Saturday Stroll in Thane

From Juneau, the main road runs north-south.  If you go north, you're going "out the road."  If you go south, you're going "out the road to Thane."  We'd never driven south, so this past Saturday we checked it out.

There is a 2-mile stretch on the road to Thane that is an avalanche zone (no houses there), so by living in Thane people run the risk of being cut off from the rest of Juneau if a slide happens.  There hasn't been one this year, which is good news for everyone.  From downtown Juneau, Thane is just about 5-6 miles away, so the road doesn't go too far.  We found some really pretty stretches of beach (during low tide) and also some nice hiking trails.  

Brian ran from downtown to Thane and back earlier in the day for his marathon training.  (He's doing the training, but not yet sure if he'll actually run the marathon, as it's the day before we leave for Ohio.)

And, this weekend happened to be two consecutive days of sunshine which proved for some nice views. 

    

We're not sure whose house this is, but it's enormous and gorgeous.  I can't imagine who can afford this kind of place in Juneau, but it's got to be someone with loads of moolah.

All these sticks are bare now, but come summer time they'll be covered with Devil's Club.  

This is around 8pm...we're getting lots of day light these days.

I don't care how common they are around here; seeing Bald Eagles never gets old.

The Blood of Christ (from Costco!)

Back in Missoula, we started a tradition of bringing "The Blood of Christ" (in the form of red wine) to whatever Easter get-together we attended.  We've continued this fun bottle-labeling spoof ever since, and this year we think we created our best one yet!  We think it would make Jesus laugh :)  

Puerto Vallarta photos

Here's a quick link to the photo album I posted on Facebook, just in case you hadn't seen them yet.  It's 84 photos, so it may take a while to go through them.  We had a great time!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.305074942953404.1073741825.100003527027895&type=1&l=def9546df3

Fulfilling Work

One of the nicest blessings of our time in Juneau is that in addition to Brian loving his job, I also love my work.  It only took a few months to happen, but the opportunity I'd been longing for all along opened up and fell into my lap: being the massage therapist at the local birth center.

  Since I started there in January, my weekly massage appointments have been gradually filling up week by week, and I recently increased my schedule (from 14 to 20) to accommodate the demand.  It's very exciting!

Returning from our trip and heading back to work this week helped bring this to light.  I was genuinely excited to get back to work and see how my clients were doing.  It also felt like Christmas on Monday because my order for new massage sheets had arrived, as well as these new business cards!

In addition to massaging predominantly pregnant women, I also massage non-pregnant women, postpartum women, and yes...even men!  I also get to teach Infant Massage, which is just plain fun and a great way for moms and dads to connect with their babies and with other new parents.  Here are some photos from the first Infant Massage class I taught last month, which was so much fun.  :)

Needless to say, we are thankful for how we have both been blessed on the job front.  It definitely makes a difference when the weather is crappy...ha!  :)

Mexi-coma, here we come!

We leave tomorrow for a week in Puerto Vallarta with Milton & Cheryl and their new baby girl Roslyn.  It feels like an itch getting scratched, this whole getting-out-of-town, heading-into-sunshine thing....and this weather forecast looks like a slice of heaven to me:  Sweet Jesus, yes.  :)

Monday morning ski!

This morning we disregarded the fact that it was a Monday morning, and accepted our neighbor's invitation for a morning ski.  It felt sort of decadent, but since Brian doesn't teach until 1pm and I don't massage until later in the day, we figured "Why not?!"  So glad we did.  It helps that it's only a 15-minute drive away!

Sunny Sunday

This weekend we found ourselves saying, "Man, when it's nice out, this place is really nice!"  We had an amazing morning of skiing yesterday; the sun was shining, there was no wind, and the snow was great.  Everyone was out and smiling and enjoying the beautiful views.  (As a rule, I don't ski with the camera, and Brian forgot his iPhone yesterday, so we weren't able to capture any of it...)  

This morning we walked to church and took the camera along to take a few shots.

I guess bald eagles mate for life.  We're not sure if these are mates, but they're always on this post together so it's probably safe to say they're a couple :)

Love this shot!

On the bridge to Douglas Island (where we live), overlooking the Gastineau Channel.

Low tide, along Douglas Island...

It was so nice out that Brian decided to don his running shorts.  It's been a while since these legs have seen the sun!

Off for a Sunday jog up Perseverance Trail in the sunshine.