anchorage and hilo

[katmainomad]

Good that alaska and hawaii are grouped together, i've spent most of my life in one or the other!


i'm currently living near hilo (in hpp) on the big island, but plan to move the family back to anchorage within the next year (money permitting...) i have friends in alaska (some with babies even!), but don't really have any friends on the big island yet (after a year here this time around.) i have finally found LLL and all those mamas were wonderful and i look forward to seeing them again. I would love to connect with like-minded mamas both here on the big island and in anchorage.

it's great just to read about other parents with similar ideas about how best to raise their little ones!

[BusyMommy]

Welcome back! Where did you live before? Anchorage?

We love it in Anch. Absolutely.:love

Do you have jobs lined up yet?
I'm taking a LOA for a year or 2 or 3. We have a 2.5 and 9 mos. old. It's just too much fun hanging out w/them. We're outside everyday for hikes, the tram at Alyeska, downtown stuff, and lately even veggie picking in Palmer.

Enjoy your time in Hawaii. I can't wait to go back this winter:)

[katmainomad]

Hi! yep, i grew up in anchorage and we just came from there. i love it and can't wait to get back. i'm interviewing for a job at the imaginarium on monday, but i'm torn :confused:. it's a great job and would allow us to move back and live in anch, and daddy would be a great SAHD, but i sooo much want to stay home with my boy. unfortunately i'm the one most likely to be able to earn enough to support both of us...
enjoy your time off and have fun!!

[BusyMommy]

We LOVE the Imaginarium. Funny, I'd just told a friend the other day that I hope my boys want to volunteer there or at the zoo when they're teens.

Would you make enough there, though, to have SAHD? How awesome. For him:)
My dh would love to stay home but he makes more than me. Oh well. THInk of the free annual pass you'll get! :LOL

Good luck! I can't imagine there's a lot of job stress there. ALthough, I did hear they may move over to the museum?

[Finnster]

Dh, two kids and I live in Anchorage. We both grew up in Alaska, dh in Anchorage and I grew up in Palmer. We like Anchorage although sometimes dislike city living. Education is a priority and dd is starting at the public Montessori (dh is a teacher and actually teaches there too) so we stay here.
I have a friend who lives in Hilo, goes to the Uni there. My parents just bought a timeshare in Kona and I am dying to go!

Your son is beautiful, l just love rolly-polly babies.

[katmainomad]

Hi you both! so great to hear from anch mamas!
no word on imaginarium yet...i had a good phone interview, but waver a lot on whether i hope to get it or not. it would pay slightly more than we live on here, and that would cover higher rent, so dp could be sahd...but we would be dirt poor (used to that by now :) )
i love anchorage, but would prefer to live more in the wilderness...if i can without commuting or starving to death. maybe someday...i did it as a ranger at katmai, but ds puts a crimp in that career for now :) enjoy your time in hawaii, both of you! and feel free to private message me if you want to, since we seem to just be talking amongst ourselves now :)
oh, busymommy...i saw a post where you mentioned dh and ds are climbers! we like climbing too, though dp did more of that in anch than i. wonder if they know each other? it is a small town.

[BusyMommy]

Let us know what's happening!

I love Anch b/c I feel like it's a compromise; ie. not a big city but close to everything. You could always live out in the Valley. Or, someplace like Bird. May beat the affordable living in Anch. So many decisions.

Yup, they would prob. know/recognize each other. Dh now just mainly climbs the highway. Occasional Hatcher Pass or Chickaloon area. Not much ice climbing anymore. Love the Daddy transition:)

[Finnster]

Dh is a SAHD in the summer and just loves it. Our kids are older, 5.5 and 3, but they all love summers together (I don't work, I usually go to school FT in the summer). I have met some really fabulous SAHDs.
Keep us updated about the job!
I totally KWYM about living in a more remote area. Dh wants to buy some land somewhere out (Pt. McKenzie?) so that we can eventually move out of the city. I would love to move to the Kenai area.

[katmainomad]

hey all! we are on our way back, but i didn't go thru with the job - too much travel for a bf mom. so we are hoping dp lucks into something. i might babysit. we might share an apt with a friend of mine with a babe. we are in honolulu for a week w my dad, then oregon for a bit w my mom, then the mega roadtrip with an 8 month old...tx to see the other side of the fam and on up the great AK highway!!! lets all hope for a beautiful frozen snowy winter!

[BusyMommy]

Welcome home!

Went camping last weekend at Hatcher's Pass and woke to a few inches of snow on our tent.:banana

It IS going to be an awesome ski winter. Has to in order to make up for last year.

Have an incredible drive up. I love that trip.

[Nursing Mother]

Anchorage use to seem like a huge city, until I moved to Seattle.

Then a couple of years ago I flew back, and Anchorage seemed like a hick town:)

I grew up in Tanana Alaksa, Fairbanks, North of Palmer.

[Mana Mamma]

Talkeetna is an awesome place to have a family. Jobs are scarce
but living is good and it's a great community. I have been
spending more time recent years in Kau on the Big Island and
miss the sense of community in Talkeetna. Luckily, I get to spend
part of the year in each place. Sure beats the manic mainland.

[katmainomad]

driving sure gives you a sense of how far out there and how big anchorage really is (well, certainly not compared to seattle etc, but definitely compared to whitehorse, beaver creek, etc !)
we have happily arrived and anchorage is welcoming us back into its arms. my good friend has part ownership of land in the talkeetna area so we plan to spend a bunch o time up there too, and i'd love to move up some day, but for now the jobs and my community are here! oceano is doing very well with the -10 degree weather, but hates having clothes put on his little body, and diapering is a bear compared to when that was all he wore! (actually, we try to ec at least in the mornings so he used to be nakey baby)

[Mana Mamma]

Your friends wouldn't be the group of Amy/Gary, Stacie/Dave and
Tammy/Bruce? They all share a big acreage up there and are
just starting to build their houses. The idea of living in my own
self created neighborhood of like minded people and sharing costs
is sooo appealing while my kids are small. Any neat ideas for kids
or for meeting other houles on the Big Island? I know a few
interesting people but they are all retired and their kids are long
gone.

[katmainomad]

hi mana mama!

my friend is part of a different group, but i agree with you...the idea of an intentional neighborhood of friends is nice...though sometimes i can barely cooperate with my dp even :)

as far as ways to meet like minded people and kids on the big island...i was somewhat of a failure, which is partly why i am back here in anchorage! LLL was great if you are still nursing...lots of nice people. the island weekly has a calendar that lists activities going on, often some for the keikis.there are some natural food stores around that attract our kind if you are good at reaching out to strangers in those situations (i'm shy). island naturals in hilo is a bit mainstream and yuppie (if that is possible in hilo) but has a hang out patio. abundant life downtown and keaau natural foods in keaaa are more genuine. pahoa and waimea attract a lot of free thinkers, more fringy in pahoa, more money in waimea is my crass overgeneralization...good luck!

[Mana Mamma]

Hi Katmainomad!
Thanks for the info. I am pretty familiar with all those places....funny you call
yourself a failure in that area because I have always had such a hard time
too! I guess that's why I can't stay away from Alaska either. I live in Wood
Valley if you've ever heard of it.....pretty near the the temple.....and it's
absolutely beautiful. But more Alaskans come to my house on VACATION
than anyone I've ever met in Hawaii. Oh well...I'm pretty busy with my kids, but they would LOVE someone to play with.