Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and that you will all have a blessed 2008! I spent my first Christmas away from my family, but Carmen, Chrissy and I were able to make the best of it here in Turkey. We decided to cook an American dinner for our entire team. I made the cornbread (which was a big hit!) and salad, Chrissy made the mashed potatoes and fried chicken, and Carmen made the Koolaid (also a big hit). We also thought it was necessary to sing some Christmas carols for them. I think they were glad when those were over, but we had fun at least! And we had some delicious leftovers for the next couple of days. I missed being in South Bend where my family and my mom's side were all together for the holidays. I was grateful that my parents brought their webcam so that I could see everyone through the computer screen. That made the distance seem that much closer.

Having stayed here through the holidays paid off on the basketball court. We upset the number 2 team in our league, Kayseri! This was a huge win for us. They had beat us a couple of times in the preseason, but we started off the game ahead and never trailed the whole way. We have just two more games until we are half way through the season. It's really flown by as it usually does. Speaking of upsets, Stanford FINALLY beat Tennessee!! It was a long time coming!! I'm so happy for my team (I still say it's my team even though I've graduated) and they will definitely be a force come March!