Summer, Summer, Summer...

Sunrise 3:15 a.m.     Sunset 12:15 a.m.

We're a few days after solstice, which is wonderful and disappointing at the same time.  We're having some of the longest days of the year, but it also means they're on the way out.  Darkness will continue to creep in until we're down to 4 hours of daylight per day.  Anyway...

I've been away.  I had a little mishap with my best friend computer.  I was waiting for Brent to get home from a fishing expedition.  In my sleep-deprived state of mind I shoved it off the bed and broke the hard drive.  I packed it up, headed to Fairbanks and was pleasantly surpised to be able to pick it up a week later.  Since then we've been a tad bit busy.  You know... playing.

Brent managed to wrangle a little time for his first dipnetting, subsistence fishing, experience.  They traveled the long road to Chitna, traveled the treacherous trail, came upon a breathtaking river, fished for 10+ hours, and returned with 10 fish of the 120 possible for the 3 families there.  10.  Friends of ours were there the day before and limited out.  Pfffft.  That's a lot of work, time and energy for 10 fish.  10.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.  Oh well...better luck next time.  Right??

We've been riding ATV a lot.  The trails this year are dry and easy to ride.  This is the way I most prefer to ride.  Easy.  Dry.  Though some might say that that's boring.  That's okay.  I'd rather not be waist deep in mud when eaten by a bear.  Okay, just kidding.  Maybe.

We've had a stray puppy, whom I would have loved to keep.  We called her Little Bit.  Black German Shepherd/Lab cross.  So stinkin' cute.  And smart.  When we were walking with Cash she heeled, sat, obeyed.  She was house trained and darn near perfect.  However, 3 big dogs in one tiny house.  Not gonna happen.  So we advertised, posted religiously on facebook, and finally found her people.

The past week has been rainy.  We managed to accumulate about an inch and a half of rain.  No easy feat for us.  Miraculously on Friday the clouds parted, the sun came out, and we've been enjoying a lovely weekend. 

Today temps topped out at 85 degrees and we soaked up every bit of sun we could.  We rode, we took the dogs swimming for just a very few minutes.  Got sprinkled with rain, and then the skies cleared yet again.  We came home to grill hot dogs and eat store bought potato salad, feed the dogs and enjoy more sun. 

The wildflowers are out.  Irises, fireweed, golden rod, arctic poppies, lupines, strawberries, and the smells are fantastic.  As we ride the intoxicating smell is something that I'll be certain to never forget.  It's absolutely fantastic.



Yikes...Slacker Alert!

Sunrise  5:51 a.m.    Sunset  9:56 p.m.

Holy Moly!  This summer has flown by.  I can't believe it's been such a long, long, long time since my last post.  I won't bore you with gory details or meticulous time lines since there's been such a gap in blogging.  I'll do us all a favor and give you a brief little time line of life.  In the last frontier.  In summer.

As you can tell by the above photo our puppy is now a man child.  He bounces somewhere between precocious and down right annoying.  We went through about a month period of time when we all wanted to give him back, and even though he keeps us hopping, he's ours, for the long run. I love that little big booger.  We'll get back to Cash later.

In true King family dog form, they both LOVE to ride.  As you can also tell by the above photo.  When we "lose" them, it's now common knowledge to check the back of the ATV first.  And since we all love to ride, it's not too much of a hardship to please them.  This year we have been sticking on trails closer to home.  With the wet and many busy, busy friends, we just don't have the explorer notion this year.  We enjoy the trails close to home just as much, so no complaints from any of us.

Please rest assured that despite the fact that they look like they could rip the skin from each other's limbs, both Cash and Early (think deep south hillbilly) LOVE each other.  They are surprisingly gentle and thoroughly enjoy the chase, the hunt, the nipping and the biting.  Just don't expect them to share bones or toys.  That's just asking too much.  And don't bother to ask Ches what she thinks of Early, as she spends all of her time, rounding him up and out of her house.  Early is laid back and oh, so lovable, but our Chessa girl will have none of it.  

Have I told you how much I love my job?  I truly do, though I will admit there may be a day or two, or maybe even a week sprinkled in, that I would tell you that I don't.  But there's a reason I've stuck with the profession for so long.  I do love my job.  Especially here.  It affords me the luxury of getting to know the most fascinating people.  I get to know what brings them here, whether permanent or not.  This is exactly how I met my friend Dennis (in the camo jacket above) and his friend Jared, whom has a very important military title and if I wasn't so deficient in my knowledge of such titles I would be able to impress you all with that information.  

Dennis called the office one day looking for a rental.  In true Lusignan form (thanks Dad) we got to chatting and I shared my blog (yes, this blog) and tried to give him a very true idea of Alaska.  Though I don't really know if that's possible since it's such a personal feeling, personal experience.  Anyway, Dennis and I became friends, and chatted regularly.  Then he came to visit.  And though we didn't get to spend nearly as much time as we'd like, we managed to have some dinner and knock back a couple Coors Light's.  I'm looking forward to getting down Dennis' way and staying in that gorgeous hand-crafted cabin of his.  Thanks for visiting!!! Don't be a stranger.  I'd love to meet your beautiful wife.

As most of you may know it's been a wetter-than-average summer.  This is fine and dandy by me, though a bit more sun, and a little more warmth would have been okay, it has made for a glorious, bountiful berry season.  In June we spent more than a couple days picking, cleaning and freezing these luscious blueberries.  We have already enjoyed them in pie, pancakes and cobbler.  It's going to be a fruity winter, indeed.  Ha!

Our Chessa girl is doing well.  She turned 13 this summer.  And though she's slowed, and her nose isn't quite as good as it used to be, she is our beautiful, beautiful and oh-so-perfect dog.  She loves to hunt voles, even though most of the time it's my foot she's finding.  She's spent boundless time in Clearwater Lake, the pool and guarding the house from stray dogs.  She tolerates Cash, and it will be interesting to see how she does with the next addition to our home.

Now, you didn't really think I'd open that can of worms and leave you hanging, did you?  Nope.  I'm not really a secret keeper.  Brent and I have been having a very exciting summer.  We have started the process of adoption.  We are hoping to add to our family by two (or four) feet in the very near future.  At the moment we are plugging away at our home study, and are blessed to be working with a wonderful caseworker.  It's been said that we could have an approved homestudy as soon as September's end.  

That's when the real waiting will begin.  So please keep us in our thoughts and prayers.  We'll need patience, guidance and understanding on our side.  Also, please keep all birth parents in your thoughts and prayers.  For without them, Brent and I may never have a family.

Since we'd been having such a stressful summer (yeah right!) I decided to whip together a girls' night.  Actually, in truth, I had been meeting so many wonderful new people, without enough time to spend with all of them, so I decided to throw them all into one room (or house or yard but who's counting hairs here) because I knew it would be a blast!  I was NOT disappointed.  I always ask the same thing.  Bring a friend, and a dish to pass.  Glorious!!

Above are my Alabama friends, Hayley and Amy.  I thought I'd throw them together and give them a little taste of home.  They had a lot of common denominators and interests.  Well, duh!

And this is Matt and Courtney.  They look like they're having a good time, right?  What you don't see is the fact that they are torturing me.  Courtney (my friend, boss, nemesis) and Matt, a friend I met by chance, love to plan my career demise.  What they don't know is, that they'd both miss me terribly.  Especially Courtney, since my purses would leave with me...  

In truth, it's in all good fun, and we had a GREAT time.  Such a nice, relaxing evening.

This is my favorite part of every girls' night.  The plethora of food, the smorgasbord of delightfulness.  It's so great to see what everyone comes with.  We had a wonderful Puerto Rican coconut custard treat, fruit and dip, pretzel salad (a personal favorite) kabobs, meat and cheese platter, homemade fudge, spinach dip, a lovely strawberry trifle, and so much more deliciousness.  You'd have thought the place would have been quieter... LOL.  I cannot wait to do it again!

In addition to all this loveliness I have managed to sprain an ankle, pick delicious high bush cranberries, nurse Cash back from a (likely) encounter with a foxtail.  Which we hope he is on the mend now.  And enjoy the tropical heat wave that hit us last week.  It was such a heat wave that we managed to break a record in Fairbanks.  I believe the new temp record is now in the low 90's.  

However, fall is upon us.  And I will not lie, had we just a smidge more sun, I would be in hog heaven.  Fall is my most favorite time of year.  The smells, the cool nights that are perfect for sleeping, darkness comes back and allows for my head to rest sooner and longer upon the pillow.  We are mostly prepared for winter, and hoping that it doesn't come too soon.  

Happy Summer to you and yours!!  

Update for the Week

Hello! I've been slacking this week. Hmmm. What could it be? Perhaps because I have a JOB! A great job. A job that I love. Yep, all of the above. I had no idea how much I was missing interaction and feeling productive. I still have a lot to learn, because every office is different, every agent is different, but the ladies (and gents) that I work with are great, and busy.

For those of you that don't know I took a job with a local real estate company. For some reason, I have a tendency to follow my father in many things. Perhaps this is why I used to frequently get an exasperated "you are your father's daughter" from my mom when she was frustrated with me!

Dad sells real estate, I love working in real estate. Though, to be clear, I am not selling it. Just helping others sell it. Dad was an educator, is an educator, and I worked in education for a fun, albeit brief, period of time. I look like him, I act like him (but please don't tell him that), and sometimes I like to give myself "advice" in his absence. lol.

Anyway, I'm working in real estate again. And I feel at home. Of course it helps that the office has a great homey feel, complete with two roaming dogs, and two busy boys. They are great, and I rarely hear a peep out of any of them. They are careful to tow the professional line that is expected of them, and well, I like the happy medium. It's kind of like a mullet. Business in the front, party in the back!

If you'd like to check out the ladies I'm working with, and the real estate they sell you can visit them here. Enjoy!

In addition to working we've just been enjoying summer. We've had much-needed rain this week, so we have little puddles sitting around, but I wouldn't dare complain about the moisture.

Ches and I have managed to avoid moose this week during our walks. Brent went with me on the first one out, as I was completely freaked out. I am such a chicken! I shudder to think of how I would react if I actually came in contact with an aggressive moose, or heaven forbid, a bear. I have a feeling it wouldn't be pretty! I am, however, semi-disappointed that my parents have seen more bear in Minnesota than I have in Alaska. Something seems slightly unfair about that.

Since it's Friday and Brent will be working the weekend, we took a drive to enjoy the cool, and pretty night. We didn't see much wildlife, but we did watch a big owl on his telephone pole perch for a while. Beautiful. It's been a long, long time since I've seen an owl that close up.

Tomorrow I plan to make a trip to Fairbanks. I need shoes. For some reason I didn't feel that I'd need cute shoes in Alaska. Pffft. I have totes of shoes in storage, in Minnesota. A fat lot of good that does me. So, I have brown dress pants up the wazoo, but no heels to wear them with. Stellar thinking Karla. Of course, if that's the extent of my issues, I guess I'll survive. I should have left more purses, and packed more shoes. Now I'll know for next time.

Hopefully we'll have time to get out and capture some photos this weekend. I am dying to try out some more manual settings on my camera. If the weather cooperates on Sunday I might convince Brent to do a little fishing out at the lakes near Donnelly. I just love that area, and we always manage to see something when we're out that way.

The wildflowers are rampant with the moisture, and I'm noticing a few more of the mini vampires, aka mosquitoes, around as well. At least these seem to be smaller than the songbird sized variety we had this spring.

Have a happy weekend! I'll be back soon!