Anchorage Trip: Part Two

By the time I finally arrived in Anchorage, I was a hot mess. I had cried off and on for the entire hour-long flight, was nauseous from the turbulence and hated that I knew I was nearly 500 miles from my children.  As I made my way from the terminal to baggage claim I called my mom, bawling the whole way. I can't even really say now why I was crying.  Looking back I think I was exhausted from traveling.

My silver lining?

This girl!

She flew in to Anchorage from Seattle on Friday (when I was weathered in) to meet & take care of me while I was in town.  Saturday night she took the shuttle from the hotel to the airport and met me, emotional train wreck that I was, hugging away my tears and telling me she was so happy to see me.

Julie is the second oldest in Josh's family (Josh is fifth in birth order) and was for many years a homeschooling stay-at-home mom of three boys.  She is my son-raising guru and kindred spirit.  She is completely beautiful and stylish and selfless and I absolutely adore her.  

I think both my mom and I were disappointed that it didn't work for her to come to Anchorage, but we reached the conclusion that things turned out how they were meant to.  Julie needed this little getaway as much as I did, and together, we lived it up!

We talked and talked and talked.  We watched TV.  (No sports!)  We took our time getting ready each morning.  We took turns in the giant tub the hotel room had. We ate.

And we shopped.

We stayed at the Dimond Center Hotel which was perfectly located for our purposes.  We were able to walk to the Dimond Center Mall as well as Walmart.  We perused Old Navy, Claire's, Forever 21, and a bunch of stores in between.  I found some great winter things-- hats, a knit headband and some adorable scarves.

I got a lot of cute tops at Old Navy which has inspired me to organize my closet now that I'm home.  I also got myself an arrow ring (Julie got a matching one!), a pair of beige earrings that I love, and an airplane necklace that Julie and I agreed is my new "brave" talisman.

At Walmart the shopping was slightly less fun, but I was happy to be able to place a Bush Order.  I had a huge list of things we needed, as well as some things we wanted.  The items that couldn't wait got shipped by yours truly, but the majority of it was wheeled back (in two carts) to the bush department where I filled our address in on the Bush Order Form and opted for COD (cash on delivery) which means we just write the post office a check when the boxes arrive in a few weeks.

In that order is a potty chair & big boy underwear for Wyatt (!!!) a large variety of tea and a plethora of snack items for my three voracious boys.  Not to mention 40 pounds of flour, countless cans of fruit, and a ton of other stuff.

It took me a while to get used to shopping without the kids. To be able to look at every thing in the store. To try things on at my leisure, not while feeling like I am running a marathon.

Once I adjusted, I must say it was quite lovely!

We also rented a car and traversed Anchorage with my GPS and Julie's insane sense of direction.  It was a huge fear that I conquered.  Trusting the GPS,  driving in the snow & ice, trusting my ability to face challenges that might crop up...  I think aside from leaving the boys, driving was my biggest fear.

We ate out:

pretzels at Auntie Ann's,

salad, breadsticks and chicken marsala at Olive Garden,

and I had Subway (3x!)

We also had pizza,

I ate way too many cookies from Mrs. Fields,

and I ate an entire bag of white powdered donuts while shopping at Walmart.

I also really enjoyed the English muffins at the hotel breakfast bar.

We got manicures & pedicures, pink for my toes and french tip on my fingers, and the massage chair they had me in for my pedicure was awesome!  I felt like I was in heaven.  I felt so relaxed and pampered.

At the end of each day, our room looked like a tornado hit from all the shopping bags and our own luggage slowly unpacking itself.  It makes me happy to look at this picture.  We just had so much fun!

In addition to all the fun things we did, I managed to see the dentist & the doctor while Julie was there.  The dentist fixed a tooth that had a filling which had fallen out.  They also did a cleaning for me while I was there.

At the doctor I had an entire notebook page full of questions and concerns to go over.  We agreed that we needed to run a full blood panel to check my thyroid, my iron and vitamin D levels. I am still awaiting the results of that.  We also discussed my anxiety & depression, and she feels that I have been on the right medication, I just need a little more time.  She also mentioned that IUD's (which is what I have been using for birth control since Wyatt was born) have been linked to depression & anxiety.  She suggested I do a little research myself online and talk with Josh.

I decided that I did want my IUD out, just to eliminate the chance that it was contributing to my situation.  So we removed it.  She found me a birth control prescription for only $9 a month at Walmart, since my health insurance doesn't cover birth control.  She also suggested I exercise everyday, which is something I had planned on, and that I try to get outside, even for ten minutes, in the sunlight, each day if at all possible.

She said my lungs sounded clear (pneumonia & bronchitis are all gone!) and gave me a recommendation for some antacid pills to help with my reflux. 

She was really nice, and told me that she homeschooled her daughter, which I fully love; and I super loved her nurse as well.

Everyone I talked to while I was in Anchorage expressed shock at my ability to raise three young boys in the bush.  It was good affirmation for me that what I do is difficult.  Sometimes I forget that raising kids is supposed to be challenging.  Sometimes I forget that doing so out here is even more so.

Throughout our stay in Anchorage, we enjoyed gorgeous weather.  

It was in the twenties or thirties each day, with clear skies.

We were grateful!

While in town, I also got a new phone, which was exciting.  It's an iPhone 5s, which I traded with Josh. So he has the new iPhone, and I have his old iPhone. It's been a bit of an adjustment, but overall I am really happy with it. Especially the quality of the camera & recorder. Now I can upload adorable videos of Wyatt onto Facebook, which brings me such joy!

One night while we were at the mall, we saw these tiny kids playing hockey on the ice.  Some of them were so little, I thought their helmets would tip them over. They were absolutely adorable!

***

I am so grateful that I had Julie there with me.  To listen as I cried, to accompany me to the dentist & doctor, and to fall asleep next to.  It was so happy to spend nearly four days together, laughing and making memories.  It was a great couple of days.

...more to come...