Go, Cubs!

My sweet, little Cubs fan! I swear we had her saying "Go, Cubs" the other night. I tried to video it, but I don't think we got it. I love her hair bows, don't you Teaque?

Minor League All Star Game

The Louisville Bats hosted the Minor League All Star Game this July. Brad of course ordered tickets in Feb. when they went on sale, just to make sure they didn't sell out. This is Jake the Diamond Dog. He is super cool. I wish we could train Bailey to do all the things at our softball games that he does at the Bats games. He's a very intuitive dog too. He comes directly to Brad the couple of times we have met him. He is usually surrounded by people and he will come to Brad so that he can reach him. It's like he knows that Brad can't always get to him.


These are our friends Jeremy and April with us at the game.

1, 2, 3 strikes, You're Out!

BATS BASEBALL

Every year for Christmas my mom gets Brad a package of season tickets to the Louisville Bats. The great thing about the package that she gets is that the tickets can be used for almost any game and we can go whenever we want. We had 20 tickets at the beginning of the season and we are down to 3 I think. We love to grab a couple of people and head to the game.



Monday night we got together with our new neighbors, Josh and Lisa. We had a great time getting to know them and enjoying the baseball game. They are originally from Cincinnati so they are big Reds fans. Brad loves the fact that he has someone new to talk baseball with.

Brad and Josh at the game.

Josh with Brad and I.

Lisa with us.

Josh and Lisa

Lisa is about 7 months pregnant with BIB and so cute. And yes girls, I think we have a new scrapper. She came down during the day Monday and I helped get her started on an album about Josh's military career. She completed 4 12X12 pages in a couple of hours. Hopefully, she's hooked and I can bring/drag her along next time we scrap.

We've also gone to a couple of games with Keith and Lisa this summer and a couple of weekends ago we brought along Lauren, Jeremy and April.

Louisville is also hosting the International League Minor League All-Star Game in a couple of weeks. Brad got tickets for that as soon as they went on sale in Feb. so we are going to the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game which should be kind of cool.

Special Moments

I have a very special Aunt and Uncle that mean the world to me. They have introduced me to many things throughout our travels together, one of those things being baseball! The first game they took me to was during the week of their wedding 15 or so years ago.

Uncle Hil and I have always talked about the moment of "AWWW" when you walk into a ballpark for the first time. There's just something about walking into a huge stadium and hearing the sounds, smelling the grass and the hot dogs, seeing the players that you always see on tv, finding the best seats, and realizing that you are about to watch something that can take your breath away. We love to take someone with us that has never been before just to get to see that moment "AWWW". I remember the first time that we took Brad to Turner Field in Atlanta and getting to see his face. There is also nothing like stepping onto the corner of Addison and Clark in Chicago and seeing the outside of Wrigley Field for the first time and then walking through the gates to see the ivy growing along the back wall. What a rush!

Well, Brad and I followed in Uncle Hil and Aunt Cece's footsteps and got to take our niece to her first Major League Baseball game last week. Of course, we got to see the Cubs, but in Cincinnati at Great American Ballpark. We had her all dressed up in her Cubs outfit that we borrowed from Bethany's girls.

She was so cute! She had a blast clapping, cheering and dancing to the noise.

I think I even caught her moment of "AWWW". At least, that's what I'm calling it. She was saying, "Ohhhh!"

Seeing the game through her eyes was amazing. I wish I knew what she was really thinking.

After getting settled and having our hot dogs, it really hit me what a special moment this was, at least to me. I'm sure most people don't understand, but I knew one person that would appreciate the fact that this whole experience was bringing a tear to my eye. So I called Uncle Hil and told him where we were and what we were doing and thanked him for being so special and taking me to that first game so long ago. Thanked him for helping me realize what a special game baseball is and thanked him for giving me the understanding of such a complex game. I hope he understands what great role models he and Cece are for Brad and I and that I am very thankful that I now have a niece to share with, ALL the things that he has taught me.

May 7, 2008
Cubs vs. Reds
Great American Ballpark
Cincinnati, Ohio

I Getting Bad at This!

I really getting bad about going weeks without posting. It's not that I don't have anything to write about, I just can't find five minutes to sit down.

So, I turned 30. No big deal, but I had a great day and weekend, though. My friend Michelle picked me up early on the 3rd and we went to Louisville to play bingo. You get to play free at some places on your birthday, might want to keep that in mind. I called "Bingo" on a $500 game, my first win ever! Another lady got it at the same time though and we had to split it. $250 isn't bad though. So since we won, we went and got pedicures.

We came home and Brad and Dave had decorated the whole house and my car. They had a balloon full of confetti over the door that they popped when I opened the door.

We ended up with a house full of people and had a great party.

The next Monday, the 5th, I only had to work half a day, so I met up with Teaque and we headed to Louisville to meet Bethany and Traci for another birthday dinner. Of course, we had to meet at Olive Garden. Yum!

For Brad's birthday we headed to Cincinnati to see the Cubs and Reds play. We took our friends Dave and Shell, as well as Makinsi. I was so excited to get to take Makinsi to her first Cubs game, but I'll have to make that another post.

Finally!

I finally finished my first scrapbook pages in my new room. I've been off since last Friday and it's now Wednesday evening. More than likely we will have school tomorrow, so nothing like waiting until the last minute, but those of you that know me that's nothing new. So this is what I worked on this afternoon. This is a combination of pictures from our two trips to Wrigley Field. Brad has wanted me to do an album of all the ballparks we visit. I've had this album for a few years now, and this is the first 2 page layout in the book. Of course it had to be Wrigley. This is the cover page of the book.

I'm going to use the whole song at some point throughout the album. I'm sure I'll have pictures that will go over a 2 page layout and some point and can use a line from the song to fill in. Then the last page will be the last line. These red letter are the very first thing I ever cut out with a Cricut a long time ago.

I added this picture on the inside front cover. I took it at the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame last spring because I loved it's saying. It was a huge mural that has a whole team lined up for the national anthem. It says "Each spring holds the promise of another great team. The story continues..." I'm such a baseball sap. Today is the first day of Spring Training, so baseball fever has returned to our house. 15 days until the 1st Spring Training game and 47 days until Opening Day! Brad got lucky to find someone that enjoys baseball almost as much as he does.



For those of you that don't care about baseball, I didn't waste all these snow days/sick days. I did finish a book. Nicholas Sparks, The Choice, is really good. He's such a sappy, romantic writer. I always cry at the end of his books.And I went and saw 27 Dresses with Teaque last night. I keep dragging her out, trying to get that water to break, but little Corynn just isn't cooperating. Maybe tomorrow...

Reds Caravan

Most of you won't be impressed with this picture, but Brad and I were very excited to get to meet Dusty Baker today. (Kristin, you might understand the excitement even if you are a Cardinals fan). Dusty was the manager for the Chicago Cubs when we got married and he converted me to a Cubs fan. He was also the manager for the Cubs when we first went to Wrigley Field two years ago. Anyway, he is now the manager for the Cincinnati Reds. We spent the afternoon at the Louisville Slugger Museum where they were hosting the Reds Caravan. Brad also got his picture taken with Thom Brennaman who is now an announcer for the Reds, but used to be with the Cubs.

So we got in a little baseball today to help with Brad's withdraws. 20 days until Spring Training starts!

Pictures of the New Pad

I absolutely love this new apartment. It's the nicest place I've lived in a long time. I have the bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and Brad's side of the Baseball/Scrapbook Hall of Fame finished. Here are a few pictures and I'll quit talking about this and get back to normal life.

This is the bedroom of course.

This is our gigantic bathroom. I'm standing in the bedroom looking through the door into the bathroom. The shower is on the right side wall and the sink is on the left. You could totally put a queen size mattress on the floor in there and still be able to walk all the way around it.

I have tons of wall space in the bathroom and did the Hawaiian theme shower curtain and things, so I need to find something to go on all the walls.

This is the kitchen that has a wonderful stove that works like it's supposed to and a dishwasher!

This is the Baseball side of the Baseball/Scrapbook Hall of Fame room. I need a better title for this room, I'm just not sure what yet. The scrapbook side isn't cleaned up yet or organized at all. I can't wait to work on that.

This is the living room. It's kind of awkward because there are doors on three of the four walls. The double doors behind the couch there is the closet for the washer and dryer.

Out the sliding glass doors there is a patio. I can't wait to get a lounge chair and sit out there and read. So basically that it's. I feel so much better living in a nicer, more private area. Brad loves it too and he's 5 minutes from work, so he loves that. Bailey on the other hand is still getting used to things. She isn't adjusting as well as we are, but she'll get used to it. Hopefully, soon.

We're In!

We are finally somewhat settled in the new house. I'm down to one scrapbooking box and 2 boxes of "Why did I keep this stuff?" I am totally worn out. I haven't been to bed before 12 in the last five nights and have been getting up at 6.

We started early Friday morning. My dad, brother and friend Keith all ended up being off on Friday so because I also took the day off we started then. We moved everything in 2 big trips and got to spend Friday night in the new place. Saturday, I went back to the old house and loaded up my car with the last of the little things and finished cleaning. Sunday, Teaque came over and we did some organizing. Teaque even put together a book case. Sunday night, Brad and I put together the Baseball Hall of Fame! (Get his stuff done and then I can do what I want.) Got a couple more things to do and then I'll take pictures to post. Check back tomorrow.