Currently: September

Currently living/working: One minute the sun was tirelessly shining upon us & there was a sea of endless people exploring our community. The next, we are in a darkening ghost town with only the dead fallen leaves left behind. We still have a few yurt rentals & cleanings into the fall, but otherwise all our jobs have wrapped up. I will likely sub at the library again this winter because it’s healthy for me to get out of the house a little, but Justin’s part-time tourism job at Discover Denali wrapped up, so we are both in that phase where time is expansive again!

Current mood: Living in a tourism-dependent district means change is my only constant. I cherish all the seasons, but after summer, I always let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. There’s always a tiny bit of dread I need to overcome about winter, but I remind myself the benefits such as my world standing still so my mind can catch up.

Current confession: We bookended our season with the Disney cruise naturalist gigs, and it was the best decision ever. We really love this program and hope we get to do it again in 2027! 

Currently excited for: We have SO.MUCH.TRAVEL lined up for this fall & winter. We are really living our mantra of “work to travel,” with something like 35 flights to various locations. This week, we’re heading to Oregon to celebrate Justin’s 50th birthday (side note: while I’m always trying to shrink away & redirect the spotlight, Justin is always trying to move into it. So send him a bday shoutout!). Our Oregon trip includes a Carbon Leaf concert in Portland & a second attempt at completing the 41-mile Timberline Trail around Mt. Hood (read about our Oct 2014 trip when weather turned us back halfway). After the backpacking trip, we will indulge & stay one night in Timberline Lodge, which came with an amazing surprise.

Currently thankful for: Fall can sometimes be ephemeral, but other times the autumn colors and tolerable temps linger a bit longer before freeze up. Yes, snow has fallen this month, but not enough that we were in full-winter mode. We’ve unexpectedly been able to continue a few bonus outdoor projects the last week of September!!!!!!

Current guilty pleasure: As planned, we installed an oil heater in Yurt #2 versus an electric heater. Even though the yurts are seasonal rentals, the electric heaters don’t cut it and drove up our electric bill (like double the cost of the other yurt’s utilities). The Toyo oil heaters are the way to go. To save a few bucks, we went with the self-install route thanks to a knowledgeable friend, but sheesh, the pieces (oil tank, stand, machine) still added up into the thousands. And I convinced Justin since we were buying a brand-new unit, we should replace the unit at our cabin (which still works! But has outlived its life expectancy & the newer units allow us to monitor & control it from afar when we’re traveling! Yeah yeah, it’s a want versus a need). 

Currently not excited for: On the topic of cabin upgrades, we have another expensive project looming in our future. First, some history. We’ve been cleaning someone else’s Airbnb since 2021, mainly because we worked out a deal to be able to do our Airbnb laundry there. It’s been a huge help since doing laundry at our gas station (the only local “laundromat”) cost $5-7 for a wash and $2.50-5 or a dry. In any case, the owner of the Airbnb is changing it from a short-term rental to a long-term rental (which is good for our community’s housing shortage!). But that means we need a laundry solution for summer 2027!!! Especially now that we own 2 rental properties!! We’ve done our research, and are going to buy a slim W/D that can fit in our well house (yet we lose some storage space). This will be a spring project, but will easily cost us in the thousands. However, we keep convincing ourselves it’s worth it. We did close to 200 loads of laundry this summer, which would have cost us at least $1500 at the “laundromat.” Plus, time sitting & waiting! Math is not my strength, but tell me you agree the W/D investment will be worth it?!

Currently worried about: I feel like all the stressful things in our life have to do with the fact that we’ve added a second income property. For some reason, our insurance company notified us they were dropping our second yurt. Justin has made no short of 4 phone calls to other homeowner/short-term rental insurance companies, and no one like yurts!!! Problem for another day, but gotta find a solution before our 2027 rental season. 

Currently proud of: This time last year, Justin climbed Kilimanjaro! If you recall, this was no easy feat as there was a team of 30 climbers attempting to help  Jeff Harmon, who is confined to a wheelchair thanks to a neurological disease, up the mountain. The documentary about the climb releases in October!! The first screening is in NJ, but hopefully the team will be able to expand the showings across the nation! 

Currently amazed by: I’ve been trying really hard to challenge myself to achieve 10,000 steps/day, and I did well through the summer. It’s harder than I thought! Anyway, I’m hoping to continue this trend through the fall and winter. We shall see if the weather cooperates because when the mercury and daylight drop, so do I.

Currently regretting: We made a ridiculous mistake & caused an unnecessary expense during this month’s outdoor projects … we accidentally cut one of our Starlink wires so had to fork over $30 to replace it (smacking face emoji)!

Currently reading: At first I resisted the urge to read Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke because there was so much hype for the book—it’s about a tradwife influencer who suddenly finds herself in the pioneer life she portrays online. But it became available via my library, so I couldn’t resist. Let me first say that I’ve been a voyeur of the Mormon mommy bloggers since they entered the scene in the early 2000s and my fascination continues with the latest reality show of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. So the compelling premise of Yesteryear hit that note! Overall I liked the book & its impressive narrative. But I sort of felt like the wheels fell off the plot’s wagon (pun intended) for the last quarter of the book, and so it lost points there for me. Still worth it if you want a peak into the dark world of Mormon influencers. 

Someone left The Housemaid by Freda McFadden behind at our yurt, and I knew I wanted to read it before watching the movie. It was a quick read with unexpected plot twists! 

Currently watching on Netflix/Peacock: We finally started Homeland on Netflix! It’s been on our list for awhile, but felt daunting since it has like 8 seasons. After 1 season this month, we really like it as much as people told us we would! And if anyone needs a psychological thriller suggestion, The Whisper Man on Netflix hits that note with a bonus of great actors/actresses.