Melissa Shelby Photography: Summer 2011

Thank you, Melissa, for another fun photo session! I first met Melissa years ago when I was a childcare provider for her two handsome little boys. Dave and Melissa became more of friends than employers as a I graduated college and began my teaching career. I am fortunate in that Melissa takes me out to various Alaskan locations to try new photography techniques and to play with her different photography equipment. My next thought is to get her to come out to the village... how awesome would that be?! :D Thanks, Melissa, for your friendship and photography skills... it was very nice to catch up and I adore the photos!  ;-)

Summer Solstice... Truly A Long Day! :D

Love these girls... the sun even came out for us!

Best friends since the 5th grade!

Thankful I got to spend it with my bestie and her lil' sis!

Here's a special shout out to my blog readers in Iran, Ukraine, Malaysia, Canada, Costa Rica, Russia, Brazil, Honduras, Australia, and the U S of A, of course... thank you and pura vida!

Deep Creek Clam Digging

Mt. Redoubt... the peninsula is SOOO picturesque!

We saw the sun go down, the moon come up, and the sun rise again :)

Part of the crew... fun company leads to fun times!

That would be a really tall man exiting a tent via a really small doggy door!

The train begins

Camp

The home of Rapunzel :) I sure love lighthouses!

Woohoo! Another camping trip was had! This time we went to Deep Creek, another spot on the Peninsula. Though the drive can seem long, it is full of SUCH beauty. If you are lucky you will see some wildlife along the way... if you are not so lucky, you might hit some construction. Regardless, it is a beautiful drive and if you love nature... this is the place to be at least once over your Alaskan summer! I am at my absolute happiest when in nature. My greatest recommendation-- be with people you enjoy. A friend of mine posted a quote today, "Surround yourself with love and support." Amen! That has been a philosophy that I have been embracing in recent times. Be around people who are willing to walk the walk with you-- who are willing to see you through your journey. People who make you laugh, sometimes make you cry healing tears, and most importantly, love you despite your imperfections. When we do things we enjoy with people we enjoy, the heart is filled with happiness. Thanks for a pretty awesome camping trip, friends! PS I didn't catch a single clam! :P

After camping, one of the girls wrote a note entitled "What I Learned While Camping This Weekend" ... here are a few that I really enjoyed:

In no particular order, other than which the come to mind, these are a few things I learned while camping this weekend:
1. You can go more than five years without seeing a good friend & then when you do, all it takes is an excited hug to catch up for those years!
4. It is perfectly normal for women to sit around a campfire and cry about moments they've had, shared or lived through & within 10 minutes be making each other laugh so hard you choke, pee your pants or shoot a beverage out your nose. (this is how we bond)
5. Some things burn way more than others when they come out of your nose.
7. No matter what girls can gross out the boys. We just save it for the right time.
8. Campfire is the best smell ever, even when you have to use  A LOT of lighter fluid and a whole box of matches to get it going!
11. You ladies all owe me a trip to Lowes paint department, we have some paint mixing to do....."soft pink, spring coral or melon mauve?"
12. A lot of people can fit on a three wheeler!
13. Meeting new people is so much more fun when you haven't showered and are covered in mud!!!
14. If there is a friend that has made a difference in your life, tell her, let her know she inspires you.
15. Drop it like it's hot!
16. You can get sunburned in the rain.
17. Tents turn into tumble weeds when not staked down!

An Alaskan Summer

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." ~St. Augustine

This year I kind of joke that I made a deal with the devil.

When I first came to Chevak, I told myself that I would travel abroad at least once a year for as long as I am teaching in bush Alaska. The first summer, I backpacked Thailand for about 5.5 weeks. It was AMAZING! Elephant rides, PADI certifed scuba diving, trekking through a jungle, making many new friends around the globe... so many terrific memories.

This past summer, I spent a couple of weeks in Costa Rica... another FABULOUS trip. This time, there were mostly Americans traveling in our guided tour and... so many were in the education field! It was awesome because we all had this great commonality... we bonded quickly in our short time together. Banana plantations, volcanoes, howler monkeys, caymans, hot springs... the best thing about the trip by far was all of the fun nights with our group... it was phenomenal.

So, this school year I decided to take four grad courses over the school year. Since I am paying out of pocket and avoiding student loans, it just seemed like the smartest decision to stay in AK for the summer seeing as I will be having a big celebration trip next year. Over the summer, I will be working on my project proposal and some other "to do" list items for grad school, BUT....

I have some new Alaskan experiences coming my way! I will be driving the Alcan from Seattle to Fairbanks here in a couple of weeks, possibly visiting my grandma (on my dad's side) in Craig (SE Alaska), and then spending a few days/nights in Denali National Park at the end of the summer. Though I will miss my foreign travel, I am pretty excited for these new AK adventures coming my way! And, next summer, foreign travel will continue post-graduation!

Happy trails :)

"Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living." ~Miriam Beard