Everybody's bloggin'...

People blog about anything and everything and sometimes even about nothing. So I'm getting in on the action! At the urging (i.e. insistance) of my mama, Miss Jenny, I am finally setting up a blog about Alaska and my adventures here. I have a travel journal that I write in on vacations, but I have never made the comittment to write about my daily life. I figure this is a convenient way to not only share the new experiences I'm being privileged enough to have, but to also chronicle them for myself so I don't forget them. My immediate goal is to catch you all up on the last 8 months quickly so we can get current! Please stay tuned, I have many stories to share about both my life here in Alaska as well as my work and some of the exciting and random things that I am blessed enough to witness!


Those of you who know me (which is all of you at this point, since I'm a bloggin' newbie) know that I recently uprooted my life in the midwest. All it took was some heartbreak followed by a minor real estate nightmare. Other than leaving a job that I loved, the decision to leave Indianapolis was a pretty easy one. Let's face it, it's not the most exciting place to live. Resume's were sent, interviews were had...and 2nd interviews were had, and a new job was accepted...in Anchorage, Alaska. My "new" position is as a physician assistant in the orthopedic surgery department at the Alaska Native Medical Center. I accepted the job the first week of February and spent the next 2 months trying to figure out the best time and most tactful way to give my notice to my boss, Tim. He had been not only my supervising physician for 4 years, but had also become one of my best friends. Tears were shed, cocktails were consumed and I was off! The last week in Indy involved me carefully wrapping my entire life in bubble wrap for the 6000 mile trip. I certainly made some wonderful friends in Indianapolis that I dearly love. However, as I drove out of town for the last time I was content feeling that I wasn't leaving anything behind. For the first time in a very long time, I felt that I was heading TOWARD something, rather than RUNNING from something.

Travel was pretty uneventful. It took me 5 hours to fly here nonstop from O'Hare, but sadly, it took 4 weeks for my "household goods" to arrive. During that time it was me, a 1200 sq foot condo, 4 new books, an air mattress, a 19" TV/DVD combo and alot of Lean Cuisines eaten with plastic utensils. Shy (11 year old lab mix) was shipped about 2 weeks after I arrived. Mom arrived on a Tuesday night a month after I had arrived. The movers rolled up the following morning. Let me just say that if you are ever given the opportunity to spend all day at work only to arrive home to Jenny Hand putting away the last dishes in your kitchen having already arranged your furniture and put fresh sheets on your bed...I highly recommend it. Banks (2 year old Malamute) was shipped up here to his new home the following week. My little "family" was complete, in our new home.

Since setting up house here in Anchorage, I have been asked countless times why I chose to move to Alaska "alone." People make that word sound so ugly and serious and sad. To me it sounded glorious, full of potential and like just what I needed. And boy was I right...

The pics are a few from my first couple of hikes south of Anchorage. My parents feel very safe knowing that there are at least signs at the trail heads to remind me of pending dangers (see below).