Land of the Eskimo

I arrived in Sitka Alaska on May 19th and started work the next day! The Island is about the size I had imagined but is COMPLETELY wooded. There are 4 main buildings: The House ;where Phil and Gwen Younger, the owners of Talon Lodge, live. The Lodge; this contains staff lodging on the main floor, a prep area upstairs along with a kitchen, a very large living room with comfy leather couches and a large dinning room with a bar at the end. The Lodge also has an upper deck used when the good weather rolls around and a lower deck which contains a pool table and a larger bar area. The third and fourth buildings are guest lodging. Seth house is the biggest and Clois House sits right behind it. Attached to Seth House is also the "Breeze way" where we keep all the rain gear.

So far we've just been cleaning and prepping the island for guests, we've been kept very busy setting up beds, cleaning windows, walls, floors, bars, rain gear, bathrooms, anything and everything. Stocking the liquor house, taking inventory of EVERYTHING, power washing and staining every single piece of wood that needs it, preparing the dinning area and the prep areas...we've been busy. BUT, that's fine by me, cause there's not much else to do. After are days are over, we usually spend some time around the pool table and kickin back to some tunes.

There's roughly 20 staff members, half of those are on the boats. The other half are the four girls; Myself, Jena (my roommate), Kelsey and Alysha. Kelsey and Jena are our massage therapists.... hopefully I'll get in on some of that action. We also have our two Chefs, David and Baron....they make magic. I will not be surprised if I become a big blimp by the end of the summer. Then there is Dickie who is in charge of us girls and makes sure we always have a task waiting for us :) Phil and Gwen are always around as well. And then there is Tim. Tim is "The Man" and does EVERYTHING on the island. He makes sure everything is always running well, if we have a problem with heating, plumbing, electricity anything... except food... Tim is the man to ask. Other than that the rest of the staff are on the boats.

The view is gorgeous! Its perfectly normal to see eagles swarming at any given moment, which is all new to me! I saw a fin of an Orca yesterday, that was pretty exciting.

Guests start arriving on Wednesday so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to update, the Internet is in and out as well. But keep writing me! I love hearing from everyone! I also put up more pics in my Alaska 2010 album on facebook, check 'em out!

Peacin Out

In roughly two hours I will be flying out of Missoula on my way to Sitka, Alaska.

My new adventure will consist of three months working at Talon Lodge, a fishing resort and spa.

This Lodge is on an island 10 minutes off of Sitka and I could probably run around the entire island in 15min (I'm a slow runner). My job title for the summer will be "House Keeper, Waitress, Bartender and General Lackey".

Summer in Alaska as we all know is quite different from anywhere else in the states. It will be light out...ALWAYS!!! But won't get much hotter than 70f, most of my summer will be spent inside the lodge anyway so no summer tan for me! The fishing season ends the beginning of September so I will be returning home on the 6th.

I'll try to keep this updated as much as possible, but I'm not exactly sure how much time I really will have. PLEASE write me though, I know I'll love getting mail and hearing updates from people even if I can't always reply. Also, please keep me in your prayers as this will most likely be the most intense summer....EVER.....yeah.

I hope you all have a wonderful summer, enjoy the warmth for me! Stay safe and make good decisions :)

A First!!!!

Happy First Birthday to Avalon Elizabeth Yoder!!!

A year ago today I was being scarred for life by watching my sister Dani give birth to her first baby!

Sadly I missed out on the next 4months of her life as I went back to England, then the next 5months after my return in September as they moved to Ohio. April brought Avalon back to me (along with her parents of course) and the whole family has enjoyed seeing what a beautiful, funny little girl she's becoming!

Avalon is SUCH and entertaining baby. She totters around the house, runs sideways, and speaks fluent gibberish. She's just learned to blow kisses, waves at anyone that walks past her and gives out smiles to the nearest stranger. She absolutely loves being the center of attention and will show off her "tricks" when asked.

Ava is definitely a joy to be around (unless she's tired) I can't imagine how much she will change during my time in Alaska!!! Also this fall she'll become a big sister!!!! Yoder Baby No.2 Due October 19th!!!!

A Walking Contradiction

Last night I realized that that is pretty much what I am, a walking contradiction. I had a bath using of course bubbles and salts, as one does when trying to relax, enjoying a glass of wine, my favorite chocolates and some digestive bisquits whilst also watching Jane Austens "North Anger Abbey". That was me being an absolute "girlie girl", but every now and again I would pause my movie to check the score of my baseball game, First inning: down by one Orioles have the lead. Continue on with movie, pause, second inning Redsox score!!!!!!!! We're now tied, on with the movie....so on and so forth, I think you get the picture. "Jane Austen FANATIC" + "Redsox fan to the death"= Me "The walking contradiction".

I don't know what more to say on this matter, except that I am perfectly comfortable in my craziness and I am able to keep myself fairly entertained.

For those of you who are Jane Austen fans, I've just watched North Anger Abbey and Mansfield Park, I highly recommend them especially North Anger....I think I'll watch it again tomorrow.... told you I was a fanatic!