Happy Birthday Matt

So today, being my son’s 9th Birthday brings a lot of emotions to the table. I have been all over the country and seen all kinds of things and been a part of a lot of people’s lives. But the biggest regret I have is that I am not part of my sons life the way i should be. I will never say that I am the person that needs to be there to raise him and teach him the ways of life, but I wish that I had decided to man up and be there like I should have. He is an awesome little man that deserves more than what I could have given him in life. I miss him more and more every day that goes by. I spend my nights praying and crying that he is ok and he is healthy and happy. I know that the time in my life that he as born i was not in a place to be able to be a responsible enough to be the Dad and the Father that I needed to be to raise him correctly, so his Mother, Kathy, has been left with the job of raising him, and all I can say is that she ahs done an impeccable job. He is the spitting image of her and I. He has the attitude of me and the personality of her, which is a great combination. I just hope that he understands one day why I couldnt do what i needed to do for him. He is the reason that I decide to continue on hoping that one day him and I will get the chance to meet and spend some time as father and son, but if not, I hope that he knows I love him and he carries me with him in every breathe he takes.

 

Happy 9th birthday Matthew James Jordan

TV Series

So I have been watching a lot of random TV shows lately. Got sucked into Lost, and Dexter. So I have been able to borrow all 5 seasons of Lost. So now I am trying to get caught up with season 6. But apparently there is no site out there where I can watch episodes 1-5. I can pick up at episode 6 – 11, but why not 1 – 5. So now I am pulling my hair out trying to watch episodes 1 – 5. Ugh.

And yet now with the show Dexter. It’s a Showtime series that is a little odd. Interesting but odd none the less. Able to watch all of season 1 and got sucked in. Watched 13 episodes in 2 nights. I think that might be a little much, but it’s better than going out every night. But now I am stuck and don’t know what to do.

I have TV. You cant watch what you want when you want. Ah well, any advice on a new series to pick up on would be great.

The Greatest Kitchen In The World

So as most of you know I have been in the restaurant business for several years now, like 13 years now. I have worked in many different styles of kitchens with hundreds of different menus and recipes. Everything from short order diner style breakfast, to $100 a plate fine dining. Fast food to Chinese. I am now working in a Greek/Italian kitchen. It was featured on the tv show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives about two months or so ago. I have never worked hand in hand as successfully as I am now working with Tony. He is one of the most laid back and talented chefs I have ever known, much less been able to stand in the trenches with. Tony and myself run the kitchen 6 nights a week side by side and handle to masses of North Pole Alaska. We open it and shut it down every time. We are to the point that we work together and never miss a beat. We have our menu and timing, and techniques down pat. I wish I could put into words whats its like when him and I are tossing a $34.95 Filet to each other at the far ends of the cook line. And slinging pizza pies over my head to stretch them out for all the hungry people in town. We jam to the radio and sing and dance the nights away with one of the best crews I have ever seen. This is one of those places that every person has their own particular spot, and the rest of us know that we can't fill that spot. The servers know to stay out of our way and we know to leave their salad counter alone. They keep us filled with drinks all night and we feed them when they get hungry. But anyway on to what I wanted to share with you all. This is the clip of the show that we were featured on and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

The Time To Move Again

So there have been many thoughts in my head as to what to do next in life. So far, I have lived on the beaches of North Carolina, the bayou of Mississippi at times, the north Georgia Hills, the mountains of NC and Tennessee, and even as far north as Alaska. Have been a hang gliding instructor, and kayak guide, a short order cook, a pizza guy, flooring installer, go cart man, been there and done a lot. Well its now time to find the something that I am going to do for the next 20+ years. Still don't have a clue what it is but I am sure it will find me one day, I just hope that the one day is soon. I have seen the sunsets in Kentucky, and watch the sunrise come up over the Rocky Mountains. Got to watch the Stone Mountain Goats cross the roads in herds as large as 1000's of animals. Watched Moose chase its calf across the road as to avoid an oncoming car. Been able to relax in the Hot Springs in northwestern Canada. Chased a sunset that I found never went away as I traveled up to Alaska. Saw the sunset that didn't come up again for 2 months. Slept under the stars in Illinois and watched shooting stars curled up with a beautiful woman and the dog and a bottle of wine. I have had to use a hair dryer to thaw out my engine in my truck so I could start it to go to work, btw, that's a 4 hour process. Been able to share food with a scared bear cub that we soon found his dear old mom lingering around the wood line, but thats ok, I bet that cub will remember that can of Dinty Moore beef stew for a long time. Been able to race snow machines (aka snow mobiles) down a frozen river at well over 100+ mph. Chased after the ripples of the Northern Lights on snow machines. Got to race my truck on what we up here call the ice track, which is the frozen lakes in the gravel pits off South Cushman.

I have made the decision to move back to North Carolina. It's been a long thought out decision that has had a lot of prayers and thoughts and many sleepless nights in the making. The only thing about all of this that I can say for sure is that I am ready to be home. I have been away for almost 2 years now, and although they have been some of the most fun times in my life, they have also been some of the hardest. I lost my dad this past march and then in May, my girlfriend passed away. Been up on top and pushed back down the hill as well. So now I think it is time for me to get myself back to the world that I know and am comfortable in and start making the right steps forward for myself. Time to be close to my family and friends that I have known as long as I remember. Can't wait to see you all again soon. I am very much looking forward to some good ole fashioned country ham, collard greens, and sweet tea.

This below is a outline of the trip ahead of me for you all to see. This was you can see just how far I am having to travel to get back home to you all.



View Larger Map

HHHHHMMMMM

Well I have begin to wonder about some things in life. Mainly about friends. I have come to the realization that I have much fewer friends than I thought. The ones I thought were friends have recently shown just how much of a friend that they aren't. I have been going through a few rough patches in life recently and the ones who have told me 1000 times that I can count on them were no where to be found. The ones who claim that they will be there til the end, weren't there when the proverbial crap hit the fan. I have tried to blame on the winter depression up here, well I found out that nope wasn't that, it was that since I have become the one not willing to foot the bill for the drinking nights, and be at the beck and call to be the driver for the drunks that i was no longer important. So this just goes to show you that you can't depend on who you think. Take very special care of the friends that you have and the ones you know you can count on, and be wary of the ones who are there when your pockets are full and are gone when they are empty. This is one of those times I wish i was back home where I know who my friends are no matter whats in my pocket. But you never know the tax returns will be coming in soon and it might be time to go somewhere else and try something different for awhile. As much as I love it here I hate it just as much.

I have recently gotten in touch with an ex-girlfriend of mine who has done amazingly well for herself. I am very proud of her and very envious of her at the same time. She went from the girl who took me to my first rave party, and the girl who you could find any sort drug that you could imagine, to a successful military Staff Sergeant and mother of 2 beautiful boys. Her next duty station is either Germany or Japan, and the decision is left up to her. She also has a thriving restaurant that is paid off and doing great. This just shows me that you can come from the bottom and end up on top in the end. She is the same age I am and doing most of the things I have always wanted to do. This shows me that all it takes is to make the right decisions to move ahead. So now I have to figure why i all this time I have done nothing but make the wrong decisions. I have been given opportunities one after another an yet I still end up wondering in the end why am I like this. I swear its like I am purposely setting myself up for failure and I am not entirely sure as to why. I have learned a whole lot from my mistakes and also the accomplishments of people just like my ex. I just don't get why i continue to make the wrong choices over and over. As it stands right now as much as I want to leave Alaska and go somewhere else, I can't because there is a little boy who has captured my heart and my love and I cannot leave him. He is not my son, but there are times when you would think he is. The only time when I feel like I have done something right with my life is when he is sitting with me playing with his etch-a-sketch or putting the blocks in the wrong holes, well trying to anyway. When I come in the door his face lights up and my heart and knees go weak. He is one of the most captivating kids I have ever met. So I guess as it stands at this point he is the reason that i stay here and keep trying to make the right steps forward.

I haven't been to church since I moved up here until this past weekend. It was a great feeling when I walked out of that building after having my time to talk with God. He was for sure when i needed him the most. The night before I went to church, I had a few bad experiences and a really close call that could have very easily ended my life. Something kept me around through all that and kept me safe. The only answer I can come up with is that it was God himself that pulled me through. There is no reason for anyone to have went through what I did and still be alive to tell the story. I am not going to tell the story because its a situation that i am not proud of. But He knows what happened and He knew that I needed the help to get through and He was there to lend the hand. Thank you for all your payers and all your concerns of the past 1.7 years. They have been heard and greatly appreciated.

And for those of you who don't know who the little man is, his name is Joshua Blake Creek. And here is the latest picture I have of him. He has the become the world that I am working and living for.

The Elf’s Special Calzone

     As some of you know my restaurant was featured on Diners, Dives, and Drive Ins this month.  Well I wanted to show you one of our biggest sellers on the menu. This is a step by step process to creating your own Elf’s Special Calzone.You have to start with 8 ounces of fresh dough. Then you go from there and get all good and floured up.

Roll it out till its about 14 or so inches across in the best circle shape you can manage.

Add your sauce and throw a good handful of cheese on top of it and spread it out to be about 6 inches across, yet again in a circle shape.

Start with you mound of pepperoni and make sure to cover all your cheese and sauce with the pepperoni.

Than throw on the onions, sliced and diced up nice and fine.

 

Now its time for the fungus, (mushrooms) to be thrown on. Slice them up nice and fine so they are about a quarter inch thick or so.

 

Now its time for the diced tomatoes. You have to make sure that they are not all juicy and what not. Of they are then all the juice runs out and make the crust soggy, and well that is no good.

 

And here are the green peppers and yet again sliced and diced and free from juice as well.

Now the Italian Sausage all nice and chunked up.

 

And now it’s time for another handful of cheese to be thrown on top to hold everything in place once the the cooking starts.

 

Now you have to make sure to stretch out the top half of the dough so you have enough to pull it over and roll up.

 

Now that’s what it should like at this point.

Roll all your edges up tight to the heart of the calzone and cut a few slits in the dough to it doesn’t blow up.

These two shots are what it should look like right before you throw it into the oven.

Now you need to have a convection oven for it to cook quik, and the temp needs to be 450 or better. At 350 the cook time is about 8 to 10 minutes. In and regular home oven 450 and about 14 to 16 minutes works just fine.

 

Here they are as they come out of the oven.

 

This is the to go version. Brush on some butter, and sprinkle parmesan cheese and dust on some basil and chives and there you go.

 

This is the dine in version, comes with a side or marinara and there you go. I perfect dinner for 2.

 

Hope you all make an attempt at making one of these for you to enjoy and if you have any questions feel free to ask and I will answer as best as I can.

Update for the Hot New TV star

Ok so the time if the show is 7pm my time, it comes on 10pm est on the food network and I hope that you all get to watch it and see the new place I am working. I am not in the show but thats ok my kitchen in there and if it shows the pizza line, thats now my spot 4 nights a week

Diners and Drive Ins

Well thanks to the want of a hot new tv star, the local restaurant I am working at is going to be featured in the tv show Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. Its going to be on Monday night at 7 pm, and I hope you all are able to watch.

So The Winter Is Back

Some of you may pay attention to the weather here in Alaska, but I doubt it. For those of you that don’t, just to fill you in, the current temp is 5 above. Last night the coldest temp I saw was 15 below. The snow has been on the ground for about 3 weeks now with a good 4 inches. The trees, minus the evergreens, are bare and lifeless. The birds are gone, with exception to the Alaska Famous Dumpster Chicken (Raven). The like in NC with sea gulls you are not allowed to shoot them. The Natives have a spiritual tie to the Raven, they believe that they carry the soul onto a better place when a native dies. These birds are huge, they dig in your trash, the defecate all over your car, and you have no idea what its like to try and clean off frozen bird crap. Not as much fun.

You can see the tracks of a few snow machines out and about but there is still not quite enough snow to ride just yet. We are all starting to plug in the trucks at night. Nothing is as much fun as getting up and running outside when its 10 or so below and your in your pjs, and then you realize you forgot to plug in the truck and it’s frozen, yes I said frozen. That really sucks. Then when its 60 below and it is plugged and it’s still frozen, imagine how frustrated you can get then. That is cold enough for coffee to turn into vapor when you toss it into the air. I will have to make a point of recording that for you some time so you can all see that. It’s kind of cool.

Still warm enough to wear only blue jeans and a sweatshirt. We havent got to the bibs and carhart stage of winter yet. We still have another month or so before that hits.

Have a wonderful day and I will talk with you again soon.

Life is as normal as it can be for now

Well its time to get back to life at hand. I have been trying for a long time to figure out a way to get back to normal after losing Anna. Well there is no way to get things back to normal. Normal is gone for now. I have tried many different ways to hide, drown, cover, and make go away the thoughts of her and move on with out her in my life. Well I have come to the conclusion that life will never been the same again. I have someone that meant the world to me. She was my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night. She carried me through the days with a smile on my face and  a warm heart. Well my heart has been hurting since the morning of May 31st. There is no simple way to get over something like this. There is no easy way to make the pain go away.  There is no way to imagine life without her here. Sometimes through the day I think of her. All night long I lay awake in bed wishing she was still here. Well I know that she will no longer be here with me or be able to share in the smiles and laughs that I have. She was the reason for my smile for a long time. And now she is the reason I cry at night. But I have also learned the she is the reason that I keep getting up in the morning and keep trying to better myself and make things right.  I try to get through the days without thinking what could have or should have been. There were plans made and dreams put into play. There were hopes for the two of us. There were many talks of many plans made between us and trips planned and all the stuff that goes along with it. We had made plans on getting a house together and starting a life with just us. But now things have changed. But now the only difference is, I have to keep on with all those plans and dreams without her. I am just not sure if i can, or if I want to. We did all this together, and planned on doing all this together. I don’t think i want to do any of them without her.

The Loss Of My Love

     Sometime Sunday afternoon, May 31 20009, my best friend and companion was found dead in her bed. Anna Marie Merchant was one of the amazing people i have ever met. Her smile warmed the hearts of many. Her friendship was cherished by hundreds. She was smart, beautiful, kind hearted, warm, sensitive, and compassionate. She was the glue that held so many people together. She kept the balance for so many people. She was one of those people that voluntarily carried the weight of the world on her shoulders, and never once complained about it. She, no matter the mood or temperament, always could put on a smile and a laugh for everyone. She cared about everyone. There was no one she wouldn’t try her best to help.

     She left behind her mother, Gina Raye Wilson, her sister Andrea Merchant, and her perfect son, Joshua Blake Creek. Blake lost his father in Nov of 2007 to a tragic car accident. Now he has lost his mother as well.  Blakes’ grandparents, Paul and Anita Creek, have now lost their son and the their daughter in law. I cant even imagine how her family must feel, but I know how I feel.

     She was my best friend from the day I met her. We were never apart. We shared everything between us. All the good and the bad and the really ugly. She always had the words I needed to hear to make the day go by. She always had a smile for me when i walked in the door. She used to sit on the couch with me and just cry sometimes because she was worried about me.  There were so many time we would just hop in the truck with me and her and Blake and just ride. I have seen so much of this state thanks to her. I can even begin to tell you how much I love her and how much I am going to miss her. She was the light in my day.  She was one of my Real True Friends. Anna is the only person in my life that has ever taken my hear from me. I didn’t have a choice in, she took it from he and held it close to hers. She will always be with me in my heart and my thought.

Things Are Looking Up

Well we thought summer was here. We had about 2 weeks of beautiful weather. The days were averaging between 65 to 75 degrees and sunny. It has been beautiful and absolutely desirable. Then the mosquitoes came out of the woodworks. You cant imagine how big these things are, its scary. They swarm you like bees to a hive. The bites leave whelps. Not little bumps on your arm or leg like i am used to being back home in NC. But here they leave giant red whelps. You can watch them swarm around your vehicle just waiting for you to step out and give them dinner.

The past week it has been back down to the mid 40’s and as low as 30.  We have only had one day of rain and one 20 minute snow shower since all the snow disappeared. Everyone’s yards have turned into swamps and sink holes. You have to be very careful where you drive and walk, you may lose your shoe, or even worse, your truck. To put it lightly my driveway is only about thirty feet long and for almost a month I had to use four wheel drive low to get in and out. Twice I was stuck and had to have a friend pull me out of my own driveway. If you own a car, there is no way you could have parked in my driveway.

 

The job market as I have mentioned before in my posts has been slim to none, but i did get lucky and found a decent job with a pretty nice company based in Fairbanks. I am now working as the Business/Marketing Manager for Aviators Steakhouse.Sky’s the Limit Catering. Which is nothing like anything I have ever done before but I am really looking forward to getting the ball rolling. I have so far worked two nights for them because they were short staffed in the front of the house, so I got to wait tables for a couple nights. It was kind of nice to be on the front end of the restaurant for a change. I have done it before but it has been a long time since I had to worry about refilling drinks and taking orders. I have been in a kitchen so long i thought I had forgotten how to do that fun stuff. But my first night back on the tables, my first tables was a 13 top and I rocked it, so the boss said. I have had nothing but good reports about my skills and talents with the customers and am looking forward to waiting on some more of them.  We are starting a new marketing program this week that I a heading up. We are going to be opening for lunch at the end of the month. So I have from now to then to get a program vehicle put together, and get radio ads, and television ads, yellow pages ads, newspaper ads, and starting a new web site for them.  This is going to be fun and exciting. Lots of good opportunities with this company to do some really cool work and make a ton of money.

Some of you know about my recent problems with my living situation and if not, to make a long story short, I am having to find a new place to live. Well I have found a place in Fairbanks. Two bedroom, all utilities included for $800.00/month. Which is a great deal. Most places I have found are way to expensive for not enough amenities.  But since I found this deal, which I got real lucky with because my new boss is a very good friend of the landlord, so maybe I can get in the door without having to come up with a pile of money to get in. But we will see how things go when the time comes.

Well for now I am going to let you all go I think I have rambled off for long enough.  Have a great night and enjoy yourselves.

 

Happy Mothers Day to all of you mothers who may read this.

Summer is Approaching

Well things here are finally starting to warm up for the summer. The average daily temps are reaching up to as high as 39 above. The ice is starting to melt off and the snow is getting soft. More and more people are getting stuck in yards and driveways thanks to the melting hard pack of ice that has formed throughout the winter. You now don’t have to go out and start your truck an hour ahead of time now. Most of the time during the day it retains enough heat that you can get away with just leaving. The sun is here until as late as 10 pm now. Its coming up at around 630 to 7 am every day. All I can say is, thank god for sunlight.  The animals are starting to stir around again and making life happy for us. We definitely welcome the birds, birds bring warm weather. The state guys are working full time plowing up the hard pack so we can finally see pavement and driveways and dirt roads again.

But the downfall to this time of year is that work is really hard to find, there is a lot out there, but there are twice as many people looking for work than there are jobs. So you better hope you keep what you got or get lucky and find a spot that you can fill. Just don’t let yourself get down and out. The locals here are all excited about the warm up, they can’t wait for the summer fishing trips and hunting weekends. We are all excited about the summer time coming around the corner. The land scaping companies are starting to get back into full swing and moving ahead with the projects.

Ice Park 2009

Thursday night we decided to ride into town and go check out the Ice park. This is another locals event where everyone gets together and carves ice statues and figures. There are several different categories that you could enter, single block, and multi-block competition. The had made some ice slides for the kids and mazes and tunnels for everyone. You know I have seen some pretty cool stuff in my life but seeing what these people have turned big square chunks of ice into is amazing.

Here are the pics and videos

 

This was an awesome experience for me. The hot chocolate was good and the sights were breathtaking. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Chatinkia Days 2009

I was able to attend this events that apparently has been several years running. It consists of a bunch of locals from around the Fairbanks North Star Borough who appreciate the outdoor winter activities. The was great food, hot chocolate, and the smell of snow machine exhaust in the air. Great way to spend a weekend. This was first time at the event and i promise you next year I will be building my own outhouse to race down the road with the rest of ‘em. Yeah you read that right, the people build their own custom outhouse’s, attach skis, and then race to the bottom of the hill. The snow machines tied up and had their own kind of fun playing tug of war. The winner being an Arctic Cat M1000 Mountain Sled. The green one in the videos.  I am posting links to see the videos and all the pictures that i was able to take. I hope you all enjoy them. The human bowling was all kinds of interesting.

The Pictures and Videos You Want To See

That should take you to where you can view all the fun we got to have today.

Critters in the Neighborhood

You know back home we had to worry about raccoons, squirrels, rabbits, the very occasional bear, deer, and local dogs. Well up here in Alaska we have a little different concerns up here. This was a calf that was in my neighbors yard on the way to work this morning. He stands about 6 feet tall an the hump on his shoulders.

This is the Cow(mom) just a few feet away from the above pictured calf. She stands almost 8 feet tall at the hump in the shoulders. We have learned that Moose have a tendency to roam through you yard at any given time. They are for the most part harmless and unless they are startled. Once startled they kind of run in the direction of what ever it was that startled them, be it your dog, your truck starting in the morning, you calling your dogs in. I have two different ones on my front porch but couldn’t get to the camera fast enough to get some pictures of them. 

But on a different note, the days are getting much warmer. Its averaging around 20 to 30 degrees above zero now. Which is awesome. More snow, more daylight, and more days to ride the snow machines. Nothing like fresh powder under a rocking Skidoo Rotax 800 mountain sled. Wish you all could go for a ride with me sometime. Maybe one day it will work itself out.

I got to take a ride last week through Denali National Park. Holy crap what a beautiful ride. I was a little rushed for the trip as it wasn’t planned, a friend wrecked her truck and needed a way home so off i went without the camera. But man I don’t think a camera would capture any of this. But I am heading out there again sometime soon so I will remember to take the camera and show it to you all as best as i can.

 

Take care and I will see you again soon

The Man At Work

Time To Travel

Well the time has come for me to head back home for a few weeks. My Dad has been battling cancer for a couple years now. He has beaten it once, but now it has come back to get even. Well it has taken its toll on him and he is getting down to the last few weeks. I am unsure how I am going to handle all of this, I am a little scared about it all. It’s terrifying to say the least. He is a strong willed man that comes from a strong family with big hearts and unending kindness. We have all been praying for him and I am sure the prayers have been heard and will be answered in Gods accord. He will do what needs to be done. I just don't want my Dad to suffer anymore. He has been through enough in his life, granted he brought most of it upon himself, but not this. Life just seemed it necessary to bring this last battle to him. He has worked his fingers to the bone all of his life and done amazing things with is hands. He has been a carpenter all of his life, and I wish I could show you some of the things he has built with is own hands.  I don't know what else to say about him other than I love him and I am going to miss him very much when all is said and done. I just hope I have made him proud.

I am going to be heading back home for a few weeks to deal with everything that is about to happen and hoping that there will be a few good times I can spend with him before he is gone. I have never been a sentimental person at all, but this hits deep, it’s my Dad. Any advice is welcome to how to deal with this.Ii am clueless. Best wishes to you all and I hope to hear from you soon.

Man The Weather Sucks

Well as most of you know the weather up here has been on a roller coaster. It has been extremely cold and now its back to kind of warm at like –10 up to 10. Everyone is fighting off colds and dealing with bad sinus’s.  The roads keep freezing and then thawing and then freezing again. We are gaining 7 minutes of daylight each day. The sun is averaging coming up sometime around 9 – 10 am and going down around 4-5 or so. Still not quite used to that idea. Everyone is burning up the trails and roadsides on their snow machines. Man I am so jealous of them, I want one so bad. But there is some good news, I think I am about to be taking a trip out to Summit or Eagle River to do some snow kiting. For those of you that don’t know what that is you can check it out on www.youtube.com . Well folks i am going to run for now. Talk to you all again soon.

Checking In

Well things are starting to turn cold again. The average temp is back down to 20's and 30's and daily getting colder. Which in my opinion is good. The snow is starting to fall again. Roads are easier to drive on. Traffic is moving faster. The mood has lightened. Its  just good. So I hope you all are doing well with your days and nights. Just had to stop in and say hello and see who all is there to talk with. Hope to here from you all soon.