Kodiak: Then and Now | Our 4 Years on the Rock

I’m not sure if everyone who stops by here these days realizes that our time in Kodiak is coming to a close.

Soon. As in less than one week soon. We leave on Sunday. For good.

I’ve sat to write this post  many times. More so to update whoever still reads this blog on what was going on. I’ve turned to using Facebook and Instagram more frequently than I write anymore. It’s just quicker to post an update via my iPhone on Facebook/IG than it is to sit down and actually write out a blog post.

Despite how much I dislike living here, it’s kind of weird to be this close to leaving it for good. It’s like anywhere else. You put some roots down, you get used to it and it slowly but surely becomes “home” of sorts. Our time here has gone much, much faster than I anticipated. It seems like only yesterday I was writing about all of the things I was going to miss once we got here…and now I’m starting to think about the things I might miss about living here.

Obviously this place is much, much smaller population wise. There are far fewer people here than I remember encountering at home. Back in Alabama, there are tens of thousands of people where we live. There are strip malls, Target’s and so many restaurants it becomes an argument when deciding where to eat.

Here? There are all of about five restaurants (excluding the even poorer than normal quality fast food places) to choose from. It’s more of a discussion on which place you feel like eating at – AGAIN – than it is a argument. There are only a handful of streetlights. It’s a safe enough area that we didn’t even both locking our doors when we left our house.

It’s been a great place to raise our kids. Noah had the luxury of being able to ride his bike in the cul de sac in the front yard. He could walk across the street to play with neighbors without someone having to hold his hand or drop him off for fear of his safety. Kodiak is a version of Mayberry and THAT is what I will miss.

Noah grew up here. Jonah came home here. Josh and I had highs and lows here.

 

Noah made a lot of sacrifices to be out here with us…he left behind everything “normal” he had every known, including family and grandparents and opportunities to be a little southern boy…one who grew up knowing how to fish and swim and ride his bike. One familiar with the white sandy beaches and plenty of sunshine. One who could play T-Ball and PeeWee football. None of those things he knows much of anything about right now at almost six years old. He’s going to have to relearn what these things are, learning for the first time to swim, to build sandcastles…things a lot of kids take for granted.

We welcomed Jonah while we were here, spending almost a a year and a half waiting and praying and trying to get pregnant while I feel like I watched everyone around me and everyone I knew on Facebook get pregnant before me. But God blessed us with blessing #2 all in his time. And we brought him home in November 2012.

Life here had changed us. Things that used to matter, don’t anymore. Things that we once took for granted (like being within driving distance) are much more appreciated.

This next adventure that awaits us promises so many exciting new things. And we can’t wait to see what the future holds.

Much like the last time we PCSed I will attempting to keep this blog updated throughout our trip…photos of where we’ve been, what we’re doing, how the kids are handling the big transition…all those kinds of things. I’m really trying to get better about writing here again. It’s just a matter of slowing down to actually do it, that’s all.

I know for certain that I will be sharing on Facebook and Instagram the entire time, so be sure to follow us! I’ll be hashtagging our trip #crosscountrykirklands2014 and #pcs2014

Looking forward to sharing our adventure with you all!

Side Note: We are taking the ferry from Kodiak to Seattle, so we will be without internet service for one week during our trip. I’ll start updating once we get back to the Lower 48 and I have access to 4G and wifi again. Oh…and for those of you who don’t know, we are moving to North Carolina. Can’t remember if I mentioned that or not…