A beautiful letdown - Song by Switchfoot

No, this post isn't about that song, though I like the song.  However, the song title is exactly the way I feel about the dog, Koda.  For years, I have wanted to get a Siberian Husky and finally had the space and financial means to have one.  I even planned on naming my dog Koda, so finding a Siberian Mix (also what I wanted) named Koda seemed like fate.

About Koda - he is a 3 1/2 year old Siberian Mix, with multicolored eyes, and red and white coat.  Exactly what I wanted.  He's energetic, and understands commands and pulls!  Boy, was I looking forward to winter!  However, I was to be his third owner, and he was already a rescue puppy to begin with.  There were rules for him:  no rolled up newspaper, fear of vacuum cleaners, etc. due to prior abuse.  He could not adjust to our apartment for whatever reason and hurting my roommate and beginning to attack me as well.  After a conversation with my roommate about the concerns, and then discussing it with his previous owners, we all agreed that his behaviors were abnormal for him and they agreed to take him back.  I want what's best for him, but it was disappointing.

After a good cry on Thursday night and a chat with my friend in California until midnight my time (Thanks, I really needed that), I was resolved to do what needed to be done the next day.  I took him back after work on Friday evening and returned him to his previous owner.  I was sad.  I am still sad.  He was a beautiful letdown.  My friends have been great and telling me that I shouldn't take it personally, and I don't.  But there was a lot of build up leading to it and the apartment search was based on having him around.  So I move along.  Koda is happier in his home in Eagle River.

Jewel Lake Fun

As the Alaskan summer commences, so do they late night activities.  What do you do at eight o'clock on a Thursday night?  Why, I go to the park and make bubbles.  When nine o'clock rolls around you decide "hey, let's start a game of volleyball."  Who needs sleep anyway, right?

Beast making bubbles

Me, I made a big bubble!

Volleyball.  I was too tired to play, so I went home ha!

Labatts was AWESOME!!!

Alright, here we go!

We played "Champion's Chicks" aka "Champion's Choice" during regular season play, on Thursday and won 3-1.  Beast was in the crease and I took on the role as one of three centers.  It was the first time some of us had played together, so it was a great game to feel each other out and figure out what style of team we were gonna be for the tournament.  Playing Champ's was a lot of fun and felt more like a bunch of peeps out at the park playing pond hockey, except we had officials, a scorekeeper, scoreboard, and benches.  We all knew each other so well from playing in the same league this past season, that we went out and had a great time playing and laughing.

I skated out as a Center, which was rather interesting.  From the crease to center was quite a transition, but it was a lot of fun.  Looks like I will be skating center during summer hockey for a team over at Subway Centre, so I will get more opportunities there to skate out.  At any rate, I learned a lot being out on the ice in that position and my stopping ability improved every shift!  It's just a whole new world of skating outside my goalie gear, and it was baptism by fire out there!

Our second game of the tournament was Saturday morning and boy, oh boy, was it fun!  We played a team that was stronger and higher level players than we were, but it was amazing to see how we stepped up our game!  We skated faster, harder, and handled the puck better with every shift we skated.  It was amazing to see us improve by the minute.  Despite the loss, we got back into the locker room beaming and on fire with excitement.  Everyone had such a good time skating hard and playing a team of that caliber.  We held our own and Beast played well in the crease for us.

Our third and final game was Saturday evening against the Homer team...I wish I could remember the actual name of their team, but it escapes me....well, at any rate, they were unbeaten at this point and no one had scored on them yet.  I am proud to share that our team scored on them, and in doing so, we drew first blood!  We were ecstatic, but just mostly stoked to be playing an even better team and to be able to keep up with them.  Players that I had played with all season were skating faster than I had ever seen them skate before and even handling the puck and getting shots off, when all season, they played timidly, or gave up the puck before pushing it up.  Here they were, skating and handling the puck with some authority.  It was incredible.  We skated short-handed for the beginning portion of the game because of some late arrivals and a no-show, but it all worked out!  On the bench, we looked over at each other and asked, for example "Who's wearing Karen's uniform?"  Ha ha!  We lost the game, but we felt like winners going into the locker room.

The group of ladies on the team were fantastic and all had such positive attitudes!  We were there for the main purpose of having fun, and we had fun!  We had a lot of gals, but I think everyone got enough ice time.  Good times!

Team Rush'n Attack!!!  Rush the Puck.  Attack the Net.

 Tomorrow is opening day for Labatts and I am getting excited.  I was pretty nervous about having to skate out for the tourney, especially after Saturday's practice.  I was on the ice more than I was on my feet and I am supposed to be playing center or winger.  Last night in class a kid wanted to try goalie, but out teacher didn't show up to open up the locker with the extra helmet and other goalie gear so I let him use my gear.  He did a really well for his first time in the crease! It gave me an extra opportunity to play out and skate.  It was a lot better experience this time out.  We had short benches so our shifts were long and arduous and since the benches were short we played whatever position we had to when the time arrived for someone needing a break - pick up hockey.

I started doing things naturally as opposed to trying to remember how to shift my weight over the rocker to make my swivel turn, or making my C-cuts when skating around the puck and defenders.  I can't deke very well, but trying not to be too hard on myself since I have never really done it much.  I still have a long way to go, but the hockey is the easy part.  It's skating and the hockey at the same time that is difficult.  I might try and skate one more time on the ice before Thursday, or maybe on our off day Friday.  We are playing two on Saturday, so I don't want to lose my confidence going into a big day like that.

We are in a small division, so if we win at least two games, we have a fair shot of making the championship game.  Though I agreed to captain the team on the grounds that it was for the simple point of having fun, my competitive edge doesn't prevent me from having a burning desire to win games and see my team do well at the same time.  I am a playmaker by nature, so we'll see if I can keep my skates beneath me long enough to make it happen a little bit, I'll be okay with that!  =D

Rush'n Attack - Rush the Puck. Attack the Net.

Just under a week before Labatts!  I'm excited and so is my team!  We had jerseys made and they look pretty good!  We are a bit of a team of misfits, but we are all about having fun!!!

Rush'n Attack - homage to a great international team style of play, as well as an 80s Nintendo Game

 

Who doesn't want to have their name on the back of their Jersey???

Hunger Games

Finally got to see Hunger Games with Joaquin.  I was waiting and bugging about it for days!  Of course, I made him promise to take me.  Joaquin is a buddy of mine that I met while here in Alaska.  Though, most of our friendship was forged while he was serving in Afghanistan.  Since we became instant buds here in AK, we continued to keep contact in between his missions.  Now he's preparing for a civilian life elsewhere in the United States, but we made plans to do things before he left.  Hunger Games being one of them.  We clearly disagreed on the awesomeness that is Peeta, but that's okay.  He hasn't read the books, so he doesn't know how awesome Peeta is.  =D  He was probably annoyed that several times during the course of the movie I leaned over and said, "I love PEETA!" 

Obviously, the movie was a Reader's Digest version of the book which is fine.  It was fast paced and worth watching.  I could have watched it for hours if they had put more stuff from the book in it.  There was no Madge, not a lot of bonding with Cinna's workers, and they didn't show a few other things, but oh well.  It is what it is and it wasn't terrible.  Glad they kept it PG-13 as well.  They could have easily made it R if they wanted to get gory.  Though, they could have shown more fighting and kept it within the ratings I think. 

At any rate, the movie was good and company was as well.

If I had more time, I would re-read the books!  I plan to eventually, but not this week!  There's that part about just starting a new school term and such.  Now that my computer is fully functional again, I can actually do homework and study!  Woo hoo!  Thank you, Dell!

JoFred

End of Season Awards Banquet

It was a fun season!  My first season of hockey and learning to skate all in one!  When I started to prepare for the season, I bought all the gear to skate as a wing or a center.  Though, I didn't know how to skate.  A few weeks before the pre-season clinic I set out to learn how to skate.  For three weeks, nearly everyday, I was out at UAA trying to learn how to skate.  After two weeks of getting almost nowhere and having feet hurt terribly, I went back to the shop, bought a different pair, only to be in even more agony.  I finally went to an actual hockey shop, Champion's Choice.  Apparently, my skates were an entire size too big!!!  So, I exchanged a pair, and bought a decent used pair of skates.  What a difference!  Still, I needed to learn how to skate.

As I started to learn how to skate, for the second time, I found that my progress was more rapid.  A few days before the clinic I received an email asking if I was still interested in trying out for goalie.  There were a few teams in need of a goalie and since I had showed interest in learning any position, I agreed to give it a shot.   Little did I know that goalies not only wore a lot of gear, but their skates are completely different.

I showed up to the clinic, not knowing how to skate, in bulky gear, it smelled horrible (borrowed gear smells rank) but did the best I could.  I couldn't even make it through the skating drills.  I simply couldn't skate.  I remember Ray (one of the "coaches") telling each person what they did well.  Everyone except me received a praise for some sort of skating skill.  I assume he got to me and didn't want to hurt my feelings and said "you can see the play develop."  At the time, I took in stride and because I was at least pleased he didn't say "your skating is weak sauce."  Little did I know, my ability to watch a play develop was going to be my biggest asset.  Lacking in skating skills and hockey knowledge, my lifelong experience with team sports and over analytical brain helped bridge the gap between my skating ability and lack of speed.

For those who think goalies don't skate much, I will have you know that that is a common misconception.  The goalie is usually one of the best skaters on the ice!  A goalie pretty much skates the whole game and rarely stops to "chew the fat" or "chat chit."  The skating is a lot more technical than one would think and they don't get breaks.  Not only is it technical skating, but they do it in all that gear.  I am in awe of goalies when I see them now, as I have been in the crease and know what it's like to do just the basic skills I have learned this season.  I am nowhere near a level that would be deemed as "good" but I know that to be able to the things I have seen takes a lot of skill and effort.

With that said, I raise my helmet to goalies of all skill levels.  You have my respect and appreciation.  A team without a goalie is gonna have one heck of a time getting through a game and there are not many people willing to stand in the way of a fast flying puck.  Just so you know, it's a constant adrenaline rush if the pucks are flying the whole game.  The faster they come, the more intense it is!  Whew!  Can't type any more about it, I am getting excited and I still have things to stay focused on.  =D

The banquet was a blast.  Low key, good company, good food, and the Awards were given in a chill-axed way.  Not too much hullabaloo and fuss which was cool.  Sometimes award banquets can be so tedious!  We also received our team pictures and any other items we may have ordered.  I ordered player cards because I thought it would be cool and it was!  Hopefully, I will get some in the mail soon!

I played for two teams most of the season.  My primary team was Team Nelson and my secondary team was Champ' Choice (their goalie had surgery and was out for most of the season).  Both teams were filled with  great ladies and it was such an honor to skate with them and to learn so much in the process.

Seeing Team Nelson develop into a better, stronger team was a fantastic experience.  Our team had a lot of first time skaters and it was evident for most of the first half of the season, but as we continued to play and work hard we started to celebrate our victories!  We didn't win many games, but we achieved so much!  In the end of season tournament, we took third out of five teams.  Our tournament record was 2-1-1 and that tie was a huge victory on its own!  We tied B Bella who pretty much owned us the whole season.  First time we played them I saw over 30 shots on goal and we lost 0-8.  Let me tell you this, they didn't put that many in the net against us in one game for the rest of the season!  Still, to tie them at 1 was huge for us!  My team played their hearts out and it felt good to be a part of that and share it with them.

At the banquet, we also were to vote for the next season's league board members.  I was asked to run for the board and did.  There are nine positions on the board and nine of us ran.  So, I guess you know I am on next season's board.  LOL!  I might need to get a car to be able to keep up with it all!!!

B Bella early in the season, I think we lost 0-5 this game

My friends (both teams) playing at Subway Centre.  Purple team made it to the championship game and won that too!

Watching my friends playing for the a chance to make it to the final round - they won.

Goalie Gumby

Our Team Shirts =D Team Nelson!!!

House of Vasa Coat of Arms

My Dragon Spirit with Forget-Me Nots on the goalie stick =)

On the left it says "Maniac" and that's my Maniacal Guy

I took Hebrew in college, so I had to add this bit of flair

 

 

This is a pic of me early in the season when I could barely stand up!

Shamrock Scramble

Yep, I ran a 5k.  Not that it's far, but I haven't run in awhile.  Though I am very active and keep busy, I rarely make time to just run.  I do run when I do various activities, but I wasn't sure it was really enough.  I was pleased that I was able to run it in the snow and without "training."  I wasn't even very tired afterwards, but I was terribly hungry.. 

Running + Snow Trail + 16 degrees + hills = Famished

I ate three slices of some sort of sweet bread, a banana and a half, and drank a bottle of water all within minutes of finishing the run.  It was a lot of fun and for a good cause.  It was great to run with my friend Holli.  For those moments when I thought I should just walk, she asked me if I was sure and I decided I still had some life in me.  Good times!

I am ready to run!

At the bus stop heading to the scramble

Me, Holli, and Kim

That's my friend Beast.  We went to a party later that same day!  She's awesome!

Vacation in the Lower 48

First class from Seattle to Oakland

I had quite the whirlwind vacation while visiting the lower 48.  Saw many, and missed many.  Next trip will be a little slower and I will have to organize a little better.  Most of my trip was about seeing lots of people, so I didn't spend a lot of time with everyone.  Pros and cons to that, but I hope that the time spent was meaningful.  I enjoyed a meal with my dad and his wife while in Southern California.  I even got to have dinner with my mom, Aunt Mena, and Suzette.  Those two meals were important meals I didn't want to miss. 

aww how cute

I missed seeing some family in Portland, but I enjoyed a lovely meal and did some homework.  This may sound silly, but I really like the Portland airport.  It's quite lovely.  The people who work there were absolutely the friendliest people ever.   I noticed that when I was there last year when moving out to Alaska, and my good opinion was more resolute after coming back again and experiencing it again.

requson for the manicotti

Even though I don't miss living in California, I do miss family and friends.  Alaska is my home and I feel it every morning when I wake up, and every night when I go to sleep.  Whether for a spell, or a lifetime, this is my home and it was so wonderful to touchdown in Anchorage after a wild week and a half in the lower 48.  I like the cooler climate, it suits me.

a very lovely poem about Alaska

As Break-Up leads us into the long days ahead, I prepare to say "good-bye" to our beautiful, and wonderfully long winter and getting ready to say "Hello!" to summer.  Last year, most of my adventures were around town on on transit.  I had a blast.  Since I have actually made an effort to make some friends and they are active individuals, I plan to have a lot more adventures - Alaskan style.

trying on some pole dancin' shoes

Kara being silly

Christian modeling a sweet hat

Kara showing off her art skills

my eyes were closed, but this is my dad and I in Oceanside

just super cute!

i did a lot of coloring on vacation =)

That's my Twin!!!

My Twin again!

RED CUP!!!

Empty RED CUP!!!

Pedi time!

Yep, we are cute!

Ninja Midgets - Dylan and Tyler

My Twin!!!

Ninjas on Patrol - Kelly, Me, Tyler

RED CUP!!!!  Dylan, Me, Tyler

Lunch with the Freemans

UDUPI Palace!

Chana Bhatura

No more Chana or Bhatura

Auntie Nita and her Painting

Roach Coach Meal - Yummy!

Lillian's in Santa Cruz

Thanks, Scott!!!

A little treat at the airport. Shared with a guy on the plane.