Back From Alaska...

Will I ever remember how to post new blogs? I still struggle every time! Maybe it's just me, but I don't find blogging land very user friendly! But it must just be me, since everyone else figures it out! Alaska was quite the adventure...even starting at the airport in Vegas! The lady told us we were too late to board our flight, and we were over an hour early. She said they like you to be in the boarding area 45 minutes prior to boarding and we were like 10 minutes too late, give or take a gew minutes. I about started crying right in the airport. The lady said, "I will put you on the next flight...it leaves Vegas at about 12:30." Our flight was due to leave at 9:45. I told her we were boarding a cruise that just wasn't going to wait for us, and stood there for a few minutes with nothing to say, praying that somehow God would be able to get us on that plane. After several minutes of watching my probably grief-stricken face, she called a supervisor and asked if she could put this young couple through even though we were late. She was given the go-ahead, and we were told to RUN! (Literally!) I nearly forgot my purse sitting there on the check-in counter, ran back to grab it, and we were off like olympian athletes. You have probably never seen a pregnant lady run like I did that day! We ran the mile and a half through the airport, me holding my belly and Corban insisting that I give him my backpack, even though I kept insisting I was fine. We found the shortest lines you have ever seen at the x-ray machines, and they didn't give us hassle about anything. We made it to the terminal just as the people were getting in line to board the plane, and I finally caught my breath. Corban said, "I bet we don't have seats next to each other." I said, "At this point, I don't even care so long as we get on that plane!" They placed me on the emergency exit aisle, and I thought I had heard on previous flights that pregnant women couldn't sit there, but they never asked, so I never said anything. All I knew at this point was that I had to use the bathroom, and of course, the pilot was waiting for Christmas to turn off the fasten seatbelt sign and I absolutely thought I was going to die. He finally turned it off after we'd been on the plane about an hour, which was 4 hours since leaving Cedar City, and that is just way too long for a pregnant lady to wait! After the 3 hour flight to Seattle, we had a layover and they didn't let us off the plane. At that point, Corban hadn't eaten all day and I hadn't had much, and we had no food. I wanted to sit next to Corban and tried explaining this to a stewardess, but there was nothing she could do. Then, the lady sitting next to me realized I was pregnant and told the stewardess they never should have sat me in the emergency exit aisle. Well, they moved me really quickly but it still wasn't next to Corban...but I insisted just a little that I didn't want to sit without him for another 3.5 hours, and they finally moved us to two empty seats! Hallellujiah! We had a little airplane meal we purchased on the way to Anchorage (not much, but enough to hold us over until we got to the land of plenty...if you've ever been on a cruise, you know what I'm talking about!) We got to Anchorage and our luggage wasn't there. AYE! I didn't panick, but the lady next to me whose luggage didn't show up about went into hysteria saying she couldn't live without her makeup and evening gown. I was trying to be optimistic, but she was still in tears, so I wandered over to find some men to talk to who'd been sitting for over 24 hours in the Anchorage airport waiting for their luggage to arrive! They bussed us the hour to the cruise (we'd been traveling and hadn't had much to eat or much chance to go to the bathroom for about 12 hours at this point) and we finally sat down to a meal. Ah, sweet rest. I think the baby was probably exhausted by this point...I know I was. Fortunately, we had two days on the ship before our first port, so we rested and ate to our hearts content before our next adventure...a 10 mile hike to Sturgill's Landing outside of Skagway. We didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. Only now after getting home did I google the hike...it says "A half-day or overnight hike to the site of an early woodcutter’s camp on the coast of Taiya Inlet. Sturgill’s Landing, the site of a woodcutter’s camp in a small, rocky cove on Taiya Inlet, dates from Skagway’s early days." An overnight hike for a nearly 6 months pregnant lady! AYE! I kept reassuring Corban I was fine (and really, I did feel fine...I was thinking I was in pretty good shape) but the last mile or two, I didn't think I'd make it back to town. Corban said, "We'll sleep well tonight, eh!?" He was so attentive to me that whole day, holding my hand and asking if I was okay and he was worried about the baby when I took a pretty hard fall when tripping over a root in the rain forest (I really couldn't be married to a guy who loves me any more than he does!) It hadn't occured to me that the feet of all pregnant women swell...and especially after long hikes! My ankles, legs, knees, hands, FACE, and everywhere else on my body was swollen and pretty tender the rest of the trip! So, we took it easy the rest of the time, not walking nearly as much and doing some guided bus tours (and it still hurt to walk even just to get on and off the busses!) The next day, I fell in love with Juneau, telling Corban he could take a job there (so long as it wasn't meant to last forever) if one was ever offered (although I'd probably hit the first week of winter and change my little Arizona mind!) It was gorgeous!!! We went to the salmon fish hatchery and the Mendenhill Glacier, and I loved every moment! The next day, after going to the Totem Pole place I don't remember the name of and seeing a black bear and some eagles and eating a quarter pound of homemade peanut butter fudge, we were out of things to do in Ketchikan when a guy selling souvenirs saw my Globe Track sweatshirt and inquired, "Like GLOBE ARIZONA!?" He was from Mesa, AZ and his best friend was from Rigby, Idaho (but more recently Scottsdale, AZ). So, we had two guys from close to both mine and Corb's hometowns, and they were SO nice, and the one from Rigby offered to take us fishing. Corban said no at first, and I was like, "We don't have anything else to do ALL day...are you crazy!? Who doesn't want to say they've fished Alaska!?" With a little persuasion, we were off to get a fishing license, and within a two hour time period we'd caught 16 pink salmon. It was FUN! Corban said it was the most fun he had the whole time! I was sure glad he decided to go! We returned to the ship, shoes and some of our clothes covered with fish blood (gross, I know) but we had FUN! The whole time, I could only think of how my dads and Corban's dad and brothers would have loved to be there with us! The next day was another day on the ship, and we were HAULING bootie to our last stop...Vancouver. I was so seasick (I get carsick easily and cruises really aren't bad, I assure you...the only time I really knew I was on a ship was this last day when we were going so fast!) and I slept most of the day because I couldn't bear to feel nauseas! I asked Corban if he was ok that I slept so much, and he said, "Everyone needs a vacation from their vacation, right?" So he watched TV most of the day while I slept. Getting through customs in Vancouver was an absolute nightmare, but we made it! We got home at about 9 PM on Saturday, only to learn of a tragic plane crash that killed 10 people in Cedar City the day before, two of them being the father and sister of one of my dearest sweet friends here in Cedar City. This has been weighing on my mind ever since getting home. This, combined with an article about a Somalian runner in the Olympics (Samia Yusuf Omar, who on most days survives only on water and flat bread) really left me feeling humbled and extremely blessed. In pondering the shortness of life, I called all of my family yesterday to tell them all how much I love them, vowing to never take a single day for granted. I've had a country song in my mind that keeps replaying over and over. A line from the chorus says, "Even my bad days ain't that bad. Lord knows I'm a lucky man." So, with that, I will come to a sober finish of our Alaskan vacation and a return to every day life, a life that I am extremely grateful for every day that I am in it. Don't we all have so many things to be grateful for?