Brights in Bastrop
I know, I know....I said I was going to keep writing on this blog thing, and well, I didn't. Life is paved with good intentions.......
If I keep you updated every 6 months--I can count that as a win too right?! um...maybe.
Moving anywhere is a pain in the rear, moving from Alaska, is even more so. Your stuff goes by truck to boat to truck again as it travels the nearly 4,000 miles to your new home. Stuff meaning your stuff (furniture, clothes, etc.), but also your stuff like, cars, kayaks, trailers, etc. And, we had very few items damage on this long voyage. It was a miracle, and we were very grateful. According to Cameron and Josh, we even got an extra table somehow (but, I unfortunately had to tell them that we had that in the family room in Alaska). ha!
Leaving Alaska was hard. Josh and Karston left about two months before everyone else. Josh came back for the closing, and then left with Cameron, Sam, and Dixie. Kayden, Chica, and I spent a few more days in Alaska, and then headed to our new home in Texas as well. During our last few days, we ate at our favorite restaurants, took a ride on a dog sled, took in the beauty of the Seward Highway, just did everything we possibly could in one of our most favorite places on Earth. We love Alaska!
It was very hard leaving a place that you had come to love, especially during the Alaskan summer. The beauty of Alaska is breathtaking, and even a year later, I still get the urge to return. Yes, earthquakes, bears, mama moose, and the plethora of things that can kill you in Alaska do cause anxiety...but the feeling of belonging, living in a place so remote, and the beauty (did I say that twice), yes, the beauty of Alaska is something that you can never get out of your system. And, there isn't anywhere that can measure up to what you have seen there.
I started teaching in Austin ISD. And, for the first month of school, we lived in the Marriott Residence Inn in Austin. Yes, we lived in a hotel for 30 days (Josh & Karston weren't too happy about us crashing their bachelor pad). If it wasn't for the small space and three dogs, it would have been very enjoyable. But, we survived, and will forever miss the daily access to the pool, six washers and dryers to do your laundry in no time flat, and the fresh breakfast every morning. I worked at Joslin Elementary School, teaching 4th grade math and science. When we finally closed on our home, the commute became a bigger deal than originally thought. It was one of the hardest decisions to leave my kiddos in Austin, but a job in Bastrop became available, so I made the move to Cedar Creek Intermediate.
Cameron is getting ready for one of her best friends to move here, so they can then get an apartment in Austin together. They plan on attending Austin Community College. Cameron keeps going back and forth between a teacher and physical therapist, so we will have to just see how that plays out. She worked at Hobby Lobby as a seasonal hire, but is actively looking for a job now that we aren't in quarantine. She has enjoyed visiting LSU to see Maddyson, and getting a nice tan. ha!
Karston is loving our new home. He never liked the cold, so being able to go outside, and jump off bridges (to his mom's dismay) has been great for him. He has always loved the water, and places like Barton Springs are a little bit of heaven for him. He will be a senior this fall, and he plans to join the Air Force. He wants to be a pilot, and he wants to go into the military as fit as possible....so he works out like no other. He has a punching bag in the garage, and a pull-up bar in the backyard.
Kayden has definitely had growing pains moving to a new location. I am hoping that changes as she enters high school. She has met some really good friends, we just need to be able to strengthen those bonds which has been hard to do since school got cancelled for the year. She is playing the flute beautifully, and just found out she will be first chair flute in the symphonic orchestra! We are so proud of her. And, she continues to be our smartest child (grade wise).
Quarantine on the Bright front.......we have been soooo bored, but so lucky to be able to work from home. Josh had Geico running from home in the whole Austin area in about a day....he's really good at making things happen. My virtual classroom became the new norm, and since I was a fan of technology before this, my admin put me in charge of all the videos for the whole ELA department. I like doing it, and it is a lot easier to say the right things, when you can have as many takes as you want (not that my videos are perfect...sometimes I just give up). ha! My goal in preparation for the new year is to have one video from me for each of our ten units....I'm currently only 4 videos away from completing that goal. My youtube page is youtube.com/user/joshamberbright, please follow and subscribe. :)
Quarantine has also built connections with my kiddos that will never be able to be replaced or replicated. They had to play with each other, talk with each other, and entertain one another. Watching them form friendships and bond was truly a blessing of this quarantine. If the quarantine hadn't happened, I'm sure Cami would have already moved out. Being able to see her and Kayden have this extra time, where they have become really great friends, is something I am very grateful to see. I want my kiddos to be close, so I'm glad they have had this time.
Okay....pictures speak a thousand words, so here are a few to catch you up on some things that have transpired...
2-We have grapes growing!
3-Karston is becoming a man.
4-We visited my Grandmother Ault on Mother's Day weekend. It was the first time I had been back since her funeral.
5-We painted our front door red of course!
6-Karston and I traveled with Uncle Josh to the last battle of the Civil War. We got to see the SpaceX facility in South Texas too, plus go to South Padre Island.
7-We watched lots of TV...the Office being one of them (of course). And, we binge watched Waco, a documentary about the Waco incident with the Branch Davidians. We traveled that next weekend to Waco to see the sight of the compound.
8-We've traveled several times to the Frio River (it's not as cold as we remember, or maybe we are just used to Alaskan waters).
9-We've found beautiful landscapes right by our house (lots of trails and the beautiful Colorado River).
10-We've kayaked at Lady Bird Lake, the Colorado, and Lake Bastrop. It is my new favorite thing. :)
11-We took 'professional' pictures at the railroad tracks by our house.
12-Trinity came to see us from Alaska for Spring Break, and then Cami went to Alaska. She went to attend her friends' graduation, but graduation definitely turned out different this year. She also got to see her friend who is a boy, Jerad. oooohhhhh! :)
13-We ate a picnic lunch in New Braufels.
14-We got a new pup named, Louis von Bastrop. He is a standard poodle, and we LOVE him. His fur is soooooo soft, it is unreal.
15-ANNDDDD....we visited Memaw and Papa. I'm so glad I live closer to my parents.
If I keep you updated every 6 months--I can count that as a win too right?! um...maybe.
Moving anywhere is a pain in the rear, moving from Alaska, is even more so. Your stuff goes by truck to boat to truck again as it travels the nearly 4,000 miles to your new home. Stuff meaning your stuff (furniture, clothes, etc.), but also your stuff like, cars, kayaks, trailers, etc. And, we had very few items damage on this long voyage. It was a miracle, and we were very grateful. According to Cameron and Josh, we even got an extra table somehow (but, I unfortunately had to tell them that we had that in the family room in Alaska). ha!
Leaving Alaska was hard. Josh and Karston left about two months before everyone else. Josh came back for the closing, and then left with Cameron, Sam, and Dixie. Kayden, Chica, and I spent a few more days in Alaska, and then headed to our new home in Texas as well. During our last few days, we ate at our favorite restaurants, took a ride on a dog sled, took in the beauty of the Seward Highway, just did everything we possibly could in one of our most favorite places on Earth. We love Alaska!
It was very hard leaving a place that you had come to love, especially during the Alaskan summer. The beauty of Alaska is breathtaking, and even a year later, I still get the urge to return. Yes, earthquakes, bears, mama moose, and the plethora of things that can kill you in Alaska do cause anxiety...but the feeling of belonging, living in a place so remote, and the beauty (did I say that twice), yes, the beauty of Alaska is something that you can never get out of your system. And, there isn't anywhere that can measure up to what you have seen there.
I started teaching in Austin ISD. And, for the first month of school, we lived in the Marriott Residence Inn in Austin. Yes, we lived in a hotel for 30 days (Josh & Karston weren't too happy about us crashing their bachelor pad). If it wasn't for the small space and three dogs, it would have been very enjoyable. But, we survived, and will forever miss the daily access to the pool, six washers and dryers to do your laundry in no time flat, and the fresh breakfast every morning. I worked at Joslin Elementary School, teaching 4th grade math and science. When we finally closed on our home, the commute became a bigger deal than originally thought. It was one of the hardest decisions to leave my kiddos in Austin, but a job in Bastrop became available, so I made the move to Cedar Creek Intermediate.
Cameron is getting ready for one of her best friends to move here, so they can then get an apartment in Austin together. They plan on attending Austin Community College. Cameron keeps going back and forth between a teacher and physical therapist, so we will have to just see how that plays out. She worked at Hobby Lobby as a seasonal hire, but is actively looking for a job now that we aren't in quarantine. She has enjoyed visiting LSU to see Maddyson, and getting a nice tan. ha!
Karston is loving our new home. He never liked the cold, so being able to go outside, and jump off bridges (to his mom's dismay) has been great for him. He has always loved the water, and places like Barton Springs are a little bit of heaven for him. He will be a senior this fall, and he plans to join the Air Force. He wants to be a pilot, and he wants to go into the military as fit as possible....so he works out like no other. He has a punching bag in the garage, and a pull-up bar in the backyard.
Kayden has definitely had growing pains moving to a new location. I am hoping that changes as she enters high school. She has met some really good friends, we just need to be able to strengthen those bonds which has been hard to do since school got cancelled for the year. She is playing the flute beautifully, and just found out she will be first chair flute in the symphonic orchestra! We are so proud of her. And, she continues to be our smartest child (grade wise).
Quarantine on the Bright front.......we have been soooo bored, but so lucky to be able to work from home. Josh had Geico running from home in the whole Austin area in about a day....he's really good at making things happen. My virtual classroom became the new norm, and since I was a fan of technology before this, my admin put me in charge of all the videos for the whole ELA department. I like doing it, and it is a lot easier to say the right things, when you can have as many takes as you want (not that my videos are perfect...sometimes I just give up). ha! My goal in preparation for the new year is to have one video from me for each of our ten units....I'm currently only 4 videos away from completing that goal. My youtube page is youtube.com/user/joshamberbright, please follow and subscribe. :)
Quarantine has also built connections with my kiddos that will never be able to be replaced or replicated. They had to play with each other, talk with each other, and entertain one another. Watching them form friendships and bond was truly a blessing of this quarantine. If the quarantine hadn't happened, I'm sure Cami would have already moved out. Being able to see her and Kayden have this extra time, where they have become really great friends, is something I am very grateful to see. I want my kiddos to be close, so I'm glad they have had this time.
Okay....pictures speak a thousand words, so here are a few to catch you up on some things that have transpired...
1-My Dad and Josh built a fire pit in our backyard during our Thanksgiving break. We added the rocks around the pit in the last few weeks. Our backyard is still in the process of turning from dirt to grass....maybe one day. ugh!
Comments