Updates

I haven't blogged in a while, which can only mean one thing: I have a full and real life here!  I've been beyond blessed in the people who have found me, and I feel so grateful I could burst.  As my new friend Angela says, "We found a family in the land of orphans."

These have been my chief activities in the last month:

• finding my party pants (I seem to have packed them away when I left California) 
• taking advantage of the warmth by playing outside and seeing a little bit more of Alaska
• freaking out about having to take the Bar yet again (despite all those promises I once made to myself that I'd "never have to do this again").

Along the way, a lot has happened.
Here are some highlights:

1) I've fallen madly in love with my bike.  I think I learned to ride a bike when I was 5 or 6... but I've never loved one until I met my little craigslist wonder.  Pete, who was my very first friend in Anchorage, has a curious fixation with bikes; one of the perks of meeting him was that it opened my eyes to what a significant part of life a bike can be.  It helps me make friends, gets me from A to B, gives me a sense of windy abandon, and allows me to get home safely and legally from bars.

2) My college roommate and favorite tiny soldier came to visit me from New Jersey.  We did a little wandering and observing of puffins, but spent a lot of time either talking or enjoying the comfortable silence.  It was a nice reminder that while I often gravitate toward noisy dressy nights out, quiet cozy nights are rare -- and ones to cherish.  When I was 20 and lived in the ghetto with Alaina, a night in giggling and watching Sex & and the City was one that couldn't be topped.  Turns out, that's still true.

3) I've spent an outrageous amount of money at REI.  Before the annual REI sale, I had never realized that I've never actually owned (or carried, or pitched) my own tent.  These are tasks (among countless others) I've always depended on someone else to do for me.  One of the innumerable reasons I love moving so often is the opportunity to start fresh without the luxury of using people or familiar circumstances as a crutch.   I like object lessons, so maybe successfully backpacking while carrying my own weight (haha!) encourages me to believe that I can be less dependent on people in life and love as well as in camping.

I fall in love with Alaska more and more every single day.  I feel completely myself here, even (or maybe especially) stripped of the trappings of my easy California life.  I'm frustrated and challenged and inspired and enthralled.  And you know what?  That bitch from REI was right: I'm absolutely awed.