Alaska: This is Home

This week marks our two year anniversary of living in Alaska.  Yesterday was Alaska Day (yes, smart of us to move up the week of Alaska Day... helps us remember) and Tom had Monday off (because of his awesome every-other-Monday-off schedule) and so it made for a four-day weekend.  To celebrate the anniversary and Alaska Day, I felt the need to blog all the reasons I don't want to move out of Alaska.  Our first full year was exciting and we loved it, but I was still ready to move if an offer ever came up to do so in the Northwest.  Now I'm not sure I would.  (It helps that a lot of Alaskan perks kick in after you've lived here a full year.)  Here are some of the things I love about it here:

 (peek-a-boo Moose!)

• It's gorgeous:  This is true for a lot of places, I realize.  But we've got it all.  Within a one-hour drive of our house, we can see an ocean, an inlet, lots of glaciers, gorgeous mountains, thick forests, lakes, and plains.  What are you in the mood for?  We can take you to see it.  
• Tom's work benefits:  It would take a pretty amazing job to beat out Tom's.  And we're realizing it's probably impossible to do so.  Tom comes home at 4:30 everyday.  He never has to stay late.  And he gets every other Monday off.  He also gets 5 weeks of vacation a year that he can actually use when he wants and has a $1000 out of pocket medical maximum for each of us.  Not shabby at all.  
• Salmon: Once a week we eat wild Alaskan salmon that we caught!  With a big net (because we're Alaskan)!  How lucky are we?  It's so delicious and the girls love it.  (Sabrina eats so much Salmon.) Pictured is one of the many great recipes we've been using from the Whole Foods website (though we took this picture). Salmon is so versatile.





• Free Money: We pay no sales or income tax.  Though things are a bit more spendy up here, the lack of taxes makes up for it.  And every year, each Alaskan gets a cut of the big oil money.  This year it was $1174 for every man, woman, and child.  It will be pretty easy to save for the girls' college funds when they each get a big check every year.  
• Wildlife: While I'm partially convinced I may die of bear mauling whilst camping someday (if I don't die in a bush plane...), it's amazing to have so much wildlife.  Bald eagles, moose, magpie, and caribou are so very common.  If you'll recall, we even get moose in our yard occasionally.  
• Club 49: Okay, this isn't a huge deal... definitely not a deal-maker... but Alaska Airlines just announced Club 49 yesterday (on Alaska day).  This means that Alaska residents can now check 2 bags for free on Alaska Airlines when flying to or from an Alaskan city.  Tom and I spent the day yesterday dreaming of all the liquids and razors we can now bring on our vacations.  And we're super pumped to fill the extra suitcases we each get with IKEA and Trader Joe's goods whenever we go "outside."
• Bike Trails: I've mentioned this before.  But the bike trails are amazing.  And Tom still bike commutes 2-3 times a week year round.  The rest of us enjoy the trails in the spring and summer.  
• Culture: Fur Rondy, Iditarod, low-budget TV commercials (seriously hilarious), Alaska Native influence, ice skating on frozen lakes, solstices, dipnetting, Northern Lights... we've got some great stuff happening.  Also, people are different up here.  It's like we're all on this big Alaskan adventure together.  If you move up here, you become one of "us" and we've got your back.