Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Autumn Leisure :)

Fall is suddenly HERE! After living all my life in one of the states that usually see fall last, I am now living in the state that sees it first! It's a strange feeling watching everyone excitedly anticipating the changing of the season down in the lower 48 while I find myself suddenly surrounded by it, without warning.





Jonathan and I had most of a weekend off together last week. We spent Saturday doing little chores around the house that we'd been meaning to do for weeks. We hadn't had the time to properly organize our house since our grocery run; it felt really good to do that! We also had fun putting together our cheap, little Walmart bookshelf. 




Slowly, finally, we're making our little place look like a home instead of just a parking-spot. Only just in time to leave though, since, as of November 1st, we are moving into a house! Hooray!!! We are super-excited that we'll soon have space to get ready for our littlest Wright, coming in February.  :)

Back to our weekend, on Sunday we were able to go for a hike with a newly-engaged couple here in Port Alsworth. :) Adam and Amy are lots of fun and really adorable together. ;)



We didn't make it all the way up the mountain....the pregnant woman in the group was wheezing and moving at a snail's pace when it started getting steep. *wink* 

Jonathan and I stopped at a beautiful view and chilled together (literally) while Amy and Adam hiked a little further up. It was pretty wonderful.

 We watched the planes coming into land...below us.





We didn't make it to the top but we're still a long ways from home. You can barely see Port Alsworth there, across the bay.

Tanalian Mountain, we'll conquer you someday!


Thursday, September 12, 2013

An Alaskan "Vacation"

We read a list on Facebook titled "You know you're an Alaskan when... "While we haven't been in Alaska long enough to relate to all of them, we definitely agree with  number 2) "Vacation" means going to Anchorage for the weekend."

I never would have imagined calling a shopping/doctor's appointment trip a vacation, but that's how exciting eating out, riding in our own car, and grocery shopping are to us now. :P

We had a wonderful time in town, and it was really good for us to take a step back from work for a few days and enjoy being together, doing whatever we felt like (as long as it came from our to-do list).

We ended up flying into Anchorage at different times. I went in first and helped out in the office until Jonathan arrived a few hours later. It was kind of a scuzzy day weather-wise but I still got to see some amazing landmarks on the flight in.
The village of Nondalton. It's only a ten-minute flight from Port A. but I'd never seen it before. It looks pretty small and lonely out in the middle of nowhere!



Port Alsworth is somewhere THAT direction. :)



 Getting up above the clouds.


 Mount Iliamna (so I'm told). You can see the small plume of smoke coming out of the top. It's an old volcano.

Glaciers surrounding Mt. Iliamna

A glacier "river"


Mt. Redoubt, a more recently active volcano. Too bad it wasn't very good weather for pictures. :/


Our first order of business when Jonathan finally arrived was lunch! We made a bee-line for Wendy's, where I realized I was biting into my first burger and fries in over four months! They were gooooood.

We spent the rest of Saturday running various errands and talking each others' ears off. :) While I was scouring the racks of a few thrift stores for maternity clothes (which I didn't find), Jonathan found a just-our-size chest freezer for an exceptional price! We bought it and the freezer shipped out almost immediately and was ready and waiting for us when we came home loaded with groceries. It is a huge blessing!

Sunday was the BIG day. We spent four hours in Costco and another hour or two in Walmart, but found a lot of good deals on things we needed, like warm socks!

We're learning how to shop more like Alaskans all the time, buying in bulk and choosing items that will stay fresh longer or are freezable. This time we made the switch from powdered milk (yuck) to boxed milk (hmm...). Shelf milk isn't completely new to me, I had it during my visits to Moscow but, while I'll take it over powdered milk, I still much prefer fresh milk.


Some of the things we miss in Port Alsworth are fresh fruit and vegetables. When we're shopping for a month or longer, we have to buy more frozen produce instead of fresh. We eat salads, fruit and some fresh veggies for a week or two after a trip into town, but after that anything left over has gone bad, so frozen is a much more practical, if not tastier, option for us.

By Sunday evening we had (almost) all of our shopping done and were ready to celebrate with our friends, Steve and Heather (and Kayden!) Routh, at Olive Garden! Olive Garden has been my favorite restaurant for years; I'm sure I could eat their salad dressing with a spoon. It was amazing.

Monday morning we found our last few grocery items and still had time to kill before my appointment so we had a date at Barnes and Noble - just like we did when we were dating! :)

Finally, the time came for my appointment! The doctor says everything looks great, my surgery is completely behind me pregnancy-wise, and we got to "see" our baby wiggling around for a few minutes! *happiness*

Coming back home was a lot more fun (minus the extra-bumpy flight) this time than the last. For one, I'm not recovering from surgery (score!) and for two, we have a house and freezer packed with yummy food!





Life is good.


Thursday, September 5, 2013

(No Title)

I spend lots of time marveling at (read: attempting to process) all that has happened in the past year and especially in the last few months. Our lives are so very different that it often feels like we're living in a foreign country already! Looking at past pictures from home sometimes makes me feel like I'm staring at different people in a different world. I won't lie. It's difficult. But I am clinging to the hope and certain knowledge that this is exactly where God wants us, that He is with us in every moment, and that...
 "There are far, far better things ahead than anything we leave behind (C.S.Lewis)".

In other news, it's been a while since I posted any pictures, mostly because I've been working too much to get out and take any. :) But the other night Jonathan got off early enough for us to take a walk after dinner and look what we spotted! (Unfortunately I hadn't brought my telephoto lens.)


Someone was asking for more pictures of "around town". This request stumped me a little bit. Besides the mountains and the lake, there's not much to be seen except airplanes, hangars and houses. :) Here's my attempt:

This is the (W)rec building. ;) They're in the process of giving it a winter coat of insulation and turning the storage rooms into a new apartment. This means lots of banging in our building. :)

Among the other improvements to the building, our porch was torn down and a new, insulated entryway was added. I briefly considered sticking a couch in it and calling it a living room, but decided it would be too cold. (jk) Still a very exciting addition!



The Farmhouse has a garden to be envied.
 
 Look at those beautiful rows!


Here is the field Jonathan plays Ultimate Frisbee on. Not a bad view, is it?

 And finally! This is where I spend 2 mornings and three afternoons a week. A lot of action happens in that tiny corner!!

My view.  :)

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Ramblings On My Day-Counting My Blessings

Saturday, August 17

(Just for clarification, I wrote this post over a whole day last week, adding bits and pieces here and there. That's why, at one point I've just finished lunch, and the next I'm fixing dinner. :P)
 
It's a chilly, fall-ish day up here and I am enjoying my day off, catching up on dishes and laundry and listening to happy music in our cozy apartment (and, of course, blogging). :) 

Jonathan, just went back to work after a relaxing lunch-break together. I love my man; he's been working so hard, working past midnight these past two nights. Of course he doesn't enjoy the lack of sleep or grueling hours, but he goes off to work each day with a smile, telling me how he does it to take care of his family. <heart melts>

I don't know if I've mentioned this before here or not, but in any case - I totally love our huge, fluffy bedspread. I feel like "Agnes" from Despicable Me 2 - "It's SO fluffy!!!" Jonathan teases me all the time about my love of comfort and all-things-cozy. Our bedspread definitely proves his point, but I'm pretty sure he enjoys it almost as much as I do. :)

Another gift from our wedding that makes me happy just to think about is my red stock-pot from the Frost family. :) Currently, I have some chicken simmering in it for tonight's chicken-n-dumplings!

That's all for now! :)
 



Wednesday, August 14, 2013

An Adventure Of A Different Sort

My sister, Summer, posted on our Facebook page last week

"Did you have to add one more adventure to your list? Praying for a smooth surgery and super glad that my new neicphew is still ok. Hope you're already feeling better. Love you."

My thoughts exactly...

Last Thursday I was flown in to Anchorage and admitted to the ER with severe abdominal pain. It started suddenly at about 10:30 and only grew worse over the next twenty minutes so I decided to call Jonathan home from work. A lot of things happened once he burst in the door. We called my mom, the dispatch office and found a doctor staying in town who came to take a look at me. It was decided pretty quickly that I needed to be flown to a hospital ASAP.

Blessing #1: When Jonathan called the dispatch office to find out when the next flight out was they told him that their fastest plane was loaded and nearly ready to go with room for us!

Jonathan slipped some shoes on my feet and we immediately left the house (without jackets, my ID or even my glasses.)

I went straight to the waiting plane and climbed in the very back seat. While we were waiting for the other passengers to arrive and board, a few other doctors in town had gathered and were checking on me. They all agreed that the most likely diagnosis was that I had an ectopic pregnancy...incredibly scary words.


Finally the other passengers boarded and the plane was ready to go. Jonathan was sitting behind me in a seat they had to jimmy-rig in at the last minute. He was so good; I probably gave him a few sore fingers squeezing his hand all the way and he kept my head from being bumped around too much.

I think we made record time into town that morning. It felt like a relatively short flight, even to me.

Blessing #2 Once we landed, a dear coworker, Kristy, was waiting with her car to drive us to the hospital. We didn't have to worry about getting our keys, finding our car or navigating the city!

If you've ever been to the ER you know that most of your time there is spent waiting. I'll spare you the frustration but eventually they gave me some pain meds that helped, and took me up to have an ultrasound done.

It wasn't particularly pleasant to have them pushing on my stomach for the ultrasound, but it was so worth it to hear them tell me that I did not have an ectopic pregnancy, and then show me the screen. We could see the baby waving its tiny arms and legs! It was the most wonderful feeling.

Back in the ER the doctor told us that my pain was caused by a twisted ovary, or an ovarian torsion. The only cure was surgery, to either right it or remove it, depending on whether the ovary could recover after regaining blood flow, or not.


Blessing #3 I felt inexplicably calm throughout all of this, even with the prospect of surgery. I never felt uneasy or frightened about what was happening.

Unfortunately, the hospital couldn't schedule me for surgery any sooner than 8PM, so they kept me on pain meds and we updated our situation to family and friends while waiting.

Somewhere around 8 o'clock I was taken back to surgery. This part was a lot rougher for poor Jonathan than for me. He had to watch while they wheeled his new, pregnant wife away, and then wait alone for two hours while I was peacefully snoozing, completely oblivious.

I woke up at 10:30PM, almost as soon as I arrived in recovery, to my knowledge. I don't remember much of what I said in my drugged state, but from what I do remember I feel fairly confident that I didn't make a total fool out of myself.... ;) I remembered to ask for Jonathan, and he was brought in.

I'm not sure when they told me, but at some point I was informed that the surgery went well, but that the doctor had had to remove my ovary. It had gone too long without blood-supply.

Jonathan was able to get a bed of sorts and sleep in my room. We both got a fair amount of sleep that night, between nurses taking my blood pressure and machines going off if I fell too hard asleep.

I think my first words the next morning were, "Wow, yesterday was a bad day." Jonathan concurred. I felt a little overwhelmed realizing that from the time I first felt pain, to the time I woke up from surgery was only 12 hours.

Still, in the middle of all of that, God was so obviously taking extra-special care of us. I've listed some of the most obvious blessings here, but there were so many things that could have gone wrong that didn't, so many prayers and loving messages sent. We heard of multiple people who stayed up late into the night, praying. It meant SO much to us. Thank you!!

 I was discharged Friday afternoon, with an appointment on Monday to have another ultrasound, checking for the baby's heartbeat. We'd been told that the risks of the surgery and drugs for the baby were minimal, but unavoidable, and advised to stay in town in case I had a miscarriage.

Our friend, Kristy, was again a huge blessing and gave us a place to stay while we were in town. I was surprised at how minimal my pain was after surgery and Jonathan and I had a great time over the weekend, enjoying city life again.

Our first order of business was to buy some clothes since we hadn't brought anything but the clothes on our back. A friend sent my glasses to us as well. Hooray!

Some of our splurges while in town:
Most importantly and first of all- a Subway sandwich!
"Despicable Me 2" (in theater!)
Arby's curly-fries (want some more!)
"Planes" (In theater!)
Starbucks and donuts!
Red Robin (First time for me)


Monday finally came around and we showed up for our appointment. I'd felt great the whole weekend but that didn't completely calm my nerves.

Most appreciated blessing of all: I wanted to cry so bad when I saw our baby on the screen, jumping up and down inside me, looking completely healthy and contented. For a while he/she wouldn't be still long enough for the doctor to measure his/her heartbeat, but it was obvious that the baby was feeling great!

We flew back home on Monday afternoon and came home to all of our dishes washed, our house picked up, fresh bread on the table and our bedframe set up! (No more sleeping on the floor!)

As long as I don't laugh or sneeze too hard, I am pain free. Jonathan is back to work as usual, and I head back to my work schedule on Friday.

We appreciate SO very much all of your prayers, loving messages and comments! Even so far away, we felt wrapped in love and concern and that was a huge comfort as we navigated this unexpected obstacle.

We love you back! :)

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Date Day! :)

While we don't get very many "date nights" up here, what we do get occasionally is a "date day"! Before you go getting all jealous, let me explain that this is our first complete day together for a month at least. In fact, I honestly don't remember when our last day together was...but no matter, we've had one now!


We did a lot of relaxing. Watching movies, calling home. Then we walked to the river and Jonathan did a little fishing while I snapped pictures (What else!?)




 That barge (a.k.a. white speck near the top of the picture) was toting a car. Incidentally, barging is the only way to get cars to Port A. It's still a pretty strange sight to me when I see one zipping down the runway. (The cars, NOT the barge)




The weather has been incredible up here these past few weeks! The mosquitoes are loving it too, but fortunately a stiff breeze from the lake keeps them mostly away. :)

This is the way I like to live. :)

 One thing I've realized is how incredibly blessed Jonathan and I are to have known each other so long and to have gotten to know each other so well during our courtship and engagement. We would not be able to handle the limited quality time together up here if we were still getting to know each others' personality and opinions. Yet another amazing testimony for us of God's omniscience and wonderfully orchestrated plan!