Semper Fi

November 10, 2009 marks the celebration of the 234th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. Happy Birthday Marines!

Veteran's day is tomorrow on November 11th and I truly appreciate all those who serve, but I have a special place in my heart for the Marine Corps.

I spent about the first 18 years of my life as the daughter of an Active-Duty Marine (my dad is now retired from the Marines, but a Marine none the less). I would not change this experience although it was not always the easiest upbringing. I think this is why I am so thankful not only for our soldiers, but for their families as well.

If you know anyone who has or is serving, please thank them for their service. The freedoms we enjoy, even the freedom to disagree has been instituted and protected by these men and women.

Thank you to all of the families, your support of our servicemen and women allows them to do their job. Your service to our country in enabling them to protect our lives and freedoms is more important than we may realize. THANK YOU and GOD BLESS!

Thank you to all those who have and are serving. You have sacrificed so much to allow us live free, let us not take that freedom for granted. THANK YOU and GOD BLESS!

Here is a link to the GoDaddy site for the 234th Marine Corp Birthday

Here is the link to the "Warrior Song" for the Military

Working Out...

So at some point in time, James and I decided we wanted to get back in shape. Even with playing hockey a couple times a week, both of us are far from the strength and endurance that existed 10 years ago.

James swam competitively in high school and I ran track and trained/competed in Tae-Kwon-Do. Both of us were in great shape! So maybe that is why I feel that I have fallen so far.

Anyway, we've gone back and forth in the past and not really stuck with anything in regard to getting back into shape and a healthier lifestyle. I think what helped this time is that James wanted to get back into swimming and started things off, I decided to tag along.

We joined the Chilson Center in Loveland, which is the city recreation facility. It is reasonably priced, has good equipment and very important: it has a pool! We are loosely following the Body for Life program. Which means we alternate weight lifting and cardio six days a week and then have a day off. You are supposed to eat six meals a day with portions of protein and carbs about the size of your fist for six days and then you have a free day each week.

We've been really good about the exercise portion (it's been a lot of fun) and pretty good about the food. I have never been big a fan of diets, I like food too much, but this eating guide works fairly well. Meals are a little smaller, but still plentiful and we are usually full, plus eating six times a day is a lot! Mostly you are watching portions and limiting sugars and fats (did I mention we are "loosely" following this? I think James is doing better than me though), the best part is that there is a "free day" for food too! On your free day, you can eat whatever you want....Big City Burrito here I come!

Anyway, we are a month in and feeling pretty darn good :) James has been swimming some and attempting to teach me proper strokes (poor guy). I can swim fine at least in the ability that I am not likely to drown, but I like to swim underwater and never really worked on specific strokes. I love the water and we spent lots of time in the pool growing up and in the ocean, but not so much time on technique. James is a patient teacher with his crazy wife though and we are having fun!

I enjoy our weight-lifting days a lot. Chilson has lots of great free-motion weight machines to work all sorts of muscles. I feel good about the weight I can lift with my legs, not so much with arms, but I know I'll get there.

I'll try to let you know how it goes, but so far so good! I am thankful that we are doing this together, because it is good motivation when you have someone else to go with you to the gym and when both of us are trying to eat healthier.

One other cool thing is that Chilson has a "points program" going on where you get a card signed off when you go to the gym and you accumulate points that you can turn in for prizes. Most of the prizes are gift certificates to local restaurants! In a month we have received over $5o in gift certificates (that pays for the month's membership). The program only goes through this month, but it's a good extra incentive to get to the gym and hopefully they will start it up again in a few months.

King of Fruits

James had big plans for Vegas this year.

They included buying and trying the "King of Fruits": Durian

A few weeks before we left, he was watching a show on the travel channel and the host tried Durian for the first time. Apparently the smell was similar to rotten onions and stinky feet. Now doesn't that sound appetizing?

So after this wonderful description James looked up where you could get Durian. The closest place he found to our Colorado home was a Chinese market in Las Vegas. This market also happened to be located only 2 miles from out hotel.

So James and I along with our friend Shannan ventured to this market. It was actually pretty cool, there were tanks of live fish (to buy and cook..or not I guess) and bins of live crabs. I was laughing at a guy who was trying to capture a crab with tongs and put it into a bag to buy... I think it took him about 25 tries to get it in the bag. What can I say, I am easily entertained!

So we walked through the store looking at the interesting mix of normal food we see at the grocery store and unknown stuff with Chinese writing. We ventured to the produce department to find James' Durian. We found all sorts of fruit, but could not find the "King of Fruits" :( So we got some dragon fruit, jujube, star fruit, and a young coconut. Then before hope was lost (also before James would start to cry, although there was a slightly disheartened frown on his face) we found the Durian! It was in a freezer near the produce section. You would think that since the description of the smell was so lovely and the fact that it is kept in a freezer that we might be detered from obtaining this item; nope, not one bit. We decided to ask an employee if they had a suggestion on how to open the Durian, and the response was ".......no" with a slightly scared look on his face. I am not sure if it was due to a lack of understanding of the language or just thinking we were completely stupid to want to open this fruit. So with no assistance in this matter, we chose to purchase a small (cheap) knife so we could cut it open.

We left our purchases in our hotel room since we had the hockey game to go to, besides the Durian needed to thaw.

Late Saturday night when we made it back to the hotel, our tasting was to begin.

James was very excited to have his Durian:



He thought it smell a little like a melon, and even gave it a sweet little kiss:


Ready for dissection! I got volunteered for the honor:


Alas it is open:


It has a custard-like interior with large seed pods:


Shannon takes a whiff...


And a taste....not impressed

We have all tried it at this point, but James just can't throw it away and decides to go for round two...

A nice big piece, can he do it?

He's going for it!!!

And....

Nope, not gonna happen :) I missed getting a good picture of his gagging face (you'll just have to imagine it). By now the smell is very......ummm....potent! The taste is similar to raw onions that have been sitting out for awhile and the smell is a lot worse. We wrapped up the "precious" Durian and threw it in the trash: not in our room, not in the hall, not in the lobby but in the trashcan outside of the hotel. See we do have some common sense!

So if you decide that you need to try the "King of Fruits" do so at your own peril or at least that of your nose and gag reflex. It took a day for the smell to dissipate from our room, but the memories will last.

Vegas Hockey Baby!!!

Frozen Fury XII

This was the reason to go out to Vegas last weekend, not that I would mind going to Vegas pretty much anytime...

We showed up for the morning skate, just like we have the past two years. When we got to the rink the Kings were still on the ice, so we watched the end of their practice. When they started leaving the ice, we were all told by the ushers that we had to leave the rink. We sat down outside the doors waiting to be allowed back in.

An usher announces to everyone waiting that the Av's practice is closed and we will not be allowed in to watch and should leave.

Well, this is a familiar situation since it pretty much went the same way each year.

We remained seated on the floor to wait.

About 10 minutes later a supervisor (or at least someone in charge) comes up to the ushers and tells them that the Av's say to let the fans in to watch in about 15 minutes. So we hang out until they open the doors and let us in :) glad we know not to be too upset when they tell us that practice is closed, it never stays that way!

We watched practice, which was cool as usual! I just like hockey (even had fun watching the Kings practice). They had the front 12 rows or so taped off so we didn't get as close as usual so no pics, but it was still fun!

After practice we waited for the players to come out. We got autographs on another hat and on some pucks as well as some pictures.

James and I with Stastny, he might be sick of us by now since we have a few pictures with him already. Hopefully he can stay healthy this year, it will be exciting to see him play.



James and I with Smyth...It's a bummer to lose him to the Kings, but I hope he does well!



James and I with O'Reilly, he seems to be a good addition to the team from what we've seen so far.

Me with Liles, hoping to see some good strong defense from him this year. I think he's my favorite player right now, maybe I'll even get a jersey this year...

James and I with Koci, he is a big guy with some grit that the Av's need.

Jeremy and James with Weiman. He's been sent back down to Lake Erie, but a great goalie! Jeremy was excited to talk with him for awhile since he knows him from when he played for the Colorado Eagles.

I won't bore you with too many pics of the game, mostly because I didn't get any really good ones. Here is a pic during warm-up before the game.

Koci's fight!

Random pic during the game, but you can see Stastny #26.

It was fun to watch hockey as usual, but the reffing was awful! The Av's gave a good effort, but had to kill several penalties and deal with lame calls including a penalty shot. They ended up losing by one goal :( However, this was just pre-season and I look forward to seeing them kick butt this year!

Vegas...Vegas...Vegas

Last weekend was our third annual trip to Las Vegas!

We went to see the Frozen Fury XII, Avalanche vs. Kings hockey game.

There will be several posts over the next week or so to give you a glimpse into our trip...

Our friends Jeremy and Sara invited us to go with them three years ago (they have gone every year for awhile and celebrated their 6-year anniversary this time; they got married on the ice 6 years ago before the hockey game).

We flew out of the Fort Collins-Loveland Airport, which is great! It is nice to only drive 15 minutes to the airport and pay $5 a night to park. As long as you watch the website, the flight price will usually drop for a day or so and you can get a cheap flight. We met at the ice-rink nearby and left one car there so we only had to pay for one parking fee. Our friends have taught us well in regard to flying out of this airport... Show up early so you can check in as soon as they open; we sat on the floor playing cards until they let us check in. Then you leave and drive the 5 minutes to Centerra for breakfast (or lunch depending on your flight time); we got Chick-Fil-A! Then wander around for awhile and make your way back to the airport. Go through security and then you only have to wait about 30-minutes to board your plane. It is one of the best airport experiences ever!!!

The flight to Vegas is only about an hour and a half, so it goes really quick! We usually bring snacks and grab a drink from the vending machine after we've gone through security so we don't have to buy any food. There is just enough time for a quick cat-nap or a few chapters in a book and then you are landing.

It was nice to go from the cool weather we've had in Colorado to the sunny 90's and higher in Vegas! We stayed at the Palace Station because they gave us free rooms for 2 of the 3 nights! It is definitely not anywhere near high-end in Vegas standards, but it is simple, nice and clean....and did I mention FREE! James and Jeremy were also entered into a free slot contest, they didn't win this time, but there is always next year....

We went to the Rio World Buffet for lunch/dinner; it was lunch price, but right at the end of the time so we got the dinner food at the lunch price. I was too focused on eating to get any pics, the food was great. James actually got several kinds of seafood and seemed to enjoy it, I stayed away. I did enjoy lots of different food and especially enjoyed dessert! I think I ended up with 8-10 desserts :) in my defense the desserts are small, not that it would really make a difference.

James was very excited for In-N-Out Burger, the rest of us were as well, but he was especially excited.





Even though we were not very hungry after the buffet earlier, we decided to hit In-N-Out before heading to Fremont Street.



James and I both got our burgers and fries "animal Style" I was so full that I couldn't finish and it was very sad having to throw part of my food away :(

The good thing is that we went to In-N-Out 3 more times while we were there (4 total)! So, I got to enjoy it when I was a little more hungry. I think I have decided that I like my burger "animal style" and my fries plain, also the neapolitan shake is a definite keeper.


More To Come...

Vegas Here We Come!

The countdown is over...

We fly out to Vegas in the morning and get back on Monday.

I will post pics when we get back.

Have a great weekend!

Hockey Widow

My wonderful husband is going to be a hockey widow this season (or is it widower)....

James decided to take a season off from playing, but I am playing on two nights this season (Friday and Sunday). He is actually going to fill in as goalie on our Sunday team for the first month while our rostered goalie recovers from knee surgery, but otherwise is not planning to play. He may get sucked in for a few games anyway, but we will see; he is ready for a break.

I on the other hand could not be more excited that the league is starting again! We had the ice for practice on Friday and Sunday night; it felt great to get back out there although I am out of shape. I am hoping that going to the gym might help with that. I am missing this week's practices since we will be in Las Vegas (a price to pay, but we will get to watch some hockey while we are there and just have a good time). The weekend after we come back, our official games start; I can't wait!!!

So it is an interesting twist since it is usually the guys on the team playing and their wives watching or staying at home, etc. Granted I convinced James to let us play three nights over the summer so this season doesn't come as too much of a surprise; I just like playing too much :) I am glad he puts up with it!

The Countdown until Las Vegas is 4 days...