Brrrrrr!

 

The last several weeks, God frosted our world white and the temperature began to drop. Although I'm told it is usually much colder this time of year, I am thankful for the "gentle" onset of winter this year. The "frosting" in the Copper Valley is a combination of frozen mist from the many rivers that wind through the valley and snow that covers the cars and homes and tips the trees, bushes and weeds causing everything to sparkle in the sun as though it was covered with glitter. IT is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!



  The first snow was even wet enough that I was able to make a mini snowman in front of our garage. However, it was warm enough later that week that the stones I used for his eyes and nose heated up and fell out making Mr. Snowman look deformed. Tim said the snowman would probably be plowed away with the next snow, but he took pity on our snowman and moved it before he plowed.

The last snow lasted for several days off and on.  About 8 inches accumulated over those days, and although the skies were gray, the snow that blanketed the ground looked much whiter against the gray skies.  When the sun appeared again, the temperatures dropped to nearly 40 below zero and everything sparkled like diamonds.














The weather here is different than it is in some other cold-weather states.  Twenty degrees below zero feels more like zero in Michigan and is quite bearable. We even have braved 10 below to hunt caribou and to work outside.  Forty below is cold.  I have been careful to carry my warmest gear in the car with me in case I have car trouble on the way to or from work.


 

Tim has provided very well for us here despite the cold.  Before I arrived, he had purchased a truckload of wood to heat our home for the winter, and he has ordered another load to be delivered soon.  We have worked at cutting, spliting and stacking the load (Tim more than the both of us together) until it is almost all stacked in the shed.  The first load will be enough to heat our home for the whole winter.  The next load will allow us to work ahead for next winter.  Our wood stove is very efficient, and Tim has made some improvements to the stove which circulate warm water around the house helping the heat to be distributed better.  The house stays warm!

 Many of you have asked what our house looks like.  It is very comfortable and is looking more like OUR home rather than Tim's home.  He has been gracious indulging the changes I have made, and we will enjoy making more changes in the spring and summer.

I have been enjoying photography here.  Every day the terrain looks different.  The clouds make amazing formations over the mountains. 

As it snows, the trees are blanketed white, and the sun colors the skies, mountains and the trees with pink, orange and yellow at both sunrise and sunset. 

As the temperatures dip lower, fog floats above the rivers and coats weeds, grasses, trees, and everything else with frost that sparkles when the sun shines.

The rivers are becoming slushy and may ice over soon. The mountains look smooth since they are covered with a blanket of snow.

Early Adventures

Tim and I have been married 3 weeks and are still having a great time just being together in the same state and time zone!  

We went caribou hunting 2 weeks ago - twice and we are going again this coming weekend. 

We saw a lot of caribou but Tim didn't shoot any because they were all "too small" in his opinion. THEY WERE HUGE!!! LOL!!! 


We almost hit several with the truck when a herd decided to cross the road right in front of us! I took pictures. 













The scenery is AMAZING!! Every day the landscape looks different! I am blessed beyond my wildest dreams! When we were up in the mountains the first day of hunting, we stopped at an overlook to glass for caribou. I was shocked by the SILENCE! There was absolutely no traffic noise, no rustling leaves, no birds... NOTHING. It made me realize how much sound there is even in the quiet valley in which we live. 

While we were out hunting caribou, we saw an eagle, a moose, a porcupine  and several flocks of swans. 

One of the flocks was flying over as were hiking back to the truck. Tim told me to stand very still. He then called to them and the whole flock circled around to check out the "swan" that was left behind.

Last week I received a text from Tim telling me to grab my camera because the sunrise would be beautiful that day. He wasn't joking. I hopped in the car and drove to several places taking photos as the sky turned different shades of pink, orange and blue.

I have a lead on a part-time aide job with the school in Glennallen. The pay is low but it would be a start. I would be working with kids from 2nd grade through high school and doing a variety of things from monitoring an independent learning session to monitoring lunches to helping a special needs student with learning phonics.

 

I am LOVING the cooler weather! The days have been pretty pleasant so far, ranging in temp from  0 to the 50's. Although that seems cold to y'all, it is NOT at all as cold as those temps would feel there with the humidity.  We now have a couple of inches of snow on the ground and the world sparkles when the sun shines.  I do not miss the gnats, but I have found out that Alaska has biting flies! One bit me on my thumb when we were on our honeymoon and my thumb swelled up and was sore for about a week!  Now that the show has come, the bugs will be gone until spring.

We drove to Anchorage last Friday to take care of some appointments and do the shopping for the next 6-8 weeks. It was a long day in town and we ended up driving home after dark . Normally, Tim tries to get through the worst section of the trip while it is still light, but this trip ran longer than he would have liked. However, that night the northern lights were incredible! They were green bands with tinges of pink that danced across the sky all night, getting dimmer and then brighter in areas. I was in awe of God's artwork and wished I had brought my camera in order to try to capture the beauty. It is forever stamped in my memory!