It's been awhile..

Long time no talk...  Sorry about that.

I have been so wrapped up in everything going on here that I haven't taken the time to sit down and write to you all. Currently I am sitting in a lovely hotel room at the fabulous Alyeska Ski Resort in Girdwood, Alaska. So far my stay here has been wonderful. The food is fantastic and I'm learning from the rest of my staff members here during our inservice.

Speaking of food, I had the most amazing Reindeer sausage sandwich the other day. It was delicious! I was a little afraid to eat a reindeer seeing as my children would never forgive me for eating Rudolph but I figure I'll just tell them that I ate the reindeer that made fun of Rudolph and didn't let him play in any reindeer games. Ha-ha. I also tried an Elk burger. That was pretty tasty but I enjoyed the sausage more.

The views here are amazing. There is so much snow everywhere you look. The trees are covered and their branches are holding inches of snow on them. It sure is a beautiful site. I am enjoying watching all the skiers and snowboarders coming down all the different trails. I myself have never tried out the sport but hopefully will one day.

Everything at school has been going well. I had an interview with the district a couple weeks back to see if there was a possibility of getting an official teaching job here. The day they came to pick me up in a small twin engine bush plane was the day we were experiencing high winds. It was frustrating because I wanted to get this interview but wasn't to sure about getting on a plane that day. Ron said "If it was me, I would not be getting on a plane today." I thought about and decided, you only live once and got on the plane. The pilot warned us it would be a bumpy flight and boy was he right. Shortly after takeoff our heads were hitting the top of the aircraft. I was holding onto my seatbelt with one hand and holding the ceiling with the other so not to hit my head. The pilots head was hitting the ceiling a bit and it looked like it hurt a bit with his headset and all. I was very nervous and kept hoping and praying that the Lord would protect us. The flight got smoother after 10ish minutes but then was swaying back and forth quite a bit. I just kept telling myself I was a baby in a crib rocking back and forth.. no big deal lol. Since I first got to bush Alaska all I heard from everyone were their terrifying flight stories and I finally got to experience mine.

So far there have been a lot of budget cuts and teachers losing their jobs so it's not looking too promising for me to be coming back next year as a classroom teacher. The offer is still on the table for me to stay as an aide with the same student but I would really like to become a teacher and run a classroom of my own. I plan to move back home at the end of the year and start looking for a job back east. Hopefully everything will work out and I'll find something.

Anyway, That's all for now. I hope you all are well!

January

   Hard to believe that January is over already! Last week was brutal. It was so cold out here. We were in the -20's with -50 windchill. It was so cold the truck wouldn't start. The one morning we woke up and tried to start it and it started sparking. It was out of commission for a couple days until we could get some parts in to get it up and running again. Danielle and I walked to school for a couple days all bundled up. The only thing we had uncovered were our eyes. It's so dark in the morning but yet so peaceful. As we were walking my eyelashes kept getting stuck and I couldn't figure out why. When we got to school I went into the bathroom to check and found that my eyelashes had formed ice crystals all along the edges which is why they kept getting stuck together. Once we were inside the ice started to melt and I had mascara running down my face. Lesson learned, apply mascara after we get to school haha. I also got my first Honda ride (aka ATV) to school and back the one day the truck didn't start. Regina was nice enough to take us to school. That was fun.
   As of yesterday the truck is up and running again. The temperature today is 35 degrees. Yay! I love warmer weather. We are getting more sun everyday. The sun is going down about 6 o'clock and coming up around 9:30. I was told that at this time of year we are getting about 3 minutes of daylight back each day. Pretty cool! Once we hit spring we will gain even more.
   I am officially moved in to Danielle's place, which is now our place as of January 21. I must say it's a lot nicer and more comfortable. Last weekend Danielle was away at a conference in Anchorage so it was just me and Rorie (her pup) at the house. Rorie is nice to have around. She's a bit annoying half the time but when she wants to be all cute and cuddly I enjoy having her around.
  Yesterday was my birthday. I was surprised to see how much the school went out of their way to make my birthday special. The kids came in and immediately came up to me wishing me a happy birthday. Some of the students even were racing to be the first one to wish me a happy birthday. Danielle made cookies for the kids to have for snack in honor of my birthday so the class all sang to me. Then at lunch we had a school pizza party that was paid for by the district for having an awesome attendance for the last quarter. The pizza's were flown in from Anchorage. There were a total of 15 pizzas. Some of the community members who are heavily involved in school affairs also attended. As lunch was finishing up, I thought I was in the clear. But no. Ed (our principal) came in with the birthday hat and the school/community sang to me. I turned a lovely shade of red as I usually do when people sing me happy birthday because I always find it very awkward. Everyone is staring at you and you just have to stand there and smile for 30 seconds. Haha. Anyway, the kids all got a good laugh out of me wearing the hat and shortly after the pizza party was over we dismissed the kids for a half day. I went home around 1:10pm and took a nap from about 2 until about 4 o'clock.  Danielle had the staff over for a nice dinner. We had chicken cutlets, ziti and salad, then Ron brought over rolls, Regina brought a fruit smoothy drink, Cam/Nicole brought rice pudding and a fruit/veggie salad. Oh, and I can't forget the cake that Danielle picked up for me while she was in Anchorage last weekend. It got a tad smooched on the plane but it was still delicious. It was a very nice meal with good people. Our new tutor arrived yesterday and came over for dinner as well. He seems like a very nice man who will be a good fit for our staff here at Nondalton. I look forward to seeing what he brings to the table.
   Anyway, other then that, I think that's about it for January. I'll keep you posted as things progress.