The adventures and stories of my move from the South to Anchorage, Alaska. I currently work as a ED nurse at a local hospital in Anchorage. After moving in the middle of one of the coldest winters in years (according to the locals), Im excited to see what is in store.
So today was a pretty exciting day, we decided to head out and run a few errands. After hitting a few spots we decided to go walk in a park downtown for some exercise. Little did we know what we would come across. As we walked something caught our eye, and it was a little bigger than a dog.
Yes, that is a reindeer, and yes it is on a leash! Only in downtown Anchorage, Alaska!
Just out for a nice Sunday walk.... a man and his Reindeer.
This is Star, the most famous reindeer in Alaska. She lives downtown with her family after being orphaned when she was a baby. She loves people more than other deer and loves to walk the park. She lost her antlers a few weeks ago, but still got some pretty strange looks. She has a lot of appearances during the year and is def a Star!
This is where Star lives and this is the downtown view she has, pretty lucky Reindeer!
Ive had some great time off, trying to get outside as much as possible. Usually going to the gym and then for a walk afterwards or going for long walks on the local trials. I decided to take my lunch outside on Thursday and also take a few pictures to show the huge melt going on. On the previous blog I showed some snowy pictures, these are the same pictures taken about 1 1/2 weeks later.
My view for lunch :)
The same tree, with a lot less snow! Spring is officially here!
The lake starting to melt, and an amazing view!
The birds are everywhere, taking advantage of the melting ice!
Loving the clear path and trials, still some ice and snow in a few areas.
We had a great weekend, laid pretty low. Went to a friends for a cook-out and then also went to a movie with the girls. Some gym time and lots of time outside, still have a few days off work to take advantage of the weather. Decided to make a pasta salad from Pintrest (of course) for the cook-out. It was AMAZING and I could eat it all day long. Decided to put the recipe up because good food should be shared!
Greek Pasta Salad
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
12 ounces bite-size pasta, your choice
2 cups medium diced seedless cucumber, lightly sprinkled with salt
2 cups halved cherry tomatoes, lightly sprinkled with salt
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped coarse
1/2 medium red onion, sliced thin
1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Ground black pepper
Bring 3 quarts of water to boil in a large pot. Add salt and pasta to the boiling water. Using back-of-the-box times as a guide, cook pasta until just tender. Drain pasta (do not rinse), pour into a shallow baking pan, and cool to room temperature.
When ready to serve, place pasta, cucumber, tomatoes, feta, olives, onion, and oregano in a large bowl, Add oil; toss to coat. Add vinegar and pepper to taste; toss to coat. Adjust seasonings and serve. Mix before and let stand in the fridge ... EVEN BETTER! Yummmmm
Beyond excited for the warmer weather and the snow is MELTINGGGGG and fast too! Took these pictures I few days ago and plan on going on this local trail tomorrow since it has been so warm out. I'm sure the snow has melted and will give you an idea of how fast the melt happens.
Loving the Coastal trail and go on it every chance I get!
Getting pretty slushy!
A small lake frozen now ...but not for long!
Some melting going on! Cant wait for more!
Decided to check out some local parks in the area this weekend for more walking trails and any chance to be outside. Had no clue what was in store at Kincaid park, a little moose and a whole lot of views!
Wait ....what is that?
Oh yeah!!! 2 moose taking advantage of the new green grass. Cant tell but he had a buddy in front bending down!
9:30 sunset at the top of the park! Pretty awesome view! And check out the snow melting!
Amazing!
Soaking up as much as we can!
After the walk we decided to head to one of our favorite dessert places yogurt lounge, thank goodness some trends make it all the way to Alaska! Now we just need a good cupcake place (another idea to make tons of money in Alaska that list if for another day).
Earlier in the week we headed out to play trivia with some friends, Kip ended up being the only guy but def a smart choice to bring him. Even though he is not smart, not at all...... (kidding)<3
This was taken around 8:30 downtown, still super bright outside! Gotta love Alaska.
This was not like any trivia I have ever done, it was hard, really hard and had so many different rounds including a picture round. People had t-shirts and drove in from all over. Next time we will try another place a little less intense and where we are obviously the smartest people for miles!
Tyler and Kip, she is usually not a fan but loved him this weekend!
We had a great Easter with friends in Alaska but it was made even better after learning we will be moving back to Columbia, SC and Kip will be at Shaw Air force base! It could not have worked out better for us, closer to family, friends and warm weather. We are truly blessed and so beyond excited to move (back) to the south! So lucky my boyfriend also wants to live in the south and worked so hard to make sure we also had a amazing house to move into. Also so excited to be living in the same city as my best friend for the first time since college, and for also so thankful to her for being my eyes in Columbia for our new house!
Love it!
Cant wait to move in!!!
Cant wait for showers, parties, girls nights, and cook outs!
Easter was great with great food, friends and even an adult Easter egg hunt! Olivia was a great host as usual and everyone had a great time!
My cake decorating skills hahaha
So much food! amazing feast!
The Easter egg hunt! 70 eggs I hid all over the house :)
Sleepy bunny haha
Amazing view from Olivia's house! Beautiful Easter Sunday!
We had a great weekend with friends, decided to go out to a German restaurant in town (Kips roots) then out to the country bar in town! Such good food and tons of fun out with everyone, cant wait to do it again.
Have been off work for a few days and about to start another work stretch. Nothing crazy just some days at the gym, cooking, girls night, movies and praying the snow is finally melting! It is slush city and all the roads have crazy amounts of water, the drainage system in Anchorage is not the best. Go figure. According to locals it is officially spring when the hot dog vendors are out down town and the snow starts to melting into huge puddles. Cant wait to try the dogs downtown!
Saw this big boy running errands a few days ago! They def don't care about roads, shopping centers or cars!
Holidays really stink away from the East Coast and our family and friends, but getting cards, packages make it a whole lot better :) Notice the girl and boy bunny pops Kips mom sent us! Cards and packages really are the best and make our day every time we get them in the mail. Also my bad luck continued to the lottery tickets, I won nothing and Kip won a dollar!
Had a great Monday night dinner of homemade clam chowder, cant wait to keep cooking and trying to get better reactions from the BF. His comment about this meal "This is good soup."
Getting excited about the wedding planning for this pretty lady! Cant wait for the activities and the next 8 months! Yay
Saw some great movies this weekend since it was too wet and slushy to do anything else!
Channing Tatum....marry me!
Lovvveeedd the books and so happy Kip agreed to see it after a lot of whining, great stand in for my boo Casey Colomb who I was very sad I could not see it with!
Stay tuned for some exciting news in the next few days! And more and more posts!
