Feels like home to me

Sitka spruce sapling~ April 3, 2014

We've been back in Juneau for three months now, watching as the tail end of winter morphed into spring and, soon to be, summer. All around us, the plants and animals have heralded the constantly changing seasons and weather.

Like the bald eagles, for instance, have been competing for choice nesting space in the tall Sitka spruce trees right next to our cabin. They're so loud we can hear them inside, even with all the windows closed.

Sometimes, I'm pretty sure they're commenting on our dinner...

And I'm not sure whether it's truly been as varied in weather as it seems, or if I'm just noticing it all more given our new location in a tiny, rustic cabin right new to the ocean. But either way, it's been truly incredible to witness.

Canada geese and lupines on Eagle Beach ~ June 8, 2014

Inside the cabin, I've been doing a little nesting of my own. It's actually been really nice to be "home" after so much traveling during the winter. I bought this wooden spice rack off Etsy- it's from the 60s or 70s and the bottom is stamped "Japan". I had to modify it with longer wood screws so our spices would fit and am pretty happy with the end result and extra shelf space in our pantry now that the spices can hang out on the wall. Whether it's on a boat or land, in small spaces, every inch counts. And painting is happening this weekend, so more photos of our cozy space are soon to come, I promise!

In other news, I have a friend coming into town in just a few days (a college roommate, traveling all the way from Dallas, Texas!) and I'm excited to show her this awesome place I've called home for the last eight years. Being that this is Alaska, we don't get a lot of visitors. So when someone actually makes the commitment to get here, it's a lot of fun to plan some of the things we put off doing just because we live here.



Fortunately, our surroundings never let us forget just how spectacular Southeast Alaska truly is. I don't think I've ever taken so many sunset pictures in my entire life as I have in the past twelve weeks.



So, the silence on this blog hasn't been for lack of activity. In fact, since I last wrote I've landed not one, but two jobs (one full-time, the other part-time) and so "busy" has been the name of the game lately. But coming up, we'll be going on more local adventures and I hope to share those in a timely fashion. In the meantime, I may be substituting pictures for adequate words...

I hope you don't mind. ; )