Alaska to Hawaii

Life is a roller coaster! And I cannot believe it has been five months since I last updated this. For starters, I LIVE IN ALASKA! And I love it! I have been here now for nearly half a year! I love this beautiful state, I love the mountains and the trees and the gorgeous flowers and just the beautifulness of it all. It literally takes my breath away. The air is so fresh and crisp and no matter what things I might be dealing with in my life, I can just sit on the beach with my fire, close my eyes and breath. And I know life is going to be okay. If God can put all this beautifulness in one place, I know he can take care of me.

My Alaskan adventure has been just that. An adventure. I wish I could say it has been amazing, but it has been a rough road. Thankfully, most of the times, rough roads are the things that you can look back on and see how it helped shape you and make you into a better person.

Things have not turn out quite exactly as I had hoped them to. I moved to Alaska with the hopes of living here the rest of my life. Hoping that I would finally be able to settle down and actually stay for a while. I'm just longing for that place to call "home". And Kenai has always been my "safe haven". When I feel lost in the world, I can always come to Kenai and it feels like home. It feels like I belong.

I'm not sure how to go about explaining this so it makes a little sense. But basically, my neighborhood is emotionally draining. (I know, try to understand that.) But I can't stay were I'm at. And now technically I could move to a different neighborhood and things would be a little different, but it's almost to the point where I just need to get out of town to be able to clear my head. To be able to think clearly.

And honestly, what better place than Hawaii right? A little surfing and sun is so good for the soul! I decided to take a little break from everything to get my life back on track. Collect my thoughts, remember who I am and what I am here for. God has a purpose.

For those of you that have read my blog along the way, you might remember me talking about going to Australia to be a part of Youth With A Mission. Well, I ended up not doing that but going to cosmetology school in Missouri instead. Anyway, YWAM (Youth With A Mission) has a base in Kona, Hawaii and I applied to go as a Mission Builder for a couple of months. Just found out I got accepted and am pretty stoked! I'll be in Alaska for another month to watch summer give way to winter and give the girls at the salon some time to find my replacement. But then I'll be on my way. I'm hoping after Hawaii I'll have a little direction as to whats next. God hasn't ever left me hanging, so I'm guessing He has something amazing for me ahead.

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!

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!

Merry Christmas 2010

Usually I start a Christmas letter around the beginning of December. But I just can't even believe Christmas has already come and gone. Wasn't it just summer like yesterday?

This year has gone by so incredibly fast that I'm not even sure what happened. I think this will be more like a little recap than an actual letter. Usually I will go back and check my blog to see what had happened in my life the last year. But with 5 post it doesn't look like a whole lot went on. And yet I was so busy.

In January of last year I was one month into cosmetology school. Was going forty hours a week and then working a waitressing gig part time. It didn't leave much time for anything else, but I was still able to squeeze a couple trips into my schedule. Nothing foreign or exotic, but Alaska was definitely on the list, along with California, Nebraska and of course Arkansas.

It was my fifth trip to Alaska, the most beautiful place in the world! And I was so blessed to have my dad come along with me. We did a little halibut and salmon fishing, bear watching, site seeing and we got to hang out on the boat I fished on the previous year, the Early Dawn. Even though I didn't get to commercial fish this past year, I did get to show my dad a little bit of what it was like.

California was awesome! I had been to Los Angeles a couple times but this was my first time to San Fransisco. It was beautiful! I made some new friends, got to check out the Golden Gate Bridge, and went wine tasting in a limo. I felt like a rockstar! And I'm pretty sure I saw Matthew Maconahay too. But if it wasn't him, I'm going to pretend like it was. :)

I finished cosmetology school in October and am now working at a salon in Missouri. I've been there almost two months now and already am working by myself. I still feel like I need supervision of some sort, but so far I haven't messed anyones hair up or waxed anyones eyebrow off. Cross my fingers. I'm really loving it though, I think in about a year when I get more comfortable with everything it will be even more enjoyable. It is nice not to dread going to work, since a majority of your life is actually spent working.

Still trying to get my cosmetology license transferred to Alaska. This has been a bigger ordeal than I had originally thought. I'm not in any hurry to go anywhere right now though. Missouri is actually starting to grow on me. I'm thinking about getting back into dance. Not ballet this time, I think I'm going to try a couple different forms of dance and see what I like. There are some Zumba classes starting the beginning of January, so if I can get my sister Sarah to go with me I think this will be fun.

I hope that this next year is full of blessings and joy for every person I know.

Love always,

Danette

A little song and dance from the Bjornstads:

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/c5ZFTZi1o7vBPMi9?cmpid=ey_fb_self



My dad fishing his heart out in Alaska


My friend Kelley and I at the Golden Gate Bridge


The older sibling

I'm a Cosmetologist!

Hello! It has been so long since my last update. Life isn't quite as interesting to write about, or I image read about, when every day is pretty much the same.

It is one year today that I moved to Missouri. Had never cut a persons hair in my life! Didn't know a thing about coloring or foiling. And definitely didn't know anything about perming or waxing. Now, a year later, a have a cosmetology license and I really think I'm going to love the work! I am so excited to get a job in a salon and continue learning.

I'm looking for a job right now in Alaska. But as of now, I'm just hanging out in the south until after Christmas. Still working as a waitress in Missouri. Getting pretty excited to get on with my life now that I'm finished with school.

Fall is Here Again

San Fransisco!

I don't really have an update except to say, I love California! And here are some pictures from my week long trip to San Fransisco!



Grapes =]



Chris, Kelly, myself and Abe at a beautiful winery!



Abe and I at the Golden Gate Bridge! So beautiful! I love bridges!

Trip to Alaska #5

I have officially broken my record of "not being able to stay in one spot for more than three months at a time". I have lived in Missouri now for NINE months! It seems crazy to say, because it honestly feels that I've just moved here.

I only have 2 1/2 months of school left and I then I will actually be a cosmetologist. (If I pass my boards that is. :D) And then I'm going to have to make decisions about where I want to go and what exactly it is I want to do. That's always a bit scary for me.

But, as you all know, love and miss Alaska and fishing. And because of school I wasn't able to fish this year so I was very excited just to take a two week trip up and hang out. My dad had never been to Alaska so I was very blessed to be able to bring him along and show him the most beautiful place in the world. And he got to see what I did fishing.

So, we'll just skip right to the pictures. :D



My dad and I on our way to Alaska.



Snug Harbor. This place is amazing! It's across the inlet, away from town and the world. The most perfect place in Alaska to be able to take it all in! There's salmon fishing, and halibut fishing. Bears, mountains, fossils, history, crabs, boats, awesome people and an awesome hot tub. I mean, it's all here.



Dad, Abe and Aaron. Bear watching.



Drifting. Gill net full of fish.



Abe and his deckhand Aaron picking fish. (I would like to pretend that I made the best deckhand ever.. But I must say, Aaron probably did everything just a little better and faster than I. As much as I'd like to think that I work as hard as a guy, it's just never going to happen. Guys will always be able to give just a little more than me.)



There wasn't enough room for me to help pick fish. So I just pitched them in the hold for the guys.



A boat full of fish!!! I have never seen this many fish in all my life! The hold is plumb-full! The deck is overflowing with fish! This was a great day! (Even though I was a bit sick...)



A happy moose

Cosmetology School

Hello to anyone that might still be reading my blog! I have not died, just been super busy.

There's not been too many exciting things happening in the past six months. I definitely haven't gotten to travel anywhere exciting. And though I did take a trip to Nebraska for a couple of days, I'm pretty sure that does not fall into the "exciting places" category.

I'm going to school full time, then work nights and weekends. Only about five and a half more months to go and then I will be finished with school! I don't think just saying the word "excited" could really get my point across. But I am super excited to be over half way!

I think there are about sixty of us girls packed into one building and I'm pretty sure I've heard enough drama to last me the rest of my life... I love cutting and coloring hair, waxing, pedicures and all that jazz but I was not expecting the drama that came along with it... What was I thinking?

So... I thought I'd put a few pictures up for you...


My School BBF Jessica. :D


Cutting Jessica's hair. (And as you look through these pictures, you may notice that it's basically just Jessica and I... Jess really is my only friend... I'm not even kidding. I find it's much easier to stay out of all the drama this way. :D)


Jessica and her awesome red hair. I totally did that. :D


We made a Jack Sparrow doll out of a bald mannequin. Each group had to make someone when we were going through the "Design Decisions" chapter...

Jessica, myself, Stephinie and Lydia.


And my first set of acrylics! (Jessica's hands, but we felt she needed a little bling for this hand model picture... So that is my ring. :D)

Happy 3rd Birthday Joseph!

Joey's third birthday!



Blowing out his candles



Joseph, Rebekah and Emma



Little Helper