>24 hours

Well with my laundry close to being done, my room cleaned, and my bags packed; I am officially all set ready to get back to the States.  My 3 months, 13 days stay in Umea, Sweden has been an unforgettable experience and I have enjoyed visiting a part of the world I had never been to before now.  I have met some new friends and great people since I have been here, but it is time for me to return home.  The basketball side of it hasn't been the greatest, to say the least.  We didn't win any games and it has been extremely difficult for me, especially considering where I came from-being the DII National Champion runner-up.  I leave here having played in 13 matches; averaging 13 ppg, 6.9 rpg, and 1.7 apg.  It was an experience and cool to say that I got to play professional basketball in Sweden.  I will leave it at that for now, and look forward to the great times ahead when I return home.  I am working on getting a PT aide job and take some classes in order to apply for PT school eventually.  I can't wait to get home to Dave, friends, and my family and spend the holidays with the people I love.

Thanks for everything girls and good luck Comets!
Homebound tomorrow in 20 hours! Can't wait!!!!

Happy Holidays everyone~

le moustache

can you say mustache party? WE CAN!!!! here is the weekend night in a nutshell...thanks madde for the fun costumes.

~Good times~

Sankta Lucia

This week is going by fast and not fast enough.  It is officially my last week in Sweden and I am excited to get home and see my family, dave, and friends and can't wait to spend the holidays with the people I love.  I will miss my girls here in Umea very much though, but will try and visit soon- Emma especially you. :)  It has been a winter wonder land for the past month here and seems to keep getting darker and colder-if that is possible.  I will not be returning here to Umea after Christmas; however, because I am quite homesick and feel that God has another plan for me to go back to school, get a job, and start living a life outside of basketball.  After playing basketball for 15+ years, I think it is time to move on.  On the other hand, those pickup games and old lady leagues better watch out!

Today, Henna, Justin (henna's boyfriend), and I went to the sculpture park in Umeadalen and saw some interesting art.  It was extremely cold so we didn't stay as long as we would of liked to, but we had fun in the short daylight that we had left.  Did I mention that the sun rises around 9 and starts setting around 2:30! It sure makes for a short, cold day.  After the sculpture park, the team went over to Teg and had a wonderful Lucia performance.  There were many people, friends, and family of the KFUM organization and we performed the traditional Swedish Lucia for all of them.  Here is some history for those of you who are interested about what a Lucia is.  Click here!  There were many games and activities for the kids along with fika and glogg- of course!  It was a very successful night and everyone had fun.

love the trees

cactus bbq (no we aren't in texas mr. jerry)

snow vines

can you spot the little man?

our recital

reindeer, 4 lucia's, and lady santa

Down to 5 days now!  God Jul everyone!

a little coaching

Here are some photos of the kids that we got to coach for the last few months.  I found great joy in coaching them because they got so excited about basketball and the energy of the kids rubbed off to me and it made it a very enjoyable experience overall!

happy holidays to all!

the here and now

some ideas to ponder.

~i am coming home in 11 days.
~drinking hot water in a mug is underrated. (no not tea or coffee) give it a try!
~we moved into a new apartment on the other side of the kfum building.
~i get to enjoy this new place for 11 more days.
~it keeps getting darker faster each day-around 2:30 or so.
~i love giving at christmas time.
~all my christmas shopping is done.
~2 more games left-might be a good thing at this point!
~i finished season 6 of weeds.
~the new christmas episode of glee is awesome.
~2010 is almost over.
~it has been 7 years since my grandpa passed away-i love you!
~it has almost been a decade since the turn of the millennium.
~i am so grateful for my friends and family.
~i am getting sick of restaurant/hotel food here.
~i can't wait to come home sweet homeeeeeeeeeeeeeee****

have a marvelous day :)

countdown to Christmas!

It is now the 7th of December and only 18 more days until Christmas!  I can't wait and officially my music selection consists only of Christmas tunes (of course).  Not only 18 days until Christmas, but less than 2 weeks until I get to come home.  I have all of my Christmas shopping done already.  This is the first year that I have been on top of my shopping and maybe that is because I have more than enough time on my hands.  I walk around town almost everyday and have a lot of time to think what to get everyone.  However, the downfall is that shopping in Umea/Europe/Sweden is extremely more expensive than at home.  I don't know how much money I will be bringing home from playing basketball because let's just face it; I love to shop. :)  It has been fairly warm the last week or so: in the +20 degrees F average.  Well, I hope everyone is enjoying their Decembers and getting everything done before the holidays.  Good luck to everyone on finals and schoolwork!

God Jul!