Little things...

Another spouse that has a blog I follow recently had an good, interesting post about blogging and the sense of relationship that is built and facilitated by being a blogger.  Blogs can be beautiful windows into a persons life.  They can also leave a lot of empty spaces depending on how selective a blogger is about what information they supply.  That space can typically be filled in by little tidbits of nothing information that a reader otherwise would not know.  Blogs are all about how much information a person puts out there, the perception a person wants to give readers and also about the little things that a reader learns about the blogger.  You see, if your going to be real you have to let people relate to you on a level that isn't picture perfect or beautifully put into words.  My favorite blogs are the ones that tell a real story, give great perspective and make me feel like I can relate to the person.  Maybe even be able to sit down at a table, drink some wine and have a brief conversation.  I want people to feel like they know me and what I'm all about.   I typically don't see most of the readers of this blog, including my family members on a consistant bases or at all. 

So, with that being said, here are some little things, tidbits of nothing information about me to fill in the spaces I leave void.  

*  I am not a good driver.  Even in our current, little bitty town, who's speed limit does not exceed 45mph, I am not a good driver.  I have only ever recieved two speeding tickets and one unreported hit and run (long story) but I am not a confident, good driver.  While in college in San Diego, I commuted 45 minutes to work in traffic one way.  I'm pretty sure I was one of the worst commuters.  In Astoria, Oregon I had to learn to parallel park, which I never mastered.  Therefore, I would leave my house 10 minutes earlier then necessary to get to work so that I could drive around in circles until I found a pull through spot to park.  When we lived in New England, my driving skils and the locals aggressive driving personalities were a match made in hell.  I got flipped off, cussed at and scared to death by people barrating me about my driving.  I am overly cautious and don't love driving so I think those two things contribute to my sucky driving skills.  

* I could 100% live without television but I could absolutely not live without the internet.  During the span of a week I may watch a total of maybe 2 hours of television.  I find very few shows entertaining and honestly don't have the time during the week to sit down and watch it anyways.  If the television is on, it is likely a kid show or somethng that my Trav wants to watch.  Even on the weekends, I find very little value in TV.  Most shows these days are ridiculous, unintelligent and stupid.  Except House Hunters, I love that show.  Most anything I would want to sit down and watch I can get on Netflix or the internet.  Ahhhh....the internet!!  I love it so.  I buy most everthing we need via the web.  I get my news on the web, the weather, keep in touch with my friends and family.   I can read articles and interviews at the click of a button, research recipes, do my banking and constantly shop real estate for our forever home.  I have the internet on my phone which I use all day long and I love, love, love that I can stream music at home, at work or wherever.  The internet is a must in my life.  

* I did not drink and enjoy beer until I turned 30!  For some reason during my 30th year of life the beer switch turned on for me.  Now that's not to say in high school I didn't hover by a keg at a party to drink Budweiser out of a solo cup in the hopes to get drunk but I didn't enjoy that beer.  I gagged that beer down at best.  Now... I love drinking beer with my man.  We enjoy breweries, especially micro breweries and sampling beers.  I tend to prefer pale ales but I also love specialty beers such as Blueberry Ale, Spruce Tip Ale, and my all time favorite Pumpkinhead from Shipyard Brewery in Portland Maine.   We have taken brewery tours throughout New England and stopped at breweries all along our route across country in 2012 when traveleing up to Alaska.  We are already starting to talk about the breweries we might try to hit up on our trip next summer.  

 

* I am a saver not a spender.  I have a thing about hoarding and saving money.  My Trav is a spender, loves to buy stuff and has a list a mile long of things he "wants" and "needs."  I on the other hand LOVE seeing the balance in our savings account go up.  I will go without much needed things just to put the money in saving.   I enjoy talking with our investment manager about the success of our accounts and will sacrifice in almost every category of living excpet food to put more money away.  Now thats not to say that I don't buy things for the kids, myself or my home when needed and Trav knows he can buy whatever he wants.  We still buy new clothes, our beer fridge is stocked and we take vacations but only after I put a sufficient amount of money aside for down the road.  I prefer to pay cash for things we need and always look for the best deal.  I want Trav and I to be able to retire early so if that means putting a little bit more aside now then so be it. 

* I believe in the power of Essential Oils.  I know this might sound totally random and weird but I do.  I have done quite a bit of research and education on this topic and feel like its a great addition to the lifestyle my family lives.  I obviously still believe in and respect the power of modern medicine.  My kids are vaccinated and we get flouride on our teeth at cleanings.  Oils are just a part of what I believe  assist us in living a well rounded, healthy lifestyle with the hope that we can avoid needed to even use more medication then we need.  We strive for healthy living via exercise, food and lifestyle.  Anything that can aid in that, I view as a bonus.  I put Lavendar and Vetiver on my kids each night at bed to help calm and relax them.  I use blended oils to balance stress and anxiety and use oils to release toxins and cleanse my system.  I obviously don't think oils are going to cure cancer.  I just know that humans, for thousands of year,  all over the world have belived in the value of plants for their medicinal, healing properties.  How can I not respect that!?!  If you interested, these are the oils that I use.  

* It was not until I was about 27 years old that I started really feeling comfortable in my own skin.  My marriage was strong, my babies were beautiful and I was living on a remote, isolated island spending about half of the year alone.  That was the year that I had to really dig deep inside of myself, find out who I was and what I was made of.  I went from working full time in lower 48, civilization to being a stay at home mom in what felt like total isolation, middle of no where.  I had a lot of personal struggles and found myself standing in the bathroom, door locked, looking at myself in the mirror wondering who the hell I was.  I came out on the other side a changed person.  Since then, even though there have been times I lacked confidence, felt inadequate and questioned myself I have never doubted who I was and my capabilities.

* I believe in FAMILY first.  There is nothing else that comes before them.  Friends are a close second but honestly, my family will always come first.  I have a loyalty to them that is unwavering.  When it does come to friends, I believe in quality over quantity.  I won't be friends with a person just for the sake of it.  If I doubt you, well we can be acquantences but we can't be friends.  Sorry, its pretty cut and dry but as I said on this blog, I don't have time for bullshit.

* Making school/work lunches for my family every day stresses me out.  To back fill you on this, my kids don't eat school lunch,  EVER!  My Trav does eat out or at the Galley and he doesn't come home for lunch...and this is where my whole food snobbiness comes into play.  I gag at the thought of them eating cafeteria food.  Furthermore, I worry about them being hungry and not having enough for snack or lunch.  So, I pack a lunch for the kids and Trav each day.  I try to give them variety while representing the major food groups and giving them enough.  The fact that I do this ever day annoys the shit out of me.  I wish I wasn't so neurotic about making lunches.  I hate standing in the kitchen trying to ponder what to give them, making sure its going to fit in their lunchboxes and that they will like it.  I wish I could just relax about lunches but I honestly can't.   Call me a control freak or overbearing but I can't not, not pack lunch.  Thank goodness school is out in 5 weeks, I will only have to make one lunch.

* My current position at work leaves me feeling jaded and seeing the worst in people most of the time.  Lets face it, people don't typically come to court or the Clerks office for good news.  On a daily basis myself and my coworkers see criminals, children in foster care, deliquents, civil lawsuits, traffic citations, domestic violence and anything in between.  I find myself constantly speechless, shaking my head or feeling stunned by members of society.  One thing I do know from all of the hours I spend meddling in case files is that my life is good, my husband is great and I am very lucky.  Some times we find validation in weird places.  I enjoy my job but it confirms that I came from good parents,  my kids are average happy go lucky little people and my husband is just so normal and wholesome that I can't get enough of him.  I really do get great satisfaction from my job even though it can be a struggle.

* I absolutely hate flying! I am terrified of the whole process of flying. It doesn't inhibit me from going places BUT I don't fly without my Trav and if any of my family is flying without me I am a mess until I know they have landed. I typically cry at some point during a flight and loose minutes off my life during takeoff and landing.  I have a bucket list of European destinations I hope to visit one day but the thought of being on a plane that long makes me feel sick. The fact my husband is in aviation does little to ease my mind at all.

Well...that about covers my first installment of "Little Things, Tidbits of Nothing Information" about me.

Recently....

Recently...

• I have been feeling really disappointed in people.  I have told my Trav many times over the past few weeks that I just can't seem to get over my feeling towards some people around me or in my life.  I typically try not to hang on to negativiety in life but lately I have had a hard time letting go.  I just don't understand people.  Where is their loyalty? Where is the decency?  What about being a hypocrite? What happened to being selfless?  How about knowing you can't always be right!?!  I have talked alot on this blog about having relationship standards and moral standards for myself.  Perhaps my emotions are a direct reflection.   I admit, I do tend to project my standards on to others but, I generally try not to be overly judgemental and definitely try not to be condescending towards others.   I guess I am just at a point in my life where I am reevaluating people and things that are going on.  I am learning more about others and myself, which is never a bad thing.  People are not always what they seem, people change and become something other then who you thought they were.  It is difficult to accept and at times makes me chest hurt but I can't control everything.  I need to let all this baggage go and start just being better at accepting who people are whether I approve or not.  I can't put all my standards on others and then be disappointed when they don't fill the shoes I expect them to.  Its not fair.  What I can do is recognize who people really are and evaluate how much I want them in my life.  

• I can tell that our love for this Coast Guard lifestyle is waining.  My Trav and I talk more now about our life after the service then our life in the service or our past in the service.  We look forward to taking back 100% control of our lives.  Trav is getting weary of his job and I can see the excitement and satisfaction that has always been there slowly fading away.  He has absolute love for the service and neither he nor I can say anything bad about the life it has given us.  We have been blessed beyond words by the Coast Guard.  I just know that there will never be 25 or 30 years of service for my Trav.  He acquired a degee while active and our dreams are starting to shift away from this life towards a life after retirement back in the civilian world.  He and I both know we have a good, stable thing going right now and luckily we have another 5 years to prepare but we feel more and more ready as the years click by.  We dream of owning a home, letting our kids settle down and establishing a long term life for ourselves.  I think this tour here in Sitka has opened Trav's eyes and mine about where the CG is headed and which direction we want to go.  Its time to put the wheels in motion for us to have a life after this and be successful on the outside.  

• Last weekend I spontaneously decided we needed to move furniture.  I get this itch every six months or so.  We don't have a lot of options in our current house for furniture placement but no matter how many times I move the furniture back and forth,  I swear it makes me feel so good.  I know nothing about Fung Shui or interior design but I love the feeling of a fresh vibe in my house.  It somehow makes it feel like a fresh start.  It just feels good!  Our house has great southern exposure and plenty of windows so we get great natural light and on a sunny day we get amazing light.  I keep a very clean, organized home.  My mom says I have OCD but chaos and clutter kills me.  I also have never loved our current rental.  It just has never felt like my home. This house has decent space for us but something has always been missing for me.  Its hard to explain but this is our 7th home together and this one just doesn't feel like my home.  Its definitely our "house" just doesn't feel as homey as some of our others have.   But....I love when I get to rearrange things.  Makes me fall in love with all my stuff again.  

• Tonight Trav and I went out to dinner for our anniversary.  Afterwards he drove me out to the end of the road to enjoy the evening light.  It was an absolutely gorgeous evening and we were the only people out there.  It was quiet, peaceful and as usual the Sitka Sound was stunning.  The evening light just glistened on the water.  I expressed to Trav mulitiple times how blessed we are to have the opportunity to live here.  There are few places on this earth that can compare to the wild, ruggedness of Alaska.  I could not have asked for a better evening to spend with my Trav.  

• I read an article the other day about when was an appropriate time to talk to your daughter about sex.  The consensus was roughly 8-9 years old.  Honestly, I was shocked!  I immediately questioned whether or not I needed to be having this conversation with my girl.  It had not even crossed my mind.  If she asks me any questions then I would definitely answer them but in my mind her knowledge of sexuality was still nonexitent.  She gives no indication that this is something being discussed at school around her or that she has any questions or interest.  Now, I'm not ignorant or burying my head into the sand here.  I know girls are having sex younger these days and I know that our children in general are exposed to things earlier.  My baby girl is still just that...a little girl!  I have a very honest, open relationship with her.  I hide nothing from her that is relevant.  I consider myself tuned in.  I just wanted to preserve her ability to be nieve and innocent for a bit longer.  I guess I need to start asking some questions, putting some feelers out there and making it known that I am available.  Am I even old enough myself to be having these conversations????  Lord give me guidance.  Why can't they just stay little forever???

• I made homemade donuts for the kids the other night.  I have made them before and they are heavenly.  I didn't have a lot of time to spend making them from scratch so I sort of cheated the other night but my kids said these were delicious.  It was a quick, easy recipe that I honestly felt guilty making but...a little bit of a cheat every once in a while is okay.
  

There is nothing healthy about these what so ever.  I used Pillsbury Flaky Biscuit dough which in itself is at the bottom of the health meter.  I did fry them in coconut oil which is bit healthier and gave them an added hit of flavor.  I don't typically put recipes on here much but if your looking for a fun, quick recipe that is easy for the kids to help you with, this one is it.  The recipe is here!  Enjoy

Easter and the truth....

We colored eggs on Saturday for Easter as many families did over the holiday weekend.  I must admit that I almost let this holiday slip past me.  I have been ignoring the Easter decorations that went up in the grocery store since way back in February.  I sort of pulled everything together on Saturday and luckily the kids didn't seem to notice.  We decorated eggs which our family has only been able to partake in for the past 3 years.  My baby girl was allergic to eggs up until she was about 7 years old so we never colored them.  Typically we always just left plastic eggs for the bunny to hide.  

This year was different though.  Travi is getting older, heading into his teenage years now and I know that some of the magic of these type of holidays are fading for him.  I have been hesitant to confirm who plays the role of the bunny even though I knew that he knew.  So...I made Trav have a good talk with him yesterday.  As usual Travi was mature and easy going about the whole thing.  He knows he has a responsibility to keep the traditions and secrets going for younger kids and his sister.  I hate to think that his eagerness will dissipate now that his suspicions have been confirmed, but in an attempt to keep things exciting we asked him to help us hide eggs after Taylor had gone to bed.  As I stood at the counter, with Travi, filling our plastic egss with goodies before we hid them I fought back tears.  Sometimes its hard to accept the change that comes with your children growing up.   Taylor still has the excitement and giddiness that comes with youthful anticipation.  In the next year or so I am sure she too will start to question the holidays.  My heart hurts to think of those years when they both know the truth and the magic is gone.  

I plan to always ask them to color eggs with me but I am holding on tight to these memories with them.  I honestly don't want to give up these years. They will be grown up soon and so...I boiled way to many eggs for us to tie dye.  We listened to music, made silly jokes, laughed, danced and colored our eggs.  

We don't get crazy when it comes to goodies for Easter.  We have always kept it very simple.  As well the kids no longer want baskets...we have plenty of those from previous years.  So we give them just enough to know they are loved and thought of.  

The weather give us a bit of a reprieve this morning.  The sun was shining and we were able to enjoy a beautiful morning walk after the kids enjoyed their Easter goodies and found all the eggs.  I am so thankful for these days when we can get out, feel the warm on our faces and spend time outside together.  

Happy Easter to everyone!

Love Without End

Today is my 14th wedding anniversary.  Its sounds so cliche but, these years have been so wonderful and the best of my life. My husband really is the most beautiful person I know on this earth.  By beautiful I don't mean physically, even though I enjoy looking at him....ALOT!  By beautiful I mean, he honestly is the most genuine, hardworking, humble, stable, down to earth, honorable person I have ever met.  He is my life and my everything. He has gifted me with two beautiful children, a life filled with adventure, constant companionship and unwavering support.  I can 100% be just plain ole' me and I know by the way he looks at me that there is 110% love in his eyes. When I wake up in the morning with no make-up on and a birds nest made of my hair on the top of my head,  he can still see past it enough to tell me I'm beautiful and that he is the lucky one.  

My marriage and all its little intricacies is a combination of love, respect and devotion that runs deep.  So deep that I can say without shame that I can easily loose sight of where I begin and he ends.  When I think about where we are, where we started and what's on the horizon for us I am filled with butterflies.  I love everything about us and I love that I get to spend my days with him enjoying his humor, his spirit and his gorgeousness.  

I know its sounds crazy but we don't fight, we don't yell and we don't hate.  It's never, ever been a part of our relationship.  We have always found a way to respect each other first and foremost.  We might disagree but we never show disrespect.  Our children have NEVER heard us scream or yell.  If we need to talk, we either shut a door or hop in the shower together.  That's the honest truth, we have solved world problems and tons of disagreements in the shower.  Our level of mutual respect is what has made our marriage what it is.  That alone,  is what I think sets us apart from others.  

Day by day and year by year, we continue to grow and morph.  Years ago, we definitely were two young kids who just loved each other.  Today we are a couple of 30 somethings who are just about one in the same.  I guess when you are with the same person long enough you either start to hate them, grow apart or start to just merge together.  Lucky for me its the later.   I have read many articles and blogs about the ebb and flow of marriage.  The ups and downs.  I feel like our marriage has an ebb and flow but honestly its all about us flowing down the same river of life.  We just really freaking like each other.   We rarely have our downs.  We love the same things more and more, we enjoy each other's friendship and we share so much commonality. 

Our time together since the ripe old age of 19 has made our relationship more then just a marriage, a friendship or a love. It is all of those things on a level that mirrors destiny.   I tell Trav all of the time that he is my "Bashert".  Bashert is a Yiddish word that means fate, soulmate or destiny.   I really do believe that every person on this earth has someone out there that is meant for them.  A person just has to be open to finding their mate and able to love and respect another more then themselves.

Travis is definitely my Bashert.  He was put here for me and I for him.  Its just simple fate and destiny...

It also helps that he loves beer, running, holding hands, kissing in public and vacations in Maui!

Cheers babe!  Here's to many, many more years of a whole lot of running trails, sampling beer, cooking dinners, raising great kids, watching House Hunters and just plain old fun.

Sea Glass on the Causeway....

The Causeway/Fort Rousseau is a stretch of land out in the Sitka Sound that is only accessible by boat or kayak.  It was used during WWII to protect the sound from any impending attacks by the Japanese.  In recent years a local organization has been trying to bring the area back to life and clean it up through the Alaska Trail Initiative Grant.  For me, aside from its abundant history which includes old bunkers and batteries it has a bounty of treasures.  Sea Glass!!  I have been trying to get over there for almost two years since I first heard rumors about the sea glass.  Typically the weather and the ocean swells can make it difficult to get there.  Our first boating trip of this year proved to be successful at getting over to the Causeway and hunting for my treasured glass.

Can I just tell you that I love searching for sea glass.  As a child, growing up in the Mojave Desert of southern California I had never heard of it.  It was not until my husband was stationed in Kodiak, Alaska some years ago that I discovered it along the beaches and started seeking it out and collecting it. Most recently, we searched for it in Maui, while on our vacation and were pleasantly surprised to find some gorgeous pieces there.  What can I say, I love everything that is involved in the process of sea glass.  It requires you to be by the ocean, hearing the sounds of the sea, feeling the subtle breeze,  smelling the salty air and looking through and over the gorgeous beaches and tidal flats for colored treasures.  Its something that any age can actively participate in and the gradification is the same no matter who is doing it.  It's simple and beautiful.  

Needless to say, the Causeway was a stunning place to enjoy a spring day, hike around and get a history lesson but... the sea glass was amazing.  It was abundant and beautiful.  We searched for only a couple of hours but is was such a great spot.

 Our view of Sitka as we came back into the harbor.  

The results of our day.....

If you have never looked for sea glass, this was like hitting the jackpot.

Spring in SE Alaska

Spring is arriving in SE Alaska. Winter is long up here and it's dark. Springs arrival is such a relief even though its not even close to what Spring in the lower 48 is like.  Here are signs that a SE Alaskan spring is coming...

•It's no longer dark at 3:30pm. Somehow in the span of what seems like a month it is now light outside until almost 8:30pm. How did we gain 5 hours it what seems like a flash.

•The bears are waking up and there are signs that they are making their way down the mountains and into town.  This also means your husband might come home with a Spring Bear Tag.  Mine did....

•The perpetual rain is no longer freezing to the ground adding more inches to the sheets of ice or snow. Now it just feels like it perpetually rains!!  In Mothers Nature's defense, when the sun does come out its stunning!

 Typical Spring Day...

•The traveling produce man arrives back on the island via the ferry.  We can now acquire produce every other week that hasn't been on a barge for three weeks and is brown or limp by the time we buy it. I love this produce man.  I wanted to hug him last weekend.  He also brings beautiful bouquets of flowers that are not already turning brown.   No where else would standing in the pouring rain to purchase fresh produce from the Lower 48 be so exciting and invigorating.

                  

•Your focus turns to prepping your life for the outdoors.  When you spend roughly 6 months inside you capitalize on the months you can be outside.  Fall and winter in SE Alaska are very unique.  Its dark, its stormy, there is almost constant precipitation and only a few hours of daylight.  So... now that there is an end in sight, we gear up and get ready to be outside, almost to the point of exhaustion.  We have fresh oil in the boat motors, purchased our fishing/hunting licenses and are ready to get a boat slip for the summer.  My Trav is planning to forge some summer trails up to the Alpine for hunting so he is gearing up for that as well.  We can transition to a different degree of jacket and put away the cramp-ons you may have had on your shoes.

•Just like any where else, the Crocus start blooming.

•The locals start talking about the King Salmon run.  Do those of you in the Lower 48 know what the is??


•After months of winter storms we can head to the beaches in search of my favorite beach find.  I LOVE searching for sea glass and in my opinion the Spring is the best time to hunt.  The beaches have been vacant for months, the storms and sea has churned up the rocky and sandy beaches and deposited these treasures.  By summers end, sea glass is difficult to find.  In spring, if you can handle the bitterly cold water, sea glass is ample.

                     

•The city is sweeping the streets of all the rocks and sand they dropped all winter.  They are planting flowers down on the main streets.  They are readying the parks and store fronts for the summer tourists who will start arriving next month with the cruise ships.  Resturants are opening back up and those that stayed open are extending their hours.  Yes....this little town is coming back to life!!



•It's wedding season, even in Sitka.  We attended a spring, woodland wedding that made me feel so warm and fuzzy inside.  It was beautiful and stunning.  It turned out to be a gorgeous day for such a wonderful event.

My boys went with the "Sitka Casual" look for the wedding.

Now to convince Mother Nature to give us a relatively sunny, dry, almost warm Spring and Summer.  

Things I know...

~I know that currently I am wishing I was still on vacation.  Real life isn't as fun!!!  Who invented the idea of jobs, a 5 day work week, school and parental responsibilities that go beyond applying sunscreen and handing out food.  I want to sit on my butt, get a tan and try to ignore my kids splashing around in the pool.  I don't want my Trav or I to have to work anymore so I'm focusing on how we can become independently wealthy or live a simple life on barely anything, yet still take vacations.

~I know that I want new work clothes and I have to internet shop for them.  I am horrible at internet shopping right now and have no idea where the rest of the world buys their clothes from.  I search around different stores online and can not find anything.  Where are people buying all these cute clothes I see them wearing?  How does anyone who obsessively pins outfits on pinterest actually find the clothes they keep pinning. Shopping is supposed to be fun, not a pain in the butt.

They make this look so easy to acquire and throw together.

~I know that my 14th wedding anniversary is coming up in a couple of weeks.  I love that man of mine without a doubt.  He was the best decision I ever made.  I also know that many, many people including some in my family doubted our abilities to make it in the big ole' real world.  I am aware that there were discussions behind our backs years ago about our age, how long we would last, would I survive the military life and would my Trav turn out to be a total flop.  I am happy to say I know we have proven them all wrong.  I knew there were skeptics but what I knew even more was that Travis was and is a good man and that is all I needed then and need now. 

~I know that my dad bought my son the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition from the grocery store while we were in Maui.  The last few nights that I have gone upstairs to say goodnight he is in bed reading/staring at the magazine.  He tells me he is reading the articles but then tells me that Kate Upton is his newest "Women Crush Wednesday."  Its only Sunday....

~I know that I am mentally gearing up for our last summer in Sitka and the "shopping list" that will follow at the end of summer.  We will definitely analyze, review, stress over and eventually submit a list of, fingers crossed decent options for our next move.  This years list will likely have the biggest impact as of yet on our family now that the kids are getting older and Travi will be entering high school at our next unit.  Not to mention Trav will only have 5 years left after we are tour complete here and we would love to settled down somewhere and stay a while.  

~I know that my son is about to turn 12 years old and thinks he has the knowledge and life skills of a 35 year old.  He is a professional when it comes to defending himself and currently his work ethic is in the toilet.  Apparently doing the bare minimum to get by is the hottest trend.  I'm about to put our computer and all other electronics in the driveway and run them over.  If I have to hear another word about whatever apps. are entertaining him, I'm going to scream.   I love that kid with every fiber of my being but it is very frustrating to be staring into his eyes, giving him a lecture on responsibility and know that in his mind he thinks I'm a total idiot.  Just a note to all you parents of small, adorable babies and toddlers....the older they get the dumber you get!!  At least that's what your kids will be thinking.  

~I know that this past week was Opening Day for MLB.  The World Series Champs are back at it and Trav and I are looking forward to seeing the Soxs on the field.  

~I know that even though I have griped lately about being in Sitka, this place is a blessing and an opportunity.  While Taylor caught up on her social life after vacation, me and my boys headed down to the local marina where Herring were spawning.  Herring is a bait fish that comes to Sitka Sound for only a couple of weeks each spring.  It is used to troll for King Salmon and catch Halibut.  Its expensive to purchase so to have the opportunity to catch it on our own is wonderful.  We spent about an hour on the rocks with dip nets and rigs catching them.  We then process them into bags and freeze them for use as needed.  Now, a bit of local history.  The Tlinqit and Haida tribes here in Southeast Alaska have used the Herring for subsistence for centuries.  They lay spruce bows into the ocean and allow the Herring eggs to stick to the bows.  They then dry the eggs to eat.  All over the rocks and shorelines of the sound these eggs can be found.  Eventually they will settle into the oceans bottom and hatch for future generations of Herring.  The life cycle in Alaska is unbelievable.  

Herring Eggs on the beach after the spawn

~I know that the older I get the more I see people.  Not as in seeing how they look but seeing who a person is on the inside.  I am getting better at judging character and getting better at deciding who I really want to invest my time in.  There really is no sense in trying to be casually friendly or fake to someone who I see as shallow, exclusive and pompous.  If your a waste of my time then you are just that...a waste of time.  I don't have the luxury right now of giving quality time to someone who does not deserve it.  Our lifestyle requires me to say "goodbye" ALOT.  I realize more and more that time truly flies and its gone in the blink of an eye.  I am choosing to invest my time wisely with those who show that they have the same character standards that I hold myself to.   That's not to say that I can't be casually friendly to anyone, I absolutely can and will.   What I'm saying is...if I can see right through you and I know you a superficial person, well you can stop smiling at me because I'm not giving you the time of day.