December was a quick month. The first two weeks were by far the busiest 2 weeks we have had here. It was fun to watch everyone here on the island get ready and decorate for Christmas. Jason went to Juneau with the Robotics Team (check out the news article - http://www.capitalcityweekly.com/slideshows/121411/928950895/slide10.shtml ), grades were due, kids were scrambling to improve their grades to be eligible for sports, basketball began, we were packing and trying to figure out how to get 24 cans of kippered fish home, and on top of it all – it was spirit week.
We ended the week with a holiday party at the high school. Directly after school, teachers were flocking out of here, trying to get home to be with their families for the holidays. Jason and I left Saturday morning, so we had Friday night to relax and get the house ready before we left for 2 whole weeks.
Our travels were all smooth, with no problems what so ever. We were thankful for that! But the second we arrived in Portland, the visiting began. We saw lots of friends and family, but unfortunately still managed to miss some of you!
It was a great trip home and made us appreciate the path we have taken a little bit more (if that was possible). It didn’t take long before we were overwhelmed with the choices we had to make where to eat, the time it took to drive EVERYWHERE, and the amount of money we were all of the sudden spending.
It was also nice to be home because my Mom was having surgery. Most of you probably know that she was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer last summer, right before we made our move to Alaska. She has been undergoing chemotherapy ever since. I’m very happy to report that her surgery was a success and she is now cancer free. That was definitely the best Christmas present our family received this year.
We had a lot to be thankful for this year. We live in a great community, have jobs that we love, and we were able to travel home to be with our families for the holidays. We truly are on an amazing adventure.
We left Portland on January 2nd to head back to Alaska. It was a fun trip because by the time we got to Seattle we met up with other teachers (from Washington, Bend, NY, Michigan, & Colorado) at the airport and we were all on the same plane home to Ketchikan. We realized just how close we have become with some of our new friends here during the break. Living in a small community like this, your friends really do become like your automatic family. We were sad to leave Portland and our family there, but it was nice to come back to Alaska and see our family here too.
We also brought back with us a new espresso machine, which has been fun to have. There is no Starbucks on our island . . . or at least there hasn’t been until now. With Jason’s past barista experience we have some pretty tasty treats being made in our kitchen. Today we had friends over for a breakfast party and made white chocolate peppermint mochas, waffles, eggs, bacon, hash browns, coffee cake, & chocolate chip banana bread. It was delicious!
It’s been a good first week back to school. I’m excited to now be teaching conflict resolution at the elementary and a course in the high school too! Everyone seems to be well rested and rejuvenated – ready for the last half of the school year. The kids were excited to be back in school too. It was easy to get back in the swing of things and we are excited to start planning some new adventures in the year to come! We hope that everyone is happy & healthy as this new year begins!
