Offseason.. Where did you go?!

Holy cow, it is already January and we have left our offseason home in Alaska and are getting ready for spring training! I say this every year, but it seems like the offseason goes by faster and faster.

Okay so lets rewind. Towards the end of last season Cy was promoted to the Astros AAA team, the Fresno Grizzles. They spent most of the last month of the season on the road, so I just lived out of my suitcase and met up with Cy on road trips, and then spent the time in between split between my grandparents and in laws. It was a super fun whirlwind, but I was definitely excited to be DONE for awhile after so much travel haha!

Our offseason in Alaska was wonderful and all too short, as usual. We love our time and community there. A few highlights:
- My best friend gave birth to her perfect baby girl!
- We completed our first round of Whole30 and oh my gosh it was a game changer!
- Cy spent lots and LOTS of time in the mountains hunting. The boy loves him some nature.
- I spent lots of quality time with my quilting ladies and finished several quilts! We had a wonderful time at our quilters retreat at the Second Star in Homer.

- My mom and I had so many fun lunch dates

- I accomplished some projects for my business!
- Our family came to visit!!! Cy's mom, stepdad, brother, and my sister in law all came up and spent Thanksgiving with us. It was so fun and special to have them!

- We celebrated our 3 year anniversary!
- I teamed up with my sweet friends Becky and Carol to have a booth at our local craft fairs leading up to Christmas! We had so much fun together. We have some great ideas for next year, get excited ;)
- Cy took a trip to Idaho to hunt with his dad, brother, and grandpa
- We made a trip to Texas for some of our best friends weddings! We don't get to spend nearly as much time with all of them as we would like, so we treasure the time together.

- My mom, sister Hope, and I binged watched the first season of Stranger Things together (I love to binge watch. Mom does not. LOL)

All in all, it was so full of great things and we wish it wasn't over just yet! But baseball never stops ;)

Currently we are in Idaho for a few weeks visiting my in laws and for Cy to work out and throw in preparation for spring training. After this, we will head to Dallas for a bit and then it is off to Florida for spring training!

One of my intentions for this year is to get back to more regular posts here. I love looking back on my old posts, it is like a scrapbook of sorts for me. I need to get better about documenting these memories.

Thanks for reading!
xo, Han

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

The State of Our Season

Beautiful sunset in Springdale, AR this week

It is CRAZY that the season is just a few short weeks from ending! It feels like it has flown by so much faster than last year. We have a guaranteed spot in the playoffs because we won the first half, so we shall see how far into post-season play we will go.

I figure this would be a good time to share a little about how our season has been in general!

Hannah-
This season has been GREAT for me. I don't think I have shared much about it here, but last fall I started working as a personal/administrative assistant for two ladies who are high ranking Beachbody coaches. This has been a huge blessing for several reasons! First, it is beyond amazing to have a job where I can work remotely and be able to make money while traveling with Cy full time. Second, it is so nice to have my own tasks and responsibilities to focus on outside of baseball. I have my work, Cy has his work, we get to focus on our own things instead of all baseball on both of our brains constantly. Third, the nature of my work is SO social and community focused, which is so great for my social butterfly self! (If you're a baseball girl interested in a position like mine, shoot me an email!) Plus, I get to use a lot of practical skills and knowledge from my degree, which is great ;)

We are living with an INCREDIBLE host family (I seriously am amazed by how many truly wonderful people we have been able to live with in our past 2 seasons!!) and really they make baseball life doable. My host parents and I kind of accidentally started working out a couple months ago and now have a nightly group workout routine! It is really fun to do together, and I feel so great getting consistent exercise in- something I honestly have never really enjoyed haha.

I have been traveling a LOT. I've gone on a good majority of Cy's road trips, plus a trip home to Alaska for my best friends wedding at the beginning of August! It has been super fun but starting to wear me out, I am ready for the offseason to just be in one place for awhile!


Cy-
"This season has been good! There have definitely been some frustrating moments pitching wise because I feel like I haven't been quite as consistent as I was last season or as I am capable of. But all in all I am happy with my season. We have won a lot of games, which is always fun. I really enjoy the staff and the organization as a whole.

Our host family is awesome, makes life a lot easier. We have eaten a lot of great food and seen some fun new places this season- no complaints! It is really great to have Hannah with me full time, not everyone is able to make that work during season and I am thankful we can because it makes all the difference in the world.

This offseason is going to be good. I am excited to graduate in December and be DONE with school. Looking forward to doing manly stuff like hunting and chopping trees/firewood. Plus, getting to spend time with family and reset my mind and body to get ready for next season."


Us-
We are rapidly approaching our 2 year anniversary, which is crazy. Sometimes it feels like it was just last week that we got engaged, but at the same time it feels like we have been together forever. It's cliche but really, life is great when your spouse is your best friend! We are making lots of memories and enjoying the slightly crazy life that baseball gives us. Always an adventure ;)


So for our offseason, barring any crazy changes that baseball might bring, we are headed to ALASKA!! Yes, for real! All of the pieces just fell into place for us to spend most of our offseason up there near my family. We are really excited! I haven't been home for longer than like 3 weeks at a time since I left for college, so it will be great to spend extended quality time with our loved ones there.

Here's to the last few weeks of this season!!

xo, Hannah

Hello Again!

Wow I really let time slip right on by and neglected this little online space! Since *several* family members have asked me when my next blog post is coming, I figure I need to actually get it done ha! Here's what we have been up to...

Spring training was great! Cy got to back up the bullpen for the big league team a couple times and was able to go on the Astros trip to Mexico City for an exhibition game against the Padres- such a cool experience for him. It was great to get acquainted with our new organization, Cy has some awesome teammates and is really enjoying being with the Astros all in all.

I have been a busy little bee working and loving my job! During the offseason I started working as a personal assistant. I work for two wonderful women who have become great friends to me, it is so much fun! And I do all of my work remotely, which is a huge blessing.

Cy was assigned to AA in Corpus Christi! It is super exciting to be moved up a level from where we ended last season- I am so proud of Cy for working hard and aiming high. It is equally exciting to be playing in Texas where we are able to see our family often! A few weeks ago we had a series in Tulsa and got to spend time with my brother and sister in law Zeb and Jamie, which is always so wonderful! And on the way there I was able to stop and visit with two of my best friends in Dallas (Jen and Melissa) and then visit with my grandparents on the way home as well. Last weekend we had a series in Frisco, TX and over THIRTY of our family and friends came to see Cy pitch, it was amazing and means so much to have that support system!

He has been throwing very well so far, which is also fun ;) There are several married guys on the team, and there are 4 wives who will be in Corpus full time this season in addition to the many others who will be in and out visiting! We are living with a wonderful host family- so thankful for the Lords provision in that! All in all, life is great in south Texas thus far ;) Here is a link to a fun article on Cy from this week {click here}

This month will mark a year and a half of marriage for us, crazy how time flies! I love being married to Cy. It's not always rainbows and butterflies, for sure, but it is really something special to get to go through this life together. Life is fun when you're married to your best friend!

I'll wrap this up with some pictures!

Cy in Corpus- Photo by Tammy Tucker

Cy pitching at Whataburger (for you non-texans, thats pronounced water-burger) Field - Corpus Christi

Dallas trip- Melissa's birthday GNO!! Such a fun night!!

At the game with Jamie and Zeb- Love love love!!!

ONEOK Field in Tulsa

With my family in Frisco @ Dr Pepper Park

My uncles, cousins, & Haley in Frisco

Frisco

My favorite person to watch baseball with- my sister!!

 Thanks for sticking with me! I will try to do better about posting regularly, now that the season is in full swing ;)

- Han

Traded!

In baseball, we all live with the knowledge that everything can change at any moment. Injuries, moves, trades, getting released.. It's all possible, and all beyond our control. But just because we know that it is possible certainly doesn't mean we are prepared when it does!

For the last couple weeks, I had been feeling really content that our offseason has been so low-key and quiet. Cy didn't have to go to instructs or any mini camps, so (aside from his workouts and such) baseball was kinda off the brain.

Thursday afternoon, we were sitting on our couch doing homework. Cy got a phone call from a Milwaukee number, which isn't unusual- he has to report on how his workouts are going and stuff. But this call sounded different. About 15 seconds in, I figured he was getting informed that he was selected to be drug tested haha! But then he pulled the phone away and said,

"I just got traded... Astros!"

WHAT?! Traded?! We were both completely shocked! We didn't know any details of who else the trade involved, and it hadn't been made public yet, so we were really curious to find out more.

But... My heart fell to the floor when it hit me that this trade wouldn't just take us to a new team, it also take me away from the girls I had built friendships with this year. The first person I texted was Catherine, my baseball wife BFF. We were the only wives who stayed full time at High A this season and spent nearly every day together. We were already looking forward to next season, so the news that we wouldn't be together anymore hit hard. But that's the nature of this game, it forces you to grow roots quickly even though you know they could get ripped up even faster. I wouldn't change it though, it is so worth it to be open and build these cherished friendships, and I look forward to meeting the wonderful women in the Astros org!

We texted our families to tell them the news, googled where the Astros MiLB teams and spring training are, and shortly thereafter word of the trade came out. The Astros traded one of their big league infielders to the Brewers in exchange for Cy, which is pretty cool! He got some calls from a few of the Astros staff throughout that day and the next, and it is so cool and encouraging to hear how excited they are to have him joining their organization.

So, here's a breakdown of what this trade means for us. (You can refer back to this post for an overview of the minor league system) Cy is now employed by the Houston Astros, and is working his way up through their minor league system. He isn't on the big league team, so don't go buying season tickets just yet ;) Here are the MiLB teams that comprise the Astros system:

We don't know what level he will play at next season, and likely won't until Spring Training (he ended this season in Advanced A, for reference). The Astros spring training is in Kissimmee, Florida- quite a change from where we were last year in Phoenix (which I will also miss, particularly my sweet friend Aubrey)! BUT we are SO excited we will close to our dear friends/host family from this past season in Viera :)

We truly loved the Brewers, they gave Cy his start in professional baseball and brought us some incredible friendships. But, their minor league is filled with lots of good arms, and their prospect list is deep, so being in a new organization could mean more exposure for Cy, and greater opportunities to move up faster. The Astros have an incredible pitching program (hello, Dallas Keuchel just won the Cy Young award!!), so this is a great fit!

Change can be hard, but this is a wonderful opportunity and we are excited. I am so thankful that Cy gets to play the game he loves, and that it keeps us on our toes. Here's to a new chapter in our baseball adventure- Let's go Astros!