Someday...Very Soon!


Less than two weeks until D-day! My trip back to Lake Placid is fast approaching. I have kind of the same level of non-reality as last time. Some days it really hits me how awesome an opportunity this is that I'm going to go live in an Olympic training facility for a month with the potential of competing this season, but most days I'm just living life, being me. I have to say, I rather like that aspect of my personality. I'm glad that I'm typically laid back and not a panicker (you probably won't find that word in the Scrabble dictionary).

As for all these preparations and packing, this is craziness. Again I ask the question, how does a person pack for a potential 6 month nomadic lifestyle in a cold climate? It's just ridiculous. I bought my first motorcycle helmet this week. That should be interesting to pack. And I have to say I really do enjoy the look on people's faces the first time I tell them I'm trying out for the US bobsled team. It's great every time! The guy at the motorcycle store was probably around my age and his facial expression was classic. He got me all fixed up, and I pick my helmet up on Saturday. I'm in the process of purchasing my first burn vest. This is basically a long sleeve shirt that goes on under the race suit to keep your skin from being burned if you happen to crash and fall out of the sled. Sliding on the ice at +80 mph apparently will burn you pretty bad, so we wear these protective shirts to keep up safe. They are only made by one lady in Canada. Talk about cornering the market! I also bought my first one-way plane ticket this weekend. That was a crazy new experience.

It feels like I'm jumping off a cliff. Here I am buying one-way plane tickets and gear. I have no experience in a sport I know basically nothing about that I've tried only twice, and I'm currently planning my life around it. But what's life without some faith and adventure? My pastor said something this weekend that really caught my attention and challenged me. He asked us some very pointed questions that definitely got me thinking. "What is your life about? Are you happy with everything in it? Is it working well for you? Are you satisfied that you have fullfilled the reason that you were born? Do you know what the reason is that you came into the world? Have you connected your life to a purpose bigger than yourself? Or to a vision so huge it's gonna take God to help you fullfill it? If you don't have a dream big enough to need God to fulfill it, your dream isn't big enough. Dream bigger. Dream so big that it's gonna take God to help you do it. And then you're seeing with God's eyes."

I haven't stopped thinking about those questions since Sunday. That's some deep stuff. I'm still working on them, but I'm happy to know that I'm all over those last few questions. I'm a dreamer, this is definitely bigger than me, and there's no way I can do this without God's help. Financially, physically, mentally, you name it, and I'm woman enough to say I'm definitely going to be needing God's help for this! Who would have guessed I'd even get this far? If you could have seen the knobby-kneed kid who had zero coordination running around in my back yard, it wouldn't have been you. This is definitely one of those times God is blowing my little dreams and expectations out of the water. He's making things happen!

Ephesians 3:20 (AKJV)
Now to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

This has been my verse this week. I love the phrasing "exceeding abundantly". God can do infinitely more than I could ever dream up. Y'all better watch out now. I can dream can dream pretty big, so there's no telling what's next.

Speaking of which, I was looking through an article on bobsledding this weekend and found this picture. I caught myself thinking, "Someday this is going to be me with the Team USA shirt on!" And then I realized someday may be much sooner than I was imagining. I got an email from another driver that has come into the works since the last post. There are now two America's Cup pilots with the potential of one more making it back this season. My odds just went up. We went from one driver to three in a day, so things are looking up from where I stand. I'm excited! I've been talking to Ms. Katelyn Kelly about potentially braking for her at the first America's Cup event at Park City in mid-November. Crazy awesome!

I'm super excited for whatever comes next, and I'll be sure to keep you all in the loop. I should know more in the next week, and then it will almost be time to ship out. Until then, I'll just keep living the dream. To wrap up this post, I finally sat down and finished one of my videos from last year. I've been in a bobsledding mood (who would have guessed) and worked on this one over the weekend. If you read this blog, you'll remember that Dad and I got to attend a World Cup Bobsled and Skeleton event in Park City, UT, last December.
The trip was a blast! I love that I got to experience it all with my Dad. It still makes me laugh that I have chosen yet another sport no one knows about and you only see a very small portion of. Sorry Mom and Dad. Prepare yourself for more long weekends standing outside in cold temperatures to see 5 seconds of a race and having to explain the sport every time you talk to someone new. Who knew rowing and bobsledding would have so much in common?

Anyway, here's my documentary of our adventure. I ended up with hours of footage and got it down to 16 minutes. I'm pretty proud. I don't know how movie editors do it. It was breaking my heart to cut some of that footage out. So, here it is. Enjoy!