Bump, Set, Spike, WIN

For the last 7 weeks or so, I have been playing 4 on 4 coed sand volleyball with some friends from Robert's school, Stetson. Last night we played our semi-final match, and won, which sent us to the championship game that night. Both matches went to 3 games - it was a hard fought battle, but we pulled it off!
I played the right side for both games. The first match I didn't play so hot, but after we pulled it out in a nail biter, I was determined to step up my game for the championship. Which thankfully, I did. I played much better down the stretch. In the end, I had to make a clutch play on match point in the championship game. It was 14-13 the other team, in the third game (which only goes to 15), and Kristin set me a beautiful ball which I put down for a kill. Phew, talk about being relieved that I made that play and didn't cost us the championship! So that took us to 14-14 where we ended up closing it out.

Service!

Here's the team minus two of our guys who had class that night.

My new friend, Kristin. She was our MVP! She had awesome sets and huge blocks! We will continue to play together in a summer league starting at the end of June.

The fan club and the team. We had the best fans who came out and supported us every week. It was a fun season, and I am looking forward to the competitive league in the summer out on the beach.

Highlights of the Matches:

(PS you do not have to keep reading. If you do, since this is kind of like a journal for me, you will have to put up with some of my ramblings that may only be significant to myself).

Brandon - aka team captain. He skipped class for us, and put down spike after spike. He passed great and put up some blocks for us as well. We could not have won without him.

Jennifer - what a good sport. She is completely a rec player, and the season started out a bit shaky for her. However, she totally stepped up to the challenge and progressed so much this season. She came through on some major points for us. In our semi match, she aced them to get match point and served it out for the win. In the final game, she dug this guys super tough serve, which resulted in a crucial sideout for us.

Kristin - In the championship game, she had two huge blocks on their best hitter. It totally got in his head, and I think really put the momentum on our side. We decided to play positions last night, and she graciously accepted to be setter, which she was fabulous at. She hussled her butt off, and gave Brandon and I some great sets to whail on even with a ref that calls everything.

Me - In the second match, I really started hitting well, which was a big relief. I hit some great down the line shots, and cross court. I had to play setter when Kristin was serving, and set a beautiful ball for Kristin in which she put down. The highlight of this was: I didn't get called for anything - my ball came off completely clean. Thank goodness because it was an important point and we needed that sideout and if you know me, my setting skills are not so hot.

All in all, we played 6 games last night. Each one going to a third and was usually tied up at 14 all in the end before someone finished it out. It was a great night of volleyball because we had some great rallies where everyone hussled and passed the ball in.

The Non-School Robert

This is what I overhear while I am working...

One of his favorite games to play is FIFA Soccer on PS3, and he is too funny to watch. Then he gets grumpy...

Oh, how I love him. :)

Freedom at Last

Well, finals are over! That means I am finally free to relax and enjoy life again. HaHa. I truly feel relieved now. I have no idea what to do with all of my free time. One thing I can do now is update you on what has taken place over the last month or so. First, before finals started up, I won my first Stetson Intramural Championship! My team went undefeated (13-0) throughout the season and won the tournament. I did not think life could get much better than this, but it does as you will see below. HaHa. Here I am below showing off my sweet lefty jumpshot, which helped me shoot 0 for 8 in the one game my Dad showed up to watch. Don't worry, the stroke returned for the championship game!

Here we are creating the game-plan.

We get a plaque on the wall in the gym with this photo on it. It will stand as a reminder to all the guys working out that they have to workout harder if they want to replace us on the wall.

Finals were extremely difficult this semester. They were definitely much more difficult this semester than the previous one. However, I stayed focused through the first 3 and was able to put in solid 10 to 12 hour study days each day. Then, a day before my last final, I hit the wall. I did not have any more energy and focus to continue studying. Luckily, I checked my email out of boredom and came across an email telling me that I had been selected to intern under the Vice President of Legal Affairs for all of Minor League Baseball (MiLB) during the upcoming fall semester! This was the pickup I needed, and I finished out the semester strong. My last exam, may have actually been my best one.

During the fall semester, I will work a minimum of 8 hours for the general counsel of MiLB while also taking 3 to 4 other classes. I had been pursuing an internship with multiple teams and organizations for awhile and was completely unsuccessful. I began to think that I would have to put my dream of working for a sports organization on the back-burner for quite some time, then this internship came along. I was shocked that I was selected for the internship. The internship selection process is done through Stetson, and I had applied for it without completing the required classes and was told by the program coordinator that I had no chance whatsoever of getting it. HaHa. Somehow, I got it! I can't wait to start. The attorney I am working for handles all of the contracts between MiLB team owners, umpires, players, and sponsorships. Needless to say, I couldn't be happier. I will get to work in the field of law I want, and I get class credit for it.

As for this summer, I am in the process of finalizing an intern position at a family law firm in Tarpon Springs, FL. My interest in family law has grown since speaking with the partner of the firm at church. Although the firm's office is about 30 minutes away from home, it seems like another great opportunity because the partner mentioned that I would be able to sit in on client interviews, depositions, and hearings. Plus, JoAnna and I get to enjoy the Florida summer like we wanted to do. Well, I will keep you updated on how this goes, after all, I do have plenty of free time at the moment.

Lastly, I must thank JoAnna for all she did while I struggled through finals week! I feel so bad for her during these weeks because all I do is study and ignore her. Nevertheless, she still managed to keep up with all the housework, feed me amazing dinners, provide fun distractions when needed, and tell me that she would still love me if I failed my exams!

Have You Ever Wondered...

What you would look like when you're older? Well, Robert can have some idea because his new older version of himself is on my company's website. People at work were teasing me that it looked just like Robert (obviously older). So, now I say that I am the voice of Simplifile (I am the voice on our telephone automated system) and Robert is the face of Simplifile.

I just hope he stays this good looking. haha! If you want to check him out on the website, just go to www.simplifile.com

In other news, Robert is still working hard at school. His classes are over now, so he now spends all of his days studying for his finals. His first final is tomorrow, and he will be finished on May 14th. I can't wait!

Please Be Over

I know Robert feels more ready than me for this "brief" assignment to be over, but please "brief" be OVER! I would like my husband back. It's been a lonesome week trying to entertain myself, especially since this has been one of the best weeks we have had weather wise. The weather is gorgeous, and I have no one to go outside and play with me. Sunday will be here soon, and I can't wait. Sunday at 6 pm this assignment will be officially turned in! Wish him luck!

Busy Bees

We are keeping busy these days. Robert has his brief due this weekend that he has been working hard on all week. He is pretty stressed out at the moment, and so to cheer him up, I will probably make him some banana bread with the large amount of frozen bananas I have in the fridge.

I on the other hand, have been staying busy with my new calling at church. I am the new Young Women's President. I oversee the girls in our ward that are ages 12-18. It is a lot of fun, and I am enjoying it so far. They keep me busy though. I am still trying to get organized and get use to this new role and no longer enjoying my free nights on Wednesdays. We meet every Sunday and Wednesday. I am also enjoying playing beach volleyball in a local league around here with some people from Stetson each week.

Robert has gotten more involved at school too, so that adds some extra time on his plate. He is the Secretary in the Entertainment Arts and Sports Law Society. He is a SBA (Student Body Association) class representative, and he was also selected to be a Stetson Ambassador. Recently, he was chosen to participate in the final interview process to become a Legal Research and Writing Teaching Assistant. I told him to get involved and look what he did, he practically joined every club. haha! No truthfully, he has been working really hard and going out for all of these positions isn't easy.

Well, it took us a little while to settle in, but we have finally gotten involved in doing more than just work, school, and play. It should be an exciting year!

Spring Break

My brother Jason and his cute family came down our way to spend their spring break and Easter with us here in sunny Florida.

So, we spent a lot of time at the BEACH soaking up some sun. The beaches are starting to get crowded with tourists. I miss our quiet beaches.

Look at his cute hat! He has to wear a hat to protect his fair little head from the sun. Kaden loved playing in the sand and water.

We collected lots of neat seashells.

This was their hot find of the day.

Soaking up some sun.

We constructed an awesome sand castle.

Note: if you want more privacy while at a crowded beach, just build a sand castle in front of where you're sitting and no one will bother you. It worked out well for us. :)

After dinner at the Friendly Fisherman, Jason, Robert, and Kayla got to experience hurricane force winds.

We also climbed some trees at the park.

Robert and I hosted an egg hunt.

Alas, we lost one egg! It happened to be the $2 egg too, maybe it will turn up one of these days. Although, I think one of the many lizards running around ran off with it.

We went out to eat a few times and grabbed dinner at home a few nights eating a couple of the Tolsma standards like sloppy joes with cottage cheese and chips, Texas sheet cake, Oreos and milk, cereal, and many other goodies.
I also cooked my first ham! It turned out pretty well, so I will have to venture out to a Turkey this year for Thanksgiving.

This photo is for Jason, Lori, and the kids - this is our almost steak dinner. Being naturally indecisive, at the last minute, we switched dinner plans and instead enjoyed a nice dinner at Checkers/Subway.
After our "nice" dinner out, we stopped at Congo River for a round of mini golf.

It was a close game, but I snuck out the win on the last hole from Robert.

We had a blast having them here to visit us and can't wait until they come again! I am sure they will enjoy getting back to their bigger/more spacious home where the kids can run around freely, so they don't get cabin fever.

Trip Highlights:

Snow Cones - Need I say more? It was probably Lori's favorite highlight, as she loves snow cones.

Sickness - Well like all Tolsma family vacations, someone has to get sick. Poor Kaden, and Kayla came down with a stomach bug. Which made for some eventful nights for Jason and Lori who didn't get a whole lot of sleep.

Ping Pong (aka pool as Keaton calls it). We played a lot of ping pong and pool in our game room.

The POOL - The boys loved to go to the pool and swim.

Texas Sheet Cake - Okay so maybe this is just my highlight, but I LOVE Texas sheet cake.

Pushing the elevator buttons/opening the doors with the keypad - This was the cause of some sibling rivalry of who was going to open the door/push the button. I love that such a little thing to us is such a big deal to kids. It was so funny to watch them race to the elevator or door ahead. They loved it.

Shelly - This is the name of Kaden's stuffed kitty cat, which he carried around everywhere in the house. He also had two other stuffed animals that accompanied him (a dog and bear). Keaton also had his own kitty as well.

Horton Hears a Who - We watched this movie twice. The kids love it.

FIFA Soccer and Spain - Robert and Jason played some PS3, where Jason beat Robert using the best team Spain. Robert thinks he should still be able to beat Jason, but so far hasn't.

Dyeing Easter Eggs - We dyed Easter Eggs out by the park. They all turned out beautiful!

Tennis - Jason and I (& Kayla) were able to get out and enjoy some great tennis weather.

Piano - The kids loved playing the piano. It was a hard toy for them to resist touching even late at night. Luckily, we never recieved any complaints of noise from the neighbors.

Well, that's all folks. Y'all come back now...