I've been stuck for post topics for a while now, so I thought I'd write a bit for you about R and I and our exciting life in Fairbanks, AK.
What we do:
I'm a building substitute, which means that I sub every day in the same elementary school, and fill in for whomever happens to be absent that day. On days when no one is absent I help in the office and do reading assessments and copying and laminating and stuff. Last year and the year before I worked at a school in town that I really, really loved. I am now at a school outside of Fairbanks with a longer commute, but it's also a really nice school. My ultimate goal, of course, is to get my own classroom again. A bunch of factors, mostly the district's hiring practices, have made that really difficult for me. I have faith, though, that it will happen soon.
R is an aide in a behavioral disturbance class, which she handles amazingly well. The kids in there are pretty awful- spitting, hitting, biting swearing… It's definitely not the easiest job in the world– I'm not sure I could do it. She comes home on an almost daily basis with crazy stories about the things the kids do.
Where we live:
Well, we live in Fairbanks, which is a city of about 60,000 in the east-central part of Alaska. The city is at sea level, and is hilly rather than mountainous. It does not look like what you'd expect Alaska to look like. Being landlocked, Fairbanks does not have any oceans nearby to moderate its climate. We have one of the most extreme climates anywhere. The temperature in the summer can reach the 80's and 90's, and in the winter can be as low as -60.
R and I have been house sitting for the past 2 years. We live in the house of one of our old co-workers, who is currently teaching out of state. She came back to Alaska last summer, and likely will again this summer, meaning we have to find someplace else to stay for the summer. It's a good deal rent-wise, though we have a storage unit we really need to just empty and get rid of. It's hard to get our stuff out of there, though, since we're living in a house full of someone else's junk.
How we met:
R and I have been together for 3 years today. We were teacher's aides at a Montessori school together 3 years ago. We have been inseparable ever since.
Why Alaska?
Well, R's from here, but why am I here? I get asked that a lot, and I don't necessarily have a good answer. I came up here and worked and traveled in the summer of 2002. I was then teaching at a Catholic school in Albuquerque (I'm not Catholic at all, I'm an atheist), and was generally feeling very stuck. In 2003 I applied for some environmental education jobs in Alaska and California. None of them panned out, so I just went for it. I drove up here in 2003, and now here I am.
So if you're thinking about a move or a change, what are you waiting for? Go do it. Move. Change. Live. Just make sure to get a nice warm coat and hat. That's my weltanshaung, anyway. 
