2023, crazy but amazing!
It has been 1 year, almost to the day that we moved into our home. We have done a tremendous amount of work with a lot more to do. It’s a little crazy looking back over the last year and seeing how God has helped us in so many ways! Sometimes it was discouraging with the never ending list of stuff to get done and some that still needs done, lol, but God has never failed us and we are excited for this coming year. I was super frusterated one day about stuff not getting done fast enough and was almost in tears when I came across some pictures of when we first moved in……YIKES! I had forgotten just how bad it was when we started. That made me realize just how much work we have done and reminded me to have patience. Patience is not my strong point, but this house is teaching me patience daily!
We had worked on the outside stuff in the summer months and now we are back to working on the inside. We have painted, tore out walls, built shelving, rebuilt walls, braced the foundation, put in flooring, rewired, replumbed, reinsulated, put in new windows, the list goes on and on. We still have some windows to replace next summer, and need to finish the kitchen and some shelving and storage areas around the house. We also need to finish the flooring and some other odds and ends but will get it done eventually! We still have some stacks of boxes to unpack but are slowly getting them unpacked as we build shelves and furniture for them. We left most of our big furniture in WA so we are having to buy or build everything for this house. It has made unpacking quite a bit slower. We got sick in December that lasted 3 weeks and actually still lingers in a cough that brought everything to a halt! We are just getting our energy and strength back so hopefully can get inside finished up before summer. My father-in-law, Scott was able to come up and help us with the house. That was a tremendous help and we miss him now, lol! We were able to have a bit of fun to with dog sledding, ice fishing, and some good food!
This past summer we were able to get the container moved in and unpacked, it is now being used for storage. We put shelving in it for totes, Christmas, seasonal tools, etc, its working great. Our camp trailer has a spot now and next summer we will put a gravel or cement pad under it and get utilities ran, a deck or porch on it too. We would love to turn it into a little B&B as the view from it is amazing. We turned our riding mower into a riding snowblower since we really don’t have grass. That works really well and saves us quite a bit of money on someone coming to plow.
Our bonfire area is done and we already had a sledding party with bonfire, snacks, cider, and hot chocolate. It was a lot of fun and we plan to do it again soon. We live on a hill so Jessica keeps certain areas smooth and clear for sledding. We lit up the area with Christmas lights as well so it looks super fun and cheery. We plan to put a roof/chimney of the bonfire area to keep it snow free in winter and hang netting in summer for a mosquito free outdoor cooking and living area. I would like to enlarge it a bit and put the smoker, grill, and a table in there too. We will have to see if we have the budget and time next summer to make it happen. It works great for now though and we use it quite a bit.
A friend gave me a small greenhouse so as soon as the snow melts I will need to get that put in place and finish the garden area too. Alaska Dept of agriculture gives ‘microgrants’ to folks up to $5k for food sustainability. I am planning to put in for a large Alaskan greenhouse and possibly enlarge my chicken coop/run. I will need to clear some trees and level the area but I am excited to do this as I will be able to preserve/can the produce and sell the rest at the farmers market. The grants cover almost anything that involves food sustainability including freezers, smokers, fishing and hunting gear, chicken coops, greenhouses, canning supplies, etc, its a very generous grant and I am excited to apply for it!
Jessica has made a lot of changes and grown quite a bit in the last year as well. She finished mechanics level 2 and has decided to turn her focus on a long term goal of being an Alaska State Fish & Wildlife Officer, she wants to work the K9 unit or possibly the air patrol. She is almost 16 so of course that may change before she can apply to training, but she is starting with some classes this spring that will help her in that direction. She is signed up for FEMA trainings online so can get her ICS stuff done, she can start flying lessons after May when she turns 16 and will be working with different local agencies like. The local Emergency Management wants her to work with them so that will help as well. She was contacted by the Homesteaders Expo to have another presentation on HAM radios in April so she is planning that. She seems to be getting a name locally for teens in HAM radios and emergency preparedness, she always does a great job and enjoys doing it. We are so proud of the young woman she is becoming, she is growing in faith as well and has a burden for lost teens her age. She is headed to Guyana, South America in a few weeks on a missions trip with our local church. She is super excited and I am super nervous….and excited for this opportunity. I love watching her grow up and experience life but at the same time I am not ready for her to grow up too much yet! She has taken up archery and does pretty good at it! She has lessons every week and a spot to practice here at home. She does target shooting for now but will try her hand at archery hunting as well when she is bit older.
Jared switched jobs this fall. He was working for Suburban propane but it is simply wasn’t working out well. His coworkers were great, but the policies and procedures were not. It would likely be a great job in most places in the lower 48 where the main office is, however, they do not understand that the way they do things there and the way to accomplish something here can be 2 very different things. Jared is now the Public Works Director for the city of Houston, AK. He loves his job and is doing quite well in it. He has a lot of manager and director experience in law enforcement and fire, so there was a bit of a learning curve to get into public works. His employees and the other city officials say he is awesome (which I already knew, lol) so he must have learned quick and is doing an amazing job.
I am still working as a substitute teacher at the local elementary school when needed. I enjoy the kids and it gives me a break from housework and projects. The engraver has been a fun learning experience for me and I am trying to stock up on product for the summer farmers market. My sewing machine is finally unpacked so I have been getting all my mending, curtains for the house, quilts, and projects done. Im going try to sell the quilts I make at the farmers market as well as little stuff like potholders, fancy kitchen towels and whatever else I think of.
I have 2 parakeets now, they have such big personalities for being so little, lol! Tulip is an English breed and bigger, he was found flying about a neighborhood 3 years ago by his previous owner. He likes to eat millet from my hand and screeches if I don’t give him some when he wants it. He is tame and allowed to fly about the room sometimes. Snowflake was a very tiny baby when I got her, she is still quite small and is learning to trust us still. The pet store or ? clipped her wings really short and still months later they have not grown enough for her to fly. She isn’t allowed outside the cage quite yet as she would just flutter to the ground and hasn’t learned to come back to the cage or our hand when called. I started making my own salves and all natural first aid cream out of Devils Club, Yarrow, raw bees wax and some other little stuff. They work great and sell ok too. I will have to go out and harvest more Devils Club, yarrow and Cottonwood buds soon as spring hits. I really enjoy foraging and being able to make things out of the natural plants, especially when I can sell it and make a bit of money on the side.
Jeffery was able to come up this last summer and then again in December. I am so thankful that our kids are able to visit! Tanya married this summer and we were able to fly down to be with her for her big day. She married a great guy, Bryan, and we are happy to have him join our family. We spent a few days with them, then flew to MT, rented a car and drove to Wy where we dropped off a second car to my brother Grant, then continued on to SD where we spent a few days with my parents and other brother Keith. We had a great time and it was sooooo good to see them again!! I really miss my family and get to see them so little that I truly cherish every visit. I didn’t get to see my sister Amanda this time, hopefully next time! I’ll make another post about that whole trip and share a bunch of pictures so keep an eye out for that!
Jared aggravated an old injury this last fall, he isn’t allowed to pick up more than a few pounds. We thought they would do surgery and fix it this time but they have not. He simply lives in a lot of pain now and must be careful. Hopefully he will find a different Dr that is willing to do the simply surgery to fix it instead of handing him more meds.
We haven’t been able to get out and hunt though we were able to get some dip net fishing in with some dear friends of ours, Ryan and Angela. Where we went there is a 26ft tide so it gets a little crazy, its a blast though!! Its a bit of a hike into there, and the trail floods over at high tide so you cant get out until the tide goes down a bit, its combat fishing when the run comes in with folks in and on everything imaginable! I definitely will pack a bit differently next year to make it easier on myself, but man was it fun!
Its been an exciting year and we have been able to get so much done. We are looking forward to 2024 and have so many plans and projects to do and accomplish! We love our little piece of the Alaskan dream and would not trade it for anything, even on hard days its totally worth it!
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