Needed Update!

Wow, so let me try to summarize the last couple weeks as best as I can. Everyone on our team basically got hurt. Scott, my Canadian roommate, broke his ankle. Maartin had a high ankle sprain, and I had a very low ankle sprain. Not to mention the 3 guys who practice very limited. So in the end some practices who only had 6 guys. But the nice part about it all was the fact that our last two games (before Christmas break) were Rescheduled! Players on the team were saying this was the first time in years they have rescheduled a game and they did it twice back to back. But I feeling God is working his magic. We went from being a game ahead of everyone, to being a game or two behind. So when we start making up the games we should make up a lot of points fast.
So my dad and Holly came to visit us and it was awesome having them here! We went and visited Paris, Brugge, Amsterdam, and of course my home city of Antwerpen. In the end I decided Brugge was by far the most amazing town. It is a clean cut old military fort, so it has rivers running through it and all the houses are tight knit and people are very nice there. Paris was only okay. I rate it a B/C. The buildings were amazing and Louvre was unbelievable, but it reminded me so much of Las Vegas. The Kings and Queens of France seemed to get into this power struggle of who can build the most amazing structure. And YEAH they are all amazing, but almost too much. And while all the buildings look nice in the middle of the city, as soon as you get out of the middle it becomes a sloppy town of mean people. I was happy to be there, but I was happy to leave. Amsterdam was a pleasant little town, but still no morality makes it a shady place. We got to see the coffee shops (Marijuana smoking places) and it was creepy. Got to see Amsterdam and got leave Amsterdam. Antwerpen is a city very close to me and it is one of my Favorites. It has that small city feel to it sometimes (meaning they don't get overboard with tourists) but they have all the pretty buildings that all the other town have. Their Cathedral is amazing. We got to have Christmas Eve Service there and it was spectacular. No words can explain the beauty of these Churches. The service was lights out boring because it Catholic (literally lights out, I did fall asleep). I was wondering what they would think if we let the Well (a christian church in Fresno known for great services) hold a service in there.... haha. It might appease a.... should I say, living audience.
Christmas was good. It was great having family around to spend it with. It also was the only day we didn't travel and so it was nice just to relax.
New years is going to be a blast. We are going to the beach and spending it with Manu and his Parents. I hope we get to play some Macciavelli, my new favorite game on the planet! When I come back to Fresno I am going to bring so many good games back.... all in Dutch! haha.
So finally, my grandparents got Jessica and I the Love Dare book. And at first I was really reserved about getting it because the movie looked soooo rough. But after opening it and starting it, I think it is going to be really fun to do. I have noticed I yearn for self improvement and I certainly want to not only survive my marriage, but also thrive in my marriage. So I am excited to see what the book can do....

Well, Tootles!

Gearing up

The game this weekend was canceled due to a players mom for the other team dying. And our whole team sends our sympathy to Eisden.
But, this was a super important game. This is what could have propelled us up to the Big boys and we could have secured our spot in 5th place or above. So it was slightly frustrating that it was canceled because we were gearing up to go on a run before the 3 weeks we have off for Christmas break.
As for this week, I have Jessica's birthday Tuesday. Then my dad gets here Thursday and things get all crazy after that. I will keep everyone posted.

The Bar

So last night, I worked the Bar in our volleyball club. I was covering for a team mate, I thought, "what the heck, it can't be that hard." Well come to find out, I have never poured a beer before, off the tap or outta a bottle. So yeah, I didn't know the tricks. So after a little bit of an embarrassing night I can now, somewhat, pour a beer.

And I have to make a correction, it wasn't Santa Clause this last weekend, it was St. Nikolaus.

Jessicas Birthday in 8 days. What will I do?

Huge win

So this weekend Santa Clause brought us a present. We beat, what was, the current #1 team in Division 2 volleyball in Belgium. We won 25-18, 25-23, 25-21. It was just a very good win.
On a sad note, Scott the Canadian rolled his ankle in practice and is on crutches for the next week and probably will be out until after Christmas. Maartin, one of our middles, also rolled his ankle and might be about the same ETA. So we have had to bring up players from the second team for practices, and we also got to see our long lost buddie Koen this week for a practice. It reminded us of the good old days..... back in September.

So this is Santa Clause weekend in Belgium. He comes and gives all the little kids presents. And I guess Christmas is similar, but it is for family and giving each other gifts (not santa giving gifts). So here is what Santa Clause is like in Belgium: He rides a white horse, he comes from Spain, and his helpers are called Black Pete's. They are called that because they are covered in black from going down all the Chimneys. They have to go down the Chimneys so they can open the front door for Santa. You ask, "do they leave Santa cookies and Milk?" The answer is no. They leave Santa Beer and sugar cubes.

Well, have a fun Santa Clause weekend!