Shot...Ball, Ball, Ball
Today was a busy day for me. It started with morning practice...lots of shooting and some 2 on 2 playing. After lunch, Tony and I met up with Danny for a fika! It was good to see him and chat, and crazy that he is leaving in 2 weeks to go back to the States. I am really going to miss him, it's always nice to have another American around! I stayed and talked with Danny for almost 2 hours! After that, I hit the weights before our evening practice and then it was practice time. Now I am laying in my bed and just thinking about how heavy my legs feel right now. I hope I can move them tomorrow...hehe!!
This week marks me being here for ONE MONTH already. I can't believe it...time is going SO FAST these days. What is up with that?!?! My body is starting to experience the battle wounds.
My knee got pretty beat up this weekend. Covered in bruises of course!! But the worse thing right now is my hand. I can't understand what is wrong with it right now, but it is swollen and bruised, with not much explanation as to why? It is a weird thing for sure. Can you see the swelling??
Check out my right hand compared to my left. SO WEIRD! I don't think it is anything serious and it doesnt hurt that bad, it just gets swollen and kind of annoying at times. I hope we can figure out this mystery soon!!
Today was an absolutely beautiful day!! The weather was amazingly warm and the sun shinning bright!! I love it when Umeå is like this!! It is so nice and everything just feels better. I don't want it to end...I mean I was walking into practice in shorts outside! I LOVE IT! Unfortunately I don't think this weather is going to last too much longer, but for now I will continue to enjoy it!
Beautiful Umeå!! I want to leave you with a much nicer picture than the last two ;)
So now I am going to watch some ONE TREE HILL and GOSSIP GIRL!! I can't even explain to you how excited I am to watch them!! YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! I Love it!! So happy they have started up again!
Tomorrow morning I am going to SFI to talk with Jari about going to school there and to continue studying Swedish. I need to keep up with it, so this could be a good thing for me to do! I have to get up early, at 9 (YES that is early for me!) I want to wish my friend Maria GOOD LUCK in her serie permier innebandy match! Go get'em girl!! YOU CAN DO IT!
Hope everyone is having a great week so far...half-way through almost!! :)
KRAM
Team Fika!
I know I know, I've done a bad job of updating my blog lately. I just haven't had the energy after a weekend like this. Three games this weekend, 2 vs. Luleå and one vs. Sundsvall. All three resulted in loses, so really I haven't been wanting to say much about that. Saturday we played Sundsvall and lost in OT. We should of won, being up 15 points plus in the 3rd quarter, but we just couldn't pull it off and WAY too many mistakes. Like Tony said, it was a little bit of lack of contcentration and confidence that killed us in the end. That's all I really want to say about this weekend. Let's just say against Luleå it wasn't the prettiest. I would rather forget about that and move on!! I am just glad this is preseason and there is still room for improvement!! That's all that matters right now!!
Saturday night we had a team fika in our apartment. It was my first major fika since being back in Sweden. I know, crazy how it's almost been three weeks and no fika gathering until then. Well we finally made it happen and it was great!! And I got to have Julia's apple pie!!! That's all I really wanted anyway. I baked my american chocolate chip cookies, of course...and others brought a load of good stuff! It was great and fun to hangout with the team in a non-basketball setting for once. Bri got to experience the Swedish fika for the first time and she did it right, stuffing herself silly!! In fact, we all did! The worse dessert by far had to go to our Irish mad woman, Aisling. I actually have no idea what she made but it was very interesting, just cornflakes and melted chocolate mixed together. Yeah I think she just made it up...but of course we still ate it.
So I actually forgot my camera for once, so I stole these pictures from Bri. Here are some pics from the fika:
The Americans!
That's a whole lot of fika. Check out the stuff on the plates, that would be Aisling's crazy creation.
The team and some others...
So the fika was Saturday night and on Sunday night, Bri, Aisling, Julia, Toby and myself attended the Umeå City-Dalen DM innebandy match at Gammlia. This was a crazy game with tons of goals. I have never seen so many before, but I think that's what it made it so exciting to watch! The final score was 12-11 and City won in sudden OT. Dalen really fought hard to come back in that game, down three goals with about 5 minutes to go in the game. I think they scored like 2 goals in the final 2 minutes. Anyway, it was a great game...and even better that Bri and Aisling got to watch a close, intense game for their first time watching an innebandy match. Lot's of little fights here and there and harder hits for sure!! Nice!! 
At the innebandy match!
Umeå City-Dalen innebandy match!
After the game, I just relaxed some and watched a movie. Today I slept in and am just resting on our REST DAY! I did have basket school at Teg and met Danny for a quick fika, but other than that...I plan to sit around and just do nothing!! Sounds perfect to me right now. Well gotta go...have to get back to do nothing.
Hope everyone had a great weekend!
KRAM!!
Game Day!
Preseason Game Day...anyway!! Tonight we open with the Uman Comet Cup against Luleå at Gammlia kl. 19.30. This Cup will be the debut of our new American player, Bri and also the return of Johanna and Julia who have been sick. Unfortunately, Mila may not play due to a sprained ankle and Carro may also miss some games due to being sick (we gain two and drop two). Saturday marks the return of Shannon Daly to Gammlia, but now she will be playing for the Sundsvall Saints. Here is the rest of the schedule for the weekend :
Fr 11/9 19.30 Umeå Comets - Luleå Basket
Lö 12/9 11.00 Luleå Basket - Sundsvall Saints
Lö 12/9 16.00 Sundsvall Saints - Umeå Comets
I love this game!!
Bri Has Landed!!
Check out the article of Bri!
http://vk.se/Article.jsp?article=300959
I had some time to visit Maria at the hospital today!! She even treated me to some chocolate cake...mums!! Tack Maria...du är AWESOME!! I went to hangout with Aisling also for a bit before she went to study at the University. I just want to share a quick txt message I received from Aisling when I told her I was going to the hospital. This is just classic I think:
"Ragin!! i have the bike wit me and meetn carro in the lib-boring!ha! but i have wrk2b done4 2mo! but il cya at d hos, just munchin." -Aisling
I don't know if it's just an irish thing or what?? But I guess this is the language these days. Haha!!
Nothing else new to report...sorry. Life is just training, eat, sleep and then some more training right now. What could be better??!!
PEACE OUT!
Take it Easy!
Tonight I am just trying to relax and take it easy! The sick bug hit our team hard over the weekend. We now have 5 girls on the team that are sick. That makes practices not so much fun. I think we had a hard weekend with little rest and it finally caught up to us a bit. I myself don't feel sick, just really tired. We had the day-off yesterday, but I think it hit me harder on the second day. Today I was useless, because all I wanted to do was sleep!
Some news real fast...Yesterday I got a new car!! A 2008 Audi Sportback, color red! It's pretty sweet, looks brand new and it even smells like a new car. Kind of nice not walking and biking everywhere now, but then again, not having a car kind of forces you to walk more and get that extra exercise. I guess I don't really need that these days with basketball in full force. I also received my Swedish personal number...I'm official!! That goes along with my full-time employment this year. I need to get some done with that...including a trip to the bank, an identification card and maybe some schooling. Vi får se!!
And lastly, tomorrow our new American player will be arriving which will complete our team. Mila, the russian, has been great for us so far. She has really added some height for us and produced some offense! Now with Bri (the American) coming, it will only make us stronger. Hopefully give us the threat from outside with her shooting and athletic ability!! Now if we could get the full squad healthy, then I think we have a pretty solid team! We play this weekend in the Comet Cup here in Umeå, so it should be another great test for us. We will play Sundsvall and Luleå Friday and Saturday night. Looking forward to some more matches!! I can't wait to get us all playing together!! It's been long expected!
Well I need to get to bed and REST UP! We can't afford for another player to go down with the sick bug. It's crazy how it has hit us!! I guess it is better now than later!! Hope everybody is having a great start to the week!!
Vi hörs!
3rd is Better Than 4th!
So there were 4 teams in our tournament: Sallen, Sundsvall and Marbo. Friday night we played at 9pm vs. Sallen in a pretty surprising game for us. We lost by 10 pts, but it was a much closer game than the score reflects. We fought hard and it was good to see that type of spirit from such a young team. We are a completely different team this year, but I think it's best for us. Aisling met us Friday night, she flew into Östersund from Ireland just in time to play for the game. It was great that she came because we played without Julia and Johanna this weekend due to sickness. Two of our strong guards didn't even play this weekend, so I am looking forward to see how much stronger we are when they return. Mila had a good game Friday night, I think she scored around 15 pts. She is getting in the groove of everything and it's really nice for me to play with another tall post player!! Anyway, Sallen is a pretty packed Swedish team with some great players...so I was happy with our effort.
Saturday was a bit different story. We played Sundsvall early that morning and just played horrible. No way of "sugar coating" that one. We just didn't play good and they beat us pretty good, around 20 pts or so. But the evening game was much better against Marbo. We were ahead the entire game, up until the final 5 min of the 4th. We were only playing with 7 players however and we straight up just got exhausted! Plus we didn't have Aisling because she hurt herself earlier in the Sundsvall game. We ended up losing again by 10 pts to Marbo.
So that put us in the tournament game for 3rd or 4th place this morning at 8 AM! That's right, we played or game at 8 in the morning. We played against Sundsvall for a well deserved re-match! I know we were 0-3 going into it, but that didn't seem to matter for us. We came out strong but the game remained close throughout. In the second quarter I got elbowed pretty good in the nose (actually by my own player on her shot). And my nose just started gushing blood all over the place. I have never had my nose bleed like that before. It was so bad I had to leave the court to the lockerroom and blood was just streaming down my face. Julia came to help me out, but had to sit in the corner of the lockerroom because she was getting nauseas watching. I started to spit blood and then Julia ended up throwing up because it was just too much blood (sorry I had to tell this story Julia). Blood was everywhere, but finally I was able to clean it up...but unfortunately unable to stop the nose bleed. It just kept bleeding. So I went back up to the game and the score was tied. I ended up sitting out almost the entire 2nd quarter. At halftime I just stuck toliet paper up my nose so I could play. Looked pretty funny, but I didnt care...I WANTED TO PLAY and win this game. So I ended up playing the rest of the game with toliet paper shoved up my nose and I guess it worked! We ended up winning the game by 7 pts!!
GREAT!! WE GOT OUR FIRST WIN!! And that also meant we got 3rd place in the tournament!! I ended up scoring 30 pts in the final game. Chris, our assistant, told me that I scored our team's first 15 pts in the first 4 minutes of the game. I am just so surprised because no way I thought my body was capable of that this morning...haha!! But really the team stepped it up and everyone contributed to this win. Carro was quite impressive this weekend, not once coming out for a substitution. SHE WAS SOLID LIKE A ROCK! And I am excited to see what we are like with a full squad. Hopefully we will have that this coming weekend, when we play again in the Uman Cup here in Umeå! Vi får se!! Now I will leave you with some pictures of the weekend!
Friday night banquet with all the teams...they were all different ages in both mens and womens. Which by the way, it was great seeing some men's basketball this weekend. We don't get to see that much here in Umeå since we don't have a men's team in the highest league.
Tony wishing those potatoes were lucky charms!
Da bus!........Mila!..............Emma and Mila sitting and chatting....Julia on the da bus!
The team hanging out, watching some basketball!!
THE COMETS!!! OH yeah we got 3rd place!! Check out the medals!!
Hope everyone had a great weekend!!
KRAMAR!!
Whoop Whoop!!
More exciting news...today we leave for Östersund for a preseason basketball tournament. We leave Umeå at 13.00 today and play our first game tonight vs. Sallen at 21.00. It is going to be really hard to play a game at that time I think, but hopefully we can manage. Still exciting to play an actual game! We will actually have 4 games total in this tournament. Saturday we play Sundsvall and Marbo, and then there is the finals on Sunday. I'm really hoping we make it to the finals Sunday, or else we have to play at 8.00 in the morning on Sunday. We will arrive back to Umeå Sunday evening. Should be interesting to see where we are as a team, and of course I hope for the best. Vi får se!!
Boring weather today...a very, very rainy day! Now I will get up, have a relaxing breakfast, pack for this weekend and watch an episode of True Blood. I am hooked on this show for sure! Love it!!
Rain, rain go away...come again another day!
I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!
KRAM!
What A Day at Work!
First day really of work and it went great!! It was absolutely amazing and so much fun also!! PR'ing for the Umeå Comets, what could be better. So what did our job entail today...well let me tell you. Today at the University, there was a "Welcome Event" for all students. Tons of clubs and organizations in Umeå each had a table-booth full of information for any interested students, and we had our own section as well. Our mission however, was to get people excited for basketball and to get them to attend our games. So we had a shooting contest for students that passed by and if they made the shot, they got 2 free tickets to our first home game Oct. 11th. So many people were fascinated by what we were doing, and it caught a lot of interest among many students. It was so much fun interacting with everybody, letting them get excited and building (for what we hope) a strong fan base!! Just basically getting our name out there in a fun and entertaining way!! Tony brought tons of energy of course, and he is great with interacting with people. Gets them excited!! Johanna and Hanna and also Carro came and did a great job as well!! It was fun to see them come out of their shell a bit and interact with people. The good news is that a lot of people seemed interested and hopefully they are excited enough to come and watch us play!! We just want to provide a great atmosphere and positive surge of energy!! We are on the right path I think, especially working like this. I hope it turns out to be a great success!! OH and is this really my job right now?!?! I LOVE IT!!
The start of the day. Jumping in the KFUM mini-bus. 
Getting our station all set-up!! Umeå Comets in the house (Hanna, Tony, and Johanna)!! Who wants to take a shot!! Win free tickets!!
Nice shot!!
Getting out there and interacting with the people!! Gotta love this job!
Check out all the students and us...right in the middle of all the action!
Need I say more here?!?!
We are such great advertisers!!
GOTTA LOVE BASKETBALL!!! COME WATCH US PLAY OCT. 11th AT GAMMLIAHALLEN!! TONS OF ACTION AND EXCITEMENT AND LOVE FOR THE GAME!! LET'S GO COMETS!!
Promoting basketball and getting it going in Umeå is one of our biggest goals this year. We will continue to educate and build the popularity of basketball here in Umeå as much as we can!! That is our objection and mission being a part of KFUM this year! Let's make it work!!
Härligt!
HEJA!
Grettings from Sweden!!
Not too much to report since Sunday night. I will make this a brief one.
Monday we did some tests with Stefan our physical coach. We did some jump tests and sprint tests. I realized that I have a special gift of jumping like an idiot. I probably got the laughed at the most...at least by Julia anyway. I think I had a personal record for standig long jump...25 cm. Is that far?? I don't even know??
Today we continued with more testing....this time in the weightroom! I maxed out on power cleans, squat and bench press. After those tests I realized I was superwoman!! Crazy...but true. Believe what you want.
Mila the Russian also came today. She is tall and skinny. Not too bad but time will only tell for now. This weekend will be a good test as we travel to Östersund. Hanna also came to Umeå today! Another teammate of ours, actually from Östersund. Aisling comes back from Ireland on Friday (she gets to play with us) and Bri, the other american, comes on Wednesday. The whole team is almost here!! Can't wait.
I started watching True Blood series. I highly recommend this one for anyone looking for a series to watch!! I love it so far...I AM HOOKED! I can't stop watching!!
Tomorrow we run the BEEP TEST! OHHHHH I LOVE IT!! NOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT! I really really hope I don't die. But if I do, thanks everybody for being a part of my life. It meant a lot to me! HAHA...I am so dramatic. I just know this thing won't be pretty. But BRING IT!
OH AND FYI!! On Friday, after Jonas and I went to fika at Waynes, he came over to check out my new apartment. And he fixed my TV! And it works great now!! So thanks Jonas!!! :)
OK I need sleep!! Godnatt!
Sov gott!!
Najs Weekend!!
Friday I met Jonas for fika at Wayne's Coffee. It was nice seeing him...I think the last time was when my family was down in Stockholm and he was our tour guide!! After that, Julia came over to my place and we baked some american chocolate chip cookies. They didn't exactly taste right...but they were still good. Then we went to the Dalen guys innebandy match, which was pretty much a blow-out from the start. I think they ended up winning that game 17-2 or something ridiculous like that. We left half-way through the 2nd period and the score was 10-0.
Saturday morning, Johanna, Julia and myself went to the gym to lift. Then went to watch another innebandy match that our old friend John now plays for. His team ended up losing by a goal in the final minutes of the game. Then I accompained Julia and Toby to lunch at Rhodos (nice food!!) and then we went to Stadium and Intersport looking at basketball shoes. The selection here in Sweden is bad. I couldn't believe they still had the same shoes as last year, and no changes what-so-ever. Anyway, Julia found a nice pair and they were pretty cheap (for Sweden).
For the night time....I went over to Frida's apartment for tacos and wine, and Anna was also there...so it was just the three of us!! It was a fantastic night and we had some great girl talk!! It was really the first time I have hungout with those girls just me, and I had SO MUCH fun!! We have to do it again!! Hopefully this was just the start!
Anna and Frida
Sunday morning I slept to almost noon! I can't believe it, I never sleep in that late! But I guess my body needed it. I woke up, ate breakfast...or lunch by then, and went to the Dalen innebandy match. It was the Nolia Cup this weekend, so that meant LOTS of innebandy. In fact, I sat and watched two games in a row. After the guys played, I watched the final match for the ladies...IKSU vs. Dalen. IKSU ended up winning 7 or 8 -0. Then it was off to our evening practice. I thought it was good practice!! Came home and watched American Dreamz with Johanna on the TV.
So now my second week begins here in Umeå again! I thought I started work this week, but it is actually next week so I have another week of hanging out! This weekend we travel to Östersund (same place you went DAD) to play in the KFUM tournament. There are a lot of Damligan teams there and our first game is Friday night at 9.00PM. That's going to be weird playing so late. It will be interesting to see how we do! Tomorrow Mila comes from Russia to join our team, a 6'3 post player! We need some height so hopefully it works out. Vi får se!!
I hope everyone had a great weekend!!
KRAM
Taco Dinner!!
TGIF!! THANK GOODNESS IT'S FRIDAY!! What a busy and fast week!! I guess I haven't blogged in awhile and that is because I haven't had much time. My third year here and it seems I have more to do than ever before. And no I am not complaining about this, I actually think it's pretty nice!! Let me give a bried recap of the week (middle of the week actually).
On Wednesday morning I booked a facial! Kerstein and Julia's birthday present to me back in June. I didn't have time then to book it, but once I got back...that was the first thing I booked. The facial was great, but painful at times. The cleaning out the pore thing isn't the best feeling. But it didn't make my face too red and I guess in about 4 to 5 days my face will see a difference. I can't wait for that! The massage felt great and overall, a great experience for my first facial ever.
Wednesday during the day I met up with MARIA and LEO for fika at Starz!! Leo however slept the entire time so I didn't get to play with him :( There will be more times for sure!! Plus he is my #1 fan!! I think my facial earlier that morning put me in comma because I was really out of it and wasn't the most talkative. Bu I don't think Maria minded :)
That night we had a team dinner over at Carro's apartment. There were 10 of us girls that got together for a taco dinner! That would explain the pictures!! The tacos tasted great and nice to get the team together for some good times. After the dinner we went to watch Dalen vs. IKSU in a derby match, IKSU won 7-2. It was fun to say hi to all my innebandy friends at the game that I haven't seen in awhile!
Yesterday I finally hit my wall I think. I was absolutely exhausted. After lunch I ended up falling back asleep and took a nap for a couple of hours. My body was pretty tired after a week of working out and not to mention the 2 a day practices we have had. 3 out of 4 days we had 2 practices a day. My body just needs to get use to this again. Practices have been hard and forces us to really push ourselves. We are really going to have to out work teams this year, so I tihnk we are trying to do that as much as possible at practices. What doesnt hurt me only makes me stronger right?! NO PAIN, NO GAIN!! It's coming around and next week we leave for Östersund for our first pre-season tournament. Should be interesting to see how we do!
SOOO that leaves us with today...FRIDAY!! We have the next two days OFF from practice. It will be nice to give my body some rest. Jonas arrives today from Stockholm, he is coming home for the weekend! I will meet him for fika in town here soon. Then later tonight I think Julia will come over and we will make some chocolate chip cookies!! Then travel over to the Dalen game to watch the men play at 9.00. A calm evening but a pleasant one I think! This weekend I have to make some phone calls to check in on my family. It's crazy how I haven't even talked to anyone really since I have been here. It's been a week now...sorry guys...I still love you!! Talk to you soon!!
Have a good weekend everyone!!
Vi hörs! :)
Sunny Day!
Last night Carro, Julia, Toby and myself went out for some pizza. Then afterwards, Carro came over to the apartment and my roommates Aisling and Johanna all came out to hangout. We just sat around talking and discussing a lot of things, it was so much fun. It wasn't really anything special, just a bunch of random things. Before we knew it, it was 1.00 in the morning when our conversation ended. We couldn't believe we had stayed up that late talking without realizing it.
Today was nice weather!! After lunch I met up with Julia and we went to book a facial on Wednesday (this was a birthday present before I left from Julia and her mom). Then Carro, my roommates, and Julia went to the centrum to enjoy the outdoor atmosphere. So we ended up getting some ice cream and sitting in the park by the movie cinema! Then we walked to the "brygga" and checked out the river. Here are some pictures from the day!!
Get a load of this ice cream...it is bigger than Aisling's head! It's two scoops of ice cream with caramel topping and then soft-served vanilla on top in cone. WOW! And guess who ordered it...
Hanging out eating some ice cream (one of my favorite things to do here!)...IT WAS CARRO's ice cream of course :)
On the brygga!
Just hanging out and enjoying life!! Then there is my cool and sassy solo pic...haha!!
Tonight practice went well, it was a little easier than the past two days. My legs felt a little heavy today and took them awhile to get going. Practices continue to be going well, SO NICE to let go of the coaching and focus on just playing. It feels like a ton of stress off my back!! Tomorrow we will shoot-around in the morning and then an evening practice. I think may get in a lift in as well!! And that's pretty much my life now!!
OH and I found out a bit more about my job this year. Had a meeting to discuss what I will be doing. Right now there are two schools, but hopefully in the next two weeks it will be 6, that I will have basketball sessions at. I will teach basketball for an hour to students in secondary school. Basically to help them learn basketball and the skills that accompany it! I will be a Teg on Mondays and Sköfro on Fridays. It's during the day and the sessions last about an hour. But now my work will include getting information out there about them. Posting posters, handing out brochures and making phone calls. I even have an office!! So it will be fun I think and a really great experience! I never thought I would get so excited about work!! Starts next week...
Time for bed! Godnatt och sov gott!!
It's Like I Never Left!
My bedroom
The living room
The kitchen
MY ROOMIES!!
Johanna...............and...............Aisling
Now on to the more important things....Training Weekend!!
We had two practices each day this weekend...and I thought they went REALLY well!! It is SOOOOOO nice having Tony as our new coach and I really like it! He works hard and gets us going, whipping us back into shape. I thought the practices have been really well. We are really young right now, and that kind of hurts us. The other players will arrive soon. We don't have our full squad yet. It is nice having 10 players though and having a solid practice! Julia and Carro have been working really hard I think this weekend! I really like our new player Johanna from Luleå BG. She is young but solid, very nice shot and athletic! Aisling from Ireland is very, very quick and spunky....I really like that! Emma and Emelie have returned also from last year. They have improved from last year for sure! We are expecting 3 other players to arrive in the next few weeks, so I am excited for that.
Our month of September is pretty booked up! The first weekend we have a tournament in Östersund, the following weekend we host our annual tournament, then a teambonding weekend, and then finally the last weekend we travel up to Luleå. That's a lot of competition!! Should be good for us. The club has done a good job preparing us for the upcoming year! I really hope it pays off. I can already tell you we are working harder than ever before!! I love seeing that, and it would be great to see all pay-off!!
It's great to be back and things feel good!! REAL GOOD!!
Last night, Johanna, Aisling, Tony and myself went out for pizza. Then afterwards I went over for fika with the Malms. They are like my family-away from home!! They really make me feel like part of the family and it's great!! Sanna, Emma, Maria and Bosse were all there. We watched some of the world championships in track and field then fika'd on some ruhbarb pie!! Tasted great!! OH I'm loving and missed the Swedish fikas!!
Tony, Johanna and Aisling at Maxim!
KEBAB PIZZA! Oh how I have missed you!! :)
Tonight I will eat pizza again with Julia! I missed Julia a lot and it's great to be back with her...clowning around at practice, beating each other up (haha!!). Fun times for sure!!
Well it's nap time then practice #2 for the day! Vi hörs!!
Chili's!!
This picture was taken the last night I had dinner with my mom before I left. Her roommate Issac took us out to eat at Chili's!! The food was really great and it was a fantastic evening!! Thanks again Issac...and here is the picture Mom.
Chow!
TJENA SVERIGE!!!
I feel like I barely left and I am back already. Not quite the same effect as the last two times. I really am getting use to this!! My flight leaves here at 11.25 so I get to Umeå around 12.25. TB and Tony will pick me up at the airport and then i am sure we might go to lunch...Droskan here I come!!
I'm looking forward to practice this weekend! Both Saturday and Sunday. I am also looking forward to just seeing everybody!!!! Can't wait!!
Well there is an update for now! I made it safely to Sweden...but I still need to get to Umeå!
Vi hörs snart!
Off to Sweden!!
Vi ses snart!!
KRAM!!
Kellie's Baby Shower!!
'Mommy-to-be and me!!
1.Janey stamp of approval
2. Girls being girls...chatting away. Kellie getting prepared for the near future!
3. Katie, Andrea and Janey
1. Guessing whose baby picture belongs to who. We also played baby food tasting (which I thought was gross) and a memory game. OH I won this first game btw!!
2. Everybody trying to figure it out,
3. Mrs. Andreas with her newest granddaughter McKenna and Kylie.
4. Eating lunch (chicken with salad).
Da Girlz....Lindsay, Kellie, Me and Janey!!
After the shower I went home and did some good work on my packing. Each time I do this, I never seem to have enough room. OHHHHH this part is so hard for me. I am only trying to take two pieces of luggage and one is smaller than normal for me. So frustrating, but I got a lot done and I think I can make this work...hopefully. I am starting to take some things out and I am telling myself I can live without it. Tomorrow I will do some finishing touches on it and then start to prepare for the BIG JOURNEY. I leave early Wednesday morning!! I can't believe I will be back in Sweden this week! Tomorrow I will play basketball one last time with the guys and then out to dinner with my mom and Issac our friend. I hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was busy because I am trying to wrap it up here in America. Kind of sad but at the same time...ready to get back to work!!
OH the madness!!
Later!!
Last Saturday in America for 2009
Rock Bottom Brewery...Live music concert...beautiful sunny day...Downtown Denver
The 16th Street Mall
After lunch, my dad and I walked down the street and went the Cheesecake Factory!! Now this place is totally AWESOME and I would recommend it to anyone!! I don't know what else to say...their cheesecake is to die for!! We shared a carrot cake cheesecake and the peanut buttle chocolate ripple cheesecake. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!!! My dad also tried a mojito for the first time! I know...I should of taken a picture but I was enjoying myself WAY too much to remember. :S
Then my dad and I went to a soccer game at 4.00. The Jones were in town from Durango and Krista had a soccer match. Quick history...the Jones family are Eric, Stephanie, Krista and Amanda. When I was in college at Fort Lewis, Krista and Amanda always attended the basketball camps. They were small...7 and 9 years old when we first met them. They formed a pretty good bond with me and my best friend Kellie while we attended college. We were kind of their role models (yes I know hard to believe). They kind of became our family away from home. Kellie and I would come over often for some great home-cooked meals and to spend time with the kids. NOW these girls older and in high school. Krista is 17 years old and will be a senior in HS and Amanda is 15 yrs and a sophomore. I can't believe how old they are now. So it was kind of fun that they were in Denver for the weekend, because we were able to meet up and spend some time together again. We went out to eat at Old Chicago, Kellie and her husband Jay came to meet up with us as well. It's crazy how fast time flys by...
Kellie, Me, Krista and Amanda...Back again!!
1. Eric and Stephanie
2. Eric and my dad in a discussion about sports assuming.
3. Jay and my dad enjoying their beers!!
It was a really nice evening and I had such a fantastic time with my dad today. It's kind of sad, because it was my last day with my dad before I head back. I can't believe I am leaving in 3 days...OH MY! THANKS DAD FOR A GREAT DAY!! I AM GOING TO MISS YOU AND I LOVE YOU A LOT!! Can't wait to see you in Sweden this year!! And thanks Jones for a great night! It was so nice to met up with you and talk about the past. Those were good times for sure.
Now it is late and I should get to bed. Kellie's baby shower is tomorrow and that is going to be a lot of fun!! More friends to spend some time with and give my goodbyes!! OH and also to celebrate CHARLIE BECKER coming into this world. I am so sad I am going to miss it, but very thankful I can attend this shower!!
Hope everyone had a great weekend!!
Vi Hörs!!
Seriously??
WHAT?? So I guess my mom was given a couple kids a ride on her moped scooter and it fell over. Instead of falling over, she decides to put her arm out to stop the fall. But the scooter is pretty heavy and instead it crushes her wrist. The kids wére okay and she was going very slow, only like 5 mph. My mom got the worse end of the deal, she saved the bike, and the kids...but not her poor wrist.
I take her to the emergency room at the hospital and we get in pretty fast. 2 hours later we find out that she has broken her wrist in 3 different place and also broken her middle finger. So she has to wear a soft splint on her wrist and keep it in a sling. She completely fractured her wrist...I can't believe it. She is in a lot of pain but dealing with it okay. Now she gets to lay around and have me bring her food, help her clean and get things around the house. Perfect, right? But now she has to see an orthopedic specialist and unfortunately for her, I won't be around too much longer to help her out.
(Well I guess she is smiling about it...right?)
This is the second person in my family this summer that has broken her arm/wrist. My grandma broke both of her arms last month, and now my mom broke her left wrist. What is going on with my family?? So anyway, this was the excitement of the day. I am tired and ready for bed. I plan to sleep as much as possible, but I have a feeling I may be summoned to do something soon or early morning. Vi får se. Tomorrow I plan to spend most the day with my best friend Janey and her two kids Dean and Norah. Just a relaxing, clam evening. During the day I might try and play some basketball. Depends on how I feel. Hopefully things start getting better!!
Godnatt!!
I'm Sick of Being Sick
So the last three days I have been pretty sick. I think this is the first time I have been sick in 3 or 4 years. I NEVER GET SICK. What the heck?? Sunday night I could feel like something might be starting. So I went to bed really early. I woke up the next morning feeling horrible. I couldn't even talk, my voice was gone. I had a little cough but mainly my head felt extremely drowsy. They were definetly flu-like symptoms. So I slept in a little hoping I would feel a little better but that never happened. So I spent the entire day in bed on Monday. I am glad my mother was around because she brought me things to eat and kept giving me water. I took about a 4 hour nap on Monday and then went early to bed that night. So I definetly got plenty of rest. Probably around 16-17 hours of sleep. HA!
Yesterday I relaxed some in the morning and then got up to run some errands around town. Basically getting ready for my trip back to Sweden in exactly one week from today. I was suppose to go to the zoo with Kellie but had to cancel due to my sickness. Then I met up with my grandparents and Uncle John and Aunt Joy for dinner at the Inca Restaurant, in celebration of John and Joy's 33rd year wedding anniversary. Congratulations you guys!!!
Today I am still laying in bed wondering if I should attempt to work out or not?? I think it's best I rest since I don't want to wear down my body too much. But I can't afford to get too far behind in my training. We will see how I feel here in a bit. All I know is that being sick really sucks! It takes away all my energy and desire to do anything. I hate it! That is why I am sick of being sick. Not how I imagined spending my last week in America.
Soooo now I will take each day at a time. Today my voice is back full on. My cough sounds a little better...breaking down, but my body is still a little weak. I have begun my packing process since I have been forced to stay in my room. I have organized some old pictures and old documents. Got some stuff for Sweden...like your bleach stripes JULIA and TOBY! Also some chocolate chips and stuff to bake with when I get back to Sweden...for all the fikas I am going to have!! I'm looking forward to getting back soon. Just have to give my final goodbyes here first!
VI hörs nu!
