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.

Engelholm

When Egelholm arrived to the gym, I was excited to get to see my old coach and a few other teammates I had played with in the past. I talked with Tina (coach) for a little bit and like always she assured me that she will always be around for me if I needed her. She was one of the best coaches I have ever had but also a great friend. I hope that friendship will continue through out the years.

Our match up with Engelholm was a loss but went better then expected. We took them to 4 sets and could have even taken them to a 5th set. One of their middle blockers was a beast and was blocking a lot. She also sounded like she had change in her pocket when she jumped but thats not important (haha). They had an outside hitter who was very experienced and had many shots and swings, a libero that was a good passer, setters who were quick and a middle who was a beast like I said before. The best part about their setters though, was that they were short so hitting over them was easy and where we got most of our points. Unfortunately for us, we started late and were down two sets to none. We got away with the 3rd set with 25-23. The 4th set could have gone either way but we let them slip by midway through.

All this being said, here is the positive side of the match: we finally started to play more like a team and flowed better together. Our passing was better making it easier for our setters and attackers to get an opening in the block. Mentally we grew and all of us stated that we had fun on the court that night, including me. I believe we were all able to do our own jobs and not have to worry about anything else which is how we worked better together as a team. The match against EVS I believe is the last match we will be playing with our heads down and timid. From now on, our team is stronger, more united and ready for whatever this league throws at us. We have proven that we can play against the top teams and give them some sort of fight. Now its time to show this league that we are not going to just lie down and get repeatedly kicked. Its time for us to do some of the kicking. As a part of this team, I refuse to be intimidated by other teams in this league and hope that the others refuse as well. When we play Sollentuna at our house after this weekend, I know that we will be ready to attack. Its time to take a stand and show people what kind of team we really are. Break time is over, lets get work done now, not tomorrow or the next day. I want to walk away from a match knowing we did all we could, that is all we can ask of ourselves anyway. No regrets, no worries, just play and everything will be fine. We had a sports psychologist come in to a practice one day and he said it perfectly, "dont think, no consequences, just do it!" I hope we can bring this mentality to this half of the season and make the play offs. I know we can and we will!

Nu kor vi Orebro!

Swedish Perks

Hey all! Here is a quick update on last two weekends matches: We lost in 5 to Svedala, got owned by one of their two pros all game (outside hitter), we couldn't figure out how to stop her iron fist from schooling us almost every time she hit the ball. We were almost always to early or to late in the block. But the good thing, now we know. Learning how to succeed and letting go of failure. Anyway, that night was disappointing but we earned ourselves a point regardless. We will beat them at their house, on to the next. RIG, the volleyball high school was next on the list. The first set was frustrating becuase it seemed like we were sleeping. The second set went long, 35-37, which we lost. Unfortunately I hit the last set ball into the net... Third set was a blow out, seemed like anything we did or tried was not enough. Although it looked like the other side was losing not us, but when you looked at us, even when we were doing well, we looked stressed and like we were losing. We need to fix these things now, or we will continue to lose and I know no one on this team wants that. Practices this past week have been intense, focused and tiring but all good. I see the fire starting to come back in the eyes of the girls. Its reassuring and gets my mood up as well.

While at RIG, I got to see my old teammate Nellie! When we played together she was 15, clumsy, tall and adorable. She was what I thought to be a human version of Bambi, so I called her that through out the time I was there. Not so sure she appreciated it, but always humored me with a smile and for that I thank her :) Ok, thats enough talk about volleyball for now.

As some of you may know, I am spending my 4th Christmas here in Sweden. I will be going up to my teammate Maddis' families cabin near a ski resort, the name she keeps telling me but I instantly forget since I can't pronounce it. I believe the name of the resort starts with an S, thats the best I can do right now unfortunately, ha. Of course I would rather be home with my family in warm California but listen to what we are going to do. We will go sledding, snow mobile-ing, building a snow man, cross country skiing, sauna-ing, jacuzzi-ing, going out on the 25th (common for all swedes to party this day) and be in the serene wintery wonderland that is Sweden during Christmas time. Plus Maddis say's that if I enjoy a beer and relaxation time then I would fit right in with her family. Im a shoe in! If I am going to stay in Sweden I would say, this is a pretty awesome way to spend Christmas. Now, I am not saying my two year stint with the Petterssons was not fun at all! I love that family and know they would welcome me into their house any time of the year. Maddis is one of my best friends on the team, so I am sure she and I will have a great time over the holiday break. She has not stopped talking about when we will go out on the 25th, which in turn makes me super pumped. I only hope her family likes me...
I heard from another teammate (who has know Maddis and her family for over 10 years) that her father is intimidating. She said that she just recently got over being scared of him. Hopefully the bottle of Jameson I got him for Christmas will help my chances.

 If you have never been to a place that snows during Christmas, you are seriously missing out. Christmas time and snow go hand in hand and it puts a whole new meaning on the holiday season. In Sweden, this time of year is a whole other world of beauty. People go the extra mile to show how much Christmas means to them. Let me paint a picture for you. Luckily this year we got snow early which makes everything all the more brighter. Riding my bike to practice at night never ceases to amaze me. Swedish people are very much into advent, lit up paper stars, twinkle lights and lots and lots of candles. You could burn down a small wooden house with how many candles I lit the other night. The thing about Sweden, is most everyone likes the cozy atmosphere during the winter. Its hard to get away from anyhow.

In town (Orebro) at the moment, every corner of every street is lit up and decorated. Starting on the North end of town working south, we have a whole street of trees adorned with white lights, there are about 100-150 trees lining the street. In the square with the castle there is a giant ram made out of pine tree branches (side note: last year it was burned to the ground, horrible smell) and the giant clock balcony has lights on the railings. Moving towards the main square with a big church and statue, is an advent calendar lit up on one of the buildings. Each window shows a different number of the month and then is turned into a picture when that day has come. The trees in this square are lit up with 3D stars and spheres. There are also two Christmas trees with white lights in the branches and the fountain also sports a waterfall of lights. In the last big square, where the malls are located, there are lit up cone shapes on the roof of one building, a giant tree in the other building and white lights in icicle form cascading down the front of one of the malls. On the three streets that make up the center of town, hang pine tree branch garlands with a red bell in the middle and two white stars on the outside which light up at night. On the main shopping street there are lights on all the small trees and also icicle lighting down the middle of the street on the lamp posts. The last street, we like to call the "red ball" street. There are giant red balls that light up down the street. In the trees, hang ornaments and icicle lights. PHEW! ok that is the most of it in town. Just trust me when I say people like to decorate with white lights and ever so cute santa gnomes.

It makes me think that I need to be taking more night shots, but its been so freezing lately. I need to suck it up one night and just do it. This weekend we have Engelhom, I will get to see Tina my old coach and whoever is still left from the old team. Im excited about that. I hope that we can shake them up and possibly win. If we believe in ourselves and each other it is a very very good possibility. Until then, adios and good day!