To read about Saturday and Sunday please see our athletic website. www.abbeyathletics.com
Location:San Juan Del Sur
Monday, August 8, 2011
Annoying technology
I had a really great blog written for the past two days. And it was super funny and witty (just like myself). But unfortunately the power went out a few times at our hotel today, apparently that's pretty normal, and when I went to post my blog it all messed up and now I can't find it anywhere...super bummer. So I don't have the energy to write the whole thing again but I will give you the website of journal entries that our team has been writing each day. It won't be a totally personal blog, but it'll give you an idea of what happened Saturday and Sunday. And I promise I will blog tomorrow.
To read about Saturday and Sunday please see our athletic website. www.abbeyathletics.com
To read about Saturday and Sunday please see our athletic website. www.abbeyathletics.com
Saturday, August 6, 2011
First blog from Nicaragua!!
Well, day one is in the books! Traveling went great. Our first flight from charlotte to Atlanta was quick. Only about 30 minutes. Unfortunately there were five of us (myself included, of course!) that had to check our carry on bag because they ran out of room in the plane...this of course caused a scene because we didn't want to agree to check our bags without the permission of our coach and head honcho of our trip who happened to already be on the plane. While the stewardess was giving us false information about where we would get our bags back, we were being reminded of the fact that we were holding up the whole plane ride...thanks mrs stewardess, you're making our flight so friendly and comfortable! After the baggage situation was figured out, all other flights went perfectly! It was an extremely long day of traveling and I could not wait to land in Managua. I left my house in Greenville,NC at 9:00am and arrived in Nicaragua at 1:00am their time...which is 3:00am our time in the states. LONG DAY! When we arrived at our hotel I was too excited to sleep. We had a 7:45am wake up call and probably didn't even go to bed until 4:00am....and I was awake at 6:00am tossing and turning. A solid two hours of sleep. Great!
Day one: 7:45am wake up call. We ate breakfast, and packed all 23ish people into a van/bus and got on the road to our first match. We passed very humbling "houses" and "jobs" on the ride. This was our first look at the huge amount of poverty in this country. Our awesome tour guide and leader of "bring it sports" gave us a lot of background on the country's government and the big revolution they had in the 70s and the devastating earthquake that occurred in '79 that still has proof of it's effects. We stopped at a cathedral on our way to our match, it was very beautiful, but was partially ruined in the earthquake and has never been restored. While outside observing the building we had many natives trying to sell us things to make a few extra bucks. We found out quickly that our most used phrase for this trip will be "No gracious".
We finally arrived at our game and played 4 games verses the Nicaraguan national team. For our first time touching a volleyball in a very long time for some of us, we didn't play as bad as I was expecting! It was a good first game and it was a blast to finally be out on the court with all the girls again! we had a pretty good crowd of natives come watch our game and we eventually had a big following of boys calling us "Bonita"!! They were quite the charmers. I even had an admirer just for myself! Soprano, a teenage boy came up to my assistant coach brian after our match and asked if he could take a picture with me. Just me. I was honored! And he was quite cute to make it even better :) After I took the picture (sweaty and all) I introduced myself and he shook my hand and kissed me on the cheek. THE LOVE OF MY LIFE! Sorry mom and dad, I think I'll be moving to Nicaragua to be with my future husband. :) First I'll have to learn a little bit of Spanish!
After our match we drove a long way...or at least it seemed like a long way since there are no interstates and the top speed limit is about 45mph. At about 4pm we arrived in San Juan Del Sur. We will be staying here for the next five days. We spent the afternoon at the beach and had dinner as a group. We are all very exhausted and still getting used to the time difference, both timezone-wise and Nicaraguan culture-wise. We are all safe and having the times of our lives. I can't wait to see what the next 6 days has to offer! Please keep us all in your prayers!
Ps....pictures will come later. I can't figure out how to upload them onto my blog from my iPod. Sorry for the disappointment!
Day one: 7:45am wake up call. We ate breakfast, and packed all 23ish people into a van/bus and got on the road to our first match. We passed very humbling "houses" and "jobs" on the ride. This was our first look at the huge amount of poverty in this country. Our awesome tour guide and leader of "bring it sports" gave us a lot of background on the country's government and the big revolution they had in the 70s and the devastating earthquake that occurred in '79 that still has proof of it's effects. We stopped at a cathedral on our way to our match, it was very beautiful, but was partially ruined in the earthquake and has never been restored. While outside observing the building we had many natives trying to sell us things to make a few extra bucks. We found out quickly that our most used phrase for this trip will be "No gracious".
We finally arrived at our game and played 4 games verses the Nicaraguan national team. For our first time touching a volleyball in a very long time for some of us, we didn't play as bad as I was expecting! It was a good first game and it was a blast to finally be out on the court with all the girls again! we had a pretty good crowd of natives come watch our game and we eventually had a big following of boys calling us "Bonita"!! They were quite the charmers. I even had an admirer just for myself! Soprano, a teenage boy came up to my assistant coach brian after our match and asked if he could take a picture with me. Just me. I was honored! And he was quite cute to make it even better :) After I took the picture (sweaty and all) I introduced myself and he shook my hand and kissed me on the cheek. THE LOVE OF MY LIFE! Sorry mom and dad, I think I'll be moving to Nicaragua to be with my future husband. :) First I'll have to learn a little bit of Spanish!
After our match we drove a long way...or at least it seemed like a long way since there are no interstates and the top speed limit is about 45mph. At about 4pm we arrived in San Juan Del Sur. We will be staying here for the next five days. We spent the afternoon at the beach and had dinner as a group. We are all very exhausted and still getting used to the time difference, both timezone-wise and Nicaraguan culture-wise. We are all safe and having the times of our lives. I can't wait to see what the next 6 days has to offer! Please keep us all in your prayers!
Ps....pictures will come later. I can't figure out how to upload them onto my blog from my iPod. Sorry for the disappointment!
Location:San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua
Monday, August 1, 2011
Practice blog from my iPod
Well, the big trip to nicaraguara is almost here! I will be leaving from the Charlotte airport Thursday afternoon! Since we are required to pack veryyyyyy light for this out of the country trip, I'm not able to bring my laptop...not that I would want to carry that heavy thing everywhere I go! So in order to keep all my friends and family updated on this trip of a lifetime I am about to take, I downloaded an app to my iPod that will allow me to update me blog! Now, this will depend on if I can connect to a wireless Internet, but we are staying in a few big cities, so my hopes are high! If I am unable to update my blog while in route, it will be fully updated with pictures and many memories for you all to enjoy within a few days of my return.
Well, I still have a LOT of packing to get done, so I hope this test iPod post works as I need it to and I don't have to worry about finding a computer at the hotel.
Please pray for the safety of my team while we give up a week of our summer to serve others!
Well, I still have a LOT of packing to get done, so I hope this test iPod post works as I need it to and I don't have to worry about finding a computer at the hotel.
Please pray for the safety of my team while we give up a week of our summer to serve others!
Location:Sumrell St,Greenville,United States
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Corn Hole is Complete!
Here it is! The finished product that is perfect for a back yard game, and also shows off our nationality proud! :) I hope this new set brings me luck and I can continue my corn hole domination! Bringggg ittttt onnnnnnnn!!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Beach Preparations
In just five short days I will be living my life in a bathing suit and soaking up as many rays of sun as possible (don't worry, i'll wear sunscreen!) all while not thinking about the real world and just living in the moment with 20 or so good friends and family. It will be perfection.
But before we can head two hours east and end up in Duck, North Carolina, a small town in the Outer Banks, there are many preparations to be done. First and most hard for myself, I need to pack. I am an overpacker. I will admit it! On any normal trip I take with my family my bag usually equals the size of the parents joint bag. I can't help it. I don't know what mood I'll be in, or what the weather will be, or what outfit will be appropriate for each occasion. I need my options! On this week long vacation I am really going to try my best to plan out what to pack and to not back my whole summer wardrobe for one week on the beach. I realize that my bathing suits will be my main attire for the seven days we are on vacation, so I am really going to try my hardest to keep my outfit choices to a minimum.
In other preparations: Corn Hole. My favorite backyard game! When we lived in Erie my dad made a corn hole set that was able to be folded up and perfect for travel. Unfortunately the game was not able to make the move to the south and we left the set with our family friends. Everyone knows that it's not a beach trip without corn hole, so my dad and I spent what seemed like all day saturday and sunday constructing and painting a beautiful new corn hole set. It was great father-daughter bonding time! I did a lot of watching, and provided great moral support. Dad did let me try out a few of the power tools, but after a few minutes he realized that he could complete the job in a much more timely manner. Although my duties in the assembly of corn hole were not obvious to the eye, I was right there with my dad sweating our buts off in the sweltering heat of Greenville, NC, making multiple trip to the various hardware stores, and jamming music from my car for the whole neighborhood to hear to keep us entertained! With just a few final touches to the Italian paint theme, our master pieces will be complete and ready to be enjoyed on our vacation.
But before we can head two hours east and end up in Duck, North Carolina, a small town in the Outer Banks, there are many preparations to be done. First and most hard for myself, I need to pack. I am an overpacker. I will admit it! On any normal trip I take with my family my bag usually equals the size of the parents joint bag. I can't help it. I don't know what mood I'll be in, or what the weather will be, or what outfit will be appropriate for each occasion. I need my options! On this week long vacation I am really going to try my best to plan out what to pack and to not back my whole summer wardrobe for one week on the beach. I realize that my bathing suits will be my main attire for the seven days we are on vacation, so I am really going to try my hardest to keep my outfit choices to a minimum.
In other preparations: Corn Hole. My favorite backyard game! When we lived in Erie my dad made a corn hole set that was able to be folded up and perfect for travel. Unfortunately the game was not able to make the move to the south and we left the set with our family friends. Everyone knows that it's not a beach trip without corn hole, so my dad and I spent what seemed like all day saturday and sunday constructing and painting a beautiful new corn hole set. It was great father-daughter bonding time! I did a lot of watching, and provided great moral support. Dad did let me try out a few of the power tools, but after a few minutes he realized that he could complete the job in a much more timely manner. Although my duties in the assembly of corn hole were not obvious to the eye, I was right there with my dad sweating our buts off in the sweltering heat of Greenville, NC, making multiple trip to the various hardware stores, and jamming music from my car for the whole neighborhood to hear to keep us entertained! With just a few final touches to the Italian paint theme, our master pieces will be complete and ready to be enjoyed on our vacation.
Friday, June 3, 2011
A Constant State of Being Sore
Summer workouts, fall season, off season conditioning, spring season. My collegiate volleyball career seems to always keep me in a constant state of being sore. Most of this is thanks to my wonderful coach who I love, but who also always changes our workouts every Monday. While this is great for getting my body into tip-top shape, it's killerrrrr for my muscles. I always seems to be sore! For example, our summer volleyball workouts started this week and I was expecting to be a little sore since for the first week of summer I was having fun and doing workout video's rather than hitting the weights hard. My soreness exceeded my expectations! The day after my first official workout I could barely sit down on the toilet! It was rough; and, I know that this soreness will only continue for the next two years of my life...and I wouldn't have it any other way!
While being sore is at times annoying, it also gives me a secret feeling of accomplishment. I know that I worked hard in the gym the day before, and while my body might not be able to be pushed as hard today as it was yesterday, I know I'm working all the right muscles and will soon see the results of that! What would be scary is the day that I do a workout and am not sore after accomplishing it. That only means that I did not push myself as hard as I should have!
All the sweat (lotssss of it!), all the sore muscles, and all the days that I would have much rather spent laying in bed rather than dragging myself to the gym is all for my love of volleyball. I am very blessed to have had the opportunity to play the sport I fell in love with in the 7th grade still, now at age 20. While my mother says I should focus more on school work (I got all A's this semester, by the way! she has no reason to worry..) my true passion in life is playing volleyball for the Belmont Abbey College Crusaders. My teammates are some of the best girls I have ever met in my life and they have become my true sisters. Every time my body is screaming at me to quit and I have thoughts of just skipping out on a few sets I think of all 17 of my sisters and I know that they are pushing themselves just as hard as I am pushing myself. We all have a common goal and work as hard as we can to be in the best shape to accomplish it come fall. I can't thank them enough for being the pushing force I need when all I fee like is a giant blob of nothingness.
I cannot explain my excitement for this next season in any other way then this......AHHHHHHEKKKKKYAYYYYEKAOWA[FOIEJAF JEIOA[WORIJMVJFIEOPOUHNVGHREO[FJIOOOO!!!!!!!! Yes, I am VERY excited! :)
While being sore is at times annoying, it also gives me a secret feeling of accomplishment. I know that I worked hard in the gym the day before, and while my body might not be able to be pushed as hard today as it was yesterday, I know I'm working all the right muscles and will soon see the results of that! What would be scary is the day that I do a workout and am not sore after accomplishing it. That only means that I did not push myself as hard as I should have!
All the sweat (lotssss of it!), all the sore muscles, and all the days that I would have much rather spent laying in bed rather than dragging myself to the gym is all for my love of volleyball. I am very blessed to have had the opportunity to play the sport I fell in love with in the 7th grade still, now at age 20. While my mother says I should focus more on school work (I got all A's this semester, by the way! she has no reason to worry..) my true passion in life is playing volleyball for the Belmont Abbey College Crusaders. My teammates are some of the best girls I have ever met in my life and they have become my true sisters. Every time my body is screaming at me to quit and I have thoughts of just skipping out on a few sets I think of all 17 of my sisters and I know that they are pushing themselves just as hard as I am pushing myself. We all have a common goal and work as hard as we can to be in the best shape to accomplish it come fall. I can't thank them enough for being the pushing force I need when all I fee like is a giant blob of nothingness.
I cannot explain my excitement for this next season in any other way then this......AHHHHHHEKKKKKYAYYYYEKAOWA[FOIEJAF JEIOA[WORIJMVJFIEOPOUHNVGHREO[FJIOOOO!!!!!!!! Yes, I am VERY excited! :)
The Juniors <3 My Instant Best Friends!
My Ultimate Support System
(Please excuse the awkward garden backgrounds...my coach is an art major, she doesn't prefer the normal gym or volleyball net background, thus the garden! :) )
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