The Coop Deluxe

This is the beginnings of the new chicken coop.

My fiance and his dad worked on it this weekend.

I think we have at least 2 more weekends worth of work to do!

The plans I am using came from http://www.thegardencoop.com/

Chicks in the Mail!

This is what you pick up from the post office when you order 25 chicks.

Voila! All 25 chicks survived the journey from Texas to Anchorage in March.

~Barred Rocks, Amerauncas and Silver Laced Wyandottes~

Short-term home is a large rubbermaid container with a heat lamp

 and a constantly freshened bed of paper towels.

Moss and Glass Centerpieces

Getting a bunch of over-priced cut flowers shipped to Anchorage for my wedding just didn't really appeal to me so I decided to do alternative centerpieces for the reception.

About 5 different types of preserved moss

(again, all from Michael's Craft Store)

Ok, this is the *tester* I put together. I'll wait to assemble the others closer to the wedding.

I love all the different shades of green.

Picture Frame Table Numbers

I'm not getting married until the end of July, but the spring and summer are so fantastically busy here that I wanted to get a head start on wedding reception decorations. I decided to make picture frame table numbers. I used rubber stamps to print the numbers on patterned scrapbook paper. And I used four different antique-looking picture frames for variety.

All the supplies (from Michael's Craft Store...use google to find coupons)

The final product came out great!

Sunrise in Seward

A few weekends ago Tim and I (and the dog) went down to Seward to hike the Caines Head trail and stay at the Derby Cove public use cabin. We were attempting to escape Anchorage and all the associated wedding planning mania that had been consuming us since we got engaged on December 17. Seward hadn't had much snow and the trail was very icy. We also had to start hiking before sunrise (a.k.a.- in the dark!) so that we could hit low tide just right. Part of the trail along the beach is only passable at low tide so this was quite necessary. Well, after much grumbling about the all the slippery ice on the trail, we finally made it down to the beach and were rewarded with the most beautiful sunrise!

A Welcome Home Quilt

I found Living Passages for the Whole Family by Shea Darian a few days ago and am really happy with the message it sends. I'm paraphrasing, but she reminded me that, what is the point of a family or a community if not to slow down and bear witness to the many transitions in life?

My son will be coming home this summer after a pretty significant period of time away at school. I am inspired to spend time thinking of a way to celebrate his homecoming. I'm planning to make a quilt/tapestry that will hang on the wall in his room and I am asking all of the significant people in his life to mail in a square of fabric that can be incorporated into the quilt. I hope everyone will also send a note with a wish, a piece of wisdom or a memory to share. When Ryan comes home, we'll take turns reading the notes out loud and we'll hang the quilt in his room.

Alaska IS Home

Downtown St. Pete

Summer hike in Anchorage

As a late New Year’s Resolution to myself, I’ve decided to start keeping a blog. Mostly because life is so sweet and so good and I want to both share it and keep some sort of record. I moved to Anchorage from St. Petersburg, Florida about a three and a half years ago.  It’s hard to explain how a place so different from where I’ve ever lived quickly began to feel like so much like home. But here I visited and here I stayed. And now I am getting ready to marry Tim, the sweetest and without a doubt, best man I have ever or will ever know.  And he is 100% Alaskan, as in his parents moved up here in the 70’s and this is where he  was born and this is where he’s likely to always want to live. This leads me to say Alaska IS home. Sorry Mom, Dad and Sis, but maybe when you finally make it up here for the wedding this summer, you’ll understand what is so magical about this place and the rhythm of life here.