Moving On Up!

About 2 weeks ago Cy got promoted to the Astros AAA team in Fresno, CA! We definitely didn't see it coming and were so surprised and excited. I was actually at home with our host family watching a movie when Cy called. I figured he was calling to see if there was any leftovers from dinner he could eat rather than eating at the field lol! But surprise, he was getting moved up! After Cy got home (around 11pm) and the initial shock wore off, we got our plans together. He had a flight out to meet up with the team in Albuquerque the next morning, so we hurried and got his things packed up to hit the road. His first outing was in Fresno, and his aunt and cousins were able to make the trip!

I stayed back in Corpus for almost a week longer. For one, there is always a chance of getting moved back down lol! Two, I needed to pack up everything else and figure out my own plans. It was great to have a few days to get everything wrapped up and say goodbye to our wonderful host family. I can never express how grateful and truly blessed we have been by the amazing families that have so generously let us into their homes and lives over the past 3 seasons, and it never gets easier to say goodbye when the time comes.

After I got everything packed up, I headed north to Fort Worth to spend a couple nights with my sister at my grandparents house! It was great to get a little bit of time to visit with Haley, I haven't seen her since her wedding in March. From there, she took me to the airport and I flew to Reno to meet up with Cy!!

Most of Cy's family lives near enough to drive to Reno, so it was nice to get to see everyone and for them to be able to see him pitch. He had a GREAT outing and it was fun to have family and friends there to see it!

The team only had 7 home games left at the time Cy was promoted, so I am just meeting up with him on road trips to finish out the season. It is definitely hard to be spending more time apart than together this month, since that is not what we are used to, but thankfully it is just for a short time and offseason is just around the corner.

I was FREEZING. Definitely not in South Texas anymore!!!

I am beyond proud of how hard Cy has worked this season, and so thankful that he is able to continue his baseball career at another level up!

Thanks for reading!
xo, Han

Road Trip Tips & Tricks

As you may or may not know, I spend a LOT of time traveling during baseball season- most of it alone. I can't even tell you the amount of miles I have driven over the past 4 years! This season alone it is probably close to 2,000.. Not even counting air travel or spring training!

Along the way I have learned a few things that make life on the road easier, and I thought I would share!

Tulsa, OK

1. Make a plan. Life in general is better when you have a plan to work from, and travel is no different. I like to plan my packing list a few days head of time then pack the day before, so nothing gets left behind. I also make a plan for where I will make food, restroom, and fuel stops on the road. I have found that if I look up good stopping points in advance I won't have to end up using a sketchy little gas station bathroom just to find out I could have driven another 15 minutes and been at a nice clean starbucks or chickfila instead ;) 

2. Pack smart. I am a huge huge HUGE fan of packing cubes! You can get them on Amazon for pretty cheap. I like to organize by tops, pants, socks & underwear, and such. Having things separated by category helps to avoid my suitcase turning into a clothing explosion in the hotel room. As mentioned above, I like to make a thorough packing list in advance, and then pack everything except for my travel outfit and toiletries the night before. Anytime I try to pack on the day of travel, I forget things! 

3. Sleep. I am not the kind of person who can survive just fine on a lack of sleep. I *need* 8 hours. But we all know sleeping in hotels can be a struggle. Some things that help me immensely are using a sleep mask, playing white noise sounds on an app on my phone, essential oils, and bringing my own pillow. Maybe I am a diva, but I reallllyyy love my own pillow and sleep much better with it! 

4. Hydration is crucial! I can tell a huge difference in how I feel when I am dehydrated. And unfortunately, I basically don't drink any water on driving days because I like to stop as little as possible. For example, I stop just once in the middle of my 8 hour drive between Corpus and Frisco. I try to drink one full water bottle within the hour before I stop. Because of this, I am always pretty dehydrated at the end of the day! To help combat that, I try to drink extra water on the days before and after traveling. Staying hydrated helps me to feel and sleep much better in general. 

5. Bust the boredom. I don't know about you, but I just can't listen to the radio for more than an hour or two until I am bored and need something a little more stimulating. I like to use my drive time for making phone calls, and then I tune into podcasts! My favorites are anything that is true crime, right now I am loving Up and Vanished- the season finale is coming out soon and I am so anxious for it! There are TONS of podcasts on literally any subject you could possibly want to hear about, so check into that before your next trip.

6. Things to keep handy in the car: a bottle of water, advil (my neck and shoulders start hurting a few hours into a drive), protein bar or snacks, phone charger... What would you add??

Just a few things that make a difference for me! What are your road trip tips?

Spring Training 2017

Before the start of each season, players attend Spring Training. Each team has a facility, either in AZ or FL, where their entire organization gathers to train and prep for the season for a little over a month. Our spring training facility with the Astros is in West Palm beach, Florida. There are two separate "camps" at spring training for major league and minor league teams- this year Cy was invited to attend major league camp as a "non-roster invite" which is very exciting!

Cy had to report to the facility on February 14th (Happy Valentine's Day to us L O L) so we packed up where we were staying with sweet friends in Dallas and drove over a couple days before. You might be in baseball if a drive from Texas to southeast Florida is "easy" ;) In minor league camp, you can either stay in the team hotel for free with a roommate or receive a small stipend and find your own place to live. In big league camp you get your own room in the hotel, so that is where we stayed!  Reality- hotel life is nice for a short time, but by the end of our 6 weeks there I was desperate for a kitchen and home cooked meal haha. But all in all it was very nice to have that housing option!

The facility is West Palm is brand new, this was our first season there. Previously the Astros had been in Kissimmee. It was definitely exciting to get to see the facility finish being build *just* in time for the first games to start.

Linzy, Breonna, and I went to waterside yoga- super fun! 

One of my favorite Astros wives, Breonna West, was able to visit for most of the time and their room was just down the hall from ours- a baseball wife dream come true lol! We had SO much fun hanging out while the guys were at the field each day. Another highlight for me was the annual Women's Luncheon hosted by Pro Athlete Outreach and Baseball Chapel- it is always a wonderful time meeting other women and learning from those who have been in the game for years!

Pitching against the Mets!

It was so exciting to be able to see Cy suited up and playing with the big league team when games started! He had a couple chances to get game time and faced some great players. Mostly, it was great to be able to spend time working with the big league coaches and staff, learning some things they would like him to develop and such. I also really enjoyed spending time with the wives and girlfriends there, everyone was so kind and welcoming!

The last week of spring training is always a little wild because generally you don't find out where the team is sending you to start the season until the last minute. This year was even more exciting than usual because my sister Haley got married on March 28th! I flew home to AK on Friday, her wedding was Tuesday (also the day we found out Cy was for sure starting in Corpus), I got back to FL late Wednesday night, and we hit the road for Texas on Friday- talk about a whirlwind week! The wedding was absolutely beautiful, here is a vlog of the big day made by my brother in law and his business partner. They are professional videographers, you can see their work HERE :)

All in all, we had a great spring training! Cy got some great prep and instruction, I got to spend time with several sweet friends, and make a quick trip home to see my sister get married!

More next time on how our season has been so far, thanks for reading :)

xo, Han
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Guess who's back, back again! Catching up...

Okay so it has been approximately 37 years since I posted here. Actually like 10 months, but still... VERY overdue for an update! Here's how our offseason went :)

We wrapped up last season with a trip to the playoffs but didn't win, which meant it was time to hit the road north to Alaska for the offseason! My dad bought a truck in Dallas, so we picked it up and drove all the way home to Kenai for him. The trip though Canada was absolutely amazing- if you're into traveling at all, you 1000% must make this trip at some point. British Columbia, in particular, is beyond breathtaking, and it was just amazing to be completely surrounded by such vast, mind blowing beauty.

A little wildlife! We saw caribou, bison, and a grizzly bear along the way.

We made it!!

Our offseason in Alaska was wonderful, to say the least. It was so nice to spend that much time living near my family and best friend after so many years of living in Texas. We also loved the quality time we got to spend living alone- we are so blessed and thankful for the wonderful host families who have opened their homes to us each season, but it is really nice to be like a normal married couple and live by ourselves in the offseason lol.

I really enjoyed going to quilt group each week! We moved to AK when I was 4, and at the time both sets of grandparents lived on opposite sides of the country. Some ladies at church took my sister and I and loved us as their own grandkids, one of which being Becky Moore. She is a very gifted quilter, and made sure to teach us that skill over the years growing up. This offseason I was able to spend time with Becky and the quilting ladies and whip out a few quilts of my own! It was so wonderful to have that creative outlet as well as spending time with the wonderful ladies I get to call my friends there.

I also joined the world of direct sales with a company called SeneGence, best known for their "magic lipstick" LipSense. If you want to learn more about that, join me over at bit.ly/loveandlipstick - it has been such a fun thing for me :)

Cy spent the offseason working diligently to FINISH HIS DEGREE!! Whoop whoop! He officially graduated from DBU with a Business Management degree and a minored in Marketing. I am SO proud of him. He took an almost double course load in order to finish in December, completely online. Big thanks to DBU and Mrs. Patty Whitely for making it possible for him to finish online. It took a lot of dedication to sit down and get his classwork done each week when there was the option to be out hunting instead. This year, he is really looking forward to having more freedom with his time :)

Under my needle- a quilt for my Granny!

Family Christmas pic taken by my now brother in law Trevor Wagoner :)

Our daily drive

One of the quilts I made, a baby gift!

It was our year to spend Christmas with my in-law's in Idaho, so we got to enjoy some time visiting with them before heading south to Texas to get ready for spring training. My sister Haley got engaged over Christmas and married at the end of spring training which was also a big highlight!!  More on that later :)

My sister in law Jamie and I *love* getting all the Dutch Bros coffee we can when we visit!

We started a new tradition at Cy's moms house- the Christmas Decathlon! SO much fun. 

I am really hoping to get back into the routine of posting here more often, so keep an eye out for the next post with a recap of Spring Training- spoiler alert, Cy was invited to to Big League camp so it was really exciting!

Thanks for reading :)
xo, Han