There’s something special about the bond between sisters…
I wouldn’t really know because I grew up with all brothers, but I’ve heard and observed that biological sisters can have profound connections. While I don’t have a sister sister, I do consider myself lucky to have a sizable group of friends that I love just as I love my siblings. These friends are men and women–although mostly women–and are parts of separate and overlapping groups. Some are local and some live great distances away. Some are parents, some are not. The one thing they all have in common is that they are totally awesome!
Yes, the rare man can be a part of a sisterhood!
A few weeks ago I went on a truly amazing vacation down to San Diego, California. It was so far from my current reality that it took several days to get back to reality upon my return. I went down for six (SIX!) days–solo!–to relax, rejuvenate and reconnect with five of my close friends. Four of them are friends from college and one joined from Alaska. We stayed in a mid-century mod home up on a hill with a private pool in the backyard and a very glamorous, Mad Men kind of vibe.
The Backyard
The most amazing part about this vacation? It was largely organized by Evan!! I think it’s fairly new phenomenon, but some women have started getting gifts from their significant others for having babies. They are (kind of disturbingly…) called “push presents.” The gifts are often pieces of jewelry–usually fancy and expensive. I am not one to wear much fancy or expensive jewelry as they don’t play well with my lifestyle. So, in an effort to show his gratitude for all that I do–physically, emotionally and otherwise, Evan got me this trip! It was practically all planned by the time I found out about it a couple months before we left. While I really enjoy planning and organizing vacations, I have to admit it was great to have the big parts already nailed down. Furthermore, it’s heartache-ingly beautiful to dwell upon how much Evan loves me and cares for my sanity :).
Rock climbing outside for the first time in a few years.
How do people live where it is always perfect?
The vacation was relaxing, fun and rejuvenating. The activities we did were great–rock climbing, went to a funk concert, farmers market (so many beautiful items!), zip lining, wine tasting at a vineyard, yoga and of course hanging at the beach and eating yummy yummy tacos. One of the things I keep reflecting on was how nice it was to be able to just walk outside…any time of the day or night. It was always a perfect temperature outside and there weren’t any mosquitoes. I had to pump while I was there because Fernie is still so little, and I could take my little portable pump out to the pool at 6:30 a.m. and pump OUTSIDE! We drank mimosas in the pool and had a bonfire on the beach while still wearing swimsuits. These are all pretty huge things for me coming from places with pretty extreme weather and tons of mosquitoes.
Coffee and lazy breakfast outside every day.
The best thing about this trip was reconnecting with friends. It’s kind of a cliche, but it is really easy to lose yourself when you become a parent. While “mother” is now a part of my identity, there is a purer me that exists somewhere under the labels. She can be kind of hard to find sometimes. I also LOVE talking about my kids, as most parents do, but it was a treat to hang out with people and barely talk about my kids! We spoke a lot about our psyches, our evolving personalities and beliefs, our failures and our goals, our love lives, our side projects and new hobbies. We hollered our deepest desires at the roaring ocean and we read each others’ fortunes. I was going to title this post, “Sisterhood of the Rose” as it was a card that was often drawn during our card reading sessions. Rose was a theme of the trip–I brought rosewater to share, another friend brought rose incense, rose quartz made a few appearances, roses were in bloom and there was a rose balloon marking the spot where our yoga class was. I did some research into the Sisterhood of the Rose and it’s pretty interesting stuff–with roots in Atlantis and ancient Egypt, but I don’t think I could have done it justice in this post!
Rocks and oracles and spiritual things, oh my!
Watching the sunset from a vineyard in the country. That is Rosemary creeping over that ridge. Herbs grow into monsters in San Diego! Huge lavender plants, sprawling rosemary and luscious sage as landscaping!
We drank champagne on the beach and lost our cork to this gull.
Oh, and we laughed so hard! So, so hard! One of my friends claimed that she almost vomited from laughing so hard. I noted at one point that these were my healer friends–a medical doctor, a women’s reproductive health rights activist, a public health worker, a therapist and an ayurveda and yoga practitioner. I have to say that I did leave this trip feeling healed–from what I’m not sure, but I’ve felt pretty grounded and centered since coming home to reality!
Good bye, Mission Beach!
It was so good. All of it. It was equally as sweet to return home to my lovely little family and my sweet baby whose weight I missed in my arms so badly! What a great trip. I’m a fortunate woman and oh so grateful.
I hope this finds your Thanksgiving preparations going well. I’m thankful for all of you!
Sending peace and love from Alaska,
Until next time,
Alex, the Rural Farmgirl
Linda Scoggins 
Alexandra Wilson 
Victoria Hall 
Sandi King 
Denise Ross 
ann 
Susan 
Marilyn 
Cynthia 
MS Barb 
Ellen Vukovic 
Laura R. 
Sandi King 
Laurel Pries 
Ashley K 
Amanda 
maureen bruner 
Mickie Griffin 
Randee 
Nicole Christensen 
Bessie 
Joan 
Susabelle 
Jennifer Chappell 
Missy Whaley 
Deb Bosworth 
Marlene Capelle 
Ramona Puckett 
Lisa Strange 
Bonnie Ellis 
Linda 
Joy 
Lynn Blagden 
Sandi King 
Pamela deMarrais 
Judy from Maine 
Linda Clayton 
Nicki 
Mary B 
Carol 
Thank you for taking us through your Quake experience! It was such a good read. I love the stories and pictures of your sweet family! Thank you for sharing and may you and your family have a Merry Christmas and a Happy (and safe) New Year!
Thank you, Laurel! I’m glad I have this outlet to write it down or I would have waited to long for it to be raw. Merry Christmas to you and yours, too
Alex, you write so descriptively. I am so sorry you had to use your talent on this topic. True to your form, you made me feel as though I was there with you.
I am so thankful you all are recovering well. We love you guys.
Thanks, Aunt Becky–Love you, too! Merry Christmas!
Living in Kansas you would think there wouldn’t be any earthquakes here. They started happening after all the fracking going on. Such a weird experience to go through and granted they aren’t anything like you went through, but very disturbing, none the less. Thanks for sharing your experience. Do you think you could share some of that beautiful snow for Christmas? Sending love to you and your sweet family.
Yeah, Fracking induced earthquakes are very worrisome. Seemed earthquakes were the only thing we could say weren’t exacerbated by human activity–we were proven wrong! I want to keep all the snow for us! Just kidding, I’ll tell tell our snow fairy you are wishing for some. Happy holidays! Hope your Christmas is white and fluffy!
Wow! Sure glad you are all right. My home in Minnesota doesn’t seem so safe now. Have a blessed holiday!
Thanks, Bonnie! No earthquakes in Minnesota :). Happy Holidays!
Natural disasters are the worse! Unpredictable. I’ve never been in a major earthquake but have been in a tornado. Sounds like you handled it well and you have beautiful children! God bless you! Debbie
Thanks, Debbie! I hope this finds you well, Happy Holidays!
Hi, I live here in Southern California and we also had an earthquake today, Thursday, December 20, probably in response to yours, at about 12:22 pm. If you haven’t already, check out Sue Henry’s award winning books set in Alaska, beginning with “Murder on the Iditarod Trail” then also the one I finished yesterday called “Degrees of Separation” which is about an earthquake, and a murder. Creepy timing. Glad all is okay up there except for the mess.
Thanks for the recommendations! My father gave me a few of her books, but I have yet to read them. Hope your quake was okay!
I wondered if we would get a recount of this magnificent quake by someone that lived through it. How scary that must have been? I remember having felt one in my lifetime. I did not realize that Alaska was so prone to them.
Another interesting item, I just finished reading a book that was placed in Palmer, Alaska. How exciting to know that I have a blog friend there.
Wow, great post, you really shared the feeling of your experience. Here in Maine we get very few earthquakes and if we do they are teeny tiny, but I have experienced two in the 16 years that I have lived here. The first was very early in the morning, it woke us up, but we really didn’t understand what was happening, thought it was a big log truck passing by at a higher than necessary speed. When we got up, we saw that part of our rock wall had fallen and the news confirmed the quake. The second time was just after dinner. I was sitting in my studio when I heard this horribley loud sound, this time it sounded like a train, except there are no trains in the vinicity of my house, next everything just started to tremble, not really shake and not really move, just this unsettleling feeling that everything was trembling. It was over in just a few seconds. My husband came into my studio and we looked at each other with a did a bomb drop somewhere look. Checked the internet to find out it was an earthquake, epicenter many many miles south of us. While it was short and nothing happened other than some crooked pictures, it was very unsettling. I can imagine your fear for your beautiful babies, but it sounds like you did everything right. ( except maybe, for the commendable , but slightly misplaced responsibility you felt to check your neighbors property)
Thank you so much for sharing your experience.
I wish you the Merriest of Christmas and a Happy, Healthy (and non shaky) New Year.
Wow! So glad you’re all safe. That’s something I’ve never experienced nor is it on my bucket list! Quite an adventure for you. Thanks for sharing.
So glad you and your family are alright!!! You are a wonderful mother in how you responded to protecting your kiddos! And you have such great neighbors and friends! It’s so great to hear about people helping each other out! We had a tiny earthquake here in the mid-atlantic a few years ago- sooo not like yours! It was a big deal to many but since I live near a military training facility I’m used to the ground shaking and lots of rumbling when they practice live artillery fire. My ceiling fans wobble pretty bad when they fly helicopters overhead, too. So when our earthquake happened, people were calling me all scared, and I was like, huh? what’d I miss?!?! Wishing you all a safe and stress-free Christmas!!!
Alex, so glad you all are safe. I also didn’t realize Alaska was so prone to earthquakes. I have felt a few in the mid-west, but none as big as the one you described. I also felt one in Arizona when I was a child playing in the Colorado river. You are a great teller of stories and I enjoyed this post immensely. Thanks for posting it as soon after as you did. We always think of others during a disaster and try to help, it’s a natural thing to do and sometimes we forget about the more important things, but I am glad your children didn’t suffer any bad effects from it. Keep safe and keep writing.
Just so glad you’re ok! Another reason why your family wants you back in the lower 48, away from earthquake zones!! Your writing is so enjoyable to read I’m glad I came across this!
Love ya!
Aunt Egg
Love you, too Auntie Egg!
Thank You for this up date on the earthquake. Thank God you and the girls are safe. Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and Blessed, earthquake free 2019.
Marilyn
As a displaced Alaska girl with family still living in the State I as a new”old farm girl” feel like this made the whole joining worth while! My son and his are in Anchorage and the stress is wearing on them! I truly feel better after reading your post! You are talented, kind, a good neighbor, and a wonderful Mother! Never doubt always know that!
Thank you, Krissel! My outside family was quite worried as well. Thanks for the check-in!