Another week in Wrangell, AK has very quickly come and gone. I feel like I am so busy trying to soak everything in and catch all of my experiences that I can hardly keep my head above water! We are obviously getting pretty settled into a routine at work and hopefully nearing the end of a long process of closing on a house in the next couple of weeks!! We are so excited and can't wait to have visitors for those of you in the lower 48 who are wanted to make the journey.

This week I have seen more shrimp than I have seen in my entire life; 100 pounds of shrimp to be exact. A local fisherman was selling shrimp "straight from the ocean" for only $2 a pound. Of course, this means that a lot of time is spent by the buyer preparing the shrimp for consumption. This is not a very glorious, clean, or quick process but my fiance sure does love the final result of endless shrimp bowls. What wasn't immediately prepared was frozen for what is sure to be a growing stock of seafood!

Thursday evening we went to our first home basketball game at Wrangell High School. Go, Wolves! We watched the last quarter of the JV game and then the Varsity game against a team from Craig, AK. Unfortunately, it was not a win for the wolves but both games were close and fun to watch.

Valentine's Day was a special day. We spent the morning at a "Chocolate Lover" event at Wrangell Medical Center. I took my Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Peppermint No Bake Cookies to be judged. It was a fierce competition and I did not win, but really enjoyed filling up my box with homemade goodies. Of course, my fiance made the day special by showering me with gifts, spending time doing one of my favorite things (hiking), and taking me to a wonderful dinner in the evening. We hiked up a trail and 700 steps to "Rainbow Falls" with my puppy. Whew! It was totally worth the work for the view at the top. Everything here is breathtaking.

My weekly "God thing":
I hate to be cliche, but obviously Love has been a resounding thought for me this week. We experience so many different kinds of love: love for material things (CHOCOLATE!), love for places and home, love for animals and pets, love for people, and God's love. The most beautiful example of love given to us is the love of God, Agape. It's a love that is not measurable, surpassable, or even comprehensible and it makes me want to just burst with excitement that with everything I do to screw things up, I am loved no less by my creator. Sharing Agape Love with others is the best way to share that joy with our neighbors.
"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which bind them all together in perfect unity." - Colossians 3:12-14

My post is late again! Sorry for the delay - it's sometimes hard for me to take time away from the beautiful scenery around me to sit in front of a computer.

This past week was wonderful! We got our first taste of Alaska snow. So far in February it has snowed 5 out of 9 days and we currently have about a foot on the ground. It is so beautiful! The first night it snowed we also had a wind advisory with gusts up to 90 mph so that was slightly scary, but people here are not as concerned with wind. I guess that is just a price we have to pay for living on the ocean! :)

I also wanted to wait a little longer to write because I was hoping to be able to share with you that I was the champion of Wrangell's annual cribbage tournament - however; I was not the champion. It was a lot of fun to participate and I was able to meet 17 other fellow cribbage players of all ages. Coffee and cribbage are two of my favorite things. I have spent some time sharing the game with a friend at work as well as my roommates. It's a very popular game here. Luckily for me, I've already been playing about 20 years.

Other than cribbage and work we have spent most of our time out with the dog in our winter wonderland of a park. Beatrice loves the snow for a short amount of time but then she is ready to get back indoors.

My weekly "God thing":
This week, a resounding thought for me has been laughter. I've heard a story from a friend who's uncle had passed away. Her aunt has dementia and didn't really understand what was happening. When she was presented with the American Flag at the funeral, she began laughing. Seemingly inappropriate, but also a blessing that she isn't mourning and that the Lord filled her with joy in her situation.
I also experienced a group laughing session at work. A member of the nursing staff cracked a joke privately with a patient in the day room during breakfast. The patient then began laughing uncontrollably with the most heart warming laughter I have heard. Thankfully, laughter is contagious and within a few seconds every worker and patient in the day room was laughing and no reason other than hearing another's laughter. It was beautiful.

"Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”
-Psalm 126:2

The end of my first full work week has come to a close. Work has been very busy establishing a caseload, and orienting myself with people and the facility. Everything is going very smoothly and I am really enjoying my new work environment.

A few of my work days have been shorter, giving me time to really explore different trails and recreational activities around the island. We have gone to Volunteer Park, Pat's Lake, Muskeg Meadows Golf Course, and spent clearer days watching the sunset off the city dock while we enjoy coffee from The Stikine Inn. Everywhere you look it is absolutely breathtaking and you are more than likely going to see a bald eagle or five.

In fact, Wednesday afternoon, Jim and I took my beagle puppy, Beatrice, to Volunteer Park. The park has awesome walking trails of different lengths and tee-ball fields where we like to let Beatrice off her leash to run and burn off extra energy before or after our walks. We generally take a toy for her to fetch, or sometimes she just has so much puppy energy that she will just run circles for nothing in return. After a few minutes of playing, Jim and I turned to the sound of 5 eagles calling and circling a neighboring field. If you have never heard a group of eagles "communicating" it is quite fascinating. They are so loud! They also have a very distinct call that always catches my attention. We grabbed Beatrice, who is only 25 lbs., slightly afraid of her being eagle bait, and waited for them to fly back to the trees. They did after a few minutes and we released Beatrice to continue playing. A few minutes later, 2 eagles came back to our field in full force. They were swooping low, with obvious sights on my puppy! Luckily, I have a level headed fiance that picked Beatrice up while I screamed and panicked. After we had held her and guarded her for a few minutes the eagles flew off. Needless to say, we are a little more hesitant to let her off her leash at the park now.

Jim protecting Beatrice at Volunteer Park

Below are beautiful pictures of the parks and other views we have seen this week.

Sunset from the City Dock

Sunset from the City Dock

Sunset from the City Dock

Muskeg Meadows Golf Course

Muskeg Meadows Golf Course

Pat's Lake

Pat's Lake

My weekly "God thing": 

This week I have met wonderful and interesting people. One specific wonderful person is a patient of mine. She is so excited to be receiving new therapy services. She is so delightful and happy and grateful. This week she provided me with reassurance that I am where I am supposed to be. Mid-session she said, "I am so glad you are here! It is a God thing that you are here. I just praise the Lord everyday that you and Jim moved to Wrangell to give me just what I needed." It was all I could do to hold back my tears. For me, the services we provide are typical everyday work for us. But for the people here, it is the first time they have had access to these rehab services available on the island without having to fly off the island or do without. 

I know there have been times in the past when God has put specific people in place to help me when I was in desperate need. Little, everyday things that the givers probably didn't think twice about, have often made a big difference in my life. You never know when and how God is using you in other peoples lives to make a big difference. It's a good feeling to know I am a piece of His plan. 

We are nearing the end of our first week in Wrangell! This week's theme is entitled, "I can't believe I get to live here!" Jim and I have been overwhelmed with Wrangell's since of community, hospitality, and beauty. It has rained everyday since we arrived, but the rain does not put a damper on the gorgeousness of southeast Alaska.

Monday and Tuesday of this week were spent adjusting to the time difference by trying to establish normal sleeping patterns again, becoming what I keep referring to as "real people" by getting a license plate, driver's license, insurance, PO Box, and groceries, and preparing to start work on Wednesday at Wrangell Medical Center. They were a busy couple of days, but it was a nice way to get acquainted with the town and orient ourselves.

Wednesday was the big day. We began work at Wrangell Medical Center as the only practicing Speech-Language Pathologist and Occupational Therapist on the island. It is somewhat of an intimidating undertaking, but it is also a fun experience to see a rehabilitation program built from just Physical Therapy services. I think we have a strong dynamic and team set up and I am very excited to see what becomes of the services there. This week was mostly orientation to the facility and setting up documentation, and training opportunities.

After our first day of work, I was downstairs playing with my puppy when I heard a knock on the door behind me. I turned and saw my bright-eyed co-worker with a headlamp on, muddy boots, and wet jacket holding a large blue pail that appeared to be somewhat heavy. I opened the door and she said, "I hit the mother-load and have more clams that I will need for my chowder!" Denise, Jim, and I followed her upstairs to the kitchen and she proceeded to show us how to shuck clams. What an experience! We opened up about 15 clams, cleaned them, and froze them to make clam chowder next week. It's so funny and different when events like that happen here (and they supposedly happen a lot) because there is not really a way to compare it to anything I have experienced. The spontaneity and simple pleasures that are going to come with living in Wrangell are priceless.

Along with the spontaneous clamming, orientation, and work, we spent time walking the dog during breaks in the rain. We discovered a wonderful walking trail that was breathtakingly beautiful. Pictures just could not capture the beauty. I also enjoyed FaceTiming my "Raleigh Family" and seeing my growing niece and nephew. I love them! It is amazing how seeing faces can make 3,000 miles seem not so far away.

For those of you who would like to shower us with gifts from the lower 48, our mailing address is:
PO Box 1813
Wrangell, AK  99929

My weekly "God thing":
Earlier I mentioned that my theme for the week has been, "I can't believe I get to live here!" I can't believe that this place even exist and that they needed a Speech Pathologist, and needed an Occupational Therapist, and they offered the jobs to both of us, and we are able to travel, and the list goes on and on and on...
Lots of things happen that we "can't believe" and we talk about it all the time; but I have noticed that we usually talk about things that we do not like. "I can't believe the Panthers lost!" "I can't believe all this rain!" Or earlier this week... "I can't believe I failed my driver's test and have to go back and take it again tomorrow." Why is it that we do not take time to recognize all the awesome things that are happening, even if they are "typical" or "everyday things". I wish I heard people say, "I can't believe I am lucky enough to have food everyday." or "I can't believe I am fortunate enough to put on clean clothes in the mornings." What a different world it would be.