the alaskan adventure: Carpe Diem: October 2, 2011

Welcome back to the Alaskan Adventure.

We apologize for the delay in posts! The last 2 months have flown by and we are both very excited to share an update with you all. So, with out further adieu, here we go...

Anchorage is starting to feel like home as we are finding more of a daily routine. Everyday we find ourselves still thinking "wow, we live in Alaska!" It's an awesome feeling and both of us feel really lucky to be spending time here. The scenery is outstanding on a daily basis, and with a view of the Cook Inlet from our balcony, the breathtaking sunsets are never ending.

Our apartment proves to be in the best location possible! Right in the heart of downtown Anchorage, we are with in walking distance to some of our favorite new restaurants, places for an adult beverage, shops, Ashley's school, and the Coastal Trail. We love it and could not ask for a better place to live.

Ashley started school back in mid August and immediately found herself swamped with things to do (all good things!). Stressful and overwhelming? Yes. Exciting and fun? Absolutely. As each day goes by she is feeling more and more comfortable with the routine of the school day, the staff at school and her students. With a caseload of 12 students with differing disabilties she has kept busy each and everyday planning for roughly 15 small groups who come to see her for reading, writing, and math during the school day. With 1 IEP meeting under her belt she feels more confident about the ones to come. Her caseload spans from second to fifth grade which makes her day even more exciting! She was nervous to start working with the 'older' kiddos (5th grade) as she orignially thought her caseload would cover the younger kiddos. Although they give her a run for her money on a daily basis, the older kiddos have proved to be amazing to work with. They are all amazing and she leaves school everyday excited for the next. The staff has been amazing helping her adjust to not just school, but to Alaska. They fill her mailbox with info on Alaska on a weekly basis and have made her feel very much at home. Ashley shares a classroom with the other special education teacher who is also the special education department chair for her school. This has been a great opportunity for Ash to have a built in mentor for the start of the school year. She has been a great help! Ash has been riding her bike to work which she really enjoys. However, winter is quickly approaching and she is currently on the hunt for bigger and more powerful snow tires for her bike. We will see how long she lasts...

Speaking of hunting...Clayton is currently hunting for a new job. Since being hired at the local Office Depot back in August he has realized it is not for him. Office Depot has kept him busy stocking beloved office supplies, selling printers, directing customers to the appropriate isle and his favorite daily task-driving the forklift in the back warehouse (whether he was suppossed to or not!). He has been working some crazy hours for the company, sometimes going in as early as 4 am. It sounds rough but he has been a champ and waking up so early has paid off-he saw his first moose! Clayton wondered what was causing the the car in front of him to drive so slow early one morning. He finally caught up and realized exactly why-a huge moose was taking his time crossing the street, not far from our apartment!

A few weeks ago Clayton attended a local job fair in hopes to find something more suited to him. After talking with a few different companies he landed an interview with Enterprise. It would be a fantastic opportunity as it is a great business to start a career with. Since meeting them at the job fair he has had 2 interviews. This spurred the first ever purchase of a suit--he walked into the interview looking quite spiffy! They would be crazy not to hire him and he is confident about the possibilty of picking you up when you come to visit :) The hiring process takes a couple weeks so hopefully we will know more about it next time we post!

Our days off together have been limited since both of us have been really busy with work. However, we have done some pretty amazing things with the time we have had off! A few weeekends ago we drove down to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (about an hour south of Anchorage). This place was really great. It's like a zoo but way better. The animals are rescued from the wild because they are in a dangerous situation (without a mother, injured, etc). The conservation center takes them in with the hopes of releasing them back into the wild at some point. Understandably, this is not always possible so in the mean time they are placed in a very natural envirnmont within the center. It was fun to learn about all of the wildlife that is native to Alaska (elk, moose, bison, mule ox, lynx, caribou, black bears, grizzlies, and porcupines). The highlight of our visit was watching the grizzly cubs be fed. We watched in awe as the conservation employee entered their area with a giant bucket of dog food. He spoke with us as he fed them and told us all about the bear cubs he has known since they were weeks old. They are now 2 years old and weigh 200 pounds! It really was amazing watching him interact with them. He is one brave man which became more evident as he goofed around with the bears and got them pretty agitated. One of the bear cubs will be staring in a new movie, Frozen Ground, which they will begin filming in Anchorage this month (starring Nicholas Cage, John Cusack, and 50 Cent)...we are hoping to catch a glimpse of one of them in town soon.

We are both officially residents of Alaska after receiving our Alaska IDs and registering to vote. This is easier said than done. We rode our bikes down to the DMV one lovely Saturday morning not thinking much about the driving test we were about to take. The test is on the computer and consists of 20 questions. You must correctly answer 16 to pass. We simultaneously took the test and Clayton finished his much quicker than Ashley did. He waited patiently while Ashley kept getting incorrect answers. Lets just say we left the DMV that day with one new Alaska ID. Ashley decided a brush up on the driving laws was necessary and returned a couple weeks later to pass the test with flying colors--phew!

For the last few weeks we have been enjoying the trees change color and the cooler air come in. Last weekend we hiked an Anchorage favorite, Flattop. With in minutes of being on the trail we immediately knew why it was a local hot spot-the views are some of the best we have ever seen! The trail is on the east side of town so the view spans the city, the mountains, and the ocean. Simply spectacular with the yellow and orange leaves as a backdrop.

We have also been busy exploring more of the town. We have enjoyed many rounds at the frisbee golf course close to our place. Ashley's skills have greatly improved and she was very excited to beat Clayton at their last outing. We also spend time at our favorite restaurant, The Moose Tooth. Their pizza and beer is unbeatable! A visit there usually makes it into our schedules once a week....at this rate we will be regulars in no time! Costco consumes the majority of our Saturday mornings as we wander for the greatest and latest deals while also picking up the samples. The Costco here is amazing! They have really cool stuff all the time.

A few weeks after we got to Anchorage we were very excited to spend time with Ashley's cousin Rob and his wife Beth. Beth grew up a little north of Anchorage so they were back in town to visit her parents and we were happy that they squeezed in some time to see us too! Beth's parents live in an amazing home that includes an air strip in the back yard. Her dad has a 2 seater airplane and was very excited to take us each up on a joy ride! We were just as excited. And a little nervous! But we knew it was an opportunity we could not pass up. Thousands of people come to Alaska every summer to do just this. Within seconds of being in the airplane we both felt comfortable and our nerves eased as we flew north of town towards Eklutna Lake. It was a breath taking trip. The water was perfectly teal, and we learned on our trip that this was also the water supply for the city of Anchorage. We also enjoyed views of glaciers and mountain tops in the distance. After landing back at Beth's parents we enjoyed a delicious meal of salad and salmon-freshly caught by Rob during his visit. It was great to see family! While Beth and Rob were here they also introduced us to Beth's best friend, Jenn and her fiance Taylor. We have since been hanging out with them on a regular basis. They are great people and we have a ton of fun with them playing cards, eating dinner, brushing up on our bowling skills and laughing. We are feeling very lucky to have them as friends!

Fall came fast and we have a feeling that winter will come faster! The sun sets at about 7:30 now and doesn't come back up until around 8:00 am. Apparently we lose 5 minutes of sunlight per day. We are quickly approaching full days of darkness...! More on that as it comes.

We have both been home sick (5,000 miles feels even farther sometimes!) but are very happy with our experience in Anchorage so far. Clayton is enjoying time with his family in Boston this weekend while his cousin gets married. In the mean time Ashley is in Anchorage getting ready for their first out of town guests! Ashley's parents fly in next Friday night and will be here for NINE DAYS! We can't wait to show them around town, take them to our favorite spots, and fill their cameras with some amazing photos.

A big thank you for being patient while we finally take time to update you about our adventure. And, as always, thank you for keeping us in your thoughts & prayers. We do the same for all of you on a daily basis. Know that we appreciate you all very much and look forward to sharing more with you!

Another update soon...we promise.

Love to all,

Clayton&Ashley

Seize the Day.

A view of the sunset from our balcony. This is one of our favorites.

The Wildlife Conservation Center

This elk kept charging towards the man in the dark coat. They are having a staring contest.

This is Patron, a teenage grizzly bear who was ready to pose for pictures.

A view from the top of Flat Top. Downtown is in the distance with the Cook Inlet behind it. Mt. McKinley is hidden behind the clouds.

Makin our way to the top!

A clear day before the leaves started to change colors. We have witnessed 2 weddings on top of the orange/gray building since we moved in. Pretty awesome location.

The horse and carriage is a weekend attraction downtown. Late at night we can hear it strolling down the alley behind our apartment.

Ice rink at the mall! Hockey is a big time favorite here.

Hangin out at the Moose Tooth!

A view of the lagoon. This is usually our turn around spot when we go for a run on The Coastal Trail.

This is Hugo, a grown up grizzly at the conservation center.

2 moose taking an afternoon snooze.

(@ the conservation center)

A porcupine looking for a snack. We learned at the conservation center that porcupines love salt.

Baby moose! Or is it meese?

Our living room. At night time.

Ashley stopped and took this on the way to work. The first snow on the peaks for the season, which this is, is called Termination Dust as it marks the termination of summer.