4 days to go....time to start saying goodbye

My favorite picture of Miranda

Miranda and the Atlantic

Leaving Miranda behind to begin her life as an adult on her own is one of my biggest challenges and brings about the empty nest sadness.  She is our baby.  Our beautiful child.  Our dynamic young woman.  I know she has a safety net here with family and good friends.  She has a home to make her own.  She has a job and the knowledge to do well.  I do not know if it is more difficult to watch them go or to be the one leaving.  It is hard to tell. 





Red and I checking out the yard in Ayden.

I worked with the most amazing people here in North Carolina.  I made a great friend, Red, and have had many others touch my heart with their lives.  I do not do well in making close friends but I can say that I do have many that I will stay in touch with.  Thank you to them for being a part of my daily life. I will miss you.

Our boys.  Cowboy and Sparky.





 Cowboy followed us down from Minnesota and we have had him a long time.  Interestingly enough this week Cowboy has been suffering some medical issues and at his age, 9, he now needs help to get on the bed, limps when he walks, is in  a lot of pain, and is covered in fatty tumors.  I think his body decided to give out.  I am so sad to see him like that and tomorrow we will be ending his sorrow.  He needs to rest, and rest will come.  He has been my bed warmer, my cuddler, and my best friend.  He has rested his head on my lap when I have cried, licked my face when we are all happy, and followed and watched me where ever I go.  I love that boy.

Sparky is my other baby.  No one would love that dog besides me.  He is a biter and barker.  He tiptoes to  me for love yet protects me voraciously.  He is playful and loving but he is a nightmare when it comes to stubbornness.  He is 3 years old and is a handful.  A handful that I have loved for every minute.  He is fast and beautiful.  He is a wonderful dog.  I wish we could have found the right home for him.  He would not do well in the pound, he would bite.  For his best interest we have decided to put him down for his and others safety. 

All these things together foreshadow my heart with sadness in a time that should be filled with expectation and joy.  I am still joyful for my new opportunity; but sometimes a price needs to be paid for moving forward.  Change is hard. Saying goodbye  is painful.  God is good and has a plan for all this to work together for His Glory.  Mark and I were given an opportunity to be a part of something bigger than the both of us; to impact a community in ways we cannot even yet imagine. 

The next couple of days will be big for Mark and I.  We say goodbye to the boys tomorrow, we bring Miranda to her new home on Thursday and  help her get set up.  We will lock the door to our last home in North Carolina and with that we will be unlocking a new life.



Beth

Six days to go.  Yesterday, Beth and I were standing out in the back yard around 3:15 pm EDT and Beth commented that one week from that moment we would already be wheels down in Anchorage.  Whew!  Wow!

Still so much to do.  We have Miranda set up with a place of her own that she will move into on Thursday the 29th.  We have a storage unit rented and have already moved a few items.  We are almost all packed up and ready for the move. 



Snow covered yard in Williston, NC

BRRRR!!!!  Just wait!

We read that is beginning to warm up in Aniak.  In other words...not so many days below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.   We have been enjoying days in the 70's and even low 80's here in North Carolina.  All the winter clothes we have been stocking up on seems silly here near the coast...but we know will make so much more sense in a week!

11 Days and counting.....

It is 79 degrees in Eastern North Carolina today.  We are wearing shorts and tanktops; our feet are bare.  In eleven days we will be flying to Alaska to begin our next life adventure.  We have accepted a job with an Alaskan company and will be living in western remote Alaska for an indefinite time.  I, Beth,  am from Minnesota. He, Mark,  is from California.  We have been together for 15 years and in that time we have lived in Minnesota, North Dakota, and currently North Carolina. 

It is warm here. The Atlantic is beautiful and in the summer as warm as bath water.  I have spent hours wandering the beach in search of a new shell or an elusive shark tooth.  My heart has soared with the pelicans as they drift in and out of the swells and I have lost myself in watching for the tell tale fins of the dolphins swimming.  I am going to miss that about North Carolina.  After growing up in the cold I have come to appreciate the warmth of the sand under my feet.  I have enjoyed no shoes and the taste of salt on my lips. 

Alaska brings to us a new promise of seeing the wild up close, of viewing the northern lights in all their glory.  It is a challenge in going from a life of convenience to a more simple existence.  Where we now live in a town with traffic, sirens, and stoplights; we are going to no paved roads, no lights, no way to get to the next town by car, only by boat or plane. 


We have bought our boots, we have shipped our belongings, we have settled our things here in the lower 48, now we just wait. Wait for 6am, March 31st to fly off to the north and begin......