Elton John will be making an arctic appearance

Just when I thought Michael Franti and Matchbox 20 (yep, they're still together) were the biggest bands to visit the frozen tundra, we get the news that Elton John is coming.

He doesn't play anything resembling reggae, but I'm still going to convince Andrew to check it out with me. Hopefully we can get some inexpensive tickets ... probably not, but it's worth a shot.

I hope to be belting it out to "Rocket Man" on May 28, along with lots of crazy Alaskans. "I think it's going to be a long, long time..."

Save more bucks at the Matress Ranch

The local commercials in Alaska are awesome, probably better than the Waldo Flea Market commercials we used to get in Gainesville.

This guy is my favorite, and it's not just because he's always wearing a SpongeBob Squarepants tie ... it's his smooth dance moves.

What too many cupcakes will lead to

I think I know why kids are afraid of the dentist ...

Wouldn't you love to have that lady poking sharp metal objects at your gums? I'd be running faster than you could say "cavity!"

In other news ...

Andrew wants to thank everyone for all the birthday wishes and wonderful gifts!

I made him a whole batch of cupcakes, complete with sprinkles and lots of candles. Our little cat was completely fascinated by the candles, almost burnt his little nose off.

You don't really think a batch of cupcakes is a lot until there's only two of you in the house. I did find out that they go very well with my morning coffee.

Afternoon snooze...

Ahhh, the life of a lazy house cat...


... it's tough.


We're off to the Michael Franti and Spearhead concert tonight at the Beartooth Theatrepub. Lots of pictures to follow.

Alaskan street dancing, coming soon to a corner near you

A bleach-blond guy in a slowed-down SUV shouts, "You got any more?" But Andrew is not on drugs. Or crazy. He doesn't even want money.

He could say he dances to make people happy. But that's just part of it.

"Some people have playing instruments, or racing, but I have dancing," he says. "That's my way of getting it out, whatever it is."

This guy made it to the front, inside cover of the Anchorage Daily News (basically, he's a pretty big deal). He started dancing on the corner of Ingra and 15th, more than 10 blocks away from downtown, two years ago when his car broke down. While waiting for his mother to pass by, he decided to dance to keep warm on that fateful February day.

Why stop at that? He now dances every Friday at rush hour.

Watch the video on ADN.com. Hilarious.

Eagle River hike pictures

We had an open day on Saturday, so I suggested we go for a walk. Andrew says we should go to the Eagle River Nature Center, just outside of Anchorage.

Well, now I know that when Andrew talks about "nature centers," he really saying "let's go on an eight-mile hike."

It was my first Alaskan hike, and I'm still feeling a bit of pain in my knee, but we had a great time. Andrew climbed every rock he could find, I only fell in the snow once, and we got some great pictures along the trail ... a pretty good day if you ask me.

Below is a map of the trail we hiked. It's a section of the old Iditarod trail, formerly used as a transportation and mail route. We started at the Nature Center and hiked four miles out to The Perch (I marked it with a big arrow). Click on the image and it will open up larger in a new window.

Off to Seattle for Memorial Day weekend

Andrew has a much needed (and rare) four day weekend coming up for Memorial Day. So, we decided to make the most of it and are heading to Seattle for the weekend. Woo hoo!!

Neither of us have been before, so we're both super excited. Andrew is looking forward to everything the Seattle music scene has to offer. The first thing that came to my mind when we started talking about Seattle was making a trip to the original Starbucks.

Past Starbucks, I want to see and experience everything Seattle has to offer. Anyone out there ever been before? Have any suggestions on what to see/do/not do?

Great new recipe

Fresh, local halibut has hit our grocery stores up here. I've never cooked with it before and it's very popular in Alaska, so I decided to give it a shot.

A few nights ago I made these Anaheim Fish Tacos, and WILL be making them again. Not only are they sooo good, but healthy and super easy to make. The flavors were awesome, though next time I'll make it spicy. If you don't like halibut, I'm sure you could substitute with any other white fish.

Fish tacos? Crazy, I know, but give 'em a try ...

Here's the recipe (or go to Allrecipes.com):

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 Anaheim chile pepper, chopped
• 1 leek, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 large tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 1/2 pounds halibut fillets
• 1 lime
• 12 corn tortillas

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and saute the chile, leek, and garlic until tender and lightly browned. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Mix the chicken broth and tomatoes into the skillet, and season with cumin. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Place the halibut into the mixture. Sprinkle with lime juice. Cook 15 to 20 minutes until the halibut is easily flaked with a fork. Wrap in warmed corn tortillas to serve.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Hope you're having a good one!

How's the weather?

This is what we woke up to:



It started snowing last night and hasn't stopped yet.

The weather service put out a snow advisory until 5 am tomorrow, predicting 4 to 7 inches of snow. We're breaking records up here for some of the snowiest days in April.

April showers bring May flowers ... Does that apply with snow, too?

Blog neglect

Somehow, I blog all day at work, but manage to forget about my own little Alaskan blog.

I wanted to say Happy (belated) Birthday to Frank! We hope all is well down in Texas...

And here's some Ninja Love:


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