Ready or Not... Change Happens

I've gotten so busy with crafty stuff that I have neglected updates on our lives! There has been quite a bit of change happening these past few weeks. Let me share some highlights:

The Deep Freeze

Thanks to the generosity of Austin's grandparents, we now have a deep freezer! I never thought I'd actually be excited about an appliance but I really am!

 We've been making an effort to buy produce in season and freeze it for later use. This gift allows us to do this and more!

It filled up fast though. Remember our Alaskan fishing trip?? Well, the salmon and halibut take up over half our space. Guess we need to do some fish eating, huh?

Goodbye Cable

About two months ago, we decided to get rid of cable. 

What we were paying simply wasn't worth what we were watching. When we tried to cancel, we were informed that there would be a $215.00 cancellation fee. WHAT?! You're kidding me. We talked to supervisor after supervisor-got disconnected twice when being transferred from person to person-was told there is "no way this fee can be waived"- got told we signed a contract (that we didn't sign)- etc. When we asked to see the contract that we supposedly signed, they said it would take a "few weeks to process and find it." A few weeks passed, and no contract surfaced. After calling back multiple times to check on the "processing of our contract," we finally talked to the right guy who admitted there was no such contract and agreed to waive our cancellation fee. Persistence pays off people!

  

Communications Director

I now have one and a half jobs. 

I have taken on the role of Communications Director at The Crossing. In addition to my job as Director of Student Ministries, I now am in charge of a gazillion other tasks around the office. 

 I send out a weekly email to 2,000+ people, am a liaison to a graphics company, redesign current graphics and print them, manage and update The Crossing's Website and a bunch of other odd and ends. I have really enjoyed learning how to work with programs like Photoshop and Indesign. However, the additions to my job description have proven to be stressful. I didn't realize other people noticed that I'm stressed until the head counselor at The Crossing popped her head in my office and sweetly asked, "Polly, are you OK? You seem a little stressed..."

I forget that I have absolutely no poker face. 

Yes, people, I'm a bit stressed. Perhaps this is the reason for the excessive sewing lately. It calms me down...seriously. Don't judge me.

Seminary

Probably one of our biggest changes in life is the beginning of seminary for Austin. Tomorrow is his first day of classes at Covenant Theological Seminary. 

 "Wait, Polly, isn't Covenant in St. Louis??" Why yes, my friends, it is. Austin will be making the hour and a half commute to St. Louis three days a week. Probably for the next 4-5 years of our life. (Excuse me while I puke over the amount of gas we will be using.) So, tomorrow begins a new stage in our life. I honestly don't know how to feel about it. I'm for sure excited for Austin. But, at the same time, anxious about the drastic change in lifestyle. Ready or not, tomorrow is coming!

Little Lakin

My good friend, Sara, just had a baby girl named Lakin. It's been a blast reading her blog about the adventures of being a new mom. In an informal photo shoot, Sara discovered that little Lakin has some attitude towards kisses.

Look closer...

 I got a good laugh out of this. Hope you do too.

Apparently, I nap...

...A LOT.

At the end of our trip, Austin informed me that he had been photo-documenting all  of my naps. 

It takes some vulnerability to share these pics, but I thought it would be a good laugh. 

Don't judge me (or my ugly napping face)

A Fish, a Queen, and Two Idiots

 Once upon a time, in a land far far away, there was a queen.

The queen lived among many villagers. However, two of them especially stood out... (For obvious reasons)

One day, the queen and the two village idiots decided to go fishing for salmon.

The queen quickly discovered that she had the lucky fishing pole. She immediately had a very large salmon on the line and was very excited.

After a fish is caught, the next step is to knock it out (to put it out of it's misery.) The queen wanted no part of this so she called the village idiots over to do the dirty work. 

While they were netting the fish, the queen remembered how a previously caught salmon had escaped through a hole in the net. She became worried that her salmon would escape as well. In her adrenaline rush, she began barking orders, "Kill it! Kill it fast!!" (The queen's voice carries, so apparently the entire town could hear)

 The village idiots had no club so they looked around for another weapon. Idiot #2 (Austin) picked up a rock. He apparently thought stoning the fish would be the best method. He threw the rock at the fish's head. The fish flopped even more. "No!! It's going to get away!" The queen squealed. 

Idiot #1 (Will) gently informed Austin that you are supposed to hold on to the rock while hitting it, not throw it at the fish. He tried again, but the fish only flopped more. 

The queen's sense of panic multiplied at this sight. (She's thinking, "They have no clue what they are doing!")

"Hit it in the head! Knock it out! Kill it!"

The villagers clumsily worked together as the fish flipped, flopped, hopped, hooped, jumped, and jived  around the bank.  They couldn't seem to put the fish out of its misery

The queen stammered, "Why won't it die!!??"

Finally, while Will stabilized it with his foot, Austin managed to hit it hard enough in the head to knock it out.

Apparently, it was quite the scene to watch. There was much laughter from others as they retold the story from different perspectives. The queen was a little embarrassed by her shrieks demanding "Kill it!" but she got over it.

As the queen and her village idiots continue to laugh at the incident, there is a glimmering hope that their methods of knocking out a fish in the future will improve because of such practice.

THE END!!

More Alaska Updates

We have two days left on this Alaskan adventure until we return to the sauna in Columbia. I've been enjoying wearing my under armor and fleece and am not looking forward to returning to the Missouri humidity.

However, I am for sure looking forward to not living out of a suitcase. I look forward to being home and cooking my own meals. I look forward to sleeping in my own bed. Going home is bitter sweet. 

If you're interested, here's a bit of what we have been up to in Alaska.

Naps:

We sleep well here. I'm not sure if it's because of the 3 hour time difference or just being busy. Either way, sleep has been fabulous. 

 Coon hats:

Not one, but two have been running around with us. Will started the trend and then busted out his second, more authentic hat for Austin to wear. They've gotten lots of strange looks and laughs from the locals.

A few comments made yesterday from strangers: 

"You better not wear that around my house or you'll get shot."

"You win the award for the best hat."

(Toll man laughs at our approach) "I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting to see that."

"If you wear that around long enough, an eagle will swoop down and snatch it off your head."

"Nice hat, did you skin that yourself?"

Fishing:

Yesterday's fishing was the most fun we've had so far. The reds (salmon) were biting and we were catching them like crazy. We stayed out fishing until 9:30pm. Tom, the owner of the house we are staying in, came out with us to help.

 Dad even managed to bring one onto shore without a net (a very difficult task) We asked how he did it. His response:

"Well, I got it between me and the shore. Then I introduced it to Mr. Foot. Then Mr. Knee. Then Mr. Rock." (To knock it out). He's so hardcore.

 My dad makes it seem so easy. However, Austin, Will and I weren't having such a smooth experience bringing in the fish. We had about 3 broken lines, 5 get off the hook, and one escaped through a small hole in the net. We were like the Three Stooges trying to work together to net these dang fish. 

 Despite our clumsiness, we were able to bring in quite a few keepers. 

 I have to brag a little...

 We brought back the fishies, cleaned them out and cut them up. This was a first for Austin. I think he liked getting his hands dirty.

 "Starting contest: you, me, go......you win, you always do."

More stories to come!

Greetings From Alaska!

 In case you didn't know, I'm currently in Alaska. It's been a great trip so far. The trip here was really long- especially since it was only half a day after I returned form Colorado.
Despite my exhaustion, we made it smoothly.

A common question I get from people is, where in Alaska are you staying? It's a funny question because 90% of people only know two cities in Alaska: Anchorage and Jeuno.

Well, I'm in neither of these places. We are in a small town called, Soldotna. Here is where it is in this huge state.

 We are on the Kenai Peninsula and staying in a house right on the river.

 It's been super relaxing. Almost to the point where I am feeling antsy for a purpose other than fishing or eating. I could go for a jog but I run the risk of getting mauled by a moose or possibly a bear. So the combination of not working out and sitting around all day (with no Internet, I might add) leaves me a bit antsy.

I have little to complain about though. My dad has done a fabulous job planning the trip. Alaska is HUGE. Everything about it is HUGE. Yesterday during a plane ride over a glacier, I told Austin that we were seeing God's glory manifested in nature. It's so beautiful here. I can't take it all in. 

To give you some perspective on how big this state is, look at it compared to the US. Crazy.

Now for some pics.

On our way in, we saw this moose on the side of the road. It was a nice welcoming. Little known fact: Moose kill more humans than bears do in Alaska. Stay away from these "sad-looking-horses."

We got to our house, unpacked, picked up a fishing pole, and headed to the river. Here is Austin is getting his first fishing lesson from Papa Gary. He picked it up pretty fast.

The next day, we had a fly-in salmon fishing trip.
All geared up....

  We got to take one of those water planes to a place that no roads can get to. We got a little freaked out when we saw that we were landing on a river. I kept telling myself that these pilots do this every day. 

After the plane landed, we hopped on boat and took off for some salmon fishing destinations. 

 Those ugly waders come in handy. Waterproof and warm.

Almost everywhere we went on this trip we saw bear prints. This one in particular was a HUGE bear. This is Austin's size 11 boot next to the bear print. I would not want to encounter this guy.

Here's the crew. From left to right: Janny, Will, Gary, Austin, Polly. Everyone caught at least one salmon. My mom and dad caught 3 each. Well, done parents!

Throughout our entire trip, Will has been wearing this coonskin hat the entire time. I'll be honest, I'm slightly embarrassed to be with him in public places. He gets lots of strange looks wherever we go. He doesn't seem to mind.

 The next day, we dragged ourselves out of bed at 3:30am to go halibut fishing. We joined captain Bob and headed 38 miles out into the ocean.

 I made the first catch of the day. But it wasn't a halibut.

It was a shark!

 It was really small and we ended up catching a lot of those throughout the day. Captain Bob wasn't happy about that.

Here's me in my HUGE blue rain suit. It's actually not mine but I was thankful for it that day.

By the end of the day, we had all caught our limit: 2 halibut each. Wahoo! It totaled 113 pounds total. That's a lot of halibut to eat.

We got home exhausted and all went to bed around 9:00pm. Today is a rainy day so we are just taking it easy.

Another point worth mentioning is that it never gets dark here! It is light outside ALL the time. Between midnight and 3am it looks like dusk, but other than that it always looks like noon. It is a bit hard to get used to. 

Anyway, that's all I got for now. More Alaskan updates to come...!