I got home very early this morning and now I can do a recap since I'm not socializing/exhausted haha. I wasn't sure how much time mom and I would spend with Aunt Cindy and Uncle Dean since their friends (Pam and Ken) were visiting too, but we actually spent a lot of our time with them! They were super nice and didn't at all object to having to share Cindy and Dean with us haha. One of the days Pam and I added each other on Facebook and she fistbumped me and said "we're friends now!" Heck yes! Haha. We spent a lot of time shopping downtown (with me admiring all the shops' curtains LOL). There were LOTS of tourists around..for some reason most of the time it was super windy, but otherwise it was sunny and nice. Downtown is dangerous because there are too many things to buy haha. I kept wondering why I was so out of breath doing simple things, until someone said something about the altitude (7,199 feet)..ah yes, that explained it haha. It's also SUPER dry, even drier than Fairbanks! Drinking water didn't help much, but lip balm did, thankfully. We also went to a couple bookstores (one with thousands of books in Spanish..the most in the country, according to the owner), but unfortunately, the one I usually went to was not in business anymore..the last time I was there the owner talked about how much he wanted to retire, so he did (another bookstore owner said he moved to California). It was a cool bookstore though..I wonder what he did with all his books? The library had a little store, with amazingly had a copy of The Worst Journey in the World, which I made Cindy buy LOL..she was like "every time you visit, I end up with a stack of books!" haha. I hope she likes it!

On Thursday I was excited but nervous to see Drew Lynch! Another comedian opened for him, and she owned horses, and said her pronouns were neigh/nem, with I thought was HILARIOUS lol. Eventually it was Drew's turn! He always opens his shows by making fun of or making observations about where he's performing. He mentioned being blown away but the crazy wind, blaming the altitude for stuttering, making fun of the town Truth or Consequences, and also having to use lip balm. There was also someone who was deaf in the audience, so there were a couple ASL interpreters to help him. When Drew came onstage and saw her he was like "oh no, I have to try not to stutter, would that look like a seizure in ASL??" That added part made the show even funnier..I can't remember the deaf person's name, so I'll go with Gary..he and the interpreters had a lot of attention from Drew (both of the interpreters were having fun lol). My favorite part of the show was when Drew stuttered, looked at the interpreter, and said "did you just sign my stutter?!" That's a huge reason I like him so much, he uses humor for his situation (like I do with autism). He's not just another guy trying to be funny..I feel like he would feel vulnerable, but he doesn't seem fazed. I also like how good he is at ad-libbing, like when he saw the interpreters. He has a fun laugh, though the volume was too loud. Mom said she had trouble following him sometimes, because he would start to say something and stop and change what he was going to say, but I'm sure that's because his stutter wouldn't let him say it..that would be frustrating, but he says something like "oh you know!," and continues on. I didn't understand or like ALL of his jokes, but it was still really fun! (I was super exhausted after it was over, too much stimulation!) He likes to post funny parts of his shows on YouTube, and I can't wait to see what he posts from this show! (Hopefully his interactions with the interpreters!) I'll have to share it if he does post it. At the end of the show, he said "you guys were f-ing awesome!" Why thank you. :P Haha. I'm glad he had fun too!

I flew home yesterday, but mom went on to Florida to visit grandpa (he's having cancer treatments and sometimes doesn't feel well). I HAVE to go back to work tomorrow, so I told mom to tell him I said "hi." It was nice to get away for a few days after working so hard during the move! I'm sure there's lots to do still though. :P I'm pretty sure Curti grew while I was gone, he's getting so big!!

( pics from the trip! )

17. What makes you angry? Animal abuse, slow internet, being mean for no reason, etc

18. What five things do you want to do on your next birthday? I'd love to take a plane ride to Black Rapids Glacier (there is a company that does that now!), eat cake, open presents, shop at Barnes and Noble haha, relax online

19. Your most recent dream: I can't really remember..

1. What inconveniences do you experience every single day? Being short haha, not wanting to get up because I'm comfy, etc
2. What do you wish you weren’t so often in close proximity to? The smell of weed..gross lol
3. This past week, what would you have appreciated some advance warning about? Abby had bloodwork done recently, and today I found out she's in stage one kidney failure. :( I guess with the food she's been eating nitrogen builds up, which can damage the kidneys. The vet gave me some food especially formulated for kidney health, which hopefully she likes. I'm glad it was caught before it got worse, but I'm still anxious about it (I hope it's not uncomfortable for her!). She's almost 19, wow! I'm definitely not taking my time with her for granted now, every moment is special <3
4. What caused you to smile happily today? Petting the vet's cat Glitter, and Glitter licking the bag with the food in it haha
5. When did you recently give in to a sudden impulse? Maybe when I had food from Sonic a couple days ago..

Brrr, it's -25 outside..Denali and the Alaska Range looked cool in the sunset though

( dec 28-29 )

I talk about my experiences with autism! I definitely didn't cover *everything* (the video was long enough haha), but hopefully enough to get an idea! (I uploaded it straight to Facebook, and when I saw it was done but nothing showed up, I was like "whaat?? Why didn't it p-p-po-po-post??! Was it too big??" But a few minutes later I checked again and it was there..phew! Haha). Mom has said multiple times I should write a book, but a video seemed easier to me lol

Ryan flew to Anchorage a couple days ago, and when he got back yesterday, he was like "you would have been so jealous!" and showed me a video he took flying RIGHT by Denali! He said it was uncomfortably close! I've heard stories from many different people of pilots flying around the mountain on nice days, but not with me yet! Though to be fair, I've done at least 3 or 4 flightseeing trips around Denali, but I'm STILL jealous haha. He said one of the glaciers was huge..I bet it was epic :D

( last of the 9th grade journal! notice how after feb. 6, i didn't mention scotland anymore! viggo took over instead LOL )

4. Do you have a crush on anyone that you haven’t really talked to before? Umm..I'd say Cherry, but I talked to him at his grave and he said hi to me through my phone, so I guess that doesn't count? I've had crushes on other people I'd never talk to before though

5. What is your least favorite sour patch kids color? Red I think

6. Have you ever won a competition? If so, what was it and what did you win? I think so, I can't really remember though

Today's trivia: John Entwistle's bassline solo in "My Generation" is one of the first bass solos ever in rock music history (that song always gets stuck in my head LOL)

Yesterday mom and I flew to Glacier Bay..first we had to fly to Anchorage. Denali was out, but the engine was in the exact viewing point as the mountain..good thing I've seen it many times lol (I saw one of its glaciers through the clouds, possibly Eldridge). After that short flight we flew to Juneau..I saw some cool glaciers before it clouded up..I'm pretty sure one of them was Harvard Glacier! It has super awesome moraines. :D It usually takes an hour and some minutes to fly to Juneau from Anchorage, but the bad weather made the traffic back up, so we had to divert to Sitka to get more fuel. I'd never seen Sitka before, so that was cool lol. Eventually we took off and got to Juneau just fine..I'd never been to the airport in Juneau (dad and I stopped there on the ferry through the Inside Passage a few years ago), so that was cool to see too (we saw an eagle!). After a little time to kill there, we boarded the plane for Gustavus/Glacier Bay. I looked for Mendenhall Glacier, but it was on the other side! At least I got a glimpse of it. :P If I thought the flight from Fairbanks to Anchorage was short, it has nothing on Glacier Bay..it only took like 20 minutes! Probably the shortest flight I've ever been on lol. After we landed a bus took everyone to their respective hotels. After we got our room (which has great pics of glaciers lol) we explored outside..there are baneberries EVERYWHERE, which are super poisonous. D: We stopped in the Visitor Center..I showed the Park Ranger lady my pic of Harvard Glacier and she was like "wow, this picture is amazing!! Check out the moraines, it's like moraine pie!" OMG lol..I've compared moraines to chocolate on ice cream, but never pie! Awesome. :P I love seeing others get excited over glaciers too! This Tlingit lady gave us a presentation telling of their history in Glacier Bay..they kept almost getting wiped out by natural disasters, but always managed to survive..wow. After that we had dinner and went back to our room (which doesn't have wi-fi, boo! We have to go in the main building of the lodge for it)

( more under here! )

We made it to Wisconsin! The first flight to Anchorage left at 9 something. It seemed pretty dark, but you could see the sunset once you got above the clouds. They both looked really cool! McKinley and Foraker were the only mountains tall enough to peek over the clouds..they also looked really cool! It was funny..the pilot said we had reached our cruising altitude and then was like "in 10 minutes we'll start the descent to Anchorage." Haha!! We spend most of that flight ascending and descending. :P Mom said she sat next to a pilot she briefed when she worked for the FAA! Haha awesome. We didn't have a lot of time in Anchorage..I really wanted Chili's since it's not in Fairbanks anymore but we only had time to get fries from McDonald's. Mom was actually flying standby (I had a paid ticket but if mom couldn't go I wouldn't either). Mom wasn't sure if she'd get a seat since the flight was full, but I think she got the last one! Nicee. We tried sleeping, but it's just impossible to get comfortable. Eventually I gave up and did a crossword haha. It took 5 hours to get from Anchorage to Seattle. After we got our bags we picked up our rental car and drove the hour and a half to Ron and Teresa's house in Wisconsin. Grandpa drove up from Florida..he was the only one at the house when we arrived. Ron got off work early and arrived soon after. Right now Teresa's at work and Stephanie's at school. We're just hanging out now and looking at pics and stuff haha. Yayy. So tiredd :P

Today mom and I went to the Denali exhibit at the museum. It was cool, but too small! Haha. I met a guy there who climbed Denali in the 70s! Way cool. He said he also climbed other mountains in the Alaska Range like Mt. Hayes. Awesomee. I have a few pics I'll post too. Then we went to the Farmer's Market! Yayy haha. That place is awesome, but dangerous..I always spend too much money there! There's a lady that sells these little cat mat things that are SO cute! I bought a couple even though we have a bunch haha. The cats are spoiled. ;) It was HOT..OMG. Last week we were in a blizzard, today it's 76 and sunny! That's CRAZY haha. There's this trailer thing there that sells Greek food and I got a gyro..it was so good! There's a Greek restaurant downtown that I've had gyros at but I never really liked their food. This place was way better! Yumm. After that we went to Barnes and Noble cause I had two coupons for 20% off. Of course I got way more than two books. :P And now we're home. Phew, tired!

( denali exhibit pics )

It's so gross..when I go up to the university I can see all the nasty brown pollution hanging in the valley (there's a big inversion since it's been cold for so long). When I go inside my hair smells like that stuff..eww. I feel so unhealthy living in and breathing in that stuff. There isn't really any sign of it warming up either. Ughh

We finally got our glaciers exam back..I originally got a 93.65, but with the extra credit and stuff I got a 103.3!! AWESOME haha. :D We made ice cream in lab today..it was delicious haha

Because of the inversion and the sunset, there was a pretty sweet Fata Morgana mirage over the mountains today. Mt. McKinley looked HUGE haha. I mean..it is a huge mountain haha but from Fairbanks it's smaller of course. A lot of the time it's hard to see behind a hill but you could easily see it over the hill today. So cool

( here be pics! )

Would you rather have to eat five peach pits or half a pound of watermelon seeds? The seeds..peach pits are poisonous

Today's trivia: Adding three or four sugar cubes to a suitcase before storage will help prevent musty odors

Today in class we were looking at pics of earthquake damage in Alaska..the professor showed this one pic and was like "I'm not sure if this is Seward or Valdez..does anyone know?" and I immediately said "Valdez!" I recognized Anderson Glacier in the mountains. ;) Haha. I HAVE SKILLZ. The mountains looked quite lovely too..I even saw McKinley peeking over the hills

( 20. Fortitude )

Would you rather have five bottles stuck on the fingers of one hand for a year or a bucket stuck on your foot for a year? The bucket?

Today's trivia: The largest earthquake ever recorded had a magnitude of 9.5 and occured in southern Chile on May 22, 1960

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

( more )

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

Today mom, dad and I drove to Denali! Last night I was like "I wanna go to the mountains" and this morning mom was like "let's go!" Haha wow. We saw McKinley from the ridge..so awesome. It was such a gorgeous day to be there..nice and sunny. We stopped and the winter visitor's center and went to see and pet the sled dogs! Aww. Then we drove back..we had dinner at the Monderosa near Nenana and drove back to mom's house. A lovely trip, even though it was short haha. We saw some moose too! I shall post my pics tomorrow

( Day 113- A picture of you and a candle )