3rd, 5th, 3rd...  Those are my results from the last three tournaments.  Let's start in Huntington Beach.  It was so nice to be back home, even if it was only for a very short week.  Playing in a tournament where you get to sleep in your own bed feels very strange yet comforting. 
 
Huntington Beach was great.  We played some very good volleyball and beat some great teams.  However, we did not quite have it when it came to Kessy/Ross and Misty/Nicole.  Those two teams have established themselves at the top and now we have got to figure out a way to knock them off.  We came up against both those teams again in Virginia Beach and did not find the answer.  Despite all that, I am not discouraged.  It is a long season and there will be many more opportunities.

Our month-long, worldly excursion ended with Silver in Seoul, Korea last weekend.  I am thrilled that we were able to bounce back from a few disappointing results in the previous events to finish on the podium in Korea.  What a great feeling for things to "come together!" 
 
We played and beat some really great teams including Talita/Antonelli from Brasil who had our number last year.  We lost to that team 4 or 5 consecutive times last season.  It was a great feeling to win the close matches and come from behind to win.  I feel like every event teaches us more and more about ourselves and our team.  We continue to grow and learn from every single experience. 
 
Included in that learning process is how to deal with severe fatigue and jet-lag.  Our latest road trip was perhaps the most brutal travel schedule we have had to deal with to date.