Finally!
Flight was good. We got upgraded.
Brother picked us up at the airport, so sweet of him.

Are now on our way back, can't wait to see my best friend and family, take a shower and just enjoy being home again. We are going to the movies tonight, gonna watch Monsters Inc University! My goal is to stay awake the whole movie. ;)

Some pics from yesterday spent in Chicago;

Do they have a group for people searching for a new traveling partner? Cause I'm about to break up with mine. Not cause I don't like her, I really do. But if we look back on our 3trips we have done on our own:
Thailand/Vienna - everything went great, no problems at all.
Qatar - 12h delayed at Copenhagen airport and arrive 17h later than planned.
And now USA - 24h delayed and we get home 24h later (cause they finally rebooked us on SAS instead of American Airlines - otherwise we wouldn't not be home until Thursday.)

What's gonna happen next time?!

So right now, we are in Chicago. We have been here for 22h now and 2h to go before our flight leaves. We didn't get any help at all from American Airlines when we got here last night and they are gonna here all about it when I get back home. (Have you met BS?)
But we did the best out of the situation, we checked in to the Hilton Hotels across the street from the Airport. We got some sleep and woke up early to spend the day downtown.
We went to the Shedd Aquarium, took the taxi-boat to Navy Pier, walked to the House of Blues to have dinner, continued our tourist-day by walking to Hard Rock Cafe for dessert before taking the taxi back to the airport. Just a great day with great company!
My feet hurts and I'm so freaking tired. I hope that means I'm gonna sleep all way over the pond.

And of course, my wifi won't let me upload pictures right now so I have to show them later
X

I feel like I'm slowly catching up with myself after the most exciting and challenging week of my bowling career.
People say it was the most brutal pattern in the history of US Open. All I can say is that it was the most brutal pattern I've ever bowled on.
And we bowled a lot on it:
6h practice
24games of qualifying
6games of elimination
24games of matchplay
41h of bowling in 6days
In 3 different bowling centers
THAT is one hell of a challenge.

and I managed to finish 16th.

The week was all about bowling, eating, sleeping. I'm sorry I couldn't give you a lot of updates on here, it has been exhausting. Except exhausting it has been such a learning experience. I've learned so much about bowling and myself. How to handle different situations mentally and physically. I'm so happy I made it through this week with and ok finish in the list. I am also very excited to be heading to Vegas with this in my luggage!

Another adventure is now ending. Today is the last day here in Ohio. Going back home for about 12 days before heading over the pond again for the Worlds Championships. Crazy. Where did the summer go? 3out of 4 events are now done.

-
I wanna thank all of you for the support during the US open. All the messages, tweets, pictures, videos, all of it! Big Thank You! It means the world to have such amazing people supporting me. You are the best.
I also wanna thank Pat Mitchell and Mark Sabatine for taking care of us and helping us out here in Columbus, from day one. I had so much fun!

And last but not least my twin, my friend and partner in crime Ida Lydia Andersson. Another great trip together! Can't wait for next one, Bratislava, in September.

Now I have to try to get my things to fit in my bag. Same problem every single time!! Haha
Get to Sweden tomorrow evening but I'm gonna try to fill you in during our trip!

Take care and thanks again!
X

Finished 16th.

I will give you amazing people an update later today. Right now I'm trying to catch up with myself and I'm kinda enjoying my last few days here in Columbus.

Talk to you later.

And btw, love the support from you guys. Absolutely amazing!

X

Today I can call myself a bowler.
I was patient, I threw it good and I made the moves. Great feeling after yesterday's performance.

So I was +30 for my 8games today, which puts me 15th with -17 over 24games. Cut was -165, maybe that explains how tough it was! Last one to make it was CDB, Carolyn Dorin Ballard.

We are halfway through the tournament, a lot can happen. We are bowling 6games in the morning, 24 makes it to matchplay. I can't wait!

Don't forget to watch on XtraFrame - you can find it on pba.com

X

Sitting 20th.
Tough day on the lanes. Lucky me, the scores were lower yesterday than the first day.

So today is the last day of qualifying. The last 8games. 28 makes it through. Time to step up.

Game-Plan today:
Stay out of trouble
Pick up my spares
Keep throwing good shots

+51.
7th.

I struggled at moments and I was a bit lucky at moments. Over all I'm not a 100% happy with my performance but my scores was ok. I felt confident going in today. Nervous, but confident.

Highlights from today by Lucas Wiseman:

http://youtu.be/dGaljmaSIlQ

But tomorrow is a new day, a new bowling center and 8new games.

I'm exhausted.
Bed time.
Alarm goes off in 6h.

Wish me luck!

One long day.
2h bowling practice at each center, 3different centers. On a flat 38ft. Wow.
This is gonna be a challenge.

I'm feeling a lot more confident after today's practice than the once we had Friday and Saturday. It was tough but I bowled much better and had a good reaction at all 3 centers.

Other than bowling I've been switching rooms at the hotel 3times now. Started out on 152, with one big bed and one cover. That didn't not work out very well but they were nice and got us a new room. 165, with two beds and two covers. Perfect. But no no. The wifi was not working in this room. HELL NO! (This is the main reason for the bad update) We only spent one night in that room, and now we got a new one. With two beds, two covers, wifi AND fridge and microwave. Upgrading! Haha 3rooms in 4days. :) hoping to stay here for a while now, kinda like this room.

Almost bedtime over here. We are bowling at 4pm our time tomorrow, 22.00 Swedish time. If you wanna follow our scores go to: www.bowlingsusopen.com and if you wanna pay for the live stream you can go to PBA.com to find Xtra Frame. Don't miss out on this, we will bowl in the center that shows the live stream tomorrow!

Xx

Newspaper in Columbus, Ohio

1out of the 3centers we are gonna bowl in next week.

What a looooong day it was. To "prepare" for the trip we stayed up for 23h, just to be able to sleep the whole flight here. - Mission completed!

Had some problems with our luggage, bowling balls didnt make it on time. Pat & Mark picked us up at the airport. We got to the hotel at 7pm our time, around 1am back home Sweden. (6h time difference). Took a quick shower and then the guys picked us up again to go out for dinner. Where? HA! Not hard rock (only cause they don't have it here) but a similar place, TGIF. Thank god it's Friday. Love their food. After dinner we went to their hotel for a few beers just to stay awake.
Came back to the hotel around 1.30am and went straight to bed.
Slept like a baby and woke up by the alarm at 8.15, breakfast time!
Walking through the lobby we saw our bowling balls! They finally made it.
Went outside to find somewhere to eat and found a subway.
Is this our lucky trip? We also got lucky on the trip over the pond with one extra seat next to us so we got some space.
Don't wanna jinx us but so far so good for being a Sandra & Ida trip. Haha!

Gonna shower and get ready to go practice for the first time over here!

X

On our way to the airport!!!

Cph - London - NY - Columbus!

it's almost time to pack my bags again. I'm nervous, excited and a little scared.
This tournament is big. like BIG. I have no idea what to expect.

but I have one day left at home. a day I'm gonna spend in the bowl, to practice, choose bowling balls, to get everything ready. Not gonna be an easy choice this time.

to loosen up myself, get my thoughts away from the trip, we are gonna spend the evening at my parents.

not there just yet though, maybe I should tell you about today. today. today I had got my hair freshened up, nice red color again! I also had lunch outside in the sun with roomie, then went back home to change before meeting Ida at the train station and then straight to the bowl for some practice.

A few hours later we were back home again making dinner and turned the tv on to watch some soccer, Sweden-Italy. A nice 3-1 win!

Now I'm ready for some sleep. If I can. Counting the hours. X

Me and roomie decided to rent two movies and make us a lovely dinner. I can't remember last time we found two movies as good as these were.
Movies that made you open your eyes a bit.

One Swedish movie called "Ego"
And one English speaking movie based on a true story from the horrible tsunami in Thailand "the impossible".
Just wow.

You can se the trailers below:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=shFOhOjq13Q

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgw394ZKsis

X

Was so much fun. I started my Saturday with a session at the gym, back was focus. continued the day on the beach working on a nice tan. Went to a friends house to get ready to get on the bike and go to visit some friends to Frida down at the campsite by the ocean. A few beers later we were on our way back at our friends place to get ready for a night out on town.
So much fun just like the good old days!

Sunday was mostly spent sleeping. Except lunch with my brother and his family and Jonas.

Monday today, had a meeting before, took a nice walk to moms and dads in the sunny weather, had lunch with them.
Also roomie is back in town! Miss her sooooo much! Haven't seen her for about 3w. Crazy!!

Might go the bowl later, haven't decided yet. :)

So, leaving on Thursday again.
Columbus, Ohio - USA
What would you like to read about and see on this trip? Videos?

X

Where I am right now.
Enjoying life

so tomorrow I can do what you can't.

my day didn't really go by plan. it turned out much better. texted with my mom this morning and decided to go to a new place today for lunch, called the pancake-barn. me, mom, dad and kiddo went there.
heaven on earth if you ask me.
16different types of pancakes on a buffet. yes I tried all of them.
oh, our two dogs were also with us. they have a dogs-menu at this place, pancake with bacon. so sweet!
they also had a playground so kiddo got to play for a while.

when I got back home I was exhausted. probably some kind of food coma since I couldn't stop eating. I love pancakes.
I laid down on my bed for a while, watched two episodes of GG (yes I'm addicted) before getting my butt out in the sun for some workout.
8km powerwalk/jog and went straight to the bowl for an hours practice.
hurried back home to get home in time for a movie to start at 9.30pm and made myself dinner - hamburger, scrambled egg, terriyaki cooked broccoli and some apple pieces. YUM

My body is happy, tummy is happy, my legs are not that happy though. still sore from the workout two days ago. Haha but they will be. No worries.

Tomorrow is a day I'm looking forward to. I get to see Frida again! We are doing a traditional day tomorrow, like the good old days. Breakfast at her grandma's, going to the beach if the weather is good, eat at our favorite place in her city and ending the night with some drinks and going out in Helsingborg. I can't wait.
Better go to sleep soon so tomorrow gets here faster!

Some pics from today
The before and after, left pic is from 4w back and right pic is today. I cheated but I still did something right. I can see a slight difference!
X

Yeeeeezzzz my legs are sore today. It's was not that bad this morning but it got worse. Hehe
The day started out pretty slow, I was looking at one apartment this morning and after that I went back to my apartment for some breakfast and to watch some episodes of GG. Around 2 I met Zacke for a late lunch in the sun, haven't seen him for such a long time so a lot to update each other on. We decided to go to Båstad after lunch for some ice cream. This week is a famous week for Båstad, the big Tennis tournament Swedish Open is held now. Which means people from all around Sweden goes there pretty much to just party for a week or two. The city is a coast city and you can only imagine about the boats and the cars they go there with to impress people. It's so much fun to just be there and to watch people.
We had ice cream on the beach after walking around in the small harbor. Spent a few hours there before going back home.
and when we got back home we though a powerwalk in the evening sun would do just fine. 1,2swedish miles. My legs hurts a lil more right now. But I hope it's gonna help a little for tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

On tomorrow schedule:
Powerwalk at lunch
Bowling
Enjoy a Friday evening. But how?

#Countdown-2days-super-excited

Feels good to be back on my normal workout schedule! Oh my I miss the gym when I was away. That is what I hate the most about being on the road, there is nothing like daily routines. It is so hard to plan your day, and we should not even start talking about food. Especially in countries where they don't like to speak English.
I always try to get my ass out for a walk if there is no gym, at least those days i have no bowling planned.
Another thing that makes it all a little complicated is the climate.
Oh well
Excuses, excuses. If you want to, you can do.

As said, I'm very glad to be back and actually be able to hit the gym more than once a week, we are taking more than once a day. Energyyyyyyy

Today:
Gym - cardio 30min cross trainer, 20min treadmill
Bowling - 1,5 practice on short and medium pattern. Trying out my new bowling balls I drilled yesterday - Hyroad Pearl, Defiant Soul and Oath.
Gym - legday with David. We killed.

Also have my ass full of stuff I need to get done before I leave again next week. Today was a good day, I got a lot done. Not bad for being me. Haha

Now I'm just gonna make some dinner, and spend the evening on the couch. I kinda feel like I deserve it. ;)

X

<3

Hope you're doing good.
Me myself, doing just great.
I'm happy.

I'm happy about this trip we made, me and my amazing friends.
I'm happy about my performance throughout the trip, 4th and 21st place.
I'm happy about making the World Cup again, last time was South Africa in 2011, this time will be Sibera, Russia in 2013.
I'm happy about my latest shopping, my new shoes and dresses and shorts and.... everything!
I'm happy about being back home, in Sweden, in Ängelholm, in my apartment and in my bed - it has never been this comfy.

Just got back home from a welcome-home-dinner at my parents house. BBQ and cheesecake. Yum.
Got to see my lil favorite too. Played some football. That is one more thing that makes me happy!

And from happiness to another feeling, I'm excited about is the road trip I'm doing tomorrow. Going to Gothenburg to drill some new bowling balls for the upcoming adventures.
Practice. Learning.


But i think I need some sleep first.
X

I was hoping to take you all with me on this trip but my plans were ruined by the very bad wifi over here. I'm so sorry for this. It's impossible to stay connected and I've been trying to get online for 30mins now. Finally.

I bowled today, early this morning. After a nice 14h sleep. After bowling I went to the waterpark again. Just a nice day with some nice people.

Now ready for bed.
Finals starts at 8am.
follow us on: www.brunswickitaliachallenge.com


X

http://www.swebowl.se/Nyheter/NyheterSwebowl/EuropatourenSandraAnderssonfemmaiMadrid/

http://www.swebowl.se/Nyheter/NyheterSwebowl/MartinochSandraklaraforWorldCup/

X

First of all: sorry for the bad update. Internet is not working at our hotel and the wifi in the bowl is so bad.

So what has been going on the last two days? I bowled my first squad. 1351 and enough for finals. Again: happy. I bowled very well and I believed in myself, my shots and my moves. Felt so good. We celebrated it with some moscato (a favorite!) and some party bowling last night. much fun!

This morning started with a visit at Grimaldi Wineyard for some wine testing. Amazing experience. Of course this is the one my favorite moscato is made from. Absolutely amazing up there on the small roads in the hills. Did I mention it was a clear blue sky, big sun and 31degrees?
I'm in love with Italy. Food is amazing. Weather is amazing. Moscato is amazing. Bowling is amazing.

Fingers crossed my week continues this way. I'm one happy girl.

X

(I was supposed to upload some pictures from the Wineyard today but the wifi is so bad it's not working. I will upload them ASAP)

So far so good.
Started the day with morning-cardio. 4laps powerwalk and 1lap jog. after each lap we did some workout like sit-ups, push-ups, frog jumps, the plank and some stairs-workout.
Then went to the waterpark.
Waterpark was so much fun, felt like a little kid again. We ran up the stairs to go down the slides and up again and down the slides, sun was shining and the water was just perfect temperature.
We were there for about 5h, sunburned and sleepy we went back to the hotel for a shower and a power nap so we were ready for a dinner in the bowl with the whole gang. Jenny and Magnus bowled the squad in the evening at 8pm and we watched.

That's about it. My/our day in Asti.
Have to mention the amazing food and the amazing sparkling wine they have here. I LOVE moscato. And I LOVE pasta. Am I in the right country? I think so yes. :)

Still trying to figure out what we should do here in Asti tomorrow. Any suggestions?

X

Sun is shining.
Time to hit the water parrrrrk!

Just wow.
If I was happy Saturday evening it's nothing compared to now. Amazing feeling. I did it. I did what I went to Spain for, I won the ranking so I get to bowl the World Cup in Siberia, Russia later this year. And maybe I should mention my 5th place finish as the reason for it. How did I managed to do that? I started out so bad in the tournament but somehow I pulled myself together, as we say in Sweden: a little jävlarenamma! Haha

This girl is one happy soul.
Also realized when I got off the lanes yesterday I bowled 12 out of the last 20h. No wonder I was tired when I got off the lanes. A long day. So worth it.

We spent the evening at my favorite place - Hard Rock Cafe. And left Spain early this morning for Asti, Italy. Just arrived to the hotel, gonna get some food and then maybe bowl. I'm thinking about taking a day or two off, I kinda feel like I deserve it. And my thumb is not that good looking. We will se :)

Now ready to get some Italian food!
Ciaaaaao