De Klassieker, Valentine's Day, and Van Gogh - Blog #17 (Feb. 10 - 16)

Basketball Update:

We had our biggest game of the year on Saturday, De Klassieker (The Classic), against Den Bosch who was 1.5 games up on us in the standings. Going into the game, we were 2-0 against them this season, one win at home against them in the Supercup & one on Boxing Day on the road. We had a sold-out crowd for the game, and it was definitely our best atmosphere of the season. We came out scorching hot. Aaron had five... FIVE 3's in the first quarter. We maintained control for the entire first half, and the score was 43-34. The 3rd quarter consisted of some back & forth, and they cut our lead down to five. The 4th quarter was ours. We outscored them 33-24 in the final period to make the final 95-81. It was an amazing game for us. Most of all, it was a ton of fun. Our fans were amazing, doing chants the whole game. Beating your rivals on your home floor can probably only be topped by beating your rivals on the road. Huge win for us, and I hope we can use this momentum to propel us going forward. International break this week, so we have practice then, the weekend off! Personal highlights below, and I also got interviewed for those interested.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FuwTNCzdh2M

Leadership Lesson:

One of my good friends, Richard Fagerlin, who I met at CSU has a leadership consulting/executive coaching company and told me something that really struck me. He said that trust is something you have to give others until they break it. This is very contradictory to popular opinion. Most people think that you have to earn one's trust. People say that trust is valuable and should not be given to someone without them proving to you several times that they are trustworthy. However, Richard refutes that by saying trust should be given to everyone, and only when someone breaks that trust should they lose it from you. It is a much healthier and more beneficial way to live. It results in stronger relationships more quickly. It also fosters so many different things like collaboration and creativity. It also reinforces reciprocity or in other words for trust to be sent both ways in a relationship. It is freeing, and a better way to lead and build teams in my opinion.

Top 5 of the Week:

Hikes I've Done

1. Mt. Rainer - Nikki and I went on a trip to Seattle to visit my cousins a few years back in May. We did not summit Mt. Rainer, but we did a hike right next to it. The hike was extremely difficult because it was steep and through snow. We did not have all the proper gear to make the hike easier. However, the pay off at the top was worth it all. The view was not the best part though. The best part was when we were coming down, we glissaded. Glissading is basically sledding without a sled. People had made a path with their butts, so we decided to try it. One of the funnest things I have ever done. Flying down the mountain, feeling like a kid, with the Cascades peering over the horizon. #1.

2. Mist Trail in Yosemite - Yosemite is amazing and my favorite hike from my trip with the Pinks there was Mist Trail. Yosemite had gotten record breaking snowfall in different areas of the park. They got as much as twenty feet of snow in some parts. The world famous waterfalls were rushing as hard as they ever have. As you can imagine, "Mist" Trail was not just misty, we were getting drenched. It was freezing cold water, and the march up the stairs next to the waterfall was tough. In a weird way, it was a lot of fun. The other parts of the hike were beautiful too.

3. Sunrise Hike Outside of Denver - I do not remember the specific name of the trail, but this was probably the first really cool hike I did. Another trip with the Pinks, we went to Denver during the COVID summer in 2020. We woke up very early one morning and hiked up over 12k feet to an unreal sunrise view. I remember having some altitude sickness symptoms but that did not spoil this view. It was sweet.

4. Bear Lake in Rocky Mtn. National Park - I have done this hike several times because it was my go to hike to bring people on when they would visit me at CSU and wanted to go to RMNP. It is a gorgeous hike with several great lookouts and cool lakes. It is fairly long but not too difficult. Would definitely recommend.

5. Horsetooth Rock in Fort Collins - This is in the top five for sentimental reasons. While it is a beautiful hike, it is definitely the hike I have done most in my life because of its proximity to CSU. It is fairly challenging, but not too difficult. There is a little bit of scrambling/rock climbing at the end to get to the top of the rock, but the view is beautiful. Love this hike.

What Else Did I Do This Week?

Friday was Valentine's Day, and although it is not as big of a holiday here, Nikki and I still had a great celebration. I woke up earlier than normal to make Nikki some breakfast while she was at the gym. She was working from home, so we kind of got to hang out a bit around the house during the day. I got her some flowers, and while I was at practice, she started to prepare our home cooked V-Day dinner. Nikki found a recipe for some chicken dumplings, and we also made some udon noodles with peanut sauce. A homemade dinner is the way to go for this holiday. This was Nikki and I's first Valentine's Day fully spent together, and it was great. I have normally been in the camp that this holiday is overrated, but Nikki and I had a wonderful night. The food was great and fun to make. After, we watched The Notebook. I thought I had seen it before, but it turns out I have not. It was honestly pretty good. I was a big fan of the whole story, and it is probably one of my favorite romance movies ever.

On Saturday in between my walkthrough and game, Nikki and I walked around Leiden through the market. The city was bustling, and it is always good to be in Leiden on the weekend. After the game, I came back and watched the 2nd half of the Border Battle between CSU and Wyoming. I was having some serious FOMO because two of my teammates from last year, Joe Palmer and Joel Scott, were at the game. One of the biggest cons of being here is missing out on stuff like that. It was also Hillsdale's senior night, and it is the last class of guys that I played with at Hillsdale. Definitely makes me feel a bit old, and I miss being in attendance for stuff like that. Joe Palmer FaceTimed me after the game when he was in the locker room, so I got to talk briefly with a bunch of the guys which was nice. Then, I went and picked up Nikki from Amsterdam who spent her night doing Galentine's with a bunch of work friends.

Sunday, we booked the Van Gogh museum which is the last major Amsterdam tourist site Nikki and I have been wanting to hit. Again, it was on our museum pass we bought, so the free entry was wonderful. Before the museum, we stopped to get bagels at BagelBoy which were very tasty. Then, we (mostly I) were still hungry, so we stopped at Pancakes Amsterdam to get some Dutch pancakes that were also delicious. The museum was actually really cool. I am not an art guy and tend to struggle in art museums because I mostly do not understand the deeper meanings of the colors, texture, shapes, etc. However, I do not really know how to describe it but Van Gogh's paintings and drawings were really cool. He was obviously crazy and learning more about his mental illness was interesting. In spite of this, he was incredibly talented and has had major influence on art long after he died. It is interesting that so many artists get famous after they die. Van Gogh didn't gain popularity until some of his family made a push for his art after he died. After this, we headed home, and I went to go watch our 2nd league team because four of my younger teammates were playing in a game. It was great watching them play and Leiden won! Great weekend.

Top Meal of the Week:

This definitely goes to our homemade Valentine's Day dinner that I mentioned. Not only was it delicious, but there was an extra pay off that came with making it ourselves. It was a very unique meal, and I had never made anything like it. We had to make the dumpling mix, wrap them in rice paper, and fry them. It was a bit of a complicated process but was so worth it. Nikki made banana bread too which was bomb!

One Thing I Miss About the States:

As you can tell by my top five this week, I miss hiking. The Netherlands literally means "low lands". A large percentage of the country is actually below sea level (don't ask me how that works), and it is incredibly flat. This is a big contrast from where I have lived the last two years in Fort Collins. Hiking is something I have grown to really enjoy because of Nikki, and I definitely miss it. I did a lot of it in the last couple of years, and I miss being out in nature seeing cool sights. Thanks for reading!