Gee...Haw....Mush!

Well, I had one of my dreams come true! I got to mush! Jason and Myra know John Corta who ran the Iditarod twice. He said he was willing to take me. I didn't know it was 25 below in Galena when we went. We harnessed the dogs. I learned how to do it and harnessed two! All the dogs were so friendly. Jason took his own team of 6 or so dogs and I sat in John's sled for part of the time. The take off was exhilarating! I was a little scared because Myra and Jason were telling me their experiences of falling out of the sled, getting bruises, etc. Yikes! The snow was fluffy and powdery, the sun just about setting, the dogs excited, and then we saw something huge! A bull moose running on the trail. The dogs started barking and speeding up. whoo hoo! They seem so huge in the white snow. We went by some beaver dams and some overlfow. A little scary there was some open water and the dogs went right through it, no problem. Then, my hands started getting really, really cold. So we both thought that if I got on my own dog sled and team! It was so cool! I went back into the sled and put hand warmers in and then put my hand sin beaver mitts. They finally warmed up and then my feet went a little numb. We got back to the dog yard and went in to get carrot cake and tea along with wood stove fire! This was the highlight of my trip in Galena!

That night, we also went over to Jason and Myra's friends house. It was so great meeting new people, hearing how God is working in their lives, and playing games with the kids. I stayed up past my bedtime! Can you guess how late? 3 am! I'm growing up!

I'm here in Unalakleet watching the last of the tv. I think I watched my yearly quota of tv.

I'm so excited to see Berry! I'll try posting mushing photos later.

Merry Christmas to Berry!

Berry has her own tradition for Christmas. I've been getting updates from Terry about how she is doing. She was not satisfied with her raw hide bones. So let's take a trip down memory lane to Christmas last year. Jason and Myra watched Berry while I went to WI for Christmas. She had no manners and was still a young pup. Just take a guess what kind of mischief she got into. First, she got into salmon fish oil and then tempted Kemper. Maybe because she missed me so much and wanted more attention, she then decided she wanted something sweet, so the gum drops mysteriously disappeared. After these two attention getters, she then decided to take Myra and Jason's butter off the table along with breaking the dish.

This year, she also took the butter off of Terry's table and ate it. Other than that update, Berry is having fun with Spanky playing, chasing, running, and then trying to find a hiding spot to rest because Spanky will not stop playing. I think this is so funny because two years ago she was like Spanky. It's nice to know she is maturing a little bit.

I do miss her a ton and can't wait to go home to see her and take her for walks and most of all, cuddle, cuddle, cuddle.

Earlier today, Jason, Myra, and I went for a hike along a gorgeous path out by the airport. Another reason why I am falling in love with Galena is the variety of trails to snowmachine, ski, and walk. Myra went for her run back, and Jason and I went hunting for rabbits off the trail in the slough. They were hiding and so were the birds, but it felt so good to get exercise and to sweat. It was neat to see where moose and her calf bedded down.

Off to a lasagna dinner later at Myra and Jason's friends house, then maybe a movie. Tomorrow, I'm hoping for an opportunity to dog mush.

Merry Christmas!

Kemper opening presents was the focus of Christmas morning. He would take one piece of at a time. We were opening presents by 8:30 am or so. It was fun!

Harris' gave themselves a new flatscreen TV. It's nice. Romay was so excited for each of her presents. I was too! I love giving presents more than recieving and then you get ideas for next year while people are opening this years.

I love my presents I got: camelbak water bottle, Muppets Christmas, Unalakleet Covenant Church Cookbook (from Gram), key hook shelf (since I lose my keys often....funny how I don't lose my keys since Myra and Jason moved away...I think it was a scheme), an awesome coffee cup from Romay with a photo of herself of her her first fox she trapped, and a stocking.

Myra was sweet and hid it, which is a tradition in my family. It was in the freezer. I got yummy soap that Kemper almost bit a piece while trying to open, reeses peanut butter cups, chap stick, candle.

Sorry, I think the video was too long! You'll just have to imagine!

Today

Myra made a wonderful, first time, sausage and biscuits for breakfast. Yum!

Today we are going sledding in the sand dunes.

Tonight we get to taste the fruits of our labor from last night: blueberry pie, pumpkin pie, wing dings (little chicken wings) with marinade, bean dip.

I'm pretty excited to also to be part of a Harris Christmas Eve tradition. We get to open a present early! Pajamas! It's nice to also have a special dinner. At my Nanna's we have shrimp, breadsticks, fruit salad, brocolli, potatoes, etc. Then we would set out the gifts.

Off until later.

Notice our new jammies! Kemper opened a present too! On the next post be on the lookout for a video of Kemper opening presents! I hope I'm techie enough.

Skiing in Galena

The first pic is one of me trying to go up this steep bank. I thought I knew what I was doing until I had Sarah Brown and Jason give me some hints. Speaking of Sarah Brown, wow, if you thought I was a spaz, she definately is, 2x more.

I'm falling in love with Galena, the more I hear about it. The trees are so huge and make me feel like I'm in Wisconsin with the tall birch. The cottonwood are also beautiful. Yes, I'm thankful we have trees in Koyuk, one of the only villages in our district that does.

These other pics have to be the coolest with the snow and the color of the sky. Th trails were amazing because you would just glide because they were so smooth.

Romay and her friend Sarah followed and went ahead with the snowmachine. Kemper swam through the deep snow and was anxious to see something, a rabbit, a ptarmigan, or ruffed grouse.

More of Harris Fun Times

Here are some more photos of fun times. Kemper is trying to suffocate Jason because he is jealous that Jason is cuddling with Myra.

This is the wood stove that I have at the cabin I'm staying at. Last night, we sat around and visited along with a glass of wine.

I swear I was going to roll over and die, my stomach hurt so bad.

Here the Harris' Christmas Tree.

This is my favorite dog after Berry. Actually, this is Berry's first boyfriend! Kemper is the 2nd coolest dog ever.

This is the poor cat who didn't let anyone get her while they were laying in the cement while the Frisbees were laying cement down. Romay is brushing and cutting the matted knots out. She is so good with animals, I think she would make a good vet.

Harris' House

Welcome to the Harris' House! These are Myra's mukluks made by Gram. The first day at Jason and Myra was so relaxing. I still wasn't feeling myself so I laid around all day. I watched Gram trace, cut beaver skin with her ulu and she even taught me how too! She cut skins for one of Jason and Myra's neighbors. Romay mysteriously grew a beaver mustasch,

Unexpected Sickness

Don't worry...I'm not pregnant! I woke up the next morning and had the flu bad! I was not able to go out with my mentor and her family. I was really bummed but I am thankful that God knows my needs before I do. He knew I needed to rest because it it was up to me, I would have kept going. I felt lightheaded and almost fainted. Then about 10 minutes later, I started puking. I really hate that part of being sick and then the other end of started getting sick. So there was no eating out, grocery shopping for me. I think I watched my quota of TV for an entire year! I watched this amazing Christmas Concert by Faith Hill. It was so nice to remember the miracle of Jesus. It was a sweet time to thank and praise God for his most precious gift to us. He is so good to us! I think I also watched four hours of C and I.

I was feeling a little better by the time bedtime came. I still felt a little queezy and lightheaded but needed to get my grocery shopping done. After $700 and $200 more for shipping I was finished. Silly me...I thought I was only going to spend 400 or so. Eating organic and environmentally friendly is expensive but well worth it.

Since, I didn't eat out at all Saturday night, I treated myself to a hair cut at JCPENNY's. Man, I thought she was going to rip my hair out, but she cut my hair so good. I got more layers which made it quite a bit shorter, but it's very cute. I had a hard time forgetting how much it cost though.

I left Anchorage to Galena at about 4pm. I was so excited I could scream! I was getting anxious for the plane to finally land.

Unalakleet to Anchorage

I left to go to Unalakleet at about 11 am and arrived. It was nice to have 3-4 hours to relax when I was super exhausted. I checked in for my 4 pm flight, went to the local restuarant to have an awesome spinach salad, rueben, apple juice and stuff envelopes with Christmas Cards and letters. I headed to the local coffee shop to have a Macky Mocha with butterscotch. Unfortunatley, it was not opened when the owner told me it was suppose to be. Darn it. I was craving it. Then at 4:30 many Koyuk and other Unalakleet teachers left on a 17 seater plane to Anchorage. It was ideal because you do not need to go through security.

We arrrived and we went to our hotel: Courtyard in Marriot. I felt like I was so rich. The rooms were spectacular, there was a bar, a pool, a spa. Then, we were off to Moose's Tooth. This is the best restuarant in Anchorage to go to for pizza and beer. I hate beer but the flavors seemed so good. I thought of you Dad. Raspberry Wheat, Apple Cider, etc. We got the sampler and I had to quit after four small sips. Then, we headed to our hotel room to sit in the hot tub. So relaxing! I roomed with Barb (used to teach in Koyuk), hung out with Sarah (pre-k teacher) and Kira (our school counselor). I was excited for the next day to spend time with my old mentor, now site evaluator and a good friend, her husband, and son and his baby. I love babies!

Christmas Classroom Party and Take Off

This was hectic morning. We usually have our party in the afternoon, but I got permission to leave at 10:30 am. I was a little nervous..wondering if I would actually get out of Koyuk because Bering Air did not fly out the day before. Ok, back to the Christmas Party. We of course waited for the students who did not arrive and the kids were so patient. I had them open the presents I gave them: homemade playdoe and a rhyming book. They didn't know exactly what it was. It was so pretty with glitter in it. Then they opened their gift exchange presents. One student got a remote control snowmachine. I couldn't think of better student to get that snowmachine.

Then, I got ready for my flight and the janitors gave me my two boxes full of Christmas presents from Nanna and Mom and Dad. Some neat ones!

Christmas Program

Well it was a successful Christmas Program this year. My students chose their songs: Three Little Fish, Hot Cross Buns, and Santa's Coming. Part of Santa's coming the kids sing, "Hear him laughing, (the kids pretend to laugh)". It's quite adorable! There was some neat songs and plays this year: Christmas Around the World was 3/4 grades. They sang a song from Hawaii and another song from a different culture. Then, each pair said Merry Christmas in a different language. The JR. High put on a play "How the Grinch Won Christmas." There was a wrestling match between Santa and the Grinch with actual Koyuk cheerleaders on each side. The best part of the Christmas Program was the slideshow Jessica's students put together with pictures of all the students in the school. They got their pictures taken behind a handmade back drop. I almost cried when I saw one of my students holding a snowball and looking up at it. She looked so precious! We had refreshments afterwards and the next day was our Christmas Classroom party and off to Galena!

Skiing during Thanksgiving

Well, I made my first ski trip yesterday with Mandy. It was so flippin cold I was debating whether or not I should even go. I'm glad I went. I was sweating the whole time but it felt good to get harder exercise rather than a walk. I'm getting a little bored with just walks. I was surprised my arms were so tired from using the ski poles. I'm ready for a big hill!

I of course could not catch Berry to take a photo with me, so these will just have to do. As you can see I live in a beautiful village. I'm so blessed. It was so cold out that my camera battery died. I was too bad because at the end of our ski, there was the most beautiful sunsets. Bright, bright, orange with the mountains silloueted! It was breathtaking!

Today is a snowshoeing day! I'm hoping to plan it right so I can get a photo of the sunset.

Enjoy

Random Photos

First Photo:
This is Leona. She's a sixth grader who has an amazing sense of humor. We go for walks and she comes and visits often. She asks "How come?" for obvious things. Example, "How come you have a table?"

Second Photo:
My Seal Skin, beaver slippers. They were made by a woman in Shishmiraff. They are so comfy!

Third Photo:
One of Berry's friend. Spanky. A German shepherd. He so sweet!

Fourth Photo:
Berry and Me. She is a lap dog. When I'm on the floor. She gets up on my lap and sits there. I love her!

Fifth Photo:
Juno is another friend of Berry's. She belong to Sarah the preschool teacher. We go on walks mostly every night. Little Juno copies Berry by jumping like a rabbit. I get to watch Juno when I come back from Galena. She is seems more hyper than what Berry was when she was a puppy. It will be interesting.

Sixth Photo:
Berry in the Fall time.

Seventh Photo:
Leona and her sister brought their new puppy over and it was so cute to see Berry so curious. Berry would bark softly and then back away. She would also try to play with it but knew when to be careful. The little puppy was cute because it batted Berry on the nose.

Eighth Photo:
This is Berry in the Valley outside of Anchorage: Palmer, Wasilla area. She was staying there while I was on my trip with Jessica. Crystal took her and her daughter up to this mountain. Crystal said Berry just loved her daughter. Berry does love kids a lot. Funny...so do I.

Ninth Photo:
Alison with the green blanket and Anna is behind her. I promised these girls they could sleepover. They randomly asked one Friday night and figured I better follow through with my promise. They are such sweet, kind, fun girls. I had them both in Kindergarten and they are now in 3rd and 4th grade. As you can see Berry is showin some lovin. She loves to cuddle.

Also check out the Halloween post and Thanksgiving post for photos.

Check back later for photos on my first ski this winter.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, Thanksgiving was finally here. I have so much to be thankful for. Let me list some things:

The four day break away from school.

Extra Time with Berry

Good food

My Relationship with God

The snow to go skiing

For God working in my life

For plans to work out at Christmas to go see Myra and Jason

Friends and Family

The women in the Bible Study

It was a nice, quiet, small Thanksgiving. I loved it. Every year the community does a Thanksgiving feast. I usually don't go because I feel like staying home and being by myself. I love to cook so it was nice to spend time by myself cooking the turkey, baking the pies and sweet potatoes. I went for a walk with Berry down to the beach. It's pretty funny seeing her slip and slide on the ice when she gets excited and runs really fast. The wind made it really cold..12 below.

Matt and Mandy, Sarah came over to my place for Thanksgiving dinner. We had fresh salad ( a real treat since we don't get romaine lettuce), fresh green beans, biscuits, mashed potatoes, perogies (cheese and potato stuffed inside a pasta), pumpkin pie, stuffing. We had enough food to feed 8! So thankful for leftovers too. That means I can take a break from cooking! I do plan to make some soup with the carcus though.

We played Catch Phrase, watched Berry and the puppy-Juno play. Man that little pup is wild! Constantly on the go. Was Berry really like that when she was a pup? I guess I forgot! I get to watch this little rascal when I come back from Christmas. That should be interesting and tiriing.

It was a little disappointing not spending Thanksgiving with Jason, Myra, Gram, and the kids, but I keep telling myself three more weeks!

I plan to do some skiing over this break, get Christmas presents bought, get Christmas gifts gathered and wrapped, write my Christmas letter, watch movies, take time for myself!

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!

A quick note

Hello All,

Can you believe I'm sick again! Ugh! It was my own fault for staying up late Friday and Saturday. I had a sleepover with three amazing, kind, fun girls. Berry enjoyed cuddling with them. I have the cutest pictures. I'll have to post. It's kind of a pain to post because I can't post pictures when I am home because there is a bad internet connection so I have to do it at school. Then, I really don't feel like staying later when I am through with work.

What a nice day to veg. A movie, talking with family and Betty. Some friends took Berry out for me. Nice. Nothing new except I'm getting excited for Christmas but more Thanksgiving because it means a break from school. I'm feeling a little weary with school. The saturday work days are getting old. It seems like 1 day to myself is not enough.

Later.

Home sick

Well, after weeks of the flu going around, I finally got it. I'm so thankful that I didn't get the puking kind, just the other one if you know what I mean. I went to work on Thursday and that was a huge mistake! I felt awful all day and felt like passing out when I got home at 3:35. I laid down and watched a movie and got up the next morning to do sub plans for Friday. It's such a pain to do sub plans but well worth it in the end. I had a relaxing day. Rested a couple hours. It's hard for me to sleep during the day. Read, got some laundry done, dishes put away, watched two movies.

Amazing Grace and Pride. They both excellent movies if you have not seen them!

I'll go to work all day tomorrow to plan for next week.

Gosh...God is good. I prayed for plans to work out for Christmas and they did. I had to get permission from my superintendent to leave early on Friday and he let me. I never thought that would happen because I heard he wasn't letting anyone go early. I found someone to watch Berry and Jason and Myra found me a place to stay while I'm there since their apartment is so small. Even though it would be nice for at least one sleepover. My other flights cost me what I wanted to spend. So it's final...I'm going to Galena to visit the Harris family and Gram! To be honest, it's super hard for me to not go home at Christmas. I'm really missing the family. Kind of funny how time makes you change from not being homesick and then you are. Christmas is my favorite time to be with my family, but I know summer will be memorable too.

Thanksgiving won't be the same without the Harris' here. We always had thanksgiving together. We'll have to see about this year. No plans yet. But I hope I get another free turkey for voting!

Good night!

Sad...but a new puppy for me?!

Well, parents no longer have Sam or Smokey. Sam, the chocolate lab passed away late summer early fall and Smokey was put down after a great choice made by sister. He was collapsing everywhere from his hip displasia and in so much pain. I got some tears thinking I didn't even get to say goodbye. Bummer. So I thought I would get a new puppy to have Berry play with to cheer me up. Juno, Sarah's dog is one of the cutest puppies I've seen for a long time, except for Berry. So I decided to get a chocolate lab who is 8 months and her name is Belle.

I jokes! My parents were so funny. They kept telling me they weren't ready because it has been only 5 days since Smokey was put down and then they called me told me about Belle. I prayed they would find just the right dog. This dog was free, was not taken care of very well since she had mites and mange, and loosing hair. She didn't answer to her old time, jumped up on tables and counters. I was interested how this dog was going to work with my dad and mom. My dad has had a wake up call in how much time and patience a puppy takes. Man, does this make me want to get another puppy and go home for Christmas!

I just called and got an update on Belle. Wow! What a complete change. She doesn't sleep in the kennel at night anymore, house trained, sits, and loves to cuddle with my dad. She is very sweet according to my dad. Belle has gotten my mom and dad out more walking. I can tell they are loving having a puppy again! I'm excited to introduce her to Berry this summer.

Hmmm...maybe I will get another puppy!

Berry is doing well. She loves her runs and I love getting out too. I'm not sure what I will with her at Christmas. I'll still figuring out tickets for myself. I thought it would be a little easier flying in state than out of state. I was wrong! They are cancelling a lot of flights so it makes it hard to get out of the village when you need to. I hope my superintendent will let me go early because I have two free tickets to use. If I don't use them, I'm out the special deal I paid for them.

Well, off to eat a breakfast dinner!

Halloween

Well, I'm thankful that Halloween is over. It's a big celebration here. On Friday we had a costume contest a little after lunch. The kids came back dressed up in their costumes; most of them were the same as others...poor. I guess that is what you get from living in a small village.

I probably should back up. My class read three Halloween Stories: Froggy's Halloween, The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything, and There Was An Old Women Who Swallowed a Bat. We also carved a pumpkin and that was a lot harder to do than I remember my dad doing. The pumpkin broke a tooth in the process. The kids had a ball exploring and using their senses to feel the pulp and sort it from the seeds. It was a small pumpkin and I couldn't believe we didn't get more seeds out of it. I asked the kids to make a prediction on how many seeds they thought were in there. Some had good guesses...100, 30, 40, 50, 60, 2, 3. Can you tell we have been counting by 10's? Well we put the seeds on these counting mats to make it easier to see 5's and 10's. We had a lot left over when we got to 100 so one suggested we put two in each box of the ten frame. Then we still had left overs and then they decided to put three in each box. Great ideas. We had 367 seeds and it filled a tiny tupaware container. I had a bad guess as well.

We went into the bathroom, which is the darkest place when you close the door and lit the pumpkin. They were amazed that the pumpkin face shadow could be seen on the wall. IT was so neat to be excited about things, I would have been when I was that age.

We also traced pumpkins and cut them out. Then they decorated them however they wanted. Pretty creative faces! We made pattern chains with orange and black paper, and cut out picture patterns of cats, witches, and ghosts. They got a kick out of the puppet spider dangling from the classroom door as they came in in the morning.

I finally thought of an idea while talking with Myra. The idea of a dog toy popped into my head. So I tied Berry's and Juno's dog toys all over myself and made a sign that said dog toy. A lot of kids asked if I was going to be that grandma again. I guess that was a huge hit. Maybe I can think of something to do with that next year.

The costume contest was fun. It's a nice way to get the community in the school. We have judges and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes for each age category including the Pre-School and babies. Wow, one baby was eyore. So adorable.

After the contest, we got to break a pinata. They took some great swings but the leader of this activity just dumped it out for the kids. I was a little disappointed about that. It wasn't as fun! Then we had a classroom party. The kids and I made boo cups earlier that day. Chocolate pudding with oreos, whip cream as the ghost and choc chips as the ghost eyes. They didn't eat them all so note to self don't fill them too full. We got cupcakes and cookies from other kids and their families, along with the candy from the pinata. I didn't do well with eating that day. Come to think of it....over eating is an issue with me now these days. Yikes! That's a random though, huh?

I ran out of candy as trick or treaters came. I bought six bags and still did. Next, time one candy for each kid or give out cheap pens or pencils. I was so exhausted with my monthly fatiqueness that I didn't even want to hand it out, but did and got my dishes done that night also, along with cleaning up dog puke again.

So there is Halloween in a nutshell.