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