Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

The foliage is quickly turning here in the Interior. Every day, there are more yellow and golden leaves on the trees, and even more on the ground. I love the contrast of yellow against the deep green of our lawn, especially on an overcast day when everything really glows in the more subdued lighting.

Over the last couple of weeks, Steve and I have been tackling all of the chores that need to be completed before winter arrives. One of his major projects has been the garage. It’s amazing how much stuff is accumulated when you own a home. While I love that he’s tackling that major job, I also have to check on him from time to time - to make sure he’s not throwing out any of MY stuff! Of course my stuff is *junk*, whereas his is useful and must be kept. Isn’t that the way it always is? Seriously though.. we have accumulated quite a bit of stuff that would be best donated or given away, rather than held onto.

The bull moose twins who visited us in August, have returned to nibble our saplings twice since then. I took this photo at the beginning of the month. This young bull was in our front yard, when he caught the attention of one of our neighbors driving by. She pulled out her cellphone to snap a photo of him. His brother was across the road in the neighbor’s yard.

A few days after the boys came to visit, a cow moose decided that my (mowed down) wildflower bed would be a great place to rest a while. She’s a big girl and you can really see the length of her head in this photo:

And look how long her legs are!

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Congratulations to the new Mr and Mrs! I am honored to have been chosen to capture the special moments of Jeremy and Sara’s day.

They were married in an outdoor ceremony at the Georgeson Botanical Gardens here in Fairbanks. Despite the chilly overnight temperatures we’ve had, there were still enough flowers blooming in the garden to make it a beautiful day for a wedding - and for photos.

Here are a few of my favorites:

The light was just perfect for this photo of Sara’s wedding gown:

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I can’t believe it’s been a week since I wrote here. I have been really busy the last few days.

On Saturday, I photographed Jeremy and Sara’s wedding. Jeremy and Sara are repeat clients of mine. I took their engagement photos, and also photographed Sara pregnant with Ethan (who was born in late May).

Their wedding was held outdoors at the Georgeson Botanical Gardens on UAF campus. Everyone was worried that it would rain on their special day, but the rain held off until later that evening at their reception/party. I didn’t go to their reception, as they had several friends and family members taking photos and it was a very informal affair.

It was a beautiful day for a wedding (partly sunny) and Sara looked absolutely stunning. I am honored to have been asked to capture the special moments for such a lovely couple.

I’m still working on photos from the event, and will share some the next time I update here.

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September first was the fourth anniversary of my mother’s passing. This was the first year that I didn’t wake up feeling sad. Of course I miss her terribly, but instead of focusing on my loss, I reminisced about some of the wonderful times we had over the years.  I actually found myself smiling. Later on that day, Brandon and I talked about some of the quirkier memories about his “Mom Mom” and we laughed together.

If she were still alive she’d be celebrating her 72nd birthday today. Again, I woke with happy thoughts and not sadness. I wish she were still here so I could sing Happy Birthday to her. Rather than be sad about not being able to sing the birthday song to her, I sang it anyway. Wherever she is, perhaps she heard me.

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We’ve had a slight change in weather over the last few days. The overnight near frost levels have turned to more seasonal temps. We’re still covering the tomatoes just in case, but it’s nice not to have to wake up to freezing floors and a chill in the air.

The trees are quickly turning yellow and gold and the grass is now littered with golden leaves. This is my favorite time of the year. I just wish it lingered.

I’ve got to get back to working on wedding photos, so I apologize for making a non-photo post. I’ll try to make up for it next time.

Until then…