Wintertime Adventures & Early Valentine's Day

Fairbanks in winter is 247356987x better than everyone said it was going to be. I keep being surprised by how many things there are to do / be involved in here (but getting involved has has been a MAJOR priority for me so maybe that's why!)

First Fridays downtown: Stores stay open late with local art/artists, live music, free food & lots of people. Our friends took us around to soak up the scene (they've lived here a lot longer than us and knew all the best spots!) It was unexpectedly cool for somewhere with a mostly rugged / outdoorsey vibe.

Can you see Matt? :) 

One Sunday before church (which starts at 1:00 for us) we watched the sunrise from the top of the highest peak in the area. We went on a whim, but it turned out to be so good that I told Matt it made it to my list of my top 10 Alaskan experiences so far!

All bundled up!

We didn't even need to get up early, since the sun rises now at about 9:30 (major improvement over a month ago, when it would be dark until 10:30). We got to sleep in AND watch the sunrise! Just another perk of an Alaskan winter! :)

It was breathtaking! The best part was seeing Mt. Denali turn bright pink and purple as the sun got higher. It's the tallest peak in North America and straight ahead in this pic:

It also reminded me how isolated this city is - there was nothing around as far as the eye could see except hundreds of miles of open land and trees. 

Love it!

One Saturday morning we went to the kickoff of Yukon Quest, a 1,000-mile dog sled race that's just behind the Iditarod in size and significance (I had no idea there were rakings like this until recently.) Hundreds of people crowded around the starting track on the Tanana River, which is frozen solid this time of year, and cheered as dog teams and mushers zoomed by!

People around us were discussing the details of the race/racers, who won last year, cheered on their favorites and made predictions about this year's winner. Who knew dog sledding was a spectator sport!?

Barkley made friends with a Husky puppy there and it was the cutest. :) 

After watching the race kick off we warmed up with crépes at our favorite breakfast spot in town. It seemed like all the other fans had the same idea - we'd never seen it so crowded!

Then, to honor one of my favorite holidays, I hosted a Valentine's party with 15 girlfriends from church, coworkers, and neighbors. :)

It started like this before everyone arrived:

But looked like this before long because everyone was so generous with bringing food to share!

Love these ladies! We had dinner and played a Valentine's version of White Elephant. :) Mr. Barkley loved the nonstop attention!

Thanks ladies for making it such a lovely girls' night!!

The next morning (yesterday) Matt and I left on a spontaneous daytrip! I surprised him with the idea first thing in the morning as his early Valentine's Day present - he'd been wanting to explore outside of town but it's hard because Fairbanks is so isolated / remote - you can't just drive to the next city over, because it's Anchorage which is 6 hours away!

My V-Day presents for Matt + remnents from the Valentine's party I hosted. :)

So his gift was a daytrip down south to see what we would see! We hit the road with minimal planning, but it turned out great! 

What the surrounding area lacks in cities and pupulations, it more than makes up for in natural beauty. :) Even (especially?) in the middle of winter!

Matt said "it looks like I'm in an L.L.Bean catalog." Ha!

Have I mentioned Alaska is beautiful? ;)

For my own Valentine's Day present I told Matt all I wanted was to pay off our car loan (which we took out 6 months ago when I first got to Alaska and bought him a car without him ever laying eyes on it). We've been aggressive about it and paid off the last chunk before V-Day. Hooray! We're now totally debt free again and lovin' it. 

Between events / adventures we're both working hard. Teaching this semester is going well, especially since we're past the part of the semester when students add/drop and are acclaimating to classes. Sometimes I go to this impressively huge fireplace in the Fairbanks Barnes & Noble to lesson-prep before office hours and teaching on campus. It's a huge circular fireplace surrounded by a ring of sofa chairs, there's free wifi and a Starbucks 50 feet away. Perfect!

Tuesdays and Thursdays are my work from home days this semester because the other class I'm teaching is online. Please step into my office:

I'm loving the flexible schedule it brings - I was able to add 2 yoga classes per week into my teaching schedule plus private sessions. Yesss! (My yoga FB page is here! 'Like' for updates)

SO much teaching! I've also been teaching the 4 year olds at church in Primary but my calling just switched to teaching the 12 and 13 year olds. ('Callings' are jobs at church so everyone is involved and can contribute :) )  I'm glad I can still work with the youth but am SO GLAD to go back to Relief Society and be with the ladies. I've missed it!

Some of the Primary kids I used to teach as they
made a mad dash for colored pencils. Ha!

And of course I'm still pregnant! I keep waiting for 'symptoms' I've heard so much about (morning sickness, aches, pains, trouble sleeping, crazy weight gain, cravings…) but haven't had ANY negative effects! I'm still functioning as normal. For a while it made me wonder if I was actually pregnant...

I hear that's good for being almost 6 months along. :) 

We've even gotten a few really thoughtful presents from friends and family, which makes me know this baby is already so loved! Here are two of my favorites so far - both from future aunts. :) 

Can you say CUTE?? Can't wait to put them to good use. :)

And I broke down and made a baby registry, even though I'd planned to not make one. I changed my mind when friends/family started asking what they could get for us (which is SO generous!) This little girl is already so loved.

Barkley has no idea what's coming.