love means nothing in tennis

fish serving

for the first time ever my mom and i went to the us open last week. we had a GREAT day. we started early and were able to get to the open before people were even allowed in. it was a nice sunny day and EXTREMELY hot. we were sweating all day. we got to walk around the grounds, see 5 americans (fish, oudin, dent, byron, blake) play, and we even got to see sharapova practicing and jimmy connors and martina nav-i don't know how to spell her last name- were hitting balls some balls. it was a great day and we had a lot of fun! we definitely can see another us open trip in our future.

on the road again.....

august is just flying by!!! i've been on a number of vacations which is making the time super fun, i think that's why it's going by so quickly. it started with a road trip to boston to visit a few of the softball girls. lots of fun. i got to meet some of their friends from home, spend time with some of their families that i know, and i got to spend some time at one of the girls beach houses. it was awesome to see them. esp since one of the girls is now graduated. my second road trip was a little longer....this time to south carolina! quite long, about 12 hours from my house. this trip was with all people that i met abroad, two of them i haven't seen since i got back! so my friend from rochester drove 5.5 hours to get me, we drove 3 hours to dc to pick up another friend and then we drove 9 hours to mount pleasant, south carolina (it's about 15 minutes from charleston). we went on a boat, we played in the ocean, we soaked in the history of south carolina, we walked around charleston, and spent a lot of time getting to my friends family who we were staying with. it was sooooo great to see these friends as they live a little farther away. but the fun wasn't over yet. once i got back i had two days before going upstate new york with some of the family. we did the usual, went hiking, fishing, boating, rummi royale playing, quading, smore making, tons of reading, and spending quality time with my frampa. it was a great way to end my vacations for the summer. august is half way through and i only have three more weeks before i go back to school but there are still a ton of fun things to come!!

putting the twinkle back in the diamond

today i started softball camp. when i was 10 i started going to this camp that was run by, who would end up being, my high school softball coach. since 8th grade i've been working as a counselor at this camp. this year is the first year that i am a co director at this camp. my high school coach has taken over the management side of things while i've taken over the teaching and demonstrating side of the camp. i was SUPER nervous before today started but now that i have the first day under my belt i'm starting to relax a little. i want to be a teacher some day soon but this is my first real time that i'll be in charge of a group of kids. today went well and i'm hoping the rest of the week does too. hopefully i'll have some pics to show you the kids!

isssssssssss-aaaaaaaaaa-bela, isabela, isabela!

unfortunately, i have some bad news to report......my niece, isabela, has left new jersey. she was here for two whole weeks and it was the BEST. she's just the cutest! and of course michele was here to visit as well! hehe! it was great, we hung out by the pool went to cape may, ate LOTS of ice cream, went to the ocean for isabela's first time, sang silly songs, played baby games, and most importantly we spent TONS AND TONS of time together! it was great to have her here and i'm sad that she had to go back home today. but we will skype lots so she doesn't forget us! isabela if you've reading this i miss you already so so so so so so so much!!!!!!!

the past to the present

this weekend was a great one indeed. on saturday my parents and i went to a graduation party for someone who i would probably say was my first friend ever. her, her sister, and i were all great friends since basically the time we were born. they moved to PA about 9 years ago and we haven't really talked that much, only the occasional run in or maybe even an email or two. well saturday night we got to spend lots of time with them and hear about their recent adventures and boyfriends and all those good things. it was great to reconnect with some of my past.....hopefully it won't take so long next time! on sunday we had a wonderful father's day. my aunt and uncles and cousins came over as well as a couple of family friends. it was a beautiful day out. my dad set the tv up outside so we could watch soccer, we played volleyball in the pool, kicked around the soccer ball, and even played a round of croquet. we finished with some dinner and dessert outside and it was a great day. i feel asleep in front of the tv around 10pm last night. it was a great weekend and i hope everyone enjoyed it as much as i did!

patriotism

this past weekend i spent the holiday in dc with my best friend from australia, jenna. it was a lot of fun to get away for the weekend and see jenna who i haven't seen in a whie. we sat out by the pool for most of the mornings and then on sunday we went down to the capitol where they hold an annual concert on the lawn of the capitol. very cool. quite depressing (after hearing all these tragic stories about fallen soldiers) but a very enjoyable experience. we were even able to walk around a little after, esp since it was still about 10,000 degress outside. the next night we went over to their family friends house for a small bbq and then to bed because we were wiped. i hope everyone else enjoyed their memorial day weekend!

home sweet home

yes i'm still here! i've been home now for almost two weeks. it feels great to be home! i love just being here with my parents in a town i grew up in. so far i've just done a lot of babysitting, went to a graduation party, went to the beach, have tanned by the pool, had a few bonfires, and today i'm going to see the sex and the city movie. it's been pretty chill so far at home. this summer i'm just babysitting as far as work. unfortunately most of my friends are leaving: i have a few friends moving to dc for work and one of my friends is going to africa. so this summer (maybe my last real college summer) will be spent making money, getting into shape, and spending time with my parents and the rest of my family. i'm hoping for a fun and relaxing summer!