Latvia? Where is that? 🤔

It’s located in Northeastern Europe along the shores of the Baltic Sea. The country is small, having a population of ~1.6 million people, but it has a huge heart🤍. The people take pride in their culture, the food is good, and the country has a rich history.

I’ve heard so many languages while living overseas. I learned a bit of Turkish, Slovak, and a whole lot of French. But Latvian….🫠 I tried. I really did. I even bought a book to help. But, I don’t know about this one y’all😂.

The Latvian language is one of the hardest languages to learn in the world. No joke. When I read that online, I felt a little better about myself lol. After being here for 4 months, I officially know around 10 Latvian words. I’ll be happy if I can make a full sentence by the end of the season in April💀.

What’s cool though, is all of my teammates are multilingual, speaking 2 or more languages🤯. Andddd since my team is in Rīga (capital city), almost everyone here speaks fluent English as well🙌🏾.

The many languages of TTT Rīga🧡 #overseasbasketball #Latvian #Lithuanian #French #English #Languge

Winter in Rīga❅

For a Texas girl, Latvian weather is definitely an adjustment😅. When I arrived at the end of August it was 75° and sunny☀️. So I was excited, walking around in a tank top and sandals. However, everyone I talked to said the same thing, “winter is brutal”. Sitting in the sun, feeding ducks in the park, I thought they were being dramatic.

Turns out they weren’t dramatic enough🫠.

At the end of November the snow made a grand entrance and the temperatures dropped well below freezing. I woke up one morning and I could barely see my car under the snow.

In addition to the snow, ever since daylight savings time hit the sun now sets at 4pm🫣. I’m not used to this yet, but I’m getting into a routine. I’ve been finding things to do that get me out the house just to change up my scenery. Thus far, I’ve been going to coffee shops, discovering different book stores, spending time with some teammates, and exploring gems in the city. One thing I’m looking forward to is seeing the holiday decorations and visiting the Christmas market, which I heard is beautiful😍.

Speaking of the holidays👀… I get to go home for Christmas this year (thank God)! I’m so excited to be home and not do anything😂. I’m looking forward to seeing my family and enjoying everyone’s company 🫶🏽. Plus, I need a retwist ASAP, so y’all know that appointment is a priority 💆🏾‍♀️.

Travel, Friends, and Mems🫶🏽

I really can never complain. I’m in a cool city, surrounded by nice people, and I’ve gotten to go all over Europe the past 4 months. Traveling is one of my favorite things to do, so I’m grateful that I get to do it often 🙏🏾.

In September my team had games in Poland and Romania. The month of November felt like we did a European tour as we played in Lithuania, Greece, Turkey, and Slovakia. Then, we had a National Team break for a few days and my angel of a sister came out to visit 🥹. We went to Vienna, Austria and took a spontaneous trip to Tallinn, Estonia.

Another highlight of living abroad is when my people come to visit. My best friend since high school, Jenaé, came to see me in December and we had a great time! My parents and others will come visit in 2024 and I can’t wait🤗.

Wrap-up

All in all, everything is good on my end! The life I’m blessed to live is something I constantly remind myself not to take for granted🙏🏾.

I’ll give a basketball update soon, but here’s the link to follow our team’s EuroCup season so far. I love this team for many reasons, and I’ll share why in a future post🥰.

If there’s ever anything you want to know more about, drop a comment or hit my line📲. I love and appreciate y’all🤍.

If you couldn’t tell by the title…I’m in France🤗 I’m really happy and excited to be playing for TMB in the French League (LFB) this season.

Getting Ready🏀

I’ve been here for about 7 weeks, and this has been a long, but good preseason. We’ve played 6 scrimmages against teams in and out of our league. I feel like we’ve gotten better each game as we get closer to our first match October 29th. The competition is top notch, so I’m excited for our team and what we can do this season.

For those of you who want to tune in, the games will be streamed on the FFBB YouTube page 💻

One of my close friends recently asked “Write one thing the Lord has done in these past 5 years that you never expected”. I really had to stop and think where I was 5 years ago. October of 2017 I was down bad 😅. But, it’s reminders like these that make me pause and think of His Goodness and Sovereignty. Everyday I say a simple ‘Thank You God’. I get to play basketball as my “job”; and, in my unbiased opinion😉, it’s the best job in the world. You’re going to pay me to do something I love, stay in shape, get better, AND travel? Bet. Say less.

Je ne parle pas Français😬

As an American it’s easy to automatically assume, or even expect, people in a different culture to speak English to cater to us. But, with that mentality, we rob ourselves of the opportunity and blessing it is to interact and participate in their culture at a deeper level. So much is missed and lost in translation, or simple misunderstanding. The only thing standing in our way is our willingness to put in the effort to learn something new and grow.

Almost every country I’ve played in, with the exception of NZ, has spoken a language other than English. It can be a bit of culture shock at first, but it’s a welcome challenge. In Turkey, I learned enough Turkish to get around and have small conversations. Same in Slovakia. However, I knew those languages were only useful in those specific countries for the most part. So, I was a little motivated, but I wasn’t pressed to be “fluent”.

French is different though. Do you know how many different countries and cultures speak French?? A LOT. So I’m going to LEARN it learn it, just give me a few months 💀🤞🏾

I’m starting from ground 0. Literally the basics. And let me tell you…French. Is. Hard. If you’ve ever tried to learn it you know exactly what I’m talking about. Nothing is spelled how it sounds and there are a bunch of words that sound the same but mean something completely different.

My teammates have been great with helping me learn, but there are things that even they can’t explain to me with the grammar. It’s actually really cool though, because they get to practice their English with me and I get to try my French with them. Needless to say, it’s pretty comical at times 😂

Wrap Up

Before coming out here I didn’t know what to expect. Many people told me the French were rude and they don’t like to speak English, but the basketball, food, and wine were good 😅. As you know, everyone’s experience is different, and where you’re located makes a huge difference. Being here almost 2 months, my experience has been great all around. The people I’ve met are so sweet and inviting, most speak English (some are just shy about it), and they were right about the basketball, food, and wine lol. The wine is DIFFERENT here🍷 (separate blog on that soon).

All in all life is good! I love the city, it’s beautiful and so vibrant. A teammate and I found an English-speaking church. It’s extremely diverse and an incredible picture of what the Kingdom looks like🙌🏾. I got to see my old teammate from Duke💙😈 who plays out here as well. And, I went on an AMAZING wine tour with my teammate the other weekend (10/10 recommend)🙌🏾 .

This is just a reminder that life is a beautiful thing and it’s all a matter of perspective. Is everyday perfect? Absolutely not. But God is. And each day I see that more and more. I’m learning, growing, and loving in new ways, which is both scary and exciting🙏🏾

I can’t wait to hear from and see y’all soon. If any of you are on this side of the water, let me know!🌊 Thanks for reading and always rocking with me! Like, comment, and subscribe🙌🏾

Love y’all ✌🏾❤️

If you couldn’t guess by the title, I’m currently in New Zealand🤗🇳🇿 I’ve been out here since Mid-June and it’s been an experience unlike any other. The country is beautiful, the people are so sweet, anddddd they speak English🥲 (with the coolest accents lol). Most of my days consist of working out, doing community activations with the local youth, and making random TikToks 😅

Ky…How did you get to New Zealand??

I’m glad you asked😊

So I got back home from Slovakia at the end of April and was beyond excited to see everyone and feel a sense of normalcy again. It was great seeing my family and my people, plus finally getting some real Mexican food (I missed it so much😩). Then after 3 weeks of seeing people, working out, and paying US gas prices⛽️🤢 I was like “It’s time to go”😂

My agent hit me up in May: “You want to go play in New Zealand?”

Me: “Absolutely.”

Him: “Okay”

Done. Boom, I’m here.

💀Okay it wasn’t that simple, but y’all get it. This was a really cool opportunity, in a country I may never have visited otherwise, so why not come across the pond?🌊

Kiwi Livin’🥝

The Māori culture is rich throughout NZ, seen in the language, traditions, and love amongst the people. The Māori people hold the kiwi bird in high regard and their feathers were used to make ‘kahu kiwi’, which were valuable cloaks worn by the tribal chiefs. They call people from New Zealand ‘Kiwis’ in reference to the bird which is unique to the country.

Many members of my team and our organization are Māori, and they’ve allowed us to witness and partake in their culture and traditions which has been incredible🙌🏾 June 24, 2022 was the first time New Zealand celebrated ‘Matariki’ (The Māori New Year) as a public holiday. They invited us to join them in their celebration as guests❤️

Going anywhere overseas, you never know what you’re gonna get or what people are like. But, it’s only been a little over a month and I feel like it’s been forever with these ladies. We have a mix of personalities and interests, and the best part about us is we all genuinely want to see each other succeed🙏🏾 Blessed to have these women in my life #Whai🤍 Speaking of ‘whānau’, here’s some of mine🤗

If you’ve never been to NZ, I highly recommend visiting (or moving lol) because this place is stunning. Y’all already know I love anything to do with nature and water, so this has been the perfect place for me. The city I’m in is Tauranga. It’s on the east coast of the North Island. Everywhere you go in the city you’re either driving over the water or by the water.

Right now it’s winter time here, so there aren’t many people on the beaches or in the water, but on a nice day, when the weather is in the low 60s, people have their surf boards, sunglasses, and kids ready to soak it all in😎🏝 Plus, I don’t care how cold it is, I’m gonna take a walk and catch a sunrise🌄 #BundleUp

Until Next Time🫡

All in all, I just wanted to take a moment to stop and appreciate this life I live. I’ll update y’all on how basketball is going soon. Right now though I’m just extremely blessed, humbled, and grateful to be where I am.

Thanks for reading and always rocking with me! Like, comment, and subscribe🙌🏾

Love y’all ✌🏾❤️

First Things First 🇹🇷 → 🇸🇰

I left Turkey and am currently playing the second half of the season in Slovakia. This has been a transition, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to continue to play and experience another new country🇸🇰! I’ve only been here 2–3 weeks, but loving it already. The people are very sweet and sooo many people speak English (thank God😂). The culture is easy-going and the food is surprisingly REALLY good. Since it’s the middle of the winter, it’s colder than a Texas-girl is used too🥶 But the first thing I bought when I got here was a pair of boots, so now i’m good to stomp around in the snow lol I even went on a mini-hike!

Hoops ⛹🏾‍♀️

The beautiful thing about the game of basketball is that it’s universal. You go anywhere in the world and pick up a ball and you automatically speak a common language🏀 It has been an adjustment, but I really like playing here and the respect for the game. I also really enjoy my team and coaches, anddddddddd… *get ready*

THERE’S ANOTHER AMERICAN HERE🤯

Her name is Lala and she’s awesome☺️ It’s been a huge blessing to have someone else here that I can relate to, hangout with, share this new experience, and most of all talk about Christ with🙌🏾 Both of us really appreciate and recognize that it’s truly amazing how God works, and that nothing happens by chance🙏🏾We actually played against each other in Turkey and now we’re teammates in Slovakia (a whole other story lol)!

New Things ✨

With a new environment comes new experiences! The Club took us to a hockey game, which was so much fun (I’m now a hockey fan😄). The game was super fast, and I was asking a million questions because I knew next to nothing about it🤦🏾‍♀️ The team got us box seats and even let us take pictures on the ice ⛸

Since it’s so cold now I’ve added several things to my daily routine, including 1. Always having a beanie on and 2. Becoming a coffee drinker☕️ I wasn’t huge on coffee before coming overseas, but since being in Turkey and coffee being a huge part of their culture, I can now same I’m a regular. I have at least one cup a day and I even bought myself a grinder and a French Press. I was so excited to get the French Press that I forgot to buy the coffee beans before I got home. So I woke up the next morning a tad disappointed to say the least #DelayedGratification ?😂

Usually we have two workouts a day, one in the morning and one in the evening, so the middle of my days are very open. With that time i’ve tried my best to be productive and find new things to do, including…. TikTok💀 I also read, write, and other things, but here’s a video for your entertainment:

Wrap Up

This is just a little overview of what I’ve been up to for the past 2.5 months. As always thank y’all for rocking with me! Sorry I went MIA, but i’m back now😊

Like, leave a comment, and share with others! Let me know what else y’all want to see/hear/know while I’m out here, I’m all ears.

All love❤️

Most of us have heard the old saying “ignorance is bliss” right? There are times when this statement seems infallible; and other times when it seems senseless. This concept crossed my mind today, so bear with me as I try to make sense of it.decisions

I was sitting by myself the other day and I could hear a conversation going on nearby. The people were of course speaking Turkish and I heard the word for foreigner (‘yabancı’) come up. I saw a quick look my way, and then they turned around and continued to speak Turkish. This isn’t anything new. I’ve been here for a little over 2 months now, so I’m used to not knowing what people are saying, yet knowing they’re probably talking about me.

(Needless to say, being secure in yourself is essential when coming to a culture/language you know nothing about)

On one hand, there has been some peace that has come from my ignorance, in regard to not knowing what people are saying. I notice my mind isn’t moving 100 mph, my thoughts are calmer, and I seek to listen more as I try to learn.

On the other hand, each day I’m asking questions or attempting to use a new word, because I want to grasp the language; I want to be able to communicate with my teammates and coaches; I want to freely travel out here and be confident when I have to order food or buy something. The process is slow, but I’m doing my best, nonetheless.

It’s a weird space to be in. I know there are positives that come from this ignorance (not knowing Turkish); but, I also have a desire to attain knowledge of the language and culture here. So, I did a little research, and found a quote about this ‘ignorance is bliss’ concept that made me reevaluate:

“Ignorance is only bliss for those that choose to remain ignorant, not for the ones who suffer because of that ignorance” -Kathleen Zottarelli

I never considered the role choice plays in the validity of the concept. There’s a difference between someone being ignorant due to things outside of their control, and someone voluntarily choosing ignorance. In my case, both the former and latter hold weight. Yes, it’s true I can’t control not growing up fluent in Turkish coming from America; but, it is also my choice to decide how much of it I want to learn while I’m here.

Personally, I’m doing my best to grasp the language and embrace the culture. If you know me, you know I value education and love to learn new things. So, regardless of the situations, i’d rather have more knowledge in order to be able to engage with others and make more informed decisions. However, I understand this isn’t a blanket approach all people may consider.

Every scenario we are presented is unique. Some may willfully choose to not know, while others seek knowledge. I’m not here to say one way is right or wrong, I just wanted us to dig a little deeper.

In the end, the funny thing about this situation is that I’m starting to understand more than they think I can😂 If I need to speak up I will, but most times I just take note and mind my business😌

“Be selective in your battles, for sometimes peace is better than being right.”

And that’s a topic for a whole other post! Y’all be blessed and stay safe, thanks for reading!🙏🏾❤️

PS: I made my first vlog! Check it out, like, comment, and subscribe!🤗 I am always taking suggestions on what y’all want to see/talk about next!

Merhaba! (Hello!)

Moving to a foreign country, not knowing a whole lot about the culture, people, language, etc. was so scary😣 The first 3 days I cried no lie😅 lol but it was just culture shock and the fact I couldn’t hop on a quick flight to go home. The time difference between my family and I is 8 hours, so I couldn’t just hit them up whenever like I wanted to. I spent so much time on the phone the first 2 weeks because I missed my people and really wanted to speak English😂

There was so much adjusting I had to do (and still need to do). BUT I’m here, I’m in it, and came to accept that this was going to be a year of stretching. I honestly didn’t have many goals coming over here. Really the only things I knew is that I wanted to grow (spiritually, personally, emotionally, and with basketball) and I wanted to return to the States different than how I departed. Before I left the States I finished a 40 Day Devotional focused on getting closer to God and spending intentional time with Him. It was a complete reset for me not just for where I was, but for my life. James 4:8 says “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” and I can attest that’s the Truth. Since being here I started a new devotional, 100 Days of Bible Promises, that I absolutely love! It’s helped me to reflect and remember what He says and His faithfulness in the midst of so much uncertainty. Highly recommend!

This first month has been both challenging and rewarding at the same time. The aforementioned adjustments speak for themselves, but I’ve learned so much about myself too. For example, I knew I liked learning (those who know my academic history can attest😂), but I didn’t realize how much I REALLY enjoyed learning new things. My teammates, (a bit about them in a minute) laugh at me cause I’m always asking questions, reading, and trying to learn Turkish. I’m determined to be somewhat fluent by the time I leave. Also, I didn’t realize how much time I spent/gave to other people close to me vs. me being by myself. It’s literally just me and the God til my people wake up, which is like 3pm or 4pm my time some days. Both the time difference and my own personal growth have shown me how to be alone and how that’s enough.

What’s nice is having some of my close friends and former teammates playing overseas as well. So, I can talk to them more frequently and hear about how their experience is going. Some of them have been pros for years, so they’ve given me a lot of advice about how it’s been and what they would’ve done differently. One of the biggest topics we’ve discussed is the importance of the environment you go into and who you’re around.

These girls are hilarious and have made this transition so much smoother than what it could’ve been🙏🏾 Everyone is super nice and wants to help me out, which isn’t always the case from some of the stories I’ve heard. Our team chemistry/energy is very positive and upbeat, which you can tell on the court. We have a lot to work on as our season begins tomorrow (Oct. 10), but I’m confident we’ll have a good season and continue to get better. I’m truly blessed to be in the situation I’m in🙌🏾 More on my basketball experience here in the next post!

That’s all I have for now, more coming soon though. Thanks for reading, I’m excited to invite you along my journey! 🥰