We are in Valdez relaxing at the Bed and Breakfast. On Friday Bonnie picked mom and I up and we drove to Lost Lake, like an hour away. Three of Bonnie's friends were also there and stayed in our cabin too..that was cool, it was like a sleepover haha. After unpacking and lunch was the first class, Wild Edibles for me and Bonnie. It was AWESOME. It was taught by the same lady, Leslie, who helped with What's in the Woods? when I went to summer BOW the first time and whose house we went to when we did the Beyond BOW Track and Sign. She's so cool! She had this cream made of yarrow, beeswax and other things in it that we put on our hands and arms, and we put some yarrow flowers in our hair..yarrow is a natural mosquito repellent, and it actually worked! The mosquitoes flew around us and maybe landed for a second, but were like "ew" and left. I LOVED that cream, I wish I had some haha. That's definitely one of the most valuable things I learned..there was lots of yarrow around so for the rest of the trip we kept putting it in our hair. We also learned about berries and plants (like willow) that are natural painkillers (yeah, I chewed on some willow LOL..I feel like a hippie :P). Great class and valuable info! Then we had dinner and had a round robin of different skills. After that someone was leading a hike to a gorgeous view of the Tanana River and Alaska Range so we went on that. The view was definitely lovely. After we got back we went to bed

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Today we're gonna do more caching and maybe go kayaking at Valdez Glacier. I'm glad we have time to relax first though :D

Today I turned 25..wow, I'm old haha. Crazy how fast time goes by. I got an Amazon gift card from Dana, $50 from grandpa, Barnes and Noble gift cards from Aunt Gina and Nina, geocaching stuff from mom, a call from Aunt Julie and lots of love haha. The weather seems to be nice so far..maybe we'll go caching again. Mom said she was 25 when she met dad..that's weird to think about haha

Mom and I signed up for summer BOW (Becoming an Outdoor Woman) in August. We haven't been in like 3 years (and only once at the summer one) so it was time to go again haha. I'm taking Wild Edibles, Survival, Track & Sign and Birding in Alaska. One of our geocaching friends is going too..should be fun!

( DAY 4: Favorite pizza place )

I'm back from BOW! On Thursday we left late haha and drove to Wasilla. The weather was sunny and gorgeous the whole way down. Mt. McKinley was AWESOME..it always is, but definitely up close haha. I played hours of Angry Birds on mom's iPad..so addictive. :P We got to Wasilla late and had trouble finding the hotel but with the help of mom's iPad we eventually did. I hate Wasilla..it's ugly and laid out weirdly. Maybe next time we should stay in Palmer cause it's nicer. We got dinner and drove back to the hotel and there were the Northern Lights! So cool..I'd never seen them outside of Fairbanks before. After watching them we went to bed

Friday we got up and had breakfast. The weather was rather foggy but I figured it would clear off. We got on the Glenn Highway and where we were going it was sunny but further away it was foggy. WE ARE SUN BRINGERS! And there was SO much snow this year! Last year Wasilla hardly had any and the camp not too much either but it was PILED this year. Crazyy. We got to camp early and they said we had cabin Castle..the last two years we had Iliamna which was right across from the bathroom..Castle was above the bathroom so it was still pretty close. All the cabins are named after mountains..I'd never heard of Castle but apparently it's in the Wrangell-St. Elias mountains. We set up our beds and had lunch. Jennifer and Windy were there yay!

After lunch was our first class, which was ice fishing for mom and I. They drove us to Long Lake I think it was called. They showed us how to drill in the ice with their super powerful auger thing. There was a dad and his two kids there and both the kids caught fish! That made us hopeful haha. Our instructors had a couple tents (that were HEATED!) we could fish in and since it was darker in there we could see to the bottom of the lake through the holes! Cooool haha. Ice fishing rods are much smaller than regular ones. No one caught ANYTHING! The kids must have gotten them all. ;) That's why it's fishing, not catching. :P I prefer regular fishing, but I wanted to experience ice fishing too

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I shall post my pics tomorrow hopefully..now I'm going to bed :P

I got an email today with the BOW classes I'm taking..they're Ice Fishing, Safety in Bear Country, GPS and Bow Fishing (I think fishing with a bow and arrow?). Sweeet..I hope the weather's nice and not windy like last year haha

My phone battery is DEAD..I don't like that feeling haha. Guess I have to get a new one..

Dad and I went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch and he kept singing "aye aye aye burrito." Haha he's so weird :P

( Day 42 - Something you did today )

Would you rather be confronted on the street by a loud, angry panhandler for a week straight or by an unbearably persistent Bible thumper? No thanks..I HATE being confronted on the street

Today's trivia: The world's largest bell is the Tsar Kolokol in Moscow. It weighs about 200 tons

Today we all met at the Fish and Game building in the conference room. It was indeed the same guy (Mike) from the summer BOW. He is so awesome haha..he just loves what he does. We went outside first to see some stuff before the sun went down. We went under a bridge by the Noyes Slough and saw some muskrat tracks (we saw some swimming too!) and some others. Then we went walking in Creamer's Field and saw a bunch of moose tracks and some bird feathers. After that we went outside and had dinner..moose lasagna! Yumm. Then Mike showed us a slideshow of what different tracks look like and stuff. Tomorrow we are gonna go on Chena Hot Springs Road and look at tracks by the river! Awesomee haha

Poor great aunt Frieda who's over 100 years old fell and broke her hip. :( Grandpa says she just wants to die but her heart keeps on beating. Poor thing..

( Day 98- A picture of something you love doing )

Next month there's gonna be a Beyond Bow Track and Sign Clinic in Fairbanks..and of course mom and I are going haha. She said it was taught by the guy who did the What's in the Woods? class which is AWESOME. He's a really good and passionate teacher. I just hope there won't be snow on the ground yet..

( Day 83- A picture of your favorite album cover )

Would you rather be a bug that just got caught in a spider's web or be a fly in a small room being chased by a lady with a flyswatter? The fly

Today's trivia: Cows have more than 800 blood types

I'm baaack from BOW! Before I talk about it..WE FOUND SNOWY!! Or rather Snowy found us. Before lunch mom was looking at her texts and Ryan had sent "we found Snowy" and mom called him. Well yesterday they got another cat cause they said if they did Snowy would come back (that's how we got Cheetah..Snowy ran away and dad felt bad and got Cheetah and he came back). This morning dad went to feed the other cats and saw Snowy on the porch! That's just AMAZING. Either someone dropped him off or he just..found his way home somehow. Woww. So weird too that as soon as we get another cat he comes back haha (the other cat is named "Mr. Kitty" but I imagine they're gonna change it haha). Mom was practically crying when she told me. Aw yay :D (now we'll have FIVE cats at mom's house when Abby comes over..oh jeez haha)

On Friday we drove to Lost Lake Boy Scout Camp where the workshop was held. It's not a far drive at all..maybe an hour away. Jennifer from the winter camp was going too and we picked her up and took her along. It was pretty smoky from the fire. We got registered and set up in our cabins (though other people slept in tents or RVs). It was more rustic than the winter workshop (well it IS a Boy Scout camp :P). I saw there was an upstairs loft in my cabin and totally slept there haha..so cool. Windy from the winter camp also came! Yay reunion hehe. I liked that most people were from Fairbanks (in winter most are from the Anchorage area). It made it seem closer and I actually knew what places they were talking about :P

We had lunch and there were introductions and then went to my first class (mom took it too) which was What's in the Woods? for me. It was AWESOME!! We identified trees, plants, berries, tracks..the instructor was SO knowledgeable and avid about it..I wish he was always with me. :P The weather was cold and rainy but it was ok anyway. I learned that if you eat willow leaves it acts as a painkiller..I tried one cause my arm was really hurting (stupid weather :P). Well IT WORKED! Soo cool!! Mom tried it too since her back was hurting and it helped her also! Woww. I love being able to identify plants so the class was great. We saw some moose tracks too! Nature FTW

( adventures )

Pics tomorrow!

Phew..it got to a record 85 yesterday! It's probably gonna get in the 80s today too. That's hot for Alaska haha

In August there's a summer Becoming an Outdoor Woman workshop near Delta Junction..and of course mom and I signed up for it haha. If I get my first choices I'm gonna do Geocaching, Rappelling (YEAH!! Too bad the tower's only 40 feet though..), On Lake Spin Fishing (I just hope I don't have to beat the fish to death :() and What's in the Woods? (you learn how to identify trees and plants in the boreal forest). Funn haha

( Day 73 - A picture of you somewhere warm )

I'm baaaack. On Thursday we drove to Wasilla. The weather was AMAZING. I have NEVER seen the mountains look that beautiful before. It was sunny the whole way down. There were many awesome views of McKinley. Usually it's covered with clouds when we drive by it but not this time. That is one incredible mountain. We could see the wind blowing the snow off the top of it too! Awesomeee. We got to Wasilla at 4 something I think and we checked into the hotel. All the rooms were full and the only one left was a suite and they gave it to us for a regular room price. Sweet! It had a kitchen, living room and bedroom. It was really windy and FREEZING in Wasilla. Eesh. After that we ate dinner and went shopping at Target. I got some shirts and other various things. Then we went back to the hotel and after awhile went to bed

Friday we woke up and got ready for the day..though we were slower than usual cause there was news on about the 8.9 earthquake in Japan. Yikes..that made me feel guilty about going away to a fun weekend. After we got ready and checked out of the hotel we had breakfast at IHOP and continued driving again. The weather was still sunny and amazing. It's nice to see all the mountains and glaciers hanging to the very tops of the mountains with sun shining on them..usually it's cloudy somewhere and don't get to see that. It didn't take too long to get to the camp where BOW was. A lady greeted us and told us where to park and said we were staying in cabin Iliamna! I was happy cause that's where we stayed last time and it's closest to the bathroom haha. As we drove up I saw a guy on a snowmachine that looked familiar..I guessed he was in charge of the tubing last year. Well he saw our car, walked over, looked in over at me and was like "I remember you from tubing last year!" OMG haha. There was another lady that did the snowshoeing class I was in last year (she was standing outside too) and she looked in and recognized me too! Aww

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Now here I am..I shall post my pics tomorrow!

Would you rather have four noses on your face or have a tongue as long as your body? The tongue

Today's trivia: The earthquake in Japan shifted Eastern Japan towards North America by about 13 feet, shifted the earth's axis by 6.5 inches, shortened the day by 1.6 microseconds, and sank Japan downward by about two feet

I got an email from the Becoming an Outdoor Woman planner lady..she sent the list of classes we're taking. I got the ones I really wanted! Yay haha. I'm taking Winter Survival, Map and Compass, GPS and Outdoor Photography. Sweet! 3 of the classes are with mom too haha

This day last year I officially got my apartment (thought I didn't officially move in till later). OMG it doesn't seem like it's been that long at all..wow

What! "The outlook for March from the climate prediction center calls for an increased chance of significantly colder than normal temperatures for Fairbanks." I don't want to hear thaaaat *cries*

( 9. Post a picture of your favorite place to eat )

Would you rather always have a little green piece of spinach stuck between your front teeth or always have a little booger in your nose that moves when you breathe? Ew neither

Today's trivia: The shorter your vocal cords are and the faster they vibrate, the higher the sound you will make. Women's vocals cords are short and vibrate about 220 times in a second, so their voices are high. Men's cords are longer and vibrate about 120 times and second. This is why men have deeper voices