a tall personality

The laughter coming from the cockpit was laced alarmingly with frustration. I could see the opposite propeller turning slowly in the shiny reflection of the airplane outside my little window. Turning slowly is not what you want to see from a propeller. Disgruntled grumbles just loud enough to bridge the 'I actually meant for everyone to hear that' gap were coming from the ten other passengers on the flight. "This plane was JUST flying fine, what the **!##! Happened?" My mind clicked into worst case scenario mode. I evaluated the abilities of the people seated in the exit rows. Maybe I should have taken one of those seats. I trust myself to be strong and confident enough to save everyone. But what if I panicked and died in a plane crash with blood on my hands? Yeah, that would be worse. Thankfully, the pilots were noticing the malfunction as the plane was still safely on the ground at the Valdez airport. The people who make decisions were deciding if it could be fixed ...

Dearest Alaska, You know I love you.  You are giving me family, friends, fun, and a down-home feeling that I just never found in the lower 48.  Even when I was so happy and at home in Salt Lake. It just didn't compare. Monday, it snowed on your mountains and you gave me a wonderful time hiking up running down, and freaking out about how overwhelmingly beautiful it was. This Tuesday you gave me a SUPER cool show called Arctic Entries where 7 people tell 7 minute stories about something that happened to them, much in the style of This American Life (one of my favorite radio shows).  I was so inspired I decided to apply to be in a future show...and they called me back. Wednesday I went sculling (rowing with 4 people in a skinny skinny boat) with my Aunt Peggy.  The weather was perfect, the boat was kinda fast.  A float plane landed next to us.  It was mesmerizing and wonderful Thursday I went climbing with my BFAW (that's best friend at work) ...

Alaska continues to be pretty interesting to say the least. but When all these things happen to me I can think of a million wonderful things to say about them, but later on Sunday when I am actually trying to write I find myself out of the energy it would take to make it awesome.  I think, "Oh, I'll just wait until I FEEL like writing something good," but we all know that only happens once every few months and by that time I hardly remember what all the pictures I took were about. So instead I'll just describe each picture and call it an update.  In a few months I'll write something good again :) Here is beautiful Elise on Skilak Lake!  We took her guitar on a little hike and were having a good time playing and singing on this beach...when we noticed a group of rafters pulled up close by for lunch.  Eh, no big deal, we keep going.  Then these young red-headed fishermen came tromping out of the woods, and set up quite quite close, frequently ...

"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh"  Ezekiel 36:26 KJV I was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 11 years ago last month;  7 years later  I opened an essay about that event with the above scripture.   I rejoiced in how my closeness to the Savior had given me a new heart.   I also said this, " If someone had tried to explain to me the kind of peace and happiness I feel now, I wouldn't have believed them.  I didn't know you  could  feel this."   I   had been through some rough times by that point and had managed to bounce back from them.  I had consistently experienced the promise of the comfort of the Holy Ghost whenever I asked for it.  The scriptures made sense, prayers were answered in the ways I anticipated.  And when they weren't there were comf...