Missing You

Maybe it was just the rough evening that made me a little bit homesick, or maybe it was the homesickness that made the evening rougher than it should have been. In any case, I didn't even make it to the start of classes yet and I am missing everyone from the east coast like crazy. It was just one of those days when nothing seemed to be working out as planned, but I like to be optimistic and think it could have been way worse. I love where I am but I wish I could bring my everyone with me. Here's a special shoutout to the people I miss - to my entire family, especially the teeny tiny ones...

To my friends from college who moved away but are still close in my heart -

To my friends from high school who still keep in touch and are always there -

Bridging the distance I think will be quite the challenge... why couldn't I be from the west coast and wouldn't be so far away? Sorry for the not so excited post but I think it's fair and normal to get a bit weary in a new life situation. I'm sure in a few weeks once I'm caught up in the hustle and bustle and craziness of school, everything will be fine. As a song I like goes, "Just tryin' to get there, the best I can."

Zero visibility

High today: 27
Low today so far: 14

How's this for some dense fog?

Trying to be artsy-fartsy without falling off my skis...

Skiing went pretty well today. Stopped after a cute boy skiied by to point him out to Jana, and fell on my butt when I turned around to talk to her. Go figure. :-P

Snow"machining"

HEAT WAVEEEEEEEEE!
High today: 28
Low today: 14
Weather today: SNOWING again!! Yay!!

I always called it snow"mobiling" but apparently the Alaskan term is "snowmachining". In any case, I took my first time on a snowmobile today with the cousins.

First I rode in the back while Jana drove, who was being pretty nice and not flying too much. :-) Then we switched and I drove, which was weird. Weird because the entire time it feels like you're slipping all over the place. I mean, I guess we are driving on snow and ice, but aren't the skis supposed to grip the snow a little bit? Maybe not, haha. Anyway, it was a ton of fun. Jim and Carla stayed in the car while Jana and I went cruising for a little bit. On the wider part I got brave and cranked it up to 45 mph.. then immediately slowed down. It was fun! I still prefer not having an engine, but I definitely look forward to snowmachining out to the White Mtns possibly. The only thing I didn't like was the grossness of the gasoline smell. Otherwise, it's a nice way to get out into the woods in town, although the entire time I was eyeing up trails I could ride my bike on. Wonder if that would be advisible with snowmobilers out? I bet if I put enough blinking lights on myself then it would work. :-)

Hitting the trails

High today: 19
Low today: -3

Kristen took me out for my first time xc skiing. It was uber fun. I think since I already downhill ski it seemed pretty easy, just have to get the stride and off you go! I think I could get used to this... and there are a TON of trails right at the university. Convenient or what??

Kristen stopping to pose on the uphill

Self portrait!

Ready for the open road

High today so far: 14
Low today so far: -2

Here is the newest member of my transportation family, the only one with an engine!
Just don't get too close behind me if we're stopped on a hill.. I'm not a pro at manual trans. yet

PSU represent!

40 Below

High today: -30
Low today: -44

This my friends is ice fog!

I finally got to experience that secret number of 40 below - whenever it doesn't matter whether it's Fahrenheit or Celsius! At least we weren't in Wainwright up on the North Slope with wind chills of -73!!!! When it's 40 below in Fairbanks, all is calm.

A typical Fairbanksian day

I need to find my picture of this same spot from the summer.

Thank goodness for down jackets and mountaineering mittens!

Mmm serenity...

90 degree drop

High today: -19
Low today: -33

Two days before I headed north, the temperature was inching towards 70 degrees in PA. I think we officially hit 69 degrees at the airport.
It's quite the experience for the temperature to be 90 degrees colder a few days later!

Leavin' On A Jet Plane

Temperature upon departure: 33

Temperature upon landing: -11

Today was the big day - time to start over again in Fairbanks!! It was a VERY long day for flying.. Beginning the day leaving the house at 6am EDT and arriving in Fairbanks at ~10:30pm EDT. But as usual, the people I sat beside on the planes were all very nice and interesting to talk to. The views were spectacular from the plane going over the Rocky Mountains and heading into the desert southwest of Nevada. What an odd place.. I think I want to stay living somewhere green.. Or white. None of that brown we-don't-have-enough-water-for everyone land.
The Vegas airport was nothing spectacular but they did have slot machines, and I'm pretty sure the girls manning the machines didn't think I was old enough to gamble (you have to be 21) but they also didn't vocally question it. :-P I lost two dollars and decided to call it quits. Guess I'll have to take that car loan out after all. ;-) The Seattle airport was a bit stressful, since we were running slightly late and I had to run across the airport to get to the AK Airlines terminal. But all said and done I made it there with 15 mins to spare. I knew I was in the right place and knew exactly who was from Fairbanks, which was most of them. They are a very friendly little bunch and the Carhart suspenders just give it away every time!! On the way up north from Seattle, the sun set at about 3:55pm - I figure we were barely over B.C. at that point. Sadly I could not see the gorgeous mountains throughout AK but I could see the snow reflected off of the mountains. It was awesome descending into FAI because you could see the lights from North Pole, but they were covered in snow and had the cool effect of a bush covered in Christmas lights that just had a fresh snow fall on top. Neither of my suitcases seemed to make it to FAI (except my skis) so I was stuck with the clothes I was wearing and luckily a few tshirts and fleece pants to sleep in. Luckily my luggage came back on the midnight flight and I scored some airline miles out of the lost luggage, so not all was lost. The moment I walked out of the airport terminal, my nostrils froze up in the -11 temps.. which was pretty pathetic since the temps get muuuuuuuuuch colder than that. Beautiful snowy crisp air though, that's for sure.
So glad to be back to where it feels like home!

Fairbanks or BUST!

Catch ya on the flip side...

Reminiscing

High today: 40 (at midnight)
Low today: 23 (right now)

Since graduation, I've been basically going through EVERYTHING I own and throwing out what I don't need anymore and packing things to send to AK as well as packing many boxes to stay here with those things that I will not need but would like to have for when I buy a house someday. Going through papers from high school and my undergrad years has been ridiculous.. from labs I kept for getting As on them, cards from friends and family, acceptance letters, grad school papers and ideas for possible career paths.. just ridiculous. It is really neat though, to see where I searched, what I discovered along the way, who helped me through each stage, and what led me to where I am now. It's easy to brush a lot of that aside and we have to to move on in life, but I think it's been good to take one last look at a lot of this stuff before tossing it. When I pack the boxes to send to AK, I get breathless moments of excitement followed by moments of freaking out realizing the big changes happening and I wonder if I'm ready.

9 days and I will be on the ground in the dark and coldness but I think I will be perfectly content. Here's a toast to 2008 being just as good as 2007!

Rockin' Into the New Year

New Year's festivities involved a lot of video games and board games, with rock stars Patty and Rosalie showing us how it's done on guitar hero!