Now that I am home, I celebrated my nephew's first birthday with him today. The party was a day after his birthday, and it is hard to believe that it has been a year since we were in Brazil, winning the Sao Paulo tournament.

I think everyone had a good time at the birthday party other than the guest of honor, Zachary, my nephew. He cried throughout most of the party, even spitting out his cake and not showing any interest in presents. But he did enjoy being left to his own devices whilst he played with a camera lens cover and the leg of a chair.

I have to admit that I enjoyed the camp down in L.A. but it is still good to be home. Training by ourselves is not going to be easy, as we each have very specific workout regimes to keep us fit and sharp for January. Christmas is a tie to be with family though. I put the tree up yesterday and it looks great.... well it looks great until you see that it is actually leaning up against the wall. I have decided that it is almost impossible to put a tree up straight on your own. I swear I tried, and I am just going to have to wait for my sister to arrive on 24th December to put everything right.

I received some interesting news this morning. My long-serving coach at the University of Tennessee is leaving to become head coach at the University of Texas. Of course, I am sad to hear that she is leaving as she was a big part of my college experience and an even bigger part of my soccer development.

She was and has been a good friend to me and I wish her all the best and every success at her new post in Texas. I have not been back to Tennessee in a while now, which is a regret, but knowing that the next time I do get to go down there, she won't be the coach is unimaginable to me. Ange gave me my chance in NCAA soccer and believed in me. She taught me my soccer ethos and gave me a foundation in the sport that set my decade-long career in the sport in motion. Thank you Ange.

She made us work hard each and every day. Some days I did not like her or her approach, but we as a squad could never complain because she was doing the work right there along with us. Every Tuesday, she kicked our butts to hell and back in fitness training. If I had dared, I might have said something. I might have told her that the training was too hard, or that she had set impossible times and standards, or that she pushed us too far, but I couldn't. She was right there in line with us.... and beating us.

Ange told me that I was cheating if my foot was touching the line, even a little bit. You had to have your foot completely behind the line so that no other player in the country could say that she was working even that little bit harder. Ange told me that there are many things in soccer that you can't control (weather, teammates performances, bad days), but you can always control how fit you are and how hard you work on the field in games or practices. These are words I live by.

I found a quotation by Michael Jordan which says that "There are no shortcuts." He may have said it first, but when I hearb these words, I also hear Ange's voice as she pushes me, even now, to be better.

Thank you Ange for the opportunities you gave me, the great times I had as a Lady Volunteer soccer player, and the good times and friends for Tennessee.