Kaley Gibson

Where do I begin!? So much has happened since the last time that I wrote. Well, first I went home for Christmas break! The weather in Arizona was beautiful, much warmer than it is here on campus clearly.

I was only home for about two weeks so I mostly laid around, did some Christmas shopping and hung out with family. I went to watch my triplet boys that I watch over the summers play some hockey! The are all doing wonderfully, future NHL’ers for sure. My dad and I went to watch the Coyotes practice at a local rink with some other players from the league that were trying to escape the freezing condition at their local rinks back east. That was basically it, just enjoyed my short time at home and got back on a plane to De Pere for three weeks of eating, sleeping and playing hockey!

When I got back we played Bowdoin College in a special match up at the Resch Center! Although we fell short on the score board, it was quite an experience and we all really enjoyed it. Next, we were on our way to Oswego College in New York! So we got on the bus for a 15 hour trip with a surprise in store that was unbelievable. On the way there we stopped in Detroit, Michigan. This is the city that houses the Detroit Red Wings! Our coach set us up with a practice ran by the winningest coach of all time and head coach of the Wings, Mike Babcock. After practice we got cleaned up and headed over to Joe Louis Arena for a first class tour. We got to see where the team eats pre-game meals and of course the locker room! It was such an amazing experience and something we will never forget! We went on to split the series with Oswego later that weekend.

Upon arriving back at school, there was no time to rest. We had a huge series versus Riverfalls and we needed to be prepared. Though we worked hard all week for the match up and fought hard through the battle, we fell short and were swept by the Falcons. My brother came out that weekend to watch me play! Even though we did not get the W, I felt that I played very well and was proud that my brother was there to see it! The rest of the time he was here we watched a zillion movies and had good brother-sister time! However, with the disappointing weekend behind us we had to move on to prepare for a weekend up in the frozen tundra (AKA Houghton, MI.. Home of the Finlandia Lions). Finally some good news, we swept those pesky Lions and made it home safely through the snow storm.

Now to wrap things up, we started school today : ( waahh! I am sure I will get back into routine soon, but I already miss laying around all day and playing hockey! We have another huge series this week against UW-Concordia and then MOM, DAD and MORMOR ARE COMING TO SEE ME NEXT WEEK! Soooo super excited to have them here again!

Well there, now y’all are all caught up on my crazy life! Stay tuned because it gets crazier! Have a wonderful and successful week y’all!

One of my most favorite quotes of all time: My cup runneth over! It means that I have so much love and richness in my life that it spills over like a cup overflowed with too much water. This truly fits my life after such a wonderful visit with my boyfriend, Candler, birthday gifts and birthday wishes sent from home from my family and friends and all of my fellow Green Knights to help me celebrate my 21^st! But one at a time here..

Candler visited for NINE WHOLE DAYS! What a week : ) we had so much fun together and had countless laughs and memories. Like I had anticipated, we watched a zillion movies and probably a hundred zillion episodes of Law and Order: SVU. We cooked Thanksgiving dinner together and he made the tastiest turkey I have ever had! He also made a cherry pie while watching a football game : ) such a manly man! After the past nine days it’s weird not to have him in the house anymore. Like I said, long distance is extremely tough, but visits like this make us both remember how worth it all the hard times are. Because when we are together, everything seems right. (I know, extra mushy-gushy today, sorry) Not to mention he showered me in gifts and fun nights out!

Speaking of gifts, my mom, dad, and brother sent me a box full of so many fun birthday gifts. Perfumes, make up, clothes, gift cards, and a whole lot more. It was definitely the best gift I have ever gotten : ) they really made my birthday so special, even though they couldn’t be here to celebrate with me. I just can’t wait to get back home in two weeks to see them all and Candler as well!

Lastly, my friends and I all went out last night for some fun. Needless to say we had a GREAT time! I have so much happiness in my life because of the people I surround myself with! So many memories and laughs and sooooo much love! I am definitely pretty lucky!

MY CUP RUNNETH OVER! Have a good week y’all, and may your cup runneth over as well ; )

Well, our last series of games before Thanksgiving break did not really go according to plan. We tied Marian University 1-1 on Saturday night and then pulled off another come-from-behind victory on Sunday afternoon. Ideally, we would rather have won both games because that’s what we were expected to do. But, every bad game is a learning experience. Our team has had some time for self-reflection and after this much needed break we hope to come back and pull off two sweeps, one versus Eau Claire and one versus Adrian. These will be tough series so it is important that we use this break to continue to train hard as well.

In other news, MY BOYFRIEND IS FINALLY HERE! He made his trip from Mississippi up here to good ol’ De Pere last Friday morning. He was able to enjoy both games over the weekend and we have had so many laughs already. Like I have said before, it is so wonderful to have family around. We have been dating for four years now so it’s hard to be without him for so long, that’s why these trips are so enjoyable! And he is going to be here for 6 more days! So much time to enjoy each other’s company and even when he goes back to school it’s only two weeks or so until we are both home in Arizona for Christmas for 14 days! Having a relationship that is long distance isn’t easy all the time, but it makes you realize what you really want in life and who is important to you and who isn’t. It is really a learning experience.

Lastly, I have finally completed my four exams before Thanksgiving break! Now all I have left to do is relax with my boyfriend for a whole week It is such a good feeling to keep up with things and get stuff done so that I can have time to turn my brain off for a while! After break we will be in the home stretch for the end of the semester. So this will be a nice break before I have to get back to business to finish hard and strong!

Next Monday I will report on what goes on around campus when most people go home for breaks! Candler and I will probably watch a hundred movies in that time so maybe I can give a couple reviews as well!

Have such a happy Thanksgiving y’all! Remember and reflect on everything you are thankful for!

Well, the team got a split this weekend versus the College of St Scholastica with a 4-2 win on Friday and a 6-1 loss on Saturday. Not the best way to end a series, but you have to take the good with the bad and learn from it. Now we move on to Marian which is a promising two W’s. If we work hard and stay consistent the wins should come. It is a home and home series with us traveling there on Saturday and them coming to us on Sunday. This will be our last weekend of games before Thanksgiving break so it is very important that we finish on a good note.

The break will be nice, especially to get away from classes for a while! And I will get to spend Thanksgiving and my birthday with my boyfriend who is coming up from Mississippi this Friday and will be here for nine days! This trip is long overdue! I will be able to report back on all the craziness we get ourselves into next Monday.

Overall, the past week (besides the loss) was pretty enjoyable. I was able to finish a couple assignments so that now I can focus on the three exams I have this week : ( it is going to be a tough push through the end of the week, but with the many rewards that the weekend holds, I am hoping it will not be too painful.

Welp, that’s all for this blog. Next week I hope to report back with a couple of W’s as well as some fun stories that the weekends always seem to cook up! Have a great week y’all!

Well, as I mentioned in my last blog, my team had no games to look forward to this past weekend and as I had expected, the week seemed to drag on for eternity. So what do the Green Knights of the women’s hockey team do with an off weekend you ask? Well we still played hockey, but from a totally different perspective! SLED HOCKEY! Yes, the Green Knights strapped on our sleds and faced off against the Wisconsin Warriors. These guys are pros! So needless to say, we lost 16-3. But of course we all enjoyed ourselves beyond belief and couldn’t get the smiles off our faces. What an inspiring story to be told! These players were presented with difficulties in life and still press on to play the sport that only really special people can understand and love. And man, were they good! We were falling all over the place, bumping into each other. It was just a mess! But what an experience! We hope to tune up our skills a bit and take on the Warriors for a rematch at a later date.

Other than that, this past week and weekend were pretty low key. The team is absolutely bouncing off the walls in anticipation for our huge series this weekend versus St. Scholastica. We have all been really putting in the work the last couple of weeks and a sweep of this team could put us in a nationally ranked position. All hype aside, it is really important that we stay focused this week and put all of our effort into every training session so that we are prepared for Friday and Saturday. We play at 6:30pm and 2pm respectively so please if you are in the area we could use all the support we can get! Come by the Cornerstone arena and get your hockey fix.

Well, of course.. I miss mommy and daddy already haha : ) they made it home safely last weekend and are already counting the days until I come home for Christmas break. I can’t even explain how lucky I am to have such a loving and supportive family. I talk to my mom and dad every day to keep them updated with my crazy life and my big brother and I talk often as well. I miss them a bunch! But I have a very special visitor coming at the end of next week : ) My boyfriend is coming to visit me for my birthday and Thanksgiving break. I haven’t seen him since August! So we are definitely due, and he will be here for 9 days so we will have soooo much time to spend together. We are so lucky : )

Lastly, I started going to a little church near campus called the Vineyard of Green Bay, De Pere area. It’s at 300 Grant St. It is a brand new establishment so there are not too many members yet. It’s such a lovely, small environment and I really enjoy it so far. So if you are looking for a church to attend this is a great place, whether you’ve been raised in church or you just want to start up like me! Check it out!

Thanks for keeping up with me and my crazy life. I hope to report back to week with a couple W’s to brag about : ) Have a great week, y’all!

Well, between my parents coming into town and an amazing start to our hockey season it’s safe to say that this past weekend has been the best weekend yet! I had such a good time with my mom and dad just being together as a family! We had Chipotle in Appleton and they got to watch my practice on Thursday and both games! We won our home opener with an amazing come back in the third period. We were down three to nothing going

into the third and our Green Knights rallied back with FIVE GOALS in six minutes! Itwas such an amazing feeling that really united us as a team! The following day we faced off against the nationally-ranked Concordia MN team. We ended up tying them one to one, but we were expected not to be able to keep up, so it is such a good “statement game”. We really showed up to play and it paid off!

Overall, it has been such a fulfilling couple of days! Now of course it’s back to the ol’ grind. Another busy week of school ahead and no games this weekend so it’s going to be a long week. But next weekend we face off against a pretty big rival, St Scholastica. It will be a good match up. I also have to register for classes this week! So far I have Behavioral Medicine and Health Lab, Industrial and Organizational Psyc and Human Behavior. It’s going to be another good semester.

Things are really going well here at SNC! Lots of fun to look forward to here in the near future! Try to keep up!  Have a good week y’all.

This past Saturday the Green Knights women’s hockey team had our annual Green and White game. This is our inter-squad game when we split up into two teams and battle it out! This year my team, the white team took the title : ) It was such a fun game and a few locals came out to watch with their kids as well. After the skate we had a “skate with the knights” event. All the little girls that came to watch us play got to come out and skate with us after the game. We played games like freeze tag, red light green light, and then had a little meet and greet after. We also showed them all our locker room and answered some questions they had. It was a long day, but the girls seemed to really enjoy it and that was what mattered!

Meanwhile, back on campus.. Now, I know I always say it’s been a busy week but it really is this time.. and it is only Monday! I had a goalie skills session this morning, then class, then work, then food, then on the ice again, then off ice workout, then food, then studying for my exam tomorrow and hopefully bedtime is in my near future! It is always busy around here of course, but it always feels good at the end of the day that I actually did something with my life lol : ) After my exam tomorrow I should be able to coast through the rest of the week!

Then mom and dad come out Thursday! I cannot wait to see them! And of course the reason for their visit, besides seeing their favorite kid (sorry big brother) is to watch some GREEN KNIGHT HOCKEY!! Our first game of the season is this Friday vs St Mary’s followed by a Saturday game vs Concordia MN. It is going to be a very eventful weekend. With the progress that our team had made in just these short weeks we know that we have to ability to really run over other teams in our conference. We just gotta put our hard work to the test and really take it to ‘em this weekend to start off our winning streak!

It feels good to be a Green Knight! If you are in the area this weekend PLEASE stop by the Cornerstone arena on Friday at 6:30pm or Saturday at 2pm to support the women’s hockey team! See y’all there!

             It is finally here! Our first official practice of the 2012-13 season will commence today at 3:15 pm sharp. The whole team is so excited, especially our coaches! We cannot wait to hit the ice and finally begin the final preparations for our home opener on October 26^th! Just a few days away : )

In other news, I am coming off of another very busy week of school and an absolutely unforgettable weekend with my team! As soon as Friday classes and work had ended it was time to start anticipating the Saturday “welcoming the freshman” party. And it was everything we’d hope it’d be. Everyone was dressed up, we had The Incredibles make an appearance, a group from the 80’s was there, and of course the junior class coming in as NHL mascots! This event really solidified our team as an official group, not just us and the new comers anymore. We have united as one team with the intentions on winning ourselves a couple hockey games this season! It will absolutely be our best season yet, be sure to follow our progress!

                Also, with the home opener approaching that means mom and dad are coming!! They will be here the 25^th and will be able to watch both games. I haven’t seen my dad since August so I am really looking forward to being reunited : ) Being around family while at school really helps me to be able to refocus on things and get back to that comfort zone. I really look forward to having them around and showing them how hard the team has been working!

                School wise, this week should breeze by… hopefully. I just have a big assignment due tomorrow that I will be finishing up tonight after practice and dinner. Then I have a debate in my Psych class next Monday that my group and I have to prepare for this week as well. Other than that, just one exam next week before my parents come so I have some time to really bear down and study for it.

                Life is good here at SNC! And the fun continues! Talk to y’all next week!

Well, not to anyone’s surprise, “long” weekend was exceptionally short as always. Now it is Monday and I have finished my day of classes but still have to get to work soon, then team workout with our trainer, Chase, then shower, then dinner and finally I am sure I will be in the library all night finishing a project that is due tomorrow. Clearly, I am anticipating the coming weekend’s adventures already, but that’s the life of a college kid! Living for the weekend and trying to get some knowledge while we’re at it.

Speaking of the weekend, it will be a busy one! It is homecoming so lots of stuff will be happening all across campus. As for the women’s hockey team, we will be having a small get together at my house to officially “welcome” our freshmen Since it is the last weekend before our official season starts we wanted to make this weekend our time to celebrate OUR TEAM! Each class has to come up with a theme to dress up as and it’s just gonna be a riot! However, it is still a week away and I am in for another busy week!

Thank goodness, this break was fun and relaxing at least. Even though I put in eight hours at the daycare on Thursday and Friday it was still fun to be around the kids all day. They were long days, but talking with these little kids and playing with them all day really shouldn’t be called a job.  Some of my teammates and I also went to Oshkosh to watch our JV hockey team play. Needless to say, they whooped on the Oshkosh Titans both nights! It was fun to make the trip down there to support our Green Knights! We are just a huge family here at SNC! After a relaxing and carefree weekend I am ready to tackle another crazy week of college!

Like I said I have an assignment due tomorrow, followed by a test this Friday! I will have plenty of time to study for this exam so I am hoping for a very good grade! I got my philosophy exam back last Tuesday and did so well on it, as I anticipated. The class is very interesting so it is pretty easy to retain all the information. Then by the end of the week the team has our last round of fitness testing then come Monday we will be on the ice with our coach for our first official practice!

Very exciting times ahead! Try to keep up! Have a good week ya’ll!

Not too much to report on this week, it was a pretty low key couple of days; which is always good for relaxing!  I got two of my exams back from a few weeks ago and I am very happy with the results, I put a lot of hard work into studying and I was rewarded for it! I should be getting my Philosophy exam back tomorrow as well and I will be able to report back on that next week.

Now looking forward: FALL BREAK IS UPON US! We only have three days of class this week and a four day weekend to follow! This is so reassuring because everyone needs a break from classes every once in a while. But of course there’s always work to be done. I am putting in 16 hours at the day care from Thursday to Friday this week to bring in some money for this broke college student. So those will be long days but hanging with the kids is always fun and at least I won’t be in class And of course, though we will not have “mandatory” team workouts, we will all stay busy working on our own to stay in shape over the break. We have our athletic testing coming up next week so it is important to stay on top of things.

Overall, it is going to be quite an exciting month! First fall break, then I am due for an upgrade on my phone (free iPhone, yea!), next our season will officially begin and finally mom and dad are coming out to visit their kid! It is always important to have things to get excited about, especially when you are so far from home and crazy busy between your studies and athletics. These little festivities will help push me through all the tough things that college life also brings, you always have to take some time to have A LOT of fun!

I’ll do my best to have a bunch of fun this week so I can report back on all the crazy things that happen here at SNC! Have a great week ya’ll!