Scatter joy!

Hello. :)

My name is Kate. 

Kontrashibuna Lake in Lake Clark NP

I am a thirty-something teacher-adventurer-quilter-baker-reader-writer-backpacker-packrafter-canoer-wife-to-an-amazing-man, living in bush Alaska. I moved North to the Future in 2006 and honestly, at this point in my life, can't imagine living anywhere else. I grew up in a small town in Montana that did a most wonderful job preparing me for life in the bush. Although, had you told me in high school that I would move (willingly!) to a town smaller than the one I grew up in, I would have laughed in your face. Back then, I was headed for the glitz and glamour of New York City, baby! Thankfully, life doesn't always turn out the way you planned, and Alaska is where I headed after graduating from college. I moved North with the intention of staying and teaching for just one year, but here I am, nine years later, still in Alaska and just as in love with the land as the day I landed in Anchorage. 

Backpacking/Packrafting up Another River valley

Having said that, though, my life was turned upside down and inside out that first year. I learned so.many.things about myself that I probably never would have known had I stayed in Montana and worked at Barnes and Noble instead of jumping right into teaching. It was a hellish year, not going to lie, but I came out of it with a greater understanding of who I was as a person, and who I wanted to be as a teacher. That was also the year I met the man who, 7 years later, became my husband. He is honestly the most remarkable man I have ever met and I feel so lucky that he picked me. (Cheesy, I know, but oh-so-honestly true.) For now, I'll call him B. 

B and I both took to bush life like moose to the willows and have been ridiculously happy spending our lives in the relative peace and calm of village life. I know, I know...to go from dreams of NYC to a village of less than 200 people? You must think I'm crazy. I guess all I can say is that no one in NYC is lucky enough to wake up to this view every day, am I right?  

Good morning, Sunshine!

So here we are. This space will mostly be used for detailing the adventures B and I have had throughout the years, and the ones to come. Enjoy!