Drum Festival

These were taken during the Drum Festival held at the Alaska Native Heritage Center. These pictures are of the international performers, if you would like to see the local drummers & dancers, they are shown at the above post.
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America Indigena performers

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Tomodachi Taiko performers

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Ke Kia'i A O Hula performers

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Ani Lokomaika'i Lipscomb is part of ECHO (Education through Cultural and Historical Organizations), she performed today but seperate from the above hula group.

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I have audio clips of the performances and will post if I can get it figured out.

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Earth Day April 22nd

Just a little bit of inspiration. I definitely want to do my part to preserve what we have here on earth.a
So, what are you doing to be more green and earth friendly?
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Happy Anniversary Dad & Mom!

My parents are celebrating their 42nd Anniversary and we want to wish them lots of love from the both of us!
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May your thoughts be as glad as the shamrocks.

May your heart be as light as a song.

May each day bring you bright happy hours,

That stay with you all year long.

For each petal on the shamrock

This brings a wish your way -

Good health, good luck, and happiness

For today and every day.

We love you guys very much and wish that we could have spent some time with you today. We miss you greatly and hope that you had a Happy Anniversary.

All our love,

DeeDee & Kyle
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Wearing of the Green

Wishing you a

aaaaaaaaBeannachtam na Feile Padraig!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaka

aaaaaaaaHappy St.Patrick's Day!

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The Simple Woman's Daybook - March 16th

FOR TODAY, MONDAY MARCH 16, 2009

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Outside my window... It's a bright cool day outside and even though we got several inches of snow over the weekend, it still feels like spring!

I am thinking... About St. Patrick's Day, I have some traditional Irish food planned, but we may go out to a local pub to watch the Irish dancers and bagpipers and enjoy some free food, & maybe an Irish coffee for me.

I am thankful for... My full pantry as even though we have a fairly strict budget, our pantry is always overflowing with tasty food.

From the kitchen... I haven't started dinner yet, our planned dinner will be steak bites with sauteed mushrooms, and a green salad. I am already hungry :-)

I am wearing... Still in my stinky work clothes. Even though I can't smell it, Kyle says I smell like tomatoes and onions which is obvious considering that I work in a mostly Southwestern style restaurant.

I am going... To check out what is on pay per view tonight, our show Heroes isn't on so we may watch a movie.

I am reading... The things they carried. It is a story about American soldiers during the Vietnam conflict. It was one of my great finds over the weekend at the local used bookstore.

I am hoping... That I don't have any more accidents today. I got a bad burn at work today that is 4 inches long with the skin mostly peeled off at this point, I brushed my arm against a 500 degree oven, ouch!. And then once at home I went about picking up the yard, and being in a hurry I was outside without gloves. In all I was out about 30 min. and ended up with completely numb hands, I've never had frost bite but there is a first for everything. They are still really tingly but hopefully will be ok. Probably not a good idea to go outside for an extended amount of time when it is in the single digits and have no gloves, duh!

I am hearing... Lovely Irish music, makes me smile and even though St. Patrick's Day is an Irish holiday it mostly reminds me of spring and that summer is just around the corner.

Around the house... It is warm and toasty, the dogs are happy to be out of there kennels for the day and we are anxiously awaiting Kyle's arrival. Things are always better when we are all home together.

One of my favorite things... Pictures of pugs, Kyle bought me a Pug calendar for Christmas and it resides next to the computer so I get to see a new Pug(s) everyday.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Finish up the refinance on our home, our appraisal came back higher than what we estimated which is REALLY GOOD!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

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Frank & Lucy all decked out for St. Pat's Day. This photo was 2 yrs ago, just a month after Winston was born. I use to dress up the dogs quite a bit but have gotten away from that as they really don't enjoy it.
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You can visit Peggy over at The Simple Woman's Daybook for more daybook posts.

Affordable books

Kyle and I love to read books but as this can be an expensive hobby, we have cut back on the amount of books we purchase. About a year ago we discovered a large bookstore in Anchorage that will buy back your old books for credit. They normally don't buy back all the books that we bring in, and as long as I purchase used books I haven't had to pay out of pocket yet. We made a quick stop today because I was looking for something new. Here is what I picked up.
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Cost for the three books was $16.98 but since I was using my existing store credit, we ended up with 3 books for free, I love free! And I can return the books within 2 weeks time for a full refund.
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My receipt showing that I still have $35 in credit. I have almost accumulated another box of books to turn in for credit, with this method I won't have to pay for books for quite a while.
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Dreaming of breakfast...

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I woke up this morning and am hankering for a nice slice of zucchini bread for breakfast. This wasn't completely an impulse decision as I inventoried my kitchen last night to find that I had the ingredients needed for zucchini bread, I had some leftover zucchini from a week ago that was getting a bit sad looking. I have a great recipe for zucchini bread that is from my Great Aunt. I did a little bit of modifications; the recipe calls for orange peel and I subbed some orange juice, and I also added in some grated carrots for extra flavor and color.

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Zucchini Bread

3 eggs

1 C Vegetable oil

2 C Granular sugar

1 C Zucchini - raw & grated

1 C Carrots - raw, peeled, & grated

1 Tbsp. Vanilla extract

3 Tbsp. Orange juice

3 C AP Flour (all-purpose)

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Baking soda

2 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Nutmeg

1/4 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 C Walnuts - chopped

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Beat eggs, add in oil, sugar, zucchini, carrots, vanilla, & orange juice and stir until combined. In separate bowl sift flour, salt, soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, & powder. Add flour mixture into egg mixture, small batches at a time, and stir well. Once the egg and flour mixture is combined, add in walnuts and stir to combine. Pour dough into 2 greased bread pans. Bake 325 degrees, check after 50 minutes for doneness but may take as long as 65 minutes (1 hr. & 5 min.) to finish. When baking 2 pans at once, I prefer to rotate the pans half way through baking to ensure that they are even in color and doneness.

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aaReady to go
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aaLots of color
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aaDry ingredients
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aaWalnuts added at the end
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aaReady for the oven
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aaYummy golden goodness!
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aaHomemade zucchini bread
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Now if you'll excuse me, I think my breakfast is calling :-)

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The Simple Woman's Daybook - March 10th

FOR TODAY, TUESDAY MARCH 10, 2009

Outside my window... The snow is starting to melt and it feels like spring!
I am thinking... That it is time to do some spring cleaning and get rid of some clutter that has accumulated.
I am thankful for... My adorable husband, I can't seem to talk about him enough and just how truly awesome he really is.
From the kitchen... Taco soup is simmering away and is smells tasty! Frank's birthday treat is ready to go; a combo of broken up sugar cookies topped with a scoop of frozen vanilla ice cream and blueberries.
I am wearing... Grey sweater and my pajama pants.
I am going... To finish this up and join Kyle for a quick show and some dinner, followed by Frank's little b-day party.
I am reading... Saveur magazine, I have two copies that I wanted to catch up on.
I am hoping... That we hear great news back regarding our home appraisal; it's official, we have refinanced our home so we will be staying in Alaska for a while.
I am hearing... TV show, Stargate, we purchased the whole 10 seasons in Sept. and are on our final season.
Around the house... Picked up and tidy, it's time for me to steam the carpets again and to make our summer to-do list for household updates and repairs.
One of my favorite things... Tonight's dinner of Taco Soup, this recipe is courtesy of my mother-in-law and has become a quick favorite.
A few plans for the rest of the week: Not a lot planned, which is a nice change from the normal busy week.
Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

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My handsome Franklin celebrating his birthday in 2008, It's hard to imagine that he is 5 years old, I love you little man!
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Native craft fair

On Saturday, after we viewed the start of the Iditarod, we headed to the mall to pick up a new power cord for my laptop, yay!!

They were holding a native arts craft fair to coincide with the Iditarod. Here are some of the wares they had for sale. All vendors are local native artists.

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aaPurses made from Seal & Ivory

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aaDecorative masks

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aaChildren's Mukluks

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Many Alaskan natives still live in remote villages where there main means of survival revolve around subsistence hunts for whales, seals, and salmon. Although I am against most uses of animal skins, fur, bones, etc. this is one method that I 100% support. When the animals are harvested they use all parts of the animal from the meat as food, & skin and fur for warmth.

We have lived in Alaska for nearly 6 yrs and I have always had an eye for the ivory and whale baleen bracelets but due to the costs of them I haven't been able to afford one. I was lamenting that fact to Kyle as we left the craft fair and how I would love to someday own one. We got home from the fair and went about our normal routine of running the dogs out and getting ready for some supper. I ended up in our room to get a sweater and sitting inconspicuously on my dresser was...

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How did he know that this was exactly the one I wanted? I didn't tell him about the bracelet until we were leaving the fair. Turns out he was browsing the booths, without me, and spotted the bracelet and thought I would like it. Needless to say he got a lot of kisses and I have been wearing it non-stop, even when doing the laundry and cooking breakfast this morning!

Words can't even begin to describe what a amazing man he is and how lucky I am to have found him...

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37th Iditarod

**Following post has quite a few pics, I hope you enjoy!**
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Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL DAY! We headed to Campbell Creek Science Center for a great viewing of the ceremonial Iditarod start.
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aaWatch out!
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aaMile marker

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aaWorking dogs

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aaOut for a stroll

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aaDan Seavey's Centennial Team

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aaRacing legend Dan Seavey
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aaSinging for the crowd

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aaRolling in the snow

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aaYep thats me, I really love dogs!

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aaKyle loving the racers

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This was our first year watching the ceremonial start of the Iditarod. We had fun and may do this next year, weather pending of course! Thanks for joining me on my photo trip of the 37th Iditarod.

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Fingers crossed

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I am hoping, actually praying, for nice weather tomorrow as it is the start of the Iditarod sled dog race. If everything goes as planned I will be able to watch the sled dog teams during the ceremonial start, so for now I keep my fingers crossed and hope that tomorrow will be clear and dry...

Family Friday

This week's post is a collection of black and white photos. They were my grandpa's that he took in the 1940's when he was stationed in China. ENJOY!!
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Pug Break

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Here are my sweet Pugs all ready for some hot breakfast. There favorite dish would be anything that involves eggs!! Today's breakfast was an omelet with shredded cabbage and a little bacon grease added in for extra flavor. Frank was so happy that he spun circles and barked at me until I obliged with a plate of warm eggs :-)
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The Simple Woman's Daybook - March 3rd

FOR TODAY, TUESDAY MARCH 3, 2009

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Outside my window... The air is cool and crisp, and it feels like snow!
I am thinking... That I should be in bed by now, 4 hours of sleep isn't enough for anyone.
I am thankful for... My job as it allows me to buy little crafty things that I could really go without, also the paycheck is a definite bonus!
From the kitchen... All is clean and ready for a new day, our breakfast for tomorrow is all ready and my mug and tea packets are ready to go in the morning.
I am wearing... Hot pink jammies
I am creating... I am redoing my coupon book, now that it has been 6 months since I started, I have a better idea of what tabs and sections I need and those that I can get rid of.
I am going... To take a quick shower before I crash for the night.
I am reading... A is for Apron, it has a ton of really cute apron patterns and it really inspires me!
I am hoping... That I am not coming down with something as I have been feeling crummy the last couple of days :-(
I am hearing... Snoring doggies, they are all tucked in for the night.
Around the house... Kyle is waiting for me to come and join him, the house is quiet and dark, and my house plants are draining after a nice sprinkle of cool water.
One of my favorite things... Homemade Granola, something I recently discovered but tons better than the pre-made store bought stuff. I happened to buy some pre-made a week ago and it tastes stale and bland compared to the homemade stuff.
A few plans for the rest of the week: Make a quick trip to the pet store to pick up some stuff for Frank's upcoming 5th Birthday, if I could only find him a stuffed moose...
Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

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Chocolate Lillies blooming in my garden, they are really beautiful but unfortunately they emit a smelly fragrance, so they are great in the garden but not for cut flowers. These started coming up on there own as I have never planted them in my garden, I love summer and can't wait for all my flowers to start popping up!

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You can visit Peggy over at The Simple Woman's Daybook for more daybook posts.

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