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By kilax, June 24, 2016 2:32 pm

I’m happy I brought my trail shoes and gaiters to Alaska – I had a wonderfully rainy, muddy, cool run this morning.

I could’ve run much longer! It was such a treat to run in comfortable weather, and in beautiful scenery.

And now I can add another state “run in” to my map!

We flew in to Anchorage yesterday. And by “we,” I mean myself and a ton of family/friends – twenty-one of us! We came in to the airport in waves and hung out with Alyssa’s family until everyone was in. Then we all caravanned to Sterling, where the wedding will be.

Oh my gosh. The drive around the Turnagain Arm from Anchorage was stunningly beautiful.

And I’ll note – I took these photos around 10:00 pm! Nuts! It never really got dark!

I really hope we have a chance to stop and take more photos with Steven’s DSLR on the way back later this week! I can’t get over how beautiful it is here.

We’re all staying in cabins on the wedding site in Sterling. After being up for twenty-four hours it felt SO amazing to get in bed!

The wedding site is right by a river (the “Funny River,” ha) and of course… it is beautiful! Ha ha. You’ll be seeing me use that word a lot to describe Alaska!

Click to see larger 

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By kilax, June 23, 2016 7:44 am

Have a dog with you!

  
In this case, my soon-to-be sister-in-law’s dog! I was only watching her (Chevy) for a short bit  while her mom was getting food, but several people asked me about her! Awww.

She’s actually on a different flight than me. Next time we see my brother and his family, we’ll be in Alaska!!! Yay!

Comments (21)

By kilax, June 21, 2016 6:22 am

Most of my flights lately have been on Spirit Airlines, where you pay for baggage a la carte and they have lower weight limits. So I try to pack as efficiently and lightly as possible.

But we’re flying Alaska Airlines to Alaska and we get a carry-on and a personal item, and it’s only $25 for a checked bag and it can weight 50 pounds. PACK ALL THE THINGS!!!

I seriously think my carry-on might just be full of junk food. You know, in case they don’t have it there? Ha!

Yeah, I went a bit overboard. But that’s all to share with several people, I swear!

And I am leaving whatever is leftover at the end of the trip behind, and filling that carry-on up with Starbucks You Are Here mugs.

Hopefully Steven has room in his carry-on for my outfit for the wedding!!!

Hee hee, I am just joking around (well, I am packing a lot of that food, but really, it is to share). It’s just nice to not have to worry as much about baggage as normal, because we have a lot to bring – clothes for the wedding, hiking, gold panning, chilling, exercising; Steven’s camera and other electronics; entertainment stuff for the flight; all the associated running gear; and so on. I wonder what I’ll forget?!

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By kilax, June 20, 2016 6:25 am

We bought sleep masks for our Alaska trip since the sun will be up for so long and we don’t know if the places we’re staying will have (blackout) shades.

Ha, the company name makes me laugh.

What kind of place doesn’t have shades?! Ha, secluded places in the wilderness. Places like our house…

We don’t plan on getting shades/window treatments for our home since there is no one around to “see in” and since the views are so nice. There are only two reasons* I can think of for shades – to block the western sun from hitting the television in our living space, and to keep the early rising sun from disrupting our sleep too much in the bedroom.

But I can just wear the sleep mask to help with the second issue!

Ugh, but that doesn’t stop Data from bugging me as soon as the sun’s up. He needs a little cat sized sleep mask!

*Unless our stuff starts to get hella faded… then we may have to get some! And we have temporary shades we can put up in the guest bedroom for guests who prefer shades. 

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By kilax, April 27, 2016 6:13 am

We had such a great time in Dallas! It was too short (it always is) but it was awesome to get away and relax with family*!

We were on the go the first two days! We flew in on Saturday (it was a surprise and Luca didn’t know we were coming!), got lunch together (Pickle Store, aka Red Robin, ftw), then went to the city to ride the trolley and check out a park! We had a chill night and ordered in (pizza and pasta!).

On Sunday we got up early for a run, then went to meet Amy, had Starbucks and lunch, then checked out the Fort Worth Zoo!

I’d like to note, we had Mexican food for lunch and made fajitas for dinner. Ha ha. It makes me laugh when I have days like this on purpose, to think about how I got sick of Mexican food when we were in Mexico! What was that about?!

Sunday night we watched The Barkley Marathons documentary. Steven and I had seen it already (I have a few thoughts on it which maybe I’ll post at some point…? Zzzzz, like I’m the first blogger to do that, ha!) but it’s entertaining enough to watch several times, especially to see people’s reactions to it! So cray.

I was too tired to get up early and run Monday! Oops! We dropped Luca off at school (he goes a few hours a couple times a week) and he said to his teacher “you remember my Aunt Kim, right?” (I had gone with to drop him off when I visited in December). Aww, my heart melted!!! I hope he keeps calling me Aunt Kim, even when he realizes I am not his mom or dad’s sister!

We got donuts while Luca was at school (shhh), and started prepping his birthday fruit pizza! We ate lunch outside and hung out around the house (did a bit of RAGBRAI planning… and more fruit pizza prepping) and had a chill day. I love having the last day of a visit be like that – or at least, with some chill time. I feel like that’s when we really get to have the deeper conversations and connect!

The rest of the day was spent with Luca opening his presents and us playing with them (we got him clothes, a book, and a Star Wars toy), eating Chinese food for dinner, and eating the fruit pizza!!!

Then we got up super early for our flight back to Chicago on Tuesday. Sadness! But! We have our next two visits on the calendars, so that always makes me feel better.

I’m really grateful we got to see Luca for his birthday (which is actually today!) this year. We were able to go in 2013 and 2014, but missed last year and I felt horrible for it! I hope that doesn’t happen again.

I was a bit concerned about coming back to a nutso work inbox with a bunch of new project assignments but it wasn’t horrible! YAY! (knock on wood)

We did come back to a messy house with lots of contractors in it. Ha. But yay, house progress! More on that, later!

*If you’re a new reader, this may be confusing, ha. I call Gina, Steve and Luca family, but we aren’t related! They just feel like family. Gina and I met via blogging in 2006, and for the first time in person in 2010, and have visited each other a few times each year since then.

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By kilax, April 26, 2016 8:12 am

Amazingly, our timing for our Dallas trip coincided exactly with when Amy would be visiting from Belgium to see her family there! Amy’s family lives on the same side of Dallas as Gina and fam, so when Amy told us she and her sister were doing a local(ish) 5K Sunday morning, we decided to cheer them on at the finish, then get Starbucks after.

Me and Amy!

I had met Amy’s sister, Christy, and her mom, before*, but not Amy (we’ve been internet friends for at least four years)! Amy told me her estimated 5K finish time so we cheered on the runners while watching the clock and looking for her. She came in right at her estimated time (and got first in her age group, woot woot) but saw us (edited to add: Steven reminded me that she said she recognized his beard from far away, ha!) and waved enthusiastically well before she got to the finish line! Luca and I gave her high fives on her way in!

We cheered Christy in too, and chatted and hung out until the awards ceremony, then hit up Starbucks. It was a warm day, with a pleasant breeze that made it perfect for enjoying a hot or cold drink on the patio with friends!

Amy is sweet, kind (she brought us Belgian cookies and chocolate NOM NOM NOM!!!), and easy to talk to, so we all hung out and talked for a long time! Honestly, I had kind of forgotten about the joy and excitement in meeting other bloggers – it’s been such a long time since I’ve done any blogger meetups**. But it’s so cool to meet someone face to face that you feel like you already know – you often pick up as if you’re old friends. And it’s always fun (especially with Amy, since she lives outside the states) to hear about someone’s experiences and how they’re different AND the same as yours. Isn’t it amazing, that even when you feel like you have all the people you need in your life, you still meet people and think “how can I spend more time with this totally cool person?!” Ahh, the fluidity of life’s friendships.

It was a treat to see Amy in person, and I’m grateful it worked with all our schedules! Everyone hit it off well, so we decided our next outside the states vacation with Gina and family should be to Belgium. Hee hee. Belgium Marathon 2017?

Oh! The post title! When we sat down with our drinks at Starbucks, Amy said “smakelijk!,” which is Dutch for “bon appetite!” That would be a fun thing to start saying with drinks… if I could remember how to pronounce it. Ha!

*They recognized me at the Dallas Marathon in 2014!
**It’s interesting… I found my people, and stopped reaching out/interacting as much. It’s kind of like how I used the running club to find my people, then left it (only I’m still blogging… so kind of not like that? Ha.). 

Comments (9)

By kilax, April 25, 2016 6:09 pm

A special dessert…

to celebrate a special fifth birthday!

We’ve had such a fun trip in Texas with our otra familia! More to come… when I am not eating fruit pizza, nom nom nom.

Comments (7)

By kilax, February 5, 2016 6:26 am

A year ago today, we were arriving in Mexico, for a week of sun and relaxation!

I feel so grateful we were able to take that trip, and especially, that we got to do it with our “otra familia”- Gina, Steve, and Luca!

I know quite a few people who’ve taken vacations to Mexico or the Caribbean this winter, and I feel so happy for them! I love seeing their photos on Facebook! It’s cheesy, but I feel like I can take in some of their joy when they share it.

One of my friends came back from Cancún in January and I asked him why he didn’t share any photos of it on Facebook, to which he replied that it’s not really his thing. I thought about it, then felt like an ass for asking in the first place. I knew that about him, and duh, when I went to Mexico, I hardly told anyone I was going, and definitely didn’t share any photos on Facebook (instead I recapped it for WEEKS, here, ha!) – I didn’t want to make it super obvious I was out of town!

So, while I do like seeing those photos on social media I TOTALLY get when people don’t want to share. To each their social media own.

I am excited we get to take another “big” trip this year – to Alaska! Then after that, I bet our trips will stay in the continental 48 for a bit… and probably mostly be to see family and friends. Ha!

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By kilax, January 5, 2016 6:12 am

Way to make me feel old, people. Ha.

A few of my Facebook friends from college have been posting about how it’s been ten years since we all started our adventure of living in Rome together (I arrived there January 4, 2006!).

Ten. Years.

Yikes!

That is the main reason I started this blog – to keep in touch with people while living in Rome. Then I stuck with writing  – it turns out I love having this journal of selected parts of my life.

I wonder what it’s like for the students from my university who participate in the Rome program now. Do they live in the same apartments? Is the school in the same place? Is it way easier to keep in touch with people back in the states, because technology is so much better?

I lived in Rome before smart phones. I didn’t even have a cell phone there. I used calling cards to call back home, and wrote LOTS of emails. Skype was just then becoming popular. I wasn’t on Facebook. Craziness! (But maybe all for the better? I would struggle with those distractions, as a student.)

I’ve mentioned this before, but I was NOT a runner when I lived in Rome. Ahh, how I’d love to go back and run in Italy!!! Someday!

Our apartment on Ciambella (that means doughnut!) street

The building where our classes were

And to think, I was b*tching about the kitchen at the rental house…

Cats liked to hang out on the clay tile roof across from our apartment

Me and a random cat at the Colosseo…

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By kilax, September 12, 2015 2:38 pm

I can’t believe I’ve been driving through Dubuque for years and have never ridden the funicular there until last Monday! For shame!

So, what is a funicular, beyond another word I have a hard time pronouncing? Let’s consult good ole Wikipedia:

A funicular is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope, the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalancing each other. Its name derives from the latin, funiculus, diminutive of funis, meaning “rope”.

The Dubuque funicular (aka Fenelon Place Elevator, aka Fourth Street Elevator) is not the first one I have ridden. The first was in Orvieto, Italy, in January of 2006!

We rode up over 500 feet to get to the city center, and see these amazing views:

Ahh, I would love to go back. That cathedral! So amazing!

Oops. I digress.

The reason the Dubuque funicular was initially built is humorous to me. J.K. Graves lived on the top of the bluff and worked on the bottom. He liked to go home for lunch and eat then take a nap (aww, yeah) but couldn’t fit that in his allocated lunch break – it took too long to get his horse and buggy around the bluff to the top, and back down.

So in 1882, Graves hired John Bell to design a cable car to go straight up the bluff to save him time. He was granted the right to build it June 5 that year, and it operated for the first time July 25 – fast construction! Then he had enough time to eat AND nap. Ahhh.

Of course, the elevator burned down several times throughout history. In 1893, Graves couldn’t afford to rebuild it, so he gave ten neighbors (who had come to rely on it) the rights to the track, and they formed the Fenelon Place Elevator Company. Eventually, one neighbor become the sole stock holder. I am not sure who runs it now – maybe the same family? Maybe the city? But it’s open April through November and fun (and cheap!) to ride!

The Dubuque funicular claims to be the shortest and steepest funicular in the world (and like most claims, others make the same claim, ha). Um, yeah. It’s steep – it travels a vertical elevation of 98 feet at an angle of 106 degrees! Eek!

I thought Luca would get a kick of out riding the funicular, because he loves all things transportation (and I love that about him!). Many trains travel by where my family has homes in Guttenberg, so it was an exciting weekend for him (but more about their visit, later!).

There were great views of downtown Dubuque from the top of the bluff. And you can see three states – Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin!

We could see where the half marathon we did that morning started and ended (indicated by the white arrow above).

Click image to see larger

There was a display at the house on top of the bluff of different funicular postcards from around the world (that riders had mailed to Dubuque!). It would be fun to ride these in other cities! I’ll have to consult this list if I am every traveling, to see if one exists.

And I have to see what other things I am missing out in in Dubuque* that I need to explore with my family and otra familia next summer!

*Apparently, not this cave. We were going to go, then read some horrible reviews of it, ha ha.