August 30, 2016: first grade begins!

The first day of school was so great! My kids are fantastic.  I love my coworkers. The day was the best I could have hoped for.  I still came home exhausted and napped for a full hour, but it was the great kind of tired.  I'm excited to go back tomorrow. 

I'm also really excited about my room this year.  This might be the first year where I really love my classroom and how it all came together.  I tried to go for a woodsy, outdoor theme (and then I panicked and wondered if I am old now since I am theme conscious), but I wear a gold fanny pack every day, so I am kind of old anyways.  Anyways, the pictures are of my finished room.  

August 28, 2016: open house

I got new plants from a coworker and a school supply cake tree awesome thing from our PTA.  Yahoo!!  Today is an open house type thing where we meet our kids and families.  I am really, really excited about this year.  I have a great group of kids coming in.  I am refreshed and eager to get started.  

August 27, 2016: I run this country

This is for Tisa!!  She got me this super sweet tshirt for my birthday. She found it on etsy, but the woman who makes them only designed it with the lower 48 on the shirt.  Since my life goal is to run in all 50 states, she asked the woman if there was a way to add Alaska and Hawaii, which she did!  I love my shirt and felt it was fitting to wear it on today's run since it's the first of my training runs for my half marathon in California in November! My friend Stephanie also wants to run in all 50 states, so we decided we should do a race each year in a state that neither of us has run in.  So pumped to run in CA in just 2 and a half months! That will put me at 24 states! 

August 26, 2016: FRIDAY!

Last day of training, and Catie and I ended up having a meeting in Kinsey's science classroom in the high school.  We texted her this picture letting her know we were having a blast with the fox. 

I hung out with Kinsey later that evening and we went to McDonalds before heading to the football game.  This girl actually puts her fries in her flurry then eats them out with a spoon.  So nasty. 

August 25, 2016: Patagonia 4Life

Haha. I have been terrible about taking pictures this week (it's back to school) so I keep having to explain these weird pictures on my blog.  Liza texted me today and asked about a good rain coat to buy.  I get rained on almost daily, so she asked the right person.  I took this picture to show her that my Patagonia rain jacket was the way to go :)  And yes, I was in the high school bathroom while I took this picture.  Multitasking :)

August 23, 2016: Learning Alutiiq

One of my teaching sessions today was on Alutiiq language, culture, and history.  I took a picture of this slide because I wanted to look up more information about these historical events on the island.  I loved this session.  We learned how to great one another and introduce ourselves in Alutiiq.  We also found awesome resources to help us incorporate more culture into the classroom! I am excited! 

August 22, 2016: back to school!

I'm back at school for our teacher inservice! I have finally begun to clean out my closet and cupboards.  I never had time last year, so I just shoved a bunch of materials to the side until I had time to sort through them.  I am finding tons of stuff with the name "Overmyer" on it, which happens to be my friend Jim's last name.  Jim is gone for a few months on the Munro and leaves today.  I took this picture to send to him letting him know I couldn't get away from him even when he leaves.  His name is everywhere in my classroom, even on our garbage cans.  I'm trying to use it as a way to remember to pray for him and the rest of the crew while they are gone for the next few months! 

August 21, 2016: mad face

A couple months ago Arthur tried spraying me with the garden hose and I got mad at him.  I made a "mean face" and he got real mad.  He would yell, "don't make that face!"  Yet he would continue to spray me.  Now, he thinks my stern mad face is hilarious.  He makes it at me and cracks up laughing.  It looks something like this: 

August 20, 2016: Eco Challenge

This. was. insane.   And awesome!! 

25ish miles of intense mountain biking (like mountain biking DOWN A MOUNTAIN), compass and map navigating, hiking, bushwacking, and rafting.  The challenge is put on by the Coast Guard and the course changes every year.  8 teams competed this year.  You have 4 people on your team competing, and you have a pit crew that meets you at check points to hydrate you, swap your gear for you, pump you full of gu gummies, and give you an encouraging high five when you're truly dying.  Nobody on our team has ever competed in this challenge before so we had no idea what to expect.  If I'm being completely honest, I was worried that we knew nothing of navigation and that we were going to be lost in the woods forever, never making it to our first check point. 

My team was awesome.  Their navigation skills were incredible, our teamwork was great, and we were motivated! Within the first few checkpoints we were in the top three teams.  After a few more, we took the lead.  At one point in the race, we made a huge mistake and missed one of the checkpoints.  It ended up getting us disqualified.  Our team finished first, but that mistake made it so we couldn't place in the overall finish, which is a huge bummer because first place prizes were airline tickets to anywhere that Alaksa Air flies! 

As disappointing as it was to be disqualified, I absolutely loved this race.  It took us 10.5 hours to get to the finish line.  It had never crossed our minds that we even had a shot to win.  I'm really impressed with our team and thankful that I got to spend the day crafting paddles from duct tape, milk jugs, and tree branches, deciphering codes on hidden cones, wading waist deep across rivers, and wrestling our way through towering bushes and grasses while climbing up a mountainside along side each of them. What a great group.  I am also really thankful for our support team.  They knew exactly how to get us pumped up and ready for the next task.  One of my favorite moments (other than the moment when Jim and I were paddling with short stubby tree branches on the side of the raft, Titus was sitting directly on the bow of the raft paddling with this gigantic tree and singing old fisherman songs, and Kyle was hanging off the back of the raft kicking as hard as he could) was when we came to a checkpoint, absolutely exhausted after hiking/running up a mountain, and our support crew hands us bike helmets filled with water, Gatorade, gu, and snacks.  I wanted to cry I was so grateful.  They were absolutely amazing. 

Team Velocirafters is planing a return, Lost World style next year.  I can't wait. 

August 19, 2016: diva baby

I just think he is the cutest. Bald head and everything. 

August 18, 2016: termination catastrophe

I nearly got us all lost at Termination Point today.  Termination Point is a loop trail with a beautiful look out on a peninsula part way through the loop. I ALWAYS take the outside trail going to the point.  It's a bit harder physically, but it's much easier to navigate.  I just take it to the point and double back on the same trail.  I have taken the inside loop before, but I always go with other people who know what they're doing, so I never really pay attention. 

So leading my family through this loop was a bit of a mistake. 

We got turned around part way through the loop.  At one point I think we started following a game trail because the path narrowed and we were nearly bushwacking through Devils Club, which is this horrid plant that has spines on its stem and leaves.  Poor Arthur got scratched in his face when he was on my back.  We backtracked a couple different times before we got on the right trail again, but by that time it was too late to make it to the point.  

I have a feeling my family may never want to come visit me again.  Or next year, they're going to schedule their visit for when I am back in school again.  

August 16, 2016: finally! Pyramid!

I have been wanting to climb Pyramid for the last year, and we finally made it happen today! My dad, Meagan, Jesse, Jesse's boyfriend Barry, and our friend Kelly set out to conquer this mountain today.  Pyramid is a level 5 peak, which means it's pretty difficult.  It's fairly steep, and the last 100 yards or so require some hands and knees, scramble/rock climb action.  I was fairly certain most of my family hadn't climbed something like this before, so I wasn't sure how it was going to go.  They rocked it! I love this mountain because you can easily stop at nearly the peak and get great views while avoiding all the insane rock climbing parts, or you can just go for it, and get all the way up if you don't mind a little more nervous effort.  Some of us stopped at the base of the peak, and some of us chose to summit it.  My dad was the wild card- the man is super fit and spends a ton of time traipsing around in the woods, but he lost his big toe in a motorcycle accident years ago.  Not so good when teetering on the edge of mountain cliffs.  He decided to go to the top, and he was calm and collected the entire hike.  After we reached the peak, we climbed back down to the spot where the rest of our family was waiting for us.  At this point, he made it clear that he was "never going to do anything like that ever again.  And your mom would have lost her shit if she knew what we just did."     :)

It's true.  She would.  Which is why I never give too many details when I describe some of my hiking adventures here. 

August 15, 2016: kayaking!

Arthur is a natural born kayaker.  We took him out on this little lake today and he loved it.  He even paddled pretty well! My dad bought this kayak for fishing purposes (which they used it today and caught a few trout in the lake) but I can tell we are going to love it just for paddling purposes!  

August 14, 2016: BUTT SNAG!

We went fishing tonight at the Buskin.  Arthur is surprisingly good at casting!  The kid even had a salmon on his line... Until I lost it for him.  Kyle has done a great job of teaching him casting safety.  He makes sure not to cast when people are near, waits patiently while you untangle his line for him, and knows how to ask for help rather than swing his pole around like a crazy man. At one point, I think he got a little excited and didn't look before casting, because he ended up snagging Kyle in the butt.  Into the flesh.  It was stuck pretty good.  I was first to respond but once I found out that the hook was in kyles butt cheek, I put Barry in charge of digging it out.  I love my brother in law, but we're not that close :).  No surgery needed; Barry got the hook out with minimal damage.  You would have thought it was a major emergency though, by all the yelping that came from Kyle! 

August 13, 2016: game nights

My family is awesome.  Especially on game nights.  If you want to see us completely lose our minds and act like crazy fools, give us some snacks, comfy pjs, and a board game.  For some reason we always end up slap happy and ridiculous.  

August 12, 2016: sisters!

It's so good to be together again!!!!!!  It's been a year since the three of us were in the same place.  I love each of my sisters dearly individually, but I am happiest when we are all together.  None of us know what's in store for us down the road, so we are cherishing the time we have together! 

August 11, 2016: Antone Larsen Bay

This afternoon we kayaked in Antone Larsen Bay.  It was gorgeous, but there are no whales in the bay.  We are officially whale adrenaline junkies.  We loved the views here, but we really missed the anticipation of witnessing huge mammals swimming underneath us. 

August 10, 2016: surfers beach camping

This is my summer life!  I'm so thankful to live in a place where we can drive 40 seconds or 40 minutes and have a ton of options for great camping.  (Side note: if you choose to drive 40 minutes for good camping, make sure you have enough gas to get you there and back.  Especially when the drive has no cell service.  Didn't run out, but I only had 4 miles left before I did!) 

August 9, 2016: best whale sighting ever

This was one of my favorite days in Kodiak.  

Emma and I took the kayak out to Near Island.  I kayaked here a couple days ago and it was beautiful, so I was excited to show Emma this part of the island.  I didn't expect to see whales in the water with us!  I knew that kayaking with whales was a possibility, but I didn't actually think we would see one.  The first one we saw seemed really close, but it was still a ways out.  Emma kept her cool, but I freaked out a little.  I have seen one too many YouTube videos of whales coming up for air directly underneath kayakers, or whales breaching right next to kayakers, etc.  freaks me out.  Thankfully, this guy was far enough away that I felt comfortable that he wasn't going to toss me into the water.  We saw one or two more in the far distance and felt pretty lucky to have witnessed them.  We turned our kayak toward another island and began paddling again.  All of a sudden, we heard this huge puff of air and splash of water behind us.  We both turned to see a gigantic humpback whale come up for air no more than 40 feet directly behind us.  I screamed like a crazy lady and began paddling like my life depended on it, as if I could outrun a freaking whale.  I screamed for Emma to paddle faster, then decided to scream at her to take a picture of it instead.  While she tried to get her phone out, I watched this massive mammal float at the surface of the water, turn its body more so it was facing us, and slowly disappear under the surface of the water.  Emma got her camera ready and we waited for the whale to resurface.  I waited, imagining his massive tail coming out of the water and flipping us over, or his huge belly jumping out and landing on top of us, or his back coming up and lifting us out of the water.  Every scene from "The Heart of the Sea" played through my mind and I wondered if having something truly terrifying happen was worth the story later. 

Fortunately for us, the whale decided that we weren't too interesting.  When he surfaced again, he was much further away and was clearly swimming back out to sea.  We never got a good picture of him (Emma's video of us waiting for him to resurface is just 2 shaky minutes of us giggling hysterically).  

What an experience! 

August 8, 2016: EMMA!!!!!!!!!

Emma is here and it makes me so happy!! I haven't had her puppy chow in almost 2 years, so I made her make me a batch.  I'm so thankful this girl took time to come see me this week! She is one of my favorite people ever, so I am so excited to hang out with her and show her my home! 

August 7, 2016: huge rainbow

You can't really tell, but this is the widest rainbow I have ever seen.  It's nuts! 

August 6, 2016: free time goals

You know you teach in Kodiak when on a weekend conference trip you go to a mall in your spare time and get Wetzle Pretzels! Target is happening tomorrow.  I'm so excited! 

August 5, 2016: What happens in Tacoma...

We are in Tacoma for the weekend for a conference.  Tomorrow, we work hard.  Tonight, we ride rhe mechanical bull... 

August 4, 2016: get it, Penny

We had a clothing swap at Laura's house tonight, and when I walked by the open door to Laura's room, we found Penny like this.  Too funny!! 

August 3, 2016: kayak's maiden voyage

My dad bought us a kayak.  He wanted to be able to fish from it when he comes to visit in a couple weeks.  I took it out for the first time today. 

I am hooked.  What a fun way to hang out on the island! Laura joined Kinsey and I, and together we went around various islands and got glimpses of puffins, otters, seagulls, and jellyfish.  The weather was gorgeous.  The company was unbeatable.  I think I am really going to love having a kayak around! 

August 2, 2016: sticky situation

I went hiking with my coworker and her kids today. (One was my former student). It was SO GREAT spending time with them on the trails.  What a fun family!! The best part of the hike was when Ashley put her backpack on and saw this slug had crawled INSIDE her clip!  It took a while to fish the guy out! Cracked us all up for sure! 

August 1, 2016: catch of the day

Great catch, Larry! 

A group of us went fishing tonight, and for a while, Alanna's dad had the most exciting catch :)

Thankfully, Da caught an actual fish and we had a little more excitement on the river tonight! 

July 31, 2016: new roomie for a couple days

Henry got hand, foot, and mouth disease.    So... Arthur gets to have a sleepover at Aunt Mandy's house!  He stayed with me for two nights, and we had a blast.  The only mishap was one night when he fell out of the bed at about 2:30am.  He wondered a little, and I jumped out to check on him.  Since he was already kind of awake, I figured he should go potty.  I took him to the bathroom where he ended up peeing all over the place because he was still basically sleeping.  As he was peeing all over the back of the toilet, I was holding the seat up, and I set it down to grab a towel... Right on his wiener.  The poor kid started screaming, and I tried to console him while also trying not to step in the pee puddle on the floor.  

Aunt Mandy is definitely a newbie.

I made up for it by letting him help me do all my laundry :)

July 30, 2016: team quintathalon

Gooooooo, Stephanie! This girl was the driving force behind getting a team together for this team Quintathalon.  She found a woman to swim, bike, rifle shoot, kayak, and run.  She's a bit driven :). I did the running portion of the race, and she is obviously doing the kayak part. We had a ton of fun and I met a couple new people in the process.  

July 29, 2016: goodbye, Janessa!

This is Joel, throwing Cheetos onto Jim's head while we played minute to win it games.  Our good friend, Janessa, is moving away, so this was her going away party.  We will miss her dearly! Nothing says "we are so thankful we had you in our lives and we wish the best for you in the future" like a head full of shaving cream and snacks.  

July 28, 2016: uno in a fort

Uno with this guy makes any rainy day a good one. 

July 27, 2016: birthday buddies!

I had a joint birthday party with my friend Joel today.  We are exactly 10 years apart.  (The candles are supposed to say 23 and 33).   I kind of love that I have friends who are so much younger than I am.  I've always had older friends, or friends who are right around my age, but this is the first time that most of my friends are significantly younger than I am.  At first I was a little self conscious of this, but now I just love it.  These people make me so happy, so why wouldn't I want to be around around them? 

Today I felt really loved on and really blessed to have found such great friends on a tiny little island.  I work with amazing coworkers, have found incredible friends through my church, and have met all sorts of great people in the most random ways.  Cheers to another year of laughs and great conversations with my Kodiak family! 

July 26, 2016: Alutiiq symbols

Alanna's dad is in town for a couple weeks.  We went to the Alutiiq museum today with our friend Jim.  It's the first time I have made it to the museum.  I was really intrigued by many different parts of the museum, but especially by the basket weaving samples and the native symbols.  I can't get over how awesome the one of the guy and the fish is! 

I haven't really spent time learning about the native culture here on the island, and that is something I would really like to do this year.  I'd love to spend time in the villages and learn about how life is lived there.  Learning Alutiiq phrases is part of our suggested social studies curriculum, so I want to be more intentional about diving into that with the kids this year! 

July 24, 2016: it's pretty

In all honesty, I was so far behind on my blog, I can't remember why I took this picture.  I am fairly certain I went for a run before church, walked most of it because I was so tired, and ended up sitting on this cliff for a while to rest.  I think that was today.  Definitely could have been another day altogether. :) 

July 23, 2016: passions, pasta, and pistols

Poor Pepi Roni has been murdered! Who could have killed him? Was it Father Alfredo? Tara Misu? Marco Roni? 

I haven't laughed this hard in a while.  Everyone knows I love a good dress up party, and this one was hysterical.  Particularly the times when Kyle lost his Italian accent, and in order to get it back he would quietly say to himself "it's a me- Mario." Then jump right back into character! 

July 22, 2016: #hugeheadproblems

Help me! My head is huge and I can't hold it up and swing at the same time! 

July 21: Chiniak on a motorcycle

Haha.  It looks like he's drinking pee.  It's chai tea, I swear. 

We rode out to Chiniak on a motorcycle.  What a fun day.  I hadn't been on a motorcycle in years, and the 45 minute ride out here is beautiful.  Huge mountains, crisp wind, monstrous cows on the side of the road, pristine lakes... What a ride!  Building bridges to cross ditches on the motorcycle, exploring old WWII bunkers, and my first Alaskan swim made this a great summer day!  Plus this guy is a huge goof, so you can't help but have fun when you hang out with him. 

July 19, 2016: weekly walks: Summer addition

So Alanna and I haven't really kept up our walking over the summer, but we did tonight! We walked through Abercrombie and stopped for a few minutes to look through the tiny tide pools.  We didn't see much, but enjoyed the pretty view along the ocean.  Does this get old? I can't imagine it does. 

July 18, 2016: lessons in poo

We learned a valuable lesson about poo today.  But it takes a short story to explain it. 

My friend who will remain nameless and I went on a new hike today.  We have heard that there are lots of bears on this hike, so we made sure we had our spray, and we made lots of noise along the way.  We kept running into piles of poo like this along the trail.  They looked fresh; they were still glistening as if they just came from the bear's bottom.  And they were huge.  We were kind of intimidated. 

We passed 5 or 6 of these piles along the trail, each looking fresh, so our anxiety continued to grow.  But, being seasoned Kodiak hikers, we weren't about to turn around because of some poo.  After about 3 miles of walking, my friend realized that she too needed to go poo.  Like, now.  At this point, we were on the trail, in the woods, completely surrounded by Devil's Club, which is this really intense plant covered in sharp thorns.  Between that and the Bears, we decided it was best if she just pooed right off the path rather than wandered into the woods too far.  She literally liqui-pooed almost directly onto the path.  Then we walked away as fast as possible so nobody could connect us with the pile.

After about another half mile or so, the trail came to an end and we had to turn around and head back the way we came.  When we got back to my friend's poo pile, it was SWARMING with flies.  Hundreds had found their way to her pile.  Clouds of them.  We were so grossed out, but at the same time we realized "That bear poop isn't that fresh! There were no flies on it!!"  (Yes, we basically shouted this in unison).  Lesson learned: rejoice in bear poo that has no flies on it. 

July 17, 2016: North Sister

This morning we woke up, packed up camp, (I peed while watching a mountain goat climb up the ridge), hiked down to the ridge between Middle Sister and North Sister, dropped our packs, ascended North Sister, took this snazzy picture, hiked back to our packs, hiked down the mountain, trekked back to our cars, and made it to church by 10:45.  Go us! 

July 16, 2016: Three Sisters Hike

I really like these people.  

One of my summer goals was to hike up all three sisters in one trip.  I have hiked North Sister before and loved that hike, so I was beyond excited when Alanna suggested we do a backpacking trip and camp overnight on the sisters.  Yes!! 

We started by hiking with our packs up the backside of Middle Sister.  Middle Sister is the shortest of the sisters and looks completely mundane wedged between the other two.  I was feeling sorry for her as we ascended.  North Sister definitely gets all the hype in Kodiak, South Sister is pretty tall and majestic, and poor Middle Sister is suffering from Middle Sister syndrome.  However, I learned quickly that though Middle Sister looks timid and humble, she is a terror.  The sides of this mountain were rocky and steep, and this turned out to be the most intimidating climb I have done thus far.  After we reached the top of Middle Sister, we threw off our packs and hiked to the top of South Sister. That's where this picture was taken.  You can see Middle and North Sister behind us.  We hiked back down to our packs, set up camp, made dinner (freeze dried pasta is the BEST), watched a gorgeous sunset and enjoyed each other's company.  

The sunset was amazing. 

July 15, 2016: summer stroll

My favorite part of pushing Henry in the stroller is when he cranes his fat neck to look at you through the mesh in the top of the stroller.  Most of the time he smiles at you, but sometimes he just looks at you like YOU'RE the strange one. 

July 14, 2016: dinner at Aunt Mandy's!

I couldn't pick between these two pictures today because both of them made me so happy.  Meg and the boys came over to my house for dinner and I made them tofu stirfry.  This picture is Arthur, looking very pleased with himself for successfully learning how to use "chompsticks" so he can "be like Alanna" 

And here is Henry.  Picking up on some bad habits early. 

July 13, 2016: It's good to be back

These two were my first friends that I made on my own in Kodiak.  I met them on an Audibon hike last August, and I am extremely grateful we remained friends.  How can you not love these weirdos?

June 20, 2016: Final thoughts on my first year

So I officially made it through my first year as an Alaskan.  I couldn't be happier with my decision to move to Kodiak.  There were some extremely rough moments along the way.  Between having a really hard time transitioning to a new grade level in school, missing my friends and family more than I thought I would, tearing up during almost every episode of Chicago PD because of an overload of nostalgia, and having insane cravings for Panera, Chipotle, Portillos, a good margarita, and Dairy Queen, this year has had some challenges.  But the benefits have far outweighed those.  I am in love with the way of life here.  I love living so close to my nephews.  I have met amazing friends and can't get enough of the adventure that hangs out around every corner.  I have a new found appreciation for small town living.

I was having coffee with a friend while I was back in Michigan.  She was telling me about her twin daughters and how they are the most fearless children she has ever seen.  They jump into every situation with their entire selves, leaving no room for trepidation.  I told her I was jealous of them, and I wished I had that sense of fearlessness.  My friend told me that she thought I did, and I explained to her that I am a total break rider.  I love adventure, and I am usually up for anything, but once I am out there, I am terrified.  When I'm biking down a hill, I'm riding my breaks.  When I'm climbing a mountain, I'm taking the easiest, least scary path.  I'll get out there, but my fear sometimes holds me back from really experiencing adventures fully.

After coffee, I kept thinking about this, and I realize that I tend to ride the breaks a lot in other areas of life too.  Whether it's in my job, my relationships, and even my faith, I have a hard time fully letting go and diving in.  I hold back out of fear or uncertainty.  I look back on this year and can see that even though I have experienced so much, learned so much, lived so much, I have allowed myself to miss out on the fullness of these experiences.  Fear sucks. 

So this year, my goal is to not hold back.  Take risks in relationships.  Take risks in the classroom.  Trust God that He fulfills His promises and that He wants to use me on a daily basis.  

While I was home, lots of people asked me what my plans are for the future.  I have none!  Well, my plan is to listen to the Lord and be obedient.   I love living here, and would be happy to stay.  Meagan and Kyle are here for two more years, and I would love to be here for both of those years.  If God wants me to move before then, I'll go.  I know that before coming here, I was contemplating teaching abroad somewhere, and I would still love to do that at some point in my life.  That might be a great post Alaskan life choice.  :)   I looked into missions before moving here, and if God tells me to go, I am praying I listen.  I'm not too stressed about it though!  I'm focusing more on trying to listen to the Lord in the little day to day things.  I just want to love Him and be obedient.  

I am thankful to Him for the blessings I have received this past year.  His faithfulness is astounding.  Despite the countless times I have let my sin take over, He has given me the grace to start over.  I have a lot of those ugly moments, and I am grateful for a Savior who loves me so much in spite of those moments that He died to give me life.  When it all comes down to it, bear sightings, mountains, good friends, tide pools, camping trips, and cute nephews are nothing compared to His love.