Pan Am Games

And the verdict is.......still out. Awesome. I know you've been waiting anxiously, and I've definitely been going crazy, but, we still haven't found out who will be traveling to Guadalajara, Mexico in a week. Yeah, the team is leaving in a week and we still don't know who is going. This is the pattern that USA Volleyball seems to enjoy. And the whole "wait until the last minute to announce rosters" thing is really frustrating. So, I'm sorry I don't have any answers. But, as soon as I find out, I will update you on what's going on. Say some prayers for me!

Kayla

Life Update (again)

Once again, it's been forever I know. But, as you've probably guessed, things have occurred since the last time I blogged. So here is a short summary!

64.               Go to a Husker volleyball game wearing my 2010 Big 12 Championship Ring.

I got to get back to Lincoln for a long weekend to relax! And luckily, the Huskers played Iowa State that weekend! Perfect! It was their match at the Devanny Center which was even more awesome! And to top it all off, they swept ISU 3-0! Great night!

91.               Get a professional massage.

After a particularly tough day in the gym, I decided it was time to treat myself to a relaxing massage. It was amazing! 90 minutes of aromatherapy amazingness! Much needed!

Also this past weekend I made the four-hour drive to Las Vegas! My Aunt Mary was there for work and my mom took a trip down to hang out with her so I thought I would go and spend a fun weekend with them! We had a great time and Mom and I got to go see a couple shows! We went and saw "Jersey Boys"!

And we went and saw the Beatles Love Cirque Du Soleil show! 

Right after I took this picture I got in trouble :/ but, oh well, I got a good shot! And as you can see, we had awesome seats for both shows! They were AMAZING! Like I cannot possibly describe how much I absolutely LOVED these shows. SO GOOD! If you're ever in Vegas I HIGHLY recommend seeing both. 

Back in the USA gym, things are still trucking along. I'm no longer on the brink of insanity. No longer flirting with that line between sanity and delirium. No, no, no, I've taken a running leap and cannonballed over into insanity. I've been doing nothing but training since January and it's definitely taken a toll on me. But, good news! Only about a week and a half more of training and then hopefully I'll get to go compete at the Pan American Games in Mexico. I'll find out if I made that roster at the end of this week. I'll let you know how it turns out. After that tournament I'll get about a week off before I head to Vienna, Austria to join my club team for this season, where I'll be until about mid-April. And that's the furthest into the future that I have mapped out. After that, who knows? 

Welp, there is the update. I'm sorry it's been so long. I'll do my best to blog more, especially now that changes in scenery are coming (which I am so excited for). Love you all! 

Peace. Love. Bearcrawls. 

Kayla

P.S. I've been going to spin class at a local 24 Hour Fitness and I feel really good about it (even though it is exhausting after training all morning). I don't know why I'm telling you this. Seems relevant.

P.P.S. Whenever I'm having a crappy day, "The Office" bloopers always make me laugh. It's long but super funny! Enjoy!

California Love!

I will start off by warning you that this is a ridiculously long blog post. This past weekend was nothing short of amazing. My mom, my brother, and my best friend, Alicia Sieverding a.k.a. Goose, came out to visit me! The best part was that I had NO IDEA that my brother was coming! It was a complete surprise and was absolutely amazing! Anyways, I knew that we were gonna have some fun things to do but holy crap! We did everything and anything that you could possibly do in Cali. Everyone kind of had an idea of some things that they wanted to do while they were here and we did it ALL! And I managed to cross a few things off of my 101 in 1001 list, as well! So, CROSS OFF #97 OFF MY LIST! I got to have an entire weekend with Alicia Sieverding! We (and when I say we I mean Goose and Mom) took a ton of pictures! So this blog is going to consist of mostly photos of our fun activities!

They flew into LAX on Thursday and I picked them up around 2:30. From the airport we went straight to Hollywood Blvd. and did all the touristy things that you can do in LA.

We checked out the walk of fame saw some cool street dancers and went to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe. Also while in LA....

I CHECKED #80 OFF OF MY LIST! We went to the Hollywood Wax Museum!

And got to hang out with our favorite stars both at the museum and on Hollywood Blvd!

After the Wax Museum we went to the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum and you know what that means...
CROSS #81 OFF OF MY LIST!
This museum had some amazing stories and some gross stories as you can probably tell from this next picture.

The last museum we went to that night was the Guinness Book of World Records Museum which was super cool because we found two AWESOME things here...

How cool right? Okay I know it's just an ice cream sandwich but what else does Dubuque ever get recognized for? Especially in Hollywood? Amazing and cool for Dubuquers! 

And we all knew that Karch was a big deal but it was super cool to see my coach in the record books! It just made me realize the level I have reached in my career! Sometimes you take for granted where you are so this was just really cool to see.

Friday morning I had practice for a couple hours and a lift afterwards so Mom, Goose, and Eric came and hung out at the gym for a little bit until I was done. After that we ate lunch at my apartment and then headed straight to Newport Beach. It was a perfectly beautiful day!

And they had one more surprise for me...SURFING LESSONS! That's right! CROSS OFF #3 OFF MY LIST!

After surfing we were on to the next activity which was Mom's idea. We rented out 4 jet skis for an hour! This was so much fun! The ocean waves were pretty harsh which made it even more fun because we just kept getting air off every wave we ran into! So much fun! We finished the day with a dinner at the Irvine Spectrum center with a friend, Liz, who lives out here in Irvine. And of course, while we were there we had to go shopping a little bit :)

Saturday we woke up early and headed to Long Beach. Why Long Beach? Well, this is where we had reservations to get on the CATALINA EXPRESS! Yes! I've always wanted to go to Catalina Island and now here was my chance! Okay so we missed the 10:00 boat so we walk around the Long Beach area for awhile, grabbed lunch, and then hopped on the 12:15 boat!

Once we got to Catalina we went straight to a bar called Luau Larry's! The famous drink at this bar was called the Wiki Whacker! And if you drink the Wiki Whacker then you get a straw hat!

Haha we all got hats :) After a quick drink we made arrangements to go para sailing!

I'll be honest I was nervous at first, but once we got up there, it was BREATHTAKING! Just gorgeous! After we went para sailng we went straight back to Luau Larry's...ha ha yeah we don't mess around. Well, we got one of the best seats in the house! We snagged a front booth with the most amazing view ever!

AAAaaannnd we ordered some more Wiki Whackers...okay so if you drink one, you get the hat, and if you drink two then you get a sticker, and then after that you just get monkeys....we got ourselves a few monkeys...

We sat at that booth all night! And then we made the rounds at a few other bars and clubs. Super fun! Needless to say, the next morning wasn't too fun...

And then we had to get on a boat to the mainland...it SUCKED. But a good sign that we had a great night :)
Sunday we headed to Manhattan Beach to check out the Manhattan Beach Open Volleyball Tournament! It was really cool and we got there just in time for the women's finals with the men's finals to follow! And we got great seats just to top it all off!

Okay to sum up:
#3. Go Surfing
#80. Go to the Wax Museum
#81. Go to Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum
#97. Spend a weekend with Alicia Sieverding

And lastly, I had an amazing weekend with three people I love very much! I miss you guys so much already and can't wait to see you again!

Kayla

P.S. Thanks to Mom and Goose for the pics!
P.P.S. Never would I ever forget a clip of "The Office"! Enjoy! (Dwight was put in charge of picking a new health care plan and had the staff write down the diseases they want covered)