North to Alaska (without me)

It has been so long since I've updated that I literally forgot for a minute how to do it! Don't fear, all is well, I figured it out again! OK, so my blonde moment is over (for now--I've been getting them more and more lately. Why you ask? Stay tuned for another post). Anyway, Seth went to Alaska on a fishing trip along with his dad and brother (Jared). He had such a good time and although he would never tell me this for fear of hurting my feelings, I'm pretty sure he didn't want to come back. He did say he missed us, but he said nothing of missing Keokuk. Hmmm. Well, he had oodles of great experiences but since I run this blog by myself, I'm not going to tell you any of them. Instead, I'll share a few pictures and tell you what my life was like without him. We'll start off with a picture:

This is a 70 lb. Halibut Seth caught while on a charter boat. He was the lucky one to have caught the biggest fish that day. However, his brother Jared came close. I believe the fish behind him all belong to them but I'm not really positive so take that information with a grain of salt. All I really know for sure is that we have about 65 lbs. of Halibut downstairs in our deep freeze. I consider that foodstorage. If the power goes out---We'll take it outside and make fish jerkey (I'm pretty sure there's a way to do it using just the sun although how would I ever figure out how to do it without the internet?!).

Here is a scenic picture that Jared took. The first time I saw it I said "that's where I want to live". This literally looks like a little spot reserved in heaven for my future mansion (assuming I make it there). Oh, it almost makes me cry I love it so much. I bet on a sunny day it is breathtaking. For about a week or two after Seth got home he wanted to move to Alaska. And he was serious too, not just dreaming. Since I'm in my gypsy mode right now I was ready to pack up the house and head North (West) the next day. We looked at jobs, houses, everything. In the end however, we decided it was impractical and unfair for the wee one (and future wee ones) to be that far from family. Maybe when we're rich and retired. Unless we can convince family members to move with us. Any one? Any one? I didn't think so.

I don't know what to really say about this photo other than the three of them were on a fishing trip and here is a picture with some fish (I assume fish they caught). I'm guessing Salmon as we also have some Salmon in our deep freezer along with the Halibut.

OK, now onto the real story. Seth was gone for about a week and a half. I dropped him off at the airport early on Friday morning and then headed to Sam's Club. I have been in my food storage mode and thought I would take advantage of being close to Sam's. Rylan and I went to Sam's and got so much stuff that I couldn't push the cart around anymore. I'm pretty sure it weighed about 479 pounds, for real. I got out to the truck, loaded up and headed to my mother in-laws. When I woke up the next morning I took Abbie out and I was thinking "Hmm. What do you know? It rained last night". It didn't click until about an hour later that Rain mixed with the 50 lbs of bread flour in the bed of my truck doesn't make for very good food storage. Rats!!! So back to Sam's we went. It was my birthday so I treated myself to a new jacket that I had been eye-ing up. 20 bucks, wahoo! Anyway, new bags of flour, even more junk I don't need and the trip was over. I went home the next day and started my work week. I had the bright idea that while Seth was gone I'd work everyday (ideally 10 hours per day) to save up a bit of cash---or at least pay off my latest Sam's shopping trip! I found out really quickly that I just do not have what it takes to be a full time working mom. At least not right now. Man, that was a bad week. I felt like I didn't see rylan at all. And to be completely honest, when I got my check and realized that it was no where near worth it. I won't do that again just for nickels and dimes. It's never worth what you sacrifice. Well, at the end of the week I loaded the truck back up and went to Mother-in-laws for some food storage fun. Melyse, Elaine, and I put all our food up into mylar bags and that is so much work. At first it was fun and Melyse and I were giggling and towards the end we had had enough of that. But it was worth it in the end. My one year supply is almost done!!!! Well, I picked up Seth the next day and here is what I learned while he was off playing: I really love my husband. I NEED my husband. Now I know that is a huge cliche and people say that all the time and you're like "Yack. I just threw up in my mouth". But it is true. It's also a little hard to admit for me. At least the NEED part. I consider myself a pretty independent gal and all my friends around here know I'm pretty much a feminist. It's not that I couldn't do the everyday things on my own (although it is nice to have his help). It's more that I just don't feel the same without him. I constantly feel like a piece of me is gone. When I picked him up at midnight that night I was so exhausted but seeing him was like seeing my best friend for the first time in years. I guess what I'm trying to say after all this meaningless rambling is, I think I chose well for myself and I have never once regretted the choice.