How I've Grown this Year

Regarding my blog, I think I've gotten much better on planning out what I'm going to write. On the night of the very first blog assignment, I turned it it at exactly 10:30, not because I wanted it to be perfect but because I had invited my friend over after volleyball to write our blogs together. Bad idea. We ended up by saying we had "writers block" and need to go to the park. This was all at about 6:30. So we went to the park, attempted to play some more volleyball then saw my other friend, Sophia. She goes to the Winter Sports School but played volleyball with me on the high school team this year and in 7th grade. We ended up by talking to her for way too long and didn't get home until about 9:30ish. This little excursion did not cure our writers block, instead stressed us out even more because we didn't have topics for our blogs.

I've also gotten way more comfortable writing blogs and thinking of topics is easier for me. I don't know if getting more comfortable is a good thing or not! I changed my background to fit the blogs theme more and the pictures fit in better too. They are bigger now.

Regarding my life outside of school, a.k.a, volleyball. As you may know, in high school, volleyball is a fall sport but it doesn't last for only one season. Club starts a week or two after high school ends and goes on for about 7 months, starting at the end of fall and going until the middle of May. 

During high school volleyball, we had practice every weekday and games about once a week. Getting in the reps was nice but you would think I would get a lot better but I didn't. I might have even gotten worse. My coach wasn't every strict and never paid that much attention to detail. She wouldn't tell us what we were doing wrong so I was kinda just on my own. I developed some "lazy" habits because she wouldn't discipline us. After high school, we went straight into club, and practiced less times per week but it was much more intense and the coaches were stricter. We had a dress code that everyone had to follow at practice which consisted of, a grey, red or black Club V t-shirt, depending on what day it was (Friday-grey, Wednesday- black, Monday- red), black spandex and black socks. They said if you didn't follow the uniform you wren't allowed to practice but that never happened to anyone on my team. As far as real volleyball goes, I think that I've really improved.

This is not me or anyone else on my club but it is a really good hit and she is playing my position. AND the lady who is hitting, plays for the school my sister goes too :)
Photo courtesy of Kansan

The Last Hurrah

Yesterday was our final tournament. It was Friday/ Saturday tournament at Club V but since we haven't talked about volleyball in a while I'll catch you up. We had a tournament at the LA Convention Center right in downtown Los Angeles. Going into the first game, I thought we weren't going to do very well because a lot of the teams their were local which means they were really good. We ended up by taking 15th out of around 150 which is good, especially for our team. But volleyball is pretty boring to listen to if you don't play so I'll tell you something actually interesting about our tournament. The convention center was right next to the Staples center so walking to our car we got to see all the fun things happening every night. Most of the time it was basketball games or something like that but one of the nights was the MTV Moive awards. After a game, me and three other teammates walked to a restaurant. On the way, we were right next to a HUGE line of people and a bunch of security guards. It was really cool!

Photo courtesy of: VolleyballMag

Our next tournament, the Triple Crown Sports Salt Lake one, we took second. It was a pretty small tournament at the Salt Palace but I was fun to win-ish. Not a lot of teams traveled to this tournament especially not in my division but there was some really good teams who came from California and Texas. When my team wasn't playing, some girls and I watched this really good club, T-Street, play. Their 18s one team had a 6'6 setter who was amazing! She's on the USA youth national volleyball team and she's only a junior. Back to my team, we were the runner ups and got a really cool trophy. They even wrote an article about my team! Read it here.

This past tournament, the AAU power league championship, wasn't a great one but we did okay. We took first in our pool the first day then second the second day. During single elimination play, we took third over all.

I'll miss my team and it will be really weird not driving down to Club V three or more times a week. However for some of my team, we will be together by doing Project V. Project V is a three hour session everyday starting this Monday and going until the end of summer. I would do it too but that would mean I'd have to leave right when I got home and wouldn't get back home at about 8:00.

It was a good season and I''l miss playing with my teammates.

Happy Earth Day Everybody!

Happy Earth Day to my fellow bloggers!

Photo courtesy of 7-Themes

Since my blog is about Park City (or supposed to be....) I thought, why don't we appreciate this beautiful small town we get to live in. Lately I've been feeling very grateful for this little place we call home.

This week there has been a bear spotted in numerous neighborhoods around here. Now this was a big deal in our small town. We even went into lowdown at school. I think there is more than one bear because it would be hard for a huge bear to cross a highway and get from one end of town to the other.

Another earthy thing that has been on my mind lately is "glamping". If you are unfamiliar with the term glamping, it means glam-camping. I really like nature but i'm not a huge fan of roughing it in the woods so this would be a perfect balance for me.

This is "glamping"!
Photo courtesy of Your Fancy Fox

It's a wednesday so you know what that means, the (almost) daily trip down to Woods Cross. Now if you've ever driven though the canyon, it's not too bad. It, in my opinion, is a pretty drive up until you pass downtown. At that point, you're in North Salt Lake and you are surrounded by very unattractive, boring land and a huge oil refinery. I think that this small part of Utah is possibly the ugliest town in the whole state. It makes me sad to see all this going on, especially on Earth Day when the flame was on and they were burring all the excess oil. Not to mention but it always smells AWFUL!

One of the oil refineries in Salt Lake.
Photo courtesy of Utah Sierran

On a happier, more cheerful note, in the town right next to this, which usually, as you would guess, not to be very pretty, it was this time of year. The rain had made the grass grow and be green.

The rain is working wonders all around Utah because, first of all, we're in a drought and second of all, it's making everything pretty. And there's a bonus.... we're getting bears!

SPRANG BREAK!

As you already know, last week was spring break and disappointingly, I did almost nothing that I had said I wanted to do in my Springing into Spring post but that didn't mean I didn't have fun!

I missed Friday at school so we could get there as soon as possible. On Saturday, we went shopping and Sunday was Easter! We were staying at my grandparents on Balboa Island so we just walked to church. My grandparents had left earlier so they could get us spots and my brother and I were right behind them. When we got there, all the seats were taken and there was no room to even stand in the church. We had to stand outside. It was windy, we could barely hear the priest and it was a long service but when we got home, it was fun. All my cousins came over and we looked for Easter eggs and opened our Easter baskets. We have a tradition of getting a couple lottery tickets and I won the most money in my family! A whopping 10 dollars!

After that, my cousin, Colleen, stayed with us for the next couple of days. I was really fun because without her I get kinda lonely and we do more fun things together. We went out to dinner almost every night (and we went to really good places too!). Colleen is in 7th grade but we will be the same age for a little over a month during the summer. Together we went kayaking around the whole island, walked up and down Marine Ave (the main street with all the shops), went to the beach, and made some stops at Balboa Candy.

Balboa Candy Store!
Photo courtesy of OC Mom Blog

My favorite part of break was going to Malibu or "the Bu" as me and Taylor, who I went with called it! We went to dinner at Malibu Farm, right on the pier, and it was super good! We had this stuff called "Broccoli Mash". I looked up the recipe and it's very simple. All you have to do is, make mashed potatoes, as usual, and put your cooked broccoli in a food processor. After, just mix it all together and you've got some broccoli mash.

"The Bu"
Photo courtesy of Community Table

A burger from Malibu Farm
Photo courtesy of Vavawoom

After all that, I had one last travel tournament in Los Angeles at the convention center. Stay tuned for a more detailed post about that one!

Springing into Spring!

Happy Spring Everybody!

Usually spring is one of the worst seasons. The snow hasn't all melted yet, it's kinda cold but also kinda warm, and everyone is waiting for summer. But this year, all the snow is gone, and has been gone for a while, it's practically warm everyday. It rained a couple of days ago and has been pretty gloomy which is good because of our lack of snow this year.

Spring came pretty quick this year and the school year has been going by extra fast. But I feel like it's starting to slow down a lot. Since I've realized how little we have of school less, all I've been wanting is summer to come faster  and thinking that we still have over a quarter of school left hurts my head.

As you may have noticed, I'm really excited for summer, a.k.a going to California. I'm not sure of all my set plans for spring break so far but I do know a couple of things. To start out, Easter is the first sunday of break so we will probably do an easter egg hunt (or not... I'm one of the youngest cousins so everyone might be over it by now). My friend, Hayden, is visiting her grandparents in Ojai, California so we've been planing a "play-date" together. Our itinerary is pretty full! We planned on meeting in Santa Monica, going to the pier then eating lunch on Third Street promenade. We also want to go to Las Angeles and visit the pink wall on Melrose Ave. After we will be on our way to Balboa Island, maybe go to the beach, have dinner, then finish the day off with a Balboa Bar. I also really want to visit my friend Lija (I talk briefly about her in my Craving California Pt. 2 post) but her spring break is a week before mine so it might be hard. Another fun thing I want to do is go to 1000 Steps beach in Laguna. My cousin posted a picture of her in one of the pools there and my brother and I were talking about how cool it looked. We told my dad about it and he knew exactly where we waned to go. That's about as far as I have planned, other than my volleyball tournament in L.A at the end of the week!

Someone taking pictures at the "pink wall"
Photo Courtesy of: GPVS

Photo Courtesy of: Fly.com

A Balboa Bar is basically just a square of ice cream, dipped into chocolate then dipped into a topping of your choice. My favorite is half rainbow sprinkles and   half crushed Oreos.

In the spirit of spring, I thought I should share with you some of the prettiest spring themed cupcake decorations you've probably ever seen! This isn't a recipe but more of decorating ideas.

I know, SO CUTE!
Photo Courtesy of: Taste of Home

Sorry for the randomness of this blogpost but stay tuned for more random posts! :))

1000 Steps Beach, Laguna California.
Photo Courtesy of: Orange County Register

My Volleyball Schedule.

So right after practice I was walking up the stairs at Club V brainstorming what I would write my next blog about. As I saw the big Club V logo upstairs, I thought to myself, why don't I write about my volleyball schedule. I've already told you all about some of my tournaments and games, tryouts, and the teams I've had so it's only normal to say what I do at/ after practice!

Photo Courtesy of: Club V Volleyball

I don't do a lot of super exciting and different things at practice so this is going to be very detailed.

2:25-The last bell rings at school and I go pick up my volleyball bag and sometimes my friend, Audrey's too because she's a lot slower than I am! ;)

2:30- Usually the time when either one of my or Audrey's parents picks us up, usually behind the school so we don't run into too much traffic and it's easer to get on the highway from there.

2:30- (about) 3:10- Wait in the car for a really long time driving through "the land of semi trucks" as we like to call it because there are SO many of them.

3:11-Waiting in a long line behind all the other girls who need to change. There are only two bathrooms and at least, AT LEAST, ten girls who need to get changed.

3:13- Still waiting....

3:14- Waiting, Waiting Waiting...

3:15- I'm usually in the bathroom right now changing for practice!

3:20- All of my team is on our court, warming up. Usually just serving and passing.

3:30- PRACTICE STARTS!!!

5:30- When practice is supposed to end...

5:45- When practice actually ends

5:50- My team waits in the workout room for Whitney, the coach, to start our workouts and re-hydrating.

5: 51- Doing the workouts!

6:15- Our workouts are only after-practice ones to we don't typically go for very long. Done by around this time.

6:16- Goes upstairs and I take off my knee pads and volleyball shoes and changes into sweats and jesus sandals :)

6:20- Finally leaving Club V!

After all that, I get home pretty late, shower, eat dinner, finish homework, then (my favorite part) going to sleep!

Repeat every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! Actually, Mondays and Fridays are a different story. On Monday, we usually get there really earlier because of early release. This means I don't have to wait in line and I do a little homework before practice actually starts. Now friday is really different. Practice isn't really practice but more of a big scrimmage. All of the select teams play each other for a couple of hours. Before that starts, I like to go to position training. That is just getting reps on your specific position for about two hours. On Fridays I get home later than usual which is totally fine because it's FRIDAY!!! and all I really need to do is catch up on my Pretty Little Liars episodes.

Luck O' the Irish Brownie

HAPPY  ST.  PATRICK'S  DAY!!!!

My family, especially my mom, is really in to keeping traditions but we don't having any fun ones for this holiday.
I'm not a big fan of St. Patricks Day but I do love brownies. St. Patricks Day isn't my favorite because (one) I don't understand why we celebrate it, (two) I don't have a lot of green, I wore an army green colored jacket today and I was barely green... (three) I don't like to be pinched, and (four) I also don't like corned beef and cabbage.
This specific recipe reminds me of the mint brownies from kneaders and that reminds me going to lunch with my friends which reminds me having fun, and these brownies now remind me of St. Patricks day so I guess I do like St. Patricks Day!

if looking at this doesn't make your mouth water, something is wrong with your taste buds!
Photo Courtesy of: Your Homebased Mom

Luck O' the Irish Brownie Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 (1 ounce) squaresunsweetened chocolate
  1 cup margarine, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
  2 tablespoons milk, or as needed
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract
  • 6 drops green food coloring
  • 1 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Melt the unsweetened chocolate in a cup or small bowl in the microwave. Stir at 15 second intervals until chocolate is smooth. Allow to cool slightly. Transfer to a large bowl, and stir in the margarine and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Stir in the flour just until blended. Pour the batter into the prepared dish and spread evenly.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the surface appears dry and the sides are beginning to pull away from the edges of the pan, 20 to 25 minutes. The brownies may look more like cake and may jiggle slightly in the center- this is normal. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan set over a wire rack.
4. To make the middle layer, beat 1/2 cup of butter with confectioners' sugar in a large bowl using an electric mixer. Add milk as needed to get a spreadable consistency. Stir in the peppermint extract and green food coloring. Spread this over the cooled pan of brownies. Refrigerate for 30 minutes
5. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave chocolate chips with the butter until melted. Stir every 20 seconds until chocolate is smooth. Stir in vanilla and then pour over the chilled brownies and quickly spread to cover the surface. Cool again until firm, about 10 minutes, then cut into squares and serve.

The actual recipe.

If you need a St. Patricks Day dinner recipe: I think this is the actual recipe my family uses to make corned beef and cabbage.

Craving California Pt.3 Coronado

Coronado Island, or just Coronado because technically it's not an island, is an "island" or peninsula off of San Diego. On one side of the island, you can see the skyline of San Diego and on the other an endless ocean.

Instead of sharing with you what I usually do in Coronado, I thought I would say what you can do if you decide to go. Here are 10 things you can do-

1. Go with your friends. Any vacation is always better when your not alone. You may not be alone in the first place but somethings are more fun doing with your friends then your parents.

2. Celebrate. Chose any occasion to celebrate and throw a party. Last summer was both my grandparents 70th birthday and we made a week of it, we eat dinners, got matching t-shirts, went to the beach, etc. We've also celebrated Matt (my brother) and Hailey's (my sister) sweet sixteen on the island along with many 4th of Julys.

3. Rent or buy a house. Although staying in the world famous Hotel Del on the beach may be fun, staying in a house gives you much more freedom. We've staying in hotels and in houses on Coronado and I prefer the house by a lot. (and anyways, the Hotel Del is haunted!) My grandparents own another house in Coronado. It's super cute with a bright red door and a bright red Volkswagen Beetle or "bug" always parked outside. We barley drive it, it's mostly just for show. :)

4. If you're not a big beach person, no problem, there's a ton of other things to do. You can cruise around the island on your bike. Go near the bay and under the bridge, looking onto the San Diego skyline or bike on the boarder of the Navy Base.

5. If you like golf or tennis, there are courts and courses too.

6. Dinner (a little self explanatory). My personal favorites are, Peohe's, Miquels, and the Brigantine.

7. Concert in the park. My family has been going to these for about 12 years. They're every sunday and good place to dance with your grandparents!

8. Go to Point Loma. This one isn't technically in Coronodo either but it's close enough. I'm not even sure what it is or fun things you do there but I do know that it has a really cool lighthouse/ museum and you get a pretty lookout onto Coronado.

9. I've only done this once but it is probably one of my of my favorite, most recent memories. After dinner one night, my family went to the beach, there were about three fire pits and a ton of chocolate, marshmallows and gram crackers. We spent the rest of the night roasting marshmallows and eating s'mores. (This was not a spur of the moment decision, we had this planned weeks in advance.)

10. And obviously... GO TO THE BEACH! If you're bored, soak up some sun, build a dip castle or play in the waves.


If you ever find yourself in the area, check this site out to see more fun things to do in California!

At the beach in front of The Hotel Del Coronado.

Cousins and grandparents and brothers and s'mores!

Me and my siblings on the Naval Base side of Coronado.

Me and my mama on the beach.

The house and us ten years ago.

Craving California pt. 2

Photo Courtesy of: Island Seashell

As I mentioned before my grandparents live on Balboa Island. They've lived there my whole life so it's like a permanent vacation home for me and my family. I've been going to visit them every summer, Thanksgiving, and spring break. These grandparents are my dads parents. I call them Grandma and Papa Beach because they live at the beach! I'm one of the youngest on this side of the family so I didn't make up the names but my oldest cousin did. The names works because they live right on the water.

Me, my siblings, and Grandma and Papa Beach

My Papa is a fisherman. Every so often he will go out on the boat and go fishing. He used to take all the kids with him sometimes too. When My sister was about 8, he took her, my cousin, Drew, and my dad deep sea fishing in Alaska. They saw tons of whales and even watched them bubble feed. He's also taken my brother, dad and Drew fishing in Panama a couple of times. (My other cousin, Scott, who's Matts age, never wanted to go to Panama with them because he was afraid of leaving his home country!) I've only been fishing a couple of times (mostly because I prefer not to be on a rocking boat waiting for a fish for a long period of time. And I don't necessarily enjoy the smell of fish...) When I did go with my Papa, I remember having to gut the smaller fish. Gutting a fish is basically just cleaning it and you have to scrape off all the scales. EW.
Whenever he would come home from the long fishing trips, you can always expect at least a of week of fish for dinner and I am not a fan of fish. Like at all. I'm kinda weird in regards to my taste in fish. Most people don't mind it cooked but can't stand it raw, I'm the opposite. I love sushi and sashimi, especially when it's freshly caught.

A couple of pictures from Balboa/ Newport:

The view from outside the shopping mall.

Me and Hailey, my sister, taking a picture next to the Balboa mural

One of my friends who moved to Encinitas
but always comes to visit me in Newport.

Under the pier

Another picture of the sunset.

From the ferris wheel!

A pit stop at the candy store before going to the beach.

A "world famous" hippo cookie from Dads Donut Shop.

and another one...

Looking out on to the pavilion from in front of my grandparents house.
It's a sunset... shocker?

My cousin, Colleen, and I on the ferris wheel on Balboa Peninsula after the beach.

and another.

When our Papa took us fishing.

Hailey, Elise and I selling lemonade on the board walk on Balboa.

Craving California

Lately I've been wanting summer to come back more than anything now. Probably because this winter is pretty lame. I mean, where's the snow?! I've been reminiscing about one of my favorite trips I've taken. A couple years ago was my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary so we all took a trip to celebrate. These grandparents (my dads parents) live in Newport Beach, California on Balboa Island. Balboa Island is one of the places the Catalina Flyer leaves from. The boat ride is about 80 minutes but so is waiting in line to board the ship and to leave the ship and stops on Catalina Island.

The Catalina Flyer leaving from Newport
Photo Courtesy of: Explore California Pass

Once we got there, we were staying in these cute condos on the Avalon side of the island. Each family got golf carts to get around the island because the walk from our condo to the main part of the city was pretty far. I think the reason I liked going to Catalina o much was because of everything that we did (and that I got to do it all with my cousins, of course!). On our first day, we went down into summaries and took a ride to see all the fish and sea creatures off the island. We also went kayaking and zip lining. My grandma was really looking forward to zip lining through the tress but chickened out before getting on the first part which, in my opinion was definitely the scariest part. We also all went in the water balls a.k.a "human hamster ball". And to top the whole trip off, we ended with a great hike to the best view you can get from Catalina then a dinner to celebrate my grandparents wedding anniversary.

Photo Courtesy of: Trip Advisor

This was my second time staying on Catalina. When I was really little, probably five or so, my grandparents (the same ones) took my cousin, Mckenna and I on trip here. One, and the only, random things I remember about that trip was walking into one of the shops and my grandpa telling us we could pick out any souvenir we wanted. We both ended up by getting one of those plush animal purses you can buy anywhere.

Stay tuned for more about my California experiences and trips!

Park City

Park City, Utah, the home of the Sundance Film Festival, the greatest snow on earth, and me! Not to mention but, a couple of years ago it was featured in Outdoor Magazine for being the best town ever. 

These are all photos taken in Park City, near or on Main Street.
Photo Courtesy of: Outdoor Magazine

According to them, we live in the best town ever so you would think it wouldn't be that hard to find something to do. 


On saturday, my friend, Taylor, walked over to my house then a little later we went to pick up our other friend, Blaire, at her house. Blaire lives in Silver Creek and if you know any thing about Silver Creek, they just put in a new restaurant called Jaffles. On our way back, my mom took us try them because she had heard that they were good too. We each got one but shared them all. I didn't like them.

Photo Courtesy of: Adobe Park City

Sooo that was one thing we did for the day, but what else? We wrote on pieces of paper stuff we wanted to do for the night but that didn't work out so we decided to take the bus all around Park City! My house isn't close to a bus stop so we had my mom drive us to the nearest one at in front of my neighborhood. We didn't know when it was going to come or where it was going because none of us really ride the bus that much. It ended up by taking us to Redstone and we did nothing. Just walked to the next bus stop across from Walmart. We chased down the bus and the same thing, we didn't know where it was going. From there we went practically to Salt Lake then up to Main Street. It's winter so there are a lot of tourists in town but we were a little late for Sundance (because that was about 1 month ago) and we got to meet people from all around the world, literally.
On Main Street, we walked up and down and tried to get dinner somewhere but the waits were going to be too long. By the end of the night we were freezing because of the snow storm and very tired. We took the bus home but I think it was the wrong bus because we got lost... my mom picked us up somewhere, it was dark so I couldn't really see where we were. Thats where sending your pin to your parents comes in handy!

Main Street, Park City, Utah
Photo Courtesy of: New York Times

Colorado Crossroads

This volleyball season has brought a lot of exciting adventures such as COLORADO!! My friend, Audrey, her dad, my dad and I left on Friday morning for our Denver, Colorado tournament, the Colorado Crossroads.

At the beginning of break I had done nothing exciting because I was preparing for our first out of state tournament of the season. The team I'm on this year will go to two or three this year depending on how well we do. 
The drive down there was pretty boring and the best way to pass time is listening to music and count firework signs. If you've even driven to Denver you know how many firework signs you will pass. I only started counting after I had already seen a couple but I ended up with about nine signs. Nine. That's a lot.

SO CROWDED!

The first night I was there I felt really uncomfortable and I didn't really know why. It was really dark outside and I had never been to Denver before so I wasn't quite sure where I was. On our way to dinner we got lost and ended up driving for about an hour when the restaurant was only 20 minutes away. Once we got back to the hotel and went to sleep I felt much better! :) Our first game wasn't until about 3 on Saturday so my team and I ran around the hotel bothering our coach.

We just ate breakfast in the hotel but it was so gross. They only served omelets and muffins. Last year, at the Far Westerns Qualifier tournoment in Reno, I ate eggs and got food poisoning so I quickly opted out of the omelets. The muffins were not very appetizing either. I had to convince myself that there were nuts in the blubbery muffins because they tasted crunchy for some reason.
My team loves Chick-fil-A so we had lunch there, then went to the convention center in downtown Denver. After the second day, We went to Olive Garden and I can't stand Olive Garden. I've only been there twice and they were both at tournaments. I ordered the same thing as one of my teammates so I could make sure I wouldn't get sick but with just my luck I got food poisoning again. I was staying in the hotel throwing up for the rest of the night.


The actual tournament-
I had know idea what the convention center would look so you could say I was impressed. Most facilities we play in are usually just very big gyms with lost of courts and that's about it. Walking into this one was very different. First of all, it was HUGE. I'm surprised we actually found our court. Just imagine being surrounded by about 3,000 screaming girls and over 70 courts, and not to mention they're all tall. This isn't including all the girls tall parents either. I wasn't just surrounded by people though. Walking into the gym, Gatorade gave every player energy chews and leaving protein shakes. All around were vendors selling socks, t-shirts, sweatshirts, thousands of headbands, face wash, bathing suits, etc and even CARS! 

We ended up by doing very well the first day. My team broke pool (which just means we won all of our games during pool play). The second day of playing we won our first game then lost the last three. On the last day, We were put into an average pool. The first game in the set we lost, the second we won, then we lost the third. Since it was a single elimination day, we went home that morning. My team got 55th place which actually isn't too bad because it was a national tournament.
If you want to see what the other teams at the tournament places, look at the results.

The entrance to the convention center we played at.

We were in Colorado the week that the snow hit hard so we from a hot sweaty gym to a snow storm. At first it felt nice but then my toes were numb because I forgot my boots!

And to all a Good Night!

Check out my last post to be all caught up on this story- Merry Christmas to All!

It's Christmas!!!
I am really close to all my cousins and grandparents but not so much for the rest of my family. My mom's side is very confusing- I don't even understand but I'm going to attempt to explain. My great Grandpa has three daughters, Rae Deanne (my grandma), Kae and Trisha.  Rae Deanne is married to Skip and they have three kids. My family. Kae isn't married and has never been.  She has no kids and lives in San Diego. Trisha was married to a guy and the had a couple kids. One of her kids has about eight of her own and the others have 2.  Her son is married to a women with a boy about my age. My great aunt Trisha got divorced then remarried Ruthie who has no kids of her own. My grandpas side of the family is confusing as well but at least I know all their names. My grandpa and his family no longer talks to his brother but they do his ex-wife and their kids. My grandpa's other brother in about 10 years younger and his wife has a son that is my age. Together, they have four kids, two of them are identical twins who you can't tell apart. My grandpa is very close with someone whose almost like his sister- she's adopted but not... And not to mention but my great grandpa just got married. Did you get that?

Only a small part of the whole family. 

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday and having my confusing family there always makes it better! Usually we travel from house to house seeing our families and always end up with my Grammy and Gramps at dinner time. Christmas dinner is a big deal for us. The usual attendees are, my aunts, uncles, and cousins (and an occasional NFL football player). When it came time for dinner, the typical people were there along with Stephan Taylor, his friend, and all my cousins other grandparents and cousins, it was a full table.

My mom woke up on Christmas with a terrible pain in her stomach. She went to the emergency room to get it checked out. They had thought she had a kidney stone and the doctor there said she’d bet her whole paycheck that it was. They ran some test and received the new that she had a kidney stone, bad timing, don't you think?

It's never a family gathering without some weird tradition. While waiting for desert to be served, we always sing the 12 Days of Christmas song as a family. Every two people are given a paddle and expected to sing when it gets to the number on their card. Watch the video to see how we do it.

Keep in mind this is only the last part of the song.

Check out my last post to be all caught up on this story- Merry Christmas to All!

Merry Christmas to All!

My family always spends Christmas at my grandparents but we're not the only ones. All of my other aunts, uncles, cousins and great-grandparents join us as well.

Our Christmas Routine

The couple days leading up to Christmas are always the most eventful. We usually go to the Railroad Park with my cousins and grandparents to ride the trains around the park and see the lights. Another family tradition is seeing Snowballs house (what my sister has named it). Its a regular house in a regular neighborhood but around he holidays, it draws in quite the crowd. By the time were done with all these festivities, it's Christmas Eve.

A house very similar to Snowballs.
Photos Courtesy of: Sweet Fine Day

This year was kinda an odd one. We arrived to my grandparents a couple days later than usual and the next day was my Great Grandpa's marriage celebration. Yes, my Great Grandpa. My Great Grandma, Nana, died about ten years ago and my Great Grandpa, Bubba, recently started online dating. That's where he met Di and a couple of years later, they tied the knot. On the 23rd of December, we celebrated their marriage as a whole family. As my Bubba is a 95 year old man and he couldn't handle having two huge parties in the span of three days so he bumped his Christmas to the 23rd and combined it with the marriage. My great grandpa's wedding celebration, was pretty busy. Most of my family was there (meaning great aunts, second cousins, and people I didn't even know I'm related to). The morning of the 23rd, my immediate family came over to my grandparents house, where we stay and helped get ready for the party. Everyone else arrived a coupe hours later. It was catered by one of my favorite lunch places in Arizona.  We ate then went right to the marriage. The officiant started the wedding and it was over after about ten minutes. Later that afternoon, Bubba handed out his gifts and everyone else exchanged the presents. Most of the kids in my family are pretty young and they all got, bikes, barbie cars, scoots, etc. Meanwhile, the older kids didn't have nearly as much fun opening up money.


The 24th of December was an uneventful day in the lives of me and my family. We woke up, still not in the Christmas mood but ready to get there. The majority of Christmas Eve was preparing for the next day. My sister took my brother, Jack, Ben, and Cole (my cousins) to see Annie then directly from the movies, we went to church. My family usually opens all our presents on the 24th then the Santa gifts on Christmas but this year, we didn't open anything on Christmas Eve and waited until Christmas. Every Christmas Eve, me and my sister watch the 12 Days of Christmas on ABC family's 12 Dates of Christmas and sleep in the study. Goodnight....

Stay tuned for more about the Hancock Family Christmas!

Christmas Calories Don't Count!

Every year since I was one, my Grandma comes over to our house to make gingerbread houses with us. This is a tradition that started when my mom was very little and her mom would make homemade gingerbread to decorate. When we moved away from Arizona and came to Utah, my grandma flew out to keep up the tradition, until this year. My family chose to try Christmas cookies, which we usually make but on Christmas Eve. My Grammy has a special cookie and frosting recipe we use every year (twice a year now!).

My Grammy's Recipe

2 cups flour

Photo Courtesy of Northwest Church

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter (softened)

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon milk

1. 
   
2. Sift together, flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. 
3. Cream butter and sugar together. 
4. Add in egg, vanilla and milk. 
5. Slowly add in flour mixture, make sure well combined. 
6. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. (can also be frozen) 
7. Roll dough out on floured surface to 1/8  or 1/4 inch thickness
8. Use cookie cutters to cut into shapes. 
9. Place on parchment lined baking sheet.
10.  Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 7-8 minutes, just until edges start to turn golden.
11.  Let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before removing to racks to cool completely.

Photo Courtesy of Wicked Good Kitchen

Because I didn't make gingerbread houses with my grandma this year, I thought it was only necessary that I did with someone else. My friend, Sophia, invited me to her house to make some with her and her sister. We stated out well but didn't let the icing dry before putting on the toppings and it collapsed in the making. Meanwhile, Natalie and her friend took their time and didn't add random gummies and gluten free pretzels.

Sophia, Morgan and my gingerbread house vs. Natalie and Carleigh's.

You can never have enough cookies during the holidays!

My friend Gabby and I at a holiday party.
Photo Credits: My mom

Blaire covered in cookie frosting and decorations!

Christmas parties is one of my favorite parts of the holiday season. Every year my mom and I throw a mother-daughter cookie exchange and this year it was the 4th annual party with almost all the same girls. Another holiday party I attended was a cupcake decorating party for one of the clubs I'm a part of.

Recipe courtesy of Chocolate Chocolate and More with a few moderations.