Off again to the land of the Swiss Alps, Cheese, and Chocolate!!!!

The Alps welcome me back to Switzerland!!!!!

Switzerland: I was supposed to get on a plane to head back to Belgium on January 2nd, however, I found out that my team in Belgium ran into some issues getting my work visa figured out with the government.  Unfortunately, that meant that I couldn’t return to Belgium for the 2nd half of the season, which I was very disappointed about.  Thankfully, within 24 hours, my agent was able to find me another job for the second half of the season with a team called Riva Basket that was located in Chiasso, Switzerland and right along the Italian border. After playing in Switzerland a few years agao on two different teams, I was excited about a chance to go back because it was with  a completely different team and in a new part of the country.  I got offered a job on Friday, negotiated the contract Saturday and Sunday, the plane ticket bought Monday, packed on Tuesday, and I boarded a plane to Milan, Italy, on Wednesday January 5th.  Things move fast in the basketball world and within 48 hours I switched teams, and had to switch gears to a completely different league, country, and language.   I am starting to get used to this, however, it can be exhausting.  The one sure thing in my life that I have been able to cling to throughout these experiences is my faith in God; I know and trust that God knows what He is doing.  I landed Jan. 6th on Thursday, practiced with the team Friday, and then was on the road 5 hours through the Swiss Alps for our first game against a team near Lausanne.  We won by 8, so it was a great positive start for me with the team.  My first week was good, with some rough patches of homesickness and discontentment in being in yet another new place, but for the most part good.  I guess I have come to the conclusion that the way I seem to grow the most as a person and in my faith is when I face new challenges.  This is one of those times where I didn’t know my future but was trusting that through God’s faithfulness,He would take care of me.  He always has and always will :) So anyway, I played Saturday and Sunday in my  2nd and 3rd games with the team and we won both!!!  Since arriving, I am 6-2 with this team and feeling good so far! I felt blessed to have my dad visit for 2.5 weeks and have lots of visitors in February, March, and April too!!!  I am looking forward to seeing more beautiful sights here in Switzerland and parts of northern Italy over the next 4 months of this crazy adventure that God has called me to in life :) 

Me with the castle and Alps in Gruyeres, Switzerland

Teammates after the Swiss Cup Final against Helios

                                                                               

I live 2 minutes from the Italian border, near Como, Italy!!

     

       From left: My roommate Traci,  manager Filippo, President
Francesco and Me!

     

Got 2nd place in Swiss Cup

Beautiful Scenery in Switzerland!!

Christmas 2010 in Nebraska!!

Christmas:

As I said before, I was supposed to fly out December 20th for home.  However,  due to the weather, my flights were cancelled twice and wasn’t supposed to leave til Dec. 24th.  I was persistent and called the airline about every 3 hours to see if there were any cancellations and as I was headed to bed around 11:30 that night of the 22nd, I thought, I will try one more time.  So I did, and the lady was like, “I can get you a flight at 10:30am tomorrow morning,  do you want it?”  My eyes teared up and seriously was the best gift I got for Christmas.  When I reached the States on December 23rd, I was exhausted but thankful to be in Nebraska.  It was nice to celebrate Christmas Eve with my Dad and Grandpa, Christmas day with my Dad, brothers, and their families, and the 26th with my Mom’s side in Omaha with my cousins.  I even got to help get some cattle in that got out on Christmas!!!  Man, the joys of home :) I also made a flying trip with  Elizabeth, who flew in from Michigan, to Colorado where we met up with mutual friends we met in Europe, and I enjoyed coffee and snow shoeing with Ada, one of my best friends from college, whom I spent a whole 30 hours with on the trip!!!  It was a fast trip, but really encouraging and worth the 16 hours of driving :)  I was able to enjoy time working out with my Mom, fixing fence with my Dad, watching Toy Story 3 with my niece and nephews, and time with my Scramps at the nursing home.  I ended up celebrating a quiet New Years Eve at home by drinking a Belgian beer with my dad, reflecting on the year 2010, and heading to bed shortly after midnight.  It was a great time at home as always and tough to get back on a plane for Europe, but after almost 5 years of leaving, the goodbyes are still hard. But I was excited for a new adventure in year 2011!!!!

Christmas with Mom (Ahlborg side) of family

Snowshoeing with Ada!!!

Ada, Corrine, Elizabeth and I in Winter Park, Colorado

Yumiko, Ada, Elizabeth and I in Winter Park!!!

Brother Brett, Nephew Brodie, Mom, Me, and Brother Ben

Christmas Eve for Village Inn pie with Dad and Grandpa Bob!

Christmas Day with Dad (Wilkins side) of family. 

Belgian Basketball, Chocolate and Amazing Waffles!!!!!!!

In August, I signed with a team called Point Chaud Sprimont which was located near Liege, Belgium.  I was excited for the opportunity to play again since I hadn’t played competitively since December of ’09, and was still recovering from my back surgery that I had in March.  I left for Belgium September 8th and had my first game back on the court after 6 months of post operation rehab!! I felt really good and was just grateful to be healthy again!!!  My team was quite young and we lost a lot of close games and struggled to get some wins.  However, I grew to really enjoy Belgium, as I was close to Holland, Germany and so much!! My former German teammate, Kitty Muller, who I played in Saarlouis with, has family in Aachen, Germany, which was a quick 30 minute drive from Verviers, the city I was living.  It was great to feel like I had a family away from home.  Being the only professional on the team, I did a lot of workouts on my own and with the coach.  While in Belgium I was able to travel to some cool cities like Maastricht, Holland; Aachen, Germany; several different places in Luxembourg; and of course to cities in Belgium such as Anthwerp, Brussels, and Houthalen.  For Thanksgiving, I cooked my very first turkey and full meal for my team! It turned out to be a wonderful candlelit evening with lots of good food, wine, and they even talked me into playing some guitar for them!  I became great friends with my older teammate Hilde (also my translator) and her husband Bjorn.  I went and stayed with them several times and enjoyed them so much! In December right before I returned to the states we made a road trip to Koln, Germany, to see the famous Christmas Market, and actually got stuck in a huge snowstorm!  We almost got in an accident and it was definitely a memory we made together! That snowstorm was the same one that caused me to be 2 1/2 days late in getting home, but I made it and was happy to land in Nebraska and have 12 days with family. 

My first game back in 6 months!!

Me with Kitty's family in Germany!

My Point Chaud Sprimont team in Belgium

Hilde, Bjorn & I at Koln Christmas Market

Frederic & I in Antwerp

The Town Hall in the Grand Place

Road Trippin' & Meetin' the Pres!!!!

In the last week of June, one of my best friends, Elizabeth, flew in from Europe, checked out life on the farm, helped me with my bball camp, and  then we headed out July 5th in my car with 2 bikes hitched on the back.  During 24 days in July, we headed east on a road trip that covered over 5,500 miles, including 21 states mostly in the upper east coast and through a small part of Canada! We biked through major cities like NYC, DC, Philly, Indianapolis, Niagara Falls, stayed with old friends, worked out, enjoyed the beautiful scenery, had bible studies, rocked out on my guitar and even ran into President Barack Obama while on a hike in Bar Harbor, Maine! It was quite a surprise and honor and even got in the local newspaper and TV in Maine!!!!!  It was definitely a trip of a lifetime with lots of memories, photos and great times!

Meeting President Obama!

Sandora, EJ & I with Empire State Building!!!

Me  and my amazing bike Bubble Pond in Maine!

Elizabeth & ! celebrating meeting Obama with Lobster in Maine!

My cousin Erik, Elizabeth & I in DC!

Brooklyn Bridge

Summer 2010!!!!

Welcome Matt MacDonald and his two boys Shawn & Jayson to the Wilkins/Ahlborg Family

Once I got home I hit the ground running with physical therapy as I began running in June, jumping in July ,and playing in August. I was busy planning and attending wedding events for my sister, and doing basketball lessons and camps. I threw a fun-filled, all-girls, bachelorette party for my sister and then enjoyed a week of chaos and running around to help her with the wedding which was June 5th. It was an awesome weekend of a typical country wedding at a beautiful victorian house near Arlington. We celebrated the official unity of   sister and Matt MacDonald and welcomed Matt and his two boys into the family. After the wedding hype slowed down, my basketball lessons took off and I had my first ever Brittany Wilkins inside out basketball camp. It was a quite small, but a fun group and I enjoyed sharing my joy for the game with some hard working young ladies from the Omaha area.  In August, I went tubing down the Niobrara river with my family then onward to Estes park, CO for the 2010 Wilkins family reunion! I also was able to meet up with Ada and spend some much needed quality time with her too:) In August after all my traveling, I made it home in time for the annual tractor pull at the Washington County Fair with my JD 630 (got 3rd out of 7 in my weight class), spent time with family in Nebraska and was asked to stand up in a wedding in Iowa for a former Iowa State teammate Nicky Wieben. It was an honor to be a part of and also great to see old college friends while also staying with my “College Parents”, Deb and Jerry for a few days in Des Moines.

Inside Out Basketball Camp!

Brianne and I at her wedding!

The Four B's all cleaned up and looking sharp!

Finishing my life in Germany

Well as I have been incredibly MIA in regards to my blog for quite some time, I am just going to give you all a summary from the past 9 months starting right before I had my back surgery in Germany up until now.

End time in Germany:
I took a trip to Florence, Italy with two friends, Yumiko and Elizabeth,  in February.  I spent more on gelato (amazing Italian ice cream that I ate four times in 2 days for a total of 24 euros) than I did for the plane ticket (20 euros round-trip on a cheap European airline).  My mom flew over to Europe a week and a half before my back surgery, and during her 18 days in Europe we were able to see Brussels, Belgium; Delft, Amsterdam, Holland; Paris, France; Luxembourg City, Remich, Luxembourg; and Trier, Saarlouis, Germany. We had an amazing time and it was such a wonderful first experience of Europe for mom! I had my back surgery on March 23, 2010, and my mom stayed for a week after surgery to help while I recovered. My team, the Saarlouis Royals, ended up winning the German Cup, German league and taking 4th in the Eurocup with an overall record of 37-11. It was a great season and I was so happy that I was a part of it and able to stay for the second half of the season even when I was injured.  In May, I took a quick trip to Agadir and Marrakech, Morocco, with 3 good friends, Elizabeth, Marcus and Fletcher. I was supposed to meet up with my sister (who was supposed to be there for the National Guard) but her flight was delayed due to the volcano eruption ash in Iceland. I ended my time in Saarlouis with a team banquet and said my goodbyes and flew back to the USA on May 19th.

Mom and I on the Fat Tire Bike Tour in Paris, France!!!

Saarlouis Royal 2010 German League Champs!!!!

Fletcher, Elizabeth, Marcus and I in Agidir, Morocco in May!!!