Adventures at the Airport

So, if you've been wondering because of the lack of blog posts what I've been doing... Well, for one, its summer. :) Alaskan summers are so short, we have to jam pack them full. And the past month or so, I've been somewhat of a workaholic. At the beginning of the summer, I quit my job of 10+ years to work temporarily at the local Literacy Council. I know some think that's crazy for me to quit a good job that has been more than good to me for a temp position. But I prayed hard about it and felt it was a good switch. It gave me an opportunity to teach ESL, which is a field I'm kinda studying for and thinking about doing overseas. 

I still had my job at the airport, but wasn't on the regular schedule. The first part of the summer, I only worked a night or two a week; some weeks not at all. It was nice to relax at home and spend time outside in the sun! :) But the past 3-4 weeks, I've been scheduled more and subbed even more. The past two weeks, I think I've worked about 60+ hours - which is a lot for me! That's in addition to taking an online summer class, teaching Sunday School and mentoring/teaching a couple people. 

Not complaining here, its all my own choice. I do enjoy working, though some days when I'm falling asleep on my feet, I tell myself "you're crazy!" But I work hard here, so I can take months off later and travel. :) So, its worth it. 

And even when I'm working I have crazy adventures. One Saturday morning in July I was working the early, early morning shift. (my body definitely doesn't like getting out of bed at 330am). I had gone downstairs at the airport to say goodbye to one of my students who was headed to India to visit family for month. I noticed two guys sleeping on a bench and thought they were firefighters heading home. As I was leaving, they were gathering their belongings. I stopped and said hi and found out they were actually Danish backpackers. They had arrived at 2am and were sleeping until they could go to their hostel. After talking for a bit, I offered them a ride to their accommodations, as I was in between planes. 

A couple days later I was able to help them out again, by giving them a ride from the East Ramp to the West Ramp of our airport. They were getting ready to fly out on a small bush plane to the Brooks Range to backpack and float the Noatak River. Their plans were to go for 7 weeks!! Actually they are still out in the Bush. I always enjoy meeting people from other countries; now, I have a connection in Denmark - one more place to visit one day. 

The Danish Backpackers

The other thing at the airport, you never know what airplanes you might see. :) One evening, we were waiting for our commercial flight, when an older plane landed and pulled into our ramp area. We waved at them to move over to the next gate area. The plane was marked with Russian words and flag, but the tail # was American. But then we overheard it was coming in from Canada. Such an odd mix. I think they were coming in for something to do with the a memorial of the Soviet-American Land Lease from WWII. But who knows.... just interesting all the different aircraft that land at our airport. 

the "Soviet" plane

We've had beautiful weather most of the summer. Lots of sunshine and warm/hot days. I enjoy working the sunny days outside on the ramp. One week in July it was rainy off and on all week. I went to work for just 2 1/2 hours - when I arrived, the sun was shining, but black clouds were off in the distance. When I left later in the afternoon, the sun was again shining. But the time in between..... well not so much. I was wearing my hoodie, because it was a little chilly. Under the sun, it was getting warmer though, so I debated taking my sweatshirt off. Decided against it.... and then it started sprinkling. Then raining. Then hailing. Then pouring buckets of rain!! We were huddled underneath the plane waiting for the passengers to finish boarding, so we could push back. We were more than soaked to the skin, I'm pretty sure I could have wrung a gallon of water out of my clothes. My boss told me I looked like a drowned rat. Yeah, it was that bad. And I had to be back about an hour later to work again. So, went to my friend's house nearby to borrow their dryer. 

drowned rat

But then there are the beautiful summery/fall days with blue skies and big fluffy clouds! 

from the Ramp of our airport

2015 Goals

Even though last year, I did not accomplish all I intended to in 2014, still going to set some goals for this new year. Goals are good; they give me something to work towards. Even if I don't exactly complete them, probably still do more while working at them than if I had no goals. 

So, drumroll..... 
my goals for 2015 include....

Spiritual goals - 
1. memorize more Scripture. Last year, my intention was to memorize the book of Philippians. That did not happen, but I really want to memorize more of God's Word this year. So, I'm committing to 5 verses a month. 
2. fast and pray more. Have some ideas for fasting; I think one month I'm going to take a break from facebook. One month I'll go without coffee (gasp). And we'll go from there. It is partly an exercise in self-control and partly a way to focus more on God. 
3. Read through the entire Bible. Actually, I would like to read through the Bible in 100 days. It'll take some commitment and time, but going to give it a try. 

Physical goals - 
I've been wanting to be in better shape physically for a while. Last week, I went to a Krav Maga class.... whew. and realized just how out of shape I am! So, again its time to buckle down and do the hard things. I'm debating on taking the Krav class weekly and plan on playing more tennis, skating and running. We'll see how it all plays out. 
Also, this year, going to make a point of eating more healthy. Next month, I am planning on doing a 3 day cleanse. 

Random other goals - 
1. The other day on fb, I saw some people were talking about doing random acts of kindness throughout this next year. They were asking for people to join in and commit to blessing five people at some time during 2015 with a random act of kindness. So, I'm going to set my own goal.... once a month, I will bless someone randomly. Maybe with a note or small gift. And not someone I am close to, could be a stranger or a casual acquaintance. 
2. Last year, I set the goal of visiting 3 new countries.... but only added one to my list. So, this year, I am shooting for two new countries and one US state. (Kentucky, you have eluded me too long)
3. One goal, I am really looking forward to completing is earning my BA! (finally) I may have to do a little extra work to get it all together, but prayerfully by December I will have my degree in hand. And then the world awaits.....