Hello SLR, it's about time we become friends

A few days early, we found my birthday gift on Craislist today. A 2006 Nikon D50, barely used. The guy I purchased it from said he bought it on impulse and hardly used it. I've been wanting an SLR for quite some time, but couldn't bring myself to drop the cash on a brand new one until I know my way around the SLR world a little better. We got an amazing deal on it. I made my cats model for my first click around the house with my new toy. I have a rudimentary knowledge of how to work this thing, but really have a lot to learn. Can't wait.

Expect more frequent blogging, my friends.

Also, with the major ice storm in Alaska and all the snow in the Northwest, drive safe out there.

 

 

Halloween ... a belated post

Davin dressed up as a gangster for Halloween and we did both Trick or Treat Street in downtown and Trunk or Treat at a friend's church with my parents while they were in town. Strangely, I never chased them with the camera while they were here like I usually do and am dismayed to not find any pictures of them to add to this post. We had a wonderful time cooking, visiting and relaxing with them.

 Trick or Treat Street was a cool idea but I wouldn't recommend it to parents. It was a lot of long, cold lines at downtown stores for not a lot of childhood sweet rewards. But Trunk or Treat was a ton of fun and will be in our future Halloween plans.

Snapshots of fall flavors

Sister cat wants to help chop carrots before a poker night at the Zepeda household. We always take snacks to share.

We've been doing a lot of roasting and crockery cooking in the past couple weeks. I've become a near expert at vegetarian roast.

 

Halloween cookies. We tested out get food coloring for the frosting and it's awesome. Way less messy than the old liquid stuff.

The start of butternut squash soup.

A funny thing actually happened on the way to the opera

Joshua and I got a great deal on Opera tickets and invitations to the Anchorage Opera's season opener after party, so we got dressed up and went. Walking to the restaurant downtown for dinner before the show a yellow car honked at us while we were in the crosswalk. I jumped and glared at the driver, before realizing they weren't being rude but trying to get my attention. It was my coworker Nadya with her friend at the wheel, also on their way to dinner before heading to the show. So we decided to join forces and share wine and laughs at Ginger. She was even kind enough to share her pictures from the evening with us since my camera would not fit in my tiny dress-up purse. Can you spot us in the atrium of the opera house above?

 

Photos courtesy of Nadya Gilmore.

Fun new heights

Davin and I discovered a new piece of playground equipment had been installed at our favorite playground on a recent bike ride. It's a giant jungle gym made of steel and rope. I climbed to the top with another mom on the playground at the cajoling of our kids. It wasn't so bad.

This isn't redundant ...

This sign hangs over the soup aisle at my friendly neighborhood Carr's store (Alaska's Safeway). I guess they just wanted to be thorough.

Open eyes

It's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and forget how geographically amazing, beautiful and strange this place I live is. But over the last two weeks, I've had several reminders that I'm in Alaska:

1. EARTHQUAKES: Last week we were rattled with two earthquakes. First was a 4.9 magnitude on Tuesday just 15 miles from Anchorage. Everyone at work jumped as the sound of a semi-truck slammed into the side of our building, but really it was the sound of the earth moving. It shook for several seconds, but no damage was reported anywhere. The second was a 5.4 about a 3-hour-drive north. It woke us up Saturday morning at 4 a.m. I had to get up and to see how fast the local news reported it online.

2. WIND: We had a windstorm Friday with gusts up to 70 mph in places that knocked down trees and knocked out power through much of Southcentral Alaska. Some more remote locations had no power for days after the storm. We actually rarely have much wind at all here, but it contributed to a strange week.

3. SNOW: Termination dust capped the mountains Sunday. The official sign that summer is over. The sight makes skiers cheer and lovers-of-summer like myself pout. We also had flurries in Anchorage Sunday. Nothing stuck, but it reminded us that it will soon. The photo above was taken Sunday traveling south on the Glenn Highway. (Note to my mother: Don't worry, I was in the passenger seat.)

4. FOG: I'm kicking myself for not photographing the eerie for that shrouded the 3 feet over the baseball fields the other day. It looked like the opening scene of a scary movie.

5. DARKNESS: The Fall Equinox passed the other day, and with it, my ability to drive to work without headlights.

Hopefully I won't wait for the next round of earthquakes to open my eyes and remember the beauty and wonder of my surroundings.