Christmas Cheer

Merry -a few days late- Christmas! 

Our Christmas festivities lasted all week long! We have been soaking in every moment because we are going to miss all of these people soon. We are lucky both sides of our family live in Minnesota, so we were able to spend time with everyone.

With the Pettersens we had a "3 day extravaganza" and instead of doing presents, surprise activities were planned for each day. The theme was Dream. Play. Serve. Each day we did things that represented one of those words. 

Our hearts and bellies are full and we are ready for the adventures 2014 will bring!

Thankful

It feels like I wrote a post about October, blinked, and it became December! 

As usual, the off season is flying by. I have an excuse for the blog-cation I took. I've been spending my nights working at the hospital and my days sleeping with black out shades and a noise machine.

When we first came home, I had been working at corporations/offices giving flu shots. It was only a couple days each week, so I was hoping and praying for something more to come up. Just when I decided I was going to work as a nanny, my agency called me with a 4 week RN job at a hospital, ending December 9th. It couldn't be better timing! I will be done just in time to spend lots of time with our family and friends before we leave for the season. When I chose my major (pre-AJ) I couldn't have imagined it would be such a perfect fit for this lifestyle. I am so thankful for a job that allows me to travel with my husband.

AJ and I will be leaving the snow behind, driving the 27+ hours to Florida on January 1st. Since AJ had wrist surgery, he has been doing range of motion exercises only, which he can do on his own. After Christmas he will be able to start doing actual baseball stuff. So he will be doing all of that at the Twins facility in Fort Myers. Perfect timing for us because I am going back to the same hospital I worked at last year for a 4 month contract job that begins January 7th!

We are currently unpacking and repacking our lives into "coming with us for the season" and "stay home" boxes. I think we're going to do a little better this year. When we were packing to come home at the end of the season we were laughing at the amount of unnecessary things we had. This year we are on a strict list. Sooo we can never have more than 4 people over at once because we're only bringing 4 plates. *Don't worry Pettersen clan, our FL house is fully furnished ;)

October

October is one of my favorite months. I am all about the cliché fall things in October-taking pictures of the changing trees, pumpkin flavored everything, and the list goes on. After being in Florida for the first half of the year, I realize how much I love experiencing changing seasons.

October also just happens to be our wedding anniversary and our little Willa’s birthday. The year flew by, but at the same time it feels like we’ve been married longer than one year. Probably because we have lived in at least 5 different places since then. Who lives in 5 different places in ONE year?! We must be crazy.

We knew we wanted a puppy and when we found out she was born on our wedding day it was a done deal. I remember getting an e-mail with her picture while we were on our honeymoon and we were in love! I mean, how cute is this hampster looking puppy?

And this year, our best friends added another reason to love October-Grayson Goris was born! We couldn’t be more thrilled for Kenzie & Grant. He is a lucky little boy, his parents are pretty awesome.

  

Land of 10,000 Lakes

We have been back in Minnesota for a few weeks and it's been so much fun seeing all of our friends and family that we miss all season!

We are living with my sister and brother in law in Minneapolis for the fall. They are finishing their basement this week and then we will be in our own little haven down there! We love seeing our niece's smiling face every day. 

She learned "AJ" "Em" and "Willa" within days of us moving in. 

AJ had wrist surgery last week so I got to be his personal nurse/pain pill dispenser for a few days.

That being said, we are currently almost finished with season 1 of Parenthood and I felt so lazy that I took up running. Anyone who knows me has their jaw on the ground. My husband was equally as shocked. 

We'll see how long it lasts...

Off Season

The 2013 baseball season has come to an end!

We made the decision that I was going to travel with AJ this season and it has been such a fun ride so far. Of course there were moments when it wasn’t all fun. But I am so glad I could be there for the nights when AJ had a rough game, and for the nights when he made a play to win the game. 

There are days when I am sad that we aren’t doing “normal” married life things like buying a house and living in the same state for more than 6 months at a time. But we have adjusted to our “normal.” Our version of normal is just a little different than most! We are lucky to have made good friends who are living the same crazy life.

I want to say thank you to our family for being so supportive this year. 

This road would be a lot harder without your love and support. You guys are awesome.

I am so proud of my husband. He continues to amaze me every day.

 

Happy off season y’all!  

Playing catch up

Have I ever told you that baseball can sense when you are starting to get too comfortable? And when you make any sort of solid, definite plans... You better bet something is going to happen.

I decided that in August, I was going to travel to a few away series with the team. First I went to Reading, Pennsylvania for a weekend. The baseball ladies in Reading are great. SO great. I was the only girl from our team at this series, and within 2 innings of the first game I was "adopted" for the weekend by opposing teams girlfriends/wives, going out for pre-game dinner and drinks, and riding to the game with them. I have met so many amazing girls through this sport.

Then AJ's little brother came to visit for a week. Luke and I traveled to Binghamton, New York for a weekend series. 

And then... AJ got moved to Fort Myers. 

So I packed up our life into a few boxes, played life size Tetris in the back of our SUV, and drove 21 hours back to Minnesota. Luke was still there visiting, so I had a driving buddy. I should also probably mention that we spotted 38 of the 50 license plates along the way (there's an app for that).

I was in Minnesota for a total of 1.5 days and am off to Florida for two weeks. The regular season ends September 2nd but the Fort Myers Miracle will be going to playoffs. I am excited to be back with some of our good friends down in Florida and to watch the Miracle do work in playoffs!

Cheers to the Childs!

These high school sweethearts tied the knot last weekend and I was honored to be part of it. 

I honestly have never seen Meghan so happy. Anyone who spends 5 minutes with Meghan & Ryan can see that they are meant to be together. I get emotional just thinking about it! Their wedding day was beyond perfect. 

Happy honeymoon, newlyweds!

Photos by the talented Ri & He Photography

The Cape

Cape Cod, Massachusetts is one of our all time favorite places. 

 3 years ago 

AJ played baseball there in 2010 for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks and I remember visiting and instantly falling in love with the Cape. Its hard to explain why, go visit and you'll probably love it too. Blue Hydrangeas and the ocean smell. Ahhh, I want to go back already.

That summer, he had the lucky pleasure of staying with an AMAZING host family, the Jones. We have kept in contact with them and they opened their home to us once again for the all star break! This is the only time in the entire season that AJ has 2 days in a row off. Whew! We packed those days full, and unfortunately (or fortunately) we were having so much fun that I didn't even think to get my camera out. So here are a few iPhone pictures. 

The Jones twins, Tyler and Kyle: 3 years ago // Now

I see many visits in our future. Thank you for having us, Jones family!

When in Maine

July has been a busy and fun month already! AJ's parents and sister came into New Britain for two days and then we ventured on a 5 day trip to Portland, Maine to watch some ball games.

Portland, Maine is a beautiful place. We spent lots of time in Old Port walking through shops and I got a different local iced coffee every day. We ate lots of clam chowder and sat inches from the ocean while having the best lobster roll around. Oh, and we went to a baseball game daily (obviously, the reason we were there). The Red Sox Double-A team is there, just hours from Boston, so the games were packed! 

I got to be with AJ on a summer holiday! Fellow baseball girlfriends and wives understand how awesome that is. We spent the 4th of July at his baseball game and watched fireworks over the outfield. It was perfect.

Home sweet Minnesota

My Minnesota visit was so rejuvenating. I love that place (and the people that live there) with all of my heart. The week flew by! And it wasn't even sad leaving because I'll be back in July to stand next to little Megs on her wedding day! It is great to have relationships that are able to pick right back up like you never left. 

I think July is going to be a good month. Visitors, 4th of July in Maine, Cape Cod... Let the fun begin!

Who has awesome in-laws?

That whole "ugh, the in-laws" thing where people don't like to spend time with their in-laws... 

I will never understand that because my in-laws rock. Seriously. 

AJ is leaving on a 9 day away series, and all of the places they are going are way too far for me to drive to.

 (Apparently Ohio is in the "Eastern League?" Not sure who looked at a map and decided that made sense)

I started to write a list of things I was going to do to fill my time:

1. Venture 30 minutes to Target.

2. Donate blood.

3. Get a book and read the entire thing.

4. This sounds boring, right? 

So my in-laws decided they would fly me AND Willa home to Minnesota for the week! 

I haven't been home since December and I can't wait to see all of my lovely friends and family.

Here we come Minny! Oh how I have missed you. 

Home #5

We have settled into our new home! This is the 5th place we've lived since we got married in October. FIFTH. 

One lesson I've learned this baseball season, never get comfortable or "expect" to be anywhere. This season- we "expected" to be in either Iowa or Florida. See what I mean? 

AJ is gone on a 7 day away series right now. They had home games this past weekend and I met some awesome girlfriends. Now they all just need to come back and visit for every home series. ;)

We brought next to nothing, so luckily the place we are renting is furnished. However, I had to leave my Keurig in the trunk of my car in Florida (getting shipped to MN) and for those of you who know my coffee addiction... I had a hard time parting with that bad boy. We bought a french press and using pinterest recipes, I just made a big batch of some rockin' cold press! Live and learn.

The town we live in is adorable. It's about 20 minutes from the field, but well worth the drive. Willa and I venture out every day for a walk on a beautiful trail right next to the river. One of these days I'll dust off my DSLR and stop using only my iPhone for pictures.

We're here!

Our family of 3 is reunited!

Willa did so good on our flights and layover, with a liiiiittle help from half of a sedative. Everyone thought she was a stuffed teddy bear (even airport security when I took her out of her crate, oops). We were so happy to see our smiling AJ waiting at the gate in Hartford! And even though we are currently "homeless" and staying in a hotel, we are just happy to be together. Tomorrow the baseball game is at 10:30am, and after that we are going to do some exploring and hopefully find somewhere to live. I will post pictures of this side of the country soon!

Most of the "snow birds" have headed north for the summer, meaning I have been getting called at 5am and told they don't need me to come in to work. (Snow birds: retired people who spend their winters in the sun. Many of them end up being my patients at the hospital.)

I had 7 days off last week, and for 5 of them my sister and her little family came to visit me! Since I will be leaving Florida in a couple weeks, we made sure to do touristy things. We went to touristy beaches, and of course Sun Harvest Citrus (Keylime-Chocolate swirl ice cream cone... nuff said). 

I loved having them here because 24 days without your husband goes by real slow when you live across the country from your friends and family and you just hang out with your dog. I swear I have friends.

New Britain

To say our Friday night was eventful would be an understatement!

AJ's dad was in town to watch a few games in the Florida sunshine. After the game, AJ was in the locker room and the manager called him into his office and told him he had been promoted to AA! He handed him his flight information that showed he was scheduled to fly out of Fort Myers at 6am! I couldn't be more proud of my husband. He has worked hard and it is paying off. 

Since AJ's dad was here, we decided he was going to drive our new SUV -filled with all of our stuff- to Connecticut so that AJ will have a vehicle when he gets there. And then I will fly out there as soon as my job is done (20 more days!) Paul is a saint for doing this for us, the drive is not a short one! 

This meant we needed to pack up our entire life at midnight, and Paul and AJ would be leaving in a few hours. Talk about stressful! I could only keep what I will be able to pack in a suitcase and fly with. I pretty much packed everything except scrubs, a swimsuit, and my keurig (not quite sure how that's going to fit in my suitcase...) We were up until 2am packing and the guys got up two hours later to head to the airport! 

AJ slept 2 more hours on the flight... who needs sleep? He flew to Portland, Maine to join the team at an away game. He is playing second base for the New Britain Rock Cats today on about 4 hours of sleep, and he couldn't be more excited. He is my hero.

I can't wait to join him in a few short weeks! God is so good. Thank you for your continued prayers! 

April has flown by! AJ's team went on a 6 day road trip, the temperature has been rising, and it's reeeal hot and sticky here. The native Floridians keep saying "just wait until August." 

My mom, sister, and niece were just here. It had been 5 months (half of her life) since we had seen Maddie and it was amazing to see how much she had grown! Willa was a little scared at first when she saw a miniature human walking around, but they were best friends in no time. Maddie even shared her toys... and pacifiers.

 

Maddie and AJ's relationship has flourished since the first time they met...

She loves her uncle. Melts my heart.

Almost makes me want one of my own.

Almost ;)