MOMENTS OF MAGIC

One perk of being a professional basketball player and traveling the world is that sometimes you just get to see magic happening right in front of your eyes. You get exposed to things you thought never existed.
So I just took my clothes off the drying rack... and look at this:

MY SOCK IS STANDING ALL BY ITSELF
IT'S MAGIC!!!

MTV CRIBS "GREEK EDITION"

Hello everyone.
Today is Sunday, and we have a day off. Not just a regular day off, but one AFTER a big win on Saturday, which- as every athlete knows- makes a day off even sweeter than it already is :)
Even though it's cloudy outside, I'm having a good time: just lit up some candles and made myself comfortable in my apartment. Sometimes I like it when the weather is like this, because it gives me an excuse to stay inside, cuddle up and be lazy.
But hey, I can't just do NOTHING (ask my husband, who has nicknamed me "busy bee")... so I decided to share a couple of pictures about my "inside living". I had initially envisioned to do a video, but I couldn't find a cameraman or -woman, who'd follow me through my Greek version of MTV Cribs, so I decided to just do a little photoseries.

So here I am on my couch

Let's take a look outside on my balcony...
when I signed with PROTEAS they had promised to get me a house at the water, and they didn't lie
it's right in my frontyard!

Behind the trees that's where the water is.... gorgeous... unfortunately I am unable to capture the real view.



Being that I'm on the 4th floor, it enables me to catch a peak at the water through the tall trees



I like to just come out and STARE... and yes, I have just gotten up, so that is my "MORNING STARE"-look



k, so that's me on my couch again...
I don't use this too often as I have fallen in love with this chair that you can see in the picture below



yeah, I am still old school going wire... but for some reason I still haven't figured out how to hook up
my wireless



alright alright, this is STAGED... because I never really use the fireplace... still, it looked good ;)

book and tv, that's what I like to do in my freetime :)



And then of course, there are still some chores... that no one can avoid unless you are very rich, I guess...
Here it's me doing laundry EUROstyle, I don't have a dryer, but I have a rack, which comes with the guarantee
that your socks come out nice and crisp!
No need for pedicures anymore... they are built into your socks ;) SWWEEEEEEET




ME, MYSELF and MY purse-sized LAUNDRY MACHINE... I can take it "to-go"... lol.
And to all the Real Housewives of Atlanta, Beverly Hills, etc: do not worry:
I was NOT going to put the red in with the whites... I am just posing!!!
(with my stinky laundry in my hands, yeah gross, I know!)



doing dishes... this can't be good for your skin... but hey a "WomanGottaDoWhatShe'sGotToDo"



i.e. just stand in front of the sink, hoping that the dishes will wash themselves ;)



or wave to your neighbors (on the 4th floor--- yeah, very realistic!!!!!)



or let the chores be chores, pour herself a nice little cup of tea and REEEEEELAX.....
after all, it's Sunday!!!




and this wouldn't be an attempt at MTV Cribs, if I wouldn't show you the place
"WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS".......... After all that's what "ballers" do: SLEEP, EAT, PRACTICE, SLEEP, etc.... (<--make sure click on that link!)



Alright everyone... one more pose.... and.....



.... I am out the door!!!!!

  Well actually, you guys need to get out the door ;) I AM STAYING!!!
It's 6pm now and most of my day has been purposefully spent already... I want to continue with that...
so I am getting off this computer now.

I wish you a nice Sunday and we will talk soon!!!

Adio,
Linda

SPRINGTIME IS NEAR

HAPPY VALENTINE'S/LOVE DAY!

There's no getting around it: Today is a highly commerical day, where businesses are trying to "get theirs" and earn a little extra "holiday" money.
"Frugal" as I am, I'm not too fond of this aspect, BUT I do like Valentine's Day in general!
It gives us the chance to take some time out of our busy schedules to be reminded about the people we love. Of course, its origin is to celebrate the love and affection between two "lovers", but depending on the circumstances I'd like to expand the meaning of it, and just celebrate LOVE.
Under "circumstances" falls the fact that I am 8000 miles apart from my husband today, and there's just no way to celebrate it with him today... so why let a beautiful day like this go to waste? :)

I want to wish everyone a HAPPY VALENTINES DAY, and hope that all of you felt especially loved today!!!

And to my big love, I send this video across the ocean:

A LETTER TO COACH ARGI

Dear Coach-
I want you to know that I was glad to have met you and that I was able to be your player even when it was only for a short time... actually it's been less than a month, but it feels like I've known you forever ... WOW!
You are a great man with love and passion for your players and for basketball. A "combo" which was nice to see and is very rare, especially in professional sports.
For whatever reason, things on the sidelines didn't work out for you this year the way you'd probably envisioned them, but fact is that without your commitment over the past couple of years, and your love and care for each player and this club team, this team might have never gotten to where it is today.
So with all of this in mind, I want to thank you for everything, Coach. We will miss you for sure!!! But remember that even though you might not be on this team 'on paper' anymore, you are still in our hearts.

In these circumstances a passage from the Bible comes to my mind from ECCLESIASTES, which I would like to share with you. It's Chapter 3, verses 1-8.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; 
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; 
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace."

Coach, I am happy we had OUR TIME.

Much love from your German player LINDA.

GLYFADA-CAPE SUNIO and BACK

YASOU. TIKANIS? Hello. How are you?

Today we've had a day off, and I feel that it's been my first real day off since I've gotten here. Even though last Sunday I was already set with my apartment, car and everything else, the weather was playing "Armageddon", so I had to stay in all day and night to push against my windows from the inside so the wind wouldn't break them open ;)

Anyways, so today I packed up my two "foreigners" (Emily & Ash), squished them into my Benz, aaahm I mean, my car... and off we went. After our unfortunate and very disappointing loss last night, it was definitely nice to get away for a while and clear our minds. Our destination for today: CAPE SOUNION.

As usual, I was equipped with several cameras and plenty of storage on my memory cards to capture the moment. Being that I was the "designated driver" today (well to be exact I ALWAYS  am, because I am the only one who responsibly can drive a stick shift), I want to give special thanks to my assistant photographer Emily Fox who was in the back of the car taking pictures like a pro...making me proud! Of course the Greek nature definitely makes it easy for anybody to capture stunning views, but Emily was in the back working like a trooper... all the loops, curves, and change of speeds definitely didn't make it easy to be a photo taking passenger in the back seat!!! Great job, Dookie!!! Thanks for not throwing up!!

Cape Sounion was reached pretty easily... we just kept driving along the coast and distracted by the breathtaking views along the way we got there in no time.

We didn't get to stay for the infamous sunset at the Cape, because I, a.k.a. "abuela" had to head home, so I could make my curfew, but we've had more than enough: We'd breathed in a lot of fresh air, more than we are used during our usual daily routines, and I don't know about the other two gals, but "sightseeing" always seems to exhaust me a little more than other activities, so we were ready to go home.

It's funny, because the trip back reminded me of the trips I used to have with my family when I was younger: on the way TO the place of interest songs were sung, games were played, siblings were teased, and Mom and Dad were bombarded with one million questions, excitement and anticipation was in the air! And then, on the way back drained of all energies the whole car would be filled with silence and that stuffy "outdoor" aka "wet dog" smell. You'd hear some random little baby snores...and despite the exhaustion that everybody was feeling, there was "success" in the air... Success to have participated in life today... and that's how it felt today!

Believe it or not, but the following pictures were all taken within just a few hours and within max. 50 km ~31 miles.

It's just amazing how many landscapes and natural wonders only this little stretch of Greece has to offer. I was in steady awe for the breathless views and endlessly thankful for God's creation.

Now please go ahead and enjoy!

a scenery like this tempts every woman to bring out her inner model! ;)

this, and the two pictures below belong to my favorite spot of today

isn't this gorgeous... in the midst of rocky roads, this fresh green piece of land popped up!!! WOW

that's where we are going!!!!

the three sightseeing musketeers!!! or: ONE REBEL plus TWO GOPHERS!

at the end of the trip we treated ourselves to a little cone of Italian Gelato :) I do miss Italy after all... ciao tutti!

So, before I went into my apartment I snuck two more picture right in front of my door steps.... this view is hard to beat. THANK YOU JESUS!!! Hope that everyone had a good weekend too and is ready for a blessed new week!