Chapter 8 - 2016

WOW, I can't believe we're here in September already! Hello, fall. Hello, PSL, sweater weather, chilly evenings, crunchy leaves, and Halloween. Many may call Thanksgiving part of fall, but I've always thought of it as a winter holiday since there's usually already snow by that holiday. Perks of living in Alaska, LOL. August was full of adventure and surprises. It was an awesome month!
 
August 2016 Memories

• Seward Day Trip - On the first weekend of August, Sean and I went on a little adventure. We drove down to Seward and had lunch at Resurrection Lodge and then hiked Exit Glacier. I've seen Exit Glacier before, but from far away. We hiked up to the viewing point and I was so proud of myself! There were times when I thought I wasn't going to make it up, but Sean kept encouraging me. The view was spectacular, yet at the same time it made me sad realizing how quickly it's receding. After our hike, Sean and I had dinner at Ray's Waterfront. We got there at the perfect time before it got super busy. Food was delish!
• Thunderbird Falls - On the second weekend of August, Sean and I were itching to go on another adventure. It was my FIRST time doing the hike! I'm pretty sure every other Alaskan has done this hike multiple times. I'm so out of shape, I kept repeating to myself, "How the hell is this considered an easy trail?!" LOL. It was short trail, but to me it felt like a lot of uphill. I can't wait to go back again and try the other route and get a closer view of the waterfall.
• Home Updates - We received and accepted an offer on August 15! I was so happy and relieved! We are hoping the buyers will close on our condo on September 23 and we'll be able to close on our house shortly after. I'll write a separate blog post about our lengthy home buying adventure.
• Trail of Blue Ice - On the third weekend of August, we were going to go to Winner's Creek in Girdwood for the first time, but the Blueberry Festival was going on and it was CRAZY busy. So we decided to eat lunch at Chair 5 and walked along the Trail of Blue Ice instead.
• Alaska State Fair - The last weekend of August started on a Thursday for a nice 4 day weekend. One of my favorite traditions with my family is to go to the Fair on opening day. Admission is only $2 and it's less busy since it's not a weekend. It was POURING rain for several hours, so I was a little miserable at times. The sun peaked out in the afternoon though and then it was hot! Some of the yummy food I ate - pork chop on a stick, cheese curds, shroomies, seafood bisque, fried shrimp, pancit (my family always brings a big batch to snack on, LOL), steamer clams, Soda Jerk, and Dippin' Dots.
• World Wide Marriage Encounter - I looked forward to this for over a year! It was an amazing, spiritual, and loving journey. I will have to write a separate blog post about our experience. I am so happy we got to attend.

Shows & Movies

• Suicide Squad - I'm more of a Marvel fan, so I didn't really know what my expectations were supposed to be. They weren't that high, LOL. I personally liked it, though I felt like they packed too much in a short period of time so there wasn't enough character development for a lot of the characters.
• Pete's Dragon - I think this is one of my favorite movies that I've seen this year! It was so beautifully done, I loved it so much.
• Sausage Party - I thought this started off hilarious and then it quickly went down hill.
• Stranger Things - Major props to Netflix for creating this awesome series! I look forward to the second season.
• Power - I'm all caught up and DAMN, it's a good season!
• Agents of Shield -  I finally got around to season 3 via Netflix. It was a jam packed season! Lot's of twists and turns, I'm excited that I'm able to watch season 4 with the rest of the SHIELD fans now that I'm all caught up.