Pix of my black lab Tug, Happy 4th Bday!

Happy 4th Birthday to my lab Tug and his brother Derbin!!
Born November 17, 2005

Tug - Jan 5, 2006 - The day we got him!

Jan 5, 2006 - Look at those ears!

Jan 6, 2006 - First night in the house, passed out in his kennel

Feb 7, 2006 - Such a cute pup!

Growing up fast! Feb 17, 2006

Feb 28, 2006 - Loving his new duck toy!

July 26, 2006 - First time on a boat ride from
Akutan - Dutch on the F/V Oceanic

July 30, 2006 - First car ride from Anchorage to Valdez and back
(not to mention he just got "fixed" so he's drugged up)

First time in the skiff! He loves it! Wearing his life preserver too!

Tug in a valley of lupins! July 26, 2007

1st Halloween Costume! Super Tug! Oct 31, 2006

Happy Halloween!! Bat Tug, Oct 31, 2007

Hippy Tug!! Halloween 2008!!

Oct 3, 2008 - Tug and Roscoe watching me catch
humpies (pink salmon) ahead of the bay! Looking around dad, lol!

Derbin on the left (My uncle Darryl's pup) and Tug on the right (my pup)

Can't believe they are already 4 years old!!! The years are just blowing by!!

Bird Pix

Pretty Bird

Willy

Pix of Pretty Bird and Willy

Pretty Bird getting a bath, drying her off with papertowel

A couple days old!

A week old!

2 weeks old

Sweetheart at a month old (the male)

Stash a month old (the female)

My baby birds with their pin feathers!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Happy 4th Birthday to my lab Tug!! Also Happy 25th birthday to my cousin Tim S!!!

Well let me see where to start my blog...

My very first pets I got in my house were these pair of cockatiels. Pretty Bird who was yellow (lutino) and Willy who was a normal grey back in November of 2004. I loved those birds, they would whistle and make all these cute sounds along with these ear piercing screams. In April of 2008 they finally became proud parents of 2 hatchlings - which took them about 3 "tries", each time the eggs would just rot and nothing would happen with them so I'd discard them after about 6 months and they would wait a month or two then they start to try to lay again. Each time Pretty Bird was laying at least 5-8 eggs a batch. Finally when we were away on a trip, 2 of the eggs ending hatching!!! The female pushed them out of the nest as soon as they were walking and she tried to lay more eggs while the male bird used all his energy rearing the 2 little ones. He wasn't eating himself I don't think, just eating and regurgitating it back up for the 2 greedy little birds (who were eating on their own but still bothered their dad when he ate to feed them). One day we found our male daddy bird Willy dead on the bottom of the cage - I figured exhaustion from rearing took his little life. Well our little birds are a year and a half now, and last night I happened to find my Pretty Bird dead on the bottom of the cage - feet up in the air, lying on her back just like they do in cartoons... I don't know what killed my Pretty Bird, I'm guessing old age?

I never knew how old Pretty Bird and Willy were when I got them. I just know that I've had them for 6 year and my in-laws we got them from had them for about 3 years, and they got them from a friend in Dutch- who had owned them for a couple years - The original owner was my in-law's friend in Dutch's daughter who had passed away and her mom took the birds. So they eventually ended up with us for the last 6 years, living the great life. A nice big cage, plenty of fresh water and food, a nest box, gravel/grit, seed sticks & millet sprays and lots of birdie toys and all the flying space in the living room/kitchen/dining room!! I'm happy that they at least had baby birdies and we have them still!! I'm going to miss them so much; they were such great birds.... :( Their attitudes aren't replaceable and I'll never forget my first two cockatiels!! We'll dig thru all the snow in our yard to find Willy's grave and bury his birdie wife next to him... sucks to lose an animal family member!! I'm going to miss my Pretty Bird, she was my bird and was so lovey towards me.... I'm going to miss giving her baths and hearing her cute whistles and calls when I walk by the cage :( R.I.P Pretty Bird and Willy - I will never forget my first birds!

Other than my bird passing away. We've been getting lots and lots of nice fluffy snow today! I think I can make a snow man out of this snow! I tried to the other night but the snow was too powdery and wouldn't stick to its self.... but this snow is perfect. I already made a 1 foot ball in my front yard and noticed a 4 foot ball in front of the school!!! I can't wait to get off work and go play in the snow. It's been so long since I actually played in the snow like a little kid!! At lunch hour I even got the 4-wheeler stuck in the snow, took me about 10 mins to get it back on the boardwalk… guess I didn’t expect it to be that deep and thought I could turn around, but ended up getting stuck :P I thought it was kind of funny… about 10 mins later I got the bike out of the snow and was able to get home to cook up lunch!

I don’t remember the last day we had a plane that’s how long it’s been… going on 2 weeks soon I would believe… this winter weather just won’t stop. If it isn’t blowing then it’s white out snowing – always something Mother Nature is throwing at us that stops the plane from making the 20 min trip over from Dutch… I’m not really waiting for anything to come in, I just want my outgoing mail to get out… well I am waiting for my Disneyland park hopper tickets to come in :) And I know I have people in the hotel that are waiting to get off the island and some people waiting to come over. I heard that there aren’t any boats right now going either way… so everyone is stuck until the weather clears up for a plane to make it in…

My hubby and I got invited to eat birthday dinner for my cousin Tim, I made an angel food cake at lunch hour and I’ll whip up some salmonberry topping for it before I bring it down!! I love angel food cake with a salmonberry sauce! Mmm Mmm Mmm!! Thanks for inviting us! Guess I can wait to play in the snow after I eat dinner ;) LOL…

Well I figured I’d post some pix of my birds. I need to take up to date pix of my 2 little birds, they are full grown now! I’m really going to miss my original 2 birds though, but I’m happy to at least have the 2 little ones from my original pair! And some of my lab Tug growing up, since it’s his b-day today! :D I’ll do those in separate posts :)

Until sometime, TTFN.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Ok well it's been about 5 days since I last posted... a lot has happened in those 5 days... So on Thursday, November 12th my hubby said he saw his cousin Lorraine (who was once married to my uncle so I consider her an aunt still). She said she hadn't heard from her brother in a couple days and was worried about him. My hubby told her to pick lock his front door and break into his house to make sure he was ok!! Well not even 15-20 mins later my hubby said he saw Lorraine's husband walking her home and she was crying... He already had a feeling of what happened...

On Monday the 9th, Lawrence came in to the Corporation office to see if his paycheck was done yet, since it wasn't he said he'd be back later or some other time to pick it up, "No rush" he said. I heard some other people talked to him later that night. No one heard from him on the 10th or the 11th, so by the morning of the 12th his sister Lorraine was suspicious of his where abouts and started to ask people when they last saw him and if anyone knew if he left to Dutch Harbor once again or not... After realizing that he didn't go anywhere, Lorraine got her husband and they broke into her brother's house. There they found Lawrence Prokopioff (Born Sept 1, 1959) at the young age of 50 deceased in his house. The death was caused by unknown conditions he might have even had a seizure, but was most likely alcohol related. Everyone one knew Lawrence's love for his hard alcohol and sadly to say it has taken his life. He is survived by his son Leon and grandson Isiah, his sisters Lorraine and Linda, niece Angelica, and nephews Art, Tim and Jeremiah. Preceded in death by both his parents Helen "Tootis" and Leon, and his brother Leon.

Lawrence will be greatly missed. His giggles and hiccups, his jokes and carefree attitude will not go forgotten!! My furnace will miss you dearly and I thank you for all you've taught me to take care of it on my own!! It's still very hard for me to grasp the reality of the situation, even after burying him in the ground on Saturday. I still feel as if he's here with us and that this is all just a bad dream... but it isn't and it's going to hit me hard one of these days that he's really gone...
My sincere condolences go out to my Aunty Lorraine and her family, Linda and her family..... Aunty Lorraine We All love you lots! Stay strong for us all... you've been thru sooo much... please know Boy and I are here for you just as much as you are for us!! Thank you for everything you do for all of us!! lots of luvs to you!!! <3

Since people did talk to Lawrence on Monday... they had guessed that he passed on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 and was laid to rest in the St. Alexander Nevsky Orthodox Church's cemetery on Nov 14, 2009.

His son Leon had come home for the funeral, making it by boat the day of the burial. Its been at least over 10 years since Leon was last here in Akutan, not the best way to come home to visit... but it was really good to see him again.


Well other than the funeral and trying to deal with those feelings... I've been doing great with my pregnancy! Baby is finally kicking good, I realized that baby kicks a lot once I eat anything! I've been trying to not let what's going on stress me out too much for the sake of my unborn child... no need for baby to feel stressed out because I am... so I stayed as strong as I could, but that didn't stop the tears from falling...

The weather has been crappy lately.... we've had a good High pressure sit over us bringing nothing but Northerly winds... making it freezing cold outside! The temps are hanging out in the 30's right around freezing, getting down to the low 20's - then to add the wind chill it's getting in the teens!! We have a little bit of snow and I"m hoping it sticks!! I tried to go out to make a snowman last night, but the snow was all powdery and didn't want to ball up for me... so my hubby and I built a little snow wall with all the snow in the yard! I don't remember the last time we got a plane, has to be going on well over a week now!! Luckily people have been coming and going on the boats that are still around, so at least we have a way to get on and off the island still if needed (that's if a boat is going to Dutch!). No mail is moving though since we dont' have a "mail boat" like we did back in the day... oh well.... I'm only waiting on some little things for my vacation coming up... Going to go spend some time in Los Angeles before driving to Las Vegas for to watch a couple of our friends tie the knot! I'm looking forward to the warm sunshine and people watching since I won't be able to get on any kind of rides at any of the theme parks! I just hate stressing over my 3 chi's... my parents will take my lab Tug and I'm hoping my brothers don't have any problems watching the pups and my house while we're gone... I HATE leaving them at home and would rather have them with us... but it's just not possible all the time :(

Well I'm sorry to have to share the news of us losing a great member of our community, but I figured I'd at least let everyone know, you know?!?! LP will be greatly missed by all of us here in Akutan!

Until some other time, TTFN

Pix from our trip to ANC

Just some pix I took during our trip to Anchorage for the ultrasound. We ended up taking the F/V Farwest Leader over to Dutch Harbor in about 8-10ft seas.... I can say I was good the first hour, then threw up into the garbage bag they provided for about 3 hours, then I was good the last hour or so.... I did get a 30min nap though, which felt good! We ended up staying a night in Dutch Harbor at the Grand Aleutian - joining CB for Sunday brunch the next morning before heading to the airport for our flight to Anchorage. Just because we took a boat, there ended up being 4 flights back and forth between Dutch and Akutan, and 3 more the day we flew to Anchorage! Glad we stayed the night and enjoyed Sunday brunch anyway, even though I had to endure the 5.5 hr boat ride over! We were in Anchorage for about 41 hours to get my ultrasound and all my tests done before we were getting back on a flight to Dutch Harbor and we actually made it home all in one day (of course we got put on the LAST flight and didn't get home until 6:30PM!!!). I seriously don't know why they bumped us from the flight and sent over Trident employees when we were scheduled on that flight!!! And the flight we came home on was one they had to "think" about for a bit before deciding to go...... I was not a happy camper - just sitting there in the airport from noon until 6PM trying to keep ourselves occupied while we waited for Pen-Air to tell us we can board the Goose and head home! Then in the rush of trying to get home, I left my braided money tree on the Pen-Air counter!! Luckily there was one plane that came in the next day and the pilot brought it over for me!! (Thanks Steve!!). Quick trip and we weren't able to get as much done as we wanted to but this wasn't a pleasure trip, we have our vacation rolling in around the corner here soon!! I figured we can just wait! :) Here are a couple pix anyways :)

PIX:

F/V Farwest Leader

An old bumper sticker from the Akutan Roadhouse
(Note phone number is now 698-2219)

The beautiful Grumman Goose!

The Saab 340's in Dutch Harbor, Mt. Ballyhoo in the background.

We flew on the "Spirit of Sand Point"

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Happy Veteran's Day to all those who have served
or currently serve our great country!!!
Everything you do for our freedom is greatly appreciated!

Now how did it already become the 11th of November?!?!?! This year is just blowing right by us like the winter storms that blow thru! So far we've been having our usual week long storms that pack lots of wind with them and depending on from what direction the wind is coming from, the wind controls our temperatures. Northerly winds always bring the cold weather and snow while Southerly winds bring warm temps and usually lots and lots of rain! Just last night it got up to 54F but woke up to 35F since the wind changed direction from Southerly to Northerly overnight. But after about 4-9 days of windy stormy weather we'll get 1-2 days of clear weather before the next storm hits us. Usual weather for us this time of the year! We still haven't had snow that's stuck for a day or two... barely gets cold enough for any of it to stay... The temps have been averaging right around 34-35F the last week or so, leaving it cold enough to frost the tops of the mountains, but leaving us to deal with slush here at sea level! No worry though, winter is definitely making it's appearance!! Especially in these back to back week long storms that don't seem end - it'll be like this until next March or April!!

Well my baby likes to kick good once in a while, feels like a big twitch in my tummy that makes me giggle to myself... LOL. The morning sickness has finally all but disappeared being replaced by heartburn... just have to watch what I eat... I can eat spicy food without suffering, so I'm happy about that! :D It's simple things like cream of wheat and oatmeal or toast that give me heartburn bad! I am officially in week 20 day 4 of my pregnancy!!! I can't believe I'm already half way thru!!!

King Crab season has come and gone... I wasn't able to get any great pix because of numerous excuses I can come up with.... :P We have already devoured a 20lb box @ 186.00 a box! Thinking about getting another box from Trident before they run out and I'll have to order it from Dutch Harbor!! I love hot right out of the shell dipped in hot butter!! My hubby prefers it hot from the shell by its self, he says "why mess with something that already tastes great?" He's not a fan eating his King Crab any other way but the way nature prepared it for us! I can't help but soak it in butter!! :D I love that I am fortunate enough to live somewhere that it's processed and I can get it as fresh as we do!!

I have to get a hold of our credit card company and let them know that the printer down at the store stopped working. I tried everything I could but wasn't able to get it to print - the lights would just blink at me and there is nothing in the manual that says anything about a blinking power light!!! So I was able to move the printer from the office machine to the store so that they can still process credit cards, debit cards and Quest cards (food stamps card) for our customers. I think the Corp office and Store are the only places open on the island today... Hopefully our credit card company can get us a replacement in the mail ASAP so I can get the office CC printer back in the office so I can process credit cards for payment on store charge accounts and payment for the hotel!

So far I can say I've been craving sweet stuff... which with my sweet tooth isn't a good thing, but I've been trying to watch what I eat.... I've been wanting powdered doughnuts.... I asked my younger sis to send me some... so hopefully if she does I hope it gets here quickly but I doubt it with the way the weather has been acting lately...... but you never know! :D

I still can't believe it's that time of the year and the holidays are just around the corner! Turkey sounds so good... I wonder where we're having Thanksgiving dinner this year?? Usually try to go to my hubby's parents early in the afternoon and eat again later that evening at my parents! Lots of turkey and stuffing!! Yay... sounds so good!!! I can't wait!! I'll find something to whip up and bring to each dinner. Speaking of which, I'm going to bake up some pumpkin pies tonight!! I have to remember to get some whipped cream from down at the store to go along with it! Not sure what I'm going to make for dinner... been cooking big meals and trying to get enough healthy food for my growing baby to feed off of!! Been eating lots of fruit, mostly canned though so I'm trying to stick to the lite variety instead of heavy syrup. I still can't believe I'm half way done with my pregnancy already!! I swear with in no time my baby will be in our arms here soon with the way time is just going by!

Well I hope everyone is having a great November so far! Until sometime, TTFN! :)

Attention Alaskan Artists!!

Hello everyone in Alaska –

Rep. Edgmon was recently informed that the legislature would like to purchase Alaskan art for the new Thomas Stewart Legislative Office building in Juneau. The nearby building was purchased by the legislature and has been renovated, including the construction of an adjoining walkway between the two buildings. The access point is on the second floor of the Capitol and is located near the House Speaker’s office.

To properly commemorate the new addition to the Capitol building, the legislature would like to acquire art from all regions of the state for hanging in hallways, conference rooms, and committee rooms.

If any of you have recommendations on any artwork you think would be fitting for display in Juneau, please contact me with a picture of the artwork, the dimensions and the cost. Our office will be glad to send recommendations on to the Legislative Affairs Agency. Please respond either by email or by phone.

Adam Berg
Staff to Rep. Bryce Edgmon
800-898-4451
Adam Berg [mailto:Adam_Berg@legis.state.ak.us]

Happy Halloween!!! Saturday, Oct 31, 2009

Happy Halloween everyone!! Hope you had a great day and an even better night!!! Here are some pix I took :)
Both of my pumpkins :)
the small one is from the ferry
the bigger one we picked up in Dutch Harbor

Rawr!!! Me as a kitty :)

TRICK OR TREAT!!!

Mia and Bryce - Nathan was bending down getting more candy!

Karen and Sandra taking their cute babies trick or treating!
Jamara in the background

Sarah, Jamara, and Antony Mark

Raemie, Nikita, David and Shaylin


(right to left) Shannon, Margaret, and their sister

Our pumpkin - Friday, Oct 30, 2009

The Pumpkin I carved tonight!! My hand is cramping now but it looks great!!!

Baby girl!

We had our ultrasound on Monday the 26th of October and found out we're having a baby girl! She currently about 9oz and exactly about 18 weeks old (right on schedule with the dates I have!) We are naming her Veronika Raelene Tcheripanoff!!!! She was so cute laying on her tummy and hiding her face in the placenta! She was being stubborn like I thought and I had to roll around and try to get her to move so we can get a good shot of her! Yay I'm so excited! Now to pray for good weather so we can make it home all in one day!!!

PIX:

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Burrr.. what a thing to wake up to... 33F temps and slush on the boardwalks!! High up on the mountains we have our first actual coating of snow that might stay throughout the day! You can say I am definately not ready for winter yet.... :( I have to get my "yak-trax" out (shoe cleats) so I don't slip, I almost landed right on my behind walking off my porch this morning!!! Luckily I was close to the railing still and caught myself... Gotta try harder to be more carefull and be aware when I know it's slushy out!!

I'm mad at my camera (well not my camera but the memory card reader) its hasn't been cooperating with me or else I'd put up some pix of our newly frosted mountains!! I'll post pix later from home where my camera cord is!

We had an assortment of huge snow flakes that fall gracefully from the sky to the wet hail/sleet/rain mix that's blowing in the wind...

We're going to pack tonight and pray hard that the weather gives us a clearing so we can get up to Anchorage for our first ultrasound appointment. I'm so excited to be able to take a peek at my growing baby and to find out what sex the baby is!! Not to mention spend some family time with both my sisters (my older sis is driving up from Valdez with my 2 cute neices) and all 3 of my neices!! Also I'm super excited to be able to see my Krusnadad (Godfather) since he's planning on being in Anchorage during the same time we'll be up there!!! I haven't seen him since I was like 8 or 9 years old!!! I'm just hoping and praying that we're able to get out of here to make all our scheduled arrangements.... I hate rescheduling........ so hopefully things go the way they are supposed to and we make it up to Anchorage and back as planned!

OMG, so my Aunty Jen made these awesome ginger snap cookies!! There were to die for and tasted so good!! Both baby and I enojyed them!!! :D Thanks Aunty Jen! Much love!!!

OK well I just wanted to let everyone know that today is our official first day of snow!!!!

Cross your fingers for us to make it out to our Ultrasound appointment!! Thanks lots!! See you soon CB!!

Until sometime, TTFN

Monday, October 19, 2009

Well the Fall weather is slowly trying to turn to Winter weather... woke up one morning to the hills having a good amount of frost on them!!! The island is looking its usual dead brown color that will stay until next year when it starts to green back up. Hoping this year we get lots of snow, but from the looks of the last 5 years I highly doubt that.... Temps are getting down to about low to mid 30's at night here at my house and about low 40's during the day time.

My pups are all doing great! Cali is getting along great with the boys and learning lots! She can be a bit bossy at times, but what female isn't?!?!?! LMAO!!! (Laughing my a$$ off) I know I can get bossy at times :P I still think our lab is waiting for one of them to grow to his size!

We had our auditors come in to do our yearly audit at the Corp. Everything went smoothly and I got a lot of praises for all the work I put in getting everything ready for them! That made me really happy!

Still waiting for our new 42" TV that we won for the Akutan Holiday raffle... hopefully that comes in soon, that would be cool!! Can't wait to replace our 32" tube TV and get our new flat panel set up in our living room!!!

I heard that the cannery is already sending people home for the season until January when they start to ship them all back in. So most the outgoing flights are all booked up, I was lucky to get my hubby's ticket made so he can come with me to our first ultrasound!!! I'm hoping my baby lets us see if he's a boy or if she's a girl!!! I'm excited to be able to see both my sisters and all my neices too, since my older sis and her 2 girls will be in ANC when we get up there!! Hopefully the weather cooperates with me and lets us travel on our selected dates! Crossing my fingers and praying hard!!! I'm officially 17 weeks and 1 day pregnant as of today!! Can't believe I've known for 12 weeks already!! Time goes by so fast!! I'm still fitting in my regular clothes, I'm not really showing that much - just a small little belly so far... I'm still anxiously waiting to feel those first "kicks"...

Oh and you can tell winter is coming by how early it gets dark and how late the sun comes up in the AM. The sun sets around 7:45PM and it's dark by 8:15PM. It starts to get daylight around 9:45 AM and the sun comes up around 10:15AM. I believe we're losing around 5 mins of daylight a day.... definately adds up over a couple days!! I've still to see frost on the boardwalks... I get up early enough (7AM to walk my dogs)... I've heard some people say they've seen frost on the boardwalks, but I've yet to see it... I've seen it on the mountains a couple mornings. Especially on clear nights when it gets cold out!

King Crab season officially started the 15th of this month. I haven't been paying attention to what boats have been going in and out of the bay or whether or not the cannery has gotten any deliveries yet. I do know I heard the Northwestern has been in and out a couple times already. My uncle and brother are fishing for live cod bait for some of the boats and they did a delivery to the NW the other day.... I don't want to spoil the surprise but I got confirmation from my brother that the Jake for Jake switch is definately a GO this year!! Can't wait to see how that turns out on the new season of Deadliest Catch!!! I can't wait to taste some fresh Bering Sea King Crab dipped in some hot drawn butter!!! I'm hoping by Halloween they should be offering "home pack" size boxes for sale to the public!!! Wonder what the price will be this year....hmmm... good thing we always make a savings stash for that all important purchase!!! At first people were trying to tell me I couldn't eat it... but after some researching I found out it's fine in moderation!! So now I can't wait to get some of that sweet Bering Sea gold!!!

Ok well I'll make sure to share my ultrasound photos and share whether or not we were able to see what sex baby is once we find out! I'll try to make sure to get lots of photos of the kids on Halloween too and share those!! I know a couple of the kids have some cute costumes, can't wait to see what the rest have!! I'm going to be a kitty this year! Last year I was a Boarder Patrol Agent!!

Take care everyone, sorry I'm slacking on my blog.. I've been feeling guilty about not writing in it, but I haven't had the time... I guess I can make time to check in at least!!! Ok well until sometime, TTFN!!

PS. I started a poll on my blog... what do you think I'm having? A boy? A girl? or are you undecided? Please vote!!! :D As of today, a little more than a week before I peek and spoil the surprise!!!! I'm excited to see the results!!! :D

Sunset pix Sunday October 11, 2009

Sunrise pix, Sunday October 11, 2009

The Goose Landing, Oct 9, 2009

PIX

The following are photos I found online that I thought I would share with everyone. Since Mt. Cleveland is acting up once again. I thought I'd find some photos showing the location of Akutan, Dutch Harbor. And how far away Mt. Cleveland really is from our locations. Hope you like!


Showing how far away Mt. Cleveland is from our Volcano

Where Akutan is located in our big beautiful state of Alaska!!
We are about 40 air miles NE of Dutch Harbor - 750 miles SW of Anchorage

A close up of showing how close we are to Dutch Harbor/Unalaska.
The Goose will take off from Dutch Harbor heading straigt towards our island then they will either fly on the North or South sides of Akutan island and then circle around and come back into our harbor to land. Another route is (see where it lables Unalaska/Dutch Harbor - well if that was an arrow pointing to the right, the plane would go up that little harbor near our volcano then snake it's way up thru the mountain passes and pop up over the hills at the head of the bay and make it's decent into the harbor for landing!

Friday, October 2, 2009

Well it’s been a pretty long while since I last “checked” in… nothing too exciting has been happening around these parts. There was a small earthquake the other day that was about 60miles SSW of here – I heard a couple people felt it… I didn’t feel it in my office.

The weather has been getting chillier every day but we still haven’t gotten any frost on the boardwalks just yet… we usually get the first frost on the boardwalk in September… Still not stopping the winds from blowing and the storms coming one after the other giving us a day or two break in between a week or two of no flyable days… then when the plane does come in it’s usually packed full of mail… not many people coming to or from the island lately…

I have officially started month 4 of my pregnancy (week 14 day 6 to be exact). The morning sickness has waned off and is almost gone… but now I have to deal with heartburn and the feeling to need to pee all the time!! HA HA HA… guess I should have expected to be peeing more often! I’m still not really “showing” yet and have only put on about 7lbs total so far!! But if you look at the pix of me from week 7 and compare them to now (week 14) you can see a slight difference… lol!!

I can’t believe that my second niece, the one I call Cupcake, is going to be a year old in 2 more days!! Wow, a year goes by way too fast if you ask me and there is no way to really slow it all down so we can enjoy it before it’s gone… My oldest niece is doing great, got over the H1N1 flu – kicking that flu’s butt back to where it came from!! Strong lil 2 year old!! Happy that she was able to come thru as a fighter!!! She’s now taking dance classes!! Such big girls!!!

Speaking of baby girls… I forgot to let everyone know that I had a new bundle of joy join our family, a lil baby girl Chihuahua that we named “Dreaming of California Sunshine” or Cali for short or Boots for her nickname (Roscoe already has Socks taken!)! I got her from a breeder down in Texas and had her shipped up to us on the 18th of September. She stayed overnight in Anchorage with her new Aunty Ivy before catching the Saab flight down to Dutch Harbor and making it to me on the only Goose flight we had that day (the 19th). She’s been a great addition to the family, getting along great with the boys!! A little jealousy from Dante, but we make sure to give him lots of love and attention still so he doesn’t feel “left out”. She’s was born on June 11, 2009 – and she’s such a little sweetheart!! I can’t wait for her 3-4th heat to get a litter out of her (another year or so before that happens)… I already have people proposing to buy one of the puppies once they are born!! LOL!!! I’ll have to see about that when the time comes… I love having her in the house though and she’s so smart and learning so quick, especially when she’s watching the boy’s and just copying them!!! She just learned how to get up the stairs we built for the dogs to get up on our bed… now if she’d just grow some “balls” and go back down!!! In time she’ll be jumping up and down on her own without using stairs!!

I still can’t believe that it’s already October and that Fall has its grip on us and that winter is just around the corner already… some parts of the state have already experienced snow!!! I’m not ready for winter yet… not ready for the cold wet sleet that seems to dominate it here in the winter time. We rarely get any snow any more in the last 10 years and it’s been over 15 years since we had a nice dump on us… I don’t think I’ll ever see those days again where we have to dig down into the snow to find the boardwalk and have a good 7-10 feet tall walls of snow on both sides of you!! The last couple years it’s has just rained most of the time, letting us get a couple cold days where the snow would stick… but it not the nice powdery stuff that you can play in!! It’s always icy or it looks like snow but it’s really heavy wet filled sleet/snow!!

Let me see now… nothing too exciting has gone on since my last post… other than the weather is getting colder and colder everyday and it seems like it’s getting darker way earlier and getting lighter way later… all signs of winter time… There is going to be a carnival fundraiser at the School for the school kids travel fund. I think they are finally going to do the raffle on the rest of the items too that they were supposed to do on Akutan Founder’s Day. They should be having a little bake sale too! I think it’s scheduled for 1:30PM at the school tomorrow. Hopefully they have a great turnout. I remember doing that when I was in school. We always had a Halloween carnival sometime in October!!

Ok well I hope everyone is doing great and enjoying the beginnings of fall!! I still think this year is going by way too fast!!!! Ok well take care, TTFN!!!

Pix:

My 3 babies - Cali 3 months, Dante 1yr 3 months, Roscoe 1 yr 10months

Cali and Dante sleeping on Roscoe..
you can just see Roscoe's feet sticking out from behind Dante!!

All 3 of them trying to sleep close to each other!
I love them so much!!!!! Aren't they just so cute!!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

How did it become the first day of Fall already? Where did summer go????

Nothing too interesting has been happening. We've been getting planes in and the weather has actually been pretty nice but I heard that a big storm is headed our way and should stick around for the next week or so....

Still dealing with darn "morning sickness" and I'm eating lots and still losing weight!! I don't get it.... I'm not showing yet, but patiently waiting to get my bump!

The pups have been doing great. The little guys welcomed home their new "wife" on Saturday! Dreaming of California Sunshine (Cali) is now a part of my family! She's such a cute black and white chi and she get's along great with my other pups!! So in about a year or so we should be having puppies, and they will come with AKC registration papers too!!! I want to wait for her 3rd heat to breed her, I want to take her to the vet and make sure she's breeding material first before I even think of letting her get knocked up! She's so sweet and loving!! So I guess you can say I become an owner/breeder of chihuahua's!! I only plan on breeding her maybe twice, but for sure once. I just want to be able to have a baby off one of my baby boy's!! I love chi's!!

Let me see... anthing else to write about... hmmmm..... The Geothermal project wrapped up and they emptied out of our hotel. The state ferry the Tustemena should be here in the early AM to do the Dutch run and come back later tomorrow evening. I heard they are maybe planning another trip next month (they usually bring pumpkins with them and hand them out! and they even have like "trick or treating" where the kids dress up and go get candy from the employees!).

Looking forward to the new episode of Hell's Kitchen. They didn't have it on last week because it was the season finale of More to Love. I can't believe Luke asked Tali to marry him... I so thought he was going to pick Malissa!!! Lately I've been watching A Baby Story on TLC in the AM's.... getting myself mentally prepared for the birthing process and trying to learn techniquest that I might be able to utilize when I'm in labor.... I know I'm far from that point right now, but never too early to be prepared!!

Oh I got the cutest Baptimal dress for my hubby's godchild. Joe and Frannie seemed really happy that I got it for her!! It's a keepsake dress and looks so beautiful!! Worth every penny I paid for it!! Plus to see the joy in their faces when I gave it to them was all I wanted back from them!!!!! Luvs to O.Misty.B!!

OK well next time I get on I hope there will be more to talk about! Until I post again in the future, TTFN!!!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Well the 11th was not only my Mother's birthday it was also Patriot Day. I was flying my flag all day!

The 12th was Akutan Founders Day where our 2nd Class city celebrated its 131st birthday! The games and raffle were postponed due to no prizes yet. So the potluck was scheduled for 5PM at the Tribal office and I think at 7PM they had a beer "shotgunning" contest. The food was pretty good, a nice selection.

The 13, 14, and 15 the weather has been pretty nice in the AM's letting the first flights make it in, then we'll get a little rain squall go thru have it clear up before the afternoon flight makes its way in after 5PM. The office has been pretty quiet, we're out of cash once again - so all I've been doing is answering the phone and getting paperwork into the computer. The VMA (Video Music Awards) was pretty good... Lady Ga Ga is a trip though... where does she come up with her outfits??? And what Kanye did to Taylor Swift was just wrong!!

I heard that on most of the planes that came in, there was nothing but mail on most of the flights. So they will be super busy down at the Post Office sorting thru it all. Hopefully my shoes and Sephora order comes in! I love getting shoes and makeup!! 2 of a girls favorite things!

I've caught this really bad cold, waiting for our PA to come in (We had a helicopter medivac come in and Clark had to go with them, Clark is Darryl's replacement). So I have to wait for Clark to get back from Cold Bay so I can go in and see if there is anything I can take. I think I'm getting a sinus infection and I'm coughing up this really nasty yellow/green crap from my lungs. Sleeping at night is almost impossible... sneezing, runny nose, coughing, my nose will get stuffed and give me the worse sinus pressure and headache. So far all I'm taking is Tylenol and drinking lots of water. I hate being sick :(

16th - Well the weather is getting chilly in the AM's. Waking up to low 40's but I see it's already getting down to the high 30's at night but it will get up to the mid to high 50's thru out the day. It been pretty nice the last couple days, slight breezes and an occasional rain squall.... but when it rains here it pours! Big rain drops like someone has a hose and are just hosing you down!

The office has been quiet almost all day due to us having no cash... even the store seems to be quiet... maybe it's this rainy weather?? I caught word that the state ferry Tustemena broke down in Seldovia, AK and needs to go to Seward for repairs... so there goes the ferry coming in this weekend....

So far I haven't had any cravings for any weird combinations, though I'm waiting to see if I do! I was disappointed that Hell's Kitchen didn't come on last night... I guess the finale of More to Love was more important :P I've been eating pretty good lately and my hubby is actually attacking the kitchen by himself and making me meals!! For once!!! Do you know how hard it was over all these years to get him to actually set foot in the kitchen and have him cook something up?!?!? I'm so happy to finally see him in there cooking up meals for me now... I knew he knew how to do it but just wasn't confidant enough in his cooking skills. But he told me that with becoming a dad he knows he's going to have to take on some of my responsibilities... so he's starting by learning how to utilize the kitchen!! Makes me proud of him and happy that I can just sit back and be served up great home cooked food!!

Well, sorry I haven't been updating my blog... just seem like I don't have time to do anything and when I get home I just want to nap and relax before eating dinner watching the news or a movie and then watching The Tonight show with Conan O'Brian before passing out for the night... I can't believe I'm already going to be 13 weeks pregnant this Sunday!! I'm on week 12 day 4 right now! I'm wishing hard that there are 2 in there.... sometimes I think I feel 2.... but it might just be me trying to want to feel 2!! We'll know hopefully when we go to Anchorage for an ultrasound. So far I'm still in my pre-pregnancy clothes - actually I feel like I look almost a little better now than I did when we first conceived! I can't wait to actually start showing and looking pregnant and to feel those first "kicks"!! I have a couple months for both those to happen though... but I shouldn't worry it's going to happen!! :D So far for working out I'm just walking a lot and riding my bicycle... I know I need to start back up on my yoga routines - I miss working out at the intensity that I did before... but with being so tired all the time it's hard to schedule a workout time... easy to ride my bike from home to work and back! I love feeling the "burn" in my legs... letting me know I'm getting a good workout on those muscles!

Well all my pups have been doing great! I got their Petco order in, a bunch of new toys to spoil my babies with. Most of their other one's were damaged beyond repair. I like to rotate their toys so they are always interested in them! They are so cute when they see something new or something they haven't seen in a couple months!!

The next nice dry day we have to get out and get our lawn mowed once again... if we keep it cut and in great condition then it will stay short and green all winter under the snow! And we won't have to worry about it over growing before we can get back out to cut it after the snow melts! I'm still thinking about getting chickens... I only want like 10-15 of them behind the house to produce fresh eggs for us to consume! I had chickens when I was growing up and loved having them! This one time, I laugh at Darryl Peterson when he tells me that I already have a zoo with my 3 dogs, 3 birds and 6 fish when I was telling him that my hubby wanted to get a cat... then he even joked about me wanting one of the horses that the Cattle Company got in, and I was like "A horse would be cool, but I know nothing about them." He just laughed at me! So I love animals, nothing wrong with that. When I was a little girl I wanted to grow up to be a vet. But then I couldn't (and still can't) stand hypodermic needles... I think my fear of needles come from the fact that my dad had kidney failure and when I was like 4-6 I was having kidney problems and I was shipped up to Anchorage where I was poked and prodded so many times that they would have to restrain me with as many people as they could just to draw my blood. I would throw fits and fight and do anything I could to keep that needle from coming near me. Ask my mom! So today I still have that unnerving fear of needles. I get faint and light headed and want to throw up anytime I get my blood drawn or when I have to get a shot of any kind. Just a fear that was imprinted in my brain since childhood that I can't shake.

The Geothermal project is wrapping up. We had 3 local guys from town working with the 9+ people that came in from whatever company the City has working on the project. Last night was also the last night for the live music at the Roadhouse (local watering hole). Tomorrow our hotel should clear out and we'll be ready for the next people checking in.

I'm trying to think if there is anything else going on to blog about....other than I'm sad to see summer coming to an end and Fall bursting in with all it's color spectrum of browns, golden yellows and reddish tones taking over the lush greenness of summer. The salmon berry bushes have already shed half their leaves and most the berries have fallen off the plant in the recent storms. The blueberries are fully ripen if you can find them, they didn't seem to produce that great this year compared to last year. And moss berries are big and juicy ready to be picked. My mom told me she got a couple cups of fresh wild cranberries the other day! Still waiting for the morning when I wake up and find fresh frost on the boardwalks.... any day here soon... we always get our first freeze in September! It's getting cold enough to see your breath in the AM!

Ok well I'll try to get on here more and update... need to start getting back into my pre-pregnancy routine of blogging and working out!! Until sometime, TTFN!