snow!

we had our first big snowfall last night & this morning...the first snow that stuck. winter is here! i wish i could say that it's bright & white & pretty outside, but this is what it looks like:

kinda of blah and gray...at 11am.

mia was funny this morning - i don't think she really remembered what snow is. when i took her out to go potty, she was unsure of the white stuff and was very cautious about stepping anywhere. so cute!

randomness

guess what? i actually downloaded some music from itunes for the first time ever. aren't you proud? haha. ludo's broken bride ep & regina spektor's begin to hope album will be keeping me company this weekend as i push my way through the printing & binding madness.

oh, and it was trying to snow last night. more of a spitting from the sky type thing was happening, but the white stuff is coming. soon. i really need to get my snow tires on.

i was getting ready for bed the other night, and when i checked on the pups after my shower, i was treated to this lovely sight:


this is a big weekend - in addition to art, this will be the first year hubby & i will be handing out candy to the little hoodlums in our neighborhood! and...halloween is also our mia's 1st birthday!!!

this is not the most cohesive post ever. scattered, a lot like the way my mind's been the last few days. lots to do, so i better get to it...have a safe & fun weekend :)

lost lake hike

the scene: alaska wilderness on labor day weekend (aka the last weekend of summer)

we prepared for our trip friday night, keeping the knowledge of the weather forecast in mind: 90% chance of rain. i, of course, assumed that the forecast would be wrong, because there is a 90% chance that it will change. sadly, i was wrong. the hubster, friends jamie & cole, 4 furry kiddos, and i drove two hours south (in 2 cars) to the start of the lost lake trail. i rode with jamie and we took turns talking to our guys on the walkie talkies. actually, it was more like they were backseat driving...even though they were in the car ahead of us :) silly boys.

we unloaded the gear and the guys set up the cars at two parking lots. the cool thing about this particular hike is that you can hike in from one spot and the trail goes all the way through, which means no doubling back & no repetitive scenery. just as we all slung our packs on and headed towards the trail....the rain started.

rain, drizzle, rain, pour, rain, drizzle...somehow the rain always came down in the direction of our faces.

okay okay, it wasn't as bad as it sounded - it was wet, but not super cold. and the dogs had a BLAST! we got such a kick out of them running up and down the trail. mia would always run & check on the last person in line. vito wore in his new pack and it did well - he even went swimming with it on!

i unfortunately did not get a ton of pictures because it was raining...but here's a few from the morning we were hiking out, when it stopped raining!!

awesome views

see how the leaves are ALREADY changing?!

lost lake in the distance

jamie & cole

hubby & cole discussing important man stuff

bear & gauge (the good dogs)

mia licking her lips

vito looking handsome with his pack

overall the hike was a lot of fun. it was refreshing to get out of town for a couple of days, even if it was raining.

p.s. if you even plan to do an overnight hike with a 40 pound pack, i would highly recommend training for it first. because i could barely walk the following couple of days.

april showers

posting will be light this week - i have been putting all of my energy towards our two sweet puppies and am pretty exhausted. and it's only wednesday!

april showers in alaska bring...
yep SNOW. LOTS OF STUPID SNOW. we are supposed to get 5 inches of the white stuff today. at least i didn't get my snow tires changed out yet.

pretty day

the other day, the weather was gorgeous! we decided to take vito out for a walk to the inlet with his best friends (and our friend too!) we followed a trail through the woods and it opened up to this:

view to the right

view to the left

what a nice day :)

winter

alaskan winters are known for two things: cold & dark. lots of it. the cold hasn't been so bad this year, as the temperature is hanging around the mid-teens right now. but the dark is getting to me more than normal. the sun rises at 10am and sets before 4pm. i feel drained, like i'm going into hibernation mode - although i'm probably still catching up from all of the art shows & work in the past couple of months.

in the midst of all the cold & dark, anchor-town has been seeing a lot of fog. or i guess not seeing, since you can't see through fog. anyhow, the fog has left behind a layer of frosty-ness on everything, making the great outdoors gorgeous. see:

even the weather is decorating for the holidays!