26 March 2011

Six Years Ago...


(A and I's message in a bottle. And in the background, our Christmas tree)

...I made my very first trip up to Alaska. I was only nineteen. I have many stories from that trip, but let me just tell you one.

As a setnetter, it's very important to pay attention to the tides. There are four tides in a day. Two high, and two low. And if the current if running to hard, you can't pull your nets out of the water to pick your fish. So you want to pick your fish as the tide is getting slack. (Just as the tide is turning). Well, on this particular beach site we were fishing for, the beach was especially muddy and there was no way to get the boat into the water when it was low tide. So, in order to be able to pick our fish before the tide changed and washed our fish out of the nets, we had to push our boat out into the water WAY before it was even close to "picking time". If the tide was going to be really low that day, we would sometime have to sit out in our boat for around four hours, (freezing our butts off some days) just hanging on a mooring waiting for the water to get a little slack. Now Amanda and I were pretty inventive with our time. Besides the "live concerts" we threw for eachother, we had picnics in the rain, painted our nails -if it were a nice day, decorated a Christmas tree -yes, in July, and tried to get our neighbors attention. Now if we had a visitor from one of our fishing neighbors, oh man, for the next several hours, we would get to talk about how excited we were that someone came to see us. Let me just say it was a Highlight!

Well, during this time out in the boat, Amanda and I would send messages in a bottle to our neighbors. We'd address our letters depending on which way the tide was going. Some days we'd send a message to the hot fisherman on the right, and other days we'd send messages to the sweet family operated site on our left. But the hot guys are not what I'm writing about... So... let me get back on track. There was a girl fishing on the site to our left that would send us stuff back! One day, Amanda and I go out and check our nets and there is chips and salsa waiting for us in our net! Can someone say SCORE! A girl gets hungry when she's out on the water.

So now, lets fast forward six years to the present time...

I had the cutest apartment picked out that I wanted to rent in Kenai, Alaska. I found the add like an hour after they posted it. It was like a studio house. And it was adorable! And I wanted it... And even though I offered to pay rent while I was still here in Missouri, they rented it out to someone else... The nerve I tell you.

Anyway, even though it was still a month before I was moving up there, I was starting to freak out a little bit... "Oh my gosh! I'm going to be homeless. I think that was the only apartment Alaska has!" I'm not sure why my mind thinks like that, but it does.

So, of course, when the end of the world is nearing, I call my all knowing best friend Amanda. And she had an idea, "Why don't you email all the churches in Kenai and see if they know of anyone that is looking for a roommate or something?" What a good idea! So I did just that. And everyone was so helpful too! So, long story shortened just a bit, I got put in touch with a girl that was was looking for a roommate. And so we were emailing and realized we had met six years ago while we were fishing. She's the girl that sent us the chips and salsa by way of water!

So, as it turns out, I was once again freaking out for absolutely no reason. Not only will I not be homeless when I get to Alaska now, but I also probably wont have to get a second job because rent is much cheaper.

...I guess God really does know what He's doing...

And now, if I can just remind myself of that and not freak out that I'm going to be in Alaska in two and a half weeks and don't yet have a car, I'll be in great shape!

10 March 2011

San Diego!



I LOVE California! And as much as I love the quietness of the country, I think if I were rich, I would pick up and move to Cali right smack dab in the middle of everything. =] Though living on the beach as a bum renting out surfboards sounds pretty exciting too. And I could totally do that right now!



I have no idea why I love this picture so much. But I bet this (random) guy (I was taking pictures of) is a happy guy! He was out there all by him self surfing his heart out.


(beautiful flowers at the wedding!)

I love my job! And not only do I get to do hair everyday, I also get to go on vacations and I can transfer my job to wherever I feel like moving! Anyway, I was able to take a trip out to San Diego for a dear friends wedding. Susannah and Will. And it was like a mini Friend Ships reunion! It was so great to see some of my friends I hadn't seen in years. I had no idea Captain Stan and his wife Sharon were going to be there! And I was just SO excited!


Sharon, Jake, myself, Capt Stan!