Rain, lens, Super Mario

This weekend was really nice and fun.  We finally got to use our one night stay voucher in Alyeska that I got from the girls I coached.  It was so nice to leave town for a day and just rejuvenate.  On Friday, after work, we checked out of Anchorage and headed to Girdwood.  All day it was foggy in town, so I had no idea what to expect in Girdwood.  Well, just our luck, when we pulled to the base of Alyeska, it was raining.  At first, we were a little bummed, but we evaluated the mountain and it looked like the rain didn't phase the skiers & snowboarders.  So we looked at each other and said, Let's do this!  We checked into our hotel, got our snow gear on, and headed abroad the mountain.  We had fun getting some runs in.  It wasn't even icy.. it was just slushy on the bottom.  All the snow was up top, of course.  Our snow gear was just drenched when we were done.  We only boarded for a couple hours until hunger called our names.  So, we cleaned up after boarding and ate in the Aurora restaurant in the hotel.  We shared a "smoked seafood" pizza, living on the edge.  Never heard of such a thing.  It was surprisingly delicious and you could't even see fish pieces on it to scare you.  Either way, it was good.  Cory says "there wasn't enough meat on it", but of course.  After dinner we decided to rest and then we got in the hot tub and pool.  It was quite nice.  The next morning we decided to get in the pool and hot tub again, then we headed back to Anchorage.

Taken with my zoom lens

On the drive home, for the first time I have ever witnessed, we spotted dall sheep.  It was so exciting for me.  I told Cory to turn around and he surely did.  We weren't the only ones playing tourist, there was plenty traffic stopped just to get a picture of the animals.

There were 5 of them grazing about.  In the fall, the males get brave enough to come down the rocks.  Well, that is the only way they will find any females.  They must risk their lives.  I don't know how their little hoofs give them so much balance!

Cory and I had a pretty busy Saturday.  We did some grocery shopping, I did some homework, and we also purchased a new lens for my camera.  It was very exciting.  We have been waiting for this lens to come in stock at our local photo store.  It has been on back order for about a month now.  Seems to be that this lens just goes flying out their store because it is so popular.  I even looked online at the big photo equipment selling sites and they were also on back order.  I was so happy to hear the photo store had it in stock when I called.  It is a Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 lens.  It is super wide, I love it!  Here is my first photo with it.  Shows how much scene I can consume, and how fun distortion can be.  Can't wait to get some better photos.

Well the night blasted off with us going over to Crystal and Banan's house playing 4 players Super Mario on the Wii.  It was the first time we tried and it was such chaos.  It was a ton of fun hanging out with them.  It made us feel like kids again, but at the same time, it reminded us how horrible we got at video games.  We were SO much better as children playing those games.  Ha ha.

Oh yes, I cannot forget to announce this, but today Cory declared his major to Accounting!! I am so proud of him!  Ah, how amazing.  He amazes me.  What a surprise.  Accounting is a super successful track with careers open left and right.  I see great things in our future.  Well, looks like we are going to be students for a couple of years together, but once we have our degrees, we can finally be professionals.  Not only bring home the bacon, but the whole pig!  It is going to be quite a journey, but at least we are doing this together :)  5 weeks to go for the spring semester!

 <3

Officially a business owner

Yes, we did it.  More thanks to my Cory for getting my photography business started.  Business license, check; business cards, check; business account, check; website, check; camera, check.. Now I just need clients to request me. This is very exciting for me, as I have wanted to do this since I was a senior in high school(6 years ago).  When I started taking portraits in high school, my mother advised me to start my own business.  Too bad, I was too much of a teenager and had no idea how to start a business.  Cory will be helping me out with the photography as well.  I introduced him to photoshop and how to use it.  He has been practicing editing techniques and I see he has a very creative eye for editing.  One day, we will be able to buy another camera for him to use.  Being that this is not my career, I get to do this for fun and make money while doing it.  It is one of favorite hobbies and I enjoy it.  I also love to teach people about photography, so if I could be a secondary photography education teacher, that would be ultimate!

Take a peek at my website if you haven't yet EPICPHOTOGRAPHYAK.COM.

Two Sundays ago, I had the opportunity to help out my friend, David Arnold, at a wedding.  We photographed a wedding together and it was my first one.  I basically subbed in, because the owner of Sweet Action Photography, Stephen Bahner, was not able to.  It was so much fun.  The bride and groom were awesome.  The groom is from England, so hearing his families' accents were like music to my ears.  It was cool.  During the outdoor ceremony, I had the idea to sit on a ladder to get top view shots.  The guest were afraid I was going to fall, but I reassured them I wasn't.  I told them I was an avid rock climber(lies).  The bride and groom were totally OK with me being up on the ladder.  The ladder idea benefitted me greatly.  I am also very happy to have tried out the different kinds of lenses Stephen left us.  It gave me an idea of what other kinds of lenses I may want to purchase.  Here are some photos, click to enlarge..

Well classes have been going smoothly.  This is the blast to the end of the semester for both work and school.  My best friend has been coffee in the mid mornings or in the early afternoons to get my energy ball rolling.  I have finally gotten used to such a busy schedule, but can't wait for summer.  This last weekend, I got to visit my friend Amanda.  She just had a baby two weeks ago.  Now she has two girls and we are the same age.  I am very happy for her.  I love her kids.. they are adorable.  I took some pictures of them too.  Her older daughter, Charlotte is now 1 and a half years old.  She is at the stage where she mimics people.  It is so cute.  She was mimicking me taking photos with her mother's camera. Dani on the other hand, was just adorable, and just starting her life.  The sisters are so opposites of each other in looks, but very stunning babies.  I plan on taking their family photos when Dani gets bigger, I have already been requested :)

We also watched the UFC fights at the Peanut Farm together.  Just the two of us.  It was a good old date and the fights were awesome!  Lots of knockouts.  Those poor mixed martial artists that train their butts off and then get knocked out.  The next fights will have my favorite, Georges St.Pierre, fighting.  I have never watched the UFC until Cory, now I have a favorite fighter, oh no!  So, guess we are up for that in April.  In closing, I will post a picture of the moon that I took right before it was consumed by the dark clouds.  I took it at 6:30AM on Saturday before I dropped Cory off on base for his one weekend a month.  Now I have some calculusII to study, hence I have a test tomorrow!  Wish me luck!

Events coming up:

-A night in Alyeska

-Cory's surgery for his umbilical hernia :(

-Little brother is turning 19

-Hopefully get back in the rock climbing gym

<3

Fur Rondy

Blanket Toss.  Made of of seal skin.  Photo by Crystal Grant

The Fur Rondy is a festival that happens annually at the end of February to the first weekend of March.  It's a festival to welcome spring and celebrate the start of our historic Iditarod races.  There are many events that partake like the outhouse races, running of the reindeer, carnival, blanket toss, snow sculptures, snowball fight, snowshoe softball, art shows, etc etc.  So many Alaskan activities available.  Unfortunately the start of the Fur Rondy was super windy and chilly.  We didn't dare to check out downtown then, but this last weekend, the weather rose and we decided to stroll downtown to check out the Running of the Reindeer.  Hence, I totally ate a reindeer sausage for lunch before the races.

Running of the reindeer is basically like running of the bulls, but less chaotic and bloody.  There are three heats, mens, womens, and groups.  People gear up in costumes, or lack of a costume (ie barely any clothing), and run about 100 meters to safety.  The run is done on 4th avenue and the spectators take up the sidewalks like no other.  We spent our Saturday walking about downtown, grabbing some reindeer sausages to go and coffee, checked out melting ice sculptures, witness teens on trick bikes doing grinds on municipal property, and lastly about froze our bottoms watching Running of the reindeer.  Cory let me sit on his shoulders for a little bit so I can see the races, but then I found a little opening to get front row action, while Cory stayed behind.  I was so excited to use my camera all day.  My friend Crystal, who is taking a photography course at UAA, joined us as well.  Both of us armed with our Canon cameras, we were stoked to capture the Fur Rondy action.  We got a bunch of photos and after being in downtown, we decided to drive to Sears Mall, where the photo contest was held.  Photos were placed and already judged in one of the hall ways at the Mall.  We had our own opinions on the photos and next year, I definitely need to enter the photo contest.

The Squirrel Cage

The cutest girl having a blast

Caught the tricksters

Crystal and I trying to stay warm

Watch out for those reindeer!

Gumby was my favorite costume

Cory's favorite costume

Crystal's favorite costume

She didn't care for costumes, she just wanted to go home.