CURRENT MISSION

To experience as much as possible.

ABOUT ME

***NOTICE: We are currently unable to host very often if at all. Please note this before requesting, and just be warned that chances are we will have to decline for now. Hopefully in the future this will change, but some major life changes have caused us to re-arrange a lot. Thank you.***

Please read my entire profile before sending a request. I live in Rapid City, SD with my wife Naomi and two dogs. Our first dog is Zuko who is a 100 lb Rhodesian Ridgeback. Our second is Rizzo whom is a 60 lb lab/boxer mix. We love dogs and they definitely cheer up your day. If you plan on sending us a request make sure you are OK with two large dogs being around, and don't mind the possible dog hair on your jackets. Lately I've spent most of time at work due to a mixed up schedule but that will change soon hopefully. I look forward to free time to meet new people, work on animation and digital art, and write. I'm a very laid back and easy going guy who likes to experience new places, people and food. Cooking is another passion of mine, I'm not amazing at it but I can scrape by with minimal ingredients and make something edible.

Naomi Snippet: Hey guys! It's Naomi here, I currently work at a local Arts center organizing all the youth and adult art classes we offer. I'm busier than Nik but I do a pretty good job of keeping him in line. I love travel and meeting new people but our plans are currently on hold until we can establish our Taekwondo gym. Taekwondo is my passion and being able to make a living out if it is my some day goal. I would love to talk to you about adventures you've had or just sit around and drink coffee, Nik won't drink any with me, something about caffeine being bad for you. Did I mention Nik is a health freak and doesn't let me eat all the really tasty stuff, but instead feeds me weird organic stuff? I really should stop letting him cook, but he's just so much better. Well that's enough from me, hope to see you around Rapid.

PHILOSOPHY

I live my life as a very indecisive individual. It's not that I don't care or have no opinion I guess I just don't always feel it's necessary to share it with others and it therefore makes me seem indecisive. We as humans should always be willing to meet new people and try new things. I'll try anything once and go from there. The closest way to my trust is to show me you can try new things as well.

Naomi Snippet: I'm also really easy to get along with but due to my job I can occasionally be high strung, but really just a kid on the inside. I love my dogs because they help me relieve stress. A great ending to a bad day is to take them to the dog park because seeing them happy makes all my cares go away.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We've only recently had the opportunity to open our home and couch up to visitors so I look forward to this coming summer and tourist season.

Interests

I love philosophy and art theory, movies new and old and anything related to Star Wars. My wife and I run a Taekwondo gym and train as much as we can in our spare time for tournaments and other physical events. We are currently training for a Spartan Race 5k. I also enjoy archery, video games, and playing the drums. I'm also a huge fan of learning languages, but I tend not to get very far in any specific language.

Naomi Snippet: So I let Nik create the profile but then realized he only referred to me and never actually talked about me so I had to correct that. My interests are a little more specific than his as he is interested in everything that has every been created, or so it seems. As mentioned before I really love Taekwondo but when I'm relaxing I enjoy nothing more than reading a good book and having a cup of coffee or watching some TV with Nik and the dogs. We are currently trying to watch all of Fringe, and loving it.

• dogs
• arts
• books
• dining
• cooking
• coffee
• running
• drinking
• movies
• video games
• reading
• tv
• traveling
• drums
• boxing
• archery
• animation
• languages
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

This could long but I'll try to sum it up. Guy Ritchie, Queen, Naomi Novik....just to name a few.

I'll watch any movie at least once just to see if I like it, and possibly a second time even if I don't. Some of my current favorites are Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Snatch, Apocalypse Now, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtlse 2.

Queen is currently my favorite band, but in the past I've been known to listen to the Offspring and Blink 182. I also enjoy jazz or classical in the right environment.

I tend to collect far more books than I ever seem to have the time to read. I have a wide selection of art books as well as books on how to write. When it comes to fiction I read Naomi Novik and R.A. Salvatore. I'm looking to pick up some books by Kim Stanley Mars about the colonization of Mars in the near future.

Naomi Snippet: Books are awesome! My favorite series is the Wizards First Rule by Terry Goodkind with Kylie Chan's martial arts books being a close second. Interesting fact: I can be heard doing random Disney karaoke at all hours of the day in the house. Please don't be offended if I don't sing a song from your favorite one. I also like a lot of movies, but really love the Studio Ghibli animated ones. The stories in them are always so good and I could watch them any day if you want to just relax when you get here.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Climbed to the top of a mountain in downtown Seoul, South Korea with a 10th degree black belt and yelled off the edge while he held onto the back of my jacket.

Naomi Snippet: While Nik's achievement is pretty cool, I've done it three times *cough* from two different mountains in Seoul.

Teach, Learn, Share

Take advantage of all unique opportunities regardless of any temporary discomfort they may cause.

Naomi Snippet: Coffee & puppies make everything better.