Gobble 'Til You Wobble!

Out shooting on the ice

It is Sunday as I write this, and I think I am still recovering from Thursday’s post dinner food coma. Either that, or the amount of activities from this long weekend have simply worn me out. Though it was only two extra weekend days, I feel as though I haven’t been in school for weeks. Hopefully the return of the work week tomorrow won’t be too rough on me. However, if I am a bit sleepy throughout the day I think I can just remember all that happened this weekend and the memories will hopefully help me power through the urge to curl up and sleep on my desk. 

The Northern Lights at 5a.m.

This weekend's fun started on Thanksgiving Eve when I had everyone over to play games and hang out. In addition to Sam and Racquel, all of my Nondalton coworkers were over, so it was basically just a dress rehearsal for Thursday. The girls and I stayed up late to go to the airport and see the Northern Lights, and an amazing view of the Milky Way. However, the lights were a bit faint and the real entertainment was a curious fox who wanted to be our friend. Luckily, Caitlin called me at 5a.m. to tell me that the Aurora was out again, and the two of us took a quick walk down the beach to watch them as they danced in the dark. Watching them is something that will never grow old or become any less amazing. 

Our Thanksgiving Dinner!

While Thanksgiving has always been a great time to gather with friends and family in the past, I had never felt the stress of being a hostess for the holiday. In past years, I have just helped out or simply showed up to see my family and eat the deliciousness that had been cooked up. This year though, Sam and I decided to host Thanksgiving at my place and therefore I went into hostess mode. On Thursday, along with Racquel, we spent most of the morning preparing for the feast. It was fun to spend the day sharing memories of past Thanksgiving get togethers and family traditions; the smells that filled my apartment made my stomach growl for most of the day. Thanks to a very generous Alaskan man, all of the people in my village get a turkey for Thanksgiving, and thanks to Cassie, I was not in charge of cooking mine for our dinner! I made some pumpkin spice cookies and used my grandmother's recipe to try to recreate her famous, delicious mashed potatoes. When the rest of the crew joined us, our combined contributions made for a mouth watering buffet style feast. 

My newest dream catcher:)

After we had eaten, instead of letting ourselves lay down for the naps that our bodies yearned for, we were all rather productive and creative. Sam, Caitlin and I went out on the ice to skeet shoot for a little while which was a first for me. It was fun, but it was also very cold out so we didn’t stay out for long. We came back into the apartment and joined Cassie, Emily, and Racquel for a few hours of crafting. Emily, Racquel and I made dream catchers while Cassie sewed mittens and Caitlin worked on her newest hobby of jewelry making. I appreciated the time to sit around and to productively relax after our dinner. We then went down and ended the night by sitting around a fire on the snowy beach. Days like this make me feel as if I am getting a handle on this whole “adulting” thing! 

Ugly Dog! 

The rest of the weekend followed suit in terms of being fun, creative, and productive. After eating green eggs and ham for breakfast on Friday, I went out and fed my “Ugly Dog” his meal of Thanksgiving leftovers. Ugly (whose real name is Snoopy) is a mangy dread-lock covered stray village pup that I have fallen in love with. I have been thinking very seriously of taking him in, but for now I just feed him whenever I see him going by. He even responds to me whistling for him and yelling “Ug!” down the street when I have something for him to eat. It certainly isn’t helping this whole crazy dog lady thing that seemingly worsens by the day.. 

A beautiful, snowy ride

After feeding Ug, my priorities for Friday included watching Gilmore Girls and being a bum. I think I did a pretty good job of that, but was also glad to get out of the house when Sam and I went to take Racquel back home to Newhalen. The trip was refreshing, but also solidified the fact that winter is right around the corner. The temperature has been dropping and not stopping, and the ice is getting thicker by the hour. We should be able to cross any day now, and hopefully it will be a longer freeze than last year in which we only got to cross for one weekend. As the tundra is a glistening winter wonderland right now, it was a gorgeous ride to Newhalen and then back home. This past week has shown more snow than I’ve seen during my entire time of living in Alaska, and I am hoping it is just the beginning for this winter!

Red pancakes with
 green eggs and ham:)

Saturday brought with it mine and Sam’s second anniversary and I was grateful that we could be together for it. Though we thought about hitting the newest restaurant in town and then seeing a movie at the theater (just kidding, those don’t exist where we live), we instead spent the day outside Christmas tree hunting and enjoying the snow. Though the trees are simply not Wyckoff’s Tree Farm material, the Alaskan wilderness has some pretty nice trees to offer and it didn't take long to find one that we both liked. We chopped it down and quickly got it put up and decorated. I love being able to look up from my chair and see it standing in the corner!

Christmas is around the corner! 

Today was a recovery day from all of the socialization and activities from the rest of the weekend. It was nice to just sit on the couch and binge on some more Gilmore Girls. I did have to "adult" for a bit and get some paperwork done, but I didn’t mind it. I felt that I had received plenty of time for pleasure this weekend and that was definitely worth spending a few hours working today. I am looking forward to seeing my kiddos tomorrow and hearing about their Thanksgiving dinners and their snowy adventures from the long weekend. Let’s hope they got some sleep and aren’t too grumpy or wild tomorrow! I only get one full day with them before I hop on a plane and head down to Pilot Point on Tuesday where I will spend the rest of my week. While I will be missing my Nondalton students, it has been a while since my last visit and I am eager to see the students and teachers down there! 

As always, I am thankful that you join me as I reflect on my adventures and excursions! I hope you all gobbled 'til you wobbled and got to spend time with family and friends this weekend! 

A Wonderful Wednesday!

A morning beach walk:) 

Every once in awhile, there are days that stand out and really help you grasp the reality of where you are in life. There are also days that come to a close and you look back on the events of the day and wonder how you possibly participated in or accomplished all the things you’re now thinking about. Today was the perfect example of one of those days for me. As I walked three miles home from “Fish Camp” tonight with Caitlin and Emily, I found myself asking the two of them if they had ever in their lives pictured themselves living where we do and having a day like we had today. I was potentially having some cold-induced epiphany about life, but at least they humored me. Before I get too far off track, let me rewind a bit and touch on the events of this wonderful Wednesday.  

Tazimna Falls (The silver box in the bottom left
 is where we came out at the bottom)

As usual, my day started with a cup of coffee and a book, which if we’re being honest, makes today awesome in itself. I was greeted by a bright moon and a sky full of constellations on my walk to the car, and hoped that the lack of clouds would make for a beautiful sunrise. Once school started, the rest of the teachers felt the same way, and we decided it would be fun to take the students down to the beach. I had two of my little kiddos with me and was nervous about if they’d be alright with the trip, but they let us bundle them up and take them on an adventure. We got down to the beach and were rewarded with yet another incredible sight. We even got the kids to stand still long enough to snap a picture of them; it is one that I will keep for years to come. 

Don't leave him in charge!

The rest of my morning was a bit stressful because during my short breaks, I had to try to plan a last minute trip to Anchorage for the upcoming weekend. After trying to be stubborn and hold off until winter break, I finally broke down and scheduled an appointment to see a doctor about pain I have been having in one of my legs/hips (Side note: Mom and Dad- I’m going to Anchorage this weekend...I’ll text ya when I fly!). On the bright side, Caitlin has also been pushing off some appointments and she decided it would be cost efficient to plan her trip at the same time so we can split costs of rentals. Once our appointments were scheduled and we had flights, a rental car, and our Airbnb booked, we were able to get excited about going to restaurants and doing some non-online shopping. Though it will be a short trip, I think we both will benefit from being able to recharge during a weekend in town. 

Climbing down
 into darkness...

Thankfully, all of our plans were set before we had to get ready for an after school adventure to Tazimna Falls. Not only does this site have a stunning waterfall, but it is also the home of the Tazimna Hydroelectric plant; this plant supplies the electric power for Nondalton, Iliamna, and Newhalen. Though I have visited the falls a number of times, I had never been on a tour of the plant and was looking forward to it. A parent boated Caitlin, Emily, and I across the lake where we were picked up and taken down to Tazimna. It wasn’t a school trip, so not all of the students came, but we did have nine students and some parents join us. We started off in the control room and then headed down an elevator that reminded me of something you would see in a mine. Needless to say, I screamed and grabbed onto the shoulder of the dad in front of me (good thing he’s friendly!) when the elevator jolted to a start and took us 120 feet underground. We got to see what the pipes look like and hear about the current project the workers are completing. Just when I thought it was wrapping up, we were all led to a ladder that would take us another 20 feet lower, into a dark tunnel.

Tazimna Falls from below

As if someone flipped a switch, Caitlin, Emily and I simultaneously went into “Mom" modes. Caitlin and I surrounded the kids and tried to offer a hand of support as they climbed down while Emily made sure to get pictures of the kids as the descended into the darkness. The parents of the kids laughed about this and politely teased us the whole time, but they also didn’t stop us from being overprotective. I had a proud moment when one of my more cautious students looked down, exclaimed “This will be the scariest and coolest thing I’ve ever done!”, and then after a couple of false starts, bravely made his way down. Once we all made it the bottom, it was explained to us that the tunnel we were in is usually filled to the top with water, but was currently empty for maintenance purposes. This is what allowed us to continue down the tunnel where we then got to exit onto a rocky area at the bottom of the waterall. We were able to walk around, carefully, and take in the sight of the waterfall from a whole new perspective. It was breathtaking and I am so grateful that we were invited to go on this tour. 

Smiling but really crying inside knowing
 how close they are to the edge...

After we had all made it back through the tunnel and up the ladder, we were then invited to skip the elevator ride and instead climb up the 120 feet on a few more ladders. Many of the kids, and even Emily took them up on this offer, while I took one look up and chose to hop back on the elevator with the rest of the group. We were then able to take a peak at the falls from the top, and I was sure to hold onto the coats or hands of any students who wanted to get near the edge (My sister and brother-in-law can attest to this, as I was the same way when they visited last spring). Though it felt like we had been there for hours, we were headed back to Nondalton a little over an hour after we got there. The wind had really picked up which caused the lake to become very choppy, so the ladies and I decided to get dropped off on our side of fish camp and then walk home. 

When we got to our side, we all bundled up with our normal outer layers and set off for home. In the beginning, we were walking against the wind and I felt like we would be walking forever, but that quickly changed as the wind calmed down. At one point we stopped as we walked over a frozen stream and it was so clear that we could see the water moving below the already thick ice. After awhile, one of the students offered to take us back on their honda, but we turned down the offer because it felt nice to be out in the fresh air. By the time we made it home I had taken off my hat, mittens, buff (face protection), and even had my coat unzipped. During this walk home, I had my millionth reflection about how amazing it is that the events of this day were completely normal to us.

The cold start of our walk home!

As I sit here writing this, it is only just after 8:00, and I’m in normal school night mode of drinking a cup of tea and getting ready to curl up with my book. My Wednesday started and ended on a seemingly routine note, and that is what makes it so much more incredible to me. The things that happened today could have happened yesterday and could happen tomorrow. I am constantly and continuously offered beautiful sights, memorable experiences, and new stories to tell. Today was just one of those days in which I realized that this is not just a vacation and that these adventures are my daily life. That statement, that realization, overwhelms me with feelings of gratitude and awe. This Wednesday was a good one because this life is a great one. 

If you want to learn more about the Tazimna Hydroelectric Plant, take a look at the following:

http://www.innelectric.com/our-history.html

Brain Games

Getting themselves into "Trouble"

Now that the start of the year craziness has died down a bit, school has gotten into a pretty good routine. As I reread that sentence I have to laugh because I realize that our routine is just organized chaos that I have adapted to. Either way, things are going smoothly for the most part and it is hard to believe that winter break is just around the corner. Though I realize it has been over a month since I last checked in, I have to admit that the break from writing has been refreshing. Over the past few weeks, I have been able to focus on my students and paperwork, but also my ever growing list of "books to read". Most days, I come home from school and go for a walk with Caitlin and Emily as we try to soak up the ever shrinking amount of daylight we have. Then, I have dinner with Sam and spend the rest of the night curled up on the couch with my nose in a book. However, on Tuesdays I stay at school a bit later to spend time with some of my favorite people. 

Learning to play "Yahtzee"

In the beginning of the school year I decided to start a “Brain Games” club as a way to give our students time to just be kids. Knowing the students in my school and what some of their home lives are like, I wanted to provide them with a safe space to play fun, educational games with their friends. Through “Donors Choose” I was gifted with a variety of games to help keep the kids entertained and challenged. A few weeks ago, I had my first club gathering and I was anxiously excited to see which of the students would take part. At the end of the day, I was pleasantly surprised as 12, out of our school's 25-ish, students came to see what my club was about. There were a few middle schoolers that I was surprised to see, and even some high-school students that wanted to attend but who had to go to volleyball practice. The kids and I all had a great time as they played games they enjoy and also learned how to play some new games. One of the group favorites has been “Hedbanz”, a game that is sure to bring countless giggles and funny questions as each person tries to guess what object is out of sight on their forehead. One of my coworkers joined me on the day of the first get together and we both caught ourselves stopping just to watch the students play and listen to their laughter. It was a very satisfying feeling when it was time to go home and the kids all begged to stay longer. 

Giggling over a game of "Hedbanz" :)

When I set up this club, I planned to hold it once every other week. However, the popularity of it has continued to hold strong and has brought me to schedule the club for each week. I have even been thinking about holding “meetings" twice a week, especially now that the days are getting much shorter and the temperature has been continuing to drop. At our whole school morning meeting yesterday, I told the students that we would have to take next week off as we have another school event planned. I wasn’t expecting the level of disappointment that I received, and therefore promised to schedule a get together for another day next week. That promise, along with our principal's request to come teach them how to play chess, quickly turned their frowns upside down. 

It is one thing to have a vision and to do what you can to make it a reality, but it is a completely different thing to see the result of your work and the impact it can have on a group of kids. The concept of my club is such a simple one in my mind because I played games all the time growing up, but this process has reminded me that the children I work with have different home lives and varying access to what I have always considered as staple household games. After only three meetings, I am happily enjoying the turnout of my club and looking forward to continuing it throughout the rest of the year. Due to shipping delays, not all of the games I ordered have arrived yet, but I am excited to see as the kids are exposed to some of my childhood favorites like “Guess Who?”, “Sorry”, and "Connect Four”. I have also been thinking of additional games that I’d like to invest in, but any suggestions are gladly welcomed!