everyday i'm shufflin

I LOVE lazy days off, like today! to take a break from the crazy normalcy of life when you don't even have time to tie your shoes in the morning and instead just force your feet into loosely pre-tied shoes so you can run out the door. I treasure lazy days off. I crave them! But, they come and go way too quickly!! This weekend is special, though, because I also had yesterday off! I was able to finish unpacking (I moved to a new house about a month ago), catch up on laundry, clean the house, go to the gym, do my nails, do my hair... anyways, i was able to get a lot of things done yesterday, and now today I can just chill and do whatever I feel like I want to do! Today... I feel like blogging.

It's been awhile since my last blog. And a lot of magical things have happened since then!

Earlier this spring I moved to Anchorage for a new start. That wish was granted! I have gotten to know a new side of myself. Though my life is hella crazy and busy, I love it! I love working at REI! I am eager to get there everyday I work. I love playing with the gadgets and talking to the people that come in. I love the stories they share with me and their experiences with not only the Alaskan wilderness, but with areas all around the world! I'm coming up on my 6 month mark of working at REI and a performance review. If all goes well, I will be receiving a raise shortly! I love getting more money :)

I love my Singles Ward! There are always fun things going on. Tonight, for instance, we are having a Guy Fawkes Night bonfire. It's gonna be amazing! We do movie nights, game night, park nights, hike nights, potlucks, crafts, and well pretty much any thing we can come up with nights. We fit into whoever's small house and just have a blast! I was slow at getting to know people at first, but I really branched out at the YSA conference in July. In fact, there was a guy there that kinda caught my attention. After the conference I asked my friend who was having regular parties at her house to extend invites to this guy specifically. He came, and I was so happy he came. My interest grew for this cute, charming and amazing guy, and he FINALLY asked me out at the end of August. I've now been dating Jon for a little over 2 months. 

I love this boy! Things kicked off fast with Jon. He became my best friend so easily; like peanut butter and chocolate, that was just the way it was supposed to be, and soon enough we were inseparable. I reeled in a keeper :)

I love my new house and my new room mate! It's amazing how everything fell together so quickly and perfectly just when we needed it to. Heavenly Father was definitely involved. I am very blessed to have a room mate as amazing as Rebecca. We get along so well! She loves outdoorsy things even more than I do! It's a perfect situation and I am very grateful for these blessings. 

My new room mate Rebecca and our new house!

6439 miles on a tandem bicycle.

On August 1, 2009, The Pedouin family embarked with their 3 daughters (ages 6, 4, & 2) on a cross country bicycle journey starting in Kentucky and arriving in Fairbanks a year and 6439 miles later. Over the last winter they wrote a book about their incredible journey on a 5 seat tandem bicycle. Now they are traveling by bus across the country doing a book tour.
On friday the Pedouin family stopped at REI for a few hours to sign and sell copies of their books.  They are an incredible and inspiring family. My shift ended early so I was able to go and talk with them for awhile. They showed me around their bus and the little girls told me stories of their bike ride. It was so much fun! The mother and her 3 girls all gave me a hug before they left and the father told me "Abbigail, whatever you do, live big"

Check out their website www.pedouins.org

I don't know if I'd ever do a 6500 mile bike trip across the country, but at some point in my life I want to do something that qualifies as "living big!"... most of the ideas that I come up with I kinda chuckle at and say to myself  "haha, come on Abbi, think realistically here"... but maybe thats the point, to NOT think realistically! so here's my list of UNREALISTIC adventures I would like to attempt!
- Climb Mt. McKinley.
- Motorcycle trip from southern point of South America to northern point of North America
- Back-packing trip from Pacific to Atlantic
- Bike from Alaska to somewhere in the lower 48 states
- travel to Antarctica
- travel to the MOON!
- .... ok i cant think of anymore at the moment. but i'll come up with some good ones later.

as good as deep fried oreos

today... lets see, today i attempted to learn the basic moves of Zumba - but as you all know, i'm very VERY white. on tv they make the moves looks so easy, smooth, and sexy. i look like a chicken trying to take a crap. no joke. maybe practice will bring perfection. anyway, after failing at Zumba i just cleaned the apartment, waiting to go to the gym with my roommate and do what i do best... walk on a treadmill. i live my life on the edge...

for some reason today i kept getting phone calls from numbers i didn't know. Each time my phone rang I'd get excited and hope it was finally the call saying "YOU'RE HIRED!"... nope. just random calls about this and that... not till, like, the 20th one!!

BANG! and were off! finally!! this afternoon while on the way to the gym I got that phone call about work! Starting Wednesday I officially work for R.E.I! I may be getting way to excited about this, but after a long winter of unemployment..... i feel so relieved!

also good news! my dad was offered a job this week as well! he will now be working on base in Anchorage. i'm not quite clear on what he actually does, but that always seems to be the case. But it's been a good week for the Robinsons!

well... I just had to share my awesome news. good night all! sleep sweet <3

P.S. I finished the book Eat Pray Love... It was AMAZING! absolutely loved it... but the movie totally sucked. just in case you were wondering.

a watched phone never rings.

I started reading "Eat Pray Love" this last week while I was on the treadmill at the gym (yes that means i'm only walking on the treadmill but i'm also at a 15 degree incline- really works the booty). I'm through the first part of the book where Ms Elizabeth Gilbert experiences the pleasures of Italy.  I am envious of this womans opportunity to travel to this place... and the way she describes her meals in Italy... Well it probably isn't the best book to be reading at a gym. So far this book just makes me very hungry. But I am loving the book and I do enjoying reading it. It does a good job of filling up my time with something to do.

I'm still waiting on a call from REI about a job. Last Saturday I went in for an interview with the retail supervisor. I couldn't have imagined a better interview! It was fabulous! She first asked me specific questions about my sales experience and then graded my response to 'what if' scenarios. We ended up talking about a long term commitment to REI. She shared with me her experiences working with the company and some of the benefits REI provided to their employees. We talked about my plans to go to business school and how REI has tuition reimbursement programs for their employees searching out a business degree! We talked about the possibility of transferring to a store in Salt Lake City when I can afford to go down for school. She told me about the dozens of stores she's helped open and the people she was able to meet. So far everything I have heard about this job seems wonderful. It pays less than my last job for now, but I can see long term results coming from this. She told me that I'd hear from her this week sometime letting me know if I got the job or if I didn't, but she wouldn't leave me hanging with no response. She was so nice and I am getting so anxious! I tried keeping myself busy today but I still watched my phone praying for it to ring with good news...  Hopefully tomorrow it will. Megan and I plan on sushi and costco chocolate cake to celebrate when I get the job... or to cheer me up if I don't... Lets hope for the first. I don't like being broke.

I refer to my black sweatpants as my formal sweatpants.

Life right now feels like.... well that I'm at the starting line ready to go, but no one has fired the shot to start yet. I'm getting anxious and impatient and... well frustrated! I spent a lot of my time today sitting on my air-mattress in my bedroom that I have barely filled with the essential items I need. Way to be proactive, yes? In my last post I mentioned that I felt like I was stuck in a hole. I've decided to move into my sisters apartment in Anchorage and do some job hunting around town. One job seems very promising and I'm just waiting on the official call saying, "You're Hired!".... but... my phone has been silent today (except for a call from my dad trying to convince me to become a police officer...).  Yep.... waiting... it's great.

On another note - Today was probably one of the most beautiful Alaskan summer day's I had ever seen! It was absolutely perfect ♥  

‎10:00pm - Windows down and Tom Petty cranked up - 

My drive back to Anchorage was spectacular! I LOVE this state!!

thunder only happens when it's raining.

Alaska, it seems, is having a hard time kicking off into summer this year. Green leaves are just now starting to sprout out from the trees and little green prickles of grass are starting to poke through the dead leaves from last fall. This hasn't stopped me from going around and visiting some of my favorite scenic spots around the valley with friends though :)

Hatcherpass! (yes i love my jeep, duuuhhh! btw this picture made Jeeps Pic of the week!)

Yes, we even had a fire down on our road as you can tell from the last picture. It started from a tree landing on some power lines. The fire made it's way into the trees by the time the trucks showed to put the fire out. An Alaskan summer is definitely starting to arrive. Another day or two and it will be bright green everywhere. 

But, what has really been frustrating about this spring is that I haven't started work yet. I've been getting anxious. I planned on going back to school this fall, but it's kinda difficult when money keeps leaving my bank account instead of collecting in it. So, after a lovely chat with my bosses, I've decided to begin a search for a new job. Don't get me wrong, I love where I worked. They just haven't been getting as many contracts this year as they expected. So, school has been put on hold for now hopefully only till January. I just really want to get out of town for a bit. I've been told about a job opportunity out in Dutch Harbor working for pen-air, and I've sent some applications to jobs available in Cordova.  I feel like I'm stuck in a hole and that there's nothing left here in the valley for me for now. Like the only thing that was holding me here was my job.  I want to go plant some roots in another place, meet some new people and develop more character.

I miss changing my location every 4 months like how I did after I graduated high-school. I had fun creating my new identity with each new location.  Temporary locations have a major benefit too.  Drama can be left behind. Getting over heartbreak is easier... "out of sight, out of mind"..... i miss that... a lot. And with the advantages of technology, i can keep in contact with the friends i do love and miss! i love that it's all up to me! I cannot explain how much i LOVE the power of the DELETE button!! Deleting texts, messages... throwing away letters... all before i read them has helped bring closure after a breakup. Oh! and deleting past conversations is really important.... anyway... where was i going with this? oh yes... "out of sight, out of mind". I'm ready for some distance between the valley and I. I guess you can say that I'm scared and I'm a wimp and that I'm just running away from a difficult situation. i'll agree with you. I am scared. I'm a wimp. And I want to take an easier way out... by just leaving.

But moving to another location encourages what is probably my worst trait- that I'm not very good at getting in touch with my feelings. I have this theory that if I open up to anyone those words can and will be used against me. With each experience it gets harder to trust people, it gets harder to believe in humanity, and I build up thick walls to protect myself. I am so concerned about the way people think of me, I try to make it so nobody has a bad thing to say about me by being careful to not rub anyone the wrong way. I have done this for so long now that I don't even allow myself to think about how I really feel. Sometimes, I believe that it's a good way to live. I don't let anyone get close enough to betray me and I have lots of good friends. But..... it also sucks. I don't let anyone get close to me. Even though I have a lot of good pals, I still end up going home feeling alone with my thoughts.

So what am I to do? Keep moving forward. I will probably move somewhere new. There really isn't anything for me to stick around here for (no offense to anyone in the valley).  We'll see what the fates have in store for me. So far this year they have made it interesting.

"Thunder only happens when it's raining
Players only love you when they're playing
Women...they will come and they will go
When the rain washes you clean, you'll know"

-Dreams by Fleetwood Mac-