I finally have internet again. I didn't realize how attached I was to it! I've missed pinterest and facebook and the many blogs I read daily. I felt disconnected from the world when I was without internet. What did people do before computers?! I google so many things when I have questions and I've been lost not being able to do that. I think it was good that I was forced to be without it for a while :)

Alaska Trip

I had so much fun in Alaska! It's the perfect therapy for me. If I'm ever depressed or sad I just need a little Alaska and I'm cured! It was nice to have a break from work and see my family and the mountains :) It was also fun to show my friend Amanda all my favorite things about Alaska. In reality we saw like a 16th of what I wanted to show her, but I think it was enough to make her fall in love! Kayaking in Seward was probably the most fun I've had in forever! It was gorgeous! We had perfect weather and our guide couldn't have been any nicer. We kayaked 6 miles in the ocean and then hiked 5 miles to an old WWII fort and then paddled back 6 miles. We saw tons of eagles and a few otters. It was hard work physically but it didn't seem like it because it was so fun! I wish I could kayak every weekend! Here are a few pics of my trip.

Olympics Fanatic

I'm always so sad when the Olympics end. I didn't get to watch as much this year since working nights messes up everything, but I did see some on my days off. I think it's so neat to see the whole world come together and compete. As I was watching the closing ceremonies I was thinking about how a lot of those competitors will never see another Olympics and they've trained their whole lives for those two weeks! I can't imagine my whole life being about those two weeks, that's a lot of pressure... and excitement!!! Winter Olympics are my favorite and I only have two years to wait for those! Maybe I'll take time off from work to engross myself in every event! :)

Quilts

I've gotten back into quilting again. I don't think I really enjoyed it before, but now it's really fun and I have a lot of quilt projects I can't wait to start! I really didn't need a new addiction, but I have one. My quilting area, which consists of one corner of my apartment, is growing bigger and bigger. I need a craft room in my future home to accommodate all my quilting stuff!!!

Gluten Free Diet

I always joked that bread and pasta were my weaknesses. Well, now I can't eat my favorite foods. I thought the words "gluten free diet" would be the death of me, but it's been a little over a month and it's not as horrible as I thought. It's tough to eat out and I have a little anxiety about people inviting me over for dinner, but I'm figuring it out. I downloaded an app on my phone called Find Me Gluten Free and it's been really helpful finding food that I can eat at restaurants. I've also found gluten free crackers, bagels, spaghetti noodles, and muffins that taste almost as good as the gluten-ey ones. I haven't quite mastered baking with weird flours, but it's only been a month :) Some of my favorite things to eat now are lettuce wraps, egg salad with avocado, and tostadas. One of my favorite places to eat out is Pei Wei, they have a pretty great gf menu. And Hideaway Pizza has a gf crust that tastes pretty normal.

Egg Salad w/ Avocado

2 hard boiled eggs
1/2 of an avocado
2 green onions
1/2 cup cooked peas
pinch of salt and pepper

Mash avocado with fork, add green onions, chopped egg, and peas. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. And eat!


Lettuce Wrap

Spread spicy hummus over lettuce leaf, add cucumber, tomato, alfalfa sprouts, edamame, and onion. Roll up and eat!

Alaska... my first love!

I'm sooo ready to be home! I go home for a visit at the end of July for my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. I'll be home for 11 glorious days :) I've been planning the things I'd like to do while I'm there and so far I'd like to go to the Saturday Market, hike Flattop, drive to Point Woronzof, shop at REI, kayak in the ocean in Seward, and go camping! I'll also be going to a wedding and a wedding anniversary party. One of my friends from nursing school, Amanda, is going to come up for a week while I'm there also; I'm excited to play tour guide! I've convinced her, my dad, and my brother to go kayaking in Seward, which is something I've been wanting to do for a long time now. We're also staying at my grandparents cabin for a few days. I think I also should take her to the Wildlife Conservation Center near Portage Glacier to see the wild animals. I think we'll run out of time before I can show her all of Alaska, but I'll sure try to squeeze in all that I can!

I'm going to see if I can tour the children's hospital at Providence, so I can make a decision as to whether or not I'd enjoy working there. It's remarkably smaller than the hospital I'm at now and I really love my coworkers, so I'm debating whether or not I'd like to move back to Alaska or not. I told myself when I decided to move here that I would stay for at least a year and my one year date is coming up fast. I decided I should start looking into my options in Alaska for work and see what I think. I need to save up money if I decide to move back, because it will cost a lot to move me and my belongings all the way up there.

I've been thinking a lot about how short life is and what I want to do in my short time and where I want to be. I love being close to my family and the beautiful outdoors, so it will be nice to visit at least. Only 31 more days and I'll be home.

I wish I had a dog. I know it would be a terrible thing because I live in an apartment and I work 12 hours at a time- which is actually more like 14 hours. That would be mean to lock a dog up for that long and for three days in a row. But I really want a mini dachshund (wire haired, or dapple, or ANY), or a weimaraner, or a husky, or teacup yorkie, or a german shephard, or maybe one of each :) I've also been thinking of names. So many dog names just come to me. Here is a list of the ones I love the most...

• Ferguson (my Oma called Fergie, Ferguson and now I love that name!)
• Harvey (one of my favorite old movies)
• Milton
• Percival (from Harry Potter)
• Beardsley (from the movie Yours, Mine, and Ours-the old one!)
• Fredrick
• Atticus (from To Kill A Mockingbird-my fav book!)
• Radley (from To Kill A Mockingbird-my fav book!)

As you can see I can only have male dogs. For now I will just have to visit people that have dogs, so I can get my dog fix :)