Again we are so bad about updating anything on our blog. We have some new exciting news though.
Sam and I just accepted new jobs and so we will be moving around the end of November, beginning of December. We are moving to Kodiak, AK. We are both going to be working at KANA (the native hospital) in Kodiak. Kodiak is south of Anchorage. It is on an island. So again you can not drive to where I live. The ocean does not freeze there so fortunately we can take the marine highway on the ferry and with our car to the main land Alaska.
Sam is going to be the HR director and I will be the sole dietitian at KANA. I will still work with Diabetes, WIC and in the community.
Life is going to be different! Very different. :) Sam and I will be around each other everyday. It rains there, like 60-80 inches of rain we hear. It only rains a few inches in Nome, so this will be a huge change!!! It won't be as cold as it is in Nome and the cost of living with be cheaper! YAY! :)
We hope that people visit us. We have already had many friends tell us, "I've never been to Kodiak" so hopefully that means they and you will come visit!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Big Catch
Shanna and I in a romantic Pose taken by my Gorilla Tripod
So just a quick little update!! Shanna and I went to the Lion King in Anchorage! It was fab, it was like watching the movie and also the actors were great! I liked Timon & Pumba and also Scar the best I think. They did a great job and recommend anyone to go to it! So I am back at work and Shanna is in Nome, I was trying to head up there but work limited me not to go so she is going to the NRA banquet tonight!! So lucky we went last year and had a great time there. Guns and more guns:) Now that;'s a big catch update!
Hanging out with my Nephew, he liked his picture with Spongebob :)
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Unalakleet AK 99684
Beautiful Unalakleet where the east wind blows.
Last week I got to go home to Unalakleet again which was fabulous!! Not only did I go out there but met up with Shanna up there. So I flew out there on Pen air which is a rip off!! For a plane ride out to Unalakleet it cost 400 dollars round trip!! For that price just think all the places where I could have gone!! Hawaii, Vegas, Seattle, Denver!! But that’s the village for you. My mom did a lot of cooking so it was nice to have dough fritters and fresh rhubarb cinnamon rolls!! I could eat both of those forever!!
Camp with the sun behind it
So the first night we took a nice ride up to camp and brought along Shanna’s co-workers Kelly and Susie.
Shanna's co worker Kelly
My dad and Mom relaxing
It was a beautiful day out there and right away we caught some silvers but after that they decided to stop biting which was too bad because it was a perfect day but still it was nice to be up river along with family and friends.
My mom fishing at camp
Shanna and her silver
Beautiful Sunset in Unk
The next day Shanna went to the school and gave presentations to the students of Unalakleet high school and while she did I took a ride up the road with my parent’s four-wheeler to try my luck out fishing at the bridge.
Shanna giving her Presentation
Not only was it real foggy but a little cold. Nice to be on the road again, I ran in to spruce hens, a weasel and what not. I got to the bridge and tried out fishing with flies and caught 4 silvers on flies and released them as they were real red and what not.
Not knowing that when I got home that Lorena would have taken them as the real red silvers are good for dried fish. But after taking a break from fishing I saw some spruce hens on the road and since I only brought a .270 I tried my luck at catching them with rocks but to no avail J
In the afternoon my mom, Willa and Shanna and I went up to pick some cranberries out at Musk-ox and there were berries aplenty. Not only were there lots of berries but tons of bugs too!!! I tried my hand at picking berries and picked some but not as much as the pro’s. It was a hot day out and beautiful out again as the fogged burned off!
Shanna picking berries with tons of bugs
After picking berries Shanna and I tried our luck at fishing for silvers and we caught one out there, it was nice to be out in the outdoors with her and fishing!! Afterwards we gave the fish to Lorena as she was looking for red silvers.
Saturday came around and my parents, Shanna and I took a long ride up the river about an hour and half. It’s been about a year since I been way up the river and was amazed at how much it changed!! The channels changed and banks are eroding. I saw a guy name Aapiuk’s cabin on a sand bar. I guess the water eroded the bank where his cabin once stood and is cabin entered the river and floated down like 6 or 7 bends and was deposited on the sandbar.
Cabin that floated down the river
Beautiful day out!
It was quite aways away which was surprising but interesting to see. When we got way up the river we tried fishing but caught a bunch of trout but some silvers. We got way up the river and stopped and had a picnic on a sandbar and there was a little slough there too. In the slough you could see tons of Red salmon, dogs and silvers mixed in which was cool.
Shanna and her Red
Shanna and I and my Red. Big Catch!!
Reds really don’t go in the river but this is where they must spawn because there were quite a bit of them. Awesome to see that. We had a great dinner consisting of fresh silver, smoked king salmon, potatoes and what not. Nothing like a nice picnic.
Picnic Time!
My pops!
Afterwards we made our way back down and stopped at my uncle Junies waterfall cabin where we Gary and Willa, Junie and Linda, my gram and Glenda were all there visiting. It was nice visiting and hearing stories also it was nice to warm up with a cup of hot chocolate.
Uncle Junie at his camp
On the way down it got really foggy and cold!! But we finally made it home and it was nice to lay around and put in a movie and snooze!! Unalakleet is always awesome as it’s where I grew up and it’s always nice to be home. The young kids are all grown up now and it has changed so much.
My gram getting ready for the ride down
Sunday was a relaxing day as after church we had Gary, Willa and my gram over for lunch. We had Egg roe, and soy sauce silvers!! Hmm that was a delicious meal, actually every meal I ate at home was delicious. As I said Sunday was a relaxing day and after finally getting up from our nap Shanna and I went up the river to catch some silvers for canning. We couldn’t find the fish and finally we found a hot spot and it seemed like we were catching them quite frequently. But just as we found the fish the sun went down on us.
Our rewards!!
Monday was nice as we had another relaxing day but we Shanna and I went up the road to the bridge and tried our luck again fishing silvers but the silvers must have caught on to my flies as they weren’t biting them. You could see tons of silvers in the water but they just weren’t biting!! So we decided to check out Little North River and Shanna caught one there but that was the only one that bite. So afterwards we cut up the fish and used eggs for the silvers the only problem with that was we caught more trout then silvers as the trout were like missiles focused on the eggs J all in all we caught 3 silvers and like 15 trout and graylings. We gave the trout to my uncle Gary and the silvers for our friends in Nome. Sadly the trip had to end as the weekend flew by, not only great weather, but great company and decent fishing! I can’t wait till next year when the silvers are running again and I could guarantee you’ll see me up there subsisting. Now that’s Big Catch Alaska!!
Blogger alert,
So I have finally am doing another blog as I have had a whirlwind month since last time I updated the blog. So attention everyone this is fab!! J Anyways work has been going great as I have been travelling around to villages doing our annual village visits. Not only do I get to interact, visit and see old friends at villages but I have the chance to be out of red dog.
Beautiful village of Kiana!!
KIANA TIME
The first stop was in Kiana and we had warm greeting there as the meeting went well. Not only do we inform them of all our year to date stuff but we also give out door prizes and feed them a chicken dinner.
How many Staheli's does it take to use a VHF :)
Elders of Kiana listening to our presentation!
So the presentation went well and I got to explore Kiana while I was there and stayed over at the Staheli’s. Not only did I get to have Heanie’s famous salsa but got to hang out with Zaz and Lee’s boy Joe. Otherwise as Joe baby, that kid is a riot and after not too long he was calling Uncle Sam and asking a ton of questions.
Lee Boy and his son! Kiana in the Morning!! Foggy!
The caribou were running while I was there but I only had one day there. The next morning I had to talk to students about scholarships and red dog and their future. I always enjoy talking to students as they are always interested in new stuff. I suggest that next time don’t talk to them at 9 in the morning as most of them were half asleep J
Noorvik AK home of da bears!!
After departing Kiana we took off to Noorvik, noorvik is where my mom is originally from so I was amped to be there as I haven’t seen some of my relatives for a couple of years. Most notably my Aana (grandma) for those of you that don’t know.
My Grandma Elizabeth Sheldon!
So I was stayed at her place, the only thing is that when I got to Noorvik I had a full blown cold. Why can’t that happen at work and not when I am out venturing to the villages!! But we our first agenda was to talk to the students as they asked questions about red dog and were excited to see that Lois Newlin from Noorvik originally was there and she talked about what she does. I feel she was a great role model for noorvik kids but mainly for the girls of that school as they see that they could too make it at a place like Red Dog.
Fish drying in ORV Lake shot!
Afterwards we had some time to burn so I ran over to my Aana’s place and said hi dropped my stuff off and went on the tour of Noorvik, it was nice to be I a place where I visited when I was younger and it brought back memories of going there for duck, and caribou hunting and also for Christmas.
My parents old house :) Presentation in Noorvik
So after our tour we had our meeting and that went off great as well and people really enjoy the food we bring…i.e. chicken. After our presentation was done (I give a presentation also about employment) I went over to my aana’s house and hung out for a bit and got a treat at the end when my Uncle Allen and aunt and cousin went for a boat ride.
Allen, Benji and Linda up the Kobuk! Nice river!!
It was wonderful to be back out on the Kobuk to venture places where my mom was when she was a kid. So we got to look around for Caribou and saw some on the tundra and what not. But I also caught some ducks while we were boating...ah nice to shoot a shot gun again!! So not only was it a great ride but the views were wonderful, the sun was setting and it put out a ton of beautiful colors out there. Had a great time and didn’t want to leave Noorvik.
Caribou on the range! Beautiful Sunset!!
But we left Noorvik the next morning and my Aana made me some pancakes and I cooked some eggs. A funny story, my gram was mixing the batter and had the krusteaz blueberry mix and while mixing she thought that someone put nails in the batter but they were really dried blue berries that looked like nails J but sadly I had to go back to work.
Noatak Alaska
The next place we went to was Noatak, we were a bit delayed to fall weather but we finally made it to the village and took our bumpy ride out to the school. For those of you that don’t know Noatak has a new school and let me tell you it’s a beautiful school.
Noatak's new school!! Prayer before presentation
I am very impressed with all the art work and design of the school. The village of Noatak should be very proud of their school. So we didn’t have to present that night so we got to venture out and what not. We had our presentation and that went well and afterwards we hung out at the school, got online. We really couldn’t go around the village due to rain so we resided and went to sleep. In the morning we had our presentation to the kids and hope that we inspired some of them to be all they can be. Afterwards I got to interact with the kids by shooting around, playing volleyball and what not. The weather was still bad there so since the mine is only 30 miles away they decided to ferry us back and forth to the mine site.
My new friend Noatak! Noatak's whale bone!!
This gave us time to walk around and me and Cecil took a walk in to town and visiting the native store and what not. On the way back a cute little puppy followed us all the way back and he was very adventurous walking around in the marsh and what not. Afterwards it was my turn to go back to the mine site and riding in a helicopter is fun!! It wasn’t my first time but I love flying in them.
The beautiful Noatak river
Puppy of Noatak
Red dog Valley!
So I have finally am doing another blog as I have had a whirlwind month since last time I updated the blog. So attention everyone this is fab!! J Anyways work has been going great as I have been travelling around to villages doing our annual village visits. Not only do I get to interact, visit and see old friends at villages but I have the chance to be out of red dog.
Beautiful village of Kiana!! KIANA TIME
The first stop was in Kiana and we had warm greeting there as the meeting went well. Not only do we inform them of all our year to date stuff but we also give out door prizes and feed them a chicken dinner.
How many Staheli's does it take to use a VHF :)
Elders of Kiana listening to our presentation!
So the presentation went well and I got to explore Kiana while I was there and stayed over at the Staheli’s. Not only did I get to have Heanie’s famous salsa but got to hang out with Zaz and Lee’s boy Joe. Otherwise as Joe baby, that kid is a riot and after not too long he was calling Uncle Sam and asking a ton of questions.
Lee Boy and his son! Kiana in the Morning!! Foggy!
The caribou were running while I was there but I only had one day there. The next morning I had to talk to students about scholarships and red dog and their future. I always enjoy talking to students as they are always interested in new stuff. I suggest that next time don’t talk to them at 9 in the morning as most of them were half asleep J
Noorvik AK home of da bears!!
After departing Kiana we took off to Noorvik, noorvik is where my mom is originally from so I was amped to be there as I haven’t seen some of my relatives for a couple of years. Most notably my Aana (grandma) for those of you that don’t know.
My Grandma Elizabeth Sheldon!
So I was stayed at her place, the only thing is that when I got to Noorvik I had a full blown cold. Why can’t that happen at work and not when I am out venturing to the villages!! But we our first agenda was to talk to the students as they asked questions about red dog and were excited to see that Lois Newlin from Noorvik originally was there and she talked about what she does. I feel she was a great role model for noorvik kids but mainly for the girls of that school as they see that they could too make it at a place like Red Dog.
Fish drying in ORV Lake shot!
Afterwards we had some time to burn so I ran over to my Aana’s place and said hi dropped my stuff off and went on the tour of Noorvik, it was nice to be I a place where I visited when I was younger and it brought back memories of going there for duck, and caribou hunting and also for Christmas.
My parents old house :) Presentation in Noorvik
So after our tour we had our meeting and that went off great as well and people really enjoy the food we bring…i.e. chicken. After our presentation was done (I give a presentation also about employment) I went over to my aana’s house and hung out for a bit and got a treat at the end when my Uncle Allen and aunt and cousin went for a boat ride.
Allen, Benji and Linda up the Kobuk! Nice river!!
It was wonderful to be back out on the Kobuk to venture places where my mom was when she was a kid. So we got to look around for Caribou and saw some on the tundra and what not. But I also caught some ducks while we were boating...ah nice to shoot a shot gun again!! So not only was it a great ride but the views were wonderful, the sun was setting and it put out a ton of beautiful colors out there. Had a great time and didn’t want to leave Noorvik.
Caribou on the range! Beautiful Sunset!!
But we left Noorvik the next morning and my Aana made me some pancakes and I cooked some eggs. A funny story, my gram was mixing the batter and had the krusteaz blueberry mix and while mixing she thought that someone put nails in the batter but they were really dried blue berries that looked like nails J but sadly I had to go back to work.
Noatak Alaska
The next place we went to was Noatak, we were a bit delayed to fall weather but we finally made it to the village and took our bumpy ride out to the school. For those of you that don’t know Noatak has a new school and let me tell you it’s a beautiful school.
Noatak's new school!! Prayer before presentation
I am very impressed with all the art work and design of the school. The village of Noatak should be very proud of their school. So we didn’t have to present that night so we got to venture out and what not. We had our presentation and that went well and afterwards we hung out at the school, got online. We really couldn’t go around the village due to rain so we resided and went to sleep. In the morning we had our presentation to the kids and hope that we inspired some of them to be all they can be. Afterwards I got to interact with the kids by shooting around, playing volleyball and what not. The weather was still bad there so since the mine is only 30 miles away they decided to ferry us back and forth to the mine site.
My new friend Noatak! Noatak's whale bone!!
This gave us time to walk around and me and Cecil took a walk in to town and visiting the native store and what not. On the way back a cute little puppy followed us all the way back and he was very adventurous walking around in the marsh and what not. Afterwards it was my turn to go back to the mine site and riding in a helicopter is fun!! It wasn’t my first time but I love flying in them.
The beautiful Noatak river
Puppy of Noatak
Red dog Valley!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
So much going on in Nome.....Even in the Rain!
This past week has been so BUSY! I got to travel for work to 3 villages for career fairs. I love travelling to the villages. My first was my favorite one.. Unalakleet, this is Sam's village that he grew up in. When I got there we had some time to spare so Sam's parents took me up the river to try to catch a Silver Salmon. Luck is...Sam's mom hooked one and insisted that I reel it in. I think her bicep was tired from all she has caught this year, or maybe she knew that I didn't remember what it felt like or she knew it was going to be the only one that we would catch in that short hour...regardless I got to spend the next 5-10 , minutes reeling it in. It was huge!!! Of course I forgot my camera like my fishing license so you just have to believe me ! :)
(REINDEER ON THE WAY TO TELLER)
On Thursday we then went to Savoonga, my 2nd favorite place to go in our region. Savoonga is where I went all winter so I have many friends there that I love dearly. It is on our island. That day was just super long. We were there 9 hours for 30 mins of work. One of the health aides took me to her house to meet her family, which was so awesome! I also got to run while I was out there. Then lastly on Friday we went to Teller. That day we were finally able to drive. The drive was great! It was beautiful out! (Reindeer behind me on the Teller Road)
We saw a ton of reindeer, snow on the mountain tops, 2 arctic fox, muskox and lot of beautiful miles and miles of land. The career fair in Teller was a huge success. We had a great lunch spread (no school lunch!!!) and the kids rocked with questions and great fun! I also got to educate some younger classes with diabetes and healthy foods make our bodies healthy education. 
(EDUCATING THE YOUNG KIDS AT TELLER CAREER FAIR)
(EDUCATING THE YOUNG KIDS AT TELLER CAREER FAIR)I got out again on Friday to pick some berries. It was cold and wet tough to find berries, but 3 hours later I got 3 quart size bags worth. On Saturday it was even worse, but I still got 1 quart. On Sunday after a real mass at church (we had a priest this weekend) I went on the local garden tour in the RAIN! :) We road a bus around Nome for 5 hours to see the amazing gardens of Nome. Some people have some absolutely destressing, relaxing, gorgeous, fruitful gardens!!! 
Turnip Flower Bed Yellow Squash
We plant flowers in Everything Rhubarb My teachers flower garden
People in Nome are some of the most talented people ever! Despite the rain all weekend...the weekend was quite pleasant and super fast. On Thursday I get to travel to Unalakleet again to see Sam and hang out with his parents. In a sense it is Sam and I's 2 years since we have began! :) Last week when I got back from the Kawerak camp, I got back to my office to 12 roses on my desk....he sent me flowers for "2 years since our first kiss" :) Sweetie huh???
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