Growing up in Alaska

Growing up in Alaska

It’s super duper cold in Cleveland right now. 11 below zero currently (not counting the wind chill), and despite us cranking the heat way up to 72 inside (we usually keep it between 62 and 65), the thermostat is only registering it at 56 indoors. It’s cold. For real.

I grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska, born and raised until we moved to Michigan in time for me to start 8th grade. Everyone always says I should be totally used to the cold… but the truth is I’m always cold! Andy makes fun of me for one time calling 75 “tolerably warm”! I think all that cold when I was young makes me enjoy warmth that much more now! It also helps that my parents liked to vacation in Hawaii, haha! Anyway, even though it has nothing to do with work on our house or anything really blog-related, I thought it might be fun to share a few pictures of my life in Fairbanks, a kind of throwback Thursday Tuesday. Hope you enjoy.

Baby me, my mom, and our dog Frosty, who was rumored to have been quite protective of me when I was little. And no, this is not our back yard!

Here I am with my dog Deneki (pronounced “duh-NEE-kee” — it means “moose” in Athabascan Indian). My parents made that parka for me! Would you believe Deneki was still young here? He grew up to be about 175 pounds!! He loved being outside in the winter and so did I. Do you see my sled?

This is the house I lived in from about five to 13. My parents designed and had this house built. It had a full 12 inches of insulation in the walls and a really sophisticated heating system, so we were nice and toasty.

This is the living room. Some of this furniture is in our house now!

This is the only picture from my parents’ wedding day!

I would totally wear my mom’s outfit today! We used to cross country ski a lot.

And proof that I was cold even then!!

Stay warm today, everyone!!!