Jan. 4, 2008
Happy Holidays!!! Well I guess since it is now January 1st I have to stop saying that because the holiday season is officially over... It always go by so fast doesn't it?? Well this year, Christmas seemed to sneak up on me and before I even realized it, I was flying from Colorado to Santa Clara, trying to mentally prepare for practice. Only being home for four days is really tough, but even though it's short, it always seems perfect. Flying home to beautiful Colorado in December is the best. Coming from California you fly over the Mountains and get to see all the snow and the trees, which of course always gets me so excited. When I arrived on the morning of the 22nd there was not a ton of snow, but man did that change pretty quickly. My first days at home were spent trying to see as many people as possible, as well as trying to get my final Christmas shopping done. (yes I put off some of my shopping til the very last moment!!!) On Christmas Eve the Gottschalk's have a long standing tradition of making our own homemade pizza and going to see a movie while the dough rises. This year, with some reluctancy by the youngest but cutest child (sorry sis), we went to go see Charlie Wilson's War. Usually we see some Christmas chick flick but this year I was out voted, and we had to see a serious one! But to my surprise I very much enjoyed the movie. It is actually really good and I would recommend that everyone go see it when they get the chance. But now, more than ever, I can't wait for next year because I get to drag everyone to a chick flick and they won't be able to argue against me saying that we never see a serious movie!!! YES, that means you Aunt Mary, we are seeing a chick flick next year!! haha, anyways...
On Christmas morning I woke up to my sister jumping on me telling me that it was time to get up and begin the Gottschalk family bonding. Now no one be fooled by how innocent and sweet this sounds, my sister can be quite the terror in the morning. Although she had good intentions (well, maybe...) she came in like her usually self jumping on the bed and encouraging the dogs to keep pestering me until I got my grumpy rump out of bed!! I was as friendly as a person could be (who's beauty sleep was cut VERY short), but as soon as my sis opened the blinds and I saw that we were having an actual white Christmas, I leaped out of bed with a smile on my face! Colorado gave us a beautiful Christmas. It snowed, and I mean snowed, all day long. It was beautiful!! Needless to say my Christmas was perfect and I just want to say thank you to everyone who made it that way.
First I want to say thank you to the Sykes' (my best friends family, who are pretty much my family) Tobin, Jordan, Kate, Doug and Jamie!! They are the best friends the Gottschalk's could ask for, and I had so much fun spending almost every single day with them... I LOVE YOU guys :) Second I want to tell my parents how much I love them!! My Mom and Dad are the best parents a girl could ask for. They do and did everything in their power to make Christmas so very special. My sister and I are really lucky. So thank you `rents, I am so grateful for everything you guys do and say. I love you (almost as much as I love Jamie and Doug!) I also want to give a shout out to my sister... she just had minor surgery and is doing great, but I want her to know I'm thinking about her... ALWAYS!!! :)
Ok so enough about me... after Christmas break the Broncos were all back together and pretty excited to get things started again. We've had two games since our return and both have been very successful. We really are playing great right now, but I think the thing that is most exciting is that we are playing so well as a team. It is rare to play for a team that is made up of unselfish players. The other thing that is really exciting is that we are one game away from conference and we are continuing to improve. The coaches are really on us about our defense and our rebounding and if can get to the place where we need to be, the WCC should be nervous... because the Broncos are on a mission and 2008 is the year it's going to happen. :)
Well I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and fantastic New Years!! 2008 has officially begun, and I hope that everyone can keep their resolutions this year (or at least for the first week!). And if you haven't thought of one yet, here's an easy one; stay tuned in.... it's only going get more exciting!!!
GO BRONCOS!
Jen
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Posted: Dec. 20, 2007
Hello there!!!
Let me tell you right now that it has been one crazy week. We traveled down to Cal Poly and came back with another win which of course is very exciting. We are now currently 7-3 and very happy about it. This past week we haven¡¦t had any games, just practices. We have really been focusing on our defense, trying to fine tune it. We play San Jose State this Friday and we are very excited. This game is a part of the rivalry series and we are really looking forward to it. I think the hard work we¡¦ve put in this week is really going to pay off on the defensive end, so everyone better tune in on Friday!!!
So what did we do this week? Well, without school it has been completely full of basketball and volunteer work (and a little bit of time for sleeping). When we got back from Cal Poly we had a morning full of reading to youngsters. It was really fun. Each one of us got assigned to a different classroom, where we read different books and stories to children at St. Clare's. Although we were very tired from the late return the night before, everyone really seemed to wake up when we met the kids. It was really hard not to enjoy yourself because the kids were so darn cute.
On Tuesday we volunteered at Sacred Heart Community Center. Sacred Heart is a place that helps better our community in many different ways. With programs like Homework Club for kids, daily food and clothes distribution, and simply providing a place for people in need to go to, Sacred Heart does so much to for our community. On Tuesday we joined other volunteers to help organize food, clothes and toys for their annual Christmas distribution. Although it was a lot of work, the work was very fulfilling. The people in charge were so friendly and helpful, and really made us feel comfortable all afternoon. From unloading hundreds of toys and bikes off huge trucks, to organizing blankets and clothes for distribution, as well as putting together meals for families at Christmas, I think that all of us were overwhelmed with the joy we felt at the end of the day. It was so great to see and be apart of what Sacred Heart does for the community. Even though it was only for one afternoon, it was so great to be apart of something like that.
Although this week has been good one, it also brought one very sad thing to this Bronco team. In practice on Tuesday, Becky tore her ACL. We were doing a 3 on 2 drill and she turned the wrong way on her knee and that was it. She was actually incredibly brave and tough about it. When she fell to the ground, we didn't think anything was really wrong, and neither did Becky. She even told the trainers that she just needed some Advil because she thought she was fine. She really is one of the toughest people I know. We are so sad that she is out for the season, but are all so impressed with how brave and mature she is handling this injury. I hope she knows how much she is going to be missed.
On the brighter side of things, our team had our annual Christmas party at Chan and Sara¡¦s house, and that was great fun! We all dressed up in our favorite Christmas outfits, listened to Christmas music and drank eggnog. (we are so lame we know!!) It was a lot of fun. It was nice to be able to celebrate and express our love for the holiday season, even though we aren't at home with our families.
Speaking of home! we only have 2 days left until we get to go home for Christmas and I know that each of us is so very excited to see our family and friends. We have one more big game to take care of and then we get to relax, and enjoy life with the ones we love!!!
Well this wraps up another one, I hope that everyone is doing well and getting very excited for Christmas. For the families and friends of our players, know how excited we all are to come home and see you. I hope that everyone has a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS, and tunes in Friday night for our big game!!!
Happy Holidays,
JEN
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Posted: Dec. 10, 2007
Hello Everyone!!
So finals went by smoothly and everyone has been very pleased with their grades. Now that school is out, we are all so excited to live, breath and eat basketball. With nothing but basketball to worry about, it's going to be a lot of fun. We just played Sac State and UOP and came out with 2 great wins, so that is very exciting. We are playing pretty well right now and with the break we have nothing to worry about but getting better at the little things. We are 9 games into the season and everyone is feeling great!
With Christmas all around us, everyone has seemed to be a bit happier. On the way back from the Sac State game we all started singing Christmas carols out of no where on the bus. Everyone was singing and having so much fun, it just made me realize that we are so lucky to have a team where everyone is equally as weird and crazy! I think the only people that might have been bothered by our songs were the coaches, but that's only because we all might have thought we sounded a bit better than we really did!! But overall I think everyone, including our bus driver, enjoyed our holiday spirit.
Coming up next on our agenda is Cal Poly and then we have a week off with no games, just practice. Although that may sound dreadful, I think that it is going to be very good for us. We have a lot of work to do. With no school, no games and no one else on campus, we are left with two things; basketball and each other!!! I always look forward to Christmas break so much and this is exactly why. We get to play our favorite game in the world without any outside distractions, and hangout with our best friends. I might sound like a cheeseball, but that's the way I feel So right now I am a very happy camper!!!
The only other thing going on at the moment is Rhi's surgery. She is having surgery on Tuesday and I think she is a bit nervous. But she should know that it is going to be fine and we are all going to be here and help take care of her. Her Dad is here (came to take care of her all the way from Australia) and I think that is a really good thing too. We are obviously here for Rhi, but I think she's going to need someone who can take care of her 24/7 at least at first. And what else are Dads for right?!?!
Sorry this one was so short, but you should look forward to my next one because we have a ton of fun stuff coming up!!! I hope that everyone is doing well and getting very excited for Christmas!! Write again soon.
Jen
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Posted: Dec. 7, 2007
Hello Bronco Fans! My name is Jen Gottschalk and I have been selected to do the blog this year for women's basketball. I am very excited to have been selected because I am going to give you the inside scoop on this year's team every week!!! Since this is the first blog of the year I figure I should start from the beginning.
Pre-season actually went really well this year. We have 5 new faces on the team and they have all added their own new dimension. First of the freshman is Rhianna. Rhi is from Australia and if you get the chance to meet her you will notice that this is the first thing out of her mouth. She seems to think that being from Australia makes her different from the rest of us. A little bit of a better person I think. We try to keep her in line but whenever she opens her mouth and that cute little accent comes out, you can't help but do whatever she says. For a freshman she sure has a lot of power over the rest of us. But don't worry I am working on trying to not fall for her accent and keep her in line. I will update you in the next blog with how that's going.
Next is Becky. Becky is from Oregon and she has got to be the strongest person I have ever run in to... literally. I'm telling you, this girl is the strongest person I have ever played against. When we first started playing pick-up this summer (the freshmen came early to get a head start of school) I was running around and some how I ran into her and I am not lying, I got flattened. It was quiet embarrassing. But mostly it just REALLY hurt!! I've since recovered and have accepted Becky as one of my favorite people. I like to keep her around in case someone tries to pick a fight with me.
Next is Nicole. Nicole is from Idaho and like our former teammate Kasey, she is a bit crazy. We recently had an overnight team bonding trip to Half Moon Bay where we played games all night long. One thing you should know about our team, coaches included, we LOVE games. From the outside we might look a bit crazy, but for us it's just normal. Anyways, we were playing charades and when it was finally Nicole's turn she got up there and made one gesture and we all started shouting and yelling answers at her right away. She got so overwhelmed that her eyes about popped out of her head and her face froze in this very awful pose. I think we scared the willies out her. She couldn't say anything and instead just stood there looking scared to death!! I don't think she knew what she was getting herself in to. But let me tell you that Nicole has successfully transformed into one of us and we bring up that story and that face a lot whenever we need a good laugh!!!
Then we have Kathy. Kathy is from Vegas and like Rhi, we never hear the end of it. Everything that comes out of Kathy's mouth is about Vegas!!! I would have to say that is one of my favorite things about the freshmen this year... Kathy and her stories. Anytime anyone has a story, Kathy has one that tops it!! This girl has seen and heard everything! I love it. She has really fit in well with the team. Like the returnees, we love to laugh and Kathy is the best example of that. She always has a smile on her face and she will do anything to make everyone else feel as happy as she does. I truly love that about her.
And finally we have Kelly. Kelly recently broke her arm and that was a big bummer for the entire team. Kelly is one of the most athletic people I've come across and I have had a lot of fun playing her. She broke her arm at the end of the Boise State game and we thought she was going to have to have surgery and be out for the rest of the season. But we just got word that the break wasn't as bad as they originally thought and we are hoping she will be back with us very soon. It will be great to have her back!!
Everything else is going great thus far. Chandice, Tracey and I are very excited to have a great year for our last one. Our team gets along so well on and off the court, and I think we are headed in the right direction in having very successful season!! I can't wait!
I hope you all enjoyed the first blog, and stay tuned because there are many more to come!! O,h and for all the families of our players out there, it's finals week so don't take it personal if your daughters are ignoring your calls!
-JEN