Closing Ceremonies & Heading Home

It is hard to believe that the 2010 Winter Olympic Games have come to a close.  It was such an amazing experience!  The Closing Ceremonies were great.  While we waited to march out, we had the opportunity to congratulate our fellow Team USA athletes on their stellar performances.   It was great to catch up with all our team mates.  The Closing Ceremony was a bit different from the Opening Ceremony.  Last night, we walked out as one athlete group.  There was no specific country line up which I thought was cool.   

Allison, Jeret “Speedy” Peterson & Nicole

Gretchen Bleiler, Nicole & Kelly Clark

Curtis Tomasevicz, Nicole & Steve Mesler 

Justin Olsen & Team

 
Natalie & Nicole

I am in the airport in Vancouver waiting for my flight to depart but wanted to say THANKS for following me in my Olympic adventure.  It has certainly been a ride of a lifetime.  Thanks for all the support you have provided me.    I feel truly blessed to have been a part of something so amazing!

“The Great One”

Today started out great!  I was in the Olympic Village cafeteria with Natalie…and Wayne Gretzky walked in.  I was of course a bit star struck but Natalie convinced me to ask him for a picture (thanks Nat)!    We only had our blackberry but it worked great! 

Tonight we went to the Figure Skating Gala.  It was great to watch the medal winners & other top competitors skate.  I loved to watch figure skating during the Olympics when I was growing up.  It was great to be there in person!

After we got back from the Gala, we headed to the USA House.  The USA House is a lot of fun!  There are lots of Olympians from present and past Olympics.  It is a really cool place to hang out and have some food/drink. 

A Little Media, A Little Family

It is amazing how fast time flies.  We are nearing the end of our journey and so much seems to be happening all at once.  I have had the opportunity to hang out with family and friends a bit more this week.  I am so lucky to have such a wonderful support system surrounding me.    They are the best!

We have spent a lot of time at the P&G Family Home which is a great place for Team USA and their fans to meet.  They supply food, drink, internet access, TV’s for watching the games, Crest Photo Room, Hair/Make-Up, Laundry services and more.  They have been great!  Everyone is so supportive and helpful.  As a P&G athlete, I was selected to be an ambassador for their Smile with U.S. program.  Crest Pro Health & Oral-B donated $10,000 to my hometown school district of Kent in Washington.  I am so grateful for their committment to Team USA and their dedication to improving healthy smiles (especially in Kent!). 

Yesterday, we taped a segment for the Oprah show with Ali.  She was awesome!  So much fun!  It aired today.  You can catch online as well.  It has been a small goal of mine to be on the Oprah show some day.  So this was pretty cool!

We tracked down the Olympic Flame as well!  We had been so busy the first couple weeks that we hadn’t made our way to find it.  After an MSNBC interview, they escorted us to the Flame.  It was awesome! 

I sit now looking out our beautiful windows of the condo at the Vancouver skyline.  Only a couple more days left of the 2o10 Olympic Winter Games.  What an amazing experience!

Games Wrap-Up & Beyond

Yesterday was a tough day!  We lost a heartbreaker to China and missed some opportunities against Switzerland.  This isn’t how I expected our Olympic adventure to go.  To be honest, I might very well be in a state of shock right now.  We have worked so hard and been so determined.  We wanted that Podium and structured everything around getting there.  Like many team sports, the team can be hot one week and not the next.  We had a strong tour season and played a lot of tough games that went in our favor.  I was feeling so great coming into the Olympics and felt our team was going to do amazing things. 

I find some comfort in knowing I have no regrets about the way I prepared for the Olympics.  I know I did everything I needed to do to come here both physically strong and mentally tough.  I am proud to have had the opportunity to represent our country.  I do not take that lightly because I know it is an elite group of athletes that get the opportunity to compete in the Olympic Games and I feel lucky to be a part of the 2010 Team USA.  I wish we could have done better and I feel like a small part of me has let you (the USA) down. 

I will be exploring Vancouver, hanging out with our family/friends and being the biggest TEAM USA supporter for our other team mates the next 5 days.  I will continue to let you know what I am up to and the events leading to the Closing Ceremony.  Thanks for all your support throughout this adventure.  You are great!

Miracle on Ice

Yesterday just wasn’t our day.    We have 2 games left in the round robin.  We play China @ 9am PST & Switzerland @ 7pm PST tomorrow.  If a couple scenarios play out (certain teams win/lose their games tomorrow), we may have an outside chance at getting in a tie-breaker for the play-offs IF we win both tomorrow.  We are going to give it everything we got.  Thanks for your continued support.  I really, really appreciate it!

We are Starting a Winning Streak

We had a close game against Great Britain today.  We won in an extra-end which is always dramatic!  Love it!  We are feeling strong and confident.  Looking forward to a 2 game day tomorrow.  We play Canada at 9am PST & Sweden at 7pm PST.  We plan to take one game at a time, one rock at a time.  It has been really fun playing in front of the great crowd in Vancouver.  Lots of fans and cheering.  I absolutely love it when it is loud and rowdy in the arena.  It is the coolest feeling!

Yeah, Win #1

Okay, time to take a breath!  We got the first win which is necessary to start a winning STREAK!   We are feeling great after our game today.  We have continued to be focused and determined.  We are excited to play tomorrow and add to our Win column.  We knew this wasn’t going to be easy.  We love working hard and digging deep.  It was fun to spend some time with family and friends at the P&G House after the game.  They are absolutely fantastic there and take really great care of all of us.  This whole experience has been a dream come true and I expect it to only get better!

Thanks again for all your support.  We can hear you cheering loudly!

A New Day

We had a couple opportunities today but it just didn’t go our way.  BUT we are still in this.  3 losses doesn’t put us out of the play-offs by any means.  We still have control over our destiny.  We are just going to keep working hard and things will start to swing our way.  We have momentum!  We play Russia at 9am PST tomorrow.  Tune in and cheer loud!

Today is the Day

Curling is a game of inches!  We are ready to go out today and get a WIN against Denmark.  We have been so close.  We are playing well and will be taking it up a notch.  Thanks for all the support!  We can hear the cheers all the way in Vancouver

First Game

Today was a tough loss to Japan.  We started out rock solid but had a couple misses in the middle of the game that cost us some points.  All-in-all it was great to play again.  I am looking forward to hitting the ice again tomorrow at 9am PST against Germany.  I appreciate all the support we are receiving.