We just found out about an hour ago that we are being transferred to Alaska!!! I am so excited! We have to be there in January. Are there any good cake supply stores in Anchorage? Anybody attend the University of Alaska, Anchorage that could tell me any good and bad things about it? (The nursing program in particular)
Thanks!!

Congratulations! What an exciting (and big weather-wise!) change! I don't have any information for you but wanted to wish you good luck!

sorry i can't be much help, but my brother in law attends that college and he loves it (he's not in nursing though ) I haven't looked for cake shops there before (mostly because i just started) but i'll be there visiting in a few weeks so i'll let you know what i find!

I live in Anchorage and love it!! we moved here in November when my husband got a job as the Children's pastor at Faith Christian Community.

I have not found a actual cake supply store but Partycraft has quite a bit and there are a few Michaels and Joann's as well. If you use bettercreme at all Linford is where you get that but have to buy a case for about $80. the cost of living up here is pretty high, everything is more expensive.

Are you military? we have tons of friends in the military here living on and off base. Costco is a must for dairy and lunchmeat. Fred meyer prices are better then Carrs and, if you have young kiddos, they have a free babysitter while you grocery shop!!

If at all possible, establish your residency before Jan 1 with a drivers license and residence so you can get the dividend for the following year. You have to be here for one full calendar year to apply for the next year. Don't know how it works for military, if it's the same or not. But the dividend can be a lot ($1300 about per person) so you don't want to miss out on that!! feel free to ask questions if you think of any.

If you are visiting in the next few weeks you will be amazed at the daylight, longest day of the year is coming! And in the winter the darkness can be depressing. Bring your camera and drive from Anchorage to Girdwood for the most beautiful drive ever.

Thank you so much everyone!! We are military, and we have two children 11 and 7 going into 6th and 2nd grade. Which areas are the best to live, and which have the best schools? I read that Wasilla is less expensive to live, but that is pretty far from the base. That's cool about the dividend, we will be there for 4 years so I was planning on getting my drivers license up there anyway. What is the money from/for?

Definitely going to be doing a lot of sightseeing while there! No way I am going to miss that opportunity. We won't get there till December, so it will already be darker, but that's ok.

Thank you so much for answering all my questions!
Smashme - do you visit your b-i-l or are you moving there as well?

I've lived in Anchorage my whole life and have a bakery here. Partycraft is the only place really to get cake supplies, everything else must be ordered in - so bring it with you if you have it!! The South side of town is generally considered the higher end side to live on, but there are nice pockets all over.

Hi there,
I grew up in Anchorage and lived there again as an adult. Loved it there! I lived in South Anchorage near Service High School. You won't find a more beautiful place! It'll be a bit of a sticker shock on prices of food and other things as well as the big difference in temps at first. ( l moved from there to Louisiana in the 80's ..whoa baby...big shock!)

I was going to suggest to pm KoryAK since she lives there and has her own cake shop but she already replied above.

Wasilla is about 45 minutes outside Anchorage but tons of people commute every day. There is a highway but nothing like the freeway traffic of a big city that I'm used to now. ( Phoenix)

I know several people who go to or have gone to the University and they seemed to like it just fine. I've never heard anything bad.

Good luck!

KimAZ

I talked to my brother in law earlier and he said he knows some people on the waiting list for nursing (appearntly its kind of a long list.....don't know how long though). Thats a bummer that there no cake shops in town.

my husband grew up there and then his parents retired from the military and went back up there. his parents just had a pretty bad motercycle accident so most of our vacation (that we planned a while back) will be taking care of them. I guess its good for them that it happened the same time as our vacation.

The last time we went my hubby said they had a LOT more stores and resturants than when he lived up there.

Thank you again for the great tips!! Sounds like the Southside is the place to rent if we choose to live off base. KoryAK - I will be taking my kids to experience your cupcake bar!!

mamawrobin - I bet the campuses are pretty much the same, so that is good!

I saw from a military board I found yesterday that the price of food was substantially higher. They said the main thing was produce because it had to be shipped in. The big thing for us is definitely going to be the temp difference. My husband and I met in Montana, so we have been in snow before (I am sure not like AK, though) but we have lived in GA for the past 7 years, LOL, and if you know the South -- hot and HUMID! So, we will certainly have to adjust to cold winters!

Smashme - Thank you for talking to your B-I-L, I really appreciate that!! The nursing waiting list is everywhere UGH!! I am sorry to hear about your in-laws accident! Good thing you guys are going up there to help.

Thanks again to everyone who responded! This is a huge change of life for us and I am soooo nervous!

what branch of the military are you? lots of people from our church are military and have kiddos as well. We are renting but have just purchased a house and close in a few weeks. The big thing for me is safety and a clean neighborhood.

There are a lot of places where trash and junk are piled up in neighborhoods and I don't want to look at the everyday, especially when I am spending this kind of money on a house! Southside is nice but everywhere there are pockets so you really need to see before you commit.

The dividend is from oil revenues but you have to be a resident by Dec 31, 2010 to file for one in 2012. do some checking, the state has a lot of info on their website about it.

This past winter was not bad, I didn't think. We moved from Michigan so were used to snow, but many times this winter it was colder in Mi then it was here. They do not salt the roads so driving on snow pack was a big adjustment for us. We had to get studded tires, never even heard of studded tires before I moved here, haha!

I never stepped foot in Costco before I moved here either. I had a store by me that doubled coupons up to $1 so got half my groceries every week free or super cheap. I cried when I saw how much groceries cost here and that no stores double coupons! Costco is the best for diary. Milk, eggs, cheese, butter and lunchmeat are my staples from Costso. I will not buy them anywhere else.

For example, right now 5 doz eggs at Costco are $4.67 (1.99 doz at store) 4 pounds of butter are 7.87 ( on sale at store for $2.50 lb.) and 5 lb cheese (shredded, depends on type) is about $10 (8oz kraft shredded at store 3.99 and up). I seperate the cheese into zip lock bags and put in the freezer so it doesn't go bad.

I'm excited for you....I remember the feeling of getting ready to come here (after I got over the price of everything). There is so much to do and see. If you are interested in homeschooling, the state is very friendly with that and provides money to help you get curriculum.

Our church has a moms group that meets one day a week for a few hours with free childcare for the little ones too. Congrats on the big move and if you have other questions that come up, I'm sure all of us that live up here and help you with an answer!

We are Air Force. That is one thing we do when we move to a new place. When we are interested in a house, we drive through the neighborhood in the morning, afternoon, evening and night just to see what, if anything, is going on in the neighborhood. I don't homeschool, I am in school myself. So we will be checking out all the schools, too. Thanks for responding, Kelli!

I like the way you think with the driving by of houses at all times of day. We just did that before we made an offer on the house we will be moving in to. We were just on base last weekend visiting friends and the base housing they live in is great. Don't know how you feel about living on base.....we have friends that do and friends that don't. Good luck!

I've lived here my whole life too. Kory's right, not really any cake options except Partycraft.

There are lots of good neighborhoods in Anchorage, and only a couple of places I would really stay away from (Mt. View, Fairview). Wasilla isn't a long commute, but it can be when it's snowy and icy.

I live on the East side, very near the AF base. You can find plenty of houses/apartments to rent that are just as nice as the Southside. Also, Anchorage only has one school district, and I've found over the years that they're mostly really great.

As you get closer to your move, you can pm me if you'd like regarding neighborhoods.