OK, so what a weekend! Last night I went to a girls only Twilight party at a friend's house. Now, my idea of a "Twilight Party" would be for people to come over, bring food, and watch the movie. Yeah...THEIR idea is much different, and much, Much, MUCH better! We had "Twilight Jeopardy" with "Team Edward" and "Team Jacob". Then they had a contest to see who brought the refreshment that had the most relation to the movie. People got pretty dang creative, too! One girl brought candied apples, and she put "pearl dust" in the candy to created the glittering effect of Edward's skin. Another one brought a black forest dessert, and she put whipped cream all over the top. She said it was "Black Forest with the full moon because they ran through the black forest under the full moon". Another one brought little pizzas with "bites" taken out of them, because Edward took a bite of Bella's pizza. They also had a drink with cranberry juice in it for the blood. AND, they had candles burning with "blood" dripping down the sides, quotes from the book all over the house, pictures of scenes from the movie everywhere, and the movie poster with Bella's face cut out. We all posed as Bella, so there is a picture of me in Edward's arms somewhere. OH, and when we left they gave each of us the soundtrack, and a bandaid to cover our cuts due to the vampires. It was sooooooooo much fun, and FABULOUS!!!!! Today Mt. Redoubt erupted...AGAIN, only this time the ash did in fact fall on Anchorage. So I have volcanic ash in my yard, on my car, etc. Apparently it's good for the garden and soil, so we'll see how it does this summer. The ash is REALLY fine, and we can't use our windshield wipers or it will scratch our windshields like crazy. Anyway, it's my very first volcanic ashfall, so I'm kind-of weirded out by the whole thing. People keep talking about how it "destroys" your car engine, and it kills all electronics. We'll see! A friend of mine sent a picture of Mt. Redoubt erupting earlier this week (it's been erupting for a whole week now), so I thought I'd share it with everyone. It is sooooooooooo cool! The "experts" say we can expect this pattern of "slumber and erupt" for a few months. This could prove to be a pretty long summer! As long as my mom can make it up here, it will be fine! They've closed the airport several times this week due to the ash in the air, and today there are absolutely NO planes of any size in the air. It's sooooooooo quiet! Well, I'll keep everyone updated!

Good grief!!! I can't believe how fast time goes! My sister always has to remind me to write on my blog. Sorry! Anyway, tons of fun up here in the great white north! We have Mount Redoubt that keeps erupting. The volcanos up here don't spew lava and stuff, just ash. Now the problem with the ash is that it's pretty dang abrasive, really fine, and magnetic. So every day before I go home from work, I have to cover all of our computers and equipment with plastic. PAIN IN THE REAR!!! It takes so much time. And then to go in the next morning to take it all off and fold it up. Over and over again. OYE! It can also destroy the engine in your car if it gets in there, as well as the vents in your house. I have NO idea how to protect everything! So I just keep praying for the wind to take it AWAY from Anchorage. So far, so good! Anyway, we keep getting warmer temperatures, and then it freezes on us. It's "The Big Lie". We think winter is over, and then WHAMO!! snow storms galore! Last year we got 2 feet of snow the last weekend of April. I REALLY hope that doesn't happen again! I was in such a bad mood that WHOLE day! I decided to change cell phone providers, and with that came a new phone. So I got one that takes pictures. I took a picture of Brenna and everytime I show her my phone, she won't let it go. Tonight I showed her, and she showed her mom. Then she showed her big sister, Lilli. When I took it from Lilli, Brenna started crying. Sheesh! You'd think it was HER phone or something! Anyway, it makes me laugh!!! She is getting some serious attitude. She's only 1, but today she she told her mom "NO!" and hit her mom's hand. Yeah...she got in some trouble! In fact, I think we call her "Trouble" more than we call her "Brenna". She is pretty dang cute, but STUBBORN!!!! Ha, ha! I knew we had it too easy with Lilli!!! I told Lilli that my new song for her is "Mama Mia". But instead of "Mama Mia" I sing "Lillianna". So she starts singing "Analee" and "Brenna Brenna". It's so much fun! I am truly blessed to be surrounded by such great people. If I can't have my family around me, then great friends are necessary. And I've got some GREAT ones!

OK, so it's been a while since my last post. I actually forgot about my blog, and my sister emailed me and asked if I was ever going to post again. So here it is. I'm still working a TON of overtime, but that will change with the new year. We're still not hiring a nurse, but I have discovered that I am a very unhappy person when I work so much. So one of my New Year's resolutions is to cut back my overtime. I'm pretty excited about it, actually. I was blessed to have a lot of time off over Christmas and New Years, and I was able to rediscover my hobbies. So I'm going to try to keep up on them. I was released as the 2nd counselor in the Young Women's in my ward, and called to be 1st counselor. I was sooooooooo excited since a couple of my Beehives were turning 14 in the next couple months. So now I get to work with them again. One of them is very excited, and the other one keeps going "Oh, no!" I told them that some day they will have their own Young Women to torture, and I expected them to do a good job. They said they're learning from the best. I don't think they could have paid me a better compliment, to tell the truth. The weather up here has been painfully cold. It has been minus 20 for over a week now. We had a beautiful snow storm on Christmas, and 2 days later the temperature DROPPED!!!! I'm posting some pictures so you can see what it looks like up here at minus 20. The snow does NOT crunch under your feet, it squeaks and sound like nails on a chalkboard. So, as if the cold isn't enough to give you goosebumps, the squeaking snow will do it. The icicles on my house have a ton of frost on them, and there are people in my ward that can't get their cars started. Their gas lines are frozen, and their cars need to thaw. My car is the best car EVER and hasn't given me that kind of problem. It may complain about starting after work every day, but it does start. I keep my car plugged in at night. I bought a block heater a couple of years ago to keep the engine block warm. It's been a lifesaver! Or a car saver as the case may be :). Thankfully, though, it's supposed to warm up over the course of the week. It already has, actually. As I was taking my garbage out I noticed that it felt warmer that this morning. So I looked at the thermometer in my carport, and it said minus 10 instead of minus 20. It's amazing how much warmer 10 degrees feels!!!! Christmas was fabulous, although I miss my family a lot. I found out my oldest brother is moving to Kansas. Sometimes I think I should move back to the "Lower 48" so that I can see my family easier. But I love it up here, and I still feel like this is where I'm supposed to be right now. However, sometimes I feel like I will be moving back some day. Who knows? Weirder things have happened! Until then, I'm trying my hardest to stay warm! March 2009 marks 11 years living in Alaska. Sometimes it seems like the time has flown by, and it can't have been that long. Other times it feels like a lifetime. My mom gets to come up for 3 weeks this summer, and I'm soooooooo excited! I LOVE it when people come see me. It allows me to see Alaska, too. I'm usually so busy working and working on my house that I don't take time to travel around this beautiful state. I love planning my visitors' trip so I can do a lot of fun things, too. I'm looking forward to this summer. I'm really hoping for better weather than last year! I feel like I need to thaw! Well, that brings me up to date, I believe. Work is busy...still, but what can I do? My calling still keeps me busy, but that's a good thing! I've really grown to love the Young Women in my ward. They are an amazing bunch. If we can just get above zero, life will almost be perfect!