qu'est-ce que c'est?

So on Wednesday us foreigners (not counting the Romanian girls, cause apparently Romanian is very close to French, in addition they have all played in France or French speaking countries before) went for our first French lesson in Metz (about a 20 minute drive from Terville). We started like a kindergarten class, learning the alphabet, numbers, random words (un crossant, une machine, un animal, un hôtel), and some basic statements, like" j'habit en Terville" I live in Terville, je suis American "I am American", and lastly “c'est un animal” this is an animal. We used pictures to practice our pronunciation which was pretty funny for two Americans, a Czech, and two Spainards. Tereza, our Cezh girl was shown a picture with some grass and two legs of some creature so our teacher Marc ask her "Tereza, qu'est-ce que c'est?"(what is this? and her very quick, very Czech-French respond was "c'estunTIGRE!". We all burst in to laughter considering that "Tigre" was not one of our random words, but "un animal" definitely was. Well be going in twice a week I think for our lessons, so hopefully in the near future when a little French lady rants off at me after a match for 4 minutes straight without realizing I don’t speak French, I'll have a response :)

Tereza the "Tigre"

Last week in Hainaut, we lost a close match in 5. Our club hasn't ever beat Hainaut and this past weekend was definitely our chance. Our libero, in game four pulled her self out of our passing formation which was for the best, but our passing and blocking struggled for the entire match. So, we lost and no matter how close we came, it still sucks to lose. But we did move up from last to 9th place :)

We've finally got our tv hooked up and actually have a few English channels, CNN, ESPN Classic, BBC, and some other random stuff that is definitely not American. But it's good to see American shows, even if they're not in English (if anyone knows how to change the language on a French tv, hollar at me). So life is pretty amazing, I wake up everyday and realize how extremely luck I am and give thanks. I have a gre

at family that is so supportive, great friends around to listen to whatever issues I may be having (thanks Karen), and I'm learning so much everyday about myself and about the world around me, life is good. Keep praying for me :)

This is Karin (the girlfriend of Dave's teammate, Steven) and I the last time I was in Switzerland

happiness

Happiness,

not in another place,

but this place…

not for another hour,

but this hour…

— Walt Whitman

back on track

Last Saturday we won our second league match against Vandoeuvre Nancy. We won in three, which was a huge morale booster for a team that got spanked in front of the entire league the previous Saturday. We were still without our starting setter but pulled it out in the end. In the second game for the last two points our coached pulled our setter out and put in our opposite to block, so we had no setter…in Europe, when the setters don’t set the middles do, so for the last two points of the match I set two balls to Regan and she scored on both! Big feat for someone with bad setting hands like mine, good job Hood! Afterward we headed to Metz to celebrate and had a pretty good time, we’re all really good friends when things are good and we win.

right before I set the game winning ball, haha!

This week has gone by pretty fast, well I guess it is only Wednesday but my weeks go by according to practices, and we only have two more after tonight until the next match. Tomorrow we have a sponsor event starting at 8:30am and lasting until 4:30pm, so it’s going to be a looong day, but this is the job, smiling, nodding, and telling people “je ne comprends pas le français” ( I don’t understand French) one of the few phrases I have learned. Plans for traveling for Christmas and New Years are in the works…I want to see more of Europe and I’ll have about two weeks off, so we’ll see what I come up with. That’s it for now, off to another practice, ciao ciao.

my favorite girl is 2 tomorrow

Tomorrow my niece and God daughter will be
celebrating her second birthday. My best friend and sister is doing her usual gig and putting on a bash for Miss Leilani and I regret more than anything not being able to be there :(









Over the past two years Mya's life has been such a joy not only to me but our whole family. As the first grandchild of my three parents, I've got see a sort of rejuvenation within of each of them with Mya's presence. Whenever Mya enters a room, everyone's faces light up cheerfully knowing that she's there. From her funny little smile to her love of music and dancing Mya truly is a happy little girl
.

To my sister, becoming a mother was such a huge
and defining step in her life and I knew that she
would embrace it with her whole heart and that
she's done with grace. There was a time when
I questioned why she would ever want to give
up her freedom to start a family so soon, but
I've come to question why anyone would
want to wait to see that look on Mya's face when
Ja'Nice walks into the room, indescribable.






Recently, Mya has become a big sister and
I know that Ja'Nice will teach her to be the
kind of big sister she was to me, dependable,
honest, trustworty, caring, supportive, and
loving. She is my best friend and I can't be
thankful enough for her bringing my Mya into
our lives. Happy birthday Mya, you are such
a blessing, love, love, love you princess!!! -Nantie

It's your second birthday, baby

Two candles on your cake;
Proud parents stare in wonder
At each new move you make. We join in celebration,
As this special date arrives,
For baby has brought pleasure
Into all our lives. We look forward now to seeing
How you progress and grow,
From the cute and tiny infant
You were one year ago. So dig into your icing;
Enjoy your presents, too.
The reason for this day
Is a special person--you!
By Joanna Fuchs

he never fails

Today was really just one of those days for me. We had a team meeting before practice to discuss our match last weekend in Paris (one word DISASTER, that's all I'll speak of it) with our Coach, Club President, and Team Manager and it was ruff. Words like embarrassment, shame, and horrible pretty much defined what el presidente had to say, but we expected nothing less, it was B A D. That was followed up by a sense of urgency from the club with pressure to win this weekend in our "Derby" match against our regional rival. Then with everyone in a not so motivated mood we went in to practice, frustrating to say the least.

While I was lying in bed tonight and recapping on my day (and situation) I decided to turn to my pocket bible for guidance and it took me to Thessalonians in the real thing and this is what changed my mood:
be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

I have absolutely nothing to complain about...if it wasn't his will I wouldn't be going through it :) (with a biiiiiiiig smile)

two people I really miss, that always make me smile

crusin'

So I’ve been in Europe for about 6 weeks now and sometimes it takes as little as a train ride to make me realize how fortunate I am. This past weekend was our last off weekend pretty much until our Christmas vacation time and I chose to spend my last weekend in Switzerland (where else, right?). From Thionville I took a four and a half hour train to Zürich and then from Zürich about 40 minutes of travel. If you’ve never, I strongly recommend taking trains around Europe during your lifetime, it’s opportunity to see so much. The journey through France is filled with vineyards and lush greenery and through Switzerland tons of cows and a variety of crops. To sit with my iPod listening and repeating my French lessons for the day and just taking it all in is for me an indescribable peace.

Needless to say I had an amazing vaca, but am excited to be back in good ole Terville. Our first official match is this Saturday in Paris and I’m overwhelmingly anxious, firstly for our first official match and secondly to be going to Paris. I fall deeply into the category of American’s with that over-romanticized image of Europe and Paris is the one city that I’ve always wanted to visit and now I’m getting the chance, I’m such a lucky girl…

peace