Goodbye, 2016

This year was a year of change and adventure in our household. We traveled all over the United States and Canada, we moved to a tiny bush village in Alaska, and we learned to live our lives intentionally as a married couple. Much like I did in 2015, I'd like to take this first post of the year to reflect on my favorite moments from the last twelve months.

January... The beginning of 2016 brought big snows to our little island in Lake Michigan. Cody and I enjoyed a couple of well deserved snow days, and we celebrated by getting some much needed r&r and fitting in a couple of hiking adventures. Beaver Island was picturesque in the snow and provided a peaceful retreat on those breaks from school.

February... The weather in February took a nasty turn and it seemed to be endless weeks of temperatures just above freezing. We tried our best to get out and enjoy ourselves as a way to fight off the winter blues that are so common in the north. Thankfully, the dogs kept us outside often and our awesome island friends kept us busy by going out on the town.

March... Unseasonably warm springtime weather crept into northern Michigan in early March and stuck around for awhile. The snow completely melted and it was warm enough that the dogs happily took a dip in Lake Michigan.  We also got to get out and hike Little Sand Bay Nature Preserve, which is one of our favorite short hikes on Beaver Island.

April... At the beginning of April, Cody and I officially made the announcement that we would be returning to Alaska. I had been feverishly interviewing with potential districts for two weeks leading up to our decision.  While we were sad to be leaving our island life, we were stoked for the adventure unfolding before us.

May... One of my favorite trips of the year occurred this month. My sister, after living the last three years in Hawaii, had moved to Virginia (just outside of DC) and I was able to travel to see her for spring break. I had an absolute blast spending quality time with my nieces, sightseeing in Washington DC, and exploring a new state.

June... Our last month on Beaver Island was fairly stressful as we wrapped-up housing, jobs, and said goodbye to friends that we'd grown to love and cherish over the last two years. We did our best to find some time to enjoy life though because the weather was stellar. My aunt and cousins came to visit two weeks before our move and we had a blast kayaking around the inland lakes, watching sunset on the beach, and just hanging around.

July... July was a complete whirlwind. We crammed in as much family time as we could before heading off on our Alaska-Canada Highway (ALCAN) adventure. We left Michigan in mid-July and spent weeks camping our way through some truly spectacular places.

August... As July turned into August we found ourselves still on the road. We traveled to Banff and Jasper National Parks for the first time and were in awe of the views. We also flew to our little village for the first time and I took off for the most incredible teacher inservice ever. Our inservice included flying to a remote wilderness lodge, learning to fly fish, and collaborating with some truly awesome educators.

September... In September we started really settling into life in our village. We began learning to subsistence fish and we frequently went berry picking on the tundra. By the end of the month, our freezer was stocked with 50+ fillets of wild caught salmon and bags and bags of frozen blackberries, blueberries, and cranberries.

October... We started feeling very "home" in the village this month. We hosted two potlucks in October at the school and learned to make aqutak (eskimo ice cream). I also traveled to King Salmon for another teacher inservice late in the month.  While at inservice, I was able to take a class on skin sewing and learned to make fur mittens.

November... Even though our first snowfall was a month earlier, November was truly a month of beautiful fall weather and colors. This was my first experience with the tundra changing colors, and it was absolutely stunning to watch. I also tried to spend more time doing photography with my nice camera, which helped me capture some cool shots.

December... As we wrapped up the year, we began enjoying true Alaskan winter weather. We saw temperatures in the -20's and snow fell more often than not. The students put on a cute holiday performance and then we released them for three weeks. Cody and I decided to stay in Alaska for the holidays, only traveling to Anchorage for a few days near New Years. It was the perfect ending to a busy year.

With all of that said, I am more than ready to start another year of adventures. 2017 is already proving to be a big year for The Middle(tons) of Nowhere. Stay tuned for new adventures and changes as the year begins! 

Your turn...What were some of the highlights of your year? 

Currently listening to... Shenandoah - Trampled by Turtles 

Beaver Island - That's a Wrap!

Last Saturday, we finished all of our packing and cleaning, sent out final packages to our new home in the Alaskan bush, and boarded an airplane that would take us off of the island. We were, as we have so often been on the island, very blessed to know such wonderful people.  Friends stopped by our house in the morning and more met us at the airport to say one last goodbye. It was odd to leave the island and know that we probably won't be back any time soon.

This year was an interesting one on the island. There are many things I will miss about Beaver Island, like the sunsets over Lake Michigan, or cruising around the island with friends.  As a reflection of my time on Beaver Island, I've compiled a pros and cons list for living there (just like I did when we left Juneau).

Pro::The Beaches:: Beaver Island has some of the most stellar beaches in Michigan...maybe even in the United States.  The beaches are completely pristine  with crystal clear water and perfectly smooth sand.  For the most part, you can have these beaches completely to yourself, except maybe on a packed weekend in the height of summer. Cody and I used the beaches for recreation in every season.  We swam in the summer, went snowshoeing in the winter, and watched sunset over Lake Michigan all year.

Con::The Cost of Travel:: Traveling off and on Beaver Island is pricey because it has to be done by boat or plane.  The ferry is a slightly cheaper option, but it also takes 2 1/2 hours to get to the mainland, has limited run times, and isn't available year round.  Flying costs about $100 round trip, which adds up for two people and two dogs. This made it difficult to go visit family. Even though we were thousands of miles closer to our families than we were in Alaska, we still didn't see them very often because of the sheer cost.

Pro::The People:: Some of the best people in the world became part of our lives while living on the island. I met best friends and people I know I will keep in touch with for a lifetime.  There was also no shortage of incredibly helpful people on the island who would, and have, dropped everything to help Cody and I when we really needed it. I also had the opportunity to work with some of the most caring and wonderful teachers in the world, and in turn got to work with some of the most amazing children and families too. We couldn't have asked for a better experience with making friends, interacting with coworkers, and finding a support system.

Con::The Gossip:: Beaver Island is small and isolated, which can occasionally breed some nasty gossip.  I personally was pretty affected by gossip after finding out that, before I even moved to the island (or met anyone that lived there), a post had been made about how I shouldn't have been hired to teach at the school on the public forum.  Parents, students, and community members that I had to face daily gossiped about me before even knowing me (and they did it publicly where I could easily read it) and that was tough for me to swallow. The gossip was a pretty consistent part of our lives there for the entirety of our two years, especially in the winter when there isn't much else to do.

Pro::The Outdoor Activities:: The recreation on the island is pretty fantastic, especially for the Midwest. There are abundant hiking, birding, and biking trails and numerous inland lakes for fishing and boating.  Cody and I took advantage of the recreation most weekends.  We climbed dunes with the dogs, biked to the beach, and kayaked on inland lakes.  The wildlife was abundant on all of our outings and we had a blast getting to accidentally sneak up on the occasional turkey (and even a coyote once).  It's a great place for outdoor-oriented people to visit, or even to call home.

Con::The Cost of Living:: Coming from Alaska I was expecting our move back to the Midwest to be a great chance to cut some costs (especially considering I took a 50% paycut to leave my job in AK). Unfortunately, that just didn't happen for us on Beaver Island.  Our housing costs went down by only a couple hundred dollars a month, and our grocery, gas, and travel costs stayed sky high. On top of that, our first winter on the island saw temps in the -20's, which caused us some horrendous utility bills that made the difference in rental costs disappear entirely.

Overall, I loved our time on Beaver Island.  It's as beautiful geographically as it is community-wise. For the right type of person, it is truly an island paradise.  For Cody and I, it was a fun adventure, but it was also lacking a few of the things that we had grown so fond of in Alaska, which is why we chose to return to our beloved 49th state. In the future, I really believe we will return to the island, but this time just as tourists.

Your turn...What are some of the pros and cons about your current city/town?
Currently listening to...Doin' Time - Sublime

Things to Do on Beaver Island: Kayaking

Beaver Island is a great place for outdoor-oriented people to visit and spend time. There are super accessible hiking and birding trails, the biking is stellar, the fishing is good, the bonfires are big, and there is never a shortage of wildlife to view.

One of my favorite outdoorsy activities to participate in on Beaver Island is kayaking.  We have seven inland lakes (yes, you read the correctly, we have seven lakes just on our little island). We also have the added bonus of being entirely surrounded by the stunning body of water also known as Lake Michigan. You can rent kayaks from Happy Paddle, and they also have bikes and paddle boards for very reasonable rental rates. Cody and I use their bikes often and highly recommend checking them out.  (Now, if you're like me you can also opt for the inflatable kayaking route.  I'd definitely rent/use a regular one if you want to go out on Lake Michigan, but the inflatable ones work well on the smaller lakes.)

Last weekend, my aunt and I went out on Font Lake in the inflatable kayaks that she brought with her to the island.  Font Lake is the second largest inland lake on Beaver Island, but it is quite shallow which makes for some fun viewing opportunities while paddling around it. It also happens to be a loon preserve.  The loons are constantly making noise while you're out on the lake and it is beautiful.  You can also see (and try to avoid) swans, look for giant turtles, or try your hand fishing for largemouth bass.

We kayaked all around the lake, which was a pretty big job because it is a rather large body of water.  There are small "islands" within the lake that you can paddle around, but we tried to avoid them because some rather vicious looking swans had taken up residence near them.  The wind can get a bit ferocious out in the middle of the lake, so my recommendation is to hug the shore as much as possible, with the occasional side trip out into the middle to check things out.

Kayaking is a fun way to see the lakes and beauty of Beaver Island.  You definitely get a different vantage point of the island when you are cruising around slowly at lake-level. It's an activity that is totally worth it.

Your turn...Do you like to kayak?  If so, where is your favorite spot?
Currently listening to...Bubble Toes - Jack Johnson

Our Home on Beaver Island

Our moving date is looming ever closer. All of our belongings that we chose not to sell are leaving on a Uhaul trailer in seven days, and we will be following on a ferry boat barely a week later.  Moving is always a crazy and emotional experience, yet we seem to be fantastic at it since we've done it every two years since 2012.  This will be our third cross country move in six years. I assume we will eventually find somewhere that we want to "settle" and put down roots, but we haven't found it yet so we keep just keep exploring.

One thing that always makes me a little sad when we leave is disassembling our house.  As usual, our house was just finally shaping up into my ideal little space. We had acquired some nice furniture, the décor was (for the most part) hung in perfect little spots, and it looked the way I wanted it to. Less than  month ago, the house looked nice, quaint, and put together. Today it is in boxes.

Our home in October 2015.

Our home in January 2016.

I'll miss our giant sky lights that make the kitchen and living room so bright.  I'll miss our house being a scorching temperature all winter long due to the amazing wood stove.  I'll miss hauling wood through deep snow to fill up that stove.  I'll miss letting the dogs run wild in the yard, without fear of predator animals.  I'll miss sitting in our living room and sipping coffee with the numerous windows thrown open in the early morning. I'll miss the seemingly perfect summer weather in Northern MI that allows us to live for months on end without closing those windows.

The living room and sun room.

The kitchen/dining area.

With all of those things I'll miss, I am also excited.  Excited to purge my belongings, again. Excited to have a new adventure.  Excited to immerse myself in a new culture and lifestyle. Excited to do some traveling with my little family. Excited to shed some of the material "stuff" that has come to bog us down over time.

The bathroom.

The master bedroom.

Never the less, emptying a house that you've grown fond of is always a little sad.  Watching all of your belongings fall into boxes, knowing some of those items will undoubtedly get broken in the move. We will miss our little cabin the big woods, but now we are moving on to a little house in the big, wild tundra.

Your turn...What are some of your favorite things about your home?
Currently listening to...Wild World - Cat Stevens

**Note: Our house is for sale! Cody and I were renting it from a good friend, but it is now on the market.  If you know anyone looking for a little slice of island living, send them my way!**

Beaver Island Field Trips

When you live on an island in the middle of nowhere there are going to be a few adjustments.  There are adjustments in your personal life (like paying $2.50 for every bag of trash you throw away) and in your professional life (like teaching classes of less than ten kids).  One of the aspects of being a teacher that can take some adjusting is how one travels to and from field trips.  You see, there are very few ways to get off of Beaver Island, and air travel is the only year-round option.  So, when your class (or club/sport if you coach) needs to go somewhere you must travel.

Last Friday, my class took off on the airplane for the first of two annual elementary swimming trips. I took these trips with my class last year too, but somehow never managed to post about it.  It's definitely a post-worthy experience though because there are few places in the United States (with Alaska being the exception) where air travel is the norm for school functions.  Not only are we flying, but we are flying in small 6-8 seat airplanes. 

In the morning, my class and I showed up at the airport approximately fifteen minutes before our flight.  No TSA, no security lines, and certainly no need to arrive early. We simply showed up and hopped on the plane.  The kids in my class are all true islanders and think the airplane is the "normal" way to travel.  Honestly, trying to get them all to wear seatbelts once we reached the mainland was MUCH more difficult than throwing them in a teeny airplane, mostly because seatbelts are unheard of on the island. 

Once we went "across" (the local slang for leaving the island) we made our way to the swimming pool. The 1st-3rd graders get to go to Charlevoix Public Pool twice a year for swimming lessons, which is super crucial on the island because they all swim in Lake Michigan non-stop and many of them wander to the beach by themselves during the summer. After swimming, we all went out to eat at Subway, which is another exciting, new experience for the kiddos.  There is no fast food on the island and a few of my students didn't even know what Subway was. I had to explain the menu to them and ended up doing all of the ordering because of the confusion, which was fine because they aren't used to being around strangers in the first place and many of them were being pretty shy. 

The way home was similar to the way there.  No lines, quick departure, and smooth flying.  Taking trips like this one is incredibly important in teaching students how to successfully live off and on the island.  There are many experiences that our students just don't get to have, even simple stuff like placing a food order, and these trips are their opportunity to try out some of these new experiences. It's definitely a skill building event, albeit a rather expensive one!

Your turn...Have you ever traveled by small airplane?
Currently listening to...Act Naturally - Buck Owens