Death and Lights

My excuse for not being more diligent in blogging is the fact that we don't have a table. Or a desk. We just have the floor. Do you know how much your butt starts hurting after sitting on the floor/mattresses to accomplish all your computer tasks? The answer is a lot. I'm hoping this week we'll buy some junky top with legs. And no, that's not a prostitute joke.

Yes, we found an apartment.

Yep, I'm too lazy to rotate the picture of the hallway. Deal with it.

The inside is newly remodeled; new carpet, flooring, paint, doors, fixtures. In making it look nice they forgot to also update the kitchen, so sometimes I feel like I should be looking for the Beav. It's a one bedroom, and kind of far from work, but Mitch and I were so desperate to get a decent place we said "yes please" on the spot. Mitch sleeps out in the front room and I get the massive back room. Right now there is only my lonely mattress on the floor with my random stuff strewn across the floor. I would clean it up, but then the room would look even bigger.

The first two nights we slept on the floor. Thankfully, we have been uber blessed to know a family that I met in Georgia who are up here on base. They hooked us up with some great stuff and helped moved our mattresses from the store to our abode. We also got to go over there for Easter dinner and play with their kids. Knowing people is a really great thing and I highly recommend it. Unless you know them and they want to kill you. I'd avoid that.

I am getting a little ahead of myself. The very first Friday we were here, we found out that my grandmother passed away. I wasn't surprised because she was extremely sick with cancer and it was only a matter of time. Thankfully, like 2 weeks before I went to Alaska I went with my mom and aunt to go see her and I'm so grateful that I did.

My grandfather had died 12 years previously, so besides being happy that she didn't have to suffer anymore, we also had the wonderful assurance that she was with him again. I made her funeral program and listed her progenitors. She had 8 kids and with the addition of their spouses, grandchildren, grandchildren-in-law (is that even a phrase?) and great grandchildren, there are exactly 100 people. That is a legacy. She is a very stubborn lady and was uncompromising when it came to the gospel. She is also full of love and kindness for others. I'm excited to see her when she'll be free of mortal disease and aches.

One story that was told at the funeral that was then related to me goes as following:

The stake president had brought his young son to the ground breaking of the Phoenix LDS temple. He was upset because he was missing his soccer game. The father was trying to calm him down, when up walks my grandma. She asked him what was wrong and gave him some kind words. During the ceremony, she turned to him and said "I don't think you're going to make it to that soccer game, they're taking a long time to do all their talking." After, she told him she knew he was sad he didn't get to go to his soccer game, but that being there was so much more important. This was just one example of countless incidents where she showed her faith - even when it wasn't the most exciting place to be, she was always where she was supposed to be.

A few days after we found out about my grandma, we were told that my 7 year old Golden Retriever dog, Captain Jack Sparrow, had to be put down because of cancer.

Cancer sucks. I'm still pissed about his death.

However, about a month ago I read a sweet story about a boy who had to put down his dog and when his parents or the vet weren't able to answer why his beloved friend had such a short life here, he sat down and pondered the question himself. He then told them that if the purpose of life is to love others, that dogs perfect that principle quickly and don't need as much time on earth to figure it out.

It's hard to explain to someone who has never had a beloved animal, but if you have, then you know how true this little boy's statement was. If I was ever upset or crying, Captain would always find me and put his gentle head on my knee and I  knew that no matter how harsh the world was, Captain loved me without reservations.

I'm  going to move on now before I start bawling for the rest of the night.

Needless to say, we had a bit of a rough beginning. Despite that, I've had many reminders of God's love for me. One of those being the Northern Lights. I've only seen them one night, and it was about 15 degrees and 1 a.m., but it was one of the most beautiful displays of God's majesty that I've ever seen. Sure, science has figured out why they happen, but that doesn't make them less spectacular.

The auroras are one of those things that is impossible to describe or capture in a photograph. For me, it was like a visual representation of a celestial lullaby. They move and ripple like ribbons in water and do a ballet in the sky. See, told you it was hard to describe. Apparently they even make sounds and you can hear them if it's silent enough.

I'm hoping to still have some chances to see them before the sun stays out all night. I didn't know the best way to photograph them, but for you photo nerds out there, I left my aperture open for 30 seconds. I would have left it on longer, but I forgot my remote. Then again, if you leave it open for too long, your picture will probably just be a blur of colored clouds.

This coming September when they come on strong again and it gets dark enough, I'm hoping to go down to Denali and see and shoot them there.

This was my favorite picture. I probably took about 50. It kind of reminds me of the movie Hocus Pocus when the witches do something at the school and this green cloud comes streaming from the roof. Anyone else?

That's it for tonight. I don't want to bore you to tears (that was one of my grandma's sayings. She had a lot of them). Next time I'll write about the adventures in driving a 45 foot bus. Oh, and I signed up on Twitter @ElissaGator in case you were getting ulcers waiting for me to jump into another social networking pit.