We made it to Luxembourg

Hello to everyone!

We made it to Luxembourg and so far it has been quite the experience.  Pictures will be updated on here later today.  The train ride(s) went pretty well, Jay and I each got motion sickness once.  We also just barely made our train in Basel that would take us straight to Luxembourg.  "Customs" apparently are not that strict because when the men were walking through the train, Jay was paying for our baggage, the gentleman was waiting for Jay to be done and I smiled at him and we barely flashed our passports and somehow we are now in Luxembourg.  HA!

When we arrived Claud was waiting for us and drove us, very FAST might I add, to Heffingen where Jay's games are and on to LaRouchette where we had to stay the first night until the apartment was cleaned up.  Jay attended practice that night and came home stating that it was more or less the same age kids from a high school team....turns out that is just what they are.  Most of them are about 16-19 years.  The coach seems like a good guy and pushes them all to work hard at practice and the boys work hard to prove themselves, I have been impressed.  Jay is just hoping that their maturity of the game will continue to grow quickly here during the season.  (I will have Jay write more after the game tonight or tomorrow morning...a recap of the first 2 pre-season games!)

Luxembourg the city is about 25 min away and you can take the bus there just about any time of the day...or you can take the car because its quick too!  We are about 2 hours from just about anywhere...Paris, Brussels, Munich (just about anywhere in Germany).  The women's basketball coach told me that a good place for Jay and I to go shopping is in Trier (sp?) Germany, about 40 min away, and she said you can get more bulk in stuff at a good price.  This will be nice for things like noodles, rice, corn flakes, pretzels, and crackers which we eat a lot of.  It may also be nice for milk because it is not chilled milk here and so you can buy milk and chill it as you use it.

The place that we moved into is a studio type flat and very nice...we like it.  Just kind of hard for me to make a meal quietly for Jay while he is sleeping!  The landlord is very nice and laundry is a lot easier here, we have our own washer and can use it as we wish!  We do however live in the middle of nowhere with a TON of cows and its kinda...SMELLY! ha!  (Only some days though!)

Anyone who knows me will get a kick out of this.  Last night at the basketball game I was sitting up in the stands by myself and the coach for the women's team came up and introduced herself to me.  She was being very polite and such, then she said "I have to tell you why I came up here."  I was like...ummmm ok.  She started saying that Claud told her that I workout and run and she wanted to know if I played basketball at all....YA RIGHT!  I politely told her that the last time I played in a "basketball game" the score was 8 to 6 if that shows her how old I was...and that I did not make a single basket.  She said....well the team is not that great so if you want to stop by and give it a shot we would be happy to have you!  I tried not to laugh in her face because she was so nice, but me shooting a basket is not pretty! ha!

The real basketball game, Jay's game, I thought went really well!  Jay had like almost 40 points and like 8 rebounds.  I was happy for him and it was fun for me to see him play so well!  The team lost by 4 points in overtime (91-95) and it was nice to watch them play, lots of young guys and I think that they will do well and prove themselves this season.  The other team had a bunch of older bigger guys and we had about 4 Steve Nash's on our team!  I think that current standings show that the team we played last night is the number one team in the league.  

Jay will update you after the game tonight.  Tyler and Amy's wedding is this weekend and we wish them all the best and hope that it is a nice Fall day in Green Bay for them!  Oh and Mom Anderson said that Jillian's baby should be here any day now, seems to be a healthy 7 pounds!  Jillian is excited for her to get here....and so are Jay and I, we are just anxiously awaiting the email!!! :)  Hope everyone has a great weekend and safe travels to all those who are going out to Green Bay!!  Also Tiff and Sammy have fun at home "Rhino Ridin" miss you!!

Love 

Kels & J

and the ball rolls....

We are off to Luxembourg tomorrow on our "first move" together.  We are excited to see this small country (about 30 miles by 50 miles in size) and see what they have to offer as a team.  Looks like the team is number 2 in the league they are in.  We will leave at about 830 from the apartment and go to a town called Aigle.  From here we will be taking the train to Lausanne and then to Basel...in Basel we will go through customs and get our first stamp for this trip...tricky part is we have 10 min from the train arriving to the next one departing and we have to go through customs with all of our baggage.  Should be interesting!  If we miss the train we can take the next one about 2 1/2 hours later.

Not sure when we will have internet there, but will let you know when we get there.  Sorry that Jay and I have been slacking on this but we have been busy with the next move.  In the mean time we went to visit Montreaux (sp) and Vevey.  Both of these towns we beautiful and we will have to upload some photos to post on here.  On Friday night we went to dinner with Seb and Allison for the last time before she left, it was sad to say goodbye because we had such a good time and she was SO helpful with the French.  The food was delicious there and I really enjoyed that.  Friday during the day we went to Montreaux and saw where the Jazz Festival takes place, what a beautiful city on the water.  Saturday we were lucky enough to get another nice day and go and visit Vevey for the market in the square, we had some real SWISS cheese and bread on the steps in the square and walked around by the lake and through the city area.  The market was a super busy place and had some great things to offer, lots of fresh olives of all kinds...fruits...veggies...bread...cheeses...roasted chicken...clothing...you name it they had it!  

Last night we had a great dinner with Seb, Kareem, and Lucille at Capri the Pizzeria in town....very good as usual and Jay had a "steak" that was baby horse.....he said it was good but had a bit of a different taste.  Tonight I will be making dinner here and then Seb wants to meet us for a crepe at the place in town, next time anyone has a crepe....please try putting ice cream on it!!!  It was the best!!! :)

When Jay and I checked email this morning we could only smile when we saw the cutest pictures of Jay's niece Hannah!!  Take a look at this little girl, she is getting so tall already...but that may be because she is soon to be a BIG sister ANYDAY now!!!

Au revoir!!!

J & Kels

catching up....

Sorry that it has been so long since the last post you are all probably wondering what happened....just kidding!  We are still alive and well!! :)  Yesterday I was able to finally see Jay play basketball, and I was SOOOOO happy to see him do what he loves and nice to see him in his element.  The team did not win last night but I REALLY enjoyed seeing the game.  Afterwards we went out to have some dinner with Seb and Allison at a place in the middle of the village and had crepes for dessert...it was delicious and everyone should try one WITH ice cream, so good!  :)

Got up this morning and did the workout, ran back home to catch up with Richard from management with the team to help with the "laundry situation" and the ladies here.  He was able to solve what needed to happen and kind of gave them a talking to about how I did not understand and that we did not receive a letter about the laundry changing.  Things will be fixed soon.  After this Jay came home from lunch and we cleaned up to head to Bern, the capital, for some afternoon sightseeing with Seb and Allison.  

In the car Allison has been very helpful to show me French words and phrases and help me to sound them out.  I know that this will spark some interest and she even invited me to come to see her in Belgium, where she lives.  I have included a picture of the two of us "Blondy Girls" as she says.

We had a very nice afternoon wandering around there for our first trip to Bern and we even saw where Einstein's home was in Bern where he came up with the theory of relativity!  The shopping area we saw here was 6 KM long and one of the longest covered shopping areas in all of Europe!  It was very neat with the cobblestone streets.  Jay has become quite the photographer and taken some great photos. 

 

Since my arrival I have also become a new fan of cappuccino and Seb and Allison really like Starbucks so we have stopped in Bern and Geneve for that.  Starbucks is almost DOUBLE the price here.  Hot Coco is about $8 for the medium.  Jay and I have really been enjoying spending some time together seeing the country and also having another couple with who have been a huge help with the language barrier, soon we will be professionals and can do some touring ourselves.  Next weekend we hope to take a small weekend trip somewhere...stay tuned.

Lots of love

Kels & J

Geneva

(Kels typing and Jay in the peanut gallery!)

Today we went on our first day trip to Geneva, or as they say in French "Geneve".  We were able to drive with Sebastian, Jay's teammate and his lady friend along the lake with a stop in Montreux.  This also is a beautiful city and I, Kelsey, decided that when my mom and dad visit they will need to stay here it is BEAUTIFUL!  Montreux is the home of the world famous jazz festival and the most frequented tourist city in all of Switzerland.  (side note:  the song "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple was written here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jp3de50_d8 )  A MUST see for all who come to visit us and only about 10 min away!  

In Geneve we were able to walk around and see much of the city but we can tell that in order to take this all in we will need to visit a few more times.  We walked most of the time lakeside and lucky me we ran into the shopping district!  Don't worry Margaret we found where you can buy your Rolex!  I bought a shirt at Zara, a favorite shopping place of my roommates when they were in Spain...and also saw many things that were WAY too expensive to buy!

We had lunch with about 12 dozen pigeons and one even did its "business" on our table.  Note we were sitting inside!  After lunch we walked around to find a garden that we saw on the map and that is what you see in the picture.  We toured the city until about seven o'clock and saw a lot of neat things that would be worth coming back to see again.  We also missed seeing some things like the UN museum that we can catch on another trip here.  But overall it was a great day of "Seeing the world together."  But only the beginning of our adventures!!

By the way... My lovely fiancee Jay was the genius who figured out how to post the pictures.  And I will get to see Jay play for the first time tomorrow, stay tuned for recap according to Kelsey!!

Sunday

Hello Everyone,  This is Jay on the "blogspot" for the first time.  I am not sure what to say on this thing but am kinda excited to write on here too.  As far as basketball goes, things have been pretty well.  The team is coming together nicely and I am starting to play well and get into a nice rhythm.  The guys on the team are great guys and i enjoy hanging out with them and playing with them too.  I think that we will have a pretty good team and hopefully win some games because as most of you now I am not really on a "hot" streak.

As for life in Switzerland it has been really nice since my beautiful fiancee got here.  We are having fun together and learning more about each other everyday.  The biggest thing we have learned is we need to learn French. It is difficult to live here with out speaking the language. Living together for the first time has been great and we are getting excited for the wedding this summer.   

I don't have practice tomorrow so Kelsey and I are heading to Geneva with one of my teammates, Sebastian Maio.  See a few sites, a little shopping, have some lunch...  not a bad little Monday.  This week we have two friendly matches... so i will report back with the "haps" on the games.  

Live. Laugh. and Love  - J and Kels too

Saturday

Woke up this morning to what appears to be a fresh Fall day, although they say we will be getting some more summer-like weather again soon.  Went to workout with Lucia, Kareem's wife, this morning and had an interesting conversation with the receptionist at the workout space "Black 2000"... I mean it seemed interesting although she spoke only French and I spoke only in English!  Oh well, Lucia got to come in and workout, Sebastian got me a pass yesterday when he talked to the workout guy.  On our way we noticed that something was going on in town, MOTORCYCLE RACES through the streets, it was super cool.  There was a race course set up through town and people were here from here there and everywhere to see.  It was a REAL race that they will show on TV so that was pretty cool to see.  

When I got back and cleaned up I was able to talk to my mom and dad on ichat before they went up to Inger to do some well witching at the Gemmill's cabin.  Looked like a really nice morning in Minnesota and I was able to see that the apple tree's are coming in nicely and I am sure that everyone will be enjoying a FRESH apple pie this Fall/Winter...too bad Jay and I will miss out on that one!  Dad sent me out on an adventure today to seek out the funniest looking cars for him and take pictures...and so I did, I will be sending them out later once Jay shows me how to load from his camera.  If the weather is better tomorrow I will take a few more of the city and such.

Jay has been at basketball bonding weekend but surprised me about an hour ago and was outside the door!  The guys were passing through town after practice and Sebastian dropped him off while a couple of the other guys went to get food.  He was only here for about 10 min but it was nice of him to stop off, I was in the middle of making dinner!  He said that the practices have been going really well this weekend and the team is feeling good hanging out and such.  They have a team dinner tonight with the club owners, GM, coaches, committee members and all other such VIP's...I am assuming the dinner will be good!  He seemed happy about the weekend but said that he will also be happy to be back here on Sunday!

Can't wait for visitors, all are welcome here!! :)

Kelsey & Jay

B-Ball Weekend

Jay will be gone for the weekend for some team bonding and workouts in a town nearby.  Things seem well with the team and his game earlier this week he said went "ok".  I believe he had like 9 points or something but was a little disappointed because he was in some foul trouble.  I think that the weekend will be good for all the guys on the team, although it means leaving us ladies behind here in Monthey to figure something out to do other than just "Fat Camp/Boot Camp".  Jay said that one of the guys on the team, Herman, is 39 years old and is a great player still...not sure if that means we will be doing this for another 13 years....ha

The laundry problem was solved when we were able to talk to the electrician who is working on setting up the new system, which caused all the problems in the first place.  The electrician hooked up the wires and opened the door for us, unfortunately the dryer was not working and so we had to hang dry about 20 pairs of socks and a bunch of compressions shorts and t-shirts.  Everything was able to dry but a bit "crunchy".  

Today we went to ALDI Suisse and it was quite fun, we got a few things and plan on going back for the meat and some other things that looked like you could save some money on compared to MIGROS.  Saw a few hair places and watched some ladies come out looking nice after a haircolor so I am not scared to go there anyways.  

Jay and I are thinking about making some fun plans for something to do over the "Christmas break".  We are thinking about traveling a little bit here and there just to keep busy and not be too bummed we are missing Christmas at home.  

Hope that my sister had a great birthday!!! "Gosh we grow up too fast!"  Oh, and Jillian, is that baby ready to come out yet or what!?!?!?

Love 

Kels and Jay

oh the laundry...

Hey there, Kelsey again!

So yesterday was fun after the laundry was solved and Jay had the day off.  We ended up relaxing in the afternoon and then going to the grocery store and to work out.  Oh and we made delicious spaghetti as a TEAM last night so that was fun!  Kareem's wife who is from New Zealand arrived yesterday, but her bags did not.  We were all able to visit when Kareem stopped by to grab a couple of things.  She seems really nice and ambitious to get a small job as well to keep busy and make a little money, it will be nice to be able to do some searching with someone.  Kareem and his wife, who I forgot her name, are expecting a baby in March and will be having it here in Switzerland.  It will be fun to have a little baby around the last couple months here through playoffs!

This morning we got up and went into the workout place again and I did "day 2" of the workout routine for the month. (every other day does not count as I will be doing cardio).  It has been fun/challenging to do the workouts Jay has came up with and I know it will get me into really good shape and I will be happy with it in the end.  

And so the LAUNDRY continues....

When I got back I decided since TODAY is actually our laundry day I would go down and finish our whites.  I put everything in the washer and shut the door to lock it, bad idea, the machine will not work with my "suissecard" and now our whites are stuck in the machine and I cannot get them out (still down there as we speak!).  I am hoping that when Jay gets back he will be able to help me open the dang thing to put our clothes in the one that works.  But for now, they are still locked the machine and going on about an hour in there!

MORE to come...

Kels

Day Three

Hey guys, it's Kelsey!

Things continue to get more and more interesting with everyday.  Jay and I thought that today was our laundry day but apparently its tomorrow and people take this VERY seriously....we took some lady's laundry spot and she was not happy, it did not help that we speak ZERO French.  A couple of gals came down to explain that this is not our day to wash and also how the system is not working correctly.  They spoke very very little English...the conversation went no where.  It ended with Jay going upstairs with one of the older gals here and talking to the "concierge lady" which also did not help because she could not explain this either.  

Jay then had to go to shoot and to lunch with everyone.  I went back downstairs to get the laundry and the "concierge lady" was waiting there for me and spoke to me in French, not understanding her at all, I thought she was mad at me.  She went outside quickly and found a man that she knew spoke a little bit of English.  He then entered the conversation with another two gals that joined making a total of 5 people in the conversation.  (Not out of the ordinary all the women were giving him instructions on what to tell me!)  The conversation continued and the man explained that this is the last week of the system we have to use the wash machine and that we need to go to the post office to get the new key for the system and it cost about 85 chF.  I explained to him that we would have someone take care of this, meaning Jay and the GM! 

I was about to walk out and the women cornered the man again and made him explain to me that I should really use the dryer down the hallway, it is much easier and your clothes feel better.  I agreed and ALL 5 of us went into the dryer room.  All the women began to direct me on how to do the dryer and that when it is done you will want to put the card back in and get your money in return, it costs less.  I agreed and we all walked out.  It has been an interesting morning to say the least and we REALLY need to learn French before I think everyone is yelling at us!  

I am sure more to come in the adventures later today...I will keep you all posted.

Kelsey & Jay

Day Two

Hey Everyone,

Figured out how to blog!  The grocery store was fun yesterday and was happy to find that things are not too high of price that we cannot afford to eat, towels were about 20 American dollars a piece though!  We buy the "Budget Migros" brand and everything is a bit cheaper and tastes just fine to us.  Last night Kelsey cooked dinner while Jay was at practice and she made a chicken, green beans, rice, and a really good salad.  We had a nice dinner!  After dishes we relaxed a little and watched some of the Office season 3.  Also we were able to catch Kelsey's mom after work on the webcam which was fun!

This morning Kelsey made it to the workout and it went very well, it was nice to get back into a routine and the workout place is pretty nice!  They even have some classes that you can take.  Jay, Sebastian, and Kareem left about halfway through when Kelsey was done to go to the "free team meal".  The team meal is at a cafeteria nearby where some school kids are and some of the factory workers as well.  They allow the guys to eat all that they want and there is a big selection!

It has been so nice here and nice to be able to enjoy the weather.  Jay has a game in Lusanne tonight and leaves around 6 pm.  Hopefully the team wins and Jay has a good game!  Tomorrow Jay has off and then this weekend he has to go to a 3 day training thing in Repoisuex (sp).  Kelsey may catch up on some reading and clean things up a bit more.

This afternoon we will probably relax before Jay has to head out on the road for the game.  We are getting excited to hear about Jay's sister Jillian and the new baby that should be here in about a month!  Kelsey's sister Tiffany will be celebrating her 26th birthday this week on September 11th, so be sure to all wish her a happy birthday day/week/month!! :)

Lots of Love

Jay and Kelsey

Day One

Hi to all!

So it is 1 pm here on day one.  Kelsey did not make it to the workout today but got up not long after to start the day and hope to get on schedule soon!  Feeling a bit like gumby today, she wanted to wake up because it just looks beautiful out but couldn't do it!  Kelsey is going to try and find a way and start a blog for free so all of you don't have to read emails everyday but rather just check the blog on your free time.  We discussed last night how nice it is to finally be back in the same location and for longer than just 2 weeks.  Sebastian on Jay's team told us about taking a French class at this place one night a week from like 8 pm to 10 pm, close to Kelsey's bedtime but we are going to see what we can arrange to make this work and learn some French so we can talk to people here!  Jay said Sebastian told him the class is like 450 chF for 20 sessions, hopefully that includes the book!  We are just thinking that it would be really helpful and fun to actually know more than "bonjour!"

After Kelsey woke up she cleaned the apartment, that is her mom in her.  In order to live here she needed to take care of cleaning up a few things, i.e. the shower room, toilet room, kitchen, bedrooms, living room...things are looking much better already.  "Mr. Proper" does wonders around this apartment!  We are going to have to see if they sell paper towels here though, otherwise there are lots of cleaning products and the toilet already smells lemon fresh and all are more than welcome to come and visit now that the place is close to Kelsey's standards.  Although we do need to note that Jay did a GREAT job cleaning things up after Kareem left the apartment kind of a mess.  Things were very picked up upon the arrival from the airport!  Today after Kelsey gets showered here soon we are going to go to the grocery store and get a few things for the week!  Hope everyone is well and we miss you all VERY much and cannot wait for visitors!

Love 

Jay and Kelsey