Crazy Busy

Well....it's been forever since I updated, I'm sorry...I'll try to do better.

Well...lots has happened...

Halloween: we had a carnival at school, the kids were done with class at 12:30 and all staff and students then assembled in the gym. The students were divided into groups, with at least one high school student per group. The day was fun, and teachers were exhausted by the time the day was over....it's more exhausting to do a carnival than to teach all day.

Beginning of November....we had election day and voted for a new governor and oil tax as well as the local election.
Staff and students have been plagued with sickness. Nasty colds going around and one case of whooping cough among staff.

Last weekend I went on a trip as a chaperone for NYO (Native Youth Olympics) it's an interesting experience. The activities take a tremendous amount of strength. Our Jr. High team took 5th overall out of 11. Pretty good...this is the first time we've had an NYO team for several years.

This weekend Kat and I ventured out to Bethel it was a great get away. We spent 1 1/2 hours sitting in the newly remodeled airport (curtousy of Nick and his HS class)....needless to say our toes were well...numb might be an appropriate term...it's freezing cold out there. The first Yute plane came said "we don't have any seats" Kat and I were wondering what in the world...but smiled and laughed as we were starting our adventure. The plane came a little after six and I made my first ever trip going to or from Tunt in the dark. We could see all the lights from neighboring villages, and when flying into Bethel...Bethel looked like a metropolis. Let me tell you, Bethel is a HUGE city, with a grand population of maybe 6,000 people. Upon arrival in Bethel we checked in at the hotel dumped off our stuff and left for the grocery store. I spent entirely too much much on groceries..but it was worth every penny for the fresh produce and goodies that I purchased. We ordered out from our favorite place for supper friday night...I had americanized mexican food...this time the Enchilada's were not vegetarian enchiladas (last time they were made with Tofu). We had very happy tummies.

Saturday morning I woke up a little before six and laid there...a little after seven Kat says "are you awake yet?" I laughed and said yes. She turned on the light...and we went to the freezer to get our containers of ice cream. We returned to the room to eat ice cream and watch stupid cartoons. We got motivated and went to another grocery store, came back packed all our groceries from the previous day and headed for the craft sale. The craft sale was a bit disappointing this year. I did find some cute earrings and have a request in for my fur hat. :) We checked in at the airport early; they were able to get us on an earlier flight (ours was supposed to leave at 4...we left a little before 3) our groceries were delievered later. (Well...the 20 lb. turkey in my duffel bag flew on our plane...LOL--adventures). It was a nice weekend, and a welcome break; and a wonderful thing....Ehab was waiting to talk to me when I got home. :) (he's 11 hours ahead of us). It is getting much colder outside and days are getting shorter. Right now the temperature is about 8F or -13 C with a windchill of -4F or -20C. This morning sun came up about 9:15 and set around 5:00.

Hope you all have a wonderful week,

Updates

What a whirlwind week. :) Beginning of the week was crazy busy. Travis came back from Juneau on Tuesday and had lots of stories to tell. I spent long hours at the school earlier in the week and found myself waking up extra early to work (and to chat with someone :$ ) On Wednesday we had four people from the district office in the school---talk about flying.

Our new boss (the director of special education) was amongst the ones who came out. He showed us a new program that he'd like to start using for paperwork...initially it will be a lot of extra work but in the long run I think it could potentially save hours of work and be more accurate than the program we currently use. He offered a lot of helpful advice and his visit turned out to be less daunting than I anticipated:)

We had our second set of parent/teacher conferences this week, and they went well. We had a good turnout.

My homemade blackberry jam was a hit. :)

The most exciting news of the week is that I have water--after 23 days!! :) The sewer was pumped and Mark came to fix something Friday after school---all I owe him is a bag of cookies :)

One of my co-workers came to me with a prayer request this past week--their baby grand daughter was being medi-vacced to Anchorage, she wasn't breathing and had a 25 min. seizure. She is doing better now, they have her off the respirator and she was given a diagnosis of phenomena and meningitis. Please keep this baby in your prayers. She is still in Anchorage with her parents. The other siblings are home with other relatives right now.

Rocky continues to try and eat EVERYTHING in his sight, he's chewed up my snow boots and chewed on my rain boots, and found the box of prizes I have for my kids. Gotta love him :)

Kat and I were going to head into Bethel this weekend to do some shopping and eat out. Upon second thought and looking out the window at school, we decided that we would rather stay home. I have no regrets as some people are still weathered out of the village. We had snow/rain and high winds.

Have a great week!!

Sunny Sunday

This weekend, like all others has flown by. Yesterday we had a work day at school as it was the end of 1st quarter last week. I'm trudging my way through progress reports and other SpEd paperwork. Seems it's never ending.

Today is the first sunny day we've had in quite awhile. The kids are out and about, not just huddled on my steps or the school steps. Russian Orthodox church is holding a cake walk fundraiser today.

Friday night staff played the high school volleyball team and then we played staff vs. staff. It was an enjoyable evening. Travis is still in Juneau and will be back on Tuesday.

I am still without water. The boardwalks have not yet been replaced meaning the sewer pumping equipment can't make it to my house. It is a good lesson in patience for me :) I am thankful I live so close to the school. :)

Have a wonderful week!

The Stores

We have three small stores in our village, each of them carries something the other one doesn't ...you never know what you may find at the stores. Oh...if we go anywhere on an adventure it usually includes a trip to the store. :) (Sound exciting?)

This is known as the Pavila or Angut Store--cheapest of the three stores

This is known as Book Store (no they don't sell books) or Paul Andrew Trading Post.

This is "The Corp" or Quinarmiut Corporation...This is the biggest of the three stores and the most like the stores at home.

The stores occasionally get things like bread, eggs and produce. You will never find a gallon of milk in the stores, and you usually don't find a pound of hamburger in the freezer.

Brief update

Sorry to those of you who have been checking my blog the last few days only to find the same old entry. :)

Last few days have been hectic. Today was the last day of the quarter--the year is sure flying by. One of my one on one aides was gone for a few days...missed her TONS and gave her a huge hug when she came back :) The one on one aides that I supervise are amazing and when they are not around things just don't function properly. Thanks again Maat and Sylvia for doing an incredible job. We also had a visitor from the district office earlier in the week--they are a great resource and a tremendous help but the day is crazy busy when they come.

I've been working on paperwork...trying to stay caught up and if possible a bit ahead. Travis left today and will be gone about a week; he is attending a writers...something or other in Juneau.--Little sidenote...the radio is getting more and more enjoyable. :) I really enjoy the commentary, and something other than the monotony of my cd's. Travis has a growing selection of music. :) He is now doing school announcements in addition to reading the Principal's Monday news and has staff and students from the school record messages that he plays later.

Weather has been a bit warmer around mid 40's and rainy. Snow is again in the forecast for the next few days.

I still have no water in the house, as my sewer has yet to be pumped. They have to wait until the boardwalks are repaired. Water is still high from all the flooding, and some of the boardwalks (as mentioned) are pretty rickety (or broken).

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately...and find myself wondering how I could hate philosophy so much in college and find myself asking so many philosophical questions only a few years later. :)

Will try to post more pictures of the village tomorrow.

Tundra Adventures

WOW!! What a week.

The first few days we had snow and stranded teachers. Then we had flooding and broken boardwalks. I have no water as the sewer tank was only partially pumped.

On Wenesday night I called and had Nick escort me home from school at 11:30 pm...kinda sad when I only live...50 feet from the school. He walked me home and called the VPSO. On Thursday our dog made enemies with someone..not the first encounter. However after much profanity and kicking the lady walked away. Needless to say she called my boss, and threatened to sue . What's happening these days?

Yesterday a plane crashed into the bank of the river. The nose is pretty beat up and windows on the pilots side are broken. The wing has been propped up to help slow the leaking gas. The pilot was the only passenger and is fortunate that only his face is banged up. It's a wonder he wasn't hurt worse. He was hauling about 1200 pounds of freight. Nick said the pilot tried to land about four times prior to the crash and he thought it was a new pilot.--Will try to post pictures later on.

Today the store had produce :) and more food. The shelves have been pretty bare for awhile and there has been no produce since we've been here. We ran into Nick and Dana at the store, they gave us a ride to the airport to look at the plane and the project the high schoolers have been working on. We were almost home, Kat and I and all the packages riding in the trialer, when the trailer veered left as the four wheeler continued straight. The trailer came unhooked and veered left off the boardwalk. Surprised us a bit and we were stuck amongst packages for a few minutes. Nick felt really bad..nothing he could do. Accidents happen. :) It was a bit of a drop but everything is wet and spongy..again the accident could have been much worse.

The guys who will be installing our new water treatment center have arrived. They are living in the spare house we have in exchange for helping Frank hook up the older housing to the school sewer system.

Tonight may be a good time to just curl up with a good book or watch a movie and drink some hot cappucino. :)

Enjoy your weekend!

Tunt Post Office

Not much news today..these pictures of the post office were taken last week.
I haven't quite figured out how they manage to store all the outgoing or incoming packages sometimes. :) The snow has subsided for now--lower village boardwalks are flooded more than they were yesterday.

October or January? :)

The weather continues to be crazy. This morning we had rain, followed by sunshine. The staff that was stranded made it back around 11 and around 11:30 heavy winds and more snow hit the village. Last night high tide moved in. Some of the lower parts of the village have water that is level with the boardwalks. A few of the boardwalks are uneven as one side of them slid off the stilts due to the high water. People are starting to pull boats in for the winter.

Today some of the troops that were home are leaving. They will be headed for Iraq.


This picture, taken from my porch, shows two things...first it shows precisely how far I live from work and it shows the school parking lot. :)

More Snow

This morning at 5:00 I awoke to the pitter patter of rain, howling wind and a banging on my porch. Rain has drenched much of the area and costal villages are in danger of flooding. The rain has since turned to snow. Might have to break down and dig out the warm coat. We have 6 staff members that are stuck in Bethel right now. It's nearly impossible to try and find a sub for all of them. Planes aren't flying (which is why people are stuck); meaning mail is at a standstill.

Second snowfall 10/9/06 taken near my house. The little shrubs you see are what the kids know as trees.

Kat and I started our cooking class today. We had a small group, it should be fun. Several of the kids are 7th graders..we'll see if they stick it out. :) NYO (Native Youth Olympics) also started today. Kids are enthusiastic about it...hope the intrest doesn't wane as quickly this year. I think robotics maybe started last weekend if not it will be starting in the very near future.

Taken near my house 10/9/06

I left Rocky inside this morning as he bulked about getting his lazy bones off the couch. I came home this afternoon and he dismantled another pair of my fun scissors and started eating my snowboots. I'm afraid he's entirely too spoiled--and not getting attention from as many people this year as last. :)

Yes Rocky loves to chew...today he's chewing on someone's misplaced pants.

Snow

Yes that's right...SNOW!! It seems a little early to be having snow but when I woke up this morning the ground had a nice layer of white on it. It has since vanished due to the rain that followed this afternoon. Planes didn't fly today and several teachers (Travis, Josh and Melissa, Martina) are weathered out--couldn't get home.

The creative memories party went well and was a lot of fun--we had 12 people crammed into this little house. :) We survived without water, only one person asked where they could wash their hands. Kat and I improvised and did a quick version of "the cake"--was not quite as good as usual but still pretty tasty.

This is one of "THE CAKE"s that Kat and I made last year. The first time I made this cake I was experimenting....Kat came home and I told her not to look..I thought it was disastrous--she thought it tasted pretty good though so we continue to make it. :) Experiments can have some pretty good outcomes even when they aren't what you were striving for:)

This weekend I received notice that I'm considered highly qualified to teach in Alaska :) Currently there are no special education tests and since I'm also certified to do elementary I'm highly qualified in elementary self contained. Since I'm elementary highly qualified I'm enabled to do special ed pullouts in all academic areas (reading, writing, math). Government is starting to ask special education teachers to be certified/highly qualified in all areas in which they do pullouts. Hmm..I may rethink finishing up my middle and high school sped endorsement. :) Alaska is clamping down on their regulations (or so we've been told). Next semester I will take two classes to maintain my Alaska teaching license..also need to decide if I'll renew my Iowa license. Not sure yet how long I'll stay in Alaska. :)

Happy Monday!

Kat--I still say pirates are overrated--you're just going to have to deal. ;)

Adventures

Some of the cakes for the cake walk

So...I have another story for you all..hope it makes you smile :)

This morning while getting ready for my day my sewer tank reached its capacity. What does this mean? It means the whole water system in my house turns off until further notice. Now...another little education on Tundra life...I could call and ask them to pump my sewer, they may get to it the same day or it may take them a week, you never really know. If you recall I posted a few days ago that the sewer pumping wagon is broken and sewers won't be pumped until further notice--it might be awhile before I have water in the house. So...I am expecting a house full of company tomorrow, have a sink with dirty dishes, a floor that needs to be scrubbed and no bathroom. Ever entertained people like that?? lol I'll head over to the school a little later with my dishes, not the first time and probably not the last. :)

I also found some game pieces that my little buggers hid when they were at my house the other day--you never know what they might get into and it takes them all of 2 seconds to find something. :)

Pround owner of the cool basketball cake :) For those of you who don't know how a cake walk works..we have numbers on the floor, music is played and people walk around on the numbers when the music stops everyone picks a number to stand on. A number is drawn from a box and if you're standing on that number you get to pick a cake.

Two happy little boys with a whole lot of cake :)

Friday :)

Here we are..another friday, another week of school already gone. We will soon be ending our ninth week of classes and be ready for round two of parent teacher conferences.

Oh.. a story..every Wednesday afternoon I bring some of my girls over to bake and cook at my house as part of their class schedule. This week everything was crazy..one of my little ones was showing a lot of siezure activity (about 7 in a half hour) and the girls were playing games and little toy instruments that I have. The one on one aides and I turned our back for a minute...and what do you suppose happens. One of my kids is hidden in my bed..all bedding up over the head. I was like "What??" My bed was made...it should have at least slowed the stinker down. Anywho..if you know me..you know I HATE stuff in my bed..no crumbs/dirt anything...needless to say muddy jeans and socks should never be in my bed. :$ I was stunned, and the one on one aides lectured in Yup'ik. I'm glad I have laundry on Wenesday nights :) Kat got a good laugh.

Todays staff meeting was amusing..Travis talked about his radio station..Greg talked about southern comedy that Travis could broadcast on the radio...everyone was pretty laid back. Kat and I had the giggles..Nick asked what was up and we giggled some more...Frank just looked at us wondering what in the world, and Travis just smiled. In the staff meeting we discussed all the wierd stuff happening in schools these days.....What is this world coming to? The shooting in the Amish school in PA, shooting in CO, shooting in WI, and on the North Slope (AK), some guy came in and whacked the electrician (who was repairing the fire alarm) with a meat clever and then went out in the village and stabbed his uncle's dog to death...YIKES!! We practiced lock down procedure today (something new to me) now we know how the whole process will work and know what needs to be tweaked. Our mix-six volleyball team traveled to another village to play their first game this weekend--kids were pretty excited :)

Tonight the girls high school basketball team held a cakewalk as a fundraiser. I scrambled home from school to whip up a cake, and then Kat and I went and walked at 6. Was fun...and as Kat calculated... the half an hour of entertainment cost us about $20. Greg made the evening entertaining...he danced all around the numbers all around the circle--what happened to the Greg we knew?? (not that we're complaining) :)

This weekend we have snow in the forecast..possibility of snow tonight, and possibility of rain/snow through Monday or Tuesday.

Dana has started selling Creative Memories stuff, we will be having a party at my house on Sunday....Should be a lot of fun :)

Will post some pictures from the cake walk later on.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Twins

Well...Kat and I aren't the only twins :) These are my two one on one aides. They are amazing and if you have the opportunity to meet them...give them a pat on the back and thank them for a job well done.

Maat (Martina) and Sylvia

Election Day

Today we voted for school board positions and another region postion. The principal encouraged all of us to get out and vote to set an example for the kids; we will wear our "I Voted" stickers tomorrow when we go to school. :)
Rocky remains one of the stinkiest dogs you've ever seen :P He is also a mischievous dog..this morning he chewed up some papers, books, markers, a box of crayons, a pencil sharpener, a video tape, and some of my fun scissors after I left for work. He's a smart dog...wish I had some kind of puzzle to keep him occupied while I'm at work.

What else is new...today is the first day I haven't had a splitting headache :D in the past week and a half..WHO-HOO!! On Sunday I made two batches of blackberry jam using about half of the berries I received for my birthday. The jam is a beautiful red violet color and has a unique flavor.

Kat and I will start teaching a cooking class next Monday after school--we've opened it up to students in grades 3-12 we'll see how much of a response we get....am kinda nervous, don't know how qualified I am to teach a cooking class :)

Weather was rainy again today with a high near 55..my water tank is full again. I almost had to haul from the school. :) We have also been alerted that sewers will not be pumped until further notice as their wagon for pumping has a broken wheel--makes conserving water more of a necessity. It's also nice that we live right next to the school and can dart over there to use the bathroom or shower if need be.
So...I've seen these things around the village but never knew what they were...I've learned that they are where people dump their honey buckets. Honey buckets are what some people use as their toilet..it is pretty much a 5 gal. pail with a toilet seat on it.


The scenery is beautiful--and the sunrises and sunsets are unexplainable--unlike anything I've ever seen in the lower 48.

The Gas Station

These pictures were taken at the end of April...Nick, Dana and I were going out on the river to go jigging (ice fishing).

The inside of the station sells things like you'd see in a convenience store: candy, pop, jerky etc.


Outside by the pump. The school snow go and sled. Sleds like this are common and are used to transport things like wood for the steam houses, and are taken hunting/fishing etc. I love riding in the back of the sled...Nick and Ryan gave us some good rides last year :)

Happy Birthday Iain!!

Fish

So I have received another fish..again not gutted....I took a look at the fish and said "umm..I think I need someone to help me with this." good thing, as this fish isn't taken care of the same way as the first one. :) Thank goodness Joann and Lucy were able to come to the rescue.



Joann came over and asked if I had cardboard, we took out a box, spread it out on the floor, and Joann says "okay you're going to do this" we tried using a knife but it just didn't work the same way as the ulu. First, you have to scale the fish, and then cut the head off, and then cut down the middle to remove the guts.

I keep acquiring these fish and am very thankful for the meat, will have to master the skill of cleaning and cooking them though :) As Maat would say...I'm on my way to becoming an "Eskimo Woman". The fish was very slimy. :P All in all it wasn't bad, it was...an adventure :D

Yuck!! first time, I've seen fish eggs up close, they are so tiny. Joann laughed at me as I tried to clean the fish using a spoon--Need to stop being a pansy and just get dirty. :)

Russian Orthodox Church

This is the old Russian Orthodox church; looks a lot bigger on the inside. I think it could make someone a cute house if given some attention.

The current church

Russian Orthodox cemetery. In response to numerous questions....during the winter ice picks or similar tools are used to chip through the ice to dig the grave.

Tunt Beauty

Tonight the mix-six high school volleyball team took on the staff. Nice to be out and to mingle with the other staff outside of school. After the games Kat and I headed over to the Hultbergs for a game of Seafarers.--It was an enjoyable evening and attitudes and tempers were more mellow than usual.

Our Friday staff meeting dealt a lot with language. Is it okay to allow students to use Village English? or should they be expected to use standard English? Lots of interesting discussion ensued. Are they able to master standard English when using Village English or their native tongue? If a student is proficient in one language does it make acquisition of a second language easier or is it more confusing to make transitions?

Tuntutuliak woods. This was taken on my favorite path in Tunt....what a gorgeous afternoon.

This picture portrays a bit of the daily life in Tunt. The big green building (the shop) is Nick's classroom, the raised, fenced in area is the basketball court where kids hang out after school. My house is next to the shop and the school is further to the left.

Look at God's artwork; isn't it amazing?

Almost Friday

What a whirlwind week...speech language pathologist was here yesterday and today...she has had a lot of helpful information and been great with the kids; she's been teaching me a lot of new things. :) One of my one on one aides had jury duty this week, it's difficult to find a sub for their positions; it makes for a crazy irregular week. Today marked the completion of the district wide writing assessment. Hard to believe how fast this year is flying by. I've been fighting a migraine since about last Friday; have a lot of work to catch up on as a result.

Tonight Joann was here, she helped make bread and then we went for a nice walk.



Yesterday a barge was here, unloading gas. Tunt purchased their first propane tank this summer and another one came on the barge. The barges are huge, and quite impressive. There should be another headed for Tunt. loaded with our water treatment supplies.

Frank is in hopes of connecting the older teacher housing to the main sewer system when the guys are here to install the water treatment system. Currently he pays to get our sewers pumped once a week. It costs $67 per tank per week.





Weather continues to cool off..today we had more rain (again, nice for the dwindling water tank) the boardwalks are getting slippery around 8:30-9:00 when it cools off.

Ugly Sweater Day :)

A few weeks ago I ordered a cute sweater online....well when it arrived it wasn't nearly as cute as the pictures showed, it is however very soft and very warm.:) I kept telling Kat about the ugly sweater and she asked to see it when she came over last Friday night. I showed her and she says "that's not ugly. Do you want to know why that is not ugly? I ordered the exact same sweater" We had a good laugh :) So today was ugly sweater day. Now we have matching qaspeqs and matching sweaters. Great minds think alike.


After taking the picture of the matching sweaters, one of my gems wanted to take a picture "Me Too!! Me Too!"

The first frost appeared in Tunt this morning. The days are getting cooler, and nights are quite chilly, almost cold enough to think about digging out the winter coat. Rocky has earned the title of stinkiest kussaq dog the last two days. Last night while Kat and I were on our walk, he rolled in something NASTY. Whenever he ran within five feet of us we had to cover our noses; the stench was awful. His fur is caked, looks like he put gel in it. YUCK! He was going to sleep outside last night but is way to spoiled and barked until I let him in. He is banned from most of the house until he has a bath.

Travis is getting more courageous with his radio...called a bit ago to see if I was listening (wasn't, oops). I turned the radio on, and now he's chatting (first time he's used the mic)...."Well might have at least one person listening...Marie are you there? Are you there? Gonna play a song for Marie, gotta find a good song...still looking...looking..looking....all right marie found your song, it's up next..man this song is long...okay,okay marie here's your song..happy birthday, last week was marie's birthday..she turned about..how old were you marie about 45? LOL, sounds almost like he's singing along...no idea what the music is but it's not bad :) "alright, got my new toy going, now you can hear me. this one's for nick, this is nick's song" okay, enough of the radio programming in Tunt.

I'm finding all this radio stuff rather amusing. :) hope you enjoyed the commentary.

Have a great day

Tunt happenings

This weekend there were district church meetings held in town for the Moravian church. This afternoon there will be a sale at the community hall for the Russian Orthodox church. I baked some things for a bake sale last year and then attended the sale. It was a very unique experience--will try to attend another bake sale this year, maybe get some pictures. The sale this afternoon might be more of a craft sale..homemade wooden spoons etc. I may go to try and purchase some Christmas gifts.

Tunt near the airport 9/21/06

Last night found us at Jason and Kimberly's house playing games. It's so interesting to see how dynamics change with just two new teachers. It's different not having Ryan, Katy and David around. Ryan and Katy-always sweet and encouraging and two steps ahead in thinking about others--glad to hear they seem to be doing well in OR. Miss David's sense of humor and sarcasm. We (nick,dana, kat, kimberly and jason) chit chatted, had snacks and played kat's new game.

I've been shopping for plane tickets to return after Christmas and for a trip to Juneau over Thanksgiving. PFD fares are out. This means that Alaska Air drops their prices for about 6 weeks so that people who get their dividend checks will purchase sale priced tickets.

Last week Prism Optical people were here to check eyes and the people from the village could order contacts or glasses. Most people who visit stay in the school overnight as there isn't a hotel. :) We have mattresses upstairs for people to use and visitors can buy the school lunches as we don't have a restaurant.


The weather here remains cloudy and rainy and yesterday was chilly. It was dark, dark at 9:30 last night.

A Virtuous Wife

My cousin sent me a study in an email and I was challenged by it. Before you read her study I have a some words I'd like to share. Many women are in the same shoes as I am right now. Longing to be in a relationship (or running from one), longing for the right person, looking into our hearts to see who we really are, refining who we are, reminding ourselves of the person we should be and our roles in a relationship. What qualities do we want in a future spouse? Why do these characteristics jump out? Why are they important? Often we forget that we are to be the bride of Christ and that our relationship with Him should be first and foremost in our lives. It is easy to put worldly relationships and worldly possessions before the relationship with our heavenly groom. Our Heavenly Father longs to be loved by us in the same way we long to be loved by someone else. Beth, my cousin, took the passage from Proverbs 31 and looked at it as being The Bride of Christ. She introduced the following document with this statement: "This passage is no longer a guide for finding the perfect woman to live with, nor is it a "how to" guide for women in becoming every man's dream. It's God's love letter to us, modeling and challenging us (men & women alike) to become His dream." One more thing: Remember you are beautiful inside, your inner beauty radiates out. God made you in His image you are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Gen. and Ps. 39) "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment..instead it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." ~1 Peter 3:3-4

May you be challenged and encouraged as you read this.

September 20, 2006
Elizabeth Burkholder

Preparing as the Bride of Christ
Will I be a “virtuous wife”?
a unique study of Proverbs 31:10-31

10 Who can find a virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.

Do I sense my great worth as the King’s bride?

11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.

Can God trust me for gain in His kingdom?

12 She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.

Am I always “good” to God? ever “evil” to God?nt>

13 She seeks wool and flax,
And willingly works with her hands.

What are the wool & flax of my calling? Do I actively seek out the materials & environment necessary to fulfill the duties of my calling? Am I willingly working in my calling?

14 She is like the merchant ships,
She brings her food from afar.

Do I go to great lengths to feed my soul?

15 She also rises while it is yet night,
And provides food for her household,
And a portion for her maidservants.

Do I awake early just to prepare to provide for His sheep? Do I remember to serve & thank those serving around & under me?


16 She considers a field and buys it;
From her profits she plants a vineyard.

Do I weigh my decisions, then walk confidently in them? Do I follow up on the fruits of my labor to ensure their profits also?

17 She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms.

Do I do my part to stay strong for tasks ahead… spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially?

18 She perceives that her merchandise is good,
And her lamp does not go out by night.

Do I value the gift of salvation I preach? Do I keep the flame of faith burning?

19 She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hand holds the spindle.

Do I reach out my hands at opportunity to serve?

20 She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.

How am I serving the needy?

21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,
For all her household is clothed with scarlet.

Are the Family members under my care ready for the storms of life?

22 She makes tapestry for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.

Am I clothing myself with Christ for the approaching wedding day?

23 Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.

Am I spreading the Groom (Christ)’s fame?

24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies sashes for the merchants.

Am I helping to clothe others for the wedding day?

25 Strength and honor are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.

Am I wearing strength and honor? Is that what others see?

26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.

Does my mouth speak wisdom & kindness?

27 She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.

Am I actively involved in the lives of other believers: watching and stepping-in to speak wisdom as God shows me?

28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:

Do my spiritual offspring see that I am blessed?

29 “ Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”

Am I running the race to bring my best to Jesus?

30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.

Do I fear the Lord, recognizing that true beauty lies within?

31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.

Do I sense the freedom that God has given me to serve Him with my gifts?

Who Me??

Someone gave me these pics today :)
















Who me?? Sweet and Innocent!! :)--(hehe)

The Mischievous Duo-- Winter 2005

Angniq anutiiq! (Happy Birthday)

My card from Kat and Iain

Thank You for all the birthday greetings. It has been a great day.

My Present from Travis--Tundra style wrapping paper :)

Most embarrasing/sweet thing today was Maat (Martina)--I walked into the cafeteria after my lunch break at 12:15 all the kids grades 3-12 turned and looked at me and started to sing Happy Birthday. Very sweet Maat; totally unexpected :)


My Cake: Maat and Sylvia planned last night during a steam...Sylvia walked in with Cake and Maat walked in with Jello. Maat says "I knew no else would make you a cake"

My new Ipod arrived today, I've spent time this evening playing and figuring out how it all works. :) I also received a HUGE bag of blackberries and a smaller bag of smoked fish strips as a birthday gift. Thanks to Everyone for a GREAT day :D

The card Kat's kids made

Today was crazy..and my routine was... well...far from normal. One of my kids who occupies a great portion of my time was sent home yesterday with a fever and flu like symptoms. Today I walked a student home that had pink eye, not just in one eye like yesterday but in both eyes. Needless to say half an hour later the student was back in school.

No baking was done today, I had two aides who needed jobs and a pretty free afternoon....Our classroom is very well stocked with TONS of stuff from the DO (district office) all of it is nice and useful but adds a lot of clutter to the room. So I had my aids start pulling stuff out this morning and cleaning cupboards. They did an awesome job, cupboards look much better and I have things that will be useful that I hadn't ever seen. We had boxes of stuff stored up on top of our cupboards and were able to find a home for much of that stuff. We decided we were done for the day a little after four. I have two incredible one on one aides, they are very helpful, listen when I tell them what needs to be done, and know how to brighten one's day. Sometimes they know me too well--and can come up with something out of the blue that embarrasses me beyond belief..oh well, guess it's part of life huh? :)

I received another fish today, this one is a white fish and is much smaller than the salmon. It came fully gutted; thank goodness. :) By the time I leave here I should have perfected the skill of fish cooking. It'd be fun to learn how to cut fish as well.
Speaking of cutting things...in Alaska many people use what they call an Uluaq (sorry, may be spelled incorrectly). They are called an ulu for short. Last year I purchased one from a friend. I was hesitant because of the cost, but have learned to really like it. It works great for chopping nuts and vegetables. Our school cook uses one for chopping up tomatoes, or meat all the time.

My Ulu--If you turn the Ulu upside down you will notice that it is shaped
like a walrus.

Random Ramblings

Will try to keep people updated more frequently on the happenings of life in Tunt. and hey...if you get bored you don't have to read them :)

This week has been long and it's only Tuesday..weekends seem to fly by, not quite sure where they go. A lot has happened in the last few weeks...the rain continues and so my tank is still full--it's nice to have such beautiful water to brush teeth, take showers, and even wash dishes with. Between head lice, vomiting kids, pee on the floor and possible pink eye I sometimes wonder why I signed up for this gig. I jokes...I love my job and the kids and staff I have the opportunity to work with. I received one of the biggest compliments yesterday as I was cleaning up the floor.."did__pee on the floor?.....makes me almost want to be a special ed. teacher" Being a Sp Ed teacher (or any teacher) definitely has it's challenges and can be so overwhelming at times but the rewards are so incredible and sometimes come from out of no where. I have learned a lot in the past year, and still have so much to learn...wonder what I'll think when I look back on these first few years ten years from now...

This afternoon I received a phone call..wondering if my dog was in as they were out shooting again. I was thankful I left Rocky in the house today--as we were still on the phone I looked out my classroom window to see two people walking around with rifles. Rocky hates being tied up so I sometimes let him loose, but am concerned he'll be shot--he is not on the best of terms with the VPO.

Enjoy some MN scenery--this was taken while overlooking one of my dad's rye fields
(needed to add some kind of color to this drab page. :) --will get more AK pics soon)

Today found me doing detention duty..I had a classroom of kids, I'm not sure if detention is for the teacher or for the students :)--Boy was it BORING!!--I think it's great to have a detention system in place, and am thankful we only have to do it about once every two and a half weeks. I sent someone to the principals office for the first time this year today, my student was very remorseful and I felt bad about it for awhile. I've some problems with swearing this year from one particular student...as bad as it sounds sometimes I have a hard time not smiling or laughing because of the way the words are said, and sometimes she is so sneaky she just laughs after swearing. I'm not quite sure how to eliminate it--ignoring doesn't help and it's not accecptable language for school....any suggestions??

Kat and I just returned from a nice walk....it's nice to get out of the house after being cooped up with all the rain. I was starting to get cabin fever. :) Hours of daylight have diminished greatly in the short time I've been up here. This morning at 8 the sun was starting to peek out and now at 9:30 it's dusky.

My big investment of the week/birthday present to myself (kinda selfish I know) :) Is an ipod and speakers. The speakers have arrived and the ipod left Anchorage so it should be here any day...can't wait to play with it.

Travis continues to make revisions to his radio and his playlist..he got a bunch of new music in the mail today, has started reading the Monday news, and today had people in the school record little bloops saying...FM100. It is fun to watch him and see how excited he is with the whole thing. :)
well...I'd best go find my sinks, my girls will be coming over tomorrow and they love washing dishes, last week they discovered the spraying hose and thought it great fun. :)

Congratulations Kristen and Sudhir--The wedding pics I have seen are beautiful.

Church

Today Nick, Dana, and I met for the first time this year for church/Bible study. We read a passage from Ezekiel 40-41 that talked all about the new temple. It is amazing to me to read about all the detail and all the dimensions. Detail was given in cubits and handbreaths, if you look a cubit is about 1 1/2 feet and a handbreath 3 inches. Detail was given to the carvings on the walls of the temple...there were palm trees and cherubim--the cherubim had two heads, one like man and one like a lion--I'm curious as to the significance of these things; why were these objects chosen for the carvings? The pattern was palmtree, cerubim, palmtree,etc. Another thing that caught my attention was the use of directions; "the chamber facing south is for the priests who have charge of the temple and the chamber facing north is for priests in charge of the alters." It made me think of other religions who pray in certain directions. When reading my Bible previously the use of directions has never jumped out like that before.

After reading in Ezekiel we read from Psalms 128--which brought up a lot about fearing the Lord and being blessed. After Psalms we continued to Revelation 21. We read about all the splendor of the temple in Ezekial but Revelations talks about Heaven, and it is so mind boggling, so hard to try and even imagine. There was an angel measuring with a rod of gold and walls were approx. 200 ft. thick, the city as mentioned is nearly 1400 miles long, wide and high...can you imagine..that's huge. 12 is a number that comes up a lot..12 jewels, 12 gates that are like 12 pearls..and "the city was pure gold, transparent as glass" (Rev. 21:21)....hmmm...lots of interesting things to ponder :) thought i'd share some of my thoughts.

May you have a blessed week.

Tundra Times

BANG, BANG, BANG! the sound resonated through my little abode. What in the world is going on? I was in the middle of trying to take a nap; what is all the racket? Then I hear "What are you doing?" "What?" "Where are you?" "Under the house?" I decided I needed to do some investigating...I went out on my porch in time to see Nick carrying some boards. Mr. Handyman to the rescue again. Yet again my cable wasn't working, courtesy of the dogs running under the house, Nick wired the cable back together and surrounded it with boards so it is impossible to pull loose. After nearly three weeks I'm able to watch tv again.

We have had a plethora of dogs running through the area lately. One of them bit Rocky's face a few days' ago and snapped at me. They come up on my steps and camp out, have decided it's the honeymoon suite and when the opportunity arises they like to sneak into the house. Nick built a gate at the top of my steps so that I can keep 2 legged and 4 legged creatures out; giving Rocky some extra space and freedom. The 2 legged creatures now have a new game, how can we climb over the gate onto the porch and how noisy can we be. It's kind of amusing to watch them. The novelty of the gate will soon wear off. Yesterday after complaints from people within the school the VPSO and his help, captured and eliminated some of the dogs who had been a problem outside the school.

Rocky

Today I survived the monotony of a Special Ed inservice via the polycom..Travis and I were camped out in the school library all day, watching this and that. Our aides (angels) joined us this afternoon for training and they have three more hours in the morning; I think I'm going to make a nice breakfast to take up to them since they have to sit there.

The high of my day would have to be that it is Friday and that it is pay day. Rent this year is lower than I expected and I have more sick days/personal days than I anticipated. Kat and I may travel to Juneau over Thanksgiving break too bad we can't extend a holiday with our personal days :)

What are blankets for??

Rocky has been such a good little trooper, he isn't fond of being home by himself all day, but is doing very well. He has become very needy, at night when I come home he crashes right next to the couch or next to me on the floor, and whines if he's not receiving constant attention. When I'm in the kitchen he follows me all around.

The best discovery of the week is pandora.com you can search for music that you like and it pulls from artists with similar styles, the music is continuous, with no commercials and it doesn't have to stop every two minutes to buffer.

Weather has been moderately warm, and we have had a steady supply of rain. My water tank is full to the brim, I'm very thankful. The tundra continues to look more and more like fall...with hues of brown and yellow. Commercial fishing has ended and we are at the end of the blackberry season, red berries are starting to appear.

Need to sign off, am going to make a birthday present for my SpEd associate teacher...the sped staff is well represented with birthdays in the first month of school :)

Have a relaxing weekend.

Bethel Inservice

We have returned from our adventure in Bethel. We flew out on Friday afternoon--we weren't supposed to have a charter with one of the little airlines but they forgot, and didn't have us on the schedule...needless to say they lost all school travel business from the school. Josh, our designated school travel agent, called another airline and they got us a charter and were in Tunt within 45 minutes.

This mural is painted on the wall in one of the Bethel Airports

We arrived in Bethel around 3:30--meaning we had a whole afternoon for fun and relaxation. Kat and I checked in at the Hotel and then walked to Corrina's--a great grocery store in Bethel selling lots of food in bulk (kinda like a small Sam's Club) After a fun trip to Corrina's we went to Swanson's another grocery store, we recieved a 15% off coupon... after $100 worth of groceries (each) we were on our merry way :) Swanson's is about a block or a block and a half from the hotel we were staying at Kat and I were too cheap to pay for a cab...I mean $8 for a block, no thanks; but our boxes were a little too heavy to carry all the way back sooo....we borrowed a cart. We decided to push the cart to the Bed and breakfast. Now for those of you who need an education on Bethel...Bethel is very muddy and sloppy during the rainy season, and some of the roads are gravel/sand/clay--Kat and I pushed and pulled the cart through the muck to get our stuff home. A year ago, I probably would have been horrified at the thought of taking a cart, and to be honest I can't quite believe we did it. It was an enjoyable walk and we kept others entertained in the process. :) We returned the cart on our way to play a game with Nick and some other teachers from Kipnuk.

This is inside Hagelands--one of the small Bethel airports

You never know what you might see when you're in Bethel...always something new and exciting. This weekend it was the barges. There are barges that come to deliver goods to Bethel and to the villages. Last year the furniture for new teacher housing was on a barge, this year a new water treatment facility is on a barge and headed for Tunt. Frank (our Site Administrator/principal) is in hopes that it will be done by next year.

The barge...we saw a few barges parked in Bethel; they are massive!

Welcome to Tuntutuliak--This is our airport in Tunt

Hope your day is filled with many smiles. :)