Single livin'

My week went surprisingly quick. Usually when Jackson travels I find myself bored and lonely wondering how people who live alone ever want to leave work and go home to the quiet. This week that wasn't the case. Monday evening I spent hanging out with MacKenzie cooking for myself (after grocery shopping for myself- whaaaaaat!!!) and losing brain cells by watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians. That silly show sucks me in every single time I turn it on. I made myself muffins for breakfast for the week and even chopped up bell peppers for my lunch. Guys, this is a big deal. Now my pepper slices looked NOTHING like they do when Jackson slices them in perfect strips, but they were still tasty! Tuesday evening Susie was kind enough to have me over for dinner. She rescued MacK from having to spend an entire day in her cage that afternoon after she golfed (busiest retired lady ever) and then made an awesome shrimp dish for us that evening. Ok, just me. MacK isn't much for seafood. Ok, she probably is but I didn't share. Whoops.

Wednesday evening I met my good friend Amber for a class at Barre Bee Fit (one of my new favorite places to be- you just feel good doing their workouts!) and then we walked for about an hour afterwards. I wish I could pound into my brain that you never regret a workout and always feel better afterwards. The same cannot be said for a meal. I must, must learn this! I came home and worked for a couple of hours because what else is one to do with themselves? I tried sitting on the couch and watching t.v. (as opposed to meal prepping with the t.v. playing in the background) but I'm just not wired that way. Plus, since I never just sit down when Jackson is home (he energizes me, I swear it. He hates that sometimes. Ok, a lot of the time.) I felt guilty being a bum when he was not home to enjoy it. See how thoughtful I am babe?!

My mom texted me on Thursday to invite me to lunch. I happily accepted and we went to Savage's- yum. What I had forgotten was that the World Cup was on and USA was playing. The place was packed and a little rowdy. It was still fun, though. My mom is a mess. I mentioned to her that the lady doing my facial last weekend said acne along the jaw was hormonal and that I may want to get my hormones tested for balancing reasons. Mom, without taking a breath says, "I AGREE! I have been thinking for years that your hormones are messed up!" I sat in stunned silence. I hadn't expected such a resounding answer from my MOTHER. I guess I'll make an appointment for testing soon. Jeesh. 

Thursday night my dear friend Shannon escorted me to the Fashion Mall to do some shopping and we ate at the Cheesecake Factory. No worries, we had salads and only about 1/2 of a slice of cheesecake each with which I was pleased. Shannon didn't mention my hormones one time. What a gal! She did, however, crack me up when we stopped in at Shoe Carnival to grab some hiking shoes for me. Notice I said shoes. She thought I was looking for hiking books and felt deep concerns. As we walked in the store she promptly had a karaoke session with their lame store soundtrack. Then I showed her the shoes I had come for (they were turquoise and pink) and she said they were more "ewww hiking!" (Said in my best valley girl voice) then she was into. I settled on a gray and orange pair which I agree are the better fit for my needs but showed as $7 more than the turquoise ones. She gave me grief about that, too. Then when I said I was replacing shoes from 2008 she nearly had a meltdown of horror. 'Twas the day for honesty, I guess! MacK was at Susie's again that evening so I grabbed her before heading home to start packing my SINGLE SUITCASE (one! I get one!) for my EIGHT day trip to California and Nevada. I also said start packing. Yep. I hadn't done a thing yet and it was 9pm the night before the trip. I work better under pressure?! A mere 90 minutes later-with a shower and a trip around the block with MacK- I was packed and ready. A miracle. I even got to sleep for a few minutes before going to work this morning. There's nothing quite like the Friday before vacation when you're both exhausted and excited. A combination which makes the day feel very, very long. I made it, though. My day was pretty uneventful as was my evening of final preparations. I dropped MacK at Grammy's (again!) and headed to the airport. I don't usually drive myself when flying alone so it felt odd but my brain turned to autopilot to get me to the airport. It feels like a third home these days (you know behind my real home and work). I'm looking forward to the three hour flight that you're accompanying me on now being behind me and reuniting with Jackson in Reno. It feels like it has been way longer than a week since I've seen him. Update: all flights went according to plan and we are together again! Hooray!!!

Lest you think Jackson was  in Kansas City for actual work, he went to some personality seminars, a Kansas City Royals baseball game with his work team and attended a BBQ at a co-worker's house one evening. Yep. Things were difficult there. ;) I wish I could find my sympathy for him. I just can't. At least he acknowledges how awesome his gig is now which I guess is all I can hope for. 

Here's hoping this trip is as fun as it should be. I'm looking forward to posting photos and commentary on all of our activities so stay tuned for that. For now we are heading to bed since I've been up since 5:40 a.m. EST Friday and it is now 4:40 a.m. EST Saturday. 30 year olds need sleep! 

Where am I? What time is it?

Whew! Whew! We made it home to Indiana without any issues. Well, that's not true. I was exhausted and my airplane pillow popped so sleeping on the plane didn't go as planned. Bummer. Our flight from Anchorage boarded and taxied out only to come back to the gate with a warning light issue. Listen friends, I don't love flying already. I sure as heck didn't want to be on a defective airplane.I watched the repairmen board to plane and work in the cockpit as if I was really going to know whether or not their fix was a good one. It felt like everyone else was dozing on the plane and I didn't want them to think no one was watching. You're welcome, fellow passengers. I'm happy to report that their fix worked, we were only delayed an hour and still made our connection in Phoenix. Hooray! 

We got home after 62 hours of traveling (slight exaggeration) tired and ready to shower. Imagine my surprise when we walked in the house and I had fresh flowers, birthday cards and a new handmade sign waiting for me all care of the lovely and talented Heidi Porterfield (OK, she had help on the cards from the kiddos!). What a sweet friend! I knew she was going to bring our mail in a few times, I didn't expect presents! Thanks again, H'ie. I am obsessed with my sign and it looks fabulous above our bed.

HK Designs rocks! 

I returned to work only to hear that a fraud scandal had been revealed in the local newspaper. Said scandal happened in the office where I work before I worked here. It has still been a considerable annoyance, though. Between that news (and my co-workers' stress about it) and playing catch up from being out of the office for 6 working days, it was a LONG week. Jackson worked in Muncie on Friday and we decided to hit La Hacienda on our way home that evening to kick-off the weekend. Jackson nearly fell out of his chair when I ordered a pitcher of margaritas. I mentioned it was a LONG week, right?! ;) Getting back on Eastern time was not easy (AK is 4 hours behind) so we were just beat down tired all week, too. What a mess!

Happy Friday!

Saturday morning I got to celebrate my birthday with my dear friend Amber. We went to an exercise class, had brunch and then got facials. It was superb. I've never had a better facial. I swear it took four years off of my face. Or maybe it just made the week I'd had at work not so evident. Either or.

Jackson spent his morning with Susie shopping for his birthday bike. He ended up with the EXACT one he wanted. Amazing how that happens. *cough* spoiled *cough*

Happy Jackson

We snuck down to Mama Carrolla's Saturday evening to finish up a gift card we had and celebrate my birthday one final time for the year. Ha! It was fabulous, as always. Once we finished dinner we needed a bike ride to burn off those calories so we rode all over. It was awesome. Jackson is a little faster than me on this new bike. I say it is because his is a 2015. My bike was free, though, so I love it. (Thanks again, Kathi!)

Sunday we took a much needed break and slept until a silly hour before heading out to pick up things for our next trip (more on that in a moment). While we were out the Bates family called and invited us over for tacos. Heck yes! We got to snuggle Josslyn and watch soccer (vomit) with some of our favorite people. I'll take it.

Stop. The. Cuteness.

Shaya snapped this photo of Joss and Matt sleeping on Father's Day. I'd never seen anything sweeter. If you'll recall I set Shaya and Matt up on their first date so Josslyn is technically my first baby. This means that anything involving her makes me teary like this photo did. My motherly instincts are almost never invoked, but this photo almost made me want a baby. Only for one morning. Unfortunately, babies don't come with return policies so we're going to stick to the kid-less life. Sorry, moms!

TOO CUTE!

Monday morning came too soon. They always do. This Monday morning meant Jackson was off to Kansas City for a week of training for work. MacKenzie wasn't quite sure why her poppa was leaving her after only being home for a week. I agreed. I hate when he's gone for full weeks. Being alone at night is so, so strange. I get bored and do things like cook for myself. Say what?! Yep. That happened. I also grocery shopped on my own. Pretty soon I won't even notice when Jackson isn't home. (OK, that last statement is categorically untrue.)

"Don't leave me, pa!"

I only have four more days at work until I'm on a plane to meet Jackson in Lake Tahoe. Since he was going to be in Kansas City anyway we just had his ticket back to Indy credited to a flight to Tahoe and we'll meet up there on Friday night for another vacation. I know. I know. We are starting to need a vacation from vacations. We'll be out West for a little over a week visiting Tahoe and Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. We're pretty excited to visit all of these new places. When we get home, though, we're staying in one timezone for a little bit. I promise! :)

Final day in AK...

I woke up 30 years old this morning. At least it woke up. 

It was a chilly, rainy day in Alaska (shocking! Oh wait, no.) so we snuggled until it was time to pack our bags for our flight...the next morning. Say what?! Yeah, our flight doesn't leave until 1:40 a.m. on Sunday. Argh. By the time we left the hotel we had a mere 13 hours to kill. No biggie. 

We started out by going to that cafe downtown that was so good last week. Turns out that was a fluke. While Jackson's meal was good, mine was not. At all. Bummer. I ended up getting McDonald's. Again. On my 30th birthday. In Alaska. While homeless. You know, the usual. 

We left the city and went to Flattop Mountain to do some hiking and get good views of the city from high above it. 

It was so pretty up there. 

Jackson was happy to be out hiking again. 

I was rocking cough drops and Kleenex for the short climb. Typical, no? :/

Again, it was cold and rainy up there. We just couldn't catch a weather break today. 

We wanted a good picture of what I looked like on my 30th birthday for memory purposes. All I see are the wrinkles on my neck. Gasp. When did those get there? I blame Ball State. 

The rain stopped just long enough for us to get this awesome photo. Alaska can really turn it on when it needs to!

We left the mountain and went to a movie. We saw "Neighbors" which was super profane but pretty funny and a nice way to spend a rainy afternoon. I even felt safe in the theatre which is real progress. We meandered over to the busiest Texas Roadhouse on the planet and dined with some nice folks at the bar. The people of Anchorage love a good chain restaurant! I stopped for a pedicure while Jackson shopped and hung out at Starbuck's. Listen, homeless people have to fill the time somehow. We wrapped up our time in Anchorage at a Barnes and Noble (one of my favorite places!!!) before coming to the airport as early as we would if Susie were with us! ;) Again the airline gods smiled on us and we got our baggage checked to our final destination for free (just by volunteering to check our bags at the gate before boarding) and upgraded to an exit row for free so that a family could sit together. You know the Petefishes, always willing to sacrifice for others. ;) Here's hoping for a quick, uneventful trip back to Indiana today. 

Yep, we're still in Alaska...

We lounged around the resort most of the day. It was lovely. The hot tub and sauna were our regular haunts.  

The view from our room...LOVE

We took a lot of naps and tried to get me back to health. (It didn't work!) 

Jackson doing laundry in America's #1 Laundromat

We got really dirty hiking and kayaking so we decided to do laundry (again) so that we'd have warm clothes to wear again. We just didn't expect to wear our winter gear so much. The laundromat in town was just hilarious. It had showers and toilets for rent, a hair salon, a massage place, a Mexican restaurant. You name it. It was like an errand walmart. So weird. The patrons were unusual, too. It was quite the experience. 

Need some bear rugs?

After we finished our laundry we hoped over to Chair 5 restaurant for lunch. We ate some of the best nachos I'd ever had there. All while sitting under a pile of bear rugs. Oh, Alaska. You're so...different. 

Evening view

We napped more and then ventured out for an evening hike. We sat by an outdoor fire and chatted with some friendly folks from Alabama before wandering up the mountain. 

Jackson found some snow

Naturally, my husband found a snow pile to thrash around in because he will never grow up. I love that's about him. :)

Pano.

I swear that photos just do not do justice to Alaska's beauty. 

Hard Rock Café opened just in time!

We always get guitar pins for my Mom and we were so worried that Anchorage's new cafe wouldn't open before we left town. Thankfully, it did and we got a pin. Whew! We weren't coming back for that one anytime soon so it was quite the relief. 

We found a newer part of Anchorage when we relocated to the city for the night and had dinner at an outdoor mall area near the military base here. We also explored downtown a bit and found a little waterfront park with a gorgeous view. The sun still never goes down. It is so weird. Tomorrow is our last day in town and my 30th birthday so I am excited to see what the day brings! 

Anchorage evenings

Happy birthday, Love MacK

I got the cutest video from "MacKenzie" today wishing me a happy birthday. My favorite part is how she looks for me when Susie sings "Mommy." So sweet! :)

Kayaking in AK

We love kayaking so we thought going out here would be fun and we were correct. We had a 6 hour tour with Ben, pictured below. 

Meet Ben. 

A boat took us out to a good spot and dumped us off on a beach to paddle out. I snapped all of these photos with the GoPro camera that I got Jackson for his birthday. It is a camera meant for recording adventures and is waterproof so it was perfect for today!

I snapped a quick photo of us (you can see Ben in the background, too) which Jackson claims accurately reflects our day: me smiling and him paddling. That isn't true but whatever. 

The camera is a little odd because you can't see what a photo will look like instantly so you just hope it looks good. Jackson just informed me that this is how things were in the "old days." Weird. 

The view was awesome from the water.  

I loved the tree growing sideways! 

This rocky area was so pretty. 

Still paddling...

Again with Jackson working hard ;)

I wanted a photo of how blue the water was so I dunked the camera. So neat!

These islands were forts during WWII.

This island, Orca Island, is accessible via boat only. It has little huts built on it that went for $300 a night. No thank you.

We loved the kayak tour and then we headed back from Seward to Ayleska. Old man Petefish surprised me and open the pursestrings so we could return to the resort. Ok, that's not true. The hotel in Seward was a bust so we canceled our reservation there and got in back at the resort for less money. Loyal bloggers knew better than to think Jackson willingly upgraded me. ;)

So here I sit in a comfy chair next to a moose head and a fire catching up on blogs and answering a few emails for work with sore arms from paddling. Life is good today. :) 

We're still in AK

Well we had to leave the resort eventually I guess. Tear. 

We stopped in at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center along the way to see some of the animals the area is known for.  

We got there as the moose was eating lunch. Yum. Branches!! 

Jackson was happy to be there. ;)

This poor Bald Eagle had a wing shot off a couple years ago. People are just awful. 

He looked sad and lonely. 

We enjoyed the Wood Bison exhibit, too. (Jackson didn't even hide, Susie!)

Jackson wanted a shot of his Sonic with the pretty background. He's a mess. 

He then took a shot of his other love. ;)

Can a trip be complete without a selfie? No. 

We just don't get tired of the views around here. 

Jackson growling because we had yet to see a bear. 

Then this happened. Hooray! 

There were two!

Just lumbering along (in his enclosure!) 

Susie was really worried about a bear attack so we sent her these photos and didn't say we were in a protected area when we saw them. Ha! :) 

The drive to Seward was so pretty that we kept pulling off again to snap shots. 

Agh! That boy is so handsome! 

BLUE SKY!!!

The Exit Glacier. We hiked to it in the afternoon after finding our hotel for the night. 

It was another gorgeous hike. 

Jackson leading the way. 

The glacier!

A nice view

Taking a break...

Mocking Jackson's yoga poses 

Then I almost fell off the rock laughing at him taking the photo below...

  Of the woman hiking in open toed, wedge boots- ha!!!

We are trying something new and posting some videos below. We'll see if we like that format or not. I don't think we will...