Windfall Lake Cabin

Yesterday we headed up to Windfall Lake Cabin with a few of our friends. This was Adam's first time snowshoeing. We've gotten some great snow over the last week so the hike up was perfect. Once we got to the cabin I fixed us some frito pies. We were all starving and the food tasted wonderful. The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging and being as lazy as possible.
That evening, Stephenie taught us how to play a new card game. It involved slaping at the deck and there were times when it was a little violent. I feared I'd come back with a broken finger so I was a pretty timid slapper.
After cards we enjoyed an amazing spaghetti dinner with rolls and wine. Perfect cabin food!
The next morning was mine and Adam's 3 year anniversary (yay!) Stephenie & Kyle brought champagne and orange juice for us to celebrate! They made us cherry and apple pancakes and sausages too! What a great way to start the day.
Eventually, had to pack up and head back down. It was a really nice way to spend our anniversary. Rosco did a great job hiking but quickly passed out in the car on the way home. It just wore him out!

Adam and I are spending the rest of our anniversary day being LAZY and loving the fact that we have a good excuse (just went snowshoeing!!!!). I made a huge pot of jambalaya and Adam is making sourdough bread. We'll be having a pretty yummy anniversary dinner-way better than eating out!

Christmas Trip

Yay! We're home! What a great trip we had! Here's a run down on what we did!

Monday:
Headed to the airport early in the morning. All flights out of Seattle had been cancelled the previous day. We weren't sure if we'd even get to Colorado. Luckily, everything went PERFECT. We flew right in and had zero problems. There were people at the airport that had been waiting for 2 days to get out.

Tuesday:
Last time I was in Colorado my sister took me to Boulder for the day. I absolutely loved the little town and wanted to take Adam there. So, on Tuesday we headed out to Boulder where we ate lunch at the Kitchen and did a little shopping at some of the boutique stores. Adam took one of my nieces to the toy store and couldn't resist buying her a HUGE tiger stuffed animal. Of course they couldn't come home without something for my other niece so they got her a big penguine. They got a lot of looks as they walked down the street with oversized animals.
Tuesday night my cousin, Jessica, came to have dinner with us. I haven't seen her since our wedding so it was great to have her visit! Marty made a wonderful dinner and we showed Jess a few videos of our Chilkoot trip.

Wednesday:
Wednesday we finished up some of our shopping. The malls were pretty busy but the stores themselves weren't too bad. We had lunch at this burger place that was so good! You could build your own burgers and the sweet potatoe fries were awesome!
Later that afternoon Adam and I took a walk around the neighborhood. It was nice to see some sunshine!

Thursday:
CHRISTMAS!!! We woke up and opened presents. Adam got a new grind & brew coffee pot and a TON of coffee (hmmm, my family knows him well) and I got a new camping pad. The nieces got a new wii and a bunch of games but weren't able to play it because we loaded up the car and headed for their condo in the mountains. It was a fun Christmas and the weather was beautiful!

Friday:
We spent the night at the condo then headed to the ski resort in the morning. I don't ski so my sister set up a snowshoeing tour for her, my mom and me. We took a lift (my first time on a lift!!) up to the top and headed down on our snowshoes with our guide, Forrest and 6 other people. My mom and sister had never snowshoed before and they seemed to really enjoy it. I had a great time. The snow was awesome!
That evening we drove back home and ordered pizza and packed. It was hard to believe that our trip was almost over!!!

Saturday:
We woke up early and headed for the airport. We made it to Seattle without any problems. There was talk in Seattle about not being able to land in Juneau because of low visibility. Luckily, we managed to land just fine. We had a great Christmas trip with the family! It was so fun seeing the girls and my sister and parents but it was nice to be home to our Rosco

Leaving Tomorrow...

Got lots to do before we take off tomorrow morning. Gotta catch up on laundry, clean the house, write animal directions for our housesitter, return books to the library, bake cookies for the neighbors and PACK!!! I've heard that a lot of flights are being delayed or cancelled because of weather in the northwest. Hopefully, we'll be able to make it to Colorado without any problems.

Tana has a full itinerary for the 6 days we'll be there. We get in on Monday night, Tuesday we drive to Boulder for lunch, shopping and dinner (my cousin gets to meet up with us there! Yay!). Wednesday is reserved for last minute shopping and wrapping. Thursday we wake up and open presents then drive up to their condo in Winter Park for a sleigh ride! I've never been on a sleigh ride so I'm excited about this!!! Friday we spend the day snowshoeing, skiing, or boarding (I'll be snowshoeing!!!) then we'll drive back down to Parker in the evening. Saturday morning we're up early and headed to the airport. It'll go by way too quick!!!

I'll fill everyone in when we get back and will be posting a TON of pictures!!! Merry Christmas!

The Case of the Missing Peanut-butter Brittle...

So, Adam and I came home today to two large pans of peanutbutter brittle sitting on our flower box. We assumed that someone had dropped them off for us. After we brought them inside I inspected the pans for a note or card but couldn't find anything. These were really nice pans and I figured that the gift-giver would eventually want them back.
The more I thought about the peanut-brittle the more confused I became. Two large pans of peanut brittle is a lot to give two people for a gift. And why didn't they cut them and put it on a plate? It just wasn't making sense. So, I told Adam not to eat any until we figured out who gave it to us.
Later that afternoon our neighbor knocked on our door and asked if we had seen her peanutbutter brittle. She put it on our flower box in order for it to cool. Good thing we didn't eat any

Jury Duty

That's right...I've been summoned to court during the month of January. I guess it won't be so bad. I don't have much going on in January and might as well get it over with. I'm looking over the questionaire that they send with the notice and see that they specifically say to use BLACK ink when filling it out. Do you think they'd disqualify me if I use blue???

The parental units are in town

Well, mom & dad made it in safe and sound on Thursday. They brought their cat, Dude, with them and are leaving her here for the winter while they travel. The animals are trying to get used to each other right now. There's been some crazy hissing going on but I'm sure they'll get used to each other eventually.

We made mom go to work with us the next day. I think she had fun hanging out with all the kids at school! They'll be here until Wednesday. Mom and I have appointments on Tuesday for massages and hair-cuts.

We played our second basketball game on Thursday. This time we borrowed two 6th graders that had made the B team. We didn't lose by quite so much but it was still a pretty rough looking game. I think the final score was 16-22?? The girls showed signs of slight improvement so I was happy with that. Hopefully, we can keep improving with each game =)

I leave on Friday for Ktn to chaperone the girls and boys A & B teams. It'll be a quick trip since we'll be back Sat night but it should be fun. The A & B team girls are some of the girls Molly & I coached last year so it's always fun seeing them play.

Lots of Basketball!

Well, the trip to Ketchikan was fast and furious. I watched A LOT of basketball in two days. The Juneau teams did pretty well but unfortunately our plane left before the tournament was over. A lot of the Petersburg and Ketchikan teams got sick. Ketchikan was playing with 7 girls (made up from 2 teams!!) at one point. All of our girls and coaches managed to stay healthy. Or so we thought...This morning I woke up puking. I haven't been able to leave the bedroom all day. I think I'm going to call in sick to work tomorrow. I haven't thrown up in a few hours but I have zero energy. Hopefully, I'll feel back to my old self by Tuesday and ready for the last few days before Thanksgiving break.

Wedding

Our friends, Matt & Danielle, have been engaged for a while. They are the cutest couple ever. We met them when we lived in Fairbanks and have stayed in touch with them through the years. They've been here to visit us in Juneau a few times and we love having them around.

So, I received the BEST news tonight! Danielle called to ask me if I would marry her and Matt! I am so excited! They totally made my day/night/week/month!!!! They are having a very small wedding in a little town outside of Homer called Seldovia. Then they'll head back to Fairbanks for the reception. I'm going to research more about the town there is a website www.seldovia.com for those of you interested in checking it out.

Adam performed a wedding ceremony for some friends a few years ago and they bought him a commissioners badge as a thank you gift. I told Danielle that I'll be bringing that with me and will whip it out whenever possible =)

1st B-ball game

Oh Boy! Well, Molly and I knew going into this that we had a young team and would be learning ALOT this season. It was quite obvious that that was true at our first game tonight. The girls seemed to be shell shocked for the first 1/2 and had no idea what to do. We finally scored our first basket as the buzzer sounded to end the first half.

After half time they began to get a little more comfortable and started playing basketball. The final score was 6-38. We have a lot to work on for our game next week. It tough when none of them have any experience playing basketball and we're starting with the very basics.

We finally got our first day of sun in 32 days! It was so nice to see some sunshine!!! Adam and I both went out on the playground today and just stood there soaking up the sun. We also got a hoola-hooping lesson from some of the 5th grade girls. Did you know it's possible to hoola-hoop with your knees??? I had no idea.

Tomorrow is an inservice and I am so gratefull! Halloween is always such a crazy holiday. The kids are always nuts and are bouncing off the walls with all the sugar they've consumed. The teachers will be at their schools and I'll be with the counselors at our new high school. Topic of the day: Suicide. Not a very uplifting topic but at least I can zone out and daydream.

Ketchikan in Newsweek

Thanks to Sarah Palin the "bridge to nowhere" became a national joke and a prime example of wasteful spending. Finally, an article written about the "bridge to nowhere" by someone who actually lives in "nowhere" and knows what they're talking about.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/165478
Go check it out....

Fish, Fieldtrips and Basketball

This week was Adam's week to be exhausted by Friday. His class took two field trips this week. One was a walking field trip with Discovery Southeast and the other was a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier to look for tagged Salmon. Both days were super rainy and miserable. I think the kids had fun but it would've been nice to have the weather cooperate a little bit more.
On Friday Adam's class disected fish. I had to come into his room to observe that one! It was a stinky mess but all of the kids dug in and had a good time.

Basketball season has started. Molly and I are coaching the middle school C team again this year. Tryouts were last week. Not many girls tried out this year. Everyone who was there made a team. We have a learning team this year and will be focusing on the basics. For many of the girls this is their first time playing basketball. Molly and I will both be going to Ketchikan again as chaperones for the A & B teams.

We don't have too much planned this weekend. We spent the evening with Stephenie and Kyle last night. Kyle made shrip fajitas that were awesome! Tonight is the first night of our monthly Bunco game night that some ladies from work started. Adam has invited some of his friends over for pizza and a movie while I'm out.

Another week...

This week felt pretty short. I stayed home on Monday with the stomach flu. I haven't felt that sick in a long long time. Poor Adam was woken up at 5a.m. to the sound of me throwing up. He took great care of me when he got home from work that night. It's taken almost the whole week to feel back to my normal self. This one really kicked my butt.

This is my second Wednesday night of swimming. The pool was busy this time and Molly wasn't able to join me. But, it felt great to get in the water and get some exercise. It's been so nasty here that it's been hard to get outside to workout.

I spent today working on our Australia planning. I've found a didgeridoo making tour that Adam will love. I've also found a few fun & cheap places to stay. It's exciting to see our trip slowly come together.

The sun is finally shining and I think Adam and I will venture outside!

Saturday morning presents

This is the 3rd Saturday that I've stepped out the front door to let Rosco out and have found a dead mouse from Linus. I suppose this is his way of thanking us for being such wonderful parents but it's kindof grossing me out. Also, I can't figure out why they only appear on Saturdays. Why not during the rest of the week? He goes outside almost every night. Strange. Soon we will be adding another kitty to our family. My parents' cat, Dude, is going to stay with us over the winter while they are traveling. Dude enjoys hunting bigger creatures like birds so I'm sure Linus will learn a few new tricks.

The week went by quickly and I can't believe we're into October already. Adam had his first field trip of the year. They went to the swimming pool with the other 5th grade class. Everything went smoothly and the kids seemed to have a great time.

Molly and I started swimming this week. We're going to do it every Wednesday. It was nice to get back into the water and the sauna was a great treat at the end.

I'll be coaching basketball at the junior highschool again this year. We had our first basketball meeting this week and did all the planning for the season. Tryouts are on the 13th and we'll be traveling to Ktn again in November.

Australia!

We just booked our "honeymoon" to Australia! Finally, 3 years later we're able to take the honeymoon we've been talking about forever! We're leaving June 19th and will be there for 3 weeks. We'll stop in Brisbane first, then Cairns and finally Sydney. We are so excited and can't wait to visit!

On another note, we survived another week of school. It was a BUSY week. My Girls on the Run program is going GREAT! I have 9 girls and about 3 or 4 adults who come and workout with us. It's a lot of fun and the girls seem to love it. Last night was Friday Fun night. It was a "come to the fair" theme and a fundraiser for our literacy materials. Adam and I volunteered to have pie thrown at us again this year. The kids always seem to enjoy getting to throw whipped cream at their teachers.


That's about all that's going on in our lives right now.

P.S.
Happy 10 year anniversary to Bob and Molly! Yay!!!

The weekend

We had a nice relaxing weekend! Friday night the radio station was hosting an 80's dance night so I went with a few girls from work. My plan was to go to the Salvation Army to get some good 80's clothes but I was way too tired by Friday. So, I found a cute t-shirt that could pass as being from the 80's, threw my hair in a side pony tail and caked on the blue eye shadow. It was the funnest dance I've been to since Tenekee!!!
Saturday night Stephenie came over and we played Dr. Mario. I'm now addicted..thanks a lot, Stephenie.
Today is my day to be lazy. Adam has to go into the school again for a little bit. Hopefully, he'll soon have it down well enough to only be in there on one day during the weekend. There's just so much to do!
This weekend was filled with bear spottings as well! I saw more bears on Saturday than I have since I've been in Juneau. Adam and I drove out to the glacier and saw a bear crossing the street. It walked down the side of the road for a little while so we were able to watch it (safely from the car). When I got back home I was sitting on the couch reading a book and I looked out the window and saw a bear crossing the parking lot. I guess they're trying to find food before hybernating for the winter.
That's about all the excitement there's been with us lately. Hope everyone is doing well!

Adam's new Tattoo

Well, Adam finally found someone to tattoo his wedding ring on his finger. He's been wanting to do this since we got married. He's horribly allergic to metal...he's tried every kind of metal around. He went to a few tattoo shops in Vegas but all of them refused to do it. He's tried different shops for the past 3 years but everyone refuses. Finally, one of the guys in town agreed to do it. Adam designed his ring and went on in. The design represent the three symbols of infinity. The infinity sign, the ray and a circle. We were pretty happy when he was finally able to get it done!

I have 80HD

Working with kids is always entertaining. I ended my week with a 2nd grader writing me a note saying "Dear Mrs. Berkey, The one thing I want you to know about me is that I have 80HD". Now, I have gotten pretty good at understanding "kid spelling" and reading words that are spelled like they sound. However, I COULD NOT figure this one out. Finally I had to ask him. "You have what??" "ADHD!!!" he replied! Oh, right 80HD....ADHD....makes so much sense now.
We survived the first week of school. It was only a 4 day work week and we were all exhausted by Friday. We invited some friends over for dinner on Friday night in order to celebrate 1) being finished with our house project and 2) surviving the first week of school. It was nice being able to catch up with everyone and enjoying some good food and company.
Today we find ourselves back at the school. Adam has lots of planning to do in order to make it through the week and I have a few things that I need to do that I wasn't able to do during the week. Hopefully we'll only be putting in a few hours then will be able to enjoy the rest of our weekend. The sun is peeking through the clouds right now so hopefully it'll last for the weekend.

School has started!

Well, day one was great. Adam has a wonderful class and he is really enjoying them. I don't have classes on Tuesdays so my first day back was pretty easy. I got to see all the kids again and hear all about their summer.
The excitement for my day was that I got to be the lunch lady! The lunch service that we're using didn't have a worker show up so our principal threw the food together and some of the teachers helped serve. The kids seemed to enjoy the lunch and thought it was fun seeing some of their teachers as they were getting their food.
I think we're off to a good year!

Beat the Odds...5K

Phew! Today was the day of the breast cancer fundraiser! I had asked Stephenie if she would run it with me a few weeks ago. She responded by saying that she runs it every year and last year made it in a little under 30 minutes!!! I told her that if she was agreeing to run with me her job would be to run SLOW and make sure I didn't pass out!
It was a great run. Apparently not as many people turned out today but it was still a lot of fun. I managed to run the entire way and our time wasn't too bad. 32.06...not a bad way to start a Saturday morning.

After that I came home and helped Adam put another coat of polyurithane on the floors then we headed out to the school. His classroom is starting to come together and he's starting to feel better. His goal is to get through the week then next weekend he can focus on the following week.
We were lucky enough to see a little bit of sunshine today so we took Rosco for a walk around Dredge Lake. He had been hanging out with us in the classroom so he was excited to get out and RUN for a bit!
Tonight I'm headed to a Shawn Mullins concert with Molly. Adam and I are both enjoy some of his songs but Adam is skipping out on the concert. He's not a huge fan of the place that the concert is being held so he's gonna hang out at home with some friends. Better go get ready before Molly gets here...we're going out to Thai before the concert..yummmmmm!

Back to school...

It's back to work tomorrow. We've already been into the classroom a lot this week trying to get Adam's room ready. He's inherited his room from a teacher who has been there for 20plus years so there is a lot of stuff to go through. It's been fun seeing all the teachers again and hearing about their summer.

We're almost done with the floors. We have 2 coats of polyurithane down and Adam is predicting we'll probably need 5-6 more. He's thinking that we can start putting the house back together by labor day. I hope he's right because I REALLY want my house back to normal. But, the floors look great!

I'll post pictures of floors, Colorado trip and 1st day of school in a few weeks!