Reds VS Padres

I'm starting to get excited about moving back to our hometown.  Among other things, I'm looking forward to being surrounded by people that love the same sports teams I do.  Sure it's fun to cheer on my home team in other cities but nothing compares to celebrating a Bengals' touchdown with a sea of orange and black or beating pots and pans in the streets like it's NYE after the Reds win the World Series (you know, like that one time in 1990 when I was 8!  It's actually one of my first memories, I have a terrible memory.  I digress)!

Last week, while my brother and sister-in-law were in town, we went to a Reds game in San Diego (actually, the whole reason they came out to visit us was because the Reds were in town and they have a goal to see a Reds game in every stadium in America.  Back to back series in San Francisco and San Diego was enough to convince them to come out west of a visit.).

We got to Petco Park super early so Brad + Jamie could watch batting practice and try to get a few autographs.

Warmups

There was a pretty good sized crowd of Reds fans waiting along the 3rd base line in hopes of scoring autographs.  I was just there for the photos.

Apparently Joey Votto doesn't often stop for autographs but he did that day and Brad + Jamie got their jersey's signed.

When Brandon Phillips came over, I decided to ask him for a selfie.  I follow him on Twitter & IG and he seems like a pretty cool dude, and he didn't disappoint.

Then he replied to my tweet and called me deb, which, at first I thought he got my name wrong, but after some thorough Google searching and reading through his twitter feed, I discovered it's some sort of slang for females, generally of the attractive variety, so I guess he can call me deb if he likes.  I am far too uncool for twitter and I'm ok with that!

Anyways, back to the baseball game...BP almost got beaned in the head by a wild pitch.  

I was working on my timing but, even though we had great seats, eventually my arms got tired of holding my camera at a goofy angle to be able to shoot around all the other fans, so I only got a few decent photos of the game.

We lost but we still had a good time.  I'm glad the next game we go to will be at Great American Ball Park (GABP), I love our home stadium!

GO REDLEGS!

30 Days of Thankfulness {Day5}

Each day this month (except weekends) I'm joining up with Katie to share with you the many things I am thankful for.  I'd love to hear what you're thankful for this month.

Day 5:
I'm thankful for my family.  I miss them all so much right now and would give anything to be back in Cincinnati with them, especially during the holidays.

My brother and his new wife recently received all their photos from their wedding.  Even though I was incredibly sick the whole weekend, it felt so good being surrounded by so many people that I love.  All of these photos are courtesy of Patrick Banfield Photography.

My sister and I helping the bride into her gown.

 

My beautiful sister-in-law and me.

 

This photo cracks me up.  If you look closely at all of the faces, 3 of them are almost identical and they are me (about 6 o'clock), my brother, Brad (about 10 o'clock), and my brother, Craig (about 12 o'clock).  I'm sure my sister would have been making the same face if you could see her (she's just peeking over around 2 o'clock).

 

My handsome hubby and baby brother.

 

My brother is a lucky man.

 

These guys.

 

My other sister-in-law did a fantastic job arranging rose petals in the aisle.

 

Me, walking down the aisle.  I'm so happy you can't tell how many drugs are in my system at this moment. (all legal/prescribed)

 

Funny story.  This is the same guy who married Jason and I almost 6 years ago at our official ceremony.  They had no idea they'd chosen the same guy.

 

My heart bursts with love for these people.

 

SISTERS!  All of us, officially now!

 

My siblings and I.  I have no idea how I got so lucky.

 

My brother is a horrible actor, but this is still adorable!

 

Perfect end to a perfect day!

Wedding Day {Brad+Jamie}

Y'all my baby brother is MARRIED!  Part of me cannot believe it and part of me almost feels like they've been married for years already.  Jamie has been a part of our lives for over 7 years, almost as long as Jason and I have been together.  In fact, she's at more of the same family functions I am than my brother is because of his work schedule so it almost feels like she's family and my brother is marrying into the family.  Anyways, Jamie is awesome, my brother is totally lucky to have snagged her and we're lucky to have her in our family, officially now!

They were married on a golf course in Indiana so of course we had fun riding around in golf carts taking photos.  This was my 1st time driving a golf cart and I may or may not be a very good golf cart driver...

Some of the guys wore Bill Murray t-shirts under their tuxedos.

Brad and Jamie are both die hard baseball fans, so their wedding had a fun baseball theme to it.

Complete with a NACHO BAR!  This would have been the best wedding food ever if we hadn't had a Skyline bar at our wedding (wink, wink). 

So happy and in love!

Their first (and only) dance.  I love that her dress swallowed him up!

 Sisters, officially now! (photobombed by my awesome brother)

 That's better.  I could not have hand picked more awesome women to call my sisters!  I love these girls!

 My siblings and I, we're kind of awesome!

 I love this man!

 Then their wedding was crashed...by Mr. Red Legs!  They had no idea he was coming, 2 of Jamie's cousins (the co-maids-of-honor) set it up and to say it was a huge hit would be an understatement.

 He pretty much consumed the rest of the evening.

 There was a bit of a dance off between Mr. Red Legs and one of my brother's best friends.

 He even got the bride on the dance floor.

 Jason even did the wiggle dance with him.

Then I cried because my throat hurt so bad and I was so tired I just couldn't stay awake any longer.  Then we realized our car wasn't there so we couldn't leave so my awesome mother agreed to leave a little early to take us to our car.  AND THEN we got to our car and my husband (that guy up there doing the wiggle dance with the Cincinnati Reds mascot) realized that our keys were in my brother's car back at the reception venue so I choked him thought about choking him but didn't have the energy to do it.

This illness was one of the worst of my life and it could not have hit at a worse time.  Luckily it has mostly passed now and my voice is almost back to normal.  Hopefully that was my one and only bout with bronchitis!