Tanti Auguri Mama!

Today is a wonderful milestone...my Mother's 60th birthday! I know I know, I shouldn't say my Mom's age, but my Mom just looks so damn good! Sadly my parents won't be throwing  grand party in her honor (they are saving up to see ME!!) They also just had their 30th anniversary (prettyyy impressive if you ask me) so they like to think that they just turned 90. hehe they are just so cute :) My mom is such an amazing woman and I am so blessed to have her in my life! I don't think there is anyone else out there who knows me as well as she does, she is always the one I want to talk to when I'm excited about something or when I'm feeling blue.  Love you Mamma bear!

Power food combos

Stumbleupon has brought me many great from the worldwide web, but this article on power food combos is one of my favorites. There are certain foods that become healthier and more beneficial when eaten in combination.
The Top 10

1. Spinach & Beets
     Spinach is heavy in iron, and iron consumption is best absorbed when combined with Vitamin C (found in beets)
2. Tomatoes & Olive Oil
    Tomatoes are rich in lycopene (reduces risks of certain cancers) and is fat-soluble, so combining it with a healthy, monosaturated fat like olive oil helps boost absorption even more.
3. Beef & Carrots
   This combo will help boost your immune function
4. Green Tea & Lemon
     Green Tea is pretty bossy by itself - full of antioxidants, revs up metabolism and keep you hydrated. But when you add lemon to the mix your body absorbs 13 times more antioxidants.
5. Garlic & Fish
    Garlic is heart-healthy and fish oils are cholesterol reducing...these can act as an anti-inflammatory.
6. Red Meats & Rosemary
    Rosemary can help absorb the free radicals in red meat, which are the key signs of aging
7. Orange juice & Oatmeal
     This combination can help prevent heart attacks and clean out the ol' arteries.
8. Apples & Red wine
    These bad boys combined can help prevent blood clots and improve cardiovascular functioning. 
9. Blueberries & Grapes
    Eaten together improves their antioxidant powers
10. Nuts & Seeds & Dried Fruits
      Bossy protein pack

Holiday Vacanza!!

One glorious week from today, Team Americane will embark on a 2 week european tour! Everything has been booked and I could not be more ecstatic! Here's the lineup

Dec. 18 - Depart Reggio and spend the night in Rome

Dec. 19 (Caylin's Birthday) Tour Rome for the day then fly into Dublin that night

Dec. 20 Dubs Mctrubs

Dec. 21 Dublin for the day then fly to Edinburgh at night where we will meet up with Caylin's old teammate!

Dec. 22 Edinburgh

Dec. 23 Early morning flight to London where we will spend the day, then catch a train to Birmingham (meeting Lucy on the train)

Dec. 24 Birmingham with Lucy's fam

Dec. 25 MERRY CHRISTMAS/BUON NOTALE/GOD JUL spent in Birmingham

Dec. 26 Properly going to celebrate boxing day with some true Brits in Birmingham

Dec. 27 Train back to London where Meg will leave for Paris and Caylin and I will meet up with Vincenzo for some sight-seeing

Dec. 28 Morning flight to Venice with Caylin

Dec. 29 Venice

Dec. 30 Train to Bologna where we will reunite with Meghan, Saso and Andrea

Dec. 31 Bologna

Jan. 1 Bologna

Jan. 2 Fly to Lamezia, train to Reggio....IMMEDIATELY BEGIN VOLLEYBALL PRACTICE.

I have been to Dublin before, but it was in the spring so I can't wait to see it all Christmasy. I'm hearing amazing things about Edinburgh and am getting more and more sad that we only have 1 day there. When I was in London for new years last year I only got to see the main sights for a second, so I can't wait to have some more time there. Most excited for "chrissie" (apparently that's how Lucy's mum is referring to Christmas) and to meet Big Lu's family. I've always wanted to go to Venice and be among 3 Sheets....if I pull that off, I might become my brothers hero. Bologna is supposed to be a wonderful city and I'm so happy that our little Italian family will be ringing in the new year together! So many pictures and stories to be posted upon my return..hopefully I won't be lazy and wait weeeeeeeeks!

An Italian Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving 2011 is one for the books. Yes yes, if I had my druthers, I would always spend my holidays with my family, but with this nomadic lifestyle that just ain't possible! Sadly Italians do not honor one of America's greatest holiday's (you think they would jump on board because they love closing up shop and taking time off work!) so we still had school and volleyball when an ideal day would have been solely focused on cooking, drinking and eating.

 Let's just say I have NEVER been so busy on Thanksgiving.
-Woke up a little before 7 to prep the bird....little did I know that prepping including PLUCKING the remaining feathers from the big guy.
-School: explained in Italian the significance of Thanksgiving...when it came to the point where I had to say "Native American" Caylin and I just made the noise. Success.
-Post learning your girls were wild in our skinny little kitchen
-Volley scrimmage at 6, of course lasted longer than anticipated so we didn't get home till after 8 and had to sprint around the kitchen to get everything finished while our guests arrived.

Guestlist:
Tripod of hostesses
Pappa Gilroy (america)
Saso (Italy)
Andrea (Italy)
Matt (America)
Anna & Walter (Italy)
Valentina (Italy)
Lucy (UK)
Vince (Italy/UK)

Menu:
Turkey - prepped by Kelsey, monitored and carved by Pappa G
Stuffing - Kelsey
Green Bean casserole - Meghan
Cheesy Potatoes - Caylin
Mashed Potatoes - Kelsey
Gravy - Kelsey
Salad - Matt
Stuffed chicken things - Saso's Mom
Succotash - Pappa G
Pumpkin Pie - Kelsey
Apple Pie - Caylin
Nut Pie - Caylin
VINO

The food was amazing, the company was great and we all had plenty to be great-full for!

This was our "thankful" door where everyone had to write about what they were thankful for :)

A Perfect Saturday

Captains log: Saturday November 19, 2011 = food, "family", LAUGHS, volley, winning, food, LAUGHS, boozes, booze + games.

I'm not sure I could rev up a much better Saturday than the one I had yesterday. I got to sleep in until after noon! (thanks to this little gem of a thing called school, I have to wake up at 7:45 5 days a week......not really for me....especially when I have practice every night till 11). Then I was hittin the kitchen with Caylin to prepare our weekly brunch (more like linner). We had quite the guest list: Our UK's: Vince, Lucy, Jennifer; Alex (joining us from Cali) and Mamma and Pappa Gilroy. Charlie Gilroy and Lucy had quite the battle of wits, that had the rest of us in shambles...adding valuable minutes to our lives. An obsurred amount of gay jokes were spewed.

Next stop: volleyball game vs. Palmi (going into the game we were tied in points and had a couple of Brazilian "stars") Stellar performance from team America and we took the win in a dominating 3 sets. Even our setter put in effort! So happy with the teams performance!!

For our evening festivities, we had dinner at Wallace's, a fun Irish pub. At one point Chumbawamba came on and we got very excited and made a mini music video at our table....and we wonder why people think we are drunk all the time? Then we met up with the rest of our crew for some chatting and drinks. The real fun happened when we got to the wine bar and decided to start playing THUMPER. Once everyone got the hang of it we had 13 people around in a circle playing and the entire bar watching us. Such a classy game to play while drinking our wine.

Loving this new "hot streak" I'm on....Passport has arrived, winning volley, flights booked for the holidays, credit cards in the mail and should be getting my package in the next 2 days...I will really be able to give thanks on Thursday!

Adventures

These last 2 weeks I have had a few great 1 day adventures around Italy with some pretty rad people....

Adventure 1: Scilla con Caylin, Tanner & AJ (Caylin's cousin and friend visiting from Spain)

We hiked up to the old castle which had an amazing view and then just walked around the town for a bit where we met an awesome dog that followed us all the way back to the train station...good ol' Rosco!

A couple of days later I was off to Rome on a mission to get a new passport! Night trained there with Valentina (not something I would recommend. Let's just say a giant fat man with stinky feet snoring the whole way, is not the ideal way to travel.) After GREAT success at the US embassy in the morning we had a couple of hours before our train left back to Reggio, so we had a power tour of Roma trying to catch as many sights as we could...

Victor Emmanuel Monument in Piazza Venezia

The Oh So Glorious Colosseum

Trevi Fountain...threw my coin in and will be returning to Rome soon

The last little day trip was to Pentedattilo, an abandoned town in the mountains about an hour outside of Reggio. Meghan's parents are visiting and staying in a B&B where our main man Steve works and puts together tours around, so that's how we stumbled upon this little gem. 

Seriously one of the coolest places I have ever been. I've been lucky enough to see some amazing and famous sites thus far, but this was pretty crazy because we were the only one's there and could climb through these old houses and castle surrounded by a spectacular view. My only regret of this trip is that I didn't dress properly. Not to worry, my 10 year old instincts took over and I was climbing (dangerously) on everything with my sandals and blazer. 

Mom and Dad: please get here so I can take you to these places

Descrivo la mia famiglia

Ho una bella famiglia! La mia famiglia è composta da quatrro persona e Karma, il nostro cane. Mia mamma si chiama Toni ha sessanta anni e alta e magra. I suoi capelli sono blondi e ha occhi verdi. Lei non lavora. Lei è bella, intellegente e molto simpatica. Mio papa si chiama Bruce ha cinquantaotto anni e molto alto e forte. Lui lavoro in ufficio. Lui è vivace e molto divertente! I suoi capelli sono neri e ha occhi verdi. Mio fratello si chiama Kyle ha ventisei anni e fa in supermercato e va all’universita. Il suo molto alto e magro. Practica tanti sport, ma il suo sport preferito è pallacanestro. Lui è chiuso ma molto simpatico. Tutti personi in mia famiglia giochiamo la pallavolo.


Thought I should utilize this blog to practice my Italian. Just a simple description of my family that I love and miss oh so much!

Potty mouth

When learning a new language, it is VERY important to know the bad words....so here's a nice little list of my new favorites....

Strotzana - bull shit

Cazzo - fuck

Merda - shit

Puttana - bitch

Troya - whore

Dannazione - damn

Vafannculo - fuck off

FESTA - PARTY

Brillo - tipsy

Ubriaco - drunk

 Fottuto - fucked up

In coma - black out

Post sbornia - hang over

Scarpe Nuove!!!!!

NEW SHOES!!!!

FIRST GAME TONIGHT!!!

Grazie Mr. President...who spent half the time claiming we were is family in the store....so Grazie Padre Pasquale!

Sh!t happens

This past week has plagued me with a deep dark depression (semi-dramatic). Saturday started off just lovely....well we were a tad hung over from Friday's adventures, but it was a fun day none the less. Fiona invited us over that evening for a traditional English tea time with cucumber sandwiches and biscuits. So cute and fun, I am tryin' to make that happen all the time. Enough with the good stuff, let's cut to the tragedy.

We went to a disco (I was not in the mood, but I hate missing out, so I trudged along. Note to all: never go to a disco unless you are 100% stoked on it.) The place was filled with flashing lights, not for me and a bunch of annoying Italian men stalking us as usual. Most of the time was okay when we were dancing, and at about 3am I set my purse down next to me so I could dance a little easier. I felt uncomfortable with my purse not on me and was constantly looking back on it. We even said we were about to leave! And then shit hit the fan....I look down and my beautiful, extremely discounted, Steve Madden purse was gone! Filled with my wallet, containing all my money, my passport, drivers license, ipod shuffle w/ headphones. The only thing that wasn't in there was my camera, which is the only thing I have ever had stolen from me. Anyway, we searched all over and talked to the owners who said that there was another purse stolen as well as a couple jackets that night.

I am currently in the process of getting a new passport, super fun. I have to go to Naples, where the closest US embassy is. I have been emailing them and they are quick to respond and have been very helpful and think that I will be able to get all this fixed with the little that I have.

To really put the cherry on top of this dirt filled sundae, I have been sick since Sunday. I believe it is strep throat, can't swallow without immense pain. Cool. Went to the Dr.'s today with the girls for a physical and they prescribed me with some antibiotics (without even looking at my throat. odd) Hilarity did ensue....post bike riding to check our hearts, the Dr. light up a cigarette in the office. Really promoting good health. Oh Italy, this is turning to a love/hate relationship. Let's return things back to love because I miss being fun.

Back to school

Sono una studentessa di lingua italiana! Monday was day 1 of my Italian course and it consisted of taking a test and me receiving a big fat F. I had no idea if these questions were questions or if they were statements or what the funk was going on. With this epic fail I have landed in A1, bottom of the barrel, joined by my lovely teammates Meghan and Caylin. Today we started lessons and the teacher speaks Italian 100% of the time. 3 hours of all Italian? My brain is gonna struggle. But, I have already learned some things and this will really help with pronunciation so yippee! 

Venerdi

Such a productive little Friday! Woke up semi-early for a solid workout....I love the 2 little guys that work there. Joseph (whatever the Italian version is of that) is my fav and he is always trying to help me learn more Italian. He thinks I'm super strong and anytime I'm doing a workout with lighter weights he shakes his head at me and says "facile" (easy).
Post workout Mr. President took us to the post office AGAIN to become residents and that little number took way too long, but it was worth it because he gave all of us 20 euros to get gelato :)
Finally made it to the beach!! Perfect weather, blue sky with some wind. Long swim session in the super clear, deep water. And of course lots of people watching....gotta love those little speedo's!

My finds of the day :)

The Calvin Klein model of the day

Volley tonight then adventuring out with the roomies for some drinks with many of our new friends...and will probs make some more tonight.....I'm searching for a man with a vespa....

See and be seen

Oh Italy....I am almost speechless with the lifestyle here. Let's chat a bit about nightlife:
"Everyone" knows that Italians have a later night life, so that's not the shocker, it's what they spend their time doing. WALKING. They "dress up" (I need another post entirely to describe men's and women's fashion here) and walk up and down the street. When they do stop outside a bar, most of them don't even get anything to drink, they just chat and smoke. However, I can't complain because I have had a couple drinks bought for me and both nights we have gone out we have received a rose..... We have yet to venture to a discoteche, maybe those italian stalions will get a little crazier. 

Italia

After a lovely summer living in Fair Oaks and constantly emailing my agent trying to find away back across the pond, I have landed myself a nice little gig playing some volley in Reggio di Calabria, Italy. I arrived really late September 15th and was greeted by Valentina and the President Pasquel. Valentina is like the team manager or something, basically she is like a little Italian polly pocket and I love her. My roomie/teammate Meghan arrived that Friday and we have been adventuring everyday since. Reggio is a great city and I cannot wait to learn this language because barely anyone here speaks english. That does not stop all of the men in cars and vespas who stop to stalk you as you walk down the street. We are constantly shouting "non parlo italiano!" Pretty obvi that means we don't speak Italian. The award for most persistent goes to a couple of supposed lawyers: They asked for our number and we said we didn't have a phone (lie), so they had a solution for that: give us a spare phone that they had! Weird life we are having.

My current method of communication is a combination of english/spanish/italian/sign language. Lucky for us, we have befriended some native english speakers who are teachers here. They are loads of fun and we have leaned on them quite a bit to hang out with.

As for volleyball, I have high hopes for the season. We have only had a couple practices, but with some solid girls they already have and then 3 Americans? We should be set. Since only a couple people at the club can speak english, we are a little confused on what our schedule will be like, but as of now it is looking like this. Monday: weights. Tuesday-Friday: volley 9pm-11. Saturday or Sunday: Game. Our team has been very welcoming and I think they will be a great group of people to be around for the next 9-10 months.

This is such a different culture from Sweden and I am fascinated to learn more about it. I will do my best to keep posting on here to explain the weird, weird, weird day to day encounters....there are already to many from the past week to try and write down.....

Globe Trotting

Tomorrow my global adventures begin! Well I guess they kind have already started, since I live in Sweden. But the vacation travels begin tomorrow with the wonderful ESTONIA!! I will be spending almost a week in Tallinn visiting the lovely Mari-Liis. The good times will be filled with sauna, water pipe, nerdy tourism, night club and more! I can't wait to see the land where many of my friends back home have never heard of :) Then I will be off to Dublin to meet Lauren for 5 days. Can't wait for all the guinness and to learn to pour the perfect pint and kiss some stone. Next stop is Madrid for a couple nights where I will be flying solo. Nerve racking, but I'm putting on my friendly face and turning up the charm so strangers will want to explore with me. Hopefully I will make a trip to Sevilla to see where my cousin lived for 6 months, but if not the rest of my time in Spain will be spent in Barcelona where I will meet up with a college friend and her sister. Then after almost 3 weeks with only a BACKPACK (and not one of those crazy big as a person bags, but like the kind you take to school) I will return to my lovely Sweden for a couple days to enjoy some time with my Swedish bff. Final euro destination will be Vienna for 2 nights before I catch my flight back to the beautiful U S of A! This all seems like a dream. 

Sad face

Mari left today :(...big sad face. But we had a wonderful send off in Malmo yesterday filled with lots of touristy fun! Walking by the beach and visiting the giant Turning Torso.

Find the bright side

I guess the title says it all. But finding the bright side can be so freaking hard sometimes.

Quotes

Like most individuals, I love a good quote. Especially when it is combined with a stellar picture. I have been stumbling upon some goodies lately and don't feel like making EVERY status update some motivational cheesy quote, so I will mark these favorites via this blog post.

We don't remember days. We remember moments.
NUNC EST BIBENDUM (Latin for Now it's time to drink)
Like sands through the hour glass so our the days of our lives.-days of our lives
My diet starts tomorrow-every person

March Madness

Yippee Skippy it's March!! I actually doubt there will be much "madness" this March, but I really hope so. Last league game is this Sunday and then that night we will find out who we play in the first round of playoffs! Ready for some hard fought battles and good volleyball. I can actually say that I will be satisfied with just playing well. That is a definite first for me. I have never been satisfied with a loss no matter how we played, but I guess that is part of growing up. I am now at the ripe age of 23 so I think I am much wiser and am trying to see beyond my volleyball obsessed bubble. Maybe it is because the sooner we end the sooner I get to travel more of the world and then finally head home! I am ready to end this season with some awesome volleyball and hopefully with some more 'W's than 'L's in the final tally.

Feeling Famous

http://www.skanskan.se/article/20110218/SPORT/702189710/-/hon-dominerar-elitserien

English translation makes me sound quite weird in my "quotes", but supposedly it is much better in Swedish :)

The Fighter

Excellent movie. I love love love true story films! Right after watching the movie, we got the local paper and our team was featured in the sports section! Woopty woop! Not sure what the article said exactly, but we got the idea. So I'm inspired by the movie to do some good shit for the rest season :)

Free Lunch!

Yeeyee!!! Mari-Liis and I finally get free lunches! Just head on over to one of the nicest high schools I have ever been to between 11-1 and we get to eat for free. So exciting...and that is where some of the girls from our club go and Mikaela could not be more embarrassed to have us there. Sorry bout it.

Valentine's Day

The wonderful hallmark holiday is upon us again! Weird thing is I wouldn't have remembered the "holiday" if it weren't for all the facebook updates. It is not something that is really celebrated in Sweden, which is nice since for the 22nd year in a row I am single on this lovely day :)

Dear Skype

Dear Skype and internet God,

Please help me and my mother have a conversation. It's been a month? Not okay.

Love,
Kelsey Lynn Wirt

Blonde in a box

Mrs. Karlsson gave me some fresh highlights from a blonde in a box.....my first time. Nail biter, but I'm happy with the result. I looked like an idiot in the process and lucky for me Karol and Josse were there to capture the "beautiful" moments with their camera. Can't wait for my beauty shots to be on facebook!

GAME DAY

Nervous but more excited and ready to win!

Dear Knee,
        Please be nice to me today and stay pain free. I have been training really hard and would like to reap the benefits during the game today.

All my best,
               Kelsey and the rest of the body

Handball World Championship

Handball is my new sport. Saw a couple games live in Malmo for the early rounds of the world championship and I am hooked. I would never have thought handball could be so badass! I'm watching the finals right now with Denmark vs. France. I'm cheering for Denmark because I think I made it plenty clear in my last post that I love Copenhagen and I have seen them play AND they are the underdogs. However, I am crushin of the best player in the world Nikola Karabatic. Up to date stats: 22-19 France with 17 minutes to go. 23-22!! Nail biter. 25-25 whaat?? Denmark's goalie is the business. Denmark down 1 with 30 seconds to go. OVERTIME SHOOOO!!! This is too stressful I need a brew. Fan. loss in OT. Congrats Babe. (Karabatic)

Copenhagen

I love this city!! It's so beautiful and has great shopping and food and that's all I'm really looking for from a city. I have been a couple of times now and every time I go I enjoy the city that much more. I had a 100% volleyball free weekend which was unusual, but welcome because it means rest for my poor little knee. Saturday I adventured to Copenhagen with my little American Lauren and we went big! She is kind of a big shopper so I was worried I might spend too much money, but I was a good girl and just shopped with my eyes not my wallet. Our first stop was into an Irish bar to use the toilet and warm up with some Irish coffees. Wow. They were BOMB. So good we ended up staying and having two because we started talking to the guys sitting next to us. Strangers were a little more friendly here, I think it's because there are a lot of people from all over and more tourists. The waitress there told us that bars stay open till early in the morning so if we wanted we should just stay out all night then take the train in the morning back because it stops running around midnight. We loved the idea of this because we were ready for a good time. Window shopped and blah blah blah you know enjoyed the city then grabbed a drink and snack at a little cafe. Our next stop was the Dubliner, another Irish bar. We immediately met guys that bought us drinks and it turned out that one of them was the owner of the bar! Uhhh....that equaled never having an empty drink and free dinner! The owner convinced us to get a traditional Scottish dish (he's from Scotland) Haggis. Before we "dug in" he told us that it was banned in Brazil for being unfit for human consumption....what? But we tried it and I liked it, a lot. Later that evening, and by evening I mean 5am, cutie bartender told me what it was made of and how it was cooked. Really glad I did not have this knowledge while I was eating it, but safe to say I would happily eat it again. It was a wild and weird night which included dancing, singing, meeting a Giants fan, dancing on tables, drinks, rating hotness of girls, getting a key to a hotel room, and most importantly not paying for a damn thing. Old guys that are okay with paying for all my drinks while I still talk to the young attractive guys....perfection. Now that I know Copenhagen is an all night long city, we left around 5:30am and my bartender love said I was leaving too early and they were about to go party for a couple more hours down the street, we will be back soon and somewhat often. I'm just sad that it has taken me this long to find out this beautiful news.

Images above include our boy Gus, Owner (?) and the beloved Haggis

Admiring the Tatted

I don't have any tattoo's and have only recently grown enough courage to get another piercing on my ear. I have always said I wanted a tat and have really made my Dad cringe with telling him I was really going to. I have made drunken pacts with my friends to get tatted, but to speak honestly I never see any of that happening. I am one the the most indecisive people and will mos def end up hating what I get later on in life. I am a bit jealous of people who have the courage to get tatted, but I often think they are idiots with the weird shit they ink up with. Drunk Kelsey loves talking to strangers and is always looking for a way to start a conversation and tattoos are definitely the number one way to do so. Sorry for referring to "drunk Kelsey" in third person, but she is a semi different person and everyone who drinks can attest they they often refer to their drinking selves as someone different from there sober selves. My drunk need to talk to strangers does NOT mean I am hitting on them, well of course I am sometimes, but for the most part I just want to talk to someone new. Of course every guy that has a strange drunk girl come up to them and start talking to them assumes she's interested. This has led me to meeting some real freaks. I'm sure there are normal guys with interesting tattoos, but so far I have only met the weirdo's. Example from this weekend at Club Pub: A guy had a tear drop tattoo below his eye and I was fascinated! Obviously I asked if he had killed someone, but it turns out since it's colored it's for two of his friends that died (BTW I'm so amazed I am able to remember so many details from that night). I did not feel like I was getting my flirt on at all, just holding a conversation with a weird looking stranger. Another drunken habit is to hand out my number like it's free candy, so of course I have my new friend my number. He has text me every day since, and every text includes a creepy smiley face. When will I ever learn?

Nej Svenska

What is the normal or average time that it takes to learn a new language? I have been living in Sweden for almost 6 months and I know a decent amount of Swedish words, but have yet to gain the ability to form sentences. I wonder if I had been taking classes (like I was told I would) if I would be able to hold a conversation... I am disappointed that when I return home I will not be coming home with a new language.

"Shag Balls"

I 100% regret my decision of teaching my teammates and coaches the term "shag" (which just means go get the balls and put them in the cart or basket). Because my coach now uses the phrase "shag balls". And my dirty little mind is either laughing or disgusted every time I hear it. So this makes me wonder why we use the term shag. It used to seem so normal and natural, but now I always think of Austin Powers and dirty dirt dirty! My mistake.

Blog 'bout it

Before I even left for Europe I had people tell me I should start a blog about my travels. I have successfully procrastinated for more than 5 months on starting this bad boy. I have always thought of myself as a strong storyteller, but only in live situations where I can make voices and act scenes out. Hopefully I have enough skill with the written word to do my stories justice without making it as bland as possible. I'm not quite sure how I should recap these past 6 months (holy crap I can't believe I've been gone that long). So here is an attempt....Joined about 25 other girls in Slovenia in August for the Firesale tour with Bring It Promotions where we all had dreams of getting signed some where in Europe. On the 3rd or 4th day of the camp the agents sent me on a tryout in Sweden. Pretty sure I didn't know the name of the town for the first week. Woops. The contract sounded good and I had no idea what else I would do so I signed on for an 8 month season with Svedala volley. Lived by myself from the middle of August to the middle of December. If I didn't talk to myself before I sure do now. My life was oh so simple, played volleyball in the evenings and weekends as well as coached the B-team at our club. I was told I would be able to take Swedish lessons, but so far that has been a big bust. Lucky for me, and my entire team, Mari-Liis joined us for our last game of the first half of the season. I now have a roomie from Estonia so my days are much more enjoyable. Things have been good so far, with some adventures to different countries along the way and I only hope that these next 3 months are even more adventurous.