So it's been about a month since my last update, a couple of reasons for that being it's taking forever to close on my house so therefore haven't been able to get internet set up to post anything. Currently, I'm "renting" my new place until an unnamed terrible bank (starts with Wells and ends with Fargo) can get everything finalized. I could spend the next hour or so writing about all the reasons I've grown to hate Wells Fargo and home buying in Alaska, and all the anxiety it has caused, but I've complained to quite a few of my family and friends on that topic over the past several weeks already! It's just been rough going through this for the first time and every step of the process something is "different than usual." So the fact that I don't know what usual is, is a stressor for sure. I'll leave my complaining about Wells Fargo to that and move on to more exciting things.. and hopefully my next post will have the best news ever, that I'm finally a homeowner!
My shipment of things arrived much earlier than expected, only taking about 4 weeks to make the barge trek to Anchorage! It wasn't supposed to get here until early August and ended up being ready for delivery July 19th. However, instead of this being exciting news, it was super frustrating because not only was I still homeless and unable to move into my new place yet, I had to think about how all my clothes and things were sitting in a warehouse somewhere in Anchorage, just waiting to be unpacked! Haha, its been hard living out of a suitcase for so long. After some major negotiating and essentially demanding, I was able to convince the builder to let me move in early and pay a daily rent (1/30th of my monthly mortgage payment) until I can close. One positive about this whole ordeal is I'm learning to be much more forceful and demanding to get things done rather than letting people take advantage of my nice and timid nature. So long Sweet Stephanie haha!
I got the key on Wednesday morning, July 23, and spent the entire day checking off my boxes as they were taken out of the crates and directing the movers to which rooms they belonged in. I didn't even get to unpack a thing since I was on a red eye flight to Houston that night for a meeting I was coordinating the next day. My trip to Houston was very brief, but I did get to see my friends for an evening of Mexican food and margaritas! And since I won't be able to make it back to Texas for my dear friend Angelina's wedding, I was super excited to be able to help wedding craft with her a little bit before hopping back onto the plane to AK.
Fast forward till now about 2.5 weeks later and I'm making good headway on moving in. I've unpacked all my boxes and slowly begun organizing where things should go. Disclaimer to my future husband - I have a lot of stuff and will need my own closet that is the size of a normal full size room! I managed to utilize all 3 of the closets in my house for various clothes / shoes. I really don't like to shove things away where you can't see them cause then you forget and will never wear them and that's no good. So might as well utilize all the space you have :) Pictures of the closets below!
I'll start sharing some photos of my house room by room as they are completed, but there is still so much work to be done! Every time I accomplish something there are 3 more things added to the neverending to-do list I keep on my phone. I make a trip to Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Home Depot, or Lowes daily it seems to either return something that doesn't work or buy 3 things to try. My receipt drawer has gotten ridiculous!
But I've made some really exciting purchases so far, such as a great new desk and file cabinet to start organizing all my moving paperwork, bills, and important documents. There was an option to pay a 3rd party service to assemble the desk, and I seriously debated if I wanted to pay $60 for someone to assemble it or just do it myself... I decided I should just do it myself, however this required a drill. So I made a trip to Home Depot and fumbled over to the tool section and was completely overwhelmed! I had no idea there were that many drills to choose from and what on earth all the pieces were for and different models.. so I called RC, my brother, to walk me through the basics and ended up with a cute little "starter" drill to help with my basic projects (such as my desk and hanging things on the walls). I really love it, and use it at every opportunity I can, even if its something I could easily unscrew with my hands haha. I'm like a small child with a new toy at Christmas.
 |
| My new tool! |
 |
Putting together my desk
|
One project that went a bit south was the shelf I hung in my laundry closet... I got a new washer and dryer in a fun blue color but didn't have any shelves to store all my laundry and cleaning supplies . So I got a basic shelf, a stud finder, and leveler and marked out the holes perfectly in the horizontal direction. After using my fun drill, it is smack dab in the middle of the closet and perfectly straight! I was so proud of myself for being such a handywoman and stepped back to admire my work and realized that the shelf was much too high! I was so focused on the horizontal direction that I completely forgot about the vertical... Nailed it! However, after showing one of my friends what a dummy I am, she brought up the fabulous point that I can now put hangers along the shelf for things to dry and not touch the machines. And a step stool next to the washer will solve the problem of reaching the cleaning supplies. Live and learn!
 |
| New washer and dryer |
 |
| My amazingly straight and centered shelf |
 |
| Oops too high... |
The one room that is finished in my bedroom! I'm so in love with my new bed!! Its beautiful reclaimed wood and its huuuge. It's such a difference going from a double to a king. I really wanted to have a functioning bathroom, closet, and bedroom so those were on the top of my list as I was unpacking / organizing. That way when the rest of the house was overwhelming, at least I could close the door and have an escape somewhere that was put together. I got awesome new stuff in Houston before I left so I could put all my old stuff in the guest room / bath. The only thing I'm waiting on is my new jewelry holders to add in the corner above my storage cube. I got the idea on Pinterest to hang necklaces on old doorknobs. I thought I could get some great Anthropologie knobs and make one myself. However, with all the other projects I have on my to-do list, this crafty one was going to be far down on the list.. So I did a quick Etsy search and found a great shop that had tons of jewelry holders similar to my Pinterest inspiration. So I messaged her asking if she could make me some in neutral colors (white, gold, clear) so as not to distract from all my fun bright necklaces. She was great and made them super quick and they are enroute to AK no! She was nice enough to take some photos before she mailed them :) Can't wait!
 |
| New bedroom furniture including a standing fan since there is no AC here! |
 |
| Obsessed with the reclaimed wood |
 |
| Happy bathroom |
 |
| Lots of space |
 |
| Closet... at max capacity |
 |
| Necklace holders!! |
 |
| Can't wait to get them |
 |
| One of my favorite things in the house are the windows on the stairs |
 |
| Guest bathroom all finished.. Becca and Laura will recognize that trunk :) |
I've done a couple fun activities in the past few weeks, but not as many as I would've liked due to unpacking, traveling to Houston, unpacking, a couple rainy weekends, oh and unpacking! But I did go to August First Friday, in which a band plays outside downtown on the first Friday of the month and there are several food trucks and a beer garden. It was fun, but my favorite part was seeing all the flowers downtown. It really is amazing how vibrant and big all the flowers are here! I guess since they get so much sunlight in the summer, they simply flourish.
 |
| Flowers downtown |
 |
| So bright |
I also went on another hike along the water with Jason and Erin and we found a few spots to stop and enjoy a beer and take in the views. The trails are so green and the leaves are massive due to the sunlight. I've never been to a jungle or rainforest, but it feels like I'm in one on some of these hikes. The view was also spectacular in Kincaid Park, where Erin and I played a round of frisbee golf. Some parts were very jungle-ly and others had great views of the water. I'm excited for winter because all the trails in this park turn into cross country ski trails!
 |
| Hiking with Jason and Erin |
 |
| Another beautiful Alaskan summer day |
 |
| Mushrooms |
 |
| Walking through the jungle |
 |
| Funky fungus |
 |
| Break time, not hard to enjoy these views! |
 |
| So green and lovely |
 |
| Stump chair |
 |
Scenic frisbee golf
|
Another recent activity was floating the river this past weekend. Now being from Texas, I was quite intrigued when "floating the river" was mentioned. Of course I'm thinking swim suits, innertubes, floating cooler full of beer, and sunshine galore! So as you can imagine, I was quite confused how we were going to float a river when the forecast was 55 degrees, overcast, and a chance of rain. It was explained to me that weather can't stop you here, cause its unpredictable. You have to go for it and do activities no matter what or you will always be sitting at home. So the float was on rain or shine! And I was willing to give it a go. It would involve rafts rather than innertubes, rain gear rather than swimsuits, a paddle rather than sunscreen, but a backpack / small cooler of beer was the same. Oh and the theme was pirates (people like to dress up in costume here apparently!) I was not sure what to expect exactly, but it was quite entertaining. People were dressed up in all types of costume, forget just pirates, and ready to float regardless of getting wet! It ended up being in the high 60s, a lot warmer than originally thought, and there was no rain! However, the creek was a little low so there were several booty bumps against the rocks which was not super awesome. We ended up losing 3 rafts due to pops on rocks, the last of which was the one I was in! Prior to our pop, we did survive a tipped raft when I accidentally navigated us into a tree limb. It was definitely an interesting experience and by the end I wanted a hot shower, but it was fun nonetheless. At least I can say I floated the river here in Alaska!
 |
| Prepping the rafts |
 |
| Entering the very shallow river |
 |
| One of the nice calm float spots |
 |
| Float break |
 |
| We were a pirate themed raft crew |
 |
| Boots filled with water post raft flip |
 |
| We may be soaked, but we finished the float! |
I thought I'd start sharing some things that are different in everyday life here in Alaska compared to Texas, to give everyone back home an idea of what its like here. First of all, there is no sales tax! So tax free weekend is year round, on everything. However, little things are much more expensive since they have to be shipped further. However, when buying electronics and expensive things, it makes such a difference! For instance I got a waterproof camera, a TV mount, my desk... all things over $100 and paid nothing in sales tax which was quite exciting :)
Another thing is that the entire state is the same area code - 907. This is a flashback to when I used to dial my friends in grade school and didn't need an area code for the local calls. If you use a local phone here, you only dial a 7 digit number. Also, when I'm giving my phone number in the store or to a service provider, I always have to specify "Area code 214..." before starting the number or they just automatically type in 907 first.
Also, it is essential to have blackout blinds on the bedroom windows! Its pretty difficult to go to sleep in the daylight, so they make a huge difference. They also make it kind of tough to wake up cause the sunlight isn't pouring in, and its kind of like a cave. Sadly, the sun is starting to set earlier and earlier since the Summer Soltice has passed, I snapped the shot below this weekend of the sun setting around around 10:30pm... which in a few months will turn into 4-5pm :( I wish the midnight sun would stay year round! I noticed several other things that are different here in Alaska, so I'll keep adding a few to all my posts here on out.
 |
| Sun is setting earlier and earlier |
