Surprise!

Well, we have some big news. We are moving this summer! Our blog title will not be descriptive of us anymore, as we will be living in Washington. We are 99% sure we will live in Port Angeles or the nearby area. We are very excited. We really do love Alaska and hope to transfer back here someday. Ryan is in the Coast Guard for the long run (retirement), so we will be stationed in at least three more locations after this move. We are up for some adventure!

So, Port Angeles...where is that? It is on the Olympic peninsula in Washington. Port Angeles (PA), is the town at the entrance of Olympic National Park. Lots of green, mountains, ocean, snow and all of that stuff we love. From what I have read there will be opportunities for skiing, bikeriding, hiking, kayaking, fishing and other activities that we have enjoyed here. PA is is approximately 2 1/2 hours drive from Seattle. There is also a short ferry ride over to Victoria, Canada. Pretty rural, which we like. I can't wait to go!

I am not sure what I will do career-wise. Teaching is not my passion by any means. I enjoy most of the children and love science, but I may take this opportunity to explore some career options I have long dreamed of. More on that later :)

The two pictures are from Olympic National Park.

OBAMA 08

Tonight I attended the democratic caucus in Kodiak. It was a very interesting experience. There were many familiar faces: from my Natives of Alaska class, yoga, public school teachers I subbed with, parents from St. Mary's, Coast Guard people, and other faces I see around town. I had a quick conversation with our mayor who I recognized from the picture on the Kodiak city website. It was much more crowded than I (and the organizers) expected. We actually had to go OUT of the building and come in two separate doors to be counted. The only two candidates were Clinton and Obama. Obama had 71% of the votes. Then they discussed electing 5 delegates for Obama and 2 for Clinton to go to the Alaska Democratic Convention in May in Palmer. I thought, what the heck, I will be off of work by then, when will I get this chance again?! Lucky for me, I was one of the five chosen! So, I will be a delegate representing Kodiakians in support of Obama at the convention!!! This is very exciting as I have been interested in politics for years, and have not even voted in a US presidential election in the United States! I was in Bulgaria for the 2000 election and Mongolia for the 2004 election. I am excited for an opportunity to stand up for the change I hope to see with the election of a new president. I will take pictures and let you know how the process goes. It is especially fun for me to be taking this civic role on right now because my 8th graders are studying the US Constitution. We love to discuss the elections.

Troublemaker!

Let me introduce you to our little neighbor outside. This little fox has caused quite a rukus around our house these days. Kody, our Great Pyrenees, was bred to guard sheep and goats from such animals (ok, probably guarding against wolves, but this fox seems to dredge up Kody's instincts regardless). The fox here are not afraid of people, cars, or huge white dogs. In this picture he is sitting on a snow berm and I pulled our suburban right up to him and took his picture. I am afraid that people feed them so they have lost their fear of people.

Every time I take Kody out back I almost lose him because he pulls so hard and I am lucky to not get my hand ripped off. This little fox sleeps under our porch often, plays with Kody's dog toys, and generally finds joy in making Kody go hysterical. He will sit out of reach and just watch Kody freak out. These foxes are pretty smart!