WHAT! 2 YEARS!?!

I can't believe that last time I was on here was two years ago! That is insanity! Man oh man. Well. I guess we have a lot to catch up on. Okay. So the last thing I said was that I was working in Alaska and going to college when I come home. I did do both of those things, but I ended up dropping out of college because it wasn't really for me. I lived with my parents for the rest of that year and went back up to Alaska for another summer of fishing. When I came back home I moved down to Texas by myself. It was so hard and honestly, I hated it at first. I moved to two different houses in a 4 month time span and finally settled into one with three other roommates. This house changed my world! Because of living there, I found my home church, I picked up guitar, I figured myself out, and I made some amazing friends that I hope I never lose.
Life has all in all been amazing since my last post. Well.... maybe not my life, but these last 4 months sure have. I only see it going up hill from here! =] Thats exciting!!! I would like to make sure that I write on here at least weekly, but I find myself very busy during the week. I'll have to write out my weekly schedule for you guys some time. Well. I am off to work some more! See ya later!
Madi

I let you all down because I have not talked about how Alaska is in days. The past few weeks have gone by so slowly, but so much has happened. I love all the people here, but miss everyone else. The weather has been amazing. Not to hot, not to cold.
I finally met everyone I will be working with and they are all very nice, some are weird though. The fishing up here hasnt been very good. No one is catching much, and when they do catch a lot, they are all very small fish.
I havent really worked a whole lot, but I've been doing decent.
My friend I brought up here has made time go by. She is a great person, but doesn't realize it.
There are tons of moose up here. Everytime I'm driving around I find a moose. They are massive.
It has started getting dark at night. Only for two hours, but thats more than we started off with.
Well there is really nothing else to say, not a lot has been going on. Oh! I did however, learn how to make mountain pies! Yum!
Later Days,
Madison

You know how everyone wonders what retirement it like? Well i have figured it out. It is not fun, nor relaxing. Trying to figure out anything for you to do is a waste of time because there truly is nothing. That is probably why grandparents set up play dates, a day of fun away from home.
The past two days seem to have dragged on. Nothing exciting has happened except we did get the worlds biggest cinnamon roll.
If this is what old people go through day in and day out then it's no surprise most are over weight and I would want my life to just end. This is torture.

First official day in Alaska! It was rather exciting, cold, but exciting none the less. Jennifer and I didn't get to the camper trailer until around 11 p.m. (thats 2 a.m. Oklahoma time). When we got there we were very tired. After a 7 hour flight who wouldn't be.
The sad part was that the highlight of that day was we got to finally see the car my dad found while he was up here. We bought it for $500, it's old, and his name is Terrets (Trey for short).
Anyways, our first day here consisted of waking up around 10, showering im some really nasty showers then going to eat at a place called Sal's. They had amazing milk shakes! After we ate we had to do some other not so fun things that you won't be interested in. After all of that we decided we should take a nap, only to be woken up by the sound of men outside our trailer. It turns out they were here to move our tailer to the dock where we will be working for the summer. Upon arrival we met a guy named Jim... He meowed at us.
Well that was pretty much it for day one, not exciting I know, but it won't always be. OH! We did see a moose, he had suicide on the brain.
Later Days,
Madison

It is the day of my flight to the wild Alaska! I am speechless... Leaving my friends and family behind is proving harder than I thought. I know, I have done this before so I should be use to it, but the truth is I know how hard it is to be away from the people I love for long periods of time.
Oh well, I have to do this. Education is riding on the line! Well I am off now. I will be posting more about mine and Jennifers funky exciting trip!
Later days,
Madison

This Just In!

Madison Shae Small will be flying to Alaska in the morning.

She has been doing this for two years now. What she will be doing is only a job for the privledged and her friend (Jennifer Bock). She will be sorting dead fish, cleaning off the dock, washing out bathrooms and babysitting the dock boss's brat. She knows that people would kill for this job, so she feels very honored to have this job. She will be up there for most of her summer, 7 weeks, June 15th-August 3rd. Yes, she would love to be able to stay home, but being able to pay for college and making a down payment on a new car is her goal for this year!

She wants you to know that she will miss everyone terribly. There won't be internet 24/7 so being able to talk to you will be rather hard, but she will find a way.

Please meditate, pray or ingage in anyother form of silence for her for at least a minute. Let her know you care and hope that she will make it!

Ok, now for the seriousness. I am going to Alaska, yes. I am upset about it to an extent. I would love to be able to see all my friends and family for a longer period of time since I am leaving for college August 15th, but this is something I must do.

Most of you are probably wondering how I found out about this. My Uncle is seriously crazy and doesn't do anything by the book. He wanted to find a way to make quick money and do something different. He found out about commercial fishing and took his daughter, Whitney, one of my cousins, she is 2 weeks younger then me. Since she didn't want to be alone one summer she invited me to tag along. I ended up liking it more than I thought I would, and the pay wasn't bad at all.

I am very thankful for this. I don't take it for granteed and I will never stop fishing. I will be able to post while I am up there thanks to the SMS posting option. I want everyone to know exactly what is going on. Maybe see some pictures?

Therefore, I am going to do a daily journal of all the interesting things, sometimes the gruesome things, that happen in my day to day Alaskan experience. Check back in daily and see what amusing things happen to me.

I do love you all very much and hope you will enjoy my posts! Can't wait to hear back from you guys.

A small family reunion.

Just got back from my "family reunion". Ugh. It was full of sun, stress, and pain. Here is what all happened.

First off we get up at 6 a.m. on Saturday to make it to Irving, Texas in time for my Aunt's 5th wedding. (no lie). We get there early and sit around, but not long enough to sleep. The wedding was ok, but then we had to go and have the gathering at her new husbands house, outside, with bugs. That eat you. And sun. And heat. It was awful.

We went to sleep as soon as we got home and woke up at 7 a.m. the next morning. Hopped in the car and we were on our way to the reunion, 2 HOURS AWAY! I was in the car forever! When we arrived we got to meet a lot of the family that we never met. We played around of testicle golf and ate some fajitas (that was the highlights). After a while we thought why don't we all go and paddle boat for a bit? We get all of my immediate family to go with us so that we can all have fun. 

Me and a cousin of mine get in a boat first and take off. As soon as we turn to face the dock we see my cousin Bret in the water. WHAT HAPPENED? We raced back to the dock and found out that he lost his keys in the water. We got out so we could give our support, paddling around aimlessly wouldn't accomplish anything, but sitting around twirling our thumbs would. As we were getting out I was getting a hold of the dock and slipped in, missed the edge of the dock and went underneath it all the way up to my waist. I was soaked. 

We sat around for three hours trying to find the keys. We used magnets (which we figured out later do not attach to keys), we used divers (saw more of my uncle's then I ever wanted too), we used... nothing else, but still. 

After a while a hot worker comes out and jumps in to help. He went under two times. His third time he came up with the keys. Yes, three times... we spent three hours. Our family is so not fan's of paddle boating anymore.

When all was said and done, they all left and I hung out with the grams and 3rd cousins. Slept on a uncomfortable bed and had no breakfast. So, for all you who think your life sucks, read this and remember, this is how my days go!

Later days!

Madison