20 Reasons I Like Alaska,

in no particular order:

1. Midnight sun and midday moon.
2. Alaska has over 3 million lakes, is over twice the size of Texas, has 47,000 miles of coastline, 17 of the 20 highest peaks in the US and no snakes or skunks.
3. In the summer people barbeque and mow their lawns at 10pm.
4. When it snows overnight it's like a magical kingdom in the morning.
5. My kids are tough as nails. When it's below zero, they complain about having indoor recess.
6. It's not a snowmobile, it's a snowmachine (or a sled).
7. PFD stands for Permanent Fund Dividend. One per person per year.
8. When people go hunting they wear camo, not bright orange.
9. Josh & Liz can pull me and Tali in a sled behind their snowmachine to get the mail - and no one bats an eye. If you live anywhere besides Anchorage or Juneau, you can drive your snowmachine to work and drop your kids off at school on the way. Reference -http://weski4fun.blogspot.com/2008/11/winter-wonderland.html in Valdez.
10. Anything from Prada to Sorel is acceptable at church, school, grocery store or a wedding. But mostly we just wear Danskos, everywhere.
11. Moose in the front yard, backyard, middle of the road, front porch . . .
12. Trails in the front yard, backyard, middle of the road . . . Anchorage has over 400 miles of unrepeated trails.
13. Ski hats are totally acceptable (and great for bad hair days).
14. Usually in January, when it's dark and cold, we complain. Then again in March, when it's not yet Spring, we complain. Once again in October, when Fall is already over, we complain. But whenever we leave, we're excited to get back.
15. It costs the same to fly to Utah or Hawai'i.
16. We call the Lower 48 "the Outside." We call Hawai'i "the place everyone goes in March".
17. Like Norm, "Everybody knows your name!" It's a big town with a small town feel . . . or vice versa. Whatever the case, we definitely have all the necessary amenities (minus a few degrees here and there), and still, you get to know the grocery checkers and baggers, absolutely everyone at the gym, and occasionally the people I don't like to mention, like the guy who works late at the McDonalds drive-thru window. {As a side note - The other day I went to the Schlotzsky's drive-thru. I do that about every other Monday - it's a post Kardio Kids/ Pre-Costco tradition. I said, "I'll have a kids cheese pizza with a white chocolate chip cookie and a BBQ ch. . . " He cut me off and said, "Is this Tiffanie? No onions and a Coke, right?" Now that's scary!}
18. I can drive in a snowstorm like nobody's business.
19. On a clear day I can see Denali & Foraker from here. (They're 300 miles away.) I can probably see Russia from my backyard too :)
20. Alaska is absolutely picturesque. When Matt and I met, I tried to convince him that there is beauty in the brown mountains in Las Vegas. That even though you could die of heat stroke in less than an hour, hiking at Red Rock is beautiful. And on the off chance that you actually see a flower on a cactus, you'll never forgot how pretty it is. That's all true. I think you can, or should be able to, find beauty in any landscape. The difference in Alaska is that you can't not find beauty in any direction.