My Life... Updated!!

Ok yes it's been FOREVER since I last wrote, and I was doing so well with keeping up with it. So here is what you all need to know!

• Sonja Newcombe arrived on September 24! Ahh it was so great! The whole team went to the train station to pick up her and Kyle (her husband). I am soooo happy she is here!!! You have no idea!
• That night Nicole, Alex and I went to the FC Nantes futbol (soccer) game! It was really really fun and they actually won too!
• The following day (Sept 25) Nicole and I hoped on the tram bright at early (like 6:30am) and headed to the train station to head to Paris! When we arrived we headed straight to the Eiffel Tower where we stood in line forever! We finally got our tickets to head up! When we made it to the 1st floor, we realized a) that is was FREEZING and soooo windy and b) that we had to wait in another line for 45 mins to actually take the elevator to the top. My hands were numb and Nicole thought she might die from the cold (yes southern Cali girl). But we survived and made it to the top and it was beautiful!!! We left there and headed straight to the Louvre! We made a quick run through it to see all the sights and then after about 2 hours left. We walked around near the Opera and wandered to some shops and this huge mall. Then we met up with Nicole's cousin who happened to be in town and went to dinner! It was really fun! After dinner we walked around and checked out Parisian night life! We made it to our hotel late and woke up early Saturday morning! Nicole agreed to go to Hillsong Paris church with me so we headed there Sunday morning! It was really really great to sing and worship our King in English! The whole service was entirely in English and French which was really really cool! I had an absolute blast and I can't wait to go back! After that we headed to lunch and to a shopping district! And finally we made our way to Notre Dame and did a quick walk through! Sooo beautiful! Then we had to make our way to Paris Orly airport where we were meeting our teammate Ati who was also in Paris for the weekend! We met her there and she drove us home! Yes I live in France and can randomly head to Paris on an off weekend! It was sooo refreshing!
• After that weekend we started to prepare for our first match of Championship season (the French league Pro-A). We played Cannes on our first match of the season on Saturday the 2nd! They have won the league every year for about 15 years and they are also in Champions league! All week at practice the coaches kept saying, just have fun this weekend. There is no way we can win. WHAT?? Hello? I've never heard that in my life. So the three of us Americans were out of our element a little with that mentality. But we played well in our match and yes we lost in 3. But we played well as a team and it was very fun to play together... FINALLY!!!
• We got back on Saturday night late and I felt sooooo sick! I woke up Sunday morning and turns out I had a stomach virus. Ugh... I felt awful all week. I practice Monday, layed in bed all day Tuesday, practiced Wednesday, went to the doctor Thursday and practiced in the afternoon. I was feeling a little better come Friday when we had to leave, I just hadn't really been able to eat anything except the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast). Friday we headed to Venelles and we played on Saturday! I was finally feeling better on Saturday and got to eat real food!! Yahh!! The match was so exciting! We lost the 1st, won the 2nd and 3rd, lost the 4th and pulled it out in the 5th. We were up 10-5 in the 5th and Venelles came firing back and tied it 10-10. We could have chosen to give in then but we kept fighting and pulled in out 16-14!! It was a great great win for us!
• So that is a recap! My parents come on Saturday and I am soooooo excited!! My mom is bring a huge suitcase full of all of the things I left at home! Thanks mom! I can't wait to spend 2 weeks with them!

Other things to note:

• France likes to go on strike! Tomorrow there will be a gas strike so all the girls informed us to fill up our tanks tonight because we won't know how long the strike will last. So after waiting in line for about 30 minutes, we have gas... yes it costs about 80 euros to fill up a tank! OUTRAGEOUS!
• I am currently making pasta salad! The pasta is cooking as we type! I hope it is good!
• When we returned home from Venelles, we found our car (her name is Bertha) in a different place than we left her. Yes Yes we put the parking brake on. So we asked around and turns out there was a farmers market and someone needed to move her. We aren't exactly sure how this all went down but Bertha was parked sideways in a parking space about 30 feet from where we parked her. Funny!
• I've been making some delicious delicious salads lately! I find every veggie I have, cut it up and throw in on my salad along with avocado and pears! Pears in a salad are sooo good!
• On the road we eat at cafeteria's. Red meat is not allowed to be eaten.
• Yes my jersey may look cute in pictures, but it is really small. It is super tight and the spandex are uncomfortably short. I feel super self conscious but I mean what am I gonna do about it?
• It rained for about 6 days straight last week :(
• We aqua bike every Wednesday. Yes we bike in the water and also swim. But when we swim we are only allowed to use our arms or our legs.
  
• O How could I forget?? We started French class last week! It is every Tuesday and Thursday right in between musculation and practice. My favorite expression: Je ne sais pas... which means I don't know!
• Drum roll please!!! WE ARE MOVING ON DECEMBER 1!!! Yes Nicole and I are moving to studio apartments in the same complex as Sonja and Kyle!! I am sooo excited!!
• Did I mention that my parents will be here on Saturday and that I can't wait?
• In France when you are sick, they don't think you should eat crackers. I had about 4 people tell me that crackers were bad for my stomach. Weird.
• I was watching French survivor and they had a challenge between the two teams. The winner won baguettes, Nutella, pain au chocolat, cheese, crepe's and butter. It made me laugh!
• I really miss all of my friends and the community of Christian friends that I had a UK! I was very lucky to have that environment and I hope my friends that are still at UK realize how blessed they are!
• I miss my teammates!!! Ahhh we had so much fun and I miss everyone that supported UK volleyball.
  
• There is so much else to write but I can't think of anything! I will hopefully write soon!

Have a great week!!!!!!