Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone is having a fabulous Holiday Season!

Yesterday I stayed over with the Cavan's and it was great! Albert was checking on Santa's location about every 30 seconds. Once he was in Oregon, Albert was off like a shot and in bed. (Normally, he fights it and finds every excuse to stay up.....it was so cute!) He was so excited...this morning, he ran in and was wide-eyed with awe. Both Thomas and Albert were great to watch opening their gifts!

We actually had Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve and it was both very yummy and very nice. Sylvia's Mom is visiting, a surprise for the boys, and she made rolls that reminded me of Sarah's. For a minute I was home at Mom's and 14 again ;)

This week, I got to to play Chrsitams Carols in a small winds group. It was a lot of fun. We played twice at the grocery store and then did for Christmas Eve. A couple of the high school students joined us. We even got gold coins (chocolate) from Father Christmas.

I hope you all have a fabulous Holiday Season!!

Schools Out!!! (Almost...hehehe)

I am so excited I can't sleep.....oh, we are going to have a planning meeting for choir for fundraisers. We are going to make cheeseboats!!! I am so excited.

Today we caroled through the halls for choir....I had to laugh. It is a 15 min "normal person" walk. We did it in 7. It was great. Tomorrow is the t'ninkling performance and it will be amazing to see all 130 kids together. (Today the teachers learned our dance. It was quite and interesting experience even the admin participated....Needless to say, the music teachers caught on really quick. Eventually everyone had enough of a grasp on it to be prepared for tomorrow.)

Weather report....warm and rainy. (In the 40's hehehehe)

Eternal Humor

So, last week I was called in to talk to one of the members of the Bishopric. They started into a full blown interview (so I got nervous) then he extended the calling of second counselor in the Primary Presidency. (I laughed) He waited. I accepted and then got really excited. He let me know the change would happen in January. Today I woke up feeling like I had been hit by a truck. I did make it in for ward choir practice (Christmas performance is next week and we have only met twice.) As I greeted members of the choir they congratulated me....the change had been made today.

I am honestly excited about it. We have a lot of great kids in this area and I am glad to be working with them. The President and I are a lot a like, fortunately the first counselor is also a strong one that can distill and direct our excitements and strong wills in the correct manner. As always, there us a lot of work and it scares me to think of that level of responsibility to help teach and train those who were more valient than I. It is all vary exciting...Anne get ready for a lt of phone calls (I am over music)

Facebook is the place to stay connected!!

So I checked out facebook for the first time today....ya I know... Oh my gosh! Everyone is on there. The school actually encourages the teachers to have a facebook account and doesn't block it on the school server. (My space, not so lucky.) It was really cool to see some people from a lifetime ago. It was way fun to see who was on and where they are.

So, the snow is gone. It has been in the fourties for the last few days. We've had cloud cover, but no rain so there were a couple of days that I didn't bother with a coat or even a jacket...(I can hear Mom gasping now....yep, there was my entire name escaping her lips....wonder when I'll get a phone call.) The wind has been pretty uptempo which has cut off a lot of phone calls....ya, that's the story I'm going with...the wind. ;) Today brought a bit of sleet and tonight it is clearer so there will be lovely ice tomorrow...so much fun!!! Hopefully we will be able to see the Aurora Borealis (northern lights) this season.
K, enough with the weather. Had our Holiday Concert last Tuesday and It went really well... My band and choir both went well and our actor was fabulous. We had a song called The Chritmas Present and we had one of the 6th grade choir kids unwrap gifts with the vocal cues...one of the gifts was my empty Wii box. When he unwrapped it you could hear the kids in the audience ohh and ahh, it was great. Both groups are growing and I am excited for their progress.

The last day of school for the calendar year includes dancing performances for the kids that they learned during pe. the 7th and 8th grade students are doing line dancing and the pe teacher in the 6th grade was informed he had to come up with something different. So, we're tininkling. It is fabulous!! (6th grade pe only meets every other day when the 7th and 9th have it every day.) We decided to combine forces (poor kids) so the kids go during their general music slot from Wednesday on. I am so excited about this. (We are using a Bob Marley Christmas song.)

Talked to Clint this week a couple of times...he finally got a phone for his birthday. (An envy.) Today the phone called me all on it's own...smart phone. Reece really sounds like he is growing up, I can't wait to get pictures...hint, hint. I am sad to miss Clint's first time passing the sacrament, I can't believe how much both Reece and Clint are growing up.

Back Friday....Alaska Style!!

Black Friday was amazing on so many levels!! It was our huge open house, so I ended up staying late Thursday, finishing that up. The report I had on Wal-Mart was so packed and everything was gone in about an hour. (There were no towels left by 5:10 am.....I don't think anyone does a sale like islanders!!!) Forget the electronics department it was nuts! Fortunately no one brought any children that weren't old enought to fend for themselves. No, I didn't brave it. Why? Amazon.com had the same deals and free shipping....hehehe

I did go to Mack's sporting goods and it was great!! It was so packed and the lady had a hard time unlocking one of the entrance doors. People were not happy but patient. I got socks and a hat that is kinda like Sarah's. It is so warm and fun and the whole rack was gone in less than 10 minutes! I cannot tell you how much I love my socks!! They were all wool and one is called smart wool. (One of my collegues told me how great they are and they are so right!!!) I almost didn't get a pair. They are kind pricey but they are so great. They are thin in texture but are so warm and have so much support!!!

I also went to the True Value and spent $10!! I got a tool set, nails and a heavy duty Flashlight.... I was so excited! Yes, I didn't splurge and in no way can I compete with Beth, but I was proud of myself and it was great to be a part of it. Next year I will brave Wal-Mart or maybe even fly into Anchorage (they have a mall there.....crazy stuff!!)

Driving around was amazing, so many people were out!! That has been the most traffic I have seen since I got here. I was told that the Day after Thanksgiving is much bigger here than the day after Christmas since that sale doesn't happen until January because the Russian Orthodox Christmas is in the first part of January.

It had been raining all day but the snow was so thick that it left everything very icy. It was great walking down the road to the stores at 5:30 in the morning after parking a couple blocks away. We had our open house and it was great!! It was the first one of the season and with no tax and free shipping my little stock went like hotcakes! (New one coming in next week....hehehe) We are going to have another one on the 12th for all the last minute shopping. It was so much fun hanging around with all the different groups. I am totally hooked on Princess House dishes they are gorgeous and so heavy duty! At Home America has some of the cutest stuff and Party Lite has some great decorative things too!! I was so good though and didn't spend anything!! (It was very hard!! Demarle's silicone bakeware and Pampered Chefs 20% off stones were so tempting!!)

Well, I gotta run to a Birthday Bash. Hope everyone had a great time!!

Thanksgiving....yum, yum, yum!!

Oh, the food.....I was so full after the yummy turkey, stuffing, potatoes, veggies, sluice (part sluch and part juice) and pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin turtle pie that I really could have rolled home! We had it at the Cavan's and we got to write a little card on what we were thankful card and read it to everyone. It was so nice! The feasting lasted approximately 45 min and the recovery time of 15 min before anyone moved from the table. :)

It was really a nice time. It was the first time I haven't been around family at Thanksgiving and When I smelled the turkey I also expected the smell of Mom's house too. I missed it, but it was still very nice. I am very glad that I have been able to have all the experiences I have had. I am so grateful for my family and for their unending support. As you get older you think back on the things you remember and though I can remember some thing I wish I had done differently I cannot remember anything come from my family that is not wonderfully great. My sisters and my Mother have been marvelous examples and I would not be me without me.

I can honestly say that I would not have chosen some of the experiences in my life but I am very grateful that they happened. I don't think I would have the faith, confidence and knowledge I have now if things had not turned out this way. Sometimes, I admit, I am driven by some of my memories but that is a fabulous thing too. I am glad that we have the knowledge of life and how everything is interconnected, that alone can be a huge strength when thinks seem to hit us on all sides.

I have always been blessed with good friends. Proximity my not always be what I wish it was, but they have definitely been a positive, driving force in my life. I do look forward to the time when we can all "hangout." (That feel very high schoolish...hehehe)

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!!

Welcome to Alaska

Thursday, I woke up and steped out into calf-deep snow. Wedesday it had started snowing, the wind had already been blowing pretty hard. (The snow would dance on the roadway, almost looked ghost-like.) The snow stopped, but he wind would kick things up a bit. Tonight it started again....it is very pretty. On the windows the snow sticks as the wind blows it and the frost around it reminds me of the times we would spray the door to create that "look."


The snow from Wednesday/Thursday was like powder sugar on the ground. One of the teachers said that it was a very "light" snow and that usually it is very heavy and thick with water. At night, when the moon hits the mountains just right, they give off a blue glow and they say it is because of the water. (It sounds and feels different than the snow in Flagstaff.) They plow the main roads and have a blower for the sidewalks too.












We are going to have avalanche training soon at the Middle School. The drills here are a bit different, more realistic. When we have a fire drill, some exits are closed off as if the fire were there so that teachers and students practice on how to deal with those ccircumstances. I haven't been through an earthquake drill yet, they have had them though (usually I am at the opposite school). The middle school went through a lot of retro fitting this summer for earthquakes. Kids are kids, but they seem to take the drill a bit more seriously.