Alaska here we come!

Does it seem to anyone else that we’re flying towards September at breakneck speed? And once September arrives, well, we’re headed straight towards Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. Wait! I don’t know what our Thanksgiving plans are! And I haven’t even figured out what I’m getting everyone for Christmas!

Yes, that is how my mind works–at least when I let it run rampant. Note to self: continue to discipline the wild horse that is my mind in order to fully enjoy the present and not worry about tomorrow. Amen and amen.

Everyone pause to make a wild horse noise.

Really get into it. Shake your hair about and give it a loud whinny.

It helps to dilate your nostrils and furrow your brow quite deeply during this process. I speak from experience.

Thank you. Now we can move on.

While I’m looking forward to the cooler, crisper weather and the reduction of sweating (that has a directly proportional relationship with the volume of my laundry piles), I feel like I need to really hang on to these next few weeks. Force time to slow down a little. Squeeze every bit of relaxation out for my husband before he faces his comprehensive exams this fall and winter. And where better to do that than Alaska!

Fairbanks, Alaska is the residence of a certain gorgeous ballerina . . .

. . . and this little squooshy-cheeked man.

And together they rule the galaxy.

Heidi’s husband is deployed, in case you were wondering–with still a few months to go. I don’t know how they do it. Or rather, I do–by the grace of God alone.

By the way, now is probably a good time to break some news to all of you: if I ever have a little one, I plan on nicknaming him or her Fatty Lumpkin. I can’t even say that name without working myself into an ecstasy of cuddliness. Yes, I want a fat baby with ooshy-gooshy little rolls on their legs. Fat babies are the cutest, and the most . . . *mom-ism alert beep beep beep* . . . munchable. I will only call them that when they’re quite small and unable to be scarred or embarrassed–I think.

Anyway, we fly out tomorrow morning, and after a cruel and unusual 3-flight journey, we will arrive in the land of crazy temperatures, weird sunlight patterns, and Santa Claus himself. Our Alaskan activity list goes as follows:

-Take as many pictures of Heidi and James as I possibly can.

-Schmooch baby James on an hourly basis. No, not ‘smooch’–‘schmooch.’ Two very different things.

-Visit the town of North Pole, home of the aforesaid Santa Claus.

-Bathe in the hot springs?

-Eat salmon. Or something. Possibly on a dinner boat experience.

-Do this excursion thingy that involves panning for gold.

-Become a gold-panning millionaire and share my largesse with you by inviting you to my new Gourmet Spa Space Station on Pluto.

-Hike around the National Park of Denali.

-Cook up a storm.

-Spend two nights in Anchorage with my man, which entails a 6 hour drive through an incredibly beautiful part of the country.

-Are you ready? Not blog.

-Yes, I’m taking a vacation from blogging while I’m gone.

-Am I allowed?

-I think so.

-I’m glad you agree.

I’ll be back after Labor Day, so don’t go thinkin’ that you can get rid of my that easily! Plus, they say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I haven’t really been absent for a while. Using that correlation, that means that fondness may perhaps be at an all time low. I understand–I wouldn’t me jabbering in my own face every morning! So this is really a kindness to you, eh? Eh.

I will have obscene amounts of pictures to share upon my return, I’m sure. Pictures of the Alaskan scenery. Pictures of Those Cheeks. Recipes from Heidi’s kitchen. Who knows what else–besides the whole ‘getting rich panning gold’ thing that I have planned, of course.

I’ll try not to miss you too much . . .

. . . okay, I’m going to miss you. Kitchen Witch‘s beautiful and poignant stories . . . the city and farm tales of my beautiful semi-relatives the Sweet Ridge Sisters . . . Veronica‘s optimism, her Thankful Thursdays and almost daily recipes . . . Joanne‘s insane penchant for running marathons and combining bizarre ingredients to make something unexpectedly delicious . . . you guys have become such a part of my life!

Next week I have delegated a couple posts to a certain ‘friend’ of mine to keep you all entertained. All I’m saying is: she wears a helmet. Or her head is a helmet. Stay tuned, and see you all after Labor Day!

20 thoughts on “Alaska here we come!

  1. alongtheohio

    Oh how fun! Enjoy your time in Alaska and travel safely 🙂 Alaska is a place Matthew and I hope to visit someday as well. So much natural beauty! I hope it stays that way for as long as I’m around. Anyway…you’ll be missed, but photos will make up for your absence!

  2. TheKitchenWitch

    Aww, how sweet! I’ll miss you, too. But I take solace in the fact that I will be rewarded with many pictures of Baby James.

    Thank God you never met either of my kids when they were babies. Not ONE single fat roll to schmooch. Miss M.’s nickname was “Miss Chicken Wing” because my dad said she was scrawnier than one.

    ps: is it bad that when I read National Park of Denali, I read it as National Park of Denial?

    1. Jenna

      Haha! I’m sure your scrawny babies were also scrumptious in their own way.
      P.S. I think that little ‘Freudian reading slip’ gives great insight into your personality. =)

  3. sweetridgesisters

    Jenna, have an amazing time! I am confidant that you will, and so glad that you will spend time with your sister. Mary is coming to Pittsburgh in a couple days, so we will have lots of sister stories too. And thanks for the super kind description. You are awesome. -kate

  4. Judy

    Walked into Costco yesterday and all the Christmas stuff is out … I’m SO not ready for that! Your time away sounds splendid, enjoy the pristine landscape of Alaska and all the wild game it has to offer.

  5. Jen

    1. How exciting that you not only get to visit Heidi and your handsome li’l nephew, but you get to see the beauty of Alaska!
    2. Just last week at work I stopped for a moment and realized we were nearly at the end of August already. August! What happened to February, March, and April??!?!?
    3. I did make a wild horse whinny. It was very liberating and also resulted in some giggling.

    1. Erica

      Jennnnn!!!! I wish we could have whinnied together. That seems like something we would have enjoyed on our little vacay a few weeks back…. or to relieve stress of reading yet another ridiculous passage in a certain authoress’ “delightful” books…

  6. giselle

    OMG have the best time ever!!!! I want to go to Alaska so bad, but I will have to settle for your awesome recounting of the experience for now. So make it good!! 😉

    We’ll miss you!

  7. Joanne

    Only you would go to Alaska in the summer instead of some place tropical…although now that I think about it, I suppose that makes more sense. Have fun love and pinch some cute little baby cheeks for me! I’ll miss you!

  8. Veronica

    Oh, how wonderful to have some little sister and nephew time in Alaska! It’s gotta be so much nicer there (temperature wise). Enjoy your time. I know I will miss you SO much but at least you will be returning with plenty of pics! 🙂

  9. June

    Just to warn you, any nicname you use when the wee one is tiny may well continue into adult hood, and beyond… That’s why I have Dinky Duck as a sister, a Tater as a brother, and I’m The Bug. It’s also why, when I fill out paperwork for my daughter, I’m always tempted, sorely, to put her first name as Snugs. Consider yourself warned.

    1. Twinky

      …although “Spud”, “Muffin”, and “Biscuit” did NOT continue after they were “out of the oven”….

  10. Kimby

    Enjoy, Jenna! You’ll be missed, but I look forward to all of your schmooch-y photos when you return! Hope you and your man have a wunnerful, wunnerful time. Snort, whinny. 🙂

  11. Karenpie

    Have a fabuloso kinda time! You deserve a bloggy vacay. And . . . interesting trivia alert . . . . Fairbanks is named after a distant relative of mine. And you didn’t possibly think I could be more fascinating, did you? *Snort*

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