"Seek progress rather then perfection"

Greetings from Sweden =)

Shout out to my friend Jackie for making my wonderful new header for me! It's amazing and I love it!! Thank you!

Soooo.. Monday not much went on we basically just had practice and then after practice we had a meeting with our manager and coach to discuss our future jobs.

Tuesday we went to soccer school in the morning and it went really well.  Most of the stuff we do there is individual and it is a great time to improve your touch and work on simple things such as passing.  We will be doing this every Tuesday and Thursday for extra practice.  After this we went to check out our new job with our coach.  Our job is in a factory and we basically pick excess rubber off of little parts that are used inside the engine of chainsaws. haha It's a very interesting job, but it gives us something to do during the day and a way to make some extra money for traveling.  Everyone we work with is super nice and another girl from our team works there also.  The funniest part of the work day was when everyone in the office stood up and the song eye of the tiger came on and we had "stretching time" Katie and I found this very funny and were just dancing the whole time.  I think everyone here definitely thinks the Americans are crazy. haha  After this we had the night off from training and we just relaxed and made dinner.

Wednesday was our first day at our job and it went well.  We get paid by how many pieces we do, but the boss told us it is still better to focus on the quality over the quantity.  My first day I didn't do that many pieces and I wasn't very quick at it. haha  We only work for three hours a day at this job so it is pretty simple.  We should be making a couple hundred extra bucks a week for spending money so that will be great.  Wednesday night we had practice again and then called it a night.  Thursday was pretty much the same thing with work in the morning and practice at night.

Friday after work we went with our coach to meet up with the gym teacher at the local school to discuss our other job.  We sat down and sorted out our schedule and decided we would be working there four days a week with kids from the age of about 14-17.  We will basically just be there with the teacher and making sure they are doing everything correctly and participating in all of the activities.  With our jobs I will work at the factory one week, Katie at the school and then we will switch on and off every week.  We also discussed with the teacher on taking a Swedish class with younger kids from other countries who are also trying to learn the language.  This would be great for us and the easiest way for us the learn the language a little better.  We are starting to learn a couple words every week, but we definitely have a long way to go.  Our teammates like to teach us the bad Swedish words ;) haha  

Saturday was game day for us and we had to travel about an hour and a half to play a team in Norway.  I thought it was so cool to just drive into another country to play a game and it was a cool experience.  Everything here is so scenic and beautiful so it was a pretty drive.  When we arrived at the field it was an indoor stadium with a full size soccer field.  There was a bunch of Swedish boys playing American football with different NFL jerseys on so it made me feel right at home because the coach was also speaking English.  We played pretty well in the game and ended up winning 5-1 against a very fast Norwegian team.  Our offense finished almost all the chances we had and we put up a solid effort.  I am still not satisfied with my play 100%, but it is starting to get better.  I am feeling more comfortable in practices, but games are taking a little longer although that is only our second game against another girls team.  When we got home from the game Katie and I went to a little stand and got kebabs and fries for dinner which is something that is considered "drunk food" over here, but it was very good and different.  

Today we are just hanging out and later we have massages with our team masseuse.  I am very excited to experience a "swedish massage" and see what it is like.  

This week should be a very busy week because we have come up with a schedule for our days.  We will basically work monday-thursday and have extra practices Tuesday and Thursday morning and then work in the afternoon on those days.  We will go to the gym three times  a week in the mornings and have our normal team practice at night.  We have a game Friday and then two days off Saturday and Sunday so we will be taking our first traveling adventure to Stockholm for the weekend =)  I am so excited and ready to be on a daily schedule and to travel!!!   

Getting comfortable

Hello everyone!!!! Well, where to start?  This week has been great and so much fun!! Well, mostly the weekend =)   Monday was a normal day and we didn't do much during the day and had practice at our indoor facility at night.  Tuesday,  during the day we went on a morning run and did a little body weight workout because we didn't have practice that night.  Tuesday night the two coaches took Katie and I to a Swedish Hockey game.  It is the quarterfinals in the playoffs and it was so cool.  The team we were cheering for won 3-1 and it was such a good game.  The teams that played are in the highest division in Sweden and some of the players have also played in the NHL.  The fans there are so crazy and one section of the stadium stands up the entire game and sings songs, chants, and cheers literally the entire game and never stops.  We had great seats and the stadium only seats about 8,000 so you feel more like you are part of the game and can see everything so much better.  It was so crazy to see that and got us excited to go to a "futbol" game here in Europe.  Wednesday, was a very lazy day and Katie and I pretty much read our books and day and finished them.  Thursday morning we went to train with a "soccer school".  One of the girls on our team, MiMi goes to this school.  It is the same idea of our schools in the U.S. and they would be considered in high school, but for one of their classes in school they have soccer for 2 hours of day.  It is so cool and so crazy to think that soccer is considered a class here.  I can't imagine ever having anything like that in the U.S.  Thursday night we had practice and Friday we were off so we didn't do much.

Saturday we had a scrimmage game and we played the game about an hour and a half away.  We played in an indoor arena, but it was almost as big as a normal soccer field just not quite as long.  We didn't have our best game, but in the end we still got the result and won the game 1-0.  Saturday night we had a team party or "fest" at a girl on our team Sandra's house.  Katie and I decided to make an "American style" drink for all the Swedes to try so we made jungle juice.  It was a big hit and everyone loved it.  We had a large bucket of it and it was gone after about two hours.  The party was a great way for us to get more comfortable with our teammates and talk to them a lot more.  Everyone opened up so much so we were able to talk a lot more.  Our team is very good at speaking English so that helps out so much because obviously Katie and I can speak about 5 Swedish words.  Our team is so fun and so much fun and does a great job at making us feel comfortable and part of the team.  Most of the music they listen to her is American music so we just listened to music all night, played some trivia games, and danced!  It was a great time.

Sunday a couple of our teammates:  Sandra, Emma, and Nanni stopped by and surprised us with a visit.  They were walking around the town and wanted us to join them so we did.  We walked down to the Lake in Sunne which is the place to be in the summer.  There is a camping site, water park, dance club, and many other fun things all over looking a beautiful lake.  We walked around and took many pictures.  After that we all went to a pizza place here in Sunne and talked and had a great time.

I can't believe that we have already been here for two weeks.  It seems like just yesterday it was January and I found out I would be coming to Sweden. We have two more practice games before our first regular season league game on April 14.  I am so excited for the season and so happy to be a part of this team.  Katie and I are going to work really hard to learn more Swedish, but it is very difficult.  It is great we have such good teammates who speak English pretty well for the most part and make us feel so welcome.  Tomorrow we have a meeting about the jobs we will be getting and I am very excited because now we will have something to keep us busy during the days!

Updates!

Hej Hej!!! Not much has been going lately, it's been a pretty slow week.  I have mostly just been trying to get on the proper sleep schedule and that has a been a challenge. lol Tuesday was our first "real practice" with the team and it went very well.  However, it was freezing  and Wednesdays practice it was snowing almost the entire time.  After practice it snowed all night and the entire next day.  Practice on Thursday was cancelled due to the snow, which was a disappointment for us.  Thursday night Katie and I went over to our teammate Sandra's house to watch the Manchester United game.  Katie, Sandra, Malin, and Sofie (other teammates) are all Manchester United fans.  It was a lot of fun and they were trying to teach us so many Swedish words, it was funny!!!  Friday we were off from practice and we were able to get our apartment organized and go to the grocery store, which is always an interesting experience in another country.  Friday night I made penna vodka for dinner and it was very delicious.  It was our "pre-game" meal for our game today.  After that we watched the movie Apollo 13 and went to sleep to rest up for our game.  It is funny how most of the TV channels here are all in English with Swedish subtitles and the music is mostly American music also.

Today we had our first scrimmage game and we played against a boys team.  We tied 0-0, but it was a great match.  Our team played hard and passed the ball around very well overall.  I wasn't very satisfied with the way I played because I felt like I wasn't involved in the play as much as I would have liked to have been.  However, my performance wasn't too bad and I kept the ball when I got it and passed well.  I think that it can only get better from here and things will improve each day in practice and each game.  The team is very nice and they always makes sure to tell you good job and they are good at making us feel welcome.  Katie and I have been working on our Swedish this week and we will soon be fluent in no time =)  We will be able to communicate with the girls easier and we will also be able to teach them English.  They are obviously way better at speaking English then we are at Swedish! haha  The game today got me very excited for the season and I can't wait to see what is in store for us this year.  

Next week we will be getting our passes to the gym and I am very excited for that.  We will also be discussing possibilities for job options and possible classes so we can stay busy during the day.  Today it was about 50 degrees and sunny out, so it was a pretty nice day.  All we keep hearing about is how beautiful Sunne is in the summer and how much stuff there is to do then.  Needless to say I am very excited for the weather to start warming up and summer to come!! =))

That is all for now =)  More updates to follow!  I will try to get some pictures up next week!!  

My Arrival!

St. Louis, Missouri --->Newark, NJ ---> New York, New York --->Dusseldorf, Germany ---> Berlin, Germany ---> Oslo, Norway ---> SUNNE, SWEDEN!! Lots of flying, but I finally made it here!!

It all started in New York City!  I landed and Court came to pick me up from the airport.  That was definitely an adventure lugging around all my bags on the train.  People were not very happy with us seeing as my bags took up all of the aisle space and people had to give their seats up for us. haha  After we got off the train we took the wrong elevator due to some very rude lady.  On the second elevator we met a very interesting who asked us where we were going with all of our bags.  We told him, then he informed us he was going to Wendy's to get chili and a bake potato and then pour the chili all over the bake potato.  Then he was going to smoke "a little somthin" haha O the people you meet!!  After this we walked the streets of NYC with three bags of luggage in search for a cab.  We took a cab to Court and Lauren's apart and finally got to put all my stuff there.  I loved their apartment and it is your typical small NYC apartment, but it's was so cool and so real to me that they lived in NYC!  Court and I then initially had reservations at a Sushi restaurant, but then decided we were too hungry and needed pasta. haha We went to a place and got some pizza, pasta, and wine! It was delicious!  Then, we met up with Lauren when she got off work from Brooks Brothers and went to get some dessert.  When we got back to their apartment we watched 27 dresses and called it a night.  It was a great way to spend my last night in the states!!!

Saturday Court took me to get some last minute things (bronzer, converters, shin guards)  We went back to her apartment to pack all my stuff up and head to the airport!!  When we got there and went to check-in I saw my roommate Katie and met her for the first time.  She went to the University of Florida and is a goal-keeper.  She is very cool, chill, and super nice.  I think we are going to get along just fine =)  After we checked our bags in security was shut down so we decided to go grab some food.  We our last "American Cheeseburger" for a while and headed back to go through security.  Court was a good big sister and didn't leave me until I got through security and she literally couldn't see me anymore! Love her! Katie and I headed to our gate and waited to board the flight.  Once we got on the plane it wasn't looking good because Katie was in the middle and the man next to her was taking all of her space.  Somehow we got super lucky and the plane wasn't full so the man moved and we ended up having the four middle seats to the two of us.  The flight was 6.5 hours and I watched movies and read a little.  We made it to Germany then quickly boarded our next flight.  After that flight we had about an hour wait and then boarded our flight to Oslo.

Once we arrived in Oslo with all of our luggage in tow we were good to go (We had to wait a while for Katie's and weren't sure it had made it)  Once we walked out our manager and a girl from our team were waiting for us there and we packed our things into the car and headed to Sunne.  The drive was about 2.5 hours, but it was very beautiful and scenic.  It was cool to see Norway and then cross over into Sweden.  Once we arrived into town we went to have dinner at our teammates house.  She just had a baby and he was so beautiful.  Dinner was delicious and then we headed to our apartment.  We then came in unpacked and re-arranged the apartment a little.  It is very nice and has everything we need.  We are still working on getting the finishes touches and unpacking everything.  We are in the Center of the town and it is very cool.   There is lake about a block away and it is beautiful.  Our town is a very popular place during the summer months and I am excited for that.  After we got into our apartment and settled I got to watch Franks game and see him hit a 2 RBI double and tie up the game for his team!  They went on to win the game and it was very exciting I could watch some of the game over here and see that =)  After that it was off to bed.

I didn't sleep the best through the night, but finally at about 8 am I got some solid sleep until 1 o'clock.  We then met up with our manager and got our bank accounts set up.  At about 4:30 our coach came to pick us up and helped us get our Swedish phones and Wifi set up in our apartment.  We also got to go see the Spa that is in town.  It is sooo nice and has a pool, hot tubs, gym, fitness classes, massages,  and a salon.  I am so excited to get our membership there and try it out!   After this we went to our first team practice.  It was a "fitness" day so we had a fitness class which was really different and cool.  It consisted of some abs, plyo stuff, lunges and things of that sort.  It was really great to meet all of the girls and they all came up one by one to introduce themselves and shake our hands.  Tomorrow we have a press conference and our first real practice.  I am so excited to get things started and get back to playing with a team! I am so excited for the season and can't wait to get going.  Everything is amazing so far.  The people are super nice and have been so helpful to us.  I can't wait to see what is in store next!!

Sorry this is so long, but there was a lot to write about to fill everyone in!!  Hope you enjoy it! I will post pics ASAP!  Talk soon =))

Setting sail!

Welcome to my blog!! I'm using this as a way to keep in touch with family and friends while I'm overseas in Sweden to continue my soccer career! I leave tomorrow to head to NY until Saturday when I set sail to Germany & then finally Sweden! I'm off to pack my life into 3 bags now...updates to follow!

Disclaimer: Anyone who wants to serve as the Grammar Police, find another blog to stalk!