GTKY: ma_Donna march 31 - april 6

Wow, end of March already!

Our house's entry is between the 1st & 2nd floors & the changing space is above the entry closet. It's perfect for me and DH, but our shorter friends don't like it :nana:

And it's not so much that I brew a good cup, but DH brews a bad one! I don't usually drink coffe, but enjoy a sip of DH's on the weekend. He usually does a coarse grind & fills the basket.

I was born in NJ and my parents just sold the house I grew up in

But we did spend 9 months in Florida when I was 4, 5 weeks in Holland when I was 10 and 2 years in India when I was in High School.

I went to school close to home, grad school in Michigan & almost 9 years ago moved to Alaska to follow DH who was just a long distance relationship (I was still in MI and he was in VT before the move).

India was a life changing experience and I want to do some overseas work (2 year 'tour') when the kids get into school. Should be fairly easy for me to get into since I am an engineer working on rural sanitation projects.

But, Alaska is just so amazing. We keep talking about moving back East (all our family is between NY & MD), but just can't see it happening. Maybe later, but no time soon. My poor Mom, I told her I'd be up here for 2 years and then we'd see how it was going... very very well.

Wow - 2 years in India. When I was in high school some family friends thought I was becoming "a cocky american teenager" and offered to take me to Nepal, India and Thailand for three months. We spend most of the time in Nepal, and only about three weeks in India. And THAT was a life-changing experience - I can only imagine what two years would be like. It's one of the things I am most glad about in my life

And 9 years in Alaska...you're an adventurer! My stepmom and 3 sisters were there for just over 2 years - loved it for the most part, but moved back to Michigan eventually.

What do you like most about Alaska? I'm dying to go.

DH and I both grew up in NJ and here there is a sense of space here (even in Anchorage) because there are less people, less traffic, less commuting. Anchorage is geographically limited by water and mountains so it doesn't 'sprawl'. Yeah, we have rush hours in the am and pm, but they're comparatively much shorter than I'm used to on the East Coast.

I also find it really easy to have a sense of 'place' in the community here. There are tons of opportunities to get involved with things and have a real impact. Lots of not-for-profits and gov't agencies in town. I volunteer with a group called Alaska Youth for Environmental Action and it is great!

As part of that 'community' lots of people we know, know each other from other things which I think is very cool. Lot's of crunchy folks, too even though Alaska is firmly parked in the 'red state' category (lots of oil and resource exploitation sorts of folks).

DH and I both have awesome jobs. He's a biologist so there are limited places where there are a bunch of really cool biology jobs and Alaska is definitely the holy grail for a lot of biologists. He's out catching sea lions right now! I'm an engineer and work in rural Alaska on sanitation projects (water, sewer, solid waste).

Oh, there's also no income tax, no sales tax (in Anchorage), property taxes are cheap AND we each get a permanent furnd dividend check (PFD) every October. The PFD is proceeds from investments made on behalf of Alaskans, the initial money was from the oil companies to 'pay' for the right to build the oil pipeline in the 70's. The check has been between $850-1200 (each) depending on how the stock market was doing!!!

And the recreational activities, please, don't even get me started! Denali National Park is 4 hours to the North and in an hour you can be in Prince William Sound (where DH is right now) AND you can be between McDonalds and the mountains in 20 minutes! (McD is just a funny example).

5 things people wouldn't know by looking at me. This is HARD!
1. I was involved in competitive synchronized swimming for years, as an athlete and a coach.
2. I really can put together a nice outfit when necessary.
3. I probably don't look as crunchy as I am, but that's no surprise on this board
4. I might not be wearing underwear (not a fan in pregnancy)
5. There are pig feet in my fridge (we got a pig from a 4-H'er who is raising pigs for college $ and I'm going to smoke the feet and hocks at the same time I'm smoking a ham for Easter).

Travel: I've never been to Africa or South America and that would be fantastic, but I think I'd like to take DH and the kids to India. I haven't been there since high school and I think spending some time in a third world country would help DH get some perspective. Maybe a little travel East into Nepal & Thailand, too!

Change the world: Wow, that's a biggie. Perhaps more financial equality? I really wish that a lot of people (certainly not everyone needs this) would be able to understand others better & it would really help if folks in position of influence made decisions truly based on the greater good and not making the rich richer (I've been a bit cynical about this recently as our state is negotiating a tax rate with the oil companies).

What's "summer" like in Anchorage?

What about "winter"?

What are your favorite/least favorite things about both?

How about cultural diversity - is there much in Anchorage? (I'm always curious about this, since dh is Korean American, and I'm as causasian as they come, and obviously our kids are a mix.... )

The height of summer is wonderful. Usually the end of June/early July we get our high temps - the record is about 86F, but we get 90's on the deck. Things don't really green up until early/mid May and get cool at the end of August. Our state fair ends Labor Day weekend and we're almost always back in jeans. There is a crazy energy with all the daylight. With the time shift today it was light until after 9pm and in June/July it's light out 24hrs although the sun does technically set and rise, it just doesn't get to far under the horizon.

This winter was colder than it has been (but more 'normal') and we had a surprise 2" of snow last night, but with temps up to 39 today it's all melted off the deck & roads again. This year we got down to -10-ish for a while and yes, it does get pretty dark. Unfortunately some of those short days are pretty grey, too which is a bummer.

Good/bad of winter: Lots of winter sports, ice skating, sledding, x-c skiiing / grey days in December
Good/bad of summer: July when all the plants are established, raspberries are out & all is in bloom / it's too short!

Anchorage is pretty culturally diverse. There are established communities from countries throughout the pacific (including Korea) and certainly lots of native Alaskans from throughout the state. There's a good dose of Brits (many working for BP... British Petroleum).

Quote:

TMI warning, but aw, I'm jealous! I could never do that - I'm like a discharge *fountain* in pregnancy.

Hiya,

Jumping in with a few questions...

1. What's the best and worst thing about this pregnancy for you?
2. What's your favourite thing about spring-time?
3. What's your favourite Saturday-night date activity (pregnant or non pregnant...)



Beth

Hi Donna! (Alaska has always sounded like an ideal place to live to me, and even dh, so glad someone gets to live there )

What's your favorite color? Favorite color to wear?

What's your favorite quote or quotes from any book, song, or movie? (can be more than one)

What do you picture yourself doing exactly one year from today?

Best/Worst of this pregnancy - Best is that m/s was not nearly as bad as with Noah. I think it has to do with being home mostly and I was able to sleep & eat pretty much as necessary (well, with a toddler around anyway).
Worst isn't so bad, but I had thought I might get some hip pain with Noah which I didn't, but I am this time around. I've had a little bit of trouble with it before, ended up in the ER a few years ago when a crooked seat at work led to pinching a tendon.

Favorite thing about spring - The energy level in Alaska goes through the ROOF! With the time change it is now light out past 9pm. There is still snow on the ground ( alittle later this year) but soon we'll be prepping the gardens. Mike already has several flats of seeds started.

Favorite Sat eve date - hmm, don't really have one. We like going camping, hiking, boating, fishing, trips etc on weekends in the summer, and we're kinda homebodies. Noah's ped always asks us if we get out alone together, and we don't really see why! I do like getting together with friends, but that hasn't been happening a lot lately... hmm we need to have a party! (For us it's potluck dinners & just hanging out).

What's your favorite color? Favorite color to wear?
I've always loved green, but like a nice touch of purple. Favorite to wear, it should be dark red but I'm usually pretty boring

What's your favorite quote or quotes from any book, song, or movie? I don't have a memory for this type of thing I see lots of quotes I like and can identify with, but nothing sticks out.

What do you picture yourself doing exactly one year from today?
I think Noah will probably start going to the Waldorf school a couple mornings a week next January and the little one will probably be starting to get mobile. I'll probably be working on another wave of babyproofing and hopefully taking naps with the babies in the sun I hope to have the work schedule DH and I just worked out (finally). He works a full day Mondays and then mornings T-F and me afternoons T-F.