Hello FRIENDS! I am blessed to have all of you in my life...it has been a remarkable year, and has flown by so fast. So many things have happened, the only thing I wish is that it could have s l o w e d down a bit more so that I could soak it all in! Here is an update of things I've done and people I've gotten to spend time with in 2011.
In JANUARY, I found out I would be participating in 3 Peaks, 3 Weeks. December 2010 found me applying for the trip sort of on a whim, and I quickly put together a submission video and application. I was excited to be chosen to say the least.
FEBRUARY saw me starting up soccer season again full swing! I coached 3 teams, a U9 Boys team, U10 girls team, and U13 Girls team. More on these crazy kids later. I also was living in a house with some great girls, and we ran out of oil for our heat more than once. It was cold when we ran out. That could be an understatement.
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Me waiting, in my indoor gear, while our oil tank gets refilled.
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| 3 of the girls I lived with over the course of the year...missing Kelsey and Meesh! |
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MARCH was a month where I worked a lot, coaching, and then at the end of the month went to the Grandest of all Canyons with my good friend Janel and her cousin Katie. We had a great time hiking around in the beautiful canyon, and spent some time in Flagstaff, Sedona, and at a really cool Brewhouse in Phoenix before we left to come home! The Grand Canyon is a place I definitely want to return to.
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| At the top of the Trail at the start of our 4 day trek. |
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| Somewhere in the middle of our hike... |
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| Scramblin' |
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| Post hike, absorbing the view from the rim of the canyon. |
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APRIL saw soccer season winding down. My older team had a challenging spring, but are an absolute spectacular group to work with! The academy kiddos (8, 9, and 10 year olds) are always a hoot and it's refreshing to see so much joy from players when they're out on the field!
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| Action shot |
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| Crazy, Amazing, '97s. |
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| My parents and Chewbacca came for Easter! |
MAY...Carl graduated from Macalester College. Not that anyone is surprised, the kid is smart! He's actually in Rostok, Germany right now on a post-grad scholarship doing research on plants at a botanical garden and enjoying life.
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| Awwww, family. |
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Me with Carl and the proof.
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| Grams, Me, and Mom. No resemblance. |
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JUNE was pretty relaxing. I went up to DC to watch some soccer, which was rad. My two fabulous cousins Kathleen and Peter went to the game with me. The US Men's National Team won, 2-0 in the Gold Cup Quarterfinals.
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| Nice body paint, Pete. |
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I also read some good books over the summer. Highly recommend "Cutting for Stone", "A Glass Castle" "Half Broke Horses, and "Little Bee". All very engaging reads.
JULY is always, always family reunion time. I look forward to the summers every other year when my mom's side of the family gathers together for fun times. What a FABULOUS group of people. I love every single one of them.
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| Goofy Family Photo 2011 |
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Skarbek Family Photo 2011: Christmas Card Quality!
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| Thanks Henderson cousins for introducing me to "Kan Jam". |
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Carl and I then took a cool trip into the Boundary Waters of Minnesota. We spent 5 days canoeing around some lakes with a bazillion mosquitoes. We had a ton of fun, saw some great sunsets, and got some good brother sister bonding time in before Carl left for Germany!
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| Happy Paddler. |
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| Packing up the Bear Barrel. |
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| Sunset on a lake....peaceful. |
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AUGUST was all about summer and soccer. I sat on some ice to raise money for the Shalom Project, an outreach mission based in my church, Green Street UMC. It's hot here in Winston-Salem, and in August I feel like I am constantly sunburned if I don't put 70spf on, and I sweat like crazy. One week was spent getting my National Diploma (a coaching certification), and I was the only female in the group! I got a new team, 99 LT White, who are super fun to coach, and are a team of great kids. We won our preseason tournament to start the fall!
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Sitting on an ice sofa for a good cause!
Hanging out with my neighbor Nick, and The Great Dog MAURA. |
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| '99s...a truly spectacular group of goofy and great players! |
SEPTEMBER was a lot of time on the road for coaching. I spent a lot of time in Charlotte, got to visit Asheville twice, and listened to a lot of "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me!" and "Car Talk" in my trusty Honda Fit. I also played some soccer with my Hispanic women's team, United FC. I am an honorary Hispanic.
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| '99s go 4-0 to win in Asheville! |
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| Post-game BOJANGLES! |
OCTOBER saw the weather turn "cold" here in Winston Salem. Again, soccer dominated the month.
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| 8am game. Obviously not prepared with the appropriate attire... |
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| My FAVORITE place to go warm up and catch up with friends. |
NOVEMBER started with soccer, and ended with family. 3 of my teams were finalists in very competitive tournaments, and Thanksgiving was spent with parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins in D.C.
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| '95 Blue team, a SPECIAL group I got to coach for 3 years! |
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| '97s went 2-0-2 in Greensboro Cup to be finalists! |
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| '03 (yes, '03) Academy Girls went 3-1 to be finalists at CUFC Cup! |
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| The fam Skyping with Carl on Thanksgiving...from Oakton, VA to Germany! |
DECEMBER has been a whirlwind. Indoor training for soccer, getting in some practice hikes, working at the Soccerplex, playing on 2 teams for the winter, packing, and preparing for my trip! I look forward to this coming week with friends coming into town, and then being at home in Louisville, KY for Christmas. In this Advent season, we (I) always get distracted by what I will call "Commercial Christmas". At church today we prayed these words:
"...our minds are distracted by the season,
instead of focused on your coming..."
It was a great reminder for me that while I am preparing to head home, battling crowds in Target, baking cookies, and putting up a Christmas tree, this whole SEASON was built up around an EVENT...the arrival of a SAVIOR. Whether you believe Jesus is a savior or not, I am sure you can agree that our culture has a way of distorting things to make us misplace our attention, and forget what we are actually celebrating in the first place. So I am doing my best to remember Jesus in everything leading up to CHRISTMAS.
It's been a crazy amazing year...I have learned a lot, had a ton of fun, and spent some quality time with lots of different really cool people of all ages. I already know 2012 is going to start out of the gate quickly, as I leave for KENYA on January 2nd. I cannot wait!
Thank you friends and family for your love, support, kindness, and guidance. I appreciate each and every one of you. And remember, anything given to support 3 Peaks 3 Weeks this month is matched 2 to 1. Go ahead and donate!
Love, Peace, Grace, and Blessings,
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| Or Skarbs...or coach...however you know me! |
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