PFD ~ Permanent Fund Dividend ~ Alaska actually pays you to live there. But you have to register for it after two years.....so this year marks my first year registering for the PFD. It's kind of exciting. California made me pay to live there....a lot and I had to pay to work there. In Alaska, there is no sales tax and I'll get money at the end of the year. Alaska rocks!
So along with registering for my PFD, I've also been taking an Alaskan History course for my teaching certificate. (I don't like spelling credential, please don't ask why) It's kinda cool that I've lived places that were so influenced by gold rushes, and I've been comparing California's history with that of Alaska. They are similar in many ways.
But what made me feel a bit sad was thinking... I'm no longer a Californian resident. I don't have anything from California that holds up anymore. My driver's license is Alaska, as is my teaching certificate. My birth certificate is from Connecticut. Except for my previous address, there's nothing to claim California is where I'm from. Even my college degrees technically come from Arizona (University of Phoenix). I guess the only thing I still carry is my accent. (Like, oh my gawd!)
But I don't feel like an Alaskan yet. I still feel like a Californian. I'm from the Bay Area. I'm liberal. I still don't wear fur. I don't eat a whole lot of meat. I was a vegetarian. I'm for equal rights and I miss my Prius. I'm sure I still carry a lot of Bay Area traits....but California seems like a blip in my past....I need some sort of document that carries weight! A high school diploma? Okay, maybe.
So at what point will I feel like an Alaskan? Two winters does not an Alaskan make. At what point will my "I'm from California" change into "I'm from Alaska"? Ever? I've stopped saying "I'm going home" when I visit California.
Maybe I'll always consider myself from California......and that's not a bad thing. I think on some level it's weird to be mourning the loss of your state's status, but I think with making it official, I had to accept that I'm not coming back to California for a long time (if ever). And I think I'm coming to terms with letting that part of me go. I moved to Alaska. For real. I really did this. Two years ago this month, I made my first trip to Anchorage for a job fair and now I'm officially, without a doubt, an Alaskan resident. And a dog owner. Who saw that coming?
And now I'm going back to school. True, this is a 3 year process.....but life just seems to keep changing in directions I never planned or would have guessed. I'm finishing my application process and hope to start in May. Which is next month....CRAP! Where does the time go?
My other new thing this month is studying for the Praxis II test. My ginormous California teaching test I took years ago didn't carry over to Alaska. And so, I have to take a massive teaching test at the end of this month. As soon as my study guide arrives, I'll be spending my time on that.
Thank goodness I'm a pet owner to take my mind off of all this stuff. My cats like to cuddle and Dakota gets me out of the house. Dakota cuddles too, but only in the mornings when my alarm is going off. I actually enjoy my mornings with him. He isn't rough or annoying. He just cuddles and rests his head on me. I got my face buried in massive amounts of fur the other morning but that was quite by accident and not my fault/intention. Dakota is a sweet boy. Remind me of that when I want to kill him, kay?
Oh and apparently, my garden gnome got married. It seems during his trip around the U.S. last summer, he visited a mail order bride service which has located him a bride. Look for more details later this week. I tell you, this garden gnome was the best $10 investment I ever made. It was either that or the pink flamingoes. But they were kinda pricey.....
I leave you with a pic of some cookies I tried to bake...they were supposed to be chocolate chip, but in my effort to soften the butter, I melted the chips...and it also seems I have issues scooping cookies from the pan to the cooling rack. But anyone who saw the Gingerbread Man Massacre when I taught Kindergarten already knew that.....
And I made an effort to be artsy as well....enjoy some icicle pics I took too!
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