Monday, August 20, 2012

Summer Again

Today is very possibly the last day in months if not years that I have absolutely nothing to do so why not update my blog?
Spawnfest was this past weekend so I'm still a little hazy while trying to readjust to regular life right now. Luke, Louie, and I were talking about how unique and fantastic ultimate is and just how difficult it would be for anyone else to believe the things that happen through this sport. After yesterday I would have to agree. Ultimate is unique and in my opinion a satisfying pastime. But it is so much more than just another sport like basketball or soccer. While playing Ultimate anything can happen. It's a place where someone you've never met before will trade you a unicorn horn and lei for a superman cape and become your best friend. It's a place where it doesn't matter who you are or what you do because you just skied a guy in the endzone and that was pretty freaking sick. It's a place where strangers will heckle you for eating pancakes in the beer garden at 8:30am but 20 yards away a team is already cracking open the pbrs. It's a place where my number gets disseminated (involuntarily) and I end up having an epic 2-hour texting showdown with a random team we played comprised entirely of ultimate pick-up lines. It's a place where a cat gets tied to a kite and almost becomes lunch. It's a place where massive on-field dance parties simply materialize. It's a place where the best teams in the world will be playing on one field and some total amateurs play the same game 5 yards over. It's a place where people who have never met each other, people who might not even speak the same language, come together and work hard for a common goal in a language which transcends words.
One of my absolute favorite parts of Ultimate, which is pretty difficult to single out because I pretty much love everything about playing, is what sets us apart from other sports: Spirit of the Game. It's a mix of self-officiating (Ultimate doesn't use referees and instead relies on players to settle our own disputes) and good sportsmanship. It means crashing into your defender and being helped up by the other team with a pat on the back. It means stopping play and clapping for a player who gets injured and has to step off the field. It means cheering for the other team after every game no matter how many poor sports they had or bs calls they made. It's a fraternity of friendship and comradery built around a shared love for an amazing game. Elitism is extremely rare and almost every single professional and club (elite) player I know specifically devotes time to mentoring programs, youth programs, and coaching because we all love to give back to our community. I've played games with some of the best players in the world because they simply happened to be throwing nearby, we needed extra players, and they love to play. Ok, that's enough about Ultimate for now: point being - I just really love my sport.

Other things I've done this summer include playing on 4 ultimate teams, winning the IMA ultimate championship, taking 10 credits (5 credits of Nursing School!!), working part-time, and getting my orchid to bloom again. Despite being extremely busy with school and work and having to turn down many really fun opportunities, I still managed to make some great memories. Whether I was canoeing and playing fliers up in Lake Washington with Swill and her roommates followed by a bbq and chalk twister on their driveway, or going skinnny-dipping off of a random person's houseboat at 1am after Bing and Greg's wedding with some crazy awesome people, or stargazing behind the shellhouse at UW after running through the drumheller sprinklers, or skying a riot player, or spending a week with my best friend in the entire world, or baking a beast mode raspberry tart, or making 38 cups of pesto from basil I picked myself (yes, that's about a 5 gallon bucket worth of basil) 2012 has been a great summer. I have 6 weeks of 'summer' (re: no school), a mini vacation down to Ocean Shores with my uncles and cousins this weekend and one of the biggest transitions of my entire life: moving out to fill these weeks. Then: Junior Year and starting Nursing School! I am so incredibly, unbelievably excited to start nursing, and even more excited for fall quarter since I took one class over the summer to lighten my course load. :)

I created my next 5 year plan a few weeks ago as well because my first 5 year plan I created when I was 15 and it ended with getting into UWSON. My next 5 year plan has me just as excited and I can't wait to see where I am and what life has in store for me in the next 5 years. Throughout everything I have placed my trust in God and my life has been so incredibly blessed through Him. With His guidance I know my next 5 years will be spectacular and no matter what big and life-changing (or little and sweet) moments He has in store I am absolutely positive it will be built of experiences I will remember for the rest of my life. It seems that each year I grow older I love life a little more, which I suppose is exactly as it should be. I can't wait to find out what turning 100 will be like. :)