My new friend.

Those of you who follow me on Instagram saw that I've had a few close encounters with some awesome Alaskan wildlife this week, so I wanted to share the full story with you all...because I'm still giggling about it.

A few days ago, I was sitting at my computer, as usual...watching the amazing Joe Buissink shoot a wedding on CreativeLive. And I should mention before I go any further, and you all think I'm crazy, that we've been having a lot of unexpected people show up and start working on our rental house lately. I'll be working on something and see a man outside start painting the side of the house. Our sweet landlady wanted to get the house all fixed up and ready to go before winter hits, so they're getting it all done now. Anyways, all that to say, unexpected visitors are not out of the norm here...ok, moving on...

So, like I said, I was sitting at my computer which at the moment overlooks part of our wrap-around porch. I glanced out the window and see what I think is the top of someone's hair, which makes my heart jump, and I'm thinking "Gah, these worker dudes are SO sneaky!"...because they are. Then, I wonder if it's Dave messing with me again, he's popped home for lunch a few times in the past week and he likes to scare surprise me when he does.

Then, it moved and in my head I'm screaming, "Not a person...NOT A PERSON!!!" I'm frozen, which is why there are no pictures of this awesomeness, as I realize it's a small black bear on my porch. He put his front paws up on our grill and just as he got up, my CreativeLive broadcast (which I had totally forgotten was playing, as I'm trying to be super quiet) got a little loud and the bear turned and looked me RIGHT in the eyes, jumped down, and ran off.

I was still in shock and finally grabbed my phone to take pics, slowly and quietly I opened the door to peek around and make sure he wasn't too close, and he was no where to be found! Once I got brave, I went to the backyard to look around, but he was long gone. That little bear must've booked it!

Of course, I spent the rest of the day on edge, looking out the window and searching our backyard at any sound from the neighbors or gust of wind. I'm so sad my little friend never came back. Dave joked that he would find me with a trail of fish leading up to our house and me sitting at the end of the trail with my camera, waiting. Anything for the shot, right? Haha, don't worry, I'm not that crazy. ;)