Just Desserts

 Just Desserts is a local fundraising event where people donate desserts to be sold by the slice, sold whole, and auctioned at silent and live auctions.  It is also a live concert.  Various local talent perform on stage.  They sing and dance and do comedy acts.  This has traditionally been one of our favorite events to go to every year.

 A whole big group of us get together and get a big table and all sit together and share our desserts.  Everybody gets to try everything!  This year, we celebrated a couple of birthdays while we were there. I went early and decorated the table with balloons and wrapping paper.

 It was a good time.  The musical numbers vary in their greatness, but we have fun through the good acts and the bad.  This year they were mostly good.

 The money that is raised goes to the BRHS Passport Club which is travelling to Germany this summer.    I always try to donate something.  This year I made a hummingbird cake with painted frosting.  It was easy to make the cake and frosting, but then actually frosting the thing was a little more difficult.  It took a ton of frosting to get it covered and I ended up making a second batch.

 Painting the frosting was alot of fun and something I'd definitely like to do again sometime.  It turned out beautiful.  My cake sold for $55 which realistically is not much more than it cost to make it here in Bethel.

Filling the Freezer

This year is the first year ever that I dont have any salmon put up in the freezer.  I was really stressing over how we were going to be able to afford to fill the freezer this winter with all that empty space.  One of my friends put our names on the moose call list.  Basically if someone has moose that needs to be claimed, they call you and you have to come get it right away.  My friend doesnt have a car so we agreed to split the meat if I would be the driver.  We got the call one evening and went straight out to get it.  The meat was from some Lower 48 hunters who got a big bull moose, but couldnt take all the meat back home with them.  They gave us two big 50 pound bags of meat.  I took one and my friend took the other.  After two days of processing it, I ended up with a freezer full of clean, processed, packaged meat ready to go for the winter.  What a major stress reliever!!!

Blood Drive

For the last two years, my Medical Terminology class has participated in the Blood Drive in Bethel.  These are also the first years that there has even been a blood drive in Bethel because the logistics of having a blood drive in a remote place like this is pretty difficult.  I always like to get to donate because I have A- blood.  Anything - is pretty high need for transfusions and such.  I really like to have the opportunity to provide this experience to my students.  I hope the sense of giving back to the community with stick with them throughout adulthood.

Movin'

When you live in a place where materials are expensive and hard to come by, recycling becomes important.  Building and houses are often moved from one location to another.  In fact, just a few days ago I saw an ad for a house for sale for a really decent price, but it turned out that the price was so good because you had to move it off of the lot so you were only buying the house and not the land with it.  

There arent very many other things to do so following a moving building down the road may be the most interesting thing that happens in awhile.  There was a long line of kids hanging around the building watching its slow progression through the busiest part of town during the busiest part of the day.  There were cars cutting through the grocery store parking lot to get around it.  Interesting thing to see and a small reminder of what an interesting place this is to live.

Number 16: Read a Stephen Kind novel

It took about 6 weeks, but I was finally able to finish reading The Stand by Stephen King.  I asked many people for suggestions on which Stephen King book I should read and there were many people who suggested The Stand.  I really enjoyed reading the book and thought that King's writing style was very interesting.  It was a very long novel, but very engaging.  Some people would say that the book was slow and that it did not have very much action.  The foundation of the book definitely focuses on character development and the action happens subtly between the characters.  There really is no major, outright action.  The action is based on the interactions between characters and the core struggle of every human being to decide where they STAND.

First CC Medal

 Avery has been running cross country this year.  It's his new found passion.  He likes to run. 

 The Bethel invitational is held in the sand pit and is known to be the hardest course in the region. 

 Avery ran hard and held fifth place for almost the entire race, the in the last 100 yards, he put the kid in front of him in his sights.  

 He kicked it into high gear and passed him right before crossing the finish line.   It was the most exciting finish of the whole race.  Even though I only had about half of my voice, I still did alot of yelling and screaming.  I might not even have a voice left tomorrow. 

 Overall, he came in 4th place in the tournament and will be travelling to the regional competition next weekend in King Salmon.

It was his first CC medal and I'm so proud of him.  He pushed himself hard and his hard work paid off. 

A little dog visitor

My most recent foster dog was a friendly and cute Beagle mix.  Unfortunately, this is the first foster dog that I havent been able to find a home for and we ended up sending him in to Anchorage for placement there.  I've really enjoyed helping with the Bethel Friends of Canines when I can!  There are so many less dogs on the streets of Bethel.  It's wonderful!

God's gift to cinnamon rolls

Last year for my birthday, my friend gave me some real vanilla extract that she had made.  That day was the day that I learned what I'd been missing by buying the fake stuff.  I'll never be able to go back to the fake stuff again.  That was the day my homemade sourdough cinnamon rolls got the frosting they deserved.  And who knew that making your own vanilla extract was so easy and inexpensive?  This fall my friend gave me a jar of cinnamon extract, but I couldnt wait to have some more REAL vanilla so I gave making it a shot.  All it takes is 6 vanilla beans for every cup of vodka, a cool dark place, and about 6 months.

My Puppy

I've really been enjoying being home with my puppy.  He's such a good dog!  I was expecting to come home to this big, over grown dog, but he's really not that much bigger than when I left.  He's such a funny puppy.  He bounces up and down when he wants food.  He throws his squeaky toys around the living room and pounces on them.  He's great for cuddling up with on the couch for a movie.  He thinks he fits in a little dog bed, but he really doesnt.  He's a funny dog.

Home.

 Home is where you can dress up as a superhero and play golf in a gigantic sandpit just for fun.  

And no one will judge you.

In fact, they'll join you.