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!

Duck, Duck, Moose!

Friday morning Ches and I took a walk on the road just outside our home. We got a little too close, for my comfort, to a bull moose. He crossed the road about 1/4 mile in front of us, and despite talking loud, letting him know that I was there, he managed to scare the bejesus out of of both Ches and I as we passed. He wasn't aggressive in any way, but being that close to something that large, on foot, is not a situation I enjoy. I can no longer complain about the lack of moose!

We ended last week with some cloudy, rainy weather. We definitely needed the moisture, so I dare say that no one was complaining. Friday evening I stepped out onto the porch about midnight and captured the beautiful sky. It was a great end to a rainy, gray day.

Saturday we decided to go out and try a little canoeing. As you can see, Brent ended up in the canoe alone. We attempted the first time with the three of us, but Ches nearly dumped us about 10 feet from shore. After returning her to the car we got in and tried again, but I didn't like it at all. Eventually Brent went out on his own. He enjoyed it, but I think we'll try a different canoe next time. This is not the style for us.

While Brent was out in the canoe and Ches was swimming and fishing along the shoreline, I took the opportunity to capture the vivid colors of the terrain. It's pretty spectacular, and it's beautiful nearly every where we go.

After aborting our canoe plans we headed out near Donnelly Dome to drop a line, or two in the water. Apparently the rain brings out ducks, water fowl and MOOSE. I think we saw 8 total on our drive. They were everywhere. Munching on whatever the could find.

Here we stumbled upon 4 moose. Unfortunately we only managed to get 3 on film. We followed the farthest one back for about a mile as s/he dodged through the underbrush and finally darted across the road in front of us. I think s/he was camera shy. :)

This guy was just as curious of us as we were of him. They are losing their winter coats so they look a little rough right now.

As we pulled into J Lake we caught a glimpse of this guys rear end. Brent decided it would be a great idea to follow him down onto the bank of the lake and around the corner. Luckily he was calm and agreed to pose for his picture. After Friday's incident, I'm steering clear.

This nice bull crossed the road in front of us right outside of Delta. He was happy to stop and pose, despite nearly causing an accident! He just went on his merry way, munching on the fresh green grass and trees.

In closing, I just had to post a pic of my new car. I'm ready to start work this morning, Wednesday, and I'm looking forward to it. I will let you know how my first day goes! Have a happy, happy day!

12 Hours to go

Tomorrow marks the beginning. Brent's new beginning. I could not be happier for him, and he's truly excited. Ready to start the day, and find out what lies ahead.

Today we had a great, relaxing day. Trying to figure out how everything will fall into place, and confident that it will, in time. We relaxed, hung out, checked out more books, and waited for the fated call of whether or not we'll have high speed internet. Something, anything. PUHLEASE.

In exciting news we watched a Ptarmigan waddle his way through melting snow to find some seeds, berries, whatever they eat in the wood behind our house. And it reached a BALMY 45 degrees. 45 degrees. Awesome. We lost a lot of snow, and it was a warm day. I even went out in my short sleeves. Who knew?? lol.

Hoping that tomorrow brings only more good things our way. Hoping you are all well, and warm, I know that good ole Minnesota is getting our snap of cold from last week, warm up and we'll talk to you soon!