No regrets, just love

I think when your body is overwhelmed with too many emotions all at once, they start to void each other; they cancel themselves out. Then you get to a place where you just don't know what to think or how to describe this emotion, because you kind of feel nothing. That's where I am right now. I still haven't come to accept that what just happened actually just happened, and this might be my main problem, but it just doesn't feel, REAL. I just went on the rockiest roller coaster of my life that involved nerves, excitement, anticipation, joy, panic, anxiety, disbelief, and then, just to end with a bang, a sucker punch of sadness. With all these feelings in my heart, my mind just couldn't take them all in, so right now I kind of just am. 

One thing you can feel in a time like this though is love. That's one feeling that can trump the rest and squeeze through when you need it most. It wasn't supposed to happen like that. It wasn't supposed to end this way. We weren't supposed to face this surprise ending. But it did and we are. And you know what, as much as it may hurt/sting/disgust/torment, I'm happy I did it. I love my life and these girls I get to share it with. No matter what the outcome of this game or season, this group of girls was special and I consider this year a HUGE success. Why? Because I came to love 15 other girls more than I ever imagined and had the best year of my life. This was a special group that knew how to have an amazing time and they will always have a special place in my heart.

So maybe it didn't end the way we planned, but it may have brought us even closer together; crying, hugging, and loving have a way of doing that. This was a special year, and one that I will never forget. 

Take me to that old familiar place
Take me to memories we won’t erase
Take me to all that we had
Good and the bad

I’ll never forget you
I’ll never let you go
I’ll never forget you
I’ll always remember, I hope you know

Doesn't get much better than this

My teammates are freaking awesome. I have never met such amazing ladies and I have never had so much fun. It just blows my mind. We are the most random assortment of people that somehow just mesh together as if we were each meant to be on this very team at this very time. It is so crazy to me how things work out this way! We all enter the team as different people - all with different backgrounds, experiences, beliefs, and ways of doing things - but as time goes on, we actually mold together . At some point during our tenure here we let down our barriers and expose ourselves to the system and experience that is Lehigh basketball. This is where change, growth, and chemistry are born. We each bring all of our past experiences and personalities to the table, and take part in a huge game of exchanging and dealing all of our unique cards between each other. When the game is over, we leave with a new hand that is better than the first for the simple fact that it contains a little piece of everyone. Now when the time comes for us all to go our separate ways, we will have a small portion of each other to carry along wherever we go. The special bonds we formed along the way will not erase, nor can they, because we have etched them into each and every one of us. I love this!

I am so lucky to share a small chunk of time with these wonderful ladies and be able to realize early in my too-short career that this is something I should savor every minute of. Each year we have to say goodbye to a few key pieces of our group, and the time we shared with them becomes just a memory. BUT the cool thing about memories is that they last. I will always remember the times we laughed until it hurt, the times we cried and thought that things would never get better, the times we partied because we were champions and that's what champions do, the times our bodies hurt so bad that it just wasn't worth it to get out of bed, and all the times we spent hugging, smiling, and just enjoying each other. This snapshot of my life will live with me forever because it changed me forever. I've learned to be more optimistic, more compassionate, more outgoing, more loving, less selfish, and a whole lot more fun because that is exactly what the women around me were like.

This is why I'm so grateful I stuck it out through the tears and sorrow that is freshman year. I think that was a necessary initiation to see if I deserved the blessings I was about to receive. They are just too special to give to anyone, and for some amazing reason my feet stayed glued to the ground until I was able to see just how fortunate I was to share a space of time with these 15 other people. I cannot WAIT to see where these next two years take me (and the rest of this one!) and let me tell you I am excited. I only hope that I can be just as great to these lovely ladies as they have been to me, and maybe, just maybe, help them to feel even a portion of the love I feel for them.

This truly is a beautiful experience we all get to go through, an experience that is neither perfect or easy, but one that can lead to amazing amazing things. As my wonderful teammate Kristen Dalton put it:

There is no mathematical way to go about this. There is no conclusion to draw here. There is no formula that guarantees good friendships. There is only the coming back to, where our lines overlap and intersect and move harmoniously across our days. We can call this a rhythm. Or we can call it a blessing, the great friendships of this adventure.

Woe is me? Oh, no please!

Injuries are tricky business. Just when you think everything is going right, you're feeling great, playing really well at practice, finally looking like you know how to play basketball (ok, this might be just specific to me), and then, all of a sudden, you can't anymore. Why? Because of a tiny tendon in your body that sends a stabbing pain up your leg with every step and prevents you from running, cutting, or jumping; things that are sometimes necessary in basketball. This is what happened to me a few days ago when I hurt my Achilles tendon during practice after a stint with Achilles tendinitis that just decided to turn from a minor stiffness to a debilitating injury. I should mention that we are at the point in the season where we are all fighting for playing time and competing to make each other better and set the foundation for our team. Perfect timing, huh?

The thing I have come to learn though, is you have to take things like this in stride and trust that you will be just fine. Perhaps it was even meant to happen. As many times as I have said "Woe is me" and sulked about a poor situation I was in, it never got any better and 99% of the time, I realized I wasn't in such a bad state at all, often seeing the benefits of my "poor" situation. God works in mysterious ways and requires that you put your faith in Him and know that He will lead you in the right direction (whether you know it or not). This does not get you off the hook though to merely have faith. As a close friend always says, you have to pray as though you sincerely believe the Lord will help you and act and live as though it is all up to you. In other words, I have to do my part to heal, stay positive, and strengthen myself, and God will do the rest. Sounds like a pretty fair deal to me.

So although I must currently gimp around in a truly attractive walking boot to nurse my crippled Achilles tendon, I haven't given up. I haven't quit. There's so much time still to prove myself and get better! Heck, maybe I'll even see that this was for the better. So, chin up, confidence high, and eyes facing the future. Besides, it's kind of cool that I have to deal with the same injury as a Greek God and War hero. I can live with that.

Fit as a Fiddle

This summer I want to get fit. As in basketball pro, looks amazing in a bathing suit, you could grate cheese on those abbs fit. That's why I am debating doing this...

or this...

or even...

(Just kidding about that last one (:)
I am tired of not feeling my fastest/strongest/hottest and it's time to do something about it! I can't wait to come home to just turn my life around and get to work. It's going to be a struggle no doubt, but with the right mindset - and my mom's constant questioning of "Are you sure you want to eat that?" - I should be able to do it. I want to come back to school next year to amazed ohs and ahs from my teammates from how good I look and hopefully how well I play on the court. I'm thinking of doing two-a-day workouts everyday; one swimming workout in the morning and one weight training/basketball workout in the afternoon. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with this workload, stick to my Weight Watcher's regime (it's a family affair for the Petersons this summer!) and be on the path to a fit body. Look out world here I come!

P.S. Any suggestions or tips how I can reach my goal? Know any trainers/diets/exercise routines? Please let me know :)

Unparalled

Before I finish my blogging for the night, and keeping to the same category, I wanted to give a quick shout out to the Uconn Women's Basketball team. You are INSANE. Women's sports has not seen anything like this ever, and if they keep winning and pass UCLA men's record of 88 straight wins, all of sports will have seen nothing like this. They are currently at 74 straight wins and with Miya Moore and Tina Charles only juniors, they are going to win a whole lot more. In the three games they've played in the NCAA tournament thus far, they could have used only their first half scores and still beaten their opponent's full game score. That is unheard of. They are simply amazing and although it makes women's college basketball a little anti-climatic, they sure are fun to watch (also makes losing in the tournament a little easier to swallow since, let's be honest, everyone else is ultimately going to lose too).

Taking the boys to school

I LOVE playing pickup basketball with boys at the gym. This is how it goes down (based on my experience last Friday which is exemplary): I'm shooting hoops by myself, working on some moves, shooting, dribbling it up and down the court, and then some guys come in and start shooting around on the other side. More guys keep trickling in until there's 7 or 9 and they realize they need another player. A couple of them will start to casually watch me shoot around, draining threes and pull-up jumpers of course, and then they decide that I seem to be able to play and they ask if I'd like to join. I used to decline and continue on with my shooting, but lately I've been saying yes and it's been a lot of fun. We shoot for teams and everyone is amazed when I make the shot and get on the team with the "good guys" and heckle their friends a little bit because a girl beat them out. Oh guys, this is only the beginning.

Then we start to play and I kind of just run along, play some defense, run the floor and make some good passes to start. My defender always sags off of me at the beginning because they think there's absolutely no way I will shoot it. Little do they know. About the third time down the court I catch the ball on the wing, pull through, and notice my defender is yet again three feet off of me. I pretend to look for an open man, square up and let her fly. Swish. My teammates are all AMAZED that a girl can make a shot (with a guy's ball mind you) and congratulate me a little too much. As the game went on I ended up stealing the ball from the guy I was guarding (same guy that was guarding me) in the open court and taking it down for a layup, BLOCKING HIM when he drove to the basket (man did he get heckled for that one), posting him up and hitting a right-hand hook, and shooting a couple more threes in his eye. Poor guy.

Afterward when we were getting water, everyone was introducing themselves and one guy asked if I was on the women's basketball team. Then the guy who guarded me responded: Yeah you crushed my hopes of ever playing division 1 women's basketball! It was so funny and he was such a good sport about it. Although I enjoy schooling boys on the court, I would enjoy it even more if pickup led to some off-court hanging out...basketball players are cute! Hopefully my mad skills won't drive them away. Maybe I should take it easy on them...

And the madness ends

Basketball season is officially over. Back in November and December, I couldn't wait for this moment to come. I was counting down not the weeks or days, but the hours. It was that bad. Now, with a few more months of experience under my belt, a new positive outlook on the whole situation, and amazing memories with teammates, I don't really want it to end. The last time you do anything, whether it be the last game you play, class you go to, or time you see a person, never really holds the significance it deserves. You never really believe it's over. It's not until after the fact that it really hits you that you are done. Sure I'll be back next season (and two more after that), but key faces will be missing and the team will be completely different. It's just kind of sad you know? Oh well I suppose all good things must come to an end and we truly had an amazing season. I can't wait to continue the success next year and earn another ring!


(HIlton Coliseum, Ames, Iowa March 21 vs Lehigh)

So back to how our season ended...We lost to Iowa State yesterday in the first round of the NCAA tournament and although the game didn't turn out the way we wanted to, it was an AWESOME experience. We played in the NCAA TOURNAMENT in front of a sea of 6,738 Iowans decked out in red and yellow to support their Cyclones (a majority of them in their later years; MB called it a "senior citizens' convention"). They all stood up and clapped in unison when the fight song played, roared when Iowa State did anything noteworthy, and chanted "Iowa power" at timeouts. Quite an intimidating venue and quite a fun place to play at. That sums up why we play college basketball in a nutshell and that's why I'm going to miss it for a few months! The countdown to the 2010-11 season begins...

Eat and Eat and Eat

Basketball trips are not good for me. This is one reason why...

This is another reason why...


All we seem to do on basketball trips is eat. We wake up, and go to breakfast. We hang out in our rooms for a little - nap, watch tv, maybe study if we're feeling good, and if we're feeling even better go to the fitness center- and then we eat our pregame meal. We load up the bus for the game, grab some snacks and eat. We play (I use the term loosely), then we have pizza in our locker room. We load up the bus and head back to Lehigh, we have our post game meal waiting for us on our seats. We eat and eat and eat and then eat some more. Do you know what this does to my body?? I like to believe in the concept of moderation, but this just throws me off. I mean how can I deny fresh, cheesy pizza when it's sitting right in front of me wafting smells of deliciousness? And when we stop for Coldstone or Friendly's on our bus rides home, how can I turn down a Like It sized scoop of pure ice cream heaven? I can't and I don't, that's how. I've gotten a LITTLE better recently, but I'm mostly banking on the fact that after basketball ends I will eat better. I MUST eat better. It should be a little bit easier living off of subpar dining hall food for the next month. Somehow old salad bars, pasty grilled chicken, and strange curry noodles just don't compare. Let's hope in a few weeks I'll be on my way towards a healthier, slimmer, more energized new me!

Cornfields and a Whole Lot of Nowhere

(The Freshies and me on our private charter...we're big time)


This must be what celebrities feel like. Wakeup, take a coach to the airport, hop on a private charter and fly to wherever your heart desires. No security, no waiting on runways, no baggage claim. Only drawback is we weren't headed to Bermuda, Hawaii, or Miami to enjoy the sunshine and golden beaches. No, we were headed to Des Moines, Iowa.

So far Iowa is pretty much what I expected Iowa to be: a lot of flat, barren land with really nice people. (It's fitting I guess that the first thing we saw of the state from the airplane window was miles and miles of cornfields) Although Berkeley, California was our OBVIOUS first choice, going to Iowa will definitely be an adventure and I can honestly say I probably would have never made it to the state if it wasn't for the NCAA tourney! For those who don't know, the Lehigh women's basketball team won the PATRIOT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT last weekend (we goin dancin!) and now we are a 13 seed in the NCAA tourney to face 4 seed Iowa State on their home court in Ames, Iowa. HIstory and Vegas odds say we're going to lose big, but did anyone watch the men's games yesterday? 13 seed Murray State beat 4 seed Vanderbilt in the afternoon, AND THEN 14 seed Ohio beat 3 seed Georgetown. Foreshadowing anyone?? I think so. As long as we come out, play our hardest, and earn some respect for the Patriot League in front of Iowa State's 13000 fans, I'll be happy. A win wouldn't be too tough to swallow either though. Let's go LUWB!