3.64

I have to start off by saying that this is the number I passed today in practice, and I couldn't be happier. Yes folks, that is the best I have passed since being in the USA gym. I'm stoked. Sorry you're always getting my passing numbers but lately they have been weighing heavily on my mind so bear with me :)

Anyways, today's practice was so fun! Why? Well, I'll tell you. During our last hour of practice (during which we always play some sort of six vs. six activity) Karch and Hugh played along with us. This is probably because we were a couple players short today. Naomi, Dominique, Kari, and Becky are no longer in the gym with us. Naomi, Dominique, and Kari started their next quarter of school today, and Becky is playing professionally in Puerto Rico. So, we practiced today with only eleven players. Karch stepped in to take over an outside hitter position, and Hugh played on the right side. Every time I see Karch play, I find myself completely awestruck. He is truly the king of volleyball. He is so patient; he never makes mistakes. But, at the same time he gets kills because of how smart he is. He gives the ball to the opposing team's setter more than any player I've ever seen. That's just an example of how he sets himself apart. And on defense he just makes ridiculously impossible plays look easy. For example, digging a very hard hit ball with a chicken wing. Basically, getting pegged and it going perfectly to target. Jenna Hagglund tweeted today saying, "How come when Karch gets hit w/ a ball it miraculously pops up and we get the pt? When it hits me, I just look stupid and we lose the pt." That's a great question Jenna, and I'm thinking that it will remain a mystery for awhile.

AND, I am very pleased to inform you that I have officially scheduled my meeting with Hugh and Karch (to discover what my future with USA Volleyball is) for tomorrow at 1:30! I'm very excited for it! I have a good feeling. I will be sure to blog and let you know how it goes as soon as I get a chance tomorrow. Until then...

Peace. Love. Bearcrawls.

Kayla 

What a Beautiful Day!

So many great things happened today! I don't even know where to start telling you about everything. So, I guess I'll just start from the beginning of the day. Every morning, at 6:50 A.M., a train likes to sound it's little (but really annoyingly loud) choo choo horn, acting as the most horrible alarm ever and waking Kayla up an hour before her alarm is set to go off. I seriously will wake up an hour early and not be able to get back to sleep, and then crawl out of bed an hour later completely pissed off. Well, THE TRAIN DID NOT WAKE ME TODAY!! It made me so happy to wake up to a beautiful country song. So, I woke up with a smile.

Then we had practice from 8:30 (passers went a half an hour early today) -12. It went pretty well. My defense is continuing to improve so I'm very happy about that. After practice, we DIDN'T lift (I needed a day off the weights after two straight lifting days). We went to The White House for lunch. This is a really nice Italian restaurant that allows the USA players, coaches, and staff to eat lunch at everyday for free! And every day it is delicious! In the afternoon we had another passing session from 2:00-3:00 and it was actually pretty fun (maybe because I downed an energy drink right before lunch and I was all kinds of jacked up).

This afternoon, Karch Kiraly text me and said, "You've had a nice 3 days of serve receive-passed 3.27 Tuesday, 3.57 yesterday, 3.46 today. Angles and tracking still getting better-keep it up! It'll be fun to see how  we pass vs. Japan". Wow. Amazing numbers for me and an awesome compliment from the King of Volleyball.

And this text leads me to the fact that we are playing the Japanese Youth National Team on Tuesday and Wednesday. We are even selling tickets and Karch said that we should be getting a pretty decent crowd there. And since we are playing a match, we will need these:

Yes, ladies and gentlemen! I present to you my USA jersey!! A jersey that has the letters "USA" on the front and MY NAME on the back. Isn't it beautiful? I cannot wait to put this on and step onto the court to represent my country. Represent MY COUNTRY! I can even wrap my mind around it. It is so surreal and amazing.

And to end the night, I went with Ellie, Ashley, Cassidy, and Jenna down to the farmers market which takes place every Thursday afternoon/evening literally on the street right next to our apartment. It was relaxing and fun. Now, I'm watching Glee (my favorite TV show) and American Idol (one of my other favorite TV shows) and then bed for a good night's sleep. And tomorrow is Friday! Everything about this day was perfect. Inspiring.

Every day I see my dream.

Kayla

P.S. I still haven't completed my next journal entry for class yet. But, as soon as I do, you'll be the first to read it.

Gold Medal Monday

That was the theme of today's practice because last Monday's practice was a complete disaster. However, today was not that much better for me. I kept screwing things up that I know I'm capable of doing. I mean I've done them before. Example, back set a perfect ball to the leftside hitter. I've done it before and today I'm just chucking balls everywhere. And to make things worse, I let myself get frustrated and didn't move on to the next play. Which was stupid for me to do. Lesson learned. But, the universe made up for it in three ways. First, I found a dime right before lunch. I was confused when I heard about the dime theory at first too. Dimes are less common to find just lying around. Pennies and quarters are everywhere. Some of my teammates told me stories about people who were having a rough time and prayed to God to send them dimes to show them that He was still with them. They would then come across thousands of dimes or dimes would show up in large quantities everywhere. Well, God sent me a dime today. May not mean much to you, but it made me smile. Second, we got to sit down and have lunch with Karch Kiraly today and listen to many amazing stories that he told us about his career and his family. It's just amazing to listen to someone like that. In the presence of greatness hearing about things that at this point in my life I can only dream of accomplishing. Lastly, I received my very late birthday package from Jess Yanz today. It was Resee's Hearts and the book "The Hunger Games" and the movie "Lilo and Stitch". So, it turned out to be a pretty good day.


Anyways, staying true to sharing my class journals: here is the second journal entry for you to enjoy.


Journal Week 2: January 24^th, 2011

What You Know About Yourself

                What do I know about myself? I know that I am quiet and not all that outgoing. So, it was no surprise when my test results told me that I was an introvert. I know that I love sports (I’ve played volleyball and softball). My family is a volleyball and baseball family, and both my parents and my brother were great athletes and are very knowledgeable in the sports world. I know that I will work my butt off to accomplish my dreams, but when given the appropriate opportunity, I love to be lazy. I know that I find joy and inspiration in reading, writing, musicals, art, beautiful scenery, and daydreaming. I know that I am a homebody. I would choose sweatpants and a movie night over going out clubbing probably 80% of the time.  I know that I have a lot of built up love and inspiration in my heart that is waiting to burst out of me. I think I have been in love once. I may still be in love today.

                What do I know about my volleyball self? I know that I am hardworking, determined, and disciplined. I started my leadership days off being a quiet “lead by example” kind of player. But, throughout college, I have developed into a more well-rounded leader. However, I know that communication is still my greatest weakness. I know that if I don’t do something right, it will eat at my very soul until I perfect it. I know that I am always challenging myself to be better, even though my body, heart, and soul may experience days that throwing in the towel sounds so beautiful. I know that I am unsure of myself 75% of the time but I keep a pretty good game face on close to 100% of the time and keep grinding through my anxieties both on and off the court. I know that one day, only after I have conquered the world, that I will be 100% sure of myself and satisfied with my career. But, until I accomplish everything I want to accomplish, every day I have to fight off my self-doubt. I wonder whether or not I’m good enough for the goals I have set out to achieve, but I know that I won’t rest until I reach those goals. 


Kayla


P.S. I am setting a rule for this journal entry. No questions.