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.

Surprise Bridal Shower

My co-workers surprised me last weekend with the most lovely bridal shower.  It was absolutely adorable.  From the yummy food, to the heart-shaped cookie cutter favors, to the poster of pictures that chronicled the lives and love of Lucas and I....it was perfect!  Thank you ladies, and a big thank you to Amanda for pulling off such a cute and classy party in bush Alaska.  I was, and still am, so impressed!  :)

Spring!

Who doesn't love a field trip?  Obviously students do.  As teachers, we do too!  Lucas and I were able to participate in a field trip a few weeks ago.  Alaska field trips are very different from your standard, lower 48 trips.  For example, forget the school bus.  Snow mobiles were our means of transportation.

Activities for the day included snowmobiling to the field trip location, which is just called "First Lake" around here.  It was about a 30 minute trip.  We spent the morning ice-fishing, where Lucas helped to drill holes in the ice with some machine-thingy.

Then we ice-fished and caught nothing.

My students think I am crazy for posing for a picture while ice-fishing.  This is nothing out of the ordinary for them, but it was my first time!

Lucas and I with Amanda and Scott.  They are from Texas and this is their first year in Alaska, too.  After hot dogs for lunch, the kids had a fire and shelter-building contest.  I wasn't really paying attention at first, and was super impressed when I saw the first fire blazing.  But they had lighters in their pockets, which I guess is no big deal when on a school field trip??

This was my first Easter away from my family, but we hosted a nice little dinner for our friends and it was fun.  We held Manokotak's first annual Peep Wars (a tradition I stole from my brother-in-law's family after participating in it with them last Easter).  It was more like Easter Bunny Peep Sumo Wrestling.  Two people each put a bunny on the plate and we put them in the microwave.  First bunny down loses!  So fun :)

Kirsten vs. Ashley

Nicole v. Lucas

Scott v. Kirk

Hope you had a great Easter!  We look forward to being back the Midwest soon :)  Less than 5 weeks!

March Madness!

Things don't seem to ever slow down here.  I feel like I'm still trying to catch up from missing four days of school at the end of February for the Alaska Statewide Special Education Conference in Anchorage.  It was a great trip, but I'm still paying for it!  Here are some things we've been up to lately:

Ice sculpture in downtown Anchorage:

My favorite co-workers with me in Anchorage.  

Starbucks :) Such a treat while in Anchorage!

Our one and only home basketball game:

Now that basketball season is over, we can have fun on weeknights with our snow machine:

Lucas shot his first ptarmigan!  We got some breast meat off of it (a little tiny bit), but have yet to eat it....

... because we already had a moose roast in the crock pot for dinner :)
 

And the decision has been made- we will be back in Alaska for the 2012-2013 school year!

Basketball and a Baby

Like most teachers, I experience moments when I cannot get over how creative/funny my students can be. Where do they come up with this stuff?  We studied the ancient Egyptian social pyramid and then made our own for Alaska and/or Manokotak.  Here is what two students came up with:

Yes, our faces were cut and pasted to their assignments.  In case you are curious, they compared us to the scribes of ancient Egypt, since scribes were the most educated members of the community :)

Lucas saw two moose on his way to the airport last weekend before he flew out with the basketball team for a tournament.

Coach Lucas in action:

His boys in action:

And in our free time we like to hold other people's babies :)

The good, the bad, and the always cold! :)

After quite the day yesterday in my classroom, I needed to step back and remember that I have it pretty good :)

I LOVE.....                                                     
My fiance                                                            
My parents
My sisters and brother-in-law
Teaching
My students
Working with Lucas
Our wonderful co-workers/friends- for keeping us sane
My commute to work :)  across the street!
Lesson-planning
Fresh fruits and veggies almost once a week now
Our snow-go
Learning about a new culture
Learning from my students
Reading on my Nook! (thanks, Lucas)
Wedding planning
How simple life is here

I could go without... ;)
Having to get on a snow-go and travel 45 minutes in below zero temps to get fresh fruit and veggies
Planning a Minneapolis wedding from Manokotak
Grading papers! (ha!)

Things I took for granted (and miss...)!
Grocery store
Not having to plan ahead for meals
Having a social studies department to work and collaborate with (oh you 22 social studies teachers at my first teaching job, I miss you!)
The honest, fair, constructive, and very helpful teaching mentors I had during my first years of teaching
Caribou Coffee :)


Life is good.  Here's to hoping that there is no hair-pulling and only love in learning in the classroom today! :)

...And We're Back!

Happy New Year!  We are back and settled in Manokotak and ready to start the second semester of the school year with our kiddos tomorrow.  We had a wonderful trip back to the Midwest and can't believe it has come and gone already.  It was fun, relaxing, and refreshing.  I am so grateful for the time we had to spend with family and friends.

After finals on December 16th, we quickly got on a flight right after school as there was a break in the light snow and clouds that we had been seeing on-and-off all morning.  One flight to Dillingham and one to Anchorage later, we were done traveling for the day.  Lucas' brothers Pete and Adam picked us up, and we were all able to head over to Greg and Celine's house for pizza.  Lucas' cousins Sam and Meredith are super adorable and Lucas is so good with them :)   We are so lucky to have kind and generous family members in Anchorage that provide a bed, food, and a key to their house when we are traveling through.   I can't put into words how much easier (both physically and mentally) it makes our journey/life in Alaska.

We went to lunch with Greg's family and Pete on Saturday.  Then it was off to the Bear's Tooth Theatrepub and Grill.   It is a movie theater that serves food and adult beverages-brilliant!  We got to sit in this nice little both while we watched The Christmas Story.  I hadn't seen that movie since we watched it right before Christmas break in 6th grade! :)  Loved it!

We flew out on an overnight back to Chicago.  We both got very little sleep and it was kind of a rough flight!  My parents picked us up at O'Hare and it was so wonderful to be back on my home turf.  My dad made us a delicious breakfast and then it was off to take some serious naps.  That afternoon we went to a bar with my dad and sister Jessica so Lucas could watch his Vikings.  My dad watched the Bears and Jessica and I chatted and enjoyed cheese fries :)  My parents made us a "Thanksgiving" dinner that night at my request.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving here, but I missed our family's food (especially the stuffing!).  Our week in Chicago was pretty relaxing.  I had a dress fitting, found a veil, and finally cut a hair cut.  My mom and I had a peppermint mocha date at Starbucks (I was really looking forward to this)!   Lucas and I celebrated the anniversary of our engagement at Ruth's Chris Steak House- amazing!  My dad and Lucas cut up some wood that we'll be using as decor for our reception.  I caught up with my very good friends Jen, Lisa and John (all in our wedding).   My sister Erin and her husband Rick (and their dog Dixie) came in on the 23rd.  We left for Minnesota early on the 25th, but it was nice that the WHOLE family was in for Christmas Eve :)  It was a wonderful visit!

  On Christmas Day we woke up pretty early to head to Lucas' parents in Owatonna, Minnesota.  We celebrated Christmas at Lucas' grandparents' farm in Blooming Prairie.  On Monday, we ran errands with Lucas' mom, and saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie with his parents.  On Tuesday, we visited Lucas' other grandma and I was able to meet his Aunt Kathy who was in from Virginia.  We drove up to the cities on Tuesday night to visit with Lucas' friends (and groomsmen) Trevor and Jake.  They're always a good time :) The next morning we were off to taste cupcakes at Sweets Bakeshop in Minneapolis and let me just say picking out flavors was a difficult but heavenly task! Yum.  Having cupcakes instead of a wedding cake was a decision that was very much Lucas'.  His attitude is usually "do whatever you want" so when he has an opinion about anything in wedding planning- I listen!  With cupcakes tasted and a difficult decision made, Lucas met up with his friend Bill to look at tuxes and I went off bridesmaid dress shopping with my bridesmaid, Becky.  We picked out dresses for her July wedding.  I love that we are getting married the same summer along with our other college roommate, Kara.  June, July, and August weddings means triple bachelorette party- we are already planning :)
I went to Toby Keith's Bar and Grill to see the Johnny Holm Band with my lovely college girls (so much fun) while Lucas picked up his sister Alicia and her husband Adrian at the airport.  We all headed back to Owatonna that night.

It was back to Chicago on the 30th for my wedding shower the next day (the traveling never ends!).  It was great to see so many friends and family members even if it was just for a few short hours.  Thank you again to everyone who attended!  And thank you to my parents and sisters for hosting.  It was lovely :)   I love you and am very grateful for you all!

We had a fun New Year's Eve at Lisa and John's.  On Sunday Lucas and my dad camped out in their man cave (aka the basement) to watch the Bears play the Vikings.  I'm pretty sure there was lots of trash-talking going on ;)  That was our last evening in the Midwest :(   Then it was up early and off to Alaska on the 2nd.

We spent two nights in Anchorage so we could run a few errands- one of them being going to the DMV to get driver's licenses.  It is official now- we are Alaskans!  If you don't believe me, just look at what we did this weekend.

Being back home with family always helps to put things in perspective.  We get to work with each other and with great kids every day.  We enjoy our group of co-workers/friends very much (see picture above!)  We were able to visit our friends and family over our Christmas break.  We are both healthy.  We are getting married and will get to celebrate this with over 200 people in just a few short months.

My dad sent me this prayer a while ago and at the beginning of the school year and I taped it to the wall next to my desk.  At first I used it when working with challenging students (a quick glance and deep breath!) but now that I've been here a few months, I've found I actually need to use it more when dealing with other things:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.


There is nothing I am able to change myself that I would want to in our lives right now- we are truly blessed!  Happy 2012!