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Your Favourite Wolf From Up North Is Moving South! Whoo!
11 years ago
Glad You Could Stop By! Please, Come on in and Soak Up The Greatness!
Sheesh.
I'll tell you what...time just screams by when you have so much going on.
I think the last time I had anytime to sit down and actually catch my breath was maybe Christmas time. And even then it wasn't for very long. Just when you get settled into a routine and think that things couldn't be better, you get a nice wrench thrown into the works to spice things up.
So, to get started, it looks like the last time I was on here was back in November. I actually had a bunch of things planned for December and January, but life decided to step in and throw those plans off the tracks.
And don't worry...things are fine. The twins are doing great and becoming more and more vocal and exploratory, making sure to keep both of us on our toes and giving them our undivided attention. And they got to celebrate their first Christmas, which was more for Nicole and I then them, but they were the ones to reap the rewards. I'll probably have Toys R Us and Babies R Us paid off by sometime in 2028. If I'm lucky.
Oh well. You only get to spoil your children once, right?
What else. The four-legged part of our family seems to have no interest at all in DOGTV, the channel that DirecTV put on our lineup, and so far I have not seen them once turn on the TV and sit through an entire programme. Although I have for some odd reason fallen asleep many times in front of this channel, usually with Savannah Maria asleep on me. I'll tell you one thing, for some strange, unexplainable reason, that little girl adores me. Figure that one out lol.
And Nicole is doing good. She finishes up her courses this spring and looks forward to beginning her career in the under-rewarding arena that is the sport of teaching. Its something she has always wanted to do and she is really excited to be reaching her goal.
Which brings us to my long absence from my favourite community!
It was after Thanksgiving and Nicole had approached me that night, wanting to have a serious talk. And I could tell by the tone of her voice and the look on her face that it was very important. I was afraid at first that she was going to tell me she wanted to have another child, or two, or even three, which I would definitely be on the fence about, seeing as how hectic and strained things have been already for the past nine months. But luckily (for the time being at least) that wasn't what was on her mind.
It took a little while, she kept beating around the bush, but finally she just came out and told me:
She wanted to move.
I must say I wasn't all that surprised. She'd been hinting at it in subtle ways since our twins were born, but this was the first time she had come out and directly said it. And she did have many, many valid reasons for bringing it up. I kinda knew...had a feeling she was wanting something different before the twins were born, and I think they just cemented her desire for something different. And I can't say I didn't blame her one bit.
She loves to garden and do landscaping, something that is quite difficult in an Arctic climate. She wants to get into teaching, which is hard to do in such a vast area. And she is worried about living in such a rural area trying to raise children without access to many social advantages that can be found elsewhere. She wanted a change. She wanted to be open to new opportunities for not only her, but our entire family. She wanted a change from the isolation, the long cold winters, the feeling of missing out on the world. She wanted to make sure our children have the best opportunities available to them.
I couldn't argue with her on those points.
And she understood my love of Alaska and how I had a solid career and a home and obligations that I worked hard for. But she just pretty much came out and admitted that she didn't think she could live up here for the rest of her life. She pretty much stated that it was going to be hard choice to make, but she couldn't see herself living another year up in Alaska. Pretty much she was saying if we were going to stay together, that some hard choices were going to have to be made.
Well, me being a stubborn and complacent Wolf, wanted to hear nothing of it. I argued that we had a great foundation set already, a comfortable lifestyle and the entire world could be accessed with just a click. And yes, I know the last argument is very moot, but I was not so ready to roll over and give up everything so easily.
Which that of course lead to weeks of arguing and debating, something I am not fond of to be honest. I try to avoid conflict as much as much as possible. And I can look back now and admit my arguments were very weak. And unfair to be truthful. I was being selfish, looking out for what my interests were instead of my family's. I guess that's part of growing up and maturing. You have to make sacrifices that you aren't happy with. Changes in your life that you don't want to make. But I'm not the same Adrik Wolf I was when I first arrived on your doorstep nearly 7 years ago. I still have my sense of warped humour and silliness, but I look at things through more realistic glasses.
So on Christmas Eve, I gave Nicole an early Christmas present and told her that I thought she was right and we needed to do what was best for us. I couldn't see breaking apart a family over stubbornness. I asked her if she had any particular places to relocate too and she surprised me by saying the Southern United States. I was relieved, because it wasn't California...a place you couldn't pay me ten million dollars a year to live in, but still, the South. The image of intense hot weather and misery filled my head. So of course I asked her how far South she waned to go and she beamed even more and hopped out of bed and took a notebook out of the side table.
Apparently she had been working on her ideas for longer than I even knew.
And she surprised me yet again by showing she wanted to move to. Apparently she had been reading up on the research I had been doing for my 'In The Hall Of The Mountain King' series and picked of all places, Louisiana. Lafayette, Louisiana to be exact.
Talk about heat and humidity and crawdads *cringes*
"Look at it, though! Its so beautiful. And it will be a perfect winter time home for us!" she exclaimed, showing me maps and street guides and tourist information on Lafayette.
"Winter home?" I asked.
"That's right. I know how much you hate hot weather...and how hard it is for you to leave Alaska, so I thought that I would make a compromise with you, seeing as how hard it is for you to do this. I think we should live in Louisiana from August until May, staying down there for the winter and the school year, then we can spend the summer up in Alaska, where it will be cooler. Does that sound fair?"
"Wow. I think it does....but you want to have two homes?"
"I think it would be stupid to give up all you worked for. And besides, I never said I wouldn't want o come back up here to live someday."
"True. I can't believe you picked a location based on a story I was writing, though." I laughed.
"Yeah well, I had ulterior motives as well. I have a couple of friends from there and It just seems like a welcoming, bright place to raise our kids and become part of a community. And I have a good chance at getting a good opening position don there once I get my degree."
"Yeah. Which reminds me, I need to start scoping out job prospects as well." That had been another thing that had been gnawing away at me. The whole horrible ordeal of transferring over to a new job. And of course Nicole, always proactive as she is, handed me a bundle of papers and information for Delta Airlines.
"Delta? You want me to become an airline pilot?" I asked, laughing. I never once ever gave any consideration to becoming an airline pilot. I love the freedom of independent flying.
"Well they are looking for pilots to cover their regional routes out of Atlanta. And they have positions for the daily run between Atlanta and Lafayette. Flying an MD88. Would that be something you would want to do?"
"I'll have to get training and see what requirements they want. And I'm sure I will have to take flight testing and exams and all
that fun stuff..."
"Is it something you'll consider?"
"This is what you really want?" I asked. She said it was. She said she had been giving it a lot of thought and weighing the pros and cons...and this is what she wanted. So I said, alright. Let's get the ball rolling.
So we waited until after New Years before starting the next stage in our lives. For January, I worked my tail off up here non-stop it seemed like while Nicole and the twins travelled down to Louisiana to start house searching. With what little spare time I have, I've been studying for my Airline/Air Carrier certifications and talking with the folks at Delta Atlanta to get everything I need to do to start getting the ball rolling.
The nice thing is we don't plan on moving until this August, so that gives us a lot of time to get things organised and planned, and three weeks ago Nicole found a house that she absolutely fell in love with. It's a $250,000 classic Louisiana 'Turn of The Century' property that when I saw the pictures of, reminded me of a spooky Louisiana plantation mansion that you know will have ghosts living in it. I'll get the pictures she has of it and post some on here, but here's the description the listing says:
"Step Back in time" to this fabulous turn of the century home! This two story "Turn of the Century" Estate has a formal living room, family room, 3 large bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, study, kitchen, breakfast room, a double formal dining room, and sunroom! There are beautiful architectural touches throughout including a solid marble mantel over the fireplace that was acquired from the Ursuline convent in New Orleans. It has a separate carriage house which includes a small living/kitchen area, 2 small bedrooms and a half bath on the top floor and a double garage below. Also, a separate utility house with an outside storage area. This home is situated on a beautiful landscaped "park like" setting. This lovely home sits on and 1.3 acres and is listed in the Local, State and National Historic Registry. This home needs some TLC and could be restored to its former grandeur in years gone by."
I mean with a description like that, how can you go wrong?
So, we set up an appointment to go see it, which we will do next week, and since Nicole is raving about it and making plans already, I'm guessing that as long as it doesn't need too much and is easy to renovate then I guess we will put in an offer on it. I mean how can you go wrong with a property that has a 'Carriage House?'
So yeah, next week as well I have to go to Atlanta and meet with Delta. So the next two weeks will be crazy as well. Yay.
And that's what is going on in my world currently. I sincerely apologise for the lack of submissions and comments, but I truly have had no time. And its looking like things aren't going to calm down anytime soon. So I just wanted to let everyone know that we are all doing fine and will soon be joining the rest of you down in the lower 48 before the year is out. Whoo for returning to civilization!
And on another note, I absolutely have fallen in love with the Louisiana Blue Dog. Paintings of it will be adourning my new den in our new Louisiana home. If you haven't heard of it, do a search on it and tell me those haunting yellow eyes don't capture your attention! In fact, I hope to get back to having time to write so I can build a story around it, but we'll have to see.
So, I really have missed all my friends on here, and trust me, I'm going to try to get back to posting stories and pictures again. Take care everyone and I hope your lives are going well too.
Hopefully talk to you all soon!
~Adrik
I'll tell you what...time just screams by when you have so much going on.
I think the last time I had anytime to sit down and actually catch my breath was maybe Christmas time. And even then it wasn't for very long. Just when you get settled into a routine and think that things couldn't be better, you get a nice wrench thrown into the works to spice things up.
So, to get started, it looks like the last time I was on here was back in November. I actually had a bunch of things planned for December and January, but life decided to step in and throw those plans off the tracks.
And don't worry...things are fine. The twins are doing great and becoming more and more vocal and exploratory, making sure to keep both of us on our toes and giving them our undivided attention. And they got to celebrate their first Christmas, which was more for Nicole and I then them, but they were the ones to reap the rewards. I'll probably have Toys R Us and Babies R Us paid off by sometime in 2028. If I'm lucky.
Oh well. You only get to spoil your children once, right?
What else. The four-legged part of our family seems to have no interest at all in DOGTV, the channel that DirecTV put on our lineup, and so far I have not seen them once turn on the TV and sit through an entire programme. Although I have for some odd reason fallen asleep many times in front of this channel, usually with Savannah Maria asleep on me. I'll tell you one thing, for some strange, unexplainable reason, that little girl adores me. Figure that one out lol.
And Nicole is doing good. She finishes up her courses this spring and looks forward to beginning her career in the under-rewarding arena that is the sport of teaching. Its something she has always wanted to do and she is really excited to be reaching her goal.
Which brings us to my long absence from my favourite community!
It was after Thanksgiving and Nicole had approached me that night, wanting to have a serious talk. And I could tell by the tone of her voice and the look on her face that it was very important. I was afraid at first that she was going to tell me she wanted to have another child, or two, or even three, which I would definitely be on the fence about, seeing as how hectic and strained things have been already for the past nine months. But luckily (for the time being at least) that wasn't what was on her mind.
It took a little while, she kept beating around the bush, but finally she just came out and told me:
She wanted to move.
I must say I wasn't all that surprised. She'd been hinting at it in subtle ways since our twins were born, but this was the first time she had come out and directly said it. And she did have many, many valid reasons for bringing it up. I kinda knew...had a feeling she was wanting something different before the twins were born, and I think they just cemented her desire for something different. And I can't say I didn't blame her one bit.
She loves to garden and do landscaping, something that is quite difficult in an Arctic climate. She wants to get into teaching, which is hard to do in such a vast area. And she is worried about living in such a rural area trying to raise children without access to many social advantages that can be found elsewhere. She wanted a change. She wanted to be open to new opportunities for not only her, but our entire family. She wanted a change from the isolation, the long cold winters, the feeling of missing out on the world. She wanted to make sure our children have the best opportunities available to them.
I couldn't argue with her on those points.
And she understood my love of Alaska and how I had a solid career and a home and obligations that I worked hard for. But she just pretty much came out and admitted that she didn't think she could live up here for the rest of her life. She pretty much stated that it was going to be hard choice to make, but she couldn't see herself living another year up in Alaska. Pretty much she was saying if we were going to stay together, that some hard choices were going to have to be made.
Well, me being a stubborn and complacent Wolf, wanted to hear nothing of it. I argued that we had a great foundation set already, a comfortable lifestyle and the entire world could be accessed with just a click. And yes, I know the last argument is very moot, but I was not so ready to roll over and give up everything so easily.
Which that of course lead to weeks of arguing and debating, something I am not fond of to be honest. I try to avoid conflict as much as much as possible. And I can look back now and admit my arguments were very weak. And unfair to be truthful. I was being selfish, looking out for what my interests were instead of my family's. I guess that's part of growing up and maturing. You have to make sacrifices that you aren't happy with. Changes in your life that you don't want to make. But I'm not the same Adrik Wolf I was when I first arrived on your doorstep nearly 7 years ago. I still have my sense of warped humour and silliness, but I look at things through more realistic glasses.
So on Christmas Eve, I gave Nicole an early Christmas present and told her that I thought she was right and we needed to do what was best for us. I couldn't see breaking apart a family over stubbornness. I asked her if she had any particular places to relocate too and she surprised me by saying the Southern United States. I was relieved, because it wasn't California...a place you couldn't pay me ten million dollars a year to live in, but still, the South. The image of intense hot weather and misery filled my head. So of course I asked her how far South she waned to go and she beamed even more and hopped out of bed and took a notebook out of the side table.
Apparently she had been working on her ideas for longer than I even knew.
And she surprised me yet again by showing she wanted to move to. Apparently she had been reading up on the research I had been doing for my 'In The Hall Of The Mountain King' series and picked of all places, Louisiana. Lafayette, Louisiana to be exact.
Talk about heat and humidity and crawdads *cringes*
"Look at it, though! Its so beautiful. And it will be a perfect winter time home for us!" she exclaimed, showing me maps and street guides and tourist information on Lafayette.
"Winter home?" I asked.
"That's right. I know how much you hate hot weather...and how hard it is for you to leave Alaska, so I thought that I would make a compromise with you, seeing as how hard it is for you to do this. I think we should live in Louisiana from August until May, staying down there for the winter and the school year, then we can spend the summer up in Alaska, where it will be cooler. Does that sound fair?"
"Wow. I think it does....but you want to have two homes?"
"I think it would be stupid to give up all you worked for. And besides, I never said I wouldn't want o come back up here to live someday."
"True. I can't believe you picked a location based on a story I was writing, though." I laughed.
"Yeah well, I had ulterior motives as well. I have a couple of friends from there and It just seems like a welcoming, bright place to raise our kids and become part of a community. And I have a good chance at getting a good opening position don there once I get my degree."
"Yeah. Which reminds me, I need to start scoping out job prospects as well." That had been another thing that had been gnawing away at me. The whole horrible ordeal of transferring over to a new job. And of course Nicole, always proactive as she is, handed me a bundle of papers and information for Delta Airlines.
"Delta? You want me to become an airline pilot?" I asked, laughing. I never once ever gave any consideration to becoming an airline pilot. I love the freedom of independent flying.
"Well they are looking for pilots to cover their regional routes out of Atlanta. And they have positions for the daily run between Atlanta and Lafayette. Flying an MD88. Would that be something you would want to do?"
"I'll have to get training and see what requirements they want. And I'm sure I will have to take flight testing and exams and all
that fun stuff..."
"Is it something you'll consider?"
"This is what you really want?" I asked. She said it was. She said she had been giving it a lot of thought and weighing the pros and cons...and this is what she wanted. So I said, alright. Let's get the ball rolling.
So we waited until after New Years before starting the next stage in our lives. For January, I worked my tail off up here non-stop it seemed like while Nicole and the twins travelled down to Louisiana to start house searching. With what little spare time I have, I've been studying for my Airline/Air Carrier certifications and talking with the folks at Delta Atlanta to get everything I need to do to start getting the ball rolling.
The nice thing is we don't plan on moving until this August, so that gives us a lot of time to get things organised and planned, and three weeks ago Nicole found a house that she absolutely fell in love with. It's a $250,000 classic Louisiana 'Turn of The Century' property that when I saw the pictures of, reminded me of a spooky Louisiana plantation mansion that you know will have ghosts living in it. I'll get the pictures she has of it and post some on here, but here's the description the listing says:
"Step Back in time" to this fabulous turn of the century home! This two story "Turn of the Century" Estate has a formal living room, family room, 3 large bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, study, kitchen, breakfast room, a double formal dining room, and sunroom! There are beautiful architectural touches throughout including a solid marble mantel over the fireplace that was acquired from the Ursuline convent in New Orleans. It has a separate carriage house which includes a small living/kitchen area, 2 small bedrooms and a half bath on the top floor and a double garage below. Also, a separate utility house with an outside storage area. This home is situated on a beautiful landscaped "park like" setting. This lovely home sits on and 1.3 acres and is listed in the Local, State and National Historic Registry. This home needs some TLC and could be restored to its former grandeur in years gone by."
I mean with a description like that, how can you go wrong?
So, we set up an appointment to go see it, which we will do next week, and since Nicole is raving about it and making plans already, I'm guessing that as long as it doesn't need too much and is easy to renovate then I guess we will put in an offer on it. I mean how can you go wrong with a property that has a 'Carriage House?'
So yeah, next week as well I have to go to Atlanta and meet with Delta. So the next two weeks will be crazy as well. Yay.
And that's what is going on in my world currently. I sincerely apologise for the lack of submissions and comments, but I truly have had no time. And its looking like things aren't going to calm down anytime soon. So I just wanted to let everyone know that we are all doing fine and will soon be joining the rest of you down in the lower 48 before the year is out. Whoo for returning to civilization!
And on another note, I absolutely have fallen in love with the Louisiana Blue Dog. Paintings of it will be adourning my new den in our new Louisiana home. If you haven't heard of it, do a search on it and tell me those haunting yellow eyes don't capture your attention! In fact, I hope to get back to having time to write so I can build a story around it, but we'll have to see.
So, I really have missed all my friends on here, and trust me, I'm going to try to get back to posting stories and pictures again. Take care everyone and I hope your lives are going well too.
Hopefully talk to you all soon!
~Adrik
I was really really going to lambaste you one cuz I've been so frigg'n worried but as soon as I read the journal my resolve and heart both melted.
I am so pleased for you.
V.
I'm so deeply sorry from the bottom of my heart. Time seems to just be screaming by and I don't have enough hours in a Neptune's day to get everything done that I need to. And now with these new commitments, I think I may as well give up on trying to schedule in sleep.
Literally, this is the first day in months that I've been able to take time for myself and do things that aren't work or family related.
But hey on the good side, when this whole Louisiana deal comes together, you'll have some new Wolfie neighbours to come stop in and check out the interesting planes you have stopping by!
*hugs tightly*
You my dear friend Vixyy, were the number one fur I've missed these last few months. It's good to be back in touch :XD
Now, I need to go off and find a carriage to put in that carriage house!
~Adrik
V.
As for moving to Louisiana, me and you will definitely need to have a long talk about that because there is NO shortage of inspiration to be taken from the south, especially not from a region so rich in culture. Lots of Cajun and Creole cultural stuff to enjoy and the environment itself can be very inspiring. There's something absolutely fascinating to me about how some places in that region, it's actually easier to get around by boat than by car (depending on where you're going and what you're doing of course). Also one of my favorite cheesy B-movies takes place around that region, in Arkansas to be exact, so certainly think of it as an opportunity to explore new sources of inspiration!
I agree. It was one of the reasons I chose Louisiana for my Bumbler series. You're so correct on it being an endless supply of inspiration and a cornucopia of mystery, culture, history and intrigue. And the addition of Creole and Cajun culture just adds to it. That's why I am so eager to get back on track with my Bumbler story, the research of Louisiana and the culture was as exciting as writing the story around it.
I must ask, and I'm new to it, but have you ever read about the Louisiana Blue Dog? I've started researching it and what a story it is! The paintings based on it are hauntingly beautiful and when we went to Lafayette back in January, we went to the Blue Dog Café and let me tell you...its eerie and amazing in the same breath.
So absolutely, we gotta get together and share stories. I'll admit I was leery about this move, but now I am getting more and more excited about it!
I'm going to force myself to be more available on here and mobile. I'd love to hear what stories you have from your friends and research!
~Adrik
I'm thinking I may just go and get all the certifications and ratings I can...that way I have it all covered and be ready for anything.
I can't believe I was so stubborn and against this back in December. I have no idea why I was so against change. Now I am really excited about these changes and cant wait to get settled in.
Plus now I get to be a part of what the rest of the world is doing! Whoo!
~Adrik
I admire your relationship a lot. Nicole really surprised everyone there, with a plan and a compromise that would make everybody happy - and that surely will give the puppies the best of two worlds!... Their education and experiences will be so rich. I think you guys are brave, intelligent people and probably the best parents i know! And kudos to you Adrik hun, for being able to accept change thinking about what's best for your family!...
Please give Nicole a kiss from me ^^
Hugs for you!...