Preface

As I sit in the car watching the trees and miles of farmland go by, I think back to how this all started….

 

In August of 2014 I traveled up to Alaska for a summer vacation.  While I was there, my grandpa convinced my dad to submit his resume to several companies in Anchorage just to see what happened.  Within several days, both of the two companies had contacted my dad and wanted to hire him.  Though it would take several more months and much discussion to reach a consensus, the possibility of moving was really feasible.

 At the time, I was against the idea of moving to Alaska.  Not only had I made a good number of friends in the homeschooling world, but also from the swim team as well.  I really just wanted to finish high school in Oregon before moving to somewhere else.  As I looked into it, I also found that Alaska did not have any water polo teams.  This was really hard for me to grasp because polo had been a major part of my life till then.  The other thing that would be different about Alaska was the change in Bible quizzing programs.  As soon as I got back home from Anchorage, the 2014-15 season was starting.  It also took a huge chunk of time and would be sorely missed.  Despite all these things however, the choice was available and highly likely.

            Thankfully, the decision was not having to be made quickly, because both companies began to respond very slowly to anything dad was trying to find out from them.  Because of this, by the time he finally got an offer from one of them, we had already had quite a bit of time to decide.  Also, the long process of hiring him, enabled him to continue working at Burley – in Eugene, for another couple months.  By the time he began working in Anchorage, it was the middle of December.  He was able to come home for Christmas, and we began fixing stuff around the house, prepping it for sale.  So far, everything was working out perfectly.

            When we thought the situation could not get any better, dad got offered a temporary position on the North Slope in the city of Deadhorse, working on the upcoming summer repair work that was going to be done.  He began working a very convenient schedule that would yield to more time home in Eugene to work on projects down there.  For 15 days straight, he would work 12 hour days before coming home for two weeks.  This was quite a blessing, as we were all wondering how we would get enough accomplished without him in Oregon to help.  Day by day, the departure date drew nearer, some of us wishing to stay and others excited to leave.