Just Call Me Penny

Within a few days of knowing us, our host "mom", Jeanne, had given us new nicknames: Odysseus and Penelope.

I have to admit that I do feel like Penelope sometimes--forever waiting for my "warrior" husband to come home from his baseball battles. I am so thankful that I don't have to wait nearly as long as she did.

So much has happened since my last update!

The Gibsons were up here the weekend of July 10th. It was so nice to have some more "Crapper" fans! (Triston doesn't pronounce the 'S' in Scrappers--it is too funny!!)



Also, Chase's little fan from Buford, Hunter Waldrop, was here that weekend with his dad. They made a special trip to come up and see Chase play! Hunter has written Chase letters and recently attended a baseball camp at Georgia Tech where Walt, the trainer for the baseball team, gave Hunter Chase's batting helmet. He brought it up for Chase to sign!


On Tuesday of the next week, Chase left for Brooklyn and I left on Thursday for Shepherdsville, Kentucky. My cousin, Hannah, and her husband, Sean are expecting their first baby in August and the family baby shower was on the 17th. I drove to Kentucky on Thursday and then rode down the rest of the way to Georgia on Friday with my Aunt Cindy, and cousins Holly and Haley. The shower was so lovely. It was held at my parents house. We strung up lights and set up tables in the carport. I was so happy that I was able to go.


Sunday, I got to hear Sean preach at Tiger church of Christ in North Georgia and enjoyed getting to spend time with my family. I flew back to Louisville on Tuesday and spent the remainder of the week there with my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins. It was so nice to get to spend time with them. While everyone else was at work, Cindy and I would go shopping! She took me to this incredible discount shoe store, Zappos! One night, we drove into Indiana and ate at a restaurant overlooking the river back into Louisville. Very pretty! On Saturday, before I headed back to Ohio, we went to the Louisville Slugger Museum. I learned quite a bit about wooden bats. Did you know that a major leaguer could go through as many as 120 bats in one season? Or that only 10% of the bats made are good enough to be used in the majors? The rest are used for minor and recreational leagues.




Unfortunately for me, going home for Hannah's shower meant missing the Burnettes and Cloers who came up to Ohio the same time I went down to Georgia. But I was so happy that they got to come up and see Chase and meet Jeanne and David. Jeanne and I had been working on a little outfit for Addie and it was ready for her when she came up.


Jeanne had some Chinese-inspired fabric and we made her a little summer outfit. Jeanne made her a matching purse and bow!

We are really enjoying getting to know people at the church we are attending up here-Struthers church of Christ. Everyone has been so welcoming! It's funny though, because when the Gibsons came up, Abby was hanging around Chase and I that Sunday and people kept thinking that she belonged to us. They still say, "Aren't you missing someone?," "How old is your daughter?" Haha. Last Wednesday night, Chase was out of town and so I was at church by myself. After he was done with his lesson, the preacher motioned for me to scoot over so I didn't have to sit by myself. Isn't that sweet?

Everyone in Newton Falls continues to be soo welcoming! Above is a picture of Chase with Tim and Cindy who own the Brew Basket in town. It is a very nice little restaurant that serves coffee and sandwiches. That sign hangs in their window. Cindy is helping to organize the "Newton Falls Night at the Scrappers" on August 8th.

Daniel, one of our neighbors that we have yet to meet because he is extremely busy working at the dairy farm next door, put this sign up for us right next to the house! So sweet!

That's all for now. Until next time,

Cait

6 Months: How Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Have I mentioned lately that I have the BEST husband in the entire world?! Well, it’s true!! : )

Wednesday, the 7^th of July, was Chase’s first day off from baseball since we’ve been here. He only gets four days off the whole time that we are here-until the first week of September! Knowing how tired he is and how precious this time is, I told him that we would do whatever he wanted to on his day off. They drove through the night on Tuesday from their series in Connecticut to get back to Ohio and I was perfectly prepared to hang around the house since he would probably want to sleep all day. But, that’s not what he wanted to do.

He decided that he wanted to surprise me for our 6 month anniversary (can you believe we’ve been married six months already?) and take me somewhere. He had the whole day planned for us in Pittsburgh, which is only about an hour away from us! I picked him up at the stadium at around 8am-that’s when they got back from Connecticut -and we packed, and were off. On the way, we stopped for lunch and then headed straight to the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium. It was so much fun, but very hot! The high has been in the mid-90s with a higher heat index. We made sure to drink lots of water. Chase was glad to make it inside the air-conditioned Aquarium! Probably my favorite animal that we saw was a baby Orangutan. He was sooo cute and playful! He would come right up to the glass and interact with you. He was definitely putting on a show for those watching and loved the attention.

After the zoo, we went to our hotel and checked in. Our room had a stunning view of the city. He did very well, I was very impressed!! After we cleaned up from our hot day at the zoo, we got ready for our dinner reservations at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. It was very close to our hotel and so we were able to walk and see more of the city. I had never been to that restaurant before, but Chase had. We had yet to use a gift card to there that was given to us as a wedding present from the Romine family. Delicious! That’s all I have to say. Haha. Thank you, Romines!! Our waitress must have overheard us talking because they brought us out a dessert that said “Happy Anniversary” with chocolate syrup on the plate! Very sweet! The first picture is the nighttime view of Pittsburgh from our hotel room!!

Chase is utterly worn out and still sleeping as I’m writing this. He was out like a light last night!

Now, to back up a bit. Newton Falls, the town we are staying in, is apparently known for 3 things: their covered bridge, a tornado that devastated the town in the ‘80s, and their Fourth of July festivities. They have a big parade every year that people come from all around to see. Everyone has been so kind and welcoming to us and they asked us if we would ride in the parade! We had lots of fun. Chase had candy to throw to the kids and Scrappy, the Scrapper’s mascot, was able to come as well. He walked behind us in the car and I felt bad for him it that heavy, hot suit. The kids loved him, though, which we didn’t mind since it took the attention off of us. And...we got to ride in a beautiful car!! At the end of the parade, our driver, Richard, pulled over and introduced us to the congressman from their district. That's a first for me!

We have lots to look forward to this weekend! The Gibsons are coming to see us, Chase’s little fan, Hunter Waldrop, and his dad are coming, and Chase is playing against his good friend, Cole Leonida. I know he is excited to see him! It will be nice to see some familiar faces!

Hope Love to everyone!! Until next time,

Cait

UN-glamorous

Okay, okay...I'm not going to complain too much, but I do want to give you the other side of our baseball life. While Chase and I are having a blast and we know how much this opportunity is a blessing from God, it's not all fun and games. There is an 'unglamorous' side to being a professional baseball player...and his wife.

Last Friday, the 25th of June, Chase had an unbelievable game against the Batavia Muckdogs. He hit two home runs and we won big! After the game was over-around 10ish-the team took their showers, said their goodbyes, and loaded the bus for an overnight trip to Auburn, New York for their next series. The got in at about 4 the next morning and had a game that night. It is an exhausting schedule. There is no such thing as a 'travel day' in the minor leagues. They play a game, load the bus, and go to the next destination overnight. Chase gets 4 days off the whole time we are here. This picture was taken after his two- homer game-Jeanne, David, and I all went to give him a congratulatory send-off.

So...Chase is gone...again. Since we've been married, baseball has pretty much been in full swing. However, his college schedule wasn't nearly as demanding as this one is. He's here for a few days...he's gone for a few days. It's definitely less than ideal for newlyweds, or for anyone, I would imagine.

Jeanne and David are so sweet and try to think of things for us to do. On Saturday, Newton Falls had it's annual car show! I had never been to one before, so, of course, we went! The whole town shuts down for this event, and hundreds of old and new cars are lined up on main street, in the Arby's parking lot; anywhere they can find a spot. Even though I know absolutely
nothing about cars, I can still appreciate them for their beauty and the effort that someone has put into taking care of them. There were classy ones, crazy ones, and ones that I thought....'why in the world is that in here?' The picture to the left pretty much sums that up.We did stumble upon David's dream car...and it was purty :) It was a cobalt blue Mercury. I really wish Chase would have been home to go with us to that. I really think he would have enjoyed it.

Lucky for me, Britni was in Ohio visiting her grandparents this past week. So, on Sunday morning I drove to North Canton and went to church with her, her dad, brothers, and her Mimi and Papa. After church, we ate a nice lunch at Red Lobster and then went back to the house and rode bikes around their neighborhood. We felt like ten-year-olds. After we got tired, we came inside and her Mimi made us chocolate milkshakes and we fell asleep watching West Side Story. I left after a fellowship meal following church that night and was sad to go. It was the perfect summer day with a dear friend :) When I got back to Jeanne and David's house that night, they informed me that they were going to leave in the morning to go visit a friend in North Carolina. They recently found out that she has been diagnosed with Leukemia.

At this point, Chase's team had finished their series in Auburn and were heading down to Batavia, New York for their next series. We decided that I should meet him there and booked a hotel room in the same hotel the team was staying at. Talk about UNglamorous. Hands down the worst hotel I've ever stayed in. But it was worth it! Chase's coach was very understanding and allowed Chase to stay in the room with me...this is how that conversation went...

Chase: Coach, my wife has a room in this hotel and I was wondering if you had a policy as to whether or not I can stay in the room with her?

Coach: She's in THIS hotel? My wife came on this trip with me once and has never come again...sure, you're married. It's fine.

I was very grateful for that...it was nice not to have to sleep in a hotel room by myself.

So, I got to watch the series at Batavia. It was interesting to see what their field and stadium looks like compared to ours in Niles, Ohio. Our stadium is much bigger and we have a much bigger attendance than they did. And...it was cold!!! I spent the whole game Tuesday night shivering. It was in the fifties! In June! It's definitely a far cry from the 100s in Atlanta. I was smart enough to bring a light jacket, but I only had sandals. My toes were turning blue! It was a good trip, though, and I was so glad I got to go. I got back to Newton Falls at about 1 last night and Chase was an hour behind me. Today, the Scrappers kick off another home series...not sure who we're playing tonight. This series is a little different because there are some guys from the Indians organization that are here to help the players before the games. Chase said it's called a 'mini-camp'. I'm anxious to hear how that went today. I'm off to the game. Hope we win!



Lots of love,

Cait

Growing

David is out of the hospital! He was released at around 5 Tuesday night and was at Chase's game at 7! Can you believe it? That is one determined man! He was released without any restrictions and all of his tests came back well! Thank you to everyone for your prayers on his behalf.

Yesterday afternoon while Chase was at the field before the game, David was kind enough to share his passion with me-gardening. He has a beautiful vegetable garden in the backyard. I could tell he was anxious to get to it after being in the hospital for a week. He showed me what all he planted this year: 3 types of tomatoes (red, Roma, and yellow), 2 kinds of cucumbers (eating and pickling!), about 4 0r 5 types of hot peppers, green bell peppers, cabbage, green beans, beets, etc. He taught me how to hoe around the base of the plant to get all the weeds uprooted from around it and then he would come through in-between the rows with a hand-cultivator. Almost as soon as he was done, a good rain came. It was perfect. Something about working outside and watching things grow makes me feel closer to God.

Last night, I had fun sitting with Jeanne and David at the game. They are such great supporters of Chase and the team. David is always yelling, 'Chase, you the man!' And Chase went 2-4 again! He played first base and enjoyed it. It seems like he might be a jack-of-all-trades for this team (he's played left field, DH, and first base already) which is wonderful as it equals more playing time for him.

Chase has had some quotes published in local newspapers. It's very exciting! Jeanne got supplies for us to make a scrapbook with all of the clippings. Here are a couple links to some of the articles:

http://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/538929.html?nav=5024
http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/jun/24/scrappers-finally-score-but-still-come-u/

Chase wanted me to share that with all of the Latin guys on the team he has determined himself to learn some Spanish. He is trying to learn a new word each day. Most of the words he has learned pertain to baseball (surprise, surprise)...things like 'line drive' and 'curve ball.' I won't attempt to tell you what they are in Spanish. Even if I remembered, I couldn't spell them. You will have to ask him :)

I have to share with you a story about a friend I made Tuesday night. I was sitting on the steps of the field reading a book when this man approached me and struck up a conversation. "Getting a whole chapter in?" Trying to be polite, I answered and the next thing I knew he was telling me about how he was in WWII and told me to guess how old he was. Well of course, I didn't want to guess. Turns out he was 85! And he certainly didn't look it. He whipped his drivers license out of his wallet and asked if I was good at math. Sure enough, his birthday was on April 22, 1925. He asked me if I knew what was special about that day and I had no idea. He went on to tell me that when he was 40 years old, they made his birthday Earth Day. He said, "Yep, I'm older than dirt!" Haha!

I've got some catching-up to do on sharing pictures.

Here are a few from Monday--Opening Day:



















Eastwood Field!



















Announcing the teams



















Sprinklers going off on the visiting team!



















Chase hitting--he's number 34 on this team.

And some pics from Tuesday:
























Reading on the porch...



















Welcome home, David!

And some pictures from the game last night:



















There was a short rain delay.



















Chase and I before the game. Doesn't he look good in the Scrappers uniform??



















Chase with Jeanne before the game.

Well, that's all for now. Until next time, lots of love to everyone!

Cait

Opening Day

First of all, I just want to say a BIG ‘thank you’ to everyone for their comments and for reading the blog! It means so much to us that we have people wishing us well from back home! We miss and love you all dearly!

Yesterday marked Opening Day at Eastwood Field. Cars were waiting in lines to get in the parking lot and the ticket lines were packed!

It was wonderful to see so many people there to support our new team, the Scrappers!

Before the game started, as the teams were warming up, the sprinkler system came on but only on the visitor’s side! It was so funny to see them caught off-guard. I don’t think they did it on purpose but it was quite a coincidence!

Unfortunately, we lost last night 12-0, which makes their record 2-2. It wasn’t pretty for the team, but Chase had a good game going 2-4 with a double and a single. He also broke two bats last night! That makes three broken already this season. Chase has only played in three of the four games, so right now, he’s averaging a bat each game. I told him that if he keeps going at this rate, they will be cutting down whole forests just to supply him with bats! He’s going to have to work on being more environmentally friendly :)

They had a wonderful fireworks show after the game last night and I found out they have one at every Friday night game. It seems like every day has a different promotion. I know that Tuesdays are $2 tickets, drinks, and hot dogs and that Thursdays are $1 drinks and hot dogs!

After the game last night, Chase was interviewed by several people. I’m not sure if it was for a newspaper or what, but I want to find out.

Chase is having a blast! He is loving being a ‘professional ball player’ and can’t stop talking about it. He is settling in on the team very well and making friends. There are 4 or 5 guys on the team that are Latin, but I’m not sure where all they are from. There is also a guy from Japan; a pitcher. They call him Taka (sp?). He doesn’t speak very much English and Chase already has some funny stories about the guys trying to communicate with him. I’ll share one of them with you:

One of the Latin guys brought a plate of celery to Taka and asked him how to say it in Japanese. Taka said, “No, no thank you.” The Latin guy said, “No, how to you call it in Japanese?” Taka said, “No, no thank you.” The Latin guy asked again and Taka said, “Okay, thank you” and ate one. Haha. I thought that was so funny! It’s probably funnier in person than it will be reading it here.

David, our host “dad”, is still in the hospital. He has been having tests done to see if there are blood clots in his heart. If the results of his Echo come back well today, he might get to come home tonight. Chase and I are anxious to meet him. I ask for your prayers for him and his family as I know this has been a stressful time for them. Especially while opening up their home to two strangers.

Jeanne made a strawberry pie yesterday and Chase and I shared a piece out on the porch after lunch today. It is delicious! She is such a kind-hearted person.

On Sunday, I drove to church in Warren. It is a small church of Christ about 25 minutes away. Everyone was so welcoming and I found so many who share my connection to Harding. Jeanne met me there for worship after class as she had gone to the hospital that morning to see how David was doing beforehand. I hope her and David will come back with us. A couple of the families from the church were actually down in Atlanta for a wedding that day, so it was kind of ironic. They said ‘we send some to Atlanta, and Atlanta sends us some back.’ It turns out that she knew some of the people that attend church there. Jeanne headed back to the hospital and one of the families took me out to lunch at Wendy’s, Doris, Nina (her daughter), and Lindsey and Michael (Nina’s children). I believe it is their Sunday “ritual.” Lindsey, will be a junior at Harding this next year. She is a psychology major. I had a very nice time. I do miss Buford, though, very much. There is no place like it.

Another picture of the dairy farm.

Here are some pictures of our space in the Bryner's home:

The bedroom.

"Closet" and bathroom.

Our sitting room. The back porch is off of this room.

This time I’m writing to you from Starbucks close to the field; a nice ‘escape’ from the “country”. Pictures from Opening Day will follow soon. I forgot my camera cord this afternoon : ( Until next time,

Cait

The Beginning

We have arrived!

We drove all the way up here on Wednesday and stopped for lunch in Lexington to meet Mimi and Papa and Cindy and Haley at Cracker Barrel. It was so nice to see them and we were grateful for the break. The trip took us about 14 hours total and we were exhausted upon arrival. Chase drove straight to the field to check in and get his uniform. The team put us up in the Fairfield Inn next to the field and we went to sleep early!

Chase had to report for pictures, practice and a physical at 8 on Thursday morning. While he was busy with that, I checked out the mall that is right next to the field! Talk about convenient! It's a nice mall, with all the "essentials" but nothing like the Mall of GA. We're pretty spoiled! After Chase was done with his physical, we went out to our host family's home in Newton Falls. It's about a 30 minute drive from Niles.

We are living in the country! It is so beautiful! Right next door to the house we will be living in is a dairy farm! Chase and I took a walk out into the field last night and enjoyed the picturesque fields and barns.

Unfortunately, our host "dad", David Bryner, is in the hospital right now. He suffered a mini-stroke and is recovering. We have yet to meet him but it feels like we know him already! His wife, Jeanne, has been with him at the hospital most of the time. Her niece, great niece, and great-great niece met us at their house and helped us settle in and cooked us spaghetti for dinner. It was so sweet of them and we enjoyed getting to know them. They live very close by and I'm sure we will be seeing lots more of them this summer.

Jeanne, our host "mom", got in a little before nine last night and we talked to her for hours. She is such a sweetheart. She is a nurse. We also found out that she is a writer; a poet. She said that her writing is often inspired by her nursing--a profession she believes to be sacred since you deal with life and death everyday. She has 4 books published so far, I believe.

Last night was our first night in their home. They have built an addition onto their house and we are staying in a bedroom with a bathroom in it (no separation, I'll show pictures later). That will take some getting-used to! There is a little sitting room attached to our bedroom and the back porch is off of that. The view off the porch is beautiful! I hope to spend lots of time out there this summer.

Chase left early this morning for Jamestown, New York. He will be gone until Sunday night (we think). So, I am in the 'Brew Basket' in town in Newton Falls on the internet. Our host family doesn't have wireless internet at their house, so I'm not sure how often I will add new posts or reply on facebook. Until next time,

Here are some photos from the past few days:











Cincinatti












Welcome to Ohio!
























The dairy farm next door.
























Our new friend
























Excited!

Love and miss you all! More to come soon.

Cait