The last cabin...

For our final week in Alaska, Dani and I topped it off with a night at THE LAST FOREST SERVICE CABIN accessible by foot: the Dan Moller cabin on Douglas Island. We've talked about someday building our own backcountry abodes in Utah and donating them to the Forest Service when we're older and have the means, but for now, we've certainly enjoyed our "Rustic Cabins of Southeast Alaska" tour. This one is by far the best built and roomy-est cabin, in part because the Juneau Snowmobile Club goes up there every winter and has made some big improvements on it. A massive four-bed loft, second-story balcony, and an effective propane heater made it pretty comfy up there.

We had a light rain at sea level, but after hiking into the mountains we we amazed by how much snow was still on the ground!

In the bowl behind Dan Moller.

Our favorite part of the afternoon.

We could overlook the valley approach from the front porch. 

This weekend we also did a quick bike/hike to Salmon Creek Reservoir before work. We hiked the ridge loop around this lake last summer, so it was cool to see what it looked like up close. Despite the snow in the mountain-tops, it's starting to feel like spring in Alaska!

Everything feels like it's coming to life with the moss getting greener.

This week was the perfect end to our wonderful stay in Juneau. My dad informed me of an opening as a medical assistant at his doctor's office, so I'll be working there as a student intern this summer while we wait for nursing school to start in August. Dani got her job as a riverguide back, and although I'm extremely jealous that she'll be on the water nearly every day, I'm so glad that I'll have this valuable opportunity in the medical field, especially because I'll get to learn from such a talented physician.

We're looking forward to lots of sun in Moab, but we'll sure miss our rainforest home in Juneau. We've made some unforgettable friends here and this place will always hold a special place in our heart as our "year-long honeymoon."

Cabin Fever

The National Forest Service is really great here in Alaska. They have cabins located throughout the state that are very cheap to rent for a night, and free to use during the day. We've played at a few of these cabins during the day, but decided that it was time to hike out to one and spend the night. This was probably one of our greatest ideas, and we only wish we would have started taking advantage of these cabins sooner. We hiked a rocky and wet 5 1/2 miles out to Eagle Glacier Cabin on Wednesday and were greeted with the most spectacular view of the glacier, the glacier's river, and looming snow-capped mountains. The cabin's front porch overlooked this natural beauty, and the inside of the cabin was clean and cozy.

Fall hiking here is the best.

The BIGGEST mushroom we've ever seen.

 The cabin was equipped with a propane heater (fuel included), a wood-burning stove, table, cupboards, bunks, and our favorite part--a loft with a window overlooking the lake and glacier. The deck was spacious and there was a secluded outhouse not far from the cabin.

Our original intentions had been to keep hiking and exploring around once we got to the cabin, but we were so taken aback by the splendor of our new front yard that we opted for a lazy evening and hung our hammock up on the front porch. (For all those of you who wish we lived closer, the truth is we still aren't out of the mushy-gushy, loveyou-loveyoumore newlywed stage. As much as we love hiking, cuddling is sometimes better. You're welcome for moving away so we don't have to subject you to this).

Eagle Glacier and the lake in front of the cabin

Close-up of Eagle Glacier

After dinner we thought it would be fun to play some card games, as we found cards in a cupboard next to the logbook. We lit some candles for light and sat down to play. It didn't take long to realize neither of us could remember a how to play a card game with just two people! Maybe we should stop avoiding invites to "game-nights" as if they were the plague...

The warm cabin would have provided us with a perfect night's rest if it hadn't been for the loud scratching-clawing noise. We were sleeping in the loft and not long after we cuddled up we heard this loud scratching sound. Chris swore it was "just a mouse munching on insulation inside the walls" (cause that is comforting), but I wasn't half convinced it was as small as a tiny innocent mouse. It for sure was a large family of mice that were about to break through the wall and storm us, or a huge rat with rabies that was seconds away from eating through the wall and running into our sleeping bags, or perhaps it was a brain-eating zombie who had been trapped inside and was hungry and ready to get out. Whatever IT was, it was not just a mouse, and you can bet I did not sleep well that night, in between the noise and the nightmares of what was really scratching at the wall. 

However, the morning light was breathtaking, and our hike out was even better than the hike in. The trailhead was pretty far out the road, and without a car we weren't certain how we were going to get back to work in time. Luckily our thumbs and smiles were nice enough that our hitchhiking attempts worked, and a rad guy named Dylan picked us up. He was headed towards the local campus, so he wasn't able to get us all the way home but he got us far enough that we could walk home with plenty of time before work. When we walked past Auke Lake we were greeted with an amazing rainbow in the sky. All in all it was a 99% perfect trip (rabid rats and zombie not included).

Reflections.

On Friday night we saw the northern lights for the first time! The nights are finally getting dark, and it was clear enough for Lady Aurora to shine through. They were too faint to pick up without a fancy camera, so unfortunately we don't have any pictures for you. But we have a full winter ahead to continually search the skies for these majestic lights, and hopefully will one night have colors bright enough that even our amateur cameras can bring some pretty pictures your way.

We loved watching General Conference on Saturday and Sunday. Luckily with the time zone difference we were able to watch all of it live except for the last 15 minutes of Saturday afternoon due to work. We even upheld the Andrew family tradition of hoagie sandwiches, chips, and grapes for lunch! But more important than our full stomachs was being able to hear the testimonies of the three new apostles and have it confirmed through the Spirit that they are indeed called of God. Every General Conference weekend is full of the Spirit, but there was definitely something special this time. I don't think either of us can pick a favorite talk, as there were just too many to love. The speakers were very relevant with all that is going on in the world today, and we thank the Lord for the guidance he is giving us through these troubled times.

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew

Berries on Berries

On Tuesday night we went out camping with our friend Derek again. We hiked to Outer Point on Douglas Island and enjoyed a beautiful night with a bonfire on the beach. In the morning we explored the tide pools (Chris and I aren't from places with oceans and are just like little kids when it comes to tide pools - they are so fun and we can't see them ever getting old!), and found a giant hammock made out of a fisherman's net up in the trees.

We officially have Wednesdays off for the remainder of summer which meant once again we were using back-to-back nights to camp. Derek was kind enough to drop us off at Thane's "end of the road" and we backpacked to DuPont beach. Even though this beach was super beautiful we thought it would be fun to keep going all the way to the end of the peninsula and camp on Bishop's Point. There is a trail that goes to Bishop's Point so we backtracked and went on the other trail to take us there. So far in Juneau we have been really impressed with the trail maintenance, well, obviously the great trail maintenance that has gone into other trails took so much time that Bishop's Point was overlooked. We spent hours bushwhacking and dodging devil's club (this horrid plant that you don't wanna touch), climbing over and under fallen trees, and searching for a trail that kept getting lost. There was a little branch in the trail to an old cabin and we took it. That trail let us go out to the beach and imagine our surprise when we got there, looked left, and then realized how far we had come from DuPont beach - or rather, how far we had not come! We had been so certain that we must be close to the end of the trail, but when we got to the coast it was clear that the conditions of the beaten down trail slowed us so much that we were nowhere near our intended destination. The tide was low so we decided to try following the coast line to Bishop's Point instead of the trail laden in obstacles. Well, as great as the coast line originally seemed it wasn't long before we were sliding and slipping on slick wet rocks trying to go a fair distance. After talking about it we realized that as much as we wanted to get to the end, the reality was we had work the following afternoon. We decided it was a wiser decision to just go back to DuPont beach where we had seen some really nice camping spots and spend the night there so we could enjoy some time in camp. We followed the shoreline (because we preferred slipping on wet rocks over dodging devil's club) and were stoked when we finally had camp set up. We once again explored some tide pools and also had some fun hammocking in the trees.

Because of the high rainfall here the trees don't put down very deep roots.
When a strong windstorm comes through hundreds of trees topple over leaving massive bald spots on the forest floor.

Abandoned dock at DuPont beach.

Thursday morning we got up and after hiking out on the trail we still had a few miles of road hiking to get to a shuttle stop so we could get a ride back towards home. As we were walking we began to notice that there was raspberry bushes along the side of the road. We stopped and ate a handful and they were, as Christopher would say, "super delish!" As we continued walking we saw more and more berry bushes and could not stop constantly picking them as we journeyed towards town. There were both raspberry bushes and salmonberry bushes right on the road for about three miles! We ate a lot.

We convinced a friend of ours to go back towards the berry-loving-road to go berry picking with us on Friday. When we were out there we found a section that wasn't just right on the road, but went back into a full field of berries! There was a flowing creek and bushes on bushes on bushes of tasty ripe berries. We think we might have found the Garden of Eden. Needless to say we took home about 4-5 gallons....yum.

On Sunday we had a crazy time in Primary. The teacher for the ten year old class was missing (this was the class we subbed for before) so we taught both the nine year olds and the ten year olds. Well, I'm pretty sure we had the four most rambunctious boys in the whole ward, and none of the girls were even there to add a balance to the class. Though the boys were wild we did our best to teach them, and pray daily that something they learned in class will stick. We have a lot of fun teaching the littles at church, and hope that we do a good job.

Remember to pray and remember to play, 

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew

Perseverance and our First Alaskan Campout

Monday morning we were able to go on a hike with Ian and Ronda (the friends we met at church last week who invited us to dinner and a bonfire on Sunday). We did Perseverance Trail. It's rated one of the top things to do in Juneau, and while it was pretty we would not rank it as one of our favorite parts of Juneau so far. We're thinking maybe the people who choose "the top things to do in Juneau" aren't as avid of hikers as we are, and since this trail does have beautiful parts and is also physically easy it puts it at the top. You know us though ~ we'd rather take the rotten-hard-steep-scaleamountain-vergeofdeath-destroyyourbody type of hike. This one just didn't have the same thrill factor, but of course we still enjoyed it. We were bummed though because Ian and Ronda moved away on Wednesday, so though we enjoyed becoming friends and doing things together, they are now living in Utah.

Instead of focusing on all the fun Juneau has to offer, we actually decided to be responsible and had a very productive week. We worked 48 hours (each), Chris started his online math class, we got familiar with the area around the B&B (our guests always ask questions), and we went grocery shopping. We did not have a car when we went grocery shopping and it was a full morning event walking to the larger, aka cheaper, store and backpacking our food back to our apartment.

Also this week we got in our first camping trip of Alaska! We met up with our friends Ben and Camille after work one night and did a quick backpack trip to a private beach. Rumor had it the Auroras were out, but even though we were completely void of light pollution it still never got dark enough for us to see the colorful lights in the sky. We stayed up until 2am, but then the sun started rising and we admitted defeat and attempted to get some sleep instead.

The next morning was full of adventures:

Some awesome news: we aren't sure how long it's going to last but as of Saturday evening we have a car! Well a used minivan, but it gets us where we want to go. It is a company vehicle that just recently got work done and for now we get to use it in the mornings and nights to get around. It sure is a blessing and we hope it is a long stretch of time that we get to keep it for.

Sunday was quite eventful for us. We both were called to serve in the Primary! We will be coteaching the Valiant 10 class. It will sure be an adventure for us as Chris looked at me dumbfounded after we were called and said: "I don't know how to teach kids", and I chose to study Early Childhood Education instead of Elementary Education because I feel comfortable teaching kids under the age of 8 (preferably under the age of 6 - hello kindergarten). However, we are hoping to be half as good of primary teachers as Grandpa and Grandma Hall, and are excited for this opportunity to serve. We know we have been called where the Lord wants us to be - we just need to figure out the why. Also, having a calling where we are coteaching means we will officially be spending 24/7 together. We work together. We adventure together. Now we teach together. We won't even have an hour apart of being in different church classes. Good thing we like each other.

After church on Sunday we had the privilege to have both the missionaries and a new convert (baptized last week) over for dinner.  We have two Elders in our ward - one is from Samoa and the other is from Malaysia. They have very strong testimonies and also really amazing stories and backgrounds. It was great hearing them teach a new member lesson, but my favorite part was seeing the fire in Christopher's eyes as he was able to be a part of this lesson and missionary opportunity.

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew

Eating Green, Superheros, and "Dating"

Hey, I'm back! I unfortunately had to work last Sunday causing us to decide Chris should do the blog update so we could spend the time that I had at home together. And unfortunately now that I'm back there won't be a full post about candied bacon complete with sentences of heart-felt devotion, pictures, and a recipe. As my husband would say, "sorry 'bout it!".

We started off our week by celebrating St. Patricks Day Monday morning. It was a very green start to our week. 

After breakfast Chris went to his first day of CNA class. He's not too thrilled about learning how to wipe people's butts and clean up vomit, and gets bummed out (no pun intended) when he compares it to his EMT class that he loved. - Side note: Chris passed both the written and practical EMT exams, aka He's now a real certified EMT! - However, he needs to have his CNA certification in order to get into the nursing programs we are looking at and he recognizes how it's a necessary step on his way to becoming a Nurse Anesthetist. As the week went on he started appreciating his class more as he began connecting everything he was learning to the help he was given when he was in the hospital with p-ANCA vasculitis a few years back. Though he admits he doesn't want to ever work as a CNA, he says that if he has to he will just continually remind himself how others did that work for him and find comfort in those memories. 

Tuesday I had a day off work and it was perfect. I had been asked to help with a Relief Society dinner that night and I had a lot of fun helping to get everything in order. I spent the morning at the church decorating (man, I don't know if I'm crafty enough for these women!) and then spent most of the night at church helping with food, enjoying the activity, and cleaning up. We had a fun superhero theme, and had a great guest speaker who talked about how women, especially mothers, can be seen as superheros to many. He did an awesome job. And it was extra fun because everybody dressed up! 

This week felt long as Chris had class everyday from 8:30-6:00 and then I went to work while he was still in class and didn't get off until 10 or 11 most nights. It made us even more excited for Alaska where we will have the same work schedule and extra grateful for the time that we did have to spend together. 

When I was working on Friday afternoon I served a super sweet elderly couple. As I was chatting with them I told them about Chris and how we were newlyweds. They looked at me and told me quite firmly to never let schooling, work, or anything else get in the way of dating your spouse. They reminded me how important it was to date every week, and how even though times get hectic and hard if you make it a priority in your life it will happen. Well, poor Christopher, I had Friday night off work and when he got home from class I went all emotional girl on him. I was telling him how I was worried we stopped prioritizing dates in the last few weeks and how necessary I thought it was. Chris thought we had been going on dates the whole time - and it's partially true. We have consistently made time for each other and to do things together, but we haven't been using the word "date" or designating one activity from another as "date" lately. At the end of the week we would just look back on what we had done and consider some of the one-on-one time as a date. We had a good conversation about the importance in using that word and having an official date every week, so that we never find ourselves getting into a habit of not dating. We don't want to be real grown-ups with kids and start justifying our grocery shopping trips as dates, so we can't get in the habit now of looking back on a week and picking a specific activity we did and then passing it off as a date as an after thought. Anyways, I should probably jump off my soap box so here are some pictures from our date Friday night...

We went through wedding gift cards and Christmas gifts to find ourselves a free date!

We drove down to Longhorn Steakhouse for a delicious dinner.

We saw Insurgent in the movie theater and realized only after showing up that it would be in 3-D!

You can tell we aren't in Moab because the theater has super comfortable reclining leather chairs.

Needless to say it was a great date night, especially because it was mostly free!

On Sunday we were blessed with the opportunity to teach the CTR 7 class. (Since we are only in this ward for a short period of time and both have to miss occasional Sundays due to work we have been asked to be primary subs as our callings.) Our lesson was on the Holy Ghost, and we actually were able to feel a great spirit in the room amidst the talkative and misbehaving youngsters. One girl there was visiting with her cousin and told us "my mom and dad say that this church isn't true and the Book of Mormon isn't true", I think Chris and I were both a bit in shock at that comment and before either of us could figure out the right way to respond the other kids had started responding. How great it was to hear those little ones bare their own testimonies. The best part of the day was when later during that class the same girl raises her hand and says "I feel all warm inside. The Holy Ghost is here". How I hope she can remember that feeling!

After church we were able to stop by the Duersch's for a quick visit. Julie is looking fabulous! And we are so excited for Hannah and her mission call. Following our visit we headed out to the park for a great night of hammocking and grilling burgers. We are loving this beautiful weather.

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew

PS Chris's blogpost of candied bacon last week gave away our secret that we caved and ate sugar again! We're restarting no sugar, only this time are more motivated and dedicated. We aren't going Dad Andrew strict, but for sure are stopping all desserts, candies, and ice creams. So if anyone has some great sugar-free recipes, or tips for avoiding sugar send them our way! We're determined to stick to it.