And So Begins Another Alaska Adventure 

So many of my friends, family, and coworkers followed along with my first Alaska Adventure one year ago through my personal blog, and I was able to keep my students updated through daily emails. This year's blog will be a place in which my friends, family, coworkers, and students alike can follow along if they're up for the long-winded "Andrea version" of my experiences.

I'll also have a corresponding "vlog" in which I'll document this year's experience through shorter TikTok compilations. 

Follow my TikTok vlog: @momentsinmukluks

 I truly at that time never thought I'd find myself headed back to Alaska just one year later. But, as I found out and blogged about last year, sometimes dreams really do come true. And once a dream comes true, or a [HUGE, MAJOR] goal is achieved, it doesn't mean we just stop dreaming up new dreams and setting new goals to achieve. (How sad life would be if we did, right?) Nope, we keep on dreaming...sometimes even BIGGER dreams. I knew the day I got here last year, in those first moments that Alaska stole my heart, I'd be back one day. Though I never anticipated it would be so soon.  

So...for those who maybe aren't caught up on the story...

In August I officially decided and immediately began putting together a portfolio to put my hat (or, mukluk) in the running to be the 2024 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail. Since 1999 there has been ONE [extremely lucky] teacher who is named "Teacher on the Trail" who gets to follow along with the race out on the trail. No, the person in this role does not mush, or run a team of dogs, in the race - running dogs, especially in a 1,000 mile race across Alaska, takes so much training and preparation for the mushers and dogs who participate. The person in this role, however, moves along the race trail by bush plane, flown by the esteemed volunteer pilots (did you know Iditarod has its own volunteer Air Force?) of the race. Since I began teaching about Iditarod in my classroom a decade ago, the idea of one day being the person in this role was subconciously, and eventually conciously, added to my bucket list. After being a part of the Educators Conference last year, seeing some of what the 2023 finalists were doing and gaining more of an understanding of the process, along with experiencing all that Alaska could give me in the far-too-short-week I was here, putting together that portfolio kept popping up in my mind, all the way through the summer. Upon finally deciding to apply, I spent time nearly every weekend and several nights for almost 4 months working on it. Before Thanksgiving I shipped the required materials to Alaska, and the first weekend into 2023, I received a call that I was chosen as one of three finalists. You can check out Iditarod's post about all of the 2024 finalists HERE. I'm not sure how much of the journey of being a finalist I can share here, but I will also be blogging for the Iditarod website the entire week as part of being a finalist - which I'll share and link here as soon as I know more! But, much like last year, I'll be sharing my Alaska experiences through words and pictures here (and on that TikTok I mentioned above!). I'm also lucky to get to travel with another fantastic educator who teaches Iditarod in her classroom at Whitman Post. She followed my adventures last year and decided to make one of her dreams come true by coming along this year! So you'll see Mrs. Kristin Fish in many of my pics! 

So, as I write this, I'm sitting next to a fireplace in my hotel lobby, waking up on my first morning back in Alaska after a phenomenal first few moments here yesterday, ready to once again take in every single Moment, in Mukluks. 

p.s. - please also follow along with this year's Teacher on the Trail, Julianne, as she embarks on her best adventures yet!