I know, I know! It's been like, forever since I last updated and I'm SO sorry to all of you that came by (thanks!) hoping to see something and not finding anything new! My apologies.
So, first let me say
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I hope that you had an excellent Christmas and New Year and my wish is that 2009 brings you all continued growth and all the joy and peace your hearts can handle.
As many of you know, after the cancelled race in Cesana, I went to England to spend my Christmas break in London with some family that I have there. If you've never been to London....GO THERE!! It was wonderful and I loved it immensely! I am kind of a big fan of old things and history that you can actually touch fascinates me. It was SO cool to walk around the streets of London and see buildings that have been standing for hundreds of years. Plus, I am completely enamoured of the English accent! :-)
The best part of the trip through, was getting to spend time with my wonderful cousins and visit with some dear friends. One of my friends is a guard in the British Army and so I was able to tour around with him and see some pretty special things, and get the "insider's" perpective.
An old college friend of mine is from London and she just happened to be having her 30th birthday party while I was there and we were able to reconnect
after 6 YEARS of not having seen each other! That was amazing. Here some pics of me and my cousins
My break went by very quickly and soon enough it was time to get back to the business of bobsledding!
Our first race back after the break was in Konigsee, Germany. I didn't race in Konigsee last year, so at the beginning of the week I was looking forward to being able to race there. We were able to push very well and Kaillie drove well also and we had our second top 6 finish of the season finishing the race in 5th place in a very tight field.
One very unfortunate thing that took place during the race to one of my teammates Helen Upperton was a freak injury to her ribs that she sustained
while trying to load into the sled. We found out afterwards that she has torn the cartilage off one of her ribs....OUCH!!!
Again, if you're a praying person...please keep her health and speedy
recovery in your prayers. Here's a picture of Kaillie and I on the podium!
I race again tomorrow in St.Moritz, Switzerland as a make up race for the one that was cancelled. I'm racing with Helen this weekend and because she's very injured she may have to sit in the sled while I push it by myself! It should be fun, anyhow and I'll be sure to update you as to how that went!
Oh, one more thing: Everyone wants to know how I was able to be away from my immediate family during the Christmas season. I can tell you, that it was very hard, but it was something that I had committed to before the season even began. I do miss my family terribly, but I brought a little piece of them to Europe with me and every week when we travel to a new destination and we drop our Adidas bags in our room and prepare to slide the next day, I set up something special on my bedside table. When I'm feeling like the stress is getting to me, or when I've had a particularly hectic or bad day or just whenever I feel like it is necessary, I have a VERY good reminder of what's most important:
