I never intended for it to be so long in between posts!  An educators know that the beginning of school is a hectic time. Combine that with being in a new state, new house, new school, and new grade--it's been one heck of an almost 2 months in my new home :)

I flew from Monroe to Anchorage on August 9. Let me tell you that 16 travel hours with a cat in tow makes for an extremely stressful experience. I figured since her happy meds were about done for with only 4 more hours that I'd give a half dose. I will never make that mistake again! I spent Friday with my new friend Courtney doing some quick shopping and getting my new phone. I've taken over her spot at school now that she's moved to Anchorage, and she was so patient answering all my questions!

Friday night my roommate Darla arrived with her dog Lincoln. We flew out early the next morning. My home airport is a small, regional one so the planes aren't nearly as big. I thought that would adequately prepare me for the small planes I was in for. I was wrong. The flight from Anchorage to Bethel wasn't so bad since the plane was just slightly smaller than I'm used to. It was very weird going outside and stepping into the plane.

Bethel turned into an experience! Our flight was delayed due to a low weather ceiling. They suddenly wanted to charge us extra for our pet carriers as well as consider our carryon backpacks luggage. That put us over the luggage weight limit, so we also had to pay for that privilege! After finally getting the okay to fly, we walked out to the smallest plane, that everyone else was excited about because it was the bigger option! I couldn't see anything below because of the cloud cover, and the pilots had no problem looking at their phones during the flight. When an alarm went off, I about came out of my seat before being told it was the signal we were about to land.

The principal and counselor picked us up in the school truck and took us to our apartment. They were so helpful. The maintenance guys had moved almost all our boxes/totes from the school to our place so we could start getting settled in right away. Those first few days were an series of overwhelming piles of totes and boxes as well as moving classrooms across the school.

I'm working on getting better with the blog updates. My immediate goal is to catch up on almost 2 months of life here, then keep it up to date :)

Packing

I believe I've told you before that I absolutely detest packing. I don't care how excited I am for a trip, I will wait until hours prior to leaving to actually pack things in my go bag. Packing for an entire life move is beyond overwhelming.

My classroom was the first thing to get sorted and packed, since I had to leave the room clean and empty when I checked out May 25. Most of my curriculum, intervention, book library, etc. got packed up and sent to storage since I'm moving from 2nd to 4th grade.

The only time I was truly made fun of by my family was when I packed up my pens, Sharpies, and highlighters. Please forgive my appearance, it's far too hot in Louisiana (even indoors).

My dad was speechless for a bit when he saw just how vast a teacher collection of writing tools could be.

You'll notice the black and yellow totes behind me. That's how my things are getting moved, via the USPS. They come pre-drilled with holes so I can put zip ties around the lid to keep them more secure. I will also send some things (like my massive collection) in flat rate shipping boxes.

I've only got the winter clothing/accessories and my heated blankets packed from the personal side of my life. In the next couple of weeks, between traveling and getting paperwork ready for my school district, I'll be carefully going through my room figuring out what I can't live without.

There will be a Part 2 with information about the actual costs of my Alaskan move. I'll also be sure to fill you in on the online shopping part of my moving adventure.

In other news, I've chatted with my roommate on the phone. Her name is Darla, and she's from Montana! She's bringing a Yorkie named Lincoln with her, so Cocoa will have a friend :)