Jennie and Eric's Adventures

Sunday, December 23, 2012

More home

After spending a few days upstate getting re-aquainted with our families and the good ol' PK, we wanted to take a trip to see Eric's grandparents. Not sure why or how we missed a pic of Eric's grandma, but we stopped by her house first to catch up with her. It was so great to see her and catch up in person. Then we were off to Sunrise to see Eric's grandfather. What a wonderful man. He's been living at Sunrise for the past 4 years in a special place for Alzheimer's patients. Even with Alzheimer's, he's still the sweetest man. We tried and tried to get him to smile or look at the camera, but no luck. Eric gave him a nice shave and we walked around a bit.

Pop Joe

Next stop was the city. We really wanted to check out the tree and just soak in some city. We met up for dinner with my friend Bridget, too (sorry, Bridge, why did we forget a photo?)

Similar to our Christmas card pic from '08...still looking for a copy.

sibling love

And, on the way home, we even stopped in da Bronx for some good ol' fashioned NY slices...a buck a slice, ya can't beat it! YUM!!!!

notice my hand is still holding the pizza as I take the pic? Wow!

Another day we got to spend some quality time with my family and my cousin Gloria from New Mexico that has been staying with my parents. Gloria's dad and my mom's father were cousins. My mom has been going back and forth to NM to see Gloria a bunch and finally convinced Gloria to come back to the Northeast for the holidays. She's a hoot and definitely puts the entire family in our place! She didn't want me to take a pic, but I snuck in one of Eric and Gloria chillin'.

Every night my dad brings her a martini, and some appetizers while she sits and reads or watches a little TV. My dad, what a guy :).

And my BFF, Melly stopped by for some margaritas and grub.

My dad is still trying to convince Mel to become a part of the family, officially!

Oh how I've missed these doggies. Aldo and Combo snuggling with each other. Love them!

A typical CM dinner...delicious!

While I was home, Mel, Becks and I also arranged a Marist Swim Club Reunion for all our swim buddies. Unfortunately, the weekend was a little off, timing-wise, and not that many people could attend. We still ended up with a good group.

TJ, Nick, Mel, Me and Nick P.

And another wave

Mel, Marion, Sam and me.

We also got to hang with some of Eric's friends. It was Kathy's birthday so Eric's friend, also named Eric invited us out for a birthday celebrating. Kathy and Eric had a baby boy in April who is just the sweetest, happiest baby.

The Birthday girl!

Spack representin'.... from left: Eric, Bouges, Mike, me, Michelle, Kathy and Eric

We ended up heading to the good ol' Brown Derby for a SHS and AHS reunion...just what the doctor ordered! Love, love, love trips home! There truly is no place like home.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Finally at home!

By the time it was the day to fly home, neither Eric nor I could hardly contain ourselves. We were craving family and everything NY (Pizza, Rossi's Deli, bagels, etc). Eric's parents picked us up at the airport and we headed straight to Eric's Aunt and Uncle's house in North Jersey (we flew into EWR) to meet baby Brody. Eric's cousin, Jennifer had been on bed rest since the beginning of month 4 and ended up delivering about 3 weeks early (November 20). Not only that, but during Hurricane Sandy (October 29, 2012), she and her husband were evicted from their apartment in lower Manhattan. Then, the hotel that FEMA sent them to, also had to be evicted. You think that's bad, then their hospital (NYU) was partially shut down due to complications from Sandy so she had to deliver out on LI! It was nuts! Thankfully, everything worked out perfectly and she delivered perfect Brody Reid on November 20..and we were lucky enough to meet him at 3 weeks old!!

Eric and Brody

smiling?

Cousin Lexy and Aunt Barbara

What a little cutie!!

Eric and I had been traveling for 12 hours, and were famished. Everyone appeased us by ordering some pizzas. Sure, we weren't in NY, but Jersey pizza was just as good in our book...yummy!

Next stop....NY!!

December happenings

With the holidays and our trip home just two weeks away, we still had plenty of Alaska celebrating to do. We had a few holiday parties and some snowfall we were missing. Usually by October or November there has been a significant snowfall, and people are out skiing. This year, not so much. Everyone seemed to be complaining but not me, I knew winter was long enough. Little did I know how much I'd enjoy XC skiing! (more on that in the following posts).

Meeting up with some friends before Eric's work Holiday party

Our good Doha-now Alaska friends, Jaime and Kim

Loved this dress!!

The next night we had another event....

When we came outside afterwards, the snow had really fallen...

Our house during this significant snowfall.

The following week it snowed some more. I had a luncheon to attend on a day that it snowed 8 inches. Just for the record, Anchorage didn't skip a beat. There were 50+ women at the lunch and the streets were full.

Out for a walk with following the gorgeous snowfall.

Sunset around 4:30pm

A few days later, we were both ready for a vacation from everything and just to be back in NY. As per usual, we had a redeye flight out of AK. Below, Eric is keeping us laughing while waiting for our flight.

Alaskan Polar Bears at the airport.

Next stop....NY!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

The cold and dark...

When we moved to Alaska, we were fearful that it would be cold and dark all winter long....I cannot even say how pleasantly surprised I continue to be each and every day we live here. Solstice is just 16 days away and the dark hasn't been bad at all.

Many of you have asked about the cold and the dark so here's the skinny: The dark really didn't start to become noticeable until the time change back in the beginning of November. As of now, the sun really "rises" around 10:15 but it starts to get light around 9ish. It's really not much different from when we lived in Paris. In the afternoon, as of now, it's getting dark around 4pm, and fully dark by 4:45. Just about the same as Paris and also growing up in NY. We continue to lose 5 minutes each day until 21 December. By that time, we'll be back to getting lighter! Apparently January is the darkest, because you don't gain light as quickly, so we'll keep you posted on that.

Regarding the cold, it's not so bad either. It's cold, today was -5F, but you're usually not outside for that long at that early hour anyway. Apparently it's really cold for this time of year. I have been running outside when I can and as long as I'm dressed in the right stuff, I get warm. I went on a 1.5 hour walk with friends yesterday in 0 F, and it was cold and windy, but I had on my secret weapon, smart wool, plus with my hand and foot warmers, I was actually hot!

Another plus it's not been bad is because

there has been constant sun light during the daylight hours for the past 20 days! Sun and clear skies, no complaints here! Of course, as I said, there's no snow, so people are annoyed-soon enough the snow will be here and we'll be XC skiing every second we get!

So in the end, AK still is a pretty cool place to live. Sure, you all know I prefer the heat, but hey, when in Rome!

Thanksgiving 2012

Of course we were so sad not to be back in NY for Thanksgiving but we were so happy to be able to spend it with our Doha friends. Kim and Jaime invited us over for a lovely and delicious meal.

Sunrise at about 10am

My mom's poppy seed bread recipe, yummy!!

The lovely table at Jaime and Kim's house

The "spread"

iPhone pic but better than none.

Jaime, Caden, Kim, Cooper, Eric, Me, Bianca, Jordan, Ramez and Mickey. Thanks for taking the pic, Dominique!!

Thankful for all of these people in our life!

Hoar Frost

So by this point, it has gotten pretty cold,.... in the teens, but doesn't feel terribly cold because it's so dry here. A few mornings, we've woken up to Hoar Frost. It's basically frost that forms on the trees (and everything) from fog. We will wake up to some more beautiful than normal sights.

So it's not snow, but looks a lot like a winter wonderland.

The white stuff on the ground is from the 13 October storm, but over time it's gotten more significant, but no snow has actually fallen. It's so cold at times that the frost gets really thick on everything; signs, the road, mailboxes, etc.

Friday, November 2, 2012

Doha in Anchorage

This past summer, two families we knew from Doha moved to Anchorage and we were so happy they were joining us in South Central Alaska :). They ended up moving to the same neighborhood so they see a ton of each other...just like compound living! It's so comforting knowing they're here and we have a blast with each other. Here's a pic from one of our monthly pizza nights!

Ramez, Mickey, Kim, me, Jaime and Eric (sorry, eyes closed)
Yay for Doha in Anchorage!