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. 

The Alaska Pipeline

The following morning, Tyler and I went to see the Alaska pipeline. The Alaska pipeline is 800 miles long and was built to move oil from the North Slope to Valdez, Alaska where the oil can be shipped out. In 1977 when the pipeline was built was the largest private construction project at that time, $8 billion. It took just over two years to complete the pipeline and the first oil ran through on June 20, 1977.

The silver line down the western side of our state is the pipeline. This was a neat way to show us exactly where the pipeline goes.

 The pipeline keeps going .. and going ...

 Tyler could reach.

 And then he helped me.

North Pole, Alaska

The purpose of driving through Denali National Park was to get to Fairbanks ... actually North Pole, Alaska about 10 miles north of Fairbanks. We went for a short weekend to experience super cold temperatures (-30*F), the North Pole and just another part of this great state.

Sitting in Santa's seat. Santa is on vacation until May.

Sitting in an ice sleigh.

Tyler with an icy Santa.

 

Riding a reindeer ... our bums were quite chilly.

Santa's house in the daylight.