My Birthday in the Bush

I move to the middle of nowhere right out of college when I was 22, and who would have thought I would still be up here for my 27th birthday! It’s not been completely perfect but these 5 years have still been blessed, and I’m thankful this adventure has made me a stronger person through the good and bad times. 

So what do you do to celebrate your birthday in the middle of nowhere? Here’s what made mine so special:

1. The weather was BEAUTIFUL. The skies were blue, the temperature ranged between 30 and 35, and the wind was relatively calm, which is rare. (Saturday, the day after my birthday, we had an awesome adventure because of the great weather that I will post about in my next blog.)

2. Paula and Brandi made peanut butter cupcakes for my first period class. If Paula makes it, it’s guaranteed to be delicious. 

3. My birthday fell on a Friday, which is a half day of classes. We also had an awards assembly for the upper hall, in which the students played games that revolved around piecing together birthday cards for me and singing for me. Also, they got the Yupik drums out and sang happy birthday to me in Yupik, their native language. I wish I had got this on video, but by the time I got my camera they moved on to other Yupik songs. If you haven’t heard/seen a traditional Yupik Eskimo Dance, here is a link to see one (these are people in our village dancing in our school gym): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Am3Ike2xJE  

4. Matt and I got the logistics figured out for our kayaking trip - mapped our route, he ordered his kayak, we made an equipment list, etc. It was SO exciting. Now all we need to do is figure out when school starts so we will know when the actual trip will be.

5. Grant offered me my contract to come back next year. (I know, right?) :)

6. After school I had a great leg/back workout. (Hey, I love the benefits of a great workout!)

7. Paula cooked me an awesome chicken/steak fajita dinner, complete with all the Mexican side dishes. They know how much I love and miss Mexican food! 

8. We played poker that night. I lost $15. But it was my time… I’ve won most every other time this year. I just love game nights! And really, a night out in the lower 48 would cost more than $15, so you can’t really complain.

9. I got awesome gifts mailed to me from Mom and Dad… packaged meat, great gift cards, lots of food, a coffee cup with mom’s picture on it so I can have coffee with mom :) … and several other goodies! I also received a package from Audrey that contained cute socks (which you can’t get enough of up here) and some great food.

10. I had tons of Facebook birthday wishes. I was grateful for all of them!

So needless to say, it was a great day! I barely had time to contemplate on the quandary of getting older.