J-J-July

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!  

June Bug

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.