week in Texas

Oh wow, this week has been crazy. All I can say is, yes, I will enjoy creatively expanding the tales of being a bridesmaid. I explained to Shelli that I did plan on writing about it, overly exaggerating it, and that it is not at all a reflection of how I felt the week went. And the end of the day (Friday) I was very glad to be there with my two friends, Erik and Shelli, as they joined together as husband and wife. All the sleepless nights and foodless days were totally worth it. Then I made a trip up to longview to see some friends that I have been missing. Just a weekend trip, and it is amazing to see people. If you are amongst the people here *cough* Kate *cough* give me a shout, cause I want to see you!!

new news

ITS SPRING!!!!!!

Thats right, it is officially spring now! I am so excited. I can't wait for all the snow to melt, and a little warmer weather. I never really appreciated the hope that spring brings before I experienced the depth of an Alaska winter. Ok, so Anchorage is wimpy compared to Fairbanks and the North Slope area. And they told me this was a really mild winter. So maybe I didn't experience the worst of winters. But still, it was more than I am used to.

Apparently though, Longview (Texas) missed the memo, as they got snow this morning.

I am preparing to go outside for the first time since going home in September. A college classmate is marrying one of my really close friends, and I am really excited to be a part of this event in their lives. And the locale certainly makes it even more bearable!!

I would write more, but it is 11:30, and frankly, I am worried about saying something I could possibly regret, or that just didn't make sense. My flight boards in about 45 minutes, and lands in Seattle at 5:15. We don't switch planes there, but we do have an hour on the ground before going further south. Hopefully I will get sleep somewhere in there. But I have an aisle seat on a full flight, so we will see.

feeling green

Happy St. Patrick's day!

Seeing that it IS still the glorious Irish holiday for another hour or so here in the AK, I thought I would share some exciting happenings.

Morning coffee~
while reading a friend's blog, I was reminded to reflect on my own unique Irish heritage, as today is the day to squeeze enjoyment out of whatever drops of Irish blood you may have, even if you are 100% Hawaiian. Despite the fact that my Dad is Flemish (that means he is from Belgium. No, there is no country called Flem. Stop laughing, is not funny!) and my mom is Dutch and German, we have some little hairline of Irish in there. Yeah, my dad's mom's grandmother, or something like that. But it IS Irish, so I have the same right to this holiday as every other green-donned American out there.

lunchtime soda~
I show up to work at noon to find about half my coworkers decked out in green, and the other half ranging from subtle attempts at green to not trying at all. I thought about it, and we are grown up. Pinching people for not wearing a big splash of secondary color does seems to be a bit childish, yeah? I asked one of my co-workers (who hails from The Azors, Portugal) where her green was. She responded with "Come here, I show you my green!" If she has to show it to me that close and personal, maybe I dont really want to see it. Turned out fine, the frames of her glasses had green.

Afternoon tea~
Turns out that about half (not all the same half boasting the Irish hue) were making corned beef and cabbage for dinner. Pressure cooker, slow cooker, all methods of preparing the traditional meal were being discussed around me. At one point, a co-worker asked what I was having. I explained to her that I would be pursuing the "potato famine" portion of Irish history. (as it turned out, I skipped the potato for a bowl of popcorn) Hooray for being single.
As the afternoon wore on, I felt a different green than the springy polo shirt I was wearing and the bright ribbon in my hair. As I was making lunch earlier, I discovered that my milk had gone bad. Now, I think milk smells bad to begin with, so of course I had to TASTE it to see if it really was bad or not. It was. It was only a sip, but I was feeling pretty queasy in the afternoon. Later, I found that the milk cooler for the coffee machine was never turned on. What happens to milk when it sits at room temperature all day? Yep, more gross smelling milk for Liz to clean up.

Evening decaf~
As much fun as the Irish pub would be on such a momentous night, after the threat of the expired milk, I decided an evening at home would be best, even skipping coffee with a friend. I ate my Irish popcorn (butter and salt is Irish, right?), listened to some Irish tunes on Pandora, and generally pursued my normal evening activities.

Definitely an interesting day.

if looks could kill...

... I would choose an icy stare. And the death would feel similar to this icy mass falling on your head.

Remember last week, when we had a day off and sunshine? Well, this is what I woke up to the next morning:
There is about 6 inches of fresh snow. The wind was blowing from the right all night, leaving fun drifts and sideways snow accumulation. I didn't know snow could accumulate like that.

the problem with being still...

... Is God usually starts talking. And its not always things that i want to hear. (But then again, how often am I going to hear God saying, "Good job! YOU are doing an excellent job, look at YOU go!") I have made pros and cons lists, tried to argue it in my head, and otherwise convince myself one way or the other. But that reasoning method still has an awful lot to do with me. I think I need to take a step back and put God at the center of my reasoning instead of me.

I have been thinking a lot about Moses recently, and comparing my life to some lessons learned from him.

He tried to liberate one Israelite doing his own thing, by killing the Egyptian. And what happened? He spent the next 40 years in the desert tending sheep.
Parallel one: I tried to go to college on my own. Am I going to be paying off my school bills until I am 40?

Fast forward 40 years. He settled into his life when all the sudden God calls him to lead. Moses hits this crisis of belief. To ignore it would be disobedience. To follow it would mean a total, radical change of life. Of course, Moses shows his self-centeredness with the excuses he starts throwing out. "I can't speak, how will they know I am from you? Me, me, me, me me...." Moses would have to forget about all the things that make up Moses, and go out as a servant of God.

Parallel two: No, God is not calling me to lead (not yet anyways). But I keep getting pushed toward a possible job opportunity. Its out in the middle of nowhere (accessible only by air). It's not exactly the hopping location for a single 20 something to launch her thrilling social life. Grocery shopping is a little different out there... I dont even know how it works. I just know they have powdered milk and tang. I know a bunch of people that are coming up this way this summer, and I was REALLY looking forward to spending some weekends with them. Do you hear my excuses rooted in the same selfish motives as Moses?
One nice piece is that it won't be a "rest of my life" sort of move. It would definitely be career building, and I could see where I go from there.

I think it really comes down to giving up myself and my selfish motives for something that would be a couple years of my life. It would be a career building opportunity, and a big networking opportunity. If this is even God's will. Which, I get the feeling that it is. But lots of prayer will be going into this. I would appreciate you adding to it!

of sunshine and days off

The past week, we have had scattered snow showers. Its great for a little while. But grey skies and slick roads are only fun for so long. But I woke up Sunday morning to sunshine and imaginary warmth. After church, a friend called and invited me to Beluga point. Save the belugas! The news makes it sound like they are near endangered. But apparently all the locals know thats just a load of hooey.

regardless of the maritime wildlife that resides in that area, I wanted to share a few pics from the (very cold) windy stop!

somewhere between being still and accomplishing the to do list

I have so many things to do. Constantly swirling around my head is a list of things I need to accomplish, things I want to accomplish, and things I dont need to do, but would make me much happier. Then I start stressing about such things, and try to remember to let God be priority in my life. Then comes the voice that says "Be still and know that I AM God." Well, how is that supposed to help with the things I am trying to accomplish? In addition to all the things stressing me out, God is vying for my time. He shouldn't be in the same dimension as my to do lists.

But unlike everything else, He is not one to be multi-tasked. I can make a meal and do dishes at the same time. But I can't be still and vacuum at the same time. I try to put His time into the category of things that I do for enjoyment. I can be still and play cello, right? No. When I am playing cello, it takes a lot of brain power to read music, translate it into fingerings and bowings, and make it sound decent. Not a lot of being still.

So what am I doing when I should be either working on the to do list or being still? Blogging. Hopefully that falls under the category of "dont need to do but makes me much happier."

la chaim!

La Chaim is hebrew for "to life!" Yes, I learned that from fiddler on the roof. Only because we played the music in high school, not from having actually seen the musical.

I think the more time I live in Alaska, the more this time of year will be my favorite. Sure, I love the long summer days, the golden leaves in september, and the promise of snow as the temperature plummets. But right now, as the days are getting longer, we have piles of snow everywhere, and more has been falling the past couple of days. I know that its about to get really gross as it warms up just enough to melt everything, resulting in grimy roads and fithy cars. But right now, its white, and pretty.

As the days are getting longer, i can feel the pain of darkness melting away. We are getting more than 10 of daylight, nearly twice as much as we got in the deepest of winter. I can really start to feel the sunlight. Hopefully soon, I will feel its warmth. As the sun shows its face more an more every day, i feel life being breathed into the frozen northland. La Chaim--to life.

airplanes

A couple weeks ago, I got a call, inviting me to come out and help work on a few planes. Happily, I accepted. Not to be paid, but to get the experience of turning wrenches. (I may forget how)

I worked on a Trubine Otter. My jobs included pulling panels, putting them back on, and wheel bearings. on the tailwheel. I was working with a guy who used to maintain the plane, so he had a lot of knowledge as far as things likely to go wrong with this plane.

Turbine otter, from the back, with a supercub in the foreground

The otter, from DeHavilland, is really versatile. Some models were military, and the civilian side has been through many modifications, including sticking a Garrett TPE-331 under the cowling.

TPE-331 in the nose of the otter, standing above a second cub

As I was working on the tailwheel, the mechanic working with me explained the poor ability of the bearings to seal in the tailwheel. Considering the sandy beaches that he often lands on, the tailwheel is subject to a lot of foreign matter entering. As we pulled the wheel off, I realzied that it was a familiar sized tire. Most cessnas have 6x600s on the main gear, and the otter puts that wheel on the tail. The wheel popped off with no problems, and as I began looking at the bearings, i noticed some rollers missing on one side. this is a problem... I thought, pulling the bearing out. The only rollers that didnt fall out were the ones that had melted to the cage. The other mechanic said he had never seen them THAT bad.

bearings from each side of the wheel. the one of the left is just full of sand, while the one on the right is all that remains. The pile of black stuff in the upper left corner is where most of the rollers fell out.

So not only did I get to turn wrenches again, I learned a little something about otter maintenance. And what to expect if the plane lands on beaches frequently.