katieandboo

Camino
Tacoma, United States
Toni Loomis is going to Spain to do the Pilgrimage walk, tonight is her farewell dinner. Tuesday she heads to Spain and will update us along her journey.
written by  katieandboo on March 26, 2017 from Tacoma, United States
from the travel blog: Camino

prima
Naples, Italy
Ciao tutti!!
I dont even know where to begin here....I guess ill start from the beginning...when i got here i felt very out of place and needless to say, alone, since no one spoke english. That quickly changed as my roommates started calling me Katy Perry and trying to speak with my (in broken english and me in broken italian). The room set up is, in my apt, two bedrooms and one bathroom (3 girls). In the next door apartment it is same set up accept second room is a very small kitchen, and two girls. the kitchen is about two arm spreads wide and about one deep. With a fridge, sink and two hot plates. Somehow the 5 of us make it work. We eat lunch and dinner together too. Which is very nice and provides extra time for me to learn italian. They laugh at me when I pronounce wrong and I when they completely get the word wrong. I have had espresso at least once a day if not twice. Pasta every day so far and tonight we just went out as a team and had pizza...needless to say I am in carb heaven!!!
Training has been fine I love my keeper coach and my head coach is awesome too, he knows some english but I can tell the girls love him, very funny. And I like my teammates, I think they like having me to try and shoot the shit with in the little english they know. They will try to say something and when it is totally wrong the other girls laugh at them. I however will not be cleared to play until mid december I believe, because of paperwork. Which is good cuz I need to learn italian soccer words.
Their is a little field up behind our apartment about a block and a half away. Their is also basketball girls living behind us and tennis players all around us. Of cours they are Italian and I have only met one basketball player no tennis players. Oh but I also met an american guy who coaches american football over here so that is funny! The city is small and boring, but its Italy. Oh the temp is weird its warm during the day like 55 or so and at night it is down right freezing!! And our practices are at night!! Thankfully we have some pretty warm gear, one real nice big puffy jacket that I am in love with!!
Ok well I should get to bed, but miss and love you all!!
written by  katieandboo on November 18, 2011 from Naples, Italy
from the travel blog: Italian adventure

day 1
Reykjavik, Iceland
today I arrived in Iceland for the start of a new season on a new team. After a 7hr flight I arrived in north Iceland because Reykjavik airport was closed. So then I had to take a 6hr bus ride to my town where I was met by one of the board members mikey. At around 6pm my new coach came and picked me up from my hotel (cuz my apt isn't ready for another week) and showed me where we plaay and where our club House is. After the tour we went to his House for dinner which was delicious and headed back to my place. I have met two of the girls so far both are very nice and can tell they are good, one goes to Northwestern in Boston and one was on the National team before she broker her leg in Jan. Tomorrow is a chill day just get a phone and go to training. That is all for now I am gonna try to sleep although it is so bright it looks like 5pm good night
written by  katieandboo on May 10, 2010 from Reykjavik, Iceland
from the travel blog: icelandic adventures

first week
Karlstad, Sweden
When I landed in Stockholm I was greeted by my coach for our 3hr. drive to Karlstad. The next day I was overwhelmed when I met my new teammates for lunch. I just smiled as they spoke swedish with an occasional english sentence here and there. At about 8pm we had our practice which was fun got alot of shots, my legs were definitely jet legged but it felt good to play.
On monday morning we headed for Stockholm again for my first game, I was really nervous but played ok, I got scored on, It was a 1v1 I made the first save and there team was there to finish it. The level was decent they have alot of quick foot work and play the ball pretty quick, very aggressive. We ate three times that day it was great!! At our third meal I was seeming to bond the most with the youngest kids which isn't that big of a surprise im sure.
THe past couple days I have been kept busy with training and getting all the things I need for my apartment, everybody is really nice and very helpful here. My apartment is pretty small a kitchen, bathroom, and living room which is my bedroom also. Boo arrives on sunday so it will be like freshman year in the dorms again. ha We have our first league game on saturday so I will try to post after that.
written by  katieandboo on April 16, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden
from the travel blog: sweden adventures

joy and pain
Karlstad, Sweden
Ok so lets see where I left off...oh I know at one of our practices we had like two or three media people come. It was kinda cool cause they were taking pics and getting interviews but got kind of annoying because they kept pulling me out of drills and warm-ups to get pics and statements. But all in all a cool first time experience to encounter my teammate and I were in the paper the next I guess. The trainings went well (except that I jammed the shit outa my middle finger I can't even fully extend it and its pretty bruised) alot more chill than in the states not really fitness heavy and more relaxed on defense.
So we had our first league game on saturday which was really cool we get to games 2hours early. So we get off the bus just walking over to the locker room looking at the Field a little nastalgic.(sp?) Then we have our warm up go back to the locker room area until both teams walk out so totally like a playoff game but its just league. Things were going good we scored first were playing pretty well I was directing my backs ok then lil slip up on got through and sliced me far post. Then maybe 10min later a communication error with my center back sent me off the Field in a stretcher. haha (relax mom im ok) So what happened was I told my back away but she just kept shielding the forward so I came out for a 1v1 tackle I got the ball and the girl went cleat up into my knee, extremely painful. We ended up losing like 5-1 so not a good game after all but now we have two weeks to train and get ready for our next game.
Oh I almost forgot boo is coming in tomorrow morning Im super excited for her to get here and figure out how were gonna fit another bed in here haha. Thats all for now ciao
written by  katieandboo on April 19, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden
from the travel blog: sweden adventures

game day
Kopavogur, Iceland
Alright so today was our first game and we WON 3-1. I actually started played pretty well wasn't challenged too much there goal was a 1v1 hit the back post and went in. But our team is very good and good of had 6 goals. Team is very technical great feet and good shots some opps. just weren't capitalized. Oh and our defensive position is cursed because in the first game two defenders had to come out cuz of injuries and the two center backs had previously tore ligaments in the winter.
Anyways so some other info the weather is prob think of tacoma in end of Feb early March time when it can be windy rainy and/or sunny in one day the temp is easily 45-47 F. Could see my breath at practice yesterday night but the nice thing is we have a hot tub in our locker room so we all piled in after a cold training! Our locker room is cool I guess were supposed to get a flat screen soon! Tomorrow well either go to the pool or the hot tub after prac. depending on if its sunny or rainy.
The hotel is pretty basic I just have my lil bed and a bathroom and tv, I get breakfast in the morning here. Its close to the fields but someone has to pick me up cuz its not that close and I don't have a bike. I move into my apt. on monday and hopefully get my car by then or sooner.
For my dad skies aren't that blue most of the time there is clouds, it is very good air though and really cold water. Oh and whoever says its super green here has never been, yes the grass is green but its so volcanic it looks more like eastern Washington (except the grass is green because they run hot water under some fields). Food is pretty much like any Scandinavic country they love there meat and cheese spreads with butter and bread. Although Iceland has a bigger variety like they have taco bell KFC and subway!
My teammates are all super niceee all of them are very good at english some youd think its their first language. Learning their names is tough but I am starting to get the hang of it. Two of them are on the National team and two were before they tore ACL and broke their leg. So very skilled girl.
Anyway think thats all for now if you have questions feel free to ask
katie
written by  katieandboo on May 13, 2010 from Kopavogur, Iceland
from the travel blog: icelandic adventures

win
Naples, Italy
We went to Rome on sunday for a big game and we won 1-0!! It was pretty cool everyone was singing and dancing after in the locker room. Our pregame meal was huge, first there was a big plate of veggies, then big plate of pasta, then plate of brescola, and finally a apricot lemon tart dessert thing. Needless to say I was completely stuffed after all that food was glad I didn't have to play. When we got back my roommate and I just grabbed a pizza next door for our dinner. Our basketball friend came over too, viviana. My roommate sylvia was tired and viv was hungover so we were all pretty goofy. They asked me about my scars and I tried to explain in italian how I got them, with a lot of body language ha. Needless to say we were all rolling laughing that night with our horrible Italian and English. Was a fun night though.
Yesterday I went with viv to the city Vomero where she has her therapy. While she did therapy I went to a street that has a lot of shops and had my breakfast at a bar, a cappuccino and chocolate croissant. I just walked around looking at the jobs, although I did buy a notebook finally. When viv met back up with me she bought a shirt for her friends bday. Oh and today it is vivs bday, not sure if we are going out to celebrate or not.
Oh so also found out the team gives us, or is supposed to, money for food every week but they dont. So right now in our fridge we have water butter a pear mortadella ham and cheese. Somehow they expect 5 of us to be able to eat 3 meals off of that. needless to say that is why we eat like poor people, a lot of pasta meals no veggies and picking up pizzas. Hopefully they pay us tonight so tomorrow we can go to the grocery store. The city I live in is actually Agnano so if you look it up youll see its dullness ha. But you can see Vesuvio from here so that is kinda cool.
Oh and last night I was on the Italian news. I am pretty sure I look like an idiot I was so nervous. Its the napoli sport news, if I find the link I'll share it, maybe ;) ha
ALthough we are locked in this area at least my housemates don't work so there is usually 3 of us at least around the house.
Ok I should go run I will add a video and pic too.
ciao
written by  katieandboo on November 22, 2011 from Naples, Italy
from the travel blog: Italian adventure

ready to roll
Tacoma, United States
leaving on jet plane, one my way to meet kevin in madrid. hang there for 4 days.
written by  katieandboo on March 28, 2017 from Tacoma, United States
from the travel blog: Camino

What a day
Madrid, Spain
Landed in Madrid, did not sleep to well on the plane. Arrived in Madrid, Kevin was there to meet me! Made it so much easier. Thanks kev! Got my cute place, had wine with the owner, then off kev and I went. Walked all over Madrid, through this amazing park. Ended up stopping for wine and tapas. Wonder food. Kevin walked us all over, ending up at one of the old restaurants! Had a great meal. Just got home at midnight, off to bed
written by  katieandboo on March 29, 2017 from Madrid, Spain
from the travel blog: Camino

happy thanksgiving
Agnano, Italy
So we went to the Vivi House to sing happy bday and met a bulgarian so now I have a friend who speaks English. He is one of the basketball players brother who is here till xmas and looking to get picked up on a team.
Oh after practice the other day we went to a pizzeria and watched the Napoli vs manchester city game. Was insane!!! You could hear all the people in the stadium from our House they were so loud. Everytime Napoli did something good or bad the restaurant erupted. Was a lot of fun to be around.
Last night after practice my Housemates and I went to our physical trainers House for dinner. His wife made us baked ziti, Chicken and potatoes, this pizza thing with vegtable cheese and sausage, then dessert. Also 3 bottles of wine and this horrible dark thick licorice tasting drink. It was a lot of fun, we were there for about 2.5 hrs. Oh ya and then they started saying I look italian and like one f their friends. They got on facebook to show me a picture, I didn't really see it but they all agreed I looked like her and started calling me Lara. Overall a great night.
Today I went on an adventure with the bulgarian. We tried to get to the top of this hillside, which we failed. Then walked to a High Point to see the the water and harbor of Pozzuoli, very beautiful. Today is super hot I am guessing 65 or 70!!
I was going to go to one of the younger americans House for thanksgiving but I have practice so its not going to happen.
Ok lunch is served
ciao
written by  katieandboo on November 24, 2011 from Agnano, Italy
from the travel blog: Italian adventure

newby
Kopavogur, Iceland
So I am still in the gosh dang hotel and its driving me insane I just really want to cook and have a great big salad. Lots of my meals comprise of quick cheap things so microwave pizza or cup a noodles, not exactly the healthiest thing for an athlete but im coping. Were supposed to move out tomorrow and get our car in the morning. And yes WE, the other american has arrived and she is from penn state really nice chill.
Tomorrow we also have another game in Akueyri (sp) which is north Iceland. Team is really good and people think will take 2nd in the league but we shall see. Myself and some girls went in our hot tub after practice today was nice because my left quad has been bothering me. Had a killer keeper training the other day a circuit were none of us could really breath to say good job or keep going, just head nods ha.
Weather has been ok was really cold yesterday was 4 degrees so I think thats close to 44F. We watched the mens game after our practice and Hekla and I froze because we just had sweatshirts and wet hair.
Oh before I go I think I mention but I dont have my camera cord so no pics for probably a while sorry
written by  katieandboo on May 17, 2010 from Kopavogur, Iceland
from the travel blog: icelandic adventures

fitness fun
Karlstad, Sweden
Ok so I know im bad at keeping it updated and I will put some pics up soon, promise :)
Knee is doing good should be back in time for the next game. Boo has now arrived and we somehow managed to fit a bed into our room so its a very cozy place ha. We got to to go to this sports store and pick out new cleats and for me new gloves I guess I'll get like 4-5 pair this season super cool!! We also got some other training gear, like shirts and shorts.
We finally met our fitness coach his name is Jonas and he is a small guy but is gonna get us pretty fit. We train with him twice a week besides practice. On mondays we just stay after practice and he does running things with us and on wednesday we do a leg lifting and medicine ball routine and also some running. He said he is gonna give me and boo our player specific weight lifting program on friday. (Every player kinda has there own specific program due to there size age and position)
The trainings have picked up intensity wise now and we do a lot of shooting which I love except I keep reinjuring the finger. Oh boo and I made a lil net with a piece of wood and a lil stand so that we can play soccer tennis in the street! We try to dribble tennis balls around the house and she brought a mini soccer ball so we are really working on getting a better touch. Time for dinner, enjoy your days
adjo
katie
written by  katieandboo on April 23, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden
from the travel blog: sweden adventures

weekend fun
ok so the past couple of days have been a blast...boo and I have been obsessed with the show the L word and are watching it from the beginning of season 1, kinda couch potatoes. She of course just kept procrastinating her paper to watch it, friday we stayed up till about 2am watching it. Oh got our work out plans and I love it its like all body weight stuff we only use two machines, were gonna get ripped living here. Saturday I met the team down town and we did a lil team bonding with bowling, it was kinda fun actually got hamburgers too. Then we went to the captains house and started the party, when we went out all the babies had to go home the club was cool though it had 4 different dance floors with different kinds of music. I actually saw my fitness coach there. Oh but really quick so we ordered pizza too and they put this like coleslaw/saurkraut on it and it is soo good. Anywho got home at like 4am pretty surprised I was able to find my way home cuz I had no clue where I was. All in all it was a great weekend, today was my recovery day just walked around and layed around haha. Oh so boo and I decided were gonna make a dream/inspiration wall and its going to have a list of our goals for what we want to work on and where we want to be by the end of the 6 months. Then surrounding that is gonna be a bunch of inspirational quotes or pics, anything that will help inspire us. Our main goal with this is the pro league in the states, so were gonna decorate our place with inspiration.
adjo

a home
Kopavogur, Iceland
So we have finally moved into our apt. and it is awesome! We each have our own rooms and a nice size kitchen and living room with 3 couches and ones a pull out! So if anyone wants to come crash do it!
We lost the other day which sucks cuz we totally out shot the other team but they were better at finishing their opportunities. It was pretty cold and right next to the Field you could see the big mountains loaded with snow! So it was pretty chilly especially since it was at 7 at night. We ended up having to take the bus which was 5 hours but really just the longest most uncomfortable bus ride ever! We didn't get back to our House till 4am the next day. Oh ya and I got drug tested after the game, got picked by random lottery. Was easy since I peed fast but my teammate took 2hrs so the team went and had pizza while we waited for her.
Its ugly here now been raining all day but thankfully we have a car so were able to get our groceries and stay dry :) Not surprising im sure but I have already found a jacket I want. Oh ya and I have my address so if you want it just email me. ta ta for now
written by  katieandboo on May 20, 2010 from Kopavogur, Iceland

happy belated to my gma!!
Agnano, Italy
Went to a bar with two of my housemates and some basketball players on friday. Super fancy, also had some food snacks sitting around to eat, pasta fritatta etc. Was a good time had a few drinks and danced then headed home around 3. We finally got paid for food so sat. 3 of my housemates and I went to the grocery store, bought a bunch of food but very little veggies and fruit. When we got back we all changed to go meet our team at a pub. Went to watch the Napoli game and have some dinner. I had their version of the philly cheese steak, was actually very good.
Sunday we had a game at our home stadium which is at the base of a castle and the edge of the water in Baccoli. Very pretty. Our pre-game meal consisted, again, of pasta steamed veggies prosciutto with parma bread water and a fruit tart for dessert. These people can freaking eat let me tell ya. We won our game and made it into the guiness book of world records because apparently they have not lost a game in a whole year. I got interviewed after the game but it was in English which was great, and kinda funny!
Oh forgot to mention that all my housemates smoke so every day my clothes and hair smell like smoke, I hate it!! Think im gonna get lung cancer before they do because of all the second hand I consume.
Yesterday was a good day went for a run up this steep hill and got a pretty view at the top. Afterwards I went looking for stamps, which I didn't find, and discount markets. I found a big indoor market which was cool with all the different vendors. I also found two regular discount markets where I bought mushrooms and tomatoes, oh and I bought 2 kilos of Apples, that way i have veggies and fruit. By the time I got back we had lunch then hung out with vivi then I read a little and it was time for practice. Oh ya they moved practice from today to monday because Napoli has a game tonight so we have the night off. Which I better go get ready for.
ciao
written by  katieandboo on November 29, 2011 from Agnano, Italy

just like Inter
Ok so we didn't win 2-0 and dominate the whole time like inter but we did win. We played a team who is currently above us who people think will get 4th this season a strong side they got an early lame goal. Cluster in the box I couldn't see ball or player then the ball wizes past me far post. They are up all game then in the last 5 minutes we score a goal, and due to some injury time we go over the 90 min and 30sec into the extra time we score our second goal to win the game!!
We went over to one of the girls House around dinner time to celebrate her graduating so were just kind of hanging out eating and drinking then the girls brought up beer pong and I helped them set it up and all the proper rules and we played!! It was alot of fun the girls enjoyed it, after we headed to downtown which is soo cute I can't wait to see it in the day.
Had a hard practice this morning was pretty frustrating but some parts were fun. Tomorrow we have the day off so maybe the roomy and I will head to see something new and cool in Iceland.

catch up
on our street
us and linnea
ok so to answer some questions...Yes I make all my own meals unless we are with the team then they supply all our food. Before games we eat this pasta salad thing and bread, pretty good. After we usually eat some meat and potatoes. I pretty much wake up whenever I wake unless I have to be somewhere, which is rare. If you can believe I have found a love here...hahaha just kidding, no, no boys yet but boo does have a boy back home. She is loving it here and we are quickly learning how to deal with eachother. She knows to ignore me in the morning and just not talk to me, and I know how to just tell her to be quiet if she is talking too much. Its a good match for 6 months pretty stoked. We are slowly learning new words boo can count to 10 I can't say 7 really hard for me. But most of the girls are speaking English to us, some are a lil more shy and don't talk to us that much because there not as confident with there English but they understand. I am pretty used to practices being all in swedish now, coach will talk and then I just kinda guess from what he said what we are supposed to do. (and I follow the girls)
It's starting to warm up, so boo and I are finding ourselves outside alot working on juggling or 'catch' (with our feet). Oh were starting to think of places we might go for our 2 weeks off in july, thinking about lebanon and possibly greece. Anywho here are some pics and I'll keep trying to take more.
adjo

game update
Hej sorry for long time no entry...Lets review the game this weekend, well we lost. The first goal was pretty good side netting but I still think I could have gotten to it if I had been a lil further out. The second goal was all my fault, high ball got lost in the sun light only caught part of it and it continued back to the goal, very upsetting. So we lost 2-0 to one of the best teams in our league but honestly I think we could of had them. We had some good missed opportunities and held the same pace as them. I know what your thinking dad "well it wont matter in 5 years and they didn't score either soo" but I was still bummed. I didn't play horribly though I have finally got my full voice back so now im talking the whole 90min telling everybody who to mark and where they need to be. I made a couple of really good high ball saves where I had to come out in alot of traffic. One of em I got flipped around and smashed to the ground but I still had the ball! Oh and I think I was part of the tearing of an ACL on one of there forwards. It was a loose ball I was coming out for and she was challenging me for it but her leg went on the inside of mine, got stuck, and I just kept pushing forward with the ball. Then I hear a little pop and
her screaming and crying on the ground. I felt soo bad, it's crazy how quick your career can just be done.
Oh there was this cool coming of Spring celebration on thursday, with huge bon fires every where and fire works, it was super cool.
Im getting really good at making up good food concoctions. Alot of the concoctions involve pasta, like yesterday for my pregame meal I had left over pasta so I used that added some spices some chicken tomato onion and lettuce..very delicious. Any who it is now lunch time for me so I must go eat.
written by  katieandboo on May 2, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden

9 years...over!
We won today 1-0 finally tackling a 9 year non winning streak on this Field. Apparently the club as a whole mens and womens haven't won in 9yrs on the Field we played on today, have had ties but no win till today!
Lets back up a little though, so we had a day off and Hekla took us to Rekyavik wher we wondered around just looking at shops and book stores. We then went to where the presidents House is which is outside of Kopavogur, super cool you could literally drive up his road and stop outside his House, I have proof! Oh saw where the most famous hot dog stand in Iceland I'm gonna have to get one soon. Other than that have been pretty chill we tried to get a library card but can't so one of our teammates is gonna help us get books. Ya dad thats right books!! Anddd I finished the book I brought already! Had a really good pre-game dinner last night made up some relaly tiny maceroni sauted up some zucchini mushroom shrimp and cherry tomato just enough so they pop in your mouth. of course with some seasonings and red pepper flakes served it over chilled pasta and lettuce with lemon juice veryy good!! Kev if you have any good ideas I should try making while im here let me know!
So back to the game was pretty exciting we didn't score till the last like 7min. They had a few chances but we got our first shutout of the season!!! I am soo very happy for that and can't tell ya how happy I get when we win (although I know no one will care in 20 yrs, still I like it). Well im pretty pooped so I should try to sleep although its still bright as heck and its after 10:30pm ha
Bless
katie

A routine
Agnano, Italy
Wednesday I went up to the field and did a circuit workout, finally getting some sort of routine which is nice. We had simple pasta for lunch(garlic and peppers) good.  Then Maria and her mother showed up with bags of food!!  I think I had a smile the whole time she was unpacking.  Pasta coffee nutella chicken meat VEGGIES!!!  So much food.  Needless to say after prac we had a great dinner, a steak like meat and salad with bread. Oh and wine typical of their region, very good.
Thursday went for a run up my hill and went into an area that was supposed to have a lil lake, there was too many trees and bushes to get through tho. Downloaded some more Italian apps so studied until lunch. Which was incredible!!  We had pasta with carne very good don't know the sauce but light and clear then eggplant rolled sandwich type things. Also a mix of steam/sautéed veggies (eggplant zucchini tomatoe peppers onions) and of course bread!  Needless to say I was completely stuffed and content :)
When it came time for prac I was still full and burping the veggies ha. We scrimmaged against a boys team In the fog. Let me tell you I have never played in such thick fog. Some points couldn't see the circle before the half.  I couldn't tell where the ball was until last min. I could tell when it was getting closer to me because my defenders would be backing up, but it wasn't until a boy broke through on a foot race against a defender that I would really know what side of the field they were on.
After prac we all went to dinner in a town closer to napoli.  Had an assortment of bruschetta (tomato basil, mushroom, cheese and prosc, and one with corn) had stuffed zucchini flowers, mozzarella arugula and prosc, then ur main course.  Sooo good!!!  Again over ate too full. We had this dinner because our one teammate vale is leaving for a while to play in games with the national team.
Today I said I'm not gonna eat but of course that's not true. Been loving my Italian bfasts.  A lot of frezeines cafe blood orange juice and or nutella treats. Sometimes cereal :)
Its dumping right now hopefully it slows and I'll go workout. Have a great Friday everyone!!  Safe travels to my fam!
written by  katieandboo on December 2, 2011 from Agnano, Italy

sick
Not much to report from the weekend even though we had two days off, because I was SICK!! Woke up saturday with, what im guessing, was the flu. Basically layed in bed all day except to walk to the store and buy some fruit and some juice. Then sunday a little better my fever broke, but still stayed around the House and ate. Monday was fitness practice which sucked cuz I thought my chest was going to explode! in the end probably helped kick the bug a little bit. That night went out to eat with some friends and had a very good meal. First some ricotta with bread and prosciutto oh and buffalo mozz. Then had my pizza with mushrooms, very good!!! I love my meals here! Oh and my other Housemates mom was here and she made tiramisu and brought some real sicilian cannolis needless to say they were both off the hook and best things ive ever had!!
Yesterday was very chill went on a long walk to Pozzuoli which was nice and prac. After prac we had to go support our head manager guy at his book opening. So we didn't get to eat dinner until 12!!! I was so hungry and tired they got to see a piece of the true katie, hungry grump!
Oh went to immigration office yesterday too, so now I am all set up and legally officially here! Found out I may not be playing in a game till Jan now which makes me super bummed cuz then I def could have gone home for xmas, super bummed :(
today worked out at the Field its finally nice today. The past 4 days have been crazy rainy and windy! Got prac tonight then off tomorrow so hopefully some fun adventure awaits!
written by  katieandboo on December 7, 2011 from Agnano, Italy

tourists
Ok sorry it's been so long sometimes forget about this thing. We tied our most recent game 0-0, which is good but we had many opportunities. We had the day off today so I went to see the geyser and the gulfos waterfall today with my roomie and sam who is visiting. It was alot of fun we actually picked up a hitch hiker which made the experience way more fun. He was from Germany and was really nice he is just camping at the geyser for a few days. We all agreed the geyser was the most boring of the day but on our way to the waterfall there was a stampede of horses on the side of the road and on the road so that was fun we got out and took pics. And the waterfall was super cool something unlesss you were told was there from the road you would nevver know. We jumped one of the ropes and the 4 of us took pics right next to the waterfall so that was fun.
Oh forgot to mention a while ago Hekla took us to get icelandic ice cream, which was basically ice cream but from a specific farm so it was more special! She also took us up in a tower in the hospital so we got to go on the roof because her dad works for the security team.
Saw the mens cup game last night they lost in pks our keeper made 1 save and they missed one but then the other teams keeper who is actually the national team keeper made 3 pk saves back to back, was really cool to see. Think thats all for now I will be posting pics maybe tomorrow.
written by  katieandboo on June 4, 2010 from Kopavogur, Iceland

trainer
So we met with our fitness coach went for 20min run in the woods. Then inside which was like gym/track area where we Split up into 2 groups. One group was doing hangclings, weighted squats, double leg high box jumps, and star jumps. Then the other group does plyos, which involved a bunch of hurdles, hoping over this rope double leg and single leg, then quick foot work for the hamstring and then a different one for the quads, and my favorite which was like different sizes boxes that you jump up higher and higher and jump onto a huge mat. Oh and we did bobsled races(pushing huge gymnastics mats) old vs young kids and of course the old guys won all 3 times!! All in all today was a great day at the office we are for sure gonna be tired tomorrow. Here are some pics from our recent game.
written by  katieandboo on May 3, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden

boo graduates
So Boo finally finished all her papers and officially became a college graduate. And of course that means we need to celebrate so we invited 2 of our friends over played some soccer tennis and then made a really really good dinner. Dala and Malin brought chicken salad stuff bread and Dessert, I made pasta with a fresh tomato sauce. Dinner was bomb but dessert was even better! They made brownies with warm raspberries and fresh whip cream!! Needless to say it was amazing and as you can tell we have chosen the right friends who like to eat too! Oh ya the girls decorated our house with balloons and a banner they made for boo that said congrats graduate...it was really cute. That was a very fun night Dala stayed till like 11pm and we were just watching soccer games.
Earlier in the week we met up with some of our friends downtown to watch the Barca vs Real game in a pub. That was fun too the game was incredibly good with very good goals.
Oh the weather has taken a turn to washington weather the past couple days have either been really windy, rainy, cold or all three! Which has made practice interesting (at times fun at times frustrating) We are leaving today to go to an away game, we are having our first spend the night I'm excited because the girls say this hotel has the best breakfast!
well wish me luck and I'll write soon
written by  katieandboo on May 8, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden

catch up
Last sunday we had a bunch of the team over and Maura and I made dinner. She made enchiladas which were bom and I made lasagna which turned out ok considering they have no ricotta cheese. Was alot of fun the girls liked it, then we went to one of our teammates fav spots for ice cream and got these blizard things. It was like icier ice cream and you add 3 toppings and they blend it. So I had choco sauce daim and oreos, it was really good, super chocolate. THe ice cream parlor was alot of fun sara and I kept trying to understand eachother and she was speaking english so it was very amusing.
We tied again 0-0 to another team we should have beat. I played pretty well had 2 1v1 saves one of which was very crucial and good. BUt still we really are needing to start scoring we can only hold teams off for so long. It was a really funny day cuz on our drive there maura and I were both kinda going crazy for no reason and when we got there couldn't stop laughing at everything. Was actually pretty fun to play that game like that.
The night before our game was kinda fun we had practice then had a team bbq in the stadium. I made bratwursts was very surprised that I found em.
I have found some really good cheese here its like a mix between cambert and cambozola cheese, super good!! I did a little combo of that cheese prosciutto and grapes really tasty. Oh I have forgot to mention that after every game home and away the home team provides food/dinner after the game for both teams. Kinda weird at first but I really like it, most teams just serve us pizza so its pretty good. ALthough their pizza is not as good as ours and there pepperonis are super small its still pretty good. Oh ya and their juice selection is pretty small they are obsessed with orange and apple juice and are very sparing on other juices. Oh they have the sweet chili pepper chips here that I am obsessed with as well they are super good and their doritos but I have never seen em in the states.
Its super cold and windy today which is kind of a bummer cuz we have it off and I was excited to do some things but instead I think well go do a big store venture. Oh ya went to IKEA yesterday was alot of fun found some cool kitchens that Id want. It reminded me of Sweden so I got some hot dogs too which were delicoius and super cheap. ALright off to the store bless
written by  katieandboo on June 10, 2010 from Kopavogur, Iceland

catch up
Its been a while sorry about that just kinda flew by. I'll try to catch up the quick version. Wednesday had practice and after we went to our restaurant to watch Napoli play villa real and they won which is huge for Napoli! Was a lot of fun to watch and got to eat a big salad and some chicken! Thursday we had practice off so I walked to Bagnali to find all stores closed because it was a holiday for the virgin Mary. I hung with two housemates for a while then ended up making my own dinner, chicken pesto pasta, very good. They then went out for dinner and I just went to my room read and went to bed. Ran the mighty hill on friday and made it back just before it started to pour!! Still super congested which sucks for working out but im pushing through it. Had a chill training talked to my keeper coach to try and sort out the mail issue here hopefully get a base address so I can actually receive mail. Sat went to a big grocery store mall area with the bulgarians then went to the basketball game that night, they won! After we met a bunch of teammates at our restaurant for dinner I had another salad and chicken sandwich. We ended up having 9 people sleeping at our house because we were leaving for sicily at 6:30am. We had so many people because some lived too far away it was just easier. After our flight to milan we arrived in sicily and then to the field. We won our game in the last 15 min which was very important win. Then back to the airport for dinner and our flight at 9. I gotta say Sicily cannolis are off the hook I had two in the airport and brought one back to Napoli for the next morning....sooo good!! Yesterday I enjoyed my cannoli and a cup of coffee before I went to the outlet stores with the Bulgarians. Was a lot of fun bought a pair of shoes but spent way too much time there left at 11 got home at 4:30 so I was starving. I was able to squeeze in a sandwich and a workout before it got too dark. My whole house went off somewhere basically as soon as I got back so I just studied and watched shows then made a little dinner for myself, buccatini con crema e pollo, buona! Today had a super hard workout up at my field and found a ball to play with so that was good. Had lunch and chatted with my housemates then study then prac. We had a little fitness and played so it was a lot of fun. ALthough we got paid today, everybody except me. Was a real frustrating night of not being able to speak the language. BUt tomorrow we are going somewhere to get money (i hope) and do something else. Oh and hoping they give us our food money tomorrow cuz we got nothing. Was saying i feel i am noticing my lack of vitamin and minerals because I cramped up twice at dinner with is weird. but who knows.
off to bed night all
written by  katieandboo on December 13, 2011 from Agnano, Italy

blue lagoon
So the past couple of days have been pretty ugly off and on. One days horrible winds rain and super cold and the next some slight sun not too bad. We had practice on sunday moved to the morning so that the whole team could go to the blue lagoon after for the day. It was alot of fun the water is pretty warm but as you walk you can find some warmer and colder spots. And of course we all put on the masks so that we can have great skin. There is one part in the lagoon where you can still walk on the mud mask stuff so it feels really goopy. But for the most part they have removed all the goop from the bottom and put it in buckets on the side. After a few hours we got some ice cream and headed home.
Other than that its been pretty low key yesterdays practice was super cold really felt like late fall my cheeks were so cold (Oh and after prac a few of us went and got pad thai and watched the italy game). We have a game today so im hoping it isn't that windy and cold, but its not looking too promising. Oh forgot to mention we went to a local sports bar to watch the USA england game that was fun although the whole bar was rooting for england. Ok well I gotta go get fingerprinted now so more updates later.
written by  katieandboo on June 15, 2010 from Kopavogur, Iceland

road trip win
We had our first spend the night road trip and we got to stay at this really nice hotel and the breakfast was bomb!!! There were crepes, eggs, sausage, meatballs, bread, fruit, yogurt, sandwich making things, and of course cereal and juices. I stuffed myself so much I was full until the game at 3pm.
We drove down friday then some of us went for a walk before we went to bed. I shared a room with the other keeper and we got the best room, on the corner of the hotel with double windows. Saturday we had breakfast went for a walk then drove 2 hrs more to our game. The weather was decent sunny but very very windy, but we came out and within the first 10min scored a goal. Maybe 10 min later they got a pk (which I almost had dove the right way and was close but my foot kinda slipped on the dirt trying to dive) and that was the only goal they scored. We continued to capitalize on our opportunities making it 4-1 at the end. I made one key save in the last 5min, out stretched one handed tip around the goal. It was a pretty good game the play was going both ways we just took control. We drove back after the game so I am glad we won, it made the ride alot better!
We have today off and then tomorrow we train and then meet with our fitness coach to do some running yeaaaaa! Oh I forgot to say boo got hurt think she pulled her hip flexor she can barely walk or lift her leg. So that sucks but Im hoping maybe a week or two then she is back at it!

Bdays
So Thursday was two teammates bdays so we all went out after prac to celebrate. Sadly I couldn't practice thur and got told to sit till Monday. Having some calf issues. Anyway so we went out to dinner in Pozzuoli and our coach had a set menu. Started with some champagne then bruschetta Normal and with Salmon, some fried mashed potato thing sardines eggplant tuna soup bread and a mini fish dish. All very good!! Then for dinner we had a linguini with clams and oysters in a butter parsley sauce bomb! Also a four cheese linguini very very good! Had white wine a sparkling red and more champagne very very good meal!!!
After dinner prof(our fitness coach) took my Housemates and I to downtown Napoli where we saw the kings of Napoli and a galleria all was beautiful and a lot of fun. We finally got home around 2:30. Friday was low key just watched shows went to prac and did upper body workout. Sat went for a walk to Bangalore to buy lil Xmas presents for my Housemates. At night we all went out to a disco which was a lot of fun one room played typical American jams the other played House music. After the club went and got a piece of pizza I had sausage with cheese prosciutto and a cream finally made it home around 5:30. Great night needless to say! Today just laying low do upper body workout then it's practice tomorrow :)

Verona
Let's see, went to practice Monday only trained for a little and they made me stop. Same for Tuesday only ran 20 mins! Monday also did a workout in the morning then hung around the House. Tuesday had a lot of fun went with 3 teammates to morning therapy then to montesanto walked around looking at shops and wandered to downtown Napoli! Saw a castle and vesuvius and had a nice lunch finally made it back to the House around 5:30 got ready for prac and left. Winter has finally arrived here was 38 at practice but thankfully no rain. Had a few teammates stay the night cuz we had a game Wednesday.
The police were supposed to check my place of residence Wednesday morning so I went to italos at 8(where I'm supposed to live) but they never came so I was stuck there till 5:30 when I got picked up.
Since today we started our vacation the team had a party at a hotel restaurant. So much food, antipasti, chopped up squid Salmon lentils and zucchini bruschetta some thing served on a big clam shell. Then we had a pasta with a broccoli pesto and tomato and risotto with shrimp very good!! Then there was lots of chanting and singing before dessert was served. Of course there was wine prosecco and water also at dessert we had fragilino oh sooo good recommend trying it sometime!! Lasted about 3 hours got home round 12! Went to sleep since this morning I had to wake up at 5! I caught a flight to Verona and am spending the next 5 days with my manager and her family. I will wish you all a happy and safe holiday now as I prob won't write till after the holidays in all honesty I'm acting as tho Xmas doesn't exist since I'm so sad. I know seems silly considering where I am but if you had a family as awesome as mine you'd understand! Peace and love all

work permit
The past couple of days have been fun pracitices were a really high level so it was good training. On monday me and a couple of teammates went to the gym after practice. Oh boo and I had a lil ice cream date with our new swedish friends before practice the other day.
Boo found out that she pulled her psoas muscle and rectus femoris...which is the quad and part of the hip flexor. The doc said he's 95% sure I broke my finger but is waiting till next week to get an x-ray. Other than that we are both doing well our inspiration wall is really coming along, for the back drop I made and american flag and then on that I drew the FC Gold Pride emblem. So I think we will start adding other things to it soon, I'll be sure to put up a pic.
We have a big game on saturday...pulling for the win again of course. Oh and apparently for home games the club posts live web feed. Although I think our games are mostly at 3pm which is about 6am west coast time.
Oh so today we officially got our work permits stamped into our passports. It took us about 3 hours today to go to 2 differnt places and get the work permit and fake swedish person social security number. That way we can get paid the big bucks haha.
well gotta go run later

national day
This posted late
First we won our game the other day 3-1. secondly it was National day on the 17th so on the 16th after practice we all got together at a teammates House to start the festivities. I should inform you that when we play 4v2 which is like keep away there are fines if you get megged or are in the middle for too long. There are also fines if you are late and get cards in games. So anyway those fines go to entertainment for parties. and one of the girls on our team is a chemist so she brought 96% ethanol to use in a punch. Lets just say the night was crazy. After being at the bars for about 10min we have to go to the ER because one of my friends got her finger slammed in a door and it looked chopped. Then while were there my other friend is throwing up all over the lobby floor. Finally we meet back up with the rest of the team and have some fun at the bars before one almost gets in a fight! Finally we start to head home but then the car breaks down so we have people trying to tow us down the street (like drunk passer byers trying to pull the car) But finally this nice guy towed us far enough and the car started and we got home around 6am. ahhh what a good night.
We have this whole weekend off so today we went and watched our teammate -who plays on the national team- play against Ireland. They won 2-0 and sara scored! Tomorrow I think im gonna search for some new cleats. To all the fathers happy early fathers day hope its a good one. Especially my pops I love ya happy fathers day Fred!

recovery
So we lost our game yesterday. It was a huge game because it wasn't a league game it was a cup game and if we had won I think we would have gone to the semi-finals. We played the team that is currently in 1st who has National team players everywhere on the team. At least one in each position. I made some big saves but the two goals they scored were "good" but I think I still could have had them (a 1v1 and one off the cross bar bounces in instead of out). Now we need to focus on beating them in league, we play them July 7th at their stadium. But out next game is on the 30th so we must now turn our focus back to league play. Oh and we found out that the first round of Champions league will be in Iceland so if we make it through we will play another european team home and away. So now I really hope we make it through so we can travel. We had today off so I hung out with a team mate, went to the pool and then watched the Germany v England game.
This past week was pretty low key although on one day I biked to down town Reykjavik which is like 30min. I was super happy that I found my way with out getting lost! It started raining which was a bummer but then I had 3 cups of coffee to try and warm up. I'll tell ya that wasn't sitting well when I had practice later. THink I'll go make dinner now

random
We lost sore subject so Im not going to talk about it.
On the other hand had a great time out last night went to a team mates house then we went out to the bars. Me and one teammate just danced the entire time it was fun because as soon as we started dancing other people came out ( We were moon walking and I taught her how to C-walk).
The weather has been beautiful the past two days, today I was up by 8:30 and was out playing in the warm sun. But with the weather here it might be windy and rainy by late afternoon.
Boo and I have a food shopping addiction. Not only are we buying food about every 3 days but we have gone to just about every supermarket trying to find which one is the cheapest and where has the better deals on certain foods. I mean we know our way around these supermarkets better than the girls that live here!
Oh so very exciting I believe boo and I figured out where we are going for our two weeks off! Were going to fly into Greece spend a lil over a week hoping around the islands and then were gonna head up to the north east of italy train over to France and then back home! Im so excited we might even get our teammate erica to come with us.
Well enough rambling have a good day blog ya lata

happy new years
Happy new year wishing everyone lots of health happiness and success in 2012.
a little catch up, the day after xmas I went to downtown verona with two friends in the early evening. We saw the castel vecchia then just walked around looking at the lights and window looking since most shops were closed. There were a ton of people down town which I can understand because it was beautiful!!
I returned to Napoli and everything as usual. Oh we played against a mens pro team, serie D, they have the same sponsors as us so it was kind of a big deal men vs woman type thing. I got to play too in the first half, got scored 3 times but two were 1v1s and the third was a cross to header. Did make some pretty big saves so for first game in months I was feeling ok. We traveled to Ischia for the game a little island of the coast of Napoli very beautiful and tropical reminds me of greece. After that just been training a little extra and doing practice. For the new years eve I went to Italos house, president or something, where there was a lot of people all family members so that was fun. Two of his older daughters speak pretty good english so that was nice. After a good dinner and some dessert it was time for the ocuntdown, once the new year hit the sky was crazy with fireworks I mean we looked out over the skyline and they were everywhere it was really cool to see. after about an hour the fireworks died down and I got taken home. since all my housemates are gone I prepared nice lunches and dinners for myself. especially on the 1st I made a nice dinner with a nice bottle of wine and chocolate pandoro for dessert which is bombbb!!! I been working a little bit on a health schedule to help get to to peak fitness also writing a little in my book. Today officially worked for my dad doing data entery basically, super slow but helps pass my time.
Oh I forgot to mention one time I was hanging with the bulgarians and I think its the first time I ever got upset about how someone was talking about the USA and so I started defending it and they quickly shut up. Damn proud to be an American!!
Oh and new years eve Italo was talking to me about next year when we are in seria a1 and the people he wants to bring in etc....feel bad cuz their planning on me being here but I still don't know what I want to do. But im not worrying too much when the time comes to decide ill figure it out.
well i gotta get going to practice
written by  katieandboo on January 2, 2012 from Agnano, Italy

last super
Bacoli, Italy
Ok so im gonna start with last nights dinner. Went over to my assistant coaches house with one of my housemates and policano(a friend of everyone). Marcella made a feast!! Since my other housemate didn't come there was a lot of food we had to consume. She started out by making some classic bruschetta, sliced some mozzarella di bufala and put out a plate of ricotta, with some local bottles of wine.
Next was the seafood linguini...had lobster and shrimp with some tomatos it was veryyyyy good!! The shrimp and lobster were a little difficult to get out of there shells but I managed.
Next was sausage and steak...I opted out of the steak cuz I was already getting full. Oh and of course salad with the meat. Finally it was on to dessert which consisted of Fragolino wine and mandarins! Started eating at 9:20ish finished around 11:30. Oh man what a good meal though, oh and Marcella gave Roby and I the rest of the bread last bufala ball and ricotta!
Ok now I'll back up a little, we had a game this weekend which we won 6-0, no I didn't not play, we are hoping for this weekend maybe. Oh didn't go to sorrento either some mix up and lucca never showed. I been keeping semi busy trying to do a workout in the morning go on some walk then training. I convinced the house to buy less water bottles that I would take our waterbottles to the local fountain to fill them up, save a lil plastic and money! Also since we got food money and no car I offered to go to the store by foot and get things. Im just like the houses mule ha. Its about a 45 min treck to the cheaper grocery store so I walk there with a backpack and a bag fill up and head on home.
Oh a friend of Johanna's is arriving today to stay with me for two days, I am quite excited to try and show him around! See how good my tour guide skills and italian skills are!
Oh cut my hair off I posted pics, im not the biggest fan but getting used to it. Although I have to admit I love the practicality of it for soccer and the simplicity of it. For soccer its super light and doesn't get in my face...I use a lot less shampoo and conditioner so I save A LOT!! ;)
Think thats all for now
written by  katieandboo on January 10, 2012 from Bacoli, Italy

recap
So I am starting to slack off a little bit on the blogs, it is looking more like it will be once a week unless I get around to it quicker. This past week has been fun boos boyfriend and I have been playing alot of soccer tennis. We all went out for a dinner picnic at about 1030pm for his bday dinner. We had olives salami cheese, capresse salad, tortellini, choc covered cherries, garlic bread, and soup! It was soooo much fun probably the best night I have had here or even better than some back in the states, we sat on the river as the sun was setting it was really cool. We tied our game today 3-3 despite the score I actually played really well made about 6 key saves. We have another game this saturday so we better start winning :)
Boo and I have officially bought out tickets and are going to Greece for 2 weeks! We are planning on island hoping, mykanos, santorini, Ios, and maybe Rhodes. Really excited we leave the 5th of july and get back on the 18th. Boos is quickly recovering too, she has started to jog and possibly pass so hopefully back in 2 weeks for the game.
Kinda tired right now but I'll post more after our saturday game

hint of summer
we lost recently against valur in league which was a big bummer cuz we almost had them, 2-1 again. Our next 4 league games are huge not just cuz we need the wins but because there against strong teams. THey will be good battles which will be good to help us get ready for the Champions league games in Aug. We found out that we are hosting the games for the champions league and that we play a really good french team an istonia team and team from russia we think.
Harpa (my teammate) took Maura and I on a cool hike on our day off. we hiked up through a valley up the mountains then bathed in the hot water stream.
Thankfully we got out and changed before it started raining. After we got back down from the hike we went to this little place where we had a basket filled with chix nugs mozza sticks onion rings jalapeno poppers, was sooo good. On friday went with sandra and hekla to watch sandras brother play and the town happend to be where hekla grew up. So we ate at her favorite pizza place which was good. THen today after practice we went to brunch since we had an early practice, although it was lunch no breakfast part here. Which I was kinda bummed about because I could have really gone for a good breakfast burrito or some eggs Benedict. It is really nice today which is a change its been so ugly, so maybe it will be good here for a while. A really fun packed weekend soccer, pizza, hike party basket, prac, brunch, then world cup finale. Which might I say I made really good nachos! they have this sour cream with green onion and onion so I put that on it with this pepper cheese which tastes like Gouda, with pepper. Some tomatoes, jalps, salsa, chopped lettuce, and chix...really good!! anyway we have two games this week one on tuesday and then one on friday, so hopefully good outcomes. Hope its not to hot in the states :)
written by  katieandboo on July 11, 2010 from Kopavogur, Iceland

busy weekend
We won our game friday 4-0. But I have a pretty severly jammed finger from making a 1v1 save with just that finger.
Our club host this huge girls tournament from ages of 5-11 which went on this weekend. Started friday morning and lasted till sunday afternoon. The team had to work by walking around in our game day outfits and sometimes had to jumpp in to ref a game or two. It was fun although it was kinda tiring walking around for hours especially since the past days have been real nice out. There was a booth where they sold and traded cards so we were signing trading cards alot of the day too, which was cool. Then saturday we had to work the bbq for the dinner. We made 2,000 hamburgers, the line was out the stadium for about 3hrs. Everyone had a different station that worked pretty well, some were cooks some making the burger (lettuce and hamburger sauce) some were handing out cokes and burgers and others were runners (running the meat from the bbq to the makers, or refilling our lettuce). I was in the making station so alot of us were having races at who could make the burgers the fastest. We ran out of bread like three times during the night which was a nice break but the line would just grow. After all of it we ended up getting a case of free coke. Oh and Friday all the kids were aloud to come into our game for free so the stands were pretty packed which was fun.
I just bought a ticket to Italy with a quick layover in Sweden. Im going to hang out with my friends in Sweden for a little bit then head to Italy where I have a tryout with a team in Verona. I am super excited but a little nervous because they only take one international player so hoping ill be enough.
Biked to the harbor today and read, got a big game tomorrow so just tried to take it easy. Oh and its been pretty nice the past few days but supposed to rain on wednesday, but as long as our game is nice its cool! :)
alright gotta catch some sleep ciao
written by  katieandboo on July 19, 2010 from Kopavogur, Iceland

memorial weekend
We won our game on saturday 4-0 I actually had some action and had to use my feet alot, which boo said I did a good job considering they passed back some sketchy balls.
Friday night we had a lil pregame dinner party with our friends. It was boo and my turn to cook so we made breakfast burritos and for dessert made crepes with chocolate strawberries and raspberries with frozen yoghurt!
Sunday was a nice day the sun came out so we went on a run in the woods and a nice bike ride. We met up with our friends downtown to ride back to there house where we watched my new favorite Swedish mens team GAIS! They made us regular burritos for dinner, but no dessert ha. By the time we started dying Malins hair it was raining outside, but by the time we left at 10:25 it was pretty clear again. All in all a pretty fun weekend, oh ya and boo and I got up to 7 in catch!
Monday we met with our fitness trainer did a bunch of agility and strength training. It was really pretty out we stayed after training to watch the younger team play a game. Tuesday we practiced at the game stadium work on crosses with sticks as traffic. Kind of a rough day was in my head alot today so gonna flush it and hope its better tomorrow and just dominate.

tropo freddo
Pozzuoli, Italy
oh man tonight was super cold at practice 28-30 degrees! Although for you guys probably normal considering all the snow your getting...Anywho super cold but was actually a good practice I am feeling much healthier and faster which is great my lil athlete program is working splendidly.
Oh So Timbah came and we had so much fun showed him around downtown Naples, took him on the hike to see Pozzuoli think he had a good time. I also found out just how good my Italian has gotten. My roommates would try to speak with him but when they wouldn't understand they would ask me and I was able to convey in pretty good Italian what they wanted to know.
I went to the American base on saturday, and holy moly that was a weird experience. I felt like I was dropped on some planet or something. Was super excited about everything American I saw and the people would just look at me like I was crazy. For example, I walked into the food court and they were selling girl scout cookies!!! I just about jumped into their laps with excitement saying I'll take two boxes!! Then continued to taco bell, ya i know bad but oh man soo good!! After being submerged in this Italian culture for so long it was like culture shock to be able to understand everyone around me. The reason I went to base is the American families that are on the Primavera team have also created this American League Soccer which is for all americans in Italy so twice a month they meet up for the weekend and train then participate in tournies and such around europe. So I was there to help them coach, think mainly they just wanted to show me off. Met some cool people and possibly good contacts for other areas in Italy for me to visit. Overall great experience and hope to be going back to visit soon. Oh when I returned to the house everyone said how much they missed me all day but how glad they were I finally had a phone so they could text me. I felt the same way :)
We had a game in SIcily again but this time I didn't get to go due to funds I think...but Roby brought me back 2 cannollis soooo good!!
Other than that just been walking aorund a lot, oh and im starting to try out a lot of different wines. Yesterday I brought home a vino rosso frizzante, which is a slightly sparkling red wine, and Roby told me that this is a famous well known wine in Italy and that it is very good. After tasting I would have to concur, very delicious . Other than that have not been up to too much drawing, reading(thats right dad reading) and doing some work for the paps.
Gonna hit the hay hope you are all enjoying the snow back home, be safe!
written by  katieandboo on January 17, 2012 from Pozzuoli, Italy

finally released
Pozzuoli, Italy
Sorry it has taken me so long to post haven't had internet on my computer for about a week. Anyway I will start with the most recent. I got released to play on tuesday, I was coming home from school and Maria came running out of the house screaming your cleared your playing tomorrow (Of course she is screaming this in italian)!!! We jumped around hugging eachother so excited that I could play! So Wednesday I played in a game against Lazio in the quarter finals of Coppa Italia (same as the mens side, italian cup) It was a very intense game both coaches got kicked out of the game by the second half. Yellow cards and fouls were flying left and right in the second half as well. The game ended with a 1-1 score(yes I coulda stopped the goal but was out of position) going straight into pks. My girls were making their shots the other team missed first two made third and I stopped the 4th to secure our win. The semi finals will be in end of May against Torres which is the number one team.
Yes I did start school!! Its really funny, basically I go to a high school sit next to the teacher she gives me an exercise to work on and she goes on teaching her class. She will then look over my work when im done and give me another assignment. I stay for about 2.5 hours then go home and she gives me homework. I think I will go every tuesday and thursday.
Last weekend I went out to dinner with my housemates and four basketball girls that live behind us...because they have the cars. We went to dinner in Pozzuoli which was really good and continued to walk down the strip stopping a bar for drinks. Its really cool this part of Pozzuoli reminds me of venice or miami because there is a big long boardwalk along the water with basketball courts and on the other side it is lined with restaurants and bars, for maybe a mile. The bar we stopped at was an outside bar which is odd considering its winter and freaking freezing but the shots helped warm us up :) We then went to anther bar that was by the port, very small but cute. We pretty much closed down the place finally leaving around 5! The best part of staying so late is that we kinda became friends with the bar tenders owners and the dj. Some of us were mixing music some were behind the bar mixing drinks, all in all it was a fun night.
Last week one night we came home from practice to find the power out in one of our houses, which was the cooking house!! So we all went out to the local pizzeria for dinner. I had the fried pizza which was bombb!!! We also had some good conversations mainly of them making fun of words that I say.
Oh last night after prac we went to have pizza with prof, who is our fitness coach, and then dessert. It was really good pizza I had one with mozz prosciutto crudo and rucola...veryyy good! We talked about the game and the penalties and how someone was pissed they werent on the list to take a pk. Talked about next year and how we'll play games in Ischia. Was a really good night.
Oh last thing there has been a bunch of strikes down here lately...there is little gas, so lines are crazy at gas stations, there is NO and I mean NO fruit or vegtables in the grocery stores, and now they are starting to run out of flour products!! It is quite a sad state we used up the last of our veggies two days ago so now were all back to a strictly complex carb diet. Hoping the strike ends soon but one of the
written by  katieandboo on January 28, 2012 from Pozzuoli, Italy

ice cream and sun
after our win
Well first off the pictures of the blooming trees and bushes are down the street. They were beautiful when they were blooming, so much color.
Game update: We won on friday 4-0, but didn't score our first goal until the end of the second half. I actually had to make a lot of saves throughout the game best ones in the second half. Came out on crosses and won air balls, made a 1v1 save, 2 diving saves to the right, and one airborn tip over the cross bar. It was a great game over all with some good goals and boo scored one of the goals.
Saturday was gorgeous here blue skys and 77 degrees. We layed out on the dock for a lil bit strolled around downtown and got ice cream and sat on the river. We went over to one of our teammates house that night met alot of there friends, kinda felt like we were show and tell cuz they kept introducing us to everyone. I for once was the exotic girl that people kept talking too, everyone was blonde. Today was pretty much the same as yesterday beautiful even warmer so I just read on the dock. Then boo and I met up with friends downtown before our training at 5pm. Might be playing beach volley ball tomorrow before practice but well see...ciao

busy busy
glacier lake
I can't believe its August been super busy this last bit of July it has just flown... We have had two really big games and won both! the first one we were down 2-0 with a man down and came back and won 3-2. I made some big 1v1 saves in the second half but the girls really played hard for eachother to bring home the win. The second game we were tied at half, and most of the game, 1-1 but then in the extra time minutes scored our second goal to take the victory!! Very sweet wins and much needed for our teams confidence. We dont have any games till the 5th but that is the start of the Champions league so well also play the 7th and the 10th.
We had yesterday off so my roommate and friend took a cross country trip to see the glacier lake, and let me tell you pics do not do it any justice. It really takes your breath awway how pretty and old this glacier is. On our way to the lake we stopped and saw two really cool waterfalls, one of which you could walk behind. Our journey started at leaving a lil after 7:15am and returning home at 9pm. But this journey took us from the very west of the island to the east so long but worth it.
Oh my friend sam and I hiked to see Glymur which is the tallest waterfall in iceland which is awesome! Although the terrain is kinda dangerous not too many tourists were on this path. At some points we would be on all fours sliding over a rock or trying to traverse across it. But totally worth it when you get to the top and see this jurassicesc looking scene.
We have had a few extra trainings during the week which were good and I have been working out extra as well and cooking some good things. Tonight I made a pepper steak with a mushroom cream sauce with fries on the side and a salad. Oh and of course garlic bread and a coke!
Oh I almost forgot so our team has groups now and your group has to come up with a fun thing to do for the team, like bonding. And the first groups activity was soccer tennis! So everyone got split into groups of 4 and you all had to have a signature costume that everyone wore, like a team. It was pretty hilarious one team was costume animals one was like a spandex fitness intructor look with unibrows and one was just simple orange shirts black shorts. We played it like a tournament and when it was over we all ate pizza and pop and then went and watched our junior girls play.
I am getting very excited for my trip to Sweden and most importantly Italy! I leave in 9 days now and am so excited. Well im gonna go to bed now but hope all is well back home.
written by  katieandboo on August 1, 2010 from Kopavogur, Iceland

Champions league
So yesterday we had our first game in the Champions league and won! We play our second tomorrow and final on tuesday. If we win we get to advance in the tournament and travel somewhere and play. It is really cool because it is super official. We all wear the same stuff pretty much all day long. We meet for breakfast in the morning then usually train or hang together until lunchtime then we can go home. On game days we meet back up before game time but on off days we meet up later for a little team bonding then have dinner together. This will alst until the 10th. Today for team bonding we got separated in to groups of 4 and did a little scavenger hunt. It was fun I had to recite a song in Icelandic infront of the girls.
A little about the game, when we walk out we each walk out with a little kid. I happened to get a little goalkeeper so it was really cute. And the officials are from all over and the main language everyone has to use is English, its crazy. I signed a couple of autographs after the game and could hear little girls chanting my name, which was kind of freaky but cool. Think thats all for now think good thoughts for tomorrows game, ciao
written by  katieandboo on August 6, 2010 from Kopavogur, Iceland

is it winter?
Lo Siento have kinda had some things on my mind not able to write on here.
First I would like to give a bday shout out to my wonderful cousin Meagan Happy bday girl luv ya! Second to one of my besties, happy bday trizza!
Ok so this week has been kinda shitty, we had 3 lovely days of summer weather and now apparently were regressing back to winter. It has been rainy cloudy and WINDY! And what comes with winter weather but winter sickness. Boo and I both got some cold, which im glad we got at the same time. So we have just been trying to nurse ourselves back to good health. She bought chicken and veggies and made homemade chicken soup, I bought 7-up rice cakes and smoothies! We still have been going to the gym everyday trying to burn the cold off, we also sat in the sauna after one of our workouts felt really nice after. Tomorrow we travel away for a game that I don't believe I am playing in because I have some slight rib damage..oh and 2 of our friends will be coming to stay with us on saturday till maybe next satuday not really sure. BUt super excited there bringing me peanut butter cranberries and bunny! Well gotta go eat talk later
written by  katieandboo on June 5, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden

lazy days
Pozzuoli, Italy
Its your lucky day since for some reason the previous post did not post in Jan 28th you get two postings. So one thing I left out on the last post was that I tweaked my knee the friday after the big game have been sitting the past week and a half just doing therapy and rehab. Thankfully it was something small just a lil sprain. Missed one game but we won so it was fine. Went to the miitary base again this past weekend for the superbowl. Got there sat night watched a Talent show ate popcorn then we had pizza and wine for dinner and chocolate chip cookes!!! NExt day we went to the outlet malls had some chix quesaidllas with quac and margaritas!! oh so good, how I miss the simple things of America. Around 11pm one of the dads and I headed to the pub to watch the game, it was cool they put out a free little buffet with hot dogs chili popcorn and fried treats. We stayed till half time before heading home. Had a great time once again hanging at the base the families are super duper nice here. besides that I haven't been out much been chained to the House due to my knee and needing it to recover. Needless to say that makes me a lil down in the dumps but trying to stay positive and soon be back out to double days and exploring the city. Oh it has also been super cold here the past week has been between 36-42. Even hailed here once, some tried to claim it snowed but im betting it was just hail on the ground. Although Rome got dumps of snow, if you have seen any mens games you have probably seen some teams playing in lots of snow.
Lets see this weekend we go back to Sicily for a game so im going to buy canollis and save so
written by  katieandboo on February 9, 2012 from Pozzuoli, Italy

pompeii
Napoli, Italy
Ok so lets see sunday we went to Sicily for a game and it was brutal, the travel not the game! Woke up at 5 got to the airport to find our flight had been cancelled, then took a 2.5hr bus ride up to Roma where we caught our other flight to sicily then a hour bus ride up to the field near the mountains. Got there one hr before kick off so we quickly got our gear on had a fast pregame meeting warmed up and played...thankfully we won 6-0! ha The return home was simple one flight back to Napoli but first I bought a bunch of cannolis, some for me but the rest for the American families that have been helping me out so much.
Monday mornning I got up early and trekked it out to Pompeii, it was awesome! With the walk to train then train to the right line prob took me about 2.5 hrs to get there then spent about 2.5 hrs there. Sat in the middle of some ruins and ate lunch with a view of Vesuvious on my right and some others on my left. The city was a lot bigger than I had imagined I kept getting lost getting overwhelmed with not knowing which direction to go because there were so many streets, but overall it was really cool. I returned went for a run then to the store to buy some things for a nice dinner. Oh forgot to mention all my other housemates went home cuz we had monday and tuesday off. I made some cod poached in a tomato sauce, used a zucchini as pasta, which I totally recommend because it was delicious!! Also made a caprese salad with some bread broccoli and proseco. Tuesday I went to school learned a lot then came home ran and worked out at the field then relaxed until my coach came and got me. I went to his house for dinner with his family, his wife made big sandwiches with hot dog cheese and crispy potatoes was very good. Then a dessert that reminded me of pylo dough type pastry with nutella inside, also very good.
Wednesday I went for a run studied a lil read and made a lunch with boiled chicken then add lil lemon juice garlic powder pepper spice and salt. Added to the zucchini pasta with a calabrese type sauce and bread it was very good!! Then chicken and broccoli for dinner after a very hard training(but very fun). Oh ya last night I got my package in the mail!! I have enrolled in a PES (performance enhancement specialist) certification class, once I pass I will be certified to physically train any level from amateur to professional. I got very excited looking at the material.
Today went for a run then went to class for a long hard day, then on my way home stopped at the grocery store for the whole house, returned at 5. . They have kept letting me go by myself to the store because when I do we get the most out of our money haha. ALthough it gets a little tough to bring back all the groceries by myself but its worth it to get veggies and fruit! So I also made friends with this barista at a cafe accross the street from the school every day before class I get a cappuccino and we talk about what we have done when were playing soccer next etc. Its a lot of fun because I get to practice my Italian and he helps correct me when im wrong after practice I guess our president is taking the team out to a nice dinner and apparently were getting some sort of gift again. I'll keep ya posted and post some pompeii pics soon :)
written by  katieandboo on February 16, 2012 from Napoli, Italy

friends
Our friends showed up and it is soooo great to see them kinda unexplanitory. Boo and I had been noticing how much easier it is to to talk with them than with our swedish friends so we have just been having a blast. We have been learning alot of new juggle tricks kinda limited on the ones I can do but still fun. We had a big pizza party yesterday and on wednesday we and the team are throwing sam a bday party, she'll be 21! Oh and tonight we are going to take pics of our younger teammates going to there prom. Im excited to see them all dressed up, like a proud lil mamma. HOpe all is well back home keeping it short and sweet this week gotta go entertain!
written by  katieandboo on June 9, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden

travel and tryouts
Verona, Italy
i have not had internet until now so i will try to catch you up. as i wrote lst we advanced and we will now travel to paris to play next. I went to sweden and visited boo and my friends in karlstad, was way to short of a trip. I got t train with hem and go to one of their games so that was fun. the manager even bought me an extra salad for the bus ride and dinner onthe way home. He also gave me left overs for my next day, he says he knows how muchi like to eat ha. on sunay i took a bus from karlstad to stockholm 4hrs getting in at 10pm. i then found a hostel to stay in until 4am when i had to leave to catch my bus to the airport. from there landed in italy and caught a train to Verona are were the team manager picked me up. Becaueshe is quitting the club she has turned into my sports agent saying dont sign anything without her in mypresence. i got in around 4pm monday so i didnt train but tuesday i went to te gym and pool with the center mid of the nat team. it was fun and the facilities were very nice. wednesday more girls showed up in the apt I am stying in, and we hd our first training (my tryout) I think i did pretty well. the girls are reallynice and even tho only one speaks some english they all still want to talk to m so we tend to do broken italish. today we trained again and it was just ok, it has been pretty hot here so im dying but thankfully we get lots of water breaks. oh I have been eting pretty well today for lunch I made this fresh spinach gnocci with sausage and cheese in olive oil, very good. i love that the grocery stores have two huge aisles of dry pasta on both sides and about 3 b floor fridges of fresh pasta and 3 big standing cases of more fresh pasta. lots of sasage and cheese as well, oh and of course sauces! needless to say i love it here the food makes me happy :) I think i forgot to mentin that my manager friend, lety, gt me another audition for a team in Roma which i think i leave tomorrow or saturday for. the cool thing about that team is that they get all of the things that the mens team get so our gear and logo looks like theres! I think the team here in bardolino wants m because after practice today they were saying that they were interested. so we shal se what happens. i am trying to just enjoy the experiences and have lots of fun along the way. ciao for now
written by  katieandboo on August 19, 2010 from Verona, Italy

swedish tradition
Ok so this week has been a blast so far we are constantly laughing our asses off. We also got to go to the prom like I mentioned earlier which is sooo different from ours. They all kinda parade around the town in these old school cars then to the dance hall. There were hundreds of people there watching all the cars arrive. We then took some pics with our teammates, they looked so beautiful! Then on thursday we went to there graduation which is also totally different from our style. What happens is each class has about 30 in it and they announce the class open the school door and they just come running out! The girls are wearing white dresses and guys wearing black and white suits and they have captain hats on.
graduation
All the familys have picket sign type things with pictures of their kid as well a kid ha. That was so fun to see, after they take pics with the fam they all load up into this big tractor or truck and drive around town yelling and screaming soo cool to see. On wednesday we had an early bday celebration for sam, we made burritos and chocolate cake with strawberries and raspberries on top. It was a lot of fun sam boo and I ended up staying up till 5 just talking and laughing we for some reason had decided to have this crazy session in the bathroom! Needless to say with the sleep deprived delirium setting in it made for a very entertaining night!
Ok so I also have some bad news. 2 games ago I forgot to mention that I got knocked by a forward after coming out of the box to clear a loose ball. I thought I had just got the wind knocked out of me and had some spasiming muscles so played on. Yesterday I got the news that I broke my rib and am going to be out for 5 weeks. Just wanted to tell you that because now what I talk about in my blogs will change.
written by  katieandboo on June 12, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden

it arrived!!
Naples, Italy
Ok so that dinner was AMAZING!!! We went to a really fancy restaurant near the center of Napoli. Coach and I arrived first so as we waited for the others they brought us champagne and we looked at pics of the mens Napoli team hanging above our tables. we had a huge meal starting with individual cheese plates everyone got lil mozz balls and ricotta, very good. Then there was classic fried appetizers the zeppoline bruschetta and something else. then we all got a seafood plate, had a lil salmon cake a small white fish and baby fried shrimps all with this sauce, which was very good! Then fusili sicilliano and riso with shrimp and lemon. Oh not done, then we had a bigger white fish with a side of potatoes which was delicious the slow cook their chicken over the potato so you get some of the grease sooo good. Then finally came dessert, which was a chocolate cake type thing. Oh yes and we did have many bottles of white, red, and frizzante wine. I had to be rolled outa there I was so dang full. Then the president said some nice words and gave all a 100 buck bonus. All in all a great night! Friday tried to recover then saturday I finally made it down to Sorrento! Luca picked me up in the morning and we drove there looked around then drove to positano, where we walked around and looked since everything was closed. Very beautiful old city built on a hill. We then headed back towards sorrento for lunch at his favorite restaurant. Where once again had soo much good food. At this place you have different options you can do the classic app dinner dessert or you can have them bring you sample plates as your meal, we did a combo. They sent out sample plates for apps then for lunch I had pasta vongule and he had ravioli caprese (we split). The apps that came out were a squid and potato, a octopus salad-which is my new fav thing- artichoke and potato, homemade olive oil on toast, zeppoline, eggplant and mozz,and a few others I can't remember. after the lunch course we got desserts to split, I of course ordered the tiramisu-bomb- and he ordered this lemon nut thing which was also very good. We shared a bottle of local wine and finished the meal with limoncello. After this we went and walked around sorrento looking at shops buying some limoncello from the factory then returned to my side.
Actually had him drop me off at the military base where I hung out with one of the families we went cosmic bowling had some beers, good night. Next day went and played soccer tennis with two of the girls in the rain was lots of fun. One of the primavera girls had her first ever seizure and although things are coming back clear she of course has been on house arrest and parent watch. So I came by to say hi and took her out to the tennis courts with me. After tennis courts got cleaned up cuz we were off to the movies to watch mission impossible. Was cool to be in a movie theater have popcorn etc. Oh and before every movie on base you stand for the playing of the national anthem. After the movie They returned me home with a few treats of american cereal.
Monday was my bday and very chill, went to montesanto for the day walked around had lunch then had practice in the pouring rain!! I mean it was dumping but it was actually a lot of fun we ran a bit in the begining then my coach shot on my and I was sliding everywhere, lots of fun. Then a few teammates went out to get pizzas and beer with me at a local place was very good and fun.
Rest of the week didn't do much went to school workedout watched Napoli games had practice. Oh started my personal trainer program so that has been fun and exciting. Then saturday we played at home and won! Got a package from my parents which I had been expecting since before xmas and it finally arrive after my bday!!
Yesterday hiked over to pozzuoli had a chocolate croissant and cappucino walked along the strip went to the port had a nice day out on the town. Getting excited to show my parents around.
Today worked out went and got my official id for Italy so now I am an official resident if the police stop me haha.
Think that does it for now hope all are well!
written by  katieandboo on February 27, 2012 from Naples, Italy

slow slow
Napoli, Italy
Ok so I realize I am getting worse and worse at keeping this thing updated ha my bad. Since the last update lots has happened had two big games both of which we were down first 1-0 and came back to win 3-1. We went to Sicily, to Palermo, was really pretty and a tough game we kinda played like crap, but waking up at 5am traveling all day then playing can have that affect ha. Our most recent game was this past saturday, played the second place team at our home, basically the winner would secure first place. After they scored on a penalty kick, which I touched, in the first half it was a battle. Second half was even worse, cuz oh ya it was windy as all heck, and we were against it. but we got a pk, scored, they had a few more oppertunities, I shut them down. Then we scored and then again in the last seconds scored.
Sunday a bunch of us went to Sorrento for lunch which was really nice and a lot of fun but also pricey meal...but soooo good! Then went to a teammates shop near by and had graffe (which is like a bigger donut) those were also very good. After that we all headed back to Agnano, Oh and let me just say we started lunch at 2 left the restaurant at 5 then left the graffe place at 6:30 so needless to say I didn't have dinner ha.
Oh they had a womans and sports day meeting/confrence that we all had to go too. Every woman get mimosas which is a type of flower.
Lets see another than that we just been working hard now we'll start preparing for our big coppa italia game in may. Oh went with one of my housemates and teammate to watch a Napoli game close to vesuvious then went and played fuseball after was fun night out. One of my housemates and I have been connecting a little more which has been nice. We have very similar tastes and were both in school so we tend to eat lunch together and talk about our days etc. Have gone out a few times with some teammates for dinner which was fun.
Oh I am going to meet up with my friend liz in france this weekend, super stoked about that.
Well I will work harder on keeping this thing up to date, think thats all for now hope all is well!
written by  katieandboo on March 14, 2012 from Napoli, Italy

weekend
First off I want to say HAPPY FATHERS DAY to all the dads, especially mine I love you with all my heart and am so greatful for you fred!
Second I wanna say belated congrats to my cousin will and katie on their new baby girl she is adorable, and congrats to paul and emily on their new baby girl, I can't wait to see her.
Ok so our friends have now left us, so were sad but so glad they came. We tied our big game and after it we had a team dinner at the qbik club house, tacos, then started the party. We were dancing and playing games then we walked downtown to the bars. Malin came home with us and we had a big slumber party 5 people in our place very cozy. We ended up staying up till 5am taking funny pics and just talking. The girls left at 8:30am the next morning. I must say my twin bed felt like a queen size bed with just one person in it, it was so nice. Yesterday we had our buddies come over for our monthly dinners and once again it was soooo good. I made pasta with tomato onion garlic mushroom zucchini and shrimp in a glarlic lemon sauce. Boo made a salad with feta sundried tomato avacado spinach sunflower seeds and black olives. We had garlic bread and foccacia with olive feta and sundried tomato. Then the girls made us this blueberry cobbler for dessert with vanilla whip cream. Incredible.
Boo and I started our coaching job. Its only 2 hours and we go to this field and whoever shows up is who we teach. We don't even have to teach them soccer we can just play games. Dala coaches with us too so its fun since we know her so well.
We are just wrapping up mid summer celebration. It started on friday and lasted until today although friday was the big celebration day. People just hang with family eat and party alot of things are closed down. Yesterday boo Malin and I dressed up in crazy clothes with crazy hair and makeup and walked around downtown, it was a blast cuz people just stared at us. It was the longest days of light so you would go out to a club it be bright out at 11pm and come out at 2am and the sun is rising, really crazy. I'll post some more pics soon
Weather has been crappy, rain and cold but today its actually sunny so maybe summer is coming. ciao

weekend
Ok so our friends have now left us, so were sad but so glad they came. We tied our big game and after it we had a team dinner at the qbik club house, tacos, then started the party. We were dancing and playing games then we walked downtown to the bars. Malin came home with us and we had a big slumber party 5 people in our place very cozy. We ended up staying up till 5am taking funny pics and just talking. The girls left at 8:30am the next morning. I must say my twin bed felt like a queen size bed with just one person in it, it was so nice. Yesterday we had our buddies come over for our monthly dinners and once again it was soooo good. I made pasta with tomato onion garlic mushroom zucchini and shrimp in a glarlic lemon sauce. Boo made a salad with feta sundried tomato avacado spinach sunflower seeds and black olives. We had garlic bread and foccacia with olive feta and sundried tomato. Then the girls made us this blueberry cobbler for dessert with vanilla whip cream. Incredible.
Boo and I started our coaching job. Its only 2 hours and we go to this Field and whoever shows up is who we teach. We don't even have to teach them soccer we can just play games. Dala coaches with us too so its fun since we know her so well.
Weather has been crappy, rain and cold but today its actually sunny so maybe summer is coming. ciao

Primavera
So this past weekend was awesome and much needed! We had it off from games so I asked if I could go travel for the weekend. I got the green light and found out my good friend liz(known since elementary is a pro skier and avid outdoors crazy person) was going to be in Finale Ligure so I flew up north sat morning and met up with her her bf and 4 other peeps. We right away went to some rock walls and started climbing. I have only bouldered indoors so this was very different but fun. I only climbed twice and only one did I make it to the top. It was such a reward, even tho I have a lil fear of heights over looking the ocean and city was truly breath taking!! We then went back changed and headed for the town. Super cute lil square and the bar we went to served food as you drank so we got free dinner! Because I could speak Italian I made fast friends with the bar tenders. I got to go behind the bar pour some drinks and needless to say got a lot of free drinks. We were all having a good time they went Ice skating and one guy split his chin open glad I didn't ha. After a long night and way too much to drink headed to bed at 4.
Next morning we all felt like crap so had bfast cleaned the house then went for lunch and walked around. It was a lot of fun being around people who live the same type of crazy lifestyle an understand your thoughts and worries. What it's like to be away from people all the time. Think that's why her and I have always been such good friends. Anyway I caught a train back to genoa got a hotel for the night and returned to Naples Monday.
One of the American dads picked me up and we went to the base. Basically hung out and I went to the gym but then I went an helped coach the high school team. I told them I would try to come twice a week and coach their goalkeepers. They are both really nice and very quick learned my favorites to teach.
The rest of the week worked out went to class and that's about it. Oh and of course still working on my training certificate.
And it has been beautiful all week spring is here. In the 70s then cooling by night or afternoon with clouds
Hope all is well in the states
written by  katieandboo on March 22, 2012 from Naples, Italy

dead leg syndrome
Napoli, Italy
teammates at bar
Since last we had a game in Bari and won 2-0, we played crappy first half 0-0 then second picked it up after coach yelled at em. Think everyone was tired from travel and the hour time change, prob didn't go to sleep earlier. Monday I took the train out to Aversa where chad, the dad, picked me up and brought me to base. I had a really good workout in there gym then subway :p then went and helped coach the high school team. Afterwards caught the train home and made a delicious dinner. That week I worked out really hard cuz we don't have a real game till after easter. Ran in the morning before classes worked out at the field and had practice. So ran a few triple days and the rest double days. Friday we headed to Sperlonga and stayed in a really nice hotel. The next morning we played this mens team for a fundraiser for them. I had a hard collision and got the worst dead leg I have ever had. I could barely walk or kick, Tried to finish the half but after two goals, cuz of lack of ability to move, my coach finally let me exit. Still super knotted today hoping its better by tomorrow cuz I am already going through workout withdrawls. ANyway after the game we went to the beach where we had an apertiv(?) THen to a restaurant where we got lunch at about 3.
Food was just ok but the location was awesome right on the beach really beautiful. When they were finally done serving us, around 5:30, we headed back to Napoli. Today Just been studying and doing some patient work for the pops.
Oh thursday night after practice there was a surprise party for my housemate, cuz her bday was friday. There was all sorts of mini food items lots of wine and beer and good company. It was a mild night so you weren't freezing sitting outside, so it was really nice. At midnight they brought out the cake and then everyone went home. Was a good week.
This week I am super excted my mom arrives on wednesday then the bro on sunday! Then the pops the following week, so excited to show them around!
Oh also added a few photos from finale ligure
Hope your all staying dry
written by  katieandboo on April 1, 2012 from Napoli, Italy

food
Ok so I have to tell you about this sandwich I made the other day, dad this is for you. Ok so I had oven roasted some chicken so I put that on a toasted bread with melted feta some avocado sundried tomatos, and marinated grilled artichoke hearts!!! with the juiciest honey doo melon ever, Soooo good! Things are going pretty good here still no kids have shown up to our coaching job, so we continue to juggle and work on our individual things. Boo and I have had really off sleep patterns lately with it being light till 12am dark then light again at 2:30am so sometimes were waking up at 12pm and racing to work. But the other day I forced myself to wake up early and went to the gym I felt good after, oh and I made the best breakfast. I made scrambled eggs with avo onion tomato all stirred together with pan fried potateo pieces and melted cheese. It was oh so good! The past couple of days have been very beautiful outside today was the first real hot day here. It is so nice its 8:30pm still sunny blue sky and probably 70 out. I think tomorrow we may go float down the river or go to one of the lakes because we have the day off.
Boo and I are also helping coach a younger QBIK team tomorrow so that will be alot of fun. After that the mens team plays so were going to go watch that, should be pretty good match. Oh we play the number 1 team in the league this sunday so hopefully we win we easily could. We are apparently 6th but honestly I don't think we have lost to a team that was worthy of beating us.

summer
our sugar high day in midsommar
Summer is finally here the past week has been so warm and beautiful. We have been making a lot of smoothies after work, or going to the docks and reading. I am pretty sure we are eating some sort of ice cream everyday just because its so warm out.
We made crepes again for dinner had a yummy combo of lemon juice raspberry jam and powdered sugar. I have been working on my touches and my left foot lately but still am not practicing or running.
Not too much to talk about although we are headed for greece in 5 days so really excited about that. We are planning on camping on the islands to save money and planning our day excursions. Hope every one has a great 4th of july we are throwing a little one here to try and celebrate. Somebody eat some blooming onion or choco dipped ice cream rolled iin nuts for me. ;)
ps I probably won't write anything until I get back from greece which isn't until the 20th. ciao
written by  katieandboo on July 1, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden

fam
Had the best time with the family these past couple weeks. Was able to meet each of them at the airport when they arrived. First came mom and we quickly went out on the town walking around trying pizza and gelato. Then we went to Capri for the day which was absolutely beautiful! We had so much fun that day even though we were unable to rent the scooters we wanted we still got around to everything. We also found the cutest restaurant for lunch off the beaten path which was very good, lil family run place.
Then in time for easter arrived mike, we quickly hoped a train up to Siena where we spent easter evening and dinner with out friend Chiara. The next day we walked around Siena went up in the Duomo and Chiara was giving us lots of History lessons about the city. Had lunch with her mom which was of course delicious, then headed out to San Gargano which is a really cool open church, also got to see the true sword in the stone!! Came back had another nice meal with Chiaras mom then returned home for our early train the next day.
I had practice that night so mike and my mom slaved away in the kitchen making chickens flattened and stuffed with cheese and mushroom rolled in prosciutto along with side salads and bread. My housemates and some friends that came over loved it! Oh they also made zucchini patties which are my fav!
Next day arrived my dad, and again we were quickly back out to do some walking around. Took the whole family to my favorite pizzeria for lunch, and they all seemed to enjoy it. Although we had rain most of the time we still got out and saw the sights. The biggest sight seeing days were sat and sun and mon. Sat we went and saw herrcaleum in the rain but it was still really cool. Sunday after my game we headed down to sorrento and positano. Thankfully once we got to positano the rain stopped and it ended up being beautiful for us. Monday we got no rain in the morning as we walked around in Sorrento then just as we were leaving the rain started. Then sadly the fun had to end and they left tuesday morning back for the states.
All in all it was a great time having its ups and downs, as most family dynamics do, but really just a good trip!
ill keep posting more pics too
written by  katieandboo on April 18, 2012 from Pozzuoli, Italy

mix
ok so these past two weeks have really been a mix of emotions. Last week we found out my roommates mom died and all went to the funeral...it was super sad she was the coolest lady always made us call her momma. We all then dedicated our game last saturday to her. We wore t-shirts did a moment of silence, and I wrote my housemates name on my hand(its a thing I do but signifies importance). We won the game which also secured our first place spot so now we are champions of our league and the team will be promoted to serie a1.
The said, now the fun part of the last week. After the game we went out dancing because we won and also because it was one girls birthday. Met up with a teammate and her "uncle" at a club. So don't wanna make anyone worried but that uncle was def mafia. Found out a little later in the night from one of my housemates. He was really cool though we got everything for free of course, entrance drinks, basically anything we wanted. Had a sick BMW Mike would love, super fast. We were supposed to all go to Capri with them yesterday but decided one mafia experience was enough.
These past two weeks really bonded with my of my housemates we talked a lot more and learned more about eachother, so that has been nice feeling a connection. So monday her, Roby, and I went with our asst. coach to her little girls game then to her house where she made us a delicious meal. Was linguine with whole shrimps, and it was soo delicious! We got home late which was a bummer because both Roby and I had school the next day and both of us were late getting out the door. Wednesday Roby, silvia and our friend VIve all went out in the morning and some bfast and betted on some soccer games. Then silvia roby and I went to our coaches for lunch. Had pasta pieces of pizza bruschetta type of steak then strawberries, oh man were we stuffed. He has a lil boy who is 3 so I played with him a bunch and then we watched some soccer games and played playstation. Then the three of us had to go to an event, kind of promo for the team. TO a water polo match then to a theater where they were doing a tv broadcast. The night didn't end till 11:30...then since no one had had dinner one of our presidents took us out to a restaurant, where we were there till 2:30. Thursday was chill just ran and went to class then we hung out at the basketball girls house.
oh and friday we had to go to another promo event. It was for a cruise line which I think could be a possible sponsor for next year. Was some conference but basically we were there for 30 min ate some cake took some pics then went home. All of us laid out after since spring has come back after two weeks of storms. All in all a good week, today is just a low key day as tomorrow we travel for a game.
hope all is well back home
written by  katieandboo on April 28, 2012 from Naples, Italy

greece
Athens, Greece
Oh boy do I have so many things I could say, I'll keep it to the really good stuff. First off Greece was awesome and im so proud of myself for going alone, until the last 4 days that is. I started in Rhodes which was really nice there was an old village small streets close houses lots of little shops, I would let my self get a little lost in there everyday, then there was new town which was on the outside of the wall that surrounded old town. More modern streets lots of food shops and clothing shops. THen there was real Rhodos which is where i stayed outside of new town with this guy george. He was super nice offered to show me around but i just prefered to get lost. Had some good greek cuisine there lots of baklava some gelato and of course some gyros souvlaki and some good cheap crepes. After that island I headed for santorini. And I heard that the sunsets were amazing but really how good/better can they be from the states? Oh so much better maybe its cuz you way above the water and feel like your floating or its just the endorphines pumping through you after trecking around exploring all day. Either way both the nights I was there for sunset I treated myself to a nice little spot with a great view and got a little snack. One place was a pool bar at the most north end call Oia, I just had a brownie there, the second night i actually had made friends with one of the guys so he reserved me a table in Fira on the edge of the cliff overlooking the water and volcano. I had pasta and some wine there, probably my favorite spot. And of course some of the perks of traveling alone the guys give you an extra drink or two. So I had another glass of wine with sunset. One day I rented an ATV and drove around the whole island, all the way to the most south by the light house and all the way to the most north, Oia, east and west. I also found smaller quieter beaches which was awesome I found this one with this small lil restaurant on the water so I decided to stop and have a bite it was so nice there very peaceful and yes here I got a free frappe. haha
After Santorini I got the ferry to Paros which was very touristy didn't like it that much until we rented a scooter and went to Nauossa, small fisher village less tourists very cute. Oh so this is where i was supposed to meet up with boo the only problem was neither of us had phones we just knew the day we were arriving and a possible place to be staying. Impossible others thought, but boo and I knew we would find eachother and sure enough one night I hear LOOMIS! And it was boo we were so excited to see eachother with so many stories we forgot to check her in. We walked around paros a lil but mainly swam then headed for athens. We stayed with Giorgos who was super nice and took us to see the temple of posidon which is an hour away from the center. He also took us to the main square where we could walk around the shops. We had so much fun with him boo and i both connected with him relaly easy it was like he was one of our close friends already. Found out he is the basketball manager for the womens team in greece, he told us he would try to help us get picked up in austrailia if we wanted!! Great connection to have made, over all great guy. Finally I returned home to Sweden where surprise suprise its raining haha. So hopefully tomorrow work begins! Ah but what a great trip :) I will post some pics later
written by  katieandboo on July 19, 2009 from Athens, Greece

IM BACK
sunset
Sorry for the slow writing, ok so the first week back from greece it was still painful to dive so I trained just working on foot work and hard volleys to work on my hands. I went to the doc on wednesday and she said the 5th rib is completely healed and the 6th one hasented calised fully so thats why it will hurt to dive but it wont re-break so im cleared! So thursday I went out full speed and this practice was so much fun because it was dumping. The field was so flooded that when id dive to make a save id probably slide 2yds before I stopped. It made for some frustrating conditions but sooo much fun. Felt like a lil kid again running around in the rain and splashing in the puddles. So I played in our game on saturday which we tied 1-1 I got scored on by the cheapest pk ever, ridiculous call. Before break we lost 3-0 so that was a good com back and we totally could have beaten them. I played pretty well stayed high able to pick up alot of the threw balls, also made a 1v1 save.
There was a youth team tournament this weekend called sun cup. Our team was supposed to go and work it, its one of our big money makers. Oh I had forgotten to mention boo and I helped coached this u12 team during the week so we went to watch and cheer the team on on sunday. They got 3rd place winning by penalty kicks I was so proud the keep anna made 2 saves. We went out on saturday which was fun we just kinda hung out down town and planned a painball day for the team and blueberry pie day as well. The next two games are gonna be the biggest ones because this weekend we play Malbacken which is our biggest rival we get hundreds of fans at that game. Then the week after we play the first place team Jitex so Im stoked for some good trainings.
Oh one other thing we are getting a new keeper shes a greek-american played for greece national team and played in Damallsvenken for a couple years. I think she comes this week sometime so we shall see how that goes hopefully I get back quickly.
written by  katieandboo on August 3, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden

League champs!!
so the past three weekends we had two league games which ended our season putting us in first place, league champs, going undefeated!! We are now under tough training schedule getting ready for the Italian cup semi-final against the best team in Italy. We have been playing mens teams for the past three weeks every thursday and saturday. We also had a game on a friday and played against ex seria A players...needless to say that game was a lot of fun because these guys were just so smart on and off the ball, limited themselves from over working. We have done a couple double days so peoples legs are very heavy for saturdays games. Which gives me a lot of action. Also because the boys here are a lot better at younger ages....so even though we are playing U-17 and u-19 teams they are very strong, much stronger than those ages in the states, kinda cool to see.
Lets see went out with my housemates saturday didn't get home till 5am it was a lot of fun. After we left the club we went to get some food and got croissants with whatever you wanted melted inside. I got nutella and these cookies, my housemate got a bueno bar (italian choc and milk bar) and my other friend got a kitkat inside. Needless to say these were delicious and great after dancing.
We also had a big dinner at our house the other night. Pasta with shrimp and zucchini made by my assistant coach who is a phenomenal cook!! It was only 2 euros a head!
Oh and everyone is in a huge penny pinch because the club has missed on pay checks, which is another reason we just made dinner at the house. Keep walking around saying "c'è crisi" I can't share my shampoo or cant go out.
Oh went with my housemate to hair school and she died it a lilttle darker to get rid of my blonde streaks from the sun. That was fun even though it took about 4 hours. Have been spending a lot of time with Roby and Silvia has made things better because I feel like they are my real friends and they know me the best...when I get too hungry they know!
Oh also have found a great fruit truck at the bottom of my hill have been getting really good fresh strawberries melons apples oranges and pineapple! For the most part pretty good price and def cheaper than in the grocery store!
Think thats all for now, in my last few weeks here I will try to write once or twice a week so I can share the last precious days in my dream with all of you.
much love
written by  katieandboo on May 16, 2012 from Naples, Italy

Happy birthday Dad!
Can't remember if I have mentioned but we have been scrimmaging against mens teams to get ready for our big game this coming saturday. We had a scrimmage thursday and sunday. We lost both, but sunday was awful! Lets just say 3/4's of the goals were 1v1s one was a PK and the other tried clearing a ball, that hit my player and the attacker scored. Was a bad day for me needless to say. But it wasn't all bad. Saturday I had gone with two housemates and a few teammates to this little rock beach area in Bacoli. We had to wade across the inlet to get to some rocks to lay on. The few was awesome, there was also a wedding going on up above, we got to watch the bride and groom come in on boat then climb the stairs. The only problem was that it was windy, so half the time I had a sweatshirt on. BUt it was still fun hanging out talking and eating some delicious italian sandwiches.
Sunday wasn't all bad, after the game a few of us went to a place in Bacoli to have a little snack and appertive. My asst coach and i got prosecco with strawberries then I had a cannoli :/
Since the big coppa italia was that night we decided to just go back to our asst coaches house(which was around the corner) hang out and watch a movie until the game that night. I ended up going for a walk after watching two movies...The head gets really tired focusing that long in another language. When I got back it was time to go get some food so we could watch the big game. I got this chicken steak which is like a philly cheese steak just chicken...very good!
Watching the game was a lot of fun because the house was divided half were Juve fans and the other Napoli fans. Oh and other 4 teammates showed up for the game. Needless to say the greater team won (Napoli)!!!
On the way back to the house Neopolitans were out in celebration...people were in the streets chanting Napoli songs or driving in their cars with banners and flags hanging out their windows!! Very cool experience, they truly are a part of their teams.
Oh last week tried to be working out hard and keeping right on my diet buttt...needless to say i can't give up the sweets. I had been working out everyday, mostly twice a day. Just keep giving into the ice cream or other delicious italian delights! Getting super excited for the game this saturday, also super nervous. A team we tied 1-1 they beat 11-0, although I know whatever happens happens, it would still be cool to do really well against them.
Alright I should get to some studying...Oh and I want to wish the coolest dad in the whole world a happy birthday!!! HOpe you really have a great day and do something good for yourself!!
love you
written by  katieandboo on May 21, 2012 from Pozzuoli, Italy

mountains
haha Ok so first off I just gotta say soccer is such sport of adversity and mental toughness well any sport in general but especially soccer. So of course my first game back I get this HUGE raspberry burn cuz we played on turf and oh what happens get systemic and now im on penicilin hahah I mean really you do just gotta laugh at it.
infected wound
Im trying to put alot of padding so it doesnt hurt as much to dive thinking I should just wrap on a pillow :) I do notice myself hesitating a lil to dive to my right (since its on my right thigh) so im hoping I am able to play this sunday. Ok so positive things this week has been pretty fun boo and I coached our little girls again. The lil keepers and I are starting to get close there trying to make me say bad things in Swedish haha but there a fun lil bunch. Very shy I'll ask them questions and they'll just smile back at me, then i'll say something goofy (bring up aliens for example) then they laugh and someone will say an answer. Ill break them of their little shy shells just wait they'll be yelling in no time. Hung out with dala the other day we went down town mainly to go to the drug store boo and I totally mom'd her because she was sick the past couple of days so we made her soup got her throat lasengers.
Boo and I are getting really focused again going out a bunch to work on left foot stuff, juggling and for me especially my kicks and getting my muscle memory back for diving. Working alot on my upper body lost sooo much muscle since I couldn't lift Its ridiculous how weak I feel. But it is all coming back with time I just need to be patient. Thats all for now good night
written by  katieandboo on August 6, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden

hiccups
Ok so I decided on friday that it would probably be better for the wound to not be diving so I didn't play on sunday and we tied 1-1. pretty good game we actualy had some good oppertunities but just couldn't finish. Oh boo's mom has arrived and it has been so much fun having her here with us, she has made dinner a couple of nights. She is super cool fun lady and its fun cuz its kidna lke part of a lil family here. Anyways we went shopping downtown the other day and got a cool new running jacket haha.
Important stuff tho practice was fun on monday we just played fun games where we scrimaged but there were rules like we had to hold hands and could only walk then limited touches while running and holding hands. Then just had fitness with jonas. Tuesday i played but played horrible, so I was pretty upset all night, like the worst I have played in a very long long time. So this morning when I woke up I went to the Field did a bunch of sprints and did some shuffle keeper oriented stuff and finished with kicks. Getting myself really focused now cuz I can't believe I only got two months left!! I gotta get cracking. Oh ya so today we had team bonding so we went to mirandas house and and the forest is in her back yard so we all went blueberry picking, I also found some chantrels, then we made blueberry pie and vanilla ice cream. Sooo good And we played this funny swedish game where you pretty much throw a stick at a block and try to knock it over first team to knock em all over wins. It was fun cuz our team won but the other team had been kicking out ass so good come back victory! Other than that pretty low key here just getting ready for the game this weekend. Oh ya another american is coming on saturday she is from arizona and is a center back so it will be interesting to now have 4 americans. Ok well dinner time ciao
written by  katieandboo on August 12, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden

Final
celebration
Ok so haven't really had internet so haven't been able to update. But what an exciting week this has been.
First went to my favorite lil fruit truck got apples strawberries and really good cherry tomatoes oh and cherries all for 3.5 euros.
Tuesday our housemate re-arrived(since shes been at home since her mom passed) and since maria was back we were planning a good dinner for her. After practice we made pasta with clams and oysters it was soo freaking good! We had about 8 people at our house all this week, so its been a little hectic with food. We ate a good dinner then made a little strawberry banana salad with lemon and sugar for dessert then of course talked.
Wednesday after we had a tough practice we had a pretty light dinner because we needed to go grocery shopping(and with 8 its tough to feed) but then we went out to a popular spot in Naples to have a little dessert. I got tronky gelato which is a candy bar turned into gelato. Its a hazelnut chocolate crunchy bar and turned into gelato is to die for!!! Others got gelato fruit and one got a brioches with gelato...kinda strange.
Thursday on our way back from prac found a little little puppy outside our house all by itself. So being a dog lover i took it to our house. My housemate thought its maybe 4 weeks old and it had insect things on it that i had to remove. After about 40 min or using alcohol to remove these things the girls let me bring her in the house. She was so cute but so scared, so we made a little bed for her to lay in and tried to feed her some milk or water. She drank a little bit of milk which was good and then I took her to bed with me. SLept most the night just woke up 3 times to pee and cuz it was lonely probably.
meeting the mayor
Friday we had to go to an event so we had to leave her at the house but I made a little barrier for her with milk water and place to pee. She drank some milk before we left so that made us feel better. Oh and this even was us meeting the mayor!! I'll find the pics and post them later. BUt he was acknoleding us for our undefeated season and playing against torres in the semifinal of the italian cup. We took pictures he gave us medals and was basically done in 15 min. But it was really cool to meet the Mayor made ya feel special.
Saturday was the big day and boy were they a good team. You could def see why they were the three time champion of Italy! After the first half it was 1-0 so we were doing pretty well considering their average against teams this year was 4-0. Second half became 2-0 then we got a pk which my player missed but then few min later scored making it 2-1 I made a bunch of saves some super important some just normal. Then in extra time we scored again to tie it up 2-2 going straight into penalty kicks. After our team had made 7 in a row I stopped the other teams 7 for us to beat Torres and advance us onto the Final!! It was such a crazy game needless to say lots of emotion and what and experience. That night we went out to dinner to celebrate so that was a lot of fun, also our president gave us a little bonus for winning such a big game.
Yesterday, sunday, a few of us rented a boat and went out on the water for the day. We got some sandwiches and just hung out talking got gelato swam a bit and tanned. all in all one great week with a lot of good memories!!
written by  katieandboo on May 28, 2012 from Naples, Italy

rolling
its been a pretty good week. Monday to celebrate memorial day I went to the base because they were having a big feast, also to celebrate a friends bday, and I ate wayyy to much. Ate lots bufula caprese salad cateloupe and prosciutto then phillipeano dishes and three kinds of dessert!! We just watched some movies and hung out since it was raining.
Tuesday John, the dad, and I went to the gym and worked out. After they took me back home where I quickly had to go to the grocery store because there was nothing in the house. Went to my fav fruit stand got an amazing cateloupe, super sweet and juicy, along with delicious strawberries and bananas. Oh and really flavorful cherry tomatoes, gotta say i love my lil stand. Then we kinda hung until practice, Maria arrived back at the house. So after practice we had a dinner consisting of 8, they all ate pasta roby and i had chicken and salad.
Wednesday was super chill worked out a little in the morning we all hung out talked had a late lunch, I reheated/recreated left over pasta which i thought was better than the night before. Then after prac the magic happened. Our vice president decided to take 11 of us out to dinner and boy was it nice! You arrive and there are 3 people to great you then you get in an elevator going down where there are 3 more girls to great and seat you. This restaurant was in Possillipo which is a very nice richy area so you get out the elevator there are gorgeous view and grass which big umbrellas white lounge seating for the bar area and tables in the back..all outside. We sat down and quickly we had two waiters waiting on us hand and foot, if we wanted something we got it. Water sparkling and not arrived first, then a red Bordeaux and white wine don't remember which but delicious. All of us chose the fish menu which consisted of...appetizer squid lightly seasoned with maybe a vinegar lemon parsley, delicious, then mini shrimps also lemon maybe balsamic, very light very delicious, and something in kind of a zucchine purre with thin strips of zucchin kinda flash fried. FIrst course was risotto with shrimp and lemon, oh so very very good...but my fav was the second some sort of white fish, im guessing halibut or halibut family, quinoia withcarrots and celery. but they bring out the whole fish and serve it up on each plate, this fish was huge. Oh also was so fancy that you have a big bottom plate and they just keep changing the top plate. got two diff plates for appetizers then removed brought first so on and so on. then dessert was some nasty white thing so I asked for strawberries. Pretty sure someone said it was about 50 euro a head. Quite the experience because everyone knew him and would come up say hi, as we all sit in casual clothes at this fancy reserved table. Then returned home by 1am a 2.5 hr dinner, although on the way home the moon was beautiful kind of a yellow glow with the shaded spots very visual.
Today, thursday, I had my last day at school which I am relieved and a lil sad because it really means this magical time is coming to an end. Had lunch with Roby and lisa shot the shit now resting for prac. Tonight about 12 of us are supposed to go to Profs(our fitness coach) house for dinner. So I am sure it will be another magical night filled with good memories.
written by  katieandboo on May 31, 2012 from Naples, Italy

boot camp?
Ok so first off congrats to my cousin ben and his new wife alicia, welcome to the fam licia.
Second, we tied again on this past sunday 1-1. It was insane how many times we hit the post or the cross bar. Pretty good game def. shoulda won oh and they have moved boo to outside mid which is a bummer. We got a new american who arrived on saturday, she played for the chicago feeder team and seems pretty good. This week boo and I have been trying to do boot camp where we just work super hard on fitness and ball work. Was going pretty well worked out earlier in the day then had training and fitness on monday. Tuesday had a super hard training at the gym then evening training which was alot of fun. There were only 10 players cuz there was a U-18 game that the rest of our girls were playing in. But then on wednesday we had set out all the stuff at the Field and decided to go into the club house real fast for a snack and coffee but then go so hyper and decided to go down town. I mean it was our day off and your not supposed to work on your day off right? haha We ended up going to some stores then meeting some teammates at this bar too watch a few soccer games. A good day off I think, so this morning im gonna go do some Field stuff then rest till prac. I am starting to get my technique back which feels so good. Oh and realized I only have 54 days till I come home its so crazy how fast time has gone by!

catch this
Alright so been a lil while sorry about that got pretty caught up. Boo had her dad cousin and cousins husband here so we were kept busy. We actually went out to a restaurant for the first time with them here haha maybe we went out once before. Had alot of fun while they were here boo her dad and I took a trip to Gotenburg on one of our days off. Was alot of fun took a little tour and just walked around cute city everything is pretty close together. Didn't get to go to the amusement park tho because it was closed :( Boo and I have decided to stop being such penny pinchers and really just enjoy our time here not worrying about what were buying. Its been good we have gone to this one bar to have a glass of wine while watching EPL games so that has been alot of fun we also saw the Sweden vs Norway game. The new american has showed up shes super cool from chicago center back. Its fun having another american cuz now its more talk on the field.
Oh oh I forgot to mention this so a lil while back baby lobsters were on sale so I bought a bunch and made risotto with lobster crimini mushrooms chives and chevre cheese was sooo good and if you cook the risotto in the lobster broth makes it so much better!
Anyways oh our friend sent up a care package full of goodies (oreos goldfish, ritz bitz sandwiches, cereal, and red vines etc) So nice and was sooo good boo and I killed almost all of it already!
All our lil kids have started school back up so kind of a bummer we dont have as many people to play with but boo and I are still working out. Oh last night we went to Malins house to watch the Gais game (malin and my team big fans!) and her mom made taco pie and blueberry pie traditional swedish thing if you can believe it but soo good. The taco pie was a crust then with like ground meat tomato cheese sour cream.
boo and I are both getting a little sick you wouldnt think right cuz its the end of summer. Oh but not here its been the end of fall weather here ugh! But today was actually very beautiful and quite warm so I cant complain. Ok I think that is all for now ciao
written by  katieandboo on September 1, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden

heart break
the final
oh the emotion...well I will start by saying we lost in the finals 3-2 in double over time! Now lets recap
thursday night was fun pretty quick, we showed up their was food on the table, all homemade specialties including meatballs!! We hung around for 1.5hrs before returning home to prepare everything for departure.
Friday morning we loaded on the bus and headed towards Rome to Ostia. After arriving at our hotel we quickly had lunch and headed to the practice field. The field was brutal, artificial turf lots of bad spots and it was windy. We were by the water. It was cool to watch in the background trick planes were practicing for the next days events, the republican holiday(kinda like the 4th). The rest of Friday was chill had din watched the mens national team lose to Russia then hit the hay.
Sat the normal pregame routine then to the field in our new kit that said coppa finale on it. As we arrived buses of our fans were arriving as well, walking onto the field they were chanting with flares and flags flying! All the emotion standing in line with the cup standing between you and the other team, you could feel the tension and everybody wanting the battle to begin. And oh what a battle they would score then we would quickly rebuttle. There must have been ten yellow cards between the two teams along with two reds in the over time period. Fouls were being called constantly because everyone wanted to win so bad.
Needless to say they won and we were destroyed. Emotionally physically the girls just collapsed where they were, tears streaming out of so many's eyes. We all came together hugging trying to keep it together, because in reality what we accomplished was huge, a serie a2 team in the final first beating the best team in Italy and coming close to winning. But when your so close you can taste it those words don't mean much. I held it together think mainly because i was in shock trying to wrap my head around the fact that this was my last professional game(unless some great offer appears ;) ). I can't deny, what a way to go out, but still, losing is never easy. It was also cool that even though we lost our fans were still cheering and chanting for us, trying to help lift the heads, let us know they were still proud!
Today i couldn't sleep so I jogged over to my favorite spot for a cappuccino and choc croissant then to my fruit stand where i got 6 peaches 5 oranges 4 bananas and a kilo of cherry tomatoes for 5 euro!!! by the time I got back everyone was up so we split up and headed out on the town. my group went towards downtown where we got fruit and walked along the water. Then we met the other group for lunch, i had grilled octopus and it was delicious! We were waiting around because maria was heading back to her home so they wanted to say their goodbyes! At 5pm we dropped her off and headed back home. It was a beautiful day out on the town very very hot tho.
written by  katieandboo on June 3, 2012 from Naples, Italy

busy week
oh man what an awesome, but busy, week this has been! So Monday morning I hoped on the train to Marias house in Carosino, near Taranto. After four hours of travel arrived to Maria and her cute niece martina, 2. We headed back to her house where food was already being prepared, started with mussels cooked in a lil white win pepper and parsley, delicious. Then we had pasta with mussels, also delicious, kinda like a spaghetti vongole minus the clams. Had some local win some cheese fruit and a little eggplant parm! It was awesome because the whole family was there for lunch minus the older sister, but one sister kid aunt dad and me. Then after we watched our coppa italia final on tv because they were broadcasting it on the sport channel! Was nerve racking but cool at the same time. Dinner the husbands of the sisters both sister and the 3 kids all came over for dinner and we had some sort of meat and vegtables with crostata for dessert! They own their own restaurant so monday we ate all the left over stuff so it didn't go to waste, and let me tell you they can cook!!! I played with martina a bunch talked with everybody and we just kinda hung out, also sharing stories about her mom and how awesome a cook she was.
Then tuesday maria took me for a little tour of her area, taranto and the sea! The color of the ocean was sooo pretty, a very clear blue! We proceeded to walk around taranto center check out the castle on the water and ate lunch before she dropped me at the train station. It was awesome to be apart of their very close bonded family, fit right in. Once i got back to Agnano I quickly packed and was picked up to go to the american base. Was gonna be my farewell day/night with them.
Woke up wednesday at 6am to go workout so that by 8am we could go to the market! This outdoor market was not only huge but a little stressful, people everywhere things in piles...but it was cool I got a few good things super cheap! After we were at the market for about 3 hrs we headed for lunch then picked up a few things at the mall for her daughter. I then barely made it to the post office to mail off a box of my stuff. Caught the train back to Agnano where i ate din with my housemates at we went to our teammates 18th bday party.
Thursday I woke up and went for a quick run then headed to Ricigliano, the town of my mothers heritage! I was a little nervous to go and meet these family members because they only speak Italian and was worried if my italian would be good enough. But needless to say i am soooo glad i went. After 2.5hrs, getting lost a few times, i found my way to a cute little town. Also after winding on small back roads up and down mountain sides and through vineyards! Immediately upon arriving they embraced me with a big hug and lots of kisses, saying how tall i was and how amazing this was that we were able to meet! Thankfully i made it just in time for lunch and it was delicious. We had pasta with sauce and asparagus, a lil spicy, had salami, fresh cheese(ricotta and mozzarella), bread, wine, tomatoes in oil and herbs, then a digestive drink and limoncello(both of which were homemade). The other cool thing is that they have their own vineyard and make their own oil so the wine and olive oil were theirs and it was delicious!!! We just talked the whole lunch about how i was in italy how i liked it how we were related a little about my family and a little about theirs. Also the grandma was there who was 91, and while maria(the daughter) was preparing lunch the gma and i were talking and she just kept kissing me and crying a little because she was so excited, saying how amazing this was. It truly was an amazing experience, I have been wanting to go meet them for a very long time, has been a dream, so I am really glad i was able to make it happen, and that my italian was good enough. The area was beautiful basically between two mountains, green all around, great panorama! They had a pretty big house and a little garden in the back where they also grow a lot of other stuff, just to eat at the house. sadly after lunch and coffee i had to head back to napoli for practice, we decided i for sure need to come back and stay longer so they can show me other parts of the area. So I can't wait to return and learn more :)
After practice we went out with our president for dinner and had mainly a lot of antipasta things, of the sea, and pasta zucchini and shrimp and gnocchi with mussels. It was delicious of course so was tiramisu we ate! After our 3 hour dinner the president kinda drug us to a club, most of us wanted to go home but felt bad so we went. It was of course very exclusive had to be on a list, but we walked right in. Was an outdoor club so thankfully it was warm out. Ended up being pretty fun, he ordered table service and we all just danced and made a fool of ourselves. At about 3:30 people were crashing so he paid the tab and we headed home!
Friday myself and two housemates went to this cute spot on the ocean where we just swam and layed out enjoying the view and company! Now I am getting ready to go to dinner with my teacher from school, a last hoorah! Then I think we may be going out! Needless to say this a week of minimal sleep, which i figure i can catch up on on the plane :)
pictures to follow
written by  katieandboo on June 8, 2012 from Naples, Italy

bday
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BROTHER MIKE!!!
Ok so we won our game last weekened. On monday we went to a bar to watch a game but watched extreme sports instead was alot of fun. Yesterday we went to watch our girls play in their final. Let me explain so all the under 19's had this tournament and about a third of our girls were on the team because there under 19, and they made it to the finals so we decided to go watch. However we thought it was going to be at our Field but it changed at the last second and the Field we had to go to was 45 min bike ride away. Oh and I was in the middle of making my pizza with pesto chicken (cuz i bought a rotiserie chicken and took all the meat) broccoli and cherry tomatoes. So as soon as that came out of the oven I just threw it in tuperware and we started pedaling up these huge hills, but after our trek we made it in time for half time. The girls were happy to see us even tho they ended up losing in pks, which sucks cuz they were clearly the better team with more scoring opportunities, but thats soccer.
Oh and today boo and I found this cute caffe hidden between buildings down town so we had a coffee and a lil snack known as a ficka. Oh and im super excited my parents are coming tomorrow and the weather has been super nice recently. :)
off to work lata
written by  katieandboo on September 10, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden

All over
Although I am finally home I figured I needed to write up a conclusion.
Sat and sun were very chill days, was cloudy so we just went around town getting last min things. Sunday I couldn't sleep so went for a jog out to breakfast. Had a cappuccino and choc croissant which we're perfect! Then later walked along the water and had my favorite gelato before watching the Italy vs Spain game with my housemates. After that we met up with some friends for a final dinner which,although it was fun, I didn't get home till 1:30am. Was very emotional saying good bye to them some even wrote me little letters that were so touching, I am really going to miss them. Living that close for so long spending most of your waking hours together, you really get bonded. Two hours later I woke up to head for my plane and headed back to the great state of Washington.
I gotta say being in the airport, even being back here I still can't believe
this all happened. Sometimes I just think did I dream that, was I really in Italy? Thankfully it was a reality, I do know how to speak Italian, I did play in big games, I did meet Italian family members, and most importantly I conquered a dream! Although it wasn't easy, I came across many obstacles, people saying "playing there is impossible" and that meeting family would be too difficult. But, a little determination, hardwork, and the amazing support from my family, I did it all! I am so grateful for all the amazing people and friends I made along the way, the amazing foods I got to taste and the incredible places I got to see! Italy, along with all the other places I have been, has taught me so many things. Through all the ups and downs there was always a lesson and a growth to be made, and thankfully it all ended positively. I couldn't have asked for a better season to call my last.
That old saying of "never give up on your dreams" really has new meaning. Because once you accomplish them you really feel like you can do anything. "The harder the conflict the greater the victory will be" -Thomas Paine
cant wait to see what the next stage of life has to bring!
so long for now and thanks for following!
written by  katieandboo on June 13, 2012 from Naples, Italy

parents
Alright so my parents were here for a week and that was fun especially because the weather became so nice! The first night here they came to prac and I made them quesadillas, they were pretty jet legged. We went on bike excersions all around Karlstad especially out to the lake, biggest In Sweden! Took them to score to watch some premier league games and grab some dinner. One of my friends parents invited us all over for dinner so we went there after out game for some delicious food. Had salmon chix and pork with potatoes and 3 diff sauces (peppercorn, chantrell, cheese) and some salad. With two very swedish desserts, one was a cake thats very hard to explain with cream and toffee like things. this other one also too difficult but think of a giant canolli and that is what it looks like although not at all. ha That night was alot of fun stayed there pretty late just chatting and shooting the shit. Then next night mom made some classic italian for some of my friends which was delicious regardless of what she says. Some pasta with roasted veggies alfredo pesto sauce parma chix and capresse salad oh and bread! Everyone had a blast.
We also went to Stockholm for, well I went for a day, they for two before they flew home. Was really cool city big but was fun to walk around got to see the palace and the smallest street could barely walk down it! ha
I had one day of training, thursday, then had 3 days off so saturday night is when we celebrated Malins birthday. She had a pajamas party before we went out. Fun weekend worked out with jeffers did kettleb ell lifts. So excited to have boo back we watched peaceful warrior, which was good, very philosophical dad youd prob love it.
Today two of our friends boo and I are doing a day of training ha. Were going to meet and do shooting then go to the gym then go to training. Big game this saturday were traveling so get to stay in hotel woohoo.
thats all for now ciao
written by  katieandboo on September 22, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden

We advance!!
Our second game we won as well. We played against Romania which were much tougher team, faster and more aggressive, but we came out on top. I actually had to make 3 big saves when the score was still close and then the team took over and we won 7-0. Our next game eve same routine with practice in the morning then lunch then at night I our team bonding was massages. It was nice our third and final game was against France who was by far the best in our group with us. And we tied them 3-3. ended the first half 1-0 us, I made some big saves and got hit real hard on a ball sent into a mix of people that I went up for and caught and saved. Felt like I was gonna throw up the rest of the game but the flack jacket kept me playing :) Even though we tied we found out that we have enough goals that we will advance and find out who we play next week. We wont have another champions game until sept. sometime and next season game is end of aug. So now I am here in Sweden and trained with the girls yesterday, so weird but fun to be back. Today boo and i are gonna go downtown and maybe grocery shopping :) and the 16th i'll head for Italy. Oh and were gonna go watch there game on saturday and leifake who is qbik equip,emt guy is gonna get me an extra salad for the bus ride :) ciao for now
written by  katieandboo on August 13, 2010 from Kopavogur, Iceland

maria vincenza and me....marzanos

castle of taranto

country side

marzanos

my teachers and coaches

vesuvious

maria and me

viviana and me

celebration

view from beach

meeting the mayor

chairlift to the top

blue grotta

few from our wall...sorta

start of the hike to the wall

limoncello

where we had lunch

out with the girls

after our win