It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

 Hi Friends!

Everything is going well here above the Arctic circle.  The twilight hours are turning into minutes, but the temps are strangely above normal for Barrow.  The other day I spotted the thermostat at 29 degrees!  A heat wave!

We finally got a glimpse of the whale bones.

I would have stood under them so you can see how tall they are, but it was waaaaaay too cold.

Jose and I have taken advantage of the above average temps and use it as an excuse to save on cab fare (and get more exercise!)  

Getting ready to head out!

The other day we walked to the Post Office.  Here is what happened:  

My eyelashes froze. 

Goggles would come in handy right about now!

Snow machine tracks

They should have a yard sale.

Jose spilled coffee on his mitten and it froze immediately. 

We also wanted to check out the sushi restaurant in town.  You might think, "there is sushi in the Arctic?!"  Why yes, there is!

Amaury's first time in a high chair!

Amaury loves rice and miso!

He couldn't get enough!

Forget the bottle mama! 

Delish!!!

We couldn't resist.  

It was tasty!

We celebrated Thanksgiving with 3 other families.  We all made side dishes and desserts, and Jose prepared the turkey.  I found a nice brine, which we got going the night before, and it turned out pretty good.  I'm not a huge turkey fan, but I love to help Jose prepare it.  It was a nice afternoon of getting to know the other families and watching all the kids play.  Amaury had a taste of just about everything on our plate.  I can't believe how much this kid likes pretty much whatever we give him.  (Picky eaters would not be allowed in our family anyway!)  Afterwards, we continued our celebration at our new friends, Cruz and Lilliana's house.  I was so happy for Jose to be able to speak Spanish!

There have been a number of craft fairs going on in town, but nothing beats the annual Rotary event last Saturday.  We arrived to find a parking lot full of cars and people walking out with large bags full of goodies.  They had everything from handmade fur hats, mittens and boots to art work and photography.  It was also a meeting spot of everyone in town.  We spent over 2 hours at the craft fair - mostly socializing!  I did get some cute mukluks for Amaury.

Amaury just loves all the social events in Barrow!

Yesterday morning, Jose got ready for work just as he normally would, then he got what I call a "magic text."

THE HOSPITAL IS CLOSED DUE TO THE BLIZZARD.

What?  How could this Arctic town close?  I was like a kid in elementary school - Snow Day!!!!  We put Amaury down for a nap and suited up to "take out the trash."  Yes, that was our excuse to go outside!

I could barely get the door open because of this!

It didn't snow millions of inches as you might assume.  This is from some serious snow drifting.

Taking out the trash!

And Finally.....

Greetings from the festive wall of soda in the AC Supermarket.
Merry Christmas, everyone!

Gearing up for the Polar Night

Hi Friends,

I hope this blog finds you well and warm.  I've been watching the news as the "Cold Arctic Blast" hit the Lower 48.  I heard NYC even got a little snow!  I hope all of my Illinois friends are doing ok after the storms that blew through over the weekend.

Things around here are great, even though the days are very short and cold.  Jose is working a ton, and Amaury is filling his days with giggles, rolling over and learning to crawl!  He loves to visit his friends at the hospital and the library.

Jose decided to walk home from the hospital the other day.  This is what he encountered!  

(P.S. I take a taxi in this weather - or stay home!)

Tomorrow, the sun will set for what is called the Polar Night, and we won't see the sun until late January.  As I understand, there will be twilight but also a time of total darkness.  Many have asked how I will deal with the darkness.  Well - Light!  I turn on all the lights in the house (which are full spectrum, so much brighter than the average lamplight).  I also make sure I spend time with friends, visit Jose for lunch a few days a week, work out and diffuse essential oils.  Amaury and I like to have dance parties too.  Barrow friends - you are welcome to join us :)  There is always something going on in Barrow, and we make sure we are a part of it!

Snowy Owl

Hello friends!

This is somewhat an unofficial update, so it will be a short one.

So I was slouching around the house today and noticed that it was snowing.  I know, I know... It's snowing in the Arctic, how unusual!  It was somewhat blustery out, and Pam informed me that it was a mere 32F.

I decided to open the window to feel the fresh breeze and look at the sideways snowflakes.  Pam has always said that I'm a dreamer...  But back to the story.  After like 5 to 15 minutes of looking and letting my thoughts wander, a tricked out pickup was coming toward the house.  Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something.  At first I wanted to believe it was a plastic bag floating about, which made no sense, as it would have to defy the laws of physics to travel perpendicular to blustering snowy wind.

I fixated my gaze on a certain light pole and after a few seconds I saw white wings!  My heart started to beat faster as I knew this could only be one animal.  I called Pam excitedly, "BABY!  Come quick!"  After a quick update, she encouraged me to get the camera and try to snap some pics.  As I started to get ready, "it's flying away!"  I was truly pissed!  My first encounter with a Snowy Owl, and I managed to miss seeing it in flight.  Pam encouraged me to gear up anyway and told me which direction the Snowy took.  It wasn't even one block away!

I tried to battle the elements and keep the camera still.  It was too far and too dark.  I tried to walk towards the majestic snowy.  I knew that trying to sneak up on something with telescopic vision and a remarkable sense of hearing would be futile.  I walked straight at it and let it decide how close it would let me get.  Looking through my telescopic lens, I saw it's eyes fixed on me, and it spread it's wings and gracefully and soared away...  Back home I went.

We were looking out of the same window once more, and unbelievably I had a second chance.  It was there once again!  Pam pointed the way and I geared up.  This time 2 blocks away.  I got a few pics and was able to just stand under the light pole to stare and admire until my fingers went numb.

Excuse me....what's THAT up in the sky?!

I've been asking everyone I know here the same two questions. 

1. Have you ever seen a polar bear? 
2. Can you see the Aurora Borealis in Barrow? 

Last night one of our questions was answered and our dreams of seeing this incredible natural wonder realized.

Earlier in the day, Amaury and I went story time at the library.  I've been asking many of my new mom friends about how and when to catch the Aurora.  It typically happens between 10pm-2am.  It has to be a clear night.  It's best seen away from the lights of the city.  Jose had heard from a colleague that there had been an Aurora the last 2 nights.  She was asked to call us immediately if and when she sees the lights.

Jose got home from work around 5:30pm.  The following day is a holiday (Inuit Day) here in Alaska, so we decided to take an evening trip to the AC supermarket to stock up on some goodies for our day off together.  We were going keep an eye out that evening and make ourselves stay up past 8:30pm (well, for me anyway!)

As we stepped out of the taxi at our home with hands full of groceries....Jose looks at me and says, "Baby, look UP!"

And there it was!

It started out very faint, but we could definitely see the green hue.  As it began to fade, we headed inside (hands still full of groceries and an infant snuggled inside Jose's jacket).

We started to settle in and begin another lookout, when Jose says, "I see purple!"  This is when it got really bright.  We put Amaury to bed and suited up to walk outside our house (with baby monitor in hand!)  Here's a glimpse of what we saw.  Jose did an awesome job of capturing the lights.  It was really difficult given the bright lights of the town as well as the negative wind chill!  Also, thanks to our friends for texting us to make sure we knew it was happening! 

It was magical. 

Earth to Matilda

So everything with us here in Barrow is going pretty well.  However, this last week seemed like we were getting a few curve balls thrown at us.  All 3 of us ended up getting a horrible stomach bug at different times.  I guess it's better than all of us at the same time, right?  We are on the mend now, thank goodness!

Then our computer died.  I had a feeling this was coming because our little laptop is getting up there in age.  Luckily, I backed everything up before we left Vegas, so I'm not worried.  Our new computer is on it's way! (and more pictures up on the blog once we get everything set up.)

Jose and I both celebrated our birthdays in October.  But our celebrations were nothing compared to a 1 year old bday party we attended last week.  The food alone covered every square inch of the long tables for over 100 people.  I told Amaury not to get any ideas for his first birthday party. 

Check out our ride to the party!

Should I just hop in the back?

Whoa

Yes, those are crabs

Enter the birthday girl

All the family gathers together

This is where they put the kids when they pass out

Our little Pirate on Halloween!

Some progress on the Australia front - Jose was able to have his interview via videoconference at the library here in town!  This was something we've been looking forward to (and stressing about) for months now.  We originally thought we would have him fly to Fairbanks or Anchorage for this interview exam, but it ended up working out right here in Barrow!  Somehow all the people involved were able to calculate the time difference between here and Brisbane.....after the daylight savings time weekend too!

And let's talk about daylight "savings."  I know it technically ended for almost everyone in the lower 48 - and Alaska.  It doesn't mean much for folks in the Artic Slope.  Daylight is disappearing by 20-30 minutes everyday.  Today the sun rose at 10am and set at 3:30pm.  I hope I'm ready for the polar night.  Jose says, "November 18th, lights out!" 

Who wants to come visit?????

We'll frolic and play....the Eskimo way!

Hi Friends,

I'm back to give a little update on our life here in Barrow.  I've noticed just from being here over a week that the days are getting shorter (by at least 20 minutes every day!) and the temps are dropping.  One day last week it was 37 degrees and ice melting everywhere, and today it is 25 and snowing! 

10am sunrise

Afternoon sun peaking out from the clouds

Jose and I both try to get out and walk as much as we can before it gets too cold.  We went all out on high quality winter gear before we left, and I'm sure glad we did!  I've been able to walk to the library and grocery store (a 20 minute stroller walk) and have been quite comfortable.  If I take Amaury in the stroller, I make sure I dress him in a onesie with feet, a bear suit from old navy (with feet, hands and head coverage.  Then I put him in a cozy car seat sleeping bag thing.  I'd say he stays pretty warm, as I've caught him asleep many times during our treks out.  Our jogging stroller is awesome here too.  I lock the front tire and can scale big mounds of snow! 

Little bunny all suited up

The Tuzzy library

Here is a video of some kids as I walked by......

We celebrated Jose's birthday last night by opening up our pumpkin stout we bought in Anchorage.  Yummmmm!  Then we headed out to Arctic Pizza.  They serve pretty much any kind of food you can think of.  I wasn't expecting much, but to our surprise....the pizza was tasty! 

The cake I made for him was not....

An update on Amaury is that he LOVES eating like a big boy.  He sees Jose and I eat, and he can't help but grab everything!  A few of his favorites are butternut squash, sweet potato and pears.  He didn't like carrots too much, but he managed to eat a few (before making a gagging face.)  

We are also enjoying his ever-emerging mullet:

  Love to you all from Alaska!

Greetings from the Top of the World!

We made it to Barrow, Alaska!  It's very surreal for us to be here, but we are settling in nicely.

We left Las Vegas on a 7am flight to Seattle, then continued on to Anchorage.  Once we were in Anchorage, we had a 4 hour layover.  We killed time by trying out a few local Alaskan beers at the airport brewery.  Delish!

Our plane to Barrow was a little different than other planes.  You walk outside to board the back of the plane, because the front of the plane is used for cargo.  Since Barrow is a fly-in only town, people take advantage of 3 free bags (when traveling solely in Alaska) and stock up on food and other goods.

The flight was relatively smooth, considering we flew over some of the tallest peaks - the Brooks Range.  However, our sweet Amaury was over flying....and let the whole plane know!  Poor pumpkin, he only slept about 20 minutes the whole day!  Ugh!!

We landed safely in Barrow, deboarded the plane and walked on ground covered in 2 inches of ice towards the terminal.  (For those who remember, I broke my leg when I slipped on ice in NYC a few years back....this terrified me.)

A driver met us in the 1 room airport, loaded up our 10 bags, and drove us to our home for the next 3 months.

We are staying in a 3 bedroom, 1 bath house.  What I love about it are a few things -

1. It has a dedicated mud room.  I've always thought houses should have a dedicated room for you to take off your coat/boots and change into your house shoes.  It's warm and spacious - and I love that none of the melted ice gets into your house!
2. It's super warm inside
3. Gas range - very happy about this
4. Amaury gets his own room.  He also has a pack n play provided by the hospital.  We brought up a foam mattress to give him some extra cushion, and he sleeps much more soundly!
5. There is a dog sled parked right next to our house.  I love this for so many reasons!!!

#5 - Dog sled.

On our first full day here, we suited up and walked to the supermarket.  It's only about 3/4 of a mile walk.  I'm glad we brought our SUV jogging stroller, as it worked great in the snow.  I'm also pumped we bought cleats for our boots - a MUST HAVE so we don't fall on the ice.

It seems every place has seating and storage for you to take off your boots when you walk in.  Again, I love this!

The prices are ridiculous as expected.  We loved walking around and justifying items we checked in our luggage like our 2 jars of peanut butter or all of our spices.  Yay!! 

One item we needed was a bath tub for Amaury.  $40 for a baby bath tub.....holy cow!  We couldn't justify that purchase, so I looked around the store again for any sort of wash tub we could make shift into a tub for our baby.  What did we end up with????

A kitty litter pan.  $8.99 folks.  (don't judge....it's never been used!)

Here we are loaded up, ready for our walk home:

I'm not sure who that guy is in the back ground.  Ha!

Jose cooked up some yummy chicken and rice last night, and I made a salad.  I think we'll be eating just fine here :)

Today, Dr. Valerio started orientation for his new job.  The new hospital just opened under a month ago, and it's 2 streets away behind our house.  It's a beautiful facility.  Amaury and I were invited over there for lunch to celebrate the retiring physician.  Everyone we met was really nice and eager to help us get to know how everyone lives up here.

The new hospital!

Starting my walk home

One of the houses has whale parts in their yard.

someone snored all the way home in his Moby wrap.

Many of you have asked about our cell phone reception.  Well, it's not great.  In fact, I've yet to hear my phone ring but see later that someone has called.  I also can't hear my voicemail for some reason.  Weird.  I can text, but it does take a while for the texts to go through.  We can't access the internet without wireless...and we don't have a router anyway.  All this will take a bit to get used to, but honestly, I don't mind.  We were able to get our cable and internet hooked up yesterday (like 1 hour after we called!)  So, at least I can check email/facebook and update the blog pretty regularly!

Today is a pretty warm day for Barrow.  It's currently 36 degrees and everything is melting.  I'm sure all of it will refreeze soon enough.

On another note...we gave Amaury his first taste of food today.  He's been grabbing at our food for about 2-3 weeks now.  I guess this little piggy is ready for the real thing!!  Here he is eating a bite of banana.

I think that's all for now! xoxo Pam