The truth about living in Alaska…

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I received a really funny email the other day from a fellow military wife who’s family has “done time” (and I don’t mean to make it sound like living here is a prison…really. I don’t.) in Alaska. We’ve actually never met in real life, but I met her in an online forum when we were getting ready to move here, and she offered me a ton of insight and advice on life in “the last frontier.” Her and her family are now stationed down around Miami somewhere, soaking up the beautiful (and hot) Florida sunshine. Her email was really simple, but it was funny enough to share and I decided I could make a really memorable post from it. It simply read:

Now that you’ve been in Alaska for longer than a week, how are you really
feeling about living there?  🙂

I pride myself on holding a high standard of honesty, realness, and integrity on my blog, so I thought you guys might like a real answer. We’ve been living in Kodiak for four months now; and while I can say that it’s not the worst place on Earth and that I don’t hate it here…I can also say that this is not somewhere I could see myself living for the rest of my life.

Why?

Because I miss these:

And more than any of the aforementioned places, I miss this:

Seriously. What did I do before Target entered my life? Oh yeah…that’s right. I shopped at Walmart. Let me just tell you, once I leave this Island for good, there will be no more trips to Walmart. Ever. Granted we are fortunate enough to have one here on the Island, it’s not even a Supercenter. It’s one of the old Walmart’s. And it’s terrible. When we lived in the states, I could go to Walmart and find cute little t-shirts and whatnot to fit little man. They were cheap, so when I saw one that I liked (and not one with bogus grammatical errors) I would grab it up, usually in a size bigger than what little man was currently wearing, and we’d always have clothes handy when we reached that next size.. Nuh-uh. Not here. They don’t even carry stuff in his size. Thankfully, there is a Target in Anchorage I’ll be able to visit when we go this summer…but seriously. It’s kind of sad.

I also miss being able to wear things like this:

(not that I have even touched a pair of Manolo Blahniks…much less owned a pair)

But, like I said…it’s not all bad.

We landed a nice house, in the neighborhood we were hoping for. We have a big backyard, and living on base means that I can open the door in the living room on the days it’s nice out and let Little Man run in and out like he wants without worrying that some sicko will try to snatch him. (And for all of you paranoid, there-is-no-way-I-would-ever-let-my-child-do-that mom’s reading this, I never let him outside unless I am downstairs where I can see him at all times…just so you know.)

We only have to fill the car up with gas every two weeks; and 99%  of the time we aren’t even below half a tank when we do that. (Which is a huge relief considering that gas was about $4.45 last time I checked.)

The hubs absolutely loves his job and he has fantastic hours. We were able to get a dog (again, thanks to the big back yard). And we’re making some really great friends. The kind that we’ll stay in touch with long after we’ve left this island.

And not to mention, the view here, no matter where you go? Phenomenal.

The truth of the matter is that, Target & Olive Garden will still be around when we move again. Sure I’d love to be able to run out and walk around Target or the Mall for hours when I have nothing else to do; but being here away from that lifestyle and “freedom” has given me time to keep in touch with things that matter more. The little things…like playing in the dirt with little man. really enjoying the sunshine when it appears after weeks of hiding; and snuggling up and bunkering down on the weekends when it’s just too darn cold and rainy to go anywhere.

I have the chance to live and experience and explore and area of the country that so, so few people ever see. And it’s beautiful. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Not even for a basket of these:

(unless you threw in a side of that fantastic Alfredo Sauce…then I might have to think about it.)

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