Rita is getting Older...and life is better than ever

My little sister recently had a birthday. The girl who I used to change diapers for, babysit for and babysit our brothers with, share dolls with, give hand-me-downs to, watch run cross country races, write from my mission, have amazing bon-fires with, double date best friends with, travel with, lay out in Rocky Pointe with, discuss our parents, friends, etc. with, get lectures from on being more private and appropriate, write to on her mission, dress up and go Halloweening together, attend singles ward with, talk crap about Sumo before they got together when he was being flakey with, watch get married in the temple, be a bit jealous of for her amazing life, spirit, heart and tight little body, and now watch her be an amazing mom of sweet Olivia has now turned 26. Rita married an aweome guy. I love hanging out with them together. Sumo always plays to the logical side of life, and has an opinion about everything. They have alot of fun together and were meant for each other. I am so excited to see what life has in store for my favorite two people as they keep making all their Mormon Dreams come true.
Rita, Jodi and AK at my 30th birthday. I love Rita with blond hair. She loves to try out hair colors almost as much as I do. Sumo loves her blond and so do I.
Rita hanging out with Mitch's son Drew. Rita loves kids and was a nanny of some awesome special needs kids. She also paid her karma dues working in the YMCA preschool. She learned alot from all her time with others' kids. She will do awesome with her own.
This is me and Rita at the Oasis Insurance party. I am djing and she is offering me some sisterly support. I love this picture cause we look good.
Mitch playin it cool in the back. This is all of us at AK's 30th. Rita looks ready to burst but the baby still has 3 months left to go at this point. Dang Rita you sure make a cute pregnant girl. Next to Rita is her honey/husband Sumo.
Sisters. Tamra, Rita and Jodi enjoying a Goodman family dinner. Rita is the glue that holds us together. Not really but she sure keeps us appropriate and not talking about things we shouldn't at family gatherings...thanks Rita.
Introducing Olivia. Rita is such a good mom. She is embracing motherhood one-hundred percent. I am so proud of my sister Rita for living right, marrying an awesome guy, working hard, knowing her priorities and being so good to others. Olivia is so lucky to have Rita as a mom.
This is Rita's baby shower. Once again she looks fantastic. I miss the old Rita style with those dragon shoes (the platforms with a dragon on the side, Sumo's favorite), the thrift clothes (thanks to my influence) and all the clearance items from Ross and Marshal's. But your new classy style is awesome too. Nothing wrong with being classy.

Jodi goes on a whale watching cruise through Prince William Sound

As a driver/guide sometimes we get bonus trips. I sold 13 tours to Prince William Sound via Valdez AK to 13 of my guests, which meant they needed a driver. So I drove them the 2 hours from Copper to Valdez and got to go on the cruise myself. It was definitely a long day and I found myself sleeping on the boat. I ate a lot licorice and drank 3 hot chocolates. It was a good day. These are Stellar Sea Lions. They are fat and lazy and gross me out. This is a bachelor pad, no ladies chillin here. Sort of like Alaska in the olden days.
This is ice floating off the Columbia glacier. It was very plentiful more evidence that Al Gore was correct in his movie 'An Inconvenient Truth'. Yes the glaciers are receding.
This is a piece of glacier ice that one of the boat workers fished out of the ocean. It must be an old piece because it is crystal clear. They say the clearer the ice the more years it has been under the pressure and layers in the glacier.
Just some boats...
Hanging out and being lazy some more. How great is life as a sea lion bachelor.

MY HOUSE IS A MESS

My house is being infested with termites. It seems that there is saw dust everywhere. Well not really. The house I live in was originally a church on the road to Chena Hot Springs. It was built in 1912. It was insulated with Saw Dust. How do I know this. The roof of this place is currently being replaced. As they were trying to take off the old roof, a lot of hammering went place. Much of the saw dust spilled out through the crevasses. All this saw dust made me think it was termites. As you can see I am eating pretty healthily. Lots of Ritz and Granola bars, covered in saw dust.
This is my bathroom. I am living on the third story of the church/house. My toilet is covered by a tarp and the bath tub is filled with roof debris.
As the workers were tearing off the old roof, they found more than just saw dust as insulation. Old beer cans, socks, rags and dresses were some of the things used in 1912 to insulate the house.
Yep that is my shower, i did shower in it a few times when it was like this... I felt "at one" with nature. Nothing like the beautiful blue sky overhead as one cleans oneself.
This is Maximo, he is one of the wokers checking out how the progress is coming on the roof. Thanks Maximo.

Praying for Moose.

Did you know I pray that I will see moose when I am on a highway tour. The caribou have already began migrating up to the higher elevations. The bears are not really in the area we drive. The porcupines are hiding...so I pray for moose. I always see moose when guests are not around, when I am by myself or with my pals Joe, Ashley and Daniel. Anyways, moose wherever you are, come out when my princess coach is driving by. PS.... I don't really pray for them, I just focus intensely on the landscape and in my mind chant, 'moose come out and play today, moose don't be shy, moose come out and play today as the Princess coach slowly drives by'. What do you focus intently on...let me know.

Talking Heads-Once in a Lifetime-live!

I love this song... exactly how i feel lately

OLIVIA!!!! and everything else.

Rita is always sending me pics of Olivia via our cell phones. IT is so much fun, being on a random bus job, and then getting a sweet reminder that I got a niece who is super Rad.

I have about 53 days left in Fairbanks, not that anyone is counting. LOL. I feel like I want to be like all the photography ladies and say, "i will be in AZ for 4 days from the 13th to the 18th. I have 4 'sessions' available where I can DJ your wedding, so you better sign up now, because these wedding dj/party dj sessions feel up quickly. Who knows, if anyone is getting married on Aug. 13th-17th, let me know and I be your dj.

I am in the library quiet area and I just realized i have been chewing my gum loudly...sorry Jamie, I know this upsets you tons. I sort of got what I deserved, an old guy was on a 6 hour tour and popped his gum the whole time. I offered him water, TWIX and lifesavers to no available the smacking, popping, etc. continued all the way from the Riverboat to Denali National Park.

I have recently discovered podcasts, the ones you can get from ITUNEs and I am so into them. Music, news and all things Alaska are covered in these casts and I love em. Love em. There is even a podcast about being Raw but the girl annoys me because she stole my idea about doing a documentary sort of like SuperSize Me(the guy who ate McDonalds for 30 days straight) this girl was Rawsome for 30 days. Oh well.

I got prettied up today. Usually up here I am a granola at her finest... all curly, tangled hair; no makeup; sometimes I forgets to deotorize; eating my prunes and trailmix, etc. But today I put in red ear rings and am wearing makeup... sometimes you gotta mix it up.

Fairbanks is not that cool as far as I am concerned. Now that being said, 95 percent of my time/ social life is centered around the princess bus barn. Blar. 2nd thing, people are not tipping. and this is even on days when i do deotorize. It is just not very lucrative to be up here. I will not be back unless the internships for Idaho law students are not plentiful. And heaven help me I hope they are plentiful.

I like to eat Salmon and Halibut, guess what I love Petes Fish and Chips more than anyone. But this is a different fishy goodness. Sea Food, at least the two varieties I just mentioned are good. And I like Clam Chowder.

The Singles Ward in Fairbanks is not the place for 30 year old woman like Jodiane to find their soulmates. I'm just saying, nothing looks that good (now I have been in the 'dynasty' of Mesa Singles for awhile now and I am used to certain things and those things are not plentiful in Fairbanks) now that being said, I am the woman who internet dated for a short while....if I am willing to "leave no stone unturned", I guess I ought to not be so tough on the Fairbanks.

I don't know if it has made news down in the lower 48, but there are 2 woman missing in Denali National Park. They are employees of Princess and were doing an overnight hike. Anyways, one had a flight the next day to head to Houston for her sister's wedding, and one had to be at work. They are missing and no sign of what happened. Princess flew their families out and there is a huge search going on for them. I think it is super sad and scary. I have been talking to locals and most suspect foul play. I even learned about some of the strange cult groups that live in this area. I hope that somehow the girls are ok, or at least they can find out what happened to them.

I love you all, see you soon. XO

Air Supply - Making Love Out of Nothing At All

I used to come home from those Saturday Night 14 and up dances. Mom would say, "how did it go". I would say, "I danced 2 times with Andy Funk and 3 times with Keaton Allen, they are the only boys taller than me. I don't know if you fully understand how awkward and tall I was those years. 

Lately I have been feeling as awkward as I used to 16 years ago. I don't know. Maybe it is because I am intimidated by all these tourists, maybe it is because i don't have the many people validating me as I used to. Maybe it is because I am always rocking that bus uniform and it is no good. I just don't want to feel awkward. I got less than 2 months here, and I gotta make it count for something. I'll work on it. 

A day in Kenicott. Jodi goes on an Airplane.

One of the many perks of being a driver/guide(besides dumping the crap from the on board toilet, and getting my back all sore and knotted up and spending my days on the road, far from the ones I love) is that we get to do cool things that the regular tourists get to do for free. So far I have only done a few including a rail ride and panning for gold nuggets. However, I had the chance to do something pretty cool. I got to see a bit of the Wrangle-St. Elias National Park by plane, and I got to visit a tour an awesome old copper mill in Kenicott AK.

The best part of this day was hanging out with Steve and Barb. They were on my coach for the 2 day trip and on the off (in between day) I drove them to the air stip and caught a ride with them. Barb even bought me banana bread and they were both super cool. It was a great day. The guide was very informative and inspired me to develop a better tour. So the pics are of me getting comfy with our pilot, Jodi and Barb on the bridge, and Me posing by our plane. I used to think being a pilot would be so cool. But I got air sick and realized becoming an aviator is just a dream that gets crossed out of the notebooks (you know what I am saying Rita, AK, mom, mitch, sumo...well probably you all know by now, I put goals and plans in a notebook and then work on the plans as life changes, well the flight to Kenicott made life change....no more pilot dreams)

Calling All People Who Want to see me in my bus Uniform with Bad Posture...this one's for you!!!!

You can not bottle that kind of animation...it's just too intense.

Why I sometimes freak out

I am 30, I have been able to conceive since I was 12 (i think the leland gang aka the girls on my block think that I was 11 and a half when i was first able to conceive. I lied and told them I got my period on a ski trip, so they wouldn't think i was lame for being the last one). That is 18 years people.

I act the same in every relationship. BLAR.

I have credit card debt and this job is not gonna really change that. Even if I do get a ton of overtime.

If AK finally makes it happen, i am the last of the mugrunners to brave this world alone. And that is not that great. (YET, I have to admit, I would be one happy bridesmaid).

I don't know how I will do in law school. If i will like Moscow? If I will do well enough to keep my scholarships? If maybe I will meet someone, who I can be myself around who can help resolve some of the reasons I am freaking out. I don't want to go back to Mesa Single Social Scene at 34...

Olivia is almost one month old and I haven't seen her, and I haven't been able to help Rita out, and I seriously wish I could just be the Aunt JOjo she needs.

If I get a flat tire on one of these highway trips I have to change it myself. And there is a big chance that might happen (I drive a dirt/gravel road that is rough 110 miles each way).

I am getting wrinks because the sun shines all the time here and i forget to put the sunscreen on.



Ok so my problems are not that severe. I got a pretty good life. Hopefully, I will never freak out too much cause it's all just learning and growing, changing and rearanging. I am excited because I get to run the Copper City Shuttle this morning and hopefully really make a difference in these tourists experiences. Gotta love the Summer Job.

Life is a Highway a want to ride it all night long. ( A dedication to Denali Highway and Steven Bigelow)

There is something you need to know. I have a kick ace ( i hate using the word ass fo reals) music sense. That is why I am dj Jodeci the Mormon Wedding/Institute Opening Social DJ. My friends, I can compile a playlist, I can sort of mix and fade and spin (sort of). I know how most of the buttons on my equipment work. I am so serious about music, i used all my plasma monies in college to buy cds. Now that is serious. So when I realized that my tour had some room for something more I came up with "Alaska Mix". Basically i searched iTUNES for the word Alaska and whoop there it is I got the Alaskan Mix. My favorite non-Alaskan tunes are Neil Diamonds, "Sweet Caroline" and "Coming to America". John Denvers 'Country Roads'. And as always the crowd pleaser that makes me scream out, "when to fold em" at the appropriate times.... Alaskan Mix keep us singing down the Highway, you are a good mix...thank you. 

Goals, hopes and dreams (you don't gotta be Mormon or at least 100 percent mormon to have a dream)

You know when I talk to my friends about how life in Alaska isn't well, what I expected...they all say things like, "well at least you got it out of your system" or "you have always been talking about going, at least you finally did it". Hmm. I had a list of a bunch of things I wanted to accomplish here. This is the list dated April 14, just a few weeks before I got here.

1. Make 18,000 dollars so I can pay off credit cards, buy an airstream to live in during law school, buy 2 dogs and new clothes at last chance.

2. Make out with 5 Alaskan Mountain Man (none of you are surprised that was on my list).

3. See wild animals and take their pictures.

4. Decide where i will go to Law School (i figured the cold mountain air would clear up my indicisive thoughts).

5. Go kayaking in the waters up here, at least sea kayaking.

6. Loose 25 pounds (no surprise here, it is on every Jodi's Goals List since 1993)

7. And of course do some missionary work (you gotta throw that in for good measure).

JUNE 5, 2008...This is what the list looks like today, I did some updating, with my recent information.

1. Hopefully make 6000 in profit, to pay off most my credit card debt and maybe buy some 'Bunny Boots'

2. Drive a bus safely with no accidents.

3. Hand out my business cards to the people I meet on my tour and get 100 new blog readers....it could happen.

4. Somehow keep my body tight and looking good, i mean lets be honest a good 37 percent of my law school dreams are meeting my lawschool soulmate or at least a hippie boy in the area.

5. Read 25 books and watch 10 videos on Alaska so that I have interesting things to talk about on these long ace (i don't like to say ass) tours.

6. Not sell out and be cheesier/phonier for the tips...i gotta be true to my self, i gotta just exist at a comfortable cheesy/phony level, not too much or too little.

7. Enjoy this the summer of 2008. Oh yeah, there are 2 kinds of 30. The good kind and the yikes. I gotta hold onto the good kind. Today a friend was showing me his 30 year old stalker, I hate that I have to share '30' with the yuckers out there. Come on 30 year old peeps, let's keep 30 tight and lookin good (yeah this is the moment where I don't talk about 19 year olds and the much older men they end up with, this is the moment where I just say Summer Solstice is on her way, come up to Fairbanks and visit big Jodi, I can tell you 'bout the Pipeline and we can pan for Golden Nuggets.

Goals, hopes and dreams...constantly changin and rearangin. Oh the peeps up top are my Alaskan Princess Cruise Drivin Family.... gotta love the road.

And you may say to yourself..how did I get here. Letting the days go by.

I am in Copper River Alaska, about to play Cranium with some bulgarians, a gypsy girl and some guy who is from Salt Lake but isn't Mormon. Earlier today I cleaned a toilet out, which was on my coach with a hose. I had to dump the tank and then rinse it out. A little piece of crap got stuck at the bottom of the tank, and I kept spraying it, and spraying it. It was disgusting. I am going on a flight tomorrow over the 2nd highest mountain in North America. This is life in Alaska...

What am i doing?