Before practicing I was worried because UConn practices are intense so I thought I was going to pass out (working out on your own and actual practices are completely dif) but I was pleasantly surprised that I was ok.

On Wednesday I am heading to Nike’s campus in Oregon and I must admit that I’m excited. That place is amazing.

Omgoodness I almost forgot to tell y’all that Snook and Diddy came to senior night as well. They didn’t tell me they were coming because they wanted to surprise me. (I still haven’t really figured out the logic in that but I was happy to see them).

Im going to a hot place for 5 days, and I’m leaving out the details on purpose because I don’t want you all to think I’m rubbing it in. : )

My next ESPN game is March 14th, it’s the Horizon League championship game. Yay for me!!

I really need to make it home for one of my Pooh Bear’s (niece) basketball games, but don’t worry she still cheerleads. I need to find her a Ct Sun cheerleading outfit.

I feel like this blog is all over the place.

Sorry if I’m confusing you by bouncing around, that’s what it’s like in that head of mine right now. If you haven’t done it recently stop right now… and take a sec to count your blessings. Sometimes life happens and you forget how good you have it. Welp… Until next time.

Be blessed.
Da One

Valentine’s Day is coming up, and this is always such a controversial holiday. Do you have to state that you are someone’s Valentine? Are you only allowed to have one Valentine, if you are single? If someone surprises you with a present and you don’t have one because you didn’t know they wanted to be your Valentine should you feel bad? Or what if you say yes to being someone’s Valentine but then change your mind? Now do you see why I can’t deal with Valentines Day? That’s why I love birthdays and Christmas, we all know we are celebrating one person for that day. Anyways, I’m going to Senior Night so if any of you are going please don’t look at me because I will probably be crying the whole game. Haha I’m just playing, I’ll be excited for them. Welp United just called Zone 2, that’s me. Im living life and loving life. Until next time… Be blessed

Renee Montgomery

(Side note: I had signed in on the guest list for Channel 3 at 9:15pm on Sunday night, then signed back in at 9:15am on Monday morning… a lil strange right? Yeah I thought so too)

I then had to pleasure of being on “Better Connecticut” which was a great show. A group came and sang a song from the movie “Rent”, which as you should know, I absolutely love (and if you didn’t know, don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you). Also, a lady came in and cooked some ribs. All I have to say about that is…. yum yum in my tum. Oh my goodness, I almost forgot. The people from the lotto “Mega Millions” were on the show so they gave us all free tickets (the scratch and win ones). Well to make a long story short, I was given a ticket, but had it taken away because I was in the 2nd seat and the ticket was for the person sitting in the 1st seat (Don’t ask me why it mattered, because I still don’t get why the lotto tickets had to be handed in a certain order). Bill was given my precious ticket and I got a new one. Bill won $50 + and I won nothing. I was livid, but I think it helped with his pessimism so all is not lost. Then end (Thats all for my story time, now back to your regularly scheduled program).

Later today, (today is Monday, Feb 1st, 1:45 pm) I am going to be calling some season ticket holders, so maybe by the time a few of you read this, we will have spoken.

Tomorrow, I will be taping a segment on the show “Connecticut Style” in the morning and then returning to the Mohegan Sun for a “luncheon.” I’ll be acting as a reporter for a day also. That may get a little interesting. Once the luncheon is over, I hop on a plane and head back to Sunny, Beautiful, Hott Miami. I don’t mean to rub it in for everyone living in a colder climate…. Actually yes I do, because thats usually the case with me. (From WV, to CT, to MN, to Lithuania)

Welp, I hope you understand why I called these 2 1/2 days a media blitz, but to be completely honest, I cant complain about any of this. Who wouldn’t want to be wanted? (I bet a couple of you had to read that twice to get it, and if you had to read it more than twice, don’t tell anyone) Oh and let me add that whenever you start to feel overwhelmed, take a second to count your blessings. Until next time… Be blessed

Da One

P.S. One of the main reasons for the media blitz was to let everyone know that ticket packages are available on www.connecticutsun.com (the big game mini plan includes tickets to the all-star game for non-season ticket holders). I would be a dummy not to mention it now, plus I would like to have as many people in the stands as possible. See you May 15th. ; )

This brings me to why I’m blogging right now. (not the only reason I’m blogging, I did miss talking with you all) But anyways I mentioned it briefly on Twitter (my addiction) about how I wanted yall to participate in the commentating with me, and a lot of people were confused. Leading up to the games that I call, I’m going to ask my Twitter family (and of course the people that don’t have Twitter too) specific questions. The recurring questions that I’m going to ask are, “give me something good to say when someone blocks a shot; someone makes a tough shot; someone gets crossed over; or someone does something that is just not smart.”

Do you get what I’m saying so far? (I can tell some of you don’t) So let me give you some examples. While I’m calling the game, Jeanine Manley (player from Coppin St.) might make a serious crossover. When that happens, I’m going to say (insert clever comment here). You guys are going to aid me in the clever comments, if you would like to. I just thought it would be a fun way to keep everyone involved with what’s going on with me.

What do you guys think?

I’m not going to announce who I pick that week, you just have to watch the game and see if I use any of your comments. Then if I do let me know and I will shout you out on my website and on Twitter. Don’t worry if I don’t pick your comment the first game, hopefully there will be A LOT more games.

Side note: I’m watching the show Intervention on A&E (it’s a show about people addicted to drugs, alcohol, etc) and I must say that I have a healthy addiction. Twitter is harmless. The only effect it may have on me is a loss of sleep and sometimes I tweet at stop lights.

Ok back to what I was talking about…. So I’m going to be traveling a good amount in the upcoming months so I’m going to try to blog or video blog from every place that I visit. I use my blogs kind of like a Dear Diary log. I mean I already can’t remember a lot of things that happened in Jr. High, so blogging is a way for me to keep a “record” of where I go, how I felt, and what I did.

Does anyone write in Diaries anymore? I’m assuming not. I was going to ask if people still write letters, just to say hi. But I know no one does that because technology has given us a way to be in contact with someone at all times. It’s really nice to receive mail though. I don’t know what it is about it, but I like it. Can someone write me a letter? My address is P.O. Box 1165, St. Albans, WV 25177. I’m not going to promise that I will write you all back, but just know that I will smile when I receive them. Alrighty, I think I’ve rambled enough and its 12:52am. Hmm… I wonder if it’s too early to do the insomniac roll call on Twitter. : ) By the way, I can’t take credit for the idea of “insomniac roll call”, my friend Danyell started it, and I liked it so now I do it. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrew 11:1) The reason I said that is because so far, my “leap of faith” is turning out better than I could’ve imagined. Until next time…. Be blessed

Renee Montgomery
www.ReneeMontgomery20.com

So I get home and my whole family is there: sisters, nephews, niece, brother in laws, the whole nine. If you looked under our Christmas tree you would’ve thought Santa visited us twice. As I was sitting there looking at my niece and nephews and realized that I missed them growing up while I was away in college. You may think that I was only in Connecticut but our schedule is very demanding. Also, I haven’t gotten to spend a lot of time with my parents and sisters over the past four years, and they definitely aren’t getting younger. To put things in perspective I’m used to never having a Spring Break or Thanksgiving break and usually getting 3 days max for Christmas. This made me face a very difficult decision. After a long debate with myself (I have those from time to time), I decided not to return to my team in Lithuania. I hate to leave my team in the middle of the season, especially when we were starting to gel and play well together. I wish them all the best of luck and will definitely continue to follow their success. You may be wondering, “What are you going to do for income while you are here in the states?” And my answer is good question, but I’m sure I will figure something out, and have fun along the way. You have no chance unless you take one right? Stay tuned as I enter life in the real world. This could be interesting. Until next time. Be blessed.

Da One

Renee Montgomery

Hey, do you remember the plant that I previously talked about in one of my blogs? Well I named it my plant of life, because it was still growing and looking pretty without me doing anything to it such as watering it. Im sad to announce that my plant of life has died. It no longer has leaves or branches. I am telling myself that it passed away because the change of the seasons and not from neglect. I mean how can a plant of life die? It’s not possible. You agree right?

Well on other news, my team has still been struggling. We haven’t been able to win a Euroleague game yet, but its coming. We had a coaching staff change. Our former assistant coach is now our head coach and we have two new assistant coaches. (My team owner reads my blogs so “Hi Arvydas!”)

A lot of things are going on right now it seems, but adjusting is something I have to always dealt with in life so its not a big deal to me. Besides, when I look outside it makes me a feel a little at home because of how elaborate the Christmas decorations are. I love love love Christmas time. Giving presents might be one of my favorite things to do, but I never forget that Jesus is the reason for the season. Thats why we call it Christ-mas, duh. : ) I thought about starting a countdown for when I was going to come home for Christmas but countdowns make time go slower. Plus when you’re busy counting down to a certain date, you forget to enjoy the current days. And I know that things will go fast the closer I get to Christmas because my sister Nachette (pronounced Na-shay) and my niece Pooh Bear (Pooh like Winnie the Pooh) are coming all the way across the world in December to visit me. Then we are all going to fly back to America together on the Dec 21st.

Speaking of Christmas and presents, I have a new bag out that could be a cute Christmas present for someone. They are only $10 so maybe instead of a stocking you could pack the little what nots in that. Just an idea. (Click here to check out the new bag!)

A lot of people asked me what’s the first thing I’m going to do when I get back home to the States. My answer is hug everyone in my family for a loooooong time. My Diddy is going to kiss me on the check and then Im going to smile and wipe it off. (I always do that, love you Diddy) But as far as the first thing I’m going to eat. Well you will have to ask my Snook that because its whatever she decides to cook for me. She also told me that she’s going to freeze some food and send it with my sister when she comes. Did I ever tell y’all she’s the best? Because she is.

I have a confession to make to you all. Well actually I would like to admit an addiction that I have because I hear that’s the first step in recovery, so here goes nothing. I, Renee Montgomery, am addicted to Twitter. I was in denial for a long time, but I’ve come to terms with it. When I’m out and about and see something funny or crazy, the first thing I think of is that I need to take a picture of it so that I can post it on Twitter. If something strange happens, I instantly begin to think “How am I going to fit this whole story into 140 characters?” (Twitter only allows you to use 140 characters per message, which is crazy because who can explain a whole thought in that little amount?) They really make me become creative with the English language. For example; I hardly ever use vowels – girl = grl, boys = bys, happy = hppy. You get the point (= pt) right (=rt)? Ok I’m done with that, and its time for me to nap in between my first and second practice.

Food for thought.. You have no chance unless you take one. Until next time. Take some chances and be blessed.

Da One

To start things off, everything is painted in bright colors, I guess they are trying to compensate for the lack of sunshine and good weather. My kitchen cabinets are highlighter orange, and grey, so that was a lil strange. My kitchen chairs are burnt orange. (I think they were trying to have the chairs match the cabinets but failed) My couch in the living room is burnt orange and brown, so maybe they were trying to have the furniture match. I have a tan lazy boy so I guess the furniture matching idea was not correct. The entertainment system is really nice; I have a good size flat screen TV and about 8 different American channels. (I hear that’s a lot) The walls are regular orange and yellow. (If you’re wondering, yes I am living in a crayon box)

Oops I forgot to mention that there is a plant in the living room. Looks like a large bonsai, and I don’t know what they expect me to do with that. I know I’m not going to water it weekly, or monthly for that matter. I definitely didn’t inherit my Snook’s (Snook = mom and that’s the last time I’m going to tell you all) green thumb.

The bathroom is simple, I have a toilet (duh) and one of those things you’re supposed to sit in front of so that water can spray on your butt. I hope I explained that right, well if not, that’s my explanation of what it does. And no, I don’t use it, that’s too “Euro” for me: I’ll just stick with toilet tissue.

My bedroom just has a bed, closet, and two stands on each side of the bed. Those walls are painted pale lime green. You know what, now that I think about it, maybe they tried to personalize this apartment for me because my two favorite colors are burnt orange and lime green. That’s cute if that’s the case.

(Oh by the way, I’m listening to Robin Thicke right now as I’m typing, he’s on my favorites)

Ok so now where was I? Oh the guest room/computer room. The walls are yellow, there’s a desk, futon (blue and yellow), and computer chair (navy blue). At this point, I don’t think they are trying to have things match. Maybe there was a sale at IKEA or something. : )

All the floors are hardwood except for the bathroom is tiled and the kitchen has the material that all kitchens have, you know what that is right?

Welp that’s everything, but I’m in the process of remodelling. I’m getting things to make the apartment more homely.

When I first got here, I deep cleaned everything (It was dirty, I just like to clean it on my own) and that was no fun, but now I actually am enjoying this remodelling.

Ahh mann, you know what I just thought? I should’ve taken before and after pictures. That would’ve been nice to see. Ahh well, it’s too late now because I’ve already thrown lots of stuff away and replaced it.

Within the next couple of months I am going to get a video camera so that I can give you a real tour of my apt and take you with me when I am out and about. For instance, my supermarket experience and first practices were, how can I put this, umm “unique.” But I’ll have to talk about that in the next blog because I’m sure you’re tired of reading by now.

Happiness is what you make it. So, as always, I’m going to make the best of this situation. Until next time……  Be blessed.

Da One

But first let me back track alllll the way to when my WNBA season ended. : ( So of course after playing for a year straight (UCONN straight to the WNBA) I needed a break. I went to San Diego, California for about 4 days and chilled with one of my best friends Ray Rice. They beat the Chargers while I was there, Go Ravens! Then I went home for let’s say about 4 days when I got the call from Carol Callan (she pretty much runs USA basketball, great woman) that they want me to come to the training camp in DC. Now, I was in a serious dilemma, because I was supposed to be going to my Lithuanian team on Oct 3rd and training camp overlapped that. After much time and effort put in by my amazing agent, he got everything worked out so that I could come to Russia and then report to my team TEO Vilnius. (Phew, but I was never really worried)

So now let me jump back into the present, it’s now 6:15 and breakfast starts at 7. This is the first time that I have felt the effects of the time difference, which is 10 hrs by the way. I’ll be sure to take a nice long nap after shoot around. I think I may like this overseas thing….. for a lil while that is.

People ask me all the time if I get home sick, or how do I deal with not seeing my family. My response is the internet is a wonderful thing, thanks to Skype I can video chat with my family and friends and even though it’s not the same as being with them in person it helps. Plus, although I am the youngest, I’ve never really had a serious homesick moment. Now that I look back on this blog, it’s very detailed, lol, just thought I would let you all know what’s going on in my world. Oh and one last thing, NEVER forget to count your blessing, no matter what situation you are in. Until next time..

Da One