Some Alaska Photos

Caribou. We were working nearby and passed over them as we flew away. Made a quick photo stop.
Mount Hesperus and the view from the back porch of the lodge that I'm staying in. Haven't seen the top of the mountain since this photo was taken.

A tributary of the Windy (like blowing not winding) Fork of Big River.
En route to sampling for the day.

A flower.

Winding river.

I've actually tried to download some cool video I've taken but the internet can't handle it. So I've been befuddled. I wanted to share some of the better photos. Sorry for the repetition, those of you on facebook that have. already seen these.

Alaska Day1/2

Hi Family (and whoever else). I'm not even sure anyone pays attention to this blog anymore. I know I've been off the radar in blog land, but this seems like a good way to stay in touch while I'm gone. Not to mention it probably doesn't hurt to document some of my experiences.

The crew I'm working with left Denver at 10:30 last night (though it seems like 3 nights ago) and landed in Anchorage at 3 in the morning (5 hour flight). We got a few hours of sleep in a hotel and left for a small village named Aniak this morning. It was a beautiful flight, especially flying over the Alaska Range. We passed over several glaciers and jagged peaks, but couldn't see Denali through the clouds. Aniak is on the west side of the Alaska Range and is lower in elevation, next to the slow, meandering Kuskokwim River (one of the larger rivers in Alaska). There are some mountains nearby, which we flew really close to on the way to the mining camp where we'll be staying and working near during the next two weeks or so.

The first photo below is leaving Aniak on a Cessna 206. You can see the Kuskokwim River and the mountains that are shown in the next photo. I forgot the name of the range (it's a smaller one). The third photo is of the landing strip at camp, which sits on the hill at the top of the landing strip. The forth photo is my temporary digs (mine is the one with the open door). It's a little rustic but the camp as all the amenities (for example, I'm posting this from my tent via wifi).

Well, that's about all I feel like typing for tonight. For all the family at the reunion, I love you and wish I could have been there to see you all. And of course I love and miss you, Erin. I'm sure you'll all go on fine without me!

First Gingerbread House

I wanted to post some of the photos of my first gingerbread house attempt. Mom provided a lot of consultation help so I thought the least I could do is let her see how things turned out.

I didn't think about the fact that the roof needed to sit on angled walls until all the gingerbread was done. I broke the front while cutting the triangular top. Erin's sister, Aliesha, came over to help and witness the madness. It was nice to have some extra hands.

I ALSO put the walls together wrong so the shape of the roof was all wrong. Some retrofitting was necessary. Kaya was close by and very interested throughout the whole project.

Decorations were strategically located to cover up patching and retrofitting. I love the roof icing, you can't even tell that I screwed up!


We decorated gingerbread cookies, too. Three types of frosting!!! That is our fancy new pre-lit fake tree. It makes our house look awesome and Christmasy. The whole thing made me feel pretty domestic but at the same time figuring out how to salvage the situation to make the house look somewhat normal was challenging and fun. I'm planning to do one again next year. Hopefully having learned from some of my mistakes. I can't believe how awesome Mom's gingerbread houses were. This was a ton of work and wasn't even in the same class as Mom's creations!

Under Contract

We just took a big step toward being first-time homeowners by going under contract earlier this afternoon!


The stability of my work situation has improved quite a bit lately (whole other story) so we decided to "explore the possibilities" to determine what we could do based on our savings and our comfort with monthly payments by visiting a mortgage broker. We met with the broker two weeks ago from this past Friday (crazy fast, we know). With our pre-approval figured out we hit the pavement to look at homes. We focused on 3 or 4 areas that had houses we liked in our price range. We've been running around like crazy people trying to get in under the $8000 tax credit.

We saw the house that we liked best on Wednesday evening and had an offer together late the next night. The place is in west Arvada, with Westminister less than a mile to the east and Denver city limits to the south. We have spent that past 3 days in negotiations and came to an agreement earlier this afternoon. We're really excited to move forward with the process and I hope that posting this isn't a jinx. I guess a lot can happen between now and closing. Our closing date is June 22nd and move-in would be June 25th. We're both really excited, and a little nervous.

Exciting Friday Night

Now you've done it. I broke the blog seal, and now it's just a place for me to write even more than I already do on Facebook. I apologize in advance.

I had to report that I just attended the most exciting sporting event ever, at least for me. Joel said he's been to more exciting high school/college games, but I guess I went to lame schools or I have a short memory. We saw the Nuggets play the Cavs and we won by 2 points. And we had good seats (I love this Nick guy who works for the Nuggets who likes to get me tickets). Anyway, it was the most fun I've had at any game of any kind. I was disappointed in LeBron though, I partly went to see this supposed super star and didn't get much of a show. But my Nugs won so I can't complain. And I got to see my boy Billups after he's been injured for many games so that was good too. Oh yeah, and Joel caught one of those plastic balls the mascot throws into the stands so I even have a souvenir!

And THEN...I know, it's hard to believe there's more :)...walking home from the train station, we saw the little fox who lives in our park and who we often see during cold weather. I've named him Foxy, original I know. He was laying under a big tree right by the sidewalk and we got about 2 yards from him before he saw us. He sat up, turned around in a circle, layed down again in a more comfortable position I guess, and didn't run away until I pushed my luck and tried to get closer for a picture. It was strangely exciting for a country girl like me, having never seen a fox close-up before. He was very cute. And small, about half the size of Kaya if not smaller.

OK, the end. Sorry no pictures this time, and I promise not to turn this into my personal rambling blog. I just had to share the good end to a crappy week.

Love,
Erin

The Morrison Holidays

Well, I'm finally giving in and posting on Joel's blog. I fear he will never do it himself again...you'll all just have to harass him into it. :)

We had a good Christmas in Denver and New Year's in Bozeman. This was the first year I haven't gone home to NY at all so that was hard, but I guess getting there every year until I'm 32 isn't so bad (don't tell my mom that though, she said it didn't make her feel any better). I don't know if it was our job worries or not going home or what, but I never got into the spirit much and we didn't even end up getting a tree. A nice centerpiece that my mom sent helped though...it even smelled good.



Joel also got motivated one Sunday and put lights up...



We spent New Year's Eve at our friend's, Lisa and Aaron's, house. They cooked the traditional Italian Christmas Eve 7 fishes dinner. It was amazing. We opened gifts together at our house Christmas morning, including those that family had sent. Everyone was very generous, thank you.





Kaya even got her very own squirrel to destroy -- I think it helped her feel better that she can never catch the ones in the park.



Then we spent the rest of the day in Longmont with Mike, Susan, and all the family. We had a great time, had good food, and unfortunately watched the Nuggets lose. The place was a zoo...literally...and I loved it!





After another short week at work, we made the long drive to Bozeman on New Year's Eve and spent a couple of days with good friends. We celebrated 2010 at the local bowling alley, saw a bunch of people over the next couple of days, and watched a lot of Glee. The perfect weekend.







We came back to Denver on Sunday, celebrated the Boise win on Monday, both had job interviews on Tuesday, and are currently watching a boring championship game that Joel is convinced Boise would do well in. I have to agree. I found out today that I didn't get the job I interviewed for on Tuesday -- it was violence prevention with the state health dept and I would have loved to get the job, so I'm pretty disappointed. I guess I'll stick with what I've got for now -- I started the Interim Executive Director job on December 16 so I will keep plugging along. Joel's interview was with the state mining reclamation division and he felt like it went well, no word on their decision yet. And he has another interview with a consulting firm on Monday. So we continue to cross our fingers and stay hopeful about his job search. In the meantime, he still likes his temp job and they are committed to keeping him on as long as they can.

That's about it from here. Wishing you all a happy, healthy, peaceful 2010. Phew, that was tiring, wasn't it Kaya?

4-day weekends, hit-and-runs, and meat boxes

It's been a pretty eventful past 2-3 weeks, as many of you know. I started a temporary, part-time job at the Denver Metro Wastewater Treatment District (sewage treatment plant) this week, just a week and a half after arriving in Denver. I'm helping out with their annual fish sampling in the South Platte River and am basically a grunt doing whatever else needs to be done. They are responsible for monitoring chemical and biological conditions in the river as part of their effluent discharge permit. The positives of the job are that I have work and money coming in, I enjoy the chance to work mostly outside for a bit, the work is in line with my education and experience, and the people I work with seem great so far. I think its tough to be working in a position that I'm way overqualified for and also don't love how you don't really feel a "part of something" as a temporary employee, but I'm happy that I was able to line something up so soon after getting to Denver as an unemployed person (now I'm just under-employed).

Erin felt fully initiated into urban living a couple of weeks ago when our little Ford Focus was side-swiped in a hit-and-run while she was at the art museum. Fortunately, someone saw the whole thing happen, got the driver's license plate number, and called the police. We let our insurance company know what happened and the Denver Police (last we heard) are tracking down the driver. We're hoping for the best. After my hit-and-run experience in Bozeman I don't have a lot of faith that this is going to turn out well for us. I know, I should be more positive, but I feel like I've been down this road before.

In more exciting news. We are the proud new owners of a large box or meat. We were visited by a door-to-door meat salesman on Friday evening and he left us with 4 new york steaks, 4 Kansas City steaks, 8 fillet mignons, 8 bacon-wrapped tenderloins, and 24 patties of chopped beef. We declined the box-o-pork due to limited freezer space (we're not suckers). Looks like it will be a steak night tonight (and tomorrow. . .). We'll have to start jogging a little more I think. Or there's always Statin.

The Photo

I happened upon the photo that Erin sent to the paper. For your full technicolor enjoyment:

Engaged

I know you've already heard the news, but I hadn't blogged about it yet. So join the rest of the Bozeman area in sharing our engagement announcement. Posted by Erin and ran in Sunday's paper.

Yes, matching Christmas turtlenecks.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Some of you may have already heard this news from me or through the grapevine, but I thought I would put out an official notice.  Erin was offered a job in Denver with the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CCASA), a coalition that serves sexual violence non-profits around the state.  She starts on July 13th.  I don't have work lined up yet, but am working very hard to do that (anyone want to hire an environmental scientist or researcher?).  Currently the plan is to move her down there for the start of her new job while I continue to look for work while working in Bozeman  (assuming I don't find something first).  We're not planning to do this living in different cities thing forever, most likely a couple of months (as necessary).  I would love nothing more than to be able to go down there together.  Anyway, those are the basics.  We're excited to have a change in scenery and start new career challenges.  Busy times ahead.

On the Brink

Erin finished a draft of her professional paper on Monday for her Masters in Public Administration and presented her work today.  She's worked so hard over the past few months. . .years and I know it has been a strain while working full time in a new job.  She did a fantastic job with her presentation and after was given the merit award for outstanding achievement in her program.  I was so proud of her and happy to see her get the well-earned recognition.  She'll be writing all weekend to turn in her final draft and. . . that's it!

Popcorn Schizophrenia

I just stopped by CVS to get some popcorn for the final four and watching a DVD.  There were two brands (Act II and Orville Redenbacher's in case you are curious) and two types for each brand:  Butter Lovers and Diet.  So you either love butter so much that you want to marry it or you want popcorn that makes you remember what butter tasted like before you stopped eating.  I've got to believe there is some commentary on Americans here.  It's like we either over-indulge or deprive ourselves.  Or indulge and then repent (by buying fat free popcorn, I guess).  What ever happened to moderation?

 So most of you are probably thinking at this point that anyone who spends this much thought on popcorn needs a hobby, or a therapist.  But I think there's something in this. . . 

Erin Studies

I wanted to take a picture of a typical domestic scene around here. Erin in the lazy boy surrounded by books with a blanket and computer on her lap, and an obliterated dog toy on the floor. It's a nice night for me but I don't know about her. On one hand she loves to learn and take questions/ideas apart and on the other hand I know many times she would like nothing more than to get home from work and not have a single thing of significance to worry about.

Skiing and Sh**

Erin and I took Friday off to go on a short (overnight) ski trip with some good friends. We went to a place that's kind of in the middle of nowhere in Montana called Showdown. It was really fun. Erin hadn't skied for a few years before we started dating because she broke her leg really bad from a ski accident a few years ago. She is understandably nervous sometimes but has a lot of skill, she's skied a few times now and gets better each time we go. We stayed the night at Bob's Place, a small town motel/bar/diner that is owned and operated by a guy named Tony and his wife Shelly. I guess Bob owned the place before Tony and the name never was changed. Apparently Tony also answers to the name Bob.



On the way home we had a nice little treat. We got caught behind a cattle drive that was pretty cool to watch at first but got old really fast. A couple of the cowboys (I guess one of them was actually a cowgirl) told us to just drive up behind them and they will get out of the way. We were following the red pickup (in the photo) and the guy had absolutely no balls to "push" the cattle around a little. We drove in the middle of the heard for about an hour (not exaggerating) before a dud in a big pickup lost his patience with Mr Red Pickup and came around and led us out of the poopy nightmare (I've never seen so much poop on one road in my life). Anyway, we're back in Bozeman and very happy to have the whole weekend to look forward to.





The picture doesn't quite do justice to the true length of cow. They were spread out for more than a mile.

Random Stuff

I used to love watching Meet the Press on NBC every Sunday morning. I loved Tim Russert and think that David Gregory is kind of a tool, hopefully he'll get the hang of it. It's Sunday morning right now and he's annoying me.

I ran a 10K yesterday. When I came down the stairs this morning I thought I was going to break the hand rail because 90% of my weight was on it. I would recommend running a couple of times prior to entering a 10K. By the way, why does my neck and back hurt almost as much as my legs?

Well, this was an entry to warm up my blogging muscles so I'll cut it short so I don't regret it tomorrow (coming down the stairs). We're doing well. Erin is as busy as ever and seems to be making good progress on her Master's thesis. In 9 days we will have been dating for 3 years. Crazy huh? I'm making a goal to blog again this Spring.

Have You Met My Girlfriend?

Barney is seeing someone but I found the next best thing. Yes, that's Erin in a Dinosaur suit. She was part of Bozeman's annual Sweet Pea Parade for her work (Museum of the Rockies). It was pretty cool but it went by me so fast that she was gone before I had the chance to ridicule her much. It must have worn her out because she taking a nap now. She smells like a jockstrap recycling warehouse. The parade was really cool. I'll throw in a couple of pictures from the animal control people dressed in star trek garb and the "solar bug" that I want to be my next car (really).

"Klingons Castrate with Honor" is my favorite

Don't mind the lady in the picture. I don't know her, just friendly fire.

Nissan Pathfinder, 1991-2008, Rest In Peace

The full life of Nissan Pathfinder sadly came to a close on Saturday, July 12th, 2008. Nissan was heading home from a trip to the local biking trailhead with a balding 31-year-old and an overly furry 7-year-old in tow when it suffered a devastating timing belt break. The break did irreparable (or at least ridiculously expensive) damage to the valves of Nissan's engine. Nissan's caretaker changed the spark plugs in futility and rushed Nissan to the College Exxon (rushed = Monday morning) with the help of Elite Towing. Unfortunately Nissan was deemed to be damaged beyond reasonable revival and will soon be laid to rest at AF&T Auto Parts and Salvage. The balding caretaker will receive $60 for his troubles. Nissan lived each of its 195,000+ miles with a spirit of adventure and an obnoxious ticking noise.

This just in! An investigation of an unnamed, balding, 31-year old has recently been opened. This individual is suspected of criminal negligence. This unscrupulous individual will allegedly receive $60 as a result of his crimes. If you see this person, please call AAA immediately. Do not attempt to approach him as he may be dangerous. Authorities believe he is at large in Bozeman on a blue bicycle.

Is it November yet?

I love the summer, but sometimes I wish that I could hit the fast-forward button. . .
http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/D/DIRTY_AIR?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-03-14-09-48-22

Holiday Pics

I got on the blog tonight to share some of our holiday-time photos but realized that most of the pics that I wanted to share are on Erin's camera. Unfortunately she is in New York visiting her family and I'm pretty sure she has her camera with her. I found some other pictures that are worth sharing though. You'll just have to deal with the fact that they are a little bit random.



This is from Bozeman's Christmas Stroll; it's a big deal around here and I wanted to go to it more to see the spectacle than to really participate much. Main Street is closed down and insanity rules for a few hours. One of the jewelry stores downtown had college-aged girls dressed as Elves (or something) dancing and posing in the front display window. Kind of reminded me of the Calvin Kline weird dancing billboard deal in Time's Square.



Erin hard at work for school. She didn't know I was taking this but I love the way the picture turned out. I can't wait until she's done with school; though she'll probably just find something else to keep her busy whe we get to that point.

This last one I took at the top of the hill next to our house where I walk Kaya every morning. I typically walk her between 5:45 and 6:30 and it's completely dark, but this is on a Saturday not long after snow.



I can't wait to get Erin's camera. I'll give you a little teaser for photos to come: Christmas Turtlenecks.

HS Reunion

A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine from High School (Taylor, I know many of you know him) organized a get-together of a group of guys that knew each other in high school. We went up to McCall (9 hours from Bozeman!)for a long-weekend (long describing the time driving, not the time relaxing).

I had a great time (aside from the driving) and really thought that the whole thing was interesting. I can't say that all of the guys that were there were my closest friends from high school, but a couple of them were (Trevor, Taylor, Bryce) and they were all guys that I considered friends. I've kept up with Trevor and Taylor the best, though thats not saying much, but I was really struck by how much they all seemed to be pretty much the same. I wonder how much of that was real and how much is the result of reverting to old social roles? While each person's chosen life path has definately taken them in a different direction than my own, their choice of life path seemed quite fitting. But maybe I'm just fitting my observations to my theory. Do I sound like a dorky scientist or what?

P.S. It's crazy how I start a blog out meaning to tell one story, and end up telling another.