It's time for me to fly...

I realize now that I never really told anyone that doesn't live in Alaska how Mary and I got our jobs. She wrote ALLLLLL about it in her blog (if you want to check it out here) I had almost forgotten our journey! It was a good reminder of how blessed we are! : )

The countdown has officially started! We are leaving in approx. 5 days :D :S As of right now I am super excited, I mean I'll have own classroom (which is what I wanted) and I have a pretty stellar roommate as well. However, I anticipate that come Monday morning, I will be more nervous than watching last years SuperBowl (GO PACK GO) I mean there are a lot of pressures with being a first time teacher. Not only a first time teacher, but a teacher out in the bush. I really have no idea what to expect. I know that there are going to be other teachers there that are in the same situation as Mary and I, but it's a little scary to think about. I know that I have nothing to worry about because God is ALWAYS looking out for me, sometimes I just can't help it though when my mind gets the best of me! 

One thing that has really helped this process is packing and shipping stuff. Let me tell you last week was hell. Monday, Mary and I (and our mothers) went to the local grocery store Three Bears (similar to a Costco, but not as big) We went with the mind set of buying enough food to last us until Christmas. I've decided it's pointless. I mean how can you possibly know what you're going to need/want for the next three months!? We ended up leaving the store quite a hefty list of things we'll need. Thankfully, the store is shipping it for us, so that was one less thing to worry about. 

Then it was on to packing. For those of you that don't know.....I HATE PACKING! I could think of so many things that I'd rather do than pack. Anyway, it became very stressful for me. I can never tell how much I'm going to need and want, so it took forever for me to go through things. I did however do a pretty good job (if you ask me) in the end...

 I fit everything that I think I'll need in 8 tubs total! Yeah that may seem like a lot but it's for a whole year! One tub is strictly school stuff: mainly children's books, some random supplies and books that I thought would be useful. Another tub (the big gray one) has our wii (that we scored at our going away party! Thank you Auntie Emily) and all the wii accessories that I could gather up! So, I guess really only 6 tubes were "personal" stuff ;) I am however finding things in my room that I forgot to pack so there might be another one :O

I was able to stuff ALL 8 tubs into my car. I'm pretty sure I would have gotten pulled over if any police officer would have seen me driving to anchorage this way. When I got to Anchorage there was another set of people shipping stuff out to their village (they had a TON more than Mary and I did) and they weren't very nice. I don't like when people make their comments about us teaching in the bush. I did end up letting them borrow my tape, since they had to buy more boxes due to their tubs being over weight (I was being the bigger person).

It has it's advantages. We had to send our stuff 2 weeks in advance so it would be there when we got there! Now I get to relax because pretty much everything has already been taken care of :D Hallelujah! 

The next time I post will most likely be from Chevak! Please keep Mary and I in your prayers as we start our adventure!