Well, Alaskans know a thing or two about bears, and apparently the best team in the NFL hasn't escaped their notice either.


Speaking of Bears fans, here someone dressed as Brian Urlacher (okay, it's me) helps run the Duck Fishing Pond at the Church's Fall Festival

Thanks to everyone for making my 24th Birthday a special one!

I got a beautiful bouquet from my mom & sisters and a gift package from my Nana.

No Birthday would be complete without a Girl Scout cookie tasking at a staff meeting!

I was in Anchorage last week for the National Indian Education Association's Annual Conference. The Girl Scouts had a booth in the exhibitor's hall promoting its work with indigenous cultures. About 3,000 people from over 20 states came to the conference to learn about Indian Education, watch cultural performances, and, of course, buy jewelry (I bought some earrings as a birthday present to myself:)
Amy (from Anchorage), my boss Bobbi, me, Jane (from Anchorage)

Above, Yupik students from Bethel, Alaska dance after their school district received the Cultural Freedom award in recognition of their work with Native Language revitalization.

On the flight home, I finally got a view of the elusive Denali (Mt. McKinley).!!! Yep, I took this photo from the plane.

Yes, this city girl housesat for a llama, 6 chickens, a turkey, some phesants, a pig, a cat, fish, and a dog.
The pig eats a loaf of bread each day along with his dry food, a boy is he happy when it's dinner time. Little does he know, the food is meant to fatten him up for when he becomes bacon:)

Peri, the llama, is a darling. He followed me all around the pen trying to eat the other animals food.
When I wasn't tending to the animals, I was sitting in a hot tub over-looking the rolling hills. Other than the crazy dog (an agressive aketa), it was more of a vacation than work.

My boss, Bobbi, and I recently traveled to Unalakleet and Nome for a Girl Scout Retreat and a CPR Training for our leaders. The two cities are located off the Norton Sound in the Bering Sea.

In Unalakleet, we ran an annual retreat for girls ages 11- 15. The town has a population of about 800, and there are three churches, two stores, and one school.

About 15 girls came to our retreat (some girls who aren't girl scouts heard about the retreat and showed up at the school where we were having the retreat. Things in rural villages in Alaska are informal, and we invited them to have dinner and play games with us).
We attended a church service on Sunday, and the entire Girl Scout troop, myself included, joined the volunteer choir on the altar. Although we hardly slept at the retreat, it was a success. The kids in Unalakleet are very sweet, and I enjoyed my first visit to a rural village.


In Nome, we attended a Girl Scout ceremony during which we handed out awards and enjoyed the highly coveted Samoa cookie (In Fairbanks we have girl scout cookies all over the office, but never the Samoas.)
We also walked the beach, taught a CPR class, visited the museum, attended a Rotary meeting, had a live interview over the local radio, drove out to see the location of our summer camp, and checked out the shops.

I think I offended a local shop owner when I asked if he was open year-round. I was just making small-talk, but then he asked where I was from and inquired if stores in Chicago close for part of the year. Worse, I didn't buy anything from him. I guess I'm not a model tourist.

Next week I'm house-sitting for a llama, so check back soon for more photos:)