THEY WON IT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Somerset Patriots won the Atlantic League championship last night! It was very exciting. Travis Anderson, the cather, hit a walk off home run in the bottom of the ninth to win it! Brian is somewhere in the middle of all that celebrating! Watch:




I'll post pictures later.

Welcome to the family

Brian and I have a long list of items we would like to get for our house: a new mattress, a new kitchen floor, different shades for the sliding glass doors, etc. etc. But one thing we really wanted to update was our TV. For the first 5 and 1/2 years of our marriage we've been watching a 19" or 20" television. So after saving up for a while, we finally broke down and bought a nice TV to go in our den. This thing better last us a long time because it was not cheap, but I think we'll really enjoy it. Welcome to the family Samsung 40 inch flat screen!

Playoff Update

The Patriots made it through the first round of the playoffs, and are now playing in the final championship series! They've played two games so far and are tied with the Camden Riversharks at 1-1 (the series is best of 5). Brian pitched the second game which was last night, and did well - 5 and 2/3 innings, 2 runs allowed. Unfortunately the Patriots only scored one run so he got the loss. Bummer. Let's hope they can win the next two games and clinch the championship!

Here are a few pictures of us on the Patriots' field a few days ago.

Vote for your favorite

I'm horrible when it comes to making decisions, especially regarding clothes and decorating. Today I found (what I consider) a really cute coat. I couldn't decide what color to get. It came down to orange or off-white. I bought the off-white one because I figured it would be more versatile, but I'm still torn. Which one do you like better? Or which one would you get? I have 21 days to exchange it so PLEASE vote for your favorite by leaving me a comment. Thanks for your help! (And yes, I had to take my picture in the mirror because there wasn't a pic of the off-white one online!)

Fall is in the air . . .

And it feels so good! I don't know how the weather has been down south lately, but today in New Jersey the high is 65 and the low tonight is supposed to be 48! Whew! Fall is coming quickly and I'm LOVIN' it!!! I can't wait til it looks like this:

Blast from the Past

I couldn't resist posting these pictures. My friend Heather (see the link to her blog on the right) introduced me to the website www.yearbookyourself.com. The decades range from the 50's to the 90's. Feel free to yearbook yourself and post the pics on your blog for all of us to see as well. They're hilarious!!

Piano Bar Celebs!

I know I usually only update the blog once a week, if that, but I just had to blog about my experience last night! We're in Bridgeport, CT right now and Brian was the starting pitcher for last night's game against the Bluefish. After the game one our friends, Rick Asadorian, a pitcher and former teammate of Brian's, invited us and some other Patriots players to a piano bar in New Haven to hear his brother play. The Asadorians are a very musical family. (There are three brothers and they can all play at least one instrument.). So at 10:45 pm about six of us decided it would be fun to go listen to and support his brother, who plays the piano beautifully by the way!

We get to the bar. We go to the back of the room where we can see the stage better. After about an hour, I catch someone out of the corner of my eye trying to pass behind me. I turn around, and it was David Cook - the latest winner of American Idol!!!!! And right behind him was Carly Smithson - another American Idol finalist - literally a foot away from me!!!! I had to do a double take. As soon as they sat down I was the annoying fan who asked for an autograph. Carly gave me one willingly (see below), but David had already been "blocked off" by a body guard. You better bet I kept my eye on them the rest of the night. I was so intrigued! Later, Kristy Lee Cook showed up. She actually got on stage and sang, "God Bless the USA." She did a great job. I think she sounds better in person than she did on American Idol.



When we left we saw the American Idol buses parked outside. I guess they were doing a concert in the area and decided to go out afterwards. Anyway, it was quite an exciting night for me. It's not every day you run into celebrities! We didn't get in bed until about 3 am, but it was well worth it!

Road Trips, TVs, and Blog Revamp

I can't believe we're in the last month of the baseball season. It has flown by! I feel like July was just yesterday. Brian is about to take his final road trip of the regular season. It's a long one - 8 days! They'll spend 4 in Bridgeport, CT and 4 in Long Island. Fortunately, I'll be going with him so I don't have to stay here by myself for over a week. Although I will say that the last time the team went on a 4 day road trip I had some solid, much needed time with the Lord and it ended up going by really fast!

My only disappointment with this upcoming road trip is that we don't get to stay in the Double Tree Hotel in Bridgeport. That's where we got to stay last year and it was so nice! I especially loved the hot chocolate chip cookies they gave us when we checked in. This year we stay in the not-so-great Ramada. Ugh.

Ok, down to business . . . Brian and I are considering buying a new television for our living room when we get back to Charlotte. Probably a 37 inch LCD. I have heard that Consumer Reports recently rated Samsung as the best, but Vizio is also one of the top rated TVs. After looking at Costco and Best Buy, it seems that Samsung is definitely the best, but the LG's picture looked really good as well. Anybody bought a television lately and have any advice or suggestions? Your comments are welcome!



And finally, as you've probably noticed I've given the blog a little makeover. I was getting tired of those same colors. I've also added a section called, "Picture of the Week" in the top right corner. I'm not a great photographer by any stretch, but once in a while I stumble upon a scene that's very picturesque. So I try to capture it. It probably doesn't always translate given my very inadequate, amateurish photography skills, but I hope you enjoy the pictures nonetheless.

Don't forget to leave your comments/suggestions on TVs!