coffeetraps

Thanksgiving

2010-11-08T19:53:00.000-08:00

It is our favorite holiday, time off from work for Jay and LOTS of food. It is a precursor to what Christmas break feels like-relaxing after a ski, games with friends, coffee, telling stories, coffee...haha. So our house is becoming more of a home, not so much a project. We have moved in. We are still without plumbing, but our friends down the street have opened their home for basic needs, such as the bathroom. They are out of town, expecting a baby, so we are taking care of their dog and using their kitchen and bath for now. As we shuffle things to our new house, shelves need to go up still and much of our belongings are still packed, or were thrown in at the last minute, hence the clutter of tubs and random things that are waiting to be placed properly. Kemper loves the woods, lots of trees to do his outdoor business on. He is a lab who needs some sort of brush, trees, or grass to relieve himself, he has always been that way. SO, besides making a post of information you really didn't want to know on our dog and our latest living conditions, here come the pictures!

Siding!

2010-10-01T14:01:00.001-07:00

New Table

2010-09-30T20:37:00.000-07:00

Romay and I made Jason a table. Well, it is our makeshift table until we get the table from a real furniture store. With living in the bush and everything costing an extra dollar or two, Romay and I looked around at some of our resources and decided to make "something" until next summer arrives and the next barge season starts. Yeah, its a little small, but it will do for the three of us and we'll make do when people come over with trays and what not. I'd rather do this than pay someone too much money to ship some fancy looking wood, a table.

Can you believe it? An update!

2010-09-21T16:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I won't get into the whirlwind of activities from the last month. It has been a beautiful fall here in Galena, maybe as one not teaching this year, I have more time to see and enjoy it. I should apologize for the lack of pictures for the last month, sorry for stringing you along on our building adventure and halting suddenly in my online tracks. My laptop power cord gave up and I watched the laptop battery dwindle down...then, the internet service at the house we're staying at was discontinued due to the fact that no one would be living there...soon. So, he is the latest. Finally, you get a peek into the latest accomplishments! (heating tank mounted and fuel in it, heating unit installed, plumbing started, electrical started, cabinets in, appliances moved inside!)

Last of August 12

2010-08-13T00:30:00.000-07:00

Floor as you enter the house.

All partitioning in the house is complete! Tomorrow we start the rough plumbing.

Now I know what I will look like when I'm 80.

More of August 12

2010-08-13T00:25:00.001-07:00

Ok, these pictures are backwards in order. Oh well. 5 hours of sanding the floor creates a sandstorm in the house!

The living room sanding begins.

Hair before sanding.

Another picture of the water tank room.

The couch is in! Sometimes its a little hard to get off from break to get back to work.

August 12, 2010

2010-08-13T00:18:00.000-07:00

Water tank room

Partitioning upstairs

Again.

Romay throwing her corn on the cob. We started seeing who could throw their cob the highest on a tree. So far Jason has Romay and I trying to beat his branch.

Dinner on the run-brats, corn on the cob and zucchini with butter.

August 10, 2010

2010-08-10T23:58:00.001-07:00

It may not look like much, studs erected, but about a gallon of stain went on as well. Jason predicts that he can start the rough plumbing this thursday. With the weather cooling down a tad and the extra cups of coffee, I think he's right. We're not much for words when it's late, but the pictures do justice.

Back in Alaska

2010-08-08T09:38:00.001-07:00

There will be no pictures on this one... sorry. I am currently sitting in College Coffee House in Fairbanks with an empty coffee cup staring me in the face. This will therefore need to be a quick post as I need to remedy that and I can see the countdown clock on my internet time ticking away below this window.

My time in Washington State was so very worthwhile. For those that do not know and think I had finally just gone nuts from swinging a hammer all summer, I was sent down for a College Board Advanced Placement training for AP Literature. It was by far the best inservice I had ever attended.

There have been some programs in my distant teaching past (some programs that still exist in some places) that I won't mention, that felt like I was sitting through a four day sales pitch. I would hate to burn a bridge that I may have to cross some day and so that is all I will say on that. With the sales pitch idea in mind, AP was such a breath of fresh air.

The week was broken up into teachable lessons and units as well as what our kids should expect upon taking the test. Everyone in my session was very focussed and it was just such a joy to sit and talk literature. How many people out there really get excited about breaking down a Shakespearean Sonnet, or get a kick out of text to text connections between the song Hurt and the book of Ecclesiastes?

Then, you add in the fact that I was sleeping in a comfortable bed every night rather than a classroom floor (only in AK) and it just gets that much better. However, I could not help but miss home and am so ready to be back there. Is it truly possible to feel the boarder when you cross back into Alaska? Why did I get this smile on my face that only got bigger the closer I got to home and my family?

One more day of Fairbanks and some vehicle maintenance and I'll be back home... happily hugging my family and again picking up a hammer and heading back to work. I don't think I really need anything more than that in my life. God has been so good.

Oh, and Dad, since I am sure you are curious, the truck is running amazingly with new plugs and the manifold. It didn't even have to work to get up and down the hills on the way to Nenana.
God bless... Jason

August 1, 2010

2010-08-02T00:29:00.000-07:00

The first coat of stain went on. It was stunning to see the grains of wood come out!

July 31, 2010

2010-07-31T21:47:00.000-07:00

Today slowed down a bit. We didn't eat breakfast to get out the door to build at the lot. The arctic entryway is complete. This signifies the fact that we're done with outside work for awhile. Now, begins the inside work of plumbing and electrical. Jason and I also moved all the kitchen cabinets inside the kitchen. Well, the house really won't have any work done on it for about a week. Jay left for Washington state this evening. It was hard to say goodbye to him. There is the emotional side of saying bye and well, I also have a ton of things to accomplish before he returns. It just kind of felt like abandonment :) We laughed about that and really, I think this little training will be perfect timing. He will appreciate the time away from thinking about building and to get away from the whole project and stress of the project. I'm really happy for him. Meanwhile, Romay and I will do all the little mundane jobs around the house that involve moving. We also have a bit of cleaning to do around the lot, including organizing the mountain pile of scrap wood that isn't usable for building anything. You know, the 4 inch pieces of 2x4 or what have you. Well, Romay and I will hold things down and work hard so that Dad can have a smooth transition when he comes back.

July 29, 2010

2010-07-30T00:57:00.001-07:00

We reached a milestone in building today. There are a few more to go, but the fact that we no longer need to Tyvek or insulate the house is a big deal. First off, Dad (I know you will read this sooner or later), we used almost all the scraps to finish off the arctic entryway. We will take a picture of what insulation was left and I'm sure you (Dad) will nod and laugh at how tight the 2 inch material ended up being. We kept relating the fact that you did a wonderful job of saving everything to allow us to finish off the entryway. Jason found out that he leaves on saturday for a training in Washington. This means we have tomorrow and a part of saturday to do the entryway roof and door and perhaps start electrical. Meanwhile, Romay and I will pack up remaining things at our current place and clean up the yard a bit. We have accumulated quite an unusable scrap wood pile that will burn nicely in the wood stove. We picked out a GORGEOUS wood stove that will have to have its own blog entry later on. I can't wait to do that one. The weather was a thing to contend with today. Maybe we would have finished two hours earlier, if it weren't for the pseudo rain and 3 minute downpours that happened all day. The nights are now dusky and our midnights are actually nights where one would have to turn on their lights on vehicles. It is always a reminder that school is around the corner with fall up and coming. That is maybe a reality check, but not necessarily one that has to come quicker than it has to. Well, its a late night, like every other night. Until tomorrow, goodnight.

July 28, 2010

2010-07-29T00:55:00.000-07:00

Between mists of rain and rain, we managed to get a few things done today. A quick recap: 1/2 of the sanding done on the floors upstairs, most of the sheathing done in the arctic entryway, most of the Tyvek up on entryway, insulation and strapping started. In all of this, we bar-b-qued some brats and not so great corn. It was definitely a noteworthy day, despite the crummy weather.

Progress

2010-07-28T00:15:00.000-07:00

There are days where it just feels like nothing gets done on the house. In some cases, a small detail will end up taking so much more time than originally anticipated. Today was a culmination of a couple of those frustrating tasks...

Myra, who is so much more artistic than I am, took on the task of staining the posts and rafters on the second floor. Those rafters don't look like they should have very much surface area... three days later. They look absolutely amazing and My definitely deserves the credit for that job... "Jason, who taught you how to color?" was often asked as I lent a hand.

While Myra was working on the staining upstairs, I took on the task of building the beams and rafters for the arctic entryway... after building the main house, I looked at the little seven by ten area and thought to myself... two days... well, it has been slightly longer than that. The rafters didn't go together exactly as I had planned and so that kind of slowed me down... and then the last 2x6s I needed for the final rafter were acting as scaffolding up in the rafters so that Myra could stain and then the two of us could polyeurothane (who knows how to spell that word anyway?) the ceiling to keep finger prints and dust bunnies from staining the wood. They finally all went together and we got to the section that always feels like it is flying... sheathing, but the posts did not want to stand straight and level and I could not for the life of me figure out what to anchor them to while we were starting the sheathing... well, the pictures show that we made some headway on the whole ordeal and I am afraid to say that the arctic entry will be completely sheathed by tomorrow evening, but the arctic entry will be completely sheathed by tomorrow evening.

July 26, 2010

2010-07-26T23:34:00.001-07:00

Staining rafters and arctic entryway rafters, that was today's story. One thing for sure, one does have a lot of time to think and process as one stains. Today my thoughts revolved around school starting soon. Unfortunately, this lead to some stress. Jason leaves next week for a week. He will be attending a training in Washington on teaching AP classes. I'm sad for two reasons, one: Jason is gone and two: Washington is my old stomping grounds, how I miss it! Well, I'll have more staining awaiting me everyday, no, that is not very comforting. Meanwhile, Romay and I will continue to grill. We had zucchini today with butter on the grill. Yesterday it was corn. You can't go wrong there. I'm convinced that it isn't just because we were so hungry either. We had a whole package of chicken drumsticks. We grilled the whole package. I can't remember how many there were, but they were all gone upon leaving the lot tonight. It was amazing to see the price on the packaging, $7.50. It was a Fairbanks purchase. Moving away from the topic of food, well maybe it is because that is the most exciting part of our day. "2nd verse, same as the first," type of day. When we came home, we dabbled in the garden. Dabbling includes picking the ripe raspberries and eating them. Sometimes we non-competitively race each other to get the best looking ones. Haha, I know, oxymoron. There was a little bit of sportsmanship as Romay gave me some of her raspberries. Maybe we will be dabbling with peas next week. Maybe tomorrow we can move onto something else besides staining for our blog entry. AND, of course, give a sentence or two including the kind of things that made it onto the grill.

July 25, 2010

2010-07-26T00:05:00.000-07:00

Its a late night, but here are some updates!

July 23, 2010

2010-07-24T00:25:00.000-07:00

My girls like to give me a hard time and so when I walked away with the computer this evening to write the blog, they played rock paper scissors to determine who would check up on me to make sure I was really writing and not sleeping. With that in mind, it was a long, full day.

We did a little work on the Bronco II in hopes of keeping it running a little longer. I honestly wonder if I should ever fill the tank completely since gas is expensive and the truck is likely to breathe its last at any moment. We shuffled crates around with Roger's lift... Myra learned to drive it today and she did a fine job all the while I serenaded her with "She thinks my tractor's sexy."

Myra and Romay worked upstairs today preparing the rafters for stain. It turned out a little darker than we anticipated, but it is a long ways to town for another color and we can do some things to make it a little lighter... one, we can let it dry and see exactly how dark it is going to be. The idea was contrast anyway since the ceilings and walls are going to be covered with a clear coat and left to their natural color as well as the floors.

While they did that, I tried to square up the floor joists for the arctic entry. Running diagonals is no fun on your own with a tape that keeps slipping off the corners and girls who keep calling for random tools from upstairs. "Romay, would you go and get some tape?" Sound of Romay walking down the stairs, "Dad, would you go and get some tape?" A job that should have taken around an hour lasted about a half a day. However, in the end, the joists were squared, the insulation put in place, and with Myra's help, the decking was put down almost to completion.

We had a late dinner of brats and salad (first lettuce from the garden). Romay and Myra beat themselves at a game of Euchre... I'm still trying to figure out how that works, and we are all getting for bed. Good night.

July 15, 2010

2010-07-16T00:31:00.001-07:00

2 out of 3 exterior doors are in!

July 14, 2010

2010-07-14T22:13:00.000-07:00

Each step is significantly closer in getting the house closed in. The windows have been packed in a crate and for the first time in Galena, saw the daylight. We started with a smaller kitchen window. We wanted to save all the fun for later with the 3 large south facing windows. Jason dreaded the roof, Dad dreaded the windows. Well, the roof is up and it was Dad's turn to question how this process was all going to happen. I guess Dad had installed a window that was a little bit challenging. You know, in a sense where it wasn't bad, just sort of a pain. The first kitchen window went in smoothly and we all wondered where the frustration and problem solving we thought to be involved had gone. So, on we went to the large living room window. That one, although a wee bit heavier, made this whole installation fiasco seem to be a thing we had built up in our minds. Our imaginations had brought on more than the reality of caulking, lifting the window to place, leveling it, and screwing the window in place. That is, until the first large kitchen window went in. Jay and I were outside, lifting the glass from both sides, meanwhile Dad was inside grabbing and holding the window as Jay and I were gingerly passing it up to him. It was a chilly day, but not enough for any kind of freezing, but it almost looked like Dad slipped on a patch of ice. Well, Tyvek is the next best thing to slip on. He had stood on a piece of Tyvek inside and brought down the window a few inches before Jay and I recovered. There was even a 'shhwit,' noise that traveled at the speed of light. Dad shuffled a bit and did an amazing footwork leveling procedure and caught the window as well. All was okay. No expensive reordering tasks or apologies needed. The rest of the windows went on without any bumps or slips. "Is the Tyvek out of the way," might have been repeated a hundred times more later on that afternoon. Its the verbal consequence Dad had to live with. Tomorrow we move on to the first floor doors and the rest of the Tyvek and insulation on the sides of the house. Electrical work is that much closer.

Fiddler on the Roof

2010-07-12T00:14:00.000-07:00

We have not put any pictures into the computer yet, but for those of you who are keeping up with our progress, I'll give you the details in words... first... miracle of miracles... I know that people have been praying for me as most of my family and friends know that I have an extreme fear of heights. However, now I have to say that I had a fear of heights. A 12-12 pitch is something to behold let alone walk on, and I had no fear what so ever. I won't go so far as to say that I want to make my living by putting metal on roofs, but I could actually enjoy the view from the top.

So, long story short, even in the crazy wind that we received today we finished off the roof. The next time I go up on the roof will be to put the vent in for the bathroom. Let it rain. Once the windows and doors are on, the wind can blow the rain can fall, and I'll sleep just fine.

People keep driving by and it is funny to hear how the news spreads around town as everyone follows our progress. More and more people have stopped by to see what new things are going up.

We have had so much help with this whole thing. I can't help but be thankful. The joke I keep telling... if an English teacher puts up something and it turns out square and level... you know God was involved. God has been so good to us. He has also sent some great people our way... Kenton was willing to help us on our crazy steep roof, Dad has been Johnny on the spot wherever he has been needed with expertise and labor, Keith has been amazing with food, coffee, and labor, Myra... no better woman in the world as she cooks, hammers, saws, etc., the kids have been a big help. David Whightman with his equipment and expertise, Todd Brown with his metal skills, Lon just stopping by and swinging a hammer when needed, Dayton and his mad money skills, Tabatha with lunches, Jason Kopp milling sill logs... the list is never ending.

Stay tuned for the exciting photos of a finished roof... they'll probably be posted tomorrow.

July 9, 2010

2010-07-09T23:51:00.000-07:00

I think I'm drawing a blank for writing because we have done a million things today. Between baby sitting a friend's dog, baking pumpkin pie in 80 degree weather and building stairs, its a tough call. Well, we've had several people in the village comment on how they like to take a nightly drive by the house to see what the latest progress looks like. Its amazing how hot weather keeps the mosquitoes away, but the other side to that coin is that we all move at a sluggish speed. There isn't a temperature in which you can have it all in bush Alaska, you either have mild temperatures and bugs to deal with; or hot weather and no bugs. Regarding the building aspect of today, we no longer have to labor in moving the ladder to get upstairs. Picking out the 2X12 runners for the stairs was an Alanis Morisette moment...remember the song, "Ironic." "Its like 10,000 spoons and all you need is a knife..." We couldn't find a 2X12 that wasn't damaged or had just a few knots. The common saying around the building process, all too often, "it is what it is." We make it work. Tomorrow mornings schedule includes installing the tin roofing. I've agreed to take Romay and Ethan for a jog, but I will be sure to be around to see this monumental task. Our roof has a 12 12 pitch. I suppose the snow doesn't have a fighting chance up there, but that includes the men having to work with it to get it all built. Actually, our friend, Kenton has devised a ladder that extends on both sides of the house to work off of. They plan on working at 9 am before it gets too hot. Kenton likes pecan pie and I've decided to pay him dearly with such a request of praline goodness. He isn't afraid of heights and has agreed to help with roofing, I think I can find a recipe that will make him believe his work was well worth it. Here's to pecan pies in exchange for roofing!!

Just pictures!

2010-07-07T11:18:00.000-07:00

We're lagging behind in our posts, so my tendency is to post pictures and let the images tell the story. We're ALMOST closed in!! The roof, with its steep pitch, has allowed us to find muscles we thought we lost in our younger days, due to balancing and creeping, and stretching. Yesterday, Jason and I were up on the loft, rolling Tyvek across the small gap across the roofline. Tyvek is like strong wrapping paper, basically a vapor barrier. It took both Jason and I to roll the Tyvek, hold, and staple. I was behind him and very much in his bubble space as I was helping him balance the roll as he was stapling. Its a good thing we're married, I couldn't imagine the awkwardness involved with anyone else. The kids, Ethan and Romay, have been a huge help. They are the 'gophers,' they also remind us that it is time to eat lunch. The adults might work through lunch to finish up a particular project. Chicken mixed with mayonnaise on bread is amazing cuisine after a few hours of pounding nails!

Why do I even read the forecast?

2010-07-03T02:08:00.000-07:00

Last night, after working until dog tired, we finished the night off by putting tarps over the building in a makeshift tent-roof. So, today, our goal was to get as much closed in as possible not to have to go through that process again. It is 1:10 am and I am only now writing the blog for the day... that should be enough, I should be able to put in the pictures and you can fill in the information I have left out.

What the pictures don't show, is me on the phone with Myra as she was reading the forecast on wunderground that told of possible thundershowers and rain tomorrow morning. Dad, Keith, and I worked until we... well, at least I was dragging... then put the tarps back on. That will not need to happen after tomorrow!

Romay also came home and so things feel like they are a little bit more normal... well, if you can use normal in a sentence with our family. Even the dog is a little off plum after all and we are building a house after every bank in Alaska told us that people don't build their own houses anymore.

This really is a hodge podge of thought, but hey... I turn into a pumpkin around 10pm. Dad's new goal is to get the roof done tomorrow so that we can take the 4th off... "Jason, you need it." Once a dad, always a dad.

God bless,
The Harris Family

July 1... Sheathing in the Rain

2010-07-02T01:41:00.000-07:00

I wish that I could say that sheathing in the rain is a joyous feeling like the song says... or is that singing in the rain? Whatever the case may be, rain is not a welcome thing while working with so much exposed wood. This whole project has been marked by sayings like, "I will be happy when (fill in the blank) is done." As in, I will be so happy when the pilings are done. It has only continued through where we are now with the current saying being, "I will be so happy when the tin is on the roof."

That being said, we are trying to be content and enjoy where we are now. This is a very rewarding section that we are on as we put up 1X8 tongue and groove sheathing. It is beautiful, rewarding, and feels relatively fast compared to 2X6 flooring.

This morning, we got an early start (well compared to some days) with eggs, toast (from home-made whole wheat bread Myra made yesterday), and coffee. Coffee was especially good today since it was my first cup in two days! So nice to be feeling better. The weather was overcast, but we looked forward to working in a cooler setting. The more walls that go up on the second floor, the warmer it becomes in the sunlight. We got everything up and got to sheathing and down-pour! The two days I was sick, hot and warm, the first day I feel well, rain, rain, rain. Rather than watch the wood get wet (even with tarps on everything) we decided to head for home... the rain stopped on our drive home and the sky turned blue. We still stayed at home for a while just to make sure it wasn't some cruel trick.

We went back to work and got the water off of the tarp, finished up the one sixteen foot wall and peak we had been working on and framed out the second wall. Sheathing was going up and we were making hay while the sun shined... absolutely beautiful weather. Then the air changed and it was possible to feel the rain arriving though it was still some time off. Down went the hammers, away went the saws and out came the tarps.

We are not really a family that is big into evolution... in fact, many of our jokes begin with "millions of years ago...," but Dad truly was a monkey as he jumped around on the ladder and rafters stringing up a make-shift tarp roof. I am afraid of heights, and so just watching him made me nervous. Admittedly, this project has put me out of my comfort zone on more than one occasion and I am gradually getting better, but I kept yelling at Dad and warning him about the stair hole and top ladder rungs and falling and what Mom would say... "Don't worry about me, if I fall, just call Mom." Yeah, I was more worried about what Mom would do to me if I called with a story of Dad falling two stories through the stair hole than the event actually happening.

So, the tarps got all put on (even through the crazy winds that threatened to blow them to Ruby), the rain began to fall, we got in the truck and drove home... the rain stopped before we made it into the driveway and though the sky looks like it may be holding a little rain at the moment... none is falling. Dad is convinced that the whole thing was either a test from God or a practice run for putting on the roof.

On top of that, all through the day, Myra was fighting off the beginnings of what I had for the past two days. I felt very guilty, but I now know the absolute truth. It was always rumored that Myra was most likely tougher than me... even though she felt sick, she worked the entire day, running chain saw, stacking wood, nailing in sheathing, running tarps around... what didn't she do today. And she had the same thing that knocked me on my rear for two days!

Back in the Saddle

2010-07-01T00:27:00.000-07:00

Who gets the flu during the summer? Evidently, I do. I slept basically what amounted to forever the past two days in an attempt to reach some kind of normal "bubble." The tent was just the start of things (see post just before this). I slept over 12 hours that night too... got up feeling somewhat more like myself. Coffee did not sound good (can't be completely myself if coffee doesn't sound good) and so I sipped a cup of hot tea and gorged on a Dutch Baby. Myra makes the most amazing Dutch Baby. It is my new sore throat food of choice. They have so much butter in them, they just kind of coat your throat all the way down... sinfully good.

Anyway, thanks mostly to Dayton and Dad today, we got the back wall done and most of one of the 16 foot walls. I am getting a little better at heights now, but it was a stretch for me to reach up into the rafters to work on the framing. Again, Dad was instrumental in this and really helped by doing most of that work. Upon Dayton's arrival, I took my station at the saw and just cut boards to fill the orders they were calling down.

Romay's bedroom window is now distinguishable in the wall and we are that much closer to having it all walled in and going on to the roof... something all of us are frightfully looking forward too... even those amongst us who are not afraid of heights... google 12-12 roof pitch to get an idea of what we are dealing with!

Through it all, Myra makes these amazing meals (home made spaghetti sauce, fresh bread, pumpkin pie). Dad thinks he is going to go home heavier.

June 29th, 2010

2010-06-29T23:27:00.001-07:00

Now we're dealing with nice weather once again. Roger's thermometer was registering at 85 degrees, toasty! We have been doing some late nights, mostly staying up and visiting. The night before, the men didn't come home until 9:00 pm. We stayed up awhile and watched "Fireproof." The next day, all of us were a little groggy from staying up a wee bit too late. We packed our lunch, headed to the lot and began working. At about 3:00, Jason was feeling a little under the weather and went inside the tent to lay down for awhile. Dad, Dayton, and I plugged away with the sheathing. We got up to the 2nd floor. At about six, we decided to call it a day. Jason was in no shape to stay any longer and so we packed up and went home. I made Dad and myself a moose burger. Jason went straight to bed. I think he is overtired and his body is telling him what to do, rest. We have my little brother Ethan with us for a visit. He is one tall 9th grader! He was in Unalakleet after Biblecamp and was able to get a free ride from a gentleman who flies between Unalakleet and Fairbanks periodically. So, that is the latest. We're all resting and in the morning, will be excited for a new day.

June 26th, Happy Birthday Jason (and Kemper)

2010-06-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

Do you think Jason would allow me to keep him home, relax, watch a movie, and eat a special dinner for his birthday? Well, I do have meat loaf for his special dinner and of course he hasn't been home all day. Everyone feels rested, especially due to the fact that we slept in actual beds. While in Fairbanks, we saved money by camping for $16.00/night. The summer hotel prices are a bit steep, so we accommodate our sleeping situation with the thought of saving money and put up with camping. We like it anyways. We've enjoyed Dad so much, it is a blessing to spend time with such an upbeat guy. I mean, building a house while on his vacation is his idea of a good time. What a guy. Well, the sheathing is going up. It is something beautiful to see. I had to leave a little early, so in the mean time, the guys got more done. Just an update from up north, Happy Birthday to Jason and our dog Kemper!

June 20-26, 2010

2010-06-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

1. Dad arrived in Fairbanks, now the Harris' arsenal is up to 3 adults! Great to see him again!
2. We have cabinets, stain, a grill, a stove, refrigerator, and dishwasher off our house shopping list!
3. As a result, we have 2 full crates of goodies waiting to be delivered to Galena via barge.
4. We survived a mishap at Home Depot. We bought a stainless steel stove. Transported it to Nenana (57 miles from Home Depot), opened the box, the stove was white. We drove the stove back. Exchanged it and drove the new stainless (confirmed at Home Depot) steel stove to Nenana. ALWAYS CHECK THE BOX for contents!!
5. Made 4 trips (114 miles roundtrip) between Fairbanks and Nenana with loads of house goodies.
6. Jason bought NEW shoes and socks, everyone benefits.
7. Ate at Pagoda's, the best Chinese food on planet Earth.

We're on our way to Galena shortly. We did the 'ol power shopping trip to Fairbanks. Adios.

6/20/10 Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T22:03:00.000-07:00

We packed up our tools and moved them to the shed, we're going to Fairbanks tomorrow, so no progress on the house until Friday. However, there will be a handful of epic trips to Home Depot and Lowe's to get some appliances and other misc things to finish the house. What's kind of crazy is that we will have to make yet another trip to really finish up the house. For example, the wood stove will not make this particular list and shipments on the barge. We're excited to pick up our own grill, I can't believe we've gone this long this summer without one. I can agree that that is utterly wrong. Jason, if you remember, bought a welder and this was prior agreement that it covered his Father's Day present. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary. Well, we are on our second movie tonight, so that counts! Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dad's, you mean so much to us in many ways.

6/19/10

2010-06-19T20:54:00.001-07:00

Jason did a monumental task this afternoon, squaring the building up. We have pages 27 and 28 out of our instructional booklet that happen to be missing. Well, we're on the stage where we need those pages in order to do the sheathing. We'll probably have to wait until monday to get the information on this. However, on monday we leave for Fairbanks. Jason's dad arrives on wednesday. We thought we'd get in a little extra shopping since we'll be in the metropolis of Fairbanks. So, quite possibly, it may be next friday before we do any real work on the house. So, we decided to do a family portrait, well, family that was around. Kemper really isn't as sad as he looks, he really is the type of dog that gets excited over the idea of breathing. Well, we'll keep you posted with our Fairbanks trip, we can have some different pictures for a change.

July 18, 2010

2010-06-18T23:12:00.001-07:00

Each time we finish a building process stage, we just feel like celebrating. One cannot celebrate too long because the next day you have to start the next building project. It was like changing of the guards today, first Kenton, Keith and Kallie showed up for a little bit; then Mr. Gillis showed up as soon as the first helping crew left. By the time I came around to snap pictures, the rafters were erected and looked beautiful. The rain comes and goes. It is nice and sunny in the evenings when we're home, the day time tends to have clouds and rain. But, as soon as we were to switch schedules, the rain and sunshine would follow. Superstition is definitely a thing of the past if you ask me. So anyways, tomorrow involves squaring the building and starting the sheathing. Good night from Alaska where it is 10:15 pm and bright as day!

June 17, 2010

2010-06-17T21:05:00.000-07:00

Which is more exciting, a picture of the framing of the house, or the miter saw in action, ripping 2X10's? Some days, progress on a house is merely, prep work. This morning, Jay and I organized Roger and Carole's house into a check in station for kids going to Kokrine Hills Biblecamp. In my opinions, it is more than a fair trade to help Roger and Carole as they allowed us to stay at their place since last October. So, as kids arrived from various villages, Jay and I picked them up, helped them register, helped Roger with small jobs, and watched the kids take off on a 4 hour boat ride to camp. So, around 2:00 Jason and I sat down to pulled pot roast with bar-b-q sauce for lunch. Our only goal was to do all the cutting for the assembly for the rest of the rafters. Jay cut 35 2X10's by dinner. We would have cut all the 2X4's but the intermittent rain was enough to convince us to come home. Working in rain and mosquitoes nipping at whatever they can get can make one schedule an appointment with a counselor. So, for tonight we're relaxing with a movie, 2012. Hey, what do you know, the weather has improved, sunshine and calm winds. That is just out of our control, tomorrow the rafters will go up, weather permitting.

June 14, 15, and 16, 2010

2010-06-16T21:36:00.000-07:00

What kind of blogger am I? Some of you might have thought I was making empty promises by saying I would post each day. Well, there is some truth there. Aren't the rafters beautiful? Each step is a mystery until the wood is cut, assembled and put up. We're happy to say that rafters don't scare us anymore. The only scary thing was standing by the edge of the 2nd floor with an awkward truss. My prayer at the dinner table was a prayer of thankfulness in safety, I mean, common sense goes a long way, but we believe in prayer too. Tomorrow includes helping campers with transportation to a Biblecamp. Jay and I will probably cut all the rafter material as far as building goes, thats it. Well, goodnight. Enjoy the progress along with us!

June 11th and 12th, 2010

2010-06-13T02:01:00.000-07:00

It is 1:00 am and there is still plenty of daylight! The first thing I do when I walk in the door after 8-12 hours of helping Jay build, you guessed it, download pictures and post! We've had a couple of exciting days. We spent friday night (11th) at the lot in our small tent. We thought that it would be nice to quit working and not have to drive back to the house, instead we crawled into the tent and snuggled with Kemper. Kemper came along and didn't sleep well. He made up for it on saturday, between eating mosquitoes and napping in the tent, he decided that was enough action. We worked all day saturday on the 2nd floor decking and came so close to finishing. I (Myra) stayed on the ground, cut all the pieces to whatever measurement Jay yelled out, handed the board to him, and he nailed the decking down. Seriously, I have numbers flashing across my face as I type. It does help doing this several hundred times, I finally can read a tape measure speedily, even upside down! No, not me, the tape measure. The pictures, in some ways, just don't do the lot justice. I need to take a few shots of other things on the lot. Maybe tomorrow. Good night, glad you're keeping up with the Harris' saga!

June 9th, 2010

2010-06-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

The pictures show it all. We're so busy right now, just wanted to post the exciting development.

June 7 and 8, 2010

2010-06-08T23:36:00.001-07:00

Monday and tuesday were a bit hectic, even for summer days. Myra's distance grad class started, she is locked in from 9 until noon each day with her class until the end of this month. Romay leaves tomorrow for Fairbanks to visit mom and to Anchorage for a basketball camp! She is traveling by herself while flying, a new experience for her! Jason has erected the first 2 post and beams of 11 total. We should have all of the beams up by thursday. Tomorrow we should get 4 or 5 up (heck, you never know, we just may finish) and will take pictures. Working on the 2nd level of the house is so exciting and gratifying. Jason has had help from a handful of willing people to lend a hand. Romay and I prepare simple tin foil meals from time to time, potatoes and meat in foil packets. Simple, but yummy, and I'm happy to say that we haven't had to rely on the all time emergency food of all, tube steaks, aka, hot dogs. I suglu (eskimo for 'lie'), summer hasn't been hectic, afterall, Myra got to relax in PJ's, drink coffee, and watch the Yukon as she took her class. We shall see you again in another posting soon.

June 6th, 2010

2010-06-07T01:09:00.000-07:00

Today was a day full of building box beams. We took a 2x4 and nailed two 2x10's to the outside of it, kind of like a 2x4 sandwich. They took a little time to build as we tried to make each side of the beam square and well, some of the wood decided that it just wasn't going to work that way. Well, we built 11 of the box beams. We stored them under the house to keep them out of the rain. Meanwhile, we managed to trip up on the stumps as we were carrying the beams, sorta humorous to visualize almost falling while carrying an awkward long piece of sandwiched wood. We also had a young moose visit. He looked quite scrawny. He helped himself to the greens around our lot. Maybe he will visit often. (or she?). Good night, another full day tomorrow. I have a online class that is beginning and Jay will start the day without me. The weather is supposed to be warm with perhaps an occasional thunderstorm, sounds great to us.

June 4th, 2010

2010-06-04T23:30:00.000-07:00

Friday. We finished the tongue and groove decking. Jason had to do some creative figuring, but it's all good. Like I said, he did figuring, which insinuates that it all got put together with OSHA 5 star ratings. Okay, so OSHA didn't check us out, but isn't that the reason why we feel so lucky to be doing it the way we are? Well, the only thing he had to do figuring on was using a table saw to cut a 2X6 plank in half, he had to do this on 3 of them as they are 16 foot long. Clearly not a big concern. Well, we also have a young man, Dayton, that is helping in leaps and bounds. He will be with us for about the next 2 weeks as he is in Galena for a summer program. Sweet deal. So tomorrow we are starting the 2nd floor with post and beams. Jason had time to fix Romay's go-cart. She is mobile and that makes all the difference to her little world. We live about a mile from the building site. Romay can garden in the early afternoon and meet us at the lot when it is convenient for her. Good night from the Harris' family.

June 3rd, 2010

2010-06-03T10:35:00.001-07:00

I suppose I have been blogging like the way I have taken vitamins in the past. Now, it should be an each day thing, but it isn't. So here comes a late dose of building information. As expected, the weather has been raining off and on the past two days. Laying down the decking has been enjoyable, but a bit slower. We can't compare decking so much to joist building, but Jason had to order longer pipe for the pipe clamps. This means that we have to wait to finish the decking, meanwhile, he will go ahead with the box beam building for the goal posts that will go up after the decking. It has been cold. We went from 75 degree weather to 50 overnight. Regardless, we had a couple of families stop by last night to hang out, roast hot dogs, and help lay down decking. They also have kids, so it turned out to be a classic family get together with some work, food and fun. I am taking vitamins and doing well with it each day so far. I started yesterday.

May 29 and 30, 2010

2010-05-31T01:07:00.000-07:00

Had a one day dry spell with the internet. Well, we made what felt like significant progress on the house. We did have a friend come over and help Jason with nailing on the joists. I was thankful as this allowed time for me to cook moose burgers over the fire and watch the guys steadily work. Another friend dropped by and handed out popsicles. It has been HOT, like 70 to 80 degrees. Although some of you may laugh at the numbers, keep in mind it is still May, anyways, the popsicles were much appreciated. We got all 11 joists nailed to the plates and managed to finish the insulation on the floor as well. Yesterday, Charlie and his gang also gave a HUGE helping hand. Along with their handy heavy equipment, 4 guys and Jason moved the materials to our lot. The housewarming party keeps growing with all the people that are pitching in, wonderful! It really is a thrill to be putting in hours toward our home. Jason and I do pray a prayer of thankfulness each day before or shortly after we start work. It is after midnight, although we're tired, we're going to bed with feeling content over a hard day's work.

May 28th, 2010

2010-05-29T01:28:00.000-07:00

Today...wow, today. It is 12:30 and the day is finally ending so to speak. The progress on the lot was fulfilling. After dealing with the foundation for a few weeks, working with actual dimensional lumber was easy. I mean, even if a 2X10 is 16 ft long, one person can maneuver it. We nailed sill logs on, brought a load from Old Town to New town, unloaded that wood, cut the wood to proper size, and began making the floor joists. In between, we took a lunch break and had ground moose sloppy joe and cheddar cheese. Each night, I prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next day, there is no such thing as slowing down to cook that day in building season. Tonight I made spaghetti goulash for tomorrow's lunch and have pizza calzones as dinner. It is just the way life goes right now, busy, but we do take time to eat well. It is a bit of carbo food, I'll have to balance that out as we go along. Tonight was a story in itself. Here we were, coming home from a long day at the lot and the next barge had arrived. Usually that doesn't effect us, but, oh, our building materials are still in the way. Um, Jason learned how to drive Roger's forklift on the spot. I mean, he was learning the ropes of the levers in a matter of seconds and moving our precious cargo. All in all, it all moved fine, just a few pieces were broken. And Jason did wonderful under the circumstances, I couldn't ask for anything better, even if a few pieces split. The reason why they split is because there wasn't anything placed under a couple of 3000 lb loads and so he had to pick them off the ground. Anyways, that is the day in a nutshell. I told Jay that tomorrow we SUCK IT UP, I'm getting him up at 7:30 and we're out at 8:30...we're finishing up the floor joists and, Lord willing, moving the entire 14 pieces of heavy materials to our lot. Glad you checked in with us and our hectic adventure.

May 27, 2010

2010-05-28T00:11:00.000-07:00

I've decided to try and do an entry a day of the hectic building process. After all, in about a week, I'll have a hard time remembering what we did each day. So, this morning, like most mornings in the summer, started with sourdough pancakes. Usually Jay and I are up earlier than Romay. We eat breakfast and drink coffee as Romay snoozes. She'll roll out of bed around 10 and fry her own hot cakes, hot off the pan without any time to spare on a plate waiting, the life span of a hot cake isn't long in our household. We reached a worthwhile goal in building today. Jason had placed 8 sill logs on top of pilings. They sit on top of a plate with 4 pre-drilled holes. Jason leveled the pilings, made an imaginary sill plate (using string and nails) and got all 8 logs to 'agree' with each other. I mean, it is mentally taxing to get each piece right where it needs to go, otherwise, we'll be moving 1 step forward and 3 steps back...hahaha, flashback from the 80s! So anyways, this enabled us to bolt the sill logs onto the plate. If you do the math, that is 24 bolts. A friend stopped by and remarked about how we needed an impact wrench. Ha! But he didn't realize that Jay and I tag team, I drill a hole and Jay uses a ratchet set and gets the screw in. Meanwhile, we talk about how the mosquitoes are getting worse, or the fact that we would be in class at this time IF school were going on. Time flies and as if 7 years of marriage didn't afford more time for bonding. People, other married couples in Galena, have told Jay and I that we spend a lot of time together. Its true, we're always together. And of course we prefer it that way. Anyways, speaking of mosquitoes. We're working on that problem and the problem of too many mosquitoes can put a damper on anyone's goals outdoors. So, here we have the mosquito trap, labeled, "The patriot." I went to see how many mosquitoes were trapped one night and was surprised that they weren't able to fly off with the machine in a huge effort. Good thing they are not that organized. Anyways, I brought the container full of buzzing mosquitos home, placed it in the freezer, 20 minutes later, the container held what looked like some guys hair after visiting the barber. I said my goodbyes with a little too much eagerness. Anyways, we're placing the sill plates on tomorrow...will post pictures. Goodnight.

House Update

2010-05-27T01:30:00.000-07:00

Since we last posted, a lot of small steps have transpired. Housing wise, we're almost finished with a task that, thankfully, is almost finished, the foundation. 12 pilings, are placed accordingly for the house in the midst of the birch and pine trees. A friend came over to cut the pilings with a plasma cutter. Jason welded the top plates on. And we're in the process of getting the sill logs leveled, squared and bolted to the sill plates. Jason was tired of coming home with sloshed damp feet from the water that saturated the ground while drilling pilings. But, we keep reminding ourselves that we're putting hours toward our house, that seems to make the mundane jobs bearable. AND, our materials have arrived! All 15 pieces were placed on the first barge. They are sitting nicely in their packaging, it will be Christmas in May soon. The next time I post, there should be flooring pictures!

Pile-a-ri-fic

2010-05-11T00:49:00.001-07:00

It is 11:30 at night, Jay hit the pillow snoring. What a satisfying day. We went to work, Jay went off to swimming practice and I rushed home to finish off dinner. I met Romay and Jason, with their dinner, we were then off to pick up the rest of the supplies for drilling in our foundational pilings. 3 hours later, after help from Mr. W, we were pleased to say that our first piling was drilled. Of course the icing on the cake was that the driveway is in, it is a bit narrow, but works for now. We'll have to clear a few more trees to widen it. Wow, it is late, I should write more, but school is out in 9 days and we'll put more thought into writing. Tomorrow, same thing: go to work, eat a quick dinner, drill, go home, eat dessert (gotta squeeze that in!), go to bed, repeat..

What is Leisure?

2010-05-06T00:15:00.000-07:00

Jason and I have been asking ourselves that question, leisure is the coffee break in between classes and the break between carrying 300 pound (yeah, total guess there) pilings. So Jason purchased a new welder, I told him not to expect a birthday present as he was already putting it to use tonight. I gotta admit, it is pretty cool, welding that is. It is pushing 11:30 and we have work tomorrow, the pictures will serve justice as they pretty much summarize our romantic evening of breaking in the new toy.

Saturday Work Day

2010-04-24T23:44:00.000-07:00

Today was spent cutting out trees to make a place for our driveway. Wait, lets back up, we woke up to Community Coffee. This type of coffee is roasted in Louisiana, a teaching friend we had in Koyuk introduced us to it and so I just had to order a few pounds. We do drink coffee by the pound during the teaching week. Romay had a friend over, giggles! Random bursts of laughter filled the house all friday night, it was cool. Sourdough isn't just for saturdays, I make it during the work week as well. I often ask Jason what he would like for breakfast and well, sourdough is usually on the menu for most mornings. So, after a right start, we were off to the lot. 7 hours later, we have trees cut and a space for gravel and our driveway. Jason did all of the grunt work, I do all the little jobs that save time, like moving brush out of the way and gassing up his machine when it dies. We are so grateful to be doing work toward a home that we will begin to see take place in about a month! Jay will be putting in the foundation in less than two weeks. We will post pictures for sure! More to come!

Kemper's Photo Shoot on Stairs

2010-04-20T11:17:00.000-07:00

Romay and I took some action shots of Kemper bounding and climbing the stairs. We thought that some of these might make the sporty family dog advertisements. Heerrrrreeeees Kemper.

Enjoying Life a Day at a Time

2010-04-13T20:19:00.000-07:00

Fires. Movies. Biking. Fellowshipping. Laughing. Polaris 120's. Dorm students.

The Finished Product

2010-04-11T22:54:00.001-07:00

Had to take a picture and share with everyone. Each little step is exciting. These logs will sit on top of the pilings. The house will sit on top of these sill logs. Simple, except when I see Jason try to lift these things.

Sawyers

2010-04-11T20:05:00.000-07:00

Amidst April showers, Jason K. and Jay managed to lift, mill, shimmy, budge, and maneuver 9 logs for the house! Rain or shine, these guys had some cuttin' to accomplish. A couple of the logs were 16 feet and GREEN. So I could just imagine the weight of the wood and the water in the wood that they were lifting. Jason K. had a 7 HP Stihl chainsaw he used to power through the cut in the log. Way to go guys, who needs I-Beams anyways. These babies were the cost of gas and labor. The house foundational pieces are coming right along.

Quick Update

2010-04-04T16:24:00.001-07:00

We have friends... okay, so that may come as a surprise to some of you.. who have blogs that they rarely update. This blog is starting to be one of those stagnant blogs. We can't have that, and so, here is a quick update. I apologize for the lack of photos.

Romay is currently getting things ready for this year's garden. She has a bunch of tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, romaine, and onions started in flats and sitting in front of the windows. The cabbage are beginning to show through the soil and are searching for the sun.

Our house materials have been ordered and paid for. How many people in the U.S. order their houses like they do their Girl Scout Cookies? Well, we did, and have it paid for in advance. So far, everything is being done out of pocket with no mortgage. The only financing we are thinking we may need will come in the form of a Home Depot card when we buy our appliances, plumbing, and light fixtures.

You would think that dreaming and getting the house going would be enough, but Myra and I are also beginning to think about our first sawmill and looking at maybe ordering a small band saw mill to have here by the end of the summer. The goal would be to start harvesting logs from the river and surrounding countryside to mill into boards to be used to build our garage the next summer. We are also dreaming about building a small kiln to dry lumber for our own personal use as well as for sale. With that being said, we also dream of a small planer/molder to make finished lumber. Always a lot going on around here.

God willing, Romay's domestic blueberry plant will come in the mail soon and we will babysit that until the soil is warm enough to transplant it to our lot. It will be an interesting experiment as we are on the borderline of where this particular berry can survive. We have such a nice, warm, growing season in Galena, but we also have such a cold, long winter as well. This Old House has given me a few ideas to apply to our berry though and we'll see what happens. If all goes well, we'll get this blueberry some brothers, sisters, and cousins (raspberries or black caps).

Duck season is right around the corner with rumors of ducks and geese in Anchorage already. With those rumors, we start talking of blind building and getting out the decoys. It really is a little bit more like an addiction for Romay, Kemper and I. Myra also loves to hunt them and is an amazing shot... but I guess she must have gone on the patch or something because she has so much more self control than the daughter, dad, and dog.

In the future, I'll get some pictures on here... the wood pile is becoming epic and deserves some photos. The pilings will soon go in as well and will need some photos taken. Oh, and ducks.

Preparing to Prepare

2010-02-22T20:57:00.000-08:00

Myra and I have planned out having our own house about fifty different times and in as many ways. Each time it just hasn't worked out... this time though... this time. The photo shows our final final floor plan (not a typo, I meant to have two finals in there).
Through this whole ordeal, God has been amazing about providing us with places to live, helping us with building materials, placing friends in our lives that know about building and continue to encourage us... God has just been amazing in this. Like any good teacher, when He gives us a test, He wants us to pass... here's hoping we did our studying correctly this time.
This floor plan is smaller than our first one through First Day and measure out at a little over 1000 square feet. We will be paying for it out of pocket (better luck next time Wells Fargo) and it will be cozy and easy to heat. We are building with the thought in mind that if we end up needing more room later... additions to the family, Gram coming to live with us, etc. that we'll add on then... again out of pocket. We are also building with the thought in mind of adding on a garage with our dream wood gasification boiler installed... Oh Greenwood, thou heatest my house like a warm summer's day... but again, we're building out of pocket and that will need to wait until another time.
We'll try to keep people posted as to what is going on with materials, foundation, etc. This is definitely a place where you can pray for the Harris family.

Jay's Inferno

2010-02-21T12:30:00.000-08:00

A wood boiler. It heats the glycol in the house. We save money by burning wood harvested from a slough nearby, Kallie Slough. When this wood boiler burns down to ashes, the oil boiler kicks on. Jay, who is known to disappear for 1/2 hour randomly throughout the day, keeps the wood boiler going as much as he can. When Jay isn't in the house, you can assume he is in the garage, splitting wood, loading wood, or monitoring the wood!

The Simple Things In Life

2010-02-03T19:22:00.000-08:00

Some wise person some place in some time once said, it is the simple things in life that make it great. God has been doing so many things to really drive this lesson home to me and help me truly appreciate the simple things in life. What is it that can be so amazing about a bathroom faucet or a door knob? How about the handles on the inside of a car door? Ever try to live without those things?

In the case of the Galena Harris family, we no longer take those things for granted. Earlier this year, we broke the handles on the inside of our Bronco II. This was not a problem when it was warm out as we would just hit the switch on our power windows and open the door from the outside... then -30 happened and the power windows don't really like to work at -30. We would take turns rolling down our windows and then rolling them back up again all while freezing to death. We lived through this for months until the dad (me), got around and ordered some. Then we started taking drives just to use the door handles. I never thought I would ever hear my wife... or myself for that matter, giggle from using a door handle.

Sometime around the beginnng of January, the bathroom faucet broke off in Romay's hands. It was definitely not her fault as I think it was one of the original faucets the pilgrims brought over on the Mayflower, but it is funny how things just seem to break off in her hands... pull cords, door handles, faucets... door handles. She just looked at me with surprise and said, "It wasn't my fault, Dad." And, it truly wasn't, but in a town that has no hardware store, you end up going without a faucet for a while. I got pretty good at wedging the broken handle underneath the mechanism while I brushed my teeth... but that won't happen tonight. It makes me want to go and brush my teeth now before dinner.

The best has to be the new door handle on the house though. We were getting ready for church and Romay had gone out to start the truck... don't all twelve-year-olds get a kick out of starting the truck? When she went to return to the house, the door wouldn't open. She turned and pulled and nothing happened and so she just started to knock. It had to be around -20 outside and she was standing on the porch in a sweatshirt with no hat or gloves. I just kind of stared back unable to get the door open. All of my tools were in the garage. She headed for the truck to try to stay warm and I headed upstairs to scavenge for a screwdriver. I popped the knob off and found that a plastic (why plastic, I mean really?) piece had broken in the locking mechanism... a little jimmying later and the door was open and we were flying late to church.

I wish I had gotten a picture of the temporary fix as it was absolutely classic. It was an interesting cross between the Flintstones and the Beverly Hillbillies. I tied a decoy anchor line to the door knob hole and hooked a zip tie on the end of the cord that was then attached to a full bottle of coolant (you need those around when you have an '89 Bronco II) that was then draped over a door knob on another door in the entry. The weight of the bottle held the door closed and we either pushed the door to overcome the weight or unlooped the coolant and set it to the side when exiting. In order to close it from the outside, we shoved a big box of frozen musk ox meat in front of the door. A towel shoved in the door knob hole kind of kept out the -20 to -30 temperatures.

I now find myself smiling every time I open and close that door. Master lock door handles rock, and I would have never known that without going through this. I also don't take the new truck handles, bathroom faucet, or door knob for granted. I have friends and family that go out and buy brand new homes and cars and never really think about it... when we build our new home, I am going to appreciate it from the very ground up, door knobs and all, and I don't think I'll ever give up that beautiful Bronco II. God bless and may you always appreciate the simple things.

January 2010

2010-01-28T22:20:00.000-08:00

As I was getting ready for bed tonight, relieved that it is Friday tomorrow, I realized just how quickly January zipped by. By far, our highlight included traveling to Nome for Gram's 80th birthday. Tonight I found myself downloading more pictures off of another camera and had to share a couple more from Nome.

FYI-I've started to notice the slightly longer days already, a sure sign of February inching closer. A few more cold spells, maybe 2 or 3 and we're done for the year as far as that goes, assuring!

Today's Reading

2010-01-26T18:01:00.001-08:00

Christmas this year was a blessing in many ways, including receiving this particular book from my friend Jeni. It is written by a lady named Shaunti Feldhahn. Part of the back reads, "What's going on in there? Even been totally confused by something your man has said or done? ...Grounded in Biblical hope, you will discover how to love your man for who he really is-not who you think he is..."

Its interesting. It has practical advise, which I love. Let me give you an example from today. Today I stayed home with the flu. Jason has always been especially incredible when I'm not feeling well. So, he has a little extra on his plate with work, me being sick and after work duties. After his day at work, he looks forward to going to the pool with his 3 swimmers to do lessons and get in a little workout for himself. So, he comes home at 4:15 with the mail and has to turn around and get to the pool in about 15 minutes. Time is obviously an issue here. Heres the scenario. I had recently discontinued a subscription to a service that was automatically billed to our credit card. I had called them twice (I had to call the 2nd time to undue a payment they shouldn't have made) and at the time, had told Jason about it, no big deal.

So, when he sees my discontentment with the company for making a mistake the third time, he goes into a certain mode. Let me pause here. This mode, I've seen before in the past. It is one that can be caused by several circumstances, not just when I am unhappy. I can tell that he, at that very moment, has a NEED to take care of business. And he means business. And neither Romay, the dog, or myself should question what he is doing. That is how Jason wants it. Well, reality and me being a wife that learns things at times through trial and error, has questioned this 'mode,' before. And well, this book addressed it!! OH, the lights went off, I understand what is going on in his head and well, I just about enjoyed learning about this as much as I enjoyed my first trip to the theater as a little girl!

This mode is one of trust that he knows what he is doing and needs his wife to reaffirm him in his decision. That he is capable of prioritizing and for the wife to trust his judgement. There were other issues on the table at this moment in time (in this case, getting to the pool soon, making sure Romay was ready, etc...FYI-I'm the one who stresses about time and being on time...) So, instead of 'nagging' him about getting out the door, he makes the phone call, without his wife pointing to her watch...takes care of business (much better than I could have anyways) and gets out the door with his daughter in time to get to swim lessons. Before he left I told him how proud I was of him in taking care of this...YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN HIS FACE LIGHT UP...He could have just climbed Mt. Everest, in shorts. So...I shared a tip, theres a lot of discussion I totally left out. I thought the story would be of more interest anyhow.

Purple Pillow Hats and Sunsets

2010-01-17T23:17:00.000-08:00

This past week, like all weeks, was busy. Last Monday we returned from Nome to -35 to -40 weather. The whole week invloved watching the thermometer to see what kind of crazy cold would be in store for the day. Luckily, we didn't hit -50, it ONLY reached -46 at the coldest! HA! In this kind of weather, the car windshield stays frosty, because the heater doesn't even want to work. Since then, it has warmed to -22 and it was something else to not have to bend over the steering wheel in order to see out the nonfrosted part of the windshield.

About the purple pillow hat. The pictures are from Gram's apartment, of course Romay was laughing at herself and then made anyone who was willing to put it on wear it. She is silly. She is improving with swimming. Jason says that she may be ready to competitively swim next season if she wants to. We got a call today from UPS. I was relaxing in my bedroom. There was a roar after she hung up the phone. Her new swimsuit had arrived, along with Dad's new suit and my swim cap and goggles. She got a grab bad suit and wore it for a couple of hours before she went to the pool.

Jason works so hard. The house we live in has a wood boiler and Jason keeps it running when we are home. He loves to work with wood and going to start fires to keep the cost of the oil fired boiler down. He is also ferverently planning for our upcoming building project this summer, a home. We are going with the first day cottage design. He can't wait to get the ball rolling, until then, he is planning, planning, planning.

Well, another week upon us. We're thankful for each other. Each of us does a job and we work together to keep things going, one body and many parts. God be with you this week!

More Birthday Pics

2010-01-11T23:57:00.000-08:00

Ellen is 80!!??

2010-01-11T23:33:00.000-08:00

Food, people, laughter, Gram loved her party. She definitely enjoyed her moments in the spotlight on her 80th birthday with stories she shared about her life, with an open story sharing time as the "icing on the cake." I heard terms of endearment, "Auntie Ellen, Gram, Nome Mom, Mom." Because of her light stroke earlier this year, she has limited her intake of fats and salt, but not on this particular night. She glowed with delight as she tenderly ate Marlene's fish agutak, something she has pushed aside from her restrictions, except at her party. As she opened presents, it was evident that people know what she likes...tea, hence the tea pot and books, as she remarked, "thank you, you know I love to read..." And she is a reader indeed. She even remarked, "I'll do more on my 90th birthday..." meaning, maybe she'd like to fly someplace different, why hold limits with age?

Walking to Dog

2010-01-08T08:59:00.001-08:00

Jay and I have been taking Kemper for walks at night, walking him on the Yukon River! We live in an area with loose dogs and well, we joke about how we walk on water, ha. Since the house we're living in has huge windows facing the river, Romay will watch from the living room. She usually wants to stay inside and play computer games. The walks have been a nice way to wind down before starting another busy day.

Christmas Break '09

2010-01-04T22:28:00.000-08:00

What a refreshing time off from what seemed to be a long haul since August. As you can see, Jason, and I say Jason because he did most of the work, hauled sill logs from a nearby slough for our foundation of our house. Each tree presented different challenges. We did find creative ways to get a chainsaw bar stuck from the tree pinching the chainsaw bar, gravity and wood have an amazing combination and a 16'' bar doesn't slice like butter all the time. Then, as if that weren't enough, it was another thing to get the heavy log onto the sled. Jason only put out his back once from all the lifting. That night, because of his discomfort, I tried every trick, about 4-5 ways, in trying to pop his hip into place. Kemper had the touch. The next day, Jason was drinking coffee, reading a book on the bed with the dog laying on his lap. He sneezed and "click" in it went. Well that was easy, I'll have a good reason to tickle his nose with a piece of hair for those hip displacements. Jeni, a great friend from Koyuk, came and spent Christmas with us this year. We heard ourselves say, "next year, we can..." as it is tradition, almost 3 years ongoing, that she makes it into Galena. We had an uplifting time as we talked about God working through us and of course, the challenges and sharpening we're going through! She is a true friend and I'll have to say that she is one good cook! Well, now we're back to work. Its a good start when we're not grumbling all too much, it'll be good to see the kids again.

Christmas Break

2009-12-19T21:17:00.000-08:00

Like most Saturdays, the family watches a little basketball or football, Jason and Romay do their routine check of the traps, and Mom bakes something tasty, today it was a batch of Godiva chocolate chip cookies. We can hardly comprehend 2 weeks off of work. As a kid, Christmas season was filled with snow globes, rehearsing for Christmas plays, delivering presents, and the free time, clearly, had a different perspective. Now a teacher, remembering the good 'ol days, when my job was to achieve good grades; I almost feel as if I've come full circle. I watched my Middle School students, their enthusiasm for pulling sleds in the snow, their little crushes, movies late at night, and no school for what seems like an eternity, and remember having similar thoughts and activities to look forward to at that age. I have a sweet group of kids this year, not to mention how nice it is to work with students who can rise to academic challenges. Romay's class did a couple of lip synced songs for their Christmas Pageant, being the jock she is, she wasn't exactly in her element as they did Hula dancing to "Mele Kalikimaka." She was a good sport, smiled and I got the sense she was relieved when the song quit and the curtains closed. Merry Christmas. As wondeful as the giving of gifts are, we pray that God's gift through Christ's coming as a babe will be close in your hearts.

A Dry Spell

2009-12-02T20:52:00.000-08:00

This blog isn't going to the grave, hopefully posting this will allow people to think about checking our blog, heck, I can even make it a goal to make 2 or 3 posts this month. Snow, snow, snow, our skiis will be making their way out of the shed soon. Jason and I did routine maintenance on our vehicles, theres a plenty to do with a Bronco II, 4-wheeler, snowmachine, go-kart and boat. The snowmachine got a dose of love, I changed the spark plugs, sure enough, the blackened tips gave themselves away as the sno-go was not running smoothly, but, that's changed. Roger and Carole's house is equipped with a nice wood boiler, except it was missing a part, an integral part of the iron beast. We replaced the baffle (thingy that is bolted to the back wall to keep the wood steadily burning in the box). Jason does the advanced jobs and well, I do the ones that require no or little skill. After teaching a full week, doing something progressive with your hands is a great reward. Speaking of school, life went from busy to busy as ever. I know why I did it, but I signed up as the boys assistant basketball coach, and so therefore the dynamics of the household have changed a little, now I pretty much use home as a sleeping place. I've been at school from 8 am to 7 pm this past week. There hasn't been questioning on my part as to why I'm doing this, maybe Jay will be questioning a little down this year's season. Other than that, we're still saving our dollars for the house plan. We feel much more confident about this house plan coming up, its worth the wait. We send our love to you out there, in Alaska or the 'lower 48!'

Gram Makes Another Visit

2009-11-14T12:42:00.000-08:00

We try to keep Gram's visits a surprise anymore. Of course we keep it from Romay and mainly, its a huge test on Jay's and I's endurance to keep it hidden. BUT, we did it yet again! No spills on information on our part and the wait is worth it all, you know, the 10 seconds of surprise on the child's face. We're moved into our place on the Yukon River, the Huntington's have us spolied, huge windows that give us a priceless vista.

12th year

2009-10-31T12:05:00.000-07:00

Romay woke up on a saturday morning to the usual morning greeters-Kemper, myself and Jay. Jay and I had been up for a couple of hours already. Saturday morning is golden, the usual morning routine of coffee, visiting, and warm slippers and without the 'rush' of being at work at 8 am. "Happy Birthday Romay!" (hugs and kisses). Romay usually snuggles up on the couch for a few minutes, deciding whether or not she really is awake. Jay and I looked at each other, knowing that we felt like little kids, except with the thought of joy in watching Romay opening presents. "Want to open presents, Romay?" Well, she was awake. Out to the garage she went and got a large box mailed from Michigan. It had been hiding in the garage for days, covered with a green sheet to keep curious eyes from peeking before the time was right. Romay had grown several inches since last spring and though the box would've been just inches below her height last March, her growth spurt had revealed that items such as this box were less cumbersome, especially in carrying it up the stairs. A few minutes later, we were all marveling at the youth bow grandma and grandpa Harris had picked out (A HUGE THANKS AGAIN!). Next, she opened a small box from Mom and Dad, a digital camera and one that wouldn't eat batteries in a couple of days. That afternoon, we could hear arrows hitting insulated sheets in the yard. We'd peek out and see a content 12 year old, shooting and fetching arrows. I'm not sure if the ptarmigan, grouse and rabbit know about the little archer in their back yard now.

Moose Season

2009-10-25T20:37:00.000-07:00

September, a month which marks drops in temperature and shorter days. More accurately, moose season. A cooler sat ready, complete with butchering knives, game bags, and staples for 1 or 2 days of hunting. Another cooler, packed full of breakfast items and dinner for three, served also as a place to sit in our latest purchase, a 20 ft. Lund. We'd had experiences on rivers before, learning channels, where to rest out of the wind, little secrets that made pleasant trips out in the boat in Koyuk. But out on the mighty Yukon? A sure way to spoil your idea of what your idea of "must haves" for any boat is a depth finder. Sometimes we'd catch Jay staring at the illuminated red oval screen, "ahhhh, why don't you look at the river, Jay..." Inevitably, Romay and I would follow the same pattern, the need to see how deep the water was at a particular bend or stretch of river. It usually read 30 ft. on the channel. Jay and I had a process down by the time moose season was over. About wednesday night, we'd start scheming, along with another family about the particulars and well, usually reminiscing about the last trip. Funny thing is, half of the fun was talking about what kind of food we'd cook over the Coleman, or the camp fire. The Browns, a family of three, whom we happened to pair up with on our weekend excursions, were nicely outfitted, professionally outfitted. They, being fellow colleagues and school employees, could only afford weekends as our time to search, relax and have the opportunity to fill the freezer with meat. Mr. Brown awed us with his jetboil, "90 seconds to boil a liter of water" or something like that. I can still hear the burner after a dramatical start, sucking butane as I watched our water slowly heat over the propane fed Coleman. I might want one of those for Christmas, since I seem to have problems when it comes to that time of year in relating what I really need. And yes, its developed into a need. A christmas with moose season as its theme, I can see it all now, complete with Cableas smiling down our credit card purchases and well, it'll be well worth anyone's contribution. We had a girl turn 12 in the house. You know what that means, or I know what it means in our household. Usually, it requires having two sets of things. One butchering knife for mom and dad and one for a 12 year old girl. A sleeping bag, no longer belonging to the parents, but "her own" bag, and the list goes on...her own tent, headlamp, cot, gear, perhaps because one day she will do these things without mom and dad. I actually think we'll get together on such occasions, or hope at least. We didn't catch a moose. I organized and cleaned the boat on return trips more that I can count or care to remember. But, Galena has shown its generosity again. Friends have supplied us with enough, enough to remain happy and share. Afterall, the adults in the teacher lounge, which I still have to see in Galena, talk about the latest happening out on the Yukon that time of year. And we love it.

We're doing fine...

2009-10-08T18:55:00.000-07:00

in our little hole, called Galena. I know its hard to communicate with us through modern means; the telephone, internet, or even cell, but this post is to confirm our existance! UPDATES: We're NOT buying the house, we're now building in the spring. The difference between you and I is that you can get over this news pretty quickly. See. Now you're over it. Romay's birthday is saturday and she is turning twelve! THis is a busy weekend and so we'll be celebrating it next weekend. We will be moving into a friend's place for the winter as they needed housesitters, yay, score! We had some boarding school kids over last weekend and celebrated a birthday together. Well, that is so much news, I'll just have to sign off and not give too much of an update, what would I talk about next time? (BYE! I am 'borrowing' airwaves and wanted to keep this short)

In Times Like These...

2009-09-21T00:17:00.001-07:00

"...we need a Savior, in times like these, we need an anchor..." I can distinctly remember the voices singing in unison at church. The song might have been sung in English, then, after a brief pause, an elder would start the translated version in Eskimo and the 'ol domino effect of voices joining took over. I admire the Inupiaq versions of hymns. I can watch drama or read the inspirational stories without getting the lump in my throat. BUT! The translated songs just have a way with me :) A simple hymn, Gram's natural ability to sing in her language without flaw, again, memories and a tune sung to remind us of a Savior who will help us in our time of need.
Gram is recovering well from her little stroke she had last wednesday. I left Galena in a hurry, landed in Fairbanks and hopped back on a plane to get to Anchorage. My brother picked me up at the airport. I had planned to stay with Gram at the hospital and wasn't sure of any kind of arrangements, so a Fred Meyer sleeping pad was tucked under my arm as I made my way up to the 5th floor. I wasn't sure what to expect.
I came around the corner and saw Gram's back and it looked like she was getting up. I knew, by her fairly straight posture that she was okay and going to be okay. Her body language communicated that to me more than anything. I remember the nurse being in the room, although Ellen was the only one I could really focus on. "Hi Qaqatuq." "Ohhhhh, My!" she said. We grabbed hands, hers soft and welcoming. It was almost strange to see her dressed in a hospital gown, she had color in her cheeks and seemed to glow.
She was discharged by the weekend. Her brain scan revelaed a speck that might had even been an earlier tiny stroke. I think the overwhelming picture here is that prayers were answered. Thank you to those that lifted Ellen and our family in your prayer time. She has a follow up tomorrow and we're considering Ellen living with us for the time being. She shouldn't be alone and well, lets just say that she is stubbornly admitting that a woman of 79 might need someone to help her for now. Its quite late and I do have to check in at 5:45 am. I was driving 'home' tonight with the perfect country song, you know how country tells to story of life and well, life is taking a new turn. And under the circumstances, even though I'm sure at times it'll all be a stuggle, I'm thankful for reminders of encouragement from a simple hymn.

August Boating n things

2009-09-13T16:06:00.001-07:00

Meeting with friends. Great friends! We have been staying at the parsonage while we wait out our housing saga and have met really wonderful people in the process. All of us have ways of passing time, my favorite and top of the list-visiting!

We finally have a boat.

Both Jason and I joined the Civil Air Patrol here. I flew into Anchorage with a friend to get this flir installed. Flying into Merrill Field with a 172, all the traffic and landing in the middle of a city was definitely an experience.

Sweet Times

2009-08-23T16:14:00.000-07:00

I had the priviledge to travel to Nome and be with Gram and have her all to myself :)
A cup of this is equivalent to several oranges in vitamin C.
Gram dresses up to go the the post office. Whenever we go somewhere, we run into someone she knows. I remember standing by her or Papa for 15-20 minutes while they'd visit with others at the store, PO, just out and about. I loved it!
A pair of Gram's handiwork.

I spent a week in Nome with Gram, just the two of us and did we have a lot to catch up on. We talked a lot about Papa (passed in '97). Gram had a lot to say about their younger years, how they met, their early marriage years and then on. It was as if 60 years hadn't passed and all the events had happened yesterday. The photos of Papa really left a deep impression on me. The picture of him is when he was in his late 20's or early 30's. The photo is of him doing the 2 foot high kick during the 4th of July games (he was the winning participant that year). As a child, I knew of him from his sixties until his passing and I always knew he was a strong man. I was fortunate to have Gram pass down stories from a lifetime in which I did not experience. Gram is doing well and trusts God each day for her well being. We had a chance to do some salmonberry picking, something that I will never take for granted as there isn't much of them in interior Alaska. Visiting in Nome, in a way, changed me for the better. Living in Galena, although Alaska, is a different culture, it's as if Gram helped me to remember where I come from.

July Trip

2009-08-06T00:40:00.000-07:00

You may already know that we ventured from Galena down to the Kenai Peninsula to visit friends and to do a little fishing, almost a MONTH ago. Although its taken me a few weeks to post, consider the fact that, because we are technically renting a place to live while we await closing on our house, we haven't had regular access to the internet. Well, I can hardly excuse my own self for not posting these sooner, in fact, I am in Nome visiting my grandmother, where I can do such posting business! The trip. It was quite an experience to feel the rolling waves and coordinate pulling a relatively heavy fish, but the Harris' caught on' (oops, haha) quickly and would definitely like to return next summer if time and money permit. For the most part, the gentlemen on the boat were amazed with Romay and she kind of just acted like a spotlight was on her the whole time we were fishing. "Wow, only 11!" "Imagine how she'll fish when she's 16!" Let's just say that she won the heart of the captain, who allowed her on the steering deck as we were driving the hour and a half back to Homer. I just know that I will catch up with blogging as the inevitable school year is rolling in, so I'll save more for later.

Lame Post...no pics, just news...

2009-07-14T23:54:00.000-07:00

(we're on the road now, will post pics later!!) We left Galena last saturday after Romay's last softball game on friday. She has grown considerably, just remembering last softball season, both physically and maturing in skill as well. Saturday plane trip into Fairbanks involved getting a birds eye view of the forest fires around the Fairbanks area and on the ground, we inhaled the effects of that massive fire. It didn't put a damper on our spirits though (haha): camping in town and telling stories in the tent, visiting an awesome family-the Foshee's, Romay buying an air soft automatic BB pistol, reading in our down time, Barnes and Noble...

...we left for Anchorage and took our time heading down the highway. We saw a few beaver dams around Denali and started a joke about 'high altitude beavers.' We created a few spins off that idea and this seemed to entertain our hearty group of three...we arrived late afternoon, EXHAUSTED, since we had so much fun staying up late with the Foshees' the evening before...ahhhh, relaxation and a BED!!

...so tomorrow will be great: seeing Tera, Matt and AYUU!!!! She is almost a year old and this aunt can't wait to meet her! Hmmm, I better buy something to eat so she'll really like me :) :) :) Jay will do a little tinkering with the F150 since it is making a few unnecessary noises, sorry, no techy automotive talk from me! Jay teases me about a quote about my lack of expertise on motors...he can write about that sometime, ha. Thursday we head to Homer and will visit with a family friend on their property and set up our tent there...Friday 6:30 am-fishing!! ...halibut and silvers...Romay picked out our charter...about 10 hours of ocean time!! woo-hoo!!

...more later, with pictures!!!!

Jason's Birthday

2009-06-29T23:37:00.000-07:00

I've got to get better orientated with the order in which I post the pictures...so we'll go backwards...AGAIN...okay. These first couple of photos are of one of the most basic, sometimes essential, pieces of furniture. Well, while waiting...and waiting...and waiting...for the bank to get their business in order, we Harris' stay busy. This coffeetable was built, literally, pretty much from scratch. Jason is now powered with a table saw and we 'found' some old local milled cottonwood underneath the parsonage. It seemed to look quite weathered and probably would go to waste, so we put our heads together and began ripping some boards into cleaner looking lengths. You can imagine how much gratification we were receiving, instant, and unlike dealing with a bloodsucking, or ummm....labor intense banking process, our minds could get a break from the 'what if this...what if that...' emotional deal. I can't help but think of Papa (Howard Slwooko Sr) while working with Jay. I only knew him in his 60's and 70's, but man did he teach me a few work ethic lessons through little jobs. He loved Gram dearly and now that I'm married, I can see and understand how much a marriage relationship is a blessing through a couple. Anyways, before I get on that rabbit trail, I'll post the cottonwood coffeetable pictures.

Jason celebrated his 31st birthday on June 26th. Not only did Romay and I have 'Dad's' birthday to think about, but also Kempers! This is the first time we've been with our beloved yellow lab on his birthday. Just to give you an idea of how much he is a part of the family, he ate the same biscuits, scrambled eggs and bacon with us for his birthday breakfast. You see, part of making Jason feel special on his day, is to treat the dog in a special way. So, that works for us.

Inside of the Possibility

2009-06-21T21:32:00.000-07:00

These photos are in NO particular order, why did I even put the title "Inside of the Possibility?" Well, this first photo is from last Thursday as Romay was heading up to Kokrine Hills Bible Camp. She will be camping for a whole week and I don't know if I could technically call it 'camping' as I know it the way I was raised. They have running water, mattresses to sleep on and so many cool activities. Most of all, we know she will enjoy fellowship and being around her peers.
So now we come to a photo of the kitchen upstairs in our possible first home, which of course, is more in harmony with the title of this post. We LOVE the exposed beams and the fact that there is a balcony that is a few feet away from the location in which I took the picture. Jason is already planning on making our table with his tablesaw, skill saw and sander.
Here is a shot of the gravel leading up to the garage door and I guess you could call this elementary landscaping as the rocks are stacked neatly. I don't know if landscaping really exists in the bush. For those of you that have traveled to the bush, maybe landscaping is a yard that isn't littered with several vehicles, mattresses, and dead freezers or refridgerators...haha.
Sometimes we head over to the house, just to appease our imagination, wondering 'what would it be like to actually own our own home?' Like we had said before, we are learning trust in our Father, because we know that each day shouldn't be 'wasted' with wishing and waiting, but with peace and joy for each day. It truly is a process and journey that has taught us to be more content with status quo.
Finally, a downstairs view of the place. As you can see, the flooring hasn't been added yet, which is a minor detail Jay and I will take care of should this all happen. I'm already scheming of paint colors to break up the whiteness of the living space. Behind me, there is a garage door, which isn't an ideal decoration for your living room ;) So we'll live with it for a year and then add on next summer, MAYBE, again, IF and only IF...meanwhile, we celebrated Fathers Day with a nice moose rib dinner, don't ever let me hear you down talk moose ribs :) Mmmmm, caribou ribs are a different story, if not done a certain way, you might as well eat leather. Anyways, we had some time to chill with friends this early afternoon and just take it easy. We've been delighting in a little thunderstorm activity each day, water for the garden and a great way to keep the dust managable on the roads. Until next time....

This post is all about the...

2009-06-19T23:42:00.000-07:00

...way we got our years worth of food to Galena! What is that you're standing by Jay? 'Well, since we didn't want to spend $250 for a measly 4'X4'X8' container to go on the barge, I bought materials from Home Depot and put it together, right on this campground!' "Wow, how long did that take?' 'Just a couple afternoons' (wink)

...'you see, we made about 4 Sams Club trips and loaded the F150 bed with all sorts of staples and supplies...'

...'one night, while I was pondering how the forklift was going to get the container off the back of the truck, a friend hopped out of the bushes! This at least cleared my thoughts of the logistics for some time and Myra was happy to not have to listen to me rant about it!'

'...for added sustenance, we sampled some nearby rose petals, they taste the way they look!...not a filler, but a tasty treat...'
'...now the container is loaded with supplies, it is dropped off at the barge landing in Nenana, and now we can enjoy our fire and last couple of days in Fairbanks...' THE END

Kite-ing

2009-06-15T18:55:00.001-07:00

Flying a kite in Galena requires some thought into the location for a couple of reasons. One, there are so many trees that the kite could get tangled with, which we managed to do at the end of our excursion. Two, selecting a place with consistent wind is tricky, which we managed to find before we got the kite stuck in a tree. Romay and her friend, Sarah, drove the go-cart out to the dunes one afternoon as Dad and I sat in a car that was quiet due to the absence of Sarah and Romay. We've LOVED the sleepy mornings, warm afternoons, and visits into the evenings!! I'm pretty excited to feel connected to the rest of the world, at least for now. Since we're PATIENTLY awaiting for an appraiser to come out for our house, we've moved out of the apt. and although it would be convienient, don't have a phone...more...later...

We're Moving Out!

2009-06-01T13:12:00.000-07:00

The day has arrived. Today our lease is up and that means we are spending the night at our temporary housing residence tonight! All kinds of excitement is felt by all, it just means we are one more step towards moving into our new place...AND all the boxes will be ready to move easily. Although we will technically be moving twice, at least the 'STUFF' will be ready to grab and transported once 'THE DAY' arrives and we sign the dotted line(s) in owning a place. So, since I'm not sure when we will post next, I will quickly give an update in pictures. This is an exceptionally busy week (which one isn't?) as we will be traveling to Fairbanks on saturday for one week to take care of business. Romay will bunk with a family here in Galena as Jay and I will be enjoying the priviledges of a credit card and grande sized coffee cups filled with yummy lattes!
Our sustenance for this evening, the element of easiness is the most important factor, throw in a pot, heat and eat.
The planting was done before June this year!
Scott planting his cabbages. Haha, I just thought of 'Garbage Pail Kids' remember them? Weird.
We planted potatoes (even purple colored ones!), peas, carrots, radishes and transplanted our cabbage. We have friends that are expert gardeners (they grow corn and watermelon in Galena!...that should give you an idea), thanks to their help in getting us started.
Greenery! Beautiful here in Galena!

Picnic on the Yukon

2009-05-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

Jason LOVES chopping wood. Our family continues to live out God's blessings through our friends, the Kopps and their extended family. Jeni was here visiting from Koyuk as well, on her way to Wisconsin. Although the pictures don't capture the total essence of the evening, it at least gives an idea of what a good time we all had.
The gang getting ready to eat 'tube steak' aka hot dogs!
Jeni, Daniel and Kim having a light hearted moment.
The girls were cracking up the whole way home. Jason had an easy audience as he was doing all kinds of silly impressions and voices.

SUMMER!

2009-05-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

The '54's blackout lights, now theres something you don't see everyday!
Some of you are aware of the presence of the Air Force in Galena in the past. Well, as a result, old vehicles lay parked behind various nooks and crannies. This beauty was found tucked behind some willows. A 1954 'Deuce And a Half," which is appropriately named for its carrying capacity. Jason has plans for restoring it someday and the supportive side of his wife nods and thinks her husband should just concentrate on the broken down truck we currently have...does growing up in Michigan have anything to do with his love of old cars and trucks? I LOVE his creative mind and ability to see potential in something I would pass by and miss without blinking.
What in the world? Its looks as if Jason suffered abuse and is that a smirk as well? For the maintenance minded, his body was proped under our Bronco II for a mere 5 hours. In this time, he managed to remove the starter, skid plate, and the front part of the wheel axle. This may not seem like much until you realize that the bolts fused to the frame or whatever, allowing Jason to test his patience. He even managed to strip his gear wrench, a testament to his manlyhood! (hehe). Well, in the middle of that, blood began trickling down his nose and I didn't see him stop and as you can see, clean up that mess. So, with grease, blood and sweat beaming off his face, Jason was able to utilize mans other greatest gift to women, a hot shower and soap! (I'm not sure what THE greatest is????)
Although summer solstice has not officially come yet, teachers in bush Alaska know not to wait until such a date to start their anticipated summer. Many of you know that the Yukon flooding threatened many villages along its banks. Thankfully, Galena wasn't included in the disaster. A benefit, for the kids, was high lake water. Romay and Sarah explored our back yard in their inflatable canoe. Now, a little over a week later, the lake bed is under effect from the water cycle as it has pretty much evaporated. Summer is here!!

The Wood Meiser

2009-05-12T22:45:00.000-07:00

Another incredibly cool aspect of Galena is people's dependance on burning wood for heat. This is actually the middle school math/science teacher I work with. Our house we'd like to buy happens to be right next to his. They have a wonderful family and they share some of the same passions as our household: fellowship, milling wood, duck hunting, and just having a plain 'ol good time, to name a few. Don't you just love the aroma of freshly cut wood??
The house we'd like to buy might include two lots, this small log cabin is on the other lot. Oh the possibilities!!

One Dream Down, Another Dream Up

2009-05-11T21:58:00.000-07:00

Lets just say that the banks idea of building in the bush (hire a contractor, pay insurance, etc) and the extra time needed to push more paperwork extended into the deadline for building this summer. We really did push hard to see if it would be possible, but yet, when you are lining up the kit leaving the mill, to making barge lines and it all coordinating together, time ran out...so we had our pity party and realized God had different plans. We can't say how frustrated we often were, especially since we have worked with banks since last October. Its not that our credit was poor, or any kind of financial reasoning, other than, the word "Bush" made all the banks queasy. Well, pity parties don't last long around our household and so for a couple of weeks we have been looking at a place to buy. Of course, now that we have put building plans down, we are just excited to possibly be home owners soon. Six years of renting, I hate to consider the math from the sum of those years in rent. Alas, here are some photos. The owner will be in Galena this week, he was once a resident and moved on to Fairbanks. SO, we give you the latest dream of the Harris' household!

Update in Pictures

2009-05-10T00:18:00.000-07:00

The ice went out on thursday at 6:11 pm!
The mighty Yukon during breakup, quite a sight to see as huge blocks of ice are tossed to and fro.
Romay shoots a .20 shotgun, singleshot...one little sharpshooter!
Specklebelly goose caught with a .12 and 2 3/4 shells...the 3'' shells give me bruises...goose! nuck-oo
One fierce hunter, note the seriousness, even wearing a camo baseball cap.
Kemper provides company as Jason sets up his decoys.

Always Wanted A "White Easter"

2009-04-12T23:33:00.001-07:00

Even though we're geared for spring, the snow did present another lovely view. We had a week of busyness as usual. We did manage to have the Mollnows over for dessert on thursday and hung out with the Browns on friday night. Romay had one heck of a barking cough that is, thankfully, now over. I can hear her singing in her room along with her IPod, thats usually how she rocks herself to sleep :) We leave for Anchorage on thursday afternoon until monday. One little fact, Myra was inducted into the ASAA Hall of Fame for basketball, so we'll be in town for her banquet on sunday! Tomorrow is also THE DAY, when we shall know if the bank will give us THE ANSWER. It looks to be postive, so hopefully we'll be stocking up on the rest of the tools we'll need for this summers project, a 1400 sq. ft. firstday cottage. Adieu!
On our way to church this morning. About a foot fell in just a couple of hours! We had a wonderful service-9:30 am breakfast, singing, Gilbert and Margaret's report on their trip to Russia, Communion and friends!
Lincoln Logs meet Army Men
Dad's scud missles were a concern for Romay's infantry, but she held her own. It was hard for "the reporter" to walk around for pictures.

I'd rather have a weekend rather than a weekstart

2009-04-05T22:55:00.000-07:00

Noel, the greatest CFI!!
My CFI was scheduled for a check ride on satruday since our local Civil Air Patrol is getting a new 172. We spent part of friday helping him prepare for his upcoming ride: 55 degree steep turns that have a little over a G force, power on and off stalls, and S turns, and oh yeah, our favorite, traffic patterns!

Jason Harris launching fire wood!
Me next to the tree to cut down later. I got the easy part, driving the snogo down the trail.
We drove the snogo right up our little trail, with a few minutes of getting stuck in snow waist deep.
Making a trail to our trees that will serve as the sill logs on top the pilings for our house. We spent saturday scoping out tall straight timber to cut, delimb, and cut to size to drag back to the lot. Our builder expert friend, Jason, (who I also teach middle school with), is predicting 8-9 trees that we'll need to harvest.
Romay armed with a Savage semi-automatic .22, (thanks to Kevin!) Although we didn't see any rabbits, she did target shoot at a snowball on a tree, Kemper had to run up the bank and chase it down.

Just Pluggin' Away

2009-03-31T21:46:00.000-07:00

"...I hope you daaaanceee......UGH....."
My middle school kids just started reading Frankenstein. CLASSICS! Yes, we are culturally literate, even Jason is excited. Mary Shelley was at the young age of 18 when she started writing her novel. Apparently, she was with a group of friends, telling ghost stories and during that time, she wrote out the start of the story, finished it with encouragement from her husband a year later or so. There were quite a few interesting names, eg, Lord Byron, that was at the ghost story telling. LOVE classics. (just finished Gullivers Travels by Jonathon Swift, FINALLY!)
Gizmo.
Boxes draw everyones' attention around the house, this one had sno-go parts in it, no box content is too ordinary or boring for this household!
Romay's line up of Webkinz animals...introducing from Left to Right: Socrates, Mardy, and Gizmo! THANK you Grandma and Grandpa Harris (and Des) for Gizmo!

What Does Trivial Pursuit and Graham Crackers Have In Common?

2009-03-29T22:30:00.000-07:00

Romay's 3-D puzzle. It has become a habit to buy puzzles that keep her busy in Fairbanks...oh and a copy of Tundra comics!

This saturday and sunday night, we started trivial pursuit, which turned into a marathon of some sorts. We got a huge kick out of the questions Romay rattled off, particularly the ones she "guessed" at and got correct. We were running low on snack foods, but alas, a box of graham crackers provided sustenance. We had some Hersheys bars laying around, so it was like eating cold smores, just needing a bit of imagination there. This past weekend was also the Spring Carnival where Romay got 1st place in skiing. She tried a pair of snowshoes the next day and admitted she wasn't coordinated like she was on skiis, but hey, we just love her willingness. Jason stayed around the apartment with me, we watched a handful of movies that we hadn't gotten around to. We're eagerly waiting on the bank to give us their FINAL answer on our construction loan. To get that, we had to secure a long term loan 1st...I won't bore you with the details, but we're pretty sure we hit every single dead end with building in the bush! I would be blogging more often, but between flying, home life, work, and this financing saga, I think you'll understand why blogging has taken the back seat lately. Until next time...before May I'm sure.

Where Does Time Go?

2009-03-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

Once again, another weekend has expired before we had a chance to catch our tails. Although the pace of life is fast, we've enjoyed each other and have attained more appreciation in just being content. There are so many things to gripe about-the housing financing deal never seems to end, the bitter wind cuts through you as you wonder as to why it isn't spring yet, we're fed up with apartment living, etc etc...we've balanced our little down times with laughter and family bonding time.

We just returned from Fairbanks where I witnessed three close chess games between Jay and Romay. Each morning we found ourselves at our favorite coffee joint. Inevitably, Romay would grab the tub labled "chess" and nonchalantly proclaim, "c'mon Dad.." as she briskly walked to a table. I'd disappear to the computer tucked into the corner of the shop. Like queens, Romay and I waited for Dad to deliver our drinks, mine a 12 oz. Almond Breve. Perhaps the baristas figured that next time they'd have a picture of us and our typical order and no, coffee doesn't stunt growth, look at the weed like growth of Romay! Of course, all in the midst of all this spending and driving, we tend to miss the other family member that didn't board the plane with us, Kemper. We have a habit of inpersonating our yellow lab's "voice", psychologically it makes us believe he is there with us. We "ooh and ahhh" at the other labs at the pet store with owners and realize that strange gravitation our hearts have with Kemper. I had a chance to read Willie Hensley's latest book, which occupied all my down time for a day. Romay read a copy of Tundra comics and relayed the humor to us in the truck; I turned my head over a hundred times to revel in her particular favorite quote and picture in the book. Of course, Jay, in his dad like humor, added his own renditions to the comic, which either left Romay and I blankly staring at his bad joke or erupting with more laughing. Fun.

I can't believe I'm spending my last few hours of the weekend prepping for this school week, I guess technically I'm not since I've mastered the art of procastination, like blogging. I must have blinked, where did time go?

Busy week!

2009-03-07T18:04:00.001-08:00

Almost six years ago, when Jay and I just got married, I knew next to nothing about engines and how to maintain them. Now, I change the oil and air filter on the 4-wheeler, its not rocket science, but its one way for me to help Jay out with his endless list of mechanical (it seems) duties. Most evenings we have spare time, so of course I will listen to him tell me about the alternator that needs to be replaced in the Bronco. So, alas, here he is coming in the door with another job done! Soon we will ride in an enclosed vehicle, not that we mind snowmachining, but putting on layers to get to work is getting old.

Romay decided that this years science fair project would be creating a solar hot dog cooker. She has the project complete, but as I type now, she is currently trying a new design with her friend Sarah. A solar cooker in Alaska? Well, we used a heat lamp, but made an enclosed area lined with tin foil. I don't mind forking over the $5.00 for her to buy a package of hot dogs again to keep her mind busy!

Practicing on the simulator one wednesday afternoon. This machine is slick! During our "light challenged" days in December and January, I did a lot of sitting in the sim. Now we're ready to take flight in the real plane, a welcome change.

Hi Ya'll

2009-03-01T14:45:00.000-08:00

Allow me to reintroduce my family to you...I know it has been awhile and believe me, I beat myself up when it comes to guilt tripping! Well, we've fallen into the realm of banking and financing our house, it's like deja vu all over again. This time, we have a possibility with Wells Fargo out of Nome...I feel like I might have more chances in bidding with a game show host.. "AND BEHIND DOOR #2...Mt. McKinley Bank...DOOR #3...Wells Fargo..." Anyways, this post is mostly dedicated to the athlete in the house! Jay and I have moved over to the description of teachers, so athlete hardly describes us anymore. She dives, she boxes out, she penetrates the lane, she scores...lets hear it for Romay! It's fun to see her shine, every game we get compliments about her skills and how she is a good little ball player. There was even a comment we heard about moving her up to play with the Jr High Kids and another person commented, "but she's only in 5th grade!" I was always modest about myself, but not about this gal! Then, usually, she'll sport the Hawk suit with a few other friends at the HS games. Have a wonderful week, we'll try not to be strangers on our own blog.

Eskimo Food

2009-02-21T13:51:00.000-08:00

Kiki and I had an afternoon a couple of Sundays ago to get together and eat real food! Well, we know that that saying is relative to the person speaking, but I didn't go hungry the rest of the day. On the other hand, I'm not living in conditions 75-200 years ago when all those calories were needed...BUT who's counting!!?? You've certainly heard about the "The Jenny Craig Eskimo Diet..." "Take only one plate home after potlucks...only one frybread..." We had Romay and a couple of her friends join us, seal oil certainly can allure people, or repel for that matter.

2009-02-07T22:50:00.000-08:00

Was feeling like poop, but I couldn't pass up Jason's nachos!
Nacho night!
Romay came home; her consequence for playing basketball in her socks! hahaha.
Oxyclean should take care of this!

Favorites

2009-01-21T21:17:00.001-08:00

Since I haven't been too great with taking photos lately, I thought these pictures would make great posts as well. Each picture has a unique memory attached to it. There is no particular theme, just fun random memories!
Ethan, Romay, and Desi in Michigan..."right hand on red" (summer of 2006)
Koyuk River...Just Jay, the Dog and I...the dog got so cold on the way home, we opened the Emergency blanket to keep him warm...SPOILED. (summer of 2005)
RISK (KKA)...10 pm...11pm...12pm...1am...2am...3am....7am...MATT wins! Finally! (summer of 2005)
Manaalaq (Jay) and Qaqatuq (Gram)...in Koyuk (summer of 2005)

January News

2009-01-18T06:38:00.000-08:00

You probably can tell that work has started for Jason and I as there seemed to be a hefty amount of posting during break. Since the last post, we've managed to survive a long spell of interior January chill, around -45, give or take 10 degrees. Since I'm on the subject of weather, right after we warmed up to freezing rain; I couldn't believe Jay was riding a snowmachine with a baseball hat a few days after below zero temperatures. On another note, some people we know are taking a break in Mexico and we volunteered to keep their place warm and tend after their animals. Romay has picked fresh eggs from their chicken coop, more on this later, this deserves a posting of it's own. They also own a 14 year old lab that is deaf, being the dog lovers we are, Kemper has decided to play a little jealous and get upset to the point of diahrrea. Thankfully, that little spell is over. They have a wood boiler and we have the incredibly easy part; loading it with wood that is already hauled and split. Meanwhile, I'm still learning to fly, sort of, as I'm preparing for the written exam. Next month, flying resumes, how I missed it during the short sun filled days! Now, Jason...he never ceases to amaze me with all the skills he has. He took a weekend class with some others and got recertified for lifeguarding. During his break from the class, I'd ask what they had done, he'd tell me and I could sense the ease he did it with. So, yesterday when I went to the pool to run (they have weights and treadmills on the 2nd floor), I felt cool as I told the lifeguard on duty that I'm "Jason Harris' wife" and voila, I was in for free. Hey, if the Harris' can cut corners in saving, we'll do it, $3.00! Penny's run from us as we're pinching every one to build our own home this upcoming summer. Last, Romay...she is such a joy in our home. Oh we have our "moments" but the good far outweighs the negative. Last night, at the ball game, I noticed Romay trying on a pair of Galena Hawks pajama pants. My first thought, "Romay doesn't have any money, hmmm." Well, my CFI and his wife were the ones at the booth selling them and they decided to treat her to a new pair of PJ's, just because. So sweet they are! So I'm sure she'll sport them for the next 2 or 3 days cause I'm sure I'll have to tell her to change out of them :) God Bless. For now, a picture from the past; my computer is acting up, I hope to fix this minor error soon!

(at the space needle, how they have grown since!)

The Meaning of Cold

2009-01-11T23:23:00.000-08:00

There is no picture that can really capture cold, no image that can portray the shivers and teeth rattling caused by the still cold of fifty below along the Alaska Yukon. The truck would not start today even with a block heater, battery blanket, and oil pan heater. We literally had to bring in the new bottle of antifreeze (straight 100% antifreeze) out of the truck today since it had gotten too cold to pour. Picture green jello in a blue Peak Antifreeze bottle. C-O-L-D. It is supposed to warm up to twenty below tomorrow... yes, I said warm up to twenty below.
God has managed to keep us warm inside our apartment though.

Cold As Usual

2009-01-10T12:33:00.000-08:00

"Stay Warm!" "Your pipes froze?" One thing this -40 weather does is bring people together; more people walking, doing other things indoors, sympathizing with those whose water lines have busted. One thing that makes this type of weather bearable in my opinion is the absence of energy sucking wind! Or as Jay states so vaguely, "it's not too bad out." "Not too bad so that your skin would burn when exposed?" His tolerance level is a bit higher than mine and yes, I am Eskimo. Anyways, here's some ordinary photos taken over the last few days.
Kemper, nursing his split nail. Not sure how he ended up with this injury, but he appreciated the pampering from all of us. We trimmed the nail and attempted to pull the nail out since it was split close to the root; since it couldn't come out, we're just keeping it short so it doesn't snag on anything.
What looks out of proportion in this photo? Romay and I laughed and laughed at her stretched out looking legs.
Kemper is an awfully patient dog, how many siblings take the regular beating and playing their fellow sister and brothers dish out?

The Dragon

2009-01-06T20:35:00.001-08:00

This is my picture, Ethan. Love-Romay

Homer's magnificent epic poem

2009-01-04T19:17:00.000-08:00

The thought of teaching Middle School Language Arts was rather intimidating back in August, the kids are learning and focusing on the Ancients (5000 BC to 400 AD, roughly) and so far we've integrated LA with Social Studies. My point? We read a JH version of The Iliad and let me tell you, it was like surfing and catching a wild wave and things just took off. Yes, I've been surfing before (more like an experiment to my Hawaiian friends), kinda like the way I am normally introduced to new things; "do this and this and this and off you go!" "Wait! What about..." Anyways, The Iliad was a educational highlight of last semester, I mean, they were discussing it at lunch with each other! All the kids took sides (Greeks or the Trojans, they were passionate about sharing why) We managed to watch a lot of scenes from Troy as well and talk about the differences between the book and movie. Now, we continue the story with The Odyssey. It's sure to be a hit, a classic that's a hit, I've been dreaming of this in my short lived 8 years of teaching!

House Update

2009-01-03T17:02:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have been following our housing drama... I think we may be able to finance our new house by selling the television drama rights, here is the latest update.

The only thing that I could really compare our banking experience to is a bad dating relationship. So, this guy (realize that this is Jason writing this) made me think that we could really make this relationship work. It started out a little rocky with him not returning my calls and me having to always call him. I should have known that he was up to no good as he continued to ask me to give a little more while he supplied nothing in return. He finally asked me to send in a detailed list of what came with the housing kit (when I told him everything but the countertops, heating system, plumbing, foundation, and electrical... that just wasn't clear enough). Before I could get the list in to him, he called back and told us that he didn't think it was going to work out. Just to prove that we were over him, I called a couple of new banks the very same day. I won't say that I am rebounding, but I think we have found a bank that is interested in the long haul. The banker is sending out the paperwork to us and we are starting at the beginning. If this bank works out, I will be sure to give its name on here as well as the one that strung us along for two months.

Whatever happens, we will praise God. Upon reviewing the year, we can't help but say He has blessed us.

Please continue to pray for us in this process. I am thinking of picking up a part time job to help with this. That could also be a place to pray about.

Hardcore New Years Partiers

2009-01-01T19:04:00.001-08:00

We counted down from 20 to ring in the New Year here at the apartment. This was immediately followed by warm hugs and eating snacks. I love New Years but do you pay the price the day after!!

Romay was snuggled up in her blanket, watching "Mythbusters" for her afternoon activity.

1000 pieces go together

2008-12-31T00:20:00.001-08:00

Gran Gran Gran Gran Granny...Sweetest Granny!

No tree :( Ready for New Year's though!!

French press ready for 7 am! ...hmmm, maybe I should melt snow water, boil it, add the grounds to a pot and boil it...Eskimo Boil...

Gram definitely gets the recognition for this picture coming together in the time it did. Just as she has patience to knit a pair of gloves; or sew a parka, Gram pieced most of this cardboard scenery. At the end, Romay, Jason, Gram and I were having a blast, almost racing each other to find the last remaining pieces. After it was all done, we did the ESPN highlights, "this part was challenging...I'm glad this straight line was here..." You know, the debriefing!