Week 30!

OMG I cannot believe that I have made it to week 30 with all of you!!!

As I grow in this journey of blogging I have slowly adapted my blog to be what I always imagined. This week I wanted to introduce a new section in my blog posts called SPOTLIGHT!

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NEW SPOTLIGHT!! (Click the arrow to the left to read!)

This week I wanted to spotlight two people who hold a large part of my heart, my parents! I wanted to spotlight them this week because I had the chance to spend some real quality time with both of them that I have been missing since I started living out of my suitcase.

As the time comes to slowly leave the nest in more of a way than just walking out for a couple of months, our relationship has become a little different. The past two years have been difficult for both of them, as well as me, and it has made our relationship stronger. As my two biggest fans they have sacrificed so much for both my sister and me since the days we were born. The older I get the more I see exactly what it entailed, and all the stress it took to raise both my sister and me. From losing jobs to moving our home to another state, to the patience it takes to raise two daughters with some of the biggest personalities ever there have been some major ups and downs. . .

Thank you, mom and dad!

Now for those of you who don't know my parents, both of them were elite athletes who grew up in very different worlds. My mother is from Croatia and was a professional tennis player and my father played college football as a quarterback. They have been married for over 20 years now, and I know they have plenty more to go! For 4 years now my mother has been battling stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, and though she is fighting a hard battle it is something that we all fight with her. "It takes a village. . ."

Both of my parents work like dogs and vacations were never a highlighted part of our year due to the busy schedules they both had. However, we had our adventures. From trips across the sea to Europe or even road trips to the beach we found family moments that were better than any deluxe vacation could ever bring. I am forever grateful for all the moments we shared no matter how far or close to home they were. Thank you Mom and dad for everything you did for both Ana and me. I am forever grateful for the opportunities you have given me in this life and I hope to spend every day making you proud!

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Let's get into the past week and some, I am a little late for this week's post so I do apologize.

So before we get into tennis that happened I wanted to say I will be posting pictures from a 3 day road trip I did with my dad from Denver to Naples! It was such a fun time to spend with my dad and we had a nice little passenger named Cash to keep us company, (he is a dog btw). We drove through Kansas City, Nashville, and Atlanta which I have never gotten to drive through before. It was so much fun seeing the changes in environments we went through as we drove. From fields to forests, we saw it all, from negative weather to shorts and tank tops was so much fun. Going into a long road trip for me can sometimes be a little worrying and scary but once we got into the groove it all went by in a flash! I will be putting the pictures up on my Instagram for you all to look at!

Now to tennis, when I got to Florida it was go, go, go. The past two days I participated in a three-day college showcase at IMG! In two days I played four matches that were all between an hour and a half and two hours. It was so much fun to be able to show close to 150 coaches what I have been working on for the whole year and to have my mom be there was an included bonus. The joy in her eyes watching me play is something that I would never stop training for and never get tired of seeing. I am so excited to be in this journey of tennis no matter the ups and the downs and the hard times and the doubt it may bring some days being able to look at my mother and see a joy that I hadn't seen in some time is worth every drop of blood, sweat and tear that I have put into this sport the past year. It is worth every single thought of doubt and every setback. This weekend not only showed the coaches what I am capable of but also helped prove to myself that I am still in this fight and that this past year was worth everything!

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