Sunny side of Life

I have never considered myself a morning person, but there is something about this time of year that just makes me feel like I am both a morning person and a night owl. I believe it's the daylight (or lack of daylight to be precise). As I rise in the morning to darkness outside and head into work, there are several hours before the sun starts to peak out above the mountians. Then as I arrive at home, the sun has set but there are still several hours before it is time to turn in for the night. Though this ideal "superwoman" idea of being both a morning person and night owl is only dreaming on my part, for when I turn over in the morning and look at the clock, I am thrown back into reality that it isn't really that early. In the evenings, when I feel as if it is time to finally turn in for the night, I look at the clock on the wall and am startled to see the hands on the clock only reading 7:30pm. The night has just begun...I'm no superwoman, it's just perhaps my own wishful thinking mixed with the daylight hours growing shorter and shorter.

The sunrise is now at 9:45am and sunset is upon us at 3:53pm. The weather is cold and so instead of being more active and productive, I become more of a homebody. It means that outdoor activity is almost non-existent except for the quick jog from my warm car to the movie theater or grocery store. And it means that I am neither a morning person nor a night owl but simply tricked by the lack of a full bright sunny day.


One thing that is nice about so much darkness is getting to see the late sunrise. There is no early rising to see this beautiful sight. I can sleep in on a Saturday, take a shower, get a cup of coffee, watch a few I Love Lucy episodes and then look out my window and enjoy the peaceful delight of watching the sunrise over the mountains.

Yesterday at work we all walked into my bosses office and watch the sunrise together as it cast a beautiful pink hue over the sky. It was a refreshing break form the busy work morning. So even though I have to run my life according to the clock on the wall, since the light outside is deceiving to the real time, it is a delight to be able to enjoy the sunrise without having to lose any sleep.

Like a Dormant Volcano...

I think I'm done blogging for a while. It's kinda boring.

Besides, I'm too busy playing this.

Merry Christmas
Tyler


P.S. - I think my wife has taken over blogging duties for now. So keep checking back!

"Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow"

Though we may look outside and only see pavement, leaves and gravel it will not be long until a fresh dusting of snow will be upon us. Some may be sad to not have the snow yet and think that the lack of poweder might slow the coming of the Holiday season, or that the snow is what welcomes in the winter. Maybe you think it is the Thanksgiving Turkey being put away in the fridge for leftovers the next day that signals the start of the Holiday Season. But non of those are true signs of the holiday season for me. The offical start of my Holiday sesason alwasy begins when I take my first sip of my favorite coffee drink in a Red Cup.


That's right, Starbucks has unleashed their Red Holdiay cups this week. What a delight it was to my midday lunch break to walk into Starbucks and be handed not only a delicious, well needed coffee drink but to be handed it in a red cup. This made the rest of my day delightful.
Don't roll your eyes to quickly at my excitedment. If you haven't ever experienced the joy of the red cup you must go and terat youself to a Holday must of a Pepermint Mocha with whipcream and red sprinkles in a red Starbucks cup. You'll be greatly suprised at the huge grin that will come accross your face as you look at that deligthfully festive colored cup.

So what are you waiting for, the weather doesn't matter, the date doesn't matter, the Holidays are here...the Red Cups are back!

Do my eyes deceive me?

Well as I was thinking about this year and what to add to this log of our lives I began to remember the strange and wonderful things that we have seen this year. Most of the things are new to my own eyes...Tyler being born and raised in Alaska has less opportunity for first time sightings. So here are a few things I thought I would never see in my entire life...but I was so wrong.


#1 -- Beluga Whales.
For the first time right before the end of the summer as we were driving out for our last camping trip we saw some Beluga Whales coming in with the tide as we drove along the waterside.
Though this picture isn't taken by my camera it is a glimpse of what they looked like. We didn't get to see their faces but you could see their backs as they swam through the water....there is no missing these bright white animals.


#2 -- Moose

You might be thinking that we see moose all the time. Though that is true this is the first year I have seen one in my front yard. Don't go running out of your house too quickly at any time. You never know what is going to be out there...



#3 -- The Finish Line
During a long and what seemed like a never ending 13.1 mile Mayors Half Marathon I though I would never see the FINISH LINE...I never thought I would desire to see a Finish line as much as I did during the Half Marathon. A finish line has never looked so amazing. During the Marathon I concluded that this would be a once in a lifetime experience. However now that several months have passed I am once again contemplating doing it again next year...what joy I experienced crossing that long desired Finish line.

#4 Pink?
Can the crazy, rough, and fighting sport of Hockey have anything in common with the sweet, delicate, girly color pink? I never thought so...but what I saw with my eyes has proven me wrong.
This month in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month the Alaska Aces Hockey team had pink jerseys and played on Pink Ice.
It was quite the look...I didn't know you could make that much ice so brightly colored....What girl doesn't like Hockey if it is all Pink :) It made for quite a colorful game




#5 -- An Ice Hotel

The funny thing about this place is not the fact that it is an entire building made out of ice. Though it is amazing that there are stairs, several rooms, beds, a bathroom, an igloo, a bar and a fire place (of course without a real fire). The most bizar thing about this is that while they wanted it to be open for people to stay, since it is a Hotel, the place didn't pass fire code because there is no sprinkler system in the building. You would think the building itself would be a sprinkler if there was a fire...being made of ice and all. At least you can go inside for awhile and look around. All in all it was quite a site...never thought you could make an enitre Hotel form only ice.

Goodbye Summer

It has been quite awhile since we have updated you on the happenings of the Gates' house. This won't be as creative or funny as it would be if Tyler was writting but an update of any kind will probably greatly wanted by most of you. So here is a brief overview of the past few months...

As we head out of the house each day we are begining to be hit by the reality that summer is at an end. The days are growing shorter as we lose six minutes of sunlight each day and the temperatures are requiring us to put on our jackets. If we were in any doubt of the summer coming to an end all we have to do is take a look at the mountains and there is no quesiton of what lies ahead in just a few weeks...WINTER. Each day the "termination dust", as we like to call it, is slowly creeping further and further down the mountain peaks. Soon we will be living in a whole new world of white, cold and never ending snow.

Our summer was filled with lots of fun times with family and friends. We were so blessed to have my family come up and visit us and enjoy and short, beautiful Alaska Summer. Though Amie, Jon and PJ had a rainy week up in AK my parents and Anna got to see a true Alaska summer with a few days of 80 degree weather and several Moose. We had a great time hiking on trails, up mountains, and to Exit Glacier. We also enjoyed some great Alaska Salmon the first Alaska Salmon ever caught by me :)

Now that winter is coming however our activites are change to more indoor intertainment. I am excited to have the night at home to cuddle up next to a fire and work on some quilts and any other craft projects I decide to try my hand at. The long, cold winter night do provide me with great oportunities to indulge in my quilting obsession. I was able to go to our churches Women's Craft retreat last weekend. It was a wonderful time to felowship with ladies from the church as we all quilted, cut and sewed together. There is something wonderful and relaxing about being away from the house and having someone else cook all your meals for a weekend. It was very relaxing and encouraging to spend time with some wise and godly women who also share the love of quilting and scrapbooking.

So after a wonderful summer I say...What the heck, bring on the SNOW!!!

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

Bringin' Home the Bacon (that looks a lot like fish)

Tourists...sheesh

They clog up our roads with their motorhomes, they fill up our favorite restaurants, and they walk around pompously mispronouncing names like See-word, Talinnjit, and Cunnai Fa-jorrds.

Nevermind the billions of dollars they give our state...

There is, however, a rumored oasis of Alaskan activity that is beyond the reaches of those Cheechakos...and five brave souls journeyed to find it.

This is their story.


Dipnetting, which is only open to Alaskan residents, is where you take a long pole (aluminum, steel, wood, crutches, etc.) and attach it to a huge hoop that is at least 4-5 feet in diameter. Inside this hoop is gill netting which entangles any fish that touches it. So once you have this device, you walk about 20 feet into the mouth of the Kenai River and just hold the net out in front of you. Usually you where chest-waiters but it's not required (just talk to the loud Samoan group next to us wading to their necks in nothing but shorts and a Michael Vick jersey).

Kyle, Natalie, Liz, Laura, and I drove down to Kenai on Friday night. When we hit the beach, the first words out of Liz' mouth were "Eww...that's gross". It was a lone dead fish, near the parking lot, dry, dirty with eyes long pecked out by the gulls overhead. Hold that thought.

Fast foward 13 hours later.

Liz pulled our 43rd Red Sockeye Salmon out of the river, beat the salmon senseless with an aluminum pipe, snatched the fillet knife, and plunged it deep behind the gill. She flipped the fish over, repeating the process until she picked up the head and flippantly chucked it behind her. She then turned the fish onto it's back, made a nice methodical swipe down the belly and grabbed the guts, flinging them somewhere near the head. She grabbed the fish by the tail, walked down to the beach, washed out the rest of the entrails, threw it in the cooler, and turned around just in time for the 44th fish.

It's hard to live in Alaska and not eventually become an Alaskan.

By the days end, we hauled in some 61 Alaskan sockeye salmon. After we drove home, filleted and vacuum packed the fish, we had been working for 21 straight hours. And now we have a freezer full of meals to get sick of.

Take THAT tourists.

Crossin' it up in AK

Ok, so I am way into the movie Transformers.

Think of the coolest movie you've ever seen, then add Optimus Prime. The reason why my generation flocks to this movie like crack-cocaine is because you're favorite cars, trucks, airplanes, etc. transform into massive killer robots. It's kind-of a guy thing...I guess the closest translation for girls would be if your Polly-Pocket opened up and started shooting stuff.

Well during the summer, every house in Alaska experiences a bit of the "Tranformer Magic" where our simple, quiet dwelling place inexplicably transforms into a bustling bed and breakfast for summer guests. It's quite remarkable. Our first guests of the summer were Laura's sister Amie, her husband Jon (Amie's husband...not Laura's husband...I'm Laura's husband), and their 15 month old daughter Providence Joy Cross.

Each member of the family actually has Transformer powers! It's amazing.

• Amie tranformed into "Pregnant Amie"
• PJ transformed into "Stair-Climbing PJ"
• Jon transformed into "Bearded Jon

Anyways, We had a wonderful time seeing each other and getting to spend our first significant amount of time with PJ. It just so happens that Uncle Ty ranks just above Aunt Laura and just below Grandma on the PJ's favorite list. Watch out Grandma...I'm coming for you.

Here' s a few pictures from our adventures.

Anonymous Users

So apparently, unless you were part of blogger.com, you couldn't post any comments on our weblog. We'll we at "We Blog on the Web Log" are a progressive entity that continually strives to give our subscribers the greatest blog browsing experience. Therefore, we have now allowed all persons, regardless of race, religion, or operating system, to make comments on our posts (because what we have to say is just THAT important).

Now I know what you're saying...Isn't it dangerous to allow anonymous users to comment on your blog?

To that I say, was it dangerous to allow anonymous users to scale Mt. Everest?... to create a vaccine for Smallpox? ...to rebel against the British Empire in 1776?

That's why we are allowing anonymous users to comment...and God Bless America

By the way, this is the first picture I get when I type the word "Anonymous User" into Google's Image Search. Go Figure.

Table Tennis (sans table)

So there's this sport...it's quite popular around the world. Two people get on either side of a pretty large net that is spanned in between them. They each have rackets. It's played outside on a warm sunny day. That's right...I'm talking about badminton. But I'm not here to talk about Badminton (yes, it actually does have an "n" in the spelling...go look it up). I'm here to talk about Tennis.

Laura is always hounding me to play tennis with her, and I never figured out why, that is, until the first time we played. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, Laura has played tennis competitively throughout much of her highschool career as well as winning The Master's College Intramural Doubles Championship. Basically, Lo wants to take me out there to kind of...recalibrate...the "dignity status quo" of our household. By the end of the day, it usually turns out something like Laura - 6...Tyler - (no)Luv. My pride is dashed upon the cracked cement of our local courts and any last shred of masculinity that remains is callously torn from me with every "Oooh, it's ok Tyler, you'll get it next time" or " Oh No Tyler, you were soo close" or "If you want, Tyler, I'll just practice with you for a while". That's just cold.

Of course, I have contingency plans if things get carried away. All of a sudden, I'll have equipment malfunctions, ankle malfunctions, possibly even wardrobe malfunctions to use as all the handicap I need to make sure that I come home with a good victim mentality that gets me through another day.

Operation Buh-Log

I hate journaling. I've never owned a diary. Much like my very short cross-country running career, I'm only participating out of social pressure and a longing to skip normal daily responsibilities. That having been said...WELCOME TO TYLER AND LAURA GATES' newest addition to the family, our very own blog! I have to warn you, though...my track record for diligent updates on any sort of written medium is sporadic at best. However, if you want to check out what's new with the Gates, come check in from time to time.

I have no idea what I'm going to post. Perhaps I will talk about my foray into the wide world of learning how to play the harmonica, or maybe my desire to someday produce a short film. In reality, this blog will probably consist of me competing to be more clever than my sister, Jessi, who's blog single-handedly got her straight to Left-Bra (pronounced Loughborough) for an MA in creative writing.

This is one of the last steps in my illusion of a well-rounded life. Our kitchen looks like a coffee shop, acoustic guitars hang on the wall, we own an Apple, and I voted Independent in our last state election...and now we have a blog. I think the only thing that's left is to get a car that runs on the blood of republicans and we will have arrived! In reality, I like to eat junk food and play video games.

Ok, well, enjoy...and such.