alaskan daydreams.

a picture of ketchikan, AK - courtesy of travelandcruisedeals

the original "slugs" - by withtherain

i don't know what it is about the idea of moving to alaska, but sometimes i daydream about it.  having spent a year up in northern manitoba, i know that the long dark winters and huge amounts of snow don't really agree with me (and not being a winter sports type of person, sitting on my behind on the couch for months at a time watching TV is not really my idea of fun).  i do miss the northern lights though, and the sense that we were breaking new ground and exploring new territory (for us anyways). 

this morning, i was reading an inspiring article on etsy seller withtherain, who lives in ketchikan, AK, with her boy Jacob, and who spends a good chunk of her time crafting.  i have loved rayana's "slugs" for ages, plus her product photos are the BOMB.  ketchikan is only reachable by boat and plane and she's lived there almost her entire life.  i found myself feeling - well - slightly jealous.  one, she is making her living doing something she absolutely loves (after coming home from her day job, of course!).  two, she is doing it in a place that she has known her entire life.  three, there is something about being only reachable by a few modes of transportation that appeals to me.  quite an inspiration!

i guess my daydreams are of a little warm wooden house in the great white north, filled with sunlight and the smell of freshly baked bread (made in my breadmaker, of course), with a crafting space stuffed to the brim with sterling silver wire, surrounded by trees and a starry alaskan sky, and me mucking around with the mini in our rainboots in the mossy forests.  (and of course, our feet kept warm with rayana's "slugs".)
(go read the feature on rayana.  i think you'll find it inspiring too!)