Awesome things

Holy crap my boyfriend is going to the Olympics! His name is Craig Kinsley and he qualified at the trials this week. I hope everyone I know will watch and cheer like crazy with American Flag painted faces on August 8th and 11th when he throws. I am so pumped for him. I was following the results here in Spain from 3 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. and when I found out he was going to London I did a couple silent punching jump kicks in my room, so as to celebrate but not wake anyone up. I'm going to London too, and it will be the first time I will see him in about 8 months. Needless to say I can not flippin wait!

I have a few days left in southern Spain. Then I head to northern Spain for three weeks and Scotland for two weeks, before arriving in London. To be honest I can't wait to leave Murcia because it is about a trillion degrees here everyday now. And I feel like once I get on the road time will fly by and it will be super fun too. I have a problem where I really hate routines and I would say I am thoroughly in a routine here now. It's about time to break it and shake things up a bit.

I have so many pictures I haven't even looked at yet. I might be editing for years after the next few months of my life.

Hiking in Aguilas 

To: A younger me

I have this vivid memory of walking through the doors into the sunshine on the last day of school when I was in 6th grade. "I don't want to be a 'sevie'," I said. I linked arms with my best friends at the time and we crossed the threshold into the summer before our seventh grade year together. There are so many things I would say to that little girl now that I am a quarter century young.

I would say that she needs to stop wishing she had brown hair like everyone else. Your red hair is beautiful and different and when you are 25 you will be unbelievably thankful that you have never had to color your hair a day in your life. It's fierce and awesome all on its own. And the boys sure don't seem to mind now.

Your parents are right, the braces will be worth it.

The boys you have a crush on now will gain 25 pounds in college due to excessive drinking and you will wonder how on earth you ever found them remotely attractive. When you're 25 you will have a ridiculously handsome 6'2, 200 pound ball of muscle for a boyfriend. He's smart and nice and stuff too ;).

Pay attention when learning the metric system because your boyfriend is a professional javelin thrower and speaks in meters and kilograms. Learn to convert.

Also, one day you will be cliff jumping into the beautiful Mediterranean Sea when your Spanish friend asks how many meters the jump was, and how many meters deep the water is. You swim to the bottom and you think it is about 20 feet deep and the jump is about the same. But it takes you at least 5 minutes to convert that into saying just over 6 meters- in Spanish.

PAY ATTENTION TO MR. WHITWORTH IN SPANISH CLASS. You will use it someday.

Sometimes the people you love most in life hurt you. It's best to forgive and keep stepping forward. You are not perfect and neither are they. All hurt eventually fades with time, don't hold on to it longer than necessary. Also, some people just aren't meant to be in your life. Let them go with grace, harbor no ill feelings, and remember them with fondness.

The above being said, sometimes guys suck at life. They say one thing and do another. Don't sweat it, when you meet a good one (and you will- summer 2008) all the bad ones of the past fade away quickly. Luckily I don't need to teach you a lesson in self-respect. You got that covered!

The friends that are meant to be in your life will be there, through everything. Even when you don't see or talk to them for months on end because you moved to New York, or Arizona, or Alaska, or Colorado, or Spain... When you get back things will just pick up right where they left off with these friends.

Listen to your coaches. Drop the attitude and always play like it's your last day on the court. One day it will be, and you'll be surprised to learn where that is. Volleyball will always be your first love.

Which reminds me, skip the first practice of your sophomore year of high school (torn ACL #1). And during the Dowling game (game 2, score 21-13) your senior year of college don't go up to hit a beautiful set that Heather throws your way (torn ACL #2). The one right after you block the Polish girl like you're building a house and she hit the roof. Audrey screams, "that just happened!" in your face right after. Yea, the next set, don't hit it. Just fall over or something.

Freshman year of college, don't go anywhere there is a lake in the middle of a road.

Life gets so much better after high school. Like better beyond your wildest dreams. You will be thankful that all the things you wished for from 7th grade to high school never came true. You'll be thankful for the failed and successful relationships, all the hard work your parents made you do, all the time you spent working out or on a volleyball court somewhere, and all the time you spent learning about cameras and taking hundreds of thousands of photos.

Live your life with passion. Everyday is an adventure.

Blue and Orange. Normally this little pool is crystal clear and great for diving, but this day it was orange. It seemed to be from rain run off coming down from the red rocks and bringing the color of the rock with it.

The long in short

Many things have happened since I last wrote, but I will keep it simple and tell you the basics-

- My boyfriend is a total BAMF and threw (javelin) the Olympic A Standard in Chicago over the weekend. He PRed by 4 meters with his throw of 82.31 and is currently second in the U.S. to a guy who threw barely further just minutes before his throw. The two furthest throws in the U.S. in about three years. He throws for a spot on Team USA next week. Check out his website to send him a comment or message of encouragement. USA!USA!USA! He's the best :).

- I bought a plane ticket to Scotland- in Spanish. I bought it in Spanish because I realized that was easier than figuring out how to change the language setting. I will arrive in Scotland on the evening of July 24th.

- This weekend I went to La Manga with the family I live with because they have friends with a boat there. La Manga is this really thin strip of land between the Mar Menor and the Mar Mediterraneo. You can walk from one body of water to the other in literally 2 minutes. The Mediterranean beaches there are world class, and while the Mar Menor is a really cool experience but it should be called El Mar de Medusas Millones (The Sea of a Million Jellyfish). I had never seen a jellyfish in my life before this, but I saw enough to fill a lifetime in one day. Everyone I was with got stung at least once, but I somehow managed to escape this fate. Even though I went diving with goggles and my underwater camera and was absolutely surrounded by them. It was insane.

- This week I am teaching 5 volleyball classes at a school here- in Spanish. Lord help me. I forgot how to say thumb (pulgar) several times yesterday, but the kids helped me out. It was fun.

- I take my tests this week to determine my Spanish level! Wish me luck.

- I head north in 2.5 weeks to spend the rest of my time in Spain on the north coast, in La Coruña. I am going to do the English Way of the Camino de Santiago at some point.

The next three months look like this for me- Southern Spain, Northern Spain, Scotland, London, Wales, Ireland, New York, Connecticut, Newport, Boston, (New Hampshire Vermont Maine Canada New Foundland Nova Scotia- yet to be planned), East Coast road trip, final destination for a little while- Florida Keys. Whoa, how am I ever going to edit all these photos and video?

An old one from Semana Santa, but I love it because that old guy's name is Hermano Gaspar and he is one of my favorite people here.