I finally earned my Bachelor's in Science degree in Mathematics. I endured such a challenging journey. So thankful Cory supported me when I made the decision to stop working and go back to school. I will never forget the moments leading up to graduation. The night before I could not sleep, because I was so anxious and excited. My last final was a big presentation the next morning. In bed, I was rehearsing over and over in my head. I visioned everything how I wanted it with exactly what I would wear (my blue blazer, leggings, and boots) and that I would be the first to go that morning. Everyone in my class but 3 of us had already gone and presented days before the final day. My topic was on the constant, pi, which we have all seen in equations such as the area of a circle or volume of a sphere. I showed the proof to the area of pi formula and showed two different ways the value of pi was derived from Archimedes and Newton. It took me 25 minutes to present, which was perfect.
I kid you not, while I was up in front of my class, something took over me and I felt like I was teaching more than I was just presenting. I wasn't even nervous and I felt like I was in my natural state of mind. It was awesome! I used a power point for organization, and used the white board and projection machine to show proofs or equations. I felt like I was flowing and it felt great. In the end, I got two compliments from my professor that I never expected which were, "You proved that better than I did." and, "Gly, I really enjoyed your presentation." I finished strong and I was actually proud of myself for once.
The next day, I felt so free and humbled. Before Cory left for work, all dressed in uniform, he came down to the bedroom bathroom where I was about ready to shower. He came in with a card and graduation money inside for me, which I never expected. He looked me straight in the eyes and told me that he was proud of me. I hugged, kissed, thanked him with such emotion. Funny, I told him to please go to work before I start crying with happy tears. He had to go before he would be late. I jumped in the shower and cried so happily. The feeling of graduating college finally hit me and it was great.
I had a little graduation ceremony that was held by the Multicultural Department and was invite only. I am so happy there was a ceremony for the fall graduates. There were about 20 of us and one of my other girlfriends also took part in this. It was a very intimate ceremony with a lunch reception after. This ceremony had no caps and gowns, but instead we were given a purple rose and we were to speak on stage dedicating that flower to someone and also telling our story or whatever we wanted. I gave shout outs to my family. I almost cried when I thanked my parents, but I held it in and stayed strong. It was all given away when my voice changed. This event was so emotional and some people were crying.
I dedicated my rose to Cory and I loved seeing him in the back with the camera taking it all in. Without him, I don't know if this would of been my path and I am grateful he was right by my side no matter what I decided to pursue. Master's in Teaching, here I come! Three more semesters to go and I am well on my way to become a teacher in secondary education.
Coaching volleyball has ended. I bumped up this year and coached C1. I was blessed with a very talented group of young ladies. I had a variety of personalities, which included 4 sophomores and 8 freshman. I also had a team manager, Austin, who was one of the players' friends. He was a really nice boy and was down for anything I needed him to do. He even practiced with the girls in many drills, which was a good challenge for the girls. I am proud of my squad and I liked how they bonded well together. We had some great memories and a few not so great, but those don't matter.
I taught my team to be aggressive on the courts. I was happy to hear from other coaches that my team doesn't give anything easy to opponents. On top of teaching them game tactics and skill, my main goal is to teach them how to be a humble person and that team means together. At our end of the year tournament, I was so happy to be showered with some gifts like a bouquet of flowers, chocolate covered macadamias, written cards of thanks, and gift cards from some of my players. Made me feel appreciated. My big confidence booster is when the parents gave me encouragement and thanks for coaching their daughter.
We ended with a 12-2 record in our conference and best of all we beat South, our main rivalry, twice. I will never forget this group and I hope each of them do great things. I wish them luck in the rest of their high school career of volleyball.
My C1 Team, so proud.
The JV coach, Rachel, had her baby towards the end of season and I stepped up to coach her team for a week. It was my JV coaching debut and I am very happy to put those two wins in my pocket. Only 4 of the girls on JV were girls I had coached from the past. I mean really, the girls filter our from C team and up to varsity. These girls were a very spunky and energetic group, sometimes I didn't know how Rachel handled all of their energy.
My coaching JV debut with former Coach Stan Afoa
The way the coaching hierarchy works is that the varsity coach has 3 assistant coaches, which are the JV and two C team coaches. JV and C team have an end of the year tournament that closes season, but varsity continues two more weeks for Regionals and State Tournaments. This year, the format for these tournaments changed to a double elimination bracket and had an "if necessary" match to to 30 points. Long story short, Dimond won Regions in an epic match against South and had to play the if necessary match. Top three teams advance to State where the top teams of the other regions come together.
After 3 years of coaching, I finally helped out and chaperoned varsity out in Wasilla, where state was held. Rachel usually helps chaperone, but she was out due to baby and only came when she could. I was happy to do it because it was kind of a "mini-vacation" from my busy life. We stayed at the Best Western out there and I had a blast. We were there from Wednesday night to Saturday night. Cory came out for the Championship match, which was great to finally see him. Let's just say, Dimond did it again, just like in regions, took the state championship being number 1! The if necessary match was so intense and sitting on the bench with the other coaches was just too much. Dimond tied with South probably 12 times and then finally finished with a 30-27 final score, winning state.
I am so happy to be apart of all of this. On Saturday, thankfully we made it that far but I had no doubts, I decided to write a letter for them for some high spirits. I read my letter to them before the first match and I am glad I did it. I just felt like I needed to put my 2 cents in before the we started playing on the most important day of their life. Championship day. Glad the girls pulled it through and totally dominated with their fire. GO DIMOND!
I know, it has been so long!! I am sorry blog, but don't worry I have been rereading my blessed life through your written memories. I promise, during Thanksgiving break I plan on writing in here and adding awesome pictures. I will give highlights from August to now, which is a large spread, but it definitely contains great memories. In short, life is good :)
August started off with me getting back into coaching at Dimond High School. This marks my 3rd season with this amazing program. I am now the C1 coach, which is a bump up from the C2 position. One day, I will coach JV. I have been blessed with talented girls again. We are now 3 - 1. The loss was against a non-conference team, Palmer. Since they only had one C-Team, they brought down half their JV to play our C1 team. Although, just recently, we played South High, which is our #1 competitor. My girls played so amazing with great dynamic on the court. I was absolutely proud of them. Below is a photo proof of our team picture from Fitzgerald Photography. I am awaiting my print copy :)
Cory was in Utah for the first week of August for more training. He was able to load live bombs, which was exciting for him. I am so happy he is home! Here is a photo of him he sent to me while he was flying in a C-17. He just so darn handsome!
I had 2 weddings to photograph in the first weekend of August. The first couple (Tasha & Brandyn), I did not know, but come to find out they were our old neighbors when we lived at the Alpine Apartments. The second couple (Roberta & Colton), I did know the bride. Roberta and I have known each other since 8th grade. We were best friends then. It was such an honor photographing her wedding. I had a blast at both events. I also squeezed in a couples photo shoot (Kelsey & Randy) and a toddler shoot (Izabella). Here are some of the photos I took.
When Cory returned, we celebrated our 3rd year anniversary by going on a day cruise out of Whittier. It was really relaxing. We saw some wildlife, like sea lions, otters and seals. Wish we saw a whale though! That would of been ultimate. I can't believe it has been 4 years all together. I hope our marriage continues to grow strong. He is a great husband and his loyalty is far beyond any other.
I also got myself some new ink. I finally got the tattoo I have been thinking about since last fall, thanks to Cory's motivation. I am very happy I did it. It is the sun from the Philippines flag. Simply marked my heritage. I have received compliments on how unique it is. Tattoo done by Lui Talo at lilusotattoo.com
I also started my final semester as an undergraduate. I can't believe it. I am very close to finishing my Mathematics degree! After I graduate, I plan on enrolling in the spring or summer admission for the Masters in Teaching program. That program will take 3 more semesters and then I will finally be certified to teach. Next weekend, I plan on getting my application in for the MAT program. Wish me luck!
We ended the month going camping in Sutton with friends. We took our 4 wheeler out and saw a beautiful waterfall in the deep part of the valley. It was a muddy 12 mile ride. Unfortunately, I think we overrode our 4 wheeler and it is currently in the shop. It died down on us on the way back to camp and our friends had to tow us all the way back. Thank goodness we had 5 rides total. Never go 4-wheeling alone. There was also one part where it was really steep and Cory and I tipped over. It was so scary, I was afraid the 4 wheeler was going to tip and roll back the hill. We jumped off in time and I am glad neither of us got hurt. We were able to tip the 4 wheeler back on its wheels and continue our journey. We really need to invest in some helmets too. But alas, it was a fun time! Exhausting, but worth it.
Yes we did, we bought a 4 wheeler and took it out with friends to Hatchers Pass. We went through rivers, deep mud, and prowled on rocks. I am so proud of this machine. Money well spent. Cory found this beast on craigslist and got a great deal on it. He has been wanting to get a 4 wheeler for awhile. Now that we have a garage to store one in, then we are set! We plan to get another one probably next year. It sure is great transportation to get us to beautiful places where no one has been.
We went clam digging for our first time in Ninilchik, which is 3.5 hours south of Anchorage. The first night Cory and I thought we knew what we were doing, but were totally clueless. We only caught 3 and the limit is 60 per day. We knew what to look for in the sand, it was just that we were not digging with the right technique. Well if we had done it right, we probably would of caught a lot more. We tried again the second day after camp and among the 4 of us we got 40. Yum Yum! It was a blast camping. I love camping and I wish we could do it more often. We took our 4 wheeler out again to get us to hot spots on the beach far away from camp. Here we are with our friends, Cory and Amelie Cummings. My friend, Crystal also came down and brought her new puppy, Sol. I wish I could go again when the tides are super low in August, but I will have weddings to photograph. It is just so fun digging for them. It is like a treasure hunt!
My colleague, Deanna, invited me to go hike Flat Top with her. I was absolutely glad to. I am proud of her for taking on this mountain. It was a fun time and it was my first time hiking my favorite mountain this year. I'd hike this mountain once a week if I had more time. It is a great work out and quite beautiful.
Julie, my cousin, graduated with her Medical Assisting certificate from the Alaska Career College. We are all so proud of her. She did this as a mother and working. She stayed up late studying constantly and on top of that finished with a high GPA. She is now applying for jobs as an MA and I wish her luck. Cory came to her graduation and had us all yell "GO JULIE" when she went up. Julie was chosen to speak for her class and her speech was heart warming and to the point. She even made her mom cry. Too bad Cory had to go back to work, but we were glad he came during his lunch break. Julie, you rock and keep it up. Keep inspiring our family.
Well this Saturday Cory leaves to Witchita, TX for training. He will be gone until the 28th, which is two weeks. Since we were dating, we have been so lucky not getting shipped away. This will be the first time apart. When he gets back from Texas, he will have 6 days at home and then he is off to Utah for a week for more training. Pretty bummed he will be gone for a third of the summer now. I plan on keeping busy while I am at home and I hope to catch a lot of salmon too!
Wow so June has been so so busy! First of all, we finally bought a house and got all moved in. Cory and I are so happy with our new 3 bedroom, 2 bath, and 2 car garage home! On top of that we met our "attached" neighbors and they are super cool cats. They are both in their late 20's and I am so glad we get along great.
Cory and I moved in June 15. That morning was spent packing up our little apartment and right when we got the keys we started painting the inside of our condo. Every wall was white and now we have nice colored accent walls. We have never painted walls before and I didn't realize how hard it is. It is just a repetitive process to get the right color. We had to put at most 3 coats on some walls. After painting, we grabbed a friend, my brother, and a U haul to move our belongings. I couldn't believe how much stuff we had and now everything is spread out in our nice condo. I am so proud of Cory for his hard work in getting us a home. He has done some projects already at home, like make shelves in the garage, paint more coats on some walls, added shelves in the office and what not. Here are some pictures of the inside of our home. This place totally beats our one bedroom apartment we lived in for 3 years. How rewarding it is to save money and finally buy a home of our own :)
Added shelves
Maroon master bedroom
Kitchen with coffee brown
Living room with painted orange fire place
Orange dining room
I ran the Run for Women which is a 5 mile annual race for breast cancer. It is a phenomenal event and I love running this course. I got my friend, Crystal, to do it with me. I am so proud of her for finishing. We had a blast and after we went to downtown to meet up with friends and my cousins at the Gay Pride festival. I have never been to the GP festival, but went because I was invited this time. We definitely got our carbs back eating gyros there. Yum yum! There was also a parade and people singing on stage, which were very good.
I also worked at NBC volleyball camp again, for my 6th year. It was a ton of fun as always. This year was different for me because I didn't coach, but instead was the directors assistant. I couldn't believe all the stuff involved behind the scenes. Like planning night meetings, planning intensity night, making sure the right of amount of supplies are on hand and etc. I was happy to help and loved giving back to NBC. This camp only lasts 5 days, but it sure feels like a month. Us staff are always on the go for the whole day! Super action packed and absolutely memorable.
A group of us drove down to Girdwood, which is 45 minutes south of Anchorage to hike the Winner Creek Trail. The trail ends at this beautiful gorge and a hand tram. Unfortunately, the hand tram was closed for repairs. The weather was great and so was the hike :)
On one of the super sunny days, Cory and I relaxed out with our little raft on Taku Lake. It was so nice to just relax and get out of the house. Oh yes, just got to take advantage of the sunny days. We also went to sushi right before this and it was super delicious! Our sushi spot is Haru Sushi because their rolls are the bomb!
On top of everything, I am taking two summer classes. One is an upper division statistics course called scientific sampling and the other is another upper division course called abnormal psychology. I needed one more upper division credit to graduate in December and I chose to take a fun elective, hence abnormal psychology. I am totally intrigued by both subjects. Once these classes are over, I will have 3 more classes to take in the fall and then I will receive my bachelor's degree. I cannot believe it!
My photography business has boomed this month as well with 5 weddings. Check out the photos here Epic Photography AK Blog. I love how I can still provide in our income by my business. I have been blessed that these strangers chose me to do their weddings. I have two more weddings in August.
This year has been a pretty eventful Memorial Day Weekend for us, which I am super happy for. Cory took Thursday and Friday off, which gave him a 5 day weekend. Work has been pretty demanding on him, in which he would of worked 12 days in a row (Reserves must work 1 weekend a month), but instead he cut that short. Which was good to rest.
The Premo Cabin
On Friday, we drove out to Kenai River where our friends, Banan & Crystal, knew a guy named Mark Premo to meet up with for some camping. Mark owns a very nice cabin out there right on the river. We loved his property and it gave us great ideas for a future cabin. They even had a pavilion to keep the fire going when it rains. When they first bought the property, 25 years ago, the spot had an outhouse and a small cabin, the size of a medium sized living room. It fits 2 bunk beds, which was where we slept. They use the original cabin as a guest house now. So, they later built a 2 story cabin next to the original cabin. That cabin was so nice and cozy. Gosh, it was perfect. It had a kitchen with bar counters, 2 bathrooms, and 2 large bedrooms. I was impressed when I heard they built and wired/plumbed it themselves, minus the frame work.
Under the Pavilion with the Kenai River behind us
Anyways, we had ourselves a good time for the first camping trip of the summer. We met Mark's son, Joe, and Joe's friend, Mike. They are school buddies. Very cool and chill fellas. We got to take advantage of a photo opportunity that was Cory's idea. They had a sweet, cute, yellow couch under the pavilion and Cory the idea to set it on the river rocks for a photo. Observe photo above.
My Bocce ball with the closest
they have ever seen next to the pallino
We had amazing steaks and vegetables that Banan & Mark grilled up. No lie, had to be the best steak I have ever had. No BBQ sauce needed since the seasoning was done so well. We mainly sat around the fire and played a new game to us called, Bocce ball (pronounced "baw-chee"). It is basically like shuffle board, but with these weighted color coded balls and a yard. The goal is to throw the weighted ball as close as you can to the pallino from a set throwing place. The pallino is a smaller, lighter ball that is usually a bright color for ease of spotting. First time to six points, wins the game. We played two sets in teams of two, minus Mark, who played solo. The team that lands the closest to the pallino obtains a point. You play to six points and the winner of each round gets to throw the pallino in a new spot. I found that game really entertaining. I will not forget how I impressed Cory with my throwing skills when I knocked Mark's ball out of the way to win a point.
The next morning (Saturday), lets just say we slept in until 11:00am. It is so hard to go to bed when your having fun and the sun is still up at midnight. We gathered our things and decided to pack up to head back home, hence the UFC fights were on that night. We thanked Mark for his hospitality. Can't wait to go back again with our friends.
Cory & Rovic haaving a blast on the trampoline
Chef Ken in the house
Well, my cousin, Junior, was having a BBQ for his birthday. He just turned 17 and he wanted a BBQ with the family for a celebration. When we got home from the Kenai, we unpacked, showered and headed straight over. When we arrived, there was lots of delicious food on the table outside. Ken had BBQ'd all of it and was still on the grill, impressive. Ken is my cousin's (Julie) boyfriend/babydaddy :) I was also happy to see "filipino-style" spaghetti on the table too that my Aunt made. The food was amazing and I ate so much, like it was Thanksgiving.
Cory jumped on the trampoline with the kids. It was hilarious. He was chasing them on all fours and the little kids were running around trying to stay away from him. From their screams and laughter, they were definitely enjoying his company. We also met Julie's new puppy, Reese's. Ken surprised her with a puppy just last week. So awesome to welcome that little fella into the family.
Cory ready to watch some UFC Fights with Reese's
We also ordered the fights there and most of us adults were watching the UFC fights. The fights were pretty good. Most of the cards were heavyweight fighters going against each other. It was like bulldozers colliding. We then called it a night and headed home. On the way home, we bought the movie, The Grey. Cory's favorite.. I swear he could watch that on repeat if he wanted.
So Sunday rolls around and we had planned to hike with our friends, Fiona and Larisa, out by Wasilla. Unfortunately, it was raining. We had to take a rain check on that one, which was a bummer. We were so excited to go hiking somewhere new. At least we have all summer. Instead, we did a couple things around the apartment. Cory took me out to a movie and we saw The Avengers, finally! I kid you not, we tried to see that movie twice before. Both times, there has been long long lines and we were like no thanks. So, now that the movie has been out for awhile, it was safe. Although, the theater still filled up slowly, but not like a chaotic opening week. I definitely enjoyed that flick. So much action! Plus it was comical seeing these superheros go into disputes, when all along they were supposed to work together. Great flick. We ended our night with ice cream in our laps and watching one of our favorite shows, Tough Love on VH1. Super entertaining.
Family
Cory giving Kadyn a lift
Monday we were welcomed to the sunshine and blue skies. What a great day to go fishing! Cory and I ate a filling breakfast, packed our chest waiters, packed a lunch, and then met up with Julie, Ken and "the kids". "The Kids" are brother and sister, Junior and Amanda, who are our cousins; Justin, my brother; and Kadyn, Julie & Ken's son. We were all bound to head south for hooligan dip netting aka hooligan fishing. The hot spot for hooligan fishing is about an hour south of Anchorage, near 20 Mile River. It was mine and Cory's first time doing this. There is a technique involved, which an older gentleman had to call us out on our wrong technique. In fact, he spotted us up at the parking lot near the porta potties. I went up to the porta potties and he calls for me. He discussed how me and "the man in the brown waiters"(Cory), were doing it all wrong. It was nice of him to tell me, but I found it funny. He probably thought we were so stupid.
So, we quickly learned it is not like dip netting for salmon, where you just set the net in the water, wait for a punch, and pull the net in. For hooligan, the nets are smaller, hence the fish are way small. You basically, dip your net and graze it with the current then lift your net up to see if you caught anything. You don't even feel the fish in your net because they are so light.
It got exciting when you would dip your net in and find a couple hooligans in your net when you pulled the net up. The most I heard someone catching in one dip was 33 hooligans. I just wanted 5 in 1, which I didn't get.. BUT.. Junior got 5 in 1, so yay. Anyways, Julie & Ken brought 5 nets total. Whoever wasn't fishing was grabbing hooligan out of the others' nets and putting in the bucket. The hooligan came in for a good hourish run, which was an exciting catching time. But later the run became very slowwwww. Overall, I had a fun experience. Although, I did get stuck in the mud flats and Cory had to pull me out. Conclusion, I got out safely, but I lost my shoes to the mud. It was hilarious. Later, Amanda got sucked into the mud and she lost a boot while Cory was pulling her out. Fortunately, we were able to dig that back up.
Hey, I got one and I have no shoes!
Cory, Kadyn, the puppy and I left early. We babysat Kadyn and Reese's until Julie & Ken were done fishing. Kadyn was getting bored fishing because all he did was grab fish out of nets. One day when he is bigger and stronger, he will definitely get to have the joys of dip netting. He's only 5, so much more room to grow. Unfortunately, for the 2 hours after Cory and I left, nobody caught hooligan. They only caught 1, but put it back. All together we did catch a bucket full of the hooligan. So we were definitely satisfied from the first run.
Oh, this weekend has been so nice and refreshing. It was great to spend time with Cory again, since he has been working so much. I've missed him and his time. I give this MDW a 4 stars!! I shall leave you with two videos. One is of Cory playing Bocce Ball and the other is of Cory chasing the kiddos on the trampoline.
Ok so, I am back to this blog! Things were so busy I didn't make time to write in this to catch you up. I even tried to make a new blog on tumblr, but that was a fail.
Anyways, life has been really good to us and I am very fortunate. Cory has been working for a month and a half now and he loves being a working, providing husband again. Our apartment complex has increased its payments. We started paying $840 for rent in 2009 and now we pay almost $1100. Now that we are ready to buy a house, we decided it is time to leave this place that keeps taking advantage of our bank account.
After a couple weeks of looking and with the help of our realtor, we finally found a condo we liked. We plan on making this investment into a business plan. Once I get my teaching job, we will rent this condo out and find "the home of our dreams". We are really happy with this plan. The condo we bought is 3 bedrooms, 2 bath and 2 car garage. Bye bye 1 bedroom, 1 bath apartment. We hope to close on the condo mid June. I am super excited to check out garage sales and craigslist for some stuff to fill our new home this summer.
Took Mom out for a pedicure for Mother's Day
I am also going to be taking 2 classes this summer so I can stay on track to graduate in December. My photography business will give me stuff to do and income to bring in. I have 5 weddings in June, which is awesome.
When August comes around, which is volleyball season, I will be back to coaching. The JV coach, Stan, resigned which bumped the two C-Team coaches. I will now be coaching C1 instead of C2. C1 is mainly sophomores and C2 is at the freshman level. I am very excited for this opportunity. We will be looking for a C2 coach that will be coaching by my side and sharing the gym. I hope we find someone great and amazing!
This summer just started and I hope to go on many adventures in Alaska. My family and I plan on going hooligan fishing with nets Memorial Day. It will be a great start to summer. Although, I have been walking, running or rollerblading the coast trail on sunny days. I can't help it, I must be outside :) I hope we get to go camping, hiking and more.
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