Another fabulous week has passed, full of new adventure and experiences. This week we had the most beautiful few days of weather that we have had since we have been here. It as in the upper 40's with clear skies and warm sunshine. I know my friends and family in the southeast experienced a nice bit of snow and ice. Just let me know if any of you need to come to Alaska to warm up! :) We attended another Wrangell High School girls' basketball game Friday evening - and the Wolves won against Haines!

This weekend my fiance arranged for us to pick up 3 crabs from a local fisherman. Crab legs are one of Jim's favorites when it comes to seafood. I have tried crab legs and few times and never have liked it, but with it being fresh and local I decided to give it another try with no luck. The only way so far I have liked crab meat is in crab cakes. Yum! I also did not really like even looking at the crabs. They are huge and alien-like in appearance. As my friend Brandi says, they too much resemble a very, very, very large spider. No thanks.  I did manage to hold one, much to the delight of Jim, after it was basically dead and refused to fight back to my grasp.

We also went to lunch at a diner called Zak's Cafe. While enjoying our meal, the cook began talking to us about various happenings around town. Eventually he said in his New Jersey accent, "Do you guys like tuna?" I slightly shook my head, knowing the only tuna I have had is in tuna salad and I was not a fan. Jim promptly responded with a certain, "YES!". The cook went to the freezer in the back of the dining area and handed over 2 large tuna steaks that he hasn't had a chance to prepare. Jim's eyes lit up and I found myself flipping through Pinterest to find an easy tuna recipe. What I found was very delicious: Asian Sesame Grilled Tuna Steak. We added the tuna to fried rice and fresh crab legs and enjoyed it on our Saturday night date before going to see The Imitation Game at our little one-screen multi-purpose movie theater.

My weekly "God thing":
This week I have been humbled by my insignificant plans that I have for myself, in the realization that I can't begin to understand what is in my best interest. The church we have been attending has just wrapped up a series on prayer and the timing in God's response to our prayers. It is hard to wait and hard to know sometimes if our God is really listening and hearing our prayers. But the thing is, as covered in our morning's sermon, he will ALWAYS respond to our faith. What is prayer without faith but a one-sided conversation? Our faith is our tool for hearing and trusting God's timing and responses to our prayers. I love the song, Till I See You by Hillsong United. It is a nice reminder that I am in existence to praise God in everything I do and that I am trusting in His perfect timing.

Another week in Wrangell, AK has very quickly come and gone. I feel like I am so busy trying to soak everything in and catch all of my experiences that I can hardly keep my head above water! We are obviously getting pretty settled into a routine at work and hopefully nearing the end of a long process of closing on a house in the next couple of weeks!! We are so excited and can't wait to have visitors for those of you in the lower 48 who are wanted to make the journey.

This week I have seen more shrimp than I have seen in my entire life; 100 pounds of shrimp to be exact. A local fisherman was selling shrimp "straight from the ocean" for only $2 a pound. Of course, this means that a lot of time is spent by the buyer preparing the shrimp for consumption. This is not a very glorious, clean, or quick process but my fiance sure does love the final result of endless shrimp bowls. What wasn't immediately prepared was frozen for what is sure to be a growing stock of seafood!

Thursday evening we went to our first home basketball game at Wrangell High School. Go, Wolves! We watched the last quarter of the JV game and then the Varsity game against a team from Craig, AK. Unfortunately, it was not a win for the wolves but both games were close and fun to watch.

Valentine's Day was a special day. We spent the morning at a "Chocolate Lover" event at Wrangell Medical Center. I took my Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Peppermint No Bake Cookies to be judged. It was a fierce competition and I did not win, but really enjoyed filling up my box with homemade goodies. Of course, my fiance made the day special by showering me with gifts, spending time doing one of my favorite things (hiking), and taking me to a wonderful dinner in the evening. We hiked up a trail and 700 steps to "Rainbow Falls" with my puppy. Whew! It was totally worth the work for the view at the top. Everything here is breathtaking.

My weekly "God thing":
I hate to be cliche, but obviously Love has been a resounding thought for me this week. We experience so many different kinds of love: love for material things (CHOCOLATE!), love for places and home, love for animals and pets, love for people, and God's love. The most beautiful example of love given to us is the love of God, Agape. It's a love that is not measurable, surpassable, or even comprehensible and it makes me want to just burst with excitement that with everything I do to screw things up, I am loved no less by my creator. Sharing Agape Love with others is the best way to share that joy with our neighbors.
"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which bind them all together in perfect unity." - Colossians 3:12-14

My post is late again! Sorry for the delay - it's sometimes hard for me to take time away from the beautiful scenery around me to sit in front of a computer.

This past week was wonderful! We got our first taste of Alaska snow. So far in February it has snowed 5 out of 9 days and we currently have about a foot on the ground. It is so beautiful! The first night it snowed we also had a wind advisory with gusts up to 90 mph so that was slightly scary, but people here are not as concerned with wind. I guess that is just a price we have to pay for living on the ocean! :)

I also wanted to wait a little longer to write because I was hoping to be able to share with you that I was the champion of Wrangell's annual cribbage tournament - however; I was not the champion. It was a lot of fun to participate and I was able to meet 17 other fellow cribbage players of all ages. Coffee and cribbage are two of my favorite things. I have spent some time sharing the game with a friend at work as well as my roommates. It's a very popular game here. Luckily for me, I've already been playing about 20 years.

Other than cribbage and work we have spent most of our time out with the dog in our winter wonderland of a park. Beatrice loves the snow for a short amount of time but then she is ready to get back indoors.

My weekly "God thing":
This week, a resounding thought for me has been laughter. I've heard a story from a friend who's uncle had passed away. Her aunt has dementia and didn't really understand what was happening. When she was presented with the American Flag at the funeral, she began laughing. Seemingly inappropriate, but also a blessing that she isn't mourning and that the Lord filled her with joy in her situation.
I also experienced a group laughing session at work. A member of the nursing staff cracked a joke privately with a patient in the day room during breakfast. The patient then began laughing uncontrollably with the most heart warming laughter I have heard. Thankfully, laughter is contagious and within a few seconds every worker and patient in the day room was laughing and no reason other than hearing another's laughter. It was beautiful.

"Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”
-Psalm 126:2