Moving to Alaska in the winter...are you crazy?

So many people couldn't believe we decided to move to Alaska in the winter with no jobs and no place to live. I couldn't really understand what the big deal was, I love Alaska, winter, fall, spring or summer!

Now I am here and I am still very happy that we decided to make this move in the winter regardless... however I will admit it takes effort to keep yourself from getting cabin fever. I have mentioned in previous posts, my bout of Alaskanitis. If I were to surrender to the Alaskanitits I would have no problem accepting my sentence to life indoors 8 months out of the year. But that is not me, so instead I find myself filling my time between feedings, naps, and playing with searching for baby friendly indoor activities both at home and away! So far I have begun to accumulate the following ideas:

1) At home: running the stairs with baby safely attached in baby carrier.
2) At home: baby amused with watching daddy plow the drive while mommy snaps pictures.
3) At home: blogging and catching up with the lower 48 via Facebook while baby sleeps.
4) Away: Story time with baby at the Wasilla Public Library every Friday morning:FREE
5) Away: Turf for Tots at Menard Memorial Sports Center: $5.00
6) Away: Play date twice a month with moms we met through story time at the library.
7) At home: LOTS and LOTS of time spent on the floor with baby.
8) Away: potluck dinners at friend's houses we are meeting through story time.
9) Away: $8.00 yoga on Wednesday nights at Blue Mountain Yoga Studio while baby and daddy have bonding time.
10) At home: holding hands with baby while practicing our walking skills.
11)At home: Enjoying peaceful moments and spoonfuls of cookie dough during baby's nap time.

For anyone out there who lives in Alaska and knows of other indoor baby friendly activites to do in the winter please share! I am new at this and my list is somewhat small and really not that orginal...so please help a fellow-mama out:)

Comfort food, Oh' how I love thee!

When a good hug just isn't enough and your favorite movie can't help you escape from reality, reach for the cookie dough! Seriously, what is it about cookie dough on a bad day that makes everything better? I have to admit I have been having a few more bad days then good lately, which means all I want to do is bake, which means what I really want is just an excuse to eat the dough or the batter of whatever it is I'm baking. I have recently baked a German chocolate cake, brownies, brownies and more brownies, and cookies, lots of cookies. This has made me realize that even though I have been drawn to each different baked good in hopes of finding a little sunshine on otherwise emotionally cloudy days, the cookie dough is what works the best! What is it about cookie dough, in particular chocolate chip cookie dough? It is the most perfect combination of sweet, salty, creamy, buttery deliciousness! I just can't get enough! When I was pregnant I craved it like no ones business, and I totally ate it! That's right I ate it, not every day but when I just couldn't resist any longer I caved and sat with the big ole bowl on my belly and went to town. Of course when I visited my mommy online chat groups I NEVER admitted to this. However the truth is I ate it and just like now I LOVED it! Regardless of the fact that when I was pregnant I read countless articles on how it was bad because of the raw egg and it was a horrible source of empty calories that was going straight to my thighs and not towards nourishing the baby growing inside me. And now just like then I felt zero guilt. There is just something about it that allows me to detach from the real world and get lost in the sweet, emotionally nourishing nectar that is is cookie dough!

I raise my spoon to cookie dough, and thank every bowl I have ever savored for the delicious, euphoric, mind altering adventures we have taken together! Because sometimes there are just days when the adventure that is life gets a little rough and seems too overwhelming to deal with. That's when nothing can replace a good ole bowl of comforting cookie dough!

These days life in the final Frontier is a bit slow and not quite how I pictured it in my head at this point. However, with my bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough in one hand, my adorable little bundle of giggles on my hip I continue to go forth, determined to discover all of the adventure that is life as a new mommy in Alaska...

Alaskanitis is clearing up...

The Alaskanitis seems to be clearing up. I have not only made it off the couch since my last post, I have also successfully gone on four runs accumulating a total of about 4 miles. This is not quite the mileage I was putting on pre-baby but its a start. I have even decided to finally take the plunge and set my sights on completing a half-marathon in August. We will see if this goal actually comes to fruition, I am hopeful it will. As I told my husband last week I need to accomplish something, some sort of tangible task. Therefore I have decided on the goal of completing a half-marathon. I have not researched where in Alaska I am going to find such a thing or how logistically I am going to balance training runs with motherhood, nor have I defined an actual training program. However, I will continue to post my progress and we will all find out soon enough if I achieve this goal and if not the reasons why...

In the meantime we continue to hunt for jobs, housing and some sort of rhythm to life and parenthood in Alaska.

Alaskanitis

Alaskanitis...I don't know if this is really a word. I don't know if its recognized as an actual medical condition, or if I am trying to justify my recent bout of laziness. Whatever the case, it seems very real and next to impossible to overcome.

Since arriving in Alaska a month ago tomorrow, tasks that should only take a few hours to complete, take me a few days. If I don't leave the house all day I don't mind. I am perfectly happy cuddled up on the couch while the baby sleeps or playing on the floor all day with him when he's awake. I hardly ever know what day it is without looking at a calendar. I only know what time it is because mommy duty requires me to somewhat keep track of my son's sleep/eat schedule. Not to mention my appetite, my new Alaskan diet consists of: breakfast, snack, snack, snack, lunch, lunch again, dinner, wine, dessert, more wine and more dessert! Its like when you go on vacation and you have a free ticket to live in "vacation world" where schedules and calories don't exist. Apart of me loves it, apart of me sees no problem with adopting this new lifestyle permanently. But then there is another part of me, this little voice in my head reminding me that I am not on vacation. I actually live here now and at some point I am going to have to get off the couch and at some point we are going to have stop living off pizza, cake, and wine. Eventually my 8 month old son is no longer going to be 8 months old and I am going to have to explain my mommy weighs 800 pounds and why we never leave the house even though we live in one of the most beautiful places in the world!

We are not getting on a plane to go back home. This is our home, and even though I am obviously having trouble believing it, this is reality. However I think the end is near. The "vacation" is almost over. We are only house sitting for another week, it looks like job prospects are beginning to take shape and we think we found a house to rent. I am hopeful that once we have a place of our own, once we have a regular schedule that includes at least one of us going to work daily and once we are able to enjoy all this beautiful state has to offer reality will begin to sink in and I will be cured of my "alaskanitis". Until then I take small steps. I actually just got back from a "run", if you can call it that, there were a lot of breaks and walking involved. Its been awhile since the ole' running shoes have seen much action. Tonight I am going to a free yoga class at a studio I found in town, and this weekend we are hopefully making a day trip to Soldotna.

As with all of the recent events that lead to this move I am learning to be patient. I am learning to enjoy these moments as a new mom, as a new Alaskan, and the person I am becoming because of it. I can't forget my mantra, even on the tough days.

We might be a little crazy, but aah what an adventure!

Were moving!

On December 27, 2009 around 10:30 pm my husband and I lay awake in our rented townhouse in Colorado discussing for the millionth time our dream of moving to Alaska. Now before you stop reading and cast this off as one of those "Into The Wild" stories about a couple of idealistic and unprepared recent college grads looking for adventure in the Final Frontier, allow me another paragraph or so to explain.

I fell in love with Alaska 11 years ago when I visited for the first time. I remember sitting on the plane ready to take off overwhelmed with this feeling that I was going to come back one day and make Alaska my home. A year later I met and fell in love with the man who is now my husband, and just so happens to be an Alaskan! We were married in 2001, and have been chasing adventures together ever since. Throughout all of our different adventures together the idea of moving back "home" was always on our To Do list. But it just never felt "right" there was always a reason for staying in the lower 48. We visited regularly to get our "Alaska fix" but always maintained our home elsewhere.

That said, when we did finally take the plunge it was a matter of 27 days from the moment we officially decided, to the day we crossed the state line. We sold the majority of our worldly possessions, packed and shipped the rest of what we owned into 21 boxes, and crammed clothes, sleeping bags, skis, a stroller, a raft, our dog, our 7 month old son and ourselves into a 99 VW Golf bound to Alaska.

We arrived in Wasilla Alaska around 10:30 at night on January 23rd, 2010. (Yes home of Sarah Palin, and no I will not tell her you say hello if I see her in the grocery store!) Besides being home to Sarah Palin, Wasilla also happens to be where my husband grew up and where his parents still live.

With no jobs, a temporary home with the in-laws, and still settling into parenthood you might be thinking "crazy people!" Its okay if you are, 3 1/2 weeks later still no jobs and still living with the in-laws I have a mini break down at least every other day that makes me wonder if I have gone just a little bit crazy. However after making the 3800 mile journey from Colorado to Alaska with a baby and an extremely hyper black lab-border collie in the middle of winter I remind myself, we might be crazy but ahh what an adventure this is!