First days!

Alaska! It happened!
After months of ignoring/ freaking out, weeks of frantic panicking/ getting rid of everything/ shipping/ packing and one of the most emotional and stressful nights of our lives, Mike and I touched down in Anchorage at about 10:30am local time.
(Fact: all of Alaska is an hour behind, in the "Hawaii-Alutian time zone.")
Folks from my school district met us at baggage claim and drove us over to the University of  Alaska Anchorage, where all new teachers are staying while we buy craploads of food, clothes and supplies to ship to our respective villages. We dropped Mike and our baggage off, then delivered Shadow to a kitty hotel. The whole process took a while, but I got to go eat at the Moose's Tooth, a sweet pizza place not far from campus. Don't worry- I totally brought Mike half a pizza :)
I crashed out at 6ish and slept until 7am, which felt freaking amazing after being up for 30 hours straight.

Today has been filled with tons of shopping and eating. I got to have my very first reindeer sausage for breakfast (yum!!) and we stumbled upon our last chance for conveyer-belt Sushi for a while (they had sushi rolls with BACON on top. Weird but kinda good). We bought tons of heavy rain/ winter/ outdoorsy gear and did some food shopping. Our village only has one tiny store and it is neither well-stocked nor cheap, so the smart/ cost-effective way to get food is to load up in Anchorage. We'll ship some stuff, but because it will take weeks to arrive, we'll also cram our luggage full of food. Two of our suitcases are 60-quart coolers, specifically so we can bring perishables up with us. It looks a bit odd, but is essential.

So far we've both been enjoying Anchorage. It's a small but friendly and tidy city. Mike is stoked to go hunting/ fishing/ tromping around in the tundra. I'm hoping I'll have the time and energy to go with him :)
We leave for our village on Sunday, and will have a few days before the school demands anything from me. I am really looking forward to setting up our home and settling in. Everyone we've met from the district is very sweet and helpful. Things move at a different pace up here, but people are generally happy and laid back. So far, I'm a fan.

Pics coming soon.......some are already on FB.....