New Addition to 620 Hermosa Ave!

Jaws aka lots of other names (He was not happy about me taking pictures of him!)

What do you call a fish with no i's? Fsh!! (It's not a very funny joke written down, so tell it to someone else - like Kiki - and it will be a lot better!)

As another anniversary present to each other, Scott and I went and bought a fish today!!!!!! Haha yes, I am actually that excited about getting a fish! The apartment gets kind of lonely sometimes and it's nice to have some company :) Scott and I have gone through some names but haven't officially decided on one. Here are some of what we've come up with (just fyi, Scott would really like to use a gangsta name, and I would prefer something ferocious sounding! You'll see that pretty clearly when you see the choices we've come up with.) Jaws, Snoop Fish, Notorious F.I.S.H., Masta F, Killer. Let me know if you've got some suggestions! Anyway, we'll call him Jaws for now because it's the easiest to type. Jaws, is a male beta fish. He has a pink body and blue-ish, purple-ish fins. He obviously already knows that I'm his mom because he stares at me from his tank and follows me around when I'm walking around near his bowl. He also really enjoys watching ESPN.

Haha, yes, I know I am a total dork, but Scott and I were excited to get a pet and that's all we can afford/all that's allowed in the apartment. I know everyone is very excited to meet him!!!! He is also excited to meet the fam, especially his sisters Sunny and Maya :) - Hopefully, he and Maya get along ok!

Also, Scott has already taught him some tricks. Stay, dance, give the rock, noggin, etc. :)

Getting ready to put him into his new home!

Pouring - I had to really concentrate!

Scott with his new buddy!

Me and my new friend

Some Wins, Finally!

Last weekend I played in a USA qualifier tournament with Lauren Paolini, one of my best friends from UT! Not only was it super fun to play with her but we ended up finishing 9th in the tournament! Just 2 wins away from qualifying to play in some international tournaments! On Saturday, it was pool play so we played 3 matches. We lost the first two, barely! And finally won the last match of the day! Pao and I hadn't even practiced together before this tournament so the fact that we went to 3 games in our first match and almost won, and played a tough second match (it was the number 1 team in our pool) was pretty great for us. 

Sunday morning, we played an older craftier tea

m (I actually played against one of the women in my previous tournament). They were a great team but Pao and I were able to win the first game and make a late comeback in the second game to win our first match. In our second match, we played two women who have been playing in the AVP main draw for awhile. The first game was 25-23 and the second game was 24-22!!! It was such a bummer that we lost but it was nice to know that I'm on the right path and not crazy for chasing after my beach volleyball dream!

My mom was able to fly in for the tournament and some hang out time and Scott was also able to come and watch! It was so fun to have people there! Poor Scott had to sit out in the sun all day Saturday before he pitched Saturday night, but he ended up pitching great! Thank goodness! On Sunday, we all got smart and Scott went and bought an umbrella so that he and my mom could enjoy it while Pao and I played. A

nd we got to join them in the shade during our breaks!

Another side note... My friend Cayley ended up playing the same team that I did (if Pao and I had won we would have played each other!). She and her partner Christal Morrison ended up losing a heart breaker in the 3rd game, 16-14. And, Pao's friend from the Indoor National team and a girl I played with in USA volleyball, Ale

xis Crimes, came to watch us! It was fun to see her! And last side note, a bunch of Scott's teammates also came out to watch! Tacker, who I've talked about in a previous blog, came and brought the good luck to this tournament. Jose Lima was supposed to stop by but didn't, so I let him know he was in big trouble for skipping! He said he'd make it up to me!

Enjoy a couple pics!

Pao and I on the court.

Me, Alexis and Pao

Scott and I :)

Angels vs. Dodgers

In front of Angel Stadium of Anaheim. There are two of these ginormous hats, one on the left of the main entrance and one on the right.

Tonight was my first game at Angel Stadium of Anaheim! Yeah, it's kind of a weird name, but it was a fun time! I went with my new friend Caitlin (girlfriend of Scott's teammate, Justin Segal). Her family shares season tickets for both the Angels and the Dodgers, and tonight just happened to be the Dodgers at the Angels. I actually really liked the Dodgers growing up, thanks to Mike Piazza and Eric Karros, so it was fun to get to see them in person again! I love the Stros first and foremost, but I like to cheer for the Dodgers too! Anyway, we had a great time and it was cool to visit a new stadium! One might think I'd get tired of watching baseball, however, I am a dedicated baseball watcher and always love to go to games! :)

Our seats at the game! (Sorry for the random head in the way!) I took this right after the Angels hit a home run so the fans were going crazy!

Plumbing and Egg Shells

Sooo.... I could have sworn that my mom told me about 4 or 5 years ago that egg shells were good for the garbage disposal. It sounds like it makes sense, right? Crushed up egg shells seem like they'd help cut up any other food that might be going down with it, right?

False. Egg shells are terrible for the garbage disposal (and I must have made up that my mom told me they were good for it because my mom knew they weren't good for it so why would she tell me that?). And you know what's worse than 2 or 3 egg shells in a garbage disposal? 24 egg shells in a garbage disposal! Yep, that's right, Scott and I managed to put 24 egg shells in the garbage disposal all at the same time. Haha whoops! In case you were wondering how it's even possible to have 24 egg shells at once, Scott fixed eggs for he and I, and some friends. At the same time, I was making breakfast casserole. All of this ended up requiring 2 dozen eggs. 

So anyway, my sink got clogged up and stayed clogged up for 2 and a half days until the plumber came. It smelled terrible and I had a lot of dirty dishes for those 2 and a half days, so needless to say, I learned my lesson!!!

Hermosa Days

So, Sunday after my tournament was a fun, relaxed day. I made some breakfast casserole (thank you Courtney for the yummy recipe) Saturday night so Sunday morning I had some friends over to share it with me! After that, Scott and I had a fun time just hanging out and relaxing until he had to leave for baseball. That afternoon I ended up going to Yorba Linda to see Ashley Engle, my friend and old teammate at UT. Her family had me and some of her other friends over for some really awesome bbq!!! It was great to catch up and see her family as well.

Monday was another relaxed day. It had kind of been a busy weekend so I slept in and just hung out with Scott. That afternoon I got to go to lunch with Al Lau, my boss from my AVP internship last summer! It was so fun to catch up with him and just see what's going on in the volleyball world from his point of view! After that, I picked Mr. Lonergan up at the airport and we headed down to Long Beach to watch Scott pitch. It was fun to catch up with Mr. Lonergan and it's always exciting when Scott gets to pitch! The game was entertaining and the 3 of us went and ate a 24 hour diner because everything is always closed by the time their games end! 

Tuesday morning I had an early practice with Nancy Mason and two other girls. Normally, we have 4 girls there to work out but we only had 3 on Monday so it was a gnarly (I'm trying to use some California lingo, I still think it sounds weird coming from me haha) work out! In all seriousness though, it was a really intense work out and it felt really good! Scott joined me at my practice and got to join in for our warm up. After we finished playing our warm up game, Nancy said, "Ok, everybody warm?" and the 3 girls reply with an out of breath "yes", and Scott replies with an "I'm done!" Haha, at least he appreciates that my job is hard! :) After the practice we went for breakfast at Uncle Bill's. Uncle Bill's is a famous breakfast place in the area that has been around for about 50 years! If you come to Hermosa/Manhattan area, you definitely need to grab breakfast there one day! 

One of Scott's teammates lives in Manhattan Beach and recommended another great breakfast place, the North End Cafe. Scott and I and his teammate, Justin Segal, all met at the North End. Segal gave us some good recommendations and Scott and I enjoyed doing our favorite thing together, yes, eating. Wednesday evening, I met up with Segal's girlfriend, Caitlin, and we carpooled down to the baseball game. I figured it might be nice if I showed up since they are out of town for the next week! After the game we got to go out and meet up with some of the guys which was fun!

And today, I've spent some quality time watching 24, cleaning up the apartment, running errands and working out! Tonight, I went to my friend Adrianna's going away dinner. She is going back home to Dallas for the rest of the summer. It was very sad because I've had a lot of fun hanging out with her but I'm pretty jealous she'll be in Texas :)

Bye for now!!

Second Tournament

Well... I had my second tournament today! It was a little rough but it was good practice and I had fun playing with my partner Adrianna! We lost two matches today, the first to 2 older ladies (not old, just older than us) and the second to 2 girls my age. Adrianna and I played pretty well for the most part, the bummer is we're both short! So, we try to block but it's not always as successful as we'd like it to be :) The rest of the tournament was a fun experience though! Scott came and cheered us on for both matches and his friend Tacker and his host brother Spencer came to watch the second match also. It was great having some fans!

Other notes... I joined Courtney's Fafarazzi league! In case you don't know what that is, it's like fantasy football or baseball, except, you draft celebrities!! Yes, celebrities, and however many times the people on your "team" of celebrities get mentioned in a magazine, news article, etc., you get points for it. It's pretty awesome! I'm in last place right now but I've got some good celebrities so I'm feeling a comeback in the next 3 weeks!

Also, Scott's team played their first home game last night and Jose Lima pitched! Lauren Paolini (my friend and teammate from UT) came with me and watched. Lima Time is always entertaining and I love hanging out with Pao so it was a good time!!

The Crazy Life of a Beach Volleyball Player

( I realize these pictures have nothing to do with my blog post but I don't have any to go with it, so here are pictures from the Padres games I've been to!)

Haha alright, so my life might not be that crazy, but I feel like I find a way to stay really busy with out having what some might call a "real job". I, of course, consider volleyball a "real job", but some people might not see it that way since I don't have to wear "nice clothes", or work in an "office",  and maybe I'm not "the norm" because I don't actually get a "pay check", but I still think volleyball is a real job. (If you didn't get it this joke, and don't worry, most people probably didn't, go to http://www.truveo.com/Saturday-Night-Live-Update-Bennett-Brauer/id/1115877386. Yes, surprise everyone, I was pretending to be/quoting Chris Farley again.)

Ok, so onto my update of this week for me so far! Monday, I went up to 24 Hour Fitness and signed up for a membership there. I feel so grown up joining a gym! Too bad it costs money to feel grown up haha. It didn't make sense to me to actually stay and work out after signing up for a 24 Hour Fitness membership so I left to run more errands and have yet to go back and work out there. But, I'm still really glad I signed up so that next week I can actually use my membership! Haha. Just when I was about to leave to take advantage of my new membership, Scott called and said that he and Tacker (Ryne Tacker, one of his best friends from the Rice baseball team, who is also playing for the Long Beach Armada this summer) were on their way to the apartment and wanted to do a work out with me. So, instead of going up to 24 Hour Fitness (I know you all believe that was actually my plan :) ), I waited for them so that we could all go down and do a beach work out together. We did a pretty good little work out, and then another teammate of their's, Justin Segal, met us to play some beach volleyball. We played 4 or 5 games which was awesome for me because the more I can play the better! I think the guys were a little wiped out after though! I'm glad they can now appreciate how hard my "real job" actually is though. :) And, for the record, I was still going strong when we finished!

Tuesday, I got to practice with Nancy Mason and the usual group of girls I work out with. For about a month now I've been working out every Tuesday morning from 8-10 with a group of 4 or 5 girls. There are about 6 girls that are in our group but usually only 4 show up each Tuesday. Tuesday evening I joined Taylor Bukolt and his team in a league match. They play every Tuesday night and they needed another girl (it's a 4 on 4 co-ed league so there always have to be two guys and two girls on the court). We ended up winning, of course! And then Scott and I joined Taylor and his team at Sharkeez to watch the end of the Lakers game. We also went to Sharkeez because in the league Taylor plays in, the winning team wins a free pitcher (of orange juice of course!). In all seriousness though, it was really fun to play and meet more people out here so I'm really glad Taylor's letting Scott and I hang out with him some!

Wednesday was a really, really cool day for me! I got to practice with Carrie Dodd and Diane DeNecochea!!! Now, for those of you who don't know much about beach volleyball, this is a partnership who is always in the final four of tournaments and made it to the championship match last AVP event!! I mean, they are two of the top players on the beach! How did I get this opportunity you might ask? Well, Carrie Dodd (formerly Busch), was an All-American at the University of Texas. She actually took the team all the way to the NCAA Finals. You can read about her here... http://www.avp.com/The-Players/Females/D/Carrie-Dodd.aspx. So, through UT connections I met her last summer. Well, when I got out here this summer, I wanted to actually be serious and figure out a way to really get my career going. I wrote Carrie an email and asked for advice and whatever else she might have to offer. Well, along with a bunch of other stuff, she gave me an opportunity to come practice against her and her partner! So, I drove over to Carrie's house at 6:40 (yes, a.m.) and we left to practice. It was awesome!!!! For the first part of it I just got to play defense against Carrie and Diane and try to touch or dig as many balls as I could. Then, the guy who became my partner for the day showed up and we did more game like situations. I was actually able to hold my own for the most part which boosted my confidence quite considerably! Carrie and Diane were both super nice about me being there too which made it even more fun! On the drive back Carrie and I had fun telling stories about UT. Some of the same people still work there (Randa Ryan who was the saving grace for both of us!) and we knew some of the same people anyway so we just told stories back and forth which was hilarious. Oh, and the reason I even mentioned the drive back is because we drove down to San Diego for the practice. Carrie's partner lives down there so they trade off going to practice where the other one lives. Pretty crazy, huh?

On Wednesday night Scott and I headed down the street like 4 blocks to the Comedy and Magic Club. The guy I am renting my apartment from left me a free voucher for tickets to the club and it was about to expire so we decided to finally try it out. We got there about an hour and a half early to have dinner and get a good spot. There were about 5 comedians that performed and they were all absolutely hysterical! As all of you know, I'm very easily entertained, so I laughed literally the entire time, but Scott laughed most of the time too so I think it was legitimately funny!

Thursday morning I somehow talked Carrie into being the 4th girl to practice with myself, Erin Aldrich (another UT volleyball and also track alum) and Adrianna Stasiuk, who will be my partner tomorrow. We had planned to just scrimmage from about 7-9 (yes, a.m., y'all should be very impressed!) but since we pretty much got dominated in the first game (Carrie is just so good it's ridiculous) we did some game-like drills for a bit and then played two more games at the end. Adrianna and I almost won the last game so it was good we ended on a high note! After practice I drove to Long Beach to meet up with Scott and Tacker. The 3 of us headed down to San Diego so they could meet with Scott's agent, high school pitching coach, pick some of his stuff up and go to dinner with Mrs. Lonergan. We got some In-N-Out on the way down to San Diego which was amazing! I don't actually have it that much (because it's not all that great for you haha) but I do give in every once in awhile because it just tastes so good! And then after all of the errands we needed to run, Scott and I went to dinner with his mom to their favorite restaurant, Cafe Japengo. It's sushi, and it's probably the best sushi you will ever eat in your life! I definitely recommend you go there if you're ever in SD. 

So far today, I practiced with Adrianna this morning. Scott came and served to us for a bit and then Adrianna's friend Jarren came and also helped us get a good practice in. We just went light today since we have our tournament in Manhattan Beach tomorrow! Scott and I hung out the rest of the day and just relaxed. He left for his game a few hours ago and I'm headed down to Long Beach soon to cheer on the Long Beach Armada in their home opener! Jose Lima will be pitching tonight so it should be quite entertaining!

I'll write again soon!

My Offices

I have the best office in the world! Yep, that's right, my office is the beach! I just thought I'd share with everyone what I HAVE to go out to on a daily basis. It's pretty rough!

In all reality, I know how extremely lucky I am! God has blessed me in a huge way to be able to play volleyball for a living and do it in such beautiful places! 

Also, just so you guys can see... this used to be my 

office :) Kind of a big change, huh?

I did it!

Hey everyone!

I finally started a blog! I should have started this about 8 months ago so I could keep everyone updated on all my Europe adventures but as you all know, I sometimes work a little slow. :) I'll put a couple of my Europe stories up soon though, just so everyone can hear some more details about my trips!

Since I've been back from Europe I've kept myself pretty busy! I flew back to Houston and spent a few days there with the fam before Scott flew in. Then he stayed with me there for about a week (thanks again Scott for letting me keep you there a few days extra!). We did tons of family stuff and got to see pretty much all of the fam that lives in the area so that was fun! And we even got to stay long enough for Scott to meet Jill and see JJ, Justin and the little boys (they were at Disney World when Scott first flew in)! Scott also got to meet Grammy for the first time! After that Scott helped me drive my car out to California which I'm so grateful for! We were going to stop somewhere just past El Paso but once we got there decided just to drive through the night. It was rough, but I'm glad we did! Then he and I hung out in San Diego for about a week before he had to report to Long Beach for his spring training with the Armada. I got to temporarily move into my apartment for the next couple months, so it was nice to get all set up. After about a week in my apartment I headed back to Houston to see the fam again. A week and a half was just not enough after being gone for 7 months!!!! I had another fun week with the fam. I helped a little bit with house remodeling stuff, got to go to the lake house and got to go up to Austin again to see Kiki, Aaron and Owen. I love seeing all my nephews and my niece (and of course my parents and sisters and aunts and uncles and grandmas too)!!! I'm sure no one could have guessed that. :) 

Now I'm back out in California and I'm really starting to get into the swing of things. I've met some really fun people that I'm excited to get to know and hang out with! And I've gotten some good volleyball training in! I'm excited for my next tournament (which should be June 13)! I'll definitely post how everything goes!

As for now, I'm headed to bed, but I'll have another post up soon!

Goodnight!