volleyball

Here in Croatia, as in many of the countries with professional volleyball they have the Championship and the countrie's Cup series. The Championship is basically a normal season, goes from September to April. You play every team home and away, one in the first half of season and then again in the second half of season. For the Cup you play one of the teams in the league twice in a row, once home and once away, the winner of these games advance to the next round and play the next team that won home and away.The Cup ends in Decemeber. So by the end of season you could have won the Cup in December and the Championship in April. As of right now our team is in 1st place in the Championship and we are still in the Croatian Cup and we play the semifinals Dec 27th.
There is also the European Cup. That is when you play other teams from other countries and it is just like the Cup here in Croatia, you play one game home and then one game away. The winners advance to the next round and team. You may be thinking what happens if one team wins at home and then they lose away. Well if the series is tied 1-1 there is a golden set, one set to 15 and the team that wins the golden set moves on.
So for our European Cup game we drew a team from Russia. This team from Russia has a 4 million dollar budget. One of the top teams in the Russian league. They were one of the tallest teams we have faced. And there is USA National Team middle blocker Foulake on the team. This team is a high calibar team, obviously.
We played them at home first. From the practice the night before to the warm ups the next day before the game we knew they were all business. You can tell by the way they acted and warm upped that they were a disciplined team and good at what they did. Even though we knew we were the underdogs and no one expected us to win we went into the game with confidence and energy. Besides this is what we were waiting for to play a team with some tough competition and really see how we can play as a team.
We were so pumped for the game and it was the biggest crowd we had so far at one of our games. Before our first serve of the game the crowd was clapping in unision to get us going. It was so awesome to see and hear because that was the first time they had ever done that. Of course they cheered during the game after points or great plays but not before the first serve. It was just a good atmosphere all the way around.
The first set was one of our best sets that we have played. I think we surprised the Russian team with how well we could play. We went after them strong with our serve which gave us a chance to have a strong attack. We ended up taking the first set from them! It was so exciting! The next three sets we lost. They served much tougher and their block was huge. But we never gave up and we fought all the way till the end. We lost 1-3 but everyone was very happy with the way we played. We recieved a compliment from someone saying that it was good to see how much heart this team has because never before did thhey have this, in past they would have given up but they were proud of how we played.
It is so rewarding to hear that from the fans and also gain some fans from that game. It was awesome to play with such a high level team and just to play some good volleyball. I love this sport!!!
After the game we were all on such a high from the game and the energy from everyone. It was also our setter Kiki's and our libero Mickey's birthdays. So after the game in the locker were 2 champagne bottles ready to be popped open in celebration of the game and for the birthday girls!




me and the birthday girl Mickey

Split and Vukovar

Just for those of you who dont know where Croatia is or Split here is a picture of Croatia. Down by the palace in the center of the city this is a big mural on one of the walls. The city of Split is in the little cove along the coast. I have been to the island of Brac and Hvar which I think you can see from the picture, they are the two closest and bigger islands on the map.

Here in Croatia they celebrate a day of rememberance for those who fought for their freedom. I cant remember the exact day but it is towards the end of November. Our Croatian friend Z likened it to our 9/11. The main ceremony takes place in Vukovar which is where the fighting toook place. But here in Split there is a street named after Vukovar, which is Vukovarska. On this day all the people of Split light a candle and place it out on the the Vukovarska street in rememberence. It was pretty cool to drive down one of the longest main streets here and see it lined up with candles.

Lil Piece of Home

I LOVE getting packages when Im overseas...its the BEST!! My mom and dad had sent me a birthday package but it arrived a few weeks later but I didnt care I had stuff from America in it!

Is it surprising that the best part of the package was the tuna and mayo?! the food here just doesnt taste the same! And its always good to catch up on whats going on in the magazines! Loved and use everything in the package!
Thanks for the presents mom and dad!!

Movember

Reese, Kiki, Becci and I, along with Mark, an American who plays for a mens team for a town right next to ours,headed out one night to go explore the palace at night. We came across this bar where after you took a shot of Croatian tequila you were then presented with a mustache.
Of course we all thought this was awesome and ordered one right away. We each got our own little mustache!

Later that night we headed out to a club close to our apartment. We walked in and found out it was a good night to be there. The mayor of Split was in attendance so they had free appetizers and 2 really popular singers were there and performed a few of their songs. The people there were taking pictures with the singers and singing along to the songs. We thought one of the singers looked like a Croatian Tony Danza ha! The other one was a little bit older and just as crazy!

an 80's Halloween

Here in Croatia they dont celebrate Halloween like we do in America. But us Americans wanted to celebrate it anyways. The only problem was coming up with our costume. It was hard because no stores here sell actual costumes, except for a colorful wigs or mask here and there. So we had to think of what we could easily do with what we had brought. We all had some workout pants, some off the shoulder shirts and some headbands and put the hair in a side pony and we were good to go, 80's Halloween!
But the costumes werent enough. We decided that we needed to make an 80's workout routine to LMFAO "Party Rock". We made this dance up in 5 minutes before we left to go out. We headed out and since the next day, November 1st is a holiday here the whole town of Split was out that night.
But basically we were the only ones dressed up, except for the few who purchased some of those colorful wigs and masks. But we didnt care. We went up to the dj and requested LMFAO "Party Rock" so we can do our dance. A few songs later the song came on and there we were in the middle of the dance floor doing our workout dance. The rest of the night was fun and we were glad we had a chance to celebrate a little American holiday!

Birthday and Bowling

Another birthday overseas. Never expect too much but they also turn out to be good days. This year was also one of those times. My birthday fell on a Saturday this year and we played in Zagreb, which is about a 5 hour bus ride,on Sunday. So we were stuck on the bus for my birthday.
Over here in Europe if it is your birthday you have to provide the treat. So for my birthday I brought back with me some funfetti cake and frosting to make for the team. I figured they would love to have some American treat. Becci and her mom bought me some candles for my cupcakes so I would have some candles to blow out.


When we got to Zagreb we got to the hotel and had dinner and they surprised me with a birthday cake and they all sang happ birthday to me in Croatian. The president of the club also let us go out for a few hours to walk around Zagreb and celebrate a little. So all of us girls piled into a few cabs and headed out for a bit. It was nice to be able to celebrate my birthday a little bit on the actual day with the team. When we got back to the hotel we had a team cheer and then headed to bed.





We woke up the next day and headed to our game which we won in 3!

The following day we had off so Kiki, Reese, Reese's brother in law Jay, Z, Becci and I went bowling at the place next to our apartment called, Octopus Bowling. We have come to spend many a night at this bowling alley. The owners and workers there are so awesome and friendly and it is always a good time there!

Leslie's Wedding Weekend!

What is a maid of honor to do when her sister is getting married the same time she is playing professional volleyball overseas?! Buy a ticket home of course! I had made sure in my contract before I left for Croatia that they knew I needed to go home the weekend of my sisters wedding. Thankfully they agreed to it and I was able to get home on a Thursday night and leave Monday afternoon so I could be there for everything. (I even missed a game that weekend! But they won in 3!) I am so thankful that it all worked out and I was able to be there for my sister and take part in the maid of honor duties!
The first night I got home my first stop on the way home from the airport was Del Taco! It never tasted better. My mom and I then headed to the mall to get last minute wedding stuff, like my dads suit jacket. I hit the hay pretty early that night cuz I was exhausted from flying all day.
Friday morning my mom, my little sister, the bride to be and I went and got massages. It was much needed and a great way to prepare for the weekend ahead. We then stopped and got In&Out and then met up with the other bridesmaids to get the bachelorette party started! First stop was to get a little pampered and get manicures and pedicures done. Once we did that we all met up at Alicias house and got ready and had some yummy snacks (thanks for the best whipped cream ever Aaron!)Once we were all ready as maid of honor I felt it was my duty to embarrass the bride a little bit, so we played a few games and had a few presents for the bride to be.




After the lil party at Alicias house we headed out to dinner at the Public House in Temecula. It was a great place and a fun atmosphere for us girls to enjoy dinner at.
We then decided to walk the streets of Old Town Temecula and see where the night would take us. We ended up going to one of the bars there and had a great time dancing and laughing with each other!






Saturday morning we headed back to Temecula for the lunch rehearasl. It all went pretty quick and smooth and we got things done and figured out right away. For the lunch we headed to Baileys and enjoyed some delicoius food and our time together before the big day!






Later that night we had family come over to our house to have some food and drinks and just hang out with each other since it is rare to get everybody in one place. I was so excited to see family from Idaho and Arizona who I hadnt seen in forever.My little cousin Emma was so excited to be able to "workout" with me and the other girls were so excited to go to a wedding! It was great having them all around! And the girls were a big help the night before the wedding helping with decorations and babysitting Mia!

The Big Day! We started off with all the bridesmaids getting our hair done in Hemet, taking over the salon. Kellie and I were the first 2 done and took off to get some last minute details done and get to the wedding site to finish preparing the Maid Of Honor speech. Believe me I was stressing over it. I had planned something great but didnt know if it was going to work and I had no back up plan, so it had to work! I was worried all the way up till the reception. But once we all got to the wedding sight the bride to be was relaxed and ready to go. We got ourselves ready and took pictures, had lunch, laughed and danced. Everything was coming together perfect and we were minutes from walking down the aisle. The cutest little flower girl was the only little minor worry for a second. She was riding down in a wagon sitting on her bumbo, but she has fallen asleep right as we were about to make our entrance. Thankfully my mom and dad woke her up and she stayed awake for her o so cute ride down the aisle. The wedding was beautiful and it went perfect. Now it was time to party!




The wedding site was called the Longshadow Ranch winery in Temecula and it was a beautiful place. The reception setup, the food and the decorations were perfect. After dinner was speech time. Like I said I was still worrying about my speech but thankfully the awesome DJ was there to help! I had prepared music with my speech and he was able to download his music to his setup and he nailed every song! My little sister and I got a lot of compliments on the speech and I am just so happy that it went over well, especially with the bride! The rest of the reception we danced the night away, especially my dad! We were all sad when the dj said it was the last dance of the night.










The whole weekend was special and absolutely amazing to be there for. I dont know what I would have done if I had missed it. The bride looked the best I have ever seen her, the wedding was perfect, there was alot of laughter the whole weekend and many unforgettable memories.I loved seeing my family, family from other states, my best friend and many other friends who mean so much!