It's the end of an era, you might say.

So, after nine months, I'm moving out of the house on the River and moving in with my parents? Why? Namely because I don't do well with sharing property with others. Especially when I feel lied to by the property manager and not given (what I consider) the proper support. When the new neighbor moved in I was completely fine with losing space in the laundry room so she could have a closet - but I was not told she was a smoker and would be allowed to smoke in the house. Now my house smells of smoker smell. I hate to break it to ya, but that smell is one of the worst. When I brought this up a week or so later to the property manager he told me to basically suck it up. Nevermind it triggers issues for me. He suggested a smoke eater, but I had to buy it. Um, I don't think so.

Top it off, the owner is selling the property. All this week it looks like I will be dealing with folks walking through my stuff to view the property. So I'm just done. I'm getting griped at by my neighbor because she wants my dog to stop pooping and that I need to plant flowers on my side of the house. I'm just done. I want my space to be just that, mine. Not anyone elses. I don't want to deal with stupid stuff, and I'm wanting to just be left alone.

So, for the time being, we'll just move me into the house I grew up in until we can find something that works. Who knows how long that will be. I hate that I won't be on the river anymore, but honestly I haven't done anything down by the water, so it's not like it's that much different than living blocks away from it.

So, yeah, life is.... UGH... which is what it's basically been since December.

Musher found safe: "Cold, tired and hungry"

After almost two weeks of searching and worrying, Melanie Gould was found "cold, tired and hungry" but safe in Cantwell, many miles away from her home in Talkeetna. The Iditarod Musher was sent to the Mat-Su Regional Hospital to be treated. Troopers, friends and searchers were guarded in their reporting of just what happened. Troopers stated that Gould herself contacted them, and admitted that she had seen the searchers earlier in the week but "stayed away" from them. Friends running - the now deleted - group "Have you seen Melanie Gould?" reported that a searcher found the missing musher in Cantwell and contacted troopers.

The State Troopers are not releasing any details at this point other than to report the musher found and doing well. That there is, at least for now, a happy ending to the story seems to be what matters at this point, but questions still loom. What happened and why did she shy away from the searchers? What is the real story? And why did the facebook page suddenly disappear once people began to question the fact that Melanie has admitted to hiding? Why did she leave her dogs unattended if she herself had planned to leave?

And, of course, what happens now?

Search continues for missing Talkeetna musher

Melanie Gould during Iditarod 35 (2007).
Gould has not been heard from
since May 31, 2011.

Talkeetna musher Melanie Gould was last seen by friends on May 31st gassing up her pick up truck. When she didn't return to work on Tuesday, June 1, her friends and coworkers became concerned and reported the young woman missing.

Troopers have been searching for her from Tuesday until today when they called off the ground and air search. They reportedly will be continuing their investigation, but their efforts - for now - have been exhausted in the area that Melanie's truck was found. Search dogs hit in and around the truck, but no where else. This could mean she took a different vehicle out of the area - but with the weather the way it was up to the day of the find, it could also just be that the scent no longer exists.

Friends and family - including Gould's community of Talkeetna - are picking up the search. Their meeting this evening had a basic game plan for tomorrow. They are asking for anyone with the time and resources to please come out and search. They are looking for former military, SARS, and police officers to head up the search teams.

To see how you can help visit the facebook page HAVE YOU SEEN MELANIE GOULD. Join the team to bring her home!

CONTEST: What's In The Bible

One lucky blog reader will win a copy of the fifth volume of What's In The Bible. All you have to do is comment on my blog review (the post right under this one) with your name!

DVD Review: What's In The Bible 5: Israel Gets A King!

My parents and I watched the latest volume of Phil Vischer's What's In The Bible series this past weekend. I received my copy of the video earlier in the week and we immediately popped it in to see what the team had come up with. This video did not disappoint.

What's in the Bible is VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer's new Children's Video series. After watching his dream die when he filed bankruptcy and lost control of the beloved Christian Children's video veggies, Vischer says God got through to him and gave him a second chance. What that gives families is a fantastic series of Biblically sound and educational videos taking a more indepth look of the Bible.

This isn't your typical "Sunday morning values, Saturday morning fun" series. This is meaty goodness that is sorely lacking from Children's ministries. As a former Sunday School teacher, I can say that I've never seen children taught in this way. Yes, I've seen puppets used, but instead of just teaching the story of David - as the fifth volume does - Vischer's cast of colorful puppets digs deeper into the significance of David's life as well as why his story is so important to the bigger picture of the Bible. This isn't your typical David and Goliath story.

May 1st Prayer...

May 1st Prayer...
Now I lay me down to sleep
one less terrorist this world does keep.
with all my heart I give my thanks
to those in uniform regardless of ranks.
you serve our country and serve it well
with humble hearts your stories tell.
so as I rest my weary eyes
while freedom rings our flag still flies.
you give your all, do what you must
with God we live and God we trust.
Amen.

-Angie Whitmore

I cannot come up with words to express the news of tonight. Needless to say I am so proud of the men who served our nation in this covert operation. They will forever be the unsung and unnamed heroes of this war. The War on Terror is far from over my friends, and for our media and government not to see that is disturbing, but tonight is a night for a celebration of victory.

30 Days of Song: Day Three

Day 3: Song that makes you happy

This song got chosen simply because it's been in my head all week and it never fails to put a smile on my face. Who would have guessed I would have fallen in love with a musical entitled "Hairspray"?

World's Greatest: Alexei Yagudin (RUS)

Alexei is considered one of the greatest skaters of all time. He's one of the few skaters that has 4 titles to his credit as well as an Olympic title. Plagued with injury through most of that time, he made it a full cycle before being taken out of competition by his knees. They just couldn't handle the stress and strain. He skated with Stars On Ice after his forced retirement from competition. Now he's still Mr. Celebrity in Russia and his the father of an adorable little kid.

Alexei got me hooked on men's competitive skating. Most of the time I waited until they were pros to make a determination on if I would like them, but Alexei did for competitive figure skating what Kurt Browning does for the pro world. He was able to seamlessly weave athletics with musicality/art. Skaters like Alexei are rare.

Alexei had the difficult hardware, but he was more known for his footwork. Many still claim it's the best ever, however if one takes a look at what he does it's not only simple in comparison with other skaters - it's pretty much the same step sequence over and over (and the same from program to program). Tarasova and Morosov found a formula that worked on their skater, and people blindly follow.

That does not diminish Alexei's mark on the sport, however. He is a fantastic showman and athlete. I truly believe we'd be hearing more out of him competitively but his injuries - and knee surgery - kept him out of the running. Still, four world titles and an Olympic title is nothing to sneeze at.


My favorite program of his at worlds - a year he didn't win - his SP to Revolutionary Etude:

What the Worlds [Figure Skating Championships] Need Now...

I'm a little slap happy as it's been a long day, but I'm planning to revive my blog a little bit and in the next few days leading up to the World Figure Skating Championships set to be held in Moscow later this month. I'm going to feature my favorite World Champions. From Kurt Browning to Gordeeva & Grinkov, Yuka Sato to Torvill & Dean and beyond. These will probably be more editorial, as they're my favorites.

Just a heads up, there's going to (hopefully) be more skating in the coming days.

30 Days of Song: Day Two

Day 2: Least Favorite Song

Hmmm. Blogger ate my post about favorite song, but that's okay because it's good as it stands, I sat for hours trying to think of my one favorite song. Anyway, least favorite would have to be ANY song from the Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana collection. That stuff is horrible.