Debbie Murphy - An Introduction

So blogging is all the rage these days and I'm never one to be behind the times for long! Time for me to get on this blog bandwagon! I read my friends blogs, and my competitors blogs, and I think, sure, I could do that too, but who has the time? Well, I like to talk as much as the next person, so I thought I'd start bloggin'!

If you are reading this new blog of mine you probably already know a little about me. But maybe I can tell you a bit about me and you'll learn something you didn't know, or maybe this next bit will bore you to death with details you could have recited back to me. You let me know! I'm going to give you the long and short of my life thus far, and I figure this is important so that you can get to know me. I'm an open book. 40 years is a LONG time, so I'll break it up into a few blogs for your reading ease.

My name is Debbie Murphy. I just turned 40 years old this year. I moved to Alaska in 1976 with my parents, my dad being stationed at Fort Richardson. We (my parents) decided that they loved Alaska and when it came time to reinlist, my dad just didn't. He joined the Air National Guard on active duty status and worked at Kulis Air Guard base for several years. We first lived on Fort Richardson, back when it cost $.50 to see a movie at the matinee and me being 8 years old could safely walk there with my 8 year old friends. I remember seeing Benji on the big screen!

We moved to Anchorage a couple of years later, where my parents bought a cute little 3 bedroom home on East 20th Street. They paid $54,000 for that house in 1978. I attended Airport Heights Elementary School and Wendler Jr. High until 7th grade. My mom and dad announced one morning that I would no longer be an only child - the little brother I wished for every Christmas was finally arriving! My family decided that we needed more space, and we moved to Palmer in 1981.

My parents had a house built by Wilson Brother's Construction, a very popular homebuilder in that era. A new subdivision by the name of Shorewood Subdivision was being developed and we had our pick of lots. This subdivision is located off of the then gravel Bogard Road. Our new home was about 1,500 square feet, on an acre, with a one car garage. The basement was unfinished so that my parents could get it at the reasonable price of $69,000. We moved in on March 14, 1981. That June my brother made his appearance to our family. I was 13 years old.

I started 8th grade at Palmer Jr. High and went on to Palmer High. I thoroughly enjoyed Palmer and have always considered it my home. After being raised an Army brat, being in one town for 6 years felt like a lifetime!