Alaska: The Last Frontier

Every anniversary, we have been fortunate enough to go on a cool trip.  Year 1 was a cruise to the Bahamas, Year 2 was Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, and to celebrate three years of marriage, we went to the 49th state, Alaska.  No, we did not take a cruise.  Instead, we had two fantastic hosts and the best guides we could ask for show us around the Last Frontier!  Nick and Tiera are two of our good friends who spent some time in the Buckeye State, but now live in Fairbanks. 

The trip started out with a not-as-long-as-anticipated 7 hour flight to Anchorage.  We got into Anchorage close to noon, where Nick, Tiera, and their friend Tony came to pick us up at the airport.  We then checked into the Captain Cook, and were on our way to the Alaska State Fair.  I was really excited about going to the state fair because we got to see this monster...

Because the sun is out all the time in the summer, Alaska produce can be larger than life.  Or at least, a lot larger than my body.  It was pretty amazing.

The next day, we went on a glacier tour out of Whittier in Prince William Sound.  Apparently it rains there 90% of the time, so we were incredibly lucky to have sunshine (it was still freezing when the boat was moving, but we were in Alaska after all)!  The glaciers were so beautiful and the water was this milky, emerald color.  I had never seen water that color before. 

 

We even got to see some harbor seals!  They were adorable.

That night, we drove up to Denali National Park and camped outside the park (yes, in a tent).  The next morning, we woke up bright and early and went into the park to board our school bus to take us around.  You can only drive 30 miles into the park, so the best way to get around is to take this school bus.  The bus driver will stop whenever there is wildlife close by, so we can pull down our windows and take pictures and observe.  You can also request the driver to stop at any time if you want to get off and hike around.  It's a neat system, because then you don't have dumb drivers pulling off on the road in strange spots or getting too close to the animals like in Yellowstone.  It also means getting stranded in the park and having to walk more miles than you want to, but I suppose that is just part of the adventure. 

Denali was just incredible.  I have never seen such raw, wild, beauty before.  We got to see lots of bears, caribou, moose, dall sheep, and even Jym Ganahl (our local weather man).  We were so lucky because it was fall in Denali so the colors were breathtaking!

 

After spending some time in Denali, we headed to Fairbanks! In Fairbanks, we went to Santa's House in Northpole, gold panning, Murphy's Dome, Creamer's Field, shooting, hot springing, and just plain having fun with friends. 

Murphy's Dome

Picking blueberries at Murphy's Dome

Fairbanks - where the Iditarod begins

Alaska pipeline

Panning for gold

 

Creamer's Field with Tiera and my favorite German Shepard (Ansel)

We had such a memorable and fun time in Alaska!  It was a beautiful place, and being there with our friends made it that much more special. 

Toronto, Canada

Although this is a little delayed, from June 8-10, Gary and I went up to Toronto for a quick trip.  I had been wanting to take Gary to Toronto for a while, seeing it is where I was born, but had never found the right time.  Well, the right time arrived when my cousin Shaki decided to have a mini reception to introduce his Canadian friends to his new bride, Mizue. 

Shaki flew all the way out to Utah from Japan for our wedding, so I'm happy we got to go to his reception just a 7 hour drive away.  Shaki's sister Hiromi was also at the reception from Japan, so it was really nice to be able to catch up with her too.  I've noticed that as an only child, you treasure your relationships with your cousins even more, because they are the closest substitute to a sibling you have. I was sad that Nao (Shaki and Hiromi's brother) wasn't at the reception, because he is the one who taught me the importance of the special bond we have as cousins :)

Another reason we went to Toronto is because my uncle (Shaki, Hiromi, and Nao's dad) was going to be retiring (he is now retired) and sold his restaurant. 

Mikado has been my uncle's restaurant for the last 35 years.  It is where my parents met.  My dad, who wanted a change of scenery, moved his life to Toronto in the early 80's after receiving a flyer about immigrating to Canada at a concert he had attended in Japan.  Apparently the flyers were being distributed by the Canadian Embassy, who at the time, was looking to bring foreign nationals who were trained in certain professions, including Engineers, to Canada.  My dad fit the description they were looking for, so after an interview, he was granted permanent residency in Canada.  He then immigrated as a young, single professional to a country he had never been to.  

My mom, who also wanted a change of scenery, was persuaded by my uncle to come to Canada for a while. My mom met my dad when she was working at the restaurant, and the rest is history. 

That's my uncle, working behind the sushi bar. Whenever my parents and I would take our annual trip up to Toronto to visit, we would sit at the sushi bar and chat with my uncle. Oh, and stuff our faces with the most amazing food ever, too. 

And the final reason we went to Toronto is to visit our good friends, Jacqueline and Wil! They showed us around town and took us over to the Toronto Islands. We got to stay at their beautiful house and got to be their first official house guests! 

We had such a good time visiting with family and close friends. Until we meet again, Toronto. 

Hokuto's 3rd Birthday

It hasn't been quite a year since my last post, so I figure it's time to do something on this pathetic forum that I call my blog.  So much has happened since July 2012.  Perhaps the biggest change since my last post is the addition of a new family member, Hokuto (Hok - pronounced "Hawk") Peterson.  Hok, like Kuma, is an American Eskimo, and is even the same age. 

We found Hok through petfinder.com and rescued him through an American Eskimo rescue organization.  His first owner was a high school girl who decided she didn't want him anymore when she moved off to college.  The girl then gave him to her dad who lived in a trailer park and was in a wheel chair.  No backyard and limited mobility with an American Eskimo is a bad combination.  One of the rescue organization volunteers found Hok pulling the guy around in his wheelchair as Hok's "exercise" and convinced him that Hok needed to be given up.  We are also convinced that he was beaten with a belt, because one day, Gary took off his belt and Hok came running to hide behind me.  I just don't know how else he would know that a belt can be used to harm him.  Hok then lived in Akron for six months with the volunteer, who, although her heart was in the right place, was craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy. 

I won't go into the details of our saga with this woman, because I have forgiven her for the drama and stress she put me through, and detailing the experience does not fit well into the picture of forgiveness.  I've come to the conclusion that she just really adored Hok and wanted to make sure that he went to the right home.  Although Kuma and Hok hated each other the first week, they are now inseparable best friends.

Hok Bear, as we like to call him, is a sweet, sweet dog.  He will build a pillow fort on the couch, just so he can get closer to you.  He has also recently acquired a new habit, in which he insists on coming into the bathroom to say good night to me while I'm in the shower before he retires to his own bedroom.  He is incredibly intelligent, and amazes me how well he picks up on words.  When Kyu- was alive, Hok knew his name - he would let out a howl and dart towards his crate anytime Kyu-'s name was mentioned (he also loved Kyu- dearly).  He knows how to go "outside", "sit", and "high five" in both English and Japanese.  He basically knows as many words in Japanese as Gary.  He is also very mischievous, most likely due to his intelligence (needs lots of stimulation, so when he's bored, he gets into trouble).  He can jump up on the kitchen counter directly from the floor.  Circling back to his loving nature, one time, when Gary and I were pulling out of the drive way, we glanced at the kitchen window to find that Hok had jumped up onto the counter, just so he could watch us leave. 

With that, I will end my tribute to our little boy, Hok, who turned 3 today!  Happy birthday Hok Bear!

Hok getting impatient about his birthday treat. 

Om nom nom 😋

Home Projects: Kitchen & Fireplace

So it's been quite a while since we actually had this done, but I figure it's not too late to share!    Back in February we decided that we were going to get new counter tops in our kitchen, and after debating between light vs. dark we decided to go with a light color with dark specks to incorporate our dark appliances.  


The process of choosing our granite was enjoyable!  We went to a couple of granite warehouses and after looking at tons of different slabs, we took home some samples and finally decided to go with "tahoe".  It's pretty normal looking, but I liked it because it's so uniform.  


Because we bought the entire slab, we decided to also switch out our fireplace with the same granite.  I had never considered doing the fireplace, but I absolutely LOVE the result!  We LOVED the people who did our granite (shout out to CTR Granite), so if you ever need a referral, definitely let us know :)  Anyway, on to the before and after photos!!


Our kitchen pre-upgrades.  Original cabinets and a really plain counter top.

 After we had our granite counter top installed:

Prepping to put in the glass tile back splash ourselves...

 After the tile was laid and before we grouted:

The finished product!  We plan on eventually replacing the wood knobs with silver, more modern knobs :)

Before we did the fireplace, we had this dirty, green glass tile. 

 The granite looks SO much better!  CTR Granite really did a great job :)  I think the granite  accentuates our beautiful mantle.  We absolutely love it.  Now we just have to find the time to paint the walls so they match the granite better...one project always leads to more projects!

Counter Top Dilemma

Friends!  We need your help.  We are going to replace our plain counter tops with granite and add a back splash.  The debate is whether we should get black granite or a lighter color granite.  Here's what our kitchen looks like now:

The kitchen island in the front is something we got at IKEA and is not connected to the floor.  We will most likely not change the counter top on this.  The only counter top we have is to the right side where the sink is (so really, it's a very small reno).  Here's a close up view of the counter top:

Just to give you an idea, the cabinets above the sink are originals and they are the only cabinets in the kitchen that are white.  The rest of the cabinets (that you can't see, and there are a good number of them) are the same color as under the sink.  All of our appliances are black.

So, now that you have somewhat of an idea of what our kitchen looks like, black or light colored granite???  

Here's an example of black:

Cast your vote!  

Mission Lobster Bisque

I did it!!!  On Sunday after our Valentine's dinner I made homemade lobster bisque soup.  It was most definitely my most labor intensive dish I have ever made, but the results were totally worth it.  

I bought the lobsters at the Market District Giant Eagle where they will steam your lobsters for you!  Score!  You don't need to eat lobster while it's piping hot so it worked out just fine.  After enjoying our lobster dinner on Saturday night, we immediately got to work!  Gary helped me by cutting the lobster shells into smaller pieces.


I used this recipe for the lobster stock.  The recipe says to crush the shells, then put it in a food processor and grind it as finely as possible.  Definitely not necessary.  Just cutting it into pieces with kitchen scissors makes the recipe much more manageable.  Having your husband do the work makes it even better!  After you are all done making the lobster stock, it looks like this:

And let me tell you, the smells were ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!  After the lobster stock was finished, I retired it to the frige for the night.


Day 2, get the lobster stock out of the frige and follow this lobster bisque recipe.  You first saute shallots and mushrooms.  These are cooked with the lobster stock to add a wonderful flavor!  I can't tell you enough that the smells are so amazing!  Take time to enjoy the smells because they are mouthwatering and just made me so giddy!  


Make beurre manie (fancy way of saying butter and flour... or maybe it's just French...)

Add that to the broth to make it thicker.  Add cream.  LOVE cream!  Who doesn't love cream?  Then let it boil.  Like some sort of magical witches brew that is not poisonous but tastes heavenly.

After you drain everything out, add some leftover lobster chunks from the night before and just take it all in and ENJOY!!!  I wish I had put it in a white bowl for the picture so you can see the beautiful color of the bisque.  Because of the cayenne in the stock, it even had a little kick to it, just like my favorite lobster bisque from Lindey's.  Now, I'm clearly not going to be making this again any time soon because of the time it takes and how expensive the ingredients are, but, worth it?  Absolutely.  Would I do it again?  Absolutely!  I just have no clue when that next time will be, but again in this lifetime, we will meet again :)

Happy 2012!

Happy New Year!!!  Like last year we trekked to Indiana to spend New Year's Eve with my parents (hopefully next year they will be in Ohio so there will be no trek).  We had a fantastic dinner, then watched Kohaku until the ball dropped.  Then we ate toshikoshi soba and went to bed (yes, we are old and boring).  We slept in way too much this morning then ate ozouni for breakfast and will be eating Sukiyaki tonight for dinner!  I love eating at home :)

Two years ago I was in Japan for New Year's.  It's an Isoda family tradition to make mochi for New Year's old school style, which I would love to recreate here in the U.S., but understand that it's just not going to be possible.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a link to How to Make Mochi Isoda Style.

So with a new year come resolutions.  Gary and I have a few in mind........

1. LOSE WEIGHT!  We both sit so much with our jobs that we have definitely packed on a few extra pounds in 2011 that are unwelcome.  It's a good thing Julia is getting married in May and I have to wear the dress that is in my closet that I currently don't fit into.  Now that's some motivation.  Gary has also promised me an ipad after I lose my first 10 and a new puppy for my next 15.  Let's do this!  High school skinny!!
2. LEARN JAPANESE.  Obviously this one is not for me, but for Gary.  We think it would be really great if Gary could get to the point where he understands, even if he can't speak.  
3. PLAY PIANO.  I would like to play more often and Gary would like to learn a little.  

We'll see how many of these we will actually accomplish!  Hopefully 2012 will be another great year for the Peterson family and to all of our friends and family :)