Why I Love The Alaska State Fair...

<-- Look, Corn!! Just Like Indiana, well, except for the Mountains in the background.
<--That's a BIG Mushroom!!

<-- Try putting that in a soup!!











Howdy!

On Monday, Sherri and I went to the Alaska State Fair. It was a beautiful sunny day and we decided that we might as well take advantage of it! I have decided to compile a list of my top 3 favorite things about the Alaska State Fair. So, here goes:

1) In a state of only 600,000 people the fair draws about 300,000 each year. You have to love an event that attracts 1/2 of the states population.
2) Denali Cream Puffs & Giant BBQ Turkey Legs. Easily the two best foods at the fair. The cream puffs are HUGE and topped with either chocolate or an alaskan mixed berry topping, we had the mixed berry, and oh boy!!!! The turkey legs are amazing, the meat falls off of the bone and it is covered in BBQ sauce. MmmMmm Good.
3) GIANT Vegetables! This is a little known fact to most of you in "farm country", but Alaska holds a HUGE number of world records for the largest vegetables. Including a 39 pound turnip, 63 pound celery, 65 pound cantelope and a 75 pount rutabaga. One of the more well known events at the Alaska State Fair is the annual Giant Cabbage Weigh Off. Each year this draws tons of people and many cabbages that break the 100 pound mark. Because of the LONG Alaskan summer days flowers and veggies have the perfect growing conditions and reach massive sizes.

Overall we had a great day at the fair! We had some awesome food, got to see a lot of fun stuff and really enjoyed our time together, I even won Sherri a stuffed animal at one of the carnival games!! We are already looking forward to next years fair!!!

Just Because It Is Next To The Trash Doesn't Mean It Should Get Thrown Away...

So, I learned a VERY good marriage lesson yesterday. This weekend Sherri and I went to the mall to walk around, while we were there she bought a pair of shoes. We got the shoes home, left them in the bag and set them on the floor. Yesterday afternoon we were doing some house cleaning and we always put the full trash bags by the door so that we take them with us next time we leave. Well, last night we went out with some friends to play Disc Golf and as we left I took out the trash. I grabbed all of the bags that were by the door, thinking that I was doing a good "husbandly duty". So, late last night we are getting ready for bed, both in our pajamas and Sherri asks a question that I didn't expect to hear. "Where are my new shoes?" I had remembered taking out the shoe bag and box with the trash, the only problem, I never made sure that the shoes were OUT of the bag and box. So, we grab a flashlight and an umbrella, we tromp down the stairs and out to the dumpster where, low and behold, sitting at the bottom of the dumpster was the shoe bag. So with some nifty use of the umbrella handle I hooked the bag and rescued it to safety!

So, in summary:
taking out the trash = good
throwing your wifes brand new shoes away = not good

Life Is Good...

I must admit, life is pretty stinkin' sweet right now. It just seems like things are going great. We have awesome friends who we are getting to know more and more. We are having amazing weather. We love where we live. We have an incredible church. The bookstore is moving along. We have been getitng outside more and more to do things. The mountains are covered in green and the sunshine just really makes them look amazing. Sherri is getting out of a job that she has never really liked. Life is just good. I don't know if I would change things, even if I could. It is really awesome to just be happy. Just look at life and really feel content.

We have a double baby shower tomorrow night with our small group as two of the couples are expecting babies in the next month or so. So the ladies will hang out and do the baby shower stuff inside and the guys will be involved in an intense game of street hoops.

I will begin traveling with work quite a bit over the next couple months. I have trips to Fairbanks, Juneau, Kenai and two Seattle trips. I will be in Seattle on August 22 - 24th and it just so happens that the Mariners are playing the Yankees on thoes days, so I got my tickets and am excited to see the games!!

I have been playing a lot of disc golf lately and I feel like my game has really been improving, which is nice. Also, Sherri and the other wives have been coming with us and walking the course. Its nice to be outside getting exercise.

We are only 46 days away from our 1 year Anniversary!! That is just amazing, the time has really flown by!

Ok, I suppose that I have said enough for now.

Here is a little known Northern fact: In the summer Anchorage is known as the "City of Flowers", because of the long daylight hours the flower displays in Anchorage are amazing. The City of Anchorage has 461 different flower gardens that it maintains. Also, they hang over 1,000 baskets downtown each summer. There are also some awesome private residence gardens as well as the Alaska Botanical Gardens and the Anchorage Garden Society that host several garden events throughout the year.

The picture above is of a small side street in downtown. It shows a couple of the smaller flower beds and also some of the hanging baskets.