2013: A Year in Review

2013 was one of the best years so far. Starting the year off in the Outer Banks with some great high school friends last New Years Eve was great.

  

The first few months of the year were full of plane tickets, new adventures, and lots of recruiting for AST.  I checked off Indiana, Minnesota, Kentucky, Louisiana, Arizona, and New York on my map of America! I even ventured North into Canada and crossed Niagara Falls of the bucket list and South to St. Lucia!

I recruited over 100 women to join different chapters of Alpha Sigma Tau.  My experience as an Educational Consultant came to a close in May after I installed our Epsilon Rho chapter at SUNY Geneseo.  Having the opportunity to educate women on Alpha Sigma Tau really put it into perspective that this sorority is more than just me.  It's more than just James Madison University.  We really are all over the world and are bound by ties that naught can sever.  Being a part of something that will make an impact on these young ladies lives forever was very powerful and something I will forever be grateful for.  

Tiffany Street, Kristin Walker, Chris Covington, our National VP's and President were all in attendance at USI's Installation

Ashley, Jenn, and I at SUNY Geneseo doing some recruiting!

I even tried my first "snowball" in Louisiana with these lovely ladies of Phi!

After some fun in May at JMU seeing one of our dear friend Bradley graduate, I headed home to embark on the next chapter of my life.  

I drove to North Carolina to pick up the newest addition to our little family, Stryker.  He was about 3 months old when we got him and as cute as can be.  We really did luck out with how awesome of a puppy he has been.  At 10 months old, he currently weigh around 70 pounds and is still growing! I am so fortunate to have found my second job since graduating as the Alumni Relations Coordinator at Norfolk Collegiate School.  How funny that they hire an alumnus for this job right?! It really has been a perfect fit for me.  I have great hours, work with great people, and get to work in the same place that has made me the person I am today.  

During all this time, I was working hard to plan the most beautiful day of my life. On September 28, 2013, D.J. and I were officially Mr. and Mrs. Brown! Since D.J. was gone for pretty much all of the planning, I was so glad I had my mom around to help me do all the cake tastings, pick out invitations, and figure out the seating plan! All in all, the wedding turned out just the way I had hoped it would! I never thought that I would marry a professional baseball player and could never think of what this life would be like.  Every day is something different  and the phrase "plan for the future" just isn't in our vocabulary (that's a hard one for me since I am a huge planner!) We may not be together for 6 months out of the year, but its what works for us. Having other girls in the same boat as me really makes it easier though (thanks Maria and Mikaela!) Hopefully the boys will all start together in Carolina this season and I will be able to make lots of trips down on the weekends!

Anyways..

No more than 48 hours after we tied the knot, D.J. and I closed on our first house together! It has been a work in progress, but it is our home and that's the most important part.

Be on the lookout in 2014 for a before and after blog post on the house!

2013 was nothing short of amazing. D.J. finished his first full year of professional baseball, we added Stryker to our family, got married, bought a house, celebrated marriages and engagements of our friends, welcomed new babies into our families, and have been able to enjoy the adventures together. Being a baseball wife is hard work, but seeing him on the mound living his dream makes it all worth it.  

Here's to another great year in 2014 as a baseball wife!