A Little Snack

Enjoying Some Christmas Baking

A Year of Blogging

December 11th marked our one year blogiversary, I guess they call it. We started our blog one year ago as a way to share what is happening in our lives with our loved ones far and wide. Sharing our stories every few days gives a far better picture of our lives than say a yearly Christmas letter.

People have often told me I should journal about our adventures and life up north. I’ve tried and failed miserably. I hate journaling. What good is a journal? No one appreciates it until you’re dead and it’s found in your boxes of junk. Even then, who knows if someone would care to read it. Blogging on the other hand motivates me. I am able to share what we are doing with the world and anyone is free to read about it, right now, and make comments. So, I guess it’s our on-line journal with the interactive aspect thrown in.

Starting our own blog has led to following other bloggers. So, on this one year anniversary of blogging I’d like to share some of the blogs that have made an impact on me throughout the past year.

Aaron Brown’s blog keeps me in touch with National and Iron Range politics. He keeps it interesting with his goofy commentaries and his one of a kind sense of humor.

Friends like Erin and Bill remind me of how beautiful and enjoyable it is to be in Northern Minnesota.

Gia’s blog keeps me humble as I am reminded that some people’s lives are SOOOO much cooler than mine.

Christina Brown, The Northern Cheapskate, continually finds ways to save money and challenges me to save on our day to day expenses.

Charity teaches me that eating healthy can be oh so delicious and interesting.

These are just a few. I enjoy hearing about numerous other friends, their families and their day to day lives through their blog posts.

I raise my glass to the blogging community that has help keep me in touch and informed this year. May we continue strong through the following year and years to come.

--AnnMarie

Alaskan Driveway

We have some friends that live in Soldotna AK. The neighborhood that they live in has a community runway. People park their airplanes in front of their houses. When they want to go flying they just taxi the plane down the street to the runway.
C.O.

Wooden Bike

I built this "push bike" for Harold last summer. It was an interesting challenge to figure out how to make this out of wood rather than metal. It turned out ok, Harold was still a little young to use it, but I'm sure he will enjoy it next summer.
C.O.

The Stockings Are Hung

The Rudstroms have decorated the house for Christmas. One of the ways we keep life simple around here is that we own very little decorations. In fact, they all fit in one Rubbermaid tote and it takes us about 25 minutes to put up all the trimmings. Still, they do their job. They put me in the mood for Christmas and makes the house look lovely and cozy.

--AnnMarie

Rental Cars

Rental car companies normally give you two keys when you rent a car. Having two keys for a car is very convenient. Having two keys permanently connected together is not.
C.O.

Uncle John

Harold got to hang out with Uncle John for a while at the craft sale. He had lots of fun wearing Uncle's sunglasses and getting whisker rubs. The next day we were at Bering Air and Harold saw one of the employees from a distance who also happened to have a beard. "Uncle John", he said and pointed. "No, not everyone with a beard is Uncle John," I explained.

--AnnMarie

The Ride

Here's how C.O. looked when he arrived in Nome on Wednesday evening. He drove the 4-wheeler from Brevig to Nome through a blizzard while I managed to score a free airplane ticket.


He looked about the same when he returned to Brevig on Sunday.

--AnnMarie