Day 31 Jan 31

Saturday the last month or so has meant bread baking day. So here you go, would you like a slice of warm sourdough bread with some butter and salmonberry jelly?

Day 30 Jan 30

Since we found out about Cadi's additional allergies we've been cutting out some of the processed foods and all of the beef and pork. No more frozen pizzas here. Today when we got home from school I got the sourdough bread going for the crust while the kids went out and played in the snow. Once they got in we made our own pizzas. There are four pizzas because we have an additional kid here for 12 days. Her parents are in Hawaii.

Day 29 Jan 29th

Josi was playing around with the leftover cone from some yarn we used today at school. She told me that she should be the picture of the day, so here you go.

tagged

I was tagged today by Tammy. I'm supposed to post the 6th photo from the 6th folder in my photo folder and tell a bit about it. My photos aren't stored in my photo folder so I decided to got to the cd's that have my old photos on them. I chose the 6th cd and went to the 6th folder and took the 6th picture. This is Cadi and Josi in 2002 getting ready for CNY. Cadi had fifths disease hense the really red cheeks. They've change a bit haven't they?

So I tag
Jan
Anita
Shirley
Kimmee
Helen

Day 28 Jan 28

I only have one cup of coffee a day. I don't think the fact that the cup is bigger than my head should matter at all. I found this cup on Ebay about 7 years ago and I have used it every day that I have been home. Something comforting how it feels in my hand and I can fit a whole lot of coffee in it too!

Day 27-Jan 27

This picture was taken at 4:50 pm today. I took it mainly to show the amount of light. It's already becoming obvious that we are "heading the other direction". It's nice to actually get home before dark. This is out our dining room window. Maybe I'll need to take a picture out this window each month.

Day 26 Jan 26

Happy Chinese New Year! I took this photo yesterday, but it's going to be today's photo since today is the beginning of CNY.

Day 25 Jan 25

We have THREE passports! All three are now in my hand! After holding my breath a little on Josi's and having to send in a little more paperwork, It arrived in the mail box today! I am so happy!

Day 24 Jan 24

Was one of those stay home and get things done day. We mucked out the girls' bedroom and the rest of the house. Made almond cookies for CNY tomorrow and some sourdough bread. Posted a bunch of books on paperback swap and actually got the kitchen floor mopped so we don't stick when we walk across the floor! When all that was over the girls worked with a Test tube wonders kit they got from a friend of ours. Funny thing. They made artifical snow so I had to post the snow picture too.

Day 23 Jan 23

The ball is rolling! Tonight I booked the tickets that will get us to Seattle. Alaska Airlines is having a pretty good deal until tomorrow at noon so I had to book. With a companion ticket and 15,000 miles the three of us can get to Seattle and back for $800. I still don't have Josi's passport in my hand, but when I called the passport office yesterday they told me that it had been mailed on Wednesday, so I'm trusting that it will be here soon.
In Seattle we will meet up with my sister and then we will head to CHINA! We are going to a reunion for children adopted from Cadi's orphanage. We will travel for 13days and have 9 days in China. It's amazing how far away China is from Alaska when it comes to travel. We are pretty excited because another family from our adoption group will be there! We haven't seen them in 10 years! Winter seems to be so much easier to take when you have something to plan for and anticipate. Did I say WE'RE GOING TO CHINA!

Day 22 Jan 22

I work tomorrow, but the girls don't have school. They are spending the night at my aunt's house and all day tomorrow too. Tonight they were going to high school basketball games. I got the music together for church and am heading for music practice in a few minutes. Wanted to get a picture posted before I leave because when I come back, this it the only thing I have planned for tonight...

Day 21 Jan 21

Red Sky in morning sailors take warning. Hope not. It was almost spring-like today. It restores my soul and even the little bit of extra light each day seems to be making a difference. I love morning sunrise even when it does come after 9 a.m.

Day 20 Jan 20

It was a grey and drizzly day all day today, but just as we were heading home we were greated by this sight. Somehow the sun as it was setting reflected above the clouds to the east and lit up this mountain.

Day 19 Jan 19

JoAnn's had a sale on scrapbooks while we were in Anchorage. I bought 3 of them. So much potential just waiting for the pages of 2009! Can't wait to fill up each of these!

Hey, look what Sarah sent my way! Thanks Sarah. http://project365sarah.blogspot.com/

5 things I'm addicted to: (in no particular order)
Hearing my daughters say "I love you!"
My daughters' smiles and laughs
diggi-scrapping
coffee-strong with milk
chocolate-the darker the better

And 5 ladies I am sending this onto - and this may be repeats for some of you! Also in no particular order:

Jan- http://bluewillowgirls.blogspot.com/

Kelley- http://kelley365.blogspot.com/

Kimmee- http://kimmee365.blogspot.com/

Linda- http://linda365project.blogspot.com/

Kristi- http://kamahrt365.blogspot.com/

Ladies, just grab the award and do everything I did here :)

Day 18-Jan 18

Finally we get to go home. Unfortunately the ferry today does not run Whittier-Cordova. It runs Whittier-Valdez-Cordova which means we are on the ferry for 12 hours. We leave Anchorage at 8:30, get into Whittier at 10:40, leave Whittier at 12:30, arrive Valdez at 6:15, leave Valdez at 7:15 and arrive in Cordova at 12:30 am. By dinner time Josi is a little bored. Actually, this picture is typical Josi. She always has a different outlook on life, a different way to tackle life's problems, even a different way to tackle eating a hot dog! She is my inventor and problem solver. Can't wait to see what job lies ahead for this kid!

Day 17- Jan 17

Well if we can't go home at least we can go to MacDonalds. Another thing about rural Alaska. No fast food options so we always eat too much junk when we're traveling...

Day 16-Jan 16

So Thursday and Friday were also days of rain and high winds. School in Anchorage was cancelled 3 days in a row. Friday was the day of our reservations to return to Cordova. I decided to go for it. We got the car loaded up with everything we bought and headed down the Seward highway to Whittier. The winds were probably sustained between 30-40. I later found out they closed the highway to trucks. Once we left the highway and started into the Portage valley I was pretty sure it had been a big mistake to be out in the weather, but by they we had an hour and a half behind us and about 15 minutes in front of us. We got back to the tunnel entrance, paid the toll and hunkered down waiting for it to open. I parked the car behind a building thinking it might protect us from the winds that by that time were now sustained at 60-80 with gusts well over 100 MPH. Just as I'm deciding that it's probably wiser to head back to Anchorage rather than get on the ferry, the electricity goes off and they cannot ope the doors to the tunnel. We fight the wind for another 2 hours to get back to Anchorage. Can you say white knuckles? By the time we unload the car, I am exausted and take a long nap. This picture is as we were waiting by the tunnel..

Day 15- Jan 15

This is Emma. My friennd Maxine's dog. Not only does Maxine let us descend on her for a week, she pretends she enjoys our company. Emma loves us too. She's a sweet little dog. Her only major quirk is that she barks at any animal that appears on t.v.

Day 14-Jan 14th

Anchorage had a temperature change of almost 70 degrees and it hit within a 24 hour peeiod of time. We woke up on Wednesday morning to rain and streets and highways that were glare ice. Schools were closed which doesn't happen very often in Anchorage. We had to drive because we were in Anchorage for medical appointments for Cadi. Thankfully my Durango with the studded tires got us to the appintment and back. The rest of the day we stuck pretty close to my friend's house. She has a gas fireplace. Kind of made the greyness seem less severe.

Day 13- Jan 13

When we go to Anchorage part of the time is spent getting groceries at Costco to take back home. I always take a huge cooler and load up on frozen meat, but we get a lot of other groceries too. Much cheaper in Anchorage. We love to hit the stores and look for clothes too as we don't have anywhere to buy clothes in Cordova. There's a new Target in Anchorage so we had to check that out! Josi found this pair of boots that she wanted so badly. They are not good Cordova boots as they are not waterproof, but they were cozy and fuzzy so we decided she could wear them as slippers!

Day 12- Jan 12th

Thought this was a cool picture of a basketball hoop. Love how the snow and frost just hang in the net.

Day 11-Jan 11th

It was a good thing I had a block heater installed on my car before we made the trip. It was -20 F when we got there. My car is not used to that kind of weather so I could plug it in and keep it warm during the night. Easier to start the next morning. It was beautiful and cold in Anchorage. This is a picture of the view my friend has from her house.

Day 10 Jan 10th

Part of the uniqueness of living in rural Alaska includes the fact that our town is not connected to any road system. Hence we have the Alaska Marine Highway system which means we have to take a ferry to get to the road system. In the winter that means a 6 hour (or longer) ferry trip to get to Whittier. Our high school sports teams spend a lot of time on the ferry. The time does give kids time to do homework. Since we were going to be gone for a week Cadi had a bunch to get done. The one picture is of her working on the ferry. The other picture is as we waited for the tunnel to open so we could drive into Portage valley. This tunnel was put in during WWII to get to an ice free port. For years the only way you could get through the tunnel was by train. You would drive you car onto a train car and sit in your car as it chugged through the tunnel. Several years ago they upgraded it so that cars can drive through but it is only one way so you wait until the direction you want to go is open and then you drive through. I think it a little over 2 miles long.

Day 9-Jan 9

As we were leaving school tonight and heading home the moon started to rise above the tree line. This isn't the sharpest picture. My Fuji doesn't always do well with twilight. This will be my last picture for a week. We will be gone, but I'll be taking the pictures and will post them once we return.

Day 8 Jan 8th

Reading Buddies

One of the really neat things about teaching in a small town is that I'm teaching in the same school my kids are in. Yes I did teach both of them their kindergarten year and it went well. I like the fact that they swing by to give me a hug every once in awhile and that sometimes I can eat lunch with them. My younger daughter is in the 3rd grade and her class is reading buddies with the kindergarten class. They come once a week and read for about 20 minutes. She usually ends up with the same kindergartner. They took a dance class together earlier this year and despite the age difference they really seem to enjoy each other. Here they are reading together today.

Day 7 Jan 7th

Waiting for recess

Even though the weather is usually not very nice, kids go out for recess here every day. The few times I remember recess being cancelled were because there was a bear on the playground, a tsunami warning, or winds resembling a hurricane. Our kids are sturdy. They play in the rain and the wind and the sleet and the hail and the snow and the ice. Sometimes they actually get to play in the sunshine!

Day 6-Jan 6th

This is a big part of who I am. I am a teacher and fan of young children. This is my 26th year of teaching and 22 of those have been in kindergarten. I love the eagerness and honesty of young children! I can't show you the kids I teach, but I can tell you they are an amazing bunch of kids this year. I haven't had a single day that I haven't wanted to be with them this year. They help me stay young. This picture is of one of my students working on her penmanship today.

Day 5 Jan 5th

I went down to the harbor after school today and thought I might get a picture of a sunset. What I decided on instead was a picture of my hometown. This is Cordova, Alaska. Population about 2000 in the wintertime and about twice that many people during the summertime. The reason it doubles is that Cordova is a fishing town so people come here for commercial fishing of salmon. Cordova is the home of the famous Copper River Red salmon. I used to work in the cannery in high school and during college. I also worked several summers on the Copper River Flats and in Prince William Sound on a fishing tender. That is basically a boat that is used to haul salmon from the fishing grounds into the canneries.
That brings me to the other photo. This is a picture of our boat harbor during the wintertime. Pretty quiet and sleepy.

Day 4 Jan 4th

 

Almost every Sunday morning your will find our family worshipping at The Little Chapel. This is a picture of the stained glass window we have in our church. Our pastor saw the design, a young woman in our congregation drew the design and an artist from Japan did the work. There is somethng so comforting for me to look up at it every Sunday morning. I love the power of the eagle and the 12 symbols representing Christ that go around the border.

Day 3 Jan 3rd

So after 22 years my old washer finally decided it just could not agitate one more load. Nothing fancy to replace it, but hey I have a new washing machine!

Paper background-A Victoria Winterchill

So what am I doing?

I decided I need to explain a little more about what I'm doing here. You might want to read this
http://www.photojojo.com/content/tutorials/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day/

I'm going to try to get a picture a day and post it as often as I can on this blog. I'm also going to scrap the pictures each week so at the end of the year I will have 52 pages of each week's pictures.

Day 2-Jan 2nd

 

Here are the girls with Frank and Linda Kay. We went and had breakfast with them this morning. Frank is the principal at our school but more than that they have become dear friends. They taught in Taiwan for many years and just seem to have a wonderful connection with Cadi and Josi. We are blessed to have them in our lives!

Day 1-Jan 1st

 

Jan 1. Still really cold out, but beautiful. After almost 2 weeks of super cold the hoar frost has really built up on the branches.