I’ve been struggling to write this post for a while because this is not what we wanted for our summer. Don’t get me wrong, fishing is awesome, and we have been so happy to be back in Alaska. But, it’s hard not to complain when it comes to this summer. I’m trying to keep in mind that the key to happiness is gratitude, and some really great things have come from all the bad. We’re just in a little tougher of a spot than we had hoped to be.

There were a lot of unexpected expenses this year. Repairs for the boat after it got swamped (twice), flat tires on the beach (also twice 🙄). A hefty bill to fix Little Blue after it got stuck, then rolled down the “improved” access and into a rock. We’ve actually damaged the truck twice now on the new access. And as I type, its currently parked halfway up. We haven’t figured out how to get it down without more damage yet.

Kyle has been stressed about everything to do with fishing, except the fishing itself. Traveling to and from our fishing site with tides, over weighting the truck with fish, the boat swamping, and the truck being wrecked. And with every bad thing that happened, we missed another day of fishing trying to pull things together. We even paid a friend more than once to haul our fish to town for us.

And then another chunk of change was spent purchasing Big Red so we could continue to fish while waiting for Little Blue to be fixed. All in all, it’s felt like a lot more money going out than coming in. Oh, who am I kidding? It was more money going out than coming in!

So where is the gratitude in all this?

For one, I’m grateful for another fisherman hearing about our struggles. He lent us a boat better suited for set netting, an outboard motor, and even use of a cabin on his site. This meant we were able to actually hang out some on fishing days. And it made timing beach travels a lot easier and less stressful.

Not only that, but this fisherman offered to carry the loan on half of the site for us. We couldn’t afford to purchase the whole camp, but half comes with a cabin, another permit, boat, outboards, truck and a bunch of fishing gear and spares. This offers us the chance at a way less stressful season next time. If something breaks, we’ll have a spare and a place to fix things at!

Next fishing season we get out, there will be a lot smoother for us because of this gentleman. And because we are trying to pay down fish camp as quickly as possible, we are looking for jobs over winter. Most likely that means leaving Alaska yet again, but with plans to come back stronger and more prepared than ever.

I’m also grateful that my family is happy and healthy.

Sure, we all have colds right now, but those will be gone in a week 😅 Both kids are growing, Kyle is healed from any fishing related injuries, and my post partum anxiety is much less. We have friends and family to stay with no matter where we end up. I’m grateful we get to live in this beautiful place. And I’m grateful we get to raise our daughters out here. Plenty of silver lining and gratitude, even if it takes me a minute to find it!