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...