Three Hundred and Sixty Five Days have come and GONE.

Having hugged and cried my eyes out saying goodnight and goodbye to my kids the night before, Michele drove me to the Minneapolis airport on the morning of July 23^rd, 2015. As hard as it was, we had to make our goodbye short and sweet at the terminal and stay committed to taking the first step in a major undertaking for our family.

A year ago today, I left small town Minnesota chasing some crazy notion about life in Alaska without Michele and the kids. Yep, 365 days ago I was in Anchorage. Alone -staring in to the reality of a year in a far off clime. Even now, I'm not sure that I was making a statement or trying to prove myself to anyone. I guess I was ripe for an adventure. At a point in my life and career that I was in desperate need of doing something so wildly exotic and incredibly selfish. And as I've said a hundred times over, I knew then that it would not have been possible without the unwavering support of those closest to me.

It's hard to fathom really. It's been a full year and now I'm home.

A year ago, Michele was the one that kept me focused on the long term goals and positive affects that a year away from our normal could potentially give us. She had the foresight to see that the positives would outweigh the negatives and before long I'd be right back amongst our family – right where I belong.

Here I sit, at my kitchen table again but now with 1,517 photos on an SD card, a catalog of BLOGs to record my musings and a seemingly endless supply of Arctic stories ready for anybody willing to listen.

Life happens so fast.

A lot has happened since last July. My mind wanders back to Kivalina often. I miss Wild Bill. I miss Maayuk. I miss Store. I miss the sound of the ocean and I miss the snow-capped DeLong Mountains framing the world I knew.

Yet here I am... Small Town, Minnesota.

Dad to Tyler, Emma and Logan.

Husband to Michele.

Son to Jeanine, Tom and Rose.

The same old – ME.

I sincerely apologize, friends. Those of you reading this here on the Blog have been faithful followers and I've only recently comes to grips that I may have let you down or left you hanging by neglecting to tie this adventure all together.

I'm sorry – really.... but I guess I was just too busy living. Too busy doing all the things that I missed so much for so long. Writing was no longer a priority. To be honest, I have been mentally processing and perhaps even avoiding closing the book on a Chapter of my life that I'm not ready to be done writing – metaphorically speaking.

This has been one of the most challenging things of my adult life. Rewarding at times, yes. Other times I cursed the craziness that lead me take drastic measures...but here at the end, I'm now realizing that it was all worth it...I loved it....I don't want to close the book on Alaska.

It's always going to be a part of me.

Since mid-May, the homecoming has been wonderful. I love my wife and love her more now. My children are delightful. I laugh daily and may be a little more gullible in their hands for a while still. My dogs have welcomed me back in to the Pack and seem happy to have their Alpha back.

I have been lucky to see the scope of some of the readership since my return. Friends and family from far and wide have heaped praise and asked questions that only committed readers would know. Strangers have approached and introduced themselves and made quick and easy connections as to how they came to follow my stories. That has truly been an unintended personal reward for me and done wonders for my ego.

Hand shakes, questions, hugs, smiles and often, polite conversations eluding to shared relief of my return to the area have really filled my tank. I wish everyone could experience this euphoria of feeling appreciated.

To bring everyone up to speed... I'm back at work Managing the Rush City Pool. I took a promotion there and am now Top Dog being rewarded handsomely for Nacho Patrol and counting a few pennies. I cast out a few feelers but in the end held to the commitment of my Leave of Absence and will be returning to Jacobson Elementary in a little over a month.

It's no Norman Rockwell.

En Vogue would sing “Back to Life – Back to Reality”

The oven is out and appliance repairmen don't come cheap.

The cars that decorate our driveway are pretty to look at, yet unreliable and requiring serious attention soon. That costs money too.

The lawn needs to be mowed. And the laundry piles up just as fast as the dishes.

To some, my life may not be exciting to follow anymore.

I won't apologize for that.

Ever.

I lived 150 miles north of the Arctic Circle on a tiny little island called Kivalina. I left a little piece of me in the Inupiaq Village and took so much more home with me.

I'm proud.

I'm happy to be home.

Wow – 1 year – just like that.