Bumped Into Santa in Nome; He Gave Me His Card

Santa Came Early (I think I'm in love)

I have been longing for a for a camera of quality for ages!  Finally my wish has materialized.  Santa (my husband) picked out this fancy Canon Rebel with interchangeable lenses, HD video, other features I don't understand and so much more!

I really don't have any idea what I'm doing to be honest.  I have dreams of being able to take amazing photos and then to edit them all artsy and cute.  *sigh*  My goal is to just pick it up daily and spend a little quality time together with my Canon.  We'll see what becomes of it.   Hopefully the blog's photo quality will be kicked up a notch.

Here's a couple of my favorite photos so far, amateur I know . . .

Harold's Feet

 

Ernie's Laugh

~AnnMarie

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.

Tieka at Selective Potential

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

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

Fitness, Cheapskates & Me

For me, the time for resolutions doesn't come with the new calendar year, but with the academic school year. September is my time of new beginnings. I have nine months of classes ahead of me, a fresh group of students walking into my classroom and new coworkers to get to know. Maybe it was the knowledge that my 30th birthday was sneaking up on me that made this year, the year, I would make a permanent change and commit to an exercise routine.

My friend, the Northern Cheapskate, mentioned earlier this month that Money Saving Blog was challenging people to quit the gym for the month of March. They're not advocating to give up on fitness, but rather to find a more economical way to achieve your fitness goals.

"Quit the Gym" month is a good excuse to share my success and how I avoided spending much to get in shape. A gym membership is not an option for me anyway, but here's what I did for little to no money.

Cheapskate Strategy #1: Get Workout DVDs

At $15 or so a piece, workout videos are really not that expensive. The routines are designed to work your entire body and get your heart rate up for a significant amount of time. If I tried to do exercises on my own, I'm sure I'd quit too soon or neglect certain parts of my body. I'd rather have an expert leading the way and honestly I'm just too lazy to push myself. I accumulated a collection of four different videos over the past few years. I really had good intentions of using them but now was the time to put them (and me) into action.

I started working out regularly in September with a goal of working out at least four days per week. For the most part, I have met that goal and have gotten to know those four videos pretty well (I have the words the instructor says memorized). Things were getting seriously redundant for a while.

Instead of buying more DVDs, I got a brilliant idea that solved the boredom factor. I turned off the volume to the TV and cranked up my favorite tunes instead. It was a heck of a lot better than listening to the same instructor chit chat and strange workout muzak day after day.

Recently I borrowed some videos from a friend. It was just what I needed to change things up a bit and stay interested in my workouts.

Cheapskate Strategy #2: Wear Grubby Clothes

I admire the cutie patootie workout outfits the ladies on the video wear but my old t-shirts and sweat pant cut offs work just fine. Hardly anyone sees them (especially if you're not at a gym) anyway, so what's the difference?

Now I have to admit that I recently bought a pair of stretchy workout capris. BUT they are so darn cute and make me feel like I can leap tall buildings. *sigh* It was a moment of weakness.

Cheapskate Strategy #3: Use Homemade Weights

After I made some good progress with my fitness level I decided I wanted to focus on upper body strength. I needed heavier weights. Of all the dumb things to buy and ship to bush Alaska, it's weights for the sake of having more weight. Instead, C.O. made me two sets of these babies that he found from the dump. They're cast iron parts from double hung windows. He spray painted them white then wrapped them in hockey tape. Yay for DIY!


I'm not really sure how much weight I've lost, maybe 15 pounds, nothing super significant. Weight doesn't really matter anyway. What's important is that I can do so much more physical activity than before and for longer periods of time. The most noticeable and exciting part is that I've dropped two pants sizes since August.

This is where the whole "getting fit on a budget" thing fell apart. Two sizes smaller meant I needed to replace ALL of my pants. Ya, I know, poor me right? A few years ago I came to grips with my new size and got rid of all my tiny pants. The first size down was no big deal, cinch the belt a notch or two tighter, BUT two sizes down . . . I refuse to wear clothes that just hang off my body. So, I've been shopping for quite a few new clothes lately. I figure it's part of my reward for actually being committed to my workouts the past few months.

I'm all proud of myself for sticking to my resolution and actually getting results. So I guess my getting fit on the cheap kind of blew up in my face, but in a good way. =)

--AnnMarie

Kindergarten Students 09/10

There they are, my lovely students for the current school year. I thought some of you might like to see the kids I am with all day. I have 10 students and a beautiful, spacious classroom. I love, love, love my classroom. I can't imagine finding a set up as amazing as this one anywhere else in the U.S.

Here we are proudly displaying the quilt we made in December. The students carefully painted Christmas themed picture in the squares with fabric paint and signed their names in the corners. The quilt was then given away at the school's annual Christmas program. I throw all of the kids' names in a hat, draw a name out and let the lucky winner gets to take it home. I do wish they could all have it. It's the 5th quilt I've done with my classes over the years and I just love how they turn out.

Andrea, to my left, is my classroom aide and my "right hand woman" so to speak. She keeps my days sane and is a huge help with the students. In fact, just today she took care of a poo situation that my stomach never could have handled. It's an understatement to say that I am very thankful for her.

You can see what's new at Brevig Mission School at our school blog. Check it out some time.

--AnnMarie

Got Me Some Bangs

C.O. cut my hair a while back and gave me some bangs too.
--AnnMarie

Wordless Wednesday

St. Michael's In-Service

This year's Bering Strait School District in-service was held at the village of Stebbins for some sites and at St. Michael for the rest of us. I was really hoping my brother's school, Elim, would be at St. Mikes, I was glad to find out we were at the same location and I got to see quite a bit of him.

In-services are a bit different for bush teachers. We stay at a school, sleep on the floor with co-workers and shower in locker rooms for four days. Some parts stink, but for the most part it's quite a bit of fun. Who else gets to do this with their coworkers?

Like last year, the organizers of the in-service week had some evening activities for all of us. This year's feature was the band, Landbridge Tollbooth, from Nome and a "caller" from Fairbanks to teach us how to Contradance and Square Dance. It was a blast!

I think this picture of John and my co-worker friend, Amy, learning some new dance moves sure turned out cute.

The following night we were treated to the performances of the Stebbins dance group. (Stebbins and St. Michael are only a few miles apart and are connected by road so they just drove on over.) Eskimo dancing is a lot of fun to watch. I enjoy seeing the ladies sport their colorful kuspuks and dancing in unison.

Brevig Mission Staff getting cozy.

Oh, and we did attend professional develpoment sessions as well. But that's just details. =)

--AnnMarie

Kissy Face

Harold makes the greatest kissy faces for me when I'm about to leave for work. He sure knows how to pucker up.

Intense Week

It's been a pretty intense week for those of us working in Unalakleet. I got some photos that I think really captured my (and perhaps my co-workers') mood as I progressed through the week.

Beginning of the Week


Middle of the Week


End of the Week

Happy Moders D_e

I got this note on my desk yesterday. I must say it is pretty stellar writing for a kindergarten student.

"Happy Modrs Da_e Amree"

--AnnMarie

Our Minivan

7 Random Bits

My friend Christina, aka, The Northern Cheapskate, tagged me on her blog to tell seven random things about myself. So, here it is.

1) I can do this with my tongue.

2) The Sami connection:

When C.O. and I met, I was working at Ironworld and wearing a Sami dress. I would talk to the tourists that came through and tell them about the lives of the Sami and about the little sod hut I was sitting in. Just a few short years later, I moved to Brevig. I started learning a bit about the history of Brevig and found another Sami connection. At the turn of the century, the folks up here weren't doing so well because of the low number of caribou. So, the government flew up some reindeer and some reindeer herders, the Sami, to teach the Eskimos here how to herd them. But they didn't want to come unless they had a Lutheran minister who spoke Norweigen. Pastor Brevig was the one who came.

3) I once spent a long weekend in Finland with my old friend Jussi Seppa. There I saw the only hockey game of my life.

4) Brushes with fame. I've only encountered two people who are considered famous. In college I attended a Mandy Patinkin (he played Inigo Montoya in the Princess Bride) concert with my friend Bett. Afterward, I got the chance to shake his hand. Then when C.O. and I were in New Orleans having lunch, James Carville walked in and ordered some take out. We were the only two customers in the place.

5) I have crooked pinkies.



6) I have eaten raw fish and whale.

7) I love to clean up and organize things. --AnnMarie

I'll tag a few people here to also share seven random things about themselves.

Charity

Erin

Krista

The Bayleys

Soren

Jack 'n Me

This isn't exactly new news, but I was just thinking about these photos today and wanted to share.

So, C.O. and I were in Baldwin City, Kansas last summer and this guy was helping to promote the opening of the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie for a local theater. He was amazing! He had the swagger, the lingo, the look and was a real hoot. It was a fun, and totally random encounter.

* The only Pirates movie worth seeing was the first one, btw.

The Weekend

This has been a fairly interesting weekend. I attended a one day meeting in Unalakleet for the reading facilitators at each site. My brother John and I happen to help out with the reading program at our respective schools. So, I got picked up by the district plane on Friday night.

The next stop after Brevig was in Elim to pick up John.


In Unalakleet, we visited with folks at Kim and Greg Johnson's home, then spent all of Saturday in a meeting. It was short, sweet, informative, included good food and good company. Saturday evening I returned to Brevig. Our friend Bill Bryson is visiting and he had watched Harold quickly while C.O. came to pick me up at the air strip. Turns out Harold had been sick and miserable all day. Here's what we saw when we got home. --AnnMarie

Feet of a Kindergarten Teacher

Gearing Up For Work

I've mentioned in previous posts that we've had some pretty severe weather. I wanted to give you a glimpse into what I wear as I go to work on a stormy day. --AnnMarie

My Birthday Suit

Last Sunday was my 28th birthday. A couple of things made my day pretty memorable. One is that C.O. got me a present that is quite possible the most comfortable thing I've ever worn.

Dressing Harold in his footed pajamas every night looks so cozy and I wanted a set for myself. Turns out they're great! I wear them every chance I get.

The other memorable part of my day was the opportunity to go on a dog sled ride. I'd never been before. Considering that I grew up in Minnesota and have been in Alaska for 6 years now, I figure it's one of those things I should do. Our friend, Henry, has a dog team and his grandsons have been taking them out nearly every day. So, C.O. arranged a ride for me. The boys took me about 10 miles total. It was an exceptional day, the scenery was beautiful, the sun was shining, needless to say, I had a great time. I learned two things on this journey: 1) it's not quite as fast as I had expected 2) the dogs can do their business and run at the same time. (The second part being not quite as lovely as the rest of the trip.)

Side by Side

Ahhh, it's Valentine's Day. A made up holiday so we all go out and buy more stuff. It's junk we don't need but feel obligated to buy to really prove that we love the one we're with. As it turns out, I love C.O. the same amount on every day of the year and don't need to prove my love today with a card or chocolates or whatever. (Hmmm, I didn't really mean for this post to have a cynical tone. On to the sweet stuff I meant to share.)

So, it's Valentine's Day, and one of the things I enjoy doing with the one I love is traveling . When we're in Minnesota, we enjoy spending time with C.O.'s Grandma Ginnie and share with her our plans for travel and adventures. She usually doesn't see the draw towards the trips that we want to take but does see that we enjoy being side by side. One pretty cool thing about Grandma Ginnie is that she knows a ton of songs by heart. And any little phrase will trigger something in her mind and soon she'll starting singing a song with a phrase that was used in conversation. Well, one that she has sung a few times while we have visited her is "Side by Side". We found the song on iTunes and I just made a little video to go with it. Happy Valentines Day. --AnnMarie