Day at the Dog Park

Today Molly went to the dog park with her new pal Oscar. Oscar is my co-worker Carolyn's dog. We braved the -5 temperature and managed to spend 45 minutes letting them run around like crazy. There were lots of dogs there today. Molly loves having the freedom of running wherever she wants and meeting all the news dogs. The dog park is now a twice weekly venture for us. At least until it hits -40...then Molly is out of luck!

Baby Video 3

Baby Video 2

Baby Furniss Videos

The New Furniss!

I just had my 10 week ultrasound of Baby Furniss! It was very exciting!! My Dr. was MAJ Crane, who was actually a midwife. She was very helpful and kind and took a lot of time with me, which was great. We found the heartbeat right away which was very exciting. The heartbeat was nice and loud and fast! Baby Furniss is growing just fine and MAJ Crane said that the baby is a wiggler! Baby Furniss moved and kicked his/her feet the whole time! It was amazing. I took video to send to Justin. I was very sad that he couldn't be there to see it, but he set his alarm to wake up at 2am Iraq time so he could call after the appointment. It was ana amazing blessing to see Baby Furniss and is truly life changing. I can't wait for the journey of being parents!

Anchorage

I spent this past week in Anchorage for the Alaska Child Maltreatment Conference. Yes, a fun topic it was. It's always nice to get out of Fairbanks though! I went with several co-workers and we spent the evenings eating out and shopping which was a lot of fun. We tried several restaurants...O.R.S.O and Glacier Brewhouse were very nice and fancy. My favorite place was Humpy's Alehouse. It was delicious and very Alaskan. It was overall a nice trip.

Updates

Justin has been upset cause I haven't updated the blog in a month! It has been busy here! School is extremely stressful and there does not seem to be enough hours in each day to do everything. Next week I will be in Anchorage to attend a conference for work. Should be good times. At least I get to shop! Lets see...what else has been happening...I voted today. Very exciting. And poor Molly was spayed on Monday. Check out the hilarious picture of her after her surgery. I felt sorry for her. She is doing well now though. I'll try to keep this updated more often!

How embarrassing

Well I think Molly might officially hate me! I don't care though because she looks super cute in her Halloween bumblebee costume!

Sad Goodbyes

Well yesterday was the day. I dropped Justin off at his company building at 0930. I was able to hang out with him for a little while and then left to come home. A couple hours--and a few tears--later, he called to say he was off for lunch. So I took McDonalds back and we ate lunch together. He was then released until 2pm, so we came home and hung out for a couple more hours. Then I had to say goodbye all over again! Justin was doing well and this long year is just a big stepping stone to getting out of the Army and returning home! He called this morning from Germany and was headed to Kuwait. When I talked to him he was complaining about the prices in Germany...he found a sweatshirt he liked and it was $83!!! I will keep everyone posted as I know more!

WOW

Thanks to Sarah Palin and the energy bill/dividend fund, I purchased a new toy today and let me tell you it is nothing short of spectacular. It is a CZ double barrel 12 gauge shotgun with exposed hammers and double triggers. It is modeled after the stage coach shotguns of the late 1800's. The barrel is 20" in length, it accomodates 3" shells, and has no choke on it. Slugs can be shot out of both barrels simultaneously. The chosen ammo for home protection is 000 buckshot, in both barrels of course. Me and Vanover went and shot it and WOW is the only way to do it justice. I put 3" slugs in both barrels and it about took my shoulder off. If bruising occurs, I will post that later. This will be the kept in the family gun.

Thanks also to the wifey for allowing such shenanigans.

Katie's Yearbook Yourself

And here are mine from 1954, 1960. 1966, and 1978!

YearbookYourself.com

These are hilarious! Check out some of our photos through the years from the website www.yearbookyourself.com
Here is Justin is 1956, 1970, 1976, and 1980

Dinner with the Bosts

So last night our friends Christina and Josh had us over for beer battered halibut which they caught on their halibut charter in both Seward and Valdez. It was YUMMY! We had tons of food and tons of fun!

Unfortunately, we made the mistake of attempting to leave Molly out of her crate while we were gone...as you'll see from the picture, it didn't work out like we hoped!! I lost a basket and Justin lost a Sports Illustrated and we gained two piles of poop! Baby steps, baby steps...

Bath Time

After heading to the lake on Saturday, Molly needed a bath! She loves baths and especially loves the drying process! I think she thinks its a game...:)

Review

I am usually a firm believer in the original is always the best. However, this latest addition to the Batman library gives the original a run for its money. After the first couple movies with Michael Keaton, the Batman series plummeted drastically. With an incredible performance by the late Heath Ledger and a new spin entirely on the Joker, this Batman may take the cake. It is nearly 3 hours in length but if you get the chance (and have the time) it is highly recommended. *****

Round 2

We are back from a great trip home. Never is enough time. There is WAY to much info to even try to update this thing, so we will be starting fresh from here.

Molly's First Swim

Saturday Molly and I hit Chena Lakes to try out her swimming skills. She was a little bit timid at first, but by the end of the day she was swimming and retrieving pretty well! Me, and my friends Christina and Erica and Erica's dog Caspian hung out all day playing and swimming. Needless to say, as soon as Molly got in the car she fell asleep and slept the whole rest of the day. I actually had to wake her up to eat dinner! I think she had fun!!

Updates

Well I just noticed that its been awhile since we posted a new blog! Justin is at NTC in California where it is VERY hot...in the 100's! He is heading to "the box," which is a staged Iraq setting located at Ft. Irwin. I have been keeping missing in efforts to avoid missing him. Me and Molly have been hanging out and practicing walking on a leash...she is getting better, but we still have some work! I have been hanging out with friends and playing a lot of softball...pretty much four times a week. We had a double header tonight and I have to say...I can tell that I am getting older. My back is killing me! Haha! I am looking forward to coming home in 16 days! Me and Justin can't wait!

If you want something done...

For weeks now Katie has been saying she was going to update this thing, but has neglected to do so. So Ill do it. We have been doing some hiking at Angel Rock Falls, attended the Midnight Sun baseball game, and still have the intention of making the drive to the arctic circle this weekend. The hike was a nice short 4 miler with amazing views. Katie packed a couple bagged lunches and we at lunch on one of the rocks near the peak. The baseball game was a lot of fun. The GoldPanners starting pitcher also started a previous Midnight Sun game...in 1967! Bill "Spaceman" Lee pitched for the Goldpanners in '67 and '68, the Boston Red Sox from '70-'79, and made a playoff start for the Expos in 1981. He pitched 6 solid innings, striking out 5 (including the first batter he faced), and got the win. I think there are plans to make to make the trip to the circle on Saturday. This will be our last weekend for awhile. I leave next week for the deserts of California, from which I get to come home from! Katie will be home in a few weeks and neither one of us can wait. Its been a long time.

Denali Vacation

Here are some of the photos from day one. We have a great little cabin about 50 feet from the river. The second photo is the view up river from our cabin. Last but not least is a photo of Molly. She will have bragging rights over all other dogs whenever we return home. She has waded the wild rivers of Alaska, having drank from the banks of the Nenana River. We have lots more photos with many more to come. Stay tuned.

Granite Tors Hiking

Hubby and I began the Granite Tors hike on Sunday. We only hiked about four of the fifteen total miles. It is very steep!! The plan is to return very early one morning in June and hike the whole thing!! Justin hiked the whole thing last year but I have yet to attempt it. Should be fun! We actually hiked across a creek that was still trying to unfreeze...the banks were solid sheets of ice! We saw LOTS of moose poop too!

Put to Work

The Wifey decided she wanted a new storm door with a rollaway screen at the top (obvious reasons). Ask and you shall recieve. We spent a few hours on Saturday picking out which one we wanted at Lowe's and installing it. It was a big improvement. I didnt really notice how bad the old one was until we put the new one on. Now the main door looks rediculous next to the nice new storm door so stay tuned for that. On the upside, the owners just dock the cost of any improvements we make off of our rent, so we our out nothing.

Not Forgotten!

Here is an update on Jake (the pet of ours that does not require constant supervision!). He is still growing as you can see by the photo. That is my watch thrown in there for scale. He had problems eating last week and elected not to do so at all. Although he really didnt seem too enthused about it, he did eat this week. I thought maybe it was do to the fact that he was in mid-shed and just might not feel like it (could have been the case), but in my research, I found that pythons will fast during certain seasons (i.e. mating season) even if captive their entire lives. It is engrained in their DNA. Pythons have been documented as having fasted for up to an entire year! Makes leaving him home for the month we'll be gone a little easier. Included is a photo of his current habitat...everyone in this house is spoiled!