Giving Thanks...

Happy Thanksgiving, a little belated but better late than never right? Well its been awhile since I have last updated and most of this blame goes to the fact I was entertaining guests for a week in Iceland. Yep you read right I had a couple great friends come out and visit me in the Land of Ice. A couple of my good friends from Iowa State decided to use their Thanksgiving break to come out and spend a week with me. It was so nice to have some friendly faces around and hang out with everyday.

The girls arrived on Friday the 20th at 6:30AM. I decided it would be a good idea to not go to bed that night and instead just stay up until I had to leave at about 6 to head to the airport. It worked out well until about 5:30 when I needed to splash some water on my face to stay awake, but once I started driving to the airport I was wide awake with excitement of their arrival. I actually had no idea that 2 people were coming and was very surprised when I saw both walk out to greet me!

Our adventures for the week started as soon as we were leaving the airport when I tried to pay the short term parking and it wouldn't let me. So after a few tries we had to go back inside and find help and finally we got it all figured out and were able to leave the airport. It was a perfect example of the daily struggles I encounter and we all got a good laugh out of it.

Once we got back to my apartment we all crashed and took a nap for about 4 hours. We then spent the afternoon driving around my town, going to the grocery store and things like that. As for that night my team had planned a big party for all us and then we hit up the downtown night life. Since we were only running on about 4 hours of sleep and the way Icelanders party by 5AM we were all dragging and ready to call it a night. Just when I was about to ask the girls if they wanted to call a cab to head home, I looked around and could only find one. Yep first night in Iceland with my American friends and I lost one. After about 30 minutes of searching the bars up and down the street and looking like a completely idiot she showed back up. I probably sounded like a mom when I told her she can't just run off like that in another Country without a source of communication and with that we called a cab and called it a night.

On Saturday I had practice at 3:30, which we almost over slept for but thank goodness for my default alarm that goes off everyday at 2:30. While I was at practice I let the girls use my car so they could drive around and explore. After practice we all got ready and decided to give an Icelandic Restaurant a try. So we did some research online and decided on one in downtown Reykjavik. I think we made a good choice as well all enjoyed our dinner and left the place stuffed and satisfied. We were unsure on what to do for the rest of the night and at about 11 we just decided to go sit at a bar downtown and have a few drinks. When we got to the first bar it we were 3 of the almost 7 people in the place. Like I have mentioned before, people don't go out over here till about 1:30, so we were about 2 hours early and it definitely showed. But we didn't care we just wanted to relax. We decided we would just have a drink at every bar we came to along the street, this only worked out for about 3 bars and after that is turned into a crazy night that only appropriately ended with me losing my wallet. Yep I got all the way back to my apartment to only realize I lost my wallet so I turned back around and headed back downtown at 7am. After checking every bar that we were in and lastly the pizza place we stopped at not once but twice that night I decided I wasn't going to find it and headed home. It was almost 8am and since my wallet had everything from my Debit cards, credit card, license, visa, etc. I decided to make some phone calls to get some of those things taken care of. I cancelled all my bank cards and got some preliminary information about how to obtain a new visa and with that I finally could relax and go to sleep at 8:45 AM that is.

We decided to take Sunday easy and sleep in. The only thing we really had planned was to go watch Rahshon's basketball game that evening, which he won and played very well. We headed to bed early on Sunday night as we had a big day of sightseeing planned for Monday.

We got up at about 7:30 on Monday morning, which I think that is the earliest I have gotten up since I have been here. It was still pitch black outside and stayed the way till almost 10:30. We decided to take a little sightseeing trip of the southern coast of Iceland. We first drove all the way to a town called Vik. (Look below for pictures) We got to Vik just as the sun was rising which we could have planned any better (even though we didn't plan it) Vik is a town right on the coast with a black sand beach and it was so beautiful to see the sunrise from the beach. Definitely a picture perfect sunrise. There is also some rock like things out in the water that reminds me of Peter Pan every time I see them. I am not sure if anyone else agrees with me but that's ok its my childhood imagination coming out of me.

After Vik we headed back the way we came to catch all the Waterfalls that southern Iceland has to offer, which is a lot (and a lot is an understatement). We stopped at as many as we could and took lots of pictures. We packed a picnic lunch that we enjoyed halfway through the trip and after about 5 stops at waterfalls, 1000 stairs (and thats not an exaggeration, we counted), a couple barb wired fences jumped, and frozen fingers we were ready to head home. The only last stops we made on the way back were to take pictures of the Icelandic horses and sheep, and to stop at the grocery store to pick up something to cook for dinner. Although we did encounter a unexpected stop when the lovely Icelandic police pulled me over for speeding. Losing my wallet was a blessing in disguise because it is practically what got me out of the almost $300 dollar speeding ticket. I would like to make the case that I was only going about 75 MPH, which over here is about 20 MPH over the speed limit, oops.

We finally made it back home at about 4:30. I had practice at 6 and while I was at practice the girls began cooking the big dinner we had planned. We decided to cook our own thanksgiving and I would have to admit we did a pretty damn good job of it. The menu was the following: Mac and Cheese, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Stuffing, Corn, Rolls, Layered Salad, and finally a whole chicken (we tried to find a turkey but didn't have any luck). We definitely had leftovers that we enjoyed the rest of the week.

On Tuesday we slept in a little bit and then hit up the Blue Lagoon. I didn't really know what to expect at the Blue Lagoon but I had heard nothing but good stories and if you don't know what it is check out this Link. The Blue Lagoon was definitely everything it had been talked up to be and it was such a cool experience, something I will always remember.

On Wednesday we decided to go to the restaurant I usually eat at for lunch. As usual the food was very good and I think the girls enjoyed having some more Icelandic food. We then did a little shopping before I had to get back home to get ready for my game that evening. Unfortunately the girls didn't get to see the best game as we lost but it was still nice to have them in the stands at the game. My team even surprised them with some t-shirts for the game that they wore proudly.

Thursday was the day they left and I took them to the airport that afternoon. It was a little sad telling them bye as I had really enjoyed their company the past week, but I was so thankful that they came and visited, it really meant a lot! On Thursday night, what I like to call my Host Family (the family that lives above me and who's daughter plays on the team) cooked me a HUGE Thanksgiving dinner. It was so nice of them, not to mention absolutely delicious. I am very lucky and thankful to have such amazing people surrounding me over here and that would do something like this. On a day like Thanksgiving where I was missing being with my family and my friends had just left, they did a great job of filling a piece of that void and I am internally grateful for that.

Aside from all of that the past few days here have been much more relaxing and uneventful. On Saturday I woke up to a very light blanket of snow on the ground that made me smile when I saw it. But when I woke up this morning that light blanket of know turned into a heavy cover of about 3-4 inches, but it still made me smile. Just something about snow that brings a smile to my face, I think it dates back to my childhood of playing in it and loving snow days! We also had a game today against undefeated and top of the league KR that didn't go so well. And I am currently sitting on the couch icing some very sore knees from it and listening to Christmas music (since officially I can start doing that!)

Well this update has quickly turned in a short novel and if I didn't lose any readers yet I probably will soon so I better end it. I hope you enjoy all the pictures below, they are worth all the reading you just did I promise....

They arrived!

All their luggage..

We are about to nap its 8am and we haven't slept yet

Touring the city..

Our cups for the evening

The Americans

Friday Night Group Photo

Saturday night, we met a friend..

Sunday night at Rahshon's game (sorry can get the pic turned)

At the Black Beach

The view that makes me think of Peter Pan

Waterfall

904 stairs..

We trespassed to get to this one...

Picnic

This one was freezing

Horses

I was going a little faster than this...

Blue Lagoon

And then we said Goodbye..

Flurries in the forecast... BRRR

Hello again from Iceland. Its starting to get pretty cold here and the need for a warm winter coat is in full swing. Thank goodness I have a friend coming to visit this Friday and she is bringing me one! I am hoping this week goes by fast because I am ready for my friend to get here. We went to Iowa State together the past 3 years and became really good friends over the years. So I am really pumped she is coming all the way to Iceland during her Thanksgiving break to visit. I already have a list of things for us to do and that doesn't even count the random things we will do spur of the moment.

So back to last week, on Tuesday I went with one of my teammates and her sister and friends to see the LeBron James movie. I was actually really surprised cause the movie was really good, definitely brought back memories of my childhood basketball days and playing AAU. The movie really concentrated on the 3 guys that James grew up with and played AAU with every summer and then went on to play High School ball together as well. This really made me think back to my AAU days and have the rare opportunity to play with the same girls from when I was 9 years old till I was 16. That doesn't happen to often and I was blessed to be able to do that. It was cool to see the real game footage of LeBron's AAU team and see them play in gym, I myself had played in. Anyways not to ruin the whole movie, I recommend you go see it.

On Wednesday we had another game that we ended up losing in OT. I fouled out in the fourth quarter of the game, which really sucked and made me feel like I let down my team. Guess I better be a little more careful from now on with my fouls. On Thursday we had the day off but had to go to the local mall to help set up for a Christmas show (at least I think that's what we were setting up for, I am not really sure) Anyways we had to set up over 300 theater like seats. Lets just says after the 2.5 hours we were all dead tired and it no longer felt like we had the day off. So a couple of my teammates and I rewarded ourselves with our hard work by going to TGI Fridays for dinner. Once again it was amazing! Friday was a pretty uneventful day, as I didn't do a whole lot besides the typical workout, go to lunch and then go to practice. On Saturday we had a workout at the local fitness club at 10am and then had the rest of the day off. After the workout I definitely came back home and took a nap before I went and worked a boys basketball game. Which brings me to a short story about the game. The boys were about 16 years old and I know at that age guys can start to get a little cocky and have some attitude problems but I have never one as bad as one of the guys playing. Lets just say if I was his coach I would have pulled him out of the game sometime during the first half and wouldn't have put him back in. The kid got the ball stolen from him from a much smaller guy and then proceeded to shove him in the back at full speed, strike 1 for him from me. Strike 2 came when he seemed to be SOO tired that he couldn't even play defense but once his team was on offense its like he had all the energy in the world. But strike 3 was by far the worse. It was about 2 minutes left in the game and the other team was winning by almost 20. So this guy gets a steal and what looks like it would be a wide open dunk for him turned into a kid on the other team chasing him down and fouling him by reaching to slap the ball away. It wasn't a dirty foul by any means but this guy definitely thought it was so he shoved the kid to the ground and then reared back like he was going to punch him. Thankfully the ref stepped in and grabbed the guy. The guy was removed from the game but wasn't given a technical which I am still surprised by but I guess that is the least of my worries. I am more worried about the guy and his attitude problems, definitely did not make a good impression on me.

Anyways on Saturday night me and a couple of the Americans (Rahshon Clark formed Iowa State Cyclones and Kristi Smith former player at that other school in Iowa, yes there is a little Iowa State/Iowa rivalry over here as well.) went out in downtown Reykjavik. We stayed out till almost 5 am and then came back to my apartment and crashed. It was a fun night out and the next day the three of us went out to lunch and were able to look back at the night and laugh. Definitely made me feel like I was back in the States, as I always enjoyed going to Village Inn on a Sunday morning after a long night out on Saturday :). The rest of my Sunday I spent relaxing and cleaning my apartment. I was also able to watch the Iowa State women win their first official game vs. Florida Atlantic. Before the game started our Elite 8 banner from last year was dropped inside Hilton Coliseum. Although I wished I would have been able to see it in person, at least I got to catch it online. I still look back on last years season and can't believe everything we accomplished. And every now and then I watch this video and I still get goosebumps from it all! I ended my Sunday by watching the Patriots vs Colts football game. I am a HUGE Peyton Manning fan but was a little worried when I finally had to turn off the game due to not being able to keep my eyes open and the Colts were losing by 14 in the 4th quarter. It definitely made my morning to wake up and find out the Colts came back to win 34-35. I guessed I missed a great ending and a typical Peyton being Peyton leading his team to victory with less than 2 minutes in the game. A prime reason why I love him!

As for today, I think the weekend caught up with me as I slept in way to long, but I am really not complaining. Once I finally got up I went and worked out, then relaxed a little before I headed to practice. After practice I went a ran one of the younger team's practices and then went and watched the first half of our junior teams game. A lot of the girls that play on my team also play on the junior team so its nice to be able to support them in those games. As for now I am laying on my couch watching the Kentucky Men's team play on ESPN 360, and surprisingly they are getting beat by 15 right now by Miami, Ohio. So far I am not TOO impressed with Kentucky freshman John Wall, maybe a little to much hype around this young guy. This could be a good game and a great example of College Basketball.

Well I think that is all I have for now. I hope you all have a great week and until next time have a great week and take care! Also a special congrats to the Iowa State football team as with their win this past weekend the became Bowl Eligible, the first time since 2005. Gotta love Coach Rhoads and what he has done with this program already! Good luck to them this weekend as they travel down to Missouri to take on the Tigers. And I will be honest I have yet to decide who I am cheering for. Once a Cyclone always a Cyclone but I am also Mizzou born and raised!

Most recent game..(not a great pic though)

Got a nice package from my friend Kiley with some Athletic training supplies and

some South Dakota gear that I am definitely supporting!

Writers Block...

I know what you are thinking, "She said she would update twice a week and its almost been two weeks and nothing". I am sorry for this, I have been distracted, busy and also suffered from writers block in there a few times as well. There was about 3 instances I sat down to update and just didn't know what to write about but I am ready to talk now...

Lets see since the last time I updated we had just lost a close game at Hamar and I was coming down with a cold. Well I ended up going to the doctor and being diagnosed with a sinus infection and sent home with some antibiotics. This was a relief to my Coach who was worried I might have come down with the swine flu. Thankfully before I left to come here I took the 10 pill tamiflu vaccination that I had saved from my college days. So hopefully this means I am clear of the swine flu which is going around over here just like it is back home. Because I was sick I spent that weekend curled up in my bed or on my couch just watching movies and recovering. I finally started to feel better by Monday and by Tuesday all I had was a slight cough.

Every week day I have been going to the restaurant I mentioned in my last blog, and so far so good. Although I have no idea what I am eating because it changes everyday and I have yet to find the sign that says what the special of the day is. Honestly I don't think there is a sign so I gave up on trying to figure it out. One day last week I had a very delicious casserole at the restaurant but no idea what it was or what was in it. I also attempted to try some fish one day and after about 10 bites I decided I really didn't like it, but hey at least I gave it a try. Today was a fish day at the restaurant as well but this time I decided to just stick with the soup and salad. Also last week I found the tanning beds here and bought a package. I was impressed to find out that they have some really nice tanning beds, like the huge ones that have air conditioning in them. Lets just say I think I came out ahead in the deal as far as price compared to those beds back home, so I was definitely pretty pumped about this. I have gone 3 times so far and my teammates are already jealous of my tan. Some where in my life I have acquired the ability to tan easy, which is definitely coming in handy.

On Wednesday we had a home game against Valur and if you would look at the stats after the game you would ask how did we win, as we were out rebounded by almost 20 and turned the ball over about 25 times but still won by about 15 points. I had a triple double for the game with 36 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. With the win we are now in third place in the league and still a lot of games to be played.

On Thursday my Coach had 4 tickets to the Premier of 2012, so a couple teammates and myself went and saw the movie. Funny story about this was about halfway through the movie the lights come on and everybody grabbed there jackets and headed out of the theater room. I was confused as this has never happened to me in a movie. My first thought when the lights came on was that there was something wrong with the movie film and they needed to fix it, but when every got up I immediately thought that the movie was over. Since it was a premier and the movie doesn't officially come out till later, I wondered it we only got to watch half of it. But I soon realized that this was just intermission and the movie started back up about 15 minutes later. And in the end I thought the movie was pretty decent, although there were some definite unrealistic parts.

Other than all of that I have just been staying busy with whatever I can find to do. I have gotten on a new schedule where I actually get up before noon here which has been nice. I try and get up around 11 and I go workout, after that I go have lunch at the restaurant, I then run any errands I have, then take a nap before I head to practice. With day light savings time back home I went from being 5 hours ahead of central time to 6 hours, which I am trying to adjust to a little. It doesn't really affect my sleep habits but mainly just the ability to keep in contact with friends back home.

I have one final story that happened last week that was pretty funny. I was doing laundry at the gym like I always do. I had quite of bit of laundry on this day because I decided since I had been sick to wash my sheets and stuff like that, so I needed to do two loads of laundry instead of just one. Well there are two washers at the gym and although I have only used one I figured I could use the other one as well and it couldn't be to hard to figure out. Well unfortunately I was wrong because after an hour and half my clothes were still inside the washer, just sitting there and the door was locked. So I decided I would just turn the washer off and let it sit for a few minutes and hopefully it would give me back my clothes. When I came back in the laundry room the washer had finally unlocked the door but the problem now was that there was water all over the floor. I had some how just flooded the laundry room. So I close the door and start looking for any towels I could find to clean up the mess. My other load of laundry was done and in the dryer so I decided to throw the clothes that had been held hostage in the other washer along with all the towels I had just used and just rewashed them. Finally after about 4 hours, a flooded laundry room, and a few trips back and forth to the gym, all my laundry was clean and dry, what a relief. And come to find out when I went to do my laundry yesterday, the one washer is out of order. So I have come to the conclusion that it really wasn't my fault and that the washer was indeed broke.

Well I think that is all for now. Unfortunately I don't have many pictures to share with you this time, hopefully next time I update I will have more. And until then I hope you have a great week and take care!

Highlighted my hair..

Sunday Nachos..

Beautiful view...