HOLY SMOKES

Yowzers.  February 13th to September 5th... what is that? 7 months?  Someone could almost have a baby in that amount of time ;)

I'll fast forward through the past 204 days:

Spring Training was great.

Turned 24 on March 22nd.

Found out I was PREGNANT on March 31st.

Drove up to Syraucuse, NY April 3rd.

Traveled to Lehigh Valley, PA.

Collin got called up in April.

Flew to CA for a week with my Mom to pack up our apartment and move everything into storage (we are now officially homeless!)

*Happy Easter*

Traveled to Ohio and Rochester before Collin got called up at the end of May.

Told our family we're expecting a sweet baby on May 27th (12 weeks along).

Met back up with Collin in Indianapolis to celebrate his 25th birthday on June 6th!

FL to see my parents, there 3 days, Collin got called up, flew to OH, drove to DC, one day. June 16th

Borrowed a dress from my momma to wear to the Nationals Gala on June 18th.

Road Trip! DC-Chicago White Sox-LA Angels.  Collin got to fulfill a childhood dream of pitching on the mound at Angels Stadium :)

Found out we're having a DAUGHTER on June 30th (17 weeks) - totally thought it was a boy

*Happy 4th of July*

Collin got sent down. I flew to my parents' in FL for THREE weeks.

Met back up with Collin in OH.  Syracuse was playing the Toledo Mudhens. Got to see family:)

Collin got called up while in Ohio, flew out to Denver August 3rd.

Road Trip! Denver-Chicago Cubs-DC, grabbed car and drove to Philly.

Collin's parents visit for 6 days, and of course didn't get to see Collin pitch ONCE! :(

24 weeks pregnant! August 19th

Road Trip! DC-Cincinnati(Christian, Rachael and Grace came!)- Atlanta(saw an old childhood friend!)

Today: September 5th, 23 more days left in the season.

Wow, documenting all of this has really made me realize how crazy this season has been!  I am SO thankful that I have had an easy pregnancy, no morning sickness, no swelling, just a little more tired at the beginning.  The whole time we were in Syracuse we did not have an apartment.  We were moving in and out of an extended stay hotel on every road trip or homestand.  We still never fully unpacked our car or bins from Spring Training.  "Hindsight is 20-20"- had I known what our schedule was going to be like this season I totally would have just packed two suitcases and that's IT!  Now that we're in an apartment in DC I'm already gearing up for packing up our car again and shipping it back home for the off season! Whoooosssssh see ya 2011 season.

I truly am SO thankful for all of the blessings God has given us this season.  Every year I feel like we learn more life lessons that will equip us for the future.  When roster moves don't make sense, and it seems like things aren't "fair," it just made us trust God even more because we know He has a great plan for us, and even though the path might not seem straight, God knows exactly what He is doing.  I am so proud of my husband's attitude through the ups and downs.  He never loses faith and just continues to trust God and maintain that exuberant *unique* personality that he has:)  Being blessed with our sweet baby girl has really kept things into perspective as well.  All the small things melt away when you feel her give you a little high five.  (whoah just got a lump in my throat. Those horomones:)) I'll write a more in depth pregnancy post soon.. before she comes, I swear.

I apologize that this post is just a celebrated timeline, but I kind of liked being able to look at the last 7 months in one glance, if nothing else it made me count my blessings.

We're here! Spring Training 2010

Wow that went fast.  Four months of down time, sleeping in our own bed, having access to all our clothes, using ALL my fabulous kitchen appliances, and enjoying all of this with the suitcases packed far, far away.  In October I thought I would puke if someone mentioned the word "baseball".  However, as December rolls around I allow the word to be thrown around a little bit, and I might even loosen up enough to flip to the MLB Network every now and then.  And by February, I am ready for "baseball" and everything that goes along with it:  adventure, travel, family, and friends.

The transition from off-season to Spring Training was exceptionally easy for me this year.  It just so happens that my parents are about half way between the Twins' spring training and the Nationals'.  SO, Anthony and Lauren shipped their car out with ours to my parents' house, and we flew to Tampa together, and drove to our respectful ST facilities after spending a couple days at my parents' home.

So here we are in Melbourne, FL.  I really love our place here...

I just hope the weather warms up!

2010: A Year in Review

January

We packed up everything and started our cross country drive from California to Florida.

February

Spring Training started in Viera, FL.  I enjoyed getting back together with all the other girls!

March

Lots of Spring Training games, and the First Ladies raised the most money for the Alzheimer's Association Walk at Space Coast Stadium!  I also turned 23 on March 22nd.

April

Chilly Opening Day for the Syracuse Chiefs, Syracuse, NY.

May

We woke up to SNOW on Mother's Day in Syracuse.  We also spent 2 weeks back in Viera, FL to help Collin transition to his role as a relief pitcher.  (Lots of love bugs, runs on the beach & sunshine).

June

Collin turned 24 on June 6th, and the Chiefs Girls held a Great American Bakesale!

July

We got to go HOME for 3 days over All-Star Break.  At the end of the month, Collin got called up to the big leagues while we were in Durham, NC playing the Rays' Triple-A team.

August

Saw a lot of family during the road trip to play the Diamondbacks and Dodgers.

September

My parents came to DC for a long weekend.  We also traveled to Philadelphia and NYC.

October

Season's over and we were HOME!  We also celebrated our 1 year anniversary on the 17th at South Coast Winery in Temecula.

November

We traveled to St. Croix, USVI with Anthony and Lauren.

December

We traveled to Ohio for about 9 days to spend time with my family and friends.

I visited 14 states in 2010 (Collin about 17) and flew on more flights than I can count.

Packed up our lives 5 or 6 times, and lived out of a suitcase for a couple months.

We live a crazy life, but I LOVE it and can't wait to see what adventures 2011 will bring :)

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.