Peace

So today I woke up at 5:30am and went to the gym with Dina. We worked out for a 1/2 hour, got showered and ready and I dropped her off at Sam's Club. I then went to Wal-Mart at 8:30am to talk to personnel about getting a job there. They informed me that personnel was in a meeting and wouldn't be available until after 10. So I went to my favorite spot, Banres grabbed a cup of coffee, and did my devotions.

It was actually an amazing time with the Lord. I am going through a book called The Intentional Woman. Last summer my church took a number of ladies on a retreat to Roanoke and we had to buy this book for a study the one day. We only went over one chapter of the book and it was good but I never had time (because of school) to do the rest. My amazing friend and hairdresser Sarah and I were talking before I left about me not knowing what my dream, purpose, and direction are in life. I was venting my frustration and she told me to read the whole book, and it may help me in my quest for all these things.

So today I read two chapters, and was really encouraged. Moving here has been fun but also a dark time for me. I always have a "plan" no matter what I do or where I go. Alaska has totally thrown that off and everything up here has been without a plan, and not what I expected. Everyone says that this is an exciting time in my life and I am doing a once in a lifetime thing, but for me I often sit and regret "leaping" and part of me wishes I could have stayed in my comfort zone for a little longer. Anyaways, So today as I got into the second chapter a number of verses were brought to my attention and I felt as if the Lord was speaking to me and whispering to me that just because I do not have everything planned out right now He does, and this time is for something greater than I know and that He is always there and will provide if I trust Him.

Here are some verses that encouraged me:
Ephesians 1:11 (msg) "It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for."

Plam 138:8 "The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever."

Isaiah 42:16 "I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them, I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them." -This made me think of my time in Alaska. It is "unfamiliar", I feel as if I am blind in the "darkness" on in a "rough place", but I know that no matter what God is with me, and he is leading me towards the "light". :)

Psalm 32:8 (nlt) "The Lord says "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you." - This verse really spoke to me because I felt as if the Lord was saying "Erin I know what is best for you always and I have an amazing purpose for your life. I will always be right beside you on that path of life I carved just for you and I will protect you, encourage you, love you and guide you through it all.....you just have to give me your hand and stop trying to go it alone". This almost brought me to tears just thinking of how God does have a plan for me, and even if I don't know it now, I will in His time.

The author also said this which made me think of my time here in Alaska: "God is happy for you to slow down in order to determine where you want to go, what you want to do, and who you want to be. He wants-even expects- you to take responsibility for each area of your life." I felt as if Lynchburg was good, and my "comfort zone" but I had so much going on that I never had time to slow down, search God, and try to figure of where to go, what to do, and discover who I am. Even though Alaska has been hard for me in many ways, it has allowed me the ability to slow down and get away from all the busyness:).

So after my time with the Lord, I went back to Wal-Mart to speak to personnel and then they paged the personnel person they said that they were busy and I would have to come back. GREAT!!!! I thought, but I didn't get discouraged. I went to Sam's to eat lunch with Dina and then I updated my application there. I then went to the "mall" (if you can call it that, it is 1/8 the size of Lynchburg and Chambersburg malls...sad :) ) to ask about employment and no one is hiring. I went to Safeway, and they aren't' hiring. Then I went to Fred Meyer (its like a target and Kroger mixed) and asked about employment. They are hiring but you have to fill out an application online. I went to the Starbucks inside of there and the girl was like "YES! we are hiring now!" she told me where to go online and that I should call a lady tomorrow about an interview and gave me her number. So PLEASE pray that something works! I just REALLY need something!

Now I am back at the house. I have to go back in to Sam's to pick up Dina at 5pm and then we are gong back to the gym to do more cardio and weights and then back here for dinner. So....it has been a good day overall. I will let you know how tomorrow goes. I think I am going to go w/ some peeps to see the new Batman movie :). Talk to you all later!

Fun Day on the Town

Well today was a pretty fun day. Dina had the day off so we planned a fun day to go see Fairbanks and do all the touristy stuff we have not done yet. We got up at 8am, ate breakfast and went to the gym. Dina worked out while I had to deal with Sallie Mae on the phone for an hour and a half.....not fun at all, but after all that talking I am praying things are worked out and my anxiety over paying these dumb things back is resolved. So....I didn't get to work out, but we got changed and at about noon we headed to a place called Pioneer Park.

Apparently its a historical theme park and no visitor to Fairbanks should miss it. It was ok. Not what I expected. We walked around to these cute little cabins that had handmade crafts and gifts, we ate at a little place where we ordered salmon salad sandwiches. After that we went and viewed a native museum, an old steamboat, an art gallery, and took lots of pictures along the way. The best part of Pioneer park was -40 Fairbanks experience. You pay to get dressed up in big heavy parkas and gloves and go into a big "freezer" that is set at -40 degrees. Once inside they let you take in a cup of boiling water and toss it up in the air and immediately it evaporates into steam....amazing. The girl took a picture of me and Dina, and then left us there for as long as we wanted. We got pictures by the thermostat, in an ice chair and we got to pound a nail in a board with a frozen banana. Sounds kinda silly but it was VERY COLD!!!!! I have never felt anything like that and am very glad I will not be here when it is that cold outside. We bought t-shirts that say "I survived -40 degrees in Fairbanks AK". Cheesy, but fun :). We got lots of pics and it was quite the experience.

After Pioneer Park we went to the Visitors Center downtown and took pictures at the "End of the Alaskan Highway" post, and took pictures of the famous Eskimo family statue fountain. We walked over to a place called the Fudge Pot. We got soft serve blueberry ice cream (yum!! it was made with real Alaskan wild blueberries) and then got a small sliver of blueberry chocolate fudge. Both were amazing! We sat and talked a bit and then walked downtown to all the shops.

After that we headed over to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Botanical gardens. Again, it was not what we expected but it was neat. Because it is light 24/7 during the summer their fruits and veggies grow HUGE. We saw some giant sized cabbage, broccoli, corn, and squash, and then a variety of beautiful flowers. Some were even flown in from Africa and other parts of the world. It was fun, and very pretty.

We then headed over to Barnes and Noble (our new hang out spot as you can tell), and read some magazines, then we were getting hungry so we headed home. All in all it was a great day. I am going to go talk to Wal-Mart personally tomorrow so please keep me in your prayers that they will be open to hiring me temporarily, and I can start soon. I want to enjoy AK w/o the stress of having no money. Well it is time for bed, I will talk to you all later! Have a great day.

Update

Ok so it has been a couple days since i have blogged, so i will fill you in on what is going on.

Saturday me, Danilee, Ryley, Trent and Tommy went to Chena Lake. It is very small but they have a little sand beach to lay out, and Tommy got a small boat and took that a long. I laid out (at 7pm :) ) and played with Ryley in the sand and water, and went out on the water with Tommy for a spin on the boat. It was a fun day, and I got a little bit of color to my pasty white skin :).

Sunday we tried a new church called Friends Community Church. It is the only church I have been to up here that is even remotely like Brentwood, and for the first time in over a month I felt like I was at Brentwood again. They had a coffee shop, the people were soooo friendly, the music was contemporary, the crowd was younger, and the teaching was similar (nothing compared to Jon Dupin's but for the first time in a while I felt that I learned something and had the intimacy with God during worship that I have Sundays at Brentwood). We went to the introduction class after church to learn more. There were somethings I didn't agree with, but doctrinally they are on point so I am excited to start going there on Sundays. They have small groups and singles meetings during the week and I would love to get connected into something so I can meet more people. After that Dina and went to Barnes and relaxed and then went out for some frozen Alaskan custard, then went home to find that two guys Garrett and Lee were at the house with the rest of the gang. We ordered pizza, talked and then had a Bible study on Philippians. It was good discussion and I enjoyed their company.

Monday I took Dina to work, went to the gym where I worked out and went swimming, then me, Danilee, Trent, and Ryley went to Subway for lunch, we dropped Dina off at work and went to Wal-Mart and then went home.

Today I dropped Dina off, went to work out, then came home, uploaded some pictures and wrote some emails, ate dinner and went to pick Dina up. It was a beautiful day, about 80 degrees so I enjoyed the time in the car and outside.

Tomorrow Dina is off, and it is supposed to be a beautiful day again so I think we are going to get up early and go do a bunch of touristy Fairbanks things. There is a place called Pioneer Park which is a place that they say everyone has to go that visits Fairbanks. I am excited to spend the day there and we might go do some other fun stuff while we can. So, I am really looking forward to tomorrow.

Well its about 10pm here so I am going to get some stuff together and get ready for bed. I will update you all on how my adventures are tomorrow. :)

Lazy Day

So today was Dina's first day at work (Sam's Club). I got up and drove her there and then went to talk to the manager of American Eagle to see if I could get an interview set up. She told me what everyone told me.....i am too late to apply for the summer and they are looking for people to commit to staying through the holidays.....so still no job and its July 11. Sad day! After that I drove over to Barnes and Noble, ordered my first Starbucks coffee since I have been here (Yes, I was going through w/drawl) sat in a comfy chair by the fireplace, did my devos and read a lot of magazines. It was nice to be out of the house, away from people and by myself for once in a long time. Danilee called around noon and wanted to meet up w/ me so we could go to the gym. I met up w/ her and we spend a while in Wal Mart and then went to Sams club. Dina had gotten off for lunch so she met up w/ us for 30 mins. By that time it was 2:30pm and we had to go back to pick her up at 5:30. So me, Danilee and the baby went to the bank and then Danilee and I sat in the parking lot and talked for a while.

Nothing special happened today, but I enjoyed the time to myself, my starbucks coffee, the beautiful warm weather, and time to sit one on one w/ Danilee and talk about life, girl stuff, and just laugh. Now I am back to the house to eat dinner. I think I will go on a walk after that. I get scared walking here b/c we live on the top of a mountain and the neighbors have spotted bears a few times in the past, so I get nervous walking on the road b/c I am always looking for moose or bears, but I might do it anyway :) After all its AK right. I am discouraged w/ not finding a job. I can't wait to be in a place where I can look for a career and not a three month job that I am "overqualified" for or that they don't want me b/c of the length of time I will be there. Well I am going to eat my Boca burger :) We will see what tomorrow holds. Talk to you then

Visited Santa

So yesterday was a lazy day but for the first time since being here I was ok with it. I woke up, ate breakfast and then Dina and I finished the Bachelorette via ABC.com. We had watched the first two episodes before we left and were way behind, so we watched all 10 or so episodes in 2 days. It was fun, and we both enjoyed it. We then went to workout yesterday and then came back to the house, made dinner, chilled and then went to bed. Not much, but still fun and relaxing.

Today was really fun. Me, Dina, Danilee, the kids and our friend Kneely woke up early and went to the gym. After that we ate lunch and then headed to the North Pole (about 15 mins from the gym) to go to the Santa Claus House. It was not what I expected but it was fun. It was an old looking building and the whole place is basically a gift shop but they have a lot of fun stuff and it feels like Christmas time. They had letters to Santa from all kinds of children all over the building which was cute. We got to meet the "real" Santa and Mrs. Claus and got pictures on his lap. He was sweet and knew where Lynchburg was and had even visited there in the 70's. We shopped a little more, went outside and took pictures and saw the reindeer. After the Santa House, we headed about 15 more minutes southeast to a place called the Knotty Shop. It's a funny name but it is a shop make out of the knotty wood found in AK and most of their gifts are from locals that carve, and make pottery. It was really neat and we got to have some yummy ice cream too. Then Dina and I headed back to the house to eat dinner and enjoy some time before the rest of our roommates came home. They like to eat out a lot but it gets expensive especially up here w/ the prices being a lot higher, so now that we have a car we are going to try to eat in more. Dina starts her job tomorrow and hopefully I can find one soon as well.

Hopefully we will get to go to Denali Park this weekend, but we will have to see how the weather is, and if Tommy can get off of work. Well....that is about all for now, nothing too exciting. Talk to you all later!

How things are going

I know I have said that things have been rough, but here is an update on how things are going. Dina and my car over heated and the guys think we need a new thermostat. It wont be a lot of work but hopefully when we get it, we will have no more problems with it. Dina got a job at Sams Club working at the photo lab, and I am still unemployed. I have to get ahold of the manager at American Eagle so pray that I can get that job! Dina and I joined the local gym The Alaska Club. We went for the first time on Monday and did cardio and weights and they also have a huge pool, hot tub and steam room we can use as well as a variety of classes. This will give us an outlet to get away and do something fun. I have missed the gym. I was used to working out 5 days a week for an hour +, and the past month I havent really gotten to do much physical activity. I have felt down about myself and feel so much better when I work out. The people we live with like to eat out and I find it so hard to eat healthy here because many places do not have health foods. Hopefully this will give me a boost and allow me to get away and do something I love.

I thought about leaving last week, but if the car is ok then I will try to stick it out till September. I really miss my church Brentwood. I miss Pastor Jon's teaching, and I miss all the amazing people there. I cannot wait to go back and be a part of it again. The churches here are hard to sit in. The people do not seem freindly and welcoming, the teaching is not my style, and the worship is not either. Every Sunday I get home sick for my church and cannot wait to get back and be a part of Brentwood again.

Well, it is raining again here and I think we are going to go workout in a bit, so I will post some more later.

A fun weekend

Well, even though things have looked down for me the past month, this weekend was worth my trip here. Me, Dina, Danilee, Tommy their kids Trent and Ryley and our new friends Sterling and Kneely went to Anchorage for the fourth of July weekend. The drive there was 6 hours but was breathtaking. I have never in my life seen mountains as big as those! They were beautiful. The water was an amazing color blue and most mountains still had some snow on them. I saw on moose cross the road, and got to drive through Denali. I have seen a little bit of Mt. McKinley one day here in Fairbanks but unfortunately it was too cloudy to see McKinley this weekend.

We got a late start on Friday (as usual), and I got an amazing deal on priceline negotiator for our hotels. We were all excited and headed off on our journey. We got to Anchorage at around 6pm and settled into our hotel rooms. The hotel was really nice, it was an extended stay deluxe suite and for the first time in a month I got to sleep on a bed! I know that sounds silly but Dina and I do not have beds here at the house and have been sleeping on cots for the past month so neither of us wanted to get up on Saturday or Sunday.

Friday night we freshened up and went downtown Anchorage to a really cute outdoor restaurant. I got to eat fresh Alaskan Red Salmon.....and it was AMAZING! The best salmon I have ever had. After that the girls went walking downtown and did some shopping until the fireworks show at midnight. At 11:30 we met up with the guys and headed over to the baseball field. It was weird because the sun was setting at that time, so it was still pretty light outside. I have always watched fireworks when it is pitch black so this was different but pretty. It got a little darker in Anchorage because it's further south, so by 1am it was weird to see the sky get dark because I have been used to constant light. When the fireworks were done we headed back to the hotel and crashed for the night.

Saturday we woke up, ate breakfast at Sterling and Kneely's room and then headed out to the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation. The drive there was AMAZING and something I will never forget. That whole stretch of road is beside the sound and all you see is beautiful grayish water, huge snow covered mountains shooting out from the sound, and beautiful clouds. The whole time I was saying "whoa", "look at that", and then I had to pause and thank God for creating such incredible beauty. I felt so close to the Lord driving along something so beautiful! I cannot understand how someone could see something like that and deny that there is a wonderful creator that formed that with His own hands. We stopped to take occasional pictures and after getting lost we made it to the conservation. There were bears, moose, bison, elk, reindeer, fox, eagles, and linx all within an amazing backdrop of the mountains. It was really cool to see the Alaskan wildlife up close because I have never seen some of those animals before. After that we went to a town called Whittier. To get there you have to pay to go through a tunnel carved out in the middle of a huge mountain. Trains go through there to take tourists to and from the town, but after the trains go trough they let cars and buses drive on the train tracks to get to the town. It was kinda weird but very cool too. We popped open the sunroof and saw all the rocks and little waterfalls. It was 2 1/2 miles and when we got to the other side it was sooooo pretty! It is a little fishing town and as soon as we got out we saw a HUGE princess cruise line ship docked. There were boats, trains, and once again amazing snow covered mountains. we drove around, and then ate at this beautiful restaurant that overlooked the sound. I couldn't stop staring out the window at God's beauty! After we were done we headed back to the hotel, and watched for wales the whole way back but did not see any. We then went to a place called Alaskan Wildberry Farms. They have a lot of chocolate and jelly that they sell and ship all over the world. They had the "Worlds Largest Chocolate Waterfall", it was kinda stupid but....it smelled soooooo good and I had to get a picture by it, b/c I am a chocoholic! :) We tasted a variety of chocolates, and walked around the gift shop. We then went to a sports bar where the guys played pool and the girls split a huge piece of chocolate cake. It was 1am till we got back to the hotel and went to bed after an exciting day.

Sunday we went to a local church, then went out to lunch at this place called the Peanut Farm. It was good, and the weather was beautiful. After that we met up with Sterling and Kneely and headed back to Fairbanks. Along the way we stopped to take more pictures, and stopped in Denali to eat dinner at the famous Alaskan Salmon Bake. Again, another good meal. The Denali area is sooooo pretty. It has beautiful resorts, amazing mountains, a huge roaring river that people go rafting down, and cute little shops. After that we continued home and arrived back here at like 9pm.

All in all this trip was amazing. There were times of frustration, and impatience on my part, but I got time to myself away from the others (which I needed) and saw things I will never forget. It was the best 4th of July ever!

I am trying to get better at blogging everyday, and will try to be more consistent to fill you all in! Miss you all!

We got Internet!!!

Ok friends, so we FINALLY got internet at the house!!!! There is no such thing as "Free Wi Fi" in Alaska so you have to pay for it by the hour which can get very expensive, but.....after a month we finally got wireless at the house so i will be posting more and more everyday! Yay! You do not realize how much internet affects your daily life until you go w/o it for a month :). Sad but true.

Well...so i have been here for a month, and things are not what i thought they would be. I still have no job because people either think I am "overqualified" b/c i have a Master's degree or they dont like turnaround and are not willing to hire someone for three months. so that has been very frustrating, and not working for two months really does put a hole in your bank account. Last weekend we got a car at a police auction for $350. It seemed like a steal and a blessing but we have had nothing but issues w/ it since we drove it away and now we feel like idiots becuase we feel like we wasted money when we were trying to save it. So yet again we are relying on other people to drive us around and fix out car. I hate having to rely on others to do something all the time. I am so used to doing my own thing and being independent that to ask to do any and everything is not something I like or want to do.

I have seen some beautiful things, but at times have felt like a burden to these people and have often felt very lonely. I keep wondering if I made a bad decision, and have cried more each night here than i have for a very long time, but I know God lead me here for a reason it is just hard to know what that reason is. I will post some pictures and update you all more on what is happening but right now i have a lot of stuff to do because we are planning on going to Anchorage for the 4th of July weekend. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers, they are appreciated! I miss you all.

Erin