Training camp in Dorn Birn, Austria

The lack of posts over the past week is not due to my usual apathy towards letting loved ones know of any and all things going on in my life. No, actually I have a legitimate excuse this time. For the past week I have been at a training camp in Dorn Birn, Austria with my team. We stayed in a sports hotel, where we practiced twice a day for three hours every day. After participating in college double days every August for five years, I had hoped that this "hell week" idea would all together fade into a bittersweet memory for me. But alas the double day training has returned and left it's mark on me once again. Looking back it wasn't all that bad. While i'm tired and sore from it, I think a lot of progress was made and I'm sure we'll be a better team for it. I am playing outside hitter again after a three year stint at the right side and finally i'm starting to feel at home on the left side. At the end of the week we played in a tournament in one of the brand new halls in the city. The competition was more like a Denver Crossroads 16's division (for those of you not as familiar with the club volleyball lingo, this is code for mediocre players who just like to wear ribbons in their hair and think they look good in spandex) than a professional volleyball tournament, so to say that we came out champions of the tournament seems a little silly. But we did. When we were presented our small trophy consisting of a pretty purple rock with some German writing on it I was less than impressed. But when a basket of food was placed in front of me I almost wept for joy, all our hard work was worth it!

In our down time (which didn't seem like much) we spent time together talking, sitting in the cafeteria drinking hot chocolate, taking walks and watching MTV, which, thankfully is in English in every country. I truly enjoy the company of my teammates and I feel lucky to be part of such a diverse group. Although much of our time is spent lost in translation, I think we all get along quite well and I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone even better as the months pass. I also spent a lot of my time reading, which is an activity i've been waiting to enjoy thoroughly once rid of the burden of college classes. I would like to take this time to thank the genius author Anne Rice for putting into words all my thoughts and emotions about the beauty of vampires and for providing me with stellar reading material for the duration of my stay at training camp this past week. If you have not read Anne Rice and have an inkling toward dark, mythological tales dripping with ghastly and sometimes beautiful characters may I invite you to read her vampire chronicles. It really is mesmeric writing.

As an end note, I missed being able to attend church the past two Sundays and I am so looking forward to church this week. A sister from the relief society called today and we chatted for a little while and then decided on a time later this week to meet and visit. I also feel like such a nerd because I have written out the dates for a few of the church activities in my calendar. September 22: relief society book club at 10 a.m. I'm sure they won't be reading any vampire "literature" but it should be fun irregardless. October 10th: relief society "in the home" activity. I think that this is a chance of a lifetime for me to learn how to cook....actual meals, I mean. Although I do make killer toast, I'd like to graduate to something slightly more demanding. And edible. And finally, on October 26th: the highly acclaimed Primary Program to be held in Sacrament Meeting. I have missed this one event so dearly ever since becoming a grown up college student and having to endure the singles ward. The Primary Program never fails to bring a smile to my face, and so I will wait for that with great anticipation.