For me, Mexico was a brief intermission to a bigger show: after 18 long months, I once again had a ticket to Nebraska. Clark and the kids wouldn’t join until the following week, after the state soccer tournament. I was headed home. Alone. So much had changed, yet everything felt the same. If that makes sense? First up: a new family member to meet. My … Continue reading Home Again
A few years ago we got passports for the kids, but our first international family vacation was cancelled due to Covid. We had grand plans to visit a friend in Switzerland, followed by a few weeks in Spain and France. Instead, we stayed home… just like everyone else on the planet. It turned into a long Alaskan winter, especially with no escape for a year … Continue reading Nuestras Vacaciones Familiares
I still remember the last “real” staff meeting we had at school. It was the day before spring break of 2020, and nearly 100 of us gathered in the library. Together. Our principal told us to take home our laptops “just in case” this whole Covid thing exploded like some health experts feared. There were varying levels of concern, but not a single one of … Continue reading One Weird Year
This is (hopefully) the final in a trilogy of posts about the time our little boy told a giant lie: Post 1: Or Not to Bee (Grade 2) Post 2: Watching Your Child’s Dream Come True (Grade 5) Post 3: Sam’s Side of the Story (Grade 11) Last year Sam’s English teacher invited the Story Works Alaska crew into her classroom for a writing and … Continue reading Sam’s Side of the Story
Most years I prefer to downplay my birthday and simply get it over with, but this year I decided to use it to my advantage. I’ve been wanting to host a cooking competition with family friends for eons, and this was the perfect way to make it happen! The evening was loosely based on the Food Network show Chopped, where chefs face off in head-to-head … Continue reading Chopped
These days I’m never sure whether I’m moving forward, backward, or sideways… which made January’s palindrome days sadly validating: February gets me as well: Groundhog day is the perfect way to acknowledge pandemic weeks that blur together in an endless loop. In our house, mornings always start with the miserable task of waking our teenagers. It’s shockingly difficult. Apparently the only thing teens hate more … Continue reading It’s LITERALLY Groundhog Day
Every year it baffles me how weeks of shopping, cooking, planning, and scheming explode in a few short hours. On Christmas morning our living room transforms from a tidy, shiny, idyllic paradise into something reminiscent of a war zone. New socks, hoodies, books, and gadgets lay strewn in haphazard piles. Rogue pieces of scotch tape stick to our new slippers as we wander about, stuffing … Continue reading It’s a Wrap
Sadly but not shockingly, the year is rounding out with a Christmas tree shortage. Really 2020?! Fortunately, we harvest our tree from the Chugach National Forest each year, which has 5.5 million acres of spruce to share. Access roads and pullouts weren’t plowed like usual, but eventually we found a spot to safely stash the truck while we wandered into the woods. It was an … Continue reading Treepiphany
There are many things I love about our home, but the overly ornate fireplace it came with is most definitely not one of them. The marble, the columns, and the excessive amount of trim have always been my least favorite part of our house. I’ve spent the past ten years filling the surrounding built-ins with family photos and favorite board games, so there are plenty … Continue reading Warms My Heart
It’s often said that in Alaska, you choose your family. And it’s true. Many of us live thousands of miles from the families we were born into, so friends become a proxy for this pivotal role. This is my Alaskan family. We jokingly refer to ourselves as the McCoxlers, and we’ve been part of each other’s holidays, birthdays, and every days for decades. Our children … Continue reading Eat the Chocolates
