BEIJING — Ummm so today's theme word is F-U-N FUN!!!! I just got back to my room after an amazing match against China. Our team really came together and had fight and determination to win and it was so much fun to play tonight. The crowd in our venue was going crazy and we even had our own cheering section ... even if they were out-numbered like a gazillion to five. We heard them and it was awesome.

So I am trying to defrost after just sitting in a cold plunge for 12 minutes. Now I know 12 minutes doesn't seem like a lot, but at midnight sitting in 50-degree water up to my sports bra ... well, let's just say there are other things more enjoyable. But I figured if I wanna walk tomorrow it is in my best interest to suffer a little tonight. And to tell you the truth it's only really cold for the first minute or so 'cuz after that I can't feel anything anymore. And if anyone ever wants to keep their kids still put them in cold water, 'cuz it's soooo much colder if you move around. So I try to stay as still as possible.

Another exciting news is that I got to ride my bike around the village today, and let me tell you it is sooooo much better than walking. I mean I will never be sweaty walking to the bus for practice and going to the cafeteria is so much quicker ... and there is just something about it that makes me happy. I can't help but smile when I am on it, maybe because I have a mental picture of what I look like on it, and I imagine I look pretty damn silly. Logan (Tom) and I have taken it upon ourselves to decorate our bikes with American flag stickers on the handle bars, and a pom-pom off the back just under the seat.

So I just got a phone call from home and my best friend wanted to congratulate me on the win, but then informed me that she didn't get to see the match but has it on tape at home and will watch it when she gets home from work. But that she checked the scores online because she couldn't wait till tonight to see what the result was. It makes me feel so good to know that everyone back home is watching and cheering us on. We even had some people from Hawai'i come to the match tonight and give the team hand-made leis.

I kinda wanted to say how much I'm enjoying watching the men's team play right now, too. It really fires me up to see the boys playing so awesome. I even had a conversation with the guys' trainer in the training room this morning when I was doing my pre-game therapy about how amazing the middles did last night. Yeah, yeah I know I am biased. But (Ryan) Millar and (David) Lee rocked it. I mean Ryan was bouncing balls like I have not seen in a long time, and David was owning their hitters with his blocking. Makes me proud to be a middle.

Well tomorrow is another day. We get to have a video meeting at 10 a.m. to prepare for Poland on Sunday, then it's off to BNU (Beijing Normal University) for our practice. Should be a pretty smooth transition from China to Poland. They have a very similar style. Tough serving team, so our passers will have their hands full for the match. They also have pretty good outsides and a solid opposite so our block and defense needs to be in sync even in out-of-system balls. But if we can keep the fight we had tonight and continue down the path that we have created for ourselves with the momentum from this evening's win, we should be OK.