Boom goes the sunroof

ThIs weekend is off to a bang and a pop and lots of broken glass. It was an eventful Friday to say the least since my sunroof exploded while I was driving. No explanation or warning - it just exploded into a million pieces. After waiting more than 2 hours for a tow truck and fighting with the dealership about a rental car, we finally made it home. Apparently this isn't an uncommon issue with sunroofs. It will take a week for the glass to arrive from the lower 48...shipping in Alaska. I'm thankful I wasn't hurt and am hopeful the repair process will go smoothly. 

And now for some happier times. Here are my Friday favorites. I thought I would share what I can't get enough of lately. 

- Leopard print. My pre-teen self is so pleased with my love of leopard. Scarf, headband, shirts, sunglasses, socks, even my tennis shoe laces are leopard lately. Next on my wish list is a tortoise shell watch. 

- Running. My love of running (especially races) is back in full force. The only problem is more running means I want more gear. I've been eyeing Lululemon and a new Garmin watch. 

The temperature at the start of the Shamrock Shuffle was -3. I guess I can really call myself an Alaskan runner. 

- Performaces. Last weekend we saw Ira Glass, the host of This American Life. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Nathanial was downright giddy about the whole thing which made it even more fun. 

This weekend we're going to see Million Dollar Quartet. I think we're most looking forward to the Johnny Cash portion. 

- Northern Lights. One of my favorite things about living in Alaska is the Northern Lights. Most of the time we don't even end up seeing them but I love when we try. We drive up a mountain near our house. There's nothing better than the small moments star gazing with my wonderful husband away from everything. It's even more fun when you leave your house at 11 p.m. on a Tuesday. Talk about adventure. 

iPhone photos at night aren't the best, but here's a mountain view shot of the Anchorage skyline. 

Fur Rondy and The Last Great Race

It has been an exciting couple of weeks in Anchorage.  We spent the last two weekends celebrating the start of the Iditarod and Fur Rendezvous.

Fur Rendezvous, known as Fur Rondy to the locals, is a winter festival that captivates the city of Anchorage.  It started in the mid 1930s as a way to unite the community in celebration when the miners and trappers cane to town with their collections.  There are all kinds of events during the two weekends of Fur Rondy - everything from a fur auction to blanket tosses. Several streets of downtown are taken over by hoards of people and vendors and all of the various events. There's even a carnival midway.  I loved how even with thousands of people it felt like a very hometown kind of event. We kept running into people we knew which was even more impressive considering our circle here is pretty small.

Here were some of my favorite parts of Fur Rondy:

Outhouse Races

This event was just as entertaining as it sounds. Teams built outhouses on top of skies and raced them down the streets of downtown Anchorage.  Our favorite heat was when "The Splatters" raced "The Duck Farts."

 

The Food

Street vendors were everywhere. You haven't lived until you've tried a Reindeer hot dog.  It was delicious.  And I only felt a little anti-Christmas eating it.

The VIP Experience

Nathanial's company was the corporate sponsor of the Iditarod Dog Race that was the capstone of Fur Rondy. Both weekends they rented out the Hard Rock Cafe for employee families.  It was so nice to be able to take a break from the cold. It was also fun to see his company name everywhere.

The first weekend they had some of the dog mushers stop by.  We got to take a picture with Aliy Zirkle who has come in second in the Iditarod the last three years; last year she lost by less than 2 minutes. We're hoping she'll pull out a win this year!

The Iditarod

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race is Alaska's biggest claim to fame (maybe aside from Sarah Palin :) ).  Mushers and a team of 16 dogs cover over 1,000 miles of tundra to go from Anchorage to Nome.  The race usually takes between 10 and 14 days.   It's heralded as "The Last Great Race."  This year wasn't the best because of the unusually high temperatures we've been having.  The race start was actually moved to another town for only the second time in the race's 80 year history. Luckily for us, they still did a ceremonial start.  Snow actually had to be freighted in by railroad for the ceremonial start. It took more than 100 frontloaders to spread it out.  It was gone by Monday.

It was really cool to see the teams take off. The dogs are so excited before they get to run and once they start you can see how much joy it brings them.  They all seemed to be smiling.

Here's a quick video of Aliy's crew getting ready to take off.  You can see how pumped the dogs are.  We learned the dogs were actually bred to be vocal  so the mushers can tell if they are injured. 

 

We were also surprised  at how small the dogs are.  Alaskan Huskies run the Iditarod not the Siberian breed most people picture.  These dogs are smaller and can run faster and further distances. 

Running of the Reindeer

By far my favorite event of Fur Rondy was the Running of the Reindeer.  Nathanial and I got to run alongside a herd of 12 reindeer and lots of crazy costumed people. It was a blast!

I was really impressed with people's dedication to wearing costumes as it was in the teens that afternoon.   We dressed in lots of layers and were still a little cold.

Talk about state pride!

The reindeer moved so much more gracefully than I expected.  They weaved in and out of people, so even though they ran alongside us, we were never at risk for getting rammed by their antlers.

Alaska: Where even the reindeer have sponsors

I'm currently thinking of marathon ideas with a wildlife release. It was exhilarating and definitely increased my pace to know an animal was behind me.

Races are my favorite part of running.  Nothing beats the community  and excitement that surrounds an organized run.

I'm doing a Shamrock Shuffle 5K this weekend.  The temperature is supposed to be sub zero.  Eek.  When I signed up for the race, I thought it would be warmer.  I plan on it being my last race until we get some warmer weather this summer.

Life Lately: Workout Edition

I've struggled lately to have something to say on this little blog of mine. Probably because life for the last few weeks has mostly been comprised of the normal day-to-day stuff and lots of hard work trying to get back in shape. Veggie pics and sweaty selfies aren't the most exciting thing to look at. Especially when snowy mountains are the standard. 

Getting back into shape is so much harder than it was to get out of shape. I'm looking forward to the day my face isn't red after a hard workout. I've caught the running bug again and have my sights on at least two half marathons this summer. Nathanial says running is the only free sport that is this expensive.

I completed my first sub-freezing 5K on Valentine's Day. The temperature was in the 20's and the whole course was ice or snow. I was relieved I got my shoes studded. 

I've also started Crossfitting again. I'm so grateful my friend Monica got me back into it. I forgot how much I enjoyed it (which is only easy to say on an off day.) 

Aside from my workouts, I've also overhauled my eating habits and am back to a more Paleo way of eating (hence all the veggies.) I'm blessed with a wonderful, supportive husband who will eat almost anything I put in front of him even if it's paleo meatloaf that substitutes the normal ingredients for some odd ones. He might even ask sweetly if I used a new recipe and then when thanked for his support may say "It's ok, I'm living vicariously through lunch."  

I can already tell a huge difference in how I feel because of my efforts and other people are starting to notice which is pretty awesome. I've already gotten several compliments and my gift from my secret sister at church was a bag of Smart  Water. I love that she bought my favorite brand and that me drinking water is a noticeable habit. 

This week I was scouring the produce section trying to add some variety and came across this crazy broccoli. I snapped a pic but decided I'd rather see it at the store than on my plate. 

Stunning Views and Sweet Surprises

We had an incredible time celebrating our first anniversary with an Alaskan style weekend getaway.  We visited a beautiful resort about an hour from where we live.  The views were breathtaking!

We left Friday afternoon once Nathanial got home from work. I knew it would be a good weekend when he banished me from downstairs while he loaded the car. He really outdid himself with all the sweet surprises he had for me over the weekend.

We laughed about how the gray-ness of the day and the remoteness of the resort made us feel like we were driving into The Shining.

We arrived at the hotel and went up to check out our room.  We were on one of the highest floors with a north and mountain facing view.  Nathanial had me stay in one part of our suite while he got the first of many surprises out of his box of tricks.  I do mean a literal box.  He wouldn't let me look into it and was very specific with the bellhop about how to handle it.

The first surprise was a vase of beautiful roses which he had nicely arranged. 

We exchanged gifts after a great dinner at the Double Musky.  Our actual anniversary wasn't until the next day but we decided since the whole weekend was a celebration we should go ahead and open gifts.

I decided to use my design skills for Nathanial's gift.  I wanted to follow the traditional theme which was paper. I created a print with the lyrics from our first dance. I sent a copy for King George to autograph as well. We'll see if he comes through this time!  I also designed note cards with Nathanial's initials and name. I loved how both turned out and so did he!

Nathanial made me a gorgeous canvas with our wedding vows.  I love the picture he selected and am excited to have a written reminder of our vows.  He even made sure the border color was one of our wedding colors.  Swoon.

One of the fun things about vacationing in Alaska was that our resort offered a Northern Lights wake-up call.  The skies weren't very clear over the weekend so that wasn't something we got to experience.

However, we were spoiled by beautiful sights all weekend. Our room had a wall of windows and it was fun to watch the sun come out through the day.  Sunlight completely changed the look of things. 

This was the view in the morning.

























We ate breakfast Saturday morning at the resort.  The best part was the view and the strawberry sauce they had near the crepes and pancakes.

That afternoon we headed out for some snowshoeing.  Neither of us has experienced much of the outdoors in our time in Alaska. Our friends speak highly of snowshoeing (and offered us their shoes) so off we went.  It's been a really light snow season this winter so the trail we took didn't have much snow and what was there was packed tightly.  We ended up taking off the snowshoes about halfway up and just hiking the rest of the way.

Snowshoeing selfie!

The temperature was in the low teens but with lots of layers and views like this we didn't mind.

We ate a late lunch back at the resort.  They surprised us with an anniversary dessert called Baked Alyeska (the name of the resort.)  I loved how the sugar details embodied the Northern Lights. They didn't light it on fire but it was still delicious.

Saturday evening we had an elegant dinner at a restaurant on the top of the mountain.  It was accessible only by tram which only added to its grandeur. 

Even the walkway to the tram was pretty.

You know it's a fancy restaurant when the waiter brings out a sample size bisque to welcome you and when your actual soup has a caviar topped scallop anchored by other seafood.

An edible anniversary banner might be another give-away.

The dessert was beautiful but not very tasty which played well into Nathanial's suprise for me after dinner.

I was a little disappointed going into the weekend that we wouldn't be able to participate in the tradition of eating our wedding cake as we left it in the safe protection of my grandma's freezer when we moved. Unbeknowst to me, my amazing husband had one of our friends with a cake business recreate our top tier.  It took some major planning on his part as she was going out of town and he needed to transport it and keep it refrigerated without me knowing.

I have to admit when he brought it out along with some sparkling cider (and even the plates he thought to bring) I started to cry. I am blessed beyond measure to be his wife. He even had her include an orange filling like we had on our original cake.

He also brought our wedding DVD and photo album.

He put so much thought and effort into making me feel special on a weekend that was about both of us.  I am so lucky!

We finished out the weekend with a fantastic couples massage. It was the perfect relaxing end to a wonderful trip.

It was sad to leave but the drive home wasn't so bad because it looked like this.

Warmer Weather: Taking in Bora Bora

I dropped Nathanial off at the airport bright and early this morning for a short trip to the North Slope of Alaska.  On the way I was wishing we were both leaving on a trip.  With the cold temperatures we've been having, I've been dreaming of warm days in the sun.

I can't help but think of our amazing honeymoon in Bora Bora.  Nathanial did all the planning on one of his rotations to Angola and didn't tell me where we were going until a few weeks before our wedding.  It was the best trip.

Air Tahiti was a great way to travel.  The flight crew was amazing and so were all the amenities like fresh pineapple juice!

The views flying into the island were stunning.

It was clear from the moment we arrived we were in for a great trip.

We were whisked away from the airport by boat. Talk about traveling in style!

Our resort was beautiful.  I was so excited Nathanial reserved an overwater bungalow.

The entire resort was open air which only added to the ambiance.  Eating breakfast while feeling the breeze and overlooking turquoise water was wonderful. It seems like the builders thought of everything and it was fun to see all the intricate details that were all around.  From the mother of pearl wall in the lobby to the fun carvings in our hut; it was beautiful.

This was the couch by the balcony.

The bungalow was great.  It was gorgeous, had plumbing & ac (because lots of people wonder) and made enjoying the water really easy.  There was a coral reef under the bungalow and the top of the table slid over so we could feed the fish underneath.  We also had a deck with a ladder to the water.

We enjoyed exploring the town through fun excursions like snorkeling which included swimming with sharks, a jeep tour through the mountains and even a sunset cruise.

My loving husband actually volunteered me to participate in a routine during the Polynesian dance. It was awful and hysterical at the same time.

The food on the island was incredible.  Easily the best fish I've ever had and oh my word the fresh juice (everything from banana, to pineapple to papaya) was life changing. 

This restaurant didn't have a menu. You picked from the fresh fish on display.

We even became accustomed to having fresh coconut. Nathanial learned the proper way to open a coconut.

The pictures of Bora Bora don't do it justice. It is a must see and absolutely worthy of its Bucket List status.

We met an older couple who was on their 15th trip to the island.  I don't blame them. I would love to return again and again.

One of my stocking gifts at Christmas was a pretty pink OPI nail polish called Not So Bora Bora-ing. I love the color but there was nothing boring about our trip!