“If you have high expectations, you raise your level. If you have positive expectations, very often it happens. I try to coach what is healthy instead of trying to say, ‘fix the mistakes.’ It’s OK to make a mistake and I think that was an important statement, that the biggest mistake you can make is that you don’t try.” Pia Sundhage USA Women's National team Head Coach

A few weeks ago I looked at my calendar and I saw that I had a long weekend the same weekend as the World Cup Final.  Every soccer players dream is to play in this game; the next best thing is to watch it live!  Germany is only a two hour flight away from Finland so I looked up tickets and I booked it! I figured this was an amazing opportunity. 

 

Jamie and I flew out to Germany Friday morning and we met up with two of my Swedish friends (Helena and Martina) in Frankfurt. The whole experience was one that I will never forget.  I was so happy Martina, Helena, and Jamie got to come as well.  We had so much fun.  It was really neat Martina and I were at the final together because her Freshman year we made up goals and wrote them down.  Our goals consisted of playing professionally together,  making our country's national teams (USA and Sweden) and the last was to meet in the World Cup final; it was anyone's game from there... We met in Germany at the final! We saw Sweden and the USA play. It is funny how life is sometimes.. You really never know where you will end up.

I still have this paper and I truly believe that if you write your goals down you increase your odds on making your dream happen. 

 On Saturday Sweden and France battled it out in the bronze medal game.  We were all decked out in Swedish gear and we went to the fan zone to watch the game.  At the fan zone they had many different activities, at least three stages, giant big screen projectors, and food everywhere.  There were so many people there.  We got perfect seats and we met lots of new friends.  The Sweden game was intense! We were yelling the whole time.  Sweden deservingly captured the bronze medal.  Everyone was celebrating and shortly after the game ended the bands started playing, DJs popped up, there were shows, and fireworks.  We walked around proudly wearing our Swedish Jerseys and people everywhere where cheering and celebrating when they saw us. The euphoria, the excitement, the passion and the whole surroundings of the world cup was incredible! This day counts as one of my favorite days.

 

Sunday was the big day.. The World Cup Final!! I wore my red, white and blue and had an American flag.  We get to the stadium and I could feel my heart pounding.  Our seats were perfect we were about 10 rows up from the corner flag.  The stadium was sold out.  The atmosphere was incredible; the sound of the crowd, the numerous Japanese and American fans, the field and just the game itself is hard to describe because it was so great.  It was a great game to watch; my heart was going so fast I felt like I was playing.  I was out of my seat for a lot of the game and when Abby Wambach scored in overtime to make it 2-1 I thought my heart was going to stop.  Then when the Japanese tied it up on the corner kick; it was hard for me not to celebrate for them because it was such an amazing goal. I don't know how she managed to get her body on
that ball.  Its in these moments you see athletes do the unthinkable; they go that one extra degree to make it happen.  That extra degree makes all the difference.  Its incredible to experience and amazing to watch.  Sadly the US lost in PKs but I was happy for Japan.  Both teams fought hard and played like champions.  The ceremony at the end was amazing.  Once Japan had the trophy in their hands they ran around the stadium showing the fans and the world what they accomplished.  Watching them celebrate with such joy and passion was unbelievable. I had the chills.

 

NO. 48 Probability of Success: Excellent You have both birds already in hand. You shall inherit the entire land. Give a good show before the grandstand. All will applaud, so will the brass band.

This past christmas I brought my family to New York City to see a broadway show.  We left our house really early in the morning and spent the whole day in New York City.  It was so much fun and it will always be known as one of my favorite days.  I brought them to China town and we went into this buddha temple.  They had fortune cookies, so everyone in my family bought one.  My fortune was NO. 48...

On Wednesday I juggled in the market place.  I got there a little early to claim a "spot."  I was on a platform.  The marketplace was jammed packed; there were so many people. I had my ball, a pretty big boom box, and a hat for tips.  The first show started at 5.  Jamie cranked up the music and I started to juggle.  When I juggle all I see is the ball and I hear the beat; I don't see anyone around me and I rarely hear anything else.  It is hard to explain, but about 20 seconds into my routine I hear Jamie's voice and she said, "Oh my god, so many people are coming! Keep going, keep going.. More people are coming!" I juggled for about 15 minutes and when I looked up there was a huge crowd.  It was incredible! So many people were coming up and throwing euros in my hat. 

The next show I moved and performed to the side of another stage where this band was setting up.  The drummer was working with the sound guy, making sure each section of his drum was in tune.  I started juggling to his beat; they saw me and kept on drumming.  The beat was perfect and everything just seemed to flow.  It was great and total street. The crowds continued to grow.

I did the rest of my shows back on the platform. I did not stop juggling till about 8.  I took some breaks but I had so many shows.  Jamie and Kerstin were great with the crowd; they were yelling the whole time and got the crowd to clap to the beat constantly. A lot of my teammates, some of the guys on the men's team and many of my new friends were there watching.  It was the first time they all got to really see all of my tricks at once and I was so happy I got to perform for them.   During my break I started picking out kids and teaching them how to do different tricks; I was pretty impressed with a few of them.  Every time I took a break; I saw more and more people waiting at the bottom of the platform for the next show, it was really neat. I did not think my juggling could cause this much of a commotion.

When I used to go to the beach with my family I would always bring my soccer ball.   When sunset hit I would start juggling and I would draw a bunch of crowds.  My parents told me to put out a hat but I was to shy. Now I am over my shyness and this past Wednesday turned into a day I will never forget.  I was not sure if people would really stop and watch me but it ended up being above and beyond what I expected.

 I keep thinking about my fortune in New York. I had "both birds in one hand" my ball and my music. "You shall inherit the entire land," I felt like the whole town was there watching. "Give a good show before the grandstand.  All will applaud, so will the brass band," I juggled to the "brass" drums, my hat was full and the people were all cheering. I felt like I was in one of my dreams but this was better...