You know you need a vacation...

.... when you're totally unfocused and finding the weirdest things to fixate on. My current preoccupations include:

1. The Daily Frenchie: Pictures and captions of adorable little doggies, anyone?

2. Christmas cookies: or how many I can eat without gaining more than one full pound (I've only gained 1/2 pound since the baked goods madness started)

3. Orlando shopping Recognizance: Actually plotting out my day of shopping (3 malls, one epic day) and imagining how far my shopping allowance will stretch.

4. Daydreaming not of the vacation itself, but of boarding the plane for a 12-hour trip to the destination. I need a break so badly that I'm looking forward to the PLANE RIDE. Seriously?!

2 1/2 hours until the weekend, then I just have to suffer through Monday at work... but let's be honest, I've been mentally on vacation all week.....

Roaming Thoughts

Being bored at work or just plain tired of my daily routine gets me thinking about alternative options. Without a doubt, I will be spending the next 5+ years working an office job and living a fairly common American lifestyle: I will focus on paying off student debt, making a comfortable home, staying in shape, making strides toward starting a family, maintaining friendships and building on hobbies.

Many people in their twenties and early thirties will spend this time living a more vagabond lifestyle, a lifestyle I would gladly embrace were it not for the gobs of student debt I took on in order to attend law school. If I could have it my way, I'd go the route of Jodi Ettenburg and use my education to build a self-employed, part-time career out of traveling and having interesting life experiences. But Ettenburg is Canadian, so her government caps her student debt somewhere more reasonable AND she worked at a major NYC law firm for several years. Odds are her financial situation is what I can only hope mine will be in 15 years. So I need to adjust my thinking. Instead of being a 27 year old vagabond, I hope to be a 35 year old expat of sorts. Basically I'll live my life in reverse: work my ass off as a young attorney then call it quits and live a very frugal but fulfilling lifestyle until the money runs out. Repeat.

I have a lot of different travel/life experience dreams for Leigh and myself: setting up shop in Southeast Asia to work for a non-profit or write a book, seeing the world by bicycle with intermittent stops in places that speak to us, taking epic journeys like the new cross-continental train from Paris to Moscow. completing a fellowship or two in various locations to do research, and going to business school in Europe all sound amazing. Of course I can't do all of these things, but the fact that I'm excited about so many different options tells me, at the very least, that I have a lot of living to do. The key is making it happen.

Last night I found a page on Matador advertising their new travel writing/photography/film programs. The courses are online and cheap, really cheap. It's no guarantee of a job and it's possible that it's just a way to get people like me to fork over a couple hundred bucks to further a hobby, but it's something to think about. I already have an education and I'm building a career in a lucrative field, so I'd hardly be putting all my eggs in one basket. If I was ready to take a career break now I'd probably start by enrolling in a travel writing course and relocate somewhere interesting with a low cost of living to use as my living classroom. If things took off I'd take on assignments and ride it out for a while. If not, I'd enjoy my leave of absence and go back to my life. No harm, no foul.

Leigh thinks I just have a lot of ideas, and she's right, but when I mention these things and say "and you could volunteer or take cooking classes!" she gets pretty excited about it. It just goes back to my life motto: everyone should live their best, most exciting life. Right now my best life is finding a job that is challenging and uses my education. I want to see where that takes me. My best life is also honoring the family I'm building and the community I'm becoming a part of. Later, when I have the financial and professional freedom to make decisions based on inspiration, my best life will be something very different.

Ready for 2012

It's not New Year's yet. Not even close, really. But next Monday is my last work day of 2011 and my last day in Alaska until the New Year. So in my mind 2011 is over and done with and I'm ready to start feeling good about 2012.

I've never been big on New Year's Resolutions, but some years they're more necessary or desirable than others. I think 2012 is the ideal year for me to have some serious resolutions. Why, you ask? Because my 2011 was really difficult and strange and my life changed a lot. I finished up one clerkship and started another. So this was the first year I was employed the entire time as a legal professional without being enrolled in school. I also had some major personal changes like buying a house, dealing with a family loss, and changing my lifestyle to fit a recently discovered medical issue. I gained new friends, started a new chapter of my life and started losing weight and getting healthier in all manner of ways. So, for me, 2012 will be an opportunity to build on these positive changes.

Here are my resolutions for 2012:
1. Find a new job: My current position ends in August 2012, so I need to focus a lot of energy on finding a new way to make my mortgage payments when that ends. I also see this as an opportunity to finally get a position that is permanent, challenging, and something resembling the reason I went to law school.

2. Reduce my body fat by 10%: Weight loss is a common resolution. It makes sense- we spend roughly a month eating holiday foods and being lazy in the winter weather. 've been really lax about counting calories and exercising since Thanksgiving. I'm sure by New Year's I will have regained a few of the pounds I lost this past year. But that's not the reason I added this resolution. Since May 2011 I've lost as much as 14 pounds. Now that I've put a few back on, I can safely say I'm a good 10 pounds lighter. But I still have a ways to go before I feel like I'm at a good stopping point. Instead of saying I want to lose 15 more pounds, I would rather focus on body fat percentage. Sure, it will seem like a slower process, but this will help me to refocus on fitness rather than thinness. My ultimate goal is to have roughly 21% body fat, or at least under 25%, which is the average for women. This means lots of lean muscle and general weight loss. How will I achieve this, you ask?

3. Join a gym: I know, I know, so cliché! But it works. Leigh and I love to ski and I love to ride bikes in the warm months, but sometimes playing outside just isn't practical because of dark afternoons or crappy weather. Sometimes you need motivation, nice facilities, or a group class to keep you on track. We already found an awesome gym near our house that we can afford and it offers everything we had both hoped for. It even has a sauna, steam room and massage services. These are creature comforts that we can all benefit from but that I rarely allow for myself. Which brings me to #4.

4. Make Time to Be Good to Myself: I'm a logical person. I don't do anything without a good reason. In my mind, the best reason to do anything is because it's frugal or practical or accomplishes multiple things at a time. This rarely translates to doing something nice for myself. In fact, it usually means I wear my clothes until they have holes in them, don't buy extra things without prompting from Leigh, plan trips on a shoestring budget even if I don't have to, and only get my haircut when I start to resemble a 14 year-old Harry Potter. I'm a 26 year-old professional with a liveable salary. What gives?! Well, I've never given myself permission to spend a little extra on the things that make all the difference. So by joining a gym with extra amenities and enjoying things like getting haircuts and wearing clothes I feel good in, I hope the small additional expenses will add up to a higher quality of life and maybe even a higher salary because of my additional confidence.

5. Give Back: As long as I am focusing on my own quality of life, hopefully I can take some time to focus on others too. Leigh and I have been talking about adopting a Little Sister next year through the BBBS Anchorage program. It would be fun to have a young person to play sports with, take to movies, etc. Plus this program is well-respected and worthy of our support. Another way we've talked about giving back is by taking collections next time we throw a party. We have over 20 people attend our Mad Men party. If we throw a spring party and ask everyone to bring a much-needed item for a local charity (like toiletries for a homeless shelter), we can enjoy the company of our friends and give something back to this community that has welcomed us so quickly.

Holiday Season

I'm told it's the holiday season, but the only indication of this is the amount of red and green everywhere. Leigh and I have been down in the dumps big time these last few weeks. I think it's the weather and we're not getting nearly enough exercise. We had a few weeks of good snow for skiing, but the temperatures were so low it was pretty uncomfortable to be outside for more than an hour, and that was pushing it. Then over the weekend the temperatures were in the 40's, which was great for a break from the bitter cold but also caused a lot of rain and melted snow. Now we have bare pavement and ice everywhere, so no more skiing for a while. I anticipate a lot of dark evenings watching TV, drinking wine, and slowly gaining a few winter pounds.

It's not all bad though, the weekend before Thanksgiving we threw a Mad Men party at our house. It was our "house-warming/Emily wants to throw a party" party. I was pretty nervous about the whole thing because I had never thrown a party before and it was proving to be quite a project. In the end the whole thing cost me about $300 in food, booze and decorations, plus Leigh and I had to put together outfits. But the result was completely worth it: We had at least 25 people crammed into our tiny house, great music, people brought snacks and drinks to help keep things moving, and our guests put a lot of effort into their outfits. I was so touched that they took the party as seriously as I did. It made the whole experience so much fun!

Some of our nearest and dearest: Joan, Leigh and I, our friend Leslie, my former co-worker Nicole, and a new friend Hannah. Joanie helped us a lot with putting this party together and was an amazing go-to person for ideas and coordinating.

We had Heineken, of course, and I drank most of it myself. Yum!

And a VERY full house. At one point I realized that I didn't know a lot of people there! Then I realized that a bunch of people were dancing. Amazing. I even got to see my old roommate from NYC for the first time in 2 or 3 years. Our house felt so warm and lively that I think we'll make theme parties an annual or semi-annual event.

Speaking of parties, this weekend Leigh and I are going to Nicole's (see above) "ugly sweater party" and next weekend we're going to our other friends' Christmas house-warming party. Apparently when you live in a cold, dark place it's normal to plan tons of gatherings with friends, drink, and eat a lot. Sounds good to me!

In other news, my law review article is FINISHED and SUBMITTED. I don't find out if it'll be published until mid-January. That's fine though, I'm just glad to have that off my plate. Plus I finished a job application today. I'll be curious to see how much free time I have now that these projects are completed. Additionally, since I've submitted my first application all subsequent applications should be a lot easier. Maybe after Christmas I'll start papering the city with my awesomeness in hopes of getting some interviews.

So that's a recap of life in Anchorage. In exactly TWO WEEKS Leigh and I will be on a plane to Florida. Maybe then I'll start really getting into the holiday spirit....

Is It Christmas Yet?

Or at least Dec 20?!?! That's when we fly to Florida for our first vacation since Hawai'i. We really need to get away more. At this point it's been 8 months since we took any real time off and I think it's pretty obvious to everyone around us how much we need a break. Leigh and I are both grumpy all the time and tired and bored at work. We're letting things go like our diets and our housework and we're starting to lose our grip on the pre-vacation budget we set for ourselves. There's only so much scrimping and saving you can do for so long! We're even being less diligent about making sure our puppy gets the exercise she needs, which means more time defending myself against the giant hyperactive snuggle monster who lives in my house!

Anyway, we need a break.

On a more positive note, I plan to submit my law review article TONIGHT. Then I'll have a little piece of my life back. I can just focus on my work, my health, and my family responsibilities. While we're away I plan to really relax, read for pleasure, and start drafting some cover letters to apply for jobs after the New Year. If everything comes together well I should be preparing for interviews in early spring (*fingers crossed*).

In the meantime I'm literally counting down until we fly out the morning of December 20. We have two amazing weeks planned enjoying time to ourselves and with both sides of our family. My dad even emailed me our Christmas gift: two tickets to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!! So excited!!! AND last weekend we got a great deal on a digital camera at Costco, so I might actually start posting pictures again one of these days.

*sigh* well, I have a very busy week at work so I should get back to it.....

Healthy Numbers- It's All Relative

For the past 6 months or so I have attempted to change my lifestyle to accommodate a recently discovered metabolic condition. It was mystery to me how I came to have this problem. My doctor says these things are almost always genetic. My father has high cholesterol, but not nearly as high as mine. My brothers are overweight but healthy regardless if their diet is poor or healthy. I remember my mother saying that her cholesterol was high and taking medication, but I do not remember her having as much drama with this as I do and I never heard her discuss blood lipid levels. Both sides of my family battle with weak pancreas function, diabetes on one side and hypoglycemia on the other side. Still, no ideas. Until I mentioned my condition to my maternal grandmother (I hadn't told her before because she tends to get overly upset over most things). She told me that she has always had high triglycerides but it was a side effect of her diabetes. My uncle, her son, high cholesterol but thought it was due to bad eating habits. Mystery solved. My mother's side of the family is plagued with metabolic issues as well as adult onset diabetes (though I believe this part is obesity-related).

Anyway, I had my 6-month endocrinology check up last Tuesday, followed by a blood draw and a full metabolic panel. Honestly, I was nervous to get the results. Leigh and I went animal product free for about 2 1/2 weeks and I've been eating very little meat for the past month or so. But I've also been eating a lot more sugar lately. For a few days Leigh and I even went nuts for Nutella, doing the "after dinner with a spoon and the jar" routine. No wonder I gained 2 pounds the last 2 weeks (and I didn't get any exercise for those weeks either).

Today I got my results. My cholesterol is 184, down from 212 over the summer. My triglycerides are 242, up from about 220 over the summer.

Following my first set of labs and being put on medication I made drastic changes to my diet. I cut out all refined sugars, all white flour, white rice, fried foods, most cooking fats, alcohol, and milk chocolate. I reduced my intake of nuts, coconut products, and tropical fruits (all known to spike triglycerides). My last blood tests came back much improved- 212 cholesterol and 220 triglycerides. I can live with that. Since those blood tests were run I have reduced my intake of animal products even further, but have reincorporated some other food items. Namely, I've allowed myself to drink alcohol every few weeks and indulge in a dessert item. I've also relaxed about eating white rice and noodles made from white flour at restaurants. At home, however, all of our grains are whole and I eat as much oatmeal as I can handle (for cholesterol).

Even though I've relaxed on certain food items, basically the ones that are too difficult to avoid or hard for me to give up entirely, my results are pretty good. For some perspective, when I was diagnosed my cholesterol was in the 400s and my triglycerides were nearly 2,000. Healthy cholesterol is under 200, anything over 240 is high cholesterol. Of course, the compilation of LDL to HDL makes a difference, but my doctor says my cholesterol at 184 looks pretty decent, all things considered.

Triglycerides are kind of funny, as they fluctuate about as often as a person's blood sugar does (which makes sense because blood levels are directly related to what kind of food you eat each day). Healthy triglycerides are under 150. "High" triglycerides are in the 200-500 range, usually because these people eat a lot of burgers, fried foods, drink lots of alcohol, or eat a lot of white, refined sugar (in my case it's due to a metabolic condition.). Anything over 500 is dangerously high. So I went from 2,000 to 220, and now 242.

I was probably operating with high cholesterol and hyperlipidemia for many years. I really don't understand how I was able to function, sometimes even playing sports, with that consistency of lipids in my bloodstream. Anyway, 242 is still a high number, but considering that my body is incapable of metabolizing a large percentage of what is found in the American diet, I think I'm doing OK. At any rate, I will live a while longer.

Reving Up

Oh my gosh it seems like so much is happening so fast. The past several weeks, no, MONTHS have been a lot about maintaining. I've been trudging through my job (though not very well, I'm hardly impressing anyone these days), gathering comp time and PTO days as much as possible, eating carefully, trying to get exercise, planning this crazy Mad Men party, and basically counting the days until I leave for Florida/Virginia for the holidays.

It's starting to get to me. No, really.

Every day is a tiny struggle. I'm starting to feel the world close in a tiny bit. The other day I started thinking about my trip to Europe. Instead of feeling excited and ready to hop a plane I felt NERVOUS. WHAT?!?! Who is this person?!?! I never feel nervous, I only feel excited and enticed to do research and plan and then get started on my trip. This whole staying in one place and always seeing the same people thing is turning me soft. Must. Travel. Now.

Then there's the article. I've been working on a law article for about a month and a half now. It's due Dec 1. That's really coming up. I have no idea if the article is ready for submission yet. I have no idea if it's been worth all this time and effort. Hopefully my lovely volunteer readers will serve as my oracles and help me get over this hurdle of self-doubt.

Then there's the job search (see part about article). All I'm doing now is writing the article and trying not to panic at the lack of correspondence with my professional contacts. My new mantra is "it's not personal, they're just really busy." God I hope that's true.

On Friday I'm throwing a party. I think everyone in Anchorage between the ages of 24 and 35 is coming. I didn't plan it like that, it just happened. It should be really fun. We're doing a Mad Men/ 1960's theme. This means lots of drinking, funny clothes, and downright scary snack foods. Planning this party has made it all too clear how American obesity epidemic started.

Then there's Thanksgiving. Last year Leigh and I made a mini Thanksgiving just for the two of us. That was a fun, quiet day at home together. This year my friend Joanie and her hubby are hosting for about 15 people. Leigh and I are bringing deliciously naughty foods (mac'n'cheese and PIE) to add to the celebrations. There will be lots of people and lots of food plus hopefully a few glasses of wine. This should be fun. After several weeks of keeping my head down and working my tail off, it sounds like a great way to spend a fake holiday (sorry, I had to throw that in there).

Yesterday I learned that my grandpa is very ill and will likely pass away soon. But "soon" is a very relative term. It could be tomorrow or next week or in a few months. We have no idea. I just hope he's not in pain and that my grandma is holding up OK. We aren't close, but he's family and my dad and his siblings are dealing with a lot right now. The bottom line is that I might be flying to Maine at the last minute to help with the family stuff. That's kind of stressful, but I want to be there for my dad and that means being flexible and available to my loved ones. This also might change any and all of the above goings on, but that's life. I guess another mantra could be "go with the flow, it's much easier that way."

Week 2 of the Whole Foods, Plant Based Diet

Leigh decided we should give up meat and dairy for 3 weeks to see how it effects our habits, our weight, and just generally see how we like it. Generally it's been a really nice experience. We've been eating at home most of the time and I've discovered that I prefer soy milk in my coffee to cow's milk (soy milk has a little hint of vanilla that makes the coffee oh so rich!). A few nights ago after skiing in some very cold weather we gave in to our craving for Pho soup, but got vegetarian with tofu instead of beef. It was delicious!

We're revamped our fridge so it only has non-animal products in it to make the transition smoother. We're eating tons of veggies and grains and experimenting with tofu in things like Thai style curry. The no animal products thing is still problematic though, particularly when we crave convenience or comfort foods (pizza! burgers!) or just want to grab a simple meal out somewhere (sandwiches, soups, etc are generally NOT vegan-friendly).

But we're doing really well and avoiding temptations, sticking to our guns. Until today. I got these texts from Leigh over the period of about an hour:

"Someone just brought in 3 giant trays of meats and cheeses. Quality stuff too."

"It's from last night's soiree" (her office had a party last night that she didn't attend).

"Oh man, lemon bars."

"Well, I'm done not eating meat."

At so it goes, folks. 2 weeks of dedication and a fridge full of healthy vegan food rendered useless. The experiment is a flop due to contamination. Oh well, c'est la vie. It's not like we were going vegan for political or moral reasons. We just wanted to cleanse our bodies of heavy, difficult to metabolize, foods before the holiday season. I'm sure there's plenty more vegetarian friendly meals in our very near futures. But for today Leigh's body is wrought with the flesh of dead creatures. Of course tomorrow I'm going to want a chorizo pizza from our favorite theatre pub or, at the very least, a salmon burger made at home.

What's the lesson in this experiment/failure? First of all, vegan food is pretty awesome. Though we've been getting into healthy food for about 2 years now, this was our first time diving headfirst into the world of soy and various protein replacements. It worked out well. I think I'll continue using soy powder in my baking, taking spirulina most days, and incorporating tofu into our meals. Also, meat isn't necessary to have a good, hearty meal. In fact, it should be eaten sparingly. We will probably eat a lot of vegetarian dishes from now on and only eat meat when we have a particular craving. Ultimately, that's better for my health anyway, considering my chronically high cholesterol.

With this strange turn of events, I wonder what we're having for dinner???

I Don't Do Vegan

A few weeks ago I cross-posted two blog posts about food on my friend Sarah's blog Charlotte Local Eats. My blog posts were about salmon and moose, respectively. Sarah blogs about all things pertaining to food, mostly to advocate buying and eating local food and eating healthier in general. Earlier this week she blogged about The China Study, a book about eating a whole foods, plant based diet. I haven't read the book, but her review was pretty interesting. I forwarded the review to Leigh, who really latched onto the idea of a whole foods, plant based diet and is still dumbfounded by the study showing the ingesting cow's milk has been linked to multiple sclerosis.

Then Leigh dropped a bomb on me: we're cutting out meat and dairy for 3 weeks as a test run for this plant-based diet thing. OK, I was a vegetarian for 6 years so I can understand the "no meat" attitude, but DAIRY?!?!?! Leigh grew up in a house where a jug of milk was a fixture on the table for every meal. We're from the land of sausage gravy and mac'n'cheese. Who is this person who's suggesting we give up DAIRY!?!?!

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about healthy. In fact, since moving to Europe and coming home in 2010 Leigh and I have changed our diets significantly in an attempt to maintain our weight and be healthier. Since my metabolic diagnosis in May, Leigh and I have made even more significant changes to our diets, this time attempting to learn the science behind food and metabolism.

At this point I've talked about my health issues and dietary changes enough that a short recap is probably sufficient: I am genetically prone to extremely high cholesterol and triglycerides. I take a medication to improve my liver function and I avoid all foods that lead to higher cholesterol and lipid levels. This means very little red meat, no egg yolks, no prepared foods with more than just a few milligrams of cholesterol per serving. For triglycerides I can't eat anything white (rice, flour, sugar, etc), I avoid alcohol, and a few weird things like tropical fruit (coconut, pineapple, bananas). All of my sweeteners and fats have to be all natural (honey, agave, EVOO, etc) and low in saturated fat. Additionally, it's essential that I consume a lot of fish and oatmeal to counteract my malfunctioning metabolism.

Anyway, it's caused a huge change in our lives. Basically we don't eat anything processed and stick almost entirely to whole foods. But we still eat meat (mostly white meat and fish) and dairy (low fat cheeses, milk, and yogurt are staples). So for Leigh to suggest that we basically go VEGAN for 3 weeks is kind of a big deal. What will I eat if I don't eat greek yogurt (with honey)? It's a major source of protein for me and one of the few safe "sweets" I can eat regularly! And we LOOOOOVVEEEE milk and cheese, especially ricotta and goat cheese. What will we do without it?!?!?! Plus on top of that, vegans REALLY irritate me. Not the diet itself, I definitely see the benefits, but the political, holier than thou, attitude that often accompanies the diet. Can't people just do what's best for themselves without being pushy and annoying to everyone else? If someone wants to be obese and die young that's their business. If they ask you for advice, however, then preach away and save a life!

OK, off my soapbox. Anyway, so it looks like we're going to do this for three weeks starting next week. We have a ton of dairy in the fridge that needs to be eaten and we've scheduled our big grocery run for next weekend, so it's good timing. I don't expect this will be a permanent change, but it'll be interesting to see how we feel after a few weeks of cleansing our systems. If I lose weight and if my November blood tests come back with flying colors, I might continue a whole foods, plant-based diet on an 80-90% basis (meaning I'll have ice cream and cheese sometimes and red meat rarely).

But I have to ask one more time: Who is this woman taking away my yogurt? And what has she done with Leigh?!?!?!

Fall Frenzy

Our weeks are consistently busy and exhausting, but I can't complain, not for a second. Making plans with friends avoids any week from becoming mundane. Even the rare week when we only have one or two things going on is special because it means we get to relax or focus on cleaning the house or something. The times when we make commitments to friends are special because it helps us grow roots in our new home, plus it keeps us laughing and enjoying other people. Having Cannellle Puppy is a huge part of this too. She has her own little friends who we often make plans with at our house. Last week we even started taking her to a free play hour at a nearby doggie daycare facility. It's good to have a socialized, tired puppy!

This weekend was no exception. On Saturday we had a puppy play date with Cannelle's BFF Gaia and her parents. We had coffee and breakfast in the kitchen while the pups wrestled in the lawn. After the play date Leigh and I ran errands and had lunch downtown. That evening we tackled our overgrown flower bed (weed beds?) and started replanting them with tulips, daffodils and hyacinths. By Sunday afternoon we had completely weeded and planted the big side flower bed and the front flower bed. I even figured out a way to make what little fencing the previous owner left us long enough to protect the entire flower bed from Cannelle's digging tendency. Next spring we'll attack the other raised beds to plant indigenous bush plants and vegetables.

This morning I knew I would be the only one in the office, so I slept in an got to work just before 9am (as opposed to 8am). It was great to have enough extra time this morning for breakfast and some tasks. For the past week Cannelle has been sleeping in her kennel that I tucked into my closet. She seemed to like it well enough- it's dark, warm and she can hear us breathing at night. But I can hear her fidgeting and always assume she has to pee, so I'll get up a few times per night to let her out for a potty break. Needless to say she's getting spoiled and I'm not getting enough sleep. So this morning I moved her kennel downstairs to a new spot: the unused corner of the living room behind our loveseat. I showed Cannelle her new "bedroom" and she took to it right away- carrying into the kennel, the running back to retrieve them and show them to me.

As slow as work has been the past two weeks, everything else has been accelerating at a nice clip. For the rest of this month Leigh and I have a series of commitments to attend to including social events, puppy-sitting for two different friends, and various meetings of social and professional natures. Gone are the days of coming home from work or school to veg out in front of the TV and only rarely make plans beyond that. Instead we're downright social and starting to make commitments to our friends and community. This is adulthood, I guess.

Now I just need to re-focus on my health and fitness- this beautiful Fall weather won't last forever! This call for an afternoon bike ride!

Cross-post 2: Moose Meals

Cross-Posted at Charlotte Local Eats:

Hello again from Alaska! Summer and fall may be prime fishing months, but colder weather means hunting season.

Yes, hunting. Vegetarians may want to avert their eyes, but for those of us who eat meat, hunting is a reality we have to acknowledge. No matter how free range, organic, or humanely your hamburger was raised, it was still a living creature at one time and somebody had to kill it so you could eat it.

OK, moving forward. Thousands of people travel to Alaska every year to hunt big game like moose, caribou, bear, and dall sheep. Locals hunt too, but they tend to hunt for food first and trophy second. Moose and caribou (aka wild reindeer) are most widely prized kills. One moose can provide all the red meat your family needs for an entire year! The best part is that when a hunter has their kill processed they get to pick how the meat is divided and seasoned. How many pounds of ground meat? Steaks? Chops? Roasts? Breakfast links? Chorizo? Polish?

Nobody in my house hunts, but we only eat red meat sparingly so we are content with relying on gifts of game meat. I say gifts because game meat is so “local” that you can’t even buy it. You have to kill it yourself or receive it as a gift. Hunting out of season or selling game meat or game trophies are criminally punishable offenses.

Fortunately we have lovely, generous friends who often share their bounty with us. This summer we bought our first house, so some friends gave us a couple pounds of moose sausage as a house warming gift.

Yep, moose sausage. The best hotdog you’ll ever eat. It’s lean, tasty and local.

Moose sausage veggie scramble is a delicious and super easy way to use game meat sausage and whatever vegetables you have on hand. Just cut up the sausage and a mix of any veggies you have on hand. Season with salt and pepper. Throw the sausage in a pan to render the fat, then throw in the veggies and let it all cook down together. So simple, so tasty!

There’s not really a recipe for moose hotdogs, you just defrost the sausage and throw it on the grill. We use whole grain hotdog buns with the usual hotdog toppings. Moose hotdogs are particularly good with grilled vegetables, baked beans or baked french fries.

Unfortunately for most of Sarah’s readers, moose hotdogs will not likely be on your plates anytime soon. However, if you visit Alaska and make some friends, maybe they’ll have you over for dinner and serve you some moose chili, spaghetti with moose meat sauce, or a good ole moose polish. If all else fails, just go to one of our local diners or street vendors and order up a reindeer sausage on a bun or on the side of an egg breakfast. It’s the next best thing.

Cross-post to Charlotte Local Eats

My friend Sarah has a Charlotte, NC based blog about local food. She asked me to be a guest blogger for October. Here's the first of two Alaska-themed posts:

Emily Maass on Local Food in ALASKA! Part 1

Life in Alaska is a little bit different from the rest of the country. First of all, we are pretty isolated up here and most towns are not accessible by road. Even though I live in Anchorage, which is a real city with most of the creature comforts of any other American city, the goods shipped here are sold at noticeably higher prices. Also, Alaska is cold. We don’t get as much snow as Buffalo, NY (my former stomping grounds) but the snow we get sticks around a lot longer and our average lows are much lower. It’s also dark 18-20 hours per day in the dead of winter and light 18-20 hours per day during the summer. Basically, this is a state of extremes.

What does this add up to? Well, you might think this means that Alaska is a food desert, but this couldn’t be less accurate. It’s just that what we consider to be “food” and “local” is a little different. More extreme, if you will.

Our growing season is short but intense. Crops, flowers, and even the grass under our feet flourish under three months of warm, sunny skies. Likewise, Alaska farmers market seasons are short but intense. The markets are small, usually with 10 or so produce vendors, one or two baked goods vendors and a lot of vendors selling other local goods like fireweed honey, jams, and crafts. The produce vendors typically sell the items that grow best in this climate including root vegetables, squash, cabbage, etc. And do they ever grow! It’s not uncommon to buy a zucchini the size of my lower leg for $4. Which brings me to prices: they’re really good! Alaskan farmers market prices are competitive with the grocery stores, plus the products are local, sustainable and delicious!

While farmer’s from the Matanuska-Sustina Valley north of Anchorage harvest our produce and local businesses bake our breads, individual Alaskans are tasked with harvesting their own protein sources. That’s right, hunting and fishing (check back on Thursday for my post on hunting).

I didn’t get to do my own fishing this year, but it’s common for Alaskans to spend most summer and autumn days fishing the rivers for various salmon species. On weekends folks drive to the Kenai Penninsula to take a boat out in the sound to fish for halibut, which sometimes weigh as much as 300 pounds! A dedicated angler can easily catch enough fish in a season to stock a freezer with enough wild-caught fish to last the year.

The salmon in my freezer was a house-warming gift from friends at work. I started making this dish in the summer of 2010 when I was working for my grandparents’ organic farm in Washington State and selling their wares at Seattle area markets. My grandparents grow soft fruit (apricots, peaches, plums, etc) and make a variety of low sugar fruit and herb products from their crops. Because market workers tend to trade their wares, I found myself experimenting with the ingredients I was given on a regular basis. This recipe is the result of an experiment that went really well.

Apricot Salmon and Grilled Veggies

1/2 pound fresh or thawed salmon per person

Apricot syrup (preferably a low sugar syrup)

2 medium squash (yellow or zucchini) or any combination of squash, root vegetables or greens (beets, chard, or potatoes)

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

1. Spray a large sheet of aluminum foil with cooking spray or drizzle a smidge of olive oil and spread it around.
2. Place the salmon skin down on the foil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Drizzle a generous amount of apricot syrup on the salmon.
4. Wrap the foil around the salmon, making sure it’s secure so that the syrup doesn’t escape through the corners. Place the salmon in the fridge to marinate for 45 minutes.
5. Clean and coarsely chop your veggies. Salt and pepper to taste or add your favorite seasoning. Sauté in a pan with olive oil.
6. When the salmon is ready, you can cook it on a barbeque grill or a stovetop.
7. To grill: on high heat, place the entire foil package on the grill. Close the lid and check the fish after 10 minutes. It’s done with the center meat is flaky and a lighter pink.
8. Using the stovetop: spray a frying pan or skillet with cooking oil. Place the salmon skin down and cook it covered on med/high heat until the center meat is flaky and a lighter pink. This method may cause the fish to dry out a bit more, so keep an eye on it.

That’s it! A very simple recipe that is delicious, healthy, sustainable and local.

Emily Maass is an attorney who lives Anchorage, Alaska, and clerks for the Superior Court.

Cross-posted here.

Frequent Flyer Miles

Remember when I said my boss has gone to Paris for a month? Well that is good news for me for a few reasons: first, it means things will calm down in my office for a few weeks. Second, and more importantly, it has inspired me to really, REALLY think about my proposed trip to Europe this spring.

The fastest and cheapest route from Anchorage to Europe is on Condor Airlines. Each summer the German airline offers non-stop flights from Anchorage to Frankfurt, twice weekly. The flight is just shy of 10 hours and usually runs about $500 each way. Not too shabby. You can also connect to other cities via Lufthansa airlines. My initial plan was to fly to Europe on one of the first Condor flights of this summer, so probably the first few weeks of May, for about $1100 round-trip. Good plan.

Then I got to thinking: I have no idea what my job situation will be next year or how soon I'll have $1,100 burning a hole in my pocket. After buying the ticket, I'll then have to buy lots of train tickets to see and do everything I plan on. It will quickly add up to a $2,000 trip before I've even left Alaska. So should I scrap the whole trip? No way. Not this girl!

About 6 months ago I told Leigh I was going to save up my airline miles until I had enough for us fly to Southeast Asia together for free, so about 120,000 miles. Right now I'm almost halfway there, which is also just about enough miles for a roundtrip ticket to Europe. I figured I'd reach this goal at about the same time we had each been in our jobs long enough to take about a month off. This is an excellent plan. Then I started to weigh the cost and benefits of this. First, I'm not 100% sure I can comfortably afford my tickets to Europe for this year. Second, my Condor flight will NOT allow me to accumulate more miles because they are not a partner with Alaska Airlines (weird, right?). Third, by the time we're able to take a month or so off from work for this proposed Southeast Asia trip we should be making enough money to shell out the dough for our flights. Basically I was going to spend money I don't really have in order to save up air miles for a trip that may or may not occur in the next 2-3 years. That's stupid.

So I decided to fly to Europe this summer on air miles, making my trip almost FREE. The best part is that the partner airline with the shortest flights from Alaska to Europe is Iceland Air, which just happens to offer FREE stopovers in Reykjavic. My Europe trip has just gotten so much more interesting. Here's the plan for a 2 1/2 week trip:

Either on the way to or from Europe I'll plan a 24 hour stop-over in Reykjavic. Honestly, I'd stay longer if I could, but I have lots of places to visit and I have to get back to work eventually. Because Iceland is a small country and Reykjavik is a small city, I can do a lot in 24 hours. The plan is to take a charter bus directly from the airport to the Blue Lagoon thermal pool, soak for a few hours, then take the same charter bus to Reykjavic City. Reykjavic is known for cool architecture and a great nightlife, so I'll wander around, grab some food, then go out for a few hours. I'll have to be up very early to catch my 7:40am flight to.....

Munich:
It only takes about 6 hours to reach Munich from Iceland, or 18-20 hours directly from Anchorage (with layovers, of course). When I lived in France I visited a friend in Berlin and LOVED it. I also made some German friends while studying with the monks at Taizé. One friend in particular lives outside of Munich. Bavaria, being culturally very different from other parts of Germany, has always been a bit fascinating to me. I get the sense that it's culture is the German version of the culture found in the southern US- heavy food, close-knit families, thick accents, culturally more centered on religion (Catholic, in this case) than in other parts of the country. Not to mention they have great beer and, of course, some incredible history.

The plan is to stay in Munich and the surrounding area over a long weekend. This will give me time to take the Free Tour, see an opera in Munich or puppet show in Augsburg, sample the food, and maybe even visit Schloss Neuschwanstein castle. Early in the morning that Monday I'll take the 5 hour train ride to....

Vienna:
Coffee, chocolate, schnitzel, operas, and beautiful buildings. Austria also specializes in a white "young wine" that is not exported. Need I say more? The idea is to spend about 3 1/2 days in Vienna. This will give me time to really explore the city and maybe even fit in a side trip to Bratislava (though I might be tired of sitting on trains and planes by now and skip it). At the end of the week I'll take an overnight train to....

Geneva:
Leigh and I spent a long day in Geneva at Christmas time in 2010. It was beautiful and fun but also painfully cold and we were so tired from taking early flights to pinch pennies. This time I'll spend a weekend in Geneva, hopefully staying with another Taizé friend for added comfort and fun. In addition to exploring Vieille Ville, I'd like to see the nearby town of Lausanne, buy lots of Swiss wine and chocolate, and take the funicular to see views of Mont Blanc. From Geneva I'll catch a 2 1/2 hour train to...

Taizé!!! I'll spend 4 days here relaxing, singing (well, listening, nobody wants to hear me sing!) and praying. From Taizé I'll take the train 3 hours to Paris for a few days. This will be my fourth visit to Paris, but you can't go to Paris too many times. That's like saying you're bored with visiting New York City. There's just so much to do and see and, even if you've seen it all, it's a lovely city even for solo travellers. In Paris I'll explore the Latin and Jewish Quarters some more, possibly spend an evening out in the Marais, and do some fabric and gift shopping. If I get bored I'll pack a picnic and sit in one of the many parks until my flight leaves at 2pm.

Awesome, right? I almost can't believe how many places I'm planning to see. Since my plane ticket is free that means I can take part in almost any activity I like and stay within budget. It also means if I need to pay for lodging I can without worry. It's possible that this trip will barely be relaxing at all, but that's really OK with me. The idea is to have an adventure and see new things but still revisit some of my favorite things I discovered a few years ago. I'll come back to Alaska exhausted but happy.

The friends I'm hoping to visit won't know their schedules until after Christmas, so I will wait make my reservations after the New Year. Then I just have to purchase any reserved train tickets I want and save my spending money (plus come up with a scheme to safely transport bottles of wine and other breakables back to Alaska!). It's amazing how much I love planning trips and how excited I get putting together my timetables and budgeting. It's like I said to a friend the other night: everyone should spend the majority of their time and money on travel. It's better be hungry but well-traveled.

Frosty Tuesday

It's Tuesday morning and I'm on cup'o'tea number two.... yikes! Must be the weather. This morning was our second morning waking up to frost. Winter is definitely on the way! I have some serious mixed feelings about this. First, I'm not thrilled with the frosty, dark mornings. It makes my bike commute a little uncomfortable and slightly stressful, mostly because I have to be on the lookout for moose. Second, I think the sudden onset of chilly weather is making me sluggish. Third, it means that summer is really gone, and this was a summer that completely got away from me. Sad.

But it's important to look on the bright side. Summer in Alaska is supposed to be this magnificent time of year that we all live for. But so far Alaskan summers have let us down a little bit. The summer of 2008 in Juneau was the rainiest Southeast had seen in years... and then Leigh and I broke up for 8 or 9 months! Skip ahead to summer 2011 and the first half saw beautiful weather but also a lot of health problems and a death in the family. The second half, when we were starting to pull ourselves together, was rainy and gross. Summer Fail!

Last winter, on the other hand, was pretty awesome. We took up skiing, stayed active, hung out with friends and made the most of the long, dark days. I was really proud of us. So even though Fall is kinda tough with it's in-between-ness, it means ski season is just around the corner. Leigh and I have decided to take part in some real, honest-to-God ski events this year too, not just playing in the park. We have from November to end of January to re-learn how to ski and get back into shape, then the season will end with some fun fundraisers and stuff:

• Feb 4: Ski for Women, a fun 4k that raises money to fight against domestic violence in our community (if you know anything about Alaska you know how important this is!)
• Feb 17-20: Renting a giant cabin with work friends for a weekend of skiing
• March 4: the Tour of Anchorage 25/50k
• March 17: Oosik Classic in Talkeetna 25/50k

Everyone at work is starting to make their annual travel plans. Like I mentioned before, my judge is running off to France for a month. The secretary is planning a handful of vacations with her family (Hawaii, Seattle, a cruise!) and I'm left to brainstorm my travel plans before I get sucked into a lifetime of being chained to a desk. Lucky for me, Condor has published their summer fares to Europe! Here's the plan:

• May 1, fly to Vienna, hang out a few days. See and opera, eat chocolate, drink coffee, take pictures
• May 5, take the train to Munich to spend a few days visiting a friend in Bavaria
• May 9, take the train to Paris. Spend one day in Paris.
• May 11, take the train to Taizé(!!!), get my prayer on with the monks
• May 16, take the train to Geneva to hang out with a Taizé friend and actually see the city without being limited by freezing temperatures and it being a Sunday
• May 19, fly back to Anchorage

This is the long version. If I can't get this much time off work I will start my trip in Munich on May 1 and come back on May 15 instead. The cost is the same, more or less, it's just a question of sufficient time off from work. Leigh is super supportive because she's amazing, and because she wants me to bring back presents. Next time I go abroad it'll be a trip for both of us, probably to the UK.

Speaking of travel with Leigh, June 1, 2012 is our 10 year anniversary (of dating, not marriage). So we are planning something big. Right now the idea is a trip to New York City. Initially we thought Montreal or San Francisco, but flight to New York are very reasonable and we know the city a little bit, so we can really capitalize on our time there. Basically we're going to visit with Leigh's brother, eat a lot of great food, party in Greenwich Village, and maybe see a concert at the Mercury Lounge or something. Simple stuff. It should be a blast.

In the meantime, we're still focused on our Christmas trip for THIS year. This means watching our spending right now to save for shopping and fun. It's kind of tough since I've barely gone anywhere since moving to Alaska, but once Christmas rolls around I'll have a lot of great things to look forward to for the remainder of my clerkship :-)

Ah, Paris, comme vous me manque...

Part of the reason I have my current job, that would be clerkship #2, is because I spent a school year working as an English teacher in Antibes, France. It was a glorious year of my life. I had limited responsibility and an entire continent at my fingertips, waiting to be explored. Though I was significantly limited by my income (about 800 euros per month, from which I had to pay rent in the South of France and eat in addition to traveling), I was able to do a significant amount of traveling. This blog really flourished during that time, as I constantly had new pictures and adventures to write about. So far I believe this to have been the best year of my life.

So how did this get me my current job? Well that year I was taking phone interviews for clerkships. I happen to be interviewed by a judge who loves to travel and is currently learning French as his primary hobby. I didn't get that job, but late that summer he called to offer me a clerkship to follow the job I was eventually offered. I took the job. I mean, have you seen the economy? Who would turn down a JOB?

So here I am, working for a very nice judge in the superior court who also happens to love traveling and learning languages. Every year he takes about a month off to attend a language school and do some traveling. During this month he works from his new location and his clerk stays behind in Anchorage to do some writing and editing while he is gone. I knew this when I got the job. I had resigned myself to staying behind and hopefully saving up for my own trip to Europe in the spring.

Then, today, my judge says [joking], "Emily, you should just come to Paris too. We'll run the office from there!"

PARIS..... lovely, glorious, magical Paris that stole my heart though I tried so hard to resist.....

Of course he was only joking, so I replied, "Hey, you buy me a ticket and I'll go home and grab my passport."

But no matter how deep in my bones I know that he was only joking, and how much I know that I can't afford to shell out $1,200 to go to Paris right now, of course this got me thinking. You know, Leigh can hardly mutter the name of a foreign city without me researching how much a potential trip might cost and planning a skeleton itinerary for some unknown future date in which we might have the time and money to make this trip. So how do you think a person like me would react to such an off-hand comment?

Well, I started remembering how pleasant I found Paris to be all THREE times I found myself there in 2010. Walking around aimlessly, enjoying the urban and park spaces, la Marais, le quartier latin, buying fabric at the foot of Montmartre near Abesses....

The FOOD......
The WINE..........

The chance to practice my French, to really experience this city that I've only had little tastes of, to meet up with old friends.....

Then I remembered that I'm planning my own European trip and how much I think it will cost me (about $1500 in transportation, including the overseas flight and getting between cities). Wow, that's a big chunk to spend on my little addiction. So wouldn't it be AMAZING to work, in Paris, during the week then fly to say Vienna for the weekend. Then fly to, say, Munich for a long weekend to hang out with a Taizé friend, then maybe take a long weekend and actuall GO TO Taizeé??? Or zip over to Geneva to see another Taizé friend, or down to Antibes to see some teaching friends and soak up the sun? With a home base and an income, all of these things are possible for just a little bit of money....

..... but my judge, he was only joking about Paris. So you see? It's just cruel to suggest such a thing to a travel-addicted but slightly impoverished clerk like myself. Both saddled with my love of exploring foreign places and a pressing amount of student debt while attempting to live off a modest State salary. So cruel, so heartless, so not funny...... I've decided it should be considered a terrible social faux pas to dangle a fantastic [and even worse, FREE] trip in front of a travel-obsessed person who is currently unable to travel due to various realities of life. My realities: my life and money, and the fact that if I bought my own ticket and showed up at my judge's Paris apartment with a bag in hand he might feel a smidge put out.

So I need to stop planning this thing that won't happen on anyone's dime but my own. I need to focus on my work, getting a permanent job for next year, and saving for my own European trip, where I'll do all of the above things, but on my own time and on my own dime.

Alors, Paris, jusqu'a la prochaine fois.....

Super Lame Blogger

Yep, that's me. I haven't posted anything in a few weeks. Not because nothing has happened, but because I haven't had time to reflect on anything long enough to determine if I should bother writing about it. Also, I don't have any pictures to share. This makes me think that I generally do not take enough pictures of my life. Lame.

Anyway, the past two weeks have been hella busy, but mostly just boring stuff: work and such. We have been working on a big case at work and my judge is mere days away from embarking on a month long vacation (lucky), so we're trying to clear up his to do list before he goes. Two weeks ago was busy enough and then I got a huge project on Thursday, which caused me to work through the weekend. Last week I finished that up and kept plugging away so at least I got to chill out on the weekend (and I really needed it!). Now things are getting back to normal, which is nice, and I've earned 23 hours of comped time off, which is super awesome.

I haven't been a total hermit either. The past two weeks alone I've been rotating friends to have dinner with and get the dogs together to play at our house. Even when I'm so busy I just want to sleep in my down time, it's great to have lots of social plans. They keep me disciplined, force me to clean my house, and provide a built-in mental break from work, errands, etc. Even so, Leigh and I have scheduled some serious down time for Friday evening. On Saturday we're doing dinner and a puppy play date with some friends, plus party planning.

Did I mention we're hosting a 1960s Mad Men themed party?!?!?! I've never thrown a theme party before so this should be interesting. Basically, it's an excuse to dress up and drink too much while listening to old music. I'm so excited!!!

Our house is still rocking my world, even though today our alarm system went on the fritz so Leigh and I rushed home from work at 11am to find nothing wrong. Hopefully that doesn't happen too often. Juneau Cat is her typical cutie pie self and Cannelle Puppy is growing and full of energy of course. Both are beautiful and perfect. Sometimes I'm amazed at how much I love those little girls.

Leigh is coming down from a very tough time of year at work. She pulled through her first truly busy season with flying colors. Now she can coast through until Christmastime when absolutely nothing big happens at her job. Speaking of Christmas and winter in general, my friend Joan pointed out to me that there's snow on the mountains as of this morning! Wow! Of course this means we're still several weeks away from snow on the ground, but still.... crazy! It's almost ski/sweater/snow boots/darkness 18 hours per day season.

Speaking of Christmas again, our vacation plans are almost complete. We have our flights booked and have arranged to stay at a condo near Orlando owned by my friend's parents. It should be amazing and relaxing and comparably warm. I can't wait! Now we just need to book a car, save some spending money, and we're all set.

So that's the general update. Hopefully soon I'll do something fun enough to take pictures of and blog about.

Weekend Away- Hope, AK

Our much anticipated Labor Day weekend away from Anchorage has come and gone. It was so nice to get away from our routine, the house, errands, etc. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE our house. We love our neighborhood, hanging out at home, etc. But everyone needs a break sometimes. It had been months since I'd even left town, unless that day trip to Seward counts, but I don't think it should because we barely got out of the car!

Last Friday was Leigh's last Friday where her office closed at 3. We went home and prepared to leave for Hope early the next morning. The drive down Saturday went well and, after weeks of consistently crappy weather, the skies looked promising. We arrived at the cabin and were pretty pleased with it. The cabin doesn't have plumbing or electricity, but it has a woodstove and a clean outhouse, plus a camp stove and lanterns. Rustic, yes, but it had everything we needed. A couple of people could comfortably spend a night or two there, especially if they have some camping experience. Cannelle Puppy was beside herself with excitement, running around the cabin and smelling all the trees and mushrooms. So cute!

We got a fire started in the woodstove (after much trial and error), then headed out for a hike. We wanted to hike Twin Lakes, which involves a rather long journey up a rough dirt road for about 10 miles. It took us about an hour to get to the trailhead, but it was worth the drive!

Twin lakes is a beautiful hike through a valley with rushing streams and old mining equipment here and there. The path is pretty sturdy with some rocky parts, but we felt secure hiking the whole time. A few other families were out enjoying the trail too, so we felt safe from bears and such. Plus this hike is above the treeline, so the likelihood of a critter jumping out at us was minimal.


That evening we were invited to visit one of my District Court judges at her "cabin" nearby. The word "cabin" is really just another indication of my judge's modesty because her place is absolutely gorgeous, complete with electricity, plumbing and a fire pit. The structure was brand new when her family bought it, so it's not wonder they are making the 2 hour drive to Hope every weekend possible. Another judge was there with his wife and their dog. We had a lovely time with a glass of wine and some homemade ice cream.
Cannelle had a great weekend too. My judge doted on her on Saturday night, saying how beautiful she is (like Cannelle doesn't know that!), and she snuggled with us in front of the fire pit. She got to play outside a lot over those two days, which made her really from Saturday evening until Tuesday evening! She also got to bond with us for two whole days, even sleeping in the same room. This meant she kept trying to wake us up at night to play with her, but it was a good experience all around.
On Sunday afternoon Leigh and I started feeling a little icky. Sleeping on hard surfaces had done a number on Leigh's back and, after two days of indulging in rich food, my stomach wasn't too happy with me. We decided to head home Sunday evening instead of Monday morning. So we gave up one pre-paid night in the cabin, but it's cheap lodging and sometimes it's better to just listen to your body.
We found Hope to be generally very relaxing and beautiful. It was the perfect escape from our lives in Anchorage and only about 2 hours away by car! We've already decided to go back for some snowshoeing over Thanksgiving. In the future though, I think we'll just plan to stay one night.

Biking Eklutna Lake

After WEEKS of nasty, rainy weather, we finally had a decent weekend. On Friday after work Leigh and I went bicycle shopping. Until now we've both been riding bikes we bought on Craiglist, each for about $75. Leigh's is a cheap Mongoose, the Walmart kind, and mine is an ancient Schwinn that was probably pretty valuable back in the mid-1900s but is clunky and ill-fitting for me. First we went to Chain Reaction Cycles, a local Jamis dealer, so I could order my Bosanova. After checking out the standover height on the Bosanova, the cross-bar might be a little bit tall for my 28.5" inseam, but it should be a good overall fit regardless. The staff were friendly and helpful and ordered my bike without hassle. My bike should be in by Friday or early next week!!! Then we went across the street to Paramount Cycles to find a nice hybrid for Leigh. There were a few options and luckily one of them was on sale within Leigh's price point. She went home with a Giant Roam 2, a nice all-around bike with far superior components than any bike she's owned before. It seems like a good fit, but I might raise the stem of her handle bars a little bit and see if that makes for a more comfortable ride.

We celebrated our purchases of new toys by checking out nearby Sushi Garden. The restaurant was suggested to Leigh by a co-worker and it did not disappoint. We decided to sit at the bar to watch the chefs work their magic. When we sat down a friendly chef handed us water and a free miniature deep-friend concoction that served as a nice, heavy appetizer. I'm not entirely sure what it was, but I saw a mushroom under the tempura batter and it was delicious in the sauce it came with. We ordered two specialty rolls at about $14 each. Pricey, yes, but the rolls were massive and had high quality ingredients. Along with the free taster we were both comfortably full while saving room for a scoop of ice cream (I got the fat free, no sugar added version of something that could have been a delicious chocolate ice cream, but alas...) on the way home.

Saturday was pretty nice outside, but Leigh and I felt compelled to spend it running errands and such. We went to the Spenard Farmers Market to grab some produce. Cannelle the Puppy went with us, but she was pretty bratty and tried to eat everything in sight, even a strip of rubber she found on the parking lot. I had to dig in out of her throat before she swallowed it. After a Costco run, we took Cannelle to Kincaid Park for some serious fetching. Her behavoir improved by 80% for the next 24 hours after 30 minutes of sprinting around the stadium after a tennis ball. When we got home I took Leigh on a bike ride to show her the route from our house to her office, just in case she decides to become a bike commuter.

Sunday was absolutely beautiful, so we put the bikes in the car and drove north to the Chugiak area to bike near Eklutna lake. This camping/hiking/biking/general outdoor fun area is part of the Chugach State Park, so we had to pay to park but the facilities are well-kept. We decided to bike Eklutna Lake Trail, which more or less parallels the glacier-made lake from end to end for about 12 miles.

We stopped a few times to work out the kinks in Leigh's new bike and stopped once for about 20 minutes to take in the scenery.

The route was a little more rugged than I was used to after months of riding the paved trails around Anchorage. It was mostly packed dirt and gravel with tons of potholes and muddy areas. In all it was a great opportunity for Leigh to practice riding her bike in various types of terrain.

We took it slow since neither of us had ever ridden this route before. Around mile 8 Leigh said she was tuckered out and was ready to head back. We had planned to ride the whole 12 miles out and back, but it was a much more difficult trail than we'd expected, so I didn't mind turning back either. The trip back was much faster, of course, and by the time we got to the car we were both pretty tired.

I didn't really start feeling tired until we were about 10 minutes down the road. Then the hunger set in, big time. That morning we'd had a light, healthy breakfast of egg whites and turkey bacon, so my body was ready for some fuel. When passing through Eagle River we both caved and decided to check out Garcia's Cantina, another restaurant suggested by a co-worker at Leigh's office. These people really know their food, because it was amazingly good. We ordered from the lunch menu, but it was still a large portion. The salsa was particularly good. Unfortunately, this meal caused me to gain about 2 pounds overnight, so I'll be eating lightly this week until I see my weight get back to normal.

After the day of biking and eating we were completely drained. By the time we got home Leigh had decided to take a nap, at 5pm! We relaxed for about an hour and then decided to get up and prepare for our week. I made a huge pot of jam (which I need to can this evening) and some eggplant pate to snack on this week. So yeah, we were busy! I'm really proud of us for doing so much and making so much of this beautiful week, but I am sore and tired today! I still managed to bike to work this morning, but my legs protested the whole time. My commute from home to the courthouse is just over 4 miles. Yesterday I think I learned that I hit my stride around 10 miles. The good news is that when I do longer rides I'll hit a nice stride within the first hour. The bad news is that every time I commute to and from work my will is going to argue with my muscles, but I guess that's how it always is with exercise, right?

Alas, my denist appointment awaits.... le sigh....

The Lifting Fog

This week has been very pleasant so far. I can't believe how carefree and generally content I've been feeling the past few days. After a tough summer, I think things are finally starting to clear up. Without getting into unnecessary detail (because the 1-3 of you who read this blog sometimes already know) it boils down to: the house purchase, a death in the family, Leigh's illnesses, my health scare, getting a new puppy, moving, having a subletter, work, and preparing to change jobs (sort of). It was a lot to deal with. Even after the house business was settled and Leigh's health was looking better and my test results were promising, I was still feeling a bit drab. Nothing was making me really happy. Maybe I just felt like a little kid whose summer had been stolen from her.

Well, the house is really starting to look good. We've finished painting the interior and our pictures are on the walls. Leigh and I both feel well every day. We are enjoying our jobs and our friends. We are happy when we get home from work to find our kitty and puppy waiting for us. In the near future we have such joys awaiting us as a Labor Day cabin and hiking trip, early winter camping on the Kenai Penninsula, and friends and family coming to visit. All of these little joys together have pushed away the feeling of funk leaving me a generally contented person. We love living here, we love our house and our pets and we love each other. These things indicate that we are honestly very happy.

When people think of happiness, especially in American culture, maybe we think that incredible, intense joy and excitement is required to consider oneself happy. No one can feel joy all the time and those who do are probably in denial or blind to the world's problems. That doesn't mean we should stick our heads in the sand to avoid the problems or take pride in feeling raw pain and suffering to acknowledge those problems all the time. Instead, I'm finding that I am most aware of my happiness when I am calm and generally optimistic, but still aware when things aren't going well. The difference is that most of the time I will feel that things are going very well, but when I experience a setback it's less devastating. I can deal with the setbacks reasonably, work through them and then acknowledge when that time has passed.

This sense of calm has caused some slight changes in Leigh's and my general outlooks. Until we moved to Anchorage, and until fairly recently, we were homebodies. We rarely made dates with friends and almost never invited people over. Whether this was laziness or shyness, I don't know, but it was uncommon for us to socialize much outside of our school/work acquaintances. Now it's become commonplace to have friends over for coffee or dinner or just to stop by the see the progress on the house. We've also met up with friends at restaurants around town or for hikes. Now we're making plans to have more friends over for dinner and to go on a dual camping trip with another couple and their puppy, who happens to also be Cannelle's best friend. I think we're finally settling into a life somewhere, a life that we love and want to share with others.

Yesterday evening we hosted a simple dinner for a couple we are friends with while our puppies played in the yard. It was fun to spend the evening chatting and unwinding. About an hour after they left, Cannelle was passed out on my lap. It was a great way to spend the evening. Today after work I have a women lawyer's social gathering and tomorrow Leigh and I are going bicycle shopping! This weekend we've planned to bike a trail in the Mat-Su valley that ends at a glacier. We'll also have to take Cannelle on a hike to test out her new no-pulling harness. As long as the weather holds out, I expect the next few days to be great! Then, next weekend, we're going on a mini vacation to Hope, AK. Fun!

Bicycle Love

Hello friends.

I have been a most delinquent bike rider this year. My excuses are as follows: a difficult summer, very icky weather all around, and sharing one car with Leigh with our only parking space being at my office while also having essentially the same commute. These factors just don't translate to my getting up a smidge earlier to ride my bike into work. This will change soon, however, as we are only moments away from being completely moved out of the old apartment and almost completely settled into the new house, thereby reducing my after work errands significantly. Also, Leigh is now the proud owner of a new car and a shiny new parking space at work, so we no longer need to use my garage space at the courthouse. I'm thinking my old Schwinn is looking like she's ready for a few early morning commutes before the snow hits. Then, who knows, maybe I'll deck her out for some snow riding- studded tires and all.

All these bicycle thoughts have reminded me how much I want a new bicycle. My Schwinn was an $80 Craigslist purchase. She has served me well this past year, but I won't be sad to replace her with something more comfortable and more suited to my needs. Right now I spend most of my riding time on fairly well-groomed trails and roads, but I have my heart set on some serious long haul rides starting next spring (now that I've got my health issues under control). Initially I had plans to buy the Jamis Bosanova, a great unisex touring bike with all the bells and whistles I can afford (this will cost me roughly $1200 when all is said and done). The rest I'd add on aftermarket (like extra racks and panniers). My hope is to order this baby during the break-up next year so it's in my hot little hands by the time the trails are clear of ice.

But yesterday I discovered Sweetpea Bicycles out of Portland, Oregon and I haven't been able to think of much else since. They have two lines: LUST (more or less ready to ride bikes that they measure to fit you) and LOVE (100% custom bikes). These bikes aren't cheap, starting at $1,800 for the most basic LUST bike. The LOVE bikes start around $4,500 and take almost 3 years to receive. So basically buying one of these babies is a big deal. I thought I MIGHT get one in 3-5 years when I have a better job, etc. Then I read the fine print.

To order a LOVE bicycle (i.e. you dream bike) you just need to put $500 down and wait your turn. Then you don't pay the remaining balance until it's finished. So basically I'll have 3 years to save up the rest of the money. Hell, in 3 years Leigh's car will be halfway paid off and I will have been in my new job for 2 whole years. I'll be a completely different person with a completely different budget. All I need is $500, a dream, and an idea of what I want. SOLD! The best part of all is that Leigh says she doesn't mind me doing this. I can even plan to buy the Bosanova in the spring and ride it while I wait for my Sweetpea! I have the best wife in the whole wide world. I suppose if you think of it as my primary mode of transportation and exercise it kind of evens out. Plus I told Leigh last week that I have no plans to buy a new car anytime soon since mine is only 5 years old and paid for. Buying these bikes is my replacement of buying a new car (which I'd imagine a lot of new lawyers do when they get their first real job).

Now let's get to the bike porn:

Couplers: it's a hinge that allows you to FOLD your full-sized bike frame in half so it fits in a suitcase. A bike with couplers can go anywhere with you in the world without paying extra airline fees. My bike will have couplers ($600 add-on) so I can take in on vacation with me anytime I check a suitcase.

This is the Little Black Dress. A great road bike that can be dressed up or down. It's the model they're becoming famous for.

The farmer's market (a custom bike). I knew I'd like this company when I saw this bike.

The HW Jr. This bike is very similar to what I want- designed for long hauls and complete with couplers. The owner of this bike took it to the Paris-Brest-Paris this year. SO JEALOUS! Amazing! I imagine taking my custom bike (with couplers and disc brakes and purple paint) to Europe so I can cycle while vacationing, or to Asia so I can cycle around the countryside, or just to the East Coast when visiting family so I can cycle the rail trails I grew up on. It's amazing how one nice add-on feature can change the functionality of a piece of equipment and your outlook on everything you do. Of course, traveling with a bike like this is going to require some mega insurance just in case.

So that's my current obsession and I'm so super excited to get started. It'll be so much fun to help design the bike and so satisfying to receive it after 3 years of waiting. In the meantime, I'm still stoked to order my Bosanova to get me started in randonnée rides. But for now, I'm going to look forward to riding my Schwinn (and my nordic skis) this winter.