France World Cup

Today was the official practice day of the World Cup in Boe, France. Practice was great and the field is beautiful! But it is SO HOT here!!! The weather being so hot is probably worsened by the fact that our hotel has no air conditioning. You sweat just sitting in your room. Our Team Leader bought fans for each of the rooms today so now I am sitting in a dark room with two fans going... probably as cool as I'm going to get this afternoon.

Shooting is going well. I am putting to pratice the corrections my coach gave me while we were at the Olympic Training Center and really just working on smoothing out my form. Yesterday was difficult since it was the day after flying and my back was knotted from the travel. But each day my shot quality is improving. Today was better and I know I will be in top condition for the qualification day tomorrow.

My goals for this competition are to focus on my shot, executing good form and to build confidence in my shooting. My confidence is on a greatly needed upward swing and I plan to just keep building through the Games. One other goal is to have fun on this trip. And so far, I have been accomplishing that goal! The first night we were here (we are staying in Agen, France) we went walking into town and found a street full of people and shops, food and musicians on every block! They were having a festival and it seemed the whole town had turned out for it. We walked till we came to a relatively large river with a walk bridge over it. We spent some time there taking pictures and looking for fish. Last night we walked into town again with our cameras on a mission for churches. We found 3 beautiful churches! On our day off we are hoping to take a train somewhere, tour and see a little more of the countryside.

I am SO HAPPY Mandy came with me! We are having such a great time together! She is currently out on a run and I stayed here to nap ;-) Big surprise huh? I haven't been sleeping well, though, and the jet lag is still affecting me. I am having so much fun being with my team as well. Mandy and I have been playing cards with Jacob and Brady... pretty much non-stop. These have been sessions of good conversation, lots of laughter and great memories. Karen has a new camera and has inspired many of us as we go out together on photo excursions. I think all of us girls are planning on a dip in the pool later to cool off. We are having a devotional time each day with whoever wants to join us. These have been so good for me, necessary encouragement. All in all we are having a great time and I am so excited for the tournament to begin tomorrow!