Olympic Hockey - Cheer for Jinelle!

My sister Caitlyn's best friend (and a friend of my family and me for years and years) Jinelle Zaugg-Siergiej is an incredible hockey player. She's so good, in fact, that she is up in Vancouver preparing for the Olympics with Team USA! Our whole town is super proud of her.

This photo is of Mom and I hanging out with her in Madison when we were down there for a Badger's game a couple of years ago.

I played on Jinelle's hockey team growing up. Caitlyn and I played for several years with Jinelle and her older sister Jessie. We even won a couple of state championships together. She was also WAY better than I was when she was nine years old and I was twelve... She was probably already taller than me by that point, too. She's always been an incredible athlete.

Anyway, Jinelle has worked incredibly hard to be where she is, playing hockey at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for four years and training day in and day out. She got married this summer and has had to spend a great deal of time apart from her husband, Mike, while she continues to travel for games. I feel her pain on that one, though I'm not doing something quite as cool as playing for the Olympics while being separated from my husband. So look for the extra-tall player (she's 6'0"), #27, and cheer for her when you cheer for Team USA!

Here's a link to her blog, where you can see videos of the Olympic village, photos of all the sweet team gear she's been given, and updates on her game schedule. It's pretty cool to be able to see inside the athletes' village, and she's started leaving some video updates on the blog recently. Apparently the dining hall has loads of food and all of it's free! Here's her blog: Jinelle Zaugg-Siergiej

Leave her comments if you visit; I know they'd be encouraging to her as she continues working hard for a medal. And look for her in the opening ceremonies on Friday night!

My sister Caitlyn leaves for Vancouver in a couple days, too. After growing up with Jinelle she couldn't miss an opportunity to cheer her on in person! We weren't sure whether or not she'd be able to go since she's quite pregnant, but the doctor cleared her last week to fly so all is well. And hey, if she has the baby a few weeks early in Canada, it's free, right? Plus, then she should name it Olympia. Or Jinelle.

So look for Jin on the ice and Caitlyn (+ big belly, + huge supportive Zaugg family) in the stands.

Go USA hockey!