Be proud...be very proud...

The news is that I am also working for Natalie's boss....retooling and redoing their website.  So, I have been able to hang around the clinic these last two days and get to see Natalie 'in action'.

As the month has worn on, Natalie has been given more and more responsibility...by her boss Kathie, as well as the other therapists.  It is a source of great joy and pride to watch her grow in confidence while working with a clientele dominated by very difficult cases...especially because she hasn't been sure she wanted to work in a pediatric setting.  Nearly all of the kids she is working with struggle with autism, and the setting can be kind of chaotic.

Her boss is letting her lead therapy sessions and also having her do the de-briefing with parents after the child's session.  This can be nerve-wracking, because all of these folks are older than Natalie, yet her boss Kathie is also watching while she does it.  But she has performed like a champ, and I think that this experience has been SO beneficial for her.  She told me today that Kathie was the perfect boss for her!

This is high praise indeed, as Natalie likes to run the show, but she and Kathie have an outstanding relationship.  And it has been so awesome to see it flourish in such a short period of time.  All the extended Berrios and Lohrey relations should be very proud, indeed!

Also, many thanks to Kathie, who allowed me to use her camera to get these photos of Natalie...here is my stuff, camped out on the desk at the Time for Speech Office...it was an added treat, getting to be around my wife for the entire day!

Trying to keep it going...

Well, no word on our camera.  Tomorrow I am going to try and hit up the pawn shops and see if it has turned up.  It has been such a bummer to both Natalie and I, because we love taking pictures SOOO much and it was SUCH a nice camera.  However, we feel better (more peaceful) today.  I filed a police report, which will apparently take several days to be officially 'filed', and I will check my auto insurance policy as soon as we get home and see if I can file a claim.  I am not sure what my deductible is, but I will figure it out as soon as we get home.

We will be leaving Alaska on Saturday, June 22nd...to make our way back south...which will give us just enough time to get Natalie back in Searcy for her next round of classes, which begin on July 1st.  I will use a few older photos right now, until we see if we can get our camera back or not.  Tonight Natalie has been doing homework for Harding, and I have actually been working for her boss on their website.

These photos were taken the other day at the Alyeska resort.  After we came down on the tram, we ran into a group of transplanted Texans (originally from Wichita Falls) who were using trash bags to sled down a hill on.  They invited us to join in, and so we did!  It was a real joy and blessing and a moment I think neither of us will ever forget.

The weather continues to be beautiful here, and we are still hoping to make it down to Seward this weekend...although some of the appeal is gone after losing our camera.  However, they didn't break a window getting into our car, and they left some things that they could have taken as well, so we feel grateful and thankful.  Unfortunately, the other main thing they took besides the camera equipment was Natalie's makeup bag, so we had to go to Target tonight and buy her some more.  All in all, we still feel very GRATE-FULL and blessed, and send a special thank you out to my mother-in-law, whose timely gift allowed us to go and quickly replace the makeup.  So a great big hug to Vicki!

A Very Sad Occurrence...

I am sorry to report that someone got in our car last night and stole our camera.  It is an unbelievable bummer to both Natalie and I...and we have no money to replace it right now, so that is all of the pictures we can add add to the blog.  SO sorry you guys...

Ever been touched an iceberg? We have!

Well, yesterday was such a big day, I had to have an extra day to recover and write about it!  In the morning, we left Anchorage and headed South. The high temperature was in the mid-70's and the skies were CLEAR!  So, we got on the Seward Highway and headed toward the southern coast.  It was a nearly perfect day and we had a lot of surprises in store for us!

It has been a few days since we went to the South, and we have had several warm days during that interval.  So, when we came through this time, the runoff from the Mountains was intense.  Every few hundred feet there was another huge stream of water flowing off the mountain.  With the sun shining down, it appeared as if diamonds were cascading down the rocks.  One of the prettiest sights I have ever seen in my life!

I had decided we would go to a little resort town called Girdwood, but the weather was so perfect we passed the turnoff to Girdwood and went on down to Glacier Point.  Obviously, there are many, many glaciers here in Alaska.  But what surprised me is how many of them are within 50 miles of downtown Anchorage, as impossible as that may seem! We wound our way off of the Seward Highway and back towards the Chugach mountains, and suddenly realized we were totally surrounded by ice-capped mountains.  It was sunny, 70+ degrees outside and yet everywhere you looked there was snow!

As we followed the signs we eventually found Glacier Lake. Here is Natalie in front of this lake...you can still see the ice behind her and the reflection of the snow-capped mountains on the water.  The ice floes are actually small icebergs, broken away from the glacier, which is just a little farther back in the mountains. The water was delightfully cold and we found the bottom filled with beautiful little pebbles of marble. It is just hard to believe that there are glaciers so close to civilization, but we have seen the evidence with our own eyes.  We didn't see the 'actual' iceberg, because you have to take a boat tour (read 'more money, please')...but it was still an awesome experience.

On the Seward highway we made another amazing and completely unplanned 'tour stop'. We were driving along and hit a spot where there was a little water and a LOT of people.  So, I pulled off the road.  I had prepared a picnic lunch for us, and we figured we would check out what all the folks were doing.  As we got out of the car, we noticed that most of the people were along the small shoreline and there were buckets lining the water's edge. As I walked closer, it became clear that some of them were actually wading into this freezing cold water, and were fishing!  But they weren't fishing with your usual rod and reel.  They were fishing with a large net, the kind we might help pull the fish into the boat with at home, and they were using no bait!  They were dredging the bottom of this creek filled with mountain runoff for a small fish called a hooligan. Apparently there is a short season here where these are running and folks (many of them Native Alaskans) gather at these spots and just catch buckets of them!

I had been told about a tram which takes you up the side of one of the Chugach Mountains where you can see for miles and miles and miles.  It is close to Girdwood, Alaska, at a 5-star resort there called Mt. Alyeska.  We had received a travel booklet with a buy one-get one free coupon, so we went up the mountain and not only found a BEAUTIFUL resort, but one that had a breathtaking ride up the mountains.  Now, heights are decidedly not my thing, but I just knew Natalie would love this ride so I sucked it up and rode up with her.

From the top, it seemed you were standing on the edge of the world.  Admittedly it took me a while to find my balance, but I finally did, and we were able to enjoy the stunning views from this mountain top.  They have a five star restaurant at the top of the mountain, and while we couldn't afford to have dinner there, we went to the bar and had a real cherry coke, and a cocktail that had rum and hot apple cider, cherry, and cinnamon. Both were delicious and the edges of the bar and restaurant were pure glass where it seemed like you could see forever! No wonder you need a reservation there...every spot was taken.  Here, Natalie has taken a photo of the glasses hanging in the window, with the mountain framed behind them!  I have tons of other photos from yesterday, and I will try and update the slide show this week with more pictures, so you can see and experience what we did.  This was truly our greatest day yet in Alaska.  This morning it was back to work, and we hope everyone has had an awesome start to your week! Much love to all, Ryan & Natalie

WHAT a meal!

Let me handle a few questions that we have been getting along the way of this adventure.  First, how long are we here?  Well, we have exactly two weeks left today (Saturday).  We will close two weeks from today with the annual Time For Speech picnic, and then begin our trip back South.  It will take us about a week to get back to Arkansas and Natalie starts school again on July 1st.  So, that is our upcoming schedule.

Second, several of you have asked via text or FB...are we going here or there, or this other place while we are in Alaska?  The answer is, probably not. We are going tomorrow to do a few fun things just south of Anchorage, and next weekend we hope to go down to the 'actual' coast in Seward, Alaska.

We have hoped to take a ferry out to the glaciers and things, but our money is very tight and I just don't know if that is going to happen.  We have to allow for a very costly return trip, as it sure is a long way up here, and when you are on the Alaska Highway, you don't have a lot of choices in regards to economy. Whatever prices they are asking for gas or food is what you are going to pay...there just aren't other options on the next street corner.  The next street corner, as a matter of fact, may be 150 miles down the road, so we gas up at each stop, just to keep on the safe side.

Tonight we ate at the Lucky Wishbone Diner, which is something of an institution here in Anchorage. After WWII, Anchorage grew from just a couple of thousand people into a real city.  During that growth spurt, the Lucky Wishbone opened up in 1955.

Tonight, Natalie and I shared fried chicken and a chocolate malt, and, while not exactly good ol' fashioned southern cooking, it was a mighty fine meal indeed.  We agreed to make a return trip before leaving Anchorage.  Truly, the Lucky Wishbone is straight out of the old Happy Days show!

When we came out, there was a SWEET Corvette sitting right in front of the main doors...I don't know if it belonged to the owners or not, but, wow, what a ride!

The weather was nearly perfect today, and we hit up some garage sales, seeking some affordable treasures to take home from Alaska with us.  The technical name for these items is 'Alaskana', a term I find most endearing.  We met a lot of nice people and one lady started giving us stuff for free...which Natalie loved, because they were glass vases and things, and Natalie loves glassware!  Plus, we were able to buy Natalie a very unique necklace at the Weekend Market that she has had her eye on for three weeks now!  So, all that to say, we feel very blessed indeed to be here in Alaska.  Natalie had her mid-term review today and her boss, Kathie, told her (and later me) that she was the finest student she had EVER had work for her.  It was a wonderful moment.

It has also been n important time for Natalie and I to learn and grow together.  There is something about being on your own that really teaches you things, and it has been very interesting to come to a place where neither of us knew a soul!  It has forced us to rely on God, as well as one another, and helped us to have the time just with one another to find the best way(s) for us to live together and serve one another.

We hope that each of you are also learning and growing, and that this weekend has been wonderful!

Fun in the Sun!

Well, the big news is...it was sunny here today! Alaska under sunny skies vs. Alaska under grey skies is just a whole world apart.  The temperature may not be very different, but your outlook on the world is when the sun shines through here! Natalie and I went to the Alaska Botanical Gardens tonight and took a lovely hike on their nature trail.  However, I must report that it has NOTHING on the Ft. Worth Botanical Garden...in fact, it isn't even a garden at all. More like a really pretty forest.  But we hiked through the woods and encountered our first real bugs during our time here (and you KNOW how much Natalie likes bugs!).  So that was fun!

Then we went down to the Anchorage Museum (it was open late) and saw an exhibit on the Arctic Bush Pilots who are still prominent here.  Did you know that Alaskans fly 30% more per capita than all other residents of the US?  That's because places like Nome and Juneau (the capital) aren't even accessible by road.  It really is an amazing state...

What a gorgeous day!

I didn't know you could really have sunny days with a high of 70 in June. But it happened here today.  The warm sun is beaming in on us tonight and it is almost 8pm...and the sun is still high in the sky.  I thought you might want to know more about what Natalie is doing in therapy.  I was invited to join the team for lunch today, so I took a photo of Natalie and her boss, Kathie.  I will take this moment to brag just a little bit here before Natalie speaks.  Today, Kathie told her, in front of all the other employees...I would hire you right now.  As a husband, I was VERY proud.  She is learning a lot, but it would be better if she told you, so here she is!

The day before yesterday I realized something inside me had changed. For the first time since I had taken the first steps toward becoming a speech pathologist, I really believed in myself...I thought, "Hey, I can do this!" It was a very happy and refreshing realization. My fantastic supervisor has let me have a lot of freedom with some of the more challenging kids, and I'm proud to say we have received positive results so far.

Most of the kids I see here are on the Autism Spectrum--some more severe than others, and therapy had always been an unfamiliar world into which I was plunged each day...always something new and complicated that I couldn't fully fathom... But I realized you don't have to fully understand everything to do good therapy with the child (or adult) in your care. Sometimes it's all about the small steps, and sometimes you keep persevering to find something that works.