New Year's in Anchorage

2009....Who knew that nearly a decade could go by so fast? I have moved more times and more miles than I ever dreamed....I've been self-employed in a job I swore I would NEVER do when I was growing up and my parents MADE me take piano lessons (thanks Dad, I appreciate them now that I've grown up a bit)....I've been a minister's wife and a substitute teacher --- NEVER planned on those two....and now I've moved to a fly-in only village in a state that really made Texas mad about 50 years ago.... Wonder what the next ten years will bring....

Our family spent Christmas at home this year. We went to the Moravian Church across the river on Christmas Eve. It was beautiful. The Mister got the snow-go out and hooked up the sled. We put on the clothes we could possibly find and then.... just as I headed out the door.... it started snowing. What more could we ask? By the time the service was over it was like an Oklahoma blizzard. We raced home and opened the gifts from the community gift exchange. It snowed all night and day on Christmas Day, which was truly wonderful as we were getting rather short on snow around the village.

I fixed turkey and dressing for lunch and another teacher came to eat with us. We had invited V. from across the river but the white-out conditions made it impossible for her to come over. After eating, we played CLUE - the DVD version. The Boy got it from his grandparents for Christmas. He LOVES to play Clue and this version was a lot of fun. We played again on Saturday since we couldn't get to Bethel due to blowing snow.

Blowing snow --- ice fog ---- strong winds --- these are the things that shape our lives. We finally got out of the village on Sunday morning. Up here you just have to live with it... no reason to fuss.... you can't control it.... however, I'm not so sure that there's not a weatherman somewhere who just likes to tick us off!

Anchorage is gorgeous this year. There is WAY more snow this year as compared to last year. The trees look like they've been painted in icing. The mountains have been out everyday but yesterday -- the day we took off driving. I will miss the trees and the mountains next week. But the tundra has its own beauty.... you just have to look a little harder for it!

We've seen Twilight, Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Valkyrie and something else.... actually parents saw two and kids saw two..... none are worth seeing again but most were entertaining at the time.

This post is becoming sort of a menagerie of stuff. So what does the new year bring to our family? The Mister and I have 3 classes to finish this semester. The Mister will begin classes in May for Site Administrator certification (lower 48 principal certificate). The Girl is working on finishing phases in Reading and Writing so she can take college classes next year. She and her dad will be busy with basketball until March, as well. I have to get jr. high Pentathlon together. The Boy has purchased so many video game and books that I doubt we will see him before the snow thaws. I have started a Christmas quilt that I promised to finish before class begins on the 14th and I've bought fabric for a quilt for our bedroom that will keep me busy for a while. The girl wants to get started on her quilt, too. We'll see....

Happy New Year to all. Come see us when you can......I know..... you're really busy...... :)