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Today mom and I went to dinner with Ingrid at Ivory Jacks, out in the Goldstream Valley where my family used to live..I miss that drive, it's so pretty! It feels weird going by the turnoff to my parents' old house. O_o We sat at a table next to the door, and this magpie (I think) flew onto mom's chair! Mom was talking to it and it was cocking its head and surveying the scene. It was so cute! Mom must have some Disney princess in her, because animals love her..one time in London, a pigeon just jumped into her lap and stayed quite awhile there! The waitress eventually shooed it back outside, but it was a cool moment. That's actually the first time I've seen a magpie north of the Alaska Range! Maybe they decided to migrate haha

After that we went down the road to Running Reindeer Ranch, which I'd never even heard of until Ingrid mentioned it the other day (and I lived near there for awhile too!). The family started the ranch in 2007, and it has expanded ever since. They also host Music With Reindeer, where a musical artist comes and performs (Google said that started in 2008! How had I never heard of it until recently??), and the audience gets to sit among the reindeer while listening to the music. You can pet them if they let you (except for the antlers, which are super sensitive. Their fur is so soft!), and they just eat and chill and lay down amongst the people. It was pretty cool! The artist who performed was The Forest That Never Sleeps, who plays multiple instruments and played guitar for us today. I wasn't a huge fan of her music style, but it was alright..she sometimes included the reindeer in her songs too, which was fun lol. Definitely an Alaskan experience. :P Sadly Ingrid has to go back to Tennessee tomorrow, but it was fun getting to hang out with her these past few weeks. Hopefully her dogs will be happy to see her haha

( pics from the day )

5. Your favorite restaurant: Olive Garden, Geraldo's, Starbucks (vanilla bean frappuccinos!!), etc

6. A letter to someone you need to forgive: Ugh, I hate these letter prompt ones lol

Yesterday I went to dinner with mom, Ingrid, Ryan and Jo, and Ingrid mentioned she was going to the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics, where Natives (mostly) from Alaska get together and participate in traditional sports, dancing, etc, and asked if mom and I wanted to go with her. In the 17/18 years in Alaska we'd somehow never been, so we said sure (Ingrid's son was working at the event too). When we got there I heard people beating drums and singing, which I really liked..it's soothing but powerful at the same time. We looked at the vendors' tables and spent too much money haha, and went over to where they were going to do the blanket toss ("Nalukataq" in Inupiaq). It was first used as a way to spot whales before they discovered binoculars. It takes many people to be the "pullers," so they were asking for volunteers. Mom asked if I wanted to try and said no at first, but then I was like "sure, why not?" When the person getting "tossed" in the air first gets on the blanket (made of walrus hide or bearded seal skin) everyone starts out bouncing them lightly, and when we got a good rhythm, the person in charge was what I assume was counting to three in Inupiaq, and on "three" we tossed the participant in the air..we tossed them pretty high sometimes! It was pretty cool! When we were done, mom said I was crookedly walking back to her haha! I thought my arm would be sore, but my back was instead lol. There was also a fish cutting challenge, one-hand reach (the person has to balance with one hand only and touch a ball above them. It looked SUPER hard), and more dancing..it's so cool because their dances tell a story! We all left after that because it was late and we were tired, but it was very cool! It's nice of the Natives to share their culture with us, and I liked seeing the younger generations carrying on the traditions of the Elders!

( pics from the night )

Amanda started at work this week, and she's very nice! (Somehow that always surprises me..they're not going to hire someone mean! Haha.) She has lots of ideas for organizing the back area and things like that. She used to live in southeast Alaska, so of course we had to talk about glaciers haha. She said she's enjoying the job so far..nice!

12. How would you describe life currently: Pretty good, especially since the move is over haha

13. Your first car: I've never had a car

14. A letter to someone who has always believed in you: I'm too lazy for prompts like this LOL
15. What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever worn? OMG I completely forgot about this after I read this question, but when I was in 9th grade I took fencing, and at one event I got a white shirt that had a fencer on the back. One week the high schoolers (this was a charter school, so the classes were pretty small..there were only like two people in the 12th grade class!) visited colleges around Texas, and on one trip we stayed overnight in a hotel (it was pretty fun, that's when I tried SoBe for the first time! I miss it :(), and for pajamas I brought that fencing shirt. The next morning we had breakfast, and some of us hadn't changed out of PJs yet..I was looking at my crush Nick and hoping he would notice me haha. The next time I wore the shirt, I noticed you could see right through it! OMG NOOOO I wanted to die. D: Maybe Nick wasn't looking at me for a reason haha, oh my! I also wore orange pants in middle school, probably not my best color to wear, but I liked them anyway :P

16. Who do you talk to when you have a problem? Mom, Amanda, my doctor..just depends on the problem lol

17. How do you make important decisions? I overthink haha, maybe ask someone's opinion, then finally decide on something :P

1. What was the most sick that you've ever been? When I had pneumonia last year..I literally thought I was dying. I had a migraine so bad it felt like my head was being stabbed and was so out of breath taking a shower the edges of my vision started going black..never again, please. D: Also the various times I've had the stomach flu..throwing up all night, what fun :P
2. What disease are you afraid of getting? Cancer..it's so common now D:
3. Are you a big baby when it comes to taking medicine/shots for your illnesses? Not at all, give me all of it so I can feel better LOL
4. Is going to the doctor really THAT bad? If you have a bad doctor, or they diagnose you with cancer or something
5. Would you have the flu twice a month if you were paid $1,000 for having it? OMG NO thank you..you wouldn't have any time to recover before being sick again! No amount of money is worth that

My friend sent me these cool fancy bookends!

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She said they were a wedding present 48 years ago..they're in great shape! She definitely knows me well :P

I guess the Department of Education froze a bunch of funds, so the Literacy Council only got half the grant money we usually get for the English Language Learners and GED programs, so Lucie said she'll probably have to lay people off and restructure the programs. She said the bookstore won't be effected much, but I still feel awful for whoever has to get laid off. :( Hopefully the bookstore will help keep the lights on and stuff..Amanda starts next week, so maybe she'll have some ideas on how to sell more books lol

Ingrid's in town so mom and I went to dinner with her on Wednesday, yay! She's so happy and fun lol

( july 5-11 )

This weekend there's a tattoo expo in Fairbanks..Ryan and Jo already had an appointment for today, but I hadn't known about it, so I went with them. Someone was available for me right away, so this is what I got!

Very cooool (haha). The coloring in definitely hurt more than the outlining, but it's such a nice color! I was finished before Jo (he got these swirly lines on his leg), so Ryan drove me home while his was being finished. Somehow getting tattoos is addictive, even if it is painful :P

Since dad has neuropathy, he doesn't have a lot of feeling in his feet, and two or three months ago he discovered one of his toes had an infection. He tried antibiotics, which didn't work, and his whole foot became red and swollen. He had an x-ray done, which showed the infection had basically eaten his bone away, so today he had to get the toe removed in Anchorage. It went well, and mom sent me a picture of him hanging out outside a few minutes ago. Hopefully the recovery won't be too painful!

It still amazes me how well Prozac works for me..I'm so much happier and can enjoy things again, like work, going out to eat with mom and Ingrid on Wednesday (yay! We love when Ingrid visits, she's so fun lol), etc..before, even the sound of rustling papers was overwhelming, I was always angry and dreaded just waking up in the morning, and my face always hurt from being tense all the time. It's so relieving not being miserable all the time! I've learned a lot and have come a long way..things that used to stress me out (like unexpectedly having to cover the register at work) no longer do..now I just happily go with the flow. I had forgotten how to have fun. I'm finally getting my CPAP on Tuesday, so hopefully that'll make things even better! I'm grateful to everyone who refused to give up on me <3

( aug 12-18 )

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Too bad Cindy and Dean left yesterday, because the Northern Lights were great! Mom and I watched from the upper deck, and I even saw them dancing from my bedroom window!

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I'm always in awe when they start dancing and turning colors! So amazing

I forgot to mention it, but Ingrid was on the same flight as Cindy and Dean, and mom and I were shocked to see her! What are the chances?? Haha. Tonight we went to dinner, which was cool..she's so fun! She's hoping to come back in the summer for a longer time..she wants to go to Castner Glacier now haha. It would be interesting to see what it's like in the summer, though you wouldn't want to go in the cave unless you wanted to get wet :P

( march 16-17 )

1. How good are you at wrapping gifts? Absolutely terrible LOL
2. When are you likely to begin your Christmas shopping this year? Why are they asking about Christmas already?? Haha. I always seem to do it very last minute, even if I think "I'll do it early this year!" lol
3. How do you feel about candy canes? They're whatever
4. Have you been naughty or nice this year? I've tried to be nice lol
5. In what way was today most December-like? It's cool and cloudy

For the first time since covid, Ingrid was in town earlier this week! She's SO funny and positive, so mom and I always love hanging out with her lol..we had yummy Indian food and she came over to pet Abby and experience my bed haha. She'll be back in March!

The other day I went to watch the music video to "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" by Celine Dion (I have no shame LOL), and about died when I saw this:

OMG no way! *swoons* What are the chances?? I love the various glimpses you get of the bed throughout the video. :D That's an odd and complicated-looking way of how they put the curtains up though..

( august 22-26 )

Watch on YouTube

Here's the recording of John (or Jack, as he was more known by) Lundberg for the BBC show The Empire State Story! I love that there's a picture of his kids too! (Yay, Jacque was on TV too. :P) So cool! Definitely sounded like an interesting experience lol

Ingrid came up for a quick visit and mom and I had dinner with her today..always fun to hang out with her lol

( December 2-3 )

Today's trivia: Many of history's biggest disasters are caused by lack of sleep. The Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Challenger explosion and the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown were all caused in one way or another by exhaustion and lack of sleep on the part of the people who were responsible for preventing such disasters

Look what I have!

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ALL editions of the South Polar Times in ONE book, published this year!! If you want the 4 books as a set, it would cost you $1,648.24. D: This version was amazingly cheap, so I had to grab it before someone else did haha (here Cherry, just take my PFD from now on :P). It is sooooo much fun to read!! So many fun inside jokes and good humor lol (in Taylor's book of the expedition, he said Cherry "chortled muchly" when editing the SPT, and I can totally see why lol.) There are way too many cool things to see, but here are a few of them!

I read that there were silhouettes of the expedition members, and couldn't wait to see Cherry's!

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Squee!!! I'm surprised he didn't burn it, considering how much he hated his glasses LOL

( more! )

Ingrid sent me kitty Halloween socks and a card she made..there's a cat design on the front and she wrote "this is a cat!" LOL. Ingrid is so fun. :D She said she's going to be in town around Thanksgiving, yay! We'll have to meet up when I get back from Florida

It got COLD today..it was 10 degrees when I woke up! Crazy how fast the temperatures can change here..

October 29 - What is the best halloween costume you’ve ever had? Legolas, Obi-Wan Kenobi, etc (I remember wearing my Obi-Wan costume before Halloween, and put my hood up and went on the swings..somehow I couldn't figure out why everyone was looking at me weirdly LOL)

October 30 - Do you like horror movies? NOOOOO no nonooo..they give me such an awful feeling and scar me for life lol..I don't even like watching the trailers! *shivers*

Today was Golden Days, celebrating when gold was found in Fairbanks. Mom had to work, and her boss asked me if I could come help out, so I did. The shop is right downtown where everything is, which was cool..we just had to walk over to the next street to watch the parade (Ingrid joined us as well!). I think this is only the second time I've seen the parade (usually we get there too late lol). The last time it was really cold and rainy, but not today..it was sunny and HOT (it was in the 80s!!). There were a crazy amount of floats and old cars and stuff..other people were probably squeeing because old cars are cool, but I was squeeing because CHERRY WAS ALIVE WHEN THESE CARS WERE MADE YAY! LOL. I loved the Disability Pride ("disabilities are natural and you should be proud of who you are!" I yelled "heck yes!" haha) and the Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays floats..I don't usually like to yell, but I made sure to for those two. At one point there was a break between floats, so the announcer guy invited the kids to dance in the street..there was one boy who had great moves and was just grinning and having the time of his life..it just made me SO happy watching him lol. Mom got tired and left during the middle, and Ingrid and I tried making it to the end, but I was SO hot and thirsty and had to find something to drink..it had almost ended, so I don't think we missed much. It was still fun though! After that the quilt shop got really busy (there's a street fair right out the front door as well), so I just hung around and made sure people didn't shoplift lol and put things back where they belonged. We snuck out to watch the Rubber Ducky Race too..Ingrid had never seen it and thought it was so cool lol. We didn't win anything this year, but it's still fun. We got some ice cream after the race, and just hung out at the store till closing (5 PM). Everyone was tired and sweaty, but it was successful and fun..I love Fairbanks in the summer! (It's supposed to be even warmer tomorrow..yikes D:)

( some pics! )

July 21 - Would you rather swim in a lake or the ocean? Maybe the ocean..it might be warmer lol

Thankfully, Abby is doing fine and has recovered completely..I don't know what it was, but I definitely wasn't ready to lose her..she's 13, but I feel like she has more life left in her lol. I hope it doesn't happen again, it was scary seeing her weak and not wanting to be pet! *gives her extra hugs*

Today mom and Ingrid and I saw Won't You Be My Neighbor?, a documentary about Mr. Rogers. A TV channel was sponsoring it, so it was free! That theater was packed lol. I don't think I'd ever watched Mr. Rogers when I was a kid, so it kinda felt like I was missing out, but it was a great documentary..Mr. Rogers seemed like an absolutely amazing person. I didn't know he died in 2003, for some reason I thought he died in the 80s or something. I can't believe the Westboro Baptist Church picketed his funeral!!! WTF! Those people are seriously evil. Now I have "it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood" stuck in my head haha

Today at work an old man came in and found the stuffed lion Kathy had put in the store, and OMG he was absolutely ecstatic and like a kid again! He was pretending it was growling at me and biting me, and I was pretending to be scared, it was so funny haha (his wife seemed embarrassed though, oops :P). After he left the next customer was like "thank you for being so nice to that man, I think he had a touch of dementia." I said "I believe in being nice to everyone, no matter what they have" and she said "absolutely!" The world needs all the kindness it can get..

( July 15-17 )

Today's trivia: In China, animals are forbidden to use human language. This belief led to the ban of the book "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"

A couple days ago I noticed Abby was acting funny..she seemed to not be feeling well and her back legs seemed weak. She was still eating and drinking fine though. I watched her for a couple days, then brought her to the vet today when she didn't seem much better. Her legs and spine seemed to be alright when the vet touched them, but she seemed to be in pain when she touched her stomach. She even lost a pound since the last time she was at the vet (a few months ago). She did some blood tests and a couple things were a bit high (liver and spleen I think), but everything else looked alright. She said if Abby isn't better by Monday we should bring her back for x-rays to see if there's a tumor or something. She also said it's possible Abby had a small stroke or seizure and might still be weak from that..scary! Poor kitty..I hope she'll be ok!

After that mom and I met up with Ingrid since she's in town (yay!) and watched the River Regatta..we missed the beginning, but we still saw some fun boats. We also had lunch and went to a quilt showing..there are some talented, creative people in Fairbanks lol

( pics from the regatta! )

July 14 - Rate your high school classes from favorite to least favorite? I loved Latin, tech theater and gym with the special ed kids, and hated anything to do with math lol

Watch on YouTube

I'm totally addicted to this song right now lol..I looked up the lyrics for a survey yesterday and found this extended version of the song (it's from the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie). I might not have listened to it if I hadn't been intrigued by the word "sepulchral" in the lyrics (I'm not sure a pirate would know that word..I couldn't even pronounce it at first haha!). The song sounds so cool, I love singing to it! I especially like the part near the beginning where the guy says "yo ho, all hands, hoist the colors high" slowly. Yay, random song addictions :P

Ingrid's in town (yay!), so mom and I went to lunch with her today..I always love seeing her, she's so happy and fun lol

( march 20-22 )

Today's trivia: King Tut's third and inner coffin was made from 243 pounds of solid gold

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Mom and I had lunch with Laurie since she's in town (she pretty much lives in California now, but she still has a house and friends/family up here)..this curious bee landed on my hand and started licking it!! It must like cinnamon rolls too. :P Mom was laughing because I kept saying things like "it's so fuzzy!!" Laurie was completely freaked out by me just letting a bee casually crawl on my hand lol, but I wasn't trying to harm it or threaten it, so it had no reason to harm me. It was pretty cool hehe. We also hung out with Ingrid (she's going back home soon *sniff* She'll be back next March though!) and when we were saying goodbye she was like "you're a great pet owner!" Aw, that's one of the best compliments you can give me <3

( August 12: Green )

Today I finally got to see the movie I've been dying to see for months: Dunkirk! Ingrid's back in town (yay!), so mom and I saw it with her, even though she had seen it already. OMG WOW. What an intense, amazing movie!!! Christopher Nolan is a seriously amazing director. It amused me that Harry Styles was in the movie haha. I'm glad it didn't disappoint me! I like to read trivia about a movie on IMDb after I watch it, so I'll post some interesting ones here!

( under here because spoilers lol )

I also know the movie I am never in a million years going to see: It. I actually had to look away and shield my eyes during the preview. NOPE D: *shudders*

Today's trivia: Plymouth Rock is a glacial erratic (!!!)

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Some of the cool rocks I've collected over the years lol

March 1: In the Corner
March 2: Dr. Seuss
March 3: Reflections
March 4: Happy
March 5: Motivate
March 6: Vintage
March 7: Ideas
March 8: Pencils
March 9: Suspended
March 10: Currently Loving
March 11: Light Play
March 12: Together
March 13: Vast
March 14: Old School
March 15: Hands Full
March 16: Stitched
March 17: Where I Stand
March 18: One
March 19: Purpose
March 20: A Favorite
March 21: Contrast
March 22: Vibrant
March 23: Open
March 24: Just a Hint
March 25: Green
March 26: My Style
March 27: Listen
March 28: Arranged
March 29: Phone Art
March 30: Black and White
March 31: New Growth

Today mom and I had lunch with Ingrid again before she has to fly back home to Tennessee tonight (her son lives up here, which is one reason why she visits). Aww, I'll miss her..she's so nice and fun lol. I think she's going to visit again later this year..I always look forward to her visits!

( pokemon update )

Today's trivia: The world's deepest postbox is in Susami Bay in Japan. It's 32 feet underwater

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: "But Here I Am"-Edguy

Today mom and I went with Ingrid to a sled dog kennel near the White Mountains (about 45 minutes north of Fairbanks. I think Ingrid's son knows the couple that runs it). It was thankfully a nice day and not too cold. The couple showed us the sled and the equipment they use (they ran the Yukon Quest a couple times!) and of course had to pet the sweet doggies hehe. There were a couple that jumped up on you and it was literally like they were hugging you..awww hehe. While the lady's husband took the dogs for a run (I was hoping we'd get to ride, but I don't think their sled was big enough for more than one person) we went inside their lovely house (which is entirely "off the grid"..they have solar panels and stuff..wow) and talked and had snacks..they have a pet dog that covered me in kisses when I picked him up hehe. Fun :)

( here are some pics! )

( pics for march 13 and 18-20 )

Today's trivia: Oregon's state flag is the only one in the US with a different image on each side: the front side has the state seal, and the back has a beaver

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Cool clouds this morning! I think I inherited mom's love of clouds (I showed her the pic and she knew right away what they were haha..stratocumulus or something like that :P)

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A volunteer brought in some forget-me-not for the bookstore (well..it is Forget-Me-Not Books LOL), and I think that's the first time I've seen it up close! Considering it's our state flower, it should be everywhere :P

Today mom and I went to the Visitor Center and caught a TON of Pokemon! We've had good luck there before..it's my favorite place to catch them since there's so many and the Lures get activated there a lot. I loved listening to the other people playing too ("Horsea again??"), it's so amusing! I caught at least four new ones, and like a ton of Drowzees lol. It's also a very nice evening, so enjoyable! We also went to dinner with Ingrid! Yay, fun day :D

( List five places you've never been but would like to go )

Today's trivia: The last man to walk on the moon, Gene Cernan, promised his daughter he’d write her initials on the moon. He did, and her initials, "TDC," will probably be on the moon for tens of thousands of years

On Sunday we drove to the start of the trail to the cabin..we were worried there wouldn't be enough snow on the trail since most of the way there was barely any snow at all. There were spots with no snow, but we managed. That hike was HARD..everyone kept postholing and falling over. Ingrid carried a heavy bundle of firewood a lot of the way since Bonnie's sled was so heavy..I was impressed, that thing was heavy and Ingrid's almost 70! It took us three hours to get to the cabin..it was so nice getting in there and starting a fire and having dinner lol. That cabin has AMAZING views of the Alaska Range and is right near a lake..it was the perfect spot for a cabin! It was so hard sleeping..I was on the top bunk and it was SUPER hot and there was some snoring..

..buut we all made it to Monday morning, though none of us felt super great lol..mom said she felt like she got run over by a truck (pulling that sled looked hard!!). We lazed around by the fire and had breakfast and then went for a hike..the mountains were SO beautiful..it's scenes like that which make me love Alaska. I'm surprised we didn't see any moose since there were lots of droppings around. Eventually I reached my limit so mom and I turned back..I'm always nervous hiking or geocaching with Bonnie since she never seems to want to stop lol. I think she and Ingrid hiked 6 miles, they were gone a long time! They saw caribou though, nice! I need to get in better shape lol..mom said I did well anyway though. We got a text from Bonnie's friend Christine that she was gonna join us for the night..we played Apples to Apples while we waited for her..that game is so fun lol. She got there earlier than expected, probably because she wasn't pulling a sled lol. After she got there we had dinner..mmm pasta. After dinner everyone else played Yahtzee while I just lazed in bed lol (I hate Yahtzee, too many numbers and thinking lol). It was too hot on the top bunk again, so I moved down to mom's bunk (luckily there's room for two people!). We also opened the window for awhile, which helped. We didn't start the fire again, so I was too cold the rest of the night..no happy medium I guess. :P Christine also snored like crazy..eventually I did sleep though

Today we had breakfast and then packed up and left..I was dreading the hike back, but it was soooo much easier than when we hiked up..it was early enough (10:05) that the snow was thicker and there was pretty much no postholing (we saw our deep tracks from before though, poor us!! Haha). Those two miles took exactly an hour..we took a break and took pics by the Pipeline and then continued down, which took maybe 30 minutes. We were all glad it was so easy lol. We stopped in Delta Junction for food and then continued home..weirdly enough, we didn't stop for any geocaches (we did stop for one on the way up though). Taking a shower and a nap in my bed felt amazing lol. I'm glad I went, it was fun! It was nice to get home, but I usually still feel a pang of sadness returning to "real life" haha. I'll post pictures soon!

Tomorrow mom and I are going cabin camping with Bonnie and our new friend Ingrid (Bonnie knew Ingrid already). Ingrid lives in Tennessee but comes up a couple times a year to visit her son. Mom and Bonnie have done a lot of cabin camping recently (they got into it last year and have loved it since). This time I decided to go (I've always been invited, but I was waiting for it to get warmer). It's a three mile hike to get to the cabin, which is near the Alaska Range (mom and Bonnie have camped there before, and the pics she showed me were gorgeous). We're gonna stay two days and come back on Tuesday. I hope it'll be fun lol

( 20. Free rant on whatever grinds your gears at the moment )