Weeks 7-11

Well, I am almost at the end of my time in Alaska. What have I been doing the last few weeks? Well, I have:

• Worked. Lots. And lots.
• Slept. Not as much as I'd like, but still a lot.
• Spent more time in Talkeetna.
• Still not seen wildlife. But, I am afraid of getting attacked by a bear as I walk up and down my hill every night and morning in the pitch black. So that's...cool?
• Had WAY TOO MANY spider incidents! They are infesting my room! It is terrible! I have had to ask boys for help twice, and tried to be a woman a few times, but it's hard. I really, really hate spiders. A lot.
• Received lots of mail! I feel so loved and want to thank you all for your sweet letters! Each and every one of them made me tear up. I love you guys!

But, the most important thing that happened was MY PARENTS' VISIT!!! (Really this post should be titled "My Parents Visited Me!" but I wanted to stick with the pattern.)
While they were here, we:

• Laughed a lot. We're all hilarious, especially when we're together. I have really missed laughing with my parents. It was so great!

• Did a river float down the Talkeetna River. It was just us and our guide, which was nice. We had to wear ridiculous rain gear. First was giant waders, then giant raincoats and life jackets. But, the weirdest part was rubber boots that you put over your own shoes. They were enormous. We had to walk from where we got out of the raft through Talkeetna back to the office in them. I felt like I was wearing Hobbit Feet in the Lord of the Rings.

• Spent a while in Talkeetna. We ate breakfast at the Roadhouse, which was absolutely delicious. We tried Birch Syrup with our pancakes, and it was great!

• Met the mayor of Talkeetna while we were there!

No, this is not a joke. The mayor of Talkeetna is a cat named Stubbs. Seriously.

• Spent some time just hanging out the Lodge. We sat on the deck and my parents willed the clouds to part so they could see Mt. McKinley (but they weren't successful). We also spent a while sitting at the fire pit singing campfire songs with some cute little girls. It was pretty funny!
• Drove up to Denali National Park for a few hours one day, which was fun. It's beautiful! Unfortunately we did not see any wildlife. But, my mom was quick to remind us that they saw some moose while they were in Anchorage. Thanks for rubbing that in, Mom.
• Had dinner with my cousin! She was at the Lodge for work, so we all hung out! It was a party! I loved it!
 

So, having my parents here was so great! They got to see where I work and live, and we got to hang out. I really missed them! And I cannot wait to see them again in SIX DAYS!!!! WOOHOO! 





Weeks 2-6

I know it has been a while since I have blogged. But, I have been pretty busy lately. So, let me fill you in. In the last five weeks I have:

• Seen the WHOLE mountain a few times. But, I have not taken any pictures yet... I should do that.
• Still not seen any wildlife. Awesome.
• Worked. A whole lot. Six days a week, anywhere from 8 to 12 hours. As much as I get tired of working, I do love overtime.
• Slept. As much as I can.
• Gone to Anchorage. I did some shopping at Forever 21, Old Navy, and The Body Shop. So, that's good.
• Spent time with my sweet cousin! She works for Princess and had to come up to my lodge for work, and surprised me! I got to stay in a hotel room, use a real shower (hooray!), and spent some time with my cousin. It was so wonderful!
• "Run the book." Everyday at breakfast and dinner, one of the hostesses runs the book. This means you tell the other hostesses which table to take guests to. It's a lot more stressful than it sounds. You have to try to make sure each server gets about the same number of guests overall, try not to fill up one server's section all at the same time, and give guests the table they want. So, even though I have done it, it's really stressful, so I willingly pass it off to the more experienced hostesses.
• Received my first CRUISE card! CRUISE cards are comment cards that guests (or other employees) can fill out if an employee has gone above and beyond. You get special pins to wear as you receive CRUISE cards, and so far I don't have one. But, I know I got my first CRUISE card, so I should be getting one soon hopefully!
• Gone to Talkeetna a few more times. The Roadhouse is most people's favorite restaurant in Talkeetna, but so far I have not had a meal there. I have had some delicious bakery items, however. My parents are coming next week, so that's on our list.
• Attended two Smores-a-Paloozas. These are serious smores parties with an amazing variety of marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers/cookies. They're super fun.
• Received a letter from my hermana! I love getting mail. A lot. It was such a nice surprise! I also got a package from my parents that had some awesome things. There was stuff I asked for, and some other nice surprises- some of my favorite candies, some photos of my family, and some of my Gma's entertainment magazines! It was awesome. Now I am all caught up on my pop culture and have stuff I need. (By the way, if you want to send me mail, I would love it!)

Um, well, I cannot think of anything else right now, so hopefully you feel updated on my life!

Week #1

I have been at the lodge for a week now, and I have:

• Started working.
• Learning the way that everything works takes a little bit, but I'm trying to get the hang of it.
• My first day of work was Thursday, and what did I do? I forgot my name tag of course. So, that was embarrassing. Luckily, I worked a split shift so I was able to get my name tag for the second half of my shift.
• The girls I work with are very nice and helpful. There are five of us girls who work the hostess stand, and we usually have a pretty good time.
• Not seen wildlife.
• I saw a beaver from the car when driving, but, because it was from so far away and we were moving, I couldn't see it very well.
• Despite all of the bear and moose sightings around the lodge, I have only seen chipmunks on property. Disappointing.
• Not seen Mt. McKinley.
• Apparently every time the mountain is out, I am not. So, I have yet to see it!
• Visited Talkeetna once.
• Talkeetna is the closest little touristy town. We ate at the Flying Squirrel and had a brick-oven pizza with chorizo and potatoes. It was delicious!
• I visited a few of the local shops and am excited to head back there again!
• Gotten rides from nice co-workers.
• Getting up to my room is quite a long walk. First I have to follow the road uphill, then take the little path to the first employee housing area, then take the second path up a ridiculously steep hill to my house. It is exhausting. So, it has been so nice when co-workers offer me a ride home!
• Gotten sick.
• Of course. My first week working and I have a cold. Awesome.
• Slept a lot.
• I have been working a lot of split shifts, so I have taken a lot of naps lately. I have tried to go to bed early, but I'm not too good at that. Since I have to be at work as early as 5:45, naps are saving me!

Well, that is a taste of what I have been doing during the last week! It has been a little crazy but good so far!

Adventure

Obviously it has been a while since I've blogged. What have I been doing? Writing giant research papers, studying for finals, working, packing up one apartment and moving to another, and preparing to go to Alaska this summer. Alaska? Or, as my hermana always says "Ah-lahska." What am I doing in Alaska, you ask? I am working at the Mt McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge as a hostess in the Mountain View Restaurant.

So, Saturday I boarded a plane from Seattle to Anchorage. I have been spending some time hanging out with my cousins in Anchorage before coming up to the lodge today. I met my boss, saw a little bit of the property, had dinner at one of the restaurants, and met my roommate. So far it has been pretty good!

Coming to Alaska is already, and will continue to be such an adventure for me- the only time I have been away from family for so long is at school. So, my hope is to become more independent through this experience.

My goal is to update my blog as often as possible so that you can have some idea about what I'm doing on my adventure!

I would love for you to join me. I would also love prayer. I really don't know anyone here right now, and meeting people is kind of scary. So, please pray for boldness, and that God would provide good friends for me quickly. There is a new girl starting as a hostess at the same time as me, so it will be good to not be the only new person. Please also pray that I will learn quickly and do my job as well as I can. The restaurant I am in is pretty large, so that's a little intimidating. But, I'm sure that I was put there for a reason. I would appreciate any prayers you want to send my way :)

Well, that's all I have for now. I will try to keep my blog as updated as possible and I hope you enjoy my journey as much as I do!

Craft Attempt #1

I am not the most crafty or artistic person in the world, but I definitely try to be. My latest attempt at craftiness was in covering these picture frames.

I was trying to come up with an inexpensive, but still unique and special, gift idea. I sort of took the idea from my hermana mayor. She had covered a wooden sign with fabric using mod-podge, and I decided to try it with picture frames! So, I went to the dollar store and bought 2 picture frames and then to our local fabric store and bought a fat quarter of the fabric I wanted.

Here is what I did:

I first removed the backing and the glass from the frame so that I would not get mod-podge on them. Then, I spread out my fabric and measured the amount of fabric I would need to cover the frame. Once I had traced the shape I needed and cut it out, I began mod-podging. I made sure my frame was in the perfect spot (or, as perfect as it could be) and mod-podged one edge down first to hold everything in place. Then, I glued the other edges down, making sure that there were no bumps in the fabric. I did the mod-podge under all the fabric first, then applied the top coat over the whole thing.

Once the mod-podge was dry, I still had fabric covering the hole in the frame. So, I got a cutting board and a sharp paring knife. I put the frame fabric-side down on the cutting board and cut around the inside of the frame to make the fabric the right size. After the center was cut out, the edges were a little scraggly, so I mod-podged all the edges down to the frame to avoid frills.  

On one of the frames (the smaller one), after the mod-podge dried, I painted a sparkle paint, making it a little more flashy and a little more fun!

Then, I just let the mod-podge (or paint) dry and put everything back in the frame! For less than $5, I made 2 unique picture frames that will totally be used as gifts.

Time-waster

Right now, I love sporcle.com. Sporcle is a website full of all kinds of trivia quizzes on nearly every subject imaginable! Disney movies, baby names, geography, Harry Potter, literature, music, the Bible. As a college student, I love finding possible time-wasters and sporcle is the perfect thing to keep me from studying. I can spend hours testing my knowledge (which is almost as good as studying, right?) on all sorts of subjects, and forget I had any homework to begin with! Perfect.

My roommates and I have spent hours on sporcle together, and you will be glad to hear that we are all Disney geniuses. You can search for specific things you would like to be quizzed on, which means we have done Lost, Lord of the Rings, and Hunger Games quizzes, too!

So, if you ever need something to fill your time, or cannot think of what to do with some friends, check it out!

Attic Droppings

As I was trying to come up with a clever name for my blog, all I could think of was Brain Droppings. However, I did not love that. So, I quickly looked in the thesaurus for synonyms for brain, and, amidst my searching, I saw the word attic. And, isn't Attic Droppings much cuter than Brain Droppings? I think so.

Now, I would like to clarify. I do not live in an attic, nor does the word droppings have anything to do with bodily functions. I simply intend to "drop" anything and everything that comes into my brain on this blog, things I love, things I don't love, plans for the future, my attempts at craftiness, anything. Anyway, I hope you will go on this journey through my brain with me!