Trout for Dinner

This week I had the chance to shadow the anesthesia department at the hospital. A brother in our ward, Laird Clark, is a nurse anesthetist and offered to show me what he does at work. I observed a couple hernia repairs, a tubal ligation, and laparoscopic cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal), but the gist of anesthesia was the same for all of them. As a nurse anesthetist, the patient's face is your workspace - you need to have control of their airway and breathing, and you monitor their vitals and responsiveness throughout the surgery. I left that day feeling very excited about potentially pursuing a career as a CRNA.

It was Olivia's birthday this week and for Dani's gift to her she took Olivia and a friend on a river trip! Olivia had a blast, and later I took her out for milkshakes at Milt's.

After a long week on the river, Dani was pretty burned-out and so we escaped to the LaSals for a cool weekend. I got a year-long fishing license (first time ever!) and we went to Medicine Lake Friday afternoon. We had the entire lake and campground to ourselves, and by the end of the day I had caught my limit. Dani enjoyed reading "Desert Solitaire" while I cast for hours.

Our favorite quote from the book so far: "A man on foot... will see more, feel more, enjoy more in one mile than the motorized tourists can in a hundred miles. Better to idle through one park in two weeks than try to race through a dozen in the same amount of time." -Edward Abbey

My salmon pictures from Alaska put these small rainbows to shame, but I was pretty happy to catch what I did!

Saturday morning after cleaning up camp we hiked around in the woods, grateful for the cooler mountain temperatures above the sweltering Moab valley.

Saturday evening I responded to my first "code" -- a patient with absent vital signs. We performed CPR for about 30 minutes, which ended unsuccessfully as we could not resuscitate our patient. As a new EMT I've looked forward to using the skills I've trained for in this type of situation, but also (for obvious reasons) I would never wish for a reason to use those skills, if that makes sense. The scene went smoother and calmer than I expected. I was surprised that the hardest part was after cleaning up, going home, and actually having time to think and analyze the event, prompting some hard-to-answer questions. The fact that it was a suicide made it even harder. I learned the less I know about the personal lives of patients the easier it is to handle. Luckily after a sober evening I was able to put it out of my mind and move on. I'm so grateful for this opportunity to work in the saving of lives.

MTB and Mt. Tuk

After work one hot evening, Dani and I rode one of the trails out by Klondike Bluffs. This blazing weather must have scared the tourists away, because we only saw one other couple out there. We had a nice ride on the Jurassic trail singletrack.

My sexy, hard-core, mountain biking woman

For dad's last weekend to train before his hike, we went to the mountains to hike Mt. Tukuhnikivatz (or Tuk for short, I sure can't pronounce the full name). The trail was only about 5 miles round trip, but we were at 10,000 ft elevation and we hiked to the summit at 12,482 ft. The last quarter mile to the peak was a lung-busting 45 degree angle climb, but at the top we were rewarded with views in every direction forever -- we could see the entire Moab valley, Arches and Canyonlands, the San Rafael Swell, the Henry Mountains, and even the peaks near Telluride, CO. We enjoyed lunch up there before the controlled burn on the other side of the range clouded the sky over with smoke.

Looking back on the approach to the ridge

The beginning of the ridge to the peak

Just snow and scree

Dad lung-bustin' up the 45° ascent in the snow with Mt. Peale in the background

At the summit! 12,482 ft, Moab valley behind us

I'm afraid that these "training hikes" have been more fun than they have been training. Dad will have to hike over twice as much as he's hiked in one day when he treks the Grand Canyon. It's hard to find somewhere with the long distance without getting bored of walking.

Salmon for Thanksgiving

Our good friends Garrison and Brooke Field left town for the holiday week, which means we once again got to stay in their house and watch our best friend Fynn! We sure love this energetic dog:

Trying to have a dance break from studying but Fynn cut in

One of the best hiking buddies around

Chris threatening to eat Fynn's food if he doesn't finish

Staying in a nice home felt like a vacation to us, and also got us excited for our future. I love Brooke's style, and hope to have a house like hers one day (you can check out their cool family blog here).

We had a rare sunny day while the snow was still on the ground, so Chris snapped some incredible pictures.

The morning sun just touching the Mendenhall Towers.

Mt. McGinnis and her reflection on Auke Lake.

The frozen lake in front of Mendenhall Glacier

We found out on Monday that we did not have to work on Thanksgiving, and tried to make some last minute plans. We wanted to volunteer at the community dinner, but unfortunately for us - and fortunately for them - they had enough volunteers who had been signed up for months that our help wasn't needed. Since we couldn't find any other volunteer opportunities and the weather was nice we decided to spend the day hiking.

Chris and I rented a cabin to stay in for Christmas Eve, so we chose to hike out there while the snow wasn't too bad. (Juneau weather is crazy, one day you'll have over a foot of snow and the next it will rain and *POOF* winter wonderland disappears.) It was a fun hike and we loved getting out in the sunlight, which is a rare opportunity in southeast Alaska this time of year - we have very short day light hours, and very rainy weather.

Our future Christmas cabin

At 3pm, Alaska's low winter sun hides behind serrated razor-edge peaks of the snowy mountains 

After our hike we had a nontraditional Thanksgiving dinner of grilled salmon, rosemary sea salt bread, parmesan sweet potatoes, and a kale spinach & pear salad. I even made Chris a pumpkin pie and maple whip cream for dessert (sugar doesn't count on holidays, right?). I loved having a nice kitchen to use to make everything from scratch, and am excited to get back to Utah where all my nice wedding-registry kitchen tools are waiting in a box for me.

Our Thanksgiving feast paired with my
gorgeous surprise "just because" flowers

We had a lot of fun eating our feast and listing off all the many things we're grateful for. A handful of our greatest blessings are our knowledge and understanding of the gospel and Atonement, our perfect marriage, loving families, true friends, the freedoms we enjoy in this beautiful country, Alaska adventures, healthy bodies, education, and employment.

You'll notice that Chris's beard has been trimmed up. The long-hair-shaggy-beard look has been giving off mixed impressions to people we meet. Marijuana is legal in Alaska, and there's the occasional local who mistakenly assumes Chris is into that sort of lifestyle and offer to "hook him up." Then there's the occasional shady guest who checks into the B&B and asks Chris if he knows where to "get the bud." He's always a bit confused in these situations, as Chris is clearly not at all connected to that scene, and how do you awkwardly tell a guest that they are gravely mistaken? Finally - and this one's my favorite - there's the adorable young kids in primary who think Chris looks just like Jesus (parents have confirmed this is the case). And each week as we walk in with senior primary a couple of littles in junior primary start looking. There's this one four year old boy in particular (to help you get the full image he has light blonde hair, thick round glasses, and is normally wearing a vest and a bow tie) who perks up, looks until he gets Chris's attention, and then with bright doe eyes and an infectious smile waves harder than you've ever seen a four-year old boy wave to get the attention of Jesus, I mean Chris. Chris always waves and smiles back to the great delight of this young boy; as a matter of fact the boy will continually wave until he's received some sort of reply from Chris. It's only the most adorable thing ever. Anyways, long story short, we wonder how this beard trim will affect the many images of Christopher Andrew. ;-)

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew

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

Thunder Mountain

Chris and I had a real treat this week when our managers found out with only 24 hour notice that an inspector was coming to the Bed and Breakfast. One of the rooms had a bathroom fan that broke a few days prior, and they didn't have time to fix it before the inspection. Our boss was worried that if the inspector went in that room and saw the broken fan it would reflect negatively on the property so he called Chris up and asked if we would be willing to spend a night in the room and check out late the next day to make sure the room was occupied during the time in which the inspection would take place. Of course spending a free night in a quaint B&B room with a large featherbed and jacuzzi tub and huge hot breakfast made to order is quite the favor to be asked of young married couple, but he's the one who pays us so we obliged and took one for team.

Our large adventure this week was hiking up Thunder Mountain and having a great camp-out on top. As we were hiking up through the layers of the mountain we were seeing continual reminders that fall is upon us. There are plants that are browning and clearly dying, and others that make the mountain seem covered in flames with the bright yellow, orange, and red leaves. The highlight of the trip was probably all the mountain goats we saw, both during the evening and the next morning. For those of you who don't know Chris is part mountain goat and has been told ever since he was 12 years old that his ability to get around on mountains eerily nonhuman. (If you don't believe me, go hike a mountain with him, you'll see what I mean soon enough.) His favorite animal has always been mountain goats, but this is the first time he's ever seen them up close out in the wild. Needless to say no kid was ever more excited to see Santa than Chris was to see these furry friends. We also saw a ton of bear tracks, but to tell you the truth I wasn't too bummed when we never saw the culprit, this wasn't the kind of place where I would want an encounter.

The trail was only a little more than 2 miles to the top of the mountain, and it ascended almost completely through the rainforest until the last couple hundred feet to the peak. When we reached the top just before dusk (we started late in the day after Chris did homework), we were rewarded with a view of the setting sun over the city in the valley, and the towering snowy mountain peaks behind us.

There were signs of goats aplenty on the way up.

At the top overlooking Douglas Island and the channel.

You can't tell from the picture, but it was biting cold out by this time.
Here's Chris cooking me a hot dinner while I stay huddled in the warm tent.
I sure love him.

Chris saw this one from a distance and crept up on her.

"These goats and I were both surprised when I almost ran into them." -Chris

"It's never a bad day waking up to this. Beautiful wife in the beautiful mountains." -Chris

At the summit! 2900 ft.

Handstands at the top. It's a thing.

Just a little one.

Contemplating the Heintzleman ridge... do we have time before work?

Already seeing snow on the mountains.

Chris is still stoked about the mountain goats.

We had a neat opportunity on Saturday when Chris had a friend who contacted him about a chance to help some elders in the MTC. As a part of their training, some missionaries are starting to Skype members living in the areas they are called to in order to ask questions, but also to practice giving a lesson. Chris and I were both able to sign up as volunteers and Skype with two sets of missionaries. It was fun to see the excitement in these young men's eyes as they are preparing to go forth with the work of the Lord. It made us think of both Joseph and Hannah who are out serving, and reminded us how thankful we are to already have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives.

Skype lesson with the elders.

Speaking of bear encounters, a coworker gave us a can of bear spray a few weeks back when he moved back down to Idaho to go to school. Though we've never had a need to use it (before or after receiving it), it does give us a peace of mind we didn't know we were missing while out exploring in the wilderness. And speaking of a peace of mind - Grandpa Andrew this is specifically for you! - Chris and I also bit the bullet and bought a personal locator beacon from ACR. This GPS-enabled beacon has only one function: S.O.S. Extend the antenna, press the help button for 1 second, and your location is transmitted to a satellite (same ones used by the US government and military) and then to the nearest search and rescue facility within three minutes. The unit continues to send a signal and blink a strobe light for over 24 hours. Grandpa Andrew carries one of these in his airplane, and after speaking with him we realized he was right when he pointed out that although these small devices are pricey, the worth of our lives is far greater than anything we could spend on a PLB. Though we hope we never have to use it, we recognize that our lifestyle puts us in many situations often where if something went wrong, this device could be the difference between life and death. Anyways, we hope this is the best couple-hundred-dollars we carry around with us that we'll never actually use. And now you all know that we're getting soft and are starting to think more about consequences in life, and though it's not slowing us down any, it is keeping us more safe in all those "what-if" scenarios. 

Our healthy eating is going well - we are keeping each other accountable and that is huge. One night I had a dream about doughnuts. Chris and I were walking down the road and every single building was a different doughnut shop: Dunkin' Doughnuts, Krispy Kreme, Johnny O's, Daylight Doughnuts, Breeze In. etc, So obviously when I woke up that's the only thing I wanted, though I'm sure I would have settled for a cupcake if Chris would have compromised, however he kept me going strong and I overcame that sneaking temptation - #husbandpoints.

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew