Last night I finally had the in-house sleep study done!

Getting ready! There were so many things to hook on to me that it took like 45 minutes just to get ready haha (I got there around 10)


So many wires!! After the assistant hooked everything up she had me lay down in bed and she checked on her computer if everything was working properly, which it was. She showed me the call button in case I needed anything (like to use the bathroom), then left me for the night. You don't have to go to sleep right away, so I read a little before turning out the lights (there's also a TV if you want to do that too). I didn't really sleep the greatest (I was too wired. ;) Haha), but hopefully they got good enough data. She woke me up around 6, unhooked everything from me, and said I could go whenever I was ready. I called mom and because she lives SUPER close to the Sleep Center, she was there in a few minutes. We both went back to sleep when we got back to her house LOL, mornings are not our thing. :P The assistant said I should get the results back within a week..so happy I finally got that done lol

I've been working three hours the days I've been at work this week, and while it's more tiring, I definitely get a LOT more done. There are so many boxes and stuff it doesn't look like I did anything though LOL. Denise is just thankful for whatever I get done, it's less stress and work for her..it's nice to be valued. :P I'm also staying the night at my apartment..making slow steps in getting my life back, at least!

Oh no, the Castner Glacier ice arch collapsed on Sunday, blocking the entrance to the cave! So sad! The people hiking around the arch were very lucky not to get caught in it! Because you have to pay to read the article on the News-Miner site, ( here is is )

17 – Eat Your Vegetables Day: Do you love veggies? Do you have favourites? Do you have a favourite veggie recipe -- either main meal or side dish? Will you share it? They're alright..zucchini is pretty good, and green beans and broccoli aren't too bad either. They're good as a side dish with butter!

18 – International Panic Day: Contrary to what it sounds like, this is a day dedicated to reducing panic and stress in your daily life, not celebrating it! How to you go about reducing the stresses, anxiety and yes, panic, in your life? Taking Clonazepam and Prozac haha (it might be starting to help now, hopefully!!), talking to mom or my counselor, etc

19 – Watch Day: Do you still wear a watch (assuming you ever did wear one)? Is it just a regular time telling watch, or is a smartwatch or fitness/health device that also tells you the time? Yeah, just a regular watch..I don't need my watch to be that fancy haha

20 – World Productivity Day: What did you do today (or are you planning to do) that was particularly productive? Mom and I went to the store and then found three geocaches!

21 – World Music Day: How important is music in your life? Do you play any musical instruments, or are you part of a choir or other vocal group? Have you ever been in a band (rock or school or other)? I love music, it can be calming, energizing, nostalgic..it kinda makes driving less tedious too. No and no, but I was in choir for a little bit in elementary school, even though I'm terrible at singing LOL

Chinook winds, with gusts up to 75 mph in the mountains, toppled trees that took down power lines, zapping power for more than 23,000 people in Interior Alaska on Monday, according to the National Weather Service and the Golden Valley Electric Association.

Fallen trees from a wind storm injured at least two people Monday, knocked down electric lines that left thousands without power, and sparked multiple fires — all while inflicting untold property damage as trees toppled onto homes across the Fairbanks area.

One of the Fairbanks area 911 dispatch centers went offline for two hours after its backup generator failed. Emergency calls were rerouted.

The wind storm generated hundreds of 911 calls, including reports of at least two separate incidents involving a tree hitting a person in the head, according to Teal Soden, spokeswoman for the City of Fairbanks. A third person sustained a head injury after their power went out, Soden said.

A meteorologist with the National Weather Service said the strongest gust of Monday's wind storm was 45 mph. It's no record, but strong winds are uncommon in Fairbanks, meteorologist Bobby Bianco said.

"We had about four hours of winds gusting about 30 or 40 mph," he said of Monday's storm.

That was probably the craziest Chinook I've ever seen! I couldn't believe how hard the wind was blowing (the temperature got in the 70s!). I lost power for about an hour and a half, and when it came back on it flickered the rest of the day. Mom saw a tree across the lake fall into power lines, which then started sparking! The sudden emergency message on my phone about the dispatch centers going offline had me flailing haha..they should try NOT to give us a heart attack when the 911 center is down LOL

Today I saw Where the Crawdads Sing..it was really good! I'm glad it stayed pretty true to the book lol. I really like Kya and her love of nature <3

( july 25-26 )

Today's trivia: Baby koalas are fed poop by their parents after they are born which helps them digest Eucalyptus leaves later in life (O___o)

"That it’s been a rainy spring and summer is news to no one. But just how wet have the past 12 months been for Fairbanks? According to data compiled by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it’s never been rainier.

Analysis of weather data collected by NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information indicates that the Fairbanks North Star Borough just had its wettest 12 months on record dating back to 1929. From August 2019 through July 2020, the borough saw a total of 26.20 inches of precipitation.

Among those who noticed the record-breaking rainfall was Rick Thoman, a climate specialist who works at the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Thoman tweeted out the information on Friday, pointing out that the rainfall for the 12-month period that ended July 31 is 162% of the 1981-2010 average."

I knew it has been rainier than normal this summer, but still..wow! People at work have been like "when did we move to Juneau??" haha. I guess if it's going to rain this much it might as well break a record :P

( pokemon update )

8. If money, time, and energy were no object, what university degree would you go back and get, just for fun? Glaciology or something like that maybe..

9. What’s unique about you, that’s different from everyone else you know? DNA :P

While most of the globe saw warmer than normal temperatures this winter, Alaska was mired in a deep blue trough of cold that continued into March, despite the return of the sun.

In Fairbanks, climatological winter -- the period between December and February -- was the coldest since 1999, with an average temperature of minus 10.9 degrees, 6.4 degrees colder than normal, according to the National Weather Service. It's the second coldest stretch since 1976, but would not have been unusual before then.

Temperatures remained below freezing for the entire period, with a high of 31 degrees on Dec. 9. This hasn't happened since 1999. Forty-four days had a low temperature of minus 25 or colder and on 34 straight days, the temperature never rose to 5 above. That's the third-longest cold streak since records began in Fairbanks. The longest was 47 days in 1942-43, according to the Weather Service.

Despite the length and breadth of the cold, no records were set this year in Fairbanks. And the chill has continued into March. Temperatures fell to minus 38 overnight last night at Fairbanks International Airport, with readings of minus 40 reported in Goldstream, according to the Alaska Climate Research Center. Temperatures are expected to dip into the minus 30s again tonight and Thursday night, with wind chills in the minus 40s before warming up a bit on Friday.

I thought it was odd it didn't go above freezing for that whole period! Usually we get Chinooks that push the temps into the 30s and 40s, but none of the Chinooks we've had this year have done that. That's crazy! I really hope it warms up soon, me and most everyone else are tired of the cold lol

( march. 2-4 )

Today's trivia: oranges are a hybrid of tangerines and pomelos, also known as "Chinese grapefruit," and they were originally green

FAIRBANKS — Fairbanks had record breaking heat Sunday afternoon with temperatures reaching 47 degrees, a single degree above the previous 1981 record.

The Fairbanks area sat within a degree or two of the previous record for most of Sunday with the record set near 4 p.m.

As of 2:53 Sunday afternoon, the National Weather Service had the Fairbanks International Airport at 45 degrees above zero. The temperature rose two degrees within the next hour.

The NWS released a special weather statement on its website at 12:06 p.m. Sunday noting that the entire southeastern Interior region would be forecast to near record-breaking heat Sunday and Monday with temperatures expected in the high 40s to low 50s.

Temperatures across the Interior at noon Sunday were as follows: Eagle at 46 degrees, Fairbanks at 45 degrees, Nenana at 44 degrees, Denali at 42 degrees and Delta Junction at 42 degrees.

Wow! I'm loving how nice it's been, except for how ugly everything gets when the snow starts melting. I finally got my Ice Classic tickets in..I've never made guesses for March before, but the ice around the tripod is definitely melting already, and they've hooked it up to the clock already! Wow. I hope it doesn't suddenly get cold again lol

I'm getting a raise and more hours!! Denise and Mike have noticed how busy it's been since the other used bookstore closed last year, and our bookstore's been doing great, so they want to reward me and Shirley for all our hard work. :D Way cool! I'm sure my rent will go up, but oh well :P

( Day 75-77 )

Today's trivia: The idea of Guinness Book of Records came to Sir Hugh Beaver in the 1950's when he had an argument in a pub about the fastest game bird in Europe. Since he couldn't find an answer in any of the books, he decided to compile a book of facts and figures to help settle pub arguments just like the one he had

FAIRBANKS — Here is one explanation for why there has been so much complaining about the cold and the photographing of bank thermometers during a weather pattern this week that by Fairbanks standards isn’t particularly notable: While 40 below zero temperatures are normal for Fairbanks, it hasn’t been this frigid in nearly two years.

At Fairbanks International Airport, the temperature bottomed out at 39 degrees below zero on Monday morning during a cold snap that started Friday. The temperature has been even colder in the eastern Interior. Those temperatures are chilly, but far from unusual for Fairbanks.

“I was just amazed at all the hubbub about this. It really shows the effect of the new normals,” said Rick Thoman, Alaska Climate Specialist at the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. “No one in Fairbanks 1975 would have been oohing and aahing about whether it got to 40 below.”

But Fairbanks is entering this winter after the particularly warm winter of 2017/2018, during which the temperature never fell below 33 below.

The last time it hit 40 below in Fairbanks was on Feb. 12, 2017, when the temperature reached 41 below, Thoman said. In general, the temperature has reached 40 below or colder in 83 percent of winters since 1976, the beginning of the modern era of weather reporting here, Thoman said. Winters without 40-below weather were rarer before 1976, he said.

Although it hasn’t reached 40 below this year, there is still time for plenty of time for cold winter. The National Weather Service forecast for Fairbanks predicts snow and temperatures as warm as 7 below zero by Wednesday, followed by more cold air with temperatures in the 30’s below zero later in the week.

Wow. Yeah, I do remember a couple days last winter when it got in the -30s, but it was pretty warm otherwise..we must be spoiled now haha. My heat works much better now that it's "only" -11 lol :P

( Day 8: Your least favorite song from your favorite band )

Today's trivia: Bananas can't reproduce on their own. They are a hybrid of two other plant species. It has no seeds and has only been able to reproduce with the aid of farmers, who remove and transplant part of the plant’s stem in order to create more bananas

Happy 29th birthday to me! (I've now outlived Birdie Bowers..wow). I can't believe I'll be 30 next year. O___o For some reason my coworkers celebrated it yesterday lol..a couple volunteers came in and made spaghetti, cornbread, garlic bread, salad, etc (I knew something was up when I went to go in the kitchen and they were like "you can't come in here!!" haha). That was so nice of them! It was SO good too, I always love her cooking! (Earlier in the work she brought some of the best brownies ever that she made..yummm.) The celebration was kept a secret from me, and I about died when everyone crowded around the kitchen started singing Happy Birthday to me..I'm pretty sure that's the longest song in existence. :P Mike said he wanted to buy me a glacier, but lunch was easier haha. People are now saying to me "you're turning 21 again right?" which makes me feel realllly old LOL. My family and I are going to Chena's Alaskan Grill, my favorite place to go on my birthday. Mom said she was going to Wal-Mart before she picks me up..maybe she's getting a cake ;)

This is an awesome article: How the Ice Age Shaped New York. So interesting! I've been to those rocks in Central Park!! (It was the reason why I wanted to go there LOL.) And sentences like this? "Today, the southernmost edge of that frozen expanse is marked by a line of rubble that extends across the northern United States for thousands of miles. The largest deposits form what geologists call a terminal moraine." *swoons* /hugenerd

( June 7 and 8 )

FAIRBANKS - Snow is forecast to fall at higher elevations in Interior Alaska over the next few days, according to a National Weather Service special weather statement issued Wednesday.

The cold front was predicted to begin in the central Interior and Brooks Range Wednesday night and move east to the Canada border on Thursday. Cold weather is forecast to follow the snow, with a low around 32 in Fairbanks on Friday night.

The weather service predicts snow will fall but not stick at elevations above 1,000 feet and could accumulate to depths of 2 to 4 inches above elevations of 2,000 feet. This could impact Elliott, Dalton, Steese and Richardson highway mountain passes.

In Fairbanks, 1,000 feet is about the elevation of Birch Hill. If snow sticks above 2,000 feet as predicted it will put a layer of snow on the summits of Ester and Murphy domes.

Significantly more snow is forecast for the Alaska Range, with 6 to 11 inches expected to fall west of Polychrome Pass in Denali National Park.

The weather was so nice last week..and now snow??!! IT'S ALMOST JUNE THAT IS NOT OK (snow is nice in the winter, but not in MAY). This week has definitely been cooler than normal..wow. Alaska's weather is always crazy it seems like :P

( i need some pics of cherry after reading that :P )

( May 24: Nostalgia )

Today's trivia: Because news traveled so slow back then, slaves in Texas didn't know they were free for more than two months after Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation

Here is an interesting article I came across: The 10 Most Doomed Expeditions in History. For some reason I was surprised that I recognized half of them haha. The writer totally trashed Robert F. Scott though..yeah he made mistakes, but I've read about other expeditions that were better prepared, but totally fell apart because the men didn't get along. Scott and his men were friends till the very end (when Scott was found, his hand was resting on Wilson's bag *tear*). I'll always be impressed by how they well he and his men got along with each other..they were amazing <3

The article about S.A. Andree's Arctic Expedition was almost as funny as the one on Goodreads haha ("Plus, his drag ropes would persistently snap, fall off, become entangled with each other, or get stuck to the ground, which could result in pulling the often low-flying balloon down into a dangerous bounce. Sounds good! Let's go to the north pole!" LOLOL)

And the poor Franklin Expedition.."Evidence suggested that a combination of cold, starvation, and disease including scurvy, pneumonia, and tuberculosis, all made worse by lead poisoning, killed everyone in the Franklin party." Eeesh (I keep wondering why Crozier's ship was named "Terror"..weird name for a ship, unless you're a pirate :P)

( pics for march 11 and 12 )

Today's trivia: The Mall in Washington, D.C. is 1.4 times larger than Vatican City

FAIRBANKS — The skies began clearing Monday afternoon over the Interior, and the temperatures began dropping.

In addition, the National Weather Service is predicting several snow storms will move north across the Interior, starting tonight.

Monday’s high temperature at Fairbanks International Airport was 1 below just before 6 a.m. Since then, the temperature steadily dropped to 10 below just before 2 p.m.

According to the Weather Service, lows Monday night were to drop to 25 below zero. The north wind could drop the temperature to 40 below with wind chill in areas.

It’s likely Fairbanks won’t have 30 below weather until early next week, Fischer added.

It’s been more than a year since Fairbanks experienced temperatures colder than 25 degrees below zero.

For reference, the coldest temperature recorded last winter was 29 below, in November 2015. It marked 2015-16 as only the second winter in 109 years that did not see 30-below-zero temperatures. On average, Fairbanks experiences 25 days at or colder than 30 below during each cold season.

Temperatures for the next week are expected to be highly variable, with lows around 25 below to highs in the single digits above zero.

It was weird..yesterday it was 0 and when I woke up today it was suddenly -21! Me and a coworker were also talking about how warm it was last winter (compared to -40, -29 is warm lol). I should probably start wearing my goggles now (so I can cover my face without my glasses icing up), but I feel so ridiculous wearing them lol (maybe pretending to be Cherry trekking through Antarctica would help haha). I guess that's better than worrying about frostbite though :P

Yesterday Becky was like "I have a book for you in my office, it was written by your boyfriend!" haha. I was like "you found The Worst Journey in the World??!" She and Denise were laughing because I kept hugging the book LOL. Now I have three editions of the book, yay! Haha (well, I went one day without mentioning Cherry at least :P)

( Day 13-Handwrite the first 10 things that pop into your head )

Today's trivia: The Toltecs, 7th century native Mexicans, used wooden swords in battle so they didn't kill their enemy