hiking pics

Mission

Well the countdown is over olympic break has officially began. We lost our last game before the break which was disapointing but 7-1 over the last 8 games is pretty darn good. I actually got to play in the last two games because of injuries to our guards so it was a lot of fun to be in the game again! I drove home right after the Seattle game last night with mom, dad, grandma, and grandpa.
Had a good sleep and made some crepes this morning and visited with Jen. Tried on my bridesmaid dress for the first time now all I need is the shoes! Megs, mom and I went on a hike this morning to teepot hill. I have some pics and will try and post them later. Tonight it's time for some of dads famous bbq veggies and turkey burgers, I have been hearing about it for quite some time now so I am excited to finally try it out myself.
Tomorrow I am going to visit the grandparents and then take a red eye to Connecticut!

visitors and a break

Well the Olympic break is almost here! I am looking forward to my seven days off in the mean time it has been great having some friends and family out to pass the time. Mom and Megs are here with Bec and Wendy so I have introduced them to big spoon which was quite a hit, got pedicures, and hung around the pool.
I am off tomorrow to Seattle and then home for a few days before heading out to CT.

visit to childrens hospital

One of my teammates and I visited the childrens hospital today for a read to achieve appearance. I knew going in that we were going to be reading to a bunch of children at the hospital but it was so sad to see these kids. About 80% of them were burn victims and some were really really bad but these kids were all so great. They were so excited we read a few stories and then took a picture with each of them signed some f the pics and then everyone got a few books, bag, mini basketball, foam hand basically a little goodie bag. We visited a few rooms as well for kids who couldn't make it down because they had just come out of surgery. Appearances like these are great and I wish we did more of them, I also wish I knew Spanish because a lot of the kids spoke only Spanish I really think I should take some language classes.

13 days to go

Alright so I am getting really really excited for the Olympic break it has been SO long since I have been home and while it will be a really short visit I am pumped. Then I get to see Ben and his family as well which is going to be great I am really cramming it all in but hey make the most of your 7 days.
The car is back and running smoothly for the price of 247 keep in mind it would be much cheaper if I didn't have to get it towed one block! Again I am just thankful that the steering wheel didn't stop working while I was driving.
We were in last place but in the last two games moved up to the final playoff spot the West is crazy tight. Everyone on our team seems to be injured, I am doing good just really sore achilles.

I hate cars!

I have decided I don't really ever want to have to own a car. I understand it is inevitable if I live in North America but they suck. It is my goal to postpone buying a car for as long as I can. The little red car that Ben drove down not sure if you remember but the steering wheel didn't really want to turn (right before Ben left for CT). Upon dads recommendation I picked up some power steering fluid from wal mart and let the car sit in it's spot until I had some time to deal with it (side note while sitting there someone drew a massive male reproductive part exploding on the back of my car as well as some little ones all along the side. Thinking about reporting it to the office just to see how they describe it in next months newsletter; my car is not the only victim). Today I had my teammate follow me to the car shop only problem I couldn't find it and wound up pulling into a business park and what do you know the steering that had been difficult throughout was now impossible all the muscle in my arms would not turn this wheel. Thank God it didn't happen while I was driving! I was grumpy and mad at the stupid red car so I just left it there prepared to ditch it (sorry Megs) so when I found my way to the auto shop (1 block away) I was not prepared and had to guess the vehicle model, year and no idea what the license plate was. Thankfully the ladies at the reception were super nice and I did guess both the year and model correctly so they won't know how ignorant I really am. The only concern is that I have not heard back from them left the keys there a few hours ago was hoping they would call back tonight, I will keep you all posted.

There was some good today we had our players association meeting today which means CHECKS!! Basically the teams in the league all have a minimum salary and whatever they don't spend gets divided up and given to all the players in the league. It is always exciting as we have no idea how much it will be for and this year it was 1460 a few hundred more than last year!
I also learned that I can get free health insurance for the rest of my life with workers comp. A lawyer from them came and talked to us today about how we can file for accumulative injuries at the end of our career (as long as we have legit injuries) I think I am in seeing as though the doctor told me that my foot injury will never heal! I was pretty excited about that!

The air is so bad today that as soon as you go outside your eyes are burning.

the new smells of summer...

We just went 0-2 on our Texas road trip not so good. One of our guards Kara was injured and didn't play so I got like 6 minutes in each game and in the first one against SA I hit both of my shots and scored 5 points and afterwards everyone was telling me how well I played. I really couldn't help but laugh as I would never consider this a successful game but I just smiled and thanked people instead! We had our season ticket holders accompany us so we had a get together with them always interesting. Our bus was caught in the parking lot practice facility for about 30 minutes unable to pull out as it was the 4th and all the gates were locked that would enable the bus to pull out. People in Texas really do love America... saw some fantastic t-shirts on the riverwalk wish I had my camera. I didn't see any fireworks though in Houston we stay at the mall so I didn't actually go outside except to board the bus! Nicole and I started power walking around the mall after an appearance with our season ticket holders and she really wanted to go into this metro park store and there was this massive group of people and a whole bunch of police officers and we walked up to the door and were like can we not shop here? All of the sudden a security guard opens the door and says sorry we have a famous soccer player in here but come on in ( the power of a Sacramento Monarchs T) well the famous soccer player was Ronaldo. Pretty cool they shut down the store for him but we were allowed to be in there as well Nicole snuck a picture or two of him.
We got back Saturday after the game and Sunday was a day off so after I went to church and worked out I feel asleep for a few hours only to wake up and go back to bed, so good to have these catch up on my sleep days. Travel wreaks some havoc on your body.

California has had some really bad forest fires this summer and there are some days where I feel like I am back in Salt Lake with the inversion. You can't see the sky and it smells like burning, couple that with 100 weather and I don't really leave my apartment much. The burn from a few weeks ago has humbled me I have officially given up all forms of tanning (although I may have to find some solution for Jens wedding in Sept) for now I am done with all. The smell outside is bad but it is nothing compared to the fresh smell of raid ant killer that permeates my apt. Yes I still have these creatures everytime I think I have gotten rid of them they show up in a new location. The migration pattern began on the carpet moved to the sink on to my bathroom and just today in the laundry/ food pantry. Why they are here I have no idea I don't leave food lying around I really don't have much food to begin with so it is not like my pantry is stocked with open packages there is nothing for them. Last summer it just took one spray they keep coming back this year. Maybe it is time to go to the front office and have the pros give it a shot.
We play tomorrow we are in last place in the West right now but have a four game road swing that could potentially put us in second place. Tensions are higher than normal!!