Weekend with Family

The whole family got together at my mom's house last weekend. It was the first time we have all been together for two years!

My Birthday!

My birthday was awesome! I couldn't have asked for a better day! Below are some pics from when I went to my brother's house for dinner, cake and ice cream! Notice the cake..soccer...thanks to my wonderfully, domesticated sister-in-law! The cake is made out of cupcakes and frosting!


Here I am with my nieces and my soccerball cake!


Linnea probably flirting with Eric...like she was ALL evening! :P


Heather putting candles on the cake!


Blowing out the candles!


Linnea enjoying a cupcake!

The Bamboo Lady

I wish I had pictures...I fear words just won't do this justice...

Today I flew back from California. I show up to the airport and know of eight people waiting for my flight who do not have a seat assignment (including me). When they finally announced that there was a problem and needed volunteers...they needed THIRTEEN!!! No joke! They ended up calling volunteers based on check in time, but I wasn't on any sort of time schedule for tonight, so I asked them if they could garuntee me a seat on the last flight out of LAX at 7:25pm. So another passenger and I, his name is Fred, were given the last two seats on a flight out of LAX as well as a $400 voucher! Not bad! My mom and Scott came to pick me up, and we gave Fred a ride since there was no point for him to pay $75 for a cab when we were going to the same place...I got a free dinner outta that one! Thanks Fred!

O.k. So the Bamboo Lady. I'm sitting at the gate doing my homework and all of a sudden, I see this long stick of bamboo pass by me...so of course I have to look up. This lady had her little suitcase on wheels with the bamboo sticking out of it and it was taller than her. My first thought, "What the heck does she have a house plant for? I feel sad for the person who has to sit next to her!" Yeah...well, guess who that person was....ME! Yes, Fred and I got seats in first class..he was behind me. I turned around to talk to him after we had boarded the plane when all of a sudden, this bamboo palm whizzes past my head. Fred told me later she almost speared me with it because she wasn't paying attention to what she was doing. So she sticks the bamboo under the seat...which extended to the seats in front of us and two rows behind us! Oh my gosh...I had to text my friend, who was picking me up, with the following, "I am sitting next to a lady with a 4ft piece of bamboo...not kidding. She slid it under the seat and I fear if I adjust my leg position, I will break it in half-though I must admit, it is very tempting!" Well, apparently, I wasn't the only one feeling that way. I watched that piece of bamboo as it was clearly being stepped on, kicked, nudged, moved, etc throughout the flight. All of a sudden, someone started to pull it! I couldn't believe what was happening! The guys two rows behind us had had it with the bamboo and was trying to get it out from where their feet were! Obviously they had no idea how long it was and that they would have to stand up and walk about four rows back to get the thing safely out from under them! The bamboo lady saw what was happening too, and she grabbed a hold of it. OOOOO....I was SO HOPING for a tug-a-war! But that didn't happened. The bamboo lady slid the bamboo back up so it was now jabbing the people in front of us and that was the end of the bamboo....until we were trying to deplane. The bamboo lady got the bamboo out, and laid it on the arm rest extending, once again, to the seats in front of and behind us, creating a little barrier that was holding me in position in my seat. DOES SHE NOT SEE A PERSON SITTING NEXT TO HER? How about the other three window seat occupiers blocked in by her ridiculous piece of bamboo! Come on lady, your bamboo isn't the only thing that exists on this plane...but apparently she thought it was. Oh and by the way, when she turned on her computer, can you guess what the wall paper on her screen was? You got it...BAMBOO!

Spring Season....

So most of you don't know that I am now coaching the goalkeepers for the boys' soccer team at Lone Peak...that puts me with the girls in the fall and now the boys in the spring! It's actually kinda fun...though coaching boys again will take some getting used to. I am also coaching a U15 girls team for USA (Utah Soccer Alliance) and I am still with my U11s. Our games start the last weekend of March and ALL teams will play through the end of May. Lone Peak started their season last week with a loss to Copper Hills and today we beat the #5 ranked team in the state 1-0!!! It was very exciting. ODP ends at the end of March and there will be some things this summer...though I am busy, I can't see myself doing anything else at this point! It's great! :)

Something No One Should Have to Go Through...

Yesterday, I attended the funeral of Sophia Ann Hathaway (Feb. 27, 2009-March 7, 2009). I have never met Sophia, but I was looking forward to. On Saturday, I received the news that Sophia had passed away. My heart just ached, I couldn’t find the words to explain what I was thinking and feeling…what do you say in a situation like that? Sophia is the sister of one of my U11 soccer players. I have never attended a service for a brand new baby before and on the way home, I kept thinking, “no one should have to bury a child.” It was one of the toughest things I’ve ever experienced…next to losing my dad. Words can’t even express all the thoughts that went through my mind and emotions I went through during both the viewing and the service. I was feeling heartache and sorrow for the family…the “why” questions come into play…I wanted to do something to ease their pain, yet there really was nothing that could be done. All I could say to them when I saw them at the viewing was tell them that they are loved. That’s all someone can really say. I watched my little soccer team and their families who were mourning with their dear teammate and friend, I looked at the high school football players who were dressed in their jerseys in support of their coach (the father of the child), I watched the pink and white balloons that were released during a song that was composed in memory of Sophia…for me it was kind of like we were saying goodbye to this little spirit and the family was releasing her from their grasps...which will be such a hard thing to ever come to terms with, I watched grown men break down and cry, I heard of love and was challenged to be more loving to those around me….and through all of this, everyone was there to show love for a family who lost a child, and to pay their respects to a little life who touched the hearts of many, included those who never met her. I was grateful for a knowledge that those children who die before the age of accountability return to their Heavenly Father as pure and innocent spirits who are not tainted or harmed by this world. I was grateful for the knowledge that families can be together forever, even after this life. I was grateful for the knowledge that Heavenly Father has a plan...we may never understand it, and it is because of that plan that we can be reunited with our families after death…death may be an end on earth, but it’s not an ultimate end…but while we are here on earth, we miss those who have gone before us...that is something that will always be in the back of one’s mind and no one can tell someone that they’ve had enough time to “move on”…we may move on with life, but the memories and aching is always there. This is one of those things that really makes you take a look at your life and figure out what is important, and recognize the things that don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. Even as I write this, I feel I am not making sense...I feel like there's more I should think, or that I should have a different mindset...it's something that is really hard and teaches all of us a great lesson about life in so many different ways. The link to the obituary is below:

Sophia Ann Hathaway

Back in the Swing

I'm recovered and back in the swing coaching soccer and back to work. Everything is healing as it should and I can pretty much eat anything I want....if I am brave enough to try!

Surgery....

Yes, I had surgery on Friday. I had my gall bladder removed. I lost 15 lbs since July and finally went to the doctor. Right before I went to the doctor, I got really sick after eating something, I had really bad stomach and back pains. So my doctor sent me in for a CT scan. They found that my gall bladder walls had thickened. So I went in two days later for an ultrasound, which showed I had gall stones. My surgeon told me that my gall bladder is a ticking time bomb. I went to the surgeon last Wednesday and was able to schedule surgery for this past Friday...I have five futsal games to coach next weekend, so this weekend worked out better. :) Thank you to the Stephens family and my brother, Kevin, for caring for me. I am in Tremonton at the Stephens' home until Monday or Tuesday, then I will be at my place in Salt Lake for the rest of the week. My mom wasn't able to fly up here because she has a blood clot in her leg and is not allowed to sit for more than 30 minutes and can not fly, so the Stephens and my brother stepped into her place to help me. Also, thank you to all those who have offered their time and to adjust their schedules to help me however I need it. It's good to know I have such a supportive group of friends surrounding me!

Someone told me this surgery is easy...however, I beg to differ. Incisions on your tummy are very sore...I can't stand up straight, everytime I move I hurt...it's not as easy as others have claimed it to be...so I am taking my time in recovery. One good thing...I don't get sick when I eat anymore!!!! :) That's a plus!

Tournament Champions!

My U11 team won their futsal tournament! We played a U12 team. We were down 3-0 at the half, tied it up 3-3 by the end of the game, and won in over time 5-3! It was awesome and my girls really stepped it up!

Happy [Emotional] Valentine's Day....and not because I didn't have a valentine!

So I had no special plans for Valentine's Day (aka Single Awareness Day). The first thing I heard in the car this morning was, "Happy Valentine's Day, I hope you are spending it with someone you love." As I started to roll my eyes at this comment, I realized...'hey wait! I am spending it with someone I love!' But it was an emotional morning that turned out o.k....



My U11 team had a futsal tournament this weekend. This morning I went to watch their Jr. Jazz basketball game (all 11 of my players are on a basketball team together), then we headed up to the UofU for a futsal tournament. My assistant coach and I took four players from their basketball game and drove them up to the tournament, and the rest of the team came up after their Jr. Jazz game was over. After an emotional morning receiving a call about a family of one of my players was involved in a car accident on the way to the tournament (the player was with me) and the only information I was given at the time was that the car was totaled and people from the team were pulling over to help (thankfully everyone is o.k., unfortunately, the car is not--it got stuck in the middle of a six car pile-up)...as a coach, the first thought through my mind was, "am I going to have to tell one of my players that someone in her family is in the hospital or has been killed?"

The mom who let me know of the situation kept saying, "we'll be on our way as quick as we can," and I kept responding with, "I really don't care how quick you get here, I want to know if everyone is o.k!" I chose not to say anything to my player and her cousin (whose brother was in the car as well) until I had more information. As a result of the car accident, I only had half my team there to start our game because everyone else, who had been in a caravan, had pulled over to help this family. None of the girls with me knew what was going on, but then the other half of my team showed up emotionally high strung by what had happened so I had to get them focused (during the game), and then I was calming down my player and her cousin whose family was involved in the accident because they found out about it during our game...so I have two players crying, my team is down by 1...and I'm multi-tasking BIG TIME. When we found out that everyone was o.k., I pulled out my cell phone and let my player go call her mom....it was during the game, but I figured it was appropriate. It was one of those things where I didn't have time to think about my own emotional state through it all. But everything turned out alright...the family is o.k. and we still came out with a win and a tie (we tied a U12 team). We are scheduled to play in the finals of the tournament on Monday!

I'd say, my Valentine's Day this year, though emotional, was pretty decent! I can't imagine doing anything else...well, maybe take out the whole car accident, and the day would've been perfect!