June’s Journeys

Out on the tree farm<3 

In trying to keep up with my summer goal of blogging more often, I wanted to put together a quick recap of my first phase of summer vacation. I call it that because each month of my summer vacation brings with it a different focus or set of circumstances. I suppose a fitting name for this first phase would be “recovery”.  

As I mentioned in my last post, I had surgery on my hip at the end of May. The procedure went well and I have spent the past five weeks trying to do my best to let my body heal so that I can get back to running as soon as possible. Though the pros are great, surgery also brought with it some cons which included a four week sentence to crutches, limited movement, and a sense of dependency that I have not faced in a long time. I wasn’t able to drive for the first three weeks and therefore I was dependent on the schedules of family members in order to schedule my own appointments or to make plans. Though they told me I wasn’t, it was impossible not to feel as though I was a burden to my family. Because of this, I tried to stay home as much as possible for the first two weeks, this also meant a lot of binge-watching Glee on Netflix. Let's be honest, when you have a reason to be able to binge on any show, you feel much better about spending hours doing so. After Sam made it to Pennsylvania, I made sure to provide him some practice with the “in sickness and in health” part of our upcoming marriage as I asked him to chauffeur me around, help with physical therapy, and to carry my stuff wherever we went.

Mini-golfing (Yes, I was on crutches!)

Speaking of our marriage.. we have done quite a bit of wedding planning in the weeks we have been on the east coast. Though it is over a year away, we will spend most of that time in Alaska, so there are certain things need to get done in person rather than online or over the phone. One task, for example, was to go dress shopping! Though it was surreal and a bit overwhelming, I found my dress quickly and painlessly. The only tears in the shopping process were ones of excitement as I chose my dress and envisioned wearing it on my wedding day. Knowing that I will be far away for much of the planning, I feel so much better with this major detail being crossed off the wedding to-do list. 

Yes, we're in the
 "happy about appliance shopping"
phase in house building

Another to-do list that Sam and I have been working on has been for designing our tiny house. We are anxious to begin making our dreams a reality, and have done a lot of research and planning to begin the process. Though it will be small (about 380 sq. ft.), it will require a great deal of planning, effort, and attention to detail. We have made multiple trips to Lowes to measure appliances, begin to develop an overall budget, and to help us go from on-paper to actually happening. After our first trip to Lowes, we were both feeling pretty giddy as we had basically designed our entire home. Stay tuned for updates on the “Rigby Roadhouse” (that's what I'm calling it at least), as we hope to start building by next summer! 

Aside from recovery, wedding planning, and tiny house designing, we have spent the past month trying to visit with as many people as possible. It can be hard to coordinate schedules and to see everyone, but I have done my best. Sam often reminds me that I am not Wonder Woman and that I need to slow down a bit and take some time for myself. I have gotten to the point where I can acknowledge that I might not see everyone or do everything that I want to during my breaks, but it is still hard to accept. I want to take back as many summer memories as possible to get me through the dark winter months! 

From our visit with family in Michigan<3

As my last weekend of my first portion of summer comes to an end, I become more anxious for the next phase which I’ll call “back-to-school”. Next Saturday will bring with it a few flights as I make my way back to Alaska to begin my master’s program. I look forward to getting back into the classroom as a student, though I am not necessarily eager to be in the classroom from 8:00-5:00, five days a week.. However, I remind myself that it will only be for three-and-a-half weeks and that certainly helps make it more bearable. Another thing I remind myself is that I get to spend the month in Juneau, a part of the state which I’ve never been to, and that I will be studying and rooming with two friends, Caitlin and Kirsten. I am glad to know that I will have friends and a good support system as I enter the program! 

An afternoon on the farm

Though I feel as if my weeks on the east coast have flown by, I am thankful to have had the time to be here. I am especially grateful that I was able to have my surgery and recovery here, as doing so in the village would have been rather difficult. This month also brought with it some fun memories as I visited with family and friends, and as Sam and I began to make more concrete plans for our future as a married couple (it is still weird to think that I am going to be a wife!!). Stay tuned for my next post which will hopefully recap a great start to my yearlong masters program!