Soaking it in.

3 full days left.
I have yet to pack and send off what's left from my "buy everything in sight b/c I just don't know anything anymore" week.
Instead...I am playing around with or in :




ze camera












Crazy & Crazier

















a ghost town cemetery




And of course coffee with friends.
And now to tackle my suitcases. That picture, once taken, will be called Catastrophic Chaos.

Sticker Shock

And I thought grocery shopping in Grand Cayman was costly.
I knew going into this that I would have to adjust to the higher cost of living...but I am still in shock.
This is my village.



This is another look into my new life.

Welcome to Full Circle Jill
You have signed up for a Standard box, to be picked
up every other week at Nunapitchuk, AK.
Your first box will be available to be picked up on Tuesday, August 16, 2011, and every other week thereafter unless you request a delivery be skipped or cancel service.
You will be charged for $63.50 on every week you are scheduled for an order.

Detailed Directions: Located at the Anna Tobeluk Memorial School. In boating weather, park your boat at the school dock (identifiable by the big blue "Home of the Mighty Wolves" sign) and walk up to the school. During snow machine season, pull your machine and sled up in front of the school. Boxes will be located in the ELD classroom 2nd door off lobby. Please look for your name on the upper right hand corner of your box.


What will I get you ask?

Each order contains between 10-12 delicious varieties of vegetables, fruits, and herbs.



Different? Sure.
Thankful for this company? Most definitely!

Morocco has prepared me for several of life's ups and downs

The first being that anything sent through the P.O. may or may not arrive in a timely manner after leaving the lower 48.

It took me about 6 months for that reality to sink in... that anything sent to me in Morocco operated on a different timeline. Mail delivery is just spotty.


SO.....I was prepared (after reading MANY blogs on teachers and their experiences with shipping stuff up to Alaska) to have to wait 3 addt'l weeks to get my stuff.

The USPS told me to expect my stuff August 1. I just laughed and said, "Yeah, right."

I knew full well that I will probably be seeing them up there around August 15.

This was apparently something the gentleman who was labeling my tubs at the P.O found interesting. He decided to take my receipts, make a copy, and then track them to see when they actually arrive.

I wish we could all place bets. I am now thinking August 20th. If I shoot a little further out...I just may be pleasantly surprised.

8 more days in sunny Idaho ....

and then off to go





Alaska (and of course teach).

That is after I ship 7 more of these babies off.

3 more down... 4 more left (inshallah).

Getting myself from here to there- easy.

Getting my things from here to there- costly.

176 lbs. of dry goods, a few articles of clothing, and a couple of other things has so far cost me 186 bucks.

This is just the first round.


And just to make sure no one confuses his/her tubs with mine...well, you can see how that is no longer possible as I have added a little somethn' somethin'. (Thank you Leah!)


















Oh, and I found this to be interesting. While handing my tubs over to be weighed at the post office, I looked at the calendar to my left and it was of Morocco.

“There is a vast difference between taking a picture and making a photograph.” Robert Heinecken

This is my new toy. My goal is to eventually learn how to take pictures that I'd like to frame on my own wall.


My last camera was having issues. When I read that I had to smack it against the cement floor in order to get it operating again, I knew that an upgrade was a must for Alaska.

I thought that choosing an upgrade would be easy. It isn't. There are so many things that one has to take into consideration- price, features, possible lens additions, etc. But for me, all I really should looked at was which one would take me the longest to figure out. That way I have something to do in Alaska.

Now- it's kind of important to have a camera figured out before using it. This thing is a tad bit intimidating, but thank goodness the gentleman that sold it to me is giving me free lessons, or else I'd be on YouTube all night long. My first assignment was to play around with the aperture "feature?".

I took the camera out, played around with it, (have no clue as to what I was doing) and took some pictures. Looking at the pics now, it seems that I may have failed to do this assignment correctly-- but it sure was fun.

Feeling a little like this today.

In just a couple of weeks my life will change yet again and I will be off to yet another amazing place.

HOWEVER...before I step off the plane with everything I need in order to survive in this new place, I need to actually purchase my "survival" gear (i.e. Starbucks Coffee, comfy slippers, and then at some point stuff meant to keep me warm) and then pack it all up and ship it off.

It's getting a little crazy. I have my moments where I feel like I am making progress, and then I take a long look around and realize...yeah- not so much.

Two weeks. It's like pulling an all-nighter in college...I am feeling dazed and slightly confused.


Fortunately for me I have a new friend at the post office that worked in Anchorage and was quite familiar with the village that I will be working in.

He doesn't know it yet, but we are going to become BFF's starting tomorrow morning when I go back with my first 70 lb. box of books;)

After that I will continue collecting things that should make life a little bit easier up there until I return for 3 weeks in December.

Until then...my new homes are REI, Target and Sierra Outlet & just like my uncle suggested- it's a good time to buy stock.