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sweden adventures

a travel blog by katieandboo

boo and I have moved to sweden for the next six months to play the sport we love as our job!
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summer

Karlstad, Sweden


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

permalink written by  katieandboo on July 1, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden
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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

permalink written by  katieandboo on July 19, 2009 from Athens, Greece
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IM BACK

Karlstad, Sweden


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.

permalink written by  katieandboo on August 3, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden
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mountains

Karlstad, Sweden

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

permalink written by  katieandboo on August 6, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden
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hiccups

Karlstad, Sweden

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

permalink written by  katieandboo on August 12, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden
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boot camp?

Karlstad, Sweden

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!

permalink written by  katieandboo on August 20, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden
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catch this

Karlstad, Sweden

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

permalink written by  katieandboo on September 1, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden
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bday

Karlstad, Sweden

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

permalink written by  katieandboo on September 10, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden
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parents

Karlstad, Sweden

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

permalink written by  katieandboo on September 22, 2009 from Karlstad, Sweden
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We advance!!

Kopavogur, Iceland

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

permalink written by  katieandboo on August 13, 2010 from Kopavogur, Iceland
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