So Many Updates

Mercy-me, am I behind on my blog!  Let's take it chronologically:
 

1.  Many weekends ago a group of ladies (and one of my roommates, who is a guy -- don't ask) drove to Talkeetna for the legendary Talkeetna Bachelor Society Wilderness Woman Contest and Bachelor Auction and Ball.  I know it sounds like I'm making this up, but I'm not.  Check the links.  I participated in the first round of the contest (racing with extremely heavy buckets of water), where I was mightily defeated.  Which was actually a blessing, as the second and third rounds included tasks like "saw wood," "race a snow mobile," and "make a sandwich for a bachelor" (oh the horror!).  After a delicious fried dinner, we all trouped over to the auction where we saw hours upon hours of bachelor-auctioning.  The highlight: the bachelor who was wearing only a wolf-fur thong (don't tell the Companion).
 

2.  I officiated three weddings.  Yes, that's legal.  It was weird and therefore noteworthy.  Buuut I'm over it, so let's move on.

  

3.  I started working for this blog as an official contributor.  I post whenever I can on topics that concern religion and the law.  I love it!  I get to think and write about something that is very interesting to me, and it feels like I'm honing my skills as an accessible legal writer.  Here's my most recent post.
  

4.  I took a week off for Christmas break, spent the time in Washington, D.C. with the Companion, and had a great time.  I arrived on Christmas Eve, and the Companion and I stayed with his parents in Virginia until Monday.  Aside from Tuesday, when Companion unexpectedly had to work and I FLIPPED OUT, we spent the entire week together.  It was lovely.  We had Thai food, baked goods, ice cream, Companion-cooked food, and the Companion took me to dinner at Obelisk and tea time at the Ritz.  In return, I took him to Ray's Hell Burger and 2 Amys.  Needless to say, I got the better end of that deal.
  

5.  Then, tragically, the break was over and I had to go back to Alaska.  To distract myself from heartbreak, and to get a chance to use all of my swanky new winter-weather gear (Christmas gifts and random gifts from the cmpnn), I signed up for some downhill ski lessons.  Keep in mind I have never downhill skied, and I've only cross-country skied once (I just wasn't that into it).  But it was super-fun!  Seriously!  I fell down, for sure, but it doesn't really hurt, and the fun of it so far outweighs the unpleasantness of falling.  Worst experience: my instructor put me on a blue square (the middle level of difficulty) on my first day and I was barrelling down the mountain towards a sign that read "SLOW" and I could most certainly not slow down so I instead threw myself to the ground.  My confidence was shaken, but I returned for my lesson the next day, stuck with the easy green circles, and had a great time.
   

Is that it?  I think that's it!  I need to post more so that I can fill each post with "hilarious" minutiae.