cake

Because I’m a lazy blogger I’m going to lump the entire week into one post, rather than splitting events into individual, easier to read, and nicely packaged posts. So sit back or get out of here now; you’re in for a long haul.

Let me start by saying a hearty “THANK YOU” to everyone who read and/or shared some kind words about my last entry. I am happy to say that my awkward, two-week job experience is now water under the bridge. Moving onward and upward!

This last week ended up being just what I needed in spite of a shaky start. While it’s true that I am no longer employed, I was able to catch up on sleep and mostly beat the monster that is Jet Lag, get back into the swing of things here in Alaska, and reaquaint myself with my dear husband–from whom I had spent a whole ten days apart! (I honestly can’t figure out the grammar in that last sentence; please bear with me if that was incredibly messy.)

Speaking of my husband, allow me to artfully segue into the main event of this entry. Seth turned a whopping twenty-six years old yesterday, and naturally we celebrated all weekend into Monday. The party kicked off on Friday when we received part of Seth’s “birthday present” in the mail: a set of Wüsthof Classic knives. (I will be honest in saying that this was equally a present to myself as well.) I’m not going to get into the whole song and dance here but suffice it to say that they’re nice and shiny and sharp. Two of Seth’s fingers will attest to the latter.

We left the knives at home, grabbed a backpack and our water bottles and took a drive north to Lake Eklutna and the surrounding scenery for a little Friday night hike. I will let a few pictures do most of the talking.

From Lake Eklutna, we took the Twin Peaks trail, which had been recommended to us for its incredible bird’s eye view of the lake and surrounding mountains. We (mostly I) may not have been prepared for just how “difficult” of a hike the trail would prove to be. We took a look at the map, saw the trail’s difficulty rating, a mear 2.5 mileage to the top, and said, “no sweat!” Keep in mind I had just been on a two week vacation to MN during which I did not run or exercise in the slightest. I mostly just ate a lot…so clearly I was ready to jump right in to an approx. 6 mile total, 1,500 ft. elevation gain hike! (sarcasm)

Seemingly flat–but I tell you, around every corner there was a (then insurmountable) incline… !

About midway up to the trail’s end, I was huffing and puffing, had two blisters coming on strong, and Seth had run out of water…so you do the math on how we were feeling. Luckily, the following vistas somehow magically spurred us on to the end, despite a lot of complaining and whining from yours truly.

We made it to the end of the trailhead sweaty, tired, yet accomplished. Fortunately for us, the way down was considerably easier once we got past the more steep areas. Of course it started raining as we made our descent. In fact, we drove out of the park and back to our apartment in a rare example of an Alaskan thunderstorm. The day may have ended with a bit of hydroplaning and carsickness, but never fear…birthday celebration continued on through the weekend. There just aren’t any pictures documenting Saturday and Sunday, because let’s face it: photos of us sitting around, eating donuts and watching hours of Netflix are not that visually stimulating. 😉

When Monday rolled around (the day of Seth’s actual birthay), I spent the morning decorating for our two-person birthday party later that afternoon. The decorating was probably just as much for me as it was for Seth. What can I say? I love making things pretty. Seth of course had to work…the danger of having a birthday on a Monday.

Because I am terrible at planning things—particularly surprises, my big contribution to the day was Seth’s favorite chocolate cake…which thankfully raised and set properly! Pins and needles there.

new beer glasses for the birthday boy!

We spent the evening opening presents, making homemade marinara and pizza (a colossal fail, unfortunately), sipping bellinis, watching the film Le Samurai, and listening to a few new records. Minus the pizza, it was the perfect night. 🙂 Happy birthday, Seth!