Offseason 2k16

Wow what a fun filled, adventurous offseason....so fun filled and adventurous, I decided I wanted to write a blog post about it. (Jesica still can't believe it.) Of course during the season I missed my fiancé and family a lot, but I was super excited to be reunited with my puppy when I got home. As many of you know our puppy Grainger  (AKA G, GG or G-baby) was a rescue from an animal shelter in south Texas and ever since the day we adopted her she has had a special place in our hearts.
 
With Jesica having a job in south Texas, we were lucky enough for it to still be quite warm enough to go to the beach and relax and also camp out! We got a tent as a wedding gift, and we put it right to use.

​We spent four nights camping out at the beach. Wow what an experience that was. Each time we got a little better and a little bit more domestic. By the last night we stayed, I had a mini four-hole golf course set up in the sand and a large fire pit and a grill rack set up so that we could cook out. I even brought some pans so that we could have eggs and bacon for breakfast! Pretty cool to wake up to a sunrise on the beach and make some eggs and bacon! By the way. G absolutely LOVES the beach.

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Jesica and I had our bachelor and bachelorette parties this offseason as well in Nashville. Not a whole lot of stories on this one except for one that really sticks out to me. The night of Jesica’s bachelorette party I had a dream that I caught her making out with Tim Tebow. Jesica swears up and down that it didn’t happen…

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​The wedding! We got married on November 19. For obvious reasons, this was the best day of the offseason. Everyone always asks, “So, how is the marriage?” My answer is always the same. “Its not much different since we have already been dating for eight years leading up to this day.” We are very thankful that we got to share that special day with so much family and friends.  There were too many fun moments and stories to put in a blog post!

Honeymoon was awesome. We went on a 7-day cruise to the Caribbean. We put together a highlight movie together from all the ports and excursions that we did so you should defiantly watch if you haven’t! (Click the link or head over the VLOG page.) We can't wait to go on another cruise!

​With Christmas falling on the weekend, Jes didn’t get enough days off to make the trip back to our families for Christmas. But that gave us a chance to start our own traditions. Jes had never had a real Christmas tree before, so we decided we wanted to get real trees! We now have a Christmas box of Christmas decorations since we picked our several personal ornaments, tree skirt and everything else.  I even made the bow for the top myself! We picked out matching Space Jam Christmas sweaters, and G had a Santa suit. On Christmas Day, I made a HUGE breakfast, and even used Jes’ Memaw’s cookbook wedding present for the hash brown casserole. It was fun to incorporate some of our individual families traditions together then make our own!

The first week of 2017 I went on a “business trip” to California. One of my good buddies from pro ball lives out there, and we spent the week working with some of the Dodgers hitting coaches. A few nights we got to stay at Gibby’s (Jay Gibbons) sweet Malibu beach condo.
 
“MIKE, MIKE, MIKE guess what day it is Mike! Its hump daaaaay!” No, actually it’s his wedding day. I was asked to be in Mike Ahmed’s wedding the weekend of January 22. So, Jes and I decided that we would spend our second honeymoon in Boston for Mike and Ashley’s wedding. Over the past couple years I have been lucky enough to play with Mike, and we have become good friends and is the only guy that I would let date my daughter (Grainger). Ashley, you got you a good one! You can also check out our vlog from our Boston trip here or on the VLOG page.
 
Another highlight from the offseason would be getting my baseball jersey retired at Dresden High School. The school put together a nice recognition ceremony for some others and myself during basketball games. They also put together an awesome jersey display that will hang in the school. I will always appreciate the support I received while at DHS and the continued support I get from Dresden people.

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Are we there yet? Jes and I had the grand idea to make the 25-hour drive to Arizona. The trip started on Sunday, February 19. Kyle, my brother, had a baseball tournament in north Georgia, and we decided that we were going to watch a couple games! This was the first time in a while that I was able watch Kyle play, and I was quite impressed. He has grown a lot and is turning into quite the stud out on the baseball field. His team won the championship after overcoming an early 7-0 deficit.

​We made the road trip in two days, and the first night we stayed in Amarillo, Texas. For me, the second half of the trip was the best. I like driving in the dry, desert areas. The scenery in unlike anything you will see on the east coast, and before we knew it we where in Glendale, Arizona.
 
Now we are here and it’s the best time of the year. Baseball season!
 
**Grainger update**
My parents have a large backyard and there is a doggie door that leads to the back. When we lived in South Texas, the only time G was able to be off the leash and run around was at the dog park. Dog park hour was her absolute favorite part of the day. So you can only imagine what G thinks about my parent’s backyard. She goes in and out of the doggie door at least 50 times a day. She is so happy, and she truly believes she lives at the dog park now. When we get her back for the season, we have to make sure there is a dog park close by.
 
PS: If you’re wanting to know how my offseason went as far as baseball, here ya go – workout, hit, throw, do it again the next day. I’ve been on the field here at spring training for a few days, and I feel good, prepared and ready to go.