Juicing, Walks and Interviews....

~So this coming week my Trav and I will be doing a juice cleanse.  We started doing these cleanses back in late 2011 when we purchased our juicer.  We enjoy juicing but have not done it as religiously here in Sitka because of the limitations and price of available produce on the island. We have a Breville juicer that has been really good to us and is calling our names once again.  After a great summer of drinking, eating and being merry with friends, family and the kids we feel like its time to purge our systems of toxins and impurities and restart our daily diets. Sooooo....that means we will be juicing all of our meals this week. 

I am not going to lie, I don't enjoy doing cleanses.  I miss cheese, I miss breads, I miss my glass of beer/wine and I miss chewing my meals but I also know I feel better after a good cleanse.

Juicing has amazing health benefits and even if a cleanse is not something your interested in, having a jucie to replace a meal is a healthy option.  Over the years we have juiced just about every piece of fruit and vegetable we can possibly find.  These are a couple of our favorite juices that I will be making this week.

GREEN MACHINE:                         TOXIN KILLER:                    GREEN REBOOT:
2 carrots                                              3 green apples                          1 bunch of Kale
1 cucumber                                         1 stick of celery                        1/2 lemon
handful of parsley                               1/2 cucumber                           2 green apples
1/2 bunch of spinach                          1/2 bunch of spinach                2 carrots
Kale                                                    1 handful lettuce                      wedge of ginger
celery
Juice of a lime

Other things we will be juicing this week not mentioned above will be blueberries, oranges, nectarines, fuji apples, bell peppers and cilantro.  I also ALWAYS put a small amount of pure coconut milk into each juice we make.  So here's to healthy living and getting rid of the excess and leftovers of the last two months.  


~The kids and I took a walk today in a local National Historic Park here in Sitka.  It is a beautiful place that I love to walk and run in.  Today I noticed that the ground cover on the forest floor is starting to turn yellow.  I noticed that some of the leaves on the Huckleberry bushes are starting to change color.  I pointed the color changes out to the kids and told them that it is just another sign that our summer is winding down and that before to long our season will change.  Fall and the impending winter will be here before we know it.  Just as when the wild Fireweed is in full bloom and the salmon return to our local rivers, all things are beginning to point to fall.  Nonetheless, it was a gorgeous walk, the rain held at bay, we enjoyed a mild afternoon and I could not help but take a few pictures with my iphone.

                

                              

                                 

                              

The area was full of tourist today who were inspired and in awe of the park.  I had the opportunity to talk to a family on vacation here from Kansas City and I answered a few questions about the Tongass Nat. Forest, Sitka and living here in general.  We covered everything from life in rural Alaska, fishing, subsistence hunting, the weather and berry picking.  I love how fascinated people are by our lives here.  

I really do love the summers here!  I love the mild, clean, misty air.  I enjoy the hustle and bustle that our little town comes alive with when tourists are here.  All the stores are open, the kids are free to come and go with few worries and we can move about so much more then in the darker, winter months.  I am a mixed bag right now on how I feel about summer ending.  I LOVE the fall, its my absolute favorite but summer is when we feel most free here and its definitely hard to wrap my mind around the fact that very soon it will be gone.  


~Today I am interviewing for a new position within the court system.  An opportunity has come up that my Trav and I feel like is to good to pass over.  I love working for the Alaska Court System, I enjoy my coworkers, I LOVE the pay and the job keeps me sane in the winter months.  I absolutely love my current part time status.  For the past two years my position has allowed me to meet people, make friends, earn extra money yet still be available to the kids whenever necessary.  This new position will be more demanding but I feel like our family is in a place that we will be comfortable once the adjustment phase is over.  The kids are getting older and their needs and demands are different.  Trav's work schedule will be changing this fall and I am optimistic that he will be able to help me a bit more then he has in the past two years.  So, tomorrow I will interview for a full time position that comes with a significant pay increase and a promotion.  I am very optimistic.  I am constantly thinking about our life after the service and I am constantly thinking about my marketability in the workforce.  I need to be as hireable as I can be when our time in Sitka is over and in general.  I need to be able to help support our family if necessary when Trav retires.  I feel like this position will be significant on my resume and therefore it is to good to pass up.  Wish me luck!!

I am raising my glass of Green Machine to cheers what I hope will be a great week! 

Family and Another Alaska Post....

First things first....my cousin Heather and her boyfriend Jonathan just left after spending a week with us.  To back fill this story, we knew John from our tours in Astoria and here in Sitka, we thought John was perfect for Heather, Heather lives in San Francisco, John transferred to San Francisco, we swapped around some phone numbers, love ensued and they came back up here to introduce Heather to Alaska and see us.

It was a wonderful visit.  We enjoyed having them so much.  We camped at a cabin in the Tongass National Forest, we consumed camp food, they introduced Trav to high-end delicious "Box Wine" and we laughed alot.

I am pretty sure Heather was speechless at times as she attempted to take in her surroundings and allow Alaska to enter her soul.  It is very hard to put into words or describe this kind of beauty.  I looked to see Heather many times standing alone, very still, trying to take in this raw, wild place.  You truly need all of your senses to understand how powerful this place can be.  Pictures will not do it justice.  You need to smell the air, feel the breeze on your face, hear the sounds of the ocean lapping up on the shore and the trees moving with the wind.  I know she understands now how magical being here can be.  Alaska is always a love hate relationship for us but there is never one second that we are not thankful that we are here, my family is here, my children have been shaped by life here and we have this opportunity again to let Mother Nature touch us at our core.  Heather now is someone in our family who can understand and appreciate that feeling.   I am glad she was here with us and the man she loves to spend this time together.

  

My birthday...

Ten years ago on my 26th birthday I cried. I didn't want to get older and aside from a wonderful husband, a gorgeous toddler and a daughter growing in my belly I didn't know who I was or what I was doing. I was at a crossroads, trying to find my way as a women while being a wife, mother, daughter and friend. 

Today as I turn 36 years old there are no tears. I am full of life, happy with who I have evolved into and proud of the path I put myself on after I turned 26. This last decade has been the best of my life!!  

For me, birthdays are not about gifts,  facebook well wished (although I appreciate them)  or drinking myself silly. Birthdays are about reflecting on another year, evaluating what I have accomplished, what I have learned, things I will do differently and spending time with good people who love me. 

Today I did just that!  My family sang to me and sent love my way via the phone and in cards.  My husband kept things simple but with great quality and the friends I have helped me celebrate.  

Thank you... You each know who you are, including the ones not pictured.

                            

                              

                              

These iphone photos are not the best quality but they are all that I have.  

***Only in Alaska would it be July 12th and we are all wearing jackets while celebrating.  

The What Nots of Lately...

* When we left my parents house last week we headed around the Olympic Peninsula and over to the Puget Sound.  Its a gorgeous area! We LOVE the Northwest.   Trav was stationed in Port Angeles, WA fourteen years ago aboard the CGC Active.  He never actually lived there though.  He was underway or in dry dock the entire 7 months that I was there alone.  We stopped to check out the area as a potential place to try and return on Coast Guard orders.  It is in close proximity to my parents new house which makes it all the more enticing.  Fact is though, we just didn't love Port Angeles.  I didn't get the warm and fuzzy feelings I was hoping for.  That's not to say that we would not want to go back there, like I said it is close to my parents but we just do not see ourselves living there forever.  This leads me to the almighty questions of...Where the hell are we going to end up?  We only see ourselves doing the Coast Guard thing until Trav is retirment eligible which gives us 5 1/2 years to figure out what the hell we are doing.  The kids are older and I constantly ponder their high school years.  I am tired of moving.  I just want "forever" to fall into my lap so that I can know what is waiting for us.  We spend countless hours mulling over where we should try to get stationed. Asking questions like,... What will happen if Trav promotes again and our rotation gets messed up?  Should we just attempt to stay in Sitka for another year? What if Trav has to leave us and become a geographical bachelor?  What if we have to move before Travi's senior year?  Can I get a physic reading or look into a crystal ball so I can stop pondering all this crap?  Moving on...

* This kids have been down south with my parents for a week now.  That means for the last seven days we have been childless.  The house is quiet, the house is always clean, the television rarely gets turned on, dinners are simple and we drink wine in excess.  We crawl into bed early, lips numb from the wine, attempt to read books in silence and have conversations void of interruptions.  Its very bizarre to be in the house alone with no kids.  It feels foreign and something is definitely missing and different.  When we FaceTime with the kids, I swear Travi has aged ten years and I am able to imagine his facial features as a grown man.  Taylor's hair has definitely grown at least two inches since last weekend when I said goodbye to her.  The will be home in 8 days.  I plan to enjoy this next week with my man but I am looking forward to hugging those kids.  

* I had to wear a sweater and a rain jacket to the 4th of July parade down in town.  There is just something about having to dawn jackets on this holiday that seems nuts.  I invision swimming pools, flip flops, beach parties, BBQ's, margaritas and sweaty armpits on the 4th of July.  I dawned wool socks too! We did get together with our good friends  and enjoy each other.  I LOVE celebrating this day.  I love this country and being patriotic! I love flying our colors proudly!  I love that my husband is part of the 1% of the population that serves his country and I love the freedoms that we enjoy!

* I found my way to a Target while down south. Its been 2 years since I stepped though those doors.   I dropped $400 on toiletries, hand soaps, detergents, mini stacking bowls, kitchen gadgets and dishtowels.  The absolute variety and endless options was slightly overwhelming but I swear I felt a euphoric rush come over me 10 minutes into my two hour shopping limit.  I am so proud of my goregous new dishtowels and the new soap scents I picked up.  Seriously, its the small things like that which mean the most when you live remote.  My only wish is that I could return to that store around the holidays to see all the aisles full of festive stuff and hear Christmas music playing over the loud speaker.

* I am currently reading this book.  I have to finish it before the kids come home so that I can attempt to watch the movie in peace and quiet.  Trav WILL watch it will me!  So far the book has been good.  Honestly, I am not sure I can hate a movie that has both Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin, but who knows.  I do not typically watch "chick flicks" but this book was on the list "16 Books To Read Before They Hit Theartres".  I have read 7 of the books on the list.    If your interested in other books on that list click HERE!

* I absolutely love three day weekends!!  Who doesn't!?!  After celebrating the holiday we went out on the boat with friends as well as did quite a bit of hiking.  Three day weekends almost make me feel like I am getting a vacation.  To bad we can not adopt the regulated 4 day work week like the Europeans have done!

MJ and I ready to hit the trail after our concierge canoe service from the boat!

* Lastly,  I am turning 36 years old in a week.  I don't feel 36 years old at all.  When I was a teenager, people who were 36 seemed old.   I consider people who have children the same age as mine to be old.  I feel much younger then they look though.  I don't feel old at all.  I am enjoying the best years of my life right now.  I feel confident, smart, strong and I honestly feel like I know my purpose and role in this life.  My husband makes me feel beautiful and my children keep me young at heart.  I am physically the strongest I have ever been.  I know that if I continue to surround myself with healthy, quality people I will continue to live this way.  With time comes experience, with experience comes knowledge.  I am looking forward to experiencing another year and aquiring the knowledge that helps me to become a better person.  Cheers to you all!!!