I have taken a long hiatus from the blog because Gatsby and I went on vacation: our first trip home since moving to Alaska. We started our trip by going to Boston to visit my family. There is something about being at home (even though I have never actually lived there since my parents moved there about four years ago) but my room still has the same furniture from when I was growing up and it makes it feel like home. There is something really nice about having my mom cook the dinners that I love and making me breakfast in the morning. One would think that at the age of 27 and being fully capable of doing all these things on my own this wouldn't be such a treat, but it is. Gatsby and I had an incredible week filled with shopping, lots and lots of shopping, a trip to Maine, and even a Red Sox game. It is always sad to say goodbye to my family but knowing that I will see them again in a short month for our annual trip to Figure Eight Island made it a little easier.
After our week in Boston, Gatsby and I then boarded a plane to Washington D.C. where despite the fact they lost my luggage for 36 hours I was able enjoy some time with old friends from work, enjoy a drive down to Charlottesville to see my Grandpa, attend a wedding of one of Pete's best friends, and spend time with my in-laws. It was a busy six days where I felt like I had to cram as much in as possible because I'm not sure when I will be making my way back to the nations capital.
The night of Dan and Erin's wedding was definitely one of the hardest days since Pete has been gone, knowing that I am surrounded by all of his closest friends and family and knowing how much Pete wants to be there and instead is working long days and stressed out in Afghanistan, it just didn't seem fair. Despite my attempts to make him feel like he was there by video taping as much as possible there was an obvious void that was felt by all. Flying home to Alaska after an incredible two weeks of spending time with friends and family I would be lying if I said that I didn't think "what am I doing living so far away for this year?". While Alaska is beautiful and there are a lot of things to see and do, it is lacking the comfort of being surrounded by the people who love me the most and the happiness that brings. However, I made a commitment to my work that I would stay for a year and I still feel like it is important to follow through with that commitment even though Gatsby and I are both so homesick it hurts. I guess this is the downfall of going away for so long. So while I have been in sort of a 'blah' mood since returning I am reminding myself that prior to this trip I was happy and excited about this wonderful adventure and I can get that same enthusiasm back. Thank you everyone who made my trip so special, I am lucky to have the greatest family and friends that anyone could ask for. I am working 7 days in a row then leave on Wednesday for Guadalajara for Ashley and Fadi's wedding, and two weeks after that I will be leaving for a relaxing week at the beach with my family. In between these trips there are a lot of things that I am looking forward to in Alaska: the art walk at Creamers Field is tomorrow (Pete and I heard about this during the winter and have been excited about it since!), the midnight sun 10k is June 18th, and I have started a book club with some of the wives that I have met and the first meeting is at my house on June 24th. Not to mention my plans to go fishing and white water rafting with friends from work in July, this will be a busy summer and keeping busy will be key for making this year a success. So while the mood is still blah, it is an optimistic blah knowing I have a lot of things to look forward to.
Today I miss playing racquetball with you and goofing off in the rubber rooms as if they are soundproof, when actually they are not and people think we are crazy.
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