We had a much needed warm up for a couple of days. In fact, a few days ago, the temperature jumped from -46F to 2F above zero overnight - a warm up of 48 degrees. What a treat! I joked with my family in PA that 2F was practically 'flip flop weather' after more than a week of deep freeze. I even went out of the house wearing my regular winter coat, and not my parka. Very nice! I remember the winter that Steve was deployed. It was late February or early March, and we had a warm-up to nearly 30 degrees. The night before, snow fell. I was outside shoveling the next afternoon, wearing only a t-shirt, and I was perfectly comfortable. Only in Alaska.

This past Wednesday, I had a maternity photo shoot for a military spouse. She's due in about a month. She has two adorable daughters and is having another little girl. I love photographing pregnant women. I really wish that back in the "old days", when I was pregnant, pregnancy was more celebrated. I would have loved to have had nice photographs taken of my round belly when I carried my sons.

She wanted her daughters included in the shoot, which is great. I enjoy photographing children too. Some kids are a bit more challenging though. It takes a little bit of time before they get used to having a camera snapping and a stranger in their home. Melissa's girls were a bit rigid at first, but after I finished up with the maternity photos, they loosened up and wanted to put on their "dress-up" clothes and pose for me. I continued taking photos of just the girls for a little while before calling it a day. When I finally downloaded the photos and sent the proofs to Melissa, she was thrilled. She asked me to come back after the new baby arrives and take photos of the entire family. I am very excited about that. New babies are such a blessing! Here are a few photos from the session that I can share:

Melissa and her daughters	A* and E*	E* playing "model"	E* with an attitude
A* showing me where her tummy is.	Sisterly Love	E* dancing for me	Beautiful sisters

Monday evening, at UAF, National Geographic Photographer Joel Sartore will be giving a talk: "Grounded: A Reflection on the Use of Life and Land". It's a free event and Steve and I are planning to attend. Here is a blurb which describes the event:

Working for the magazine is the "hardest job you can imagine," Sartore said in a 2006 documentary about his work. "I work in some of the most amazing and miserable places on face of the earth. And the pressure is always there to produce pictures--pictures worthy of publication in the world's greatest magazine." The Nebraska native travels almost constantly, from Alaska to the Amazon. He is sometimes away from his wife, Kathy, and children for weeks at a time. But when Kathy was diagnosed with breast cancer, Sartore knew it was time to stay home. His wife's illness, Sartore says, triggered a reconnection with his family and with the reason he takes pictures: to show people that wild places and Earth’s creatures need and deserve protection.

What an awesome experience it must be to work for National Geographic, although I don't know if I would like being away from home so much. Steve's been a subscriber to the magazine for more than 25 years and we have at least fifteen years worth of magazines in storage because we can't bear to part with them. The photos have always been such an inspiration to me, and have taken me to places I will probably never get to see with my own eyes. If your travels take you to DC, check out the National Geographic Museum at Explorers Hall. We enjoyed our visit a decade ago.

I will be exhibiting some of my photographs at the First Friday Exhibition being held on March 7th at The Grange in North Pole. I will be one of about a dozen local photographers - fellow members of the Interior Alaska Photography Club - who will be displaying our work in a gallery setting. If you live local, come on out and say hello. If we haven't met yet, introduce yourself! I love meeting new people, and particularly those of you who have found this journal and read me on a regular basis.

Speaking of my readers... since this journal was linked on the Fairbanks Daily Newsminer website, I have received several emails and guestbook entries from folks who found me there. I want to thank you all for your kind words about my site and my photography. I never dreamed that a journal started in 2003 - to keep my family up to date on our cross-country move from FL to AK - would become such a much-loved project for me.

The original plan was to end the travel journal once we arrived in Fairbanks. However, when I mentioned that I wouldn't be writing any longer, I received emails from my family, friends, friends of friends, and total strangers, who had been following our trip and wanted me to continue writing about my life in the Last Frontier. In four months, I will celebrate the five year anniversary of this journal. Wow!

I have received hundreds of emails from readers from all over the world in the last five years. Some of you have never even been to Alaska, but are intrigued by life in this grand state. Some of you are active duty/retired military, and spent several years living in Alaska as part of your military career. Some of you lived in Alaska for many years - decades even - but circumstances took you out of Alaska, and my words and photos evoke memories of those days. And still others of you have been to Alaska on vacation and hope to come back someday.

I love hearing from each and every one of you. I love reading your stories, and learning more about Alaska through your words. I enjoy reading about what Fairbanks was like back in the 70s and 80s. I love hearing about your experiences when you were stationed at Fort Wainwright or Eielson AFB - or even so far back as Ladd Army Airfield!

This 'family journal' has turned into so much more, and while many of you have praised me for my words and my photographs, the true reward for me is knowing that there are so many of us in this world who have such a strong love for Alaska. Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.

In closing, I'd like to share a couple more photos of the friendly squirrel who comes to visit - no matter how cold it gets. The warm-up yesterday caused snow to fall, and Mr. (or Mrs) Squirrel came up on the deck and dug up the buried sunflower seeds I had scattered there for the birds. I think he looked adorable as the snowflakes settled on his fur. In the photo at right, he's hidden behind a small drift, watching through the sliding glass doors to make sure Sedona isn't going to come out and get him.

I'm starting to get that "I can't wait for spring" feeling. It happens every year at this time. It will get stronger, especially when the ice park opens at the end of the month. When I was in Blockbuster last week, I was talking to a lady in line with me and she echoed my sentiments exactly. She said "When the ice park opens, I know it won't be too much longer before spring arrives." In reality, spring won't truly get here until mid-April to early May, but something about the ice sculptures triggers that joyful feeling that the worst of winter is finally over.