"Peace Nantie"

The cutest thing ever period.

bump.....bump..bump MY favorite bumper stickers

cause Gossip Girl is my fav show right now;
you know you love me XOXO...




this is one of my favorite episodes of SATC,
"you with the flower, give me a twirl and a swirl!"














it's the best when Dave sings it...








cause I want to believe it's true...







cause I still believe it's out there...








cause it's my favorite word...












cause it was the
best movie this year...

XOXO

reasons to smile today:

• next weekends plans with KC
• finding a lost video of Mya smiling on my phone
• Philippians 4:4-9
• sweet Facebook messages
• Christian from PR season 4 cracking me up
• the sun is out
• making up code names for guys
• a long hot shower
• pierre with lemon syrup
• hearing my mom say “Texas-Ex” while talking about me
• old episodes of Saved By the Bell with Regan
• seeing my freshly washed hair in the reflection of a car window and thinking, I do kind of look like Oprah

home away...

Things that I miss about home:

1.my family

2.Mya’s smile

3. having a car that I can sit in comfortably

4. having the ability to read a menu in a restaurant

5. good coaching and organization in my volleyball life

6. my friends

7. being able to drive to San Diego







8. my mom coming in my room at 6:30am to check if maybe today I’m awake that early
9. dog hair on everything I own

10. my sister

Things I love about Europe:

1. being close to Karen, Aida, and Dave

2. getting paid to do what I love

3. waking up after 10am everyday

4. it's ok to drink a lot of coffee

5. Metz being 25 minutes away

6. outgoing French teammates always willing to help

7. match time

8. benigets

9. having Regan in the next room

10. Switzerland is only a train ride away

Switzerland, here I come

As I approach the 29th day of my new life in France I feel like little by little I’m adjusting to the new atmosphere. Though things in Terville are as opposite as it get from home I have to admit that I’m starting to like it here.

Last Monday we finished our three game series with Dinamo the Romanian team from Bucharest. We won the second of the three matches and finished on Monday with our best performance in a five game loss. Yes a bummer to lose, but a relief to see that we can play at a high level and come together as a team despite the differences in our backgrounds.















Bright and early on Tuesday morning we headed back to our gym in Florange to practice and on our way Regan and I saw some animals on the side of the road…circus animals. A zebra, three camels, a few donkeys (that resemble my dogs at home Timber and Gideon), a pony, a bull, and few caged tigers were all in a small park in a very public area, for anyone to walk up and pet or take pictures with, which is exactly what we did…











Tomorrow we’re leaving France and heading east to Switzerland. VC Kanti (my team from last season) is hosting a tournament and we are one of four teams participating. I’m super excited to see a great friend of mine, Karen and laugh with her about all our old memories in Schaffhausen, our teammates, and every other goofy thing we can think of. She and I bonding very quickly last season when we realized we both were very out of our element and had a common ground between us. We became fast friends and have kept in touch since our departure; the reunion will be another made memory for sure, Aida, wish you were there!!



Back at home it seems that the halls are echoing…Jon and Jan +2 have headed back to Cali and mom loves the dogs again. I miss them all like crazy but I continue to look for strength as I continue on my journey.

back in Europe

Like I said in my intro, this "blog-project" started off as a school thing and is something I never thought I'd actually use, but here I am. There's a lot of down time here in Terville so I might as well put it to use.

This year has been a wild ride for me, 12 months ago I was asked a millions times that one question that college students don't usually have an answer to, "So what are your plans after graduation?" My last semester in college was going to be the one semester where I would finally get to be a "regular student" but THANK GOD my head coach at Texas, Jerritt Elliott asked me to trade that regular student card (which we all know entails nothing more than free time and naps) for the job as student assistant with the team. This way if I decided to play overseas after graduation I would have a season of training with the team under my belt, without the stress of playing and travel. Saying yes to that job assured me that volleyball was in my future.

The closing to the fall semester 2007, ended with the whole fam coming to Austin December 8th to celebrate my graduation, I couldn't have had a better ending to my college experience. I signed my contract to play in Schaffhausen, Switzerland on December 12, got my passport on the 16th and left for the second best country in the world on the 18th, a world wind to say the least.

My time in Switzerland, also know as my first trip out of the US was amazing. Schaffhausen just to compare has a population of about 33,000, Henderson, NV: 240,000 and Austin, TX: 743,000, so I knew it would be a little bit different. At first I was very homesick and had a really hard time adjusting but after spending more time with my teammates and making three very good friends, the place began to grow on me. My team finished in second place in our league, just behind a team stacked with national team players from all over the world, including a few from the US, so the volleyball as always was a positive.

Heading back to US in April was bittersweet for me. I had finally adjusted to European life and felt so lucky to have been through this eye opening experience, but was so anxious to get home to see my family, my dog, my friends, my own queen sized bed, the electric dryer, and In-and-Out Burger. My niece was now a year and six months old and I couldn't wait to spend every waking moment with her...which is exactly what I did for the next three months.

I played some beach, saw Blue Man Group with Anthony, Reggae in the Park with mom, spent time in LA with Donovan, watched Adonis almost get as tall as me, drove Ja'Nice's truck until it stopped on the highway, had air fried fries with Sandra, and watched my dad shrink his belt line all in four months.

In July I headed back to Austin to work Texas volleyball camps and a few others around the state. I got to spend some time with my old college roomie, Lauren, see old friends while working camps and also visiting some of my favorite places in Austin. To put an end to my working summer vacation a good friend of mine came all the way from Switzerland to spend his vacation time in Texas for his very first trip to the US. We had an amazing time driving around the state, lounging on boats, getting lost, eating McDonalds, and having Sunday afternoon brunches; in conclusion I'm a great tour guide :) Ending my summer in Vegas with my sister's baby shower could only have been better if my nephew, Jonathan Anakoni could have come two weeks earlier. All it all it was great.

On August 19th, I packed my bags and headed for Terville France. So, here I am. Thankfully in this very small village I am one of two Americans on my team, Regan Hood, who I had know previously through my former assistant coach at Texas, Tonya Johnson, turns out to be a great companion to have on my journey through this season. Last weekend we played our first tournament Saturday and Sunday and came home with the trophy or in European terms the bottle of wine. I think we surprised everyone in the tournament and hopefully it is a sign of good things to come.

On our very first weekend off I took my first solo train adventure to Lausanne, Switzerland to visit one of my old teammates from Schaffhausen and best friends Aїda. Instantly I feel in love with the city. Lausanne is on the west coast of Switzerland and considered the “French part”, it lies on Lake Geneva and from Lausanne you can see the gorgeous Alps and other famous mountains, like Evian…breathtaking. While in Lausanne I ran into an old school mate and recent Olympian Marshavet Hooker on the street who was in town for a meet, crazy how small the world is.

This weekend we play at home against some pretty good teams and next weekend are headed to my old stomping ground, Schaffhausen to play my old team and a few others, needless to say I'm very excited to see my old teammates and also two of my very best friends in good ole Schaffhausen.

So this was the last year of my life all in a nut shell and I wouldn't change a single thing if I could. I embraced every moment and took advantage of every opportunity and couldn't be more thankful for where I am today. I look forward to what is to come...