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)

101 in 1001!

Now that Jess Yanz has officially posted her list, it's my turn! Quite simply, this is a To-Do list of 101 things that I want to accomplish in 1001 days. I was inspired to do this after hearing about it from Jess and I can't wait to get started! Some things are simple and will be easy to do, some things are a little more complicated and will be more difficult to do. I will officially start tomorrow and I will keep blogging about the things that I check off the list. Thanks again, Jess for the amazing idea!

101 in 1001!
Wednesday, August 24th, 2011 - Wednesday, May 21st, 2014

                   

1.          Buy a good photography camera.

2.                   Get away with my best friends.

3.                   Go surfing.

4.                   Learn how to drive a motorcycle.

5.                   Audition for American Idol.

6.                   Go to see a Broadway musical in New York City.

7.                   Say “I love you” to the man of my dreams.

8.                   Buy a guitar.

9.                   Learn to play guitar.

10.               Make a t-shirt quilt.

11.              Learn another language.

12.               Visit one of my friends for once (instead of them visiting me).

13.               Watch every episode of "The Office”.

14.               Bike to work for an entire week.

15.               Tie my hopes and dreams to a balloon and let it reach the stars.

16.               Grow my hair out and perm it.

17.               Graduate college.

18.               Give up pop for a month.

19.               Be a model in a photo shoot.

20.               Weigh less than 150 lbs.

21.               Go on a no carb diet for at least two months.

22.               Go ice skating.

23.               Live on the beach.

24.               Go for a morning run on the beach.

25.               Sit on the porch in a blanket and watch the sunrise.

26.               Take a spontaneous trip.

27.               Make a wish at 11:11 on November 11^th, 2011.

28.               Sit on the beach under the stars.

29.               Party with Ryan Walthall.

30.               Take a month off of volleyball to relax.

31.               Give up candy for a month.

32.               Try making twenty new recipes.

33.               Go to a hypnotherapy session.

34.               Go to a psychic/palm reader.

35.               Take a meditation class.

36.               Take pop vocal lessons.

37.               Write and compose a song.

38.               Make a playlist of my 26 favorite songs (one for each letter of the alphabet)

39.               Write a letter to a death row inmate.

40.               Keep a dream journal for a month.

41.               Play in a beach volleyball tournament.

42.               Make a purse out of one of my t-shirts.

43.               Hold an exotic animal cub.

44.               Go to Harry Potter World with my best friends.

45.               Be a bridesmaid.

46.               Go to Carpinteria State Beach.

47.               Swim with dolphins.

48.               Go whale watching.

49.               Go to Sea World.

50.               Learn how to bartend.

51.               Written Paper Rings.

52.               Have Lasik eye surgery.

53.               Use Invisiline.

54.               Go hiking.

55.               Complete the 60 Insanity Workout Challenge.

56.               Go to see American Idol.

57.               Go to one of my brother’s baseball games.

58.               Go for a walk on the Mississippi River walk.

59.               Go to the River History Museum.

60.               Gamble.

61.               Play softball catch.

62.               Pitch a softball.

63.               Go to a driving range.

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

65.               Sing in public.

66.               Reread the Hunger Games series.

67.               Reread the Twilight series.

68.               Watch 26 movies I’ve never seen starting with each letter of the alphabet.

69.               Dance in the rain.

70.               Send a secret to Post Secret.

71.               Live in my own apartment.

72.               Go to the zoo.

73.               Bake cookies and send them to a friend.

74.               Send a message in a bottle.

75.               Go to Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve.

76.               Go to a water park.

77.               Go to Gotcha Glacier.

78.               Go to Universal Studios.

79.               Go to San Diego Wild Animal Park.

80.               Go to the Wax Museum.

81.               Go to Ripley’s Believe It or Not.

82.               Go to Venice Beach.

83.               Go celebrity watching.

84.               Go to Olive Garden.

85.               Get Glee Live 3D Movie on DVD.

86.               Get my eyebrows threaded.

87.               Get highlights in my hair.

88.               Visit the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust.

89.               Learn how to juggle with four balls.

90.               Make a meal as good as Outback Steakhouse.

91.               Get a professional massage.

92.               Have a cookie dough movie day/night with my mom.

93.               Make a photo album of my pictures.

94.               Complete Laura’s summer workout.

95.               Run 1.5 miles every day for a month.

96.               Tough Mudder with Jess Yanz.

97.               Spend a weekend with Alicia Sieverding.

98.               Go on a photography walk through Austria.

99.        Visit at least one other country for a weekend while I'm living in Austria.

100.      Design myself a new pair of running shoes (and buy them).

101.      Make a scrapbook documenting #1-100.

So there ya go! I'm excited to make some awesome memories! Wish me luck! :)

Kayla

And here is your "The Office" clip for the day! Enjoy!

Daddy's Little Girl!

So I know that this blog post is about a week overdue (as they all seem to be), but I had a paper due this past Friday. Needless to say, I was a little preoccupied. Excuses, excuses...I know.


Anyways! The week BEFORE last week was an AMAZING WEEK!!! Why do you ask? Well, I'll tell ya. MY DAD WAS IN TOWN! Okay, I think everyone reading this knows who my dad is, but in case you don't, this is him...

Dad and I got to spend almost an entire week together hanging out and relaxing! And it was perfect! We didn't really have anything planned, but we didn't need to. Just having him here to spend some time with (whatever we did) was awesome. He came to my practices and watched and got to meet the coaches and some of my teammates. We went down to Laguna Beach one night and ate at BJ's. He liked Laguna and saw it as an opportunity to bust out his brand new camera!

Experimenting with zoom. It actually turned out to be a really cool picture.

The houses we can only dream of living in.

And I couldn't leave there without asking someone to take a picture of us!

The one thing that we did have planned for that weekend was a trip into LA for an American Idol concert! We headed to LA kind of early so we could avoid traffic. So we got to the theater around 4. The theater was in a really cool area so we just hung out there for awhile and checked everything out. 

We ate dinner at a place there called the Yard House and I showed off my new found salad-eating skills while he enjoyed a burger. After dinner we headed into the theater.

The Nokia Theater is absolutely huge! But, thanks to eBay, we found some pretty good seat for really cheap!

And we got to see our favorite idols perform! Dad's favorite is Casey and my favorite is Haley! They even did a duet together! It was awesome! 

It was a great night! American Idol is kind of our thing. We watch it every season no matter if we are together or apart and by the time it gets down to the top 5, we have to pick someone who we think will win. Loser owes the winner a steak supper. Can you guess who owed who a steak supper? Probably because I already told you who our favorites were! Well, you guessed right! I win! So, the last night of dad's vacation, we went to Outback Steakhouse! It was delicious! Afterwards we went to Yogurtland for the second night in a row :) It was the absolute perfect ending to a great week! 

So Dad, I know you're reading this. I want to say "thank you" for coming and visiting me! It was the happiest I've been all summer! I love you! 

Kayla

P.S. Dad got me hooked on the show "Swamp People" while he was here. It is pure entertainment and I'm addicted :)

P.P.S. I know how much Dad loves "The Office" (insert sarcasm here), so here is your clip of the week! This is an episode in which Michael decides to go through the complaints folder. There is an entire box dedicated to Dwight's complaints about Jim. Enjoy!

Chocolate=Love

So, I'm still here in Anaheim training hard for USA. Things are going okay for me, I guess. I'm playing pretty well. The team has been gone the past week and a half. They are currently in Mexico competing in the Pan Am Cup. Well, I guess I should say they just finished competing in the Pan Am Cup. They placed third today, securing a spot in the World Grand Prix in 2012. Good job ladies! They get back tomorrow and its back to having everybody in the gym on Monday. We then have three full weeks of practice before the team leaves for the next tournament: World Grand Prix. They'll be gone for the entire month of August. Summer has been flying by, which might be a good thing, because it's been a tough summer (as I'm sure everyone's first summer with the team is). But, hopefully once I get this first one under my belt, it will only get easier.

Like I've said before, I'm SUPER bummed I didn't get to spend this summer in Lincoln (again, don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for being blessed with this opportunity). But, a summer relaxing, working out, and hanging out with my friends would've been amazing! So, needless to say, I've been a little homesick here this summer. However, this past week I received a few smiles in the mail! The first came on Thursday from my best friend, Jess Yanz! You all know about Jess. She is amazing! The best friend anyone could ask for! Aaaaand, she has recently been named Director of Operations at the University of Dayton! Read about it here. And to learn more about my bestest friend in the world, you could also read her blog Expected Serendipity. Anyways, she read a recent status update of mine asking if anyone had any suggestions of good books that I could read. And about a week later, I received this gift in the mail. Let's start with the card. Actually, let's begin with the envelope. This is why I love her.

You laughed right? So did I. :)

And here is the card...she added her own special illustrations to it. The inside says, "This is a card to say that number 3 sucks." That is does, Jess. That is does. Anyways, like I was saying, Jess, being the bestest friend that she is, came to the rescue and sent me a beautiful, brand new book!

I'm only a few chapters in, and already I'm finding it hard to put down. But, that is not all she sent me!

Oh Jess, you know me so well :) Okay, you caught me, they're opened....but at least they're not already gone! THANK YOU JESS!!

So, after an already pleasant surprise this week, the VERY NEXT DAY I received another package in the mail. This one was from my former teammate and good friend of mine, Jordan Wilburger (I guess I should say Jordan Sauer as she was recently married to the man of her dreams). It wasn't another book, but it did include a thank you card for her wedding gift. And guess what else it had inside?

Wow. Do my friends know me or what? Gosh dang it...YES OKAY YES! THE HERSEY'S BLISS BAG IS OPEN! Geez...get off my back will ya? :)

So, thanks to my amazing friends, I received two huge smiles in the mail this week! And I feel your love from Dayton and Lincoln. THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU BOTH VERY MUCH!!

On a different note, today is July 9th, which means it is my dad's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! I'm super bummed I wasn't at home for it, but I am so excited to see you in a few days! I love you!

That's all I have for tonight. Sorry, Eric, but the clip you requested was block on YouTube. But, I hope you like this clip instead because I literally just laughed out loud when I saw it (I will preface it by telling you that they are trying to figure out which one of the employees was smoking).

Enjoy!

Kayla

Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica

Here comes another random blog post. I have a few things to tell you about. So, here goes...

1. After the girls got back from Montreux, Hugh gave everyone a long weekend (16th-19th) which was much much needed. So, I decided to go back to Lincoln for a few reasons: to get out of Anaheim for a few days, to see my old teammates and friends in Lincoln, and to make some money working the last individual skills camp at Nebraska. It was an amazing weekend! I didn't get much sleep and working camp was exhausting but I got to see all my old teammates and coaches and have a night downtown with one of my best friends, Tara Mueller, and my momma. And even if it was only for a few days, I completely regained my sanity. I definitely needed a break from Anaheim to get out and spend some time away from the gym and the same faces.

2. While I was in Lincoln I did receive something that I've been waiting a long time for! And....drum roll please!

YES! Our Big 12 Championship rings are in! Designed by yours truly along with fellow seniors Lindsey Licht and Tara Mueller! And I think we did a pretty sweet job if I do say so myself! The only sucky thing about it is that it doesn't fit :( So, looks like I'll have to get it resized to fit my fat swollen fingers. But, oh well, at least it's cool to look at!

3. For those of  you who know me, this may come as quite a shocker so brace yourselves....I've started eating salad. AND I LIKE IT NOW! Like if I go to a restaurant, I may actually order a salad as my entree just like I did recently at JT Schmid's:

You got it! This, ladies and gentlemen, is a chicken caesar salad. I ordered it. I ate it. I enjoyed it. Like I actually get cravings for salad now. Even tonight Carli (Lloyd), Gibby (Lauren Gibbemeyer) and I went back to this restaurant (we received gift cards as a meal stipend) and I ordered one of my usual favorites: Chicken Parmesan. I got done eating it and I literally thought to myself, "I should've ordered the salad!" Crazy right? I know what you're thinking..."Why Kayla! Chicken Parmesan is normally one of your absolute favorite meals!" I KNOW! My mind is still boggled by it. But, I'm gonna go with it because salad is like good for you or something right? ;)

4. So, it looks like I won't be making any rosters for the summer. Which is understandable as Team USA needs to qualify for the Olympics this summer and they don't want to send any rookies to try and do that. So, I get it. It just sucks to be stuck training while others get to go and compete. So during tournaments, the traveling roster will go and compete, leaving about 12-14 people in the gym to continue practicing while they are gone. So, it looks like we might have to forget about London in 2012 and look towards Rio in 2016 because I might have set my own expectations a little too high. "Reach for the stars. And if you don't grab 'em, at least you'll fall on top of the world." Nothing wrong with setting big goals for yourself. I'm not sure how long I'll be in Anaheim for, but the team will be gone competing the entire month of August and I'm not sure I want to stay here during that time to train with a small group without our coaches. So, we'll see what happens. I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to go play this upcoming season. Austria is looking pretty good right now (maybe because I don't have any other offers). I think I would like Austria. Maybe because the coach of that team is actually one of my USA assistant coaches, and my USA teammate, Jenna Hagglund, is for sure playing there too. And my USA teammates that have played there before have all told me that it is a great first year experience and a great way to get better. So don't worry Mom and Dad, I'm not signing any contract yet, at least not until we figure out some more details. But, Austria right now is a strong possibility for my first overseas league season.

5. Alright, this may be the most random sentence of this entire post, but I think I'm going to get back into drawing. I know, random. I was in art classes all through high school so I love drawing (and I think I was pretty decent at it too). Not only do I enjoy it, but I think it'll be a good way for me to relax and mentally "get away" now that life has become a little more stressful. Maybe if I do start drawing again I'll post some on here so you can see.

6. Anyways, things have been a little rough here with volleyball and school. It hasn't been the easiest road so far but I gotta keep telling myself it'll all pay off in the end. I miss home and I miss Lincoln and I miss my friends very much! I want you to know I love you all! And Goosey I will call you soon I promise :)

And I know I've been faltering on my "The Office" clips so here is a good one I think you'll get a laugh out of! Enjoy! Identity Theft

Okay that's all I have right now. Goodnight all! DREAM BIG!

Kayla