On the Move Again

Some of you know this but for those that have not heard yet, we are moving, again.  I have not been able to post to the blog due to being extremely busy packing so that we can go back to PA for a little over a month and packing to move towns.  That's right, we are moving villages.  The position that I have been in this year was funded by a grant.  This was the last year of the grant and a new grant has not yet been obtained so I had to look out for my family and find a more reliable income.  I headed to the job fair in Anchorage and interviewed with several school districts.  After much discussion Andrew and I decided that Northwest Arctic Borough School District was the right fit for us.  I accepted a position as the counselor for 2 sites.  We will be living in Buckland (all the way on the west coast side of the state) and I will also be spending a few days every couple of weeks in Deering (about 40 miles from Buckland).  Andrew and I are bittersweet in our feelings towards this move.  While we are excited about the new challenges and adventures, we are sad to leave The Flats.  We have become very attached to this quirky little community in the 8.5 months that we have lived here and will be sad to leave all of our friends here.  But it's time for new scenes and people.  I will write more about our entire year adventure once we have gotten out of Alaska and have a few more moments of free time, but for now we must be off to continue packing and preparing for leaving.  We will be leaving the land of the Indian and heading to the land of the Eskimo (that's actually what one of the native people here said to me, interesting to hear them refer to each group this way). 

~ Jocelyn

Hard to say goodbye...

Today was the day we left Indiana. We have spent the last few days saying our goodbyes to friends and family. It has been a very difficult process but the adventure to follow will hopefully worth it. Leaving has made me rethink the decision I made. While I know that it was the right choice, I can't help but regret that I have to give up certain things (mostly people I have come to know and love). It's rather surreal to leave the town that you have called home for the last 27 years. It didn't really hit me that this was part of it until we left town today. It definitely caught me when we got about 20 outside town. I didnt really break until we arrived at my inlaws' house. Then i finally realized that this is actually happening and that in a day we will be on our way 3500miles away from the place we have called home to this point in our lives. This was an almost overwhelming set of emotîons and led to many tears until I got passed the flood of emotions and thoughts. I know this won't be the last moment of being overwhelmed by the realizations of what this move actually means but hopefully a little more sleep will help me cope a little better next time. Tomorrow will be another day of goodbyes, this time including saying goodbye to Pennsylvania in general. It's still hard to believe that this is for real. Here's to hoping that this gets a bit easier.
~ Jocelyn