Hey peeps! Sorry for the long hiatus, but with The Amazing Race officially off the air now, things have been settling down somewhat and I am back on the blog!

So...Wow!!! First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone for the incredible support they have shown throughout this experience. I am truly touched and overwhelmed by every single message I have received and it has made this experience that much more wonderful, knowing that I shared a little piece of it with all of you.

My journey on The Amazing Race, was, well, nothing short of AMAZING! It was everything that I had expected and so much more! What I took away from this once-in-a-lifetime experience will be something I will take with me for the rest of my life. Rarely in life do you ever get the opportunity to find out what you are made of, to find situation after situation where you are forced to push yourself to the limits, and test your sheer will and determination. The Amazing Race did exactly that for me, and now I can honestly say that I have found myself to be a stronger person in so many ways than I had ever known.

I think that what the viewers missed at home are some of the things that make this race a million times harder than what even Tiffany and I were expecting going in. When you watch The Race on TV, you cannot see all the variables that are in play, such as the elements. You cannot feel what competing in 120-degree Dubai weather feels like; you cannot feel what 30 mile-an-hour winds blowing in your face while you are soaking wet in long johns in Holland feels like. You also couldn't see how heavy things were, like that 30 pound carnival mallet for the high striker, or how far places really were, like the 3 miles Tiffany and I had to travel with our tourist group in Japan, or the 5 mile bike ride in our Dutch clogs.

Regardless, nothing that we had to do on the show or how things were portrayed will take away from just how incredibly life-changing this opportunity was, and I feel a thousand times more fulfilled as a person for going through it. My friendship with Tiffany and the bond we share have also become infinitely stronger because of this shared experience, and I have taken away so much from this that no million dollar first place prize could ever buy, and for that, I am truly grateful.

Since I have returned home from The Amazing Race, things have been rather hectic but also very exciting at the same time. I have a lot of cool new things in the works and I can't wait until I can share it with you all. I am also very much looking forward to being back at the tables, especially after everything I had to do on the race, sitting down and playing a poker tournament actually sounds more relaxing and stress-free than it ever has been.

For now, I am really looking forward to spending a nice and relaxing holiday season with my family. I have had such an awesome year, and I have so many things to be thankful for and the best part about it all is having wonderful family and close friends to share it with.

Best wishes to you all during this holiday season, and it feels good to be back.

Teammates and BFF!

With some of my favorite people from the show- Team Sam & Dan, Ericka & Brian and winners Meghan and Cheyne!

 Tiffany and I in our car at the Hollywood Christmas Parade. Watch it nationwide on MyNetworkTV, December 24th!