First Full Day in Juneau

After our visit to the glacier, we headed to where we were staying, the home of Sanjay Pyure, a university faculty member.  He and his wife have two adorable kids and two big dogs named Dobro and Banjo.  Dobro (below with Brian) is probably the biggest dog I've ever seen.  I would have guessed he was pushing 200 lbs, but it turns out he only weighs about 120-130 pounds and the rest is all thick fur.  Every time I saw him, though, I gushed about his size!  They were all very friendly.

Dobro greeted us at the door every morning.

Dobro & Banjo

I steadied myself so he wouldn't knock me over.  Sanjay told us not to let them out unless they were really whining, because they've been known to "wander down to the pub" - ha!

For our first full day in Juneau, we both "participated" in the symposium by attending the "field trip" portion.  A boat ride from Auke  Bay to Berners Bay, about 4-5 hours out on the water in this really nice boat.  

We got front row seats in the enclosed portion.  I sat next to Marcia, the Dean of UAS, and she was just lovely.  Very down to earth and friendly.

Our starting view.  The boat was enclosed, and you could go out on deck, too.  There were presenters speaking up front throughout the trip, and they'd pause whenever there was a wildlife sighting.

There's a humpback!

Part of the purpose of the symposium was to incorporate the Tlingit voice into the body of research and insight.  Throughout the boat ride, an elder would stand and speak about their culture's stories behind the wildlife and the area. It was very interesting!

Another whale sighting.

A woman from Ketchikan took our photo.  Evidently it rains a lot more there than in Juneau!

Marcia, the Dean, is standing there in the yellow.

Everyone wears these boots.  Literally, everyone.  Men and women alike.  Same color.  They're called "XtraTuff" boots and you can get them at the mall, and everyone said "you'll live in those!"

a big group of sea lions

a great day to lounge around,  I guess! :)

This is Auke Bay, the "backyard" to UAS campus

On this boat trip, we did a lot of networking without knowing that's what we were doing.  As it turns out, we met our future landlord on this ride!

Arriving in Juneau

Brian and I got back from Juneau Friday evening, and had a really great trip!  Here are a few snapshots from our first day:

This is a coffee shop near campus, and it was our first stop for lunch after we got into Juneau.  It was started up a couple years ago by some UAS students.  It was so good, we went there twice while we were there!

I took this picture because of the view & the sign that shows at least a little  bit of a liberal leaning for Juneau - "parents, families, and friends of lesbians and gays" - we thought that was a good sign (literally and figuratively)!

Driving to the Mendenhall Glacier, just a few minutes away.

There's the glacier from a distance

The visitor center was closed, but you could still walk out to the glacier and falls.

Two friendly ladies we met on our walk to Nugget Falls, there in the background.  They began our warm welcome into Juneau.  You can't see it in this picture, but they pointed out to us that there was a white mountain goat hanging out by the falls.  I guess after 30 years in Juneau, you have an eye for things like that, even at a distance.

How cool is this?!?

The VanderYost V8

This past week has been a whirlwind of vehicle stuff.  

Between a Friday and a Tuesday, we:

1. Decided to begin looking for a truck.

2. Test-drove and found a truck we liked.

3. Committed to buying said truck.

4. Put our car up for sale on craigslist.

5. Sold our car.

We're so thankful for how smoothly and how quickly everything unfolded.  A welcome blessing in this already busy time.  

Here is our new (to us) 2006 Toyota Tundra!

After Easter Sunday service in the church parking lot

doesn't he look like a natural??

It's roomy enough to comfortably sit 2-3 passengers in the back seat.

It has a moon roof!

...and big foldable mirrors!

...and a 6-foot bed!

...and a scuba-diving window sticker! (over Brian's left shoulder) :)

Alaska driving, here we come!

Super Cool Easter Eggs

Our friends Damon & Veronica invited us over to do some Easter egg-dying yesterday.  Brian was busy with school work, and I needed a break from mine, so I joined them.  So glad I did!  

This was unlike any egg-dying I ever remember doing.  They had gotten eight old silk neckties from Goodwill, and deconstructed them.  Then, we wrapped the raw eggs in the ties, then wrapped them again in another white fabric (we used an old pillowcase), and used twist-ties to hold them wrapped up.  (So they looked like little egg ornaments almost.)  Then, we boiled them in 1/4 cup vinegar and enough water to cover them for 20 minutes and then let them cool. 

And....voila.  The coolest Easter eggs ever!  (the vinegar makes the print from the silk tie stick to the eggshell)

paisley was my favorite

Happy Easter!

Holidays & Stuff...

Hi Everyone,

I know it's been a while since anything has been posted, and that's mostly because we have been busy doing things that aren't really worth taking pictures of! :)  Seriously, though, it's been a busy time leading up to Brian's interviews in Chicago (which went very well, by the way).  Here's a quick recap of the things we did manage to capture in photo...

2011 Thanksgiving = Anne's very first homemade pumpkin pie (including the crust!).  

We went to two different Thanksgiving dinners at two different friends' houses, including the Volds (Damon & Veronica).  I had to take a picture of this beautiful braided onion/cheese bread that Damon baked from scratch!

The pretty bread caught everyone's eye, including Juniper & Brian :)

We managed to put up a little Christmas cheer in our apartment, including this hand carved olive wood nativity, that was really made in the Holy Land!   

We got our Christmas tree this year with our friends, the Taylors (Matt & Evie & Riley) at a tree farm in Eugene.  It was just perfect!

The effects of Christmas morning on our living room :)

I just love this picture...

We babysat Juniper one afternoon, so Damon & Veronica could groom their dogs (they have two golden doodles that don't shed, so they require some intensive grooming periodically...it's a half-day event)

Here is Brian showing Juniper how to roll to her side!

As you can imagine, the job market process is a bit taxing...I swear this is a candid photo.

Thankfully, the cold that Brian did get was out of his system before Chicago.  Here he is using our new Neti pot for the first time.  He's a fan!

The Barefoot Professor :)

In preparation for the new term that starts soon, I like to spend a couple weekends cooking ahead and stocking our freezer with pre-cooked dinners.  Aren't these pretty quiche?? :)

So, there you go...a random mish-mash glimpse into our lives the past couple months.

We'll keep you posted on the second round of interviews for Brian, and where God is leading us!  Thank you for all your prayers!

Love,
Anne & Brian