What I have learned in life: Alaska Edition

1. Boogers in your nose will actually freeze - usually when it's -10* or colder.
2. Dry air sucks.  It's awful on your skin... ashy, cracked.  It reeks havoc on your hair... static.  And you are constantly thirsty... camel-like thirst, peeps.
3. I do not like to run in the extreme cold.  Give me the humid, hot days of Florida please.
4. Cold is cold.  Whether it's 5 degrees outside or -25 degrees.  What makes the difference is what you are wearing. 
5. During the winter, it's perfectly acceptable (and normal) to leave your vehicle running (with keys in it, obviously) when you go into the store.  Entire parking lots are often filled with empty cars/trucks just idling and staying warm.  And 99% of the time, there is no theft.
6. 20+ hours of daylight is amazing and weird at the same time.  Less than 6 hours of daylight is also weird, but you get used to it.  As long as you get out of the house and have a routine (happy lights help also), you can fight off any of the cabin fever and the dark winter depression that so many living up here fall victim to.
7. I would gladly take moose, bears, and foxes living in my neighborhood over snakes, spiders and alligators ANY day.
8. Mother Nature sure did work her magic with the Aurora Borealis.  Not much I've seen can compare to the Northern Lights.
9. If you call "it" a snowmobile, people will immediately look at you like you're an idiot and know for sure that you are new to Alaska.  People, be warned... it is called a snowmachine.  Just say'in.
10. Most of the people living in Alaska refer to the rest of the United States as the "Lower 48."
11. A reindeer is just a domesticated caribou.  Who knew?
12. There is a yearly resident stipend {PFD = Permanent Fund Dividend} for each person living in Alaska that averages $1000.  Hoping this year we finally qualify for it.  Hello, family of five PFD!
13. I'm truly thankful for snow tires.  I would never think of living {and driving} in the Alaskan winter without them.
14. Alaska has the lowest taxes in the U.S. and is one of a handful of states without a statewide sales tax.  Yep, you heard me... no sales tax on anything.
15. Kids want to play in the water, sprinkler, slip-n-slide, or swim in the pool in the summer months - even if its *only* 65 degrees outside.  "Warm" is completely relative to everyone else but kids.  They don't care.