Merry Christmas!

And a Happy New Year!

Love to all.

The Concert

I had to blog about the most amazing concert EVER first, and then I'll post about Thanksgiving.

I had a totally amazing time with my girlfriends Krista, Melissa, and Rachel. We drove out to the arena and ate lunch at "Which Wich". It's a sandwich place and was totally delicious. My chocolate shake wasn't too shabby either, and they had melt-in-your-mouth cookies. Adam and I will definitely have to stop there next time we go to a Coyotes game.

The lights dimmed as we got to our seats. We took our time at dinner because we didn't really care about seeing the opening band. We waited in anticipation as a guy walked on stage and assumed position at a turn table. Then came the weird animation:

Melissa and I looking weirded out...

Sorry to those that would appreciate this art-form. The animation became more and more strange over time and the music was what I think is described as "trance" - a form of techno. I thought that maybe he was going to do stuff for the band and that he was intro'ing for them, but no. He played his techno music for about 30 minutes. If I was high, I probably would've loved it!!

ANYWAYS... so, then we waited for the band to come out and yelled with joy as the techies came out and moved stuff around in preparation. I had my camera out and ready, hoping to capture at least 1 non-crappy photo during the performance. Then I suddenly remembered that my camera could also take short videos, so I figured that if they played any of my favorite songs, I could record portions. Each of us had the one or two songs that we really wanted them to play. Rachel wanted to hear Strawberry Swing. Krista wanted Fix You and Square One. Melissa wanted to hear some of their older stuff. I wanted to hear Lost!/? and The Scientist.

The band came on stage and the crowd went totally crazy! They opened with Life in Technicolor, which was totally awesome. Then, I think they played Politik... I think, which was a great follow-up - nice and big! THEN they played In My Place, which is another favorite of mine. It was soooo great live. That was the first time that I just sang my heart out. Next was Fix You, which was sooooo great. I took a short video of that one, just to prove that they sound just as great live as they sound on their cd.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EcjtlQuZLY- Fix You

At one point, they walked off to one side of the stage and all stood on a platform out in the middle of the audience and played some songs. It was so cool having them closer and being able to take more detailed pictures of them. The best was yet to come, though!!! Here's a pic of that performance:

So, then they proceeded to play a few more great songs, which included Lost! I have to say, every single song was soooo good. There wasn't a single one that I was like "I'll be glad when they get to the next song." How many concerts have you gone to that you can say that about?? I haven't been to one yet. I thoroughly enjoyed everything. Not only were they amazing musicians, but they were great performers too! They were so engaging and weren't too into themselves. They were so respectful and seemed truly grateful to be here and performing. They all looked like they were having an amazing time. It was truly fun to watch.

After about 8 songs or so, they ran off stage through the audience. We couldn't figure out where the heck they were going until they reached a platform set up in the middle of the audience in the arena. They were literally like 4 sections away from us. It was incredible. Chris Marten said that he loved that people were willing to pay to see them up close, but for those that couldn't, they wanted to give them an opportunity of having an "up close and personal" performance too!!!! It was the coolest thing I have ever seen. Not only that, but they played my "must play" song there!! He said "We're going to play a song that means a lot to us - not because it's a great song, because it really isn't that great of a song ("WHATEVER!!!!!" - me), but it means something to us. It's called The Scientiest." The audience errupted into screams and cheers, and they did this acoustic version that was just...... too amazing for words. Here it is, in it's entirety - with bgv's by me and Melissa. :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYGRMHH_UFA - The Scientist

Their encore was Yellow, of course. Could it have been any more perfect? Only if they had played more songs! What they did play was incredible. It seriously way exceeded my expectations. They are officially one of my all time favorite bands now.

COLDPLAY

Holy crap it's tomorrow!!! I'm so excited. I keep listening to their music over and over again.



:D



So, I'm organizing today. I've been so lazy for the last few weeks, I can't even tell you. We have company coming for the holiday, so I've decided to take this opportunity to be very motivated to clean and organize! Poor Adam. I totally stress him out by waiting until the last minute to get things done. Hopefully I'll learn someday. It was surprisingly easy. Actually, it's really good that I'm doing this today because I've started bartering lessons with a few people and one of them is going to help me decorate my house!! I told Adam and he was like "Maybe you could spend some time organizing first..." Yikes!! Sorry babe! So, here I am, trying to get things in order before I play decorator. Oh, and thanks Melissa for helping me! I'll make sure to post some pictures of our project as it unfolds. :)

Moving Day

My brother moved in with us the weekend! We're excited to have him live with us again. He's a lot of fun - especially to watch tv shows with. He's my Lost nerd buddy. Adam loves Lost, but he doesn't get into all the "nerdy" stuff with me, and Scott and I can theorize all day long about it!! Also, Scott is a great person for Adam to discuss work with. I listen really well, but Scott works with him, and can understand all of the ins and outs of the office. What will we do when he moves out????

In order to accomodate him, Adam and I decided it was time for us to share an office. (Queue Twilight Zone music). I moved into his office, and we made my old office our spare bedroom - which is also conveniently the junk room at the moment. It's fun being with Adam!!! We have our desks facing eachother, so we can make eyes at eachother and kick things back and forth underneath the desk. Since both of us live most of our evenings at our computers, it's fun to be in the same room and to be able to have fun together. What were we thinking, having seperate offices??? We're crazy.

The moving process was elaborate, and it felt like we had our entire house in our living room at one point. We have it to the point now where everything looks good when the bedrooom door is closed. :) Now, for the real organizing!! Wish me luck!

Piano Fun & Goodness

I just started a Piano Team with some friends of mine! I'm so excited. The group I managed to pull together is made up of people who haven't played for a long time, and are eager to get back into it. We had our first rehearsal on Saturday, and it was so great. Everyone was rusty on sight-reading and it took us awhile, but we were able to make it through almost an entire song by the end of the rehearsal, which is pretty great! My goal is to have us play in our Spring concert. I'll have to let you all know when and where so that you can come cheer us on!

I will say it was affirming for me. I felt like I was playing with equals. We weren't the best readers, and had to ask about notation a few times - even technique questions - and it was tons of fun. We had lots of opportunities to laugh at ourselves and I hope everyone walked away feeling encouraged.

I'll have Adam take some video of our rehearsal in action next time so you can see our genius at work. :P

Our New President

If I learned anything over the last few years, it's that God is totally sovereign! I watched Him lead Obama to victory and see His sovereignty at work. Isn't is so great to know that He's totally in control, and that ultimately, none of this matters? No matter who won, God is still good. He's still on the throne. We still have a hope that nothing can take away from us.

I am so excited to pray for a President that I didn't vote for. As much as I don't want to see certain things happen to our country, I am looking forward to the things that God is going to do. It's also such a blessing to know that, though we can't find perfection here, God has provided a home for us that will end all suffering. Suffering is a reality here... good and bad leaders will always be a part of our time here... and yet, God is good through it all. Obama may turn out to be an amazing leader for our country - just what we need during this time. God may have other plans for this nation, and I'm excited to see how He works in our leaders, and through the citizens.

I will say that this whole election has prompted me to vote in a way that I don't think I would've voted before. I found myself voting for local politicians that more represented my views, rather than going with one of two major parties. I enjoyed casting a vote for someone that I felt would help to take the government out of our daily lives and put power back in the hands of the people. I also enjoyed helping a more conservative candidate win this "swing state" - even though he may not have fully represented my views. The voting process is amazing and, while I don't love the outcome, I'm grateful that we have a choice at all, and again, God is working mightily and it's wonderful to watch.

Bearing One Another's Burdens (Part 2)

"Kristie is my friend. Kristie is my friend. She's short and chinese. She sings and plays guitar. Kristie is my friend."

Isn't that the most amazing song ever?? I made it up on the spot one day while our little band, Come What May (don't ask...) was rehearsing at our church. We were checking sound levels and she asked me to play and sing something... and that's what came out! The piano part was amazing too.

I've known Kristie Braselton since high school... back when she was Kristie Chan. The transition from Chan to Braselton was rough, I gotta be honest. Kristie and I were in the same small group and our friendship basically started because I begged her to let me play piano in her little garage band. She resisted for a few weeks, and then finally caved. I was thrilled to say the least. Weekly rehearsals, late night trips to Denny's and... really, just great food... it all led to a great friendship. Kristie was the kind of friend that always had lots of stuff going on. So did I, so we were totally happy to hang out when we could, and happy to have our own things going on. I knew she was a close friend, but it was a bit of a surprise friendship. I think it was mainly because I thought we were so different, and that our interests were so specialized, that we couldn't really form a deep and lasting friendship.

When Kristie started dating Matthew, I remember thinking "....".

Matthew was a choir boy that played Seymor in Little Shop of Horrors. He was practically Validictorian of his class and defined "straight-laced". Kristie was a skater girl, to the core. I always imagined she'd end up with some skater boy that played grungy guitar and they'd spend their days playing and writing music together. Seems fitting, right??

Then they decided to get married. I remember trying to support her, but deep down I had my doubts about them. I honestly wondered if they'd really make it. After they got married, things seemed to be going well for them. I wanted to get married so much myself that I wasn't really in the best frame of mind to be supportive of my friends - or to understand their struggles as being as legitimate as my own. When this young couple started to experience early marriage struggles, I wasn't the most loving friend. I remember wondering what on earth Kristie had to be upset about... she was married, for crying out loud!! I listened to her talk about her frustrations and growing pains and tried to be sympathetic, but it really wasn't coming naturally. I remember actually judging her in a way for having troubles, rather than loving and supporting her through her tough time.

When Adam and I got married, we had a rough time... and that's putting it lightly. In fact, the first 3 years were really difficult. We somehow found our way to EVBC where the Braseltons were attending and actively serving. I was so grateful to have a friend that I knew. As I was sort of reintegrated into her life, I realized how mistaken I had been about their marriage. Not only had they survived the early years of marriage, they came out stronger and better, which was more than I could say about my own marriage. Adam and I felt like we were on rocky ground for such a long time, that it started to feel like things would never look up!

Kristie proved herself to be a faithful and forgiving friend. Whether she knew my offenses at the time or not, she welcomed me back to her life with open arms and a completely loving heart. I eventually confessed to her my judgemental heart and she willingly forgave me, which was a huge blessing and her friendship alone has showed me more about God's grace towards us than almost any other relationship.

Since then, my life has been immeasurably blessed by the Braseltons. Since coming to EVBC and serving under Matthew's leadership in worship ministries and now 7:ten, I've found my own ministry and found balance in serving the Lord with the gifts and talents that He's given to me. Kristie is my favorite person to have lunch with. I have so much fun eating out with her and the kids and I can't tell you how many amazing memories I have from those dates. Harper's "oopsie" moment in NYPD, Benjamin throwing food all over the floor, Bethany informing me that her name is "Cinderella" today... what great kids!!!! Kristie has also been a wonderful encouragement to me in my role as a wife. She always reminds me that she understands my struggles and helps me by directing me to scripture, or books that have helped her, or by simply relating to me. I hope that I can say that I have contributed as much to her life as she has given to me... it's hard to pay back that kind of love when it's given in such abundance.

Learning to love others more than yourself is a lifelong lesson... at least, that's what I've been discovering over the last several years. Kristie has been the example of sharing my burdens. She's walked in my shoes and can help me gain some perspective. It's so great to have such a tangible example of Godly love... a real glimpse into Biblical community and friendship. Thanks Kristie!!! And thanks God for giving me such an amazing friend!!

Toxic Friend?? (Part 1)

It's hard to know where to begin this blog. I guess I'll start with my intentions and go from there. I've been thinking a lot lately about a night a really long time ago at church. I was asked to speak about friendship with my best friend Beth. We were asked to give a "testimony" of sorts on friendship and the elements of our friendship that seemed to work so well. What appeared to be wonderful on the surface and what looked like Godly sisterhood was actually a toxic friendship. Looking back, I think about the things I said that night, and wonder how I could be so blind. All I can do now is thank God for His mercy and for His timing. Even though it breaks my heart now to think of all the things I could've done differently, I'm still so thankful that God is teaching me all about His endless grace.

I'll start by telling you that friendship has always been important to me. I grew up watching Anne of Green Gables and thinking "When will I find my version of Dianna?". I was always on the prowl for that one friend who would be the friend to walk through life with. It really was an endless search, deeply rooted in my need to be accepted by others. I won't go into explaining the many friendships I've had throughout the years, but I will snag a few out of my relationship sphere to highlight different things that God has taught me using these amazing women.

Beth and I met in highschool when she came to the states on furlow. Her parents were missionaries in the Phillipines. She was very charismatic and fun. She has an incredibly beautiful singing voice and everyone loved her! Everyone, except for me! I was insanely jealous of her popularity - mainly because I wasn't in that circle of people that hung out with her. I tried talking to her a few times, and I'm sure she tried to do the same, but we were on completely different wave-lengths. I was the high-principled, too-good-for-that girl. The "holier-than-thou" girl. She dated and kissed her boyfriend. I swore off dating until I was out of highschool!

She left to go home for her senior year of highschool, and I think we effectively forgot about eachother! So much so that, when she came back for college, I remember thinking "Beth's back. That's cool." I had no intentions of pursuing a friendship with her. I think she probably felt the same way, but God had other plans for us! Our mutual friend Michael decided that he wanted to hang out with his pals and welcome Beth back to the states, and invited all of us to go to his favorite chinese food place for lunch. I had a great time and was surprised that I could actually feel agreeable towards Beth! Afterwards, my car wouldn't start, and she was the only one left in the parking lot. She graciously offered to drive me home. That's what started our friendship. We discovered that we loved to sing together. She invited me to hang out with all of her friends and her sisters, and we hung out with the same group of people in college. We sang in the band together - she always sang the higher harmonies and I took the bottom. We were like sisters!

Everything was perfect. One day I chose to share some things about my life with Beth - some deep personal struggles, and to my amazement, she was an answer to prayer!! I had been praying that God would send someone into my life to share my struggles with me, and she was able to relate to me and help me to not feel like such an ugly sinner. I remember being so grateful for her love and honesty as a friend. We were inseperable. We did almost everything together... that is, until she decided that she wanted to serve the Lord. Beth always had other interests that didn't involve me. She wanted to lead a small group at church, help out with missions trips, pour into other girls' lives... I just wanted her to hang out every Sunday after church and sing in the band with me always. Was that too much to ask? I began to convince myself that Beth had issues when it came to maintaining friendships. She had no concept of what it was to being a life-long friend. I felt it was my job to teach her how to be a good friend. Over the years, God was so good to me to allow that friendship to continue to develop and flourish.

I met Adam and he and I started dating. After that, Beth and I saw less and less of eachother. I moved on to a different ministry at our church, and she stayed with her boyfriend in the college ministry, still serving the girls in her small group... still living out her faith. I remember priding myself on all of my healthy relationships with my friends. I remember thinking about how lucky I was that I had so many great girlfriends. After Adam and I were married, Beth married Mark, who happens to be quite the catch! We continued to move in our seperate directions, but I felt like she was that "bossom friend"... that friend that I wasn't supposed to seperate from ever! I didn't realize how sinful my thoughts had become. Actually, I didn't realize how sinful I was in general up to that point!!

I remember the first time that Beth started hinting at her new direction in life. She was on the phone with a girl that she was rapidly developing a close friendship with, and the ugly pangs of jealousy consummed me. How could she ever be as close to this other girl as she was to me?? I asked her about her other friend and she definitely felt the pressure that I meant to place on her. I remember making her feel so guilty for not treating me differently than all of her other friends.

I asked to hang out with her one evening, just for some girl time. I figured that we hadn't hung out in awhile, and that's why we weren't as close as we once had been. I was driving to her house, and I think that's when God started to pull at my heart. He started to show me that my jealousy could be painful to Beth. I thought about it as I drove to her house and decided to apologize to her for my behavior. I sat down on her couch and unloaded on her. I told her I was so sorry for being jealous and that I knew it had probably hurt her. The look of relief was apparent, but there was more. I was in no way prepared for what happened next.

That night, Beth opened her heart to me, letting me know that our friendship was a burden to her... I was a burden to her. She wondered how I could let other friendships fall by the wayside, and yet I continued to push her into a deeper, false intimacy that she had no wish of maintaining. For years, I would complain to her about my friends having everything I wished for - marriage, houses of their own, children, careers - and all the while, making her fearful of telling me anything good that was happening in her life because she was afraid that I wouldn't be joyful for her, but rather, angry that I wasn't getting that too!! She said that I made her feel guilty all the time for not being a good friend and that she felt my expectations were unrealistic for her.

I was stunned. I had no idea she felt that way. I went into defense mode immediately and oozed my way out of it by, again, trying to make her feel guilty for her false impressions of me. I never expected that, or tried to do this... blah, blah, blah. She could only accept and apologize for what she had done. I cringe everytime I think about that night now. I walked away feeling numb. I thought I was ok. I thought that I had averted danger. But, as weeks passed, everything that she had said began to sink in. I began to feel so angry... I started reciting new speeches in my head, refuting everything she had said to me as being so completely untrue... and yet there was that small part of me that knew deep down that every word out of her mouth was a complete mirror of what I was... of what I had done to her. I had almost single-handedly brought down 5 years of friendship - all through my incredible selfishness, disregard for her feelings and a blindness to my own faults.

It's been 3 1/2 years since we had that conversation, and it was the death of a friendship that I had, up until that point, treasured beyond all others... in a very selfish, ugly way. I still think about that day - but now, it's with other feelings. I remember the years that I could've done so many things differently. I could've honored her passion and love for others. She has such a servant's heart and her desire to obey the Lord is the stuff that you write books about. They recently came home from the mission field, and were able to spend a night with Adam and I. I was so apprehensive that I actually cried a full 15 minutes before they arrived at the house. I was so filled with guilt over the past, a knowledge that our friendship as it had been once was now dead, and knowing that I couldn't really make amends for my past behavior. Adam, true to his wonderful self, was completely supportive and reassured me that everything would be great. It was a wonderful visit and a reminder of the good things that used to be.

As hard as it is to look back, I know that God has used that one relationship to reveal so much about my own ugliness, and His truly amazing grace. Without her, I wouldn't have known about my toxic friendship behaviors. I wouldn't have known how hurtful I was being towards others or, really, that the world didn't revolve around me.

I wrote this, and will write about other experiences that I've had, in an effort to not only be honest about my past, but to show how God can use even awful things to bring glory to Himself and to make me love Him and others more. I also wrote it to help other women like me. I know that not everyone is as obsessive as I was, but I know that we tend to place unrealistic expectations on our mates, friends, jobs... God is the only One that can satisfy our deepest needs and longings. He created us to worship Him, not others. I praise Him for His faithfulness to me and for Him teaching me.

Thanks for reading! More to come!

A New Adventure

I've advertised on craigslist and offered my services as a background vocalist!! I had to put together a resume for it, which was interesting. It feels kinda weird saying "Yeah, I really like music and I'd like to sing professionally." I'm anxious to see if I get any responses.

I've never put myself out there like this, and I'm struggling with different emotions. I have a tendency to think that any attempt at being in the spotlight is egotistical. I have always struggled with stage-fright, and not thinking that I'm good enough... blah, blah, blah... Within the last few years - actually, since coming to evbc and working with wonderful people like the Braseltons - I've begun to realize that there's a balance. I need to be humble, and recognize that any talents, whether musical, artistic, intellectual... they're all from God. He's the Great Musician... the Master Artist... the Creator and the source of all intelligence.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17

If I remember that He's the one singing and creating the melodies that we're not only offering back up to Him, but that we also have the priviledge of enjoying, it becomes a joy to sing. To enjoy praising Him in song, in art, in creation, in science... His beauty is all around us and turns us back to praise Him again and again.

So, that being said... I'm starting my adventure to spend this phase of my life doing something that I love. Something that He's created me to love and appreciate.

Today...

is a holday! I didn't remember that until my third student failed to show up. It's a little frustrating, considering that I left California a day earlier than I would've liked so that I could be home to teach these lessons. Grrrrrr.

I had a fantastic time. What better way to spend your weekend than with pasty, over-weight, socially awkward nerds? I had a blast sitting in on different panels discussing my favorite games, seeing my favorite web-a-sode people interviewed and watch a screening of their newest, yet-to-be-released video, and being able to talk about gaming for an entire weekend. I also had a totally great time with my mom, my brother and his new girlfriend Mindy, and his best friend Casey, and his roomates, JJ and David. We all had a blast! Here are some pics (including a picture of my favorite costume from the whole weekend):

Heading to California... again!

I'm off to a gaming convention in L.A. Yes... a gaming convention. I'm a closet gamer. Actually, the song on my blog right now is from a game called Portal. I'm not the type that goes to conventions though. My mom and brother are also gamers, and so we're all going together to immerse ourselves in complete and utter nerdiness for the weekend. It's going to be insanely fun. I feel like I should be a 16 year old boy right now though. :)



We'll also be hitting up Magic Mountain on Saturday, so I'm pretty excited about that too! I think it will mostly be great to hang out with my family. I love spending time with my mom and my brother so much. I'm looking forward to being in beautiful, sunny California with them. I'll make sure to take pictures of all of the crazy people... cause there will be a lot. Think "Trekkie Convention" and you'll get the idea!

Home Again

So, we're back! Obviously. This last week has been really interesting. God has definitely taken us for a bit of a ride since we got back! My students have been wonderful! None of them practiced, of course, so it was back to the basics for a few of them. Adam has been insanely busy with work and school work, so he basically goes to work in the morning, comes home and spends a little bit with me eating dinner, and then heads into his office to do homework until 11 or midnight every night. You can imagine that I had plenty of time to finish reading Sense and Sensibility in just two days. :)

On Wednesday we received a letter from Desert Schools telling us that they lowered our credit limit on our home equity line of credit. It was done without warning. I don't think it would've been a huge deal for either of us, except that for almost a year we've been using it as a sort of checking account. Adam's been putting his entire month's income into it to keep it from accruing that much interest until our bills were due. It was a great plan, until they lowered the limit after he made a "payment" that equaled an entire month's worth of income. Yikes!! Needless to say we were pretty nervous. God totally provided for us though, and we are back in business. I think it taught us some very valuable lessons, and I'm grateful, for myself at least, that it happened. Without that little scare, I might not have taken our financial goals as seriously, and He's totally put it on my heart to make it almost my second job to make sure that we're under budget every month and paying off our excesses. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness to His children!!

Last Days... pics!

... and more ...

Last Days...

At the end of our trip, we were supposed to head to Alcatraz, but we decided to skip it. I'm not sure exactly how we feel about that decision, but we were able to take more pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge, walk across it, and take some more pictures of a beautiful Japanese Tea Garden (Golden Gate Park) and eat sundaes at Ghiradelli's! We were so grateful to come home and be in our own bed and get back into our routine. But, it was definitely a great vacation!

Day 10 - Muir Woods & Napa

We rented a car and headed up north to see the big redwoods and to drive through Sonoma and Napa. We took lots of pics, although we were pretty tired.

Sonoma was ok, but Napa was stunningly beautiful! We did lots of wine tastings (Adam had to spit it all out, poor guy) and we ate an amazing dinner in Calistoga (northern part of Napa Valley). I had the most amazing filet mignon and Adam had a beef brisquet sandwich, both of which we felt was the best meal of our whole trip.

Days 8 & 9 - Heading to San Francisco!

Our last day of cruising was spent doing just that! We cruised in really calm seas along the Canadian coast. It was so beautiful and sunny. We didn't end up taking a lot of pictures and mostly spent time packing, doing laundry and watching movies in our cabin. We were pretty tired after all of our craziness. The hardest thing to coordinate was to get our bags mostly packed by the time we went to dinner. We were supposed to dress up for dinner and have stuff to sleep in and have some of our toiletries with us, which worried me because I didn't want to try to take those on board the plane!! But, we managed to make it work, and realized when we got to the airport the next day that we could've just repacked our suitcases there. Oh well.

We flew from Vancouver to San Francisco on Monday and ate dinner on Pier 39 at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. When we were in Hawaii on our honeymoon, we ate there and sat right on the water and watched the sunset. We thought it would be fitting to do the same there as well!! We sat right on the water again, had a great view of Alcatraz and watched the sun set behind the Golden Gate Bridge. Could it really be any more perfect??

It was great to have a king sized bed to sleep in, after our tiny room on the ship. The next day, we had a hard time figuring out what to do. We knew we wanted to catch a hop-on, hop-off bus tour and we already had tickets to Alcatraz, AND we already had a rental car on reserve. We went to get our bus tickets, and ended up talking to a guy who said that if we attended a 1 1/2 hour time-share sales meeting, he'd pay for our bus tickets, our Alcatraz tickets and our rental car. We were like "Ummm Yeah!!!" So we sat through the very tempting meeting without buying anything - yay us! And then we went on our merry way doing everything for free!!

Here are some pics from those couple of days:

Ketchikan - Day 7

We deboarded our cruise ship in Ketchikan and jumped on another boat right away. We cruised along to an island were we went atv'ing. Adam said that this was his favorite day, and I almost agree. I drove first, but we were stuck behind this old couple who would brake everytime they saw a puddle or a rock in the road. I was going absolutely crazy. We drove for about 2 miles up to the top of a mountain where I picked some blueberries and we took some pictures. Then, the guides let us move towards the front of the group so that we could go as fast as we wanted. Adam drove back. He definitely had a great time freaking me out, getting me soaking wet by driving through every single puddle and going uber fast.



The day was so beautiful too! Apparently, it rains more in Ketchikan than anywhere else in the U.S. and so to have it beautiful and sunny was great!!

Juneau - Day 6

Adam and I went whale watching in Juneau. It was sooooooo cold! The first part of our trip was going to take a look at Mendenhall Glacier, and then we boarded a boat to go look for whales. The glacier was really beautiful, but we were happy to get on the boat and start looking. We had a slow start, found an island with hundreds of seals, and then found a group of about 5 whales, eating to their hearts' content in the middle of Auck Bay. It was so awesome to watch them cruise around, and the dive for their food for about 5-10 minutes, then come back up and do the same thing again.

Skagway - Day 5

We entered Skagway early in the morning. Adam and I were supposed to catch a small train ride up to a flag stop. At that stop was the head of a trail that leads to Laughton Glacier. We were hoping to make a day of it. When we went hiking on Sunday in Anchorage, our guide (who we didn't need) asked about our bear safety. It got me thinking. I started to freak out, honestly. Adam and I know nothing about bear safety. What would we do if we encountered bears or moose on this hike in the middle of nowhere?

We ended up missing our train (my fault) and then proceeded to walk around town trying to figure out what else we could do. I saw an Avis Rental Car out of the corner of my eye, and we decided to just drive around and explore. We heard that a lot of people drive into Canada from Skagway and head up to Emerald Lake. It was a 2 hour drive - a nice way to fill our 12 hour day. We ended up getting a really nice Highlander and took off for the Canadian border. We ended up taking about 400 pictures between the two of us. The country-side was so incredibly beautiful and I can't tell you how much fun it was to schedule our own day and go at our own pace. Plus, Adam showed me a new technique with the camera, so I went a little crazy taking pictures of his ear... as you'll see below.

Days 3 & 4 - Cruise

Monday night we boarded our ship and settled into our cabin. It wasn't very eventful. We explored the ship and unpacked our stuff so that we wouldn't feel like we were living out of a suitcase. Tuesday and Wednesday were days at sea. I think the first day we were at a loss as to what to do. There were so many options, and we were not really... relaxed yet. We actually ended up spending a lot of our time eating and watching movies. Wednesday was a bit more eventful. We sailed through Glacier Bay, which was wonderful. Adam and I both took tons of pictures and enjoyed watching the beautiful scenery. We ate a lot too. :)

Not much to report, but here are some pics from those first few days.