Howdy howdy hey!!!

How goes it??? Things are good here!! I have had a good week :) because Nat Geo left we have been back to our more regular schedule which is so nice! We also have Nadia here (although she leaves in a week :( ) so we get more days off.

So... as I am writing this I am currently on my handy dandy smart phone sitting on the roof of the boat :). This is my second time this week. I am with a family of four and Jordan. It's really fun. On Thursday when I went we went salmon fishing, bear viewing, then deep sea fishing. It was all really cool.

Me on the roof!!  The boat in the back was Luke and some of our other guests :)

The bear viewing was a first for me. It is so funny to me how when I was coming here everyone was telling me I was going to get eaten by a bear or something... Well.... It's been 3 months and no bears.. until now!! We saw 3 bears. A mama and 2 babies. This bear is used to people. She is kind of a pet of Luke's. She is very comfortable with him.  She was catching salmon. It was so cool to watch. I got some good pictures. :) it was cool to see them in their natural environment. They are magnificent creatures. So big.. But cuddly looking. :) don't worry... I didn't try to pet it. Tempting though... :)

Lunch time!!

Today (Friday) went whale watching :) we got right above them to the point that we could touch them. It was incredible. The whales never get old to me. That's got to be one of my favorite things to see. Catching huge fish is cool too :) and sitting on the top of a boat in Alaska.... :)

Well, those are the coolest experiences that I can think of... Oh!! Caitlin and I are making jewelry!! Did you know??? Many fish have ear bones called otoliths. They help the fish maintain balance. You can also cut them open and count the rings in them to find out how old they are. (Now you know!!!!)

But the part we like the most is that you can order supplies on Amazon and make earrings!! We are selling them to clients to hopefully make some extra money. We are waiting for our supplies so it may be a bit... But we sold 3 pairs to a man and his daughter already! We will mail them to him :) so this should be fun!!

To get the otoliths out we have to cut them out with a saw. You drill into their brain and then whack the fish head on the deck until the bone comes out :). I find it quite fun... who knew I would enjoy butchering fish so much!! :) the fish we use the most for this project are the yellow eye because they have nice sized otoliths. The bass have decent ones but they are harder to get out. So anyway.. Something else to keep Caitlin and I busy!!

Oh, quick explanation of the last picture with the beer can...We have no shortage of them around here and the first time I was cutting the otoliths out, Frank said "You need something to put them in.  Here." and he took his knife and right there cut off the top of his beer can, washed it out and then handed it to me.  He thought it was hilarious to see me carry it around.  Now we keep it for a joke.  He kept on saying that he needed a picture with me, the 'sawsall' and the beer can.  So that was why I needed this picture..and then the fish in the bottom corner with his head cut open and everything just made it perfect...couldn't have planned it better!!!

Well, that's about all folks!! Sure love you all and miss you!! Until next time!!

I am now a PRO at many things--eating, making sandwiches, making beds, sleeping when it is light outside..you name it :)

Hello everyone!  Sorry it has been so long again!!  We have been really busy once again, but I finally got a chance to write today!!  I will try to remember everything.  A lot has happened and I have been such a slacker--I will try to have a nice recap :)

I guess I should start with the fourth of July (wow..it really has been that long....sorry..haha).  The Fourth was sooo much fun!!  We had the people from National Geographic here (just the 15 of them--the cast for the TV show they are filming).  We went over to Russian Island--its a small island about 10 minutes away from our island.  We have a BBQ over there and we go over and set up bon fires. It is a beautiful beach with black sand.  It is a lot of fun over there.  We set up a volleyball net and we have horseshoes over there and stuff and a picnic table.  We have a nice little set up over there for our parties :).  Well, it was an interesting day because Frank, Caitlin, Nadia (Shannon's granddaughter from Hawaii-she came to visit/work with us before she starts her Senior year in high school-she leaves in the beginning of August) and I went to the island earlier because we needed to set it all up.  When we got back we were to help Brian get everything ready to go over and start the big BBQ which you have to do all by alder (I don't really understand all of that--but its cooking over the coals).  When we got to the kitchen, Brian told us that he had been stung by a wasp.  He was having a mild allergic reaction but he was doing OK--until about 10 minutes later.  He had a pretty bad reaction and was getting really sick.  So he told us that he wasn't going to the island so he gave us lots of instructions and put everything in our hands.  So we ran around getting everything ready and that was crazy.  We had to find someone who would be willing to cook the racks and racks of ribs that we had.  Luckily a guy from the cast volunteered to do it.

So, we got to Russian island, got the food set up and everything and people came and ate and it was wonderful.  We had a lot of fun.  Then everyone just sat around the fire and hung out, shot guns, played horseshoes and volleyball.  They had a guitar and so people just sat around, sung, danced, and just enjoyed themselves.  Around 11:30 (the sun was just barely setting) we hiked to a peak on the island and started setting off fireworks.  A couple of the guys on the survival show set off the fireworks.  They were so drunk at this point that it was a little scary but so funny.  It wasn't the whole group of us at this one peak.  I went with the group that went the furthest.  We were the group that set off the fireworks.  The rest of our group stayed further away on another peak because they didn't want to go as far.  I am glad I was where I was.  The fireworks were spectacular.  We had one guy playing the harmonica like a champ (this guys is incredible-he has climbed Mt. Everest 10 times, and pretty much every other peak that you can think of.)  We had the other guys and women who are also incredible people who have accomplished amazing things (such as winning the Iditarod, Hela-Skiing (skiing out of a helicopter) and other things) who were there too.  We had 3 of the guys who were setting off the fireworks.  They were soooo close to us.  It was crazy.  The sky was pink and then there were the beautiful fireworks right in front of us.  At one point, they accidentally let them go too soon...like behind them-hahahaha! Luke started screaming at Caitlin, Nadia and I to run as fast as we could..It was insane.  Fireworks were going off all around me and we were all panicking.  But no one got hurt thank goodness.  The finale at midnight was the best.  They decided to put all of the fireworks in a pile and set them off at once on the ground.  We all ran away except for the 3 pyros.  The explosion was beautiful--but the best part was the 3 'tough guys' running for their lives screaming at the top of their lungs.  It was a good end to a good day :)  And everyone made it back in one piece.


So the next week and a half we have just been running around like crazy trying to make everyone happy.  We have had clients the whole time that we have this crew here and it has been crazy. So basically how the whole National Geographic thing goes is this:

The kitchen girls!! I love both of them..we have a lot of fun :)

*There are about 40 Nat Geo people here.  They are filming Ultimate Survival Alaska.  There are 11 cast members who are the people who are very outdoorsy and have done incredible things.  The rest are production/crew members for the show.  The cast members were here on the island for about a week for a little break.  The other guys got here the beginning of last week.  They have been on the island and then they go out and film for a few days and then all come back.  We make sandwiches for everyone for lunch everyday.  We also have turned our greenhouse into their dining hall so for breakfast and dinner we run food up to the greenhouse for them.  It is a lot of running, and a whole ton of sandwich making.  It is stressful because they are constantly coming to us for their food issues and changes of plans and stuff.  It can be frustrating but we are handling it well.  Everything is going to seem SO easy at the end of this!!!  They finish the filming tomorrow and will be leaving on Saturday.  At that point we will move back to our room (because they asked us to move so they can use it for their crew) and we will clean up after all of them.  Yay.  :)  It will be nice to have our island back!!!

*All the while we are also caring for our guests.  We have met some cool people.  Not too much excitement there though.

Now that is a salmon!!!!! (and the guy in the green is Luke)

*Yesterday we went 'snagged' salmon.  I had never done that before.  But I caught a super huge one!!  It was really hard to get in the boat.  It was really fun though.  I snagged him pretty much by the tail so he kept swimming away and I just had to hang on for dear life!!  It was really fun though.

*Oh, another fun thing, we learned to crochet from one of the cast members.  He is a Navy Seal.  So that is something I wouldn't expect!  He learned how to make beanies from one of the other guys on the show about two weeks ago.  Now whenever they aren't filming, he is making hats for people.  It was really fun to learn from him.  He is very serious about his crotcheting.  He calls our little sessions 'workshops'.  We even had a little motivational speech from him. :)  So another unexpected thing I have learned while on a little island in Alaska.

*Oh, and we had a helicopter come and land here which was really cool--it was for filming purposes but it was really cool to see.

Well, that's about all I can think of!! I am sure there is more...I am doing well and learning a lot.  I know that I am in Alaska to learn and grow and I am sure doing that!  It can be really hard to be away, but I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.  I learning a lot about people, the wilderness and especially myself.  I thank Heavenly Father everyday for this chance that I have been given. Thank you for your love and prayers.  :)  I appreciate you all!!!  Until next time my friends... :)

Sunset on the fourth of July :)  This place is so gorgeous...

Yep..I'm still alive!!! But lots of fish are not...:)

Hey kids!  Sorry its been so long!  Things have been so crazy here!!  It has been fun though of course.  Lot of work, some fun mixed in :)  

Not too many things have transpired--but I'll tell the exciting things.

*Our cook wasn't feeling well on Monday so I had the opportunity to grill the chicken.  I have never grilled before...so I found some BBQ sauce that I know is good because Brian is a champ at knowing sauces and what is good and what is not--so I knew it had to be good.  He set out chicken for us to use and it was these chicken breast/leg things.  I don't even know what to correctly call them!!  It was just an interesting experience...I didn't know what to do when the grill caught fire because it was burning off the residue of stuff and it caused me to panic and then Caitlin had to come rescue me so I didn't burn the place down.  We did good though :) The chicken didn't poison anyone.  I will gladly allow Brian to continue to cook :)  He makes awesome food.  It was fun to cook again though..I am learning so much from Brian though--so cooking when I get home will hopefully be awesome due to everything he is teaching me :)

*I attempted to wake board after my chicken making. :)  I say attempted because I didn't actually make it up at all.  I merely face planted a gadjillion times in the freezing water.  Thank goodness I was wearing a wet suit so it wasn't too bad...but I did find where it had holes :) haha.  It was a good time.  They sure had fun watching me get dragged by the boat time and time again.  I have been told that the trick is to lean back, get the board at the right angle, push up and the list goes on and on of things I need to be aware of. hahaha  I will figure it out someday :) I am determined to do it before I leave.

The anticipation......ahhhh!!!  I promptly face planted off of the dock moments after this was taken :)

My little baby yellow eye--Jordan is the guy on the roof :)
My other yellow eye was way bigger-
but no one had seen a baby yellow eye in person before!

Dave the Lingcod--Frank is the guy next to me..supporting the weight :)

*Caitlin and I went on the boat on Tuesday all day long.  We went with our clients who got here on Sunday.  --Side note about our clients.  We have 3 that are from Texas (they were referred here by our first guests that were here last month) and then a single lady who is a lawyer in New York.  This is her second time here and she comes to get away from the craziness.  They are all really cool people and we really love them.  So anyway, Luke wanted to take Caitlin and I out one last time before July and all the craziness hit.  Frank and Jordan came too so we had a nice crowd on the one boat!  It was sooo much fun!!  We basically fished all day long.  We caught a TON of bass, but I also caught 4 Lingcod, 2 yellow eyes, and a quillback bass.  I'll tell you what, it was nothing like fishing at Moon Lake for trout!! I do *love* fishing at Moon Lake and I will for my whole life because I have such awesome memories there that cannot be replaced--but man, this is something entirely different!!!  You barely get your line down and BAM! You have a giant fish!!  It is a workout every time to pull those suckers in!!  The Lingcod were the most fun.  They are monsters and they fight!  Definitely getting some arm muscles :) It is a little pathetic to watch me reel those guys in...good entertainment for sure!  I am pleased to announce that I caught the biggest fish of the day.  I named him "Dave" in my father's honor (I know I already named one Dave, but this one needed to be Dave too--so we will have to make due :) ).  "Dave" weighed a total of 53 pounds!!!  Yes, he made it in the boat!!  I am becoming an Alaskan Woman after-all--kind of! :)

Our catch of the day!!!  Super awesome! :)

*Today (Wednesday) was an interesting day.  We had people from the National Geographic cast come on Tuesday night on a boat.  There are about 15 of them.  They are here just taking a break before they have to go back out and be filmed again for their show.  The craziness for the show doesn't really start until next week.  We will have the whole crew here sometime next week--that will be about 40 people total.  Plus we will have clients too.  It is going to be INSANE!!!  It will definitely help the month go by fast!  I think it will fly--this whole time has already!  The people in the cast seem to be really nice.  Very accomplished, cool people.  They are all very nice.  Back to today--it was a crazy morning trying to figure out logistics and everything.  Caitlin and I needed a break and it was just a beautiful day.  So we went on a hike and took our books.  We found a nice set of big rocks on the coast and read our books in the sun.  There was a perfect light, summer breeze, and it was just beautiful.  It was very relaxing.  We stayed there for awhile but then had to head back to the lodge because...wait for it....we were going to do YOGA!!  One of the women in the cast for the Nat Geo thing asked us if we wanted to do yoga with some of them.  We said "sure, why not?!"  So we met them at 4 and set up on the dock.  As we were doing our yoga, with our nice music and everything going on, Frank runs down the ramp as fast as possible and jumps in the little Boston Whaler that we have.  I got up really quick and asked what was up.  He said that there was a plane that went down and he went to help.  It turns out that a guy was flying and didn't check his gas.  He ran out and miraculously was able to land.  It could have been a really nasty situation, but he was OK and so was his airplane.  Frank pulled him in (as we were still doing yoga...haha..it must have been a sight to see).  Then we decided to end our little yoga session.  It was really fun actually.  I think we might do it tomorrow too :)  We had a great time doing it.  There were 4 other people besides Caitlin and I doing it.  The things we get into here...:) Its awesome.

*OK--so one more funny thing that happened today (Wednesday)--Caitlin and I were in charge of making the homemade ice cream tonight.  We discovered something very crucial.  No matter how many Oreo cookies you put in, it won't taste right unless you put in the SUGAR. :)  Needless to say, we ended up using the ice cream that Brian made earlier.  They just didn't have options.  Oops :)

Well, that's about all folks!  I am sure there is more, but it is time for me to get to sleep!  Remember, I love you all and miss you!!  Thanks for staying up with me!! Stay tuned for more!!!!!!!