Surprise!

So, I have been on a little blogging hiatus the last week or so.  Partly because I was in Alaska visiting Cody and partly because...

We got married!! Cody and I finally (after almost three years of being engaged) tied the knot in a small, intimate ceremony in Alaska.  I plan to do a full write-up about it this week.  I am also planning a few great posts about my trip.  Stay tuned for the scoop! :)

Fireweed Jelly: The Intro

It's that time of the year! Time to start collecting berries, plants, and other goodies so that we can store some food for the winter.  Now, this is my first year doing any storing/canning/harvesting myself.  I've always been interested in gardening and the homesteading lifestyle, but I haven't ever done anything about it.  So, the move to Alaska seemed like the perfect time to start.  I grew a garden (a pathetic one as it was still snowing in May), collected berries, and began making as much of my own stuff (shampoo, detergent, etc) that I could.  Now, I hope to do a longer post about this lifestyle in the future but today's is going to focus on making... Fireweed Jelly!

Fireweed is a purple, flowering plant that grows in Alaska and many other places in the United States.  It is an incredibly durable plant and typically will be the first plant to return to an area after a forest fire (namesake).  If you are more interested in learning about the plant itself, you can check out this link.

 I haven't made my own batch of jelly yet, but I am hoping to this weekend.  However, I have been doing plenty of fireweed picking and snacking on the jelly that I have been gifted (my neighbors are the best).  The awesome-ness of the batch that the neighbors gave me has inspired me to make TONS.  We will never buy store-bought jelly again! (Well, maybe once in awhile :))

My students helped collect the plants for me too! They heard I was making jelly and decided to pick me a few giant bags to contribute to the collection. Their only condition was that I give their families each a jar.  Obviously, I've taught them well :)

When I do finally make my own jelly I plan to use a combination of this recipe and this recipe. For my vegan friends, I am trying to find a good substitute for pectin, any suggestions? It seems impossible to find a fireweed jelly recipe without it, but here's to hoping!

Questions:
Do you grow/harvest/can any of your own food?
What beauty or food products do you make yourself?

Our Journey in Minimalist Living

Q: Why be a minimalist?

A: It’s a way to escape the excesses of the world around us — the excesses of consumerism, material possessions, clutter, having too much to do, too much debt, too many distractions, too much noise. But too little meaning. Minimalism is a way of eschewing the non-essential in order to focus on what’s truly important, what gives our lives meaning, what gives us joy and value.

Minimalism is something that I posted about here a few weeks ago.  It is a lifestyle that Cody and I became very interested in, specifically after moving to Alaska.  We had WAY too many things in our lives and not enough adventure.  As all things in life though, it is a work in progress.

We are still in the process of de-cluttering our lives and it has been difficult at times. There are books, furniture, movies, and frankly just lots of stuff that we have accumulated. Personally, getting rid of clothes has been a difficulty.  I gave away three entire trash-bags of summer clothes when we moved to Alaska (seriously).  This was super difficult for me because I have always loved clothes and enjoyed an interest in fashion.  Even after giving away those bags I still had an incredible amount of clothing to take with on our move...and what I would consider a bit of a shopping habit.  So, quitting the shopping and cutting back to the basics has been tough.  I am doing fairly well (and haven't bought ANY clothes lately) but it is still a struggle every time I see someone with a new pair of Tom's or a new shirt from UO. But….

There are still LOTS of clothes to go through! 

Guess what?? It feels so good once you finally do it! I struggled to give away certain items (books, clothes, etc) but none of them were items that held any sentimental value! Anything that is "special" I have kept and held onto dearly.  But, a shirt I bought three years ago at the mall (and have worn maybe 10x) is NOT important.  This has been difficult to grasp but I honestly don't feel like I am missing out one bit.  I feel more free and less dependent on my things every day.

Enjoying the "little things" in life. 

Cody and I want to focus more on human experiences.  We want to find more things that we enjoy doing together as a couple.  This weekend we are doing yoga together for the first time and we hope to find many more activities to do together that we love.  It is still something that we are striving for and occasionally struggling to enforce in our daily lives, but when we follow-through with it we feel so accomplished! It is so important just to focus on our experiences and our lives without stuff.

Waking up to see the sunrise, a beautiful experience. 

I hope to focus more on this topic in the future and expand as we expand it into our lifestyles more and more. If this is a lifestyle you are interested in pursuing check out the links in my original post (listed above) or feel free to ask me any questions about our own personal journey!

Questions: 
Would you ever consider a minimalist lifestyle?
What are three things you could easily give up? 

Do Vegetarians Go Fishing?

Today's post is about my adventures fishing in Alaska.  Before I start though, I thought I should address that fact that I AM a vegetarian.  Let's rewind…my veggie beliefs began at an early age.  I began refusing meat when my parents first tried giving it to me in my toddler years.  They were supportive of the no-meat attitude I had somehow developed by the age of two.  So, I just never ate meat and I was always actively against it.  As I grew older I was mainly against factory farming and big business controlling our food (I hate Monsanto too but that's a conversation for another day). I marched in parades to support vegetarian/vegan lifestyles, I handed out pamphlets, and generally supported my fellow veg-lovers and animals!

Activism, 2006. 

Then, I moved to Alaska in 2010 and saw the lack of resources.  It was impossible for me to be a vegetarian living in the Bush.  There was no milk of any kind (powdered-only), no vegetables, no fruit, and generally not a whole lot to choose from.  It took up 4-6 weeks for mail to arrive so ordering fresh food online wasn't even an option.  If food wasn't at the general store (and it almost never was), I didn't eat it.  So, while living in the Bush I ate fish, but only fish that I, or another villager, caught.  I chose to only eat locally caught fish by people that I knew because it allowed me to know who/what/when/where and that the person respected the animal.

Catching Dinner, 2010. 

So, while I am still not a meat-eater, my views have evolved after living in such a remote area of the world.  I learned that my lifestyle is actually impossible in some corners of the world (at least I found no other alternative).  In Juneau the vegetarian options are readily available (thankfully).  But, I still believe that Alaskans as a whole are a subsistence people who rely on hunting, fishing, and trapping to sustain themselves throughout the year.  They respect animals, they recognize that they are not the top of the food chain, and they hunt for survival.  This is simply their way of life and I respect them so much for this.

The Dolly that I caught under JD Bridge. 

Do vegetarians go fishing? This one did! I decided that I would try it out as long as we wasted none of the meat…and that is exactly what we did.  Cody plans to catch enough fish and other game to sustain himself this winter without store bought meat.  If I can contribute to the decline of factory farming through this route than I have decided that I will try it.  So, here are some pictures of my fishing adventures (as a vegetarian).  Enjoy:)

Fish Creek. 

Juneau-Douglas Bridge. 

Questions:
Are you a vegetarian? Why or why not? 
What choice would you have made in my position?
Do you enjoy fishing, hunting, trapping, or gathering? 

Good Food & Good Fishing

Saturday was an amazing, albeit busy, day for Cody and I.  We had a ton of plans with friends (we like to jam-pack most of our activities into one day so that our other day can be spent doing couple-ish things).  So, we had breakfast plans, hiking plans, and fishing plans.  It ended up being an incredible day full of first-time experiences for both of us.

We started out with a trip to the Sandpiper Cafe.  I had been hearing great things about this place but I still hadn't ventured out to it yet.  Now that I have been I will be going back regularly!

The Sandpiper Cafe is the only restaurant in Juneau (that I know of) with a great selection of vegetarian and vegan meals that are super tasty.  I ended up getting ricotta and sourdough pancakes, eggs, and fresh fruit.  Cody got a burger and was given a huge selection of meats to choose from.  We also tried their mushroom soup (amazing) and walnut pancakes.  It was a seriously tasty meal.

After breakfast we headed out to the Shrine of St. Therese, which is located Out The Road in Juneau.  It is a well-kept retreat area in the woods.  The grounds are incredibly well maintained and so are the buildings.  It was so beautiful! The walk was super short and easy, accessible by pretty much anyone.  To get in a little more of a hike we traversed the rocky beach. I ended up finding this cute starfish :)

Shrine of St. Therese. 

Views of the walking path. 

Starfish :) 

After the hike we tucked into some fishing.  I have never really done much fishing but it ended up being pretty fun. And, my arm got a serious workout! We didn't catch much but I did end up hunting down some clams.  We are hoping to try out some new spots in the next couple weeks because the salmon run is currently in full-swing and we would love to be able to catch and freeze some of our own meat for the winter.  We hope to live very sustainably one day, and catching our own meat for the winter would be the first step (at least for Cody's survival-ha ha)!

Baby Hermit Crabs. 

Catching some fish! 

Questions:
Do you like to try out new restaurants?
What are your favorite outdoor activities?
Do you ever go fishing? Would you ever catch your own meat for winter? 

Becoming A Minimalist

Recently, Cody approached me with the idea of living a more minimalist lifestyle.  It intrigued me to say the least.  We already do many things to lower out "footprint" such as recycling, eating vegetarian, carpooling, etc. But, we are creatures of habits and "things."

When we first moved to Alaska (almost) a year ago we only brought one carload of belongings.  What didn't fit in our car simply didn't make the cut.  There were a few boxes of keepsakes and important things (like my record player) that my parents stored for me.  Overall though, we packed the car and that was it.

Packing our car for the move from Illinois to Alaska. 

Some time (not-so) later we managed to accumulate a ton of STUFF.  It is a little sad and a lot silly.  So, we decided to condense many of our belongings.  We took a load of books and clothes to the thrift shop this weekend.  And, we intend to continue to downsize.  We cancelled our cable (except for basic channels) and downgraded various other "plans" that we had going on in our lives.  We started a garden and began to really think about saving long-term and downsizing long-term.  It has been a freeing experience! It is still all new to us but we are liking it so far.

We are also looking into EarthShips quite a bit.  We probably won't be able to build/buy our own home for another 8-10years.  But, long-term we would love to build a sustainable "green" home. Check out the links and let me know what you think!

Here are some cool links about the topics:
Minimalist FAQ's from mnmlist.com 
The Everyday Minimalist
Project 333
10 Reasons Why EarthShips Are Awesome

Questions
How do you feel about living a minimalist lifestyle? 
Would you ever consider this lifestyle? 
How awesome are EarthShips????