hugs and kisses, and maybe a sprint or two

today is not only valentine's day but it is the first day of softball starting. today we only have testing (timed sprints, push ups, and sit ups), tomorrow starts the first official practice of the season! i can't believe it's already here. i'm definitely pretty nervous since i haven't been playing softball as much as everyone else since i was abroad, but i hope that by working hard enough i'll prove myself capable. very excited for this season, we have a REALLY strong team, the freshman are great, and my two best friends are the captains, pretty good stuff! anyways, happy valentines day everyone!!!!

oceanic flight 815

so i know i'm a little behind BUT i have just finally gotten into the show LOST. yes i know the season 6 premiere just aired but i just started watching season 1. i'm on episode 7 or something like that. a friend of mine from school got me hooked on. i'm definitely obsessed. and i'm pretty sure there are lot of my family members that watch it so sorry that it took so long, but i'm pumped that i have something to watch now during my down times. and no commercials and no waiting in between season, pretty cool stuff. so for those of you out there like me who never got turned onto it, i would definitely suggest getting started. who knows, maybe i'll be able to catch up to the new season.....although work might get in the way of that!

do you shoot the rabbit?

well i have been busy busy busy at school. new apartment, some new friends, some old friends, lots of classes, lots of work already. but it's all been pretty great. the best thing so far that i've gotten to do was go to a coaching symposium. something that i was picked for after filling out an application. it's a trinity sponsored event, over the weekend, and totally free! it's only for female athletes in my conference, nescac, who think they might be interested in a coaching profession. since coaching is something i've always thought about, i figured this was a great opportunity. i got to listen to some great speakers on the history of sports, the history of women in sports, title IX, coaching philosophy, coaching fundamentals, teambuilding/chemistry, leadership theories, practice planning, recruiting, work/life balance, ethical/moral decision making, and gender in competition. some of the speakers were really fantastic! i also got to meet new people from my conference and different sports and we had some round table discussions. great weekend overall. it really opened my eyes to new avenues as a career that i hadn't really thought of. and it also gave me a new pool of people to work with to reach out to if i ever need their assistance. as we left we were given a certificate and whistle, ready to go! great experience and definitely worth my time, opened some new doors for me, always a good thing!

domestication

well after two very fun and exciting months at home, i am back at school. while i'm not looking forward to doing work again i am super excited about where i'm living!! i have my very first apartment! and i'm living with a girl that i met abroad. i'm super excited. the place looks great so far, a little messy with boxes and stuff but it's on it's way to looking amazing! i will definitely post pictures once the mess is all cleaned up. this is my first place where i am by myself (or at least without my parents) that has a kitchen and real feel of a house/apartment. today my roommates are moving in and tomorrow starts school. this year, or at least this half of the year will hopefully be awesome. it has some big shoes to fill because australia was amazing, but i think it'll one of my best at trinity!

let the sunshine in

last weekend was fun, exciting, and relaxing. on friday night i went into the city to visit my sister elizabeth. we went to ikea to buy some new things for my apartment. very exciting! and since she forced me to buy things that she thought i would need i think i'll have a good start to my kitchen. then we had a nice dinner out and mike joined us. and then we fell asleep watching the movie stardust (which i would actually like to finish, it seemed pretty good from the little i saw!). then saturday i met my mom and aunt and cousins for lunch in the city and then a broadway show. we saw hair. it was amazing! if you like out of the box, provocative, in your face type stuff along with lots of dancing and singing, this would have been right up your alley. the show was so good. it really made me want to fight for a cause and wear a lot of fringe! it definitely seems like it would have been a cool time to grow up in (60's/70's). after the show my mom and i took the train back home where we were greeted by elizabeth and grandpa. with my dad's help they were all putting together a vintage ceramic christmas tree that was smashed in delivery. it looks great now! then of course the night ended with lots of video game playing (although my dad played the longest because he didn't save our progress so he stayed up for another 3 hours redoing everything we did that night!). then sunday we had to say good bye to elizabeth and said hello to heidi and linda. i told them all about my australian adventures and we chatted by the fire, watching football, and eating cupcakes, yum! a very good weekend indeed. for the next few days i'm in dc visiting a friend i met in australia, good times again!

boys will be boys

the last few babysitting jobs i've had to do were with boys. this is always a different experience because i never played with boy toys when i was younger and the little girls always look up to me and want to copy me. i wasn't sure how the boys were going to react. one family has a one year old boy and a three year old boy. sooo adorable! we get along really well. then he pulled out his remote controlled train set. i was like uhhhhhhh. and he was like ok now we have to set it up. since he's only three he can't put the pieces together himself. i was so baffled the first time. i had no idea what to do, i'd never put together a train set. i was able to finally make a train loop and it seemed to work out pretty well. and the trains were all remote controlled, pretty cool. by the second and third time baby sitting for them i knew what tracks to put together and i was pretty intrigued by the trains. then for the past few days i've been babysitting an 8 year old boy (he's the oldest of 4 and has three sisters, but his sisters are busy doing other things). when i first got there he wanted to play guns. nerf guns. i'd never played before. i didn't know if it was ok to try and shoot him, yet he was shooting me and i didn't want him to shoot me in the eye or anything. so after a while, i guess i wasn't playing so well, he was just like ok can we watch a movie now! oh well i tried. it's been a good experience playing with boys and playing with toys that are gendered toward boys. it's a good experience to do new things, it actually ended up being a lot of fun! i felt a little out of my element but i think i'm getting the hang of it now.

ring in the new year

well a new year as started, a new decade has started. i can't believe it, 2010. i graduate in 2011, that's too soon. so far the year has ben pretty relaxing. celebrated the new year with friends and have been hanging out at home with the rents. but this week starts more babysitting, visiting friends i haven't seen yet, and cramming in as much stuff as i can before i go back to school. thankfully school doesn't start until the 25th so i have some time. i'm definitely looking forward to the new year and to see what it will bring. hopefully my schooling and health and family will continue to prosper. happy belated new years to everyone!!!! have a great year!