Morning Moose

Baby moose

We were woken up early this morning by our lab/Shepard puppy and her barking. She usually sleeps in the living room, so I came out to quiet her down. In our backyard on the other side of the fence I saw a baby moose. Where there's a baby, there's always a mama. So I walked further into the living room and saw the mama... AND another baby. Matt and I sat and watched them for awhile eating our weeds in the back, hoping they wouldn't make it around to the front where the good stuff was (veggies and flowers). The babies eventually found Matt's sugar snap peas, though. It was fun to watch as the babies ventured off to the front yard and then across the street, while the mama stayed in the backyard. A neighbor dog started barking and those babies went speeding back to their mother and stuck close after that. I guess that's what they get for going off on their own! Haha! 

A little perspective to how close she is

The Help

So my favorite sister-in-law on Matt's side of the family suggested I read "The Help".  I picked it up at the Costco in Virginia and began reading it immediately.  Loved it!! Could hardly put it down.  I have since suggested it to many others, but haven't needed to since it is a bestseller.

Thank goodness I read it when I did since the movie just came out at the beginning of the month.  I went to watch it with a friend and her mom.  I felt the movie did the book great justice.  Only a few small details that were missing.  Nothing added or changed dramatically.  The actors were for the most part unknown (except for the main character and her mother).  It was a wonderful movie - funny, sad, and true to the story.  I highly recommend both the movie and book, but, of course, read the book first!! :)

Our Marathon Weekend

Me and Matt with our catch :)

So completely forgot to write about our crazy weekend last weekend!  Matt had rescheduled our halibut fishing trip for the first weekend after school started (not smart on his part!).  So Friday after school got out, I rushed home to get stuff ready.  Matt was already home early and had started to get stuff out to go.  We had to take the dogs to two different sitters and then stop in Anchorage for food and our bibs (for the race we were running Sunday).

We got into Homer around 11:30 and pulled into our camping spot.  We had already decided we would just camp out in our car.  That is something we'll never do again!  Very uncomfortable.  And Matt took all my space!  We woke up at 6 the next morning and showered.  Thank goodness our campground had showers! And they were free!!! Even better!

Matt hauling one in

Our boat left the dock at 7 and thankfully didn't have to turn around this time!! We fished all morning.  Found a great little "elementary" patch of fish.  I caught my two quickly and was done.  Matt decided he wanted to work more and kept throwing his back hoping for a bigger one - one that never came.  He eventually got his two and we were done.  Everyone on the boat caught their limit.  I didn't puke or feel sick (two other girls, however, weren't so lucky). So all in all it was a great success!

Matt in front of Bear Creek Winery

We got in from the ocean early and headed over to the Bear Creek Winery where we tasted some interesting, fruity wines.  I settled on a Peach Apricot.


We headed out of Homer at about 2:00 or 2:30.  We thought we would actually get home at a decent time, but there was more in store for us.  A few miles south of Girdwood, there was a head-on collision that closed the highway until 10 that night.  So we didn't get home until midnight.  The Seward Highway is one of the most dangerous highways in Alaska.  People are just not smart on that road.  Unfortunately, the driver of the car that was doing the right thing was the one that died that night.  So sad!

Us before the race

Well, so, we got home late and had to wake up early the next morning for our last race of the summer.  The Snow City 5k started at 930 on Sunday.  I was wiped out and did not do as well as I wanted.  I still beat my last years time by 6 seconds, though.  Still had a great time!!!

Isaac, firstmate, with one of Matt's chickens

Montana people with their catch

Our fearless, funny Captain

Firstmates filleting our fish as we head back to the dock 

Isaac, guy from MT, Matt, and lady from MT

School Started

Well, that time of the year is here!  School started last week.  I am teaching fourth grade this year.  So far I am loving it!! I have a wonderful class and they are making it so easy for me to teach them.  However, I have tons of work to do this year putting stuff together as nicely as it was for second grade.

I also am continuing my Master's degree.  I'm taking my time with it.  Just taking 2 classes a semester this year.  Next year I will do my principal internship.  For that I will have request a student teacher so that I can be out of the room as needed to fulfill my time obligations.  I don't plan on being a principal for a while, but it will be nice to have the schooling done and out of the way.

Yummy Dinner!

We finally had a nice day after two weeks of wind and rain.  Matt made one of my favorite salmon recipes, but this time on a cedar plank on the barbecue.  It is a salmon stuffed with a mixture of pesto, pine nuts, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes. On the side he made basil pearl couscous. 
For dessert.... homemade, warm banana bread, made by Lindsay, of course! YUMMY!

Triathlete and Me

This past Saturday, Matt and I participated in the Why Not Tri triathlon in Wasilla.  Since Matt is such a stud, he did the whole thing by himself.  I participated with a team.  I did the running portion.  A good friend of mine, Alicia Johnson, did the biking.  A good friend of hers did the swimming.   Surprisingly enough, as a team we beat Matt only by 2 minutes... not sure how that happened.


Matt did very well for not training this year.  He was slower only by 6 minutes from last year. Last year he trained and last year they did not time transitions.  Matt will need to work on those transitions for next year!  I'm almost thinking about doing the whole thing myself next year.  We'll see how much training I get done this winter!

Our First Step

Well, we took our first step in the adoption process.  We signed up for an adoption workshop in September through Catholic Social Services.  For those that know what we've been through, it's been a very emotional and difficult journey trying to have our own child.  We continue that journey with the help of a wonderful doctor, Dr. Stigen, in California.  She has been the best doctor we've had through this 6 year ordeal.  She is just amazing and at least I am feeling and "working" more like I'm suppose to! If you know ANYONE that is having trouble getting pregnant please tell them about NaProTechnology (http://www.naprotechnology.com) and the Pope Paul VI Institute (http://www.popepaulvi.com).  It has been a Godsend for us!
When I first signed up to do a blog several years ago, it was going to be to talk about everything we have gone and will go through to try to have our own baby.  It's so hard to try to find out what to say and how to say it without feeling like you're asking people to feel sorry for you.  But things have changed a little.  While the process still continues to be heart-wrenching and depressing at times, I believe we have more optimism about it now than we ever have.
I hit 30 this year and just can't wait any longer, though.  So we are taking the steps toward adoption.  If we end up getting pregnant, too, well then, all the better!!  I am excited about this step in our lives, but nervous as well.  I hope that it does not take long, but then again, we've become experts at waiting.  I just pray to God that everything works out in the end and we end up with the baby we've always wanted.
As most of you know, adoption can be expensive and any help we can get is always appreciated.  You are more than welcome to donate to our adoption fund which you can do right from this blog. Just look on the right hand side to find the donate button.
It feels really good to get this out there, to write about it, to have people read it, and know maybe just a small inkling of what Matt and I have been quietly dealing with for several years.  Kind of like confession! :)  So we will continue to do what we have to to finally be parents.  Here is a little poem that I found that about tells it all about the way I feel.
God Bless!!

Thoughts on Becoming a Mother

There are women that become mothers without effort, without thought, without patience or loss and though they are good mothers and love their children, I know that I will be better. 

I will be better not because of genetics, or money or that I have read more books but because I have struggled and toiled for this child. 
I have longed and waited. 
I have cried and prayed. 
I have endured and planned over and over again. 

Like most things in life, the people who truly have appreciation are those who have struggled to attain their dreams. 
I will notice everything about my child. 
I will take time to watch my child sleep, explore and discover. I will marvel at this miracle every day for the rest of my life. 

I will be happy when I wake in the middle of the night to the sound of my child, knowing that I can comfort, hold and feed him and that I am not waking to take another temperature, pop another pill, take another shot or cry tears of a broken dream. My dream will be crying for me. 

I count myself lucky in this sense; that God has given me this insight, this special vision with which I will look upon my child that my friends will not see. 

Whether I parent a child I actually give birth to or a child that God leads me to, I will not be careless with my love. 

I will be a better mother for all that I have endured. I am a better wife, a better aunt, a better daughter, neighbor, friend and sister because I have known pain. 

I know disillusionment as I have been betrayed by my own body. I have been tried by fire and hell many never face, yet given time, I stood tall. 

I have prevailed. 
I have succeeded. 
I have won. 

So now, when others hurt around me, I do not run from their pain in order to save myself discomfort. I see it, mourn it, and join them in theirs. 

I listen. 

And even though I cannot make it better, I can make it less lonely. I have learned the immense power of another hand holding tight to mine, of other eyes that moisten as they learn to accept the harsh truth and when life is beyond hard. I have learned a compassion that only comes with walking in those shoes. 

I have learned to appreciate life. 

Yes I will be a wonderful mother.

~Author Unknown

I Love My Gardens!

These just started blooming today!

I would not say that gardening is my favorite thing to do, but I love the rewards that have come from it.  I have done a flower garden in the front of the house since the first spring we've lived here.  I've decided that getting perennials are the best way to go.  That way I know what I've planted and what should come up next year.  I do have a little area set aside specifically for annuals like daisies, but perennials are my favorite. My rose bush is my absolute favorite.  This is my 3rd one in three years because I guess I need to winterize it... I really love the colors in my garden though.  Makes me smile!

This year I also added another little piece of landscaping to our yard - way up front near the road.  This one will be a work in progress as I have to weed it constantly and there is more that I want to do with it, but it's too late in the growing season.

Matt has a little vegetable garden which has not done too well the past couple years.  We do have chives and snap peas though!  Also planted in our yard is some yummy raspberries.  This is the first year we have had any, but there are not very many (maybe 4 berries).  This is a picture of one... right before I ate it!

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

I found these fun answers to the classic joke while searching for teaching ideas on the internet.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

RED RIDING HOOD: He was taking a shortcut to Grandma's house. I hope he is careful!

DARTH VADER: To join the dark side.

SIMON COWELL: That was the worst road crossing I have ever seen!

RANDY JACKSON: Yo dog! He did what he had to do. That was hot!

THE PRINCIPAL: After reviewing a significant amount of data, including the number of eggs laid per minute, the chicken decided that the other side of the road was a much better environment.

THE TEACHER: We are not telling jokes in class!

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: To cross or not to cross. That is the question.

SANTA CLAUS: For cookies and milk.

JIMMY NEUTRON: According to my calculations, the chicken required nutritional substances located on the opposite side of the road.

BRITTNEY SPEARS: Oops, he did it again.

THE BIBLE: And God came down from the heavens and He said unto the chicken, “Thou shalt cross the road.” And the chicken crossed the road and there was much rejoicing.

PARIS HILTON: Huh?

JERRY SEINFELD: Why does anyone cross a road? I mean, why doesn’t anyone ever think to ask, “What is this chicken doing walking around all over the place, anyway? What is wrong with that chicken?"

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Four score and seven years ago I saw that chicken cross the road to get to the other side.

A CHEERLEADER: To get the pom-poms, of course. G-O-C-H-I-C-K-E-N! Go chicken!

A PESSIMIST: Who cares?

DR. SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad?

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: I envision a world where all chickens will be free to cross roads without having their motives called into question.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENNEGGER: It doesn't really matter. The chicken said, "I'll be back."

BILL GATES: I have just released the new Chicken Visa, which will not only cross roads, but will also lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook.

GRANDPA: In my day, we didn’t ask why the chicken crossed the road. Someone told us that the chicken had crossed the road, and that was good enough for us. And that chicken would have had to walk barefoot five miles in the snow just to get to that road!

JOHNNY BRAVO: Did somebody say there are chicks across the road?

Homer - 7th Wedding Anniversary Trip

For our 7th anniversary, we headed to Homer (where we've never been) to go on a halibut charter and go clamming. As before, there's gotta be some drama on our trip.  On our way the lid off one of our bins came loose under the tie-downs, opening the bin enough for things to fly out.  We knew for sure we lost some napkins and plastic cups, but didn't even realize the rest until we were camping out in Homer.  Lost 2 rain jackets and a variety pack of chips (good thing it didn't rain and that we had enough other food to last through a winter).

We got to Homer late and set up our tent in the dark, again.  This time we (I mean Matt) knew what we were doing and were a little bit faster.  Well, except for when the elastic cord that keeps the poles together broke and Matt had to restring 4 or 5 of the sections.  Good times!!

The next morning, Matt made a gourmet camping breakfast - at least that is what it tasted like.  He made omelettes, hashbrowns, and bacon.  The omelette was so YUMMY!  We found this nifty little camping omelette (and whatever else) maker a while back and I think this was the first time we have used it.  We will be using it again because it worked wonderfully.

The campground we stayed at was pretty nice.  It had a great view of the ocean, beach access, free internet, and FREE SHOWERS!!! <--- that is my favorite part about it.  The only bummer about it was they didn't have fire pits at the sites.

Friday of our trip consisted of driving around looking at Homer, taking the dogs to doggy daycare (since we were going to be gone on our charter), walking on the Homer Spit Boardwalk, and walking along the beach checking out the tidepools.

Saturday we were suppose to go on our charter, but it was cancelled.  We were on the boat, headed out through the harbor, and then were told we were turning around and there'd be no fishing that day.  The ferry had reported high winds and rough seas with white caps.  I guess our charter didn't do white caps!

So instead of sticking around, we decided to head to Ninilchik for the clamming part of our trip.  We camped out in some strong winds, but it was still warm. The next morning we went clamming.  We've never done it before, but we made out pretty good. After we figured out exactly what to look for, it was pretty easy.  I would spot the sand "divots" and Matt would use the Clam Gun to get them up.  Took Matt 3 hours to clean them all when we got home!

There are so many pictures from this trip that I'd want to share.  I posted a couple, but to see the rest you can just click on this link.

Homer