Our Most Recent Visitor

Saturday morning Tyler and I were lounging around after breakfast and Bella suddenly barked. This is unusual because she is NOT a barker .. thank heavens!! We looked outside and saw a baby moose. Yippee, a moose. We've seen lots of them, but never that close to our house. We watched it come down the hill behind our house and then go around our neighbor's house. About fifteen minutes later we thought, "Let's see if it's still around." Tyler went to the front window and there he was ...

EATING MY ROSE BUSH!! Needless to say, Tyler was thrilled, Bella was unsure and I'm praying my rose bush is just "nicely pruned."

Sorry for the poor picture quality, but you have to get pictures quickly for fear you won't get them at all. The moose is just a bit confused as to what is going on. Too funny.

Well ... that was fun, but it gets better. We thought we were officially Alaskan on Saturday, but today more so than that.

That's right folks, our visitor is back .... "pruning" another one of my rose bushes inside our fence. Seriously, I know that the animals are hungry, but really guy, really, my rose bush?! I love my roses and I take good care of them. I'm hopeful that they will come back even though the little branches are mere nubs now.

One might wonder how a moose gets inside a fence. They jump. Who knew? Not I until I moved here, but yes, moose jump and apparently they are great swimmers, too. Take a look for yourself. Again, sorry for the odd shadows and angles, but we were inside trying to get good pictures of this fun creature.

Until we meet again!

YAY for New Fonts!

I am thrilled that Blogger has introduced their new fonts! When I began blogging two years ago, the font selection was pretty slim and quite boring. I tried several back-door ways to get fun fonts, but let's face it ... I am NOT the most computer savvy person to grace this planet. Finally, blogger has brought fun fonts for everyone, computer-savvy or not, to use. What a fun Monday surprise! :)

Gotta, Wanna, Needa

That's right, folks ... all I wanted tonight was a Bojangle's biscuit!! The food in Alaska is quite different than the food home, yes we have good seafood, but sometimes good Southern cooking is all that will do. Tyler and I routinely crave certain restaurants and foods that can only be found back home; think: TJ's Deli, Smithfield's BBQ, PUTTERS!!, the Loop, Chick-Fil-A and yes, even occasionally Bojangles. It is probably a good thing that we no longer live near these greasy, Southern staples, but sometimes it makes it hard to find something to fulfill the desire.

I plan on making my own homemade biscuits in the morning before work. Unfortunately, mine are not as fluffy as Bojangle's, but they will do until we're home again!

Everyone Needs Encouragement!

I thought this commercial was too cute! We all need a little encouragement once in a while ... offer some to one person today! Tell me what you think of the commercial; its based on a true story.

Pro Humanitate

Pro Humanitate is Wake Forest's motto. This Latin phrase means "For Humanity." Wake Forest strives to do good things for others, and encourages it's students to do the same. This week there was a prime example of Pro Humanitate by one of our own for one of our own. Baseball Coach Tom Walter gave one of his kidneys to one of his baseball players -- a player who is a freshman at Wake and has yet to step on the field. When you become a part of the Wake Forest community you become like family, and that was no different for Kevin Jordan, the baseball player who received the coach's kidney.

This story is an incredible example of doing for others, and has generated lots of positive national press for our great university. Thank you, Coach Walter for being a good example for the Deacons and others throughout the nation. Go Deacs!

You can click this link to hear an interview with Coach Walter by ESPN. The story has quickly flooded all news carriers, if you prefer to read the story just google it.

A New Favorite!

I grew up in North Carolina and I absolutely LOVE the summer. I love the sun and the water, and I just cannot wait to live near both again. On his new album, You Get What You Give, Zac Brown has a song titled "Knee Deep" that features Jimmy Buffet. The song simply talks about how he is going to "put the world away for a minute, pretend I don't live in, sunshine gonna wash my blues away" to basically run off and be knee deep in the water.

Over the past few years, we have fallen in love with the Zac Brown Band and most recently their new album. This particular song is great because it instantly puts a smile in my face, but makes me long to be near the water with a big, floppy hat and the sun beaming down. Add this to your playlist to instantly feel the promise that spring will come soon ...

Good-Bye, North Pole

North Pole, Alaska is a magical place year-round: 

All light-posts have red ribbon around them like candy canes.

Santa Claus Lane is a real street...

Santa is made of ice.

Ice Mushers are also made of ice. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Fairbanks/North Pole and we look forward to exploring more of Alaska in the coming months!

An Ice Museum

While in Fairbanks, we ventured an hour outside of the town to Chena Hot Springs. We did not get in the hot springs, but we did go into an Ice Museum. Surprisingly, the inside of the Ice Museum was actually warmer than outside at the Hot Springs. You can spend the night in the Ice Museum for $600/night. Needless to say staying at the Ice Museum was not one of our dreams or goals for the trip, but we did see the bed, the bar and there was even a small igloo inside ... Tyler and I have been in a real igloo.

A Beauty and the Beast rose .. red rose in an ice dome.

 Isn't the fish the cutest?!

The chandeliers were made of ice, too.

The igloo that we ventured into.

With a Coca-Cola bear. We are very loyal to Coke products ... a fountain coke is my favorite thing in the world. We have a picture with this bear in Atlanta so we thought it would be neat to take one with him in the Arctic, too.