Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner!

Thanks to all of you for playing, posting, visiting.  I enjoyed reading your comments.

So that you can experience the suspense of the process with me, here is how it happened:  We had a total of 8 posts.  In order to save time (as it is past midnight here), trees (as in avoiding paper) and the real reason folks: effort (as in even trying to find paper in an office regularly ransacked by children) I decided to use random.org instead of doing a traditional paper ticket draw.  I got a random number between 1-8 to correspond with the number of comments.  And what did I get?  The result is on the right highlighted in blue:

It is the number 7, or post number 7, which means the winner is (drum roll):


~~~~~~~~~~~~Congratulations Sabine!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You are the winner of the first official This Alaskan Backyard giveaway, and the recipient of a weird but cool lot of Alaskan souvenirs.

In fact, Sabine you won twice.  As it happened, it occurred to me that some of the posts technically did not qualify for one reason or another, for things like opting out "hey I am just saying 'hi' but not interested in the giveaway" so really there were 4 posts that were actual entries.  So I did a redo just to humor myself.  Just to see if the result were any different on 4 unique numbers.  Well, guess what, this is what I got:

the number 3.  Which is still Sabine, as hers is the 3rd qualifying entry.  So dear Sabine, send me a message on FB with your address and your gift will be on its way :-)

A little bit of Alaska -from me to you.

(Magyar verzio a szoveg vegen :)

This is the first This Alaskan Backyard giveaway.  It is my way of saying "thanks" to you all for joining us on our journey.  Oh, but what to give when there is so much to choose from!  Well, one lucky winner will take it all, and the prizes are as follows:

The items I chose are pretty random, chosen in part for their Alaskan-ness and in part for their mail-ability.   First in this group is an Ulu or "Legendary knife of the Arctic" as it says on the box, made of  U.S. Stainless steel with a lifetime guarantee.  The carved wooden handle shows a fancy moose with a quintessentially Alaskan landscape.

All right then, this is pretty awesome so far!  Something to skin chicken with for dinner or cut hair in a pinch.

The second item for the lucky winner is........Alaskan wild blackberry tea.  This is REAL berry tea folks, picked from the wild river valleys and lush tundra of Alaska.  Brew up this bad boy, and dream of the wild Alaska landscape from which it came from as you enjoy with friends and family.  10 teabags to savor.



OK, so Ulu -check, berries -check, what else goes with this Alaskana theme?



Well, you guessed it: a book on something few know about Alaska outside of Alaska: outhouses. 
Yes, ladies and gents, this book takes a whimsical look at an often-ignored aspect of life in Alaska and answers such age-old questions as why are outhouses adorned with a crescent moon? and how do you use an outhouse at fifty below?  Titled Outhouses of Alaska (by Harry M. Walker) it is a good read to enjoy while sipping your Alaskan wild berry tea. 






Read of the Rhoads for example, whose plush, floor-to-ceiling carpeted outhouse bears the sign: Spiffy Bippy:  All Plushy....but no flushy!  By the time you finish, you will wish for an outhouse to make your very own!....well, almost.

And the final gift in this bunch is an Alaskan bumper sticker.  If you are Alaskan, Alaskan-at-heart, or know someone who is and would like a bumper sticker to show it, this one's for you:

Well, there you have it: the first giveaway from me to you:

So here is how you enter:

STEP 1: sign up as a Follower (if you haven't already done so, if you have then sign in with your user name so I won't have to figure out which one of 5 Anonymous posters is the winner :)...and by the way: don't think of yourself as a Follower, but rather as a reader.... :) and if you're worried that annoying email and spam will follow your post: don't.  Being a follower does not automatically sign you up for updates and such.

STEP 2: leave me a comment by Wednesday, March 23rd midnight Alaska time.  What kind of comment you ask?  Well, tell me which one's your favorite gift and why.  That's how easy.  Accepted languages: English, Hungarian, French and whatever else Google translator can handle. 

On 3/23 I will randomly choose one lucky winner either by enlisting J's help and by doing an old fashioned paper ticket-draw, or via a random number-generator site.  The winner can then email me their address privately so I can mail them the goods.  There you have it folks, comment away and Good Luck!

Hungarian version:
Csatlakozz a bloghoz mint "Follower" es kommentalj itt lent.  Annyit irj, melyik lenne a kedvenc szuvenired, es miert.  A szerencses nyertest sorsolas alapjan dontom el, es a fent abrazolt 4 ajandekot kapja meg.  Eszkimo Ulu kes, alaszkai pottyantos budikrol szolo konyv, alaszkai szeder tea, es alaszkai autos matrica.  Postan kuldom, sok szerencset!  Hatarido: Marcius 23. ejfel, Alaszka ido szerint.

Quick update

Last weekend we got 2ft of snow virtually overnight.  This was my deck Monday morning:

Then I spent the entire week making a 5ft tall stuffed dragon for Big Fish, who just had to have one.  It is Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon, and I almost went mad making it.  I am so glad it is done.  To get the custom made resin eyes I had to go underground and contact a hobbyist costume / mascot maker, but first I had to track her down.  You get the idea, this has been a covert operation ongoing since before Christmas.  Oh and why not buy one?  Because they are not available in this size, and the Toothless toys that are available are ugly.  So I had to make my own.

J is back from a job interview in Lausanne (at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, or EPFL), now we are waiting to see if perhaps Alpen adventures are in our future.  Oh, and we are remodeling our kitchen.  Back in a bit :)

Long time, no see...well, hello blog!

And hello 2011!  I have been ignoring you or at least your sleepy and cold first month of January .  This year as every year, we went to see the annual Sparktacular fireworks show at UAF on New Year's Eve:

....then settled into the routine of -30 F school days and the renovation of our bathrooms, kitchen and bedrooms, in other words basically doing anything to keep us occupied and from noticing that January in Fairbanks isn't as much fun as some might think (and those who do might have inhaled just a bit too much wood smoke in their cabins).

Now that we've made it through January, I have mustered up the motivation to blog again.  January is the sort of month we just have to make it through here.  Many overcast, dark days during which this great valley we are situated in gets frequently blanketed by a thick layer of clouds, smoke and who knows what else.  Funny though: the sun usually is peaking through low on the horizon, off in a distance thumbing its nose at us as if saying:  "Hey suckers, I am over here!"  Much like on this day:

But when February arrives, so does the hope of spring, warmer temperatures, and more daylight.  February tends to be quite sunny.  I am all better now, thank you.

In other news, Small Moose lost his first tooth and here he is holding up the evidence (you just have to trust me on this one):

and Small Fish got her first pigtails:

J and I went to a Rusted Root concert last week and had a great time.  We had a brave friend / coworker babysit for us -thank you Leslie! - went on a proper date and danced into the night.  Rusted Root is an awesome band, especially so since they are among the very few who bother to come thousands of miles to play up here in Alaska.  Thank you, RR!  We are starved for music up here.  I have to post some pics and video on this when I get them off J's cell phone.  Back in a bit.... :-)

Oh so busy

It is cold, the days are short, Small Fish turned two, the Christmas tree is up and the children are bursting at the seams with excitement. We are insanely busy this week, no time to blog....so for another week I'm off the air. Some random pictures:

Comments Fixed

My dear, loyal followers (the both of you :)

The Post Comment link has been fixed. So comment away, but be nice... I have mad computer skills and will totally track you down.

The (not-so-) Short Break

Resuscitate....resuscitate....
This blog needs some life. This is just a quick post to say that I've no time for blogging for a few more weeks. Life can be summed up in this simple equation right now:

Time Spent (Writing a journal article + working as a research assistant + caring for 4 children + a house in constant need + some sleep) >= 24 hours

which also means Time Left to Blog = 0

But much fun has also been had, and chronicled on a maxed out camera memory card. I will have to retro-post soon, as a shameful last resort and testament to the fact that I am unfit for blogging.