Currently: October

Currently living/working: October was a mix of travel and settling into that winter routine of unjobbing, aka living without any significant employment (thankfully still making ends meet). ’Tis the time of year where we enjoy uninterrupted blocks of time to tackle random projects, but also get a little restless & lazy! 

Current mood: I haven’t fully been caught off guard by my typical seasonal change melancholy, but it is lurking in my peripheral. The trees have dumped their leaves, the landscape is mostly a grossly muted shade of brown/grey & the season’s change has siphoned light & warmth from the sun. This is why I’ve scheduled travel! To sunnier places! It’s my survival mechanism to living in Alaska year-round!

Currently worried about: Threats of a super El Niño are hard to miss, but who knows what that means for Alaska. These northern latitudes have always been the ones most subject to variable weather patterns. Lemme recap our personal experiences. Our first winter (2019-20) wooed us with epic snowfall and about one month of -20. Our second winter (2020-21) did a dramatic about-face with low snow & above normal temps, which made for an undesirable freeze/thaw cycle. Winter #3 (2021-22) delivered record snowfall with 176 inches, and we didn’t see bare ground from Sept. 15 until May 24. Winter #6 (2024-25) repeated those whiplash patterns that oscillated from snow/subzero temps to wind/warmth. And last winter (2025-26), we recorded our coldest winter with 60 days below 0 (average temp -6.5°F) and plentiful snow. It’s anybody’s guess what our 8th winter will be like, but of course I am manifesting my inner goldilocks wanting it to be snowy for XC skiing, but not too cold!

Currently proud of: Our anniversary was this month. Wow how the years have telescoped together, and somehow we are entering into our second decade of marriage! 

I remember in our pre-cana (mandatory marriage prep program required by the Catholics), the leaders said (warned?) “marriage is a decision you have to make every day.” And I remember thinking during our first 10+ years that I must be unique to be in a marriage that felt so effortless. This was the easiest “decision” I had to make every day, as our days were filled with marvelous and magical marital moments. 

But if I’m gonna keep it real here on my public blog, midlife has been an inflection point. (Unlike the midlife crisis described in movies, neither of us ended up with a red convertible!) The truth is, when a marriage goes through midlife things like chronic disease, perimenopause/menopause, caregiving & grief, it’s like mixing whites & darks in the laundry. Colors blur & blend. Nothing is the same, and you either have to learn to accept the new version, or throw it away. We made a decision to grow together instead of growing apart. It took work. It still takes work. Marriage IS a decision, and I’m grateful that we still choose it. 

Current guilty pleasure: I mentioned that this winter feels full of travel, because we’ve basically scheduled something for every month. Our November trip is to Vegas, then to visit our friends in Mexico. Justin loves Vegas because of 2 things: gambling & live music. Since The Sphere’s opening in 2023, Vegas has arguably one of the best (and most expensive) music venues in the US. Justin has been to the Sphere a BUNCH already—3 Phish shows, 3 Dead & Co shows, 1 U2, 1 Zac Brown. On this trip, he’ll see Metallica 2 nights, and the Wizard of Oz 1 night, which will equal 11 shows at the Sphere in 3 years! 

Currently regretting: Change your passwords, folks. Justin had a very stressful 2 days when he realized his Ticketmaster account got hacked & someone stole the Metallica tickets! He kept calling Ticketmaster to see if there was anything they could do. By some miracle, they were able to recover them! But it is a reminder of the digital society we live in where there are data breaches & password leaks & hackers everywhere. 

Current confession: When Justin planned his birthday trip to Oregon, he of course had to include a concert. And I of course was more excited about the hike part than the concert part. We saw Carbon Leaf at the intimate venue of Mississippi Studios in Portland, OR. We used to be “groupies” of Carbon Leaf when we lived on the East Coast—seeing them at least 3 times/year. But I haven’t seen them in years!! And I really really enjoyed seeing them again. (Don’t tell Justin, cause I am sure he will insist we put another one of their shows on our calendar in some random place). 

Currently excited for: I did a special thing for Justin’s bday. Everyone knows I’m not big on bdays, nor giving gifts (I used to be, but lost that stamina). But I pulled off a good one for the big 5-0. Using a service called Tribute, I was able to collect 50+ videos from friends & family. I prompted people to say whatever they wanted—maybe a favorite memory or why they loved him or just simply happy bday in less than 5 seconds. And I was able to keep it a secret! He freaking loved it. There were some blasts from his past, and he kept exclaiming “no way!” He’s watched it no less than a dozen times, so it will certainly be a lifelong treasure. For anyone looking for a neat idea for someone’s milestone bday—especially someone like Justin whose love language is words of affirmation—I highly recommend this service! 

Currently thankful for: A slow transition to our winter blanket equates the fringe benefit of being able to complete more outdoor projects. I actually need to do a complete Home Improvement post—not because any of you actually care, but because I like to keep track of our work across all our properties! One of my never-ending goals is to organize our life a little better—tiny house living means a lot of things live in totes & I am forever labeling things to know where to find them …

Currently amazed by: The documentary about Justin’s group climb up Kilimanjaro had a very successful first viewing in NJ this month with a crowd of 250+ people, as well as a great panel discussion (which Justin was on). He’s hoping to bring it to other states as he gets more involved with the MyImpossible board!

Currently not excited for: For the past 2 months, I’ve gotten no short of 6 phone calls and a dozen texts a day as a registered voter. I know this annoyance will end in November, but this is just for the mid-term elections!!! And why am I getting these, but Justin is not? What did I do to deserve this disturbance other than try to be an engaged citizen?!

Currently reading:

I read 2 mediocre books this month, but before I describe those, I want to give a shout out to my friend Alex who bought me a literary map of Alaska! I freaking love it! It has 200+ Alaskan books listed, which must have taken the artist an incredible amount of research & precision to design! I need to get back into the Alaska genre! I was obsessed when we first moved here, but then I think I got burned out on the topic. There are so so many as you can see from this map.

Most of my reading friends loved Heartwood by Amity Gaige, which is a fiction piece about the disappearance of a female hiker on the Appalachian Trail in Maine. I was intrigued by it because it is loosely based on the true story of the 2013 disappearance of Geraldine “Inchworm” Largay (which has a nonfiction book). Anyway, I was basically hate-reading this fictional version. I think it’s meant to a be a thriller, but the pace dragged & there was no buildup of suspense for me. The narratives and subplots felt underwhelming & irrelevant. I also couldn’t help but think about how far this strayed from the true story (it was never meant to follow it tho). I’ll end on one positive note: it definitely brought back fond memories of the AT! 

I feel like I added a lot of books about caregiving on my library request list in the last several years, and now they feel slightly irrelevant in my life right now. Case in point: The Unexpected Journey by Emma Heming Willis, which follows Bruce Willis and his family through his dementia journey. It is absolutely true that caregiving journeys are individualized—and this one is very specific for those navigating loved ones with memory loss. Definitely nothing like what I’ve experienced. What I liked about this book was that his wife did a stellar job explaining the several types of dementia and berating the essential message that caregivers need to take care of themselves (so much easier said than done). 

Currently watching on Netflix/Peacock: Welp, we were really into the first season of Homeland, but the second season felt a little less realistic, unless our government really does hire unhinged people and do things off the books … hehe. Anyway, we are going to take a break from it before starting the 3rd season. We did watch the limited series for Below on Netflix, which I really liked for the history, climate tone & scenery (Justin was meh about it).