Monday, November 24, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Lifestyle improvements...
Hey Y'all,
Okay so Heidi has been here a week now and it has been so great having her here. Yesterday we went on a run through the woods outside the city on some trails. We found a great little lake and a clear trail that goes all the way to the top of the small mountain. We also got Heidi a membership to the gym that my team works out at so she can run or take yoga if the weather doesn't allow her to run. (She is a running fanatic.) Other than working out she has started doing the German language Rosetta Stone learning software and so she now knows a couple of words and phrases in German. As for me I have been pretty busy with training and trying to study for my LSAT. I only have one more month to prepare so it is sorta crunch time. I will be very relieved when I don't have to take any more practice tests because they are rather grueling. As for the rest of this week, tomorrow we play the French team in the Euro Challenge Cup. One of my childhood friends is on that team so it will be great to see him and catch up. Other than that we play another league match on Saturday against a pretty weak team. So far we are still 6-0 in league and doing much better than previously expected. Although you'd never know this from the owner's personality, I sometimes think that even an Olympic gold wouldn't be enough for him : ). Anywho, I hope all is well with everyone, feel free to drop me an email or comment.
Peace,
Adam
Okay so Heidi has been here a week now and it has been so great having her here. Yesterday we went on a run through the woods outside the city on some trails. We found a great little lake and a clear trail that goes all the way to the top of the small mountain. We also got Heidi a membership to the gym that my team works out at so she can run or take yoga if the weather doesn't allow her to run. (She is a running fanatic.) Other than working out she has started doing the German language Rosetta Stone learning software and so she now knows a couple of words and phrases in German. As for me I have been pretty busy with training and trying to study for my LSAT. I only have one more month to prepare so it is sorta crunch time. I will be very relieved when I don't have to take any more practice tests because they are rather grueling. As for the rest of this week, tomorrow we play the French team in the Euro Challenge Cup. One of my childhood friends is on that team so it will be great to see him and catch up. Other than that we play another league match on Saturday against a pretty weak team. So far we are still 6-0 in league and doing much better than previously expected. Although you'd never know this from the owner's personality, I sometimes think that even an Olympic gold wouldn't be enough for him : ). Anywho, I hope all is well with everyone, feel free to drop me an email or comment.
Peace,
Adam
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Heidi's Austrian Adventure: Part I
Hello everyone!!! For those who don't know me I'm Adam's girlfriend Heidi. This trip to Austria is my first time out of the United States other than Mexico, so I have had mixed feelings of nervousness and excitement for the past few months. My flight from LAX to Munich, Germany went pretty well other than my seating arrangement on the plane. I got to cozy up between three German woman which was interesting to say the least, but it gave me a good preview of what to expect in Austria as far as the language barrier goes. My connection flight from Munich to Klagenfurt was on a very small plane like Mike said it would be. This made me a bit nervous when I first took my seat, but the fact that all the other passengers were male business looking men kept my mind preoccupied. I was the only female on the plane except for the two flight attendants. On this short 50 minute flight is where it really sank in that I would be seeing Adam for the first time in three months. I had been anticipating this moment for so long and I must say that seeing his face again was one of best moments in my life. I feel so blessed to have such supportive family and friends and I can't wait to share my experiences as my journey in Austria unfolds.
-Heidi
-Heidi
Heidi in Klagenfurt!
So I am very excited because I am finally with my girlfriend Heidi again. The two and a half month time we were apart was the longest we hadn't seen each other and it was not always easy. It is great to get to catch up with her. My friend Simon drove me to the airport on Wednesday night and we got there just as Heidi was getting her bags. Since it was about eleven already I ordered some pizza's from this great local restaurant. We picked up the pizza and we enjoyed some cheap Italian wine in my apartment. It was actually sorta surreal having her there with me. It almost didn't feel real. I had always planned on her coming over as soon as I was settled somewhere but because the job situation here was always so sketchy I just got used to her being away. I never thought I would miss simple things like hugs and holding hands but going so long with out that kind of contact is very difficult. And is definitely nice to have someone outside of volleyball to spend time with again. We haven't done too much so far but we went to the lake yesterday and walked around. We also went into the city and got bus passes and we were even able to get her a cheap gym membership at the gym my team works out at. Tonight my team is going to play a match against Hartburg and she is meeting some of the girls from the women's team to watch the game with. After the game tonight we will probably go have a couple of drinks somewhere. This week will be pretty busy because we are hosting a French team for the Euro challenge cup and we have a league match on the weekend. Posted are some of the pictures from the day at the Lake.
Prost!
Adam
At peace...Mary
Okay so since the last time I was posting regularly there has been a lot of stuff going on. First and foremost I want to offer my deepest condolences and heartfelt sorrow for the loss of my Aunt Mary. Mary's death last Saturday was a great shock to everyone and I know that this must be a hard time for all the immediate family. This loss feels especially difficult because we were all together just recently as a family for Sarah Anderson's (my cousin) wedding. Although I know that this is a tragic loss, I feel a small sense of relief for Mary as I now know her physical struggles are over and she is at peace. As a family and community we can honor her memory by acknowledging our most beautiful memories of her and then by learning from her life's most trying challenges. Her joys were our joys, her sorrows were our sorrows, her memories were our memories, her failures were our failures, her successes were our successes, and now her loss is our loss. The most important thing to take from the death of a loved one is the reminder of our own precious mortality. We are still here, she is not. Let us all embrace life's challenges with a new enthusiasm.
One of my most favorite literary passages is an exerpt from John Donne's Meditations. I feel it is expecially appropriate for this moment.
"All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated...As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness....No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
One of my most favorite literary passages is an exerpt from John Donne's Meditations. I feel it is expecially appropriate for this moment.
"All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated...As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness....No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
Friday, November 7, 2008
DETAILED UPDATE COMING SOON
I GOTTA RUN TO PRACTICE BUT I WILL WORK ON THE DETAILED POST WHEN I GET BACK...
HEIDI'S HERE AND FINALLY SOME PICTURES
FIRST THINGS FIRST, HERE ARE SOME PICTURES FROM KLAGENFURT AND OTHER PLACES I'VE VISITED SINCE THEN
Old Post
So the following post I actually wrote about a week and a half ago but I just got caught up with other things so I never actually got to load it on the site. I thought I would include it in this post even though it is dated just because it seemed like a waste to trash it…
Okay, so I know it has been a while since my last update but the charger on my laptop started smoking one day and so since then I have been unable to use my computer. Right now I am using a computer that a friend of mine on the team is lending me until Heidi comes in a week and a half with another charger. So what is new? Well on the volleyball front we have still not lost a match since beginning league play. This is very cool because if we win all our games during the season then we will get a good seed when we play the top teams from the rest of Austria in the play-offs. I have also started playing some opposite and outside hitter. Since we are winning there really hasn’t been too much of an opportunity for me to get a lot of playing time. (They don’t really sub the setter unless the team is playing very poorly.) However, I am happy to branch out and provide some depth for our team in other ways besides setting. Doing this also makes the practices a little more fun for me. While I haven’t had much of a chance to play a significant amount yet I am confident that the time for me will come soon because the season is so long and we do not have back-ups for every position. In the meantime I am working hard in the weight room and on the court to improve my game. About a week and a half ago we did travel to Luxembourg to play a challenge cup match. We had to take a 13 hour bus ride which was just miserable. The team we played was very hospitable though, even though we were a much better team and had no trouble winning the series. And it was great to see another part of Europe different than Austria.
Okay, so I know it has been a while since my last update but the charger on my laptop started smoking one day and so since then I have been unable to use my computer. Right now I am using a computer that a friend of mine on the team is lending me until Heidi comes in a week and a half with another charger. So what is new? Well on the volleyball front we have still not lost a match since beginning league play. This is very cool because if we win all our games during the season then we will get a good seed when we play the top teams from the rest of Austria in the play-offs. I have also started playing some opposite and outside hitter. Since we are winning there really hasn’t been too much of an opportunity for me to get a lot of playing time. (They don’t really sub the setter unless the team is playing very poorly.) However, I am happy to branch out and provide some depth for our team in other ways besides setting. Doing this also makes the practices a little more fun for me. While I haven’t had much of a chance to play a significant amount yet I am confident that the time for me will come soon because the season is so long and we do not have back-ups for every position. In the meantime I am working hard in the weight room and on the court to improve my game. About a week and a half ago we did travel to Luxembourg to play a challenge cup match. We had to take a 13 hour bus ride which was just miserable. The team we played was very hospitable though, even though we were a much better team and had no trouble winning the series. And it was great to see another part of Europe different than Austria.
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