The One Where I Participate In 10 On Tuesday (#9)

Go visit Chelsea for more TOTers!


1. What was/is your favorite live action (meaning not animated) kids movie?
Newsies. Love love love that movie. Definitely one I could sing along with.

2. What is a bad habit you have? Are you working on breaking it?
Compulsively checking my social media sites (Facebook, Google Reader, Twitter). It seriously cuts into my productivity and time with my hubby. I try to be better (and for awhile was REALLY good about only checking my Reader once a day), but normally fail. It makes me feel really awesome about my self-control :-)

3. Describe your father in 3 words.
Hard-working. Social. Reader.

4. Which character in the Breakfast Club were you most like in the ’80s?
In the 80's I was 0-6. So not really like any of them. But I would probably be most like the nerd. 

5. Name 5 songs you know ALL the lyrics to.
Fishin' In The Dark by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band 
Shout To The Lord by Hillsong
The Star Spangled Banner
The ABC's
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy Fight Song (I was a cheerleader. it was my job)


6. Do you make pancakes from scratch or a box mix?
Box. But that's because I am trying to get rid of the box mix so I can start making them from scratch.

7. What was your worst job ever? Why?
Toss-up between server at a fine dining restaurant (the owner would scream and yell and then make us all food. he was a little too up & down for my taste) and customer service rep at a catalog company (the other customer service rep really disliked me and i counted teeny tiny itty bitty pins into separate bags for fun. it was awful)

8. What was your favorite class in high school?
AP History. We started with the Renaissance and ended somewhere in the 1900's. There were only 7 or 8 of us in the class and it was a ton of reading but I loved it.

9. Favorite summer guilty pleasure?
To be honest it's been so long since I've had a normal summer (well ... 3 years) that I can't really remember. Probably sleeping in and laying out while reading a book.

10. Please share your best money saving tip!
Live far away from civilization. When you're two hours from fast food and walmart and any store larger then 2 aisles you save so much money!!

Come on in ....

and check out our new digs! I apologize in advance for the blurriness of the photos. however, I am too lazy to fix them. mmkay? kay.

first up we have our living room:

the chairs were provided, which was lovely as we don't have any furniture of our own. the large window was also provided, which is also lovely. there are several trees right in front of the window that sort of blocks my sunlight, but it's still nice to have that much.

as you can tell miss millie is really excited to show off her house!

our next stop is our kitchen:

fun fact: the duplex we are living in was built by luke's great uncle in the '60s (we live next door to his widow Lavonne). all of the cupboards in the house were custom made by Vernon. so that's pretty cool. it's also really cool that it fits all of my kitchen stuff (barely, but it still fits!)

yes, that is a card table and folding chairs masquerading as a kitchen table. we're classy. or just poor newlyweds.

next up: the 'master' bedroom

anyone who was at our house in Ekalaka knows how much we've upgraded in closet space. makes my heart happy.

and we got the desk for free off of craigslist. any remodel suggestions are more than welcome. as are any suggestions as how to get gunk off of fake wood as my GooGone is letting me down.

moving down the hall we encounter the bathroom:

no, you're not seeing things. that is a lavender sink (and tub). the only reason our toilet isn't lavender is because the pipes froze a couple of years ago and they weren't able to find a replacement.

oh and those cupboards were made by Vernon too!

and I took down the curtains. the glass is frosted so no one can see in and it just makes me happier.

our final stop takes us to the guest room:

as you can see we're ready for you whenever you want to come!

Operation Alaska Move (Days 7 & 8)

After paying our two loonies (Canadian dollars) for our showers on Sunday morning and gathering up our clean laundry (!), we headed back out on the highway. 

Our first stop was just up the road:

According to the guidebook this was a not to be missed attraction and I think I will agree with that. Apparently a homesick GI posted a sign pointing to his hometown in 1942 and it was a tradition that quickly caught on. There are now thousands of signs. Pictures cannot really describe how many rows upon rows of signs there are behind these posts. There are a lot of families/places represented here!

{sidenote: yes, I am wearing blue camo gauchos. awesome no? 

i got them on sale at Target 4 or 5 years ago and they are just so comfy. and highly stylish of course.}

Luke wouldn't let me take his picture until we found a sign that he liked. We agreed we couldn't get much better than this!

{he grew up a mere 50 miles from the world famous corn palace}

After this stop we hit the highway for real. We had picked up a free guidebook the day before so I was busy scouring the pages for places we simply couldn't miss. This was the next one we reached:

Johnson's Crossing "World Famous" Cinnamon Rolls.

{according to my husband they are not as good as the ones his classmate's mother makes}

After being on the road for 7 days, someone revolted over the seating arrangements:

In case any of you were feeling sorry for her, I am here to show proof that she didn't have it so bad:

The rest of the day was filled with a lot of this:

That night we reached Kluane Lake:

I had read a rave review in the trusty guidebook about a campground located on the lake and we decided that we would stay. I am so glad we did because this was the view from our spot:

{sidenote: this was taken at 6:30 in the morning. look at how high that sun is!}

On Sunday night we got the camper set up in our spot and decided to head out for a walk along the beach. As we were walking and talking and just enjoying being with one another, we both agreed that we were just ready to be done. Ready to be off the road, out of the car and in a real bed in a real room. So we decided to set the alarm for early and drive until we got there. 

So that's what we did. 

Apparently it was the wise decision as someone else was feeling the weariness of the road:

{she pretty much refused to leave the front seat the whole day}

Let's get a close up on this woebegone creature:

Heartbreaking no?

So we hit the road and hit is hard. Soon enough we saw something pretty exciting:

After an incredibly easy border crossing (God answers prayer!), we hit the road for more driving. While the wildlife was lacking (all we saw in these two days was 1 wolf, which I didn't actually see), the scenery was beautiful:

Soon enough, we reached our destination.

(and by soon enough I mean after a looooong day of driving, driving and driving. it seems that every time we calculated the mileage we had left it wasn't getting less)

We met Luke's Great Aunt LaVonne, who is letting us crash in the other side of her duplex and then started to get settled into our  new home. Unfortunately I had a paper due right away the next morning that I needed something online for, so we headed out to find wifi. We eventually found it and I got to see what I needed to see (I was doing my paper on a specific episode of Parenthood) and headed back so I could finish up my paper. Then, we had to drive BACK to where we found it the first time so I could upload it. It was a very exciting end to our adventure!

Now that we've been here for awhile (and yes, I will take pictures and post them soon of our new home!), it feels like the trip just flew by.

                                

However, we are both in agreement that we would like to be here for awhile because neither of us are ready quite yet to pack everything up and repeat that trip very soon.

Operation Alaska Move (Days 5 & 6)

The light woke us up early on Friday and we pulled out of Prince George by 8:00. The road took us north to Dawson Creek, home of mile '0' of the Alaska highway.


The sun came out and we enjoyed our first day of dry weather for several days. The BC countryside is breathtaking – trees beget mountains which beget rivers.


Mile after mile after mile of trees, then a mile of a field holding a horse … or something else:

Finally the trees gave way to field and our road took us into Dawson Creek and mile '0':

To be honest, the beginning of the touted Alaska Highway was not what we expected. It starts in an agricultural area and it felt as if we were still home in the states. We decided that it was more Minnesota than South Dakota because of the rolling hills.


Well, however it looked it was still exciting to officially on our path!

The road took us to Fort Nelson for the night, where we ate at the Fort Nelson Hotel Café. If you ever meander your way up here, we highly recommend it. The service is great and the fries are AMAZING!


We parked the camper at the BlueBonnet RV park, which was a fancy name for a parking lot behind their hotel.


(It has been interesting to see the differences in all of the parks we've stayed in each night. However, as long as there are showers and electric hook-ups, we're happy!)


Saturday saw us going up and down more mountains and through more trees. Along the way we encountered stone goats:

And black bears:

And elk:

And bison:

We also passed Muncho Lake, which is supposedly one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. The minerals turn the water a most gorgeous turquoise color, which stretches on for mile after mile:

The lady who checked us into the campsite at Banff had told us about a hot springs near the Liard River, so we knew we simply had to stop. We spent a relaxing couple of hours soaking in the sulphuric warmth and ridding our bodies of toxins:

After that we hit the road again. We had supper at mile marker 533, Coal River, B.C. where we enjoyed overpriced bison burgers.


(The thing we have noticed most of all is the cost of living in Canada is a bit higher than in the states. Gas stations are few and far between so you have to pull in when you see one, which means at times you end up paying a bit more than you would like. The highest we have paid so far has been 1.89/litre which equals out to 7.18/gallon. Ouch!)


According to my guide book, the road between Fort Nelson and Watson City is the most scenic part of the highway and I have not found any evidence to refute that argument!


Out the window is a sea of trees. They climb up the mountains and fill the valleys. The greens from the deciduous and coniferous mix together and create a waving ripple of color:

Our stop for the night is Watson Lake, just across the border of the Yukon. It is after 9:00 before we park for the night, but the sun is still high in the sky.


However, we have quickly realized that if we drive from sunup to sundown we would put in a veeeery long day!