Nicknames

Hey Cardinal Fans!

I hope everyone had a great time celebrating this holiday season, I know I did. I had an amazing time with my family and friends for Christmas. My El Dorado Hills home was busy with kids of all ages baking cookies, opening presents, and everything in between.

Even though my time with my real family was short, I was happy to return to Stanford with my basketball family. Over the past two years I have developed friendships with these girls that I'm sure will last a lifetime.

Even though this team is much different than last year's team, it is perfect in its own way. I have grown so close to each of the other fourteen girls, which is one of the main reasons why I enjoy coming to practice for hours each day.

The main subject of this blog, however, is going to be names. With traveling for weeks at a time, rooming together in countless hotels, and spending each and every day with each other, we (well, mainly me) have created names and nicknames for each of my fourteen sisters.

Lindy: Looooopy (Not sure where this one came from but from Lu to Loo, to Loopy)

Grace: Gem, Gracie (I like to call Grace "Gem" because I think that she secretly wishes people would call her Gem. If you didn't know GEM are her initials and because people call me SEJ, I thought I might spread the trend. Not to mention GEM is also a gem)

Nneka: Gorgeous, Beautiful (Nneka and I call each other Gorgeous and Beautiful because first off, who doesn't like to be called beautiful? Even if they don't really mean it, its nice to be heard sometimes! But besides that I'm not really sure why we call each other that.)

Sarah: Boothie (I call Sarah Boothie because I find it weird to call someone my own name. Also she just seems more like a Boothie to me than a Sarah. We also argue over which Sara(h) is better and I claim that her name should be pronounced sarAH- emphasis on the AH)

Mikaela: Ruef, Ruefie, Michelle, Mik (Ruef has always been Ruef to me, not sure why. A few times I tried to call her Michelle just because it's similar to Mikaela, but she did not like that at all and even threatened me).

Joslyn: Jos, Jossy, shjaughlyn, J Tink, J Stink, Cankle, Tink (Joslyn has a lot of names for me, but I usually call her Shlaughlyn, and she calls be Shlejj. You kind of have to hear us say it to really understand. Again, I'm not really sure where this came from)

Chiney: C, Ch(IE)ney (Devan, our old strength coach started with C, probably because he didn't know how to pronounce her name at first, but it has stuck. C is easier and faster to say on the court, anyway.)

Toni: Tone, Tonitha, Antoinette, Marie, Toni the Tiger, El Tigre (Toni has been Ton, Tonitha, El Tigre, really anything to me. Once I called her Antoinette which then lead to Marie (Marie Antoinette). I'm not sure if she likes that one. But for Toni it's usually Tonitha)

Erica: E, Amber, E Payne, Urrica, Ianna, PG (I like to call her E and Ianna. Most of the team calls her E, but I think I'm the only one that calls her Ianna. Once again I'm not really sure where this came from. I also like to call her PG sometimes, short for point guard, because she is the point guard in my heart.....?.. Amber is in her list of names because for some reason Tara always calls her Amber by accident. Nobody really understands why, or where the connection between Erica and Amber came from.)

Taylor: Tay, Tay the May......or, Purple Valley, Taylor the Sailor (Taylor is Tay to everyone, but I like to call her Tay the May......or(with a pause between May and or) because at one point I was trying to find something that rhymed with her name and that was all I could come up with at the moment. Purple Valley also comes from Green Field, if you can put two and two together.)

Bonnie: Bon, Bonaldhino, Bonitha, BonBon, Dean, Bonathon (Bonnie is Bon to everyone. I call her Bon, Bonaldhino, and BonBon usually. No reason behind any of them.)

Amber: "AMBAAA", Am Bam, Bam (Amber is "AMBAAAAA"– you have to really hear us say it to understand. Not sure why this started)

Jasmine: Jas, Jazzy (I haven't yet created a super creative name for Jas, but I'm sure I will soon.)

Alex: Lex, "alexxxxxx" (Alex is "alexxxx" said with no enthusiasm whatsoever. I use this one because she is actually the most enthusiastic person I have ever met.......?)

Thanks for reading, Cardinal fans!
See you out on the court!

Sara, Sej, Sara James, Sejjie, Sedgwick, Bear......but mostly just Sej. ☺