July ~ Took us to Alaska.

Alaska, the land of "big," the place people often say, "I've always wanted to go there," the environment in which large biting bugs eat up my children, and most of my family still resides. In the woods there, I'm always on alert for fear of large mammals that may or may not be moody and ready to attack. I've not been hiking there since I had little ones to look after, or was pregnant and couldn't outrun anything after me. I know my family thinks I'm "dramatic" in my outlook of the forest there, I like to call it, "careful." I've seen too many bears, been chased by one too many moose, and just in general like to stay in proximity to civilization or with someone who has a weapon. (In the woods, not the city). However, that huge state seems to have a pull on us no matter how fearful I am of the wildlife or how far we have to travel to get there. It's beautiful. It has the best fishing. No one this side of the Mississippi knows how to make a chai quite like my favorite little shop up North. We still somehow manage to think that the possibility of living there is maybe a good idea. That was the point of Andrew taking his trip there this year. He met with Air Force docs and chatted about the odds of us making it on base next June. They seem optimistic. He seems optimistic. I'm waiting until March when we get official orders, but it's hard not to get a twinge of "happy" when I think about how much closer to all of our family we would be. One flight to just about anywhere the rest of the family is. Granted, the cost of living is atrocious and could give me an anxiety attack thinking about the price of housing after living in PA, but that's details. Big picture, it would be pretty nice. I won't get ahead of myself though, we went there just to see the new babies and visit the rest of the family. We were able to catch up with friends and go to some of our favorite places. Andrew fished and spent time at the base hospital. It was a nice time catching up with those we love and would love to live closer to.