Hi All! Where do I begin? So much has happened in the last 2 days. Let me start at opening ceremonies. I must say I will never forget the feeling of walking into that stadium, united as one country, one delegation. Right before we walked in, as I stood in the tunnel, the chant started...U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A. The entire team bellowed through the hall and as we stepped onto the track we were amazed, overwhelmed and so incredibly happy. I HAVE never smiled that much! Every time we saw "old glory" we went crazy. It was the most incredible feeling. We were so happy! Every person, from your everyday celebrity athletes to the person no has ever heard of, we all turned into a the little "KID" inside of us all! ...The flag was raised and then the torch was lit, by a man running side ways in the sky! It was crazy! But as the torch was lit, everyone knew what that meant- GAME ON! Before opening ceremonies, we had such a great time. We got ready took lots of pictures, met bunches of people. The president spoke to the US delegation and then took pictures with each team. I took pictures with as many Tennessee Alumni as possible ( Go Vols!). It was an amazing evening. So amazing that I don't even want to mention how incredibly HOT it was! We were sweating through our parade outfits! The other cool thing was seeing all the other countries parade outfits. I'm sure glad we had Ralph Lauren do the design, it was awesome! A very preppy, summer wedding type of feel, but came across great. Good Job! Today we had practice. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, President Bush showed up and talked to us, watched us warm up and take BP. ...and just when I thought that was great our team "prankster" Laura Berg got the president with her classic, "Chalk Handprint" on the back, full five fingers and everything! It was awesome. We were all cracking up, he didn't have a clue. But we eventually told him he "Got Berg-ied", but I think we could have let him walk around all day like that. It was perfectly executed! No bigger prank than on the president, I vote her to the Hall of Fame! After practice, we had the official softball press conference. I'm enjoying every minute, and trying to reach my quota of meeting 2 new people each day. So far, so good.

Hey Everyone!! This is the first official Blog from the Olympics!! It's great to finally be here. Aftre 60 some odd games on tour, it's nice to be in one place too play. The flight was quite long, but I got lucky enough to sit by some teammates and several other athletes. ( Cycling, Syncronized Swimming & some Track & Field athletes were also on our flight). On the flight I chit chatted, watched part of Lost (Season 2) read magazines, played Nintendo DS and tried to sleep, yet it still seemed long! We had our first day of practice today. We practiced at 12:00 pm the same time that our games are at. It was good to get some time on the main field. The Dining Hall, is probably one of the coolest things about the Village. It has it's on McDonalds in it! and a McD's Cafe, for the coffee drinkers. The food is also good, tonight for dinner I had salad, salmon and little bit of pasta. All of it was excellent, which surprised me I didn't really think that the Salmon would be that good, but it was AWESOME! Now I have to figure out what to do with the food I brought with me!! ... snacks maybe? We see a ton of different countries in the cafeteria, all parts on the world all different cultures. It is actually a very humbling and amazing sight to see. You can be sitting next to someone from Ireland, Estonia, Brasil, or Oceania. It is a sight to see, great for people watching. It's 10:00 right now, and most of America is starting their day. I on the other hand am going to bed to sleep off the remaining jet lag. God Bless, Monica #14

How's it goin ya'll?? We are now on our last tour stop, we play in LA tonight. Finally!! We've been on tour since Feb and training together since September. This tour has taken us everywhere. I think we only missed Alaska, Maine, North Dakota, Hawaii and Vermont. That's right, almost every state! Crazy. It's a beautiful country, although I saw it from the bus window most of the time. Alright here's a quick update. The Olympic Edition for Sports Illustrated just came out and Softball (woo woo!) has a double page spread! So ya'll need to go check it out for interesting fact on all the Olympics and our "tough" picture. (You'll know what I mean when you see it) My last thing is a request...we leave for China on August 3rd, and I'm trying to make a list of everything I need. Do you have any suggestions? What do I need? What don't I need? more importantly what would you bring?? #14

Hey ALL! Okay so, I'm back on the road with team USA. Were now less than a month away from the Olympics! We just played in Portland, OR. I got to visit the ADIDAS campus there and meet with the people that are taking care of my cleetes, their gonna be pretty sick once their ready...maybe Ill give everyone on the yard a sneak peak?? ....we will see. We played in Portland. I pitched 9 No Hit innings. One person got on on an error. I was happy overall with my performance but I definitely have somethings to get taken care of and get right before the Games. We play in Spokane tonight. And then were traveling through Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore. Let me know if yall have ever been there, what I need to make sure I see etc. while I'm there. I'll talk to yall later. # 14

Hey! Alright...well here goes my first blog for Yardbarker. Let's see currently, I'm at home...well my parents home right now. USA Softball just got about 5 days off after being on the road for what seems like an eterenity. (okay it was really like 4 weeks) but still. We go to Portland on Sunday, to play and travel for the rest of the month. In Portland, I'll get to visit the Adidas campus and hopefully see the finished product of the Olympic cleets. That's gonna be exciting! I'll also be able to see some family that I haven't seen in ages. It's funny, they see me more on tv then in person! But, they'll be able to come out and watch now...but hey, I don't care at least their keeping up with me and showing some love. :) The 4th of July is coming up, which is gonna be great! It definitely means just a little more when you play for Team USA. Gotta love that RED WHITE & BLUE! I can't wait to get in the circle again and be back together with the team. Beijing is right around the corner! the Countdown is on till 8/8/08...8pm (opening ceremonies). God Bless, Moni #14