Surprise!

Thanks to my friend Becca, I now know that one of my Instagram photos was used in a Buzzfeed article! Awesome!

It's titled 'The 17 Most Stunning Places in the World to Take a Selfie'. It's a photo I took of me and Dustin in the back of the ice cave with the big melted hole in the ceiling for the background. 

Check out the article HERE.

Oil Pulling

If you have ever heard of 'oil pulling', you are one of the enlightened. Most people have not, however, so I am going to enlighten you.

Oil pulling is an ancient method of detoxing and maintaining oral health. It has been used for ages among many different cultures and is a very effective natural remedy for all kinds of mouth problems. It's something that most dentists advise against and instead recommend the traditional method of oral care that we've grown up practicing. They advise against it because it works and it's natural. If we can naturally stop cavities in their tracks, reverse gum disease, and maintain a normal, healthy mouth with nothing but simply swishing some oil around, then why need the expensive services of a dentist?

There are thousands, literally thousands (if not more) of people who swear by oil pulling and have the stories to tell you why it works.

What is oil pulling exactly?

Oil pulling is simply swishing 1-2 tablespoons of unrefined, high quality (preferably organic cold-pressed) oil around your mouth for 10-20 minutes, then spitting it out. Sunflower, sesame or coconut oil is the most tried and true oils to use. Olive oil tends to leave a tint on your teeth. I prefer organic, cold-pressed Nutiva brand coconut oil because it has a pleasant taste and I can buy the huge tubs of it from Costco for fairly cheap, plus coconut oil contains lauric acid which is naturally antimicrobial and kills bacteria, fungi, and viruses.

How does oil pulling work?

Just like changing the oil in your car keeps your engine clean and running smoothly, swishing oil in your mouth absorbs all the funk and is removed from your mouth when you spit it out. It removes plaque, pulls out bacteria, parasites, and nasty toxins from places a toothbrush and floss can't reach. It improves gum health, can reverse cavities, and cure gingivitis. It can pull congestion from your throat and loosen sinuses. It also whitens teeth.

How often should you oil pull?

It's most effective if you oil pull daily. If you can do it twice a day, even better! I like to do it in the mornings while I shower. It's also convenient to oil pull while doing dishes, chores, watching a tv show... you get the idea. I just pop a spoonful in my mouth and lightly swish it around and let it do it's work! Since coconut oil is solid at room temperature, it takes about 30 seconds before it becomes liquid in your mouth. It doesn't take much 'swishing'. Just lightly working it around your mouth does just fine.

How has oil pulling worked for me?

I've never really had any oral health issues growing up. Everything has always been fine and dandy, but a couple months ago my tooth start hurting. My teeth were getting super sensitive to hot and cold things. My mouth just didn't feel 'healthy'. Then my tooth REALLY started to give me problems. The pain would sometimes bring me to tears and caused me to have headaches often. Then I noticed the gaping hole in my tooth. I thought the next step would be calling a dentist.

I had heard of oil pulling before, and dabbled with it occasionally but never got in a daily routine. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I gave it a try. After just one session my mouth felt clean and my teeth felt smooth. After a few days, my tooth stopped hurting and the sensitivity went away. After a few weeks, that gaping hole that had me worried was no longer black and nasty looking, but white and clean. It's almost like my tooth is regenerating. My teeth are whiter. My gums feel healthy. I honestly can't believe it. Oil pulling is now a part of my daily routine and I plan on keeping it that way for a very long time.

Don't worry, I thought the feeling of oil in my mouth would just be gross and weird, but it wasn't at all.

What's not to love?! It's easy and it works.

I have been so impressed with the results so far that I decided to write this blog post and share my success with oil pulling, and hopefully convince you to give it a try! 

There are tons of other blogs and articles out there you can research for more info. I just gave you the basic rundown, but the more research you do, the better! Feel free to shoot me an email if you want more feedback from my experience. 

Happy Oil Pulling!

Dan Moller & Dancing Lights

Last 'weekend' aka Tues/Wed we went up to Dan Moller Cabin with some friends. Dan Moller Cabin is located on Douglas Island, at the base of the Dan Moller bowl. Dustin had been there before, but this was my first time. The trek up was pretty fun. Took us about 2.5 hours to get to the cabin. A few of us were on skins and the rest were using snowshoes. I had a blast using my splitboard to slide my way up the trail. Once we got to the cabin and got settled in, some good food and gaming went down... then the real show started. The Aurora (northern lights) came out and stayed out ALL night long, and wow did they put on a show! That was by far the best aurora display I've seen since moving to Alaska. The greens and occasional pinks/reds danced (more like raved!) in the sky for hours and hours, getting stronger then fading to a low glow, then bursting out with brightness again. Jaws were dropped and it held my gaze for what seemed like forever. I tried my hand at taking some photos with my camera, which turned out to be the best aurora photos I've gotten personally, but didn't even compare to the awesome photos that others were taking with their nice cameras. A good professional camera is on my list of things to get over the summer. 

The next morning we woke up, had some breakfast, grabbed our shred sticks, and headed up the mountain for some powder turns. Since most of us didn't have avalanche gear, which is a necessity in the backcountry unless you want to win a Darwin award, we stuck to a gentle slope with lots of trees that we knew was pretty stable. We got some turns, then sunbathed at the bottom for a bit while the boys built a little booter to play on. 

After we were all pretty tired and the sun was fading, we headed back to the cabin to pack our bags and head home. 

Here are some photos from the trip! 

Tessa and I posing for the camera.

On our way up

Dustin and Kyle soaking up some rays.

Dan Moller Cabin

Dan Moller Cabin

Dustin, Kyle, Tessa, and Katie on the way up to get some powder slashes.

Photo op! :)

Dustin sailing over the lil booter the guys built.

Myself popping a little ollie on the way down.
Photo by Pat with Kyle's camera?? I think? lol

Working on our tan...

On our ride back down to civilization.
Snowboarding with camping gear on your back is heavy!

Gazing at the lovely aurora borealis!
Photo by Tessa

We had to get a photo underneath the lights!
Thanks Tessa for taking this awesome photo as well!

 

This is my best aurora photo to date. Yeah, I know it sucks compared to the previous two photos
that Tessa took. It's all my little camera is capable of with aurora shooting,
which is more that most digital point and shoots,
so I'm not complaining!

Playing With Fire...

Last night some friends and I had a bonfire at Sandy Beach. We had eight pallets and a ton of cut logs, so you can imagine what kind of fire we had. You couldn't get within 10 ft of it without your eyebrows melting off.  Since I'm spending today and tomorrow couped up inside resting my knee I figured a little outdoor action would feed my soul for a while. 

Oh yeah, the knee thing... so I tweaked my knee on a hike last Wednesday and it's hindered my snowboarding :( I've been stuck inside being an 'office lady' at the snowsports school window, which isn't all that bad since I get to hang out with some of the most awesome ladies ever! :) It's killing me not being able to ride though. Hopefully I can get back in action by the weekend. My knee felt a lot better yesterday, and hopefully after these next two days of resting it and another day in the office Thursday will give it plenty of time to get back to normal. I was pretty convinced it was my meniscus after doing some research, but now that it's feeling a bit better I'm not so sure. Usually meniscus tears take a lot longer to heal. I don't want to push it too early though. We still have a few more months of snowboarding!

Anyways, I tried some light painting last night at the fire. I got some steel wool pads, created a wire sphere thingy to hold it in, attached it to Winter's leash (couldn't find a cable), set it on fire and hit the camera button! It surprisingly turned out pretty well! I love experimenting with photography, and even though I don't have a nice camera, my Canon point and shoot does pretty well! 

Winter, where did you go?

Winter, oh winter where have you gone? 

This warm rainy trend is getting old. At least we've had some sunshine over the weekend. The snow sucks... it's literally been an ice rink off the groomer, and sometimes on the groomers for the past week. It's been hitting close to 50 degrees, and a couple days over that even at the top of the mountain. The snow is melting away... new patches of mud, rocks, and trees are appearing almost hourly. Mother nature is drunk and needs to sober up! 

It's still just JANUARY and it feels like it's April. Regardless, riding has still been fun. It reminds me of riding back home with all the icy groomers and super hard pack snow.

Dustin has a fun little terrain park built. There's a jump that's about 20ft to the sweet spot, a rail, and a box. If it wasn't for that, I'm sure there would be a lot of bored shredders out there. Hopefully the temps will drop, the snow will return, and we can get back to shredding the awesome AK pow that we all love. 

Our level 2 exam prep clinic was supposed to be yesterday and today. Our clinician's flight couldn't make it to Juneau because of the dense fog that's been hanging around at sea level for the past 3 days. No flights have made it in or out in the past few days. Poor guy has been airport living for at least 2 days and is now on his way back home. :( Even though that didn't work out, all of us that are going for our level 2 went out and clinic-ed ourselves and it was amazing. We are such a good team and we worked on lots of things that we probably would've worked on in the clinic. I feel like I learned more yesterday than I have all season. Hopefully today will be the same trend. 

Group shot!

The beautiful blue sky and sunshine... and that fog that screwed up our clinic! 

 Sarah and I soaking up the sun.

Me taking in some sun...

Had a bonfire last night on the beach. Twas amazing :)