Return to Columbia

"In my mind I'm gone to Carolina
Can't you see the sunshine?
Can't you just feel the moonshine?
Ain't it just like a friend of mine"

James Taylor says it best right? I assume he is talking about South Carolina. AKA South Cakalaki. Being a Graduate of the University of South Carolina (06'), you would think I would have better ties to the university. But considering how I parted ways when I left, things are still a bit bitter when it comes to my alma mater. Yeah I still cheer for football and basketball when I see them on TV, and of course Baseball (Back 2 Back National Champs). But that same love was not attempted towards volleyball for reasons I will not get into. Just know it ended bad and we all know I can hold a grudge. I think letting go and moving on has been quite therapeutic for me. Do I still get that sick feeling in my stomach when I think about it sometimes. Sure! On the flip side I love thinking about the good times and all the relationships I have formed as a result of attending USC, so its a balanced emotion.

Walking on campus was so surreal. Everything was completely different, including the volleyball office and hello the freaking Academic center is ridiculous. I mean I would have always been there studying if we had that back in my day.












Later that night we met up with some friends in 5 points, the go to social place in Columbia. There were a myriad of old faces there. Of course we met up with Jason, our favorite Omega and he brought along the World Champion Packer Tory Gurley. Talk about bling. Wish I had taken a picture of that Super Bowl ring. Holy mother of heavy hardware. Later that night we were delighted to get a visit from Cliff aka light skinned friend look like Michael Jackson. Always good seeing Cliff, so many memories with that guy, and I really do believe he used to look out for us vball girls.

And then there was the reason we all came... Lynae's wedding, which was gorgeous by the way. As teammates Shonda and Sarah walked down the aisle to music by Ray Lamontagne, it was nothing short a a Hallmark happy ending movie.
Lynae wore this beautiful full length gown with her Dad as he was holding back tears. It really was special. Had to keep Lexi from full out bawling on the ground at the moment. After some wedding party photos and quick meet and greets with other guest, we flowed into the small 2 story manor for some delicious country style hor d'oeurves. So much deliciousness cannot be described simply in a blog.



We huddled out side, where it had gotten a little brisk, but that was nothing a little dancing couldn't cure. We kicked off our pumps and danced into the late night. After tossing her bouquet to her new sister in law falling over a gate and into the bushes, Lynae and Teddy walked away to a display of fireworks held by their quest. It really was a good time. Congrats to them.


Coming back to Columbia was not so bad at all. As long as my homies are with me! We used to run that town.


And for your enjoyment....

Happy All Hallows Evening!

Happy Halloween. Or All Hallows Eve is what they would say in the olden days. This is absolutely my favorite holiday. I love the decorations, I love the ghost, eery stories. I love the candy. I actually went trick or treating until I was 17 years old; which by the way was very hard because I was 6'2 since I was 14 and people had a hard time believing I was not an adult. Thank you baby face.

How about all those stories or Urban Legends of glass in candy, so your parents have to inspect everything. Oh the fun times. But my absolute favorite thing about Halloween are the costumes. I love that there is one day where you can leave your world behind and be just about anything you want to be. Thats the best part. Sorry 365 days of Lauren can be a bit much, excuse me if I wanted to be a Spice girl for a couple of hours.

And shout to all those who dont like "celebrating" Halloween. Lighten up. No one is devil worshiping or trying to raise the dead. The most we are doing is getting tummy aches and really bad hangovers from costumes parties. Actually the origin of trick or treating and Halloween parallels an old Medieval practice of people going from door to door collecting food in exchange for prayers for the dead on All Saints Day. That is also similar to Dia de los Muertos or day of the dead and my favorite Mexican holiday to celebrate while studying Spanish in school.

So maybe if you look at Halloween in this way, maybe it wont seem so ghoulish and evil. Whatever, its my favorite and Ill probably celebrate it forever. Deal! If you are lucky, I might break out the Thriller dance for you.

Happy Halloween from Dannie and I. By the way, he was the most excellent Optimus Prime. I was a Zombie Volleyball Player.



























Previous years I have resurrected my Zombie Volleyball player and an Emo Tinkerbell.

Bacolod Living!

Vacay time!!!! And boy did we need to get away. Completely disappointed and worn out from our run at the championship, Coach Roger asked if we would like to visit Bacolod before we left. Why not? I can always use a good couple a days off from competition, especially after what had just happened that past week. I wanted to go and hide my face in some remote island and forget about the pain.

So Phee Jang, Jen, Coach Roger and I packed our bags and headed out to the beautiful Bacolod, the capital city of the province Negros Occidental.
It was about an hour plane ride from Manila. Cool thing about the plane ride was reading about our defeat in the paper under this huge picture of the Army team. Good for them, but I did not save that article. *Kanye shrug*

Upon arriving to the city, there was this tropical island feeling. We were picked at the airport by Father Cachero, the president at the University of Negros Occidental, which happened to be the sister school of San Sebastian. We also would be staying on their campus. In the back there are these rooms with about 6 beds where visitors stay. Its back in this wooded, vegetation-filled area, kind of secluded. SO imagine our fright when we started hearing things crashing against the walls and the ceiling. lol Creepy!

The next day after a quick breakfast at Jolibee, we headed off to the Mambukal Mountain Resort, located in Murcia. Hidden inside mountains, hills and plenty of greenery, it kind of looked like we had driven up into Jurassic park and at any moment a T-Rex was about to present himself from behind some huge tree.

But it was absolutely gorgeous. Immediately available to us were hiking trails, hot springs, pools, water falls and probably much more. There were even bats that were just chilling upside down in trees above us while we relaxed in the hot springs below. Really cool. (BTW, Father Cachero & Phee Jang have all the photos, I will try and steal some from them)







Even though it rained on our way out, the trip left us completely relaxed and after eating, we headed out. Speaking of eating.... Do I need to even explain the deliciousness below. Take a look.



































Basically every time it was time to eat, we ate seafood; buffet style until I was too full to walk. Any kind of seafood that I had ever imagine, thought about, seen in a book... I swear it was available to me. The one thing I love about traveling is trying the food. I mean why not? Kind of over McDonald's you know!

If you are wondering if we did other things over than eat and relax. .... NO! Just kidding! We actually visited this really cool landmark called the Ruins. Its like this gutted out 2 story house they renovated. We arrived just as the sun was going down, so it was simply breath-taking. It had a very romanticized feeling. According to ExperienceNegroes.com, the Ruins was the resident of Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson, a sugar baron. He built it for his wife Maria Braga and was filled with nothing but the finest things collected from his travels through Europe. The mansion was set on fire by US Armed Forces during WWII and then again by the residents to keep the Japanese from utilizing it. Note that when building the structure, a special Grade A mixture was used for the concrete walls, which is why it is still standing today after the fire. Pretty neat.





Funny story # 2... So remember how at the beginning of this blog I mentioned burying my head and trying to forget all about volleyball? Well as soon as I walked about 10 feet onto the Ruins property I hear someone yelling, " Ford! Ford! Hey Ford!." I was like No Way! I have left Manila, and there is no possible way that anyone would know me out here. Sure enough we were greeted by Shakey's V League fans. How freaking awesome is that? A man and his wife and children were thrilled to take photos with us. They had watched nearly every Baste match on TV and were big fans. :)

Oh our last day... Of coourse we ate Seafood buffet again.... YES! Father Cachero, who was the best host ever, picked me out some delicacies of dried mango and fruit to take back and enjoy...

Over all I had an amazing time and Im so happy I got an opportunity to visit the lovely city of Bacolod. Father Cachero and his staff were simply the greatest host ever. Salamat po!


Check out the Slide Show for more photos :)

Temporary Shut Down

Hey, just wanna say I appreciate those of you that follow my blog. So dont get mad, but I have decided to shut it down until the end of the Shakey's V League. I write this blog to really get things off my chest. Sometimes I say things and people dont really get it or they misunderstand. So this blog was created to express the happenings of my life and my career as a traveling volleyball player. That is all. I dont use it to bash people and I really ty to give people props when I can. But right now I think its best to not blog about volleyball right now. Ill try to finish some of my old blogs. Ill continue writing, but Ill probably publish them when I am back in the states.... Thanks for understanding and thanks for following. :D

Lauren

So You Want to Be On Top!?

"You want to be on top?" This might sound familiar. Its a line in the intro song to the television show America's Next Top Model. Ever seen it? Its a show were girls fight tooth and nail for the chance to be a high fashion model. They get like a contract and a spread in some magazine. Its their dream. But I guess we all have dreams and aspirations of some sort in our lives. You want to be the best Basketball player and go to the league. You want to be smartest in school and be the valedictorian. You might want to be the best barista at Star Bucks. Whatever! But its the goal right. Its always the goal, whether it happens or not. Its not like we wake up and say, its okay I just want to be average today. You don't step on a court and say, its okay if I am not the best I can be. Nooo

So my point is, you don't do whatever you do to not be at least good at it? Or am I wrong. But what happens when you reach that pinnacle in whatever arena. Hey it could be back yard badminton. Two things are for sure. First off, when you have climbed to top of your mountain or hill, isn't there always another mountain to climb? When you are on top, there is always room to improve. You think MJ just stopped when he was considered the best? The next thing you realize is that there are always people on your heels scratching and gnawing to bring you down. You permanently have a target placed on your forehead.






Can you handle it? The pressure. Can you walk the walk and talk the talk all the time? Can you come out every night and perform and take the pressure of failing and the criticism that comes with it? Its hard I tell you! Some one said, " That you got to bare a cross if you want to wear a crown," and I totally get it. There is a responsibility, or at least everyone else in the world believes there is. Don't believe me, ask Lebron James. This guy just wants to play basketball and be the best at it, he has people burning his jersey and threatening him. Okay that hasn't happened to me, but being considered "good" or the "best" at something has its price. Are you ready to carry the load for everything even though its a team sport? Are you ready to accept responsibility when things don't go right, whether its your fault or not? Are you ready to have that asterisk by your name when you don't win or get that ring or championship. See Derrick Rose, Steve Nash, Dan Marino, Charles Barkley. Ok D Rose is a little premature. ;)


Today was one of those days where I was knocked down hard. Was I blinded by my own ambition? I don't think so. But sometimes I want to win so bad, that it seems to be all that matter. Its like... do I follow my expectations of me or everyone else. In my career I have been on both ends of the spectrum. Ive been at the bottom where I got my behind kicked and chewed out every day at practice. I been at the top where I was asked to do a little bit more because I could. Neither place is comforting. The last game I played really poorly. Not on purpose of course, but it was just one of those days. I feel like I let everyone down. People did not hesitate to let me know I let everyone down. Did I crack under pressure? I don't know? But that is the responsibility I have to bare because I want to be the best at something. I demand more of myself and sometimes it blinds me from reality. But whats wrong with that? Yeah, I could be average. You know right there in the middle of the pack. What fun is that? My Mom's used to say you get a C just for showing up to class. Nope I want more in my life. Is it wrong to demand more of myself and the people around me. Isn't that what leaders do? Again see Lebron James.


I'm an emotional person by nature. I want to win. I want to help. I want to motivate. I want to prove so many people wrong. I want to be the best. There are so many things that I want.... but always understand this... Champions pay the price one way or the other. I'm not saying I am this Champion or anything, but Id sure like to be one. I didnt come into this seeking awards or records. I never have. I never will. I just came to play and help my team win But being the best requires sarifice, patience and yes, there is glory but there is also a price to pay. And then I ask myself "So you want to be on top, Lauren?" Am I ready for it???

Happy Sabbath from the Philippines!

Happy Sabbath. Well my time in the Philippines was not all about playing volleyball. I also got a chance to venture out and worship with fellow Seventh-Day Adventist. I have been a Seventh-Day Adventist since birth and so is my whole family, just about. Its been hard because the 7th day is our sabbath and many times it coincides with my athletic competitions. But this is the first time I believe in my career that it would not. When my coach heard of my faith, he would not allow me to train with the team on our day of rest. That too was a first. All I could think was, "wow what an amazing experience already and now this."

The Three Angels Church, which used to be known as The Manila Chinese SDA Church was relatively close in Sta Mesa. I arrived to a warm reception. THe message was very good, although I dont remember what its was. I know it was in English and that was pretty cool. It was also communion. Overall, its pretty much like my church back home. We washed each others feet and prayed together. We took the bread and the blood, prayed and worshiped. Afterwards we sat down and ate a delicious pot luck dinner. All I have to say is they had Plantain and it was amazing.

A couple of weeks earlier I visited The Manila Adventist Medical Center, which was a school and hospital with a church on the campus. It took me a while to reach the church, so I was a little late. Shhh, dont tell anyone. But I did catch most of the message on how social media is not Christ-like and how it poisons our minds. Pretty true. Although I did not really meet up with folks after, I still enjoyed being around other Adventists.

Navy Match: Feels like Were Playing Battleship for Real!

September 15th, 2011- Navy Match, Part Deux and trust me, I didn't want a part 3. This was it. San Sebastian needed one more victory to reach the Finals of the Shakey's V-League Open Conference season 8. So many things were running through my head at this very moment. Would we be ready? Would we let it slip through our hands. What adjustments had the Navy team done since last game? Could we close it out? All of these things were not in my control. The only thing I could do was go out and play my hardest so that our team could have an opportunity to win. That's the only thing we can ever control.... Ourselves. I hadn't got much sleep the night before. I was a little bit jittery. Had some nervous energy. Our last training had been horrible for me. Things just were not gelling for lack of a better word. So there was worry there too and because I am the guest foreign player, there is always pressure for me to perform at my highest level, even when things don't seem to be gelling right. So I had to get over that immediately.

Walking into the arena, we were the first match up of the night. I was informed that the Navy squad had picked up Aiza Maizo from the Air Force to replace their injured player. Nice pick up. She is a very talented player, but for me the game plan does not change. we still have to come out and play our game no matter who is on the opposite side. Even without some of their best players, I still believed the Navy team was tough as nails.

Warming up and preparing to play the Navy is always different than for other teams. From day 1 it seems that there was this negative resentment towards each other. And today would be no different especially after the events that have gone on between these teams. All I can say is hey, " I came here to play volleyball. That is it." There is no ill intent from my end. I just wanna play and be the best I can be for my team. I cant change the past no more than anyone else in that arena tonight. Definitely no love would be lost on this match as well. So if you need someone to dislike, than go right ahead. I can take it.



Set one went on as usual. Navy came out a bit on fire, but we were able to hang in there for the time being. Jeng personally came out on fire, like she was carrying a grudge of some sort. You could tell, or at least I could that this was personal for her. So I let her be and do her thing. I, personally was not playing like the Lauren that everyone expects, but it was enough, because my team was picking up any slack for everything and everyone. So its the middle of set one and we just have a major breakdown in everything. Its super frustrating when you are hitting the ball pretty nicely and getting great looks and then the team on the other side is getting the ball up. Not easily, but they are playing defense around your hits. When that happens you often panic, because its like, "Uh Oh, what now." What you have to continue to do is play. Teams are gonna dig balls and they are gonna make incredible plays and that is what this Navy team was doing. You have to weather the storm, and SSC always has a hard time doing that. When things go bad, we have a tendency to panic and start harping on our mistakes, then of course making everything worse. Its like the saying, "when it rains it pours." So they were defending everything. But we cant stop playing just because they have turned up the heat. And just with a snap of a finger, SSC was down again by a large margin. This time I was completely ineffective. Maizo was destroying our defense as we could not defend her at the net or on the floor. Our weak spot was being exposed to the fullest.


It was starting to look like game one, and today I was thinking, there is no way we can do this twice. But leave that in hands of Jeng, the Queen of swing herself. Jeng literally put the team on her back and carried us. With some great defensive plays by Jen S, Jen Manzano, and Jhoy we started to climb our way back into this match. Daphna too was getting hot with her blocking and putting down some crucial kills. I was so hyped and almost jealous I could not be apart of that on the court, but trust me I was enjoying it so much from the sidelines too. And can you believe SSC came all the way back again to snatch the set away from Navy, this time there were no extra points. The great part for me was that I had no part of it at all. To everyone saying, that we only have 2 players, and you can never win like that. Well today they won without me and that is ever so comforting.



The next two sets I really didn't do much either, and I didn't have to really. I just did my job to the best of my ability, which is all a team ever needs. Coach Roger says, "No one of you needs to be a Hero, we will all play." And he was so right tonight. We still were having problems defending Maizo, but we continued to weather the storm enough to stay on top and win the next two sets. We closed this set out better than we have done int he past. And I was really proud to be apart of this team on that day. We had done it. We are going to the "Ship. And I was ever so happy to finish it in two. There is a saying, " You can work hard now or later." So happy we worked hard now.



As for my last comments on playing the Navy... I hope the end of this game is the end of every underlying thing that has happened. The unfriendly glances, the resentment, the no shaking my hand after the match. Yes, i noticed and it pissed me off, but I'm over it now. Because.... Its a game. We play, we battle, we win or lose, but at the end of the day its still just a game. If we cant let by gones be by gones, well than I guess we will be rivals for the rest of our lives and that's cool too. Hey, not every story ends like Rocky and Apollo Creed! :)

"Oh yes, the past can hurt. But, you can either run from it or, learn from it." The Lion King

We goin to the 'Ship! Hey!



Photos Courtest of Pinoy Spikers...