i've got a golden ticket...

Thank you to my lovely roommate Elizabeth who gave me a Golden Ticket for my Golden Birthday! Thank you to all of you who texted, called, tweeted, gchatted, blogged and used other creative ways of wishing me a Happy Birthday! I love you all!

our first win...

tonight i was so proud of my jv george mason high school girls. we had our first scrimmage and won 8-4. they played an awesome game - full of teamwork, lots of communication, and great passing and catching.. looking forward to a wonderful season to come..


on a sidenote - anyone up for settlers of catan or other games this weekend?

March Madness but Not Because of Basketball

March is one of my favorite months. Mostly because of my birthday, but still St. Patrick’s day, Spring, the sunshine, Lacrosse and so many other things to be happy about…

                                                             

Sunday night I submitted my application for the McLean Bible Church Future Leaders Program – one-year leadership program is designed to develop the next generation of church leaders with the hope that many will transition into permanent employees of MBC/Frontline. It was a remarkable experience to fill out the application and reflect on God’s glory and the many blessings of the past 5 years.

Since moving to northern VA, I have been actively involved in McLean Bible and truly love every moment I spend in fellowship, and community. I am anxious and excited to see what the future might hold with MBC and the Future Leaders program. I have my first phone interview today at 3 and I couldn’t be more ecstatic.

On another note, lacrosse is off to a great start… Our first game in on Monday, March 8^th at 7:30pm… this week will mean tough love to get us into shape and ready to go. Varsity has till next Thursday, so JV will really need to step it up aka I will need a great plan of attack. I am convinced the 8^th graders are very scared of me, so today I will take a new approach. Maybe promise them uniforms or something. The rest of the schedule will be posted once finalized… any love and support would be appreciated J

As far as my job, things are going well, this month I will get an Annual Review, which will be interesting to hear feedback. I have some feedback from colleagues and indirect managers on LinkedIn but I am excited to see where I stand on the performance scale.

The countdown till my birthday has begun. I am so excited this year to spend time with friends all weekend. Events will be announced in the upcoming week, but Saturday night will be a joint High School throw back party with Lee Brooks! I already know 24 is going to be a great year!

America's First Sport

today starts the 2010 george mason lacrosse season. it will be my second year as the head coach for the jv team. i am so excited and nervous. new girls. new challenges. new opportunities. lacrosse has been something i have been passionate about since my eight grade year and to be able to share that passion by teaching the young women at mason is amazing. after jmu and not playing for four years i realized how much i missed the sport. i am excited for the season and to see what will develop this year.. i hope everyone will come out to a game.

last years team

womens lacrosse timeline:  

• 1636 - First documentation of the game by Jesuit missionary
• 1794 - Match between Native Americans creates a basic set of rules
• 1834 - Newspaper report covers a demo of the sport in Montreal
• 1876 - Game demonstrated in England for Queen Victoria
• 1890 - First women’s game at St. Leonards in Scotland
• 1913 - Game is played with 12 players for the first time
• 1926 - First game in the US is held at Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore, MD
• 1931 - United States Women’s Lacrosse Association, first national governing body for women’s lacrosse, is established
• 1933 - First USWLA National Tournament
• 1940s, 1950s, 1960s - U.S. National Touring teams travel, compete and conduct National Clinics.
• 1971- The USWLA maintains rules and governing committee for umpires Association for Intercollegiate Athletics (AIAW) for Women founded
• 1972- International Federation of Women’s Lacrosse Association (IFWLA) and Title IX formed
• 1979 - First plastic stick entered the women’s game
• 1981 - Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) founded
• 1981 - First Schoolgirl Division included in the National Tournament
• 1980s & 1990s - IFWLA World Cups held in England, USA, Scotland and Japan
• 1981-1982 - AIAW Championships for women’s lacrosse
• 1982 - First NCAA D1 National Championship, with 105 total college lacrosse teams
• 1992 – Rosabelle Sinclair inducted into Hall of Fame
• 1998 - Formation of US Lacrosse; USWLA is one of eight national organizations that become part of the unified governing body
• 2003 -First combined U19 at Towson University, USA
• 2005 -IFWLA World Cup hosted by US Lacrosse, Annapolis, USA, experiences record
• Attendance of 6,820 at a women’s lacrosse game
• 2005 - The US becomes the only country to mandate protective eyewear usage for all girls and women in lacrosse
• 2006 - Women’s NCAA Rules written for college game
• 2006 -US Lacrosse Level 1 Lacrosse Coaches’ Certification Program launched
• 2007 - IFWLA U19 World Championship, Ontario, Canada. NCAA D1 Championships and US Lacrosse National Tournament held over same weekend in PA. The NCAA D1 semifinals in women’s lacrosse had a record  attendance of 6,529
• 2008- The National Tournament celebrates its 75^th anniversary, making it the oldest and most celebrated women’s lacrosse tournament in the country
• The Future - The women’s game is experiencing unprecedented growth. There are
• 477 college and college club teams and over 1400 high school teams in the US. With this growth comes great responsibility and the Women’s Division of US Lacrosse is focused on umpire and coach recruitment, retention and development in order to safely maintain the integrity of the sport as thousands of new girls pick up a stick for the first time each year. Our past helps guide our future, as we all are the culture-keepers of the great game of women’s lacrosse.

® courtesy of uslacrosse.org

where do I begin...

after a threat of being removed from the blog line up.. i have returned to the blog community. i thought real life updates and being in others blogs categorized me as updating but i was informed that was incorrect thought...

so a quick overview of the past two months..

december: was full of vacation, traveling, parties and general enjoyment. i was on a "use it or loose it" vacation policy with work so starting the 17th i was officially on vacation until the 4th of january..an early christmas present to myself.. i slept in, relaxed and headed down to north carolina to spend the holidays with my immediate family. a warm christmas without snow was not what i grew up with but it was a nice change. i enjoyed cooking with my mom and seeing my brothers and just getting to know my dad on that adult level that i never thought would come. its a funny feeling when the relationship with your parents changes.. its hard to explain but im sure most of you get it.. a mutual respect of some sort. i spent the next few days in the richmond area - board games, karaoke, and laughter all around

january: new years was off to an interesting start (we'll leave it at that) but i enjoyed my time with the friends i went with.

the rest of january was about making choices and learning to live with them -- learning and growing from the experiences i have been presented with and truly enjoying time with friends and building those friendships.

february: has been off to a great start.. full of laughter and joy.

Mom & Dad Would Be Proud..

Just in case you haven't heard yet this is how my alma matter, James Madison University, kicked off December Finals Week. - Yes this is the brand new 30 million dollar library that we should be using to study in but of course we don't.



JMU DUKES!! Never change!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

This past weekend I visited one of my college roommates Samantha and her family. Sammie and I have known each other since our Junior year and the memories we have created have been truly amazing. I was a honored to be apart of wedding. A shoutout to Stuart, one of the most standup men I know. For my second trip to Denver, I was truly going to get some loving from Mr. Reid Carsten Siffring. (below)

He is the most precious child and just has a wonderful spirit. After I had received enough hugs, kisses and naps with the little one, it was time for Sammie and I to have some girl time.

Although a short trip Sammie and I were able to enjoy some pampering, go to the movies, and enjoy some Sushi which all usually happen when we are together. I love spending time with her and just catching up.

Denver is the most beautiful place to visit and despite how many times you see them the Rockies are just breathtaking.

 

All in all it was a wonderful trip and I look forward to going back soon whenever that might be. Although its sometimes hard to have friends in different time zones, its nice to know you have family all across the world.

I have a super busy week, but look forward to a post from the upcoming weekend.