Crabfest

Grey Whale

Drummers Shirts... Callen would have wanted one I think

Banner hanging Down Town

Crab ready to eat

Today we went into "town" and saw the Kodiak Island Drummers who preformed at the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. It is a group of kid in Kodiak with all different types of drums. They were really good. It made me miss Callen... a lot, because I knew he would have loved it. There was a really cool grey Whale hanging from the ceiling! After their performance we walked around the carnival some, listened to part of the Fisherman's Memorial Service for those who have passed away at sea this last year and bought another yummy Dough Buoy. (fried Bread, then slathered in butter and sprinkled with Cinnamon Sugar so bad for you but oh so good!)

A Saturday in Kodiak

This morning Mike and I slept in. After a big breakfast of Coffee, Eggs, Sausage, and English Muffins we decided to drive around. We first drove to the North end of the island and did some hiking at Fort Abercombie . Then we went to the Grocery Store and hung out for a while at the apartment, since it was misting out side. This evening we went into "town" and to the Kodiak Brewery. Mike tried some beer, I did not. Tonight we are just hanging out. Not much to do in Kodiak.... and now some picture

Sitka Spruce.

Mike and I 1/2 way around the Lake

Trail around Gertrude Lake Ropes and Nets down by the Harbor

Poster at the Kodiak Brewing Co.

Mike enjoying a Sarah Pale Ale

Wordless Wednesday..

(Carpet on the walls of the rental in Kodiak, yep it is special)

A few pictures

My sweet Ride

Apartment Building... pictures of the inside to come later View across the street from Apartment

Down the Street (yep it is a crab pot)

After 14 hours of work and still smiling

Yep I am a little pink today, it was nice and sunny

In Kodiak

I made it to Kodiak...Tonight I went to a friend house for dinner, it was yummy. Have to be up at 6 tomorrow... will up date more tomorrow.

Today

It is beautiful out today. I slept in until 10 and then packed and did some running around. Then Samantha, Jacob and I went to the Market, had some lunch and walked around in the sunshine.
Well I am 95% packed and ready to go. My flight leaves tomorrow at 2:55 in the afternoon and I am supposed to be to Kodiak by 4. I have to say good bye to Mike around 10-10:30 because he has to work tomorrow, so I am going to go see him on his break. But He will be out to see me on Thursday so I think I can handle 4 days with out him, when he leave Kodiak.... well that is another story.
I would say our Condo right now is about 50% packed. The upstairs is 95% and the down stairs maybe 20%. We have lots of boxes stacked up in the guest room and in the corner of the living room. Mike will be moving everything the end of June before he leaves for MN. It is kinda sad that the next time I am "home" it will be 3 condos Down... but I am so excited for the new place , we just need to have it organized before Mom and Dad come up the 22nd of July.
Tonight my last night in our First Apartment together Mike is cooking the Kabobs I made, and we are having them with rice... Yummy! Then we will pack some more, watch a little TV, and go to bed at a decent time. Next time I post I will be on Kodiak Island.

They Won!!

Mikes Tattoo mostly healed

Mike Batting
The team on the field

Mike's Softball Team won their First Game Wednesday night!! The same team from last year from the church. (So what if the other team only had 4 players and had to forfeit.) They did do a scrimmage and Mike was 6 for 6 at bat! He also scored a couple of runs.

Jacob

Samantha and Hans came over for dinner last night. While the big boys grilled the chicken and potatoes Samantha and I sat on the porch and Jacob was WALKING around. Yes Walking!!! The sun was shinning so I took some really cute pictures of him.

Standing at the coffee Table

ohhh Phone...
Walking to the porch, it was a little bright

Oh look the Camera.

Java ... Purse

I knit and felted a purse, started it with the help of mom when I was home in February.

Java Loves the Purse
Do not know why but she must love the smell

Date Night

Mike and I went out with Samantha and Hans on Friday night. First we went out to dinner at Dish Sushi and then Bowling. After bowling we stopped at cold stone before going to pick up Jacob. It was a fun night... and now some pictures:

Pretty VaseSamantha and Hans waiting to be seated

Mike's Sushi

Jacob after we picked him up from his grandpa's house

Three Months

I cannot believe that it has been three months. One one hand it seems like it was yesterday that I got the call but it seems like forever since I was in Minnesota. I have my good and bad days. The good days are good. The bad days vary from bad to really bad with lots of tears. I miss Callen so so much. But more then that I feel that the world no longer feels quite right. In all my life I have never had anyone close to me die. And the only funeral I remember going to was my Great Grandmothers (Grandma Ruby). I hate that there is this empty place in my heart. I hate that Callen is gone...forever. And I hate that I feel removed from the situation (location wise).

Wednesday night at my Yoga class the teacher was talking about a yoga character called "the gambler" who loved games of all kinds and lives in the cemetery because you are lucky and live... until you lose. This totally made be tear up, start missing Callen but it has also made me realized that Callen had an amazing life. Callen was a Gambler of life and love. He went to Mexico, Canada, Hungary, Scotland and Spain. He had an intense love of music and had pure raw talent too. He had the amazing ability to find the good in anyone regardless of what they look like or had done. He had the confidence to do what made HIM happy with out trying to please others. Callen knew who he was and was happy with it. Now the reason that my yoga teach told the story was to allow us to have more fun with some of the poses, instead of being so serious, analyzing our poses compared to others. But it translates into life. I think Callen got it, "Be who you are and do what makes you happy"

Mike got his Tattoo today! Here is what is looks like currently.. it will take some time to heal.

Tattoos 2

What Tattoo should I get?

These are my traces of my 4 ideas.

Callens Necklace

Callens Key Chain
A design Callen put a clay ball

Knot Callen Drew on a friend

So which one do you like? I have a couple on the top of my list and a couple at the bottom but I want to see what other people think first!

Tattoo's

Guess who is getting their tattoo this week.... Did you guess Me? Wrong. If you guessed Mike Ding Ding DING. Mike made and appointment and met with an artist last week. He is getting his tattoo on Friday at the Inked Monkey. He is excited to FINALLY be getting a tattoo. We have been talking about getting tattoos since we were about 19. He is getting the drawing that Callen did... this one.

I am still up in the air about what I want to get. My original idea was to get the design on the stone Callen always wore... but I traced a picture of it and with just the lines all I can see is a volleyball. I also traced the key chain he had and I really like that one. I plan to trace two other ones. One he drew on a friend on a mission trip and the other be drew/molded on a clay ball. Right now I think I am just going to get a symbol, no turtle like I have talked about before.

MOVING

some of you may already know but we are MOVING. We are moving from Condo B to Condo E at our same address! We could not be more excited. After 2 years in our current rental we are ready for a change. (Wow I cannot believe we have been up here for 2 whole years, time flies.) The condo is the same size, same set up but 100% remodeled. I am drooling over the new Kitchen I will have granite counter tops and a tall pantry! The bar area and wall have been removed so it completely open and new recessed lighting was installed. Our new floors will be hardwood on the first floor are bamboo on the stairs and 2nd floor. The fire place was taken out to make the 1st floor even larger. The bathroom has a new vanity with granite counter top, a pretty mirror, and heated floors. The larger bedroom closet size has been slightly reduced but the room looks SO much bigger. The smaller bedrooms closet has awesome organization racks. The garage will have a new door, a garage door opener, some built in cabinets, separate heating system, and a 2nd fridge. The plumbing and heating have been redone and the walls have been re-insulated. Can you tell I am a little excited about it? We will be moving at the end of June beginning of July, or should I say I will be packing the next 2 weeks and Mike will be moving in June/July. The best part about it is rent will stay virtually the same! I plan on asking Mike to take pictures on the empty new Condo and empty old Condo to show the drastic differences.

The new Condo is still some what of a construction site but will be 95% finished midweek and we will sign a lease then, but we at 99.99% sure that we are doing this, I started packing the weekend!

In other news my Mom and Dad booked their tickets to visit us. They will be here July 22nd to the August 1st. So hopefully I will have everything organized by the time they get here.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mothers Day Mom. I know this year is going to be hard on all women who Callen touched. Mom you mean the world to me and I have no idea where my life would have been if you had not been my Mom. I know the both Callen and I are truly blessed to have you as our mom. You have gone over the normal expectation of a mom and I hope some day I will be 1/2 the mom you are.

Picture Post

Last week I made a Pesto Pizza with home made wheat crust, home made pesto, chicken, cheese, and pepper.

Wednesday Mike, yes MIKE, made Halibut Enchiladas for Cinco de Mayo. They were tasty. He wanted me to let all of you know he did it 100% by himself.

After the dinner I went to Yoga. The Yoga Studio is only about a 10 minute walk from our place so I walk, but it was raining so I put on my new rain gear, minus the rain pants. Don't I look stylish :)

Pesticides

I also found this while looking around on some clean eating/organic sites. Pretty much the "dirty dozen" are the food you want to focus your organic purchases on, since pesticides are used heavily on them. Or the pesticides are grown in to the fruit or veggie like with potatoes. The Clean 15 are the fruits and veggies that use the least amount of pesticides.

The Average American Family

I saw this today... this is sad.... America is not very money smart. (click on the picture to make it bigger.)

Spring Weather

The weather has been amazing lately. Last night Mike and I went on a 5 mile walk. Tonight we loaded the biked on our new Bike rack and drove to Bird Creek, about 15 minutes from Anchorage. Then we Bike to Bird Point, about 6.5 miles down the trail. It was so so so BEAUTIFUL outside. The Mountains were reflecting in the waters of Turnagain Arm. I so wish we would have had a Camera. But I know Callen could see it. I also biked to work for the first time on Monday, the whole 2 miles I have to go. It is nice to move in the morning. I love the weather because I also walk in the park during lunch. I just cannot get enough of the outdoors.

I miss Callen so so much. I wish he could have come and seen where I live. All I can do is hope that he flys over some day.

What SUV?

Mike and I are in the process of deciding what type of SUV we are going buy. The 2000 Mini-Van we have from my parents is slowly dieing. It works fine in the summer, but when it is cold the transmission does not like to start working. Once you get it to go it is good but...yea. We plan on selling or trading the Van in. So the SUV. Mike has been looking for some time and has even test drove a few. Right now at the top of the list are Nissian's Xterra, Murano, and Pathfinder. We have also considered the Hyundai Santa Fe, Honda Pilot, and Nissian Rogue. Along with decided WHAT one we like most we also are deciding New vs. Used. I think I am more on the Used side because we want a few more bells and whistles than the Versa has. However the problem with used is you do not know who really owned it before you or how they took care of it. Of course the dealership is going to tell you its perfect and had only one owner who took really good care of it but they are trying to make some money. Mike is undecided. As for which on we like most we are trying to decide how big or small of a vehicle we want. Do or will we need enough room to seat 7 or is 5 seats OK. How much do we really want to spend, what % of a down payment do we want, and how fast can will we be able to pay it off? How crappy is the gas mileage going to be? How much is insurance going to be? What interest rate are we going to get? It is all about the MONEY for me!! We really do not care too much about the color, just not White or Black.