Our home in Alaska

Thanks Dana!
Now I have recipes to follow!

Just painted the kitchen/dining walls a light green color. I am waiting for some decent chalk to write on our chalkboard platters.

Mom, it was a great idea to place the desk console directly behind the couch!

Bulletin boards with wedding cards and our mitten tree haha!

The red block letters read EAT, not FAT. I am working on a way to move those up.
Also, excuse the paper mess on the refrigerator. Also, thank you for the Christmas cards!

Teeny-tiny corner dining area!

It's Sunday and Andrew and I cleaned the house a little bit and took a few pictures! We live in one of two middle units of a townhouse row. I'll have to venture outside and take a few pictures of the outside. The townhouse has an open living area downstairs, the kitchen, dining area, and living room in one large room with a closet, bathroom, and adjoining laundry room. I like it that way, although it does seem a bit small. For the two of us, it's perfect. Upstairs, we have three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Enjoy!

Happy Thursday!

Thursday has arrived :-) Andrew and I have become fans of the TV show Heroes! We got Netflix ($9.99 a month for unlimited movie downloads! Heck yes!) and we cannot stop watching the episodes to season 1. Our usual routine is dinner, talking, Fox News, and then a movie! Below is the dinner I made tonight...a beef roast, sort of, served over egg noodles (a Wallick favorite). I am proud to say that I didn't even look at a recipe to make this; however, I did call my mom about four times to ask her miscellaneous cooking questions. I really wasn't sure if I could safely thaw meat in the microwave in its wrapper and she cleared that up for me- Thanks Mom!



Tutoring is going well...perhaps a full-time, full-day teaching assistant position in two weeks! I was approached by a teacher today and it is still in the works! I am excited!! Andrew shot skeet today and said it was awesome. He is all set for buying a rifle this weekend. I am all for learning how to shoot skeet too! We are headed to Lowes tomorrow to get painting supplies. We are painting the kitchen/dining area a light green and I cannot wait!

Pictures of our house will be up soon I promise! Here are a few pictures of the moving-in process and we are VERY glad that is over! The movers put everything in our garage, unpacked it all, and then moved in into the house. What a mess it was! It looks very different now, promise! Kim and I have been scouring the internet looking for wall art, accessories, rugs, etc. She has a knack for decorating, even when she is over 3,000 miles away!





Lastly, all of our wedding photos are up, from the ceremony and the reception, so take a look at them! They are all beautiful and there are great ones of our family and guests! The website is Caryn Azure and the password is oneill. Enjoy!

The Alaska Sun...It's coming up earlier and earlier!
I check this site daily!

Fresh baked cookie cake

This morning I made the most of the leftover cookie dough and made a cookie cake. The batter didn't quite stretch to the edges of the pan but that's okay. I am sure it will taste pretty good.


Also, a picture of Andrew after a road march last week. His eyebrows and eyelashes were frozen with ice and this picture was taken after he had been in his car and the house for about 5 min! Wow! Although I am the ice queen on the house, he certainly took the ice king award that day!

Eskimo Kissing in Alaska!

It's about time!

Hello Everyone!
I have been living in Alaska for over a month now and I think it is about time I created one of these! I hope to share my journeys (correction....OUR journeys) on this blog for my family and friends to read. For my less-than-tech-savvy parents, a blog is like an online, virtual public diary! So enjoy!

We have settled down in the outskirts of a cute town called North Pole, Alaska! We are about five miles from "downtown" Fairbanks. Think "downtown" Fairbanks as the downtown of Camp Hill or Beaver but with a few taller buildings and two more "main" streets. We live less than two miles away from the back gate to Fort Wainwright...very convenient! Also, a lot of the friends that we have made live within a two-mile radius of our home so it is very nice. Although I said I was going to "take off" a month or two I got antsy and bored and decided to find something to do! I am tutoring 4th, 5th, and 6th graders in math at the school behind my house. I am car-less as I like to say (something that I have not been since I was 15 thanks to my gracious and loving parents!). Luckily, the three minute walk to the front of the school is almost painless (unless it's -40!). Once it warms up (above 30 degrees haha) I am going to look around for a car!

Andrew has begun his work days within an infantry unit, serving as an assistant S2. He is enjoying the position and learning a lot everyday. Here is a typical Monday through Friday day in our lives:

5:45- Alarm goes off and Andrew is up and getting ready for PT (I join him three mornings a week!)

If I don't go to the gym I sleep until 7:15, look outside at the very dark sky and head downstairs to boil water for Andrew's protein-healthy breakfast of 3 boiled eggs, a bagel, Sunny-D, coffee, water, and a multivitamin! I like to watch the Today show and turn on Fox news (has become a constant background in the home).

7:45-8:45- Andrew arrives home, showers and gets dressed for work, and heads downstairs to eat breakfast with me.
(When he leaves I sometimes take a quick 40 minute nap until the sun comes through the window!)

I then do chores around our house...laundry, dishes, cleaning, writing notes, browsing decorating websites, and making lunch. Andrew will let me know by 11:30 if he is coming home or not for lunch and if he is I make a sandwich for him to eat. I head to tutoring around 12:10 and that is where I remain until about 3:45. Andrew and I like to joke that I am a career-driven woman-at least I'm not scanning panty-hose and camouflage at Wal-Mart like Andrew previously predicted. I can't wait to work a 7 or 8 hour day so I hope that will come my way eventually! I like the school district, but it is quite different than the PA school districts that I have had my life experiences within. I am glad that I am tutoring in the schools and getting a feel for the curriculum, teachers, and administrators. Of course there is a lot of talking within a school so I've already had my ear full of "teacher talk."

Anways, I plan on getting up at 5:45 with Andrew tomorrow so I need my 7+ hours of sleep! I will be back here soon and make this blog look a little more appealing!