Living my Dream...: January 2013

Every time I say something about living in the South someone has to correct me and say, "Kansas is the Midwest!" to which I reply, "Hey! Everything's south when you were born and raised in Alaska!"

We have lived in Kansas for a little over two months now. (Please see previous post if this is news to you.) We are settling in to our cozy little 2 bedroom apartment in Overland Park. We actually live closer to Olathe (pronounced Oh-lathe-uh), Kansas - only about fifteen minutes from the Kansas/Missouri state line. The winter so far has been amazing - even better than Washington. THIS is what winter should be: sunny and about 40 degrees. There are definitely times I miss the snow activities in Alaska - skiing, snowmachining, sledding, etc. - but we hardly ever took advantage of those things while there anyway so I'm not sure we're missing out on much. BUT, I also can't speak too soon because Robert and I find ourselves missing the quality of life that we experienced in Alaska. We especially miss Palmer and the Valley area. There's just something special about calling Alaska home. There is a difference in the people too. While living for a year in Washington state and now here in Kansas we find the mindset of the people is different. People seem to take for granted their loss of freedoms here. While it may also be slipping away in Alaska too, there is still more of a spirit of independence there. On a silly note, I find that I miss being able to live in the worse-dressed city in America ... Anchorage. If you wear sweats instead of pjs to the store in Anchorage, you're one of the better-dressed people there. :) haha

The kids and I have really had to stop ourselves from constantly listing all the things we miss about Washington, good friends being number one. It's amazing how many close friendships we made in only 11 months. We also miss the beach, walks on the trail behind our rental home, apple trees, blackberry bushes, amazing birds species, the sound of frogs behind our house, homeschool groups, AWANA friends, drives to Eastern Washington and camping trips there, fall leaves, and again, friends. I'm assured by friends and family here in Kansas that we will be seeing and experiencing a whole new set of fun things and beautiful sights. I'm a little nervous about the heat and humidity. Fortunately, our apartment complex has a pool so I'm sure we will be using that on a daily basis very soon.

Since we own only one vehicle the kids and I have, for the most part, been staying in and catching up on school missed during the move. The kids are again on track for finishing by mid-May. Our apartment faces the afternoon/evening sun so we'll have to see how much we get done come March when it really starts to warm up here. We're trying to work ahead in anticipation for summer - traveling to visit family and friends in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri, visiting Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri, and other amusement parks and lakes in the surrounding area.

I am looking forward to new experiences...that is, assuming we are going to stay here for a while longer. You see, we just got news the other day that Robert's job at the Post Office is going to be ending at the end of April. They are ending the Transitional Employee position and turning it into a City Carrier Assistant position that pays $5/hour less. Therefore, more decisions are going to made very soon as to what our future looks like. We might decide to stay with the Post Office and hope for a permanent position in the next few years with them. In that case, Robert will get an additional part-time job. Or, we might look elsewhere. It would be ideal if he could get on with a company on the North Slope of Alaska. He might even try for an oil job down here in the States. Anyway, lots of exciting decisions coming up for these Camerons...again. (God is growing us in ways we never thought.)

Thank you for keeping up with us. I hope everyone had wonderful Christmas and new year holidays.

Following are some pictures of where we're living and some activities we've been doing:

View of the sunset from our living room

Making snow angels in Kansas snow - that melted the next day!
Our apartment is the one you see on the second level.
We have a porch that will be so nice during a summer evening.