Taking in the sights

As I've been getting into my routine here, less "super" exciting things have been happening, hence no updates for a while. Grant officially arrives October 23rd, which is now on the 10-day weather forecast, so that means it's pretty darn close! They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I was already quite fond of the guy so I'm pretty close to exploding with excitement for his arrival. I am still loving my job which makes Monday through Thursday go by extremely quickly and taking in the sights around Homer on the weekend. I have definitely felt a few pangs of homesickness but fortunately I've managed to keep myself pretty busy and talking on the phone regularly with the parents and seeing some cute little Haley kids on Skype this morning definitely help :) I've been spending quite a bit of time with my friend Jackie from work. She knows a ton of people so I have gradually been meeting more and more and everyone is super friendly. Hank has also been making quite a few friends, he might actually have more than me. We've gone on a couple hikes:

Trail by the house  and the pack of dogs we took hiking

There are a few neighbor dogs that roam around free and the golden one in the picture likes to follow Hank and I whenever we go for a walk. She decided to follow us for our 4-hour hike this day as well. Apparently the owners don't worry about her being 5 miles from home and appreciate the free dog walking. 

Out on the spit

Illiamna & Redoubt Volcanoes- view from Ohlson Mountain

Yesterday I found a fantastic yoga studio where I started my day and then went hiking with two girls, Maddie and Eve and their dogs, Kai and Tonzai. Maddie coincidentally happens to be getting married the same day Grant and I are so I have a wedding-planning buddy. Eve is one of the few people I've met who grew up in Homer. Her and her husband live on a family homestead and do a whole bunch of farming and animal-raising. The Discovery Channel actually films a reality series about their family. Not even kidding. She was kind enough to give me a big jar of goat milk which I've been enjoying in my coffee and smoothies. We hiked around Ohlson Mountain which is where the tow-rope is in the winter, had some great volcano views (above) and found a bunch of high-bush cranberries:

It was a bit muddy but worth it for those bright berries.

The berries are pretty sour and have seeds in them so I think I'll use them in a recipe I found for cranberry syrup for pancakes. 

And now for some stellar sunsets which are somewhat bittersweet as they're occurring at 7ish:

Just the sun setting over a volcano