A blogger's vision

Ok, so far I haven't really had a clear idea of what I wanted from this blog or what you've wanted from me, which is probably why I haven't been that into it.  I feel like I need to take a minute to collect my thoughts and vision here.
I know people are curious about what life is like out here and I get that, but I go back and forth between "oh, it's really pretty normal out here" and "oh man, it's so different, I don't know where to begin."  Like I said, I need to collect my thoughts.

Maybe let's start with some basic thoughts:

I think I'm a winter girl, I haven't minded the cold cold.  Yes I realize I didn't experience a full winter here, but still.  I remember saying last winter in Colorado, thinking I was going to be in Seattle this winter, "man, I'm going to miss a real winter." Ha.

I like village travel. A lot.  I'm not sure I would enjoy working in Fairbanks only, it's not super interesting here.  However, village work and life is super interesting.  I'm really seeing how much my experiences as a solo foreign traveller are helping my career these days- it's cool to see how God has potentially selfish experiences for His future work.

I'm having an identity crisis of sorts- I'm slowly becoming "Mikaila who wears glasses all the time."  I bet a deal of you know me with glasses on, but now I need them all the time and got a stronger prescription to prove it (ok, also because I needed it).  And, most of my friends are through work where I go by Mikaila, so I'm having a hard time becoming Mikki.  I like using Mikaila professionally, but I think I'd rather Mikki at work than Mikaila outside of work.  We'll see how that goes...

I can't escape the Mennonites- they're suddenly everywhere in my life!  And I like it.  3 of the 4 people I work closest with have Mennonite backgrounds, how crazy is that?!  I've been attending a Mennonite gathering that meets once a month.  That has actually been my main faith community as I'm trying to figure out where I belong in the Christian world these days.  That leads me to my next thought...

I've been realizing how much I've grown from my time in voluntary service.  From the housemates, friends, faith community, public health work, scenery, lack of income, and the whole community of the San Luis Valley.  I think in a lot of good ways and some ways I'd like to work through- with all my alone time out here, I'm getting some discipline to do that.

There are many times when I remember why I didn't want to move to a new place again.  I didn't want to start over- again.  This is the 3rd/4th-ish time (coming back to Chicago after graduating and traveling was weird) I've moved to a place where basically I knew no one, not to mention the months I have spent traveling and just meeting people as I go.  Yes, these were all decisions I made and where I do feel God brought me, but it's hard to not be able to share an experience or connection with people you have known for more than a year (does that make sense? it seems a little jumbled, but not sure how to express it better, hopefully you have known me for more than a year and can maybe make out what I meant there).

I want to be honest here.  I don't want this to be a "look how cool my life is when it's actually not" blog (that's what Facebook is for, right?), which is maybe also a reason I haven't been writing.  Not that things haven't been cool, but it's hard to admit possible struggles (including the dreaded, but I think totally natural, question of "was this the right decision?") without my fear that you might pity me and think I'm too silly for any good.  There are things that are difficult, but not disastrous, and I'd like to tell you about them.  Adventures are fun and crazy, but I don't think it's really an adventure if you're not a little freaked out from time to time.  Ultimately, I do trust God brought me here and know He will work things out, not sure where you stand on that but that's where I'm at.

Alright, now that I have some of that out there, I'll start working on some posts about what my life and work is like.  Another thing is that I feel like it's only been in the last month or so that I've actually been doing my job!  Thank you for bearing with me and coming along on this journey with me in a modern way!

Ok, if you're only here for photos, I'll oblige because it is so beautiful out here...

Anaktuvuk Pass, one of my favorite villages!

Flying to Anaktuvuk, I don't know if you can tell but we're THROUGH the mountains, not over them like normal, it's incredible!

Wait, what do you mean?

First off, I'm not sure about this blog, I'm just not that into it this time, even though there are things that are pretty interesting up here, there's a lot of just normal day-to-day (I'm-inside-sewing-all-day) life.  We'll see how this goes, but thanks for stopping by...

So, while I'm still in the US, there are things about life up here that are much different than the continental US.  There are some terms and expressions that are a little confusing.  Here's a list of some new terms I've been learning:

Village: Before I came out here, the term "village" seemed a little degrading, but it is a legitamite term taht just refers to the small "bush" villages that are still populated throughout the state.

Bush or brush: Off the road system.  Many of the villages I visit do have roads to anywhere.  You have fly, boat, dog mush, or snowmachine in (so far, I've only flown in).

Lower 48 or The States:  This refers to the rest of contiguous states.  I think the term "the states" is great, shows how much people up identify with Alaska more than "America" and just how different life is up here.

Outside or Out:  As in "I got this bag when I was outside" or "You have to get out at some point in the winter."  Alaska can be a little isolated way up here seemingly by itself, so everything else is outside of Alaska.

Town:  When in the villages, this refers to Fairbanks, not their village town.  I learned this after a confusing conversation with someone in the village- "No one can come into town for flu shots?  Will we need to do home visits for everyone?" (I'm thinking they are all homebound and I'll need to investigate what is going on over there) and the lady responds "Oh, no they can come to the tribal office, but they can't go to Fairbanks for their flu shot."  Ok, that's more understandable and we were talking about the same thing.

Snow Machine:  Snow mobile.  A pretty normal mode of transportation in the villages.  It can remind me of the seeing tons of stuff and loaded onto mopeds- there will be sleds attached to the back with anyone and everything!

Dog mushing:  Dog sleds, quite popular.

Skijoring: I saw this once in Colorado- it was a skier riding behind someone riding a horse.  Here, it's a cross country skier attached to a dog- they can go pretty fast!

Midnight sun: In the summer, the sun barely sets, so there's sun at midnight!

Well, that's it for now.  I just didn't want you to feel too out of it when you come to visit me... which, by the way, you need to start making reservations now!  Can't wait for this summer!

Overall, things are going well and I'll try to work on a post about work and life!