Hurray Snow!

We got a nice blanket of snow about a week and a half ago, and now we are all ready for some more! Good thing the forecast is looking pretty promising :) Hurray for winter!

Fall Time = Full Time

Fall time is a full-time for ministry. 

Below are just a few pics from CYAK's ministry this fall. 

It has been awesome!

CYAK Young Adult Retreat in Big Lake - it was a GORGEOUS fall weekend in late September!

Sending 100 pizzas on a MARC plane to Unalakleet for a youth fundraiser in early October.

Arigaa-ers and pastors together at the ECCAK Pastor Leader Retreat in late October.

Worship led by Arigaa-ers in Anchroage at the Pastor Leaders Retreat in Anchorage last week!

You're Invited!

Halibuts

This year's 4th of July was another one for the memory books. We got to go halibut fishing with the one and only Dave Rose!

The crew?

Dave, our fearless captain and halibut fishing guru

David

Johanna

Eric

Kara

and me.

David, Johanna, Eric, Kara and I woke up at 5am to make the trek down to Homer, Alaska. We meandered around the area a bit before meeting up with Dave and his boat to begin our halibut fishing adventure. 

The first evening was pretty choppy (but no sickness - thank you less-drowsy dramamine!) so Dave took us for a nice boat ride, and then out for a bit to teach us the basics of halibut fishing. The water wasn't great for fishing (though David caught one - go David, go!), so we decided to head into Seldovia and do the majority of our fishing the next day. 

We shared a nice meal of pasta on the boat before we packed up our stuff and walked to our campsite a mile or so away. It was a beautiful spot - right on the beach. We set up camp and were asleep shortly after. The next morning we woke up, packed up, and walked back to town where we happened across a fun and quirky 4th of July parade. Fun detour!

After getting some coffee, we made our way back to the boat, and before long were realin' in the big ones. Or maybe I should say the medium ones. Regardless, they felt big to me! There were six of us on the boat, and we got the day's limit of 12 halibut total. We headed back to Homer, where Dave taught us how to fillet a halibut, and at the end of the day, we had 95lbs of meat! Can't complain about that! 

We drove back and enjoyed some fireworks at midnight from our apt - a little celebration :) Thanks Dave for the awesome trip!

Early morning road trippin'

Hello Homer!

Happy on the boat.

David caught the first one!

Pasta on the boat.

Our lovely beach campsite in Seldovia.

Tents.

Seldovia 4th of July Parade watching.

Eric's first catch.

My first catch.

We've got some halibut!

Anchorage 4th of July fireworks from our apartment window. What a great day!

Movin' to the Big City

After almost three years in the Matanuska Susitna Valley, I made the move to the big city, known to many in Alaska as 'Los Anchorage' :) There are certainly a few things that will be missed in Wasilla - the close proximity to some of my favorite Alaska mountains, the spacious office, one of my favorite running trails, my lovely apartment, and most of all, the wonderful Rose family. But - we know that the valley is only a short drive away, and I'll be sure to visit!

That being said, I am happy to be in Anchorage now! We (my friend and co-worker Kara and I) found a place less than a 10 minute walk from First Covenant Church, where our little branch of the CYAK office will be located. Our apartment looks out over a park (which has already provided lots of great people watching - a few examples: quiddich matches, soccer games, accordion playing, and so much more), and we can even see the mountains out all of our windows! We are a short walk from downtown, and are close to a couple of great running/xc skiing trails. Plus - we're in the same city as our boyfriends now...which is without a doubt an added bonus :) Feeling pretty happy to be here!

Packin' up the Uhaul.

The moving dream team! 

Gumbo to celebrate!

Bible Camp 2013

Going to Covenant Bible Camp in Unalakleet has become one of the biggest highlights of my year. There really is no place like it, and the more time I spend there, the more I love it.

During the first couple of days at camp this year, a group of us were thinking of a single word we would use to define Bible Camp. Out of the many fitting words, the first that came to mind was simplicity. 

In some ways, Bible Camp is the farthest thing from simple. Logistically speaking, camp takes an incredible amount of preparation, planning and organization due to its location 10 miles outside of the village of Unalakleet. In addition, the struggles that the campers are going through when they come to camp are complex. Many have dealt with intense difficulties in their lives, and understanding and working through those experiences is far from simple. 

That being said, there is an element of peaceful simplicity about Bible Camp that is known, felt, and cherished. Living in community with a group of people for a week (or more for staff), sharing meals together, worshiping together, doing chores together, having fun together, and just living life together combine to create an atmosphere of simple peace - even in the midst of intense difficulties and struggles. 

I really do mean it when I say there is no place like Bible Camp.

This year, I was at camp for two weeks and counseled during Leadership Camp and Sr. High Camp. Leadership was awesome as always - getting to know the girls in our cabin, and encouraging them to continue to be positive examples to their peers. Sr. High Camp was a blast too - my co-counselor and I had 14 girls in our cabin. It was quite the week! So much fun. We needed some good zzzs when it was all said and done, but it was well worth it. 

I am already looking forward to heading back up to Unalakleet later this summer for the CYAK Prayer and Planning Retreat in August. But until then, enjoy some pictures from June!

The ARK.

Leadership Week girls.

An awesome staff team.

Perseverance! 

Levi and Erica!

Chicken fighting on the tundra!

Sr. High Cabin!

Pete and Hunter's way of getting back to town. :)

 

 

Surprise!

Last November, I received a call from David's mom asking if I liked the idea of surprising David for his graduation from Whitworth in May. I loved the idea! So, we made plans to see it happen. Nearly six months later, after a couple of near slips and a lot of will-power, we pulled it off! And it was such a blast. I am so thankful for Greg and Dion for helping make it happen!

The weekend was full of highlights: surprising David (and nope - he didn't know!), meeting and getting to know a few of his friends, spending time with his family, eating delicious food, enjoying the summer weather, seeing David recognized for his leadership, character, attitude, and humble service (though it was no surprise to me!) and so much more. It was a wonderful time!

Below are a few pics from the weekend to enjoy (most of which are Dion's!):

Ah, Whitworth. We finally meet.

Successful Surprise!

Siblings (minus one) and Greg's parents.

Proud parents :)

Mekoryuk

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Nunivak Island in the Bering Sea for the Evangelical Covenant Church of Alaska's Annual Meeting. Mekoryuk, a village of about 200, has been on my 'to visit' list since shortly after I arrived in Alaska nearly three years ago, so needless to say, I was excited!

Mekoryuk isn't the easiest village to get to in Alaska - seeing as it is 30 miles off the mainland, and often has weather that doesn't permit for travel to and from the island. However, we were fortunate in that we had clear blue skies on the day of travel. Those of us coming from Anchorage piled into a 9-seater plane and made our way to Bethel. We landed, refueled, and took bathroom break before heading west to Nunivak Island. After a small bump in the road (when preparing to land, the pilots realized the runway wasn't plowed quite wide enough for the wingspan of the airplane, so we turned around and headed back to Bethel where we spent an hour or so while the runway was plowed and remeasured), we made it and were greeted with a warm welcome and familiar faces.

Our five+ days in Mekoryuk were spent reuniting and hanging out with past campers and students, attending meetings, enjoying the warm hospitality of the entire community, eating LOTS of akutaq, pond greens, dry fish, salmon, musk ox, reindeer soup, and other delicious Native food, singing, laughing, running 3.5 miles up the river to the water hole and back a couple of times, and spending time  with everyone at the conference.

Though it was only five days, my trip to Mekoryuk left a lasting impression. I'll always remember the warm hospitality and genuine community that was so apparent amongst the people there. I look forward to visiting again someday - hopefully in the summer! Thank you to everyone who welcomed us to Nunivak - we had a wonderful time visiting your beautiful home!

Nunivak.

Flying over the Alaska Range.

Road to town.

Mekoryuk Covenant Church.

Making coffee with fresh water from up river.

So bright!

Woohooo!

CYAK Rootbeer Float Party!

Mekoryuk Jr. and Sr. Highers!

Molly and Sonni :)

Lots of laughter.

Bye, Mekoryuk and all of your wonderful people!

Conquering Deb's Challah

We've been getting an abnormal amount of snow lately. It really is quite lovely, but I must admit that I keep thinking, "It's April! Shouldn't we be planting flowers and mowing lawns, and pulling out the grill?!" But alas, I am quickly reminded that I do live in Alaska, and these snows are not so uncommon. So, I've decided to enjoy the fluffy white stuff while its here because summer (or spring, rather) really is just around the corner!

One way I like to enjoy the snow is by staying in. Trust me - I love being out in the snow too - but sometimes nothing beats watching the snow fall from the warmth of your home. Sunday was one of those days. I decided to enjoy my afternoon by making a loaf of bread I've been wanting to try ever since Christmas when my awesome boyfriend David gave me Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen cookbook.

The bread is called Fig, Olive Oil, and Sea Salt Challah. And it looks intimidating. Not because of the name, but because of the picture. It is a braided beauty. But, I was up for a challenge, and guess what? It wasn't even that hard! And it looks beautiful! And tastes pretty darn good too. You should try it too...its seriously satisfying.

Snow snow and more snow.

See? Intimidation.

Success!