. . .And Beyond

This picture collage illustrates some of the views I have scene over the past month. Some of the pictures are from Amsterdam and Den Haag, while others are from Bermuda. The majority of photos came from a biking excursion through the Duins (dunes) in Den Haag. A bike path runs from Schevenigen (the beach in Den Haag) to Utrecht. One day before I leave, I hope to bike the 60 km path. Until then, enjoy these photos. Sorry for the small size of the picture. xx Rach

Sometimes I wonder, what exactly is the purpose of life? Now, I am not asking this in the philosophical, deep essence of the question - so please don't expect a discussion on religion or philosophy (remember I play sports for a living, I don't think I am even capable of a conversation in those areas). I am simply asking, what the hell are we supposed to do with our short little lives? What is the goal? Is there even a goal? Some theories I have come across: the purpose of life is to make a lot of money. The purpose of life is to have a lot of kids. The purpose of life is to serve others. The purpose of life is to learn as much as there is to learn. The purpose of life is to find your passion and do it. The purpose of life is to have fun. . . etc. . . Just call me difficult, but none of these answers really get me. Yea, each theory is meaningful in its own way - but on the whole, they don't do it for me. Ponder this: if you make a lot of money will you feel your life's

What was life like before the internet? What was the first thing people did in the morning? Brush their teeth? Well, I don't do that until after I check my email, facebook, myspace, bank account,and news sites; I also sometimes wait until after the odd ichat and/or skype conversation. My teeth can wait. And as they wait, maybe, in the mean time, I'll get an extra dose of my caffeine fix, yummm coffee. I mean was it seriously possible to keep track of all your friends before facebook? Before the fb, did you have real friends; I mean real relationships that required real conversations? And what was it like to have interaction without an audience (I mean, come on, wall and status posts are a total public display of how cool (or uncool) you think you life is). But who am I to hate, I am just one of the victims (or am I the abuser?). I am an internet junkie. Come on, HALLO, you are reading my blog. So for a day, I propose a world with no facebook, no email, and no mobile phones (or

Its funny how the simple, often insignificant events in life can become metaphors for life's bigger lessons. Let me give you an example: On Fridays before training at KZ, our team has core stability training. This is the Dutch alternative to American weightlifting (I prefer the Dutch way - less bulk, more cheese.) Anyhow, core stability is run by our team Physio, Lars. Lars typically runs us thru a few exercises in an attempt to develop core strength. One of his favorite drills is to have us partner up and squat back to back. The aim is to see which pair can stay squatting longest.Lars likes to pair us off by height - this means I am usually with the tall, extremely thin, 18 year old Marloes. Now, don't get me wrong, Marloes is a total gem - she is an avid watcher of Gossip Girl, my favorite tv show (we often discuss this topic during training) - but when it comes to strength, I sometimes fear I am a bit too weighty for Marloes. On Friday, we were getting ready to perform t