spring break

Though I'm not really a teacher yet, most of my income is from the xchool, which means that I gave myself spring break too. And how did I celebrate this amazing week? I swam with porpoise. Kinda. One might also call it falling in the water while kayaking. Well, the porpoise weren't really even that close. Maybe I swam near porpoise rather than with them. Though, I didn't really go swimming. I just stood I. The water up to my waist and laughed. A lot. And maybe it wasn't really porpoise at all. Because I was on a different side of the island from where they were. So maybe I just fell in. But it was still pretty hilarious if you ask me. Or if you ask my roommate, Karen. It was good times.
and I went to Juneau with my peeps. But that wasn't as cool as kayaking with somewhere around 200 porpoise.

Winter...

It's snowing sideways. We're 24" of snow shy of the record in town since they started keeping track... and it's supposed to dump 14" tonight... I'm trying my best to enjoy it...

Grateful for outdoor gear

Today I went cross country skiing. It was pretty much awesome. I forgot my camera though... my bad.

On a random note, this is my 200th post...

Grateful for snow

I live in a winter wonderland. And for now, I'm still grateful for it. I just need to remember that I'm grateful for it in April... when it's gross and melty... but until then, it's gorgeous.

Grateful for family

I love my biological family. They are amazing people who I generally enjoy spending time with. But once again as I returned to Haines yesterday, I was reminded that I have so much more family than people that share my last name. The family that I have in Haines is such a blessing. I was welcomed home with open arms and received four dinner invitations for later that day. People here welcome me into their home as one of their own. When I'm in Seattle, I have a set of parents who love me very much and a sibling who is pretty close and one who is a few hours away. But when I am in Haines, I have three sets of parents, siblings next door and down the street, little people who love me almost as much as Owen, Calla, and Josh, and a smattering of grandparents here and there. I am so blessed to live in a town that has so much love to share. As I went to a memorial service for one of those grandparents yesterday, I was reminded of what living a selfless, loving life can really be like and how long that memory will live on. Arlene Jackson will be missed for a long time to come. But Haines still has a lot to offer.

Grateful for Haines... and Seattle...

It has been brought to my attention that my last blog post was a little on the downer side of things. So I am going to reinstate Grateful Heart Fridays starting today so I can be reminded of all the things that I am thankful for...

This week I am particularly grateful for my friends in Haines... the fact that a couple new people showed up in town that I think are ridiculously awesome. And the awesome people that have been there for the past couple years who I can hang out with like I never left.

I am also mega grateful for my time in Seattle. What I looked at with trepidation in the moments before leaving Haines, has become a blessing. Not that it's always easy, but I do believe that there is a good purpose for my time here. So I'm trusting God in that. And I do love the time that I get to spend with the little Maxwells.

Seattle

I find myself laying in bed in my parents' house once again tonight. It's an odd feeling, this living in two places. I mean, I spend most of my time in Haines. My heart is in Haines. I feel like God is calling me to live in Haines right now. But for the next month and a half or so, I'm down south. I have to trust that God will use this time for His glory somehow. I feel like I've been clinging to Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

Long time no update!

Hello blogishpere!

I'm alive and well. Living in Haines is pretty much everything I missed about when I left a year ago. I'm subbing a bunch at the school, still working for the town handyman, and just loving life in general. Of course, the thing that I added on this year is camp stuff, which is pretty much my dream.

This summer was absolutely awesome. It was exhausting and challenging and frustrating at times, and I wouldn't change it for anything. I laughed a ton, cried (just once :)) and ran and played and spoke in front of kids about serious things.

Life now is pretty much whatever comes my way. I work when and where I can. I'm living with the Jones family until I can figure out a more long-term solution. So life in general is good... though I do miss my family (especially the little ones) a lot...

Haines and more

I realized that I've been slacking on my blogging lately. I mean, since I last wrote, I have been in Haines for ten days and back to Seattle. Alaska was awesome. Which, come on, we all knew would be the case. I decorated, hiked, watched football, ate... it was grand. And I realized that as much as I love that place, it's ok that I'm not there right now. Sure, I'd love life if I was living in Haines, but that doesn't mean that I can't love it since I'm living in the greater Seattle area. So I hereby declare that I am going to work on loving life more in Seattle rather than wishing I was somewhere else. You heard it here first.

Home Sweet Home?

Home is where your heart is right? Then more than being homeless, I am homefull. Or something like that. Saying goodbye to my people in Haines was crazy hard. I for sure left a part of my heart there, but am back in Seattle for a year or so or longer... who knows. I put my car on the ferry yesterday and then flew down to Seattle today. On Friday I'll head up to Bellingham with the amazing Ethel and pick it up and hopefully get a few pictures (because it is comically loaded down). Then I'll start unpacking my old stuff (life) and make it feel like home in Seattle (Arlington). Here's to living in my parents' basement for most of my 25th year!

fishing and walking and fishing some more

Ashley and I got to Kenai on Tuesday, so I had a couple days to myself while Ashley passed the interview process from the boyfriend's family. I went fishing on the Kasilof River and caught myself a sweet king salmon. I'll be sharing that with my family when I get to Seattle in July.


Then we headed up to Anchorage where Ash, Mom, Dad, and I walked 13.1 miles. Dad says he's ready to do it again next month. They won't, but he's already looking at half marathons in different places for next year. Pretty sweet.

Then Pa and I went fishing on the Kenai. We spent about 10 hours on the river with not even a bite... I think it's because we were out there to spread Grandpa's ashes and that crusty old fart was looking down on us and didn't want any of the attention of the day taken away from him. Besides, we fished a couple weeks with grandpa and caught only one, so it seemed like it's how it was supposed to be. (and I'm pretty sure that fishing in the Kenai isn't as good as people claim...)

I'm gonna miss this...

Today, I went kayaking. I know, big surprise. But today as I kayaked the same route that I have kayaked lots of times before, I saw something that I have never kayaked with before... a humpback whale. It was pretty much the coolest thing I have seen in a long time. It was just another reminder that I am totally going to miss this place. Haines has become home. While I'm excited to move closer to my family and all that good stuff, I will definitely miss Haines.

small town Haines

There's those places in the world where everyone is connected to everyone else. Haines is one of those places. Most of the time, I love that about Haines. But when a 14 year old drowns swimming a relatively short distance in the ocean, it's hard that everyone in town is connected to it somehow. It's good though too, because that way everyone can lean on everyone else. So tonight my prayers go out to all the people of Haines who knew Andrew Williamson, a good kid who's life was cut unfortunately short.

Time keeps ticking away

I'm moving back to Seattle from Haines in less than a month now. And at least half of that time I'll be in other areas of the state. It bums me out a little that I'm leaving so soon. But I'm just trying to make the most of the time that I have here, which includes working a bunch, kayaking a bunch, going bear hunting, and spending time with the people that have made this place like home.

come on jump out of the water porpoise

So Jamie was hanging out in town for a bit this past week and I got to hang out with her yesterday evening for a bit. What does one do when hanging out with a friend and you have already stopped to get ice cream, walked through town, and gone out to eat dinner? That's right, when you're Kate Maxwell's friend, you go kayaking. So off we went and just kinda hung out in the boats. While we were out there a group (herd/gaggle/pod/school) of porpoises came to check out our boats. It was pretty much the coolest thing (since kayaking with orca, anyway). So we watched the sun go down from the boats and stared at some sea life and then wandered back to shore. Good times.

lazy

I'm sure there's at least three or so people out there that are wondering how school is going, so here's the lowdown...
The first semester of my masters in teaching is going fairly well. I've finished one class, schools and society, and now I'm working on Human Development. Sounds thrilling, huh? Yup, it's about as thrilling as it sounds. So rather than actually doing school work, I'm writing about it. I'm not really sure how that works, but it's what I do. I've been subbing at the school a ton lately... today is the first weekday that I have been in Haines and not been working at the school since the first of the year. So I feel like all I've been doing lately is working and studying, but I guess that's not such a bad thing in small town Alaska, as the crazy wind is in the air and some people seem to seek drama like a wolf with a knife soaked in blood (even if it never really did happen). So I'll immerse myself in school and some working and movies sometimes.

pants

remember how my favorite pants were eaten by a dog? well, as proof that God is real and can work miracles, they were resurrected from the dead by my mother. patched up with some husky fleece from a fabric store, they are totally wearable. they will always have the scar of that pit bull weimaraner, but at least we have been reunited.
in other news, you can tell it's February in small town Alaska by the sheer craziness of the people in town. I missed that last year since I was in Seattle for most of February. But really, whoa dang.

bears and eagles and whales?

I'm housesitting out Lutak Road (toward Skagway) and there's tons and tons of fish, which means tons of other wildlife... so here are few short stories...
Last sunday the dog, Tahvi, was pretty sure she could take on a brown bear. She scared it away.
Virtually every time I have left the house and gone across the river over the bridge an eagle has dive-bombed the car.
A couple days ago I was pretty sure I saw a whale out the window because it looked like it took a big breath out. It was just some sea otters, but it was still pretty cool.

New Maxwell?? HECK YEAH!!!!!!!!!!

So, my 24th birthday was this past Sunday, and I got the best birthday present EVER! Joshua Todd Maxwell was born at 1:48 AM Sunday morning. I also celebrated by sitting in the back of a 15 passenger van with 12 8th graders from Tok to Haines. We went to an awesome youth conference in Anchorage over the weekend and got back on my birthday. I'll probably write more about the trip later, but for now I just felt the need to share with anyone and everyone that there is a new maxwell in the world!

for the sake of posting

Life has been standard still. I went to Whitehorse this weekend, and the most exciting part of that was going to Tim Hortons, A&W, and Boston Pizza. School is going well. I finish Econ and am now working on Behavioral Science. Not the most thrilling thing, but it's all good. I'm going to Anchorage on Wednesday with a bunch of kids, so I'm super stoked about that!