Currently regretting: Not being able to stick to my blog schedule & get this up on July 1!!! Currently living/working: We’re in the thick of it, although I keep pointing out to Justin that I am working more hours at my main job than he is, yet his paycheck is higher than mine! Gotta love…
Currently living/working: May was busier than we both anticipated. Justin had 2 weeks of training, but I had a bit more because not only did I myself attended training sessions, I also led quite a few training sessions for the new Alaska Geographic staff. I keep chasing that perfect summer balance of work & play,…
Currently living/working: What are we doing for work this summer? Fair question! For summer 2026, my main focus will be working (3rd year!) for the education department of Alaska Geographic, one of the nonprofit partners to Denali National Park. Justin’s main focus will be working at Premier Alaska Tour’s Otto Lake property as a naturalist (giving presentations & hikes) for his 2nd year. We’ll split the cleaning of our yurt & the other property we manage/clean for someone who doesn’t live here. There will certainly still be scheduling olympics, but here’s hoping it’s not too chaotic of a summer!
Justin went back for his 5th year volunteering on the Iditarod Sled Dog Race as trail crew (I’m pretty much semi-retired after 3 volunteer gigs, but who knows, maybe someday I’ll return). In any case, knowing I wasn’t joining him, he went all in on his flexibility and availability, which meant he ended up taking 8 small plane flights all over the Alaska map from 3/5-3/20!
Currently living/working: I returned from the East Coast 3/1 to a very demanding work schedule! I know all you full-time jobbers laugh at my audacity, but I’m not used to a 40-hr workweek, especially in winter. And somehow, it feels less exhausting to me to work several jobs than one job 5 days straight for 40 hours. In any case, this month I’ve been working inside Denali National Park at their Winter Visitor Center—as what I call a pretend ranger—through my nonprofit Alaska Geographic job. Basically I was either on the front desk or answering phones in the back office because they are short-staffed, but really what I learned is to hug a ranger. They are working hard to make parks accessible! This job took precedence over subbing at the library, though there were still a few days of that squeezed in. Justin, on the other hand, spent from 3/5-3/20 volunteering on the Iditarod (more on that to come!), but is still trying working to keep Denali’s tourism department afloat as they search for a new director.
Better late than never! I still wanted to encapsulate February … so let’s pretend like it’s March 1, and February just ended. Currently living/working: I arrived to my sister’s in Connecticut 2/6 and returned to Alaska 3/1, so my “jobs” this month were caregiver & funeral planner. Justin, on the other hand, worked 78 hours…
My mom passed away on Feb. 20, 2026—6 years and 361 days after my dad passed away. Just like with my dad’s death, it was expected. My mom—my anomaly of a mom with her indestructible stamina—had been on hospice for more than 2 years. She spent 4 months in her home in NJ on hospice with me as her primary caregiver, then she moved in with my sister in CT in April 2024, where she spent the remainder of her life. And as our parents’ caregivers for basically the last 7 years, my sister & I are reconciling both grief and relief (side note: parental caregiving and custodial care of my parents’ estate for 7+ years has nearly destroyed my nervous system, but that’s a post for another day).
Currently living/working: January has been a mix of work, winter dormancy & play. I actually clocked 35 hours at the library (let me be clear—for the whole month, which prob seems like a joke according to traditional workers lol). Justin has had lots of things come up for his tourism job in the last week keeping him very busy, such as a completely frozen building that could have been avoided and now he has to deal with those repercussions. The month has felt very full!
I’m going to rewind 2 months to when we spent 8 days in Colorado with Justin’s family for Thanksgiving.
Currently living/working: We returned from travels 12/3 right in time for what became the coldest December on record since 1989! Temps around our area are erratic, and we live on a hill, which puts us in a banana belt of Healy. So our lowest was -35.5, but that same day, we went over to a friend’s cabin 3 miles away and their analog thermometer was recording -60!