A new school year!

Well, I'm back in Napakiak for year 2! My summer felt unbelievably short. I visited 3 other states besides Pennsylvania and got to do a good number of things on my summer activity list! I'll share some summer pictures with you...

Saying goodbye in May :(....

I attended a conference in Anchorage at the end of May. My friend who is from Anchorage showed me around town. We went to this neat lookout where the view was amazing.

My dad and I took a trip to Seattle to do some sight seeing and explore the city! It was fun!

At the top of the Space Needle!

We also toured the Boeing building where they make airplanes! It is the largest building in the world by volume!! 98.3 acres! We weren't actually able to take pictures on the tour, but I got some nice ones in the gift shop area. 

Made from glass!

Some other pictures...

My friend Wynnie is getting married two weeks from today!!! We had her bridal shower and bachelorette party this summer. I'm heading back to Pennsylvania on August 26th for her big day!

My other friend, Emily, moved to Florida. I visited her one weekend and we went to Daytona Beach.

I was able to go hiking twice while I was home. We usually hike part of the Appalachian Trail and sometimes we run into hikers completing the entire thing. Wynnie and I met a hiker from Colorado who was staying at a shelter. We talked to him for about 10 minutes and he said he started the hike on May 2nd and wasn't going to finish until September!

I got a chance to visit one of my favorite places ever. Penn State!! I had time to get together with the teachers I used to work with and told them all about Alaska.

I also went to Atlantic City! I was lucky and won $100. We saw the Impractical Jokers...they were so funny! We even met Joe!!

The fun was over soon after that and I had to start packing! I think Hunter wanted to come with me. 

I even found his little toy mouse in my suitcase when I got to Anchorage!

I left for Alaska on August 6th and arrived around 12:30 a.m. the following day. My last flight I was able to stretch out in the entire row because the flight wasn't full. The next day was filled with shopping! I was so tired by the end of the day. I bought enough food and necessities to fill up 5 totes! My heaviest tote was 50 pounds and to send them all out to Napakiak it only cost about $80. That's quite different from the $75 it cost to send one 35 pound tote from Palmerton! I packed my totes in the Walmart parking lot...I got some weird looks but it was the easiest thing to do. So far my tote from Palmerton arrived as well as one of my totes from Anchorage. I'm hoping I get the other 4 either today or Monday!

 

I love Anchorage.

I saw a float plane take off from this lake by the airport!!

I left Anchorage on Saturday morning to start my two plane journey to Napakiak. Here are some pictures from the air. 

From my SMALL plane! The Kuskokwim River and the second picture is a MOOSE! My friend, Ryan, was my pilot and he found some moose! It was the first time I saw them so close to where I live!

I already had visitors the first day I was back. When a teacher arrives in the village everyone knows. 

These girls were pointing and yelling for me to open my door. It was 10:30 pm!!

The sunset is beautiful. 

School started yesterday. I'll say that it went much differently than last year. I have the same students so we already know each other which is a big help. Yesterday we played fun games and took a walk around the village with the entire school. Today and tomorrow I'll be getting ready for the upcoming week. We had training Monday through Thursday this week because we have lots of new teachers! We are still looking for a preschool teacher and a 4th, 5th, 6th grade teacher..so if anyone is interested let me know!! It's definitely an adventure. 

I was looking through some old photos earlier and came across one from my student teaching. I was reading a book titled, "Recess at 20 below" and told my students that I was moving to Alaska. Lynn was pointing to -20 on the thermometer! It's been a challenge living so far away from everything I know, but I've made great friends and learned so much about myself in the process. 

Hopefully I can keep this thing updated every month. I was debating whether or not I wanted to keep writing, but so many people encouraged me to keep going. Thank you!