Two Weeks...

Two weeks until I will be in OHIO!  The whole entire Sterling Family will be getting together in Ohio for a special Christmas Eve at my uncle's house in Findlay.  There will be about 36 cousins, aunts, uncles, babies, and a pair of amazing grandparents coming from Florida, Virginia, Ohio, Missouri, and California.  The only person we will be missing is my brother Stephen.  He lives in Arizona and has to stay there for work. :(  One of the main driving forces behind getting us all together is my Uncle Maurice.  He is my grandma's cousin and will be 90 in February.  For as long as I can remember, he would always dress up as Santa on Christmas Eve as a treat to us young cousins.  He hasn't done it in years, but now that a new generations of little cousins has bloomed, he is going to don the red suit one last time:)

I love this time of year; hot cocoa, sweaters, gloves, wrapping presents, Christmas carols, family and SNOW.  I can get the afore mentioned in Southern California, except for the SNOW.  I am anxious to be surrounded by my friends and family, sharing memories, eating yummy cookies, and see the snow falling down outside.  ...14 days... :)

The Fall in Review

Oh Me Oh My it has been a while.....let's recap:

September: 
Collin got called back up to the big leagues for the rest of the season.  My parents came to DC for a long weekend.  I went to my parents' house in Florida for a few days and went on road trips to Philadelphia and NYC.

October:
After spending a week in Ohio, we went HOME!  We celebrated our one year anniversary on the 17th at South Coast Winery in Temecula.  We had a fun night out for Halloween in Laguna Beach.  Anthony and Lauren were the red bird and green pig from Angry Birds game on iPhone.  Collin was a lumberjack (he had a beard goin at the time so it seemed appropriate), I was a woodland fairy, and Collin's friend Joel was Collin.  No, not a typo, Joel wore Collin's uniform.. haha- last minute creativity!

November:

Collin and Anthony were invited to be "celebrities" at a golf tournament in St. Croix, USVI.  All proceeds benefited the local Queen Louise Home, a place for abused and neglected children.  We felt so lucky to have been invited and Lauren and I sure enjoyed the time we had in the sun while the guys were golfing.  Although it rained... a LOT, we kept ourselves busy with tasting the local Cruzan rum;)

Tomorrow Collin, Anthony, Lauren and I are running the 10K Dana Point Turkey Trot... gotta burn some calories before all the good food at Collin's Aunt's house!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Louisville

Every morning Collin and I find a spot to read a section from our couples' devotional bible and drink a cup of good coffee (or espresso).  We have found a couple of decent places within walking distance of the hotel here in Louisville.  However, at our home in California we have a french press that we use every morning to make the perfect cup of coffee.  I am proud to say that over the past year, I have turned my husband into a coffee snob:)  And ever since I forgot to bring our french press with us this season, Collin has been on a quest to find any cafés or restaurants that offer it.  So, yesterday morning we drove to a cute little 1940's house-turned-café that had french pressed coffee.  And it was worth the drive.

 Since we already had our car out of the parking garage, we decided we might as well go check out the Kentucky State Fair.  We were a little less than impressed.  Last year we went to the New York State Fair and let's just say between the endless rows of booths offering fried.. anything.. a frozen wine sampling tent, a traveling one-man-band and the live show from Canada complete with 3 HUGE bears, our expectations were set a little too high.

*disclaimer: I do not condone the use of bears as entertainment. I'm sure the very last things these bears want to do is ride a Schwinn or shoot some hoops:(

Three positives about the KY State Fair:
1. The huge amount of exhibits found INDOORS... in air conditioning!
2. We got to see little baby chicks hatching:) Cutest.thing.ever.
3. The produce display/competition!

For some reason, I get overwhelmingly happy when I walk into a room full to the brim with fruits and vegetables.  Not just a room of produce but a room dedicated to the care and natural beauty of fruits and vegetables.  I think us humans take for granted what fruits and vegetables are.  Imagine coming across a certain fruit or vegetable in the wild for the first time ever. imagine what the people thought when they first sliced into a big oval green striped fruit lying on the ground and found the bright red sweet juicy flesh of a watermelon.  It's like natural candy!  I think we try and do too much to disguise fruits and vegetables instead of just respecting them for what they can naturally offer.

This is from the NY State Fair last year. I have the cropped image of this picture in four frames in my kitchen!

Blue Ribbon winner! 200+ lb watermelon

Sweet baby chicks!

Collin in the Tobacco section.  

I was convinced I was getting a contact buzz from being in the room.. yuck.

Tonight is our last night in Louisville.  Collin has an eearrrlly wake up call tomorrow morning to fly back to Syracuse.  And instead of making the 12+ hour drive to Syracuse tomorrow, I am going to Columbus to see some friends tomorrow and then I will drive up to my brother's house in Perrysburg and spend some time there:)  Can't wait to see this little gem:

Still haven't quite figured out the correct pronunciation for this darn town I'm in.  Loo-ee-vill?  Loo-i-vill? Loo-vull? Loo-i-vull? I give up!

Big Leagues and Back

One month is an unacceptable time gap between blog posts but I do have a few excuses:)

Let's go back to the morning of July 24th.  Collin and I were doing our daily devotional over coffee at a café in Durham, NC when Collin got a call from the Syracuse manager telling him that he was going to fly out to Milwaukee to join the Nationals for their game against the Brewers that night.  We quickly packed up his things and off he went in a taxi headed for the airport.  I stayed in Durham because he was supposed to come straight back the next morning.  However the chain of events that carried out continued to surprise us and allowed him to stay up for 2 weeks!  It's terrible to see people get hurt in baseball and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone but it just so happened that a few people went on the DL which opened up roster spots and kept Collin from being sent down.  We were even able to go on the Arizona/LA road trip, which is such a special trip for us because we got to spend time with my brother, Stephen, in Arizona and Collin's family was able to come to the LA hotel and Dodgers games!  Oh, and if timing wasn't perfect enough already... Lauren (Collin's sister, whose boyfriend Anthony was up with the Twins at the time) just happened to be going to CA for a wedding that weekend, so I was able to spend quite a bit of time with her too!

After the last game in LA, Collin got sent down. (Ironically Anthony got called up 4 days before Collin, and got sent down the morning Collin did)  No reason to be sad though!--- when we got back to DC, we drove to my brother's house in Ohio, stayed with them for a night and Collin flew out to Syracuse the next day.  The Syracuse road trip this week just happens to be within driving distance of my brother's house, so I drove to Indianapolis yesterday to meet Collin here for four days, and then we will drive together to Louisville on Monday night.  The last couple weeks couldn't have gone smoother.  This is all proof that God has a plan for our lives, and this year we have thoroughly understood that, and have put all our trust and faith in Him.  When you do that, you can live in peace knowing that no matter what happens it happens for a reason.  Even when life throws you curveballs (no pun intended), you can take them with grace because you know ultimately everything will work out in the end and God will provide for you.

All-Star Break

Summer Vacation?  Sorry, not in our vocabulary.  All-Star break?  Now you're speaking my language!

Day Game< Rain Out< Off Day< All-Star Break

We began planning our all-star break a couple months ago, and have been actively ticking off the days since mid June.  All-Star Break is a lovely 3 day span of no baseball.  Unless of course you are IN the all-star game, which would be a huge honor, but since Collin was not, we had a nice little 3 day vacation to look forward to.  Destination: "Home Home."

The guys' last game before the break was in Pawtucket, RI on Sunday the 11th.  I flew out on the 8th, and Collin flew out of Boston after the game Sunday, making for a verryy late trip to LAX Sunday night.  We had 3 nights to soak up every ounce of relaxation, and aspect of being home before taking the red-eye back Wednesday night.  We filled our time with long bike rides to the harbor, a chilly swim in the ocean, home cooked meals and laying by the pool. 

 Some people thought we were crazy for making a cross-country trip for just 3 days, but it was sooo worth it.  We really miss our home!  The bed is bigger, softer, sweeter smelling and our bathroom is ours, and only ours to use.  The best aspect of spending 3 days in South Orange County: the weather.  A perfect 72 degrees and bright blue skies, everyday, all the time, without avail. 

We took the trail through the St. Regis Monarch Beach golf course, to the beach

This is exactly what he deserved to do...

Other news over all-star break:  

• Congratulations to Anthony Slama for making the AAA All-Star Team and also for pitching in the Future's game in Anaheim!
• Congrats to our teammate Chase Lambin for being the AAA All-Star MVP! (if you ever have a chance, search Chase Lambin on YouTube and watch vids of him playing in Japan last year, crazy awesome fans!)
• Congrats to one of Collin's best friends and old high school teammate, Hank Conger for hitting a 3-run bomb in the Future's game and landing himself the title of MVP of the game!  

Best wishes for everyone for the 2nd half of the season!

And the Winner is...

Our Bake Sale was a HUGE success.  We raised over $1800!  Here are some of the goodies I whipped
up:

Strawberry Cupcakes, Justin Maxwell Coffee Brownies, Bally Star Sugar Cookies

Josh Wilkie Milky Chocolate Crispy Squares, Boomer Whiting White Chocolate Pretzels, Chiefs Choo Choo Chocolate Chip Cookies

As you know, the kitchen at our place here in Syracuse is not my own, and it came with NOTHING, so I certainly improvised when it came to doing the baking.  I wrapped a can of Pam cooking spray with wax paper to double as a rolling pin :)

It was also Ladies Night at the ball-park so all of the wives got to throw out the first pitch!

And as for the drawing for the Nats/Chiefs prize pack...

There were four names entered.

Congratulations Carol from Virginia!

Thank you to everyone again for your donations and support:)

Great American Bake Sale

The Syracuse Chiefs Ladies are hosting a BAKE SALE!

It will take place this Friday, June 25th at the 7:00 p.m. home game.

All proceeds benefit Share our Strength's initiative to help end childhood hunger.  

Just $10 can help feed a child at risk of hunger for one month.

Just $25 can help provide two nights of shelter for a mother and her child.

Just $50 can help provide lunch to 48 children in preschool for one day.

Just $100 can help provide 25 bags of nutritious foods for toddlers whose parents rely on food banks.

For every $10 you donate to my page, I will enter your name into a drawing for a signed ball from Collin and other Nationals and Chiefs gear!  Spread the word!!

Click Here to Donate!

Home Sweet Ohio

I love Just Because flowers.

My sweet husband sent me these to my brother's house in Ohio.

I'm visiting for the week while the team is on the road in Charlotte and Atlanta, 

I'm LOVING being here - mainly for one big reason, wrapped in a small package:

Meet Grace.  My niece.

She is the most precious muffin on earth.

She keeps me smiling all. day. long.

I love my hometown.

You never appreciate the little things when you are younger like a beautiful neighborhood, quaint downtown shops, the river, local ice cream spots, etc.

Anthony's team is in town playing the Toledo Mud Hens, so Lauren (Collin's sister) was here for a few days, I got to show her around a little bit, and I drove through my old neighborhood and walked down to the river.

I Love Perrysburg!

I foresee many more trips to Mr. Freeze before I head back to the 'Cuse :)

Niagara Falls

Bonjour de Buffalo, New York.

I always love exploring the cities we travel to, no matter how shabby they may appear, I always find every city has something to offer.  

For example: Scranton, PA doesn't sound like a town with much to offer.  However, if you are a fan of The Office, you would know that Scranton is the town that the show is based on.  They have giant heads of the cast up in the Steamtown Mall.  Cheesy? yes.  Fantastic? yes.

  

Luckily I didn't have to look too far from Buffalo to find something worth seeing... 

Niagara Falls.

None of us had our passports with us, so we couldn't go to the "better" Canadian side.  However we went on the Maid of the Mist, and got to see (and feel, and taste) all the Falls had to offer.   We even smuggled Rachel's little puppy on the boat!

This was Collin's and my second time at Niagara Falls, our first time was 3 years ago.  This is a picture of us in September 2007, we had only been dating ONE month! 

We were just kids ;)

And three years later.... almost 8 months married!

Definitely one of the better sight-seeing trips on the road... 

this and the Lucas Oil Stadium Tour in Indy last year.

Brothers, Seesters and Friends.

Collin plays baseball for the Syracuse Chiefs.

Collin's sister is Lauren.

Lauren's boyfriend is Anthony Slama.

Anthony plays baseball for the Rochester Red Wings.

Rochester is 1.5 hours away from Syracuse.

Yes, we are L U C K Y.

Earlier in the season, the Red Wings came to play the Chiefs, and Collin and Anthony got to pitch in the same game.  Anthony dominates and should be in the big leagues, like yesterday.

Lauren and I had mixed feelings about which team we should be rooting for :)

Luckily, there were two day games while they were in town, so we were able to go to dinner one night and eat at our home one night.  We went to Empire Brewing Co. which specializes in local beers and wines and produce from the Central New York area.  The blue corn bread is to DIE for.  After dinner we found this little gem of a place called Al's Wine & Whiskey Lounge.  

Whiskey's not my cup of tea.  I would probably try and put a couple packets of Splenda in it to mask the taste, (Michael Scott from The Office anyone?)  But they do have an excellent wine list and even Framboise on tap!

I often talk about how lucky we are that we all like each other and that we all get along individually and as a group.

We get together a lot in the off-season, Tuesday's at Fred's, Monday night Kickball games (yes Collin and Anth were in an adult kickball league!)  

We all went out to Laguna Beach for Halloween, as 80's rockers.

We are family by chance but friends by choice. 

(Queue the sappy music)

Love you all!