in the past few...

Time is flying by incredibly fast, I cannot believe that Christmas is only 3 days away and 2012 is only 9 days away. But I can't say the last months have been anything but incredible.

As much as I think about the future, I'm not letting the amazing moments I'm living be lost. We returned home yesterday for our first match in house after a four game road trip. We won four away games in a row on the road and it didn't actually dawn on me until we got home at 4am last Sunday morning, how crazy is that?

We traveld to Yuzhny Ukraine for a European Cup match and it was quite an experience. The furthest east I've traveled, was to Serbia, so I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but it was everything I'd imagined in my head of old Russia. My favorite part was the hour drive through the city after landing in Odessa airport to get to our hotel in Yuzhny. I love the times when I can put my head phones on, stare out the window and be in my own little world, and this was the perfect chance for that. The buildings were very old and I'm sure each had a humongous history, the streets were full of people walking in the cold, covered in fur (of all colors and lengths), dogs ran freely through the streets, and packed vintage buses full of people drove past us in a hurry. This was my image of the Ukraine.

view of the apartment buildings from our hotel

one of those buses

I'm a sucker for romance, and this was romantic! After

weddings couples come here and put pad locks on a

bridge to represent their love and throw the key into the Black Sea.

So sweet right?

there was a milage (I guess kilometer)

sign to cities around the world

and even one to Baltimore, Maryland!

We won our match in four sets (and the opportunity to move on to the next round and travel to Russia) and then had some free time before our flight home to sight see in Odessa. This part of the trip affected me a little bit emotionally. Up to this point the image of the Ukraine we were shown, was a very poor, very old and very worn, but Odessa being a big port city, draws tourist, and with the tourist come the money and with the money comes a very different life. Looking out the window of our hotel the rundown buildings and streets painted a certain picture of the quality of life, but as we drove into Odessa, no more than mile apart you could see the vast difference in lifestyle. It shocked me to see the extreme gap between rich and poor in literally such a short distance. To an extent you can find this anywhere, but to see people living in such extreme poverty and drive less than a minute further south and see luxury cars cruising the streets, was really sad.

Next stop on the CEV, Krasnodar Russia...

Like I said, the year is coming to an end and Christmas is only 3 days away. We celebrated with a big party for the club and then a small dinner party at my place with the fantastic four. It was nice to finally have a Christmas in my own place, after being away from home for the past 5 years. I was great to have the girls here and share our thanks for each other on this journey and to celebrate Christmas with our own little family in Vilsbiburg.

Christmas with the Fantastic Four

Merry Christmas everybody, enjoy the time with your family and friends!!!