Live your dream...

Fall training next to the Parks Highway on October 16, 2017, the back ground you can see Denali and all her glory on this beautiful clear day!

The other day I was running my dogs and looked up, and saw the mountains. Mount Denali or McKinley or whatever you want to call it is in direct line of where I live and its beautiful. Then I looked to the left and saw a swamp full of scrub, pine, birch and an eagle perched in the trees. There was a huge raven kind of following us down the trail and calling out every once in awhile. Then a semi truck and 4 cars whizzed by us on the right side. Yep I'm living the dream! Running sled dogs in Alaska. The main fall training trail for us in Willow is next to the Parks Highway, which is the main highway connecting Anchorage and Fairbanks. The surrounding area is a swamp and we can't move on to those trails until everything is frozen.

You get the absolute best view where ever you want to look and I occasionally still get my breath taken away because I LIVE IN ALASKA!! I am an Alaskan resident and it has never felt more like home than it does saying that. I'm not Native, that is for those that have built the culture surrounding this great state and have developed a great nation. Nope I'm native Minnesotan and am proud of it, but I do call Alaska home.

I think there is such a dramatic feel when people talk about Alaska. How wild it is and how remote it is. Well yes that can be true but to be honest, you can be standing in downtown Anchorage and it feels just like any other big city. Denver actually it feels like (yep I lived there for 8 months too) because of the mountains. Now travel by bush plane or boat or even dog sled and you will experience some of the most wild and remote land that you will ever run into. I have never been that far out or felt that alone until I got lost last year on the river. Six hours and I didn't hear or see anyone or anything. It was terrifying and amazing all at the same time.

As a child I was always fascinated with Alaska. I don't know why. I watched National Geographic channel, nature shows and read every book that I could about living in nature, living simply and I was (an still am) obsessed with a way of living like Laura Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie. For whatever reason, that is what I have always wanted to do.

Alaska is the land of opportunity to basically do whatever you want. The culture up here is different than in the lower 48. When I lived in the lower 48, it was all about work, and having things, and comparing to others the THINGS that you had and what kind of job do you do and how much money do you make. Basically keeping up with the Jones's. I hated it. I am not a materialistic person even though I tried. We didn't have a lot of money when I was a kid so having the best of everything wasn't really an option, we made due with what we had and it was fine. I always had food, I had a place to sleep that was warm and that is more than a lot of people can say right now.

What I've noticed about Alaska is, people are here for experiences. They work so that they can have money to go and do things, mostly outside. A lot of people that live in the rural area live in small cabins, that may or may not have electricity and most do not have running water. As I write this I have electricity in my rented 200 square foot cabin (YAY!!) but I have to go use an out house and have my blue jug of water to drink instead of plumbing. I put wood in the stove to keep warm (its about 25F out right now and I'm in a tank top and shorts because I'm sweating LOL!) but I am warm! I am very content. Very very content.

I'd really like to not have to work in the winter but I do. I do because I like being a veterinary technician and it makes me interact with people and not just my dogs. That is a real thing - some of us become big hermits in the winter becoming so focused that we forget there is an outside world. But not me, I'd like to work less but the need for good help in the clinic is short and well I do get a 5 month vacation from it by giving tours in the summer time so I'll work when they need me too. So I will work and run my dogs, living the dream some people say!! Well I am living MY DREAM! Every day I am thankful for what I have, and that I can get the things I need when I need them.

This dream of mine is evolving. Slowly but it is evolving. Things are very slowly coming together and parts and pieces are starting to stick where they should be. I don't really have a detailed description of what I want my dream to look like any more, step by step plan. I've completely given up on that. What I have is a feeling and when that feeling is happy then I know that things are moving in the right direction! I have to trust that I am where I am supposed to be and things are happening as they should.patience is a huge part of this thing called life and I need to be more aware of that and how I handle situations.

Everyone has a different view of how their life should be or what they want it to be. We should not ever judge ANY one on what makes them happy! I've over heard people talking and judgement on what others are doing. Why does it matter to you what someone else is doing? How does it affect you? This I will never understand, why people have to be involved with others lives just because they are different than theirs. Its frustrating, well I should say it was frustrating in the past. Now days I don't care. I stick to myself and those that are supportive or understand why I do what I do. I run dogs so I don't need medication to make me happy. I run dogs so that I don't need to belong to an expensive gym. I have dogs because they do not judge, they actually don't like it when I shower or do laundry because I smell funny, this is a true story HAHA!

The moral of this blog is do what makes you happy but do not expect others to understand or even comprehend because their life stories are different. At the same time don't judge others for what makes them happy! Life is meant to be lived, its meant to be messy and its meant to be happy! Its full of mistakes and redo's and apologies and tears and laughter. Every thing we experience is part of life! As long as no harm is done on purpose I say its part of the experience, its part of what makes us who we are.

So go climb the mountain, go do that hike through the PCT, move to Alaska (its really not that scary), take the European vacation! Just do it. I think if people focused on more of the experiences that the world has to offer instead of the money aspect, there would be a lot happier people out there! One of my favorite lyrics from a song is from Old Dominion - No Such Thing as a Broken Heart, "Chase after the dream not the money!" It's the truth! If you haven't heard this song I really recommend it!