Weekly Reflections - Week 3

This week was a harder week for me. I've gotten used to not having my bush order (thank you Swanson's from Bethel) but I was starting to feel lonely. Don't get me wrong, the people here are great, but I only have a couple of people who I would consider my friend. But that takes time. It was hard going from one place where I had many friends (how many "send-off" did I have? i seriously love you all!) to a place where nobody really knows me. My only "safety net" was my cats. I think I miss being around people who know me. I miss my family & friends, sure, but I had a little pity party for myself.

Thankfully, my friends are a phone call or message away. I was told to get over myself by a good friend. That wasn't really what I was expecting to hear, but good advice nonetheless. Actually, I was told to remove something from somewhere else, but you get the idea...

And magically, things got better. I went to a cake & ice cream party (oh so good!!!) and had a fun time. I was told I would love this one movie and invited to a movie night (with popcorn too!!). My roommate had invited a co-worker over to dinner, so my social life is actually more eventful in the Alaskan Bush than in urban California. My doing nothing has gone from a day spent to only an hour or two.

I wanted to take this time in Alaska to figure out my issues with food. So I brought this book about emotional eating and started going through it. Now here's the funny thing: my issues with food are so different here. It's limited in both options and amounts. Because I don't have a whole lot of food, I no longer eat a whole lot of food. Everything's different here. I don't eat junk food. Cake & ice cream? Popcorn? Holy cow!! That's a party!!! That's a big freakin' deal around these parts!

So after 3 week, my pants are looser and I can fit a ring that wouldn't fit before I left. I wasn't sure how I was going to live with no fast food or pizza, but I am finding that one can live without it. It sounds crazy, I know. And the other thing I've found? When you don't have sweets, cake and ice cream taste like heaven here on Earth!! Let me tell you, food up here tastes so much better!!