Ballin in the new decade

I was lucky enough to get a full 10 days for my Christmas break back at home. And by home I mean, wherever my family is! Mom, Dad, Brett, and I spent the holiday in Brett's house in New Jersey. His housemates were with their respective families for the holidays so we had the house to ourselves and plenty of beds to sleep in. We spruced up the house with Christmas decorations and even chopped down a Christmas tree for the very first time! Brett chopped it down, but I took it upon myself to yell "Timberrrr!" Ashleigh's family hosted Christmas dinner and it was absolutely delicious. In fact, most meals were as we made it a point to eat all the food that I normally don't get here in Turkey. I had no reservations about eating to the brim from all that delicousness because I knew I would be back to Istanbul in no time to work it all off. My last night in the states was New Years Eve and Brett and I along with Ashleigh and some of her friends went into NYC to celebrate. We were able to see "the ball" and party well into the morning before I headed back to Turkey the next evening. Lots of memories in my first East Coast Christmas but like we all know...All good things must come to an end.

Our team picked up right where we left off before the break with 3 wins so far. We've completed our Euroleague group play with a second place finish and will begin the playoffs against an Italian team in a little less than 2 weeks. Unfortunately for me, however, in the beginning of my second game back I was injured. I was running down the court and felt a pop in my heal and severely strained my plantar fascia. I haven't been playing and have been rehabbing for 9 days now and anticipate at least a week or two more before I will play again. Injuries are part of the game and I've been pretty lucky with that since leaving Stanford, but I am in good hands and have experience with listening to my body and will be back on the court as healthy as I can be.

My parents will be making a 10 day visit to see me starting this Thursday and I'm looking forward to getting some TLC parent style! Nothin like it:)