Juneau Harvest Fair

Yesterday was Juneau's once-a-year Harvest Fair, where vegetables are sold and judged for contest, food is served, games are played, and garden plots are rented.  In the rain, lots of people came out and it was a fun vibe in the air.  There was a bluegrass band playing and kids playing and running around in the  mud.  It was...charming and quaint. 

We shared a lunch combo: corn-on-the-cob, baked beans, and hot dog.

the eating area

Award-wining veggie exhibit

Chicken Poop Bingo!

The bingo board getting cleaned...

We bought some rhubarb and I came home and made a strawberry-rhubarb pie...from scratch!  This is what's left of it :)

As I write this, Brian is off on his first local fishing excursion!  A fellow Anthropology professor invited him to go out on his boat this morning to fish for Halibut.  The weather today happens to be gorgeous, so it should be a great time.  He was so excited, like a giddy kid in Carharts!  I can't wait to see what they bring back...

Brian's radio debut

Here is the link you can use to find a recording of Brian's recent radio interview.  He did a great job!

http://www.ktoonews.org/2012/08/23/juneau-afternoon-82412/

If you click on the audio line, above the article, it makes you listen to the whole stream.  His part is at about the 4:43 mark, and I don't think there's a way to fast-forward to there, so you'll need to just let it run to get to it.

This morning at the Harvest Fair, we ran into the guy who interviewed him and he showed us his wife's garden plots and sent us home with fresh veggies.  So generous!

Massage in the making...

Slowly, but surely, I'm taking steps toward being a practicing massage therapist.  I'm actively seeking work at facilities in the community, and in the meantime also getting my ducks in a row to set up my own independent practice. 

Remember this room? 

Now it looks like this!

Mt. Roberts

This past Sunday, after church we headed out for another hike because...well....we can!  Plus, it was sunny and beautiful so we kind of had to :)

This hike was full of tourists, daredevil mountain bikers, and more gorgeous views.  The tourists take the Mt. Roberts Tram up the mountain, eat at a restaurant, and then hike down.  The locals hike up and then maybe take the tram down.  We even saw three people running up the mountain, and then running back down the mountain.  That's all it took for Brian to set his new fitness goal :)

We didn't go all the way to the top, because Brian is fighting a cold...and he ran 14 miles the day before!

Why?  Because the UAS Social Sciences department is gearing up for the Klondike Run, which is a relay race from Skagway to Whitehorse Sept. 7-8.  To help train, a group of 7 of them got together Saturday morning and ran "up the hill" (2 1/2 miles) to the Eaglecrest ski area (near our house), and then back down, and then he and another girl ran another 9 miles, just because....  The girl he ran with is named Megan Busby, and she's a Math professor, and from all accounts she appears to be super human.  She pushed Brian to his limit, and they had a great time.  She plays in some volleyball leagues, too, so I'm hoping to connect with her through that sooner than later.

Hope you enjoy the pics and such!  

Brian's UAS office

Here are some pics to give a glimpse of where Brian's office is.  It's 10 miles away from our house, and he has been commuting by bike and bus.  He rides his bike one mile to the federal building, and then catches the express-bus which gets him there in 30 minutes.  He appreciates the extra time to read/answer emails/etc.

This is the view at the turn-off to head toward his building.

Heading toward his building.

This is Fireweed, and everyone says that once the petals reach the top of the flower, then summer is over.  Looks like we have a little bit left!

The view from the parking lot.

And there he is.  The barefoot economist :)

They've taken very good care of him, helping get his office all set up with the proper tools, technology, etc.

He loves these monkeys, and I think they add a nice touch to the filing cabinet :)

Brian started going in to the office just a few days after we got here, just to ensure he was all set up and ready to go once his contract actually started.  I'm so impressed by him!

***sidenote on B's work:  One of Brian's classes only has a couple people signed up for it, and he's been told it will still go on despite the low numbers.  He had the PR person make a flashy flyer to try to attract more students.  And, they're giving him a radio spot next week to plug it...ha! 

Our House!

Because it's not raining today (for the 4th day in a row - woohoo!), I thought I'd take some photos of our house from the outside and inside, to give you a glimpse of where we live right now.  

We park our truck in this area near the road.  The silver car belongs to another tenant who rented a room in our landlord's house.  He is a 20-something who was just here for the summer, and is leaving in a week.

From where we park, this is what the two houses look like.  Our landlord's house is the big one on the right, and our's is the smaller one on the left.  

When we unloaded all our stuff, we backed the truck/trailer down this little drive toward the "back porch" area of our lower entrance.

We're using the "back porch" as a storage area for the time being...

This is the walkway that we walk down from the parking area.  That's Mike's (our landlord) canoe leaning up against the railing.

Through the door at the end of the walkway, this is what we see!  (That's Mike's hot tub, that we don't get to use...)  Our house entrance is there on the left.

Our entry way.

After you open the front door, this is what you see!

We love these wooden, vaulted ceilings.  Kind of has a cabin feel.

A lovely Juneau woman gave us these plants for free.  We bought a table/chairs from her on craigslist our 3rd day here.

The living room. (That window looks back out to the road.)

The "dining room" with our blue front door right there. (That's the table/chair set we bought from the nice plant lady.)

The kitchen.

Our kitchen view.  The other day I saw a kayaker in the water, and a float plane coming in to land.  Pretty amazing.

The view from our kitchen table.

The upstairs bathroom.  (As you can see, we're still figuring out storage...) :)

The upstairs bathroom again.

Love this window (again, in the upstairs bathroom)

The stairwell leading from the living area to the downstairs.  (From this vantage point, the bathroom is on the left here.)  At the bottom of the stairs, our bedroom is on the right and the "spare room" is on the left, which is where Brian's office area is, and where we hope to setup my massage table eventually.

Brian's "home office" (notice his distracting view...) :)

The other (now messy) area in the spare room.    That door on the left leads to the lower level entrance door with the "porch".

This is the view from our bedroom.

The downstairs bathroom.

The downstairs bathroom.  The door on the right leads to our bedroom.  The door on the left leads to the "porch" door, and also into the spare room.

 It's feeling more "homey" with time, and we're very happy with it!  We hope you can come see it in-person sometime...  (wink, wink) :)