Hiking....

Yep...I guess I like to hike now. :) My friend, Christa, who lives in California, connected me with her friend, Patrick who lives in Logan. Patrick and I went on a hike to the wind caves up Logan Canyon! It was a blast!

Cool View....

There's a little tiny place that overlooks the Cache Valley about two blocks from my house. I walked over there tonight at sunset to take some pics! I love the view...thbe picture don't do it justice.

Reflecting...

Not many people know that the last year has probably been one of the hardest of my life...I've been tried and tested a lot, much coming from the result of the choices of others and partly because of my choices as well; my integrity and moral character have been attacked and challenged. I've had the choice to take the higher road or to join right in and return the hits being tossed my way...it hasn't been easy, I've had to learn a few hard lessons, but overall, taking the higher road is the most rewarding road to take even when the rewards are not even noticeable. There have been times when I wondered how the heck I'd ever get through it all or if it would ever end. It just seemed like everytime I turned around something else was falling apart or more was being added to the situations. This past week, since I really haven't had a ton to do after soccer is over, I've had a lot of time to recognize that Heavenly Father is very aware of me. He has placed people in my life to help me through times such as these....my family and a few friends who have been with me every step of the way. A door has been opened for me that has gotten me out of the situations I was in down in Salt Lake, and this opportunity is also something that I have wanted to do for a very long time...I am living my dream this year! I'm grateful to know that I have a Heavenly Father who is aware of me, a family who supports me, friends who are willing to listen no matter how old the complaint or drama. I'm grateful to be working at USU and I am excited to finish my Master's degree. I am working with a great coaching staff...I think my experience at any other school would be very different. This week I've recognized several blessings in my life and just felt I needed to share. I'm still dealing with things and working through things, but know that as I trust in a loving Heavenly Father, and do what I can to be a better person, all the pieces will fall as they should.

Survived the First Week!

Um....well, it's pretty easy to survive the first week after getting close $400 of free Nike stuff (Nike is our sponsor), that's not including my cleats, goalkeeper gloves and running shoes! Anyway, yes, that is a perk of coaching in college...and thank goodness Nike makes sportsbras! Now I can throw all my old ones away! Woo hoo! However, my warm up pants look like I'm a part of the cast from "I Dream of Genie" but if I go a size down, they will be too short....so I'd rather go baggy than short...and they are FREE!!!!! So this week....it's been long, busy, but really fun. It's interesting being part of new coaching staff, but what I really like about Heather and Josh is that they 1. care about the girls, 2. work well together, 3. they don't treat me like a glorified cone mover, 4. they both care about life outside of soccer...the list goes on and on. I am still trying to figure out where I fit into all this, and the coaches have made it clear "you are not here to be a fly on the wall"...they want me involved as much as possible...but I am learning a new system of play, a new style of coaching, new girls, higher level of competition and play, etc...but soccer is soccer...and it's something I love and I am loving this! Being in charge of pre-season meals is no easy feat either....lots of organizing (which much of it was already done by Josh before I got here), and lots of paperwork....which I haven't even started. I'm also over equipment...which I haven't even started...and I'm over contacting the visiting team, which I still have another week til i have to worry about it, and I finally was able to email all the soccer alumni today to introduce myself and give them an update on the team.

Today was exciting because this morning, we played 11v11 for the last 20 minutes of practice. I played an outside back and outside midfielder...and actually held my own...despite the fact that I couldn't feel my feet because it was 50 degrees outside and pouring rain! This afternoon we had a short-sided games round robin type of deal, and I ended up playing in goal. I actually did pretty well for not playing outdoor for a year and not playing goal in indoor for 6 months! A lot of the girls didn't know I was a goalkeeper in college...but they do now!!!! It was really fun...but I am starting to feel it! My body just doesn't recover like it used to! :P We have tomorrow off, which will be nice, then it's back to work on Monday!

First Day!

My first day was great! Here's a little rundown.
9am--Showed up to my humble little office still full of stuff that needs to be cleared out. I was there til about 3:45pm. I followed Josh Walters, the assistant coach, around to various destinations, got my parking permit, keys, school ID, met several of the "need to know" people in the athletic department office, met more coaches from other sports. Went to lunch then we also made sure that the field was being lined properly, went to pick up equipment and uniforms, started sorting equipment to distribute to players tomorrow or Wednesday. A couple more of my duties aside from the alumni newsletter, blog and coordinating with the visiting teams include organizing pre-season meals and I'll be in charge of equipment. The head coach will be back tomorrow and will notify me of my other duties.


View from my office...camera is on zoom.


The name plate on my door!

Officially an Aggie!

I started today with a soccer camp at Utah State. I ran the goalkeeper camp for 12-18 year olds. It was a lot of fun. I start Monday in the office and I'm excited for the season to officially start Tuesday when the team checks in! In this picture I don't look so excited...it was after camp and I was exhausted!

I've been in California for the last few days and I'll be here for another week. This week was just visiting with family and able to see a couple friends while I was here. Kevin and Heather decided at the last minute to drive down last night...so of course, the week I'm working, they are hitting Sea World, Disneyland and the beach! :( What a bummer! Next week I'm working a goalkeeper camp at Cal State Fullerton. It should be a blast...I'm a dorm mom...woot woot!


I went to the Chelsea FC vs. Inter-Milan game at the Rose Bowl with my friends Kass, David and Rich.



With my friend Heather Wilson, she is recovering from major surgery...I'm glad she is o.k.!

With my friend Lynne Bahrami...we grew up playing soccer together. She was in town from North Carolina so we thought we better get together!

With Tyler's kids!



With my friend Chris Marbach...we've been friends since the 3rd grade!

I miss palm trees...I'm not gonna lie. :(

Swimming with my family!

Adjusting...

So I'm finding that it is very strange living somewhere where you know absolutely no one! For the first few days it felt like a vacation...then this morning when I took a wrong turn and ended up going down a one way street, the wrong way, and it hit me a little more...WHERE AM I AND WHAT AM I DOING??? I am loving my house, loving my neighborhood. Logan is not as far off as every says it is...though if you like shopping, this is not the place to live...good thing I don't like shopping! There is a Cafe Rio, Best Buy, several scrapbooks stores (one AMAZING one), Smiths Marketplace, Walmart, Shopko, etc....pretty much everything one needs to survive...except Target! But that's o.k. I can handle that. Last night the head coach had me over for dinner and this morning she showed me a couple hiking trails (hence the pics below of the view of Cache Valley from the trail we were on this morning). I went into the offices to see my humble little office where I will be spending the next year and found out a few of my responsibilities when I start my assistant coaching duties. I officially start as an assistant coach on August 1st!

Mom's Visit and Moving to Logan

My mom came up two weeks ago for my niece's birthday. Eva is now four, and my domesticated sister-in-law, Heather, made a castle cake...way cool. I took mom to the RSL game since she has never been. It was really fun! On Friday night we took care of Eva and Linnea so Kevin and Heather could go away for the night...they stayed at Grand America and decided they wanted to take the girls swimming! So we all went swimming! It was sweet! Kevin and Heather were on the 23rd floor and had a view of the Salt Lake Valley. Eva's birthday party was on Sunday and she was very excited about her presents from her cousins and extended family.
GRAND AMERICA!







EVA'S BIRTHDAY PARTY!

Pin the crown on princess??? First time I've ever heard of that!








RSL GAME


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I am now an official resident of Logan, Utah. I moved yesterday and all went very smoothly thanks to the Burge family, my mom, and many members of the elders' quorum from the Brighton 9th Ward (Cottonwood Heights), the Dahl family from the Cliffside 2nd ward (Logan), my brother, my friend Mark Amakasu, my roommate and her two friends Jason and Mark. The Burges brought their trailor and made a day trip out of the move. Brent, Kristine and their three kids, Ashley, Erika and Braden were a huge help throughout the day. The girls even helped my mom unpack and put away my clothes! After going to lunch and hitting Walmart for a much needed fan in the house with no AC, my mom, my new roommate and I headed back down to Salt Lake City. Becky and I went to the Real Salt Lake vs. Club America game while my mom babysat my nieces so Kevin and Heather could go out on a date. We had a great time at the game...but missed the goal because we were in line for food! ARGH! But it was still a lot of fun. Today after church my mom and I started unpacking...it's almost all done! I have three boxes of random crap I have to figure out...other than that, I am set!!! I'm ready for this new adventure!


The Burge Family who helped me move!


My new roommate, Becky, and I at the RSL game...after the goal...but the food was good. :)


My house in Logan!

Pics of the backyard