The Official Gary Bunker Holiday Report Part II

As I write this I'm jamming to the music on my own blog.  I have good taste if I do say so myself.  And I always do. 
So, when we left off on part one of the OGBHR (look at the title and you'll know what the acronym means...I know, I know, explaining the acronym took longer than just writing out the title...deal with it.)  Gary and his family had just enjoyed a wonderful Christmas day.  And that's when Gary remembered that only pro atheletes and politicians refer to themselves in the third person.  Enough of that.  Anyhow, for Christmas my parents gave me a trip to upgrade my wardrobe.  I have fashion consultants (aka my sister, Brittany, sister-in-law, Janae, and my mom, Lynette) so I decided to take them along.  Or maybe that part was mandatory...either way. Now, in general I like to think that I like clothes shopping maybe just slightly more than the next guy...but only just slightly.  Unless the next guy happens to be "metro."  Then I have no chance of going toe-to-toe and outshopping him.   So, suffice to say that with the help of my consulting team we found out that Banana Republic was having a rather huge discount on pretty much everything in the store, visited two different locations and basically cleaned up.  New wardrobe in place I was ready for my next big adventure.

The 29th of January I flew out to Oregon.  Coincidentally it was on a layover during that very trip that I wrote the teaser for my official holiday report.  Anyway, I flew in via Seattle to meet Rachel.  Now unless you are Rachel or you are someone who knows Rachel you might now be asking yourself, who is Rachel?  I'll tell you (don't ruin it for everyone else if you already know!).    

As you can see, Rachel is a girl that likes to eat crab that has been wrapped in newspaper.  She also likes spilling said crab on her shirt, but thats a story for another time.  For you to really understand, let me rewind a little bit.  So during the summer after I graduated from BYU my friend Ian and his wife, Brittany moved to Provo for him to attend law school.  So, Brittany suggested that I add someone on facebook and I wondered who it was.  She told me that it was her cousin that she wanted me to meet, so I agreed, no harm in that right?  The only problem with meeting was that Rachel lives in Oregon.  For a long time Rachel and I were just facebook friends.  She randomly started chatting with me online once and it was entertaining, so next time she was online I started chatting with her.  We started talking more and more, and the more and more we talked the more I thought to myself, "hmm, if this is her personality in real life I sort of like it."  Anyway, long story short, after a year or so of talking on the computer and on the phone we decided to meet.  And that is how I ended up on a plane heading for the Pacific Northwest just a few days after Christmas.
I flew into Seattle the 29th and met Rachel for the first time.  Before meeting, since we'd never actually met in person, I decided to pull a prank.  For several weeks before I met her I let my facial grow, and grow, and grow.  By the time I was ready for the trip I was working on something between stubble and a full beard.  I've never let it grow that much before, so needless to say, any picture she'd ever seen of me (on Facebook, etc.) didn't include facial hair.  I added a beanie pulled down low to the ensemble once I landed before walking out to meet her and the prank was in motion.  I texted to say I was on my way out and to look for me.  As I walked out I saw her looking for me.  I walked right past her and walked over towards baggage claim.  She had texted earlier saying I had to recognize her since she didn't have a sign or anything (I did.)  so after walking past I texted back, "the real question is DID you recognize me?"  I saw her reading her phone, being puzzled, then went up and introduced myself.  Complete success! 
Since I had just flown a bunch and she had just driven up from Beaverton, OR we hung out in Seattle for a while.  First, we went to the Pike Place Fish Market.  I loved it!  A bunch of vendors were selling all sorts of good looking food.  For all of you Starbucks enthusiasts, we saw the original, where it all started.  We didn't get anything because the line was even longer than your typical Starbucks, plus I don't drink coffee nor really like the smell of it.  I mean, there is a reason they use coffee beans to clear your nose when you are deciding on cologne or perfume.  And since no one has explained the real reason to me, I'm going to guess that it's because the coffee fumes kill all the receptors on the surface of your nose that have picked up the previous smell from a fragrance.  You heard it here first people, coffee kills!!!  We also passed a shop selling pirozhki.  Pirozhki was one of my favorite things to eat on my mission.  I ended up with three different flavors since I just couldn't decide on one.  They were all delicious!  I don't remember the name of the place, but it's down the street from the original Starbucks and it is legit!  We also went to the actual fish market counter (that made the place famous), and watched them throw a couple of fish.  We decided on a dungeness crab and some shrimp to eat for dinner that night.  After the fish market we headed to see the Space Needle.  I got a couple of pictures in front of it, and then apparently forgot about my camera for the rest of the trip since these are the only other pictures I have from it:

Now you see me



now you dont.



    After the space needle we headed back to Oregon.  I slept on Rachel's couch while she did some stuff (I don't know what, I was sleeping).  Then we ate our "catch" from the market.  And that's how I ended up in Beaverton, Oregon hanging out with Rachel. 

One version of the next couple of weeks goes like this:  We went to a Blazers game which was way fun, they won, scored over 100 and we got free taco bell.  We spent New Years Eve sledding at Mount Hood with several of her sisters plus a brother-in-law plus a family friend.  We celebrated New Year's playing Wii at her parents' house.  Rachel and I also went back to Mt. Hood for some snowboarding later the next week.  Aside from that we ate a lot of good food.  Sushi Track was my favorite.  You sit at the bar and the sushi comes around on a little conveyor belt and you can grab whatever looks good on the belt and eat it.  Each plate has a price and you just add em up when you're done.  We also visited the best Russian store I've been to since being back in the States.  It made me really excited to eat a bunch of delicious Russian food.  All in all a very busy and fun couple of weeks.  

The other version of the next couple of weeks goes like this:  I wasn't sure what to expect at first.  I knew I liked Rachel's personality online, but I wasn't sure how that would translate to hanging out in real life.  I also thought she was cute in pictures, but again, didn't know what the verdict would be in real life.  What I found out is that she has the personality she did online.  This made it really easy for us to communicate with each other.  I also found out that she is even prettier in person (even though she's still cute in pictures).  I also found out she thinks I'm cute too.  So that worked out better than I could ever have anticipated.  Now, I found out lots of things about Rachel while I was there, one of which is that she dislikes PDA.  I don't know if that extends from real life to the written word, so I'll just say this...I have learned over time that kissing, holding hands, and such are important forms of communication.  I've also now found that Rachel is a very effective communicator (wink).  Ok, so that wasn't very subtle, but it'll do.  

On my way back to the airport to leave we got to hang out with my dad who just happened to be in Tacoma on business that week.  It was fun, and a good way to end the trip. 

A couple of weeks from now is Spring Break.  I'm driving home to Leavenworth, Rachel is flying in to see me.  I couldn't be more excited!  To all of you "attached" people who are knowingly nodding and smiling I say, this has been like a breath of fresh air when compared to dating in the past.  To those of you who are thinking, "We just had Valentines/Singles awareness Day, and I'm already tired of hearing about other people's mushy crap," I say, I was there not so long ago...I know your pain.  And thats how my Holiday Break went.  

There was another week after Oregon that I came back home and got to hang out before school started again.  There really isn't much to report.  I stayed home and played my brother's Xbox when he was at school and my mom was at work.  We did get to go to the Harley-Davidson plant in Kansas City, so that was pretty cool.  Then, all to soon (even though I had a whole month off) it was back to the grind.