Mama goes to Marshall...

Today I am freaking out about moving our family to Marshall. Not in the way you think, though.  I am excited for the challenge of living in rural Alaska.  I am excited to have my little family together, away from the rush of city life.  I am excited to slow down, focus on what's really important and get back to basics.

What I'm not excited about is packing up- moving things into storage, selling things and shipping things to Marshall.  The mere thought of getting this entire household stuffed into a million tiny post office boxes sent to my new, snowy home is sending me into a tizzy!

I am making lists.  Lists upon lists.  Lists of things like setting up our new address, changing my bill payments, getting us new doctors with Josh's new insurance, canceling our food stamps (hooray!), my Anchorage to-do list (get a new cell phone, and an Alaskan ID, snow clothes for the boys & groceries), lists of what to sell at our garage sale, what to Craigslist, what to move into storage & what to send.

Uff da!

The pictures Josh has sent of Marshall are beautiful.  The views are breathtaking. The river is spectacular, and both the school & new housing are on riverfront property.  He said the people are kind and welcoming, and he's quickly made friends with all the staff.  

I worry about a lot of things. I worry about not having milk, eggs, butter & fresh fruit. I worry about not having medical care nearby.  I worry about feeling lonely, isolated or depressed. I worry about the boys being entertained enough by me.  I worry about the cold.

But I also look forward to a lot of things. I look forward to being with my husband again. I look forward to learning how to cook. (In eight years of marriage I have yet to really do this.) I look forward to living somewhere without slugs in the bathroom or mold under the house.  I look forward to living somewhere peaceful without fast cars & bumping music.  I look forward to making friends with the wives of other staff members.  Would you believe the principal & his wife have four kids? And another teacher & his wife have four kids ages 3 and under? They have a 3 year old, a 2 year old and newborn baby twins- identical girls! I feel like God has truly had a hand in setting up this adventure just for us.

For now being in limbo is killing me.  We're hopeful that housing will be complete October 1st, but aren't sure.  And if it is, we hope to move the boys & I out some time in October, but aren't sure.  And if it's not, we think we'll wait until Christmas, but aren't sure.  We hope to get one of the three bedroom units, but aren't sure.  And we hope to make a go of it up there, staying as long as possible, making connections, getting comfortable & paying off our debts, but aren't sure.  That's a lot of uncertainty for me.

But of this I am certain:
It has been and will continue to be
an adventure.