Memorial Day Festivities

I arrived in Texas on Thursday right before lunch. In a normal fashion I hit the ground running helping my mom work and get things done before the weekend started! My hometown has a festival every year called the National Polka Festival. It is usually a HUGE deal but since the town endured a tornado a couple of weeks ago things were a whole lot different this year.

The Main Street of the town is closed so the parade that kicks off the festival had to be re-routed along with all the booths and food vendor stations. There are a number of activities that accompany this festival ranging from 5-10K races, dances at halls and a Texas Country Music concert. I have not been to the festival in 5 years! Crazy how time has a way of creeping past!

I decided to participate in the 5K race with my cousin, I figured this would be a nice way to welcome myself back!

It was a lot of fun and I did really well considering I haven't ran in months! Cody (my cousin) came in at 24 minutes and I came in a minute later at 25 minutes.

After the race we headed over to Cody's house to shower and get ready for the parade and big day ahead. My dad had duty at one of the booth's to raise money for a fellow co-worker who is battling cancer so we walked around and browsed what the festival had to offer while we waited for his shift to finish.

Once 1 o'clock rolled around it was time to head to one of the halls for lunch! There are 4 halls in my hometown and they all serve the same Czech meal for lunch during the weekend of the festival. It is so yummy and I looked forward to eating it as soon as I got into town!

After I ate I was pooped since I had to get up so early for the race. We headed back home and all took naps and around 5 went back into town to get some things for our Polka Fest dinner!

We went with an All American theme since it was Memorial Day weekend. Sliders, hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, chips and dip and fruit salad! The perfect ending to a long day! 

The next day we loaded up and went to Dallas to celebrate my Mom's birthday. Her birthday fell on Memorial Day this year so we decided to celebrate a day early so she would have a day all to herself!

Her birthday brunch was a success! 

My mom decided to take a scenic route on the way home so we got to see these amazing horses! We were in complete "aww" of them.

The weekend was a very eventful yet fun one! I enjoyed being with my family for Polka Fest and being able to be with my mom on her birthday! I hope everyone is having a smooth recovery from the 3 day weekend!

Love,
E

Little Adventures

Before Jess and I both headed out on the road we were lucky enough to have an entire off day together. Jess planned to take me to one of my favorite places for lunch and then to check out to a park near our place.

I wanted to check out this cute little place that is on the way to the field that we pass everyday. This little hidden gem is called Lickity Split. I quickly regretted having lunch at Panera Bread after arriving and seeing all they had to offer. We will for sure be heading back there once we return from this road trip!

Jess taking in the menu selections

Right next to Lickity Split is Wixey Bakery. It is a mom and pop bakery that has been around for quite a while. We popped in there as well to take in the sites they had to offer!

Mmmmm.... ;)

After scoping out Wixey Bakery we headed to the park to get a little nature walk in. I am going to apologize now for the picture overload. It was too hard to not take pictures of all the beautiful trees and views along the trail that ran through the park!

These trees were so big!

Little baby dear just having a bite to eat. 

She was so calm with us walking by and didn't even care. 

This bridge was named "swinging bridge". You couldn't walk on it without feeling unsteady or pulled backward. It was so neat!

The day was a overcast one and it ended up raining later on in the evening. We had a nice relaxing day together and it was so nice to have some time together before the 8 day road trip began. 

I fall more and more in love with this place everyday! 

Love,

E

Touch or be Touched

Growing up in school we are taught to "Make a difference", "Stand up for what YOU believe in" and to do something that will impact the world. Along with those we are always encouraged to do something for others, or to "touch them". I do not know if I have ever "touched" someone but I know that Wednesday I was touched by one of my dear friends.

I met Rachel Weiland after we moved to Austin for Jess to workout during the offseason 2011/2012. Jess had been throwing with her husband Kyle at the University of Texas. We ended up finally meeting the day before her and Kyle were heading out for Spring Training so we didn't really get to know each other until the offseason came back around. Jess and I decided to buy a house there so that he could spend the whole offseason getting ready for the upcoming seasons instead of just a few months prior. Rachel and Kyle lived right down the street in our little community and that is when our friendship really began.

Anyone who knows Rachel knows that she is hilarious! She is fun, SO sweet, bubbly and you can't help but to smile when you are around her because she just has that effect on you. She is actually the reason I finally put my blog out there for everyone to see. She has given me incredible advice and I admire everything she does and says. Rachel has an awesome blog where she does reviews for make-up, tutorials, shares recipes and some of her recent outfit purchases. I love to read her blog because I lack (which is an understatement) knowledge in the make-up department. She is my go-to gal when I need to know anything! You can find all of Rachel's tips and tricks here at Glow of Grace!

But to get back on track to what I was saying....

Rachel featured myself and another baseball wife Wednesday on her blog. She sent me a text late that afternoon letting me know she had just posted and to take a look. I immediately opened up my email that I get from subscribing to her blog and read away. A couple of minutes in tears began forming in my eyes. My husband even sat up on the couch and asked if I was ok because I started to full fledge cry! I was so moved by the words she had written and knew every word was meant so graciously.

If I didn't already know Rachel's post confirmed even more that I have some really incredible people in my life. Regardless of how I have met them, may it be in my childhood, as a young adult or even now in the present time. I am truly lucky to be surrounded with the circle of people I call my friends and family. I am even more blessed to have Rachel in my life and am able to call her my friend. So today I am writing this post as a dedication to her. May I one day touch someone else the way she has touched me.

I hope y'all have a fabulous Memorial Day Weekend! I will be spending time with my family and thanking God for my freedom and for the soldiers who have fought and still fight for it today.

Love,
E

Day Games

Day games for the most part are few and far between. Sundays are usually pegged as a "day game" day and that is when we get to have dinner at a normal hour and even at a restaurant if we are lucky! Yesterday kicked off 3 consecutive day games for Jess and his team. These 3 games will be followed by an off day so we are in for an extra treat!

To start off the trio of day games, last night Jess wanted Sushi for dinner so we headed to a place we heard offered the best. We were both very satisfied and loved the nice little area it was located in. We even saw some of Jess' teammates while we were there. I guess a few of them had a craving for the same thing after yesterday's game.

I'm off to enjoy my evening with my husband! Prayers to all affected by the Tornadoes this afternoon in Oklahoma. May God give you each peace and understanding during this difficult time. 

Love,

E

Letters

It has been a good hot minute or so since I have had a "Letters" post. As usual so much has gone on so I have a lot on my mind to share!

Dear Toledo,
I am loving Jess playing here and fall more and more in love with this city daily. It might have to do with the company I have here but I will just chalk it up that it's the city's charm and continue to marvel at the beautiful grass, trees and flowers!

Dear warmer weather,
You are FABULOUS! I started to think I was going to be wearing a coat well into July. It finally feels like it's baseball season with all this wonderful weather!

Dear Target,
Why must you tempt me? Or why must I tempt myself? I go in for 2 things that I need (ok 1 thing that I NEED) and come out with 5 things. Luckily my husband was napping when I came in so I could hide the evidence. Plus I got him something so that counts, right??

Dear Monette's,
I LOVE YOU. I could visit you everyday! Thankfully you are right around the corner and I can walk to you whenever I feel the need to see beautiful, bright colors, smell fresh produce and aromas of your homemade soups.

Dear Kinny,
I am sorry I am going to miss your 1st dance recital. Im sure you are going to rock everyone's socks off and I will be watching via Skype. Thank God for technology so that I don't miss the little things.

Dear God,
Thank you for your blessings. I am so unworthy but you continuously shine down on me everyday. Thank you for keeping Ennis safe during the tornado last night and allowing only structural damage to be done.

Here lately I feel as though life has been so beautiful. I have been looking into everyday with so much more of an endearing aspect and I hope that this new perspective is here to stay.

I hope everyone has a fabulous Friday Eve!

Love,
E

p.s.
Dear readers,
Thank you for reading ;)

Weekend in Indy!

Although I have been to Indianapolis before, it has been about 3 years since we have been back there for Jess to play. In my opinion it is a very underrated city. The baseball field, Lucas Oil Field and the Pacers basketball arena are all in the same area. Right in the center of all these is a nice mall and plenty of yummy places to eat! The hotel we stay at is in walking distance of all of these things which makes even more enjoyable.

We carpooled with another couple which makes things so much funner in my opinion! The boys talk their same sports talk and play their iPad games and the girls obviously have more sophisticated convos about clothes, food and reality tv. It makes 3 hour car rides fly by!

While I didn't get any good pictures of the city and all that we did, it was definitely a fun trip. We were there from Friday and just got back this evening. On Saturday one of my friends family came in and we went to dinner. Her mom also brought me some wonderful Lavender Cookies that she made from scratch. They are a perfect size and I could eat about 1,000 of them. I had never had a Lavender Cookie before and I have been missing out big time!

On our walk to dinner there were crowds of people everywhere due to the Pacers playing the Knicks in the playoffs. Spike Lee walked right past us and I was of course star struck! I get so excited when I see famous people! I felt like I was going to reach out and grab him, haha! Probably a good thing my parents taught me manners ;)

We are back home for the next 8 days and have 4 games within those 8 that are day games. I am looking forward to that! It's the little things in life.

I hope all you mother's out there had a wonderful Mother's Day! And I really hope our moms felt our love we were sending them from states away!

Happy Monday Y'all!

Love,
E

It was a "God" thing

I have fumbled back and forth with making this blog more public. A big part of me really wants to advertise the crap out of it, make people more aware of what is going on over at "Tales of the Todd's". Then the other part of me doesn't want the judgement of what I have to share and what all my life entails.

The past couple of years that "Tales of the Todd's" has been up and running, it has been to document Jess' outings and how he is doing so that our family can keep up. In those past couple of years I have had many struggles with the life of having a husband who plays Baseball for a career and Jess has had his fair share as well. Looking back on those dark, very sad, very misunderstood times, my heart can't help but to feel full. Jess catapulted into success reaching the Major League level at a young age. Which is great but the "success" or what is considered to be "success" in the statistical part of baseball didn't keep. You have critics in your everyday life of course but the critics in the world of sports is on a whole different level. My husband endured a lot of blows to his stature, way he threw, and comments that would make your blood boil on any given Sunday. It was rough, he seriously hated life. We had "Come to Jesus Meetings" every other day it seemed like and I started to wonder if the sport that he was groomed his entire life for was going to be the demise of him and us.

Do not get me wrong. I love this game. I love this game just like my husband loves this game. Every day that I wake up I am so blown away at just how much this game has blessed my life and my husbands. This offseason Jess became a Free Agent and this was a first for him. We really didn't know what to expect. I can't say enough how good God has been to us and by his grace and watchful way Jess wasn't a Free Agent for long and signed with Detroit in November. With thankful hearts we were both very excited but very nervous and scared for what was to come. I had already decided that I wasn't going to try too hard to open up and meet anyone this season because we didn't know for sure if Jess would break with the team and I didn't want to get too excited to then just be let down. I remember even telling my best friend that on the phone once we arrived in Florida for Spring Training.

God had other plans for me though.

During Spring Training, Detroit and all organizations offer a Bible Study for all players who want to attend. The Bible Study that the organization puts on is and was amazing! I saw a transformation in Jess during that time and he opened up so much and came to terms with so much of his career that it truly impacted us both. The way we found out about it was because I reached out to one girl on Facebook who's husband was in the Detroit Organization who coincidentally had the same last name as us. She then told me about the study and after trying to keep from making any friends we had dinner one night. We were then instantly friends and I felt like we had known each other forever. Out of all the Spring Training's we have had 2013's was both mine and Jess' favorite!

I figured after breaking camp since we wouldn't be in the same place as said girl and her husband that I wouldn't be making anymore new friends. Sound ridiculous, I know but when you move around a lot you start to only eat at the places that are nearby, shop at the grocery store that is on the corner and not leave the house as much. It can sometimes get tiring trying to maneuver around a new city. Same goes with making friends. Again, God is too good to me and has blessed me with a friend who is absolutely genuine and is going to make the season so enjoyable. I am so thankful for all the work he has done in my life and I feel like even though some of it was sooo painful it was all worth it. I am sure there are still plenty of painful moments ahead in my life but I know that He will guide me through all of them.

Jess recently started to struggle on the mound. He was having some mechanical issues that he was working on. I started to feel anxious and worried about his job and I could tell he felt the same way. I finally had to sit down and pray really hard. I prayed on all of the things I was struggling with and having problems with. I mean I prayed hard. That night we had a game that went into extra innings. I of course started to worry. I knew the longer the game went the more of chance Jess would pitch and be put in what I term to be a scary situation. Everyone knows a tie has to break at some point.

Jess came into pitch for the 12th inning. He did phenomenal! He pitched 4.2 innings but ended up getting the loss. During those innings he had 6 strike outs, 4 hits and only 1 walk. The runs he endured only came in the last .2 of an inning he pitched. He hadn't pitched over 3 innings in years. I know in my heart that outing was a TOTAL "God" thing. God was there taking care of Jess and his anxiety through every pitch. I believe that when you can look back at a situation and it didn't end the way you wanted or go the way you planned but are still thankful at the conclusion that is a "God" thing. God directs our steps, he knows the BETTER way we just have to surrender.

I know that I am not perfect. I sin just as much as the next person but I believe with all of my heart, soul and mind that if you believe in God and let go of all you are trying to control he will amaze you by what he has planned in your life. He has done so in the past couple of months for me and if I really dig deep into what has happened in the past he has worked in those times too. God is for us and I know some days it is hard to see that he is, but he is! And I will praise him and thank him continually for all he has done and will do for me.

So this is my life. Living day to day supporting my husband in his journey playing one of "America's Favorite Pastimes". For some it may seem like a cakewalk and in comparison to problems other people have, mine are very miniscule. A lot of baseball wives, fiances and girlfriends can attest that even though this may be a game, the problems and issues that we are sometimes faced with are very serious and real.

I hope that in this blog I can encourage you and be a light so that you too can rely on God and all he has to offer in your life.

Love,
E

Cinco De Mayo!

When I had my 1st birthday 26 years ago, my parents were so kind by making it a Red, White and Green themed party. This was because my birthday is on Cinco De Mayo which is Mexico's Day of Independence. Jess (up until last year) thought that Cinco De Mayo was a "made up" holiday for people just to go out and get slammed. So this year he embraced it and my birthday more than he has before!

The team had a day game which was even more fabulous because this meant that we had the evening off from the field. We decided this was a perfect time to have a Fiesta! One of the other pitcher's wives and myself went and got all the stuff we needed and set it all up before heading to the game. Around 6:30 the boys' teammates started showing up and the party was kicked off!

 Jess made some FABULOUS margarita's! 

 This cake was so so good! Haley (pictured below) made it and not only was it delicious, it was so thoughtful!

 One of the sweetest people I have ever met! So thankful to have met such a genuine person!

This man never ceases to amaze me. I thank God everyday for him. He is truly a blessing and I hope that I bless him as his wife as much as he blesses me as my husband. 

This past birthday left me with a feeling of overwhelming thankfulness. God has blessed me so much and I know that I am so unworthy of it all. I love every bit of this life I have whether it be good, great, terrible, ugly or crazy. My heart is so full and I hope that I can bless and touch others like I have been blessed and touched. 

So here is to turning 26! May I do more for others this year than any year before. I hope to be witness not a judge and a light to all that I meet. 

Thank you all for your birthday wishes and love! I love each and everyone of you and thank you for being a part of my life!

xoxo

Love,

E

Making the "Unknown" a Home

By now you would think I would be a pro at moving in and out of places. I have this routine I do when we move into a new place and I still find myself learning new things to do every time I am in this situation.

First I go through every room, look through the drawers, under the beds, in the closets, through the kitchen and check all the bathrooms. Then I start cleaning. I go and buy all kinds of good smelly stuff because let's face it! A home isn't a home if it doesn't smell like you. I am a little psycho when it comes to how a place smells. After a lot of trial and error I have found that Bath and Body Works "wallflowers" are the best plug-ins on earth. They are the only ones who last a long time yet still smell strong enough to transform and unknown stinky place into a sweet one. Clorox wipes are a staple along with at least 2 types of Febreeze AND Lysol. Don't forget the Lysol! Then to really seal the deal on making the new place our home I cook! 

We really hit the jackpot in this apartment because the couple that lived here before us left us a lot of stuff. Such as a broom, vacuum cleaner, lots of paper towels and toilet paper, coffee maker, magic bullet, more Clorox Wipes and trashcans! Woo hoo! I cannot tell you how many trashcans I have bought in my lifetime! So thankful to them for thinking of us or better yet not having enough room to take it with them! ;)

Jess is thrilled to be in this picture, can't you tell??

It isn't the Ritz Carlton but it's no strings attached and if something were to happen we can just pack our stuff up and leave. Having convenience like that in the Baseball world makes a whole lot of difference. It is so nice to be settled and able to cook a good meal for Jess. Hotels are great but after 2 and a half months of it we were tapped out!

I hope all of you are enjoying May! It's finally warm in Toledo so I am thrilled about that!

Happy Friday!

Love,
E