Concert Time!

One thing we miss about the "lower 48" is the opportunity to go to concerts.  There's not a huge music scene in Alaska...and especially not in the winter!  That's why we were shocked and surprised and excited to see a concert poster at Snow City Cafe announcing that a singer we actually really like--Mat Kearney--was coming to town.  We immediately bought tickets (yay for fancy phones that let you buy stuff on them) and I texted our neighbors (Adrienne and Erik) to tell them about the concert too.  They got tickets and we all went together.  Good times!!

It was a really really really really good concert!  (One of our favorites, actually.)  It was an acoustic show with Mat and his guitar and a band member named Fred who played the keyboard.  Well except for this song...in this one, Mat kicked Fred off the keyboard and played it himself.

Mat is really funny and was great with the crowd.  (He even said he wanted to bring his band and come back up here sometime.  Yay!)

Here are some more of his songs (via Youtube lyric videos) just in case you don't even know who Mat Kearney is.

And this next one is one of my favorites...except the album cover isn't the right one...whatever. 

Easy on the Ears

I will catch up on the blog.  I promise.

In the meantime here are some things I've been listening to lately...

Imagine Dragons-It's Time

Stephanie Mabey-If I Were A Zombie

And Flight of the Conchords-Feel Inside...and Stuff Like That (this is the long version...back story+interviews+song)

Or you can just listen to the song here.  And sing along.  It's the karaoke version :)

Thursdays

So Luke is out of town for work quite a bit...but guess what?  He has been (and will get to be) home every Thursday night in August!

That's kind of a big deal...

We went on an evening walk after the rain.

Mountains, trees (birch and pine), and fireweed...some of Alaska's finest :)

Don't these flowers make you think of badminton?  Well that's what they reminded us of..

In other news.  Have you heard Taylor Swift's new song?  It's quite catchy.  (And it makes me think of you, Whitney Jean...)

I Was Made for Sunny Days

My dad had business and meetings to attend to today, so Wendi, my mom, and I went exploring.

I took them to see the Eagle River Nature Center (where I will probably take every visitor who comes to visit us-just FYI).  We did a short hike on the Rodak trail.  (It was a beautiful sunny day.  The last two days have been cloudy and rainy, so today the first day they could actually see the mountains!)

Here are some pictures from our adventure.

The view from the Nature Center

The names of the mountains in the view

Wendi and my mom

Bluebells 

Polar Bear Peak and Eagle Peak from the bear viewing deck

We saw a moose!

The official name of the "spiky sticks of death"...it's such a fitting name!

Yay for visitors in Alaska!!! And yay for hiking and beautiful sunny days!

Here are some fun instagram pics that I took:

And the title of this post is because of this song:

As Sisters in... Alaska

Today was women's conference for our stake.

It started out with a workout choice of a 5k or a Zumba class.  I did the 5k.  I walked...I didn't run this one...(I'm trying to be good to my plantar fasciitis plagued foot, so it will be good to me...summer's coming!!)

The 5k started at 7 a.m.  So much for sleeping in!

Elizabeth, Cherie, and Lindsay...my awesome walking buddies!

We went into town along the bike path.  It's a really nice path!

I didn't know this sign was there...there used to be a giant pile of snow in front of it and all we could see was the top wing of the eagle.  It's a whole new world here without the snow!

Lindsay and I thought this was awesome...  Too bad garage sales here don't start before 9, we totally could've stopped along the way!

After the 5k, we ate breakfast at the church and then the conference began.  This year's theme was "Choosing the better part."

We had choices of classes (x3) to attend.  I went to Alaska Recreation, Treasuring the Scriptures, and Growing Vegetables/Fruit In Alaska.  (I wish I could've gone to all the classes offered...but I couldn't.  Sad!)

The first class made me want to leave right then and start exploring!  There's so much to do here!  A lady made a comment during the class that there was a Groupon going on for the musk ox farm in Palmer...And I totally bought it.  (Thanks to the ever-so-handy Groupon app!)   We will take Luke's parents there when they come to visit in July.  I also told my sister about it, and she got one to use in June when she and my parents visit.  (I have a feeling you will be reading a lot about the musk ox farm..so get ready!)

The second class was really good too!  The teacher talked about using your scriptures as a Liahona in our lives...because as it says in Alma 37:44-

"...it is as easy to give heed to the word of Chirst, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land."

The third class confirmed that gardening in Alaska isn't for the faint of heart...and if all else fails, plant rhubarb.  It grows really well here, I guess.

After the classes we had lunch.  We have a Maung branch in our stake, and some of the members did dances for us.  And all the women from the branch wore their native costumes during the conference.  It was really cool!

I hope you all had a great day too!

Oh.  And I love this song.  Just thought you should know...

Country Came to Town

Tonight we put on our boots, and went on down to the Sullivan Arena to hear some country music goodness.

Dierks Bentley and Eli Young Band came to Anchorage, AK!

We didn't get super spend-y with our tickets...we just wanted to go and have a good time.  And we totally did!

Eli Young Band opened up the concert.

Here is one of the songs off their newest album:

(Other songs they sang-besides the one above-were:  Always the Love Songs, Say Goodnight, When It Rains, Skeletons, Guinevere, Small Town Kid, and Crazy Girl.)

And then Dierks Bentley sang to us.  He did an amazing job!  We were very impressed with his performance.

This is our current favorite song by good ol' Dierks...

(Other songs-besides Home-he sang were: Feel That Fire, Am I the Only One, Trying to Stop your Leaving, Lot of Leaving Left to do, 5-1-5-0, Every Mile a Memory, Settle for a Slowdown, High on the Ridge, Free and Easy, Come a little Closer, How am I doin', and Sideways...I missed a few, but you get the idea.)

This is my souvenir from the fun night out:

Liar, Liar Pants on Fire!

So remember when I said "I feel I am one of the very few people that believes Christmas music is only to be played Dec 20- Dec 25 each year...and that is pushing it"?

I lied.

I didn't mean to lie.

I just forgot.

Coldplay has a fabulous Christmas song that came out last year.  I listened to it this morning.  On purpose.

There.

Are you happy now?

(Well, since I'm being honest, I also listened to Wish List by Neon Trees.)



Happy Holidays!  (I can't believe it's almost December!  I better get some more shopping done...)

Good Tunes Tuesday

I found a new song.  Well, more like it found me.

There I was at work, listening to satellite radio.  Suddenly, my ears heard a joyful tune.  I rushed back to the closet to read the song information on the satellite receiver....The rest is history.

Ok, so maybe I won't be including that story in my life history...but I will be listening to the song for months...maybe even years.

Here it is...  Enjoy!

It's a Random Life For Us

So, I logged on to Google today and I saw this headline on the news feed:

"Scientists Unveil Fossil of 'Saber-Tooth Squirrel' That Lived Among the Dinos"

Yep.  Totally saw that in a movie already.  Geez scientists...keep up!

Scrat

Except the picture that was on the Google article was a whole lot less cute and a whole lot less fun, so I'm sticking with this one.  

In my mind all Saber tooth squirrels looked like Scrat, and they were all just as funny.

Yep.  I like that WAY better.

Last night Luke and I went to see Puss In Boots.

It caused us to chuckle...quite a bit.

There was this one part where this lady asked Puss if it's true that a cat always lands on its feet (this was as she was about to make him fall off the side of a cliff...) and Puss says: "NO!  That is just a rumor spread by dogs!"

Hahaha.  We laughed.  You would have too, I'm sure.

After the movie, we went to eat at a burger place here in Castle Rock called Crave.  (It's conveniently located in the parking lot of the movie theater.)

I'm guessing you haven't heard of this place. 

Well, it's the kind of place where people who count calories and/or worry about any kind of nutritional information DO. NOT. GO.  (or maybe they do...but they can only have salad...)

Anyway, I took a picture of the menu with my a-mazing cell phone camera so you could get an idea of what they offer there.  Let's see how that turned out....

Awesome...LAME! But take a gander at the line that says Luther.  Do you see where it says '2 LaMar's glazed donuts'?  Yes.  Those are used as buns for that burger.  (They also have a burger with 2 grilled cheese sandwiches as the buns.)

I also found a picture of one of their burgers online....  You might want to sit down before you look closely at it, and if you are currently taking meds for high cholesterol you should just close your eyes...cuz it ain't pretty.

I present to you a photo of "THE CUBANO" 

Yep.  Among other things (like ham, chorizo sausage, breaded pork), that's a hot dog ON a hamburger.

So now that you are freaking out and thinking Luke and I have major nutritional problems, I will show you what we had for dinner last night... 

For me it was a 'Plain Jane' (a.k.a a plain hamburger) with sweet potato fries.

And for Luke is was a 'Cheesy Jane' (which is a plain jane with cheese) with sweet potato fries.

Oh, and without onions...clearly  :)  (Forgot that minor detail when I ordered his food while he was outside moving the car...)

So in a place with specialty burgers and calories galore, we somehow restrain ourselves to this:

MMMMMMMMMMMM.....  DELICIOUS!!!

P.S.  This song is good and I want to share it.  Random.  I know.  Embrace the random-ness as you watch  :)

Spotify is so Spiffy!

You should download this little number...  You won't be sorry.

Musicality

Is musicality even a word?  They use it on So You Think You Can Dance, therefore I'm not quite sure if it's a word or not.  (If you are a fan of "SYTYCD" you will be familiar with Lil' C and his made up words...all.the.time...)

Anyway.

Once upon a time there was a singer.  I really like her voice.  (She does, however, use some language when she's not singing that I'm not so fond of...)  She made a new music video.  And I think it's awesome!

Here it is:  (...well kinda...click the arrow thingy, then click 'Watch on YouTube'.  Then you can watch.)

P.S.  I met Sara once.  Actually twice.  But I only have actual proof of one meeting, so you will just have to take my word for it...

Laura, Sara, and me at the Belly Up in Aspen Colorado...circa 2007...I think...

In other news, Luke has a job interview today for a company in Colorado.  (This is his second interview at this company, so that's really exciting.)  He has already interviewed with one other company and he also has interviews with 3 other companies this week.

Wahoo!  Go Luke!