Celebrating good friends (and grateful that wherever I go I am able to find some).

As I've tried to express in previous posts, there are a lot of great things about living here in Kodiak. The hardest part, though, is being away from my peeps--some of whom I left behind in Utah, but many of which are also spread throughout the country, because whether I like it or not, life takes us all in different directions. If I could pack up my 30 favorite people and move them up to this little island with me, life would be pretty much perfect, and its imperfections would be oh so much more bearable.

I have made some good friends here, too. And I am extremely grateful for that. In particular, I wanted to give a shout out to Rod and Janet, who welcomed us with open arms, and have gotten us out to see the island and go fishing. They have shared their fish, fresh eggs, fresh vegetables from their hoop house, and most recently their sauna with us, as well as their time and friendship. Just this week, they invited us over to pick some peas, and sent us home with this bounty (plus a dozen fresh eggs, not pictured here):

Now my next question is: What am I going to do with all of these fresh vegetables? In particular, I'm asking Sarah and Kristen, since you two are probably the best with veggie recipes, but if anyone has a great idea or recipe, please let me know, because I don't want any of this food to go to waste!

Anyway, I just want to say that I'm happy to have the new friends I'm making here, and I miss (oftentimes DESPERATELY miss) the friends that I haven't seen since I've moved here. Thank you for your continued love and support. I feel very lucky to have such amazing people in my life.