So here we are! The year of the Irish! I guess there is kind of a lot of pressure for me to post on the first day of what will be one of the best years of Irish Lacrosse! As all of you know I am definitely not the funniest on the team (I mean my roommate was Kelly how can I compete?) so I am going to try and go the more inspirational approach.
After reading all the blogs that everyone has posted I have never been more inspired on a winter break to work my butt off and come back better then ever. I know this fall has not been the easiest for any of us, and our team as a whole has taken quite a lot of hits in our personal lives, injuries, and just life has got us down some times, but this being the start of a New Year we can change all of that around!
While I was reading "The Energy Bus" I came across something that to me solidified what not just our team, but people in general tend to do and that is dwell on the negative instead of focusing on the positive (sorry Bear for the reiteration of what you got in your letter). In one of the chapters of the book it talked about looking at life as if you were playing a golf game, look for that one amazing moment instead of dwelling on all of the bad. So instead of thinking how hard the 300s will be when I go run them every Friday, I think about how lucky I am to play for the Fighting Irish and get to step on the field every day with my best friends. How the weather has been amazing that I have been fortunate to run outside, so I run one extra to work that much harder for each of you.
I thought Emily's post and the youtube video of Drew Brees' speech said it perfectly, this is all about you. When I get on the line every day and start those sprints, or I do my bench press with one arm or attempt to do pull ups by myself (which you're right Barb very difficult) I don't think about how I am doing this for myself, or how hard it is, I think about how I am doing this for all of you. So that we can go out and be the best we can be together. We are so fortunate to be able to play the sport we love every day. Yes I know sometimes running and lifting are not the most fun, but in the end it is leading up to being out on the field together, and to me there is not much that is better then that.
When you step onto that treadmill these next 2 weeks, or outside on the line, or looking at those weights to pick up, just stop and think about the people that will be standing next to you in 2 weeks doing the exact same thing, and do one more, or raise the weight just a little bit more. If we all think about how lucky we are to be playing lacrosse with each other, and we work that much harder for each other nothing can stop this team. Each one of you mean the world to me and I cannot wait to get back with you all so I can stop pretending Meg Sullie is in front of me and I have to catch her while I run.
I will leave you with this video, similar to Emily's it is Drew Brees explaining his pregame chant to the people of New Orleans after the welcome home parade after they won the Super Bowl; the first one means the most in my eyes "When I say 1 you say 2 when I say win you say for you" because that's what we will do this season, win for each other.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQBS3Lc5kWU
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Saturday, December 31, 2011
New Year...Your Time!
Another season is upon us. Freshman arrive wide eyed with dreams of future glory. While seniors prepare for their last chance at immortality.
There are only a handful of these opportunities in a players life, a handful of chances to distinguish yourself from the rest.
It's on these fields where history is made, where legends begin, and heroes triumph. Traditions tell the story of what you represent, of those who forged the legacy that you uphold.
When you come charging out of the tunnel, the entire nation will be watching your every move. How you respond to that pressure is what defines you.
These are the moments that will reveal your toughness, your determination, and your drive.
The time has come....your time, is now!
Go Irish!
There are only a handful of these opportunities in a players life, a handful of chances to distinguish yourself from the rest.
It's on these fields where history is made, where legends begin, and heroes triumph. Traditions tell the story of what you represent, of those who forged the legacy that you uphold.
When you come charging out of the tunnel, the entire nation will be watching your every move. How you respond to that pressure is what defines you.
These are the moments that will reveal your toughness, your determination, and your drive.
The time has come....your time, is now!
Go Irish!
Friday, December 30, 2011
Happy 30th!
Greetings All!
From reading all our bloggers posts so far, it sounds like everyone is enjoying their time at home and I personally have loved the snapshots of your routines away from South Bend. I currently am in the air on one of my many flights during break. I was home in Vermont for a week before I headed south to Duke to work their winter camp for a couple of days. While it is always tough to say goodbye to family, I realized it was time for me to go for my mom’s itinerary for BCE concluded on the 26th and my two year old niece said bye to me every time I put on a sweatshirt or jacket once Christmas ended. I bring to you, my top highlights (in no particular order) from winter break thus far.
·
Kelly discovering the blogs favorite book and movie·
F
Flying home without a flight cancellation, delay, or winter storm to drive through (first time in four years)
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Finding out Extreme Santa does exist on Christmas morning
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For my fellow Fruit Ninjas out there – Arcade High Score of 739
·
Jordy singing “All I Want For Christmas” on und.com
·
Hanging out with my two year old niece (videos and pictures for anyone who is interested)
·
Learning to Sponge Bob and beating Molly in a dance contest at Duke camp
Every single one of you have made tremendous strides this fall and I am looking forward to showing the world what Notre Dame lacrosse is all about. Keep your eyes on the prize, 18 days till we are reunited. I also have shared with you below one of my favorite quotes and YouTube videos. Enjoy!
“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a lion or gazelle - when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM5A1K6TxxM
Happy New Year!
Sarah G. Dalton
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Happy December 29th!!!
Ok so I guess the 29th isn't really a holiday but who cares!
Anyway I hope everyone is enjoying their post Christmas and pre New Years Eve week. Mine has been pretty eventful, yesterday I went into the city with my sister and met my roommate and her mother for dinner. I was sitting there and I look up and JAMES FRANCO walked right by me and then preceded to sit directly behind me, like we could touch. As many of you know I have an obsession with all celebrities, so I thought this was a huge deal, and yes he is as beautiful as he is in his movies. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, which contrasted with my morning today. My mom set up an appointment with the ENT to check out my annoying tonsils that keep getting inflamed, and to do this they have to stick that long, huge camera tube thing up your nose, and down through your throat. It was as HORRIBLE as it sounds, I freaked out and started crying so they had to use the pediatric tube which is a lot smaller. (In my defense my nose is broken and the septum is all crooked so the big tube has a hard time going through) But seriously I'm still in a state of shock, my nose is still numb and I am scarred for life.
Besides these two days my brake has been pretty ordinary besides the lovely trips to the gym. Oh the gym, this break is my first time ever belonging to a gym, oh and was I in for a surprise. I love the looks I get from the skinny girls in full out lulu-lemon tight workout clothes on the elliptical, as I truck away on the treadmill at a incline of ten, and then jump off it when the time is up, panting away like a crazed dog, in a baggy t-shirt and shorts. It is really a lovely scene, but not as embarrassing as trying to do a pull up with out any help and then getting really close to then ultimately failing in front of all the juice heads. But it doesn't stop me because I know that 28 of my teammates and friends are doing it all over the country.
I am so excited for this season to start that it helps propel me through my workouts. I know everyone has posted some type of inspirational video or quote, but my personal favorite is by a teenage god named Justin Bieber, he may not know how to Lax but he sure can dance, sing and inspire:
NEVER SAY NEVER, thats my mantra and I honestly believe that we can do insane things this year that no one would expect. Cant wait to see you all soon!!!!!!!
Happy New Year,
With love and joy,
#29 Barbara
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Hello from Indiana (no this is not a joke)
HELLLERRR MY FAVORITE LAXERS!!
I am currently sitting in my grandparent’s house in good ol’ Fort Wayne, Indiana (shout out to my girl Kenz!) and attempting to write this blog on what I can only assume is dial-up Internet. Besides that I’ve just been hanging out with the family here. The highlight has probably been watching “Dumb and Dumber” with my grandfather. I really forgot just how dumb (only fitting) that movie is, but hearing my grandfather mumble under his breath about “real actors like Cary Grant” and the “stupidity of this generations movies and music,” made it worth watching again. Btw you should hear him go off on rap music and the dancing nowadays. Hearing him talk about “grinding” = priceless ;) On a side note, check out their gingerbread house!!
To curtail on what the previous posts talked about, we cannot let low preseason rankings get us down. In fact, we need to use them as inspiration. Now any of you football fans out there should have heard about Drew Brees breaking the single season passing record on Monday. This record was previously held by Dan Marino and hadn’t been broken in 27 years. Drew Brees happens to be my favorite player in the NFL because he went to Purdue (where all my family went) and he is absolutely adorable (see pic). For those of you who don’t know much about Drew Brees, at only 6 ft tall (on the roster, so we know what that means…) many people questioned his NFL potential. They also thought that he didn’t have good arm strength and only succeeded in college because he had a system perfectly designed for him. Most of the critics were thinking they were right as he had a mediocre career in San Diego. What it took for Brees to get his career on the path that he ultimately wanted was a change. A BIG change. He moved his family from San Diego to New Orleans. New coach, new team, new challenges, and most importantly, new opportunities. Now WE have a new coach, this is a new team from last year, and we’ve already been facing new kinds of challenges and opportunities this fall (and are sure to see plenty more this spring). We cannot be afraid of these changes. In our lives we all have to make changes. Some we embrace and some we resist with all our might. Well we’ve made a lot of changes this year, and they are ultimately, ones that are best for the current team and the future of ND lacrosse. We cannot just accept these changes, and we certainly can’t resist them. We must embrace them. Like Brees, we have to GO ALL IN!! You all know what that means so I don’t think I need to elaborate further, just please remember that phrase as you push the treadmill incline a little higher and do what feels like your 10,000th pull-up of the year (really that might not be an exaggeration).
Now I’ve already rambled on too long, but the final point I want to make is about the importance of being a team. I believe in the clip below Drew Brees drives this point home. I encourage you all to watch it and think about how it applies to our team this year. This will come as no shock to many of you, but I had to watch this video more than once because I kept getting distracted by the very attractive man in the background wearing only a towel (the guy on the right NOT the left!!!). I got so distracted the first time that I missed what Brees said. This is definitely beside the point though. So in all seriousness, it is a great clip that should remind you just how important your teammates are and how lucky we are to have each other.
Have a happy New Year, and like Chris would say, “Make good decisions!”
LOVE YOU GUYS & GO IRISH!!!
Emily
Ellie’s Birthday Day!!!!!
Hello everyone.
So as we all know/been reminded a bunch of times TODAY IS ELLIE’S 21st BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!! It’s slightly ironic that her birthday falls on my day since you all know how much I love those personal holidays we get for doing absolutely nothing but surviving another year of life. But since she’d kill me if I didn’t mention it, I might as well start with it. So…. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLE!!!! I am pretty angry were not back at school to celebrate with you! It looks like you’ll just have to have two days to yourself now. I might even have a present for you when we get back because my mom is making me go after-Christmas clearance Good Will shopping with her today (didn’t even know they had such a thing at stores were almost everything is under $5 anyway). So in the meantime have an awesome day ALL to yourself. As Betsy once told me (actually the first time I met her) something very close to, “Today is my Birthday, and it’s the one day a year everything and everyone will revolve around me.” I think her words of wisdom are very fitting for your birthday. So, go thoroughly enjoy your very special day!
My vacation has been lovely and full of the many things I like to do… like sleeping and sleeping. For my Christmas I got two very unsurprising stocking stuffers, the book Energy Bus and my first ever gym membership. Both have been quite interesting…
So after looking for the book in a bunch of stores, my mom decided she wanted to read it. Now she is officially obsessed. She plans on making my dad and siblings read it and I’m not sure they’re too interested...
And this gym I now go to everyday has these signs plastered on about every inch of the walls that say things like “Judgment free Zone” and “No critics”, etc. But let me tell you when I walked in and went to work on my packet, man did they stare. I can only imagine what 225lbs of hulking muscle probably thought seeing a pale, sickly looking girl straying from the elliptical and struggling with the 25 lbs free weights. (but wait for it… here comes my fleeting moment of inspirational inspiration) But I don’t totally agree with these signs I stare at every day. I’m not really good with quotes, but I think some of the best motivation is being doubted, judged wrongly, being underestimated, and ultimately being criticized and having something to prove (whether it’s the giant 225lbs man working out next to me or the preseason rankings). It’s that struggle to surprise people and prove them wrong everyday. For me right now, that definitely applies to lifting. Though I have graduated from my baby bar, I don’t think I quite fit in yet as well as the rest of you. But maybe with a bunch more hours in the gym (and maybe a few tanning sessions) I’ll finally attain that coveted status of “fitting in at the gym” that I so desire. So next time your having a bad day or think your traps are getting a little too large, just imagine me and I can guarantee you you’ll be glad you have them.
Monday, December 26, 2011
The 12 Days of Irishmas by Molly and Jack Shawhan
To My Main Ladies,
So what have I been up to these past days you may ask?! Well, if you insist...
Day 1: Rode back with Betsy and Marge. I think I slept the entire drive, and am pretty sure Bets did too... Marge drove the whole way; bless her heart! I figured it was payback for the number of times she pushed me face first into the snow last year...
Day 2: Woke up, brushed teeth, went to the bathroom, ate breakfast... Alright I'm guessing you don't want a play-by-play necessarily. I'll just list the highlights and lowlights of my vacation thus far.
Highlight: My mom has made dozens of Christmas cookies, a pie, a cheesecake, coffee cake, apple crisp, peanut butter balls, a carrot cake, to name a few. So to combat these demon sweets I have been not only attending the gym three times a day and keeping up with our daily workouts, but also have taken on ping-pong, yes ping-pong… It is through this sport that I have come upon a newfound confidence, determination, drive, heart, inspiration, as well as some bruises, which have been fueling me everyday.
Lowlight: Thus, I am now twenty pounds overweight...
Highlight: Attended Jack's annual Christmas concert. He was adorable and made us all so proud! I wish I could include the video because on nearly every move he was a good five seconds behind...
Lowlight: He heard me showing Danny the video and pointing this out and now isn't speaking to me.
Highlight: I got clothes for Christmas! Including a winter jacket! So long the days of the ever coveted ISSUE PUFFER.
Lowlight: Who are we kidding that's my all-time favorite issue gear.
On a more serious note, I am going crazy here… If you can’t tell from the attached item below, I need to get back to the Bend and be with all of you! I can’t wait to get the season started and am so excited because based on all of these posts alone, I know we’re going to do something special this year. I’m obsessed with quotes. Here are a few of my favorites that motivate me and will hopefully do the same for you.
“Positive energy… It’s a term being talked about a lot more frequently in conference rooms, classrooms, locker rooms, and even living rooms. Perhaps it’s because there is an abundance of new research that shows that positive people…” Alright you caught me… That’s from “The Energy Bus” (PLEASE NOTE CHRIS!)… Seriously though... We may be some of the luckiest girls in the world! To be doing what we love at THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME?! It's insane! But it's not like it's easy, or handed to us. Think how hard we've worked to get to where we are right now. Think of all the years and years of High School and club lacrosse... All the time and hard work we put into getting better and getting noticed; to have the opportunity to go to the school of our dreams. Think of all the sticks you've gone through. Think of your first lacrosse game EVER. Remember all the times you thought about what it would be like to be in our shoes; with the chance to accomplish our goals; to step out dressed in the Irishuniform under the lights on Arlotta Stadium with all 7 fans cheering us on (haha kidding). Think of all the coaches who told you, "you can", and think of everyone who told you, "you can't." I'm telling you, "we will". Think of the hours in the GUG, the times you've thrown the ball against the wall. Try to add up the pounds we've lifted, the miles we've run. I guess what I'm getting at is we've come a LONG way and been through a ton. Enough to know what we want, how to get it, and to also know that we can. We can do anything we set our minds to, if we just do what Marge and Kristen have been harping on... BELIEVE! I think in order to do this we have to acknowledge the fact that it's not going to be easy. But it is going to be more than worth it. Hanging in my room is a sign that says, "All of your dreams can come true. If you have the courage to pursue them." In order for what we have been talking about to work, we have to be willing to do anything and everything to get there, and I know all of us are. We have to go out there in January and make it happen. "Believe in your dreams and they may come true. Believe in yourself and they will come true."
I thought I would do my best to leave a little piece of myself on here other than written words... And thus I have attached a video... Now just a friendly public service announcement. The following video is for YOUR viewing purposes only. Please do not paste onto facebook, tweet about it or the likes (THIS MEANS YOU @NDWOMENSLAX). It is, I am telling you now, basically a “social suicide” for myself. There will be consequences for those of you who do not obey, which involve lacrosse balls errantly leaving my stick and making their way somewhat similar to Marge’s demise to concussed-ness in the fall. Alright, I’m kidding… But seriously though… I’m done for aren’t I? Well at least don’t tag me in it… Say Marge made it.
http://www.filepigeon.com/getfiles/?uid=etwaawwnwthawwlkeatltwa&targetID=RpN0do1IMBM7Tesfu9dzAQ_I_I
You have to download it... Just open the link and then click download! Not a virus I promise!
Love you more than life itself,
Molly #27
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