A bonfire makes EVERYTHING better : )

I know it's been awhile since I posted last. I've found that I don't have a ton of free time and when I do, I spend it doing just about nothing because I need that time to relax. So I'll do the best I can to recap from where I left off last!

First I want to start off by saying that I am really upset to be losing a follower to my blog. Mrs. Glassmyer who I am almost certain was my most faithful blog follower past away a few weeks ago and I can't tell you how sad that makes me. Most of you probably have no idea who I'm even talking about but she was a lady that I consider to be very close to my heart. My gram and grampa delivered meals through the Meals on Wheels program before they just moved away. Mrs. Glassmyer was an older lady who lived on her own and was in a wheel chair who they delivered meals to. My gram told her about my blog while I was in Port Heiden and she faithfully read it every single day. She knew Kasie and Derek and Jeff and the rest of my friends in Port Heiden like she had met them in person. She would talk to my gram and grampa about my time there every time they dropped off her meals. When I came home this summer I went with my gram to visit her. We spent an hour or two at her house sitting with her looking through my pictures from my trip and I got to tell her stories that weren't in my blog and just talk to her. I also gave her a glass float and she teared up. She was the sweetest lady and I wish that I got the opportunity to sit and talk to her more about her life and find out more about her. I was hoping to be able to go back and visit her again but I won't get that opportunity. I'm very, very thankful to have gotten the chance to go meet such an amazing lady and I know now instead of reading about my time in Alaska, she'll be watching it all happen. Again, I know you all don't know her and even though I only got the chance to meet her once in person, she was important to me and really made at impact on me. RIP Mrs. Glassmyer <3

Now, my weeks have been going pretty quickly. Some days are better than others but like I've said before, I'm very thankful that my kids are my kids. They're still crazier than ever and sometimes they have me wanting to pull my hair out - typical kids. ; )

This weekend that is coming to an end started on Friday after school with a cross country meet here at Manokotak. A few different schools flew in for an after school meet for both girls and boys. The other day LeEsia and I took the truck out for a drive around to clock the distance and find a good course for the runners for Friday. LeEsia is the cross country coach so she was in charge of running it all - I helped where I could! So we had teachers at each of the spots to direct the runners and then there were four of us plus some student helpers at the finish line to take times and names so we had the right positions. It was off really smoothly - followed by an awards ceremony before the other schools flew back to their villages. Then as usual, Friday was my night to relax and head to bed early - 8:30 has become my new bed time. ; ) 

Saturday we had our weekly trip down to the post office to check the mail and to the store. After that I spent the day cleaning and doing laundry - finally putting away clothes that I folded last weekend! I hate that part... and doing some other odds and ends around my apartment. I had a roast in the croc pot all day for our weekly Saturday night dinner that LeEsia, Ryan, Jason and I have. This week it was at Jason's house and of course Macy tagged along. It was a gorgeous day - hot out! Windows open all day and the sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky! A day that made me wish I had a boat or a four wheeler - but I'm too broke for either one. So after dinner we decided a fire was necessary! It was nice because we sat by the fire listening to country music - the only way to go ; ) - and we had some visitors throughout the night because the kids saw the fire and HAD to come see us, plus the smores we had were a big help. It was a fun evening until about 11pm when us teachers were ready for bed, we had to put an end to our bonfire party and make the kids leave so we could all go home, haha! They are too funny.

 LeEsia, Ryan, Jason and I by our fire! 

 Perfect night for this!

 The girls of the Manokotak Cross country team and LeEsia!

 Gorgeous day!

 LeEsia and I

The three girls from Manokotak that placed in the tournament 

 The mountain behind the school

 Muddy Macy

 On September 11th, we took a big portion of our day and dedicated it to learning about what happened that day. Most of my students weren't born yet or had just been born. We talked about what happened, watched videos and looked at pictures. I told them what I was doing exactly when I found out. I was in 6th grade - just like them and it was picture day - just like it was for our school. All too strange... although my kids can't say they remember what they were doing that day, nor do they have any idea what NY, Washington DC or PA are like, they were genuinely concerned about the people that lost their lives that day and why would anyone want to do that. I have a great, great group of kids. <3

97 days until Christmas break! Until next time, from Macy & I  :)