"So, are there jobs in Alaska?"...... Well, that depends.... it depends on what you want to do in Alaska and where you want to do it. Tourism, oil, and fishing are all major industries in Alaska. And of course, we need healthcare workers, teachers, and every other job that a state in the Lower 48 would need.... and obviously, jobs are easier to find in bigger cities than in remote areas.

If you have been thinking of moving to Alaska and have been looking at monster.com or some other job board, you might be missing a lot of information. Try visiting Alaska's Job Bank, and don't forget to peruse the online classifieds in the major papers for Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau or the Kenai Peninsula.

And if you still don't see something you like, do a little online research and contact a company directly. For instance, if you know you want to live in Fairbanks and want to work in the healthcare field, use online yellowpages to find clinics, hospitals, etc and look at the job postings on their website or contact them and let them know you are looking for a position. Who knows? Something might be open that is not advertised.

"Isn't it dark all the time in Alaska?" is another question I get. And the answer is "no". Yes, there are some towns in the very northern regions of Alaska that experience a lot of darkness, but I live on the Kenai Peninsula and the worst of the darkness is in December, where it will get light out at 9:30 am and it is dark by 4:30. But, on December 21 we start gaining sunlight, a few minutes at a time each day, but it adds up fast. By the end of February it will get light out at 8am and it won't get dark till about 7:30 or 8pm. And by the end of April, well, it is light out at 5am and it doesn't get dark till after 11pm and then it is light for most of the summer... and some people are going to ask "don't you get sick of that?". The answer is "NO - I love it!". You always have energy and there is nothing like seeing a bright, blazing sun at midnight! Use this tool to track the sunrise and sunset times for various places in Alaska.

One of the main questions I get is "is it cold in Alaska?".... well, sometimes, yes, it is. Sometimes it is cold everywhere. But remember, that Alaska is B-I-G. And what the weather forecast holds for my town will be totally different for another part of Alaska. Use this tool to find out what the weather is, no matter what part of Alaska you are curious about!

The Alaska Zoo, located in Anchorage, is, to many people's surprise, open year round. If you can't make it up here any time soon, ou can take a virtual tour here. Don't forget to stop by the Live Polar Bear Cam. You may be surprised to find out the zoo houses exotic animals such as tigers, elephants, leopards and camels as well as native species such as moose, reindeer, musk oxen, dall sheep, harbor seals, bear, artic fox and more. You can buy calendars, watches, and other unique Alaskan gifts at the online gift shop.

Seward, Alaska is one of my favorite places .... I went there today and here are some pictures I took.

Today I went to Homer, Alaska..... it was cloudy, but still beautiful.

"Wooo, Caribou!!".... my sister says that one of these days when she drives the Alaskan Highway she is going to roll down her window and yell "Wooo, Caribou" when she sees one of the animals. Well, I have driven the Alaskan Highway more times than I want to count, and I have seen plenty of them. Here are some pictures. To learn more about this animal, "Wooo, Caribou!!".... that is what my sister says that one of those days when she drives the Alaskan Highway she is going to roll down her window and yell "Wooo, Caribou" when she sees one of the animals. Well, I have driven the Alaskan Highway more times than I want to count, and I have seen plenty of them. Here are some pictures. To learn more about this animal, click here.

'>click here!

I love the musk ox- they kind of remind me of the wooly mammoth which is one of my favorite animals, albeit extinct animals... Anyway, musk oxen are actually an ancient species of arctic mammal and aside from Alaska, are also found in remote areas of the far north, including Greenland, Canada, and Siberia.

Musk oxen, along with the wooly mammoth, saber-toothed cat, and giant ground sloth wandered into North America across the Bering Land Bridge. Fossil records have been found as far south as Ohio during the last Ice Age. While the musk ox died off in Alaska by the late 1800's they were reintroduced from wild herds in eatern Greenland in the 1930's and have made an astonishing comeback. Despite their name, musk oxen are not oxen, and even though they may resemble bison, musk ox are more closely related to goats and sheep. The musk oxen diet includes a wide variety of foods such as lichens, grasses, and leaves. Learn more at www.muskoxfarm.org.

Did you know that Alaska had an orchestra long before it was actually a state? Yes, that's right! Learn more about the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra at http://www.anchoragesymphony.org/

"Grow More Moose!!" - that is the main priority of the Alaska Moose Federation. Click here to learn more about moose, the AMF, their mission, and to see some great pictures of this magnificent animal!

Yes, there really is a North Pole in Alaska... a tiny town near Fairbanks goes by that name and comes equipped with a Santa House. Click here to get more info on the town, a photo gallery, and more interesting facts!

Have you seen my other blogs? I’ve got the companion to my website, www.cleverchicks.com here at http://cleverchicksblog.blogspot.com/. And then for those that want to work from home, or already work from home, I’ve got http://workathomechicks.blogspot.com/. I am not a mom, but my sister and most of my friends are moms, so you know I have to give a shout-out to them at http://rockinmoms.blogspot.com/. Whether you are a mom or not, you need to be on a budget, so check out http://budget-girl.blogspot.com/ for help in that department. Even though I don’t live in the “Lower 48” doesn’t mean I forgot about it. You can virtually see America here: http://see-america.blogspot.com/. And then, my personal rant and rave blog is here: http://tomyamusement.blogspot.com/.

Here are some of my favorite Alaska webcams:
http://www.alaska.net/~spdskatr/topanchoragecams.htm
http://www.akmining.com/webcams.htm
http://www.alaska.net/~spdskatr/topalaskacams_320.htm

Theatre in Alaska? Yes, there is theatre here! If you wan to see a Broadway show or musical - or something of a more local flair, search this database which lists theatres by city.

Alaska is a state with diverse culture and ethnicity. It is clear that over the years, many different people from different places have moved here and established roots. About 16 percent of Alaska's population is made up of Alaska Natives. In general, there are three groups of Alaska Natives: Eskimo, Indian, and Aleut. Alaska's Native people are divided into eleven distinct cultures and they speak 20 different languages. Many of Alaska's Natives have held on to their traditions, and with so many other cultures moving into the state, combined with the new industries and technologies taking hold of the state, there is an even greater need for the culture to be held onto and taught to future generations. You can learn more about Alaska's Native people at the Alaska Native Heritage Center.

Coffee, Coffee, Coffee... Alaskans L-O-V-E coffee. My little town has 2 Starbucks and many, many independent coffee "huts". On practically every major corner and most little corners are trailers, shacks, and small cabins serving coffee. You just drive up and order at the window. If coffee isn't your thing, you can get some very tasty smoothies (with real fruit), Italian Soda, Chai Tea, or Hot Chocolate...

My favorite coffee in Alaska is Kaladi Brothers! They roast locally and have stores in several Alaskan cities, plus you can order online. I am lucky enough to have a cart in my local mall plus a cafe in my town. And the cafe is awesome - free wifi, art on display, and bands play there, too!! Visit www.kaladi.com to see what all the fuss is about!

"Isn't it really expensive to live in Alaska?" - oh, another big one. When I first told my family I was moving here, my Grandma argued with me for over a half an hour that it was going to cost me $12 for a dozen eggs. Well, it doesn't. The cost of living definitely varies depending on where you live. If you live in a remote part of Alaska (also known as "the bush") it will obviously cost you more to buy a loaf of bread than someone in Anchorage who can get one at the local Wal-Mart. I live 150 miles away from Anchorage and I pay about fifty cents more per item than I would in the Lower 48. However, wages are higher here and that offsets the difference. I pay more for rent here than I would in my former state of Michigan, but the average house costs $40,000 less here than it does in Michigan, so go figure. Here is a link to an article that further explains the

So, why create a blog about life in Alaska? Because I live in Alaska and I get tons of questions about what it is like........ so I figured, why not create a blog? I'll put up pictures, local news stories, info about how cold it is or how much snow we have (or how nice, warm and sunny it is) ... the info that people always ask about!

For now, you can check out my local paper, The Peninsula Clarion at www.peninsulaclarion.com