Workin' it

As we were driving to the gym Monday morning, Cory asked me, "What are you going to work today?" and I reply with "I don't know yet, maybe just do a full body circuit.", then Cory suggests, "Why don't we work out together?"  Well, that surprised me, because the last time I remember working out together was back in 2009, when we would run together outside on the Anchorage trails.  I agreed to work out with him, but didn't know what that would entail.  His workouts are that of cross training.  That is where you lift weights, but have less breaks in between sets in a circuit.  It works your endurance and strength at the same time, which is awesome for the body.  

Anyways, I did 5 days in a row with him, Monday - Friday.  I am proud of myself for sticking with him and I think I would like to implement working out together in our daily routine.  I mean, Cory will workout regardless, but keeping up with him?  That is something else.  Plus, this will keep me way in shape and it's beneficial working out with your spouse.

For the whole week, Cory was the lead and I just did whatever workouts he had planned for us.  He really helped me with my form on various workouts and introduced me to some that I don't regularly do.  I am proud of him for being encouraging, helpful and patient with me.  I did get frustrated at times, only because it took me a few moments to get the form right on some work outs. 

When we work out, we work out with as much intensity as we can, because otherwise, you probably shouldn't be at the gym if you aren't going to work hard.  We may not have conversations, but we still have fun doing the work outs together.  Anyways, I know he has always wanted to workout together like this.  It is about time we do this together.  I don't know why we didn't make this a regular thing before.  Working out is his FAVORITE hobby and if I keep doing this with him, I am sure it will benefit our relationship/marriage too :)  I know for a fact he is enjoying working out together and that makes me happy.

Winter Break in OR

This year we spent our month long winter break from college in Oregon. We had purchased our tickets in September.  At the time, Cory was surprised that I suggested we go down for break. It has been a year and a half since our last trip down, when we drove from AK and back. We were due to see his family.  So, we brutally took our finals a week early and flew December 13th. We left freezing, snow filled Anchorage and met with snowless, wet Oregon.  Must be global warming, because it is not typical for Oregon to be absent with snow.  This trip gave us not only an opportunity to visit Cory's family, but also spend our first holiday with them.
To pin point the cities we visited:
Mom(Colleen) in Bay City
Dad(Duane) in Mt. Hood
Grandma Larson in Beaverton
Nick(brother, 29), Billie Jean(Nick's fiance, 23) and Danika(daughter, 2) in Burns
Kevin(brother, 23) in La Grand
The Flecks (aunt/uncle/cousins) in Eugene.

We were so lucky not to rent a car, because those are so ridiculously expensive.  His family was so helpful to drive us from place to place. We've driven 2,142 miles to get from city to city with about 35.7 hours driving total. Unfortunately, I get carsick and would drug myself with Dramamine before long car rides, which saved my stomach.  Although, this gave me a nice excuse to sit in the front *evil laughter*.  Poor Cory would be squished in the back seat, where it is too small for him.  Those Toyota Tacomas weren't doing it for comfort.  He's a trooper though and took one for the team every time and took many naps back there :)

The Oregon Map, stars where we visited

We also had the opportunity to meet up with his friends from high school in the cities we stayed at. It was a high school reunion for Cory.  He hasn't seen his buddies for 6-7 years and thanks to Facebook, we were able to communicate and find time to meet up.  He was pretty nervous to see them because it has been awhile. It didn't take long at all to get comfortable with each other.  I was glad to meet his buddies and their spouses. I met the Petersens(Seth, Trisha, and their son Sawyer), the Wilbers(Casey & Cara), Nat & Troy, and Lee.  We all got along great and had fun times. They were all very nice and fun people.  I hope they come visit us up in Alaska.  I would love that!
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So, let's get on with it and timeline our trip:

13 December 11 - PDX to Mt. Hood 40 miles

Dad picks us up from the airport. We stay with him for about a week. While with him, we went to the gym every morning. We took advantage of the pool and hot tub at the Mt. hood athletic club as much as we could, just to soak in some relaxation. One of the days, dad took us to a family fun center to ride go carts, hit base balls in a batting cage, and play arcades.

Dad also just bought a new house that we haven't seen yet.  It is a nice ranch home with 3 bedrooms, 2 bath and 2 car garage.  I loved the size of the place.  We had a lot of good conversations with Dad.  My favorite one being the one where he talked about how proud he is of all 3 of his sons.  It was just nice to hear him say nice things about them all.  I learned that when Cory was growing up, he always had a determination to try his hardest.  When Dad was coaching, he never saw a kid work as hard as Cory on the baseball field or basketball courts.  It was just inside him.  I know this now, that he is the type that will work hard, no matter what he is doing, and it pays off.  It's inspiring and he is proof that hard work pays off.  That is definitely one of the things Cory and I have in common, determination.

17 December 11 - Mt. hood to La Grande 255 miles 

We packed up for the weekend and drove out to visit Kevin in La Grand. The 3 of us stayed in the Best Western hotel with Nick, Billie Jean and Danika meeting us that night from Burns.  We were excited to see the brothers, Billie Jean, and especially Danika, our one and only niece.  Last time we saw Danika, she was almost 1 years old and just learning to walk.  Now, she is 2.5 years old and she is a running, talking machine.  It is amazing how much kids develop in just one year of growth.  Funny how you can see her personality bloom already.  With Kevin, we had sushi, stopped in WalMart for some errands and played more arcade games.  We also agreed to go to McDonald's to let Danika run around in the play center for a few hours.  Cory loved playing with her in there.  Although, Danika did leave Cory for another toddler in there, which was pretty funny to dump her Uncle Cory.  It was great to see Kevin.  He is doing really well and we are trying to convince him to move up here, possibly next summer or fall.  He never said he wouldn't, so, I really hope he does because that would be too awesome.

18 December 11 - La grande to Mt. Hood 255 miles

We drove back to dads and got home around 10:30pm. We were so exhausted from the long drive.   The next day, we planned to make our drive to Moms in Bay City.

19 December 11 - Mt. Hood to Bay City 119 miles

Dad drove us to Beaverton to Grandma Larsons house, where we would meet Mom. We spent sometime chit chatting at Grandmas until Mom showed up. On the drive back, I felt really sick. Well come to find out, Cory and I had some stomach bug. So, we were wiped out for a couple days before Christmas. It was a blow being friends with the toilet. It wasn't fun sharing one toilet at the time, either. But on one of the sunny days, we had the strength to go to Cape Lookout for a small hike and picnic lunch.  Cory and I also went to Astoria to do some shopping and sushi on a different day.  By the weekend, we were off to La Grand again to see Kevin for Christmas weekend.

@ Grandma Larson's home

24 December 11 - Bay City to Pendleton 287 miles

So, we drove out to Pendleton and stayed at a nice hotel there.  This time, Cory drove because Mom is small enough to fit in the back.  She didn't mind one bit.  There wasn't much scenery while we were driving, but the only cool thing I saw were windmills.  The hotel was real nice and we again, abused the pool and hot tub.  The hotel was pretty much empty because of the holiday.  It was so weird not to spend Christmas without my family.  I really missed them.  They said it wasn't the same without us.

25 December 11 - Pendleton to La Grande 52 miles

We visited Kevin Christmas day.  Cory bought him a nice Jordan zip up. We chatted about stories, played lots of card games and just relaxed at his place.  Again, we tried to convince Kevin to move to Alaska.

25 December 11 - La grande to Bay City 339 miles

After seeing Kevin, we spent the remainder of Christmas driving.  We drove all the way back to Bay City that night, which was about 6 hours from Kevin's. We weren't able to stay at his place because there is literally no room for us and we didn't want to hotel it up again.  Anyways, glad we got home safely with all that quiet, tiresome driving. I called home to wish my family Merry Christmas at one of our gas station stops. Definitely missed the filipino food and time with them.

For the remaining week with Mom, the weather was stormy. We made time to visit the Tillamook Cheese Factory, which is 5 miles away from moms. Funny, she thinks that's a drive.  We had ice cream and took some pictures. Cory went into the cheese sampler line about 7 times.  The cheese cutter lady sure gave him the stink eye.

Midweek, Grandma and Grandpa Waters drove from Scappoose to have lunch with us at Moms.  We had delicious taco soup and then pumpkin pie.  It was really great seeing them.  It is just nice to see Grandparents because both my grandmas are in the Philippines now.  Grandpa Waters told us many stories of when he was in Navy.  It was quite entertaining and let's just say he was one rebellious soldier.

We also introduced Mom to her very first modern, 3D movie at the theaters.  We watched Hugo, which which the only cool thing in the movie was the Atomitom Robot.  It was one of those movies, you can only see once because it was just long and kind of slow.  Anyways, being Mom, she was super excited to watch a 3D movie. She even had a stranger take our picture with our 3D viewing glasses on.  Cory was super embarrassed.  I thought it was hilarious seeing her try to catch the snow flakes that were falling in one of the scenes.

29 December 11 - Bay City to Eugene 137 miles


Cory's friend, Seth Petersen, had invited us to come over for some drinks since he knew we were coming to Eugene for New Years.  Well, we figured out a working plan to go down to Eugene that weekend where we would see Seth, watch the UFC 141 fights, and see The Flecks.  So, we spent 4 days in Eugene and had quite some fun, minus driving in their downtown.  They have one ways, that have 1 lane for cars and 1 lane for bikers.  It drove us nuts.  Cory, accidentally, drove on the side where the bikers were, and that definitely frightened some bikers.  I am sure we weren't the first to do that, but we quickly figured the streets out.

While we visited Seth's family, Mom stayed at the hotel.  She was able to go to the Flecks and hang out there for the night.  Seth and Trisha were absolutely awesome and great hosts.  Their son, Sawyer, is such an adorable 9 month old baby.  He is the calmest baby boy I have ever met and quite the cuddler too.  Seth is now a researcher for U of O and seems to enjoy it.  Trisha, who is an RN, also invited her coworkers with their significant others.  I met awesome people at their house party, one in particular, Marie, who is also passionate about photography.  We had talked about photography for most of the night and we shared our work to each other. We were stopped due to a few rounds of playing CatchPhrase with the whole group, which was a blast.  The night went on and we stayed the night at their cozy, well designed place.  The next morning we had coffee, had good conversations and they even made us awesome breakfast.  I can't wait to see them again because I really enjoyed their company.

The next day, Friday the 30th, Cory and I relaxed back at the hotel Mom was staying at.  She decided to leave for the day to catch up with one of her old friends.  So, we decided to play in the pool and hot tub.  We also took the truck out to find a decent sushi restaurant.  I must say, over all, I was not impressed with the sushi chains in Oregon.  We only found one place that we really liked, but that was near the coast.  By nightfall, Cory and I went to the Wetlands Sports Bar to watch the UFC fights featuring Brock Lesnar VS Alistar Overeem.  The bar was very dark, stunk, had old big screen TVs and just had an uninviting aura.  This made me miss the Peanut Farm, because it is way better.  For those UFC fans that missed it, some of the fights were alright, but the main event was not impressive at all.  The fight ended in about 2 minutes and 30 seconds in the first round with Overeem giving a TKO to Lesnar.  Lesnar buckled down when Overeem gave him his about 15th attack to the ribs.  So Lesnar retired from the UFC that night, which was about time.

New Years Day we woke up with much needed sleep.  Cory, Mom and I headed down to breakfast and then used the pool and hot tub one last time.  We then packed up and headed to the Vally Center Mall in Eugene for the day.  We did some shopping, had lunch and caught that 3D movie.  By then, it was time to go to the Flecks and celebrate.  I was so excited to see Aunt Linda, Uncle Darrold, Melissa & David(their daughters Ainsley, Kylynn and Skyler) and Tyler.  This was our first time seeing their house that they built.  When we pulled up in the dark, the front of their house had mud that was leveled out.  Low and behold, Mom didn't see it and got stuck in the mud pit.  The girls witnessed it all as they were waiting for our arrival, and they burst out laughing alarming everyone inside what Mom had did.  Embarrassing.  Well we got out, thanks to 4WD, and happily greeted everyone.

Their spacious ranch home was on a huge lot with a 3 car garage, 3 bedroom and 2.5 bathroom.  I loved the large living room and open kitchen with an island.  All night, the girls played hike and seek with Cory and I.  For dinner, we had delicious calzones that Aunt Linda made.  Then they sung me an early Happy Birthday with a chocolate cake, which was awesome.  Aunt Linda's birthday was near too, on the 5th and I on the 3rd.  We were pretty much singing happy birthday to each other.  After cake & ice cream, we adults played Pictionary and Taboo until the countdown came.  Twas a fun night with barely any sleep.  The next morning, first day of 2012, they made us breakfast before we were off to be dropped off at Dads.

1 January 12 - Eugene to Mt. hood 138 miles


Mom drove us back to Grandmas in Beaverton to meet Dad, so we could stay with him.  Sadly, this was our goodbye with Mom.  We had a ton of fun with her and we miss her everyday, although we miss her even more now that we are back in Anchorage.  Dad had to work this night.  He is a state trooper and duty called.  Cory and I decided to go to the gym that night and watch a movie at home.


2 January 12 - Mt. Hood to Burns 240 miles


Dad drove us all the way to Prineville, which was a great halfway point for Nick to meet us.  We met at Billie Jeans parents house.  They were so nice and inviting.  I was happy to finally meet them, because Billie Jean talks about her family often.  I can see how important her family is to her.  We said our goodbye to Dad and transfered our luggage into Nick's car. We had a good drive with funny/nice conversations.

That night, Cory wanted to surprise visit his best friend from high school, Troy.  Troy was in Burns, with his girlfriend, Nat.  They were visiting his family and also came down to see us.  Troy is a forest firefighter in Idaho and Nat is a student/musician.  She plays keyboard and sings for the band, CatchLight.  So, we drove over to Troy's Mom's house really quick before dinner.  It was exciting seeing Cory so happy to see Troy.  I am glad to finally meet him, since Cory told me so much about him.  We chatted as much as we could until Nick gave us the text that dinner was ready.  We had to say our goodbyes but planned on seeing them after dinner.

Billie Jean made us delicious elk steaks with scalloped potatoes.  I never had elk and I actually liked it.  After dinner, Danika demanded her and I play tea party in her room.  She is quite the bossy 2 year old, but then again, she was very excited to have someone play with her.  Soon after, Troy and Nat came over.  We all played CatchPhrase with Nick and Billie Jean, and talked all night with some wine.  Before we knew it, it was late and time for bed for a new day.

It's the 3rd and guess who's birthday it is? Yea, this lady.  I woke up with a birthday kiss and greet from Cory.  This year, Cory got me an Ipad2, which is AWESOME!  Ah, I love him!  Thanks for spoiling me.  I had no idea what was in the box, because it was disguised in a medium flat rate mailing box.  He had mailed my gift to Mom, who wrapped it.  Sneaky trickster.

So for this day, Nick took us out to the Reservations in hopes of finding deer.  I have never seen a buck before and had my camera ready for one.  Well, we drove 30 minutes out of Burns and yes, we saw many!  I was pretty excited and we got some sweet shots of them.

That night, we went out Glory Days Pizza.  There isn't much in Burns at all, so couldn't be picky of where to eat or go.  Cory gathered up his buddies from high school for my birthday dinner.  This was the first time I met the Wilbers, Lee, Troy's step dad(Jean), and Troy's his step mom(Sue).  We had a great dinner and easily made conversation.  The pizza was pretty good also.  After dinner, we all(except for Nick, Billie Jean, Jean and Sue) went to Lee's house to keep the party going.
We played CatchPhrase, which is always fun and competitive.

Cory had brought an ice cream cake, which I had no idea he had stored in Nick's freezer.  Sneaky trickster, once again.  Everyone sang happy birthday to me, which was nice of them.  Lee cut my ice cream cake, but he broke 2 knives in the process.  He said it was OK, since the knives were cheap anyways.  Ice cream cake is not easy to cut into, it is like cutting a rock.  But it so worth the struggle.  Although, we did transfer the "party" and cake over to Nick and Billie Jeans, so they can be part of the night.  We all played more CatchPhrase and just enjoyed each others company.

I learned that Casey owns a ranch, Cara is a CPA(good for her, awesome!), and Lee owns his own contracting business and is in the Army national guard.  Great success.

Well to sum the rest of our time in Burns.  Cory and I had the opportunity to go check out some caves with Troy and his step Dad.  Unfortunately, I got a bad cold and had to sub myself out.  I wish I had gone, but thats alright.  When I was better, Cory and I went to dinner with Jean, Sue, Troy and Nat at a place called the Tavern, where we played pool.  We haven't played pool in a while, and I am not that good.  I did get better though and now I wish we had a house so I can put a pool table in.  It's a fun game with strategy and skill.   Games I like.

We spent great time with Nick, Billie Jean and Danika.  Nick took us out to the wilderness in hopes of finding a bull(elk).  We had a little hiking to do,  but this time they boys brought the guns and I with the camera.  Unfortunately, we didn't spot a thing out there, but at least we got to be outside.  One of the days, we went out to the baseball fields to play catch and hit some balls.  Billie Jean gave me some pointers when batting and I told her she should coach.  She's a natural and would be an awesome coach.

Danika definitely wore us out, but in a good way.  Her favorite words to say are "No", "Mine", "Stop it".  It is her way or the highway.  She is super energetic and I can't wait to meet her again.  She is going to be a totally different girl and I hope she remembers us the next time, who knows when that will be.

Our last night with Troy and Nat, we played Taboo at his place with his Mom(Gail) and step dad(Jeff).  Taboo is probably mine and Cory's all time favorite game.  We played two rounds over some drinks and as always, the boys get so competitive.  Cory and I played again against Nat and Troy for just one round and we totally whooped.  The game is so much easier to play when people on your team are people you really know.  Troy even busted out his high school scrapbook to reminisce him and Cory's high school days.

For our last night in Burns, Lee invited us, Nick, Billie Jean and Danika over for dinner.  Boy, was I impressed!  He made us roast beef au jour, shrimp scampi, salad, teriyaki vegetables and fully loaded baked potatoes.  There was so much food, it was awesome!  Kudos to him.  He even baked us brownies for dessert and they were moistly, delicious.


9 January 12 - Burns to Mt. Hood 240 miles
Our time in Burns was up.  We had to say goodbye to Billie Jean and Danika.  Danika was pretty bummed to see us leave.  She kept saying "no, Aunt Gly, you stay".  Well, when we were saying goodbye, she was due for a nap and was pretty cranky.  I had to bribe her with chocolate to get a hug goodbye for the both of us.  Nick drove us to Prineville, where we met Dad.

The remaining days, we just relaxed at Dads.  He had to work for those days, but we found time to spend time with each other.  We had pizza at the Brightwood Tavern and played more pool.  Before we knew it, it was already time to get on the plane for home.


11 January 12 - Mt. Hood to PDX 40
Dad took us to the airport early because he had work.  We said our final goodbyes and saw Dad drive away.  I am so happy to have left for break and see the family there.  Cory and I really needed to leave home, just to get away from the stress of school/work/life.  Now that we are home, it has been absolutely rejuvenating being back in our king size bed.  I also feel like our relationship has grown stronger, which is a great feeling.  We are hoping now that family come up to see us next time around.  They are due to see Alaska :)

Oregon, until next time,
G

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

Celebrating New Years with our family in Oregon

What a year it has been. 2011 is now gone and here we are in 2012. We had quite the year, but for the most part it seems we were busy concentrating on school together. As for my photography business, we did 24 photography sessions, which is awesome for my first year. I already have 4 weddings booked for this coming summer, exciting. It's been so nice having my business while I go to school.  The business works great with my school schedule and best of all, I am my own boss.

For New Years this year, we spent it in Oregon with Corys family. It was fun seeing the Flecks, David, Melissa, and the girls. We played games until the countdown, ate delicious food and I even got a little birthday cake/present and song from them. I felt really special. It's little things like that, that make me feel so lucky to be a part of Cory's family.  Though I missed the holidays with my family this year, I surely missed them all up in Alaska.  Here is our month to month recap of our 2011:

January - Gly turned 23
February - changed and finally declared my major to Mathematics
               - watched Meg & Dia live at UAA
March - Cory declares his major to accounting
            - started my photography business
April - Cory turned 27
          - Cory undergoes umbilical hernia surgery
          - got 1st place in adult league volleyball tournament
May - first time taking summer courses at UAA
         - quit school district to pursue bachelors degree
         - 5th year coaching NBC camp
         - younger brother graduates from high school
         - trip in Yakutat, caught a 100+ lbs halibut
June -  Gly ran the Run for Women
July - first time dip netting in the Kenai
           - second trip to Denali National park
August - Second season coaching dhs volleyball
September - purchased tickets to Oregon for winter break
October - Cory got a full 3/4 sleeve tattoo of great significance
November - Cut my hair to the shortest I've ever had it
December - spent winter break in Oregon

For this year, I plan on seeking more adventures in the Alaskan outdoors, pursuing new activities(like pilates, rock climbing, making sushi, learning new filipino dishes and such), watching my photography business grow, and most of all, I look forward to graduating by the end of the year. Then soon after graduation, I will be pursing my Masters in Teaching. I will be 24 in tomorrow and I can't believe it. Goodbye 2011, hello 2012.  Happy New Year everyone :)