Mother's Day Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend was great.  Although it didn't entail baseball, this weekend was relaxing, fun-filled, and full of sunshine!

After work Friday, my mom, dad, and sister went to the Varsity Girls Soccer game as they played in the conference tournament title game.  As an alumnus that played girls soccer, it was pretty cool to see them play for the title. Something we never had a chance to do! They ended up loosing the game but it was great to see them play.  We went to Chipotle for dinner and topped the night off with some Skinny Dip (frozen yogurt for the non-locals). 

Saturday morning I was up bright and early for the Girls On the Run 5K in Downtown Norfolk! This was the first time I didn't have a runny buddy because I was running to win.  My dad and I have been going on and on about who would win a 5K and this was the time to prove it! I will be the first to say that I was shocked on how well he did! I ran my best race I have run yet and he was right by my side majority of the race.  When we got to the final turn of the course I didn't think I had the final sprint in me so I told him to push as hard as he could.  But when he said "this is for bragging right!" I kicked it into over drive and pushed as hard as I could the last .2 miles.  I ended up finishing with a time of 29:19 and dad finished at 29:33!!! Not a blow out at all!! I was very surprised at how well I did, but more so I was impressed by how awesome my dad did! YOU ROCK DAD :)

The rest of the day was super busy.  I went straight to babysit for the Waidelich's and was there to help out with the kids as they hosted a yard sale.  They are heading across the world to Sugi, Japan!! I hope during their tour there I will have a chance to visit them.  Anyways, the big kids had a birthday party to attend and baby D was down for a nap so I was helping with clean up.  When I realized that no one had bought their Pottery Barn crib, my mind started to turn.  NOTE: THIS IS NOT AN ANNOUNCEMENT.  I did however, buy the crib.  Yep,  I scored such a good deal that I bought a crib.  How can you pass up such a good deal!?! I'm pretty sure everyone I told has looked at me like "ummmm are you trying to tell me something?!" but nope, just couldn't say no to a good deal.  Even if I end up not liking it when the time comes to need it, I have something to use! And if Mrs. Waidelich used it, I'm sure it's probably perfect.  Needless to say the yard sale was a success for me.  And to top it off, instead of paying me, they are going to give me their extra queen bed for the guest room!

After I left, I went home and took a quick shower before I went to the next babysitting job! It was super fun to watch Erin's boys.  And that is what they are- TRUE BOYS THRU AND THRU!! Dressed like spider man, running around the house, and being risky it reminded me of my brother when he was that age! Always taking chances.

Saturday night I took it easy and watched The Delivery Man at my parents.  I came home and took some allergy pills.  I guess I was only supposed to take one, but I took two.  I didn't figure out I was wrong till I woke up the next day at 11 am!!! I never sleep that late! It was great though, I needed that catch up.

Sunday we celebrated the most awesome mom in the world! We had lunch at my aunts house with everyone and then caught some rays by the pool and gave Stryker a bath! Stinken dog got all dirty about an hour later though so it doesn't even matter.

Anyways, the weekend was eventful and great! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! 

Tomorrow I will show y'all the final product of my "Home is Where Baseball Sends Us"!

5 on Friday: Rock or not??!

As always, linking up with the baby mama's today for the Friday link up!  

Lately I have seen a few things that people are rocking that I am not sure I could pull off even if I tried.  Remember when the peplum tops just hit the racks and EVERYONE was buying them? Yea, well this girl looked all over for the perfect peplum and nothing seems to fit the girls right. Makes things difficult when ya got big tata's and a small torso!  Anyways, I never really got into the peplums but I did eventually find a few classic dressed from JCrew that you can find me wearing for Christmas Eve Mass!! 

I want to know what y'all think on these 5 "hot" items right now.  Should I try them? Or just don't even bother?! Any advice would be appreciated! 

*let it be known that this is the first of any kind of fashion post I have done, so lets not jump down my throat!*

one. palazzo pants 

Although super cute, I just have a feeling these would literally make me look like a balloon.  Super comfy looking, cute, and perfect for summer though! Anyone have success with these?! 

 

two. crop tops that look like bras

I am just gonna go out and say it now- some ladies should probably choose not to wear these crop tops.  They aren't cute on everyone, y'all. Personally, I love me a crop top that is reasonably cropped, but when it looks like a bra or a cheerleading uniform, its a little too much for me. 

This is an example of what I am looking for..

...and this is not.

three. high wasited shorts

I think these are just something that you have to be built for.  My short soccer player legs are not made to be put in high waisted shorts.  If anyone would like to prove me wrong, I am willing to take all bets!

four. black/nude wedges

Ok- so tell me honest opinions.  What do y'all think about these wedges with a full cover on the top?! I have been trying to find a good wedge and would love some suggestions! :)

 

five. baseball uniforms

And since today's starting pitcher is the one and only, D.J. Brown, I just wanted y'all to see how great guys look in a baseball uniform!!

Good luck tonight D.J.!

 

Happy Friday Y'all! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

 

#baseballwifelife: The Ladies

I think that one of the best parts about D.J. being a professional baseball player is meeting all the girlfriends/fiances/wives that have guys in the minors! When we first got drafted with the Indians, I had no idea how many new friends I would be making; I just assumed D.J. would be making all the new friends! When D.J. got to Lake County last year and I met Maria (who is expecting their first little boy soon!) and Mikaela, it was so great to have some girlfriends to hang out with while the boys went to the field.  I can only imagine how awesome it was for them to have each other the whole season while the boys were on road trips! Unfortunately, Maria and Eric are still in East Lake and Mikaela is living in Alaska working, so I don't see them a whole lot.  Besides the two of them, there were a few other girlfriends that showed up from time to time when I would visit D.J. last season, but none that stuck around!

During the off season, I met a few more ladies that I have gotten to know pretty well over the last few months.  Crazy how technology can bring so many people into your life.  I met these ladies on Facebook, Twitter, and the Blog! Now my family and D.J. think its weird/crazy that I just start talking to these random people, but that's just how I am! I wanted to introduce you to a few of the ladies that I have met that share a similar lifestyle as we do!

martha kate @ seasons with the strattons and her husband are with the San Francisco Giants and currently in High A (same as us) ball in California.  Martha Kate and I have been following each other's blogs for a while now. I really appreciate the insight she brings to the wife role as someone that gets to travel to almost all of her husbands games. She is also a wife to a pitcher so when I read about her experiences, I can relate pretty well to almost everything! I wish our boy's played closer to each other so we would be able to actually meet! The good thing with baseball is that ya never know! If both of our boys move up, they will play against each other! The Giant's AA team is Richmond Flying Squirrels and our AA team plays against them!

chelsea @ the minor league picture and her husband actually knew D.J. before Chelsea and I had a chance to figure it out! One day, I was talking to D.J. about "this girl" that I follow on twitter and surprisingly enough, D.J. knew her name when I said it! Long story short, he played summer ball in college with Daniel, her husband.  So when we both realized that we would be in Arizona at the time, we decided it was crucial that we meet up! It was so great to meet Daniel and Chelsea and although their story has taken some turns this season, I am so happy to have met this sweet couple and continue to talk baseball every now and then with her! Chelsea is also the whole reason I started to sell Advocare.  Here is the post about my story with Advocare if you are interested in knowing more!

This season has been great because I have been able to meet a lot more ladies in the stands during games then I have in the past.  Obviously I am there a lot more than I was last year so it makes sense.  Kaela, Rachel, Alexa, Ashley, and I know there will be more in the next few months! I am so excited to have met all these awesome ladies and cannot wait to see them all again soon!

A few other blogs that I read are Emily @ Freckles and Fastballs, Susan @ The Johnson Jumble, Nicole @The Life of a Baseball Wife (whose hubby happens to be the Indians!), and Kendall @ Know Better Love. I love the way Kendall documents their days on her blog! It really puts it into perspective what every day life looks like for the wives!

Ladies- who knows when our paths may cross, but if you are ever at a Carolina Mudcats game or I am in your town, please let me know! I love the bond that ties us together and so happy we have each other to talk to!

Happy Thursday y'all!! Only one more day till the weekend!

DIY: Home is Where Baseball Sends Us

Have y'all seen these before?

If not, then you are missing out.  These beauties have been made typically for families in the Armed Services. But this baseball wife is bringing them to the baseball world!

So my awesome father-in-law made this wood sign for me and I am going to make it into the first (that I have seen) "Home is Where Baseball Sends Us" sign!

My awesome father-in-law, Dennis (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!) is so talented. I showed him a picture, gave him some measurements and next week I had this all ready to be painted!

After going back and forth on a few things, I decided to go with the layout below. I like to see the miles of all the locations that D.J. goes and how far they are from Norfolk.  I also am going to leave some space next to the years in case he goes back to a certain place again.  For example, Spring Training will have 2013, 2014 and will leave space for the years to come! 

This is a weekend project, so hopefully next week I will have an update on the finished product!

-Baseball ladies- if you are interested in something like this, I am more than happy to make one for you! Just shoot me an email at merrymce [at] gmail [dot] com and we can talk details! Can't wait to show ya'll the finished product!

Weekend Wrap Up

Monday already?! I feel like this weekend didn't even happen.  Friday after work, I stopped home for a few minutes and then drove out to babysit sweet Olivia! Her mama was heading out for some "Haley" time and I got to see that little girl for a little bit before she went to sleep.  I got home around 10 and went to bed pretty early since Saturday was a busy day.

Our school has an annual Auction every year and this year the theme was "Hit the Jackpot: Casino and Auction Night".  We have spent countless hours preparing for the auction and it is our biggest fundraiser of the year.  We were all in early on Saturday doing last minute prep work! I was there for about 3 hours before I came home and did some yard work. My dad and his worker came over to help mow, edge, and bag up all the pine needles on the side of the house.  Edging makes a huge difference in the way the yard looks! I have been constantly weeding the flower beds in hope that they will have flowers planted soon!

A few weeks ago our neighbor was getting rid of their old  bench they had in their back yard so I grabbed it and have been holding on to it deciding what to do.  When I was planting some flowers in the planters I bought, I figured setting the plants on top of the bench would be a perfect idea! I still want to paint the flower pots as well as the bench, but for now I think this is a perfect way to display the plants!

After the gardening, I headed back to the school for the Auction! It was a great success and I think the guests had a great time.

Sunday morning I was up early to head down to Raleigh for the day.  We drove Nana's car down with Nana, my aunt and uncle, and myself.  It was nice to be the passenger for once :).  D.J. was the starting pitcher and his parents came down for the game as well.  He had a great game, but since we couldn't get any offense going, he took the loss.  His next scheduled start is Friday against the Salem Red Sox. It is so great that we can make a day trip down to see him!

Tune in tomorrow for my next DIY project in the works!

5 on Friday: Baseball Terms Everyone Should Know

Before I started dating D.J., I was pretty baseball illiterate.  I wouldn't say I am an expert now, but the amount of information I have gained in the past few season is crazy.  There is so much I still don't know about the way the minor leagues work and probably wont know until we are put into that situation.  Baseball in general is a lot easier to follow when you have an invested interest in the game.  Particularly when your husband is actually the one pitching! So today's 5 on Friday is for all those other baseball newbies like I was. Hope you are able to learn a little more and this allows you to have a knowledgeable conversation with your baseball-loving lover! 

one. the stat line

Being able to read the stat line is going to help you on so much in the long run.  Knowing what his ERA is and how many AB's someone has had will bump your baseball lingo up!

pitchers stat line: 

OPP

W

L

ERA

G

GS

CG

SHO

SV

IP

H

R

ER

HR

BB

SO

GO/AO

AVG

Personally, when I look at D.J.'s stat line, I always look to the ERA, Runs, and Strike Outs.  The ERA is determined by dividing the earned runs allowed by number of innings pitched and then multiplying by 9. (ERA = 9 x earned runs allowed/innings pitched).  When the ERA is high for a single game, you know it's not gonna be a good night to talk after the game. I always like to know how many K's (strikeouts) he had because its a cool stat!

hitters stat line:

OPP

AVG

AB

R

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

BB

SO

SB

CS

OBP

SLG

OPS

I am not as familiar with the hitters stat line.  Typically I never look at this unless I am looking at someone else's stats. You want your AVG and RBI to be high!

two. WHIP
Walks + hits / innings makes up a pitchers WHIP.  Since the WHIP calculates the number of base runners a pitcher lets on, the lower the WHIP, the better.  This is similar to the ERA, but that measures the Runs that a pitcher allows.  WHIP measures the effectiveness the pitcher is against the batters.

three. show and go
According to Mr. Jake Lowery, a show and go is when you show up and play a game after a night game. The players don't take batting practice, no infield work, no nothing! The team gets to the field later and they just "show and go"

four. southpaw
Not sure if this is an obvious term to everyone already, but a southpaw is someone that throws/bats left-handed.  I personally like this term because I am one and I had no clue what it meant!

five. numbers and positions
Every position on the field is also labeled with a number.  We start with the pitcher (1) and catcher (2).  Then as we go around the infield with 3,4, and 5 being first, second, and third base.  6 is the shortstop.  7, 8, and 9 are the left, center, and right field!

glossary:

For more terms to learn, visit MLB Baseball Lingo

Hope you learned something new today!!

#baseballwifelife: First Full Month

Today marks the first full month down of the 2014 season! Although its not exactly the amount of games we were supposed to play because of rain-outs, we are still sitting at a 12-10 record as of now! Thankfully for us, nothing crazy has happened.  But with the way that minor league baseball works, that isn't the case for everyone.  The first few days of the season, two people on the team were put on the DL and then a few weeks later Dylan broke his fibula. To add to the craziness of the first full month, Jake got hit with a ball in the face and now has a broken face. 

Baseball season has a way of bringing everyone together.  We have seen my family, D.J.'s family, friends we met in St. Lucia, friends from college, and more! We are happy that D.J. is having a great start and continuing to do well, but pray those who are hurt get better fast and those in a slump find a way to turn it around!

Promotions, demotions, injuries; you never know what baseball season is going to bring. Yesterday morning, I woke up to a text from one of our friends (in a different organization) saying that they had been released.  I haven't had this experience yet, so I didn't know the appropriate things to say.  People have been cut from D.J.'s team before, but I wasn't personally friends with them.  This is different. This sweet, kind, caring, dedicated husband and wife's world just got thrown upside-down.  He is now unemployed.  This lifestyle is not glamorous and this is a perfect example of my point. Please remember that although D.J. and all of the guys in the MiLB have an awesome job doing what they love, it is STILL his job.  I recently read this article about playing basketball overseas, and I think it is very appropriate for the MiLB life as well. Just like a "normal" job, he can be fired.  However if you are sick, too bad.  If you want a day off, that doesn't happen.  You want to explore the city you are traveling in, don't even think about it. Trying to plan a vacation in the off-season? Yea right. I have said it before, but this life does not lend itself well to being a planner!

Anyways, the first full month has been pretty awesome for us, but not everyone is able to say that.  I am happy to say that as one month passes, another month comes and we only have to keep going.  More games, more pitches, more trips, more potential game-changing experiences.

Hope you all are enjoying baseball season as much as I am!