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While all the rest of you in the lower 48, well most of you, are enjoying warm weather and flowers blooming, we here in Alaska are surrounded by snow. Still.

I shouldn’t complain because majority of it has melted and the temperatures are rapidly rising. But I will complain, just because I can. I’m over winter, like seriously done with it. I want lush green grass in my front yard. I want to fill my flower beds and pots with bright colored flowers. Even though I’m in major need of a tan and a pedicure currently, I could really go for a day in a sundress and flip flops.

I’ll wait patiently, somewhat, with everyone else and in a few short weeks we’ll be there. In the mean time, April in Alaska means Alyeska’s spring carnival. Spring for us means longer days (it currently stays light until close to 10 pm) and warmer temperatures which is a dream for winter sport enthusiasts. I should perhaps join that crowd and make my life easier up here. Until that happens, I’ll do things like check out Slush Cup.

We were hoping for a sunnier day but it actually turned out to be fairly warm and didn’t snow or rain on us. I’ll take it. The slopes were filled with skiers and snowboarders, and even the wee ones were taking advantage of some open hillside.

I on the other hand, sat on my toosh and waited for the event to start. All while snacking. Of course.

The munchkin practiced some selfies. She’s getting really good as you can tell.

Slush Cup is a three day event. Friday usually involves a concert and a costume party in which part of the winners get an entry ticket for the next days event. Saturday is the main event where contestants dress in costume and ski or snowboard down the slope and try and make it across a 90 ft pool. This event is excellent for people watching, last year was fantastic and this year proved to be just as entertaining. Case in point.

These two were my favorite. The one in orange is a lady with a fantastic mustache. So hilarious.

This guy wore silver stretch pants and a leather jacket like no one has ever worn them before. Nailed it.

I forgot my sunglasses and found that I squinted for majority of the day. If I had planned better like this fellow, I would have faired better.

I even had a celebrity sighting. I wouldn’t actually say celebrity, but I’ll take what I can get. I’ll apologize now for the bad photo. I feel for paparazzi, it’s hard to get a face shot when someone is so close.

“Oh hey, Willow Palin. How’s it going? Just caught on you on a rerun of celebrity Wife Swap the other day. Good work with that sticker board.”

I imagine I would say something stupid like that.

Once the event starts, it goes by quick. I wished I would have remembered an actual camera but the IPhone sufficed for the day.

That water, ladies and gentlemen, is a chilly 31 degrees. So as a contestant you REALLY hope you make it all the way across without face planting. Most were not so fortunate.

Here piggy, piggy.

This year brought great costumes to the mix. Jesus, an eagle, a monk, chicken, ballerina, cave woman, and my personal favorite. A giant tooth.

I’ll still have my bouts with our never ending winter, but at least for this day I can say I made peace with our Alaska style spring.

You’re a wolf boy, get out of this town. So the tune goes. In a world filled with Arcade Fire, Broken Bells, Grizzly Bear, and The Shins, resides a band known as Sea Wolf. While the group consists of several members, the core of the music lies in Alex Church, the lead singer. The latest album, Old World Romance, is a compilation of his skill set. While still being recorded with the help of a band, the main focus was Alex’s voice and lyrics, alongside his acoustic guitar. Making it easier to do a solo tour. Which led him to Alaska..

An acoustic showing at a local coffee shop. Count me in. Acoustic in my opinion is always better. Anyone can make music. Especially now. There are so many genres of music. You don’t even have to be a good singer, actually you don’t even have to sing at all. Technology can do all the work. A true testimony of a musician’s talent though is their live performance. How many times have you heard a song performed live and it’s horrendous? Even something as simple as being on the Today show. It’s a total buzz kill.

There is something so special about acoustic to me. It’s open, it’s vulnerable. Completely raw. You get to see inside the soul of the songs without all the added hype of background music. The best part though? Their voice. Especially when it’s true talent, those melodic moments draw you in and your hooked.

Tonight was no exception. It was magic.

The set was done at Vagabond Blues, a local café. If I were to guess, I’d say there were about 75 people there. It started out smaller but as the set went on, more meandered in to get in on the goods. As you might be able to tell, our seats were front and center. Apart  from laying on the stage, we couldn’t have been any closer.

He sounded amazing. Was incredibly down to earth. He interacted with the crowd. Took requests. Blushed when someone yelled out he was dreamy. Started a song in the wrong key. Goofed the lyrics once. He was honest and real. Made us laugh and continued to tell us he was having a really great time. It was everything you want from a musician.

What makes it even more surreal? He’s the real deal. Lives in Los Angeles with his band. Has multiple successful albums. They pop up frequently on many of my Pandora stations. Any Twilight fans out there?! Their song The Violet Hour was featured on New Moon. That’s pretty legit in my book. And why I’m not ashamed to say I was a bit star struck.

We were able to enjoy the experience for about an hour and half. Truth be told, I could have sat there a lot longer. Despite the fact my rear was fast asleep and my pregnant bladder was loooooong overdue for a break. The crowd cleared out pretty fast and most everyone that was left headed for the merchandise table. I already have the first and last album, so I snagged myself the vinyl of the middle album, White Water, White Bloom.

I bought it just in time to get it signed by the big man himself.

While the rest of the coffee crew began to clean up and close up shop, Alex stepped in at the table and finished helping the rest of the line of people. What’s better than buying your merchandise from the musician himself?! Not a whole lot.

The line began to diminish and we geared up to hit the road. Not before I got just one more piece of evidence…

(I knew I should have worn my dark blue cardigan too)

Wishing all the crew safe travels back to the lower 48 and thanks for gracing the arctic for a few days.

Now onto some more listening for the night.

We celebrated Andy’s 26th birthday yesterday. Actually we’ve been celebrating since Saturday. Hayden had a sleepover with her cousins so we could have a date night out on the town, and yesterday had family and friends spread all throughout the day. Today while he was out enjoying the sunshine and some brother time, his sister and I prepped a birthday dinner for the crew.

Andy and I met three wonderful years ago and have done our very best to make the most of every day spent together. He’s a loving husband and an amazing dad.

He’s funny and sweet. A truly generous and loyal friend.

If he had a choice, all his days would be spent adventuring outside.

He works so hard to provide for us and always puts his family first, in fact he puts most people before himself. He wakes up singing and always goes to bed with a smile on his face. He’s one of the happiest guys you’ll ever meet.

Happy birthday to my right hand man. My other half. My companion in this life’s journey. May you always be by my side.

xoxo.

Ugh. I’m not doing a very good job at posting lately. I could say that I’ve been so busy doing spectacular things and have been occupied. Or there is a really good chance my time has been spent stuffing my pregnant self with frozen burritos and binge watching Breaking Bad. Let’s go with a little bit of both. The bump is officially a bump. In fact, I’m pepper size this week. Or banana size. Depending on which site you read.

We find out in a few short weeks if we’re cooking up a him or a her. Brother or a sister. Phoebe or Phoebo.

Days have also been occupied having tea with the toddler. Or perhaps battling her meltdowns. I’m counting down the days when she’s no longer three years old or at least past this phase. The phase of being possessed by a demon. That’s the only explanation for her behavior.

 Please bear with me, I’ve got some good stuff in the works. Like a birthday shout out. A post on my ultimate favorite blog right now. A couple DIY projects I’ve been working on. Of course Project 52, and a product review all you ladies need to get up on. It’s about to get real good..

Spring in Alaska isn’t what everyone else is used to, myself included. We still have a lot of snow. With all that snow though, comes lots of sunshine. It starts to get warmer and the days are longer so outside activity is actually really enjoyable. I would still love to see all those flowers poking up and the grass greening up. But until I get to see this soon

I’ll do myself some good and enjoy playing in the snow.

Andy’s been really pushing to go hiking lately. I’ll admit I’ve been a bit of a Debbie downer on that idea because Hayden is to the age she no longer fits in a pack, and the stroller won’t really work in the snow. After much assurance from Andy that she can hold her own, we planned a few trips.

The first day we planned on hiking was actually a pretty gloomy day but was one of the warmest days of the week. We picked a trail that wasn’t far from home and decided that we would bring a buddy with us. Meet Jazzy.

She belongs to Andy’s niece Matty. She’s still a pup, but she’s such a sweetheart. We thought she might enjoy getting out of the kennel for the afternoon. Hayden was beyond excited to help and really wanted to carry the leash.

That lasted approximately 45 seconds.

The trail was well groomed and Hayden did fantastic at walking by herself. With the exception of the hills, she figured out quickly those are hard and always wanted a free ride up them. I think the signage scared her.

The trail we stayed on wasn’t long, and we made our way to our destination, the frozen falls. We attempted at some pictures with the whole crew and we learned fast that it’s a lot harder than one would think. We nailed it as you can see.

The overcast day was still a successful one for an outdoor adventure but I think the furry one enjoyed it the most.

The weather the next day for hike number two was definitely in our favor. Remember way back when I said there is a place here I’m certain unicorns exist. This is it. Only in the winter. I want to say unicorns fly to somewhere in the tropics during the winter months. That’s just a guess though.

We came prepared for this hike. We figured someone’s little legs would tire out quickly. We assumed correctly.

Now anyone that knows me, knows that I always pack snacks. ALWAYS. This day was no different.

Who doesn’t love a giant sandwich?!

Once our bellies were full, Andy and Hayden worked on building a snow castle and I supervised. With my eyes closed.

I did get up long enough though to venture in the IGLOO we found! I can’t say that it was authentic eskimo made, but whoever built it did a pretty legit job.

We spent more time just enjoying the sun than actually exercising, but Vitamin D is a big deal around here. We packed up all our stuff, and after a complete meltdown by the 3 year old we managed to make our way back to the Jeep. I’m not going to lie, I took a free ride part of the way.

Hayden got her fill of jumping in muddy puddles in the parking lot while we loaded up all the wet clothes. The sun was still warm and inviting so the rest of the afternoon was spent driving up the rest of the pass. We stopped to take a gander at the people who had more motivation that we did.

Days like this are ones I try my best not to take for granted. I find myself occasionally wishing time away, hoping summer was here. Trips like these are a good reminder that blissful days come in all forms, even cold wintery ones.

Hayden OFFICIALLY turned 3 today. We already had a party for her and she has yet another party this weekend, so we’ve been in the spirit all month. But today is the real deal. Three years ago this 8 pound beautiful girl came into our lives.

I couldn’t believe how perfect she was.

My water broke after I had gotten off work that Saturday morning and I was packing boxes out to my car. My now sister in law and I were moving into a bigger place. I was already feeling tired and worn out, and now super annoyed that I had peed my pants. Until I realized that it might have actually been something important, like my water. Awesome.

A quick phone call later and we were throwing everything out of my car into the driveway and rushing to the hospital. 35 hours later, Hayden Evelee entered the world. 35 hours of labor seems like a horror but actually most of that involved sitting on an exercise ball watching the Food Network channel. Plus, once I got my epidural I was one happy camper. So happy that I’m somewhat looking forward to delivering baby #2 so I can get another dose of those spectacular meds. How sad I sound.

Anyway, back to the story. I only had about an hour and a half of hard labor and she arrived. Without a peep. She just laid there and wiggled. Wiggled and snuggled. Did I mention that she was perfect? Just look at her.

Then just like that, three years flew by. All those sleepless nights, late night feedings, shirts ruined by throw up, tantrums and moments of utter frustration, have all been worth it. She’s still my perfect little person. Alright, I say perfect reeeeally loosely. She is still a toddler.

She has the funniest laugh. It’s almost forced because it’s so loud and dorky. She loves blueberries, avocados, cucumbers, tomatoes ( or tom banidos as she refers to them), spaghetti and pepperoni pizza, pancakes and cottage cheese.

She’s so independent and willing to do anything on her own, if you’ll let her. She jumps in every puddle she comes across, and if it were up to her, would wear her pink princess dress and fairy wings every day. Seriously.

According to her, Curious George rules the world. She’s extremely picky with the radio, she will ask to change the station 20 times just so she can find the very right song for the moment. Then ask me to dance for her.

Every morning and after every nap, she gets up and comes to find Andy or I to tell us good morning. She will pretend to be a puppy for hours. Barking and panting. It’s to the point now, she will bring us things in her mouth and ask to play fetch. We might need to get her a real dog soon.

Her newest kick is Hide N Seek. Which our version goes like this..

“Mom, hide me. And count to 10.”

“Alright. 1.2.3….”

Inevitably, she’s always in the linen closet or under a blanket.

“Alright, Hayd, now you count and I’ll hide.”

“Ok. 1. 10. I’m coming!”

I’ve only managed to run down the hall and jump behind the couch before she’s after me. It needs some work, we’re getting there.

She’s smart and clever. Extremely sassy. She wants to play with the boys and dress like the girls. She’s sweet and sensitive. Funny and silly.

And she’s growing up entirely way to fast. Happy birthday to my favorite girl.

Our weekend proved to be pretty busy. By Sunday we were ready for a little wind down. Some chores and laundry filled up most of the day, and continuous coverage of the Olympics took up the background noise.

As usual, the princess was at work perfecting her outfit.

In my efforts for the blog to better document our daily lives, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for a photo op. My model got shy on me though.

What she insisted on, was that she be the photographer. In the last few months, she’s actually gotten quite good at taking pictures. We still have the occasional overload of surprise selfies we find from her, but she’s finally gotten the hang of pointing and shooting for a pretty accurate picture. A bit blurry but hey, she’s still a beginner. We have a small digital camera that is our usual go to, so I showed her how to hold the button long enough to take a photo and let her go on her way.

We edited them together and decided that black and white really highlighted the artistic feel she was going for, at least that’s what I gathered from “Mom, I want this one.” But I simply gave her the camera and let her do her thing. She seemed really intent on showing the world our kitchen. Her pictures I find hilarious, plus it’s what it’s like to only see things from below the counter top. I mean I’m short, but not that short.

The infamous tub of licorice. She took 5 photos of it. It apparently was good subject matter. I chose the best one of the bunch. Don’t be alarmed that we keep the snacks by the knives. She usually stays out of them. Usually…

I apparently really need to wipe down the side of my fridge. Eeww.

This last one is by far my favorite. She got these Cinderella shoes for her birthday and LOVES them, she’s constantly in them. Let me tell you, this girl is AMAZING in heels. She does things in them most grown woman would struggle to do . She runs, like full on I’m running for my life run, without tripping. She jumps and plays in them and they stay on. She climbs the counters in them. Dances in them. It’s incredible. She can do this in my heels as well, ones that obviously don’t even fit her and give her an 5 extra inches to fall on her face. Her aunt April would be proud.

Hayden might be a budding photographer. Perhaps a model. Professional rock climber ( is that even a thing?). Chef. Actress. The verdict is still out. To check out someone that actually knows what they’re doing, you should follow my brother in laws collection. They are our ultimate faves.

He’s a pretty good writer also. There’s potential for sure. See for yourself my friends.

PREPARE FOR AWESOMENESS…

Hayden turns three this month. It’s bittersweet. I truly love this age right now. She’s so much fun. She’s just old enough to be funny and smart and is really becoming her own unique little human, yet still at that age where everything is new and exciting and she’s a sponge.

Due to everyone’s changing work schedule we only had a couple dates to choose from to throw Hayden a birthday bash. We opted to have 2 tiny parties. One on the 1st, with family. And one on the 22nd, with all her fun tiny friends.

So this last weekend we celebrated with party #1. It started with lots of adorable decorations. Like banners and the smallest cutest tissue balls.

You always need balloons. Especially polka dot ones.

The candy bracelets definitely needed to be guarded by the ponies.

A birthday cake with George monkey and of course, a delicious juice bar.

Uh, pin the tail on the zebra? Yes please!

We needed more things to do. Like fun photo props and a dress up station.

Dress? Check. Heels? Check. Hat? Check. The party girl was ready to go.

Party # 1 was a success. Hayden opened all her wonderful gifts from everyone, we stuffed ourselves with food and cake and all took part playing dress up.

 

There was a very Lion King moment with the Curious George cup.

I am grateful to everyone who contributed, and helped make her celebration a success. We all laughed and smiled, giggled and played. It was a perfect way to help a little girl feel like a real princess for a day.

I’m not a very good routine person. By that I mean I don’t have one. I’m all over the place, all the time. I have little quirks that remain the same. I need coffee everyday. I can’t make it a day without some type of sweet treat. That’s about it. Ugh. It sounds so awful when I say it out loud. I should work on that, especially with baby # 2 on the way.

But my point is that I do actually have one constant each week. Post Secret. New secrets are posted every Sunday and I have religiously never missed a Sunday for years. Pun intended. I don’t ever go to church either. I should maybe work on that also.

Anyway, Post Secret has been around for a while. It might be new to some of you, others might be familiar. It was created by Frank Warren and started out as just a blog. People anonymously mailed in secrets and a few were picked each week and posted online. It eventually led to books of secrets being published, postcards being displayed in museums and large events being held where you can have the opportunity to share your secret and your story.

Check it out for yourself.

POST SECRET

These are a couple of my favorites from this Sunday.

Maybe this will inspire you to share your own secret. I’ll be sure to keep my eye out.