We are MOVING to ALASKA!!
It is official, I am quitting my job, Jared has accepted a job offer, we are selling our home, we are looking at a farm already, and family and friends have been notified….mostly. WHEW!!
We are so crazy excited and nervous and worried and (me) a little scared and happy and sad and well, I think you get the picture, lol. It’s been a little bit of a roll-a-coaster of emotions around here for all of us. There are many factors that come into play when making this decision and we have some pretty ambitious plans for when we get there, let me explain. We have visited AK 4 times so far and drove to all major towns (except Fairbanks). After doing quite a bit of research and visiting all over the place, turning in countless applications, we are finally headed back permanently. We are super excited about this next chapter in life! Yes, crazy busy now with packing, cleaning, renovations on this house, looking at property up there, and getting ready to move in general, but very excited! Make sure to follow along!
Washington work, taxes, new laws, and vaccine stance
Jared is having a difficult time finding consistent work as a heavy equipment operator within driving distance of our home. He loves his job at Roglins and they have asked him to stay, however, certain job contracts require all workers on the job site must be vaccinated – we are not. Grays Harbor is small and there are not a lot of jobs locally in the first place so this cuts his work down drastically. My job is secure at the moment but they are already talking about making the jab mandatory due to federal and WA state grants requiring it and I refuse to do that.
As of January 1st so many more taxes, laws, etc have went into the books that we cannot continue to live here and keep our current lifestyle and home. The incredible taxes on everything but the air we breath is just getting too much to afford and the ridiculous gun laws are just, well, stupid. I’ll let you do your own research on this one, sufficient to say this is one of the reasons we are moving. We want our children to be able to hunt, fish, harvest wild produce and learn to process and consume it responsibly as their Native ancestors did without penalties from some big-wig in Olympia telling them how wrong that is from behind a desk via laws and legislation. Jared and the kids are all enrolled with tribal treaty rights so moving out of the treaty area means they are losing those rights so it is a major decision.
Though we will miss our family and many friends here, it is in the best interest of our family to leave the state. Every American must decide where their moral and ethical boundry is, draw a line in the sand so to speak and then NEVER cross that line. For us, that line has been crossed by Washington state by their sever overreach into our homes, our children’s education, our personal medical choice, and the rights of parents to make medical choices for their children. We feel that it is not the governments business to be involved in our personal lives or be able to make personal medical choices for us, Washington state disagrees, so we are moving. We realize there are many others who agree with us but cannot move for one reason or another, or simply do not wish to move and we respect that. I would encourage every American to stand up and push back when Government enters your home, job, and lives. We can all do this peacefully and without violence, just simply don’t back down from what you believe in.
My job…..well, this one is more difficult to talk about. First, I really love my job and would happily retire from it years down the road. However, I can’t stay, even without following my hubby to Alaska I would have to quit soon. There are those that continually spread rumors and trash talk to others that has been detrimental to the job itself. Thankfully it is just a few that seem to be consistently disgruntled, and one in particular that seems to be going to great lengths to take my job. They simply don’t have a clue what really goes on in this department or what my job actually entails. There seems to be some incredible misconceptions, it would be nice to have the authority they seem to think I have! LOL! Regardless of their social media chatter, I still managed to get quite a bit accomplished in the last several years! It was amazing to get to work with county, state, and federal colleagues through many incidents and trainings. I was able to gain so much knowledge and experience from those that have become friends. Someday, I might return to Emergency Management in Alaska, but for now I am content to be wife and mom to my favorite people. 🙂
Our plans in Alaska
We are looking to buy property that we can mini farm and be as self-sufficient as possible. We are very excited! The plan is for Jared to work a regular job and I will be homeschooling Jessica, cultivating and harvesting a huge garden, tending chickens, and taking care of the farm in general. I have some big plans and will be blogging and vlogging about it along with our FB, Instagram pages and YouTube channel. I can’t wait to share our off-grid Alaskan farm life with you all! We will be quite busy just getting settled at first, but my goal is to share as much of it as possible on here.
Jared’s new job is 6ish months on and 6ish months off – it closes when it freezes – so during the winter months we will be doing quite a few projects like making soaps, woodworking, leather crafting, sewing, making salves and ointments, etc. all of which we will be documenting for you to see! EEEKKK! I’m getting even more excited just thinking about it, can hardly wait to get started.
Right here, Right now
We are getting ready to move! Packing, cleaning, getting the camp trailer and trucks ready for travel, and so much more. Whew! We have built a shelf in the container to help with organizing and packing boxes. We then moved in the wood splitter, and welder, along with a TON of boxes. Our plan at the moment is to start packing out the bigger furniture like dressers, chairs, cabinets, etc. Then all the rest of the boxes and stuff can be packed in, on, and around them. Finally, we are going to move into the trailer and start the renovations in the house. We are putting down all new flooring, paint, and renovating the bathroom. It is a lot to accomplish in a short time, but we will get it done, might be half dead by the time we get there though, lol!
So, with all that being said, keep an eye on this blog and our YouTube channel, we will be updating them both with our adventures…..packing, renovating this house, driving through up the AlCan hwy, and our new adventure in Alaska. Our plan is to document through this blog and our YouTube channel everything we are up too and all the crazy projects we get in to, and our new life up there. STAY TUNED!!
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