Thankful for Family!

Bonjour from Perpignan!

Thanksgiving is a time for thankfulness, and I could not have been more thankful to have spent the holiday with my parents! Talk about one big adventure! We traveled from Paris to Barcelona to the castle city of Carcassonne and discovered new places near Perpignan. And of course they got to watch a couple games! It was nice to look up and see a familiar face in the stands again. With Aspire Higher Camps during the summer and playing basketball overseas during the rest of the year, I don't have many opportunities to visit home and spend time with my family. Playing overseas so far from loved ones can be very difficult at times, so having my Mom and Dad around for a couple weeks was a treat! I really am blessed to have such amazing, loving parents. They have always supported and encouraged me through everything and I truly am grateful for all they have done for me! God has blessed me with an incredible family! The only thing missing from the couple weeks they were here was my sister, Jami, her husband, Drew, and my nephew Jack! Can't wait to see them for Christmas here in two weeks! 

Pictures from our adventures are below!

 Found a great little town on the ocean only 20mins from the apartment

The famous church La Sagrada Familia, its taken well over 100 years to build and will take another 30 to finish! Also another picture from Gaudi park!

On the left, is the famous Gaudi park and on the right, my parents were probably more excited to find a Starbucks in Barcelona then to see the park! Gotta get in the coffee fix!

My mom's incredible parking job! Just barely fit! We got lucky on finding great spots the whole day.

Down the famous La Rambla street!

Castle!!

Bonjour from France! It's been awhile since I've blogged and so much has happened! If you follow me on twitter or Facebook, I keep things a little more up to date along with pictures, motivational daily quotes, videos, etc. So right now I'll just share with you one of my most enjoyable times I've had since I've arrived!

After driving by what seems like a hundred castles in France while on road trips to games, I finally got the opportunity to visit one up close! My teammate from Australia, Abby, and I stayed with Abby's friends from home in Marseille after a game. We had a blast! We shopped, walked around town, ate at a nice restaurant, and then went to the castle. I've been so blessed to have met such great people and friends while over here! Being in another country with a completely different culture and language can be difficult at times, but having such incredible teammates and meeting great people has helped make the experience that much easier and more enjoyable. Not to mention having the best job in the world!

Below are some pictures from my adventure....

It's not about the destination, but the JOURNEY!

Bonjour! So one afternoon we had off from practice and I decided to take a drive toward the beautiful mountains I look at every single day that are right along the coast dividing France and Spain! Since I had no idea where I would end up, this was a true adventure! Below I'll take you step by step along the way with pictures! 

As I'm driving down the highway I look up and see a castle up on the hill. It became apparent....this had to be my destination. So not having any idea how to get up the mountain I take a random exit and try to find the shortest and easiest route I could find. On the right you see that route ended up being some back roads!

 As Im getting closer and closer...the roads start to get less like roads and more like 4-wheeler trails! But of course...I continue to drive on them because I had to get to my castle! I eventually found a dead end and realize the hill was full of grape vines. I figure out that this was not a standard road but a road that people take to pick the grapes, etc! Let me tell you, my car barely fit on the road and one slight wrong turn I would have tumbled down the hill! 

 I eventually realized I had to get back on a main road and try a different route. I see the highway at this point...but I am so lost on the vineyard roads. At this point in the picture I was so desperate to get to that highway I contemplated going off-roading down the hill!

 I made it out alive and went around the hill to try and find another way to the castle. Every time I looked up it was so frustratingly close! On the other side of the mountain I found unbelievable views of the ocean!

 The journey to the castle brought me to a beautiful city.

A mini castle along the coast!

My adventure led me to a mini castle right along the coast. It wasn't the large one I was trying to get to, but was still pretty cool.

View from my mini castle.

Well, in the end, I realized that my adventure that afternoon is typical of life. Sometimes we set goals and have a vision of who we want to become and what we want to do with our lives. (Like getting to the castle!) But along the way, the journey to what we thought was our ultimate destination leads us to something more beautiful and amazing than we could have imagined. This adventure was a great reminder to enjoy every second, enjoy the moments, enjoy the journey of your life! If you don't you'll end up missing small blessings and joys along the way because you're so focused on trying to get to the end result! Enjoy the process! 

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21

TOP 5 REGRETS OF THE DYING!

Bonjour! Below is an article I stumbled upon! Absolutely inspiring and a great reminder of what is important in life and what you wish you would have done more of! I can honestly say the article made me re think some of my priorities in life! It is so easy to get caught up in your own little box striving for things that in the end are less important than loving others, loving God, and keeping relationships the most important! 


For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learnt never to underestimate someone's capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:


1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. 

This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.


2. I wish I didn't work so hard.

This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.


3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.

Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.


4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.


5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.
Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose

happiness.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Based on this article, Bronnie has now released a full length book titled The Top Five Regrets of the Dying - A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing. It is a memoir of her own life and how it was transformed through the regrets of the 

Opening Games in Paris!

Our first official games were in Paris, France! All of the teams played the opening weekend. Our team ending up playing the best team in France, Bourge  who have won the league for the past 12 years. We ended up losing but the game was close until the final minutes. As a team we have a long ways to go, which is okay because it is a long season! We left the day before the game and stayed the night a couple nights. We usually travel in team vans, but this time we got to take the train! I finally got to experience the metro system here. As the season goes on I'm looking forward to continuing to improve every day here. We have great talent, a great coach and the opportunity to really go far in the league!

A group picture of all the players on all the teams in France during the opening weekend games.

France lacks toilet seats in public restaurants! Killin me.

 Our first train ride on our way to Paris for the game.

 The team on the train!

 Team picture before our game

 Shoot around day of the game

We got quite the crowd for our first game! Very fun environment.

Team Events

Bonjour! Despite my team's best efforts to help me learn French, I am far from being fluent. Learning how to pronounce the words correctly is very difficult let alone remembering them! The team has mentioned bringing in a teacher once a week to help the three foreigners learn the language, so that would be helpful. Especially when random people come up and start speaking to you in French you feel bad cutting them off saying "I only speak English!" So hopefully soon I will begin the lessons!

Below are pictures of a couple days we had as a team outside of basketball practice. The first we went to a radio station where they interviewed us all live on the air (of course with a translator) and the second place was the local mall that was just opened and they featured our team on the opening day! It was fun to get to hang with the team outside of a basketball setting. All of the girls are so nice and seem fun! So for about a week straight I kept seeing signs for a circus called Amar that was coming into town and one day in a large parking lot they set up a giant tent right near our gym! So after practice one day we all went as a team to the circus, which was interesting to say the least! Very old fashion. But entertaining at the same time. I love playing basketball with my team, but it's nice to get out and explore the town and even go to the circus! 

 Here we are as a team at the radio station for interviews! 

Next we went to the new mall, they panted our face for an introduction of the mall featuring our basketball team! It was fun to mingle with the local people despite my lack of French.

 They actually pitched a tent for the circus!

 The team inside the tent

Outside of the circus tent and just one of many acts were the elephants!

Clowns!

Looking forward to free time!

So far practices have been very tough with multiple two a days throughout the week with no days off! We've also been traveling everywhere with 2 practice games a week. One day when we only had one practice I had time to go to the nearest beach from my apartment which is only 10 mins away. I cannot wait to be able to explore more when or if we get a day off soon! The mountains are so close, and I love to hike. The coastline is also beautiful with fun restaurants and places to explore. Check out the pictures of my mini adventure below....

The beach only 10 mins away from my apartment. 

On the right is the view of the mountains I get to see everyday while driving home. I live in the middle of nowhere by the way. On the left is me in a hurry during a busy day to hang up my clothes because the apartments don't have a dryer only washer! Yea, you should see my room! Haha

Can't wait to come back and hang my hammock up between the poles.