More Kody and Barometer Mountain

I know I post lots of pictures of Kody and Barometer mountain, but they are the very photogenic things that I see every day!

Kody is very interested!
Clouds hiding Barometer.
Sunset behind Barometer.
Rocky beach near home
This is the beach nearby. Without snow on the trail, it is a 15 minute walk. With Kody, deep snow and ice melting, it took longer. The tide is out, we walked way down there. Kody gets pretty frisky when he is walking on sand.

The family

These photos show how big Kody is. And the picture of Lincoln is in our bedroom window, you can see the mountain behind her.

Dead Animals

I am adding some pictures from a while ago. Ryan really enjoys hunting. I am practically a vegetarian! I decided I feel fine about eating things that Ryan has hunted. He processed the deer himself, and we use ground venison now instead of ground beef. I can't tell the difference! I didn't eat any rabbit, it looked too much like Lincoln to me. Here are some pictures of his "kill".

Below is the SPAR after the guys had a stop to hunt. I don't remember how many deer they got in total, but here are the deer getting hoisted off of the boat, using a crane!

What kind of dog are you?

First of all, crap! I want this cute little cartoon of a lab to be up there. I don't get how to do it...ANYWAYS: I know, this is cheesy, but I loved it! I thought it was pretty accurate for the most part. Take the dog quiz, it is fun. Here is my description, I am just kidding on the intellegence part. And before you ask, yes I have too much time on my hands these days.

Labrador Retriever
The Caretaker
Your family is what makes you tick, and you never "flea" from an opportunity to hang out with the whole gang. A family picnic complete with hot dogs, deviled eggs and a refreshing swim in the lake is hard for you to stray from. Your sparky temperament and dogged intelligence mean you are not only a blast to hang out with, but great to work with as well. Your close pals appreciate your patience and forgiveness, knowing you'd rather let sleeping dogs lie than dwell on the mishaps of the past. Your dashing good looks may one day lead to a modelling career, if only you can tame the unfortunate clumsiness that sometimes causes you to go flailing from the catwalk.

Here is the link so you can take the quiz. I think I just found the best website ever, I am too into dogs!
http://www.dogster.com/quizzes/what_dog_breed_are_you/quiztaker/3077

Find Your Spot

Seward, Alaska

A friend sent me a link to a pretty interesting website,  Findyourspot.com

I took a survey that asked a lot of questions about living preferences, what you would like to live near, what climate you like, what fa

cilities you need near by, what kind of person you are in general.  Then, the website lists the top 24 places you should live.  This list was right on for us!  I was impressed that the survey learned enough about us to do such a good job.  21 out of 24 were in Oregon, Washington and Alaska.  Port Angeles isn't on there but a number of similar and/or near by cities are.  Hopefully we will continue to be lucky and live in this area.  Here is the list:

1. Seward, AK - Ryan is in dry-dock there right now!

2. Ketchikan, AK

3. Levenworth, WA

4. Astoria, OR - we visited in 2006 and again in 2007, we love it there! (Home of Goonies)

5. Joseph, OR

6. Metaline Falls, WA 

7. Palmer, AK

8. Homer-Kenai Peninsula, AK

9. Medina, WA

10. Mount Vernon, WA

11. Lincoln City, OR

12.  Newport, OR

13. St. Helens, WA

14. Bremerton, WA - close to Port Angeles

15. Wentachee, WA

16. Ashland, OR

17. Lewiston, ME

18. Montpelier, VT

19. Hood River, OR

20. Whidbey Island/Oak Harbor, WA

21. Anacortes, WA

22. Milwauke, OR

23. Johnson, VT

24. Shelburne Falls, MA

Canon Beach, near Astoria, Oregon

Surprise!

Well, we have some big news. We are moving this summer! Our blog title will not be descriptive of us anymore, as we will be living in Washington. We are 99% sure we will live in Port Angeles or the nearby area. We are very excited. We really do love Alaska and hope to transfer back here someday. Ryan is in the Coast Guard for the long run (retirement), so we will be stationed in at least three more locations after this move. We are up for some adventure!

So, Port Angeles...where is that? It is on the Olympic peninsula in Washington. Port Angeles (PA), is the town at the entrance of Olympic National Park. Lots of green, mountains, ocean, snow and all of that stuff we love. From what I have read there will be opportunities for skiing, bikeriding, hiking, kayaking, fishing and other activities that we have enjoyed here. PA is is approximately 2 1/2 hours drive from Seattle. There is also a short ferry ride over to Victoria, Canada. Pretty rural, which we like. I can't wait to go!

I am not sure what I will do career-wise. Teaching is not my passion by any means. I enjoy most of the children and love science, but I may take this opportunity to explore some career options I have long dreamed of. More on that later :)

The two pictures are from Olympic National Park.

OBAMA 08

Tonight I attended the democratic caucus in Kodiak. It was a very interesting experience. There were many familiar faces: from my Natives of Alaska class, yoga, public school teachers I subbed with, parents from St. Mary's, Coast Guard people, and other faces I see around town. I had a quick conversation with our mayor who I recognized from the picture on the Kodiak city website. It was much more crowded than I (and the organizers) expected. We actually had to go OUT of the building and come in two separate doors to be counted. The only two candidates were Clinton and Obama. Obama had 71% of the votes. Then they discussed electing 5 delegates for Obama and 2 for Clinton to go to the Alaska Democratic Convention in May in Palmer. I thought, what the heck, I will be off of work by then, when will I get this chance again?! Lucky for me, I was one of the five chosen! So, I will be a delegate representing Kodiakians in support of Obama at the convention!!! This is very exciting as I have been interested in politics for years, and have not even voted in a US presidential election in the United States! I was in Bulgaria for the 2000 election and Mongolia for the 2004 election. I am excited for an opportunity to stand up for the change I hope to see with the election of a new president. I will take pictures and let you know how the process goes. It is especially fun for me to be taking this civic role on right now because my 8th graders are studying the US Constitution. We love to discuss the elections.