All Star Break Round-Up

The baseball season has officially hit the half way mark. I can't believe it is already near the end of June and July is just around the corner. We are so very grateful for the fruitfulness this season has brought so far. Daniel finished the first half of the season hitting .282 with 8 homeruns and 31 stolen bases!Praise God! Not only are we grateful for the productions he's been able to put up so far this season, but we are so grateful that he has been able to stay healthy and off the DL. This is a first in his career.

This past Monday marked the first day off of  Daniel's 3 day All Star break. Three days off in a row is a rarity in baseball, so we we're excited to enjoy the down time.

On Monday we were able to visit my grandma in Orange County and spend the day with her. We went and saw the movie Super 8 (Daniel's choice) and I actually ended up really enjoying it. The storyline between the characters was really cute and even had alot of comical moments. Then Monday night we drove out with my parents to Las Vegas and stayed the night in a condo my brother and sister in law we're renting for the week. We woke up early Tuesday morning and headed to Lake Mead (10 minutes outside Vegas) for a day of boating and tubing on the lake. It was amazing out! I think one of my favorite feelings is being in my bathing suit all day, with no makeup and soaking up the sun. I had a blast with Daniel and my family. We headed back to Cali late that night and crashed out my parents place for the night.

Wednesday, we got hooked up with some free Dodger tickets so thought it would be fun for Daniel to actually sit down and enjoy a game for once. Plus, it was my first time to Dodger Stadium and I was excited to try out the famous "Dodger Dogs". We had great seats and enjoyed the game and the 'Dodger dogs met up to my expectations. Later that  night, we got to celebrate a friends birthday with a bonfire at his house and catch up with more friends.

We had an amazing time and are so grateful to have been able to spend time with family and friends. We are now back in Victorville and we're back to baseball tonight. Let the second half begin! :)

Behind The Scenes

Hello again! Sorry for the lag in blogging. Our days just seem to fly by lately. It's amazing how during the baseball season, our days aren't measured by weekdays and weekends, but by homestands and away series. I quite often have to be reminded of what day of the week it is. Bad. I know. Besides my lack of keeping up with the times, all is going well. Daniel is healthy (Praise God) and there are more wives here for the season now, which I am loving. My sweet friend, Neyeska, is here again this season. She was with me last year. Her and her husband are from Venezuela and being around her really motivates my desire to learn Spanish even more. Although we have the language barrier, it amazes me how we much we can relate to each other just by the fact that we are with our husbands on this crazy adventure as they chase their dreams.

Aside from Neyeska, there are also two other wives here with their children staying for the season. There's also been lots of girlfriends visiting, which I have truly enjoyed.  I have really enjoyed getting to know these girls. I feel like the Lord has placed a special place in my heart for women in this crazy life of baseball. I know so many may think this life is 'fun', which it definitely is at times and I am so grateful for this path God has us on right now. But even though it is fun, it can also can be very grinding as well. Not only can it be a grind on the guys physically, but it can easily be a 'grind' emotionally for the woman on the other end.

I am extremely grateful and blessed to be able to have the opportunity to be with and travel with Daniel during the baseball season. I know many girls who are unable to. So often in baseball, the guys get all the recognition because they are the ones out there playing, but I want to recognize the woman. The cheerleaders behind the scenes. It's not always easy. We are the ones packing the house up after a move, or figuring out living situations during the season, or praying silently in the stands as our husbands hit or pitch.

I shared recently in a blog I wrote for a baseball wife site that there were times when I would question what my 'role is' in this career my husband has. The Lord has reminded me over and over again that I am my husband's "helpmate" and I proudly embrace that role. I feel honored to share in these memories we are making together while we are in the minor leagues (the terrible hotels with gum stuck on the headboards, being told by hotel maintenance that the room were staying in is haunted, being lent a car by a local fan that we had to literally pump the gas peddle 3 times and turn the key twice in order to get it started, driving on a 9 hour roadtrip with a player's parents I just met, their dog and their cat, living in basements, living with roommates, driving cross country...the list continues). It is a crazy life, but its our life (totally jacked that from TLC). Daniel makes me so proud and I will continue to support him in whatever else the Lord has in store for our future. To God be ALL the Glory!

Mother's Day

So after enjoying a perfect 80 degree night of baseball the other night here in Adelanto, the sun just wanted to tease me and we are now back to windy, colder, jacket layering nights again. With complete disappointment in the drop of temperature, my agonizing desire to want to whip out the summer clothes will have to wait a little longer.

We enjoyed our second off day of this season this past week. We had plans to go to the beach, but again, the sun didn't want to come out and due to it being overcast, we decided we'd wait until it's warmer and try to go our next off day. So instead, we got to spend more time with our families. We had a wonderful time celebrating mother's day/my brother's birthday this past Sunday. Daniel had a day game that day and we were done in time to meet up with my family for dinner at this awesome Japanese steakhouse near home. It was so much fun and felt so good to spend time with family. (I'll post pics below).

Today, we are back in Victorville. The manager of Daniel's team decided to give the guys a "show and go" today, which means Daniel didn't have to be at the field until later then his usual 2:00 showtime. We got to sleep in longer, which Daniel loves. He's played every game since opening day this season, which is a blessing because last year he was fighting for playing time. So while we are thankful for this opportunity, it does take a toll on Daniel's body. So when we get some 'down time', he loves to take advantage of it and recuperate.

We are so thankful and praise God for the fruitfulness this season has brought so far. We are only barely a month in, but have seen the Lord's blessings overflow more then we could have imagined or hoped for. We praise God for the production Daniel's been able to put up so far this season, but know things can always change in an instant and are still taking it day by day. Beyond the stats though, and more importantly, we want to be able to be a bigger impact off the field. My prayer is that our lives and attitudes always reflect that of Christ. That is the biggest desire of my heart. This life is only temporary. The statistics prove that-one out of every one person will die. I want to leave this earth having made an impact for my Lord. In the end, it doesn't matter the stats Daniel leaves or the places we've been or the level my husband played at...it matters what we did for the Lord wherever He had us.

Greeted into Nor Cal with Flashing Lights

Woke up at 6:20 am yesterday morning to the sound of our alarm. My mind wrestled with the idea of continuing to lay in our cozy bed and stay warm or get up to get things going. With little time to spare, the latter won. I got up and got our things together to hit the road for our first road trip of the season.  Daniel had to be at the field at 7:15 to meet up with the team and catch the 6 hour bus ride to Modesto,CA.

I decided that I would leave ahead on my own this time instead of following the bus like I have in the past. I left about 30 minutes before the bus left and was on my way. I know 6 hours seems like a long time to be in a car alone (Daniel isn't allowed to ride with me and has to ride with the team), but I was actually excited to just have some alone time to listen to music, catch up on some podcasts and have some good prayer time.

The beginning of the drive went smoothly. Besides hitting some traffic a few hours in, I was really enjoying the California scenery. I stopped mid way through to fill up gas again and was back on my way. All was good. I had driven successfully for 5 and a half hours and only had 15 minutes left before reaching the hotel when I saw the dreaded flashing red lights behind me as I looked in my rear view mirror.

My stomach filled with dread as I slowly pulled over to the side. I have never gotten pulled over or have had any type of ticket in my life so I was a bit shaken up. I heard a pastor tell a story before on how he had got pulled over once and when the cop approached his car he told them he had no excuse for speeding. The cop was impressed with his honesty. since he probably hears countless excuses all day and ended up letting the pastor go. That story fled my mind moments before the cop came to my window, so I thought I'd try to go for it. He came up to my window and I quickly told him that I was sorry and that I had no excuse for speeding.....he had no mercy, so at that point I told him I had been driving for the past 5 hours and was only 15 minutes away from where I was heading, so I must have just lost track of the speed. Again, no mercy! After that, I just began crying because I was freaked out by the whole situation and even then...the cop still had no sympathy.

Although I was super bummed about it and shaken up, Daniel was so sweet to encourage me and make me feel better. I realized a speeding ticket is not nearly as bad as getting into an accident or having car trouble along the way. I was thankful to just make it out here safely. With that said, last night was the first game of the 4 day series against the Modesto Nuts, an affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.

Daniel went 2 for 4 last night (Praise God! He also went 3 for 3 the night before so he is 5 for his 7 last at bats)! And I was finally able to enjoy a baseball game without wearing layers of jackets! It's been freezing at night at the home games in Adelanto so it felt so good to enjoy the gorgeous weather and be able to wear sandals and a tank. I was a happy girl!

A blog I had written for the Baseball Wife Blog site (that I love!) was posted today. If you want to check it out, along with other amazing stories by the girls behind the plate go to:
 http://www.baseballwifeblog.com/

Proud Wife :)

Things have been off to a great start so far this season, Praise God!

We are all settled in our apartment and have just wrapped up the first homestand of the year. Tonight Daniel is playing in Lake Elsinore (which is about 30 minutes from our hometown) so we're expecting a bunch of our family and friends there which will be fun! Daniel is feeling healthy and is off to an awesome start. He's hitting .333 so far in 54 at bats, with 2 HRs, 5 Doubles and 6 stolen bases! As you can tell, I'm a proud wife. Beyond the stats though, I am just so proud of the man Daniel is. He has carried himself so well through the ups and downs this career has brought. I admire the faith he has had in our Lord through it all as well. It just brings me so much joy as his wife to be able to be on this journey with him as he chases his dream. It's not always easy, but we look at it as "our adventure" and I am so proud of Daniel!

I started my job at the ticket office this past homestand and I've really been enjoying it. The people there are great and I love the opportunity I get to know the people "behind the scenes" of the game. I am so grateful that I was able to get a job with the stadium this year and it's been working out really great.

Well I better wrap this up, got some things to do before I head off the Lake Elsinore. Thank you to all our prayer warriors out there. We appreciate and covet your prayers more then words can say.

Our Home For The Season

So we're all moved in! Here's some pics of our place this season.

BEFORE

AFTER :)



And we're back!

And we're back!.... in California, that is!

We made the drive back and followed the bus out here on Monday. The team puts us up in a hotel for 3 days and during that time we are suppose to figure out our living situation. 3 days seems pretty crazy, I know. Especially since you don't really "officially" know where you'll end up each season until the end of spring training. We had a pretty good idea that we would end up out here in California since Daniel finished here so we began looking into different options ahead of time, but had nothing set in stone.

In the past 3 years that we've been married, we've had several different living situations. We lived in our own apartment, we've lived in hotels, with host families, with friends. Baseball throws you in interesting situations, but it's a total adventure to us. This time around, I was kinda stressing about where we would end up living this season. The Lord has proven to me over and over again that He ALWAYS provides, so I don't know why I ever doubt or worry about it. Well after looking into different options with host families, we decided to get an apartment with a couple of the other players on the team. The living situation in Adelanto for the Mavericks is always tough because there is nothing really close to the stadium. With gas prices the way they are in California, it would have been crazy for us to be driving back and forth from the field so much (we only have 1 car so I'd be dropping Daniel off everyday). With that as a factor, we figured it'd be best to team up with some of the players so Daniel could carpool. We got the keys today to the apartment and will get to move all our furniture in tomorrow.

The nice thing about being close to home is that we are able to bring all of our OWN stuff to the apartment. I will finally get to sleep on our own mattress this season, which I'm excited about because in that past we've done air mattresses since we've never been close to home. Also, I will finally be able to use some of our wedding gifts!!! I know that sounds crazy, but with the way we've been living on "the go" the last 3 years, we really haven't settled down long enough to unpack and use our wedding gifts. So I'm looking forward to that.

Tonight was the first game of the season and since it was an away game (about a 45 minute commute from Adelanto) and it was going to be 30 degrees out, we decided it would be best for me to come home to my parents tonight to pack up our things. We rented a trailer and will be bringing everything out tomorrow morning. So tonight, I listened to the game from the luxury of my parent's couch in the warm house. Daniel went 2 for 4 tonight, which was super exciting! Praise God! We're looking forward to what the Lord has in store for us this season and praying for a healthy year. Let the baseball begin......