Talk Tuesday with Kristi Trimmer

This is the 13th Talk Tuesday post – can you believe I’ve been doing them that long? Did you miss the other ones? Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7  | Week 8 | Week 9  | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14. It amazes me that the Talk Tuesday posts get so much engagement and I love it! I collect the questions people ask me and answer them every Tuesday. Have a question for me about anything? Ask away in the comments below before next Tuesday. I’m always surprised what people end up asking me!

 

How are you preparing for Winter?

This question has many facets and I am going to break it down as it will help me to focus as well. 🙂

Clothing

I must have not been thinking when I packed for this trip from Phoenix to Alaska. I didn’t bring any sweaters or warm clothes of any kind. I have a hoodie and a couple thermals and that’s about it. I wish I could tell you I’m kidding. I’m working on a gift guide called – A Guide to Surviving Alaska. Companies send me products to review to be included in the guide. I did a really big happy dance when L.L. Bean told me they loved my story and wanted to make sure I didn’t freeze to death. So they sent me this in red. You know, so you can find me underneath all that snow!

L.L.Bean Women’s Baxter State Parka

I still have to buy snow boots, gloves, sweaters, snow pants, and a million other things I am sure. So yeah, I’m not prepared in the least for the winter where clothes are concerned.

My Car

My little Toyota Scion TC is in for a rude awakening. He needs a block heater – which, get this – plugs into the wall. I’ve never heard of such a thing! I had no idea why all these cars had an extension cord sticking out of them – now I know! I also need an auto start so my car can warm up before I attempt to get in it. My car also needs new kicks – snow tires to be exact. Yep, that’s a lot of stuff. Pricey too. Now you know why I am working like a mad woman!

My Living Situation

Ugh. Insert stress here. Whenever I imagined living in Alaska it was not in the middle of a city with no view. I am actively searching for an apt or a roommate situation in the Anchorage area. I need a view to write. I thought maybe it wasn’t really needed, but in order for me to be creative, it is a necessity. Anchorage real estate is insane. The prices are closer to San Francisco than Phoenix and places go very quickly. Listen up my investor friends – this is the market you should be in!!

My Spirit

I thought about this one a lot. Could I handle all the darkness? The cold? Being so far away from my friends and family for even longer than I planned? What if I couldn’t afford to fly home for the Holidays – would I be ok being alone? Well, that is kind of why I reached out to Bagoy’s Flowers & Home so I could get out from behind my laptop for a couple hours each week and be around other people. It’s working, btw… I am SO busy that I don’t have time to be sad about being alone. Now the cold and darkness… I am very aware of them and will try everything I can not to let them affect me too much.

Also, I am making a calendar of all the events in Alaska that I want to attend. I’m adding in trips down to the Lower 48 as well every 2 months or so. Airline tickets are a lot less in the Winter and I will use that to my advantage. I’m SO happy that in a couple short weeks I will get to see friends in Chicago, family in Indiana, a dear friend’s wedding in Alabama, and attend an awesome conference in North Carolina. That’s what I call packing in a trip!

I also am looking at taking classes for craft beer judging, being a sommelier, and other things that tickle my fancy. Oh – I would really like to try my hand at home brewing too!

I’ve been making lists of books that I want to read and books that I want to write. I have dreamed and imagined myself rewriting Unstoppable: Girl On The Run while next to a roaring fire looking out at snow-covered trees. My writing has come back as has my urge to seriously sit my ass down and rewrite the book I lost. And least I don’t cry every time I think about it. Progress!

 

Psst… Did you see this post from earlier about the Talkeetna Brewfest this past weekend? Work is hard at times, my friends!