Maryland and a break!

A few weeks ago the Patriots played a 3 game series in Waldorf, MD. Brian's parents drove up and met us there. We ate some wonderful crab! Check out the pics . . .







We had a rare 4 days off in mid July! Brian and I made the most of it. We went to a theme park/water park called Dorney Park with our friends Dan and Shannon Giese and their 2 kids. We spent the entire day riding roller coasters and water slides. As you can imagine, we slept well that night! The next day we went to New York City and saw a musical, Spamalot. We really wanted to see Jersey Boys, Mama Mia, or In the Heights but none of those were available at the discounted ticket booth. Spamalot was really funny though, and since it was Brian's first broadway musical experience, I'm glad it was good!



Before Spamalot we killed some time at the Container Store. It was pretty cool! I had heard about it on Oprah, so I was excited that we happened to run into it. Here's Brian looking unconvincingly fascinated.

Wicked!

My friend, Kellie Reith, and I went to New York City last Wednesday and had a blast together! We ate lunch, toured Lucky Magazine offices (because Kellie has friend that works there), and did some shopping. However, the highlight, by a mile, was when we saw the musical, Wicked! All tickets were sold out, but we stood in the cancellation line and ended up getting great seats - middle section, only 8 rows back! We both loved it. The girl who played Elphaba, the wicked witch, was especially good. Here's a recording of one of her songs:

http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=4P-cMh4QjYA


A few pics from our trip:

Blessed

You know sometimes it just hits me how fortunate and blessed I am to have married this man:



The other day I ran across this picture that was taken a couple of years ago and thought, "Man, my husband is hot! I married way over my head." Of course I'm always blown away by his gentleness, humility and integrity as well, and those qualities are what made me really fall in love with him.

Just thought I'd share these little facts with all of you . . .

A Day in the Life of Lindsay Adams . . .

I got this idea from my friend, Suzanne's blog. I had a blast reading and looking at her pictures so I decided to do it myself! Here's how it's done: for one day you document your life with pictures and post them on your blog, with commentary of course. So here goes! Yesterday was Thursday, June 19, 2008 and here is what my day looked like:

Brian and I woke up about 9:45 am. (Sleeping in like this only happens during baseball season because we don't get in bed until really late.). I read the newspaper while Brian ate breakfast. We read and eat breakfast in bed almost every morning. However, our reading material varies, it's not always the newspaper.



















We like to go for walks in the park, and do so at least 4 times a week. This park is really nice, so I go walking on the trails frequently for exercise. We walked 2.4 miles today! We always see wildlife at this park too. The usuals are groundhogs, deer, turtles and geese.


Since we're not together for dinner, I make lunch our "big meal" of the day. Here I am, working hard in the kitchen!



Today I made feta chicken, asparagus, rolls, and fruit.



Clean up is my least favorite part of making lunch, and unfortunately, I rarely get any help from my hubby.


Around 2 pm I have to drop Brian off at the field. Bye buddy, have a good day at "work!"




I make my way to the library where I don't find any of the books on my "must read" list. Since they were already checked out, I chose another book that looked promising. It's called, "The Bible Jesus Read" by Philip Yancey. And yes, I felt rather silly taking my own picture in the library so I made sure no one was looking when I took it.


When I get home it's time to get some work done. My boss gives me work that I can do either by phone or on my laptop.



Today I didn't have very much work to do, so after an hour on the computer, I spent about 45 minutes at the pool reading my new book, which I'm really liking!


Later I jump in the shower and get ready so I look half way decent finally!



I had a phone meeting scheduled with my boss at 6 pm.



I hadn't watched the news in a while, so I caught up on the local and national news. Of course I have to catch up on the celebrity news too, so I watched "The Insider!"


Then I had some leftovers for dinner!


At this point in the day, it's time to go to the ballpark and watch the game! But, today I had to run an errand on my way. I had to return a movie to the Red Box. Red Boxes are great because they are always located in convenient places, like the grocery store, and it only costs $1 to rent a movie!



I made it to the ballpark where I get to watch a baseball game and socialize with my girlfriends!




This is my friend, Heather, and her little girl, Cadence. I love playing with Cadence, she's a lot of fun and full of personality!



After the game we went home to unwind. Usually we hang out with our roommate, Matt Hagan, but he went out on the town with some other guys on this particular night. Brian and I watched a little tv. Usually we watch Baseball Tonight, Dirty Jobs, Man vs. Wild, and/or Deadliest Catch, but none of those were on last night (except for Baseball Tonight) so we ended up flipping channels most of the time.


Then it's time to get ready for bed: wash my face, brush my teeth, etc.


And give my hubby a big smooch before falling asleep!

Recommendation

Brian and I read a book a few weeks ago that we both really liked. It's called, The Shack, and apparently it's catching on like wildfire throughout churches in America. I think people like it because it paints a beautiful picture of what a relationship with God can look like, despite great pain and suffering in this life. If you're looking for a good book to read, definitely check it out!

Happy for DC

I am so glad that David Cook won the American Idol finale last night! I was convinced David Archuleta was going to win, but was pleasantly surprised when my favorite, David COOK was announced as the season 7 winner. Cook is extremely talented and seems quite humble as well. He did an awesome job singing a unique version of "Billie Jean" a few weeks ago, which is one of reasons I really like him, he takes risks. Take a listen if you missed it!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpX-kndqHnE

Back in Jersey

After staying in Charlotte a little longer than usual to attend Todd and Erin's wedding, and then a business meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan, I have finally made my way to New Jersey! I flew in late last night and it was so good to see Brian again. I feel a little out of sorts because I'm usually settled in, and have had time to adjust to whatever city we're in before the season starts, but that's not the case this year. At least NJ is familiar to me since we were here last year. We have a great roommate again this year, Matt Hagan. It's a good situation because he is a good friend of Brian's, someone we've known for a long time. I think we'll enjoy sharing an apartment with him.

Here are a few pictures from Todd's wedding:

Brian and Lanterns

Brian left for New Jersey today! He will be playing for the Somerset Patriots this summer (that's the same team he played for last summer). I will be going up in a couple of weeks to join him. It's hard to be away from each other again, but at least it's only for two weeks. I am staying here so I can go to Todd's wedding. You can check out his fiance's blog at the link to the right. After Todd and Erin's wedding, I have to fly to Grand Rapids, Michigan for a business meeting. My boss will fly me to New Jersey from there. As much as I'm not looking forward to 2 days of meetings, at least I got a free plane ticket out of it!

On a completely different note, I absolutely love it when I find a good deal! Especially when I find something I really like, and then find it something similar elsewhere for a fraction of the price. That was the case last week when I was trying to find decorative things to go on top of my kitchen cabinets. I saw a big lantern I liked at Pottery Barn for $130. That just seemed too expensive, especially when it was only one of many items I needed. So at the suggestion of my wonderful sister-in-law, Wava, I checked out a store called Home Goods. I found a great lantern similar to the one at Pottery Barn for only $25! I was so excited. Of course it's not as great as the one at PB, but hey, for $100 less, I'll take it! Here's some pics in case you're curious.

Pottery Barn lanterns:


My Home Goods lantern:

Brian's home!

Well, the good news is I got to see my hubby sooner than expected! He came home today! The bad news (I guess) is that he was released from the team in Taiwan. Although, I hesitate to say that's bad news because we've been praying that if God didn't want Brian there, He would take the opportunity away, and He did. Therefore, we have to believe that God has something else planned for us. The hard part is waiting patiently to find out what that is. Right now we literally have no idea where we'll end up this summer. I'm just hoping and praying God makes his desires for us clear, and that we are at peace with whatever and wherever that is.

We've also moved into our new townhome! I moved in about a week ago, and I'm so glad I don't have to stay there without Brian anymore. There are still boxes everywhere, things to be organized and cleaned, but my family helped me paint while Brian was in Taiwan so at least that's done! We're still having trouble realizing that we actually own this place, and aren't just renting it for a few months. I'm sure it will hit us hard when something goes wrong and we can't call maintenance to come fix it for free like we could in an apartment!

Always better the 2nd time around . . .

Brian pitched again the other day. He did much better this time! He said he felt a lot better too. The pitching coach has been working with Brian on his mechanics and they both really liked the results. His velocity was back up to normal (88-91 mph)! That's always a good thing. I'm not sure when he's scheduled to pitch again because they only play four games a week, and therefore have off days in between. I think Brian's ready for me to be over there so he's not so bored on his free days.

Although . . . the other day he and his buddy, Greg, an Austrailian pitcher, decided to go for a swim in the pool on their off day. Greg immediately jumped in, but before Brian made the leap the lifeguard started blowing his whistle and flagging him down. After finding a lady in the work out room to interpret, the lifeguard explained that, "this is not a beach. You can't wear those," referring to Brian and Greg's swim trunks. Apparently, in Taiwan speedos are required!

So the next day Brian decided he'd just get in the hot tub. There were four other men already in the tub. As Brian got in they too started motioning for him to stop, as if he were breaking some kind of rule. Long story short, you can't get in the hot tub with your swim suit on. You have to be naked! Brian said he kept wondering why the men walked around the locker room naked. Now he knows!

First Outing

For those of you who are interested, Brian pitched for the first time in Taiwan a couple of days ago. It wasn't a great outing, but that's ok. He pitched 4 innings and allowed 4 runs. Needless to say, he wasn't happy, but at the same time he feels confident that he'll do better next time. There's a little bit of a learning curve because they play baseball differently in Taiwan. All the rules are the same, they just have different strategies, and he kind of had to learn that the hard way. No worries though, he'll get them next time! I found these pictures on the web of Brian in his uniform:

Our new home!

The past two weeks have been quite eventful for Brian and I. In a nutshell, we made a bid on a townhome here in Charlotte, and the next day Brian got an enticing offer to play baseball this summer in Taiwan. The team had to know his answer in 24 hours so in the midst of countering and recountering on the townhome we were trying to figure out if he should play over there.

Ultimately, we decided to go for it. I think Brian really just needs a change of scenery from a professional standpoint, and this was the perfect opportunity. He's been itching to take a trip somewhere cool before we start having kids too. It also was a wise decision financially because he'll be making much more than he would in the U.S. The only "downer" is that we have to be apart for about a month. Someone has to stay here and close on our house! Brian had to leave for Taiwan three days ago and will be over there for the next 4 weeks by himself. Then I'll get to fly over in mid-April and spend the rest of the summer with him.

I miss him terribly already, but at least I have this house stuff to keep me busy. We're supposed to close on March 31, so things have to move quickly. I'll be so excited when I get to re-open all of our wedding gifts that have been stored at my parents' house for the past 5 years! I don't have any pictures of the inside of our townhome yet, but here's a picture of the outside:

10 Random Things

I've been "tagged" by my good friend Melissa to list 10 random things about myself.

1. Per Melissa's request, I must tell how I got the ability to make such distorted faces. The truth is, it's hereditary. My whole family can do it, and not surprisingly, we enjoy it. If you're an avid reader of my blog, you've probably seen the "hat picture." If not, go to the entry on October 6th.

2. I think I'd really enjoy being a in a band. If I could make a living singing I'd do it in a heartbeat. I think I could sing all day and not get tired of it. Well, my vocal chords would, but I wouldn't.

3. I'm a "community cryer." If I see someone else tearing up, I start too.

4. In high school I received the "history award." I was given a shadow box with a Russian ruble in it, which I told everyone was a Canadian ruble. Who in the world decided to give me the history award?

5. I love dogs, especially big ones.

6. I think would really like to take a mission trip to Sudan.

7. I am very picky when it comes to buying houses. I didn't know this about myself until recently. Maybe it's because it's our first time. I hope I won't be this picky in the future. Brian is completely the opposite and thinks anything will do.

8. I seem to lose my train of thought a lot. The other day I was making a point during Sunday school when it happened. I had to stop mid sentence and say, "I'm sorry, I have no idea where I was going with that." So embarrassing!

9. Because Brian's occupation requires us to travel a lot, I have had numerous jobs. Here's my list of jobs since I was a teenager:

Babysitter
Lifeguard
Swim coach
Church media intern
Bank teller
Substitute teacher
Waitress
Ticket Sales Representative
Secretary for an attorney
Program seller (at baseball games)
Worked for a temp agency (the job was different every day)
Receptionist
Director of Communications, Sports Spectrum
Director of Communications, U.S. Sports, Inc.

10. The only sport I am remotely good at is swimming. I was a competitive swimmer for 10 years (8 to 18 years old), and to this day I love being in, near, or on the water. I like water skiing, tubing, swimming, and just looking at water. It's a dream of mine to live on a lake one day!

And now it is my responsibility to "tag" 5 more people to name 10 random things about themselves! So, I tag:

Erin Akin

Lauren Hudgens

Suzanne Johnson

Lori Howell - now you have to update your blog Lori!

Kristi Hall - And now you have to start a blog! You're long overdue. Come'on girlfriend!

The Best Thing About Our New Apple

It does this: