Friday, April 30, 2010

Farewell to LORAN

Not too long ago, I wrote a bit about the Coast Guard LORAN station located about 15 miles south of Brevig. The Coast Guard has decided to discontinue LORAN as a navigational aide. This means the end of our military neighbors. The skyline view from our window will never be the same. On clear, dark nights, we could see the lights of Port Clarence and most predominantly, the lights of the radio tower. It was the largest in Alaska, standing a quarter mile high.

The following is the video that was made of the tower coming down. There's six different angles, the middle one is the coolest, I think, when the top of the tower lands near the camera. If you like watching things blow up, you will probably enjoy this video.



Seeing this makes me a little sad. In the matter of seconds, the end of an era has come. There will be no going back.

--AnnMarie

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Fashion & Sense

Clothing is art for your body . . . that's what I've decided. Everyday, when I get dressed I have the opportunity to put together something beautiful. Half the time I'm lazy and just throw on whatever, but I've been trying to put more thought into my outfits. It's fun and challenging to find new ways to style pieces I already have in my wardrobe. I, of course, also enjoy shopping and finding new clothing treasures.



I bought this adorable trench coat recently and have been itching to wear it for a couple months. We finally had a few days of springtime weather about a week or so ago. Since then, winter has returned in full force with loads of snow and wind. But for a few days I was able to enjoy some decent temperatures. The three days of spring gave me a chance to sport my trench coat but along with warmer air came melting snow. Puddles started to form and the snow was getting rotten. Rotten snow banks are like half melted, but still appear solid so when you try to walk on them you fall in ankle deep, thigh high, you just never know. All that to say, I just can't ditch the big rubber boots no matter how stylish I wish to be. So, they just have to go together up here, style and common sense.



In my endeavor to beef up the fashion in my life, I've been taking inspiration from a few blogs by some pretty awesome ladies. They're beautiful, they're fashionable and thrifty too.



Erin at Calivintage

Elizabeth at Delightfully Tacky (she happens to be a fellow Alaskan)

Oh, there's more I follow but I especially enjoy hearing and seeing these girls' take on life and fashion.

Though I don't think I can quite hang with the big girls yet, I had fun taking my first fashion photos.

--AnnMarie

Monday, April 26, 2010

Village Ambulance

This fall a new clinic opened in Brevig Mission. It is a great looking facility with lots of modern equipment. We do not have a doctor on staff, but there are several health aids and a nurse practitioner that can take care of most medical needs.

We also got a new "ambulance" to transport patients to the airport for medevac flights. We do not have any cars or trucks in town and the roads are frequently in poor condition (snow or mud). This, of coarse, means that we would have no use for a regular ambulance, instead we have this trailer. It can pulled with a four wheeler or a snowmobile. It almost never gets used, but it is nice to know that it is available if someone needs it.
Lately Harold and I were at the clinic and I happened to walk by ambulance trailer and I noticed something on the tongue. Like everything sold in America these days it has a warning sticker. This one says "NO PASSENGERS"!

C.O.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Springtime Picnic

Last night we decided to drive our snowmobile to the top of a mountain for a picnic dinner.

C.O. made his specialty, Ramen noodles with tuna and cheese.

Harold's has had a bit of a cold this week, so he wasn't his usual active self.
Once he plopped down, he didn't move until it was time to leave.
Just look at that poor, sad face. =(

Hopefully we'll have another mountainside picnic before too much of the snow is gone.
It's a good chance for us to get out of town and enjoy some peace and quiet in the country.

Happy Spring!

--AnnMarie

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Candid

We have a few final tasks to do as we complete our dossier that will be sent to the Ethiopian government. This is what they look at as they consider us to be adoptive parents for an Ethiopian child. We are putting together a collection of photos to include in the dossier as a way for them to "Meet the Rudstroms".

We didn't have any recent pictures with all three of us so our friend, Amy, came over to take a few photos. She took a bunch of other candid photos as we were getting ready. This one's my favorite, a shot of Harold getting his gorgeous hair styled by mama. Oh, and my honey looks pretty cute too. =)
--AnnMarie

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

We Go Together

C.O. reads Herman Melville . . .

I wear a fun little shirt named the Melville Tee.
So there you have it, we're a perfect match.

We go together like ramma lamma lamma ka dinga da dinga dong
Chang chang changity chang shoo bop
we'll always be together

Waooo

Yeah!



--AnnMarie


Saturday, April 10, 2010

Pickled Pike

My Scandinavian heritage shines through pretty strongly when it comes to being a fan of pickled fish. This is a project that I've been hoping to do for years now. My mom gave me Great-Uncle Walter's pickling recipe quite some time ago. This week I was inspired to test it out.

Our friends went camping and fishing last weekend. They gave us a couple of the northern pike they caught, these were the smallest ones of the batch if you can believe it. Around here it is not uncommon to get pike that are 40 - 50 inches in length.


Step one was to soaked the meat in salt water for 48 hours,
then rinse and soak in vinegar for 24 hours.


Beautiful whole spices were boiled together in sugar and more vinegar.


Additional flavors for the jar.


Now it's time to let the brine do it's work.
The fish will sit in the refrigerator for at least a week before we dig in.


Pickled fish is one of those "acquired tastes" and is only appreciated by a selective few. How one is chosen to be a lover of this delicacy, I do not know. I hope to share it with a few folks around town to see what they think. I will also be bringing a bunch to Minnesota. Let me know if you're interested in some, I'd be happy to share!
--AnnMarie

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Easter Crafting

Some serious concentration going on.
Finished products with smiles.