North To Alaska

Denise took some pictures today at the office: http://www.the1buba.com/photo/north-pole-coffee/

Hey everyone! Boy, I think it has been way too long for an update. Steve and I have been a little under the weather battling colds so most of the energy we could muster up was spent on working and then passing out when we got home. Anthony escaped from it all though, Praise the Lord!

We’ve seen what a blessing it is for Steve to be working at the hospital the last couple of weeks. He was working late on the Tuesday night I had to go to urgent care and get breathing treatments. (I think Anthony got the breathing treatments too because the little exam room was full of foggy medicine   Well, when I got out I swung by the hospital with my prescription list and Steve ran down and picked them up from me, turned them in at the pharmacy and then picked them up before he came home for work. Also, as a Banner Health Employee he gets a discount with prescriptions filled at the hospital and they put it on his account which means it comes out of his check so no up-front charges-which was a great thing because after a little problem with the truck a couple weeks ago, the list of meds I got were kinda pricy.

Yes, the truck is ok now but had to undergo an ignition change as my husband doesn’t know his own strength. Apparently the plug attached to the engine on the truck did not warm up one morning (I don’t know what happened there) and I couldn’t get the initiation to turn over one morning. So. . . Steve went out to start it for me.   Incidentally, it was the same day of my breathing treatments. Thankfully, he had a late shift that day and had the truck fixed before work. Well, he didn’t miss much work.

Lots of adjustments here like changing shoes when we get to work (I keep mine under my desk) and hat, scarf, jacket and mittens/gloves before walking out to warm the car up.    BTW-an auto start is all I want for Christmas this year and I’ve already put in a request from Santa. He lives up here you know?

It’s cold and it’s getting darker. Here is a picture of Anthony playing in the snow after school. (It’s only 4:20PM but getting dark)

We’re glad to be here though. Hope you enjoy the update. We love and miss you all,

Denise

Finally got a second to try and string a couple of thoughts together. That doesn’t mean they will be coherent thoughts though.

We’ve completed the heating systems for the cars. Only thing left for winterization is new tires for Denise’s car. Probably a couple weeks out on that yet. The heating part is pretty cool – an engine block heater that takes the place of a freeze plug, an oil pan warmer and a transmission warmer, both of which are pads that are silicone’d to the respective area. The three of these go into a 3 plug extension that tied to, and hangs out of, the front of the car. They also change out the coolant and replace it with fluid good to -50. I’ve heard that if try to lower the temp resistance to more than -50, it inhibits your heaters ability to heat. I don’t like that idea.

We’ve had the cars plugged in a couple of nights now. Most folks plug them in when it will be in the single digits, however, it’s proven to be better on your rigs if you plug them in when it’s below 20, so we’ve just been plugging them in when we are in for the evening.

We had some snow yesterday or the day before. It didn’t melt, but most of it kind of blew away. It is so light and dry, that all I had to do was turn on the wiper and the snow dusted off. No streaks, no sign of moisture at all. We have a few days coming up that will be 32-35 for the high, but for the most part, we will be below freezing for the next 10-15 days. The lows look to stay above single digits, so it will stil be nice out side. I don’t know about Denise and Anthony, but i noticed a little difference when it got down below 10 – especially if I was wearing thin slacks. o_O
Snow should be falling over the next 2-3 days too. Should be a beautiful week!

Well, I think thats all the news that’s news for now. Y’all take care!

Well, I’ve finally got a chance to breath a bit and thought I would write and update a little. The weather here is staying nice to everyone’s amazement. They say it is not normally like this. The temperature is expected to drop in the next week pretty drastically though. My car is now “weatherized” now so if the temps dip down too low I can plug my car in and have it start for me in the morning. Our landlord’s brother is a mechanic and it was nice to get a referral when you don’t know where to start. I told Anthony we were getting the car fixed and he said, “Oh, our car will have a tongue.” Many of the cars up here have the plug sticking out of the grill of the car and it looks like a tongue hanging out. Our plug tucks nicely into a ledge on one side of the license plate though so it is more sophisticated. 
Anyway, I’ve been hard at work trying to learn my new job. Last week I spent time training with the girl whose place I took. Today was my first day without her but I had lots of help from my boss and others so it went ok. I have a lot to learn but I REALLY like my boss and the people who work there and the office is beautiful and it always smells like coffee.  I take coffee orders from our clients which are mostly the coffee huts and businesses in Fairbanks and North Pole. (There are coffee huts everywhere here! I guess because people want to drive though when it’s cold and not get out of their cars.) We roast and flavor coffees shipped in from all over. (We also supply bulk and retail coffee to the Superstores up here like Wal-Mart and Fred Meyer.) I handle the accounts receivable right now and as soon as that is organized and running smoothly I’ll be adding the other pieces (A/P, payroll, and the rest of the bookkeeping responsibilities.) The business is small consisting of a service technician who’s been trained to work on the espresso machines and other things and a delivery guy and a couple of part-time roasters and packaging people. Today, Tom, my boss said we were going to have an office meeting Wednesday morning and he’s asked his dad to come in and make us waffles (apparently his dad really likes to cook and bake.) And, Janet, Tom’s wife brought lunch in for all of us today. Steve says he wants to quit his job and come work with me. 

I guess some of you may already know my last bit of news but, if not, it is my delight to inform you that I’m going to be a grandma again! Jessie and Mark are expecting another baby and I couldn’t help myself; I just had to announce it.  We are so excited!

Well, better leave it there for now. Thanks for checking in on us. We love and miss you! Denise

Hi I’m Anthony and this is my blog. I like it in Alaska. I like it that it’s cooler up here but I don’t think I will swim much here. I miss California and all of my friends and family but I’m still making a few friends up here. Last Friday when I got home from school I had to get ready for a camp for Royal Rangers. We brought firewood when we got there and the next day more kids came and we practiced shooting bb guns and air soft guns; it was very fun. I like my school because it is new and different. I take the bus to school every day. I’m looking forward to more snow.

It’s been a LONG week. Both here and down in Sacramento.

Our family said our last good-bye’s to Grandpa Thursday. It sounds like it was a very nice time remembering him.

Here, we’ve been busier than a one armed paper hanger in a windstorm it seems…
We were at friends houses both Monday and Tuesday nights, church Wednesday night and then trying to catch up with work stuff Thursday night. Last night Anthony went on a Royal Ranger camp-out and we finished unloading a bed that our new friends at church (the associate/youth pastors Chris and Jeannie) gave us for Anthony. He’s going to love it.

This last week was also the week of the perfect storm for Denise in her looking for work. She had interviews at 3 different places and all three offered her a job and all were the same money. Benefits were the deciding factor and since I have great insurance, she took the one that seemed like the best fit with the most flexibility. She’s working her North Pole Coffee Roasting Co. as the office administrator. I can’t wait for the samples to start flowing in…

I’m enjoying work a lot, but amazed at the lack of urgency and customer service concerns. Again, I think it is the “Alaska time” thing – they are just a WHOLE lot more laid back than I’m used to.

Well, that’s it for now. More to come I’m sure….

To see some more recent pictures, click here

We saw some snow, temps at night are down to 19*.  It’s been beautiful.  We took a drive Saturday morning.  We went to breakfast at a place called Hilltop.  It’s on the Elliot Hiway, the same one that the Ice Road Truckers take.  The coffee shop is quite a while before the road gets bad though.   On the way to breakfast, we saw a guy on the highway winching a cow moose onto his trailer.  Apparently, when there is road kill they have folks to call up here.  The meat is salvaged when possible.

Saturday morning, we got a call that we knew was coming.  Grandpa went home to be with the Lord at about 5:30am PDT.  He is now in the presence of his Savior.  Very cool to think about.

I’ve been very blessed with a Christian heritage.  I was raised in church, and though I’ve not been the sharpest knife in the drawer, have always known God’s grace.  My knowledge of the Savior has been thanks to my parents, and their parents before them.  It’s been a wonderful thing that is easy to forget in the business of life.  Thanks Mom and Dad, and your folks too, for the examples you’ve been for me, for us.

It’s Thursday night and I thought I’d give a little update. Anthony finally went back to school today after battling a flu bug since Sunday night. Steve’s almost finished with his first week in IT; I hope he will log on soon and update you all about that. I had testing today at the job placement agency but they said it might take a week to get back to me. In the meantime, I’m checking the classifieds and waiting for a possible interview at one location next week some time. We had our first snow fall yesterday; it snowed for three or four hours real lightly but did not stay on the ground. Although is was 20 degrees out when Steve left this morning, it turned out to be a beautiful sunny, clear day with a high in the 40’s I think.

Our hearts are with our family tonight as they are with Steve’s Grandpa who is failing fast and not expected to live much longer; well, not expected to live on this earth much longer. He will be more alive than he’s been in a long time very soon.     We love you Grandpa and we love you family; wish we could be there with you.

The new front yard.

Today is Thursday. Anthony has had some great first days at school and enjoys playing out in the yard when he gets home with our Landlords’ son Evan (4yrs) and girls from two doors down (sisters in 2nd and 4th grade) who take the bus to school with him. We let him play until almost dark (about 8pm) because there might not be much time later. Another reason he can do it is because school doesn’t start here until 9am. He doesn’t get out until 3:30 and doesn’t get off the bus until almost 4-seems late but I’m guessing we’ll get use to it. He seems to be adjusting well and has already been invited to a birthday party Saturday for one of his classmates.

I probably have one more day of hanging up clothes and unpacking boxes and we’ll be close to settled. I have a testing appointment with the job placement agency for next Thursday and Steve starts his new IT job tomorrow. He is very excited! We’ve been invited to a bar-b-q and bonfire tomorrow night by the Russell’s (the couple that hosted Steve while he was first here). Our friend Daniel Baker will be there and the Russell’s family and some church people; some from Jubilee and some from First Assembly.

I’ve taken some pictures (click here for pictures) of our new place (except for my room which has been the last to clean and organize).  The leaves are falling fast and it feels like Thanksgiving time already; crisp cool days with the sun still shining most of the time. I am amazed at how quick the clouds can move in though.

Thanks for checking in on us and thanks for reading our blog. We love all the comments and we love and miss you all.

-Denise
PS:  There’s a video of Anthony in his room too.

Anthony

It’s Monday night and we just finished dinner. (I actually unpacked some of the dishes and found the ones I needed to make a lasagna.) It rained here last night but the sun came out and warmed us up again today. I’m told that even though the trees have turned BEAUTIFUL shades of orange and yellow it is not fall, it’s an Indian Summer. They don’t have fall here apparently. They have summer and winter, period.

I registered Anthony for school today and was told he needed his second Chicken Pox vaccine before he could start. Not a problem, we just headed over to the Health Department and they gave him a shot and a TB test. I guess this is the first year they require all the students to have both vaccines and since he is new to this district he needed the TB test. So. . . he’s ready to start tomorrow. The name of the school is a mouthful: Emily Ticasuk Ivanoff Brown Elementary School. They call it Ticasuk Brown for short. (Named after a Native educational leader. “Ticasuk” in Eskimo means “Where the four winds gather their treasures from all parts of the world. The greatest of which is knowledge.”) It’s about 20 years old and the campus is really pretty. Interestingly enough they have a complete list of winter wear necessary in their handbook and apparently they have recess every day up to 20 below zero. Oh yes and the coolest thing; they have an ice skating and sledding area on the playground and the kids are told to bring their skates with blade guards and their helmets-talk about your life style changes. Another cool plus: the bus stop is at the end of the street; I can see it from the front windows.

Speaking of front windows, we have them all the way around the house. We live in the bottom like a basement only we have huge windows near almost ground level but big and beautiful so we can see all around the house. I wonder what will happen when the snow stars collecting though?? I guess we’ll see. It is a roomy, warm and inviting place with really nice appliances, floors and natural wood trim (it has been really well kept). The front door leads to two entrances; one upstairs and one downstairs. Our landlords are a nice couple with a four year old boy and another baby due in December.

As I’m writing I just heard a small plane take off literally in the back yard. Seriously, the back yard is open. You can see the neighbors’ houses across the runway and there are cones set up to make a safe distance from the runway so kids won’t get run over by the planes. It is very cool for sure. Our landlords own their own plane and have it parked just outside and the convenience of the runway is so cool. Brian, our landlord just got back yesterday from a nine day moose hunt. They shot two moose this season and his parents were in the garage all day cutting up the meat. (I guess Brian had to go back to work today.) Brian said he expects his picture to be in the paper because the second moose had a measured spread of 61″ and he says he believes it’s the biggest in the region this year.

We went to church yesterday and Steve was asked to introduce me and Anthony. It was a little different than we are used to but it was good.

I got a call from the Ford dealership on the day we were driving into Fairbanks. The lady I talked to said she would be back from vacation in two weeks and would like to interview me for a position. So. . .we’ll see. I will probably go test at the job placement agency next week just to begin that process too and I’m checking on any jobs available at the airport and hospital. The principle at the school today offered me a part time job tutoring but I don’t think that is going to happen right now. It was nice she asked though.

Missing you all, especially my Sugar Pie, Caleb.