Is it Spring yet?

Yep, I'm getting antsy...I know its only February, but I'm ready for Spring. I think Alaska made me scared of winter. Soon enough, it'll be here and I shouldn't complain, we've had a good past few weeks. I went to Cedar Rapids a few weekends ago with the Long's to attencd an ISU Extension/Master Gardener Winter Fair - learned more about bees, composting, etc...maybe that's why I'm ready for Spring? We made a quick drive though Coralville, but we still haven't made it into Iowa City to see the old haunts. Last weekend we went to visit my sisters in Kansas City, my folks were also there on their way down to Arizona for a few weeks. It was good to see them all and I even got yelled at, at the Gates BBQ restaurant. There's a picture posted below of Amy test driving the Boppy with Emeline, as she is due in June with a cousin for Eme. The other picture is me looking "gothicy" in front of the American Gothic House, painted by Grant Wood...I couldn't find a pitchfork around, and it was too cold for Amanda and Emeline to pose as well.
Other than that, not much new...got a bad offer on the house in Delta, started looking for a J-O-B, started planning the great adventure in May to get our stuff down here on the Alaska Highway, and getting ready for Spring!

Our Little Emeline

Well Emeline and I have found some sort of routine. Between bottles, diapers, and naps she sometimes lets me get stuff done. Sometimes she simply demands the colic carry and loud bluegrass. I try to read in the mornings, I just finished "The Omnivores Dilemma" a good look at our current food system. Now I'm reading "Thinking like a Mountain" a biography about Aldo Leopold. I'll probably be reading all the books about Aldo, as the Nature Center has a large collection on the Burlington native. Otherwise time is spent organizing our boxes 'o' stuff and looking up stuff on the Internet. We've also been walking and driving around the area as Amanda plays tour guide. Weekends, we've been working on projects at home and spending time at the Long's (Amanda's folks) doing laundry and taking walks. Also eating all their food, as Amanda's Mom won't stop cooking for us. My parents visited two weekends ago, also cooking for us, and we look forward to visiting my sisters in KC in a few weeks. Here's a few video clips of Emeline being cute and/or fussy.

New life back in Iowa

One of the "deal makers" for the move to Burlington was the fact that we had access to free housing. Amanda's work site is an old farmstead just north of town. It is now called The Starr's Cave Park and Preserve, owned by the State, managed by the County. The area was homesteaded by the Starr family and there is a famous cave nearby in the limestone cliffs overlooking the area, hence "Starr's Cave".The barn was converted first to a restaurant in the 1970's, and than later the DMCCB Starr's Cave Nature Center. The farm house was built in the 1850's, and is now our new residence. Its got lots of character, you can see all the improvements through several of the decades, but its pretty drafty and we've had mice in the pantry, hopefully the cat will track them down. All in all, you can't complain with free and this is a pretty unique area to live.

How the heck did they get back in Iowa??

For those of you whom we haven't been in contact with for a while who are asking "Iowa? Didn't they just move to Alaska?" Short answer, yes. After leaving a comfortable life in Montana with good jobs, good friends, and a new house...we moved to the last frontier for an adventure, with much prodding from me to go. We moved to a small community based around agriculture, the pipeline, the nearby missile base, and we were close to Amanda's sister and her family in Fairbanks. The first summer was fun with lots of recreating, and the first long winter was...novel, I guess, but the second summer was just cold and wet and with the second winter impending with a newborn, we jumped ship. We made some good friends up there, so good luck to the folks up there...stay warm. The pros up there just don't outweigh the cons for us. Plus, for me, working for the federal government wasn't the best. The USDA bureaucracy and the fierce sense of entitlement don't make for a good work environment. Amanda was enjoying her job up there, but when the Education/PR Coordinator job for the DMCCB opened in Burlington (her home town) we jumped on the opportunity. So there's the last 2 years in a small nutshell, there's pictures on my Facebook page but if you want to see more, just ask.

We've finally landed

Well, we've finally landed...actually awhile ago, at the Starr's Cave House in Burlington, IA but now I'm finally getting time to start a blog. Thought this would be the easiest way to keep in touch with everyone. I initially thought that being a stay-at-home dad would grant me lots of time to do stuff...not the case. Emeline is the toughest boss I've had, but the pay is good, and the bene's are priceless...tear. This blog is also going to be dedicated to documenting her through the months and years.