Wake me up when September ends

Last Tuesday, my girls played South Anchorage High School, which is one of our biggest rivals.  Games go best out of three and we played in 3 games for the first time.  We lost the first match, won the second, and pulled it off in the third winning the game.  We were so happy, but the girls had to really fight.  That makes us 7-0.  My goal is to have a perfect season and I hope the girls really want it.

On Thursday I had to coach both C-Teams since the other C-Team coach left with varsity to California.  Next year it will be my turn to go with varsity and I can't wait!  So since I had both teams, I just had this huge competition where the girls had to get individual points through passing, setting, serving, hitting, queen of the court, and tourney play.  I told the girls to show up to practice wearing bright colors, the dress code for practice is usually grey top with black spandex.  I gave a Gatorade to the best outfit and a free Dimond t-shirt to the girl who scored the most points.  Had a lot of volleyball that day. We definitely had to document our outfits!  After practice, Cory took me to a movie titled The Town with Ben Affleck as the lead.  It was a really good movie.  I mean good plot and good action.  It wasn't one of those super hero movies, but one where it was all about the villains.  Lets just say a villain went from bad to good by self realization.  Hands down to Ben Affleck who also produced the movie.  Go watch it.

Me and the C-Team girls

On Friday, I had to run the JV Tournament.  I had the C-Teams girls work too by keeping score, libero tracking, and running concessions.  It was a LONG day.  Had work all day then didn't come home until probably 10:30pm.  Good thing Cory came to hang out with me and he even brought me Subway and an energy drink.  Either way, I was super exhausted.  The JV girls placed second against South.  Our Dimond JV girls were pretty bummed and I had to give up my shoulder so one of them could cry it out.  Over all it ran smooth and I was glad there were no big problems that I couldn't handle.

Saturday, Cory and I hiked in Girdwood to the Hand Tram again, but this time with Justin and Ruthie Taylor.  I had a blast.  I just LOVE playing outside.  We took lots of pictures and this time we hiked a little bit further than last time.  The trail is beautiful and peaceful with Winner Creek running by you.  The weather was really sunny, not a cloud in the sky, so it was perfect for hiking.  It wasn't warm, but we got warmed up through out the hike.  The fall is beautiful!  Here are some pics from the hike :)

group shot

LOL

Hello, better half.

Peaceful

The Gorge

After our hiking adventure, Cory decided he wanted to order the fights from home.  We watched and I must say, that fight card was not impressive.  Spending 80 bucks a month on the fights plus food/drinks isn't becoming worth it to me anymore.  Maybe we can spend that 80 bucks next month on a date or something cool!  Yes.  I would love that.  Let's see if that happens...

Today has been pretty relaxed.  Did laundry, dish washer is running and we have been doing some homework.  <3

Willie 2011

Here are some of Willie Phillips' senior pics

Rockin' Weekend

This weekend was a blast and the weather was amazing with sunshine!  After practice on Friday, Cory and I went to Taku Lake to relax and chit chat on a blanket in the grass.  We also got him a maroon Nike dri-fit shirt and we got "Dimond Lynx" screen printed onto it, so he can now have a Dimond shirt to wear during games.

Saturday we had to wake up early, 6:45AM, for a 9AM Tournament at Service High school.  We had a lot of game play and had a lot of fun.  I had the girls do "secret spikers" which is like secret santa for team bonding.  The girls were really happy with the gifts they received.  The parents were a lot of help and they were great supporters.  They were so kind to buy the girls snacks and pizza for the tournament.  Cory was great on the bench, supporting the girls too.  I got the girls gatorade and Heidi, a girl from the team, made maroon and gold headbands for everyone.   Anyways, the girls not only played amazing,  but they beat everyone in the league.  They played 8 games total, including the Championship match.  No team could get to 20 with us in score.  Talk about domination.  Everyone did great and I wish I could name all the Kodak moments, but that would take a lot typing.  The girls had great serves, awesome digs, and aggressive hits.  They deserved 1st place and I hope we keep it up all season.  When the tournament was over, Cory and I headed home to take a nap.

Mud bath 

The group (Brandon, Brittany, Gly, Cory, Anthony & Kaden)

Relaxing at Taku Lake

When we woke up, we decided to eat at Tastee Freeze for some hot dogs.  We waited a little bit for his friend, Brandon, and his wife & kids to show up.  They wanted to go to Kincaid Park and we were happy to show them the Kincaid Beach.  When we got there, the tide was out.  Cory and I prepared to play in the mud and had our bathing suits on.  Brandon and his family didn't know what to expect so they weren't prepared, but they still played in the mud with us.  I knew I should of packed some extra clothes.  While we were there, the tide came in, which was pretty exciting to experience.  The Non-Alaskans got to see such a thing.  We had a lot of fun out there.  After the beached we all went home and cleaned up.  Cory and I went over to Brandon's house, which is in Palmer to keep the fun going.  I really liked hanging out with them, plus their little boys are fun kids.

On Sunday, I had another senior photo shoot to do.  His name is Willie Philips and I have known him since he was in elementary school.  He is my brother's best friend and I was honored to take his pictures.  I took him out to Beluga Point and McHugh Creek.  A lot of his shots were similar to Nors.  He wants to be a physical therapist one day and I believe my brother and him plan on becoming roomates.  Well I haven't edited any of the pictures yet, but once I do, I will post my favorites on here.  So stay tuned.

All in all, the weekend rocked!

Little Brother, not so little anymore

Today I took my little brothers senior portraits.  We went to Beluga Point and McHugh Creek to capture such photos.  I can't believe he is a senior, but then again, it is about time.  Class of 2011, wow.  We had some good times during the shoot.  For instance we almost got swept up by the tide.  We found stepping rocks to get to this big rock in the water, but after taking a few pictures on the rock, we realized our stepping stones were getting smaller.  So we booked it across on the way back looking like ninjas.  Just hopping about back to shore.  It was funny, but I am glad we didn't get wet or fall in.  Anyways, here are just a few of the pics I took.  Can't believe he is "all grown up" now, what a handsome man :)

A rainy Labor Day weekend

Friday night was amped up with a game versus Chugiak High.  They are our number one competitor and my girls had to fight in this battle.  After all the hard work the girls went through, one of my girls saved us with her amazing serves in the last game.  It was from a girl I never expected, so she was the star that night.  Everyone contributed greatly, and I am so proud of them!  The fact that we won, made me absolutely happy.  Here is our team pic, finally!  We are now 4 - 0.  Lets keep it up!

Click to Enlarge

On Saturday, it was raining outside which stopped us from going to the State Fair in Palmer.  It would of been fun to eat all the food like elephant ears, turkey legs, funnel cakes, and curly fry logs.  The one time of the year you can eat all you want and not feel guilty about it.  Since it was a rainy day, Cory and I decided to drive out to Beluga Point in hopes of seeing a beluga whale.  Unfortunately, we didn't.  I have always wanted to see a wild beluga whale!  One day people, one day.  After some time by the coast, we decided to eat dinner at Haru Sushi, our favorite place.  The waitress even offered to give us ice cream on the house, but we were so full, we declined.  How silly of us.

Today we woke up and it was raining again.  No fair this year.  Today was the last day.  We didn't go last year either, but last year we didn't go because we were busy finding an apartment to move into.  When we were just married and broke.  And still broke.  Soon, I hope things work out and Cory finds a job he really enjoys.  Whether it is as an electrician apprentice or an armament system mechanic.  We even thought about him applying elsewhere out of Alaska for the air force armament mechanic job.  It just all depends.  If we have to move out of state in order for him to get a job, then we will.  I don't care where I get my degree, as long as I do, so I can move up in the teaching world.  I can't be a teacher assistant forever.  I just want to be a teacher soon, so I can bring more money home and of course finally have that as my label.  It is my goal.

Well we finally decided to cancel our Alaska Club gym membership of $133.00 a month.  In the beginning of it all when we signed up last September, we thought that price was just outrageous.  But we like that gym that much.  Cancelling was a wise choice, being that we already have a free membership on base.  Elmendorf has a really nice gym, but it is so far from where we live.  Far as in it will take us 30 mins to get there instead of 10.  It is alright though.  Cory says we should throw that money into a ROTH IRA for me, which I can't argue with.  In fact, I haven't worked out for about a month now.  I'm down to 125 instead of 130lbs, which means my muscle weight went byebye.  At the same time, I haven't been eating as much because I don't have muscles to feed.  Unlike Cory, he eats on the hour ever hour ;)  Well I did enjoy the gym today.  I did some cardio and then we jumped in the pool & hot tub after.  I might as well enjoy the pool at least before the months over when our membership is officially done for.

My filipino dish is finally done for dinner and now I must enjoy it <3