Feasting and Friends

New Stu

Ready to chow

Recovery period

This is a little late, but we hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We felt really blessed that we had the opportunity to take a little trip to the village of New Stuyahok and visit with two other couples there!  New Stu is another village in our school district.  Lucas has been there before when his basketball boys played there last winter, but this was my first trip there.  We flew to Dillingham on Wednesday after school, and from Dillingham took about a thirty minute flight upriver to New Stu.

Our good friends Peter and Cindy hosted us until it was back home to Manokotak on Saturday.  They were the most amazing hosts, and that Cindy can really cook!  Our Thanksgiving meal was fabulous! :)  So fabulous, in fact, that Lucas and Peter needed a recovery period afterwards.  

It was so nice to be able to relax for a few days.  We had so much fun on our little trip.  We miss getting to hang out with Peter and Cindy (they lived here in Manokotak last year), so it was good to catch up!  We also visited with Robin and Ben (she is the assistant principal and he a SPED teacher) which was treat as well :)  It was the perfect weekend.

We have had a busy week since we arrived back to sweet home Manokotak.  Lucas started basketball practice on Monday.  He had 18 boys his first day- which is quite a lot for our small little school.  The turn out really shows how the basketball program has grown since Lucas started coaching here three years ago.  The boys respect and look up to him (even though they were all whining about how tired and sore they were this week!).  Lucas is a great coach- I'm really proud of him!

Last night we celebrated our coworker's 50th birthday with cupcakes and a game of Risk.  Today we will celebrate another teacher that we love with homemade ice cream.  But first, I have to write a literature review.... (I have a love/hate relationship with weekends)!

Fourteen school days until we are reunited with our family and friends!  This semester has gone by insanely fast.  Grad school is probably the reason for that, but I am lucky to be so busy as it keeps me focused on teaching, school, and the kiddos.  Now all we need is some snow so we can get our snowmobile started and enjoy trips into Dillingham on Saturdays with our crew :)  Fingers crossed!

Have a great week!

-A + L

Five things we've been up to...

1) Dressing up.  The baseball player and farmer at school the day of the Manokotak Halloween Carnival.

2) Voting.  Along with my Civics class, I ran our school's mock presidential election for grades 3-12.  Obama won (in case you were wondering).  Considering the real election was called before Alaska's results were in, it was hard to feel that my vote "counted" this year!

3) Freezing!  We finally have snow that is sticking around.  With these chilling temperatures (-2 when we woke up today), we are hoping to be able to use our snowmobile again soon!

4) Receiving ivory rings made from walrus tusk!  I had two students make me beautiful ivory rings this week, and Lucas was given a ring by a student as well.  One of my favorite things about teaching here is how we get to work with the same students year after year and build relationships with them.  I also love that we work in a K-12 building.  It is fun to go down to the elementary wing and work with those kids once a week as reading buddies.  They are too cute :)

5) Working.  Spending seven days a week at school is starting to get to us.  We are so very ready for Thanksgiving Break!  Lucas hasn't left Manokotak since we got here in August, and I've only traveled to Dillingham twice for Social Studies curriculum meetings.  We are so excited to take a break and travel together to visit our friends in New Stu!  Wednesday afternoon cannot come soon enough!

Ducks, Decor, and "Dare to Read" Shirts

This is the first weekend in a while I don't have a paper to write on Saturday.  So, instead I thought I would share a few things we have been up to lately.

Last time I posted I mentioned Lucas was hunting.  He came back with three ducks and two geese!  The meat is still chilling in our freezer, and I am ok with not reminding Lucas that it is there...

Something else we did earlier this month was host a birthday party for our co-worker, Katrina, and another co-worker's one-year old daughter.  Everyone brought yummy appetizers to share, and the baby's mom, Tara, brought delicious cake.  We used our ice-cream maker to make vanilla ice-cream to put on the cake.  We love that thing!  Here are some of the party decorations, along with some new wall decorations we finally got up this year (you know we lead super exciting lives when I am showing you pictures of our kitchen and living room walls...)

Shout out to our mothers for both sending us some care packages in the mail within the last week!  Halloween candy is the best, especially since Amazon only ships non-chocolate things to us.  I needed my chocolate fix, and I finally got it :)  My dad sent us "Dare to Read" t-shirts from his high school, so on Friday, we decided to wear them to school.  The kids love it when we match...

Nerd alert :)

Some (much more) exciting things we are looking forward to:

• Thanksgiving in the village of New Stuyahok where we are visiting our friends Peter and Cindy. They worked with us in Manokotak last year and we miss them dearly!
• Christmas in the Midwest!  Boy, do we miss our family and friends.  Midwestern folk are just the best, and we love love love going home.  Chicago area over Christmas and New Years in Minnesota.  Stay tuned for more details soon!

Last night we hosted a 6th Grade Club party at our place.  The high school was hosting a lock-in for grades 7-12, and the sixth graders were feeling a bit left out of the festivities.  So, we all met in my classroom after school (there are six of them, two boys and four girls) and walked over to our place.  We started by making popcorn (on the stove, and they loved it).  Each kid got a bowl and his/her choice of popcorn seasoning (again, they loved this).  Then, the boys played PS3 (thanks Mr. T) and the girls played board games while Lucas and I made cheeseburger pizza and pepperoni pizza.  A nail-painting party was next.  The girls were all about stripes and polka-dots- I was impressed!  Lucas even let them paint his toes-which again, they loved! :)  (so did he, I think).  What a champ!  We had berry crumble with Cool Whip(!) and watched Hocus Pocus before we drove them home.  It was the most fun I've had at a "school event" all year.  They've already requested the next event, which we promised would be the first or second weekend of December.  The girls want to have a hair and makeup party this time though.  I'm sure we'll do a Christmas theme.  It was a good reminder about what why we teach- making connections with the kids :)  It is why we do what we do!  We love 'em!   Lucas is just so good with them; he's going to make an amazing dad...in a few years ;)

Happy (almost) November!

-A + L

You know you live in bush Alaska when...

1. ...it snows in September.  We ran out this morning to snap a few pictures of the flurries.  It is hard to tell, but you can see the snow on the 4-wheeler the best in the last picture.  ps. We look tired. We just woke up....

2. ...the words "store plane" get your heart racing and send you running for warm clothes and your check book.  Last fall, the store plane came once.  So far this school year, it has been to Manokotak three times!  Lucas and I went out together earlier this month.  We tried to recreate our picture from last year with the Drumsticks and our friend Nellie, but a a few students snuck in our picture:

The store plane came yesterday while Lucas was out duck/geese hunting.  I was in school working on yet another paper for grad. school when I got the phone call.  Yogurt, bananas, apples, and oranges made their way back to our apartment this time.  We were basically out of fresh produce, so this was great timing.  I wasn't too concerned as I am heading into District Office in Dillingham on Wednesday for a Social Studies curriculum meeting and will be able to do some shopping.

3. ....you stop your first period class to run outside and take pictures of the rainbow over the hill.

This is the view from my classroom window.  I have the best view in the whole school :)


Things are really good in Manokotak.  We are staying busy between volleyball practice, grad. school (for me), hunting (for Lucas), and lesson planning.  Can you believe tomorrow is October?

-A + L

Back in Manokotak

We managed to survive the first week of school and neither of us lost it on the sixth graders (it was a close call).  Boy are those kids small, cute, and completely lost in the middle school setting.  We have a lot of training to do with them.  I spent the majority of the week reviewing that we do not live in the state of Anchorage, that the United States is a country, and yes we live there.  Oh, and no there are not two Pacific Oceans....

We also did some Alaska-y things this week.  The sunshine on Saturday was amazing and we were so lucky to have our friends offer to take us out on their boat.  The boys caught us dinner, which we fried up when we got back.  So good!

Perfect. day.  We've got it good :)

Today was yucky, cloudy, and drizzly.  Great day to put on the boots, walk over to school, and do our lesson-planning.  Like every Sunday here...

Starting graduate school tomorrow!  Looks like I will be living at that desk for the next two years.  If you need me, you now know exactly where to find this nerd ;)

-A + L

Summer in the Lower 48

I cannot possibly begin to put into words how incredible our summer was.  Marriage, two honeymoons, and lots of time with family and friends.  It really could not have been any better.  We are, however, very much ready to head back to our little place in Alaska and get back into our normal routine.  We have a lot to look forward to this school year.  Lucas switched classrooms and now we will be teaching right next door to each other everyday.  Lucas is the only middle school math teacher (finally!) and will also be teaching 6th grade science and PE.  I have one less course to teach (4 instead of 5), and only one is new to me (Alaska History).  I am also starting a Masters of Education Program in Reading and Literacy Education through Benedictine University in Illinois.  We are excited for a busy, but an even better year together than the last.  Here are several pictures that highlight our summer.  The best day, of course, being the day I married my best friend :)

Ashley with sisters Erin and Jessica

Lucas with brothers Nick, Peter, and Adam

Our wedding party

The Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis where we were married

The Columbia Manor in Minneapolis where the reception was held

First dance as husband and wife

Honeymoon in Jamaica in Whitehouse, Jamaica

River safari

Zip-lining in the canopy

View of our resort from the glass-bottomed boat

Our favorite pool at the resort.  Lucas playing volleyball

Honeymoon 2.0: Western Road Trip

Mt. Rushmore

Crazy Horse Memorial

Great Horn Mountain, WY

Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, WY

At the Rodeo!

Yellowstone National Park

Hot Springs at Yellowstone

Old Faithful

Hiking near Priest Lake, Idaho

Hal, Lucas' Alaskan teaching mentor

Hal in his canoe on Priest Lake

Sunset over Priest Lake from Hal's deck

Lucas and Hal

Capitol Building in Helena, MT

Deadwood, SD

Calamity Jane's

Lucas at the spot Will Bill was shot

We fly to Anchorage on August 9th, Dillingham on August 12th for teacher inservice, and we start teaching in Manokotak on August 20th.