We made it back from our Alaskan cruise safe and sound (and tired) Sunday afternoon. While we were out in the last frontier, we kept a short daily journal of our adventures. We’ve also added a ton of photos (can you measure photos in tons?) to the gallery. We actually cut down the number of photos (we took over a thousand!) that were uploaded to the site. If you ever want to see the entire 4 and a half hour slideshow (narrated by James Earl Jones) just let us know.

Day 1 – Seattle
We ran into some “difficulties” before making it to the boat. We flew into Seattle the night before, and had dinner at a Karaoke “townie” bar (yes… it was interesting) before the Iowa portion of our traveling party arrived a bit later that night. The next morning we got up and met some old friends of Cindy from Germany. They shuttled us to IHOP, where we had a deliciously IHOPPY breakfast. When we returned to the hotel to gather our luggage and take the hotel shuttle back to the airport to catch our transportation to the ship. things took an unexpected turn. Our hotel rooms in Seattle were connected, and Joanna and Cindy’s room was somehow deadbolted… from the inside. We couldn’t wait much longer, so we got a ride to the airport while the others attempted to get back into their locked (from the inside) room. This involved a crowbar, and a ladder to break the 2nd story window allowing them access to their baggage so they could race back to the airport. Luckily everyone made it with enough time to catch the shuttle to the ship. We all checked in, and the giant boat took off from Seattle, and we were on our way. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening exploring the ship that we’d call home for the next seven days. That night we had an amazing dinner (they all are!), saw a show, and then went to bed.

Day 2 – At Sea
We had beautiful weather on Day 1, but Day 2 wasn’t as nice.  We played games, watched shows, and were generally lazy as our ship made its way to our first port of call.

Day 3 – Ketchikan
We finally made it to our first port of call, Ketchikan, on Day 3.  It was pretty rainy and cloudy in the morning, but the weather eventually cooperated and the sun peeked out.  We got off the boat and spent most of the day touring this quiet fishing village (well, it’s not so quiet when 4 cruise ships are pulled up at the pier).  We hit some shops, saw some totem poles, went to the museum, and then took a small tram up a mountain for a better view of the town.  It was a gorgeous view and one we will not soon forget.  After we got back on the boat at 4pm, we took off and did some scenic cruising en route to our next port of call.  Scott actually spotted a pod of orca off the starboard side (that’s the right side for you landlubbers) while we were cruising through mountain ranges.  That evening we had a great dinner (it was Italian night) and then saw a comedian who actually used quite a few of the same jokes from the other night that we saw him (all the good comedians were booked, apparently).  Then it was off to bed to prepare for an early morning of cruising through glaciers.

Day 4 – Tracy Arm Fjords and Juneau
On day 4, we woke up to a narrow Fjord (which means it was carved by a glacier). There were high snow-capped mountains on either side of the ship, and icebergs floating all around us glowing blue. On our way out of Tracy Arm Fjord, we passed our sister ship the “Golden Princess” as it was leaving the fjord. Later that afternoon, we stopped in Juneau where we took a brief tour of the city by bus, and took a charter boat out for a whale-watching tour. We saw multiple hump-backed whales, and took quite a few photos of them coming out of the water. It was amazing seeing all these whales out in the wild. We also saw several other animals on the tour, including eagles, sea lions, and seals.

Day 5 – Skagway
In Skagway we disembarked in the morning, and took a bus tour to the summit of the White Pass. On the way up, we got lucky and saw a black bear eating dandelions along the side of the road. We crossed into Canada, then turned around and headed back. On our way back over the US boarder, we saw the Skagway port director who was featured on the TV show Homeland Security USA (he let us through). When we got back into town, we did a little exploring (shopping) before getting back on the boat.

Day 6 – Day at Sea
Sleeping, eating, resting, eating, eating (eating), sleeping.

Day 7 – Victoria British Columbia
We spet half the day at sea, then pulled into Victoria, BC around 5 pm. We took a double-decker bus tour through the city. Who knew Victoria was such a beautiful place. We saw The Empress Hotel, and their beautiful legislative buildings, and took a nice stroll through the city after our tour along fisherman’s wharf. We boarded the ship for the last time, and enjoyed our last dinner on the ship (we need to go on a diet when we get home!).

Notable Quotes from the Journey:

• Break it now!  – Cinny
• They had to break the window.  Yeah, that just happened.  – Jo
• I just fell on my butt.  – Jo
• Is this a show?  – scratchy old lady voice
• I’m almost positive this will be full.  – Alaskathy
• Random Dinner Guy:  Miss, you dropped your bag. Jo:  (Yeah, I put it there.)
• I don’t like pina coladas, but I feel like I should.  – Jess
• I’m on a boat!  I got my swim trunks and my flippy floppies! – Everyone
• You look sexy gorgeous.  – Ramil
• Joanne, kiss me like a French girl.  – Piazza Performer Guy
• Jess:  That sausage looks bloated. Jo:  That’s what she said.
• That’s on you.  – Jo
• Enjoy your dinner, bon appetit.  – Ramil
• Big man, little voice.  – Waiter in Explorers Lounge
• Of the 9 desserts we had last night, that was my least favorite.  – Scott
• Do you guys know where the aerobics class is?  – Random Lady
• This isn’t Sea World.  – Alaskathy
• Everyone loves my books.  – Alaskathy
• Booze Cruise ‘09!

We’re on the Star Princess preparing to leave on a cruise to Alaska… more when we return.

We’re coming up on our 1-year home ownership anniversary and we finally finished our backyard. Our backyard project started last summer when we spread 4 tons of rocks (or 36 wheelbarrow trips). We also laid patio pavers and planted bushes. The latest addition (and my personal favorite) is a Eureka Lemon Tree. I’m a fan because it blocks the neighbors behind us. Check out our finished backyard below. I have to admit…it’s nice not having to mow the lawn.

I hit a milestone last weekend with the big 3-0 birthday. For several months now, Jess has been telling me not to plan anything for my birthday weekend since I had a surprise coming. Up until last Friday night, I had no clue what was going to happen (despite my relentless prodding).  She told me that Nancy and Robert were going to come over for dinner, so I was in the back yard preparing a shrimp boil. The doorbell rang, and Jess told me to answer it. Brother Brian was at our door, here to join us for dinner. He went out back with me to help with the boil. At a little bit after 7,  we heard a yell around the corner of the house. Apparently Nancy and Robert were here, and we weren’t answering the doorbell since we couldn’t hear it out back. I went in and opened the door, and Kieran (along with Nancy and Robert) was standing there on the front porch. Jess had used her frequent flier miles to fly Kieran out to Tucson for the weekend… I was pretty surprised.

We all enjoyed dinner together, then opened some birthday gifts before Nancy and Robert took off. The next day, we explored Tucson a bit with Kieran. We went up Mt. Lemmon geocaching for most of the day. We were four for four on the caches, and of course had to have pie at the top. After stuffing ourselves with pie, we came back to Tucson, cleaned up a bit and then went to Ra for sushi birthday dinner (sushi is the exact opposite of our pie lunch). After stuffing ourselves again, we headed home and played a few games I received as gifts. The next day, we went down to campus and walked around there a bit before a little mini golf and go cart racing. Then it was home for dinner and a few more games. I dropped Kieran off at the airport before work on Monday, and he was off to Iowa again. We had a good weekend, and Jess planned a great surprise! Take a look at photos in the gallery.

This past week we had a few more visitors from Iowa. My parents came out to spend some time in the Arizona sun. They did see some nice weather, but we put them to work. Brian’s new house needed some TLC, so we went up to Casa Grande on Saturday to help paint. They’d already done a good deal of painting and patching before we arrived. A fresh coat of paint really made things look nice. Then on Sunday they came back to Tucson (Brian came too) to help out with another house project. We installed a glass tile backsplash in our kitchen. That involved quite a few steps, as well as renting a tile saw. So on Sunday we cut and stuck the tiles to the wall. Brian manned the saw. Then on Monday, we finished with the grout. Jess and I have been finishing up little odds and ends up until today with sealing the grout, and re caulking the wall/counter break. We are finally done. You can see some photos below, and of course, another time lapse video of the process. Thanks to everyone who came and helped!

We recently had a round of visitors from Iowa, Indiana, and Ohio.  Needless to say it was a full house!  Jo, Mom, Laurie, Mary, and Katlin all came to the Southwest for some relaxation and sunshine.  We had a blast going to the Desert Museum and dining on Mexican food at Cafe Poca Cosa.  The only bad thing about it was that they eventually had to leave!  Check out photos from their visit here.  Thankfully, we have more visitors to look forward to in the near future.

Scott and I decided to makeover our office (aka the “command center”) this past week.  Let me tell you, it was quite the task.  In our command center lives three working computers (not inlcuding laptops) and thousands of computer parts, which put together probably could make about 12 other computers.  So yeah, the office was cramped and we kept bumping into each other’s chairs.  We (okay, mostly me) decided enough was enough and we mapped out a plan for our extreme office makeover.  First, we cleared out the room and painted it a light gray color (official color name: silver tradition).  Our room is pretty small (I think about 10×11) so we figured we better go vertical with shelving.  I had seen a shelving system that the Container Store sells called elfa. I first came across the elfa shelving system on the Unclutterer blog and was inspired.  So we went to the store in Scottsdale, AZ, and ordered all the pieces a few weeks ago and then picked them up this past weekend when we were back in the Phoenix area visiting my grandma.  We also stopped at IKEA in Tempe, AZ, for some storage boxes.  Anyway, after a lot of work, we have an awesome, new-and-improved command center. Check out our before and after pictures below.  Needless to say, I am a huge fan of the elfa system and the Container Store!

Boy, it looks like all we do is go skiing. I wish that were true! We took another ski trip a couple weeks ago. This time we traveled a bit further than Northern Arizona (that trip was just for training). We flew out to Denver, and met up with friends Jon and Liz, for a weekend of skiing. We got a condo up in the mountains, and skied for two days. The snow was good, and we had a great time (minus a small encounter I had with a tree). We’ve got new photos up in the gallery.

You’re probably asking yourself right now whether it actually snows in Arizona (can it be?).  I can attest to the fact that snow does in fact exist in Arizona because I have seen it with my own eyes.  A few weeks ago, we went skiing in Arizona’s  White Mountains, which are a few hours northeast of Tucson.  We skiied at the Sunrise Ski Resort just outside of Greer, which is the little town we stayed in.  We rented skis at the resort and hit the slopes for the day.  I have to say the snow was pretty good–nice and fluffy.  However, it was a lot warmer at the bottom of the mountain waiting for the ski lift than I thought it would be.  I probably could have done without that extra layer, but such is the fate of an Arizona skiier.  Otherwise, the skiing was great. We went skiing because we (well, mostly me) needed to dust off our skiing skills before going to Colorado next month to go skiing with Jon and Liz.  Luckily, I only fell once and it was on a blue run so there is a little dignity in that.  At least it wasn’t a green.   Check out our pictures from our trip to the White Mountains.  (Also, our 2008 holiday photos are up in the gallery.)  We’ll post more skiing pictures late next month once we get back from Colorado.

We’re in Atlantic, getting ready to open presents (Santa has been here!) before heading to Iowa City this afternoon to open MORE presents! Merry Christmas everyone!