Frohe Weihnachten!!!

Frohe Weihnachten to all my friends in Cloppenburg.

I miss you all everyday. I still sit and think about

all the fun times I had in Cloppenburg and how much I miss the city, people and Germany. I sit and wish I was still able to play soccer. I wish I could just RUN right now. But with a torn knee that is difficult. I miss the smell of FROZEN grass ;) just kidding....I just like grass....not frozen grass! ha! The good news is: I got HEALTH INSURANCE finally ... this is such a big deal! :)

Jeff keeps telling me about his time in Cloppenburg and how great it is at Christmas time. I wish I was able to see it....maybe Christmas 2012 will be possible for me to visit :) I would LOVE that. I want to take this time to point out how grateful I was for the people I met in Cloppenburg....Nadine and Hotte, Coach Tanja, my wonderful teammates, the Schafers Hotel family and workers, BVC Zebra, BVC Fans and of course Lui!!! I miss you all very much and especially more around the holidays when you want to

be close to your family and friends. That is what all of you felt like to me....FAMILY!

Here is an update of the things happening in my life:

-I got Health Insurance - so now I can get healthy and start training or playing soccer for fun again!

-I got my logo made for my company ... www.soccerwithkat.com oder www.kickitwithkat.com

-I am putting together a big camp and hoping to fly out some BVC Frauen Players to help be coaches at the camp in California for a week.

-I'm moving to Virginia from January 25th-May 20th

-I'm going to be the Head Varsity Coach at Walsingham Academy

-I am hoping and planning a trip to Cloppenburg in April :)

There is a little update on what is happening in my life. I look online each week to see how the BVC Frauen team does in their games. It was looking good for a while and now it seems to have lost some matches. I'm sure after a nice winter break, the team will come back refreshed and ready to reclaim their position at the top of the table. I have faith in this team. It has been a strong one thus far in the season!

Once again...I will not be posting until after the holidays....so I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and gets to spend it with the people they care about the most.

Merry Christmas!

<3 Kat

Moving ... for a little bit!!

Hallo!

I am moving to Williamsburg, VA from January until May! I will be living with my boyfriend Jeff and also got a head coaching job at a school out there. It will be nice to be able to maintain my residence in California as well as my soccerwithkat.com and still get a significant amount of time to spend with my boyfriend.

It's looking as though Easter break I will be heading to Cloppenburg for a visit! I hope to see as many people as I can when I get out there!

I miss everyone lots.

Kat

FOREVER!!!

Well "Hallo" my friends in Germany. I am not sure if anyone even reads this anymore. Probably not since I've been so horrible at keeping it updated.

Updates:

I've been really busy with www.soccerwithkat.com since I got home from Germany.
I have been flying back and forth to Virginia to visit with Jeff Dominguez (my boyfriend/former BVC player as well)
I started my Rosetta Stone online German Language courses. I want to be able to speak German fluent when I return to visit. I'm hoping to get back to Cloppenburg for a visit within this year.
I don't have any other job right now and I'm searching everyday for one because it is very expensive in California and I have no health insurance without a job :(
I hurt my knee and haven't been able to do much training.

I MISS everyone in Cloppenburg so much. I have been missing my friends, family and 2nd home so much lately. Especially since I started my German courses. Hopefully soon I will be writing most of my updates in Deutsch!

MISS EVERYONE and if anyone ever feels like writing to me... I would LOVE to hear from you!

:)

Kat

Update

It has been a while since I last wrote.

The visit with Hotte and Nadine was amazing. I had so much fun and it was exciting for them to get to see California, my hometown and meet lots of my family and friends. I hope they had as good of a time as I did :)

I have been coaching everyday all day. I am loving coaching all the time. Things are about to slow down a bit and my coaching will only be in the evenings. The kids went back to school this week.

I also met someone when I was in Germany and continued to keep in touch with him and well...we've started dating ;) He played for the BVC club before I was there, but he was out with kids for a Euro Soccer Trip. He lives in Virginia, but was out and met my family this past weekend. Great time :)

I am hoping and thinking I will be getting back to Cloppenburg in March for a visit :) I can't wait to come back and see everyone.

Miss you all so much!

My 1st German visitors!!!

I'm so excited because as I type Hotte and Nadine are flying and on their way to spend the next 2 weeks visiting America for the first time.

For those of you who don't know who Hotte and Nadine are...let me fill you in. They are GREAT friends of mine and were so incredibly kind, thoughtful, fun and friendly when I was living in Cloppenburg.

Hotte is the goalkeeper/assistant coach for BV Cloppenburg and I had many good laughs with him at practices....many times he hit me really hard with a ball as I was walking away....needless to say, I tried to get him back as well.

Nadine is Hottes' lovely girlfriend. She became such a close friend just as Hotte did. Not only did I become friends with the both of them, but their families as well.

Just when I was really missing Germany....specifically Cloppenburg, they come to visit. I am so excited to show them around my hometown and surrounding areas of California.

Be on the lookout for some amazing photos.

I am hoping I will be able to get my trip to Germany planned. I have two potential times...December or March/April sometime. I would like to come so I can cheer on my former teammates as well as all the newcomers to the BVC family.

Hope everyone is well and enjoying the World Cup games...(frustrating loss for the US against Sweden....ugh!)

-Kat :)

Missing my 2nd home!

Today has been a rainy day here in my hometown. It made me think of Cloppenburg haha! Even though I hear right now the weather is lovely in Germany, the weather today made me miss my 2nd home so much....
Luckily tomorrow will be sunny and hopefully my nostalgic mood will have lifted.

I just got back in to town after a nice week long vacation in Mexico...below are some photos of the trip I took with my family...I had so much fun relaxing on the beach and drinking Margaritas ;)
That is pretty much all that is going on right now...I just got back from the trip and then went right back to coaching/training the teams. I am currently working with 5 different teams. The ages range from 9yrs old to 16yrs old and they are all girls teams so far.

I have started taking a Zumba class on Wednesdays for fun! It is a Salsa dance workout class...HAHAHA! :)

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying watching the Women's World Cup...I know I am...I wish I was there in Germany to go to all the games :)

Miss everyone lots!

KAT

Update!

Not sure if anyone is following this blog still....but I figured I would put an update on here...

I will not be returning to Cloppenburg to play soccer (it was the most difficult decision I have had to make and sometimes I still wonder if it is the right one) ...in fact I wont be playing soccer anymore I don't think....I have been thinking about potentially retiring from my soccer career.

I have thoughts everyday about Cloppenburg and all the amazing people I met there and I get sad....I really do. I miss it terribly. I still slip up and say things in German to people around town here in Roseville, CA. It is funny...they look at me so weird!
I also put a basket on the back of my bike....it is not so common to ride bikes to stores or have a basket on the back of your bike...at least not in my hometown....so I am trying to bring little pieces of Germany to people here :) I love Germany so much it is hard not to.
Since I have been home I have been able to visit with most all of my family, enjoy some lovely warm weather and go to Lake Tahoe....just a beautiful place to visit.

I was thinking about keeping this updated with how things are going with me here and also I plan on following the BVC damen next season...I will write about it....but only if people let me know if that would be something of interest....otherwise I wont keep posting on here...
I thought it would be fun and a way I can keep in touch with people....I truly miss everyone and the town so much.

I am hoping to get to back over to visit for a 3 week trip in April or March and see everyone and watch some games of the team!

Hope all is well in Germany and everyone is healthy and happy! :)

Miss you all lots!

KAT

Tschuss Deutschland!!!

Today is my last day in Germany...tomorrow morning I head to the airport very early in the morning to begin my long day of travel back to my home in the US.

I don't know at this moment if I can truly express the way I feel...I have such mixed emotions and I believe it will be easier for me to write my "Thank Yous" to people once I am home and less emotional. I've already cried a couple times today saying goodbye to people.

I am not certain on my return to BVC, but that will be officially decided by ME in the next week or two.

I wish everyone the best and I will be writing again soon,...once I pull it together :) Ha!

- KAT

BLESSED!!!!!!

Last night and today I celebrated my 28th Birthday here in Germany. I have to say that it was more than I could have ever imagined. I have truly met people here that will be lifelong friends of mine. Whether or not I play in Cloppenburg is undecided as of right now, but I truly believe if I weren't able to return to play next season, I would have friends for life here.
I had the best birthday and I just want to thank those special people who were a part of it ... I had friends share drinks, cake, tractors, pigs, car rides, hugs and laughter with me...I also received so many wonderful text (sms) messages and facebook messages. I am truly blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life. I am the luckiest girl ever!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR MAKING MY BIRTHDAY SO MEMORABLE!!!

I only have 12 days left here in Cloppenburg. I am so excited to see my family, but I am experiencing so many mixed feelings...I will miss everyone here in Clp terribly.

-Kat

Below are some photos from a great 28th Birthday!











Yes! I drove a tractor and held a pig....1st time for everything! :) Why not in Germany!!!

BVC Damen stay in the league!!

CONGRATS to the BVC women's team!!! I'm so proud of my teammates for their hardwork and friendship...I want to thank the support of the community of Cloppenburg and the fans for welcoming and supporting me here. Thanks to the BVC club members, coaches and everyone that helps run the club. I have truly never been a part of such a great team and community of soccer fans! My time here in Germany has been the most amazing 4 months of my life and I would never trade it for anything.
I leave in 17 days ... I feel so excited to go home and see my family and dog....but I truly feel like I'm leaving my 2nd home and family (the people I've met here have truly become family to me).


- Kat

Update!!

Hallo!!

Just to update everyone...things have been going pretty well here in Germany! :)

I'm still loving where I live, the people and the team...We won our game this past weekend on Easter Monday (Oster Montag)! --Hopefully I spelled that correctly. This was an important game and the team really came together and gave a strong effort to win the game. We beat Gutersloh 2-1 and were so excited to get the Win to secure us for relegation play. Tanja Baumann had her birthday that day and was able to give herself a birthday goal! It was so SUPER! :) Kim Schlosser another teammate finished a great ball. Another teammate who is currently recovering from knee surgery had her birthday that day as well...so it was great for our team and the birthday girls! :)

This coming weekend I will not be playing. I am currently injured more after this weekends game. I've had some issues with my foot and it is feeling pretty bad right now. I am thinking with some rest and smart recovery I will be good to play in the relegation games. I am looking forward to watching my teammates this weekend and screaming my head off in their support :)


It is getting much easier for me to understand German when I hear people speaking it...I can understand much more than I can speak. Each day I get a little better with the language...at least I think...most of the endings are incorrect, but I get the idea! HA!

We just celebrated Ea ster here...it was so nice...I was so excited to see the Easter Fires here in Germany. That is so mething different from the USA. Here they have these bonfires all over. We went to one in a smaller village close by and the fire was HUGE...after a little while of being at that bonfire, we went over to a friends house and had dinner while sitting by their bonfire...they found anything they could to burn: old desks, a couch and even a horse trailer....YES! hahaha!

I only have a little over 20 days left here in Germany before making the trip home to see my family, friends, soccer family and my little dog! I miss everyone so much in the US, but I am really getting sad about leaving Germany :(
Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and all is well back home.

Time goes by so quickly...

We are coming up to the end of our season ... we have two games left. We play the Sunday after Easter and then the following Sunday. These are both MUST WINS for us...

So everyone send good vibes over to Germany on those days! ;)

Not too much has been going on...I was able to go to a school here in Cloppenburg and watch a friend teach her classes. It was a really cool experience to see how a classroom and school is operated in another country.

A few differences:

- teachers switch rooms
- teachers purchase ALL materials with their own money
- classes are 45min long
- students are really anxious to raise their hands and answer questions
- the walls are bare to reduce distractions

That's all I can think of right now ... but it was a great experience and a lot of fun :)

This whole adventure is coming to an end in about a month. I can't believe how fast time flies.

Right now, I am focusing on training everyday during the day, studying German and preparing myself to kick some major butt in our last two games! :)

I hope everyone is doing well. I miss everyone so much, but I am loving it here at the same time!

- Kat

Visitors to Cloppenburg and Game Day Tomorrow!!!

This past week there was a group on a Euro Soccer trip here in Cloppenburg. They were from Williamsburg, Virginia. We met them at the men's game on Friday and then trained their U13 girls team the following day. It was so fun to be with a group of young soccer players again! I love it :)
The kids, parents and people in charge were all great and it was a fun week getting to see them and have Americans in town :)
I hope they had a great time here in Cloppenburg and the surrounding areas they visited...I know I had a good time!


Well ... tomorrow we leave early in the morning for Magdeburg! We are looking to come away with a good win tomorrow :) I will let you know how the game goes!!! Wish us luck!!!

-Kat

Long Time No Post --- Part 2

Ok...so if you haven't read Part 1 yet, you may want to scroll down the page prior to reading this post :)

...sooooo, lets see where I left off...

After being in the hospital and hitting my head, we were unsure at the time what had happened and I had an MRI scheduled for a few days later. I was not allowed to practice and therefore my coach and the powers that be allowed me to go with my mom to Berlin for a couple of days!!!
What an amazing trip that was ... there is so much to see and do in Berlin. There is a lot of history. I have TONS of pictures to share, but I will only post a few for now...We went on a bus tour and got to listen about the history and rebuilding of Berlin. My mom and I went to the checkpoint charlie area and went through the museum. What an interesting/scary history to read about...








We also went to an AMAZINGLY LARGE chocolate store...as any of you who know me well can imagine ... I was in HEAVEN!!! I loved it ... there were cool chocolate statues of the monuments from around the city...see below, so cool:



After returning from Berlin, I was cleared to practice again...so my mom decided to go on a trip by herself and went to visit Amsterdam. She went to lots of museums and the Anne Frank House. I am looking forward to checking out Amsterdam myself. I think I may be going soon...the next time we have time off of training maybe!

Once my mom returned from Amsterdam, we had a test game the following day...we played against FCR Duisburg and they were a great team. I believe they have 4 National Players that will be participating in the World Cup coming up in a few months. It was a great experience getting to play with players on a national team from another country! :)
My mom had to leave the very next day :( I took her to Bremen and we said our goodbyes...with a few tears...





It was so nice having my mom here in Germany with me for a couple weeks. I'm pretty sure she had a great time and loved Germany a lot :)

This week I am focusing on getting rid of this cold, training hard and kicking butt in our game this weekend. We play away against Magdeburg and it is a must win. We will be having a group of fans going with us and I think it will be a great thing for us ...

I plan on writing an update after that game...so I hope everyone enjoyed hearing about the past two weeks ;) Wishing everyone well and I will write again soon!!

-Kat

Long Time No Post --- Part 1

For those of you out there that follow or check in with my blog...my apologies for not keeping it up to date!!!

It was a busy past couple of weeks for me. I was fortunate enough to have my mother visiting me in Germany and we had a blast!!! :)


I'm currently laying in bed sick with a cold. I woke up this past Sunday morning with a sore throat and it was a little worse on Monday. I'm starting to feel slightly better and have been in bed resting all day. I have a feeling tomorrow will be much better after today's rest! Anywho...so here we go...while I lay here in bed lets see if I can remember most of what I did while my mom was here in Germany!!!

My mom got here the day before I played the worst game of my life. I felt really bad that she has to watch me play so poorly ;) Anywho...after the game in the evening we were invited to our goalkeeper coaches' house and got to try all the traditional German foods. We had schnitzel, sausage, kraut, and other stuff that was delicious, but I can't remember the names!! haha! We also had Bavarian custard and ice cream as well as a variety of alcoholic beverages ;)






Mmmm...what a tasty and delicious evening that was ...

For the first few days my mom was here, we mostly relaxed and took in some sights around Cloppenburg. We shopped a little in the city, had lunch at the Bakery, rode bikes around town, went to the sauna and also saw the open air museum here in town called, Museumsdorf.

(funny note -- watching my mom ride a bike in Cloppenburg was very entertaining for me ;) LOVE YOU MOM!!)






After spending time seeing Cloppenburg, we decided to head off to Hamburg on our day off from training and check out the sights there...sadly Caitlin was sick at the time, but Jackie and Chelsea joined us on our trip to Hamburg. We did LOTS of walking and window shopping...ate ice cream of course, saw the Reeperbahn (pictures I can't post because of potential young audiences to my blog) and we had a lovely dinner and an amazing hotel/bar called Upper East!! What a fun short trip that was :)







Ok...so that was Hamburg...then when we got back, we had training and the following day a teammate of mine invited us to her hometown of Papenburg to see her home and also see what her town in known for, building cruise ships...this was a pretty cool sight to see. I had so much fun seeing how massive everything was and it makes me want to go on a cruise so badly now!!





We played a game the next Sunday and I was glad my mom was able to see another game...and not only see the horrible previous one we had played ;) haha! This time we played against Turbine Potsdam II and did very well. I scored a goal and was so excited my mom was able to see that :) Our whole team played so well and really worked hard. Sadly...during the second half of this game I lost vision in my right eye and was taken to the hospital -- OF COURSE right!! I know...I was so irritated and didn't know what was going on...everything has come back ok, my vision is good and I am good to go...





OK...so that was WEEK #1 of my mom being in Germany...

-Kat :)

...................

At the moment, I can't think of a good title for this post.

I have had a rough couple of weeks on the soccer pitch. I am working on some things to get back into the swing of things and I'm looking forward to this weekend to get on the field and make it happen.


"...if you don't succeed, you can dust yourself off and try again...even if others don't believe in you....believe in yourself and prove them wrong..."

This week has been good...I have had my mom here visiting me and I'm loving it so much! Sometimes you just need your mother and I'm glad she is here right now.

Yesterday we went to an open air museum here in Cloppenburg and saw the old buildings. It was pretty cool to see the windmills and the way people slept and lived. I also took my mom to the sauna and had a relaxing day. She really enjoyed that :) Momma Brenneman bought me a new pillow and I had the best sleep ever since being here last night ... love you mom!!! hahaha!

Today we woke up early and mom rode my bike behind me while I ran on the trail...Now we will just walk around Cloppenburg and shop a bit and check out the church in town :)

I believe we are heading to Hamburg tomorrow to check out some things there...I will post pictures soon...

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far!!! :)

-Kat

Japan

Game Update and studying the language?!?! finally!

Well, we suffered our first loss...we will learn from our mistakes and do better next game.
The final score was 1-0.

I've spent most of the day studying German. I went to the store and got some index cards,
erasers, paper and pencils. I have my German books I bought from the US and not an English/Deutsch Dictionary thanks to Hotte.

There are some things confusing me...mostly knowing what is Masculine, Feminine or Neuter...
Die, Der or Das....AHHHHH!!! It is so difficult...but I like the challenge!

My mom will be here in 5 days and that is really exciting. She will also get to see me play this Sunday. I'm so incredibly stoked about that :)

Hope everyone is doing well and I will write again soon.

-Kat

My MOM is coming to GERMANY!!!

Momma Brenneman will be here in Cloppenburg in 12 days!!!!

I'm so excited to see her. I love her so much :)

I'm looking forward to showing her around town, introducing her to everyone, having her see me play some soccer and doing a little bit of traveling with her. We are going to have so much fun!

-Kat

Game Update!!!

Well....we tied 0-0 today against Oldesloe.

At least we got 1 point today.

We had a lot of opportunities in the 1st half and just couldn't put them away, myself included.

I got hit pretty hard at one point and really hit my head. I have a really big headache, but my neck hurts the most. I'm looking forward to a good nights sleep and some rest tomorrow.

I just wanted to point out that we had so many people at the game today!!!! IT WAS AWESOME!!! THANKS SOOOOOO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT BVC FANS.

-Kat

People of Cloppenburg!!!

COME OUT AND SUPPORT YOUR MEN'S AND WOMEN'S (HERREN UND DAMEN) TEAMS!!!!

I WILL BE AT THE MEN'S GAME CHEERING THEM ON AND I HOPE YOU ARE TOO...THEN I HOPE TO SEE EVERYONE THE NEXT DAY AT THE WOMEN'S GAME!!!

MEN PLAY AT 18.00 UHR - SAMSTAG

UND

BVC DAMEN PLAY AT 14.00 UHR - SONNETAG


SEE YOU THERE....LETS GET LOUD AND CRAZY!!!

-KAT ;)

Game Update!!!

We traveled to Keil today to play a match in some COLD weather. There was snow on the ground around the outskirts of the field. Brrr...

This was a MUST WIN game for us ... well, ALL of them are must wins if you ask me ;) But needless to say, this was an important game for us.

We started out the first half a bit shaky. I'd say we didn't control the ball as well as we can. I for one was a bit slower than normal and not quite on my A-game. We ended the first half 0-0. I was sore in the locker room at half time...at points in the game I felt like I was wrestling more than playing soccer. These Keil girls were all over us. Hitting from behind and grabbing shirts.

Anywho...the second half was much better for us. After a nice inspirational talk from coach, we went out there and showed Keil who we were. After getting fouled myself, Kim (German) our captain, took the free kick and scored a sweet goal!! Woo Hoo...go Kim!!! Then our second goal was of a cross from your's truly ... aka ME! ;) I crossed the ball and Chelsea (Ohio-American) faked a kick and it went by her to Jackie (Cali-American) who finished the ball lovely into the back of the net.
Our last goal came after Fattke (German) was fouled in the center of the field just past the 18yd box. She took the free kick and Marieke (German) helped it into the back of the net. We were SOOOO PUMPED!!!

WAY TO GO BVC DAMEN!!!

We won our game today against Keil 3-0!!!

Our bus ride home and dinner were lots of fun ;)

Looking forward to our next game already!!! It will be a home game against a team named Oldesloe...I believe that's how it is spelled....

Hope all is well and everyone had a GREAT WEEKEND!!!

-KAT :)

PS...Thank goodness Lui was there before the game started for an important part of our win ;) 2 times!!! hahaha!

Hello RHS!!!

HELLO RHS!!!!

I got a message from a former student ... Jordan Farris (pictured above) ... he is a great kid who is working so hard now, not always the case in the past...he is PASSING all of his classes so far and I'm soooo PROUD of him for making changes and doing well...so everyone out there give this kid a round of applause....he deserves it...


So HELLO to the rest of RHS --- I wanted to write and say HELLO and I MISS everyone lots. I hope all is well at the school and everyone is doing GREAT! I'm really enjoying my time in Germany. I was riding my bike through town today and realized...dang, I really like Germany! My mom will be visiting me March 19th for a couple weeks so I'm really excited.

I MISS THESE KIDS AND THIS CLASSROOM SO MUCH:









ONCE A TIGER, ALWAYS A TIGER!!! GO ROSEVILLE HIGH!!!! :)


-Kat :)

BVC FANS!!!!!!!

I was sitting here thinking today about the BVC Fans that were at the game yesterday. I was so impressed with the support our team gets. There were so many people out there in the freezing cold watching, screaming, cheering and blowing horns. It was so AWESOME!! I just want to THANK the fans for coming out and supporting us. It means a lot as a player on the field...that kind of excitement and energy really spills over onto the field and it was so great.

So that BVC Fans for coming out to the game yesterday! We hope to see you again at our next game...and BRING a friend and let's get LOUD! :)

-Kat Brenneman
#20 ;)

First Official Game - Update!

We tied the first place team this afternoon... 1-1

I was really happy with the outcome...obviously I would have love to beat them and won the game, but our team made big steps and have improved so much in playing together. I would say everyone gave it there all on the field today and played their hearts out.

PS....I had a GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAL!!! Yay :)

Just wanted to give you a quick update.... also you better believe I went over to the Ice Cream place and treated myself to a spaghetti ice!!!

-Kat :)

It's been a while!!!

Sorry I haven't posted much ... Not too much to write about!

I have been sleeping and training a lot. We have our first official match coming up this Sunday at our home Stadium at 2pm!!

I'm excited to play our first game!!!!

We have just been meeting lots of new people and riding our bikes around town!

I FELL OFF MY BIKE last night....the four of us went to go train and get some extra practice in last night and on the way home in the dark I missed the curb and fell really hard off my bike...

It is funny NOW, but I was laughing and crying on the ground in the street. I hurt my knee a little bit and my elbow, but I think it is just a big bruise and cut and will be fine :)

Of course I fall off my bike...I'm sure that is no surprise to my friends and family back home...silly Kat/Kathleen/Gata ... right?!!? haha!

I got a lovely package this morning from a sweet lil girl I trained in US!! Amaya Menezes!! There were some American candy, magazine and a lovely card. It really made my morning and I wanted to say THANK YOU!!!

I look forward to updating you on how our game goes this weekend...we are playing the 1st place team, so it should be a tough match...we will be ready for it....Look out Hamburg, Kat Attack is gonna get ya!! ;) hahaha!

-Kat

Valentine's DAY!!!

I love Valentine's Day!!

I really enjoy anything celebrating love and happiness! :)

I hope all my family and friends have a wonderful day...even if they don't have a significant other...who cares! :)

I love you! ;) hahaha!

I will have a pastry for everyone!!!
really...nothing special since I've done it everyday since coming to Germany!


-Kat (aka) single gal in Germany ;)

BICYCLE LOVE!!!

I love the bike I have ... Thanks to Bertis Bikes!!! :)

You better believe I will be posting a pic of my new bike named "Kat's Black Panther!" It's an all black bike ;)

The others named their bikes as well....

Chelsea - Pfeppermint
Jackie - Midnight Express
Caitlin- Basket Case (her bike has two baskets, ha!)

I have almost been hit by a car twice...and I've only had the bike 1 day! hahaha! I need to learn all the rules of the bikes here....People use bikes here MUCH MORE than where I live...

Well...we have been having training sessions, scrimmages and spinning classes....We have our first official game against a strong team this Sunday...everyone send good vibes over to Germany for me ;)

Hope all is well....and Valentine's Day is coming up....SOOOOO HAPPY V-DAY to everyone at home...Love all my family and friends soooo much! I'm sure I'll go buy myself a heart shaped cookie or something and call it a Happy Vday ;) hahahaha!!

-Kat

GOOD WEEK!!!

This was a great week ...

Our team is coming together well ... We are playing better each game and every practice. We are getting to know how each other plays and also getting to know one another better! It is a lot of fun!

We had a spinning class this week ... I have never taken a spinning class, but I really enjoyed it! Only thing is my butt hurts hahaha! Those bike seats are so tiny and hard ...

Last night we had lots of fun....the hotel we stay at had a party in their Bistro. It was a lot of fun :) We danced, ate, drank and sang all night long ...

Hope everyone else had a GREAT WEEK ... Have fun watching the SUPERBOWL and the commercials...I will miss having the fun snacks and laughing with my family all day.

Miss Everyone LOTS but I'm having fun!!

-Kat

10 Things!!!

10 Things I'm liking about Germany and Cloppenburg so far....I'm sure more to come later!!!

1- The teammates are awesome...so friendly, helpful and a lot of fun.

2- The coaches are really good and helpful.

3- The Bakery!!!

4- Lui - he is the BEST!

5- The people who work at the hotel

6- High top shoes

7- Train system

8- all the tea and coffee

9- dogs in stores (dogs are allowed in stores here...it is sooo cute!)

10- Spaghetti Eis!!!!!!!!!!!! (my favorite)

That is just my short list for now....Last night we had practice at 8pm. The ground was frozen and there was rain/snow coming from the sky. It was amazing. I have never played or practiced in this kind of weather. Everything was frozen....the street, my hair, eyebrows, car windows, the field and at times the ball had frost on it. This has been such a cool and different experience. If someone would have asked me before if I would ever play soccer in this weather, I never would have thought it. But, despite being cold...always! I'm having SO MUCH FUN!!! I have a lot of respect for German soccer players. They play through some tough weather. I'd say I'm spoiled coming from California.

I hope to update again tomorrow sometime after our scrimmage...if not, sometime this weekend!

-Kat

SHOPPING!!!!!!!

Today myself and the other Americans.....Chelsea, Caitlin and Jackie decided to try out the train system in Germany.

We took the train from Cloppenburg to Oldenburg on to Bremen. Then we got on a bus and went to the Nike, Puma and Adidas outlet stores!

AHHHHHHHHH!!! I loved it.

#1 - train system rocks!

#2 - bremen is busy and cool

#3 - I love outlet stores!

#4 - I bought my hightop shoes (people here in Germany wear a lot of high tops!) -- So now I feel like I am complete


It was lots of fun today...getting out and having lunch at a cafe, taking the train and bus to the outlet stores and then eating snacks, candy and tea along the way!!!

I'm finding that so many people here in Germany have been so friendly and helpful. To be honest, people warned me before I came to Germany that Germans were at times harsh and not always friendly right away....I find that completely incorrect....so far the Germans I have met have been so gracious, kind and helpful with everything. I hope that continues and I truly believe it will...it has been making my time in Germany that much better :)

OH!!! Funny side note: an older woman in the chocolate store at the train station today was excited to find out we were American! Not only American but two from CALIFORNIA!!! and you know what that means....she said....DAVID HASSALHOF! hahahahahahahaha! I loved every second of it... it was so cute and she was so sweet. She didn't speak English but tried so hard to communicate.

It was a GREAT day and I'm so glad we got out and explored the town.

I will post a picture of my cool new hightop Nike shoes when I load my pics.

Till the next time --- guten nacht (btw - my teammates/coaches tease me because I love to SLEEP!!)

-Kat

Goodbye Spain!!!

I'm happy to report that I ended up feeling much better for the second half of training camp.

This was such a great experience...getting to play games, learn German phrases, aqua jog, play soccer and workout on the beach and get to know my teammates better was amazing!!

We have one last training session tomorrow morning before heading off to the airport for Germany...from what I understand it is -5 grad in Cloppenburg...I am going to be frozen. haha!

Adios Spain...it has been fun!

-Kat

Training Camp so far ...

Hello family and friends ....annnnnd anyone else who reads this!! :)

Well my first day of training camp was not the greatest. Unfortunately, I got really sick on Sunday night and was so sick in bed all day Monday. I missed all the training for Monday. Then I missed the Tuesday morning training session and managed to muster up some strength to play in the game on Tuesday night against a Spanish 1 Division team! I scored a goal in the first half, but was unable to play the 2nd half of the game. We lost sadly, but I'm not sure of the score, either 2-1 or 3-1.

I'm happy to report, my appetite and strength is returning with every new day. I made it through both training sessions yesterday and as well as today so far.

I'm learning German here from the girls and we are telling them our English words. Everyone here is so funny and friendly.

This may sound funny since I've only lived in Cloppenburg for a week, but I miss Cloppenburg and the people. I'm looking forward to heading back to Germany and Cloppenburg.

Hope all is well for everyone in the United States. I miss everyone SO MUCH!! Especially my puppy dog...I miss him so much!

- Kat

Spain...here I come!!

Today was a good day! We woke up and had breakfast just as we usually do ;) Then Lui from the newspaper joined us! He is so nice...we like him a lot -- Hi Lui, if you are reading this! :)


We then took our pictures with our team jersey.





After this, we went for a walk around town and shopped a bit. We all got a pastry!! I love them!!


There are a lot of good treats here in Cloppenburg. We took naps and then had lunch at a nice cafe. The bread is so tasty here. It is so fresh and delicious.





We had our first scrimmage game against a young mens team tonight. It was pretty cold and muddy but the game was good. We only lost 1-0 I believe. I'm so excited to head to training camp and develop as a group. We did well tonight not knowing each other well and not being able to speak the same language. I'm excited to see how it will be after we get used to one another play.





I will post some pictures of my time in Spain once that time is over ;)





Here is a photo from our locker room before the game...we had a picture of us in our uniforms on Jackie's phone, but her backpack was stolen from the locker room and now we lost all those pictures and her phone :(

I got to talk on skype with my family tonight...it was great to see them and hear their voices! :) That really made my evening a good one...well it is really late here...I should be off to bed.

-Kat

Tuesday update!!!

Yesterday I got a bit sick and was stuck in bed. I believe it was a combination of food, lack of water and sleep. I slept most of the day so not much to write about there! haha!
Today we got in a nice 40min run and did a workout at the gym together...we followed up our workout with SUBWAY and a bit of window shopping.
Thursday we have our physicals and then a team meeting. I'm so excited to meet the whole team in person and have our first team meeting together. We have a scrimmage match coming up. I don't know who we are playing, but I'm just excited we have a game! Then....we head off to Mallorca, Spain for our week training camp!! I'm so excited!!
When we come back I hope to have lots of fun pictures and then pictures of our apartment. We will be moving into an apartment after Spain! Lots of exciting things ahead and I'm so excited to get on the pitch.

Hope everyone is doing well back in the States! I got to speak with my family on the skype and it was so awesome. I miss my family already and my dog! Just seeing them on skype made me feel better!

I will write again soon...

-Kat-