Stealing Pictures!

So, since Pat has the camera and I won't see him for another day and a half, I have stolen these photo's from my SIL's blog! I was so glad she posted photos. I am all sappy and love to see pictures of my man! He was true to form and found a project to do while visiting family. He is a "gotta be busy" kind of guy. The fun thing, was he found a very willing little helper! It seems he and Kaylee made a utility rack for Jana & Josh's garage.

I'm a little surprised he didn't have her wearing any safety glasses: Safety is an Attitude!
As I knew he would, he won the girls' hearts. I think everyone just loves Uncle Pat! I know I do! Those are some beautiful girls. I also know they would have loved to have him longer, but I will be glad when he gets home!
Also true to form, my jovial husband was able to show the power of perspective! He often comments on the illusionary effects of hunting photos and felt the desire to demonstrate with his newest niece, Makenna! She certainly has grown! Thanks, Jana, for sharing! (For more, see Jana's blog!)

Valentines Day Gifts

For this Valentines Day, I thought I would dress up a little for Pat to go to church and actually do my hair, makeup, and I even gussied it up and wore my Grandma B's earrings! I guess it's been a while, 'cause I got a LOT of comments! I think it was the earrings, because seriously, my regrowth is becoming horrific. Unfortunately, in our NEED LESS PROJECT, touch up highlights are not on the docket. I digress. Grandma B's FABULOUS earrings:


When we got home from church and redressed in our casual clothes, Pat asked me to help him out in the shop. I thought I would continue my gifting spirit and give him a hand. He asked me to be a guinea pig and test some welding rod that he'd like to use in his upcoming welding lessons.
Oh, you didn't know? Yes, he has had the vision of giving kids an introduction to welding. He is very motivated and excited for this venture and has been working to make up a type of itinerary. He's got one boy on the list to get started this week.
I went out and let him teach me how to weld. I've never stick-welded, so this was a new one for me.

As usual, he was a great teacher! He taught me to strike an arc, how to push the rod into the weld, and coached me to take my time and make sure I penetrated both pieces of metal with the weld. He makes it look easy, and it's a little tricky, but I began to get the feel for it and didn't do too bad!
I think this actually made the better dress-up gift!

My Own Narnia Woods

OK, maybe it's not exactly Narnia, but wouldn't it be cool if it was? Or maybe I'd be able to walk out of my sister's closet?

These are the thoughts I have when I walk through the woods. Especially when I "discover" new areas to me. This is what I've dubbed "the back swamp" way back in the woods. There is a thick row of spruce before it opens up. I was a bit nervous before I made the trek through the proverbial wall of spruce. Well, it's not really proverbial, but I was a little anxious. You never know what you'll find out here. Primarily you'll find houses, but still...you never know.
This back swamp has these humongous tussocks that are now covered in snow making these funny bumps! They are fascinating, but really hard to walk through as you can't tell where the depth actually is. Makes for a funny viewing, I'm sure, but fortunately Pat hasn't gone with me carrying the camera with which to capture those moments. Shucks.
Just wanted to point out the red sided garage with the white trim that matches the house. If I remember correctly, I was returning from a snowshoe walk with the dogs and had to stop and catch my breath before my hip-flexor exploded and noticed how lovely our home looked in the fresh snow. You can hardly even see the targets!

Bumper Magic

If you haven't heard the big story, Pat was called out to a job across the inlet that was supposed to last through spring. I had worked myself up to be able to handle his absence and even went through the toughest days without him and then he called and came home after a couple nights! So much for all that drama.

On a bright note, through all that, he got a little job building a bumper for an x-ray truck! It's a trial run and he may do more, but that one bumper has been an interesting project for the last week. In case you were wondering, the x-ray truck is a mobile dark room that processes x-rays taken of pipe welds. It's fascinating, really!

Since I know you are dying to see the photos, I've got some smashing ones of the Man working in his shop! (we've decided the garage is no longer. it is now a shop.)

Simple does not always equal easy. When it's done right, it looks easy.
Perfection. The bumper looks good, too!
Rough finish. All it needs now is the step and paint!

The step is a pretty ingenious idea of...um...ask Pat about it. It's really great, I just can't explain it well. It's got to do with bolts and threads, and it was really cool to see, but don't ask me to explain it. Just believe me, it was very smart.
Painted and the step is flipped up! This is necessary to allow the step to swing while driving. It's even equipped with the license plate tag.
Installed! Yep, that's me in the green coat. I was an extraordinary helper. Actually I had no idea what to do, but I tried. I don't think I was fired, though. Now that I think about it, I may have some traits that put me on the "keeper" list! Seriously, people, it turned out really nice.

NEED LESS PROJECT Underway!

This week began in earnest our, what will heretofore be called, NEED LESS PROJECT! We have worked all last week on painting and siding our garage. Yes, it's cold here, so that is why we are painting inside and hanging the painted siding outside. It does present some issues that will have to be addressed later such as painting all the scratches and nails. It still looks better than Tyvek! It's also much easier to paint horizontally as opposed to vertically!

Oh yes! I have been pushed into the realm of power tool usage. It's a little daunting to use something that can saw my leg off, but I'm fortunate to have a very safety minded teacher. As you can tell below, we have opted to forgo the "ladder of death" in favor of a slightly better option of a real extension ladder. It's still scary to me, but my fearless leader is undaunted.

In case you were wondering, this is our garage "loft" that happens to have a 12/12 pitch. That's really really really steep. We still have to put on the soffits, but all in good time!
On an inside note, we have also been working on redoing our spare bedroom. It's a tiny little room that just fits a bed and a dresser. It really needed some work. Talk about selling to motivate one to fix things up! We figure if we don't sell, we'll have an incredibly nice place!

Seriously. People post signs like this up here. We can't quite figure out if 1st grade exists or if the meth use just eliminates that year from people's brains. Don't make fun. You have these people in your neck of the woods, too!

Artist at Work

We've been fortunate during this time of less formal employment to have picked up some projects that have provided well for us! Pat had a project of a handrail to build for some friends of ours. This particular handrail was for a spiral staircase, but needed to go on the inside curve along the wood post on which the stairs stood. After much thought and figuring, he came up with a beautiful design and asked me to help! Oh dear.

Yep, that's me! I thought I really looked like I knew what I was doing here. Actually, I had a very good teacher who set me up to not fail! He's good like that.
I thought he was pretty genius in the design and execution. I'm not biased or anything.
He took it in and installed it soon after it was completed. It turned out gorgeous and fits the home's rustic but craftsman feel!

Puppy Lovin'

While we contemplate our lifestyle change (that sounds wrong, somehow...!), we are engulfing ourselves with puppy therapy. They are quite the little playful critters now with most of their teeth very clearly in use. One might say that your fingers are left out at your own risk. Though they play hard, they crash hard! It's when they snuggle up and fall asleep that we just fall in love!

We laugh at their silly positions chosen for sleeping. They seem to like to dig into the couch cushions, but in your arms, limp they go! (Focus on the puppy, not the bed-hedded, bath-robed woman in the shot.)

Crazy

A crazy idea hit us in recent weeks.

It really began about a month ago when we first began to receive unemployment checks. There seemed to be a small amount of stress at this time, and I'm not being sarcastic. It wasn't a lot of stress, just a little. Our budget tightened and we began our typical use of our reserves that are saved for just such an occasion. This was when our focus also shifted from our own finances to helping my sister and her family with adoption expenses. That was a fabulous distraction that helped to teach us that we would like to be able to use our talents/time/treasures to help others more often.

Here it comes!

We are seriously considering selling our beloved home to live much more simply. The idea of using our finances to help others instead of paying our bankers is much more appealing. The plan is to sell our home and use the profits (no loans) to purchase land and build a small cabin. Eventually, we could build a house and shop again, but only as our cash on hand allows. We've also considered that we may like the simple cabin life and choose to spend the money saved elsewhere on others.

The reasons for this endeavor are many. One is the type of work which Pat is involved is seasonal construction. It is a "feast or famine" industry. By owning our own home from day one, we would avoid any stresses to make our mortgage payment when times are slim. Those slim work days may also allow for more travel when we are not strapped to our banker. We may eventually be able to spend much more time, especially during the holidays, visiting family and friends. This potential freedom may also allow for more extensive travel if that is where we are called. Another major reason is the massive amount of interest one pays during the life of a loan. After 2 years of paying roughly $1000/month, we have only paid down (with extra principle payments) $5000 of our principle. That is a huge amount of money simply given to the bank. Think of what we could have done with that much! Nevermind, don't. It makes us a bit queasy. We also feel that this is something that God is calling us to do. We have the potential to live completely debt free and free from the enslaving payments! We like that idea of freedom. It also frees us from relying on economic situations to protect our assets. If we own it all, it doesn't matter as much what the selling price could be. Oh, and last but not not least, Pat has always wanted to build himself a little cabin! Seriously. You know how he is.

I'm a bit surprised at how on-board I am with all of this. I truly love the idea of not making payments to anyone. Think of how much more we could do with all that interest money! I'm a huge numbers person, so I'll be excited to see that build in the bank accounts and see interest GIVEN to me, not taken! I won't lie and say I'm loving the idea of leaving our home. I love it here. I love our views and the opportunity to walk across the lake in winter and canoe it with the dogs in summer. It's a gorgeous park-like setting, but I'm not sure it's worth it. I'm also a little concerned how I'll do in a small cabin. I like those for camping and such, but for years? It could be interesting. I'll be sure to chronicle it all for those interested in seeing one who is a bit claustrophobic and has a bit of Seasonal Affective Disorder to survive such circumstances! Happy thoughts, happy thoughts (big numbers, big numbers...)!

We are a ways from implementing this plan, as we still have projects yet to be completed on the house in which we currently live. We are just in the beginning phases and are researching cabins and vacant lots and acreages. I also need to research the housing market up here and prepare for that daunting task.

Crazy? Possibly. Insane? Not as insane as all that interest and stress. Simple? Yep. Easy? Not likely! Worth it? I'd bet on it.

Can I just take my stove?

December

Christmas has come to our home! The decorations came a while ago, but yesterday and today was part of a gift we gave to Jesus. I'll have to explain that in detail a little bit more later! In the meantime, I have felt renewed Christmas Spirit, and thought you might like to see our Alaskana Christmas decor!
Quite an eclectic mix of traditional/lodge. I don't know if HGTV has that in it's style category. I tend to think we don't really fit any category!

Yes, this is the bunny that taunted me just after Rowdy brought me, unaided mind you, a snowshoe hare. The difference between a hare and a rabbit is simply that a hare is born with hair! Rabbits are born "naked." A visual difference between adults is the bunny above has shorter ears, smaller feet, and a fluffier tail than a snowshoe. By the way, this little fella hopped around in between the garage door, shown above, and the deck of the house just feet away. When we get low in the freezer, this guy won't stand a chance!
On the off chance that you were curious as to our driving conditions, I paused on my way home to take a picture from my driver's vantage point. As you can see, the road is fairly snowcovered and yes, it's slick. Once the first snowfall is over, people tend to remember how to drive on such roads and it's relatively safe. The biggest hazard is moose who pop out of nowhere in the dark and on such roads, it is extremely difficult to avoid them. This is why we have the roadkill meat programs. Yep, you heard it right. We eat the roadkill! Typically churches are called after the H.P. is alerted of a kill. Our church then has a list of potential helpers to go to the site, collect the carcass, and bring it somewhere to harvest. Only the salvageable meat is taken which can vary. The meat is then either wrapped there, or taken to a processor and left at the church for anyone who has need. I wouldn't turn it down any day. I think it's still a cleaner meat than chicken!
The other day the sunset was so breathtaking that I had to go out and try to capture it. I was utterly unsuccessful. As beautiful as these pictures may be, they don't hold a candle to what I really saw. As black & white as our landscape seems to be at times, the color of the sunset was more than fabulous.

The light was fading into the horizon around 3:30 or so, and as it's now the shortest day of the year, these few hours of daylight are not to be missed.

To all our peeps:

We knew you wanted to see some puppy pictures! I admit, it's been a bit more rough for me for lack of sleep, but we should be arriving on easier times very soon. We seem to have a suspiciously large yellow male pup. We think he keeps eating other puppies. Seriously, he's huge. We, as in Bella, also has a "size impaired" yellow male pup. He's a cutie and seems to do just fine, but is about half the size of "Brutus." Yes, that's what I call the ginormous one. The rest seem to be within the realm of average and are squealing a lot, trying to bark, and generally eating as often as their momma will hang out in their den.
Elmer Fudd has arrived this winter. Fortunately, Rowdy has befriended him and has proven himself invaluable in retrieving the "harey" beast. It's a good thing Elmer is wearing his camo. He doesn't stand out at all, huh?!
Tonight we relived Thanksgiving Dinner by cooking up our turkey that Pat won at the men's turkey shoot, and all the fixin's! I did have to call my sister and get my niece, Sydney's recipe for her berry pie. Its secret ingredient that I will reveal to you all, is the white chips put on top when the pie comes out of the oven! YUMMY! Thank you Sydney! Pat loved it!

Puppy Day!

In preparation for being inundated with puppy pictures after today, I will start with the most recent photos of us and our "puppies!" Just the other day, after refusing to cuddle with Pat, I jumped in the chair and Bella followed right in. I think Pat felt bad, but what could I do? She was feeling the need for some cuddling and being hormonal, I was her choice! She hasn't completely avoided Pat, but it was a clear preference for me! Have you noticed how big she was? That was an ordeal being in the chair with her. I didn't win in the surface area fight. She was much more comfy than I.
Lest you think Rowdy doesn't get much attention, he gets lots of lovin' in that chair. Especially when our friend, Dean comes over! I think Rowdy gets really excited to see Dean, because he knows he'll get some good cuddle time!
So, for now, this is all. We have one little yellow female who has made her presence known, and many more to come. The day is just beginning and the puppy pictures will thus commence, though I'll try to postpone too many until they become much cuter in a couple weeks!

Alaska to Africa

Small Crosses: 7 3/4" x 5": $10.00
In an effort to try to help raise money for my sister, Pat is selling these handmade items. Why does my sister need money? She and her husband are bringing home their youngest son from Ethiopia. This process has been and continues to be an expensive endeavor. God has provided in amazing ways, and if you would like to participate in His provision, please let us know. Pat is taking custom orders, at least as much as is feasible! The items are listed with their prices, and the shipping will be extra if you live outside the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. Keep watching, as there will be new items added in the future!
Large Layered Cross: 18"x11": $40.00
All profits will go to this family who are awaiting their newest arrival!