time the doors are open, and is a wonderful prayer warrior! She was widowed a year and a half ago, and now lives in a townhouse in Soldotna. I had the joy of visiting her this last week and had a lovely time seeing her collection of dolls, and her husbands' woodworking. She is very precious! We look forward to her hugs everytime we see her!

The Artist Continues

Here are Pat's most recent pieces, mostly just for me!
Things are going pretty well recently. We are keeping busy and enjoying the winter! It recently snowed so we may try to ride to church tonight!! It's nice to have positive things to look forward to! Maybe I'll take my camera!!

He Rides Again!

Today we went down to Caribou Hills and had a Great Time!! Pat is much more daring than I, so his pictures are much more exciting! We still don't really have enough snow, but we're making do with what we have and enjoying it immensely!

What Pat does at Work!

Here is Pat's latest artistic display!

Welcome Home!

Here's what I received when I got back to Alaska!

My Trip to Kansas

These are my kiddo's! Okay, they are my sister's, but I'll still call them 'mine!' Aren't they so sweet! These pictures truly reveal their personalities, so far!! I'll post a few more on another day! I had such a great time. It is such a blessing to have a family that you miss so much!

Augustine Volcano

Here is what is going on today. Our volcano is awake again and spewing ash! I am praying that it will not affect my trip to Wichita next week!

Major Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

This is the weather this morning! Ouch! Do you see the temperature at -20 degrees? Pat is working outside all day today. He has a bunch of very warm layers, and they have no problem with going in to get warm when needed! I think I'll plan on staying in today! Oh, yeah, and this is at 9:30 AM! Just imagine what it was like at 4:30 AM! (That's when Pat gets up for work!) Just thought I'd keep you up on what is going on up here!!!

New Year's

Before the camera broke, this is what we did over New Year's!

Quiet Giant

For any of you who may be interested, we have not had a major eruption, yet. They say there is a new dome pushing up. I'm not sure exactly what the implications of this are, however, the status of the volcano is at "orange" and not "red." This means there is less chance of a major eruption at the present moment! Of course this can change instantly! I am fascinated! As the picture shows, the snow is now all gray due to the ash, and on the other picture, the dark spot in the middle of the dome is the possible new dome. Have a happy day!

We're Erupting!

This is the Augustine Volcano west of Homer, AK. Homer is about a 2 hour drive south of us. We are watching the winds to make sure we won't have to worry about ash fall. One could see the ash across the inlet on a clear day, but we can't see Augustine from here. If the winds should change, we will have to brace a little for the ash fall which is not a pleasant occurance, I've heard! It is truly fascinating to watch, but there is also the fear of the unknown! They don't have volcano's in Kansas!

Winter Color!

My husband is the best guy in the whole world! He picked out these perfect little daffodils to brighten my days! Thank goodness for the webcam! It takes pictures, too! Have a lovely day!

New Year!

Okay, we are not having a good start to our new year!! We celebrated the coming year looking at the inside of our eyelids, snoozing away! We then slept in, and got ourselves around to go out to Caribou Hills to ride our snowmachines! We were having a lovely time when about 2:30 or 3:00, Pat's machine began to make a strange noise. After much deliberation and trying to fix the problem, the chain case broke open from the chain (like a timing chain in a car) coming loose from the front axel breaking. Stupendous! Luckily, we were with a group of people and we were able to have the machine towed out to the truck later that evening.
Also, after I took a picture of the broken chain case, I lost my hold of the camera while putting my gloves back on and proceeded to drop the camera into the snow. Apparently, this is enough to break it. I will try to either have it fixed, or we will look at new ones shortly. I apologize to all of you who await the fabulous pictures that I post for the lack of new shots! I hope to begin again soon! Thank you all for your patience!