Me!

I’ve been putting off doing my summer homework for awhile now.  Partially because trying to sum up my entire life into a single post seemed like a daunting task but also because beginning my homework has always signified that the start of school was approaching and I wanted to relish my last few weeks of summer.  But, after procrastinating quite a bit, I have finally begun!

I suppose I’ll start with some of the basics.  My name is Madison; I was born in Napa Valley on April 6.  I have a relatively small family, although both my parents come from very large ones.  At my house it’s just me and my mom and dad, Ann and George.  Even though I’m an only child when people ask about my siblings I usually say “I’m an only child; but I have a dog.”  My family has had a total of 4 dogs, all golden retrievers.  The most recent addition is Cassidy, she’s now almost 7 months and is still an adorable bundle of energy.  Here’s a picture I took of her when she was about 4 months.

I spend the vast majority of my free time playing volleyball.  I love the game and aspire to continue playing collegiately.  In the fall I play on the Napa High team and January through June I play club for Absolute Volleyball Club, which is based in San Rafael.  During that season, I drive to Marin for practice 2 days during the week and one weekend day, unless we have a tournament, which is all-day ordeal.  This summer my team went to AAU Nationals in Orlando, Florida.  We took a picture after out last day of play in front of the “Wide World of Sports” sign at the ESPN zone where we played.  I’m number 3 in the front.  It may look sunny in the picture, but for the entire tournament up to that afternoon, there was a tropical storm!  It poured for 5 straight days until the storm (Debby) finally turned into a depression and blew itself out in the Gulf of Mexico.  Although it’s not an experience I’d like to repeat, being stuck in Florida in a tropical storm was definitely an exciting, although very wet and slightly traumatic, experience.

I guess I’ll share a little about some of my other summer adventures.  I went Lake Arrowhead (it’s lake in Southern California, in the mountains above the San Bernardino valley).  A lot of people don’t know where it is but its absolutely beautiful.  Every summer for since I was in Kindergarden, my family goes to Bruin Woods, a UCLA Alumni Family “Camp” there.  There isn’t much camping involved, but that’s what it’s called.  We go the same week every year with the same families, I’ve made some life long friends there and I look forward to going there every year.  For the last four or so years there, I’ve gone waterskiing on the lake.  This year was the best ever!  I skied around the entire lake, I’m not sure how many miles it was, but it took a solid 20 minutes and I think the boats go about 20-25 mph.  Although it’s easy at first, waterskiing actually takes a tremendous amount of forearm strength!  Here's a short video of me!

I guess I’ll finish with a few fun facts about myself.  Other than playing volleyball at Napa High, I also do the jumping events for track which is a lot of fun.  I love going to the beach and water sports and activities in general.  My favorite movie, book, song, etc. is always changing but right now I’m remembering how much I love Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and the TV show Arrested Development which I recently discovered on Netflix  Neither is the newest, but both are very funny and totally worth it.  I also love ice cream, flip flops, and summer/warm weather in general and I hate the smell of smoke, airport security (although I do love to travel), waiting in line and when people say “acrosst” instead of “across.”  Hope this has helped you get to know me a little bit, I can’t wait to get to know you this year!