Let's Start From the Good Part.

 The title of this post is a bit ironic considering everything thats happened since 2019. Let's review:

- A global pandemic began in December 2019

- My panic/stress button goes haywire and I am the one freaking out while Sweden and its people quietly ghost past people in the grocery store sans face mask because our National Health advisor says they are unnecessary while the rest of the world wears them and goes into lockdown. Not Sweden! 

- Victor continues his job as a personal trainer, I panic some more. 

- My classes and master thesis go remote. 

- My thesis topic gets jumbled around and the end date looms on the horizon. 

- I take a part time internship at a company that sells baby products, only to nearly miss getting covid from the office outbreak. The rest of my time is spent at home and my internship is cut short due to increasing stress from my Master thesis project. 

- Finish my Masters and graduate with less than flying colors but I graduate non the less. 

- Covid haults our wedding plans for a moment. Sweden won't let the US in. 

- Two weeks before wedding, Sweden opens to vaccinated US citizens. Phew. 

- Job hunt begins...nothing. 

- 4 interviews that led to no job offer.

- Found a job at a cafe, it turns out to be a shitty experience. 

Now that most of the negatives are out, NOW let's skip to the good parts: 

- Finished my thesis! Got my Masters! 

- Married my best friend and biggest supporter! 

- My family was able to come to the wedding! 

- The wedding was amazing! 

- My friends are amazing! 

- Haven't yet gotten the chance to experience covid (thankfully)!

- Found some extra jobs! 

- Got a job at a cafe, it's definitely a learning experience!! I learned how to not treat your employees. But let's be honest, I would never treat anyone working for me the way I was treated. Expect people to do things for you? Treat them well. 

- Baby #1 on the way! 

- Possible move coming in August???

4 matches, 2 weeks

It was time, we were to play Orebro, my old club. There was a little bit of hype around this match about me coming back "to the home court".  A reporter asked me why I didn't go back to Orebro for another season. Wasn't it obvious? Almost the entire team had quit, the coach was a rookie head coach and to top it off, they didn't offer me a contract anyway. Sollentuna has given me an amazing contract. One that I could not imagine to get anywhere else here in Sweden, so why go back to Orebro? My time there was fun and I appreciate everything they had done for me, but it was time to move on. I miss the teammates, coaches and friends I made over the past three years and am forever thankful to the coaches who have helped shape who and what I am today. Their coaching methods and advice will stick with me forever.

Moving on, the match...it was a good one and one that we, Sollentuna, should have won in 3 sets. We were up 2 sets and they were not easy to win, it was close. Set 3 was relaxed on our side, however we kept up until the end. Set 4 seemed like we had given up and set 5 was us trying to make up for everything we had done wrong a little bit too late.  Personally I could have done a bit better in attack, being a bit smarter when it came down to it. Our serve was really good and gave us a chance. Our serve receive was too up and down to create a consistent trust with our setters and middle attackers. Our defense was good, however we needed to put balls on the 3 meter line when we were in trouble and our block needed to be more disciplined. The free balls have to be almost 100 percent perfect next match, they were here and there this time. Overall, I felt we made them fight for the win. I wish we would have closed them out in 3, but there will be more chances this season, so I am not worried about this one loss. Plus we walked away with a point so we are still ahead in the rankings and will hopefully go up a bit more after these next 3 matches. As for the feeling I got from the audience, it was great! I believe I even heard people cheering when I would make a kill occasionally. It took me about 20 minutes to make my way back to the locker room after meeting everyone. I think I hugged about 80 percent of the people who were there. It was a really nice feeling to get from an ex club. The people I created wonderful bonds with still care and I them. It was great to see them all and I still really appreciate all their love and support, even from afar.

The next match on our list was Gothenberg. We were to take the train the morning of. I was ready to go and had everything packed. I had enough time to eat breakfast and take my time. I consistently kept checking the clock to make sure I wasn't running late. Once it was time to go, I took one last look around to make sure I had everything. As I was rounding the corner to the bus stop outside my apartment complex, my heart stopped. The bus was pulling away from the stop right before my eyes. My heart bounced up to a panicked rhythm as I watched in horror as it pulled away. I thought "shit....shhhhit was that my bus?! SHIT IT WAS!!" After that I kind of blacked out and ran around the center of my small residential area trying to think of what to do. I thought my phone ran out of battery so I sprinted up to my apartment and tried to quickly recharge it, which wasn't happening. Luckily I was still able to receive and send text messages. A teammate and assistant coach told me to get on the next bus to Sollentuna and just try to go for it. The train we were to be leaving on left at 8:14....I was going to get there at 8:14, it was going to be close. Once the train doors opened at Stockholm central, I went into a full out sprint towards the platform, which I missed and was scanning the board for my train which had left already. Thankfully there is a happy ending to this story. My assistant coach told me in an earlier text that he would buy another ticket for a train that left an hour later and had the tickets waiting for me at Espresso House. Once I realized I had missed it, I almost started crying my eyes out. I was so mad at myself! This had happened once every season, being late. So this was my one time pass, which was by far the worst time to be late! I asked the assistant coach what I owed for the ticket and he told me "Just win tonight and you don't owe us anything." All I thought and said was "Deal! I'll do everything in my power to do that!". I got to the lunch spot about 30 minutes after the rest of my team, so I wasn't that much later then I thought and the girls and coaches just made fun of the situation which put me at ease for the match. Thank you team and coaches :)

Now for the match. This will be short. We won in 3 sets. The start of set one was shaky and peppered with mistakes from our attack. Once we settled in, there was no stopping us. The second set was a nervous mess. Still too many mistakes from us making it super close at the end but we prevailed. The 3rd set was easier, however we let them in towards the end a little. I was wanting to just end it and I know most of the others wanted the same so I am happy we finished it out with a bit more breathing room at the end, points wise. I ended the match with 19 total points and MVP. Not to shabby for the late comer. Overall I was happy the girls kept up a progressive and positive attitude. They kept focused on the end result.

RIG Falkoping was next, at home. The first set was slow and it seemed that we couldn't get a handle of the set at all. I was making to many hitting errors and stupid mistakes. The rest of us were having trouble figuring out how to get out of the hole we had dug ourselves. Luckily Bella, one of our middles served the other side into submission and gained back a huge deficit. Unfortunately it wasn't enough for us to grab the set, however it helped us gain momentum into the next. Our coach said that we needed to up our blocking and to take care of the ball when we had the chance. Which is exactly what we did to clench the next 3 sets in a row. Personally I did not have the best match which is why I am happy the other attackers on the court took care of business. Elina, one of our opposites played a great match and received her first MVP in the Eliteseries with 15 total points. Adding another 3 points to the rankings for us was a great feeling.

I am going to preface this last match against Hylte Halmstad with one word, underprepared. We lost in three...now let me tell you why (at least what I think). Monday we prepared for RIG so we were not thinking about Hylte yet. Tuesday was game day, wednesday was a day off. Thursdays practice came around (which by the way was our only practice besides an hour and 15 day of) to prepare for Hylte and the team seemed sluggish and unfocused. It was sloppy and pretty much a waste. My feelings about practices are, you come in and commit your time for however many hours allotted and do your best. When you step into the gym, its time to work. Even when I was in College and before that, when I went to practice, that was the time to get better as an individual and to succeed as a team. To be prepared for whatever was to come our way. Thursday was the exact opposite. I stopped us (a bit to late, we had 7 minutes left) in the middle of what seemed to becoming a daunting drill except for maybe the middles, opposites and setters. One side was to play defense against the team getting a free ball. The setters were to only set the 10 (back row attack on the right side) and the middles. It was a productive drill for about 15 minutes and then it went down hill from there. People stopped talking, stopped going for it, stopped trying pretty much. Towards the end it looked bad. So, like I said earlier, I stopped us and tried to re-motivate the team, by simply stating, how we were playing, was complete bullshit and we all knew it. If we play like this in practice we will surely play like it during the match Sunday and lose. Well, our match reflected how we played on thursday entirely.

I talked to one audience member and he told me that it seemed we weren't ready to play the moment we walked into the gym. He was right. Even if some of the girls were ready, it sure didn't look like it. A clear sign of an unprepared team is frustration and on court fighting, which we had and did. We were a bunch of individuals trying to play a match together. One of the girls would come into the huddle and say "together as a team now". I wish everyone would have listened and snapped out of it. But we definitely did one thing as a team that night...we lost as a team.

One of our opposites, Sophia Tacktor, came off the bench and performed really great and received MVP (very proud of her). My personal game, I thought, wasn't bad and my hitting errors were down but with only 3-4 people on the court doing their jobs, it just isn't enough to win a match against the number 2 team in the league. I don't like nor encourage people to use end all be all words like MUST, NEED TO and HAVE TO, to describe what has to happen on court and in practices. In this case, I don't care anymore. As a team we MUST, NEED TO AND HAVE TO keep the way we come to a match and work in a practice consistently tough. There needs to be a certain level of discipline that we as individuals need to follow. I am in no way saying we need to be robots. I for one, am not the type of player who is always serious and for those who know me as a volleyball player, know that. When it comes down to getting work done at practice and or in a match, it is all about doing your job and having fun doing it right. I am a competitive person and I expect my teammates to be the same when it comes to game time. We may not always agree with how things are done at practice but in the end we need to do whatever is being asked of us, as well as we know how, to get a positive result from it. Or else we are going to be lost and unsuccessful the entire season.

Its time for this team to grow up a bit and get tough. Stop blaming others for own mistakes and take responsibility for your job on court because that is what will make us better. That is what will help us succeed. Being disciplined in practice and during work outs while helping each other out will get us to the top.

I am excited for our next match against Katrineholm. I hope that this week in practice will be much better and a lot more focused on the job at hand. HEJA STORA TUNA! I believe!

Svedala and a Free Weekend

Finally, our first home opener against Svedala. This season, they have 3 foreigners and one or two Swedes who can hold their own on the court. The team we met was pretty well balanced but when it came to crunch time, the foreigners took control of their side. From my point of view, we were pretty well matched. I thought for sure, we could have beaten them, at least taken them to a 5th set. Unfortunately that was not the case and we ended in the 4th set, beginning to get momentum to late in the game. This match upset me the most so far. It was apparent that we were holding our own out there, it was just to inconsistent. I hope the next time we meet them, we will be sharper and can take them with out contest. Maybe I am being a little unrealistic, but I feel that this team gets better and better with every match we play. Until then, we continue practicing hard and perfecting our skill sets.

It has been said by many, that when you meet a good friend and you don't see them for a while, then come together again, its like you were never apart. It feels as if no time has passed. That is when you know you have found a friend for life. This is exactly how I felt this passed weekend when I travelled to Linkoping to visit my old teammate and friend Nikki. I met her three years ago during my first season with Orebro Volley. It was her first year playing in the top league in Sweden and the nerves were there, but she was ready to get after it. She was so excited to get the chance to play at a higher level, to play with others who knew all about it. That is why it was extremely unfortunate when her ankle took a turn for the worse, she was forced to quit playing for the season. After only about 5 months she had moved back to Linkoping to live with her boyfriend. I was sad to see her go, she was such a lively spirit on and off the court and extremely funny. We tried numerous times to visit one another but it never seemed to work out. Last weekend was the first time in three years we got to hang out with one another and it was awesome!

She prepared a "whit-tinerary" that we could loosely follow. The first day I was there, we walked through town, had brunch at her favorite spot, went on a bike ride through an amazing forest, met up with my old teammate Lena and her husband Magnus for their baby boys first birthday, ate some cake and went back to her apartment to have dinner with Albin her boyfriend and Calle who is also a friend I haven't seen in forever as well. After we ate, Calle, myself and Nikki decided to paint our faces for Halloween and to head out on the town. I hadn't painted my face since I was in grammar school, so this was going to be interesting. Nikki found a great tutorial on a really simple mouth skeleton. All three of us looked awesome! Nikki and I wore all black while Calle wore all white. Once out on the town, many stares were headed our way but all seemed to be stares of admiration. I even told one person it was a tattoo....amazingly he didn't believe me! Oh well.

Nursing hang overs with Espresso House coffee's and food the next morning, we headed to the Linkoping mens teams NEVZA match at 12. They were playing against a Norwegian or Danish team. Linkoping beat them easy in 3 to advance to the next round. It was great getting to see mens volleyball being played at such a high level again. Everything is so fluid and the players make the game look easy. I got to see parents of an old friend of mine that I hadn't seen in so long, I was a little surprised they actually remembered me. They hugged me like I had been around all along.

That night, Nikki made a wonderful chicken roast with potatoes. Her domestic side is pretty awesome when she wants it to be. That being said, they are pretty lucky to have one another regardless of who does what around the house. I envy their life together a bit. Although, Nikki needs to admit to tooth paste tube hoarding. I think she is on her way, with the picture she sent me the other day of the tubes in the trash. Bra job Nikki!

I left the next morning with a slightly heavy heart, but know we will meet again at the very least one more time before I go back to the USA. Until then, I hope nothing but the best for her and hope her man and his team do well in the Eliteseries.

Swedish words for du:

Flytta: Move (Pronounced Flee-tah
Känslor: Feelings (pronounced sh-en-slor)
Höft: Hip (Pronounced Huft)

1-1

The past two weeks have gone by fast and slow. Last week, we travelled to Lindesberg...proceeded to get our asses handed to us towards the end of each set, except for set 3. I don't think I will never get over how mad the coach for Lindesberg gets when his team isn't winning EVERY SINGLE point. The man has a very short fuse. I mean, come on! give them a bit of a break! Mistakes and good points happen, the game is not going to perfect every time. You will not win 25-0 in this league, sorry, not going to happen. I know you aren't supposed to pay attention to the other teams antics, especially the other their coach, they aren't even on the court. Hard not to notice though, when his booming screams stun the audience into silence. Now, I mean no disrespect, he is a very good coach. I wouldn't mind him coaching me. I would find it hard however, to keep a straight face when his eyes bulge out of his tomato colored face, if god forbid, the other team "miraculously" gets through the block. Perfection is a very high goal to reach in volleyball as a team, but hey, good luck! Been trying to reach that same goal since I was 10 and still have yet to have the absolute perfect all around match.  

We traveled to RIG Falkoping Sunday at an unfortunately early time of 6:30 am, thanks to the mens team, wanting to get to the gym two hours before their match (understandable). I appreciated getting to watch the guys beat the absolute shittake mushrooms out of those teenage boys (RIG is a volleyball high school where the promising young volley stars go to ensure they are looked at first for the national team in the future...and also to get better of course). The first set was tough for our guys, those teenage boys aren't terrible in the least, they brought the heat indefinitely, just on an inconsistent note. Plus, our guys were better. Mr. Sean Anthony was having a phenomenal match. He made 17 points total and easily took player of the match. Big Tuna (my phrase for Sollentuna) prevailed in 3 sets. Then it was our turn to take that dubya!

RIG's girls team, were good in some areas and not so good in others. They had a hammer for a middle who was smart (very awesome combo). Tipping right over our finger tips in the block when the open angle wasn't there, see, smart. She saw the court well and took advantage, driving our libero's crazy. My old teammate Tilda, their right side, has improved a lot and was hitting harder and passing nails. I was impressed to see her getting better. Their small setter was just that, she was small. Good hands and consistent sets, but it was sure fun to hit over her since about half her hand cleared the net. The one other player I remember was their 6 foot something outside hitter. With time, this girl is going to be hitting the 10 foot line over the block. I see a lot of potential in that gal. OK, now for how we played! It was a bit up and down but not huge ups and downs. The first set was tight with us finally getting off our asses and starting to really play in the end of the set. The second set was a fairly easy win as we settled into our flow. The lows were higher and we were awake. The last set was tight as well. We got lucky with a net call on the last point (I had hit the ball out) and were able to take them a few points later at 28-26. I too collected 17 total points and the player of the match. I am very happy and proud of the team for finishing this team off in three sets, earning 3 points for the charts.

Today is yet another game day. We are up against Svedala at home. The guys play Linkoping (champs in the past and basically beasts, next to the mens team in Faulkenberg). Svedala has three Americano's, a setter, oppo and outside. Watching video last night it was obvious that their lefty oppo is a beast. She looks like a solid player. Their setter has a quick touch and is good on defense. Their outside is also tall but we didn't see too much from her in the video so I hope that we will be on our toes looking for options and cracks in this team to exploit tonight for the win.

HEJA BIG TUNA!

Some Swedish for you:

Tjena = Howdy
Vi ses = See you
Puss och Kram = kiss and hug

Update #3 Weather, butterflies and of course, volleyball.

The past week and a half or so have moved along pretty fast, which I welcome, since I would like to get this season underway. To get after it, some may say. We participated in a two match scrimmage against our distant neighbors, Lindesberg. We played 10 sets in total and won 2. Lets face it, they are a good team, but I think we are and can be better with a little more time and practice together. Maybe I am delusional, or maybe I am just being an athlete. Never stop trying to win, never stop thinking "we are better, faster, stronger" and most importantly, never giving up. All teams in this league have strengths and weaknesses. Its all about exploiting those weaknesses, however big or small, during a match and taking full advantage of them for the win. Its about being aggressive in the moment, not through feelings of disappointment in the locker room, after the game is over. My thoughts about the game are simple, if I put my all into every match and do everything I can to win, there is no reason for me to be upset or down on myself after its over. Win or lose. On another related note, we will play against my old team, Orebro, this saturday. Some asked me if this was going to be tough for me or in some sense, like a grudge match...the truth...the team that is there now, is completely different then the one I spent 3 years with. Yes, there are 3 girls I played with before and one that went through all 3 years with me. So I guess it will be fun to play against them, otherwise, I have no idea who this team is. I am interested to see how our team has progressed or digressed and work on sharpening the rough edges before our first match next Thursday.

Taking a break from volleyball talk for a moment, the weather has started to take on the feeling that winter is on its way. I was told that the summer was warmer then usual, which apparently means a lot of snow. I love a lot of snow, so bring it on! Can't wait. Like common Swedish weather, it has been cloudy, rainy and cold since the beginning of October. Today is the first day I have seen the sun come out for longer then an hour. Does this bother me? Yes, sometimes, but other times, I like the feeling of cold and seasons when its supposed to be. I like feeling cozy and warm in my apartment when the weather is cold and wet outside. It is starting to get darker earlier now, but have no fear I say, its only dark for about 2 months and then it gets lighter again. Like I have said in the past, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, always. So bring on the cold weather and snow. This is how season should be experienced anyway!

I wanted to mention the butterfly house I recently visited. The amazon like tent is located in Haga park near Stockholm. It took me a little bit to find the area via bus, but I eventually found myself in the right spot. Once I walked into the huge tent of lush greenery, man made ponds and humidity, I instantly felt like I was in an actual rain forest. Hot, wet air and green tropical plants and flowers everywhere you looked. At first I didn't see any butterflies and felt a little disappointed. After looking closer and up to the ceiling, they began to make their presence known, flapping their wings all around and above me. One, that looked as big or bigger then a small bird, clumsily flew straight towards me and proceeded to try and land on my face. It took everything in me to not swat it away like I would a fly. There were so many different types of butterflies and some that were in the middle of hatching as well. It was amazing in there, I could have stayed all day if I hadn't felt like I was going to pass out because of the heat. My favorites were the ones with brownish wings and then when opened, a bright color would be shown on the tops of their wings. I also spotted one with green and brown spots on its wings. I could definitely see myself going there during the winter time, the heat alone would get me out of a winter funk.



Our first match of the season is the 16th next week. I, like many others, are excited to finally get this league started. We play Lindesberg and will hopefully find a crack in their armor and beat them. I believe we can and I hope that everyone else on the team feels the same. Just because they are ranked higher and seem better then us doesn't mean we can relax and just lose. Winning is hard, losing is easy. I prefer to win, however hard it may be. Until next time!

Swedish words:

fjäril (fee-ya-rrill) = Butterfly
Soligt = Sunny
djungel = Jungle

Update #2

The past week or so has been a mix of meeting new people, riding too many busses to get from A to B and of course volleyball. Last Friday I heard there was an IKEA "close by", this meaning about an hour. This is common, however a huge pain in my ass. That being said, I am forever appreciative for the efficiency and abundance of Sweden's public transportation. Let me just say, and this is a universal tip, pay close attention to the end station on the front of the bus, train, metro whatever. Unfortunately I ended up taking one to many busses to get to the IKEA and one to many to get back, all because I didn't think to make sure the bus number matched the direction I wanted to go. Rookie mistake on my part. I don't need to go into what IKEA was like since I assume that everyone reading this has been in one or at least knows what it is by now, and no I did not eat any swedish meatballs...I had a grillkorv med brod (hotdog in bread) and it was delicious!

Saturday I convinced two of my teammates to join me in taking part of what I thought was going to be a big food and beer fair called, "Elefanten". I was so excited to try some new beers and check out the food trucks they were advertising. We arrived, a bit after 1pm, to a small outdoor restaurant...that was it. No food trucks, no beers I hadn't heard about or wanted to try and the menu was weak sauce! I was so disappointed! Plus I felt bad dragging my two teammates all the way out there for a less then satisfying result. The three of us decided to ditch the food shack and head to Kungshallen, a food court with the right amount of choices and plenty of outdoor seating. We put up shop and grubbed on some grand steps over looking an open air market where foreign venders yelled things like "halva, halva, halva" (half half half), "Halva priset!" (Half price) and whistled at pretty girls, asking them if they were from Italy...not sure why. It was such a nice day, that we spent about an hour or so just sitting there people watching. After, we headed to a well known coffee spot called Espresso House for some Fika time (coffee and cake). That night, some of the girls and I had fun at a party and then got after it out on the town. Team bonding is always easy over a few beers and some dancing.

This week has been good and progressive volleyball wise. The team is finally all together, there were 16 of us at practice on tuesday! The one thing that has been bothersome, however, is the amount of hitting we are doing during practice. Personally, my shoulder will not be able to last the whole season if the amount of hitting continues. Therefore, a few of us decided to have a conversation with the coach. We asked him if we could limit the amount of hitting, so that we can preserve our bodies in order to make it through with minimal tension on the hitters shoulders. Now, my intention was not to change the way he runs practices, or to demean or disrespect him in any way. My point was to inform him on how we, as players were feeling and for him to help us in the preservation of our hitting shoulders. He responded with a simple, no. As in, "no, there will be no change in the practices right now, this is what we need to do. Everyone needs to take responsibility for their bodies and take themselves out when they need to." So, I nodded and said ok, what more could I do? Plus, he was right. Everyone on the team needs to take responsibility for their own well being. Therefore, I will do just that, especially since I was given the ok by the coach to do so. I will continue to believe he has a plan and trust him. This weekend will be the team and coaches first test as to how well we can work together. We play a team called Lindesberg. In the past 3 years they have been a force and have won the championship as well. I am excited to play them but mostly, I am excited to see what we can do, what we can handle and what we will learn from this pre season match.

Today was our day off (wednesday). I woke up around 10am, made my favorite, cinnamon whole wheat hazelnut milk pancakes with maple syrup (syrup wasn't cheap! but so worth it), watched a few episodes of New Girl including the most recent and then got on my way to Stockholm. My mission, to find an efficient yet not so over priced blender. Mission accomplished! Clas Ohlson was the spot and my two speed blender is the ticket to perfect morning smoothies, can't wait!

Once I was finished shopping, I decided to continue walking around a bit. It was cloudy, cold and a bit misty but there were people everywhere still. Fortunately it was the type of cold that didn't hurry you into coffee shops, department stores or restaurants. I walked to the end of one of the main shopping streets that opened up towards the royal families castle and old town, then cut across in front of the castle and down towards a bridge over the water. I stopped for a moment to look out at the harbor filled with guided tour boats and public transport ferries. My walk continued towards the park with the ice skating rink during the winter and the promenade covered with two lanes of trees with still full branches that blocked out the sky. I passed Fridays, which seems to be a hot spot for a lot of Swedes around here, and continued on passed the galleria and down to T-central for my train. During all this time, I figuratively, had to pinch myself. I am still in a state of slight shock that I am finally living in the Stockholm area. As I looked around at the buildings and listened to the hum of the city, it was all I could do but smile and think of how lucky I am to be here. I intend to fully enjoy every minute I have during this season.

Some Swedish for you:

Trevligt att träffas = Nice to meet you
En öl = one beer
Tack = Thanks

Europe, Round 7

Yes, you heard it right, I am back! I arrived in Sweden last Tuesday and feeling right at home already. For the last 4 years that I have been living here in this beautiful country, I have always felt a pull towards Stockholm. Especially after my first visit. It was love at first sight and the visit was during winter. Thats when I knew I  really loved this city. I wanted to be here rain or shine, hot or cold, Stockholm is forever beautiful. There is always something going on, something to do or see. You could never be bored in this city. Plus the way of life in this country is unique and easy going. In other words I feel everyone should visit this city at least once in their lives.

This year I got a huge opportunity to live close to Stockholm. I signed with Sollentuna Volley, a small suburb just outside the city. The first thing I noticed about living here is how much nature there is. I am literally living on a rocky/grassy hill with woods and valleys surrounding me. Recently I have been taking walks in all directions to see what is around me. To the left is a camp ground that sits on a vast lake with scenic hiking trails that hug the lakes shoreline. To the right, there are residential houses, big open meadows and steep winding footpaths. Behind my building is a bridge that took me to another bunch of nice apartment buildings that sit on a gradually slopping rock face that leads into woods, looking down into a valley with a lake. I watched the sun go down sitting on a bench at a clearing, it was unreal. There is a bus stop about 2 minutes from my apartment that takes me either to a posh part of the area called Dandryds or to Sollentuna Center. The best part of all, I can get to the center of Stockholm in a little under 25 minutes!

Now, I didn't sign with this team just for the city access. It is a perk, but its not the only reason. I have always admired this teams defense and energy to keep the ball in play. I believe that will get us far in the league this year. All they have needed, is a few power hitters to put the ball away. I believe that is my role on this team, to help inspire the aggressive nature on court that I know is in all of them and to make points. This group of girls have been playing together for about 3 years and know one another pretty well. I feel they have grown together and become a strong force that has the ability to take on any team with the right mindset. I have no doubts that we can make this season one for the books. Its up to us and us only to make that happen. I am excited to see our team in action. (The picture above is of the mens team in the gym we play our matches in).

Some Swedish for you :)

Hej = Hey
Hej då (hey doe) = goodbye
Vi ses snart = See you soon

Safe!

Praise whatever God or spiritual leader you believe in, we are safe from dropping down to a lower division!! This past weekend we encountered two very important matches that would determine our fate for the next upcoming season. Saturdays match was against the lowest ranked team, Vallentuna who took a set from us but we turned it around and killed them in the last 3 sets. Sundays match was against Goteborg, who currently held the second place position in the qualification rankings. The first set was shaky, Goteborg led almost the entire time in points. When we came to the end, we managed to pull through and secure the first set 25-23. The second set was a breeze, we beat them pretty easily with the pressure in our serve heightening. The last set was a little more even, but we came out on top in the end to secure our spot in the Elite Series for yet another season. WOOOO HOOO!! Winning qualifications will never be as exciting as going to the play offs but its a good note to end on and we are all smiles no matter what. Of couse it would have been great to see how far we could have gone in the play offs but its in the past and now we have some serious celebrating to do in the future. Here's to Orebro Volley for pulling out another Qualification win and for hopefully never having to do it again!! Cheers! :)

Awards, Volleyball and Me.

I'll start with the volleyball update just to get it out of the way. Whats been happening is we have started the Qualification series. There are two lower division teams and then the two bottom teams from the Elite Series, us and Ljungby playing for the two spots up for grabs in the Elite Series. Orebro Volley is two matches in and 1-1 in wins and losses with 4 total points which puts us in the second spot in the standings. We lost to Ljungby, the other Elite Series team fighting for their spot in the top league. We beat Vallentuna, a team that has been in the Elite Series before, however we beat them pretty nicely in 3 sets to non, first of the season. I say if we are going to lose to a team in this series I would rather it be another Elite team then one of the two lower division teams. Of course, I believe we will win the rest of the matches we have in this series. And we will. Four matches left and one objective, to win. We can do this.

Now, its me time. I have a feeling this blog will slightly turn into an open journal about my life. I promise not to put every little detail of my experiences here but I do promise to make this more about growth then about venting...but who am I kidding, there will be a little venting.

In my last post I talked about how I need to find happiness in myself instead of relying on others (guys mostly) to provide it for me. An ex boyfriend once told me he wanted me to be a more independent person. At the time I thought I was, by living in another country and being on my own. I didn't realize he was talking about being independent in my own feelings, my own happiness. As much as I hate giving this douche bag any credit for the way he made me a better person after our relationship faltered, sputtered and died...he was, is totally right. All my life as far as I can remember, things have been given to me and I have had a lot of help getting to where I am now. Any one who has participated in a team sport can tell you that it can be difficult to get your ass to the gym in the mornings, afternoons and evenings when you'r alone. Been there, done that, still doing it. This past summer, I felt more motivated to work out by myself because I wanted to get out of the house, get away from stuff happening at home. Wouldn't you know it, it was because of a guy. I understand that a man is at some point in my life going to be my other half, someone I can grow old with, to share my life experiences. Thats a no brainer, but what I want to feel is the security that I don't need a guy but instead want one when I am ready. I was still trying to figure out what I want and need in a guy and then it dawned on me, but in fact I always knew. I need/want someone who brings out the best in me, someone who likes/loves me for who I am as a person. Who helps me weaken my bad qualities and brightens the good. It wasn't until just recently that I found the type of guy who does that. I went on two dates with this guy and just from those two dates, my eyes were forced open and I could see. He was a gentleman, paid for everything I consumed with out question, held the door open for me, etc. His attitude was laid back and easy, he was charming, bottom line, he was a really cool guy. Now, I am definitely not saying that every man I meet from here on out needs to pay for me whenever we go on a date or cater to my every need, no. However, if a man wants to impress a girl and show her that he gives the slightest amount of shit for her, he will do what this guy did for me. Its that simple, but for some reason some don't seem to understand this concept of courtship. Those of you who have found a man who does understand this small but very significant little guideline, keep a tight hold ladies because you've hit the jack pot. Where is this mystery man now? He is back in London, living and working there. Will we see one another again? Maybe, I don't know, but for now all I can do is thank him for bringing me back to earth, pulling me back from the edge of desperation and making me realize what it is to be taken care of again.

Anyway, moving on from the male factor rant. We finish up the season pretty soon and I can honestly say that its a bitter sweet moment. A part of me is happy that we are almost done and can relax a bit for a while and the other half is very sad that I won't be spending my summer with this wonderful team of girls who have become my family over the past two years. For now we celebrate the seasons end and hold back the tears until the final days of my residence here in Sweden for this season.

Getting Close

Why hello there, its been a while. I know I have been slacking with this, my apologies, so whats been going on in the life and times of Whitney Turner? Well to tell you the truth, a whole lot of the same, volleyball, practice, eating and sleeping. However, there have been a few high lights and low lights that I would like to touch upon in this post.

VOLLEYBALL: Orebro Volley is yet again in turmoil regarding our finish in the regular season. Unfortunately we had 3 important games to win and we lost all 3 in 3 sets each. We could have taken advantage and killed at least 2 of the 3 teams but we were lost, our team was not present during the matches. So, we lost some great opportunities, ok, fine, its over with and there is nothing more to do, so we will be moving on from that. The result of us being in 9th place has pushed us to play in the qualifications. This means we play two top teams from Division 1 or All Svenskan plus the 10th place team for a place in the elite series next season. We have put ourselves in a slightly troublesome situation, however, I am confident in us and in myself that we will win the qualifications and will be back next season ready for vengeance. Yes, I am disappointed with how we finished the season, but will I hold on to that through the qualifications? No, definitely not. I will play my heart out these next 6 matches and every match will be played with no regrets. Mistakes will be made and great things will come from the opponents, but thats what to be expected, it is a game after all. We will make less mistakes though and more great things will come from us then from them. Loss is not an option in this situation, we will not fall, we will not fail.

As for me personally, my season has been pretty successful. I am jumping higher then I ever have before. My body doesn't feel as old as it has. One of my goals this season was to make double digit points in every match played. I am happy to say that I achieved that goal except for one match where I got 9 points. I am happy to report that I won the best attacker in the Swedish Elite league this year with 294 attacks. Its a great honor and achievement for me that I will carry forever. I owe a lot to my teammates and coaches of course, I wouldn't be where I am today with out their unconditional support. I thank them from the bottom of my heart. That being said, after these next 4 weeks, I will be needing some time off from volleyball indefinitely. This girl needs a vacation.

SWEDEN: Its nearly April and the weather is looking up. We have had uninterrupted sun for the past 2 weeks. Although its been frigid cold ever now and then. Regardless its beautiful weather with blue bird skies and clear starry nights. The one thing I am not so fond of is when the snow melts, all the trash and dirt that was covered by the snow starts to show. It makes any town or city look bad. The other day I was outside facing the sun with my eyes closed, doing what most swedes do when the sun comes out and I could have sworn I felt like I was getting sunburned. Pretty soon there will be no snow and ice left which means I won't be fearing for my life when I bike around town anymore. Its a shame that I am not able to stay here longer through the summer since I hear that is the best time of the year in Sweden. All I have ever seen of Sweden is the winter. Maybe next season I will try getting here in August so I will catch a few warm days. That is if there is a next season for me ;) We've got to finish this season out first with plenty of wins before I can say that there is a chance I will be back for another season.

ME: As for my personal life, I am doing pretty well. I have recently realized that I need to find happiness with myself with out a guy in my life. If I am constantly trying to look to someone else to make me happy besides myself then I might as well be miserable and lonely for the rest of my life. I have decided to find what makes me happy and live in the present instead of wondering and planning so far ahead in the future. Its time for me to make myself happy instead of relying on others (especially a guy) to do it. My plan is to do things that genuinely make me happy everyday. For example I could take more pictures in order to feel there is growth in my work as a photographer. I could also practice more yoga, set aside an hour every day. Eating healthier I believe will also help continue my journey on becoming a happier person in the long run. In all honesty I never thought I would be thinking this way at this age. If you would have asked college Whitney where she would be now, she would say married with kids. Things change so much in life and no one really tells you these things. People try to warn you but you think things will stay generally the same. They don't, change is a part of living. I intend on continuing to change but for the better. Like so many have said before us, "you only live once". So I am going to try and take advantage of each day and really search to find the things that make me happy. Because in the end I don't want to be looking back on my life wishing I had done something different. I want to say that I did all I wanted to do and learned so much more then I ever thought I would.

Early Days..

If you were to ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up as a little kid, I garauntee my answer would not have been "professional volleyball player". It would have been more along the lines of "Back up Dancer", "Figure Skater", or "Dolphin Trainer". I was born on July 3rd in the early evening at the Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance, California and raised in the popular coastal town of Manhattan Beach. The farthest I ever moved was from Ardmore to Laurel Ave in the tree section of MB. Not trying to sound to nostalgic or like some of our grandpa's, but back in the day before this town turned into a more upscale place to live, Manhattan Beach was a slow paced, quiet beach town. It was and still is one of the best places to be brought up in. To put it simply, Manhattan Beach is my paradise.

Visiting the night scene around town these days, I often am received by shocked tourists or new comers who can't believe that myself or some of my friends are actual locals. Some say "oh, never left the bubble huh?" or "Wow, not a bad place to grow up". The thing is, I did leave the bubble. I left for college. Many of my friends did the same or went far enough away from home so their parents would not have the freedom to "accidentally" drop by unannounced. Being the baby of the family, a momma's girl, and having a sister who went to school at UC Berkeley, every part of my future pointed towards staying in California for the next 4 years of my college experience. I was in my final year at Mira Costa High School, coming off a slightly disappointing yet personally satisfying volleyball season. I knew that I wanted to go to college and play. This was my top goal. But where? There were so many options and so many different schools, some I had never even heard of before. So, after 2 recruiting visits, one failed and one potential Div. 2 school really close to my sister, I took one last visit to a school in Boston, Mass. Of course it was after heavy persuasion from family members. They told me to give it a chance, "what is the worst that could happen", they said, "you hate it and then come home, no big deal". The exact opposite happened, I loved it. Maybe it was the romance of the city that got me or the two half naked Abercrombie and Fitch male models standing at the front entrance to one of their department stores in Fannuel Hall that did it. I was timid at first, but liked the school, the team, and the location, I was set. Once I signed the contract for a full 4 year athletic scholarship, my family and friends realized I wasn't messing around, this was actually going to happen, the baby was moving out and far away. Most were shocked others were excited and all were supportive of my decision, except maybe my Grandpa who insisted on calling me a Yankee from then on.

I can't tell you how great a decision it was to live in Boston. However, when I watched my parents drive away after settling me into what we liked to call "the prison cell" that was my dorm room, I was overwhelmed with sadness and longing for my friends, family, and the beach. Yes, Boston is on the coast but for most of the year its to cold to visit its beaches. In addition, trying to swim in the harbor or Charles river would most likely result in hypothermia and a mysterious looking rash somewhere on your body (not going from experience but since hearing that people are terrified to go in, this is what I assumed). My first time living in the snow was hilarious and a lesson learned, never hold coffee in your hand while walking on ice, something bad is bound to happen. My time in Boston was spent to the absolute fullest, I truly enjoyed my time there. Met a whole new style of people, played some great volleyball, partied, and made life long friends. I also met my first love as well who was a first for many things in my life. Living there made me appreciate Manhattan Beach all the more. I mean, imagine coming home during Christmas when it is 2 degrees there with wind chill, to a clear blue sky and a comfortable 70-75 degrees on the beach, heaven. My parents told me something that I will never forget, they said "go out and see things, live in different places, meet new people because you know this place and all that comes with it will still be here waiting for you when you come home." They were right, so that is exactly what I did. The girl who everyone thought was going to stay in the bubble and close to mom and dad's side broke out and began to grow.

I had heard about some volleyball players I knew taking their careers abroad and becoming professional volleyball players in different countries. I decided to talk to a few of them to understand what going abroad was all about, I was in my Junior year at Northeastern. Most told me that it was definitely something to consider if I wanted to continue to play at a competitive level after graduating, plus it was Europe, the experience alone would be gratifying enough. I planned to go on an "exposure tour" this popular agency funds in the beginning of August, taking place in Slovenia. For those who are globally challenged like I was, Slovenia is sandwiched between Austria and Croatia, and its 3 small towns on the coastline are across from Italy. The country resembles a chicken for some and a blob for others. As nervous as I was to embark on this new journey, I forced myself to be confident and strong. This was the first time I was to be traveling on my own in another country, one that was more foreign to me then any other place I had ever been. Luckily I crossed paths with another volleyballer who was on the tour as well in Frankfurt and from there we traveled together to the hotel in Maribor, Slovenia. Once I arrived, I had to quickly dust off the jet lag and prepare myself for the first practice. To my understanding there were to be a few coaches from different clubs attending the first couple practices. Yes, it was intimidating and nerve wrecking to say the least. As much as I anticipated this moment to really shine, I ended the practice in a full blown sweat and tears, I was horrible, I choked. I thought, "well, good job Whitney, did you really travel all this way to play like this?! Idiot!" The next day I was determined to play better and I did, things started to look up. I got offered a contract to play on a team located on the small coastline in a town called Koper and that is where my adventurous journey and new chapter in my life as a professional volleyball player began.

New Years 2013 Sweden!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 

 I understand I am little late on this post but I have been procrastinating big time. Anyway, this New Years I spent it with the team and a few other girls from Lindesberg Volley in Orebro. The captains of my team put together a three course dinner to be had in the basement of one of their apartment buildings. They decorated the basement and the long table we were to eat on amazingly. One of my friends from back home signed with Lindesberg Volley for the second half of the season so I was stoked to be celebrating with her as well. We sat at the dinner table and ate great food and drank an awesome welcome drink (Swedes are the best at welcome drinks). During the meal we would stop in order to toast and take a shot, a tradition among swedes during the holidays. We also would stop and take a shot for a time zone in another country. Basically we would take a shot for anything significant going on at the moment.

After the perfect dinner and dessert, a few more girls showed up and that is when the drinking games began. We played, thumper, numbers game and a new one called "Rabbit" or "Secret"...I am not sure but it turned out to be a long and thoughtful game. I would like to play that game again at the beginning of a night out instead of when we are about to leave. Around 11:45pm we all headed outside for the countdown and fireworks. The deal in Sweden is fireworks are completely legal! So once the clock strikes midnight, its like Sweden is at war. The noise is incredible and the sights are even better. There was a group of people down the street from us with a couple fireworks and let it rip once it turned 12.


After the excitement of the firework shows calmed, we headed out to a local club for some dancing. Once we were inside, we came to realize that the scene was a little different from what we had experienced there before. One thing was for sure, there were a lot of short people there. Also the ratio of attractive guys to girls was not exceeding our expectations. Regardless of the ratio of hot or not guys, we stayed and danced our pants off anyway. The night ended with me and the two girls I knew from home and college, walking back to my apartment tired and exhausted from dancing. My ankles weren't holding up in my heels so I decided to just take my shoes off and walk barefoot in the rain. Worked out but was not so good for the tights I was wearing. Oh well.



On another note, I looked over my resolutions from last year and I will admit that I didn't follow through with as many as I thought I was going to. This year, I have decided to make the list a bit shorter so I can focus better on what needs to be done instead of making a grandiose list that won't be completed. Better to start small and act big then the other way around.

2013 Resolutions:

-Practice/gym a 100% every week
-Get on a better/healthier sleeping pattern
-Practice yoga at least once a week
-Cut down on candy and junk food during the week
-Take care of skin/body/injuries, overall health
-Keep in touch with old and new friends better
-Stop searching for someone to make you happy, start searching for your own happiness.
-Prepare for the future better
-Save money every month
-Travel
-Face your fears head on and conquer them
-Be motivated and motivate others
-Have better/more clear judgement of certain people and situations
-Let go of the past and live one day at a time

I plan to fullfil all of the resolutions above and take some to the next year and the next and so on. I hope that all of you have thought about some sort of resolution(s)/goals you want to achieve this year and plan to go through with them as well. Take care of yourself and the people around you in your life. Make this year your best year yet!

Gothenberg

After an eventful Christmas in Salen, Maddis and I headed to Gothenberg via Norway. We made our way with 6 fun filled hours of music, random laughs or screams of restlessness, past Oslo, back into Sweden paying a small fee, to a large shopping mall, to another shopping mall to get alcohol for the trip and finally landing us at Gothenbergs central train station to pick up the one and only Kyle Gramit. Quick side note, Kyle Gramit is also a pro volleyballer from the USA (Chi town to be exact) with a powerful hitting arm and a go big or go home type of attitude on and off the court. He has played in Sweden for two years but this season, he has taken his game elsewhere. He now plays in Ennz Austria and as for next season, who knows, he says. After the pick up, we headed to Maddis's sisters house for the remainder of our stay. Her sister is married with two young children that are absolutely adorable. They live in a narrow three story house, the second floor is for the kids leaving the top floor for the grown ups of the house. The decor was of course very well put together (no surprise since they are Swedish) and everything just fit perfectly. Unfortunately, her daughter Embla, had a terrible ear infection and was crying a lot the first night. I remember when I had ear infections as a kid, I was super uncomfortable and crying as well. Her littlest one, Vilgot, was also crying, however, I think it was because his sister was, but he stopped after a little, warming up to us nicely. He took a liking to Kyle really quick. Maddis' sister, Helena, made us a wonderful dinner that night and so we ate and drank a little bit of wine while we waited for Kristofer, Helena's husband, to come home. After meeting and chatting with the family for some time, we all decided to get some sleep as we were to go sight seeing the next day.

Woke up the next morning to a mix of laughing and crying babies. We went up to the second level of the house and came to find Embla was doing worlds better and Vilgot was on the floor crying. What a turn of events. He did not cry for long though, he was a little distracted by me taking pictures and then showing them from my new camera. After a quick breakfast, Maddis, Kyle and I got into the car and headed west, to the coast. I was so excited to see the ocean, it had been about 4 months since I had seen one. We parked the car in what seemed to be an icy pond but was in fact a parking lot covered in ice. We made our way by foot on a path through a forested area until we reached the oceans edge. I can say with out hesitation that I was glad to be back near the ocean. When you grow up on the coast and you are away from it for a long time, seeing it again is like seeing an old friend, feels like you never left one another. We walked along the waters edge, over rock faces and some sandy beach, but not much. Most of the shore was rock, icy, slippery rock which wasn't a good match for me or the shoes I was wearing. Kyle ended up helping me out a lot. We made our way out onto the dock and snapped a few pictures of the fading sun in the distance. It was hard to believe that we were in fact at an ocean since the surrounding area was closed in by land and a few solitary islands. However, off in the distance you could see where the vast open ocean began, it was all so beautiful. There was a path that led us over a small hill top to another view of the coast, so we decided to take a little hike. That day was so bright and sunny that for a moment you could actually feel the heat of the sun underneath all the layers of clothes we were wearing. Or maybe it was my imagination wanting me to feel that.

Once we were back in the car we headed to town for some shopping. The city was big incomparison to most cities in Sweden, so we did quite a lot of walking. We went to the usual stores, H&M, Vila, Vera Moda, etc and I must admit that at some point I felt bad for Kyle since he was outnumbered and pretty much forced to come shopping with us. He seemed to be ok with it since he and I were playing around like kids most of the time anyway, trust falling on one another and taking funny pictures in the dressing mirrors in the stores. Maddis had no time for games, she was on a mission. She was on the look out for a certain type of hat, so we were able to help her out with that. Luckily we were successful in finding it and she was no longer annoyed with us acting like kids.

Back at Maddis's sisters place we ate a really nice family dinner. Her brother in law made pizza which was absolutely delicious. One was a normal type of pizza, cheese, veggie toppings and some meat. The other was my favorite, made up of mozerella, arugula, brie cheese, honey and pecans. It was amazing! I regret not getting the recipe from him while I was there, but hopefully I can retrieve it on a later date. After dinner, the kids were put to bed while the grown ups had some drinks down stairs and talked. I proceeded to play a drinking game with Maddis's sister and brother in law that I made up on the spot. I had my swedish to english dictionary and was testing their translation skills as they were mine. It turned out that they were better then I thought, therefore leaving me to drink a bit more every round. After a while they decided to head up to bed leaving us to get ready for the night out on the town. In Gothenburg there seems to be one popular strip where most bars and night clubs line the street, that was exactly where we wanted to be. We headed to the bus, a little late I might add but luckily he stopped for us.

Our first stop was O'Leary's for a couple of beers before the club. We chatted up a couple people while there and I am pretty sure Kyle was getting hit on by a burly looking man. Kyle kept trying to get our attention but Maddis and I were to busy enjoying the scene. We then made fast, but somewhat wobbly head way to a club around the corner were we danced the night away. I didn't know that Kyle could dance the way he did that night, I was pleasantly surprised! He was in more words or less "cutting a rug". Towards the end of the night, I danced with a guy who must have been about 5'2 to Grease Lighting. Kyle later exclaimed that he must have been Bilbo Baggins and that he had showed him the ring, just to clarify. We got back home around 3 in the morning and were asleep by 4, what a night!

 The next morning, we rose reluctantly with achy heads and puffy eyes to a bright day. It was about noon when we woke so we decided to order pizza to the house, stay in and watch TV. It was the perfect way to spend a day after a long night out. Maddis and I had about a 4 hour drive back to Orebro, so we said our goodbyes and thank yous to Maddis's sister, the kids and her brother in law and took Kyle to the train station. Needless to say we were utterly exhausted on the drive home. It was a great time in Gothenburg with those two and was also a sad ending to my amazing holiday. I won't ever forget this past Christmas, it was definitely one to remember. Its back to work once home and then New Years is on the way!

Dog Sledding in Scandinavia, a MUST!

One of my wishes and bucket list ideas is dog sledding. When Maddis gave me the post card with the dog on it saying her present was a surprise, I had a feeling that it might be dog sledding, but I didn't want to get my hopes up so I thought about all possibilites. Like I said in my previous post, when we got to the site for the dog sleds, there were a couple of things that we could have done besides dog sledding. There were snowmobiles and a ski rental shop with a ski lift right next to it. Plus she had brought helmets to make me think we were doing something else. She is a sneaky one.

We were assigned to a sled that had 7 dogs attached to it. We were the third sled behind a father daughter combo and behind us was the rest of their family, mother and daughter. When we were ready to go the dogs went from exhausted to pumped and energized. They were jumping and barking, pulling at the sled signifying that they were ready to go. The two guides were on the front sled and told us to pull on the rope that held us to a pole in the ground third so that we were all in a line heading up the "hountain". Maddis was the first to be in the sled and I was the "driver".  There wasn't much to do as a driver since the dogs knew the way but there was a break peddle in case the dogs were to fast or if there was danger of crashing into the sled in front of us. Half way through the trip they added another dog to our sled because lets face it, these dogs were smaller then I thought and Maddis and I are not children. It was a tough ride up, the dogs were pretty tired and so I had to push the sled a couple times to get them moving. Even when you thought they could take no more, we would be stopped and some of them would look back at me as if to say "what are we waiting for?! Lets go!!!". The people in front of us were going quite slow, I am not sure if it was their dogs or the fact that the dad was breaking almost the entire time, but we had to stop a few times in order to get some speed going up some of the steeper hills.

Once we got to the top, the scenery changed a bit. We weren't surrounded by trees so much as white tall objects here and there. The fog came in so everywhere you looked it was white except for us and the dogs. I couldn't really tell where the ground ended and the sky began. Getting lost out there would have been extremely frustrating and difficult. It was very cold as well, my toes were starting to go numb. We finally arrived at a resting place and let the dogs take about a 15-20 minute rest. Where we stopped was at a small ski hut in a valley in the middle of nowhere. Maddis and I ordered up hot chocolates and cinnamon buns. There was a small room with a wood burning stove that we set up shop in. I had been sweating so I decided to take off all my jackets so I could dry out a little bit. Once we were through with our fika, the two guides asked us to go back to our sleds and get ready for the trip back down. This time it was my turn to be in the sled and to sit back and relax. I figured we were going to be flying down the face of this "hountain" since it was mostly downhill. The scene was incredible before we left the ski hut. Every single dog knew what was about to happen and you could tell they were all extremely excited. Most were jumping, pulling and barking. The noise was immense, so the main guy walked through the packs and tried to shush them. It worked for like 5 seconds but then they got riled up again, so they set them loose and we were off!

The people in front of us, yet again, were painfully slow. Maddis and I did stop quite a bit as well to get some speed. There were even a couple times were we traveled off road a little, this made us laugh a lot. Unfortunately for one of the dogs, he kept getting stuck in the rope, twice I had to untangle him. I almost wanted to just hold him in the sled with me because he looked so tired. I was a little nervous to touch or handle him since I wasn't sure how these dogs reacted to people but when I went over to him to untangle his leg, he just kept looking straight. It was like I wasn't even there, I'm sure that they are handled all the time by other people and was glad that he did not growl or snap at me. There were some parts of the path that we bounded and sped over, I was laughing most of the time. We were the loudest team out there, encouraging the dogs to run was number one with Maddis and I. We kept saying that they were probably thinking, shut up and let us do our jobs. But we just kept whistling and praising them as we went along. They were great!

It seemed like we got back to the starting point all to quickly. I wish it had lasted longer, but man, what a Christmas gift, one of my favorite gifts in my life up to now. I must have thanked Maddis a million times and even almost started to cry when she told me. Thats me, emotional Whitney. It was a great experience that I will never forget it and encourage everyone to try it.

I asked one of the guides how they pair up the dogs and he told me that they try to pair them according to ranking, relationship with one another and if they live together. The dogs are born with the want to pull a sled in their genes, its all they want to do. Its easier to pull a sled if you are next to a friend I guess, someone to motivate you through out the trip. Sounds like a team sport to me! After we were done, we were able to pet the dogs. They all looked and acted exhausted. I could only imagine how tired they must have been. Some were resting on each other and some had dug holes and were curled up in them. We were the last ride of the day so they were putting the dogs back in their compartments when we left. It was a wonderful day with the dogs and I will never forget the experience. THANK YOU MADDIS!!

Christmas with the Erikssons and Salen.

This year at Christmas, I went to my teammates families cabin in Salen, which is located up north near the Oslo, Norwegian boarder. We arrived at night, but I could barely make out what the place looked like. Every single tree, every road, every rock, every roof was covered in snow. When I say covered I mean you could see the outlines of these objects, in white. I was no less then amazed, I mean we were entering Dr. Sues land! I had never seen this much snow in my life. When my family and I would go to Mammoth mountain in California, it would look like it did in Salen at the very top of the mountain, not everywhere you turned. Maddis laughed as I gawked and took as many pictures as I could in the darkness. She and I arrived before everyone else so we went grocery shopping and then made ourselves at home in the cozy cabin with a glass of wine, a blazing fire in the fireplace and a spot on the couch.

Her families cabin is located on a secluded street on a hill side facing one of the ski-able mountains or should I say "hountains" since they are more like giant hills. There are woods directly across from the house and neighbors to the right and further down to the left. They bought land on the corner of the street so they have a lot of room to the left of the house and behind. There is a big deck/balcony off the left side of the house and a detatched garage they use to store their snow mobiles to the right. Most swedish cabins look to be small on the outside but when you come inside they really open up. Its a 4 bedroom house with a loft. Inside, the decore is wood finished, adorned with cozy furniture and cute christmas lights and decorations. Its what you would imagine a ski cabin would look and be like. For heating purposes there were heaters in the rooms but in the living room we had a fire blazing in the fireplace almost the whole time. Needless to say, the scenery was ideal for a snowy white Christmas.

Maddis and I dressed up the house a bit and put lights on the tree her father picked out a week before, for Christmas. We left the ornaments for when her sister Emilie arrived, she wanted to help putting them up. The rest of her family (minus her oldest sister and her family) was to get there that night. The next day, we decided to drive into the city and look for ingredients to make rocky road bars. I first tasted one when I was at our team Christmas party. The assistant coach prepared them for us and I must have eaten about 5 of them. They were so incredibly good and so easy to make. The ingredients are as follows: melted chocolate, mini marshmallows and peanuts. You let it sit in the refrigerator for about 30-45 minutes to harden and then enjoy! Its that simple. They turned out great and I once again ate a lot :)

Among winter sports that I wanted to try, snowmobiling was high on my list. Maddis had talked about it before we got to the cabin so I was excited to try it. Her dad made sure the mobile was charged up and ready to go before we left. Unfortunately but also fortunately for me, I had to have a license to drive one, therefore I was going to be a passenger only. I was fine with that since I had never driven one before and the snow was really deep making it easy to get stuck. We set out on our way via the road first and then got to a snow mobile crossing that took us into the woods. Maddis opened her up and we were flying. I wasn't able to take any pictures or videos as we were driving along since my butt rarely touched the seat, so I had to hang on to the hand holds on either side. I hooted and hollered as we sped along, it was one of the most fun things we did. Maddis made sure to tell me that when she leaned to one side I needed to as well. It was like we were a bobsledding team, flash back to the movie Cool Runnings! We got to what seemed like the top of one of the "hountains" and noticed two guys digging out one of their mobiles that got caught in the deep snow. Maddis asked if they needed any help but they looked to be almost done digging themselves out. Unfortunately the snow seemed too deep to continue on the track so we had to turn around like the other guys were trying to do. Of course, as we tried to turn the mobile, it to got stuck. One of the guys looked over at us, laughed and then asked us if we needed help, we definitely did. So, after a few tries and a lot of pushing and pulling (on their part, I didn't really know which end to push and pull at so I helped when they asked but mainly stood back and flashed my cute smile and embarrassing laugh for the guys helping us) we were finally free of the snow only to get caught again 20 meters down the track. Luckily, again, there was someone to help us, so we got out pretty quick. We made it back to the house in one piece but it was a short ride. Maddis told me that the snow was just to deep and we could try another day. I agreed and since I wasn't that great of help getting us out of the snow, I decided taking a break from snowmobiling was a smart idea. However, we were not able to go again since time did not allow, but if we go there for an after season party I think we will be able to then. A girl can only dream!

Christmas Eve day came and the presents were all around the tree. Their normal tradition was to go cross country skiing, have dinner and then open presents. I had never been cross country skiing before but had seen it done on TV and thought that it looked fairly easy to achieve. Well, lets just say its easier on flat land then on the hills. Maddis thought I was going to fall just from standing on the skis, luckily I am somewhat coordinated and could handle myself on flat ground. However, going up and down the hills was another feat I was faced with. The first hill we came to, Maddis went down first and turned around to tell me what to do, "right foot slightly forward, bent knees, lean forward and try not to do anything else." Seemed simple only I looked like I was trying to do the splits with bent knees as I leaned to far forward. What ended up looking so easy for everyone else to do I made look hard and a little painful. I got the bottom and fell backwards and to the side. Laying there laughing and frustrated, I got up the best and only way I knew how, roll to the side and stand up. Thankfully that worked well enough so I wasn't left to roll around on the ground like a helpless caterpillar on skis. We ended up skiing for 2.5 kilometers and two more falls accompanied me on the way. One fall forced me to squeeze my legs together as hard as I could seeing as the tracks went from two lanes to three on the way down the hill. I was so desperate to not pull my groin that I ended up knock kneed before I crumpled in a heap to the ground as I made it to the bottom of the hill. Just for reference of these "hills", think of a small grassy knoll that kids like to roll down, that type of hill was my enemy that day. Regardless of falling, I found new respect for the sport overall and would love to do it again. Since I don't ski anymore I think it would be a great alternative and an amazing work out, I was sweating through my winter jacket at the end. Maddis's mom lapped us and went for 5 kilometers, go momma Eriksson!

That night we had the traditional Christmas food of Christmas ham, swedish meatballs (homemade), Janssons Temptation (potatoes and anchovies mixed together with cream), sil (type of fish mixture), deviled eggs with caviar, boiled potatoes, sweet mustard, caviar in a tube and some other little things that I am not to fond of eating. Weirdly enough, my favorite dish is the Janssons temptation (potatoes and anchovies). Its a baked dish that actually comes out to be pretty good if you don't think about what's really in it. Everything tasted amazing, especially the homemade swedish meatballs. After our meal, we gathered around the living room and began to hand out gifts. Maddis was "santa" so she handed out all the presents. I decided to open all the gifts  from Maddis and her family first and then to call my family on skype later. Maddis's mom and dad got me lotion and soap from the Body Shop and also really good Glogg that we drank at the cabin. Her sister Emilie got me a Swedish horse. They are little wooden horses that are a tradition here in Sweden. Some are painted red and or blue with designs on them and some are just one color. You see them everywhere and I was even talking about wanting to get one while I was in Salen on the way up in the car with Maddis. I was so excited when I unwrapped it, they probably thought I was a little crazy being as excited as I was about a little wooden white horse. Maddis gave me a post card with a picture of a fluffy wintery dog on the front. On the back it said in Swedish that she would be giving me my gift the next day and it was a surprise. I was able to connect with my family over skype and they were happy to see that I enjoyed all the gifts they got for me. One gift in particular was my ultimate favorite, an Olympus digital camera. Its shock proof, water proof and fool proof! Just the type of camera I need since I am super clumsy and have always wanted to have a waterproof camera. I absolutely love it and will carry it wherever I go which is great since my bigger one is so awkward and heavy when I want to go site seeing. They in turn opened their gifts I sent them. I was excited to see that they all seemed very pleased with what they got, made me happy.

The morning of the 25th we ate a quick breakfast and was out the door, on our way to the "surprise" Maddis had planned for the day. I asked her what I should wear and if what we were going to do involved a helmet. She told me to wear snowmobiling clothes and brought the helmets with us, also telling me jokingly that this was the last day of my life. When we arrived to our destination I did a quick scan and saw a number of things that could have been the big surprise. First thing I saw were snow mobiles so naturally I thought that we were going to do some heavier snowmobiling. Then I heard dogs and saw someone hitching them up to a sled on the opposite side of the road. The last thing was a ski lift and so I thought we were going to do some more cross country skiing at higher altitudes. All of these thoughts came to a halt when I saw 4 dog sleds with 8 dogs a sled come bounding through the trees and into the clearing. I looked at Maddis and she asked me if I knew what we were doing and I yelled with excitement "Dog Sledding?!?!" and she nodded. I jumped on her and gave her a huge hug. Dog sledding is something I have been wanting to do since I moved to Scandinavia. We both laughed when we realized she was the best boyfriend ever! Since the dog sledding was such a great part of the week over Christmas, I will make a separate post about it. For now just know that it was amazing and an incredible time.

In Sweden, everyone celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve so on the 25th everyone (i mean everyone) parties. Naturally Maddis and I were ready for this day, we decided to go in the sauna and jacuzzi with a few beers and have some relaxing time before we were to get our dance on at the bar that night. We got all gussied up and were then driven to a bar/club Harry's. When we got there, there was no line and not a whole lot of people inside...5 minutes later the place exploded with party people everywhere. The party was in full swing and Maddis and I were ripping up the dance floor when Maddis looked around and then yelled to me "we are the tallest girls in here!! We are a freak show!!" I laughed and reassured her that we weren't. Then I took a look around and realized that we really were the tallest people there, besides a few guys. Oh well, its common to be taller then most but to be taller then everyone, now that was weird. We met some skiers/employees who were working there in Salen and they even commented on our height. They told us that they noticed us right when we got the the bar to order drinks, we stood out. Ok, ok we get it, we are tall, but once we told them what we do, they understood why. Although one of them thought we were pulling a prank, thinking I was not from America and was in fact Swedish and that we weren't volleyball players, ha! What turned into a very late night (we did not go to sleep until 5am) made for a very sleepy morning after. The next day I don't think Maddis and I got up from the coach at all unless there was food to be eaten or to go to the bathroom. We both slept most of the day which was needed since the night had been so long.

Overall the night had been a great success but it also signified the closing of the time we had in Salen. On the 27th, we were to be heading out to Gothenburg, a city that has been talked about so much and also on the west coast of Sweden, I couldn't wait. What was also waiting for us there was a chance to hang out with the famous volleyballer Kyle Gramit.

The morning of the 27th I said my goodbyes to the Eriksson family and I thanked them about a million times, telling them this was probably the best way to spend Christmas being away from my own family. I didn't want to leave Salen, but I knew there were exciting things for me in Gothenburg as well. I know I will be back to Salen one day and hope that it is just as awesome as when I was there for Christmas. I will be forever grateful to the Eriksson family and Maddis for inviting me into their home over the holiday. It was a great Christmas and I will never forget it.