1. How have you recently kept yourself in check? Ummm..I didn't buy red velvet cake at the store the other day, even though it looked delicious haha
2. What’s the closest thing to a castle you’ve been in? Windsor Castle, which was interesting
3. What were the circumstances the last time you were hoarse? I woke up and hadn't drank water or anything yet
4. What’s your favorite song by Queen? "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Under Pressure," etc
5. For what will you likely pay a king’s ransom in the near future? Well..a couple weeks ago I ordered a four-poster bed online from England, but I hadn't said anything yet because I was worried they wouldn't ship to Alaska and the supply chain issues and stuff (that happened to mom, and had to get her money refunded), but today they sent me a message saying it should be delivered between Dec. 2-6 (though it hasn't shipped yet), so I THINK it's ok to finally mention it! Here's what it looks like:

I looked at other ones, but kept coming back to this one (mine will be a different color, kind of reddish). Waiting has been tortuous and exciting at the same time haha, I want it so badly! I hope it fits in my room lol (oh, and to answer the question, the bed it expensive, so I'm paying it off in segments). I'm very amused the name of the company is "GetLaidBeds" haha!

Thanksgiving yesterday was fun! Most of Jo's core group of friends came over (Maeve, Logan, etc)..I was worried they'd be too loud because they're very outgoing, but they weren't too bad this time..being full probably moderated them haha. Abby wasted no time in demanding to be held and pet LOL. After we ate yummy food we walked on the frozen lake with Sid (I mentally claimed one of the islands for myself LOL). Logan was like "I can't believe I live in Alaska!!" (It's his first winter!) After everyone left mom and I watched Plains, Trains and Automobiles, the best Thanksgiving movie! An amusing end to a fun day lol

Wednesday was Donna's last day as the Administrative Assistant at work..she's also tired and wants to do other things, like painting and spending more time with her grandchildren. She said she still wants to volunteer in the bookstore though, which is cool..her book knowledge is huge! Adam, who replaced her, is younger and has more energy. Heidi used to work with him somewhere else, so she asked if he'd like to work at the Literacy Council, and he said yes. Hopefully he'll have fun and do well!

( next journal entries: 7th or 8th grade english class! )

23. What kind of socks do you prefer to wear? Cozy fuzzy warm ones at home, regular ones in public

24. Do you have any family heirlooms? Mom gave me my great-grandma's watch a long time ago..I hope it's in Payson!

25. Are there any musicians you didn't like at first but grew on you? Sure, like Tyr

26. Is there anything you used to love but now dislike? Sure..I used to be obsessed with the Wheel of Time series, but now I'm just like "meh." Of course now it's a TV series..they should have made it while I was obsessed! Haha

1. November is National Peanut Butter Lovers Month. Are you a peanut butter lover? What are some ways you enjoy consuming it? No, literally everything about it is so gross to me..the smell, texture..bleh
2. November is National Roasting Month. What did you most recently roast, and how did it come out? Uhhh..does roasting a stick count? LOL
3. November is National Gratitude Month, which of course leads to the American Thanksgiving holiday. What are you particularly grateful for this month? Dad putting up Christmas decorations at my apartment and doing some cleaning (I paid for his dinner for that lol) and making too many milkshakes haha, mom coming home, etc
4. November is National Inspirational Role Models month. Who are some of your inspirational role models? Cherry, Wilson, King George VI, etc
5. November is National Family Stories Month. What’s an oft-told story in your family? Hmm..mom's ghost stories have been told multiple times lol

Today's was Mike's last day at work..it was so great to work with him! I'll miss his calm, positive presence. He changed so many lives over the years! Hopefully he'll come visit with Elias now and then! I hope Heidi won't be too overwhelmed on Monday lol

( france 2006. i still want to go back to carcassonne! )

12. Would you ever go out in public wearing pajamas? I have before, I'd rather not though

1. What is the favorite Halloween (fancy dress) costume you have ever seen? Legolas, etc
2. Would you rather walk through a graveyard at midnight or spend a night in a spooky abandoned old house? Walk through a graveyard at midnight
3. What Halloween candy (or candy in general) would you keep and what would you trade? I'd keep things like Smarties and Kit Kats, and trade anything with peanut butter and caramel lol
4. If you were stuck in a room with one horror movie villain, who would it be? No thanks D:
5. Have you ever been on a Haunted Hayride? Possibly, I can't remember for sure though

After 14 years as Executive Director of the Literacy Council, Mike is retiring. He's burned out and wants to just relax for awhile. Yesterday most everyone met the lady (Heidi) who is taking over for him..she seemed nice and capable. It'll be weird not having Mike around (lots of history he's seen!), but I'm sure he'll visit with Elias..he practically grew up at LCA and loves it there. Heidi has quite a lot to learn haha, but hopefully she'll enjoy being there (I'm also older than her O_o)

( next 6th grade journal entries, including a story about trees :P )

29. What was the last thing you used your phone for, besides calling/texting? Looking at Facebook, I think

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)

I do a fun video survey! Hope it's not too long lol. One day I won't stutter when saying "post," but apparently not today. :P I thought I said it better the second time, I didn't realize I struggled that much till I watched the video again! *glares at word* Hopefully you have fun watching anyway :P

Mom and Ryan and I went blueberry picking on Murphy Dome again this weekend..there were still lots of berries left (they're really good in milkshakes!) and I always love the views up there. <3 Jo also had friends over, to celebrate his and another friend's birthday. I'd never met her before, or any of her friends, so I was kind of panicking again, but Jo's friends that I knew were all sitting by the fire, so I joined them and was fine (and in a better mood haha). I was definitely tired at the end of the day :P

Yesterday Donald came over for CDs again, and Abby went to say hi and explored the hallway. We talked and then I went back inside..I heard a faint meow and was like "huh, that's weird.." and then heard it again a few minutes later and then realized Abby was still in the hallway!!! OMG I felt so bad haha, and apologized to her, but she yelled at me anyway LOL..oops :P

( more 9th grade journal entries )

28. What do you usually drink with breakfast? Orange juice

29. How many closets does your house have? Three

30. What year is your car? I don't have a car

31. What’s the largest animal you’ve ever had as a pet? A dog

Today's trivia: The Northern cardinal is the most popular state bird. Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia all picked it as their favorite species

Yesterday was Jo's birthday, so I went to eat at a restaurant downtown with mom and Ryan and Jo a bunch of their friends..I thought it was going to be just me, mom, Ryan and Jo, so that threw me off my already unsocial-feeling mood lol. It's weird, but I always feel like I don't belong when I'm around their friends. We also got seated in the worst possible place, next to the bar, so it was SUUUPER loud (apparently a bus had just dropped off a bunch of tourists there). When the waiter asked for our drink order, I couldn't find my voice, nor did I really want to speak..no one would have been able to hear me anyway. I finally found my voice when the waiter asked for our orders, and finally told him I wanted lemonade ("oh, so you DO want a drink!" Uh..yes??). He brought everyone else's drinks, but not mine..I looked at him to ask him about my drink but I was like "*strangled voice* umm..I..I..uhh..." and he just walked away. I'm sure he never heard me, but I was looking right at him!! After that, I just decided I wasn't even going to try speaking anymore, and looked on my phone until the food came..I normally don't do that when eating with people, but the noise was so overwhelming I had to do *something* to distract myself so I wouldn't just freak out (a couple of Jo's friends are SUPER extroverted, which added to the OTHER loudness, and I kept trying to not burst into tears). At least the food was good lol. After we were done eating, I could see that Jo was now sitting quietly like me..indeed, when we got to the car, he was like "OMG I'm saturated with stimuli!!" Phew, I'm glad it wasn't just me! When the waiter gave me my bill, he touched my shoulder (*dies more inside*) and was like "sorry, I just realized I forgot your lemonade!" Sigh. To be fair, part of that was my fault for not speaking up again after failing the first time, but I just did NOT want to talk after that. That was one of the most miserable dinners I've ever had. :/ Everyone else was going axe throwing after that, but I was like "NOPE, I'm done," and went home (mom said I was going to miss having cake, but I so didn't care at this point) and THEN had a panic attack and burst into tears haha. I hope Jo at least enjoyed himself! I feel fragile and very tired today..those situations are so hard! Next time I should speak up, and ask if there's a quieter place lol

Today is my parents' and Ryan and Jo's one year anniversary of buying the new house! Wow, that went by fast lol. We all very much enjoy life there, especially having bonfires and watching the duck chicks grow up! (The lake was a big reason they wanted that house.) I wish I could tell who the Armada of Nine is, but they all look the same now! The neighbor's kids love Abby haha. We do miss the seclusion of the other house, but at least our neighbors are nice lol

Next is my 9th grade journal in its entirety! (Not all at once, of course. :P) After this, I'm hoping to find more of that kind of thing when I go to Payson, so I can share those too!)
( beware, i talked about scotland a LOT haha )

23. Where was the farthest you’ve ever traveled from home? Italy

24. Have you ever slammed the door when you were mad? Hmmm..it's possible, but I can't remember lol

25. How old were you when you met your first love? In 9th grade I felt like I "loved" someone, if that counts :P

26. Were your college years the best years of your life? I only took a few classes, it was alright

Today's trivia: The U.S. Air Force introduced Bob Ross to painting. While rising to the rank of Master Sergeant, Ross was also able to take a painting class, and he was inspired by the scenery in Alaska where he was stationed (he was stationed in Alaska?!? No way!)

I thought it would be fun to do a survey/meme thing on video, so I made this!

It's absolutely not perfect, but it is genuine, which is better than trying to be perfect lol (I tried doing other takes, but I ran out of energy :P). Abby makes an appearance too! I hope I didn't say anything embarrassing! I always cringe hearing my voice, it's so weird haha. Yeah, I was struggling with trying to say "post" LOL (I was amused by my "omg no" face in the middle of the sentence :P), but I did it! :D I don't know if a picture is necessary, but here ya go anyway lol:


Success!

( next journal entries )

14. Do you prefer bright colors, dark colors, or pastel colors? More pastel colors, though it can depend on what it is (like bright sunsets are awesome)

15. How long have you lived with the person/people you currently live with? I've lived with my cat for 11 or so years..wow lol

16. What was the dumbest thing you ever did as a teenager? Said dumb things which ended friendships, etc

17. Would you prefer hardwood flooring or carpet in your home? It might depend on the room..carpet is nicer to walk on though

18. What’s the most you’ll pay for a pair of shoes? *shrugs* Depends on what kind they are..I will definitely pay more if they help me walk better!

19. Which flower is your favorite? Fireweed, cherry blossoms, etc

Today's trivia: 101 Dalmatians, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, and Mulan are the only Disney cartoons where both parents are present and don't die throughout the movie

Yesterday I kept saying Abby's name when she was trying to sleep, and this is what she did:

So she can wake me up by licking me and staring right into my eyes, but she gets all dramatic when I try to wake her up LOL. Not allowed!

She is very cute though:

Awww <3

( next journal entries, including london and nyc! )

9. Which holiday is your favorite to decorate for? I don't really decorate for holidays lol, but Christmas was fun when I was a kid

10. What craft project do you want to do next? I don't do craft projects, mom didn't pass that gene on to me LOL

11. Do you have any family members that you've never met? Yeah, like cousins in California and family in Sweden

12. When it comes to friends, what's the biggest thing you have in common? Liking to read, humor, etc

Today's trivia: "Horizontal refreshment" was 19th century slang for sex

August is typically a rainy month for Fairbanks — a rule of thumb is that it usually rains during the Tanana Valley State Fair. This year, however, is an exception to that rule.

“It’s not the August rainy fair weather that we might expect,” climatologist Rick Thoman said. Fairbanks set a new high temperature record on Monday and temperatures are expected to remain in the mid to upper 80s for the majority of the week.

On Monday, the temperature at the Fairbanks Airport reached 86 degrees. This breaks the 101-year-old daily record of 85 degrees set in 1919.

Record aside, it is out of the ordinary just to have the long stretch of extremely warm days during this time of year. It is relatively unusual to have temperatures in the 80s in August, Thoman said, but it is even more unusual for temperatures to surpass 85 degrees. For context, temperatures of 80 degrees or higher occur in about 50% of Augusts on record. However, only about 20 Augusts in the entire history of weather records in Fairbanks have seen temperatures of 85 or above.

Thoman explained that the warm and sunny weather throughout much of the central Interior is caused by a high pressure system over Western Canada.

According to Thoman, temperatures are expected to “edge back toward normal,” by the weekend. But another interesting aspect of the weather this summer, he said, is that even once the high pressure moves away there is no indication that the rain will start. Typically in August, westerly winds push moisture from the Bering Sea east. This year, however, there is no indication that this will happen; the low pressure system that has been over the Bering Sea for the majority of the summer is not expected to move anytime soon.

Yeah, the weather is never like this in August!! Everyone knows it ALWAYS rains during the fair, even if they move it up a week, so this is crazy! I knew it was going to be HOT when it was already over 80 degrees at noon yesterday. The weather forecast I found shows 60s and rainy by Friday, so maybe he needs to check his forecast out again haha

After getting back from Valdez, me, Ryan and Jo all got colds, at the same time! (I had a covid test yesterday, which was negative.) I'm jealous that mom didn't get it lol. I haven't gone to work yet this week, so I've been working on getting *all* the entries from my childhood journal on the computer. I like having things in more than one place, and I just want to share them! I was 11 when I started the journal, so just keep that in mind lol. I cut out a lot of the "write you later" things, because that would get annoying after awhile. The first few pages have fallen out and lost pieces over the years, so some parts are missing, but the general idea is there I think. I wish I had done it this way to begin with, so everything's in order..oh well :P

( first entries! 5-25-01 to 6-2-01 )

2. Have you ever had a long distance relationship? No

3. When you make a mess are you more likely to clean it up right away, or do you get to it later? Right away, if I'm able to

Today's trivia: Saturday, Sunday and Monday are named after the celestial bodies, Saturn, Sun and Moon, but the other days are named after Germanic gods, Tuesday (Tiw's day), Wednesday (Woden's day), Thursday (Thor's day) and Friday (Freya's day)

Recently Jo made a group on Facebook called Queers on Gears, a place to invite people to bike ride, get ice cream, or whatever we want to do. Yesterday we hosted a barbecue at the house..some people I knew, but there were some new faces too. Not as many people came as we expected, but I like smaller groups better anyway. Everyone was so nice! A few weeks ago a lady came into the bookstore and said she and her wife just moved here, and said her wife worked at the university..I thought about asking if they knew Jo, but I was like "ehh what are the chances?" Well, she and her wife came to the barbecue! Fairbanks is small haha. Another guy moved here a couple weeks ago, and kept saying "I can't believe I live here!" (After 13 years, I still say that!) People brought their dogs, which had fun running around, playing and splashing in the lake (I'd never seen Sid that active before!). We had yummy food, some people kayaked and played badminton, and we just sat in the grass and talked. They insisted on playing rap though, especially someone called Megan the Stallion..bleh. It was still cool though, but eventually I had had enough of being social haha, and went home to check on Pretty Kitty. I was SO tired when I got back to their house (Jo definitely was too, and he's more outgoing than me haha)..I was trying to tell Jo about Abby and her Greenies addiction, and totally couldn't get the words out right. Jo knows I stutter when nervous or tired, so I just laughed (that's what Drew Lynch would do!) and said I was tired, and he said "you got this!" I really appreciated that, Jo is so awesome and supportive! Going to bed was awesome haha

Here is a pic of some of us!

I don't remember everyone's names, but Jo is behind the person in the pink shirt, Maeve is behind him, Logan is the guy in the blue shirt behind me, and the dog's name is Shadow. Yay!

Mom took this pic of Pretty Kitty and her twin haha:

I'll have to show this pic to Liz (her owner) haha

( next journal: mammoth 2004, where i obsess over hammerfall LOL )

17. Do you like going to museums? Any particular type? Yeah, natural history/science and history museums are my favorites

18. What time do you usually go to bed at on weekends? Around midnight