Brac Beach

The first weekend Becci and I wanted to go explore but mainly go explore one of the thousands of islands that Croatia has. So we hopped on a ferry and took an 45 minute boat ride to the island of Brac.

We were told that it has great beaches and one of the highest rated beaches in all of Europe. Unfortunately we wouldnt be able to go the best beach there because you need a car to get there but we still found an amazing beach there. The water there was soooo gorgeous and clear blue and it was not too cold. The only thing here is that their beaches have rocks, not sand. So if you want to go in the water you need to wear water shoes or flip flops. We didnt know that so we had to walk on the rocks to get in the water and also in the water. But it was worth it to go floating in the Adriatic Sea!



They also had jet skis to rent, banana boats, you could go tubing and lot of other things to do. Becci and I layed out and enjoyed the water for a few hours and then went and had lunch (cheeseburgers!) at one of the small cafes.

We then went back to the port and walked around the little shops they had and ended our beach trip with some gelato. It was a nice and relazing weekend at the beach!

Welcome to Split, Croatia

So on Tuesday August 23rd I left Hemet, California and headed to Split, Croatia. It would be a long day of traveling. I would stop in Phoenix, Philidelphia, Frankfurt and then Split. Thats a lot of stops and changes and opportunities for my bags to get lost. It was also nice because I didnt have long layovers in any of the stops, just enough time to grab a bite to eat and get in line. I was only worried at the Phoenix airport because as I was baoarding the news came on about the earthquake in the east coast and they were shutting down a few airports, including Philidelphia. But everything worked out and I landed in Philidelphia with no problems. I got excited as I boarded my plane to Frnakfurt, it was not full at all and I had the whole row to myself! Plus a nice and friendly flight attendant. The flight was smooth, I watched 2 movies (Lincoln Lawyer and Water for Elephants, just in case you were wondering) and then slept the rest of the way. Even in Frankfurt I didnt have a long layover which is nice when traveling so far. In Frankfurt I met up with my roommate and future teammate, Becci, for the first time. We hopped on the short flight to Split and arrived safely and to both our enjoyment so did our bags! As we were walking out of baggage claim we saw a guy holding up papers with our names on it. After a few minutes of trying to understand and pronounce his name (Zeljan), we gave him the nickname "Z". So "Z" and his friend loaded up our luggage in two cars and we headed to our home for the next 9 months.
It is always nerve racking to find out where you will be living for the next 9 months. We dont pick out the apartment or get to see it before we leave so its always an anxious part of the arrival. As we were driving to the apartment I was getting very hopeful because we were heading toward the water. Yay! Our apartment is really close to the water so it is easy to walk to the beach. The apartment is small but my roomie and I each have our own room and it is a great location. (I will have a post for the apartment with pictures soon!)
So Becci and I got settled into our apartment and later that night Z took us out to dinner. Right down the road there is this cute cafe and restaurant that overlooks the water. So we went there and it was delicious. Becci and I knew we would be back here alot. The next day Z and the president of our club Mirko took us sightseeing throughout the city. We went to the highest point of the city to a beautiful lookout spot to see the whole city.


Then they took us to the Diocletian Palace which has been there for 1700 years. We got to walk around inside the Palace. We kind of likened it to Venice but without the water because it had narrow streets and walkways. It was pretty cool! Of course there are lots and lots of small souveigner shops for all the tourists. Here is a close up of the Palace from the lookout point.

In the Palace's backyard there was a statue of a great philospher of Split. The belief is that if you rub his toe and make a wish it will bring you good luck and your wish will come true.


It was nice of them to take us around and it was great to see parts of the city. Later that night Z took us to where we would be playing and also to meet some of the girls from the team since they were practicin that night. We werent practicing yet because we had to get cleared with a medical exam first. But both Becci and I were anxious to see the gym and meet the girls. The girls were super nice and friendly and even spoke English! The gym is pretty big and hold about 15,000 people. After the practice Z took us to get us some late night fast food. He claims there fast food is the best, it is pretty good but Ill take Del Taco over it anyday. :) But that night we had chevapi. The best way to describe it is basically sausage in a pita bread with their special sauce. It was pretty good. Ill have to take a picture of it next time i get it.
The next day the other 2 "foriegn" players arrived. Reese who is also from California and then Kiki who is from Slovenia but she speaks fluent English and also can speak Croatian. We met up with them for lunch at this restaraunt, Vas Kutak, where we will eat everyday for lunch for free.
All in all it was a great and interesting first few days there!

Split Decision

Well after a year off of not playing professional volleyball I have decided to up and leave one more time. I am so blessed to be able to go play another year. I was not ready to be done with playing volleyball, I missed playing the game so much! I am so thankful for the year I spent at home in California, I loved my time there. It was awesome to be able to see my family whenever I wanted, go to and be in some weddings, travel to see friends and also to rest my body. I also got to stay close to the game of volleyball by coaching 2 club teams out in Temecula. It was a great experience and I am so happy I got to coach there. I also had a blast playing beach volleyball this summer with my partner Dana who I met coaching club. Being around volleyball and coaching it made me realize that I still want to play. So I emailed my agent telling him I wanted to go play again. He found a few teams that were interested and he got things going right away. It all kinda happened really fast. One day I emailed my agent about 2 weeks later I was signing a contract to go play.I was super excited that it had all worked out and so happy that I would be traveling to a place that I had not been too. I signed a contract to go play in the city of Split, Croatia. I had heard great things about Croatia so I was sold! I tried to soak up as much time with family, friends and home (home being things like In&Out and Del Taco) while I could before I had to go. As much as I loved my time home, I love volleyball and cant wait to play!!
Here are a few pics from this past year at home that I was so happy to be a part of and will miss so much!!!
Reanne and I on a boat tour in Chicago!

Family at Christmas time!

Kellie and I at the Zac Brown Band concert!

Leslie and I at the Angels game!

Viper Volleyball!


Superbowl!!

Mini UCR volleyball reunion!

Alicias wedding!

Spending quality aunt/niece time!!

i say hello, i say goodbye

As a professional volleyball player playing overseas every year there is one thing that you must do every year that does not get easier, saying goodbye. You go there not knowing anybody, not knowing the town, not knowing the culture, and not knowing what the team will be like. But come April you have made many friends, have your facorite places in the town, take some of the culture home with you and have to say gooodbye to your team who has become like family to you. You see them everyday. You go through ups and downs with them. You experience the highs and lows of playing volleyball with them. You win and lose with them. You go out and play wii and crazy card games with them. You make lasting memories with them.

This past season was no exception. Some of the friendliest people I have ever met. The girls and the town were so welcoming and everyone on the team clicked right away. Whenever you walked through town at least one person would say hi or talk about the last game or the games coming up. The support the team had from each other and from the town was a great feeling! I think this is one of the reasons why we did so GREAT this season!
I will miss this team more than any other team I have played for. But I know that I will keep in touch with most of them for a long time to come! From the first meeting of the girls at the practice and trying to remember all thos Finnish names, the "carnival" we had at practice, crazy nights at the best place ever..Cirkus, paintballing in the woods, cider and carpo lonkero and tequilla shots and blueberry shots (yuuuuuuuum!!!), "mita muuja, mika boogie" all the time, hockey games, road trips and bus rides,snow and sauna parties, winning the silver medal and to the friendships made; it was an unforgetable season!


So to the amazing girls and teammates of HPK, the fun coaches, my favorite coaches kid Ville, the amazing announcer, my favorite bartender in Hameelinna who makes the best hot chocolate in town Teemu, one of the nicest guys I have ever met Lasse, to the fun and hot hockey players who had an amazing season, especially #38, to the best basketball team that Hameenlinna ever had, my tall friend Ettu or Eddy, to the amazing town of Hameenlinna, to the wonderful delicious pizza at Koti pizza,to my friends that work at Subway since that was my go to when i was hungry, to the workers who constantly were working in my apartment, to the doctor who reminded us of "teddy" from prison break, to that lil kareokee bar, to that great Apollo bar in Helsinki and to that cute lil reindeer place: thanks for a fun and memorable 8 months!! I love you all and will miss Finland so much!!

more final pics

great fans!!!

here are some of the professional pics from the finals.

The Finals!

We made it to the finals!! yay!! We faced a tough tough team, Salo. We ended up losing in the finals but hey a silver medal is not too bad!At the end of the game we lined up at the endline and recieved our silver medals and roses and then went to congradulate the other team. We had some up and downs during the finals but it didnt diminish what a great season we had. I loved playing with these girls and it was one of the best seasons I have ever had! Even though we lost in the Finals we still had a great time and enjoyed playing our last games as a team together. Here are some of the pics from the Finals.