The Kemezys are coming to town!!!

This is just a quick post, but I can't update my blog without sharing the most exciting upcoming news-- MY PARENTS ARE COMING TO LITHUANIA IN 2 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, I'm just a little excited!! ;) They get here Sunday, Feb 27 and stay til Monday, March 7. They'll get to see 2 home games and hopefully we are going to be able to meet up with our Mazeikai family too. Other than that, there are no huge, exciting plans, but I can't wait to be able to show them all around town and share my life here with them!!! The team is so excited to meet them also, and my parents are looking forward to meeting all these people that have become my family the past few months. All in all, I just can't wait for them to get here so I can get 2 huge hugs!!!

Lithuania and I are waiting for you Mom and Dad!!!! :)

Checks on my Bucket List

This past weekend we were in a tournament called the Federation Cup. Courtnay and I actually didn’t find out we had games that weekend until just the week before, but this tournament turned out to be kinda a big deal. This was not the finals for the Lithuanian League, but most of the other LMKL teams along with some other teams had apparently been playing games over the past few weeks to get into the finals of this tourney, but we got a bye into the Final 4. So we had a semifinal game which we won 108-49 (I know, right?!) and then ended up winning the championship by about 40 points. So needless to say there weren’t any real dramatics in these games, but the celebration afterwards was awesome!!! There was a big medal/trophy ceremony and when we received ours, they set off a big confetti machine and also showered us all with champagne. You would have thought we won the world series! Then, once in the locker room, we filled up the big trophy with champagne and all passed it around to take a drink out of. Um, call me crazy but that has ALWAYS been a dream of mine!!! And come on, all you other athletes out there know you’ve thought the same thing! There was tons of paparazzi around snapping pics of the excitement so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. But a confetti/champagne shower after a win and drinking from a trophy are 2 things that I can now cross off my bucket list! So all in all, another great, happy celebration with my Vici family!! :)

Big American smiles!! :)

The Fab 5!!!
(Courtnay, Lina, Giedre, Marina, Me)

We're stars ;)

We EACH got a huge 1.5 liter champagne bottle!! Holler! :)

CHAMPS!!!! :)

Champs falling over...

This picture was on our team website with the caption "Amanda Kemezys drinks too much champagne". Embarassing...haha.

Dream come true!!!

I’m in Vilnius trick

Now that Euroleague is over, we do have a little more free time on our hands which has allowed us to travel a little more. Two different weekends a few of us went to Vilnius, the capital and biggest city of Lithuania. It was nice to be able to finally explore that city a little and mainly just to get out of our every day routine in Kaunas. We had some good times enjoying the nightlife and also doing some sightseeing. Not much else to explain, but here are some pics from all our great times!!



Road trip #1!!



Court and I before going out



In front of Vilnius castle



Proud Lithuanian/American :)



"I'm on top of the world!!!!!!!"




View from the top



Love the shirt I bought! Pretty accurate minus the BMW

The crew for trip #2!! (Me, Courtnay, Lina, Giedre)

 Loving life!!! <3

Family Finally!!

I’ve always been a huge believer in that God has a much bigger plan than we are aware of ourselves, and once again this reigns true. At the end of January I got a call from my Mociute that her brother had passed away. He actually lived in Kaunas but had been very ill for a long time so it was never possible for me to meet him. The rest of my extended family here lives in the city of Mazeikiai, about 2 or 3 hours away, and although I knew of them, and they knew of me, we never were able to get a hold of each other or plan a meeting. I was fortunate enough to be able to go to the funeral, and although it was a very sad time for the family, it was also one of the most meaningful times I’ve had here.

Even though I had never actually met these people before, they welcomed me in instantly like I was their own long-lost daughter (literally, they pulled me into their arms like off a movie). I got to meet Mociute’s two sisters and then a few other aunts, uncles and cousins. Luckily my cousin’s wife, Edita, speaks fairly good English so she was able to translate for us. I spent the whole day with them- first at the funeral, then for dinner, and then to a basketball game with a few of them. It really is hard to put into words the loving power that family has. I was so touched to have finally found my family members here, especially to be united with my Mociute’s sisters who remind me so much of her and who treated me just like their own granddaughter. If I can’t have my Mociute here, then they were the next best thing. :) My Mociute talks with her sisters pretty regularly and all my life they have heard stories about me from her, so I think it was just as special for them that they could actually meet me. I was also very happy that I could go to the funeral on behalf of my own Mociute. I know she really wanted to be there, so the fact that I could go for her and then tell her about it, meant the world to me (and I think to her too). So although it was a sad event that brought us together, God obviously had it in His plans, as my life was forever changed from that experience and from being able to connect with my Lithuanian family members.

Me with Mociute's 2 sisters. So happy! :)
(And yes, they're short just like her!! :) )

Updates!!! (Jan- Feb)

So if you’re still joining me, this is the first blog of my "blog resurrection". Apologies for it taking so long, but I’m gonna try to go back and hit all the big points that have happened the past 2 months, and of course include a lot of pictures! Enjoy! :)

Bittersweet Euroleague

The Euroleague season didn’t end up exactly how we wanted since we missed making the playoffs by a head-to-head tie breaker, but I can speak on behalf of everyone (on my team and pretty much in the basketball world) that we definitely exceeded expectations this season. We ended up 4-6 after winning our last game versus France in another thriller (aka Vici-style :) )

A quick recap of the France win- it was a close game throughout, and back and forth most of the 4^th quarter til Courtnay hit a 3 with about 25 seconds left that put us up by 1. France then had the ball and played for a last second shot. The girl's shot actually went in but was milli-seconds after the buzzer. We all knew (or were praying) that the refs would call it off, but rather than immediately waving it off, there was a good 30 seconds of dramatics where they huddled to talk about it. I have to say- my heart was pounding the whole time, hoping that they’d make the right call. As you can see at the start of the video (in the link below), as soon as they announced it, mayhem ensued and we all started celebrating like we’ve come to love so much! :) Also in the video, at about the 2:35 mark, you can see me getting a little testy with the refs after a (BOGUS!) foul call on me. I guess Dad and Uncle Arvid have rubbed off on me. Haha.

http://www.basketnews.lt/news-36172-vici-aistes-palauze-prancuzijos-cempiones-bet-nepateko-i-kita-etapa-video-foto-komentarai.html

Right after they called off the final basket and declared us winners!!!



Best feeling ever!!!! :)



Also, here is a pretty good article that sums up  our surprising Euroleague season- http://www.fibaeurope.com/cid_KNce8jInH7Qj1EsyH5rjn2.compID_jr6ZiXqeGhMBtfq1yxqV83.coid_,4n0pGUzHR-JHsIuDOueb2.articleMode_on.html

This all means that the Euroleague season is over for us, so since the end of January we have only been playing Lithuanian League games, where we are currently 19-0. This means we practice a lot and then have pointless blowout games on the weekends. So February has been kind of a blow basketball-wise, but I’m still loving life nonetheless. :)

Home for the Holidays

Ok, do I really even need to write a blog entry about how amazing it was to be home for a 12 day break?! Unless you’ve been through a similar situation, there’s no way to put into words how comforting it was to be back to my familiar surroundings and more importantly, back to being around all the people that I love most in the world. I’d ideally like to ramble on and give a recap of every single day at home (since every single day was so precious to me) but it can basically be summed up with: 3 Christmas parties with the best family in the world; some great welcome home surprises (Linz and Mal!); some shopping; practicing with my SLU girls and also road tripping to one of their games; getting my first haircut in 4 months!; some more shopping; a million hugs; some quality cousin time including a movie night at the Wambolds; kissing Dalton every chance I got; a fun New Years with my sister; oh and did I mention that we shopped….a lot. These are just a few of the random things that occurred, but more important than what I was actually doing, was just how great it was to be home. I know that word gets thrown around a lot but this whole experience has really made me appreciate it that much more. The simple comforts of being home and around the people you love is indescribable. Although it seemed like time flew by and was stretched thin over everything that I wanted to do and people I wanted to see, I’m so glad that I was able to make the most of the time I had and enjoy every minute of it (except for the 2 days I was sick- apparently my body has gotten too used to Lithuanian food….). So yes, the big 4 month anticipation of returning home was everything I’d hoped it to be!

Also, in looking back at my last post, I can happily say that I enjoyed all those amenities that I had missed so much. Case in point:

·         I had Chipotle/Qdoba 3 times, including on the way home from the airport (thanks for making my dreams come true Mom and Dad! :) )

·         I did alllll my laundry when I got home (or at least my Mom did) and put every last thing into the dryer- no “lay flat to dry” here! Also, I think Mom wrapped me up in hot-out-of-the-dryer-clothes at least 4 times. I swear, I will NEVER take advantage of a clothes dryer again!

·         I took nice long showers every chance I got, including one on my last day that was about 20 minutes long. Sorry environment, but I needed it!

·         After our long 30 second hug when Mal surprised me at my house, I immediately had her crack my back! And you can ask anyone in the room- my back cracked the entireeee way up. Best. Back. Crack. EVER!

·         Finally got my BLT (no mayo obvi) on honey oat!

·         Although my illness kept me from making it to Tony’s for some bread, all of the bread in America was so much better.

·         I used up napkins like they were going out of style. And, I even have a few “exclusive” Florida Bueno napkins from Linz and Murph’s wedding that they sent back with me!

·         I think I refilled my drink at Qdoba/Chipotle 5 times. Amazing.

·         Although my body pillow was originally MIA (Kate!!), I got it back in time to snuggle up with it most nights.

·         Ummm I dropped $250 at Target one day...and that wasn’t my only trip. Enough said.

·         Well seeing that most of you reading this probably got a text from me while I was home, yeah I utilized that too.

·         Thick crust Pizza Hut pizza one night and my favorite Imo’s pizza another. Both with mushroom and (normal) pepperoni! Perfection.

So obviously, my time home was amazing and just enough to recharge me for 4 more months “across the pond”. :)

Just a few of the million pictures i took while home--

My welcome home gang at the airport!

So happy to be reunited!!! :)



One of the many from our photo shoot!

Me and the SLU girls after their game at Ball State

Some things never change :)

Kemezys Fam Christmas 2010 <3



Home Tomorrow!!!!

The countdown is now down to the hours people!!  It’s hard to say the exact number of hours because of the time change and all that jazz, but basically as I’m writing this, my first plane leaves in just 15 hours!! There is absolutely no way that words can describe the excitement that I’m feeling right now. So instead of rambling on about that, I’ll ramble about something that I’ve been meaning to blog about for awhile…the things I miss from home the most and that I can’t wait to have in just a few more hours!! This list of course doesn’t include people since that would be too long, and yes a lot of it has to do with food, but it at least gives you an idea of the things I stay up at night dreaming about…Lol.

·         Qdoba/Chipotle. Hi my name’s Amanda Kemezys and I’m addicted to Qdoba/Chipotle. There, I said it. I absolutely love both of these places and ate at one of them at least once if not twice (if not thrice…yeah I said thrice) a week before I left home. Of course I made friends with the workers at the ones  by SLU and by my house and when I went there for my “last meal” the day before I left the states, my buddies even gave me my meal free since I told them my sitch and had been such a loyal customer. :) So yeah, I hope that paints a picture of my love/obsession/addiction. And seeing that there is no real equivalent to this here (or any Mexican food for that matter), I have been craving this since the day I left! But no worries, my loving family is obligingly helping me out and having my standard Burrito Bowl order waiting for me at home tomorrow night when I get in. So. Freaking. Excited!

·         Clothes Dryer. After devouring my Burrito Bowl the next thing I plan to do is to wash every single item of clothing I brought home and then….wait for it….put it in the DRYER!!! I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it on here or not, but Lithuanians, and I believe Europeans in general, are not big fans of clothes dryers so I literally have not been able to dry my clothes in months. I’ve gotten used to the drying rack process and I love “going green” but oh my gosh it will be so nice to have clothes, especially socks, that are fluffy and not crusty.

·         Shower. Ok that sounds bad…I have in fact been showering here. Lol. BUT these showers consist of either a) showering at the gym where our “showers” in the locker room are two shower heads in a little area that would be considered small for a walk-in closet. It obviously gets the job done, but with 11 girls all vying for shower time, you usually gotta go as quick as possible. Showering option b) here is my shower at home which has no shower curtain. Apparently this is not a big deal here but it is a lot harder than you would think to enjoy taking a long, hot shower while having to worry about splashing water everywhere around your bathroom. So, needless to say I am PUMPED to get home and take a 20 minute shower where I don’t have to worry about creating a big puddle!

·         Back Crack. Although my mom cringes at it, I love a good back crack- most notably by Mal, Kate or Linz. I don’t know what it is, but these girls are like my own personal chiropractors and I can’t wait to get home and get “re-adjusted”!

·         Subway. Although Courtnay and I have found an awesome sandwich place here that we frequent at least once a week (and yes we’ve made friends with the workers there too), nothing compares to the awesomeness that is Subway. Give me either a BLT (no mayo obvi) or grilled chicken, lettuce and tomato sandwich on honey oat bread and call it a day! You can never go wrong with Subway and it is another food high on my priority list.

·         Bread. Similar to the excitement that will come from Subway’s honey oat bread, is just any bread in general. The majority of the bread I’ve had here is always pretty hard or dry so I look forward to normal, warm and soft bread back home. Anyone looking for a last minute Christmas idea for me could get me 5 loaves of bread from Tony’s in Mascoutah and I would be ecstatic! Haha.

·         Napkins. Some of you know my strange napkin fetish. I don’t know why, but whenever I’m eating anything, I like to have a good napkin on hand and I gotta say, the Lithuanian equivalent of a “napkin” is little more than a rough piece of paper.  I know, a weird request, but just one of those things…

·         Fountain soda/free refills/Ice in your drink in general. If you know my fam, you know that we are all pretty serious beverage consumers. No matter what it is- water, soda, tea, adult beverages too- we are all about the drinks. Anytime there’s a long car ride or even if we’ve been out and about all day, we’ll stop somewhere to get a refreshing drink and we are always heavy on the refills when eating out. Here- if you ask for a Coke you get just that- A Coke. Brought to you in a glass bottle with a cup. The bottle’s been in the fridge so it’s semi cold, but there is never any ice to be found. Even places like the movies or McDonald’s that actually have fountain soda sometimes don’t use ice or if they do it’s like legit 2 cubes. There are no free refills to be heard of and pet peeve #1 about beverages here is that water is NOT free!  Again, I know it’s something small and I’m sorry for the rant, but holy cow, someone take me to 7-11 when I’m home so I can get a Big Gulp!! :)

·         Body Pillow. I am a hugeee body pillow user and have always had one since I can remember. I love snuggling up with it when I sleep and am real excited to get home to mine!

·         Target/Walmart. Yes, there are stores similar to them here too, but just the familiarity of those 2 stores is what I miss. There’s just something about Target’s $1 section, 5 for $20 undies and $5 movies that says “home” to me I guess. Lol.

·         Texting. I do have a European phone here that I use with my team and I also have 50 international texts a month on my American phone that are used sparingly usually just to communicate with my Mom while travelling without internet (or to notify people immediately after our big Euroleague wins! :) ), but I miss just texting in general. Once my Dad finally realized how vital this mode of communication is for me and got me unlimited texting, I definitely use it to the max! I’m not as bad as some people of my generation and I don’t stay on my phone at all times, but I love and miss the convenience of just being able to text randomly with people when I see something that reminds me of them or that I think they will enjoy. Again, I know it’s weird, but just another comfort of home. So if you’re in my phone book, probably expect a text during the 2 weeks I’m home. :)

·         Pizza. Pizza is actually one of the things here that is pretty normal and the I enjoy often, but alllll pizza here is thin crust and since the “pepperoni” is like some other kind of weird sausage, I’m getting a little tired of thin crust cheese pizza. I’m dying for a pepperoni and mushroom pizza that is either a) not thin crust or b) from one of my fave pizza places- Imo’s or Dewey’s.

Well, I could keep going on with random things, but this at least gives you an idea of some of the crazy things I’ve missed while being away. I can’t wait to indulge in all of them, but of course I mostly can’t wait to see all my family and friends!! I really can’t imagine the emotions that are going to go through me when I finally land in St. Louis and am walking to the gate. When times were tough here in the beginning and I really missed home, I literally used to picture what the scene at the airport would be like the day I got back and that helped me get through things. I joke with my sister about having a big banner waiting there for me and I’m probably playing things up too much, imagining that it’s gonna be really dramatic like the last scenes in Love Actually, but regardless I cannot wait for the moment to run into my parents' arms and hug them. I forgot to add this to the list, but in reality, THAT would be my #1 thing I miss most- hugs from my parents. Both of my parents have those types of hugs where you never want to let go because while you're hugging it seems like all is right in the world. Anyone who has ever played on a team with me has usually gotten a warm Jean hug or a big Ray squeeze after a game and you know how special they are. So THAT is what I am now counting down the hours to. WATCH OUT AMERICA, HERE I COMEEEE!!!! :)

*Also- thinking that this may be my last blog entry til I get back to Lithuania (on January 3^rd), Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you all have a great holiday and enjoy spending it with family, counting your blessings like I will be! God has truly blessed me so much! :)