New Toy = New Hobby

I don't know if its because I'm bored or what, but I decided I needed a new hobby...

Photography.

I have always been interested, but never really pursued it, but nows my chance!

Being bored isn't cheap! (Just ask Branden!) Ha Ha

No... I have been saving money that I have been making at my job, and I just decided to buy a digital SLR camera!

It's Awesome.

Here are some of my first pics. (Don't judge) : )

Oh, I also learned a new term.

Termination Dust.

Termination Dust is an Alaskan term referring to the first dusting of snow in the mountains. Summer is "terminated" and winter is on its way.


Alaska is AMAZING at this time of year, but...

Its a SAD DAY when you see this.


But, on the upside... Branden comes home in a week and a half!

Alaska State Fair

This weekend we ventured out to the Alaska state fair and the weather couldn't have been better! Here I am with my friend Leslie's baby Ethan. And below are my friends Annie and her baby Urijah (Bug), and Brittany and her baby Brinkley. I didn't get a picture of Leslie and Owen :( But we had fun at the fair eating some 'healthy food', shopping around the booths, and enjoying the amazing weather! hopefully it is not gone for the year. The leaves are already changing up here and it is so beautiful! But they won't last long, that freezing cold weather is just around the corner I'm afraid.

Here is a fiddlin family that we watched, they were pretty entertaining!

These are some flowers that were in a contest at the fair, I thought they were pretty awesome!

Anyways, we have officially hit the Half way mark. 26 weeks down, 26 to go! And I'm counting down the days til midtour leave! Less than a month! Yay!

Brandens B-Day!

Today is Branden's 28th Birthday! That seems SO OLD to me! We need to start our family so he will still be able to play with them! Just Kidding! But really, we DO need and want to start our family, but living in seperate countries doesn't help the situation very much! On the other hand, Branden IS coming home in a MONTH for his midtour leave, Hawaii here we come!!!! Also, in about a week we will hit the HALFWAY mark! And then we will be on the Down Slope!

After Branden goes back I will be coming home to Utah until his deployment is over, so only one more month of my job for a while! They said they would hire me back if I want to work when I come back to Alaska, we'll see what happens between now and then. I am planning on working while I am in Utah, that is if someone will hire me for a temporary position!

Anyways, I hope Branden has as good of a birthday as he can over there!

I LOVE YOU BRANDEN!

I MISS YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

SEE YOU SOON!

XOXOXOX

Unfinished Project Complete and Update...

I started this painting of Branden and I about two years ago and never got around to finishing it until now... it made me sad painting it because it made me miss Branden even more than I already do. He has been gone 5 months now, 2 more months til he comes home for his mid-tour leave (Hawaii!!!!!), and 7 more months til he comes home for good (until next time). He is doing good, working a lot of hours and the weather is pretty hot over there (about 110 degrees), we are both just looking forward to his midtour leave. Anyways, not very much going on lately..but I just wanted to let you all know that we are still alive!

Dip Netting

This weekend I went dip-netting with my next door neighbors on the Kenai River and I caught six salmon! Well... I guess I didn't really "catch" them they just swam into my net! But it was still exciting! There were TONS of people on the river dip-netting and fishing, I couldn't believe it! Here I am holding one of my fish! Slimy! Yuck! And... don't scroll down any further if you have a weak stomach! Here is all our fish we caught, there was SO much blood and guts and slime and scales everywhere... it was DISGUSTING! The boat looked like a murder scene when we were done! These salmon were all about 2 to 3 feet long...still bigger than any fish I ever caught in Utah!

Anyways, it was another fun trip, I just feel bad I am having all of these amazing experiences without Branden... Next year for sure we are doing it all again!

Finally!

I Finally got a Kitchen Aid mixer! I have been wanting one since we got married, and I used all of the money I got for my birthday to get it! Thankyou everyone for the birthday gift! Hopefully it it will be a gift that will give back by the many goodies I will make with it! I love it!

Just for the Halibut!

This weekend I went fishing with my next door neighbors down to the Kenai Peinninsula in the Cook inlet. It was about a four hour drive from where I live, but well worth it, the drive was georgeous! I have never seen such a beautiful state! I also caught my first "real" fish. I say this because any other fish I have caught in my life were the size of the bait we were using to catch these ones! The first day I caught the first fish of the day which was my first halibut I've ever caught and it weighed about 35 pounds! Man are these things hard to reel in! I thought I was going to be pulled right into the ocean! I caught two more the first day, and the second day I caught five! They were all at least 1o pounds or larger! Here is the big one!

And this is all of the fish we caught the first day, minus the ones we threw back because the limit is two fish a person and we had five people on the boat. Even the smallest fish was way bigger than any I had caught before!

We had an amazing view of Redoubt volcano where we were, here it is at "night" like midnight, and it didnt get any darker, I love Alaska in the summer!

I hope you all had a good fourth of July! I had a pretty good one, except I wish Branden was here, he would have loved this fishing trip! I want to thank him and all of the many other military members for my freedom! I love you Branden!