Hey World!

Even though the weather was close to 30 degrees colder at home than it was in Chile, it felt great to finally be back in California. If you remember, I left for Florida on Dec. 28th, so this was my first time home in 2012. My dad picked me up from the airport and we met my mom for lunch at BJ Brewery. They have an awesome Santa Fe Chicken Salad. I recommend trying it if you ever get an opportunity to go there. It was good to catch up with my parents and tell them about my adventures and how my skiing was going since they left Chile, a month ago. Afterwords, my dad and I headed over to T-Mobile. I was in desperate need of a new phone. One that was able to download apps like Viber and Whatsapp. These apps allow you to text internationally for free and the Viber app allows you to even make calls internationally for free. A must need with all of the traveling I am doing. I ended up getting the Samsung Galaxy SII. It had been fun playing around on the phone getting familiar with how things work. If you want to get in contact with me, download these apps and send me a message!

PICTURES FROM….WELCOME HOME PARTY

One of my sponsors and the BEST GYM IN ELK GROVE, WarriorZ Health & Fitness, put on a Welcome Home Celebration Party for me last night. When I was in Chile, they moved into a new building so I was excited to see their new set up and celebrate the world championship with everyone!! There was a great turnout and we all had a lot of fun. There was about 75-100 people that came throughout the night. 2 of my uncles were able to make it, 2 of my roommates from college, Pat and Freddie, as well as many friends from my home town.

I was able to talk about the tournament, my experience, winning the gold, representing my country and answered questions. Then my dad surprised me with an award from the City of Elk Grove, recognizing my team’s achievement, my leadership in the sport and representing the city. I was very thankful for the award. Then my dad surprised me even more. Our Congressman, Dan Lungren, sent a certificate congratulating me on the world championship as well. It was a a great honor to have him not only recognize my accomplishment but to also receive an award from him.

There was one last HUGE surprise that took place. Our team coach in Chile, Rob Rhyne, sent the team trophy to my house just in time for the party. He said he felt that the trophy needed to be there! I was able to show everyone the trophy we won. They couldn’t believe how big it was. A big THANKS to Rob, I really appreciate your support and thoughtfulness!!!

Thank you to everyone who came to support me! It truly means a lot!!!

I want to also thank Charlie and Micha Zamora of WarriorZ Health and Fitness for hosting the event, for their continued support. Check out the slide show from the event!

While I was home I was able to see a friend of mine from skiing, Jason Marvin, who is my physical therapist. He was able to work on the body and get me feeling a little better. He couldn’t believe how jacked up I was. My hips were locked up, both shoulders were stiff, especially the one I injured and my alignment was off. Since everything in the body is connected, if one area is misaligned or compensating, it is going to affect other areas of your body. Being a professional athlete, I have to make sure my body is able to function at 100% so it is necessary to see a physical therapist, chiropractor, massage therapist or even an acupuncturist on a weekly basis!! I wish I could afford to have a a few of them fly with me. Would anyone like to help me make that happen??? Just kidding…unless your willing to 🙂

Even though I was home for just over 48 hours, I was able to enjoy some time with my family and friends and it was nice to take a few days off of skiing to give my body some rest.

Keep an eye out for my “Arrived in Australia” post!