Laughing Tree - Main » alaska http://laughing-tree.com Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:54:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Update http://laughing-tree.com/update/ http://laughing-tree.com/update/#comments Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:11:54 +0000 lea http://laughing-tree.com/update/ So, as usual, carmen and I have been awful about posting since we moved to Alaska. I work on computers all day and don’t want to even think about anything more technological than my beloved tivo and carmen works from home on computers all day so the thought of pulling out her laptop to write something, other than on her ravelry page, is too much to bear. How’s that for excuses?

Since we moved to Alaska our lives have become more green in some ways and less green in others.

More Green

  • Set up 3 green community blogs, carmen moderates one of them
  • Joined a recycling project committee
  • Joined a local e waste recycling group
  • Volunteered at an e waste recycling event
  • Maintain e waste group’s website
  • Installed a programmable thermostat
  • Hoarding cans to take to the only recycling outfit in town when we get around to it
  • Use green cleaning products, soap, and detergent
  • Grow our own tomatoes
  • Work for a company that promotes sustainability
  • Bought a timer for when I have to plug the car in and only let it run for 4 hours as opposed to 10+ hours

Less Green

  • Drive 30 miles, round trip, per day to get to work
  • NO RECYCLING of paper, plastic or glass (we want to, we just can’t)
  • Use more energy to heat the house
  • Grow our own tomatoes (it’s an indoor hydroponic garden)
  • Use a space heater
  • Get take-out that comes in styrofoam containers

Needless to say, things haven’t been perfect but we’re still trying and that was the purpose of this whole project, to try and be more green.

I’m hoping once carmen gets a local job that we’ll be able to spend some time each week blogging again like we used to. I’m still posting on the lea page and carmen has been pretty bad about updating hers, but if you’re on ravelry you can look her up!

]]> http://laughing-tree.com/update/feed/ 0 2 Reasons I Love Living in Alaska http://laughing-tree.com/2-reasons-i-love-living-in-alaska/ http://laughing-tree.com/2-reasons-i-love-living-in-alaska/#comments Sat, 09 Feb 2008 00:52:04 +0000 carmen http://laughing-tree.com/2-reasons-i-love-living-in-alaska/ 1) Amazing sunrises.

Sunrise in North Pole

This is the view I see out my window in my home office every morning.  Well, it’s not always this impressive, but it is almost always interesting and beautiful in some way.  Even blurry sun behind ice fog makes a great morning view and I love seeing what each new day will bring.

 2) Beautiful sunsets.

Sunset in North Pole

Wow.  Sometimes it’s so incredible that I have to get dressed up to go outside and capture a photo from a better vantage point in the back yard.  Of course, this was taken way back when it was MUCH warmer.  I probably wouldn’t be inspired to make this effort on a 50-below day no matter how pretty the sunset is!

Hope you enjoy the random pretty photos!  This weekend we are off to see the start of the Yukon Quest dog sled race and I am so excited to see all the fun and excitement!  Here’s hoping for things to warm up so that none of my extremities get frozen off in the process.  Happy weekend, everyone!

]]> http://laughing-tree.com/2-reasons-i-love-living-in-alaska/feed/ 0 the gory truth… http://laughing-tree.com/the-gory-truth/ http://laughing-tree.com/the-gory-truth/#comments Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:06:36 +0000 lea http://laughing-tree.com/the-gory-truth/ Living in Alaska is great.

Carmen and I have been having  a great time up here so far despite the following:

  • 40 below-zero temperatures
  • forgetting to plug the car in on a 10 degree day and then wake up and it’s 30 below (cars don’t like starting when it’s that cold)
  • feet of snow falling in one day, plowing, then getting more snow
  • having a roof that needs to be shoveled – fortunately I pay someone to do this (he he)
  • paying $200 a month for power (JUST power, not gas)
  • paying $675 for 210 gallons of heating fuel each month until probably May

What’s that? $675 for heating fuel! Yep, that’s right, even though we make gas up here it is still very expensive and our house is not at all heat efficient. I am seriously thinking about getting us some of these or selling a kidney to pay for heating our house. I mean, I have another one right?

All in all though, life is good and we’ve been doing a lot of green things since we moved here, we just haven’t been posting about them but we will soon I promise. These green things include:

  • joined a group to promote sustainability
  • joined a group to start a recycling program where we live (currently there isn’t one)
  • made reusable gift bags for christmas
  • saving cans to take to the metal recycling company
  • convincing my mom to save cans too

See! We’re still trying! We’re still just trying to get settled up here.

]]> http://laughing-tree.com/the-gory-truth/feed/ 0 MOOSE! http://laughing-tree.com/moose/ http://laughing-tree.com/moose/#comments Sat, 01 Dec 2007 01:30:10 +0000 carmen http://laughing-tree.com/moose/ I can’t believe it!  We’ve now been in alaska for 2 months with no moose sightings for me, even though seeing them makes me so happy.  And now, lea just called me to say she was sitting in her car getting ready to leave work, and she was looking at a moose!  Just hanging out, eating trees.  I’m so jealous!  Oh well, at least there has finally been a sighting, even if it was by the person who grew up with them and I’m sure is way too cool to be thrilled by seeing them anymore!

 Maybe this is a sign that there will be more moose in the near future – lea’s mom told me that colder weather should bring them in closer to town, so hopefully they’ll be hanging out more often where we can see them.  Or maybe we just need to make an effort to get out of town more often and go for drives – but see below about the busy, busy busy!

Happy weekend, everyone!

 EDIT: here are the pictures lea took on her phone

moose1

moose2

]]> http://laughing-tree.com/moose/feed/ 2 in case you’re wondering… http://laughing-tree.com/in-case-youre-wondering/ http://laughing-tree.com/in-case-youre-wondering/#comments Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:43:52 +0000 lea http://laughing-tree.com/in-case-youre-wondering/
  • we made it to Alaska safely and have been SUPER busy ever since we arrived in early October – hence the lack of posts.
  • lea drove the whole way, because she wanted to.
  • we are having a great time so far!
  • our dogs don’t hate us yet for forcing them to live in a cold cold climate – kasey still has her regular adventures in poo-land and tenga has his blanket so they’re happy.
  • we have have yet to see a moose since we moved here. lea, however has seen a fox and some suicidal hares during her early morning trek to work.
  • carmen is still knitting… A LOT, especially for lea’s family!
  • lea’s obsession with comics continues to grow…
  • lea got a green job! We can’t say where but if you want to know just send her an email.
  • carmen also has a job so we’re not poor.
  • the price of fuel is INSANE in Alaska even though it grows here!
  • in our spare time these days we watch Battlestar Galactica, hang with the family, and work on the house.
  • we bought cross country skis - hilarity will ensue.
  • we’re trying to be as green as possible despite the fact that where we live lacks a recycling program.
  • we hope to start posting more regularly soon!

    • PS – the killer wolf and moose thing may sound funny but it’s sadly true. Lots of people die from hitting moose up here and lea’s future brother in law’s dog got eaten by wolves, poor thing… It’s really wild here, people who don’t believe it should read the Fairbanks Daily News Miner sometime. But part of the reason we came here was for the wildness and the adventure. We’ll let you know in the future what it’s like to have to carry a hand gun to go skiing or hiking because of wild aMinals.

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