Greece...and LIFE!

Alright, so....I'm a TOTAL slacker!!!!  Yes, I went to Greece....yes is was amazing....I had a blast.  It was great to experience something new once again with my mom.  I know not many have that opportunity so I definitely cherish it.  Because 16 days is way too long to write about, let me cover some highlights.

1.  The tour group:  what a great bunch of people.  My mom knew all but three or four and they ALL love her!

2.  Our hotel in Athens...come on, it was 5 star with a view of the Acropolis from the hotel restaurant, doesn't get much better than that!

3.  Olympia--we were there when they had the initial lighting of the olympic torch...so cool!

4.  Biblical locations...Patmos, Corinth, etc...

5.  Kalambaka/Meteora--we visited two monasteries that were located on top of these rock cliffs...absolutely incredible.  And if you ever go to one, don't accidently bump the candle holders....Olive Oil comes gushing out like it did on me when I tried to take my camera off from around my neck.  Luckily, a couple ladies in the group wiped off my neck with baby wipes, and I had an extra long sleeve shirt in my purse!

6.  Kusadasi--Ephesus...AMAZING.  And now I can say I went to Turkey!

7.  Greek Islands--totally looks like the movies and yes, the water is really as turquoise as it looks!

8.  Watching a little tiny tug boat pulling a HUGE cruise ship out of port....amazing the power those little boats have and how effective they are.

See pics below....between me and my mom, we took...A LOT of pictures, so these are snippets of the trip.  I'm working on our book (after every trip I take with my mom, I make a digital scrapbook for us...the trick for this one will be remembering EVERYTHING we saw and the history behind it!).




So LIFE....has been busy, but great.  I am loving DC, the east coast...its been a great experience so far.  Soccer season will start up again on August 1, so the staff at GW is keeping busy making preparations for pre-season as well as recruiting, and other little odds and ends that need to continually be taken care of.  I was able to go to a Washington Nationals game last Saturday and I loved it!  I completely forgot how much I enjoy MLB games!   So life is good, I can't complain, and just feeling really happy and really blessed.  :)

Went to the Nats vs. Yankees Game...Nats lost 5-3  :(

Gravelly Point...next to the Reagan Airport....LITERALLY!




Went to Longwood Gardens in PA with my roommate

LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!!

A Little Perspective...

Overall, things are going really well.  I'm still loving my new job.  GW is a great place to be and there are such good people who I get to interact with everyday.  I'm learning a ton and I can already see some growth in myself as a person and coach....though I still have a long way to go!!!!  

Though things are going well overall, there has been a struggle the last few weeks.  A good friend of mine decided that it was time for us to go our separate ways...I am not exactly sure what I had done to cause her to feel the way she did, and I fear there were some uncontrollable outside factors that also added to the situation and didn't help it at all, both that I am aware of and others that I am unaware of.  However, it always makes you wonder what could've been done differently, how could I have been better, what if I had known that I wasn't being a good friend to this person, could I have changed the outcome?  But at the same time I look back and feel as though I did all I could to try and salvage a friendship that was clearly slipping away and had been on that road for awhile.  Another good friend of mine put things in perspective for me a couple days ago.  I was telling him that I was really struggling with what happened and I wanted to know how I could've possibly avoided this outcome, and his advice was this:

It is something you may never know and overtime the healing will come.  It is important to focus on what is important and in front of us now, and make sure that each day we are living our lives to make the lives of those around us better than they are or were.  

I think that is good advice...and hopefully time will heal.  It is never easy to lose a friend in any circumstance, especially in ones like this.  But I also find myself reflecting back on some really good memories from that friendship and will be forever grateful I had it in my life for a short time.  But it is time to move forward and hope that in time, things will work themselves out.  

THE MALL!!!

A couple weeks ago, our team asked if we could have practice at the National Mall. We told the girls that they had to scope out a decent grassy area and we would go down there. We met on our main campus, walked down to the Mall (passing a few monuments on the way! :) The girls played 6v6 with an amazing view of the Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument and the White House, and then they went peddle boating in the Tidal Basin for conditioning! It was a really cool morning! My birthday was the day before this, so I sorta felt like that whole weekend was a celebration. My boss got a couple coaches to join us for a birthday dinner, then we practiced at the Mall the next day, and then I left to go to San Diego to recruit and I spent a minimal amount of time with my family, which was a perk to the trip! I got stuck in Dallas on the way home due to several tornados that had , but I was able to spend the night with my friend Kass, and her husband David...and luckily got a flight out the next day. On Easter morning, I took a recruit to the aiport at 5:45am, and then I stopped by the U.S. Marine Corp Memorial on my way home and took some great pictures of the sunrise over the city! It was just an amazing week!



This past weekend, my oldest brother, Kevin, came into town for a conference for the American Pediatrics Association...or some organization like that. On his last night here, we decided to get some take out from Chipotle and have dinner at the Mall. We parked near the Lincoln Memorial, walked down and ate dinner right in front, with a view of the Washington Monument and the Capitol. Then we walked to the Jefferson Memorial, around the tidal basin to the Washington Monument and WWII Memorial. We drove over to the U.S. Marine Corp memorial...probably my favorite next to the Lincoln and then headed home. It was a really cool way to spend some time with my brother. :) The monuments at night are AMAZING. See pics below!!!!

Cherry Blossoms!

So today, my boss and I headed down to the tidal basin to see the cherry blossoms. They were so beautiful!!!!!! We walked past the Lincoln, then along the Potomac River to the Jefferson Memorial and the around the tidal basin. See pictures below!

New Chapter...!!!!!!

Where do I start?!?!

HELLO FROM WASHINGTON DC! I am now living in Alexandria, VA and working in Washington DC at George Washington University! I literally accepted a job, packed up and moved in 7 days...the quickest cross country move I think I will ever end up pulling off. Luckily I had lots of help from friends and family which made it all possible. I had several friends help me pack up and my landlords were a HUGE help. After packing up everything, I realized my wallet was missing....I had packed it in one of the bags. My landlords went through every single box and bag I had packed until we found it. I will always be appreciative of them helping me in that way. My old boss, Heather, set up two going away parties in less than 24 hours, one with staff from Utah State who I felt close to and with the team. I stayed at her house the night before leaving Logan to spend some time with her and Motley. My visiting teacher, Margaret, the Ericksons, Janet and Todd all helped me pack up my room, car and trailer to get ready for the move. I was able to stay at Kevin's house the night before I left. Tyler flew up to Utah on Sunday night, and we left Monday morning after having breakfast with Kevin.

Housing situation....I made contact with the local bishop of the singles ward out in DC, and a girl in the ward contacted me that night and within a week, we had found a place...this was all while I was still in Utah. I signed a lease and was able to move into our place when I arrived in DC....and my roommate went to Utah State! So that was a huge blessing.

Here is the link to the article about my hire! GW Women's Soccer

At GW, I am coaching soccer. My new boss is awesome. I can't say enough good things about her. I knew her from working camps in Texas this summer and we had kept in touch during our fall seasons. She was hired in December. I have already learned so much from her. One of her friends who was a head coach at Oklahoma came out and helped us for a couple weeks, and I learned a ton from her as well. Both have been very patient with me as I'm learning new things, and how things are to be done in the GW soccer program. The team is awesome....such a fun group of girls! I have thoroughly enjoyed them....they are hard working, respectful, and very driven. I've been keeping plenty busy, but for the next few days I'll be spending some time with my family in Cali before heading back to work!

I feel very blessed for this new opportunity. It will be an exciting new chapter in my book! :)

2011--Year in Review!

2011 seemed to fly by…and my top memories of 2011 seem to be the big things that happened throughout the year...here they are in no particular order…

*Spending the first 2.5 weeks in Florida, DC and Maryland
*Going to Africa with my mom…the night safari and seeing the three lions and seeing the Cheetah were memorable moments, favorite common seen animal was the giraffe
*Spending my summer in Texas working soccer camps and seeing several good friends during my time there
*USU winning WAC regular season championship
*USU winning WAC Tournament championship
*USU playing at Auburn in 1st Round of NCAAs
*All the friends and family I got to see when traveling with USU Soccer
*Seeing my entire family over 4th of July
*buying my iphone…totally worth the early upgrade!
*Finishing my Master’s degree!!!!!
*Living by Hyrum resevoir….love the hawks, eagles, magpies…but can do without the hundreds of seagulls!
*Watching USU in the Potato Bowl in Boise—even though they lost, it was a lot of fun to be there!

USU in The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

On Friday I officially started my winter vacation from both jobs, packed my bags and headed out for my first adventure to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise, ID. I drove up with my boss (Heather), the assistant gymnastics coach (Janet) and an academic advisor from athletics (Amber Rae). We stayed at the same hotel as the team and administration, which was right in the heart of downtown Boise! The game was on Saturday with Utah State losing to Ohio in the last 13 seconds 24-23. It was....sad...so sad. As an alumni of Utah State, and never watching an alma mater in a bowl game, it was actually a lot of fun to cheer on my team both as an alumni and an employee! :) At the game I saw two girls I coached in soccer at Lone Peak High School who are sisters. One is playing softball at Ohio and the other is playing Rugby at Utah State! Their parents came over with them to say hi (each wearing a half Ohio/half USU shirt on.....very clever). It is always so fun to see kids I've coached and catch up on what they are doing! We arrive back late last night.....after running out of gas right at the Garland/Tremonton exit! Heather and I stayed in the car while Janet and Amber Rae walked to the gas station just on the other side of the freeway to get gas! The trip as a whole was a lot of fun. I'm glad I went to support my Aggies!

Sweet reminders

So there's a student I work with who can say some words, but they are very long and drawn out...you learn a lot of patience waiting to hear what he is trying to say, but with his deep voice, it is actually really cute. For example, if I ask him, "are you having fun cooking?" He looks at me, smiles and says, "yyyyyyyyeeeeeeessssssssssss"....I really wish I could record his voice but that might be illegal. He loves to do his work, he loves to cook, he loves schools...and he LOVES girls! My job is to bring him in from the bus, help him put his stuff in his locker and get him ready to "wwwwwwooorrrrrrrrrrrrk" as he would say. My favorite is cheese..."eeeeeeeeese." Yesterday, a pretty girl walked by us and he bee-lined it for her just so he could walk up to her, get right up face to face with her and smile at her. I pulled him back to his locker and here was our short but sweet conversation...

Marla: you like girls don't you?
Student: yyyeeeesssssss
Marla: Do you like the pretty girls?
Student: yyyeessssssssss
Marla: Am I a pretty girl?
Student (with no hesitation and a BIG smile: yyeeeessssssss

I'm really glad he chose to respond because I was running late yesterday morning and just threw on clothes, threw my hair up in a ponytail and walked out the door!! :) It made my day!

End of Soccer--WAC Champs!

Soccer is over. :( It has been a really exciting season. Utah State won the WAC regular season championship, the WAC tournament championship and earned ourselves the program's first automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. We played at Auburn in the 1st round and lost 2-1. Somehow during all the craziness, I was able to attend my first ever Utah State football game! It was actually pretty fun....I miss watching college football! During the month of October and November, I was able to see friends and family when traveling with soccer. While in Hawaii, my friend Sierra Kenny came to visit me while the team spent the day at the beach! When we went to Idaho, I saw my good friend and old roommate, Christina, and her cute little family. They came to our game and her girls loved being able to run around...and it was their first sporting event! On our way home from Idaho, via Spokane, my cousin Paul, his wife and daughter joined me for dinner with the team! While in Fresno, I saw my old high school soccer coach whose daughter plays for Fresno State, and my good friend, Sara, drove down to our championship game from Stockton! When we went to Auburn, my friend, Chris, who used to coach at Auburn, drove down from Indiana for the game...even though he was cheering on Auburn, it was still fun to see him. This season was a memorable one...and its been great to be a part of a program that is making history and continuing to progress and get better! I am still working at the high school with as a special education aide...grateful for things that I take for granted everyday. Each day is a new experience, and I am learning a lot of patience, I'm learning to celebrate the little things, and I'm just happy to have the opportunity to give these kids a chance to experience everyday life just as you and I do on a regular basis. I am truly blessed and life is good! I am now at home ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family..everyone will be here except for Tyler's kids....its going to be a lot of fun to have the family together once again...this doesn't happen very often! I did get to see Tyler's kids on Friday...when we went to Goofy's Kitchen at Disneyland! We saw Goofy (obviously), Minnie Mouse, Captain Hook (my favorite of the night..and the kids' too!), Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Chip and Dale, and Pluto! Way fun with the kids!