A new home.

California. Oregon. Washington. Texas (layover). Missouri (airport stop). Illinois. California. Alaska. Seven states, five flights, approximately 9,500 miles, two beautiful weddings, sweet friend time, much laughter and many tears, an unfortunate cold and cough and a whirlwind of month later....I made it Glennallen, Alaska.

It is a whole new world up here!
This mountain (Mt. Drum) here is pretty much in my backyard!!!

Everywhere I look...I feel like I'm in a storybook...or maybe a bit like Gretel...lost within an Alaska feature National Geographic magazine? I was fortunate to have good weather on the drive inland from Anchorage. The sun was dancing on the yellowing aspen leaves and snowy mountain peaks revealed their often hidden glory. I can't believe this is my new home! I have seen a couple bald eagles (but no moose yet!) & I beheld my first glacier yesterday....big, sparkly, icy...I feel like I'm living in a National Park...Alaska is just that stunning.

Other random observations.... milk jugs are shaped differently (as are sometimes shopping carts), buildings are really spread out, homes and stores worn by harsh weather are often given up on and left to deteriorate and rot (often with a handful of cars), fuss over appearances is no more, pretty sure Ramen noddles are a staple here as much as rice is in china, there is such a thing as crowberries, and the post office is pink.

My apartment is all cozy and everything is moved in! So fun to have and decorate my own space and place! I have ice cream in the freezer, twinkle lights in place, at least a dozen candles that are already being put to good use, and a bulletin board full of pictures of my treasured friends in my kitchen. A great start. My parents were a wonderful help in all this moving fun, I couldn't have done it all without them! The generous souls journeyed through Canada and then even helped to cook, clean and organize my things with me once I finally got here! Pictures to come soon.

So now, after much hustle and bustle, life is about to slow down...

I have only met a few people so far, so I'm eager to start meeting the rest of the Cross Road team! I met the CEO and his wife and I'm excited to join them for game night and for church on Sunday. They were an answer to prayer...just as I was coming home to a very quiet apartment, they came to welcome and pray with me. Please be praying as I continue to met and get acquainted with my new community. Starting over relationship-wise is a bit daunting. Slowly, slowly, I know I will be come familiar with all the new faces, as they will with mine.

Big life change is so interesting. I imagine that a big move...such as that from Southern California to rural Alaska...is in some ways like waking up the day after you have your first child, or after tragedy has reared its ugly head....you can't entirely grasp what has happened...and so you just keep going through the motions...hoping that your mind will eventually acclimate... I can still hardly believe that I'm here...or that I'm staying here longer than for a few weeks! And yet there are strange moments when being here feels very normal... I long for this time to be good, rich, purposeful. I long for my dream of learning about ministry and nursing, about loving and serving cross culturally, of knowing Jesus more because of this new season...to be realized.

Garbled words summed up, please be praying for me in this transition time.
Life is suddenly different now.

Oh, and I start work on Monday!