The Baseball Sisterhood

So on the 16th I turned 23, woohoo! Conveniently, that same weekend 8-ish other wives, fiancees, and girlfriends came to town for a visit- there is nothing like spending time with other baseball girls! Catherine and I are the only "full timers" here, but we do have a couple others who have made more extended visits, which is really nice. But having soo many girls come to town for the same weekend?! What a treat!

The girls started arriving on Wednesday, so between ball games and beach trips everybody had a great start to the weekend, but Friday night everyone arrived so we planned for the big fun to happen then! A local restaurant (Uno's) hosted a special ladies night for us before the game- great food and drink specials, and even fun DIY wine glass painting, such a treat! Uno's also donated a portion of our total to St Baldricks, since the team was doing a charity event with them that weekend. From there,  we headed to the game where the GM had set aside a suite for us that night. We had such a great time laughing and joking and cheering on our guys together over the weekend.

I feel like a lot of people probably think that every day in the life of a baseball wife looks like our big weekend did, but it really doesn't. We share the fun moments on social media and life looks like one big fiesta. The reality is, most of us spend most of our days alone, no makeup, in shorts and a tshirt. And the girls who are long distance and have careers have a totally different lifestyle too, being apart for weeks at a time and having to hold down the fort at home all alone. Plus, there is the constant fact that an injury, trade, move up or move down could happen at any time, so it can be hard to let yourself feel settled. That's why community is so important, to have those people you can open up to and be honest and vulnerable with when things aren't so fun, and celebrate with when things are great! This really applies to everyone, not just baseball girls- make friends. Value community. Don't let yourself be isolated.

It is amazing how there is an instant bond between us when baseball girls meet, simply because we *get* it. Even with girls I've only ever "met" online via twitter or the Facebook page have become such great sources of support and friendship, it is truly amazing and such a blessing. This lifestyle is weird and can get lonely, but being in community with other people who understand is so valuable. My advice to any girls new to the baseball life- just put yourself out there and connect with other wives and girlfriends! (seriously email me let's be friends) It makes SUCH a huge difference.

xo, Han

*PS- go to the "Baseball" tab at the top of the page, I have linked some resources for baseball ladies.

Here, There, and Everywhere

So if you didn't know by now, we are in Florida! Cy got promoted to the Brewers High-A team, the Brevard County Manatees. It has been a whirlwind!

Last Monday morning (a little over a week ago) I got a twitter notification from another Brewers girlfriend saying congratulations to Cy on the move up. And subsequently saw several tweets confirming said move up.

".....Uhhh babe... Looks like we need to start packing....?!"

The night before, Cy had been told it was possible that he would get the promotion, but there is nothing certain in baseball until it *actually* happens, so we didn't really think too much of it. So needless to say, we were pretty surprised- especially seeing as how we found out the news on twitter before the team actually even talked to Cy!

We scrambled to start packing up all of our stuff, and then headed to the ballpark for Cy to get his locker cleared out and get instructions on meeting the team in Florida. While Cy did that, I said goodbye to the wonderful friends I had made with the front office staff who was there at the time. (Still so sad I wasn't able to say goodbye to everyone, boo baseball)

When Cy finished up at the field, we headed home and finished packing, said a very bittersweet goodbye to our incredible host family (such a hard goodbye), and hit the road around 6pm. We stopped for the night in Terre Haute, IN and then drove all the way to Valdosta, GA on Tuesday, and met up with the team on the road in Dunedin, FL on Wednesday afternoon. Talk about crazy.

We arrived at our new home in Viera on Friday night, and got checked into the Holiday Inn, where the team would pay for us to stay 3 nights while we searched for housing. Boy oh boy, that was an adventure. Finding affordable short term housing in Florida is no easy feat. But since we were looking during the weekend of the 4th, we were at a bit of a standstill. Cy had his debut on the 4th, and we both had a great time experiencing our new home team!

Meanwhile, I sent an email to the pastor of a local church that is part of the same church planting network as our church in Texas and see if he might know of anyone in their congregation who might have interest in being a host family. 2 days later, he and his wife had invited us to stay with their family for the rest of the season! They are so nice, and we are so thrilled to have had our prayers for housing answered in such a wonderful way. Host family living is the best. We will be moving in next week!

Right now the team is on the road, so Catherine (the other full-time wife here) and I are having a week-long sleepover filled with chick flicks, beach time, and tasty food :) It's crazy to think about how much has happened in the past week, but that is the fun of baseball life! Every day is an adventure.

Thanks for following along with our crazy life!

xo, Han