Month of October

It's been a while since I've updated my blog, but life has been busier than I expected. We have had parent teacher conferences, district wide write, report cards, and Halloween. I've spent more time at the school this month trying to get things ready for my kids. We have had an interesting month to where every second we have is valuable. My kids are slowly starting to try more things then they would before and each day is getting a little easier. There have been times where my days have ended in me needing to just go for a walk to blow off steam. Luckily I have an amazing friend who will go with me to show me places in the village I havent been yet. We took one day after the snow storm and the scenery looked liked I had just walked into Narnia. It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful this place is and how it gets prettier every day with the snow.

In Arkansas we get snow, but never this much for this long. The maintenance guys at our school laugh because I get so excited when it snows. Then I open my mouth and said wow it's cold outside when the weather is close to single digits.... Their response is they laugh and say this is warm. I think i'm in for an interesting ride with this weather over the winter.

Last week I had my first run in with an upset parent and didn't know what to expect. My parents raised me that if you screw up that you need to own up to it and see what you can do to fix the situation. These kids were brought up in a completely different manner and getting used to it has proved to be quite the challenge for me. I overheard the parent discussing his problem with my bosses and got nervous. My first thought was did I handle the problem correctly? Thankfully my bosses saw nothing wrong with my actions and felt the punishment met the crime. This relieved a lot of stress off of me which I was very thankful for.

Football season has been therapy for me and I have a new found love for it. I find that after a hard week getting to go to another teacher's house to watch the Hogs play and socialize is just what I need. It is so amazing to have such a great staff to work with here. They definitely have made my experience in the bush that much better.

This past week I've been in Anchorage helping a friend out who had surgery on her knee. We flew to St. Mary's on Saturday and we hoped to have an easy flight out that afternoon so we could enjoy some Taco Bell. Someone had other plans and a blizzard hit St. Mary's cancelling our flight. In the lower 48 this wouldn't be stressful because you could rent a car and head to a cheap hotel. In Bush Alaska you have to rely on the kindness of strangers. One of my very amazing friends Jamie who teaches in another village asked how our flight had gone. I explained we were stuck and with in ten minutes a lady came up and asked Are you Paige and Sarah? Turns out she was Jamie's Mentor and she had been dropping her husband off when they realized their flight was cancelled too. So they so graceiously took us home with them, fed us, let us watch the Hogs game and let us stay the night. The next morning we woke up praying for good weather and thankfully arrived in Anchorage. This week has been full of Dr. Appt's, good food, great friends, and shopping (maybe a little too much of the last one). Our trip comes to an end tomorrow as we hope the weather is clear in Anchorage, St. Mary's and our villages. It's nice to get a break to come into civilization, but I m ready to go to the village. Once you get used to not having things easy and accessible to you it's easy to enjoy the privileges of living in a city. However, I miss the quiet of living in a village. You don't have to worry about driving all over to get things, because you either have it or you live with out it.

Part of my new winter gear! :)

View from our room at the Hilton

It's the little things in life. :)

I could get used to seeing this everyday

Our walk to the dock

Outside my house

Anchorage

Finally Leaving St. Mary's airport

Only 2 more weeks till Thanksgiving and 40 till I'm in God's country for Christmas. Love and miss you all! :)