You might be a baseball girlfriend if..

It's no secret that I date a baseball player turned coach. Billy juggles multiple teams through 3 different seasons throughout the year, and you can't forget about those winter workouts! Before I met Billy, I was the only person I knew at the time that would honestly admit that I prefer baseball over football. It's taboo in the south. Even if you don't like football, you lie and say you love game days! That also being said, never in my wildest dreams would I have ever guessed I would be dating a baseball player (I was a teeny-bopper, not a cleat chaser).
We are going on season #10 together this weekend. It's become pretty obvious that this baseball thing is officially in my blood. Here are some of the signs and symptoms that might help you diagnose yourself as well.

You might be a baseball girlfriend if..

• You keep a stash of extra blankets and sweatshirts in your trunk for those extra cold spring games
• You secretly hope someone gets ejected at any cost
• There are very few lines you won't cross when it comes to superstitions about the game.
• No, you can't leave your spot if you're up.
• Yes, we have to have the same breakfast or snack if we're on a streak.
• For real, I'm wearing these sliders again.
• Washing socks is not an option.
• Rally Caps have magic inside of them.
• Your favorite fans are the hecklers
• You have been caught heckling.. 
• You initially judge a team based on their stadium, stands, field, and the distance you have to walk to get to their restrooms. You might be good, but if your stadium sucks, you still suck to me.
• You find yourself being able to point out baseball players and other baseball families in a crowd
• You think GameChanger was the best app ever invented
• You've ever bought gatorade or powerade in such large quantities that came on a pallet
• Even on your weekends off, you find yourself doing something baseball related
• Rain delays make you want to scream and cry all at the same time
                                   
• When shopping and/or dressing, you consider what kind of tan lines that shirt is going to leave behind
• You have at least a small section of your closet dedicated to the team -- colors, logo, and even your beloved tshirts with his name and # on the back

• You know which restaurants stay open past 10pm without having to look it up. Chilis, I love you.
• You know that choke up has nothing to do with tears, cheddar is not a cheese, and that a hit and run won't get you put in jail
• Cleat chasers bother you.. even if you're not the jealous type and you know they're not after your player.
• You've ever listened to a song and analyzed if it would make a good walk-out song or not
• You can not make it through "Sweet Caroline" without screaming BA BA BA!
• Zombie Nation makes you want to pull your hair out because you've heard it so many times.
• You love away games only because you don't have to wait for them to clean the field.

that being said, PLAY BALL! Here's to another fall season with Team Elite!

The puppy behind the girl

In honor of National Dog day Monday, this well over due blog post is going to be dedicated the pup I rescued. to the sweetest, cutest little 4-legged blonde girl to ever walk this planet, Casey Michelle.

Let's back this story up to circa 2010. There was a stray dog that lived in my parents neighborhood. This dog was dropping a litter of puppies off in our yard about once every summer. I was going home to visit one weekend, and on the way my mother mentions that we had a new litter AGAIN. I had kind of became frustrated with having to find homes or take them to the pound, so I didn't really think much of the idea, nor did I go to see them when I arrived home. Later that night, I went outside to look for something and remembered, "Oh, we have puppies!" so I went to investigate. Of course, who can turn down playing with a huge pile of puppies?! No one, right? I picked one of the puppies and took her inside with me. I played with her for a few hours until I fell asleep, and she did too. 

Okay, so maybe this was posed

The next morning, I went to return her to her litter, but first I let them all (all 7 females) out of their pen so they could play in the grass. Sure enough, the one that I had initially chosen in the dark because she was the first one I could get my hands on was the one that I could tell was going to make the best dog out of the bunch. {Yes, I have a talent of being able to pick the best dogs out of a pack. Ask anyone I know.} While I was playing with them, I remembered Billy was also in the hunt of a Brittany Puppy, but he was having zero luck finding one that wasn't going to have issues and/or cost a ton. So he instantly got a huge stockpile of pictures of these puppies sent to him. He said he'd take one, and that I got to pick which one he'd call his. Obviously, I chose this sweet, well tempered, little girl. 

We went through an intense naming process that looked a lot like a football bracket. I was set on naming her Bristol or Avery. He wanted to name her something stupid, obviously. We settled on Casey. 

Billy met her for the 1st time the week of July 4th, 2010. She was 6 weeks old. She instantly stole our hearts. She could barely fit in her itsy-bitsy collar and couldn't finish and entire walk without laying down and stopping making one of us carry her back. She spent the entire summer getting well adjusted to cabin life, the perfect riding companion , and the life of a bleacher/orphan pup at her dad's baseball games. 

After summer was over, we began the process of moving back to Milledgeville. Unfortunately, we found out the the puppy friendly house Billy was moving into was entirely covered in black mold and was uninhabitable. Considering this was just a few days before school started, we were scrambling to find a place for him to live. We were unable to find anywhere he could live without having to pay a $800 pet deposit, which he didn't have. We were forced to give her up to two very sweet friends of Billy's who too were looking to adopt a pup, and said that if anything changed that they would understand. That night, I cried thinking about having to let her go. Billy did too. We had fallen in love with that sweet girl, and she had really taken a part of us. 

The next day we were determined to find a place, come hell or high water, that would let us get our precious girl back. We finally gave up, and had two more places left before we were out of options. Sure enough, we found two girls looking for a roommate in a dog friendly apartment complex! They already had a dog, so the pet deposit had be covered. It was incredible how lucky we were to have finally found it. The first thing we did, was call and hope that they would let us have our girl back. We were ecstatic when we picked her up to take to her new home to be with us permanently.
Side note: the sweet friends that took her were able to adopt another lab puppy two weeks later from a shelter. They love him to pieces, and I am still so thankful knowing they would have loved Casey just as much.

This was when we picked her up.  She even looks excited to see us! 

Casey is now 3! She is the epitome of a good dog. So well mannered, obedient, loving, I trust her, playful, and quite the cuddle bug. As soon as she knows she's going somewhere, she goes and waits by the door to "get dressed" and then darts towards the back door of the car to wait for someone to let her in, because she knows she's in for an adventure. I love knowing that as soon as we get to the field, I can unleash her and she goes right to her spot. Everyone knows her and loves her and loves seeing her show up to the games. I love watching her play with babies and other puppies because she is so gentle. Whenever a great play happens, she gets excited from the fans excitement and will even chime in a little cheer when you say "Go Dawgs, Sic' em!" ;) That's my girl. I love her.

My Bleacher Dog

At the KR tailgate party

I know I say I rescued her, but honestly, she rescued me. I sometimes wonder how much boring or what joy my life would be missing without her. If you own a dog yourself, you know exactly what kind of pleasure and happiness these little fur-balls can bring. If you don't, I completely encourage you to adpot from your local shelter or humane society. Don't give in to the stigma that pound puppies are ugly and have issues (well honestly, some do, but not all). They are just as sweet, beautiful, smart {smarter than most full blooded} dogs that need love too!

Company Community Service Day

This year my company has decided to start devoting one day a year to volunteering for community service projects. So Friday we had our First company community service day.. Not first annual. Just the first.. sorry, pet peeve.

The office was closed and everyone was given a list of places we could volunteer at for the day. I chose to volunteer at one of the Atlanta area Senior Connections centers to help prepare boxes for meals on wheels.
The upside, I was able to sleep in and not have to be in the office at the crack of dawn, so I was totally down! Little did I know how much manual labor was going to be involved. Wow!!

We arrived about 10 AM and went through a brief run down on how the center operated and what we would be doing for the day--packing meals that would be distributed all over Atlanta and the metro area. We split up into groups, and we were each assigned a job. Some where putting together boxes, some were loading the trucks, some were washing dishes, some were bagging and packing things to go in the boxes and my group was actually packaging the meals that would go into the boxes. I ended up packing at least 2,400 baked chicken meals, about 1,000 breakfasts, and around 800 tilapia meals. I didn't realize how many boxes were packed everyday, and much less how much man power it took to pull of such a feat.

We followed up the day with a happy hour with our team. It was a lot of fun getting out from behind a computer and being able to do something with my hands instead. There was the added pleasure of being able to give back to the community. Knowing these meals may be some of the only meals that elderly person may have in a single day touched my heart. These shut ins rarely see people, and many hardly make it out and about. The people that deliver these meals may be the only personal contact that receive. I am so glad that I was able to indirectly make someone's day. 

What I love about fall

I will be the first to tell you I am not even in the slightest bit ready for fall to get here. I like being able to wear shorts everywhere, not have to worry about bringing a jacket, and being able to enjoy being outdoors. When the time comes for fall to be here, I will welcome it with open arms as it's my second favorite season of the year because of all the great fun and things it has to offer.

I love all of the small-town festivals that happen in the fall. I cannot wait to visit all the adorable vendors and meeting all sorts of people. Fall festivals  and my beloved, Apple Festival in the mountains are always at the top of my list of things I love about fall.

Pumpkin patches & Corn mazes are typically my first pick of things to do on a cool weekend. I adore traipsing through the fields looking for just the perfect little pumpkin or two. I also love a good corn maze. Billy and I always try to race and see who can get out first. It's one of those things I love done to help make me feel like a kid again.

Even before baseball season has ended, I've already planned a weekend for us that consists of hiking and joy riding to enjoy the most beautiful views and colors that the leaves give us. I am just in awe sometimes of the beautiful things God paints. This is exactly what it looks like on the road to the cabin in late October and early November. I could drive for hours just taking all of the stunning colors in.
I also love all of the bon fires and parties that happen in the fall. One of the first things I associate with the new cooler weather, is bon fires. I hate the smell of the smoke that I can't get rid of for days, but I just can't get enough of laughing  and enjoying music around a fire pit with some of my favorite people. Oh, and who couldn't mention all the football parties. We have some pretty die hard football fans here in the South. High school and college football kick off soon, and  there will be pleanty of excuses to pile around a tv together!

Fall baseball season is, hands down, my favorite baseball season. It's probably the easiest of the seasons to deal with. Everything, though important, is very laid back and go-with-the flow compared to all the other seasons they put me through. Most of the tournaments are right in the neighborhood and they're weekends only, which means there is a lot more quality time to be spent with Billiam and baby Casey than summer and spring.

And who doesn't love fall fashion?! Boots, scarves, sweaters, Oh my! I love how layering looks! I love always being able to wear my cowboy and riding boots. I am a sucker for a good cable knit sweater or a comfy mountain hardware jacket. I totally plan on pulling together this look for myself in the coming months.

Weekend Recap

Finally, a relatively fun weekend to tell you about!

Friday night the plan was to meet up with some friends that were playing a show in Atlanta for the night. I got all dolled up and we set out to our go-to sushi restaurant, however when we got there, it was closed for remodeling. Crap! I don't know about you, but when I get an idea set in my stomach about what I'm eating for the night, I can't change it. I can roll with almost any change of plans, but when it comes to food, not a chance. So we googled for the nearest one and found ourselves on the way to Sushi House Buckhead. Low and behold, it was even better than our go-to! It's my new favorite, it's a few bucks more expensive, but the service and sushi were totally worth the difference!

I am typically not a fan of selfies, but I was proud of my hair

As soon as dinner was over, we realized we were both having that Friday afternoon crash. We went to the bar to see my friends to at least tell them hello, even though we knew us two old people couldn't hardly stay awake much longer. So we came back, watched an episode of my latest Netflix obsession, Fringe, and I was out by 10:00. How freaking pathetic of me?!

Saturday I got up and set out on a mission to find the greatest baby present ever for our friends, Billy and Meghan's new little girl, Adeline. Last week I saw the most perfect little rocking horse, but was stupid and didn't get it, and it wasn't there went I changed my mind and went back for it. I scavanged every homegoods store in the North Metro area looking for this adorable little thing with no avail.

If you see her at a store near you, snag her for me. SERIOUSLY!

After half a day of shopping without any luck, I went to Billy's house and snuggled with my favorite little girl until he got off work.  The upside to all of that unsucessful shopping, I found out that I won a facebook giveaway for a $75 shopping spree at one of my favorite boutiques!! Heck yeah! 

That night we went to a party with our Team Elite family at the head coach's beautiful, beautiful new home right near Chateau Elan. I was so excited to see all of the girls again, and Billy was excited he got to play poker and grunt and do other manly things I don't care do do with him.  

Ivey and Laura

I was beyond excited to see Ashley show up!

All of the boys and their poker games

Sunday we went to visit Meghan and Billy to pick up a few things and to check on her growing belly! Addie will be here before we know it. We also tried making homemade guacamole for the first time. It was obviously a very very dry run, because it was not near on the level that i was hoping it would be, but it was a start. What do you use in your guac recipe? I know every one does something different and I love hearing each person's take on it.

{Roommates; A blog series - Part 4} Things I miss about having roommates

When I moved to Atlanta, I decided I wanted to live in a one bedroom apartment for a few reasons.. I didn't know anyone I really wanted to live with, I was looking forward to having my own space, and I was honestly hoping Billy would be moving in soon and I didn't want to have to worry about dealing with a roommate when that time came. I found the perfect little one bedroom that is small enough for one and big enough for 2 and a dog child.

Fast forward a year later and I am perfectly happy with my living arrangements, but I've kind of gotten used to not having my roommates around. Except for a few little things

We used to alternate nights to cook dinner. I always cooked on Monday nights.. the others had their designated night of the week to cook. It made shopping easy and cheaper for all of us. It also made getting homework done a lot easier for me on every other night of the week as I didn't have to worry about what I was eating that night--someone else had it all planned out. I wish I could still count on having other people to cook dinner and do the dishes for me every night.

Living on my own means that only person is paying the bills.. that'd be me. I kind of miss being able to split up my rent and utilities. $15 for water is better than $30 for water last I checked.

There were always multiple people to help clean. Billy is always willing to chip in and help, but I really don't want to be cleaning when I could be spending time with him instead. The upside, the are less people to tell me what a slob I am. No, I still haven't unpacked my suitcase from last weekend. No, I don't particularly care.

I always had someone to make sure I caught up with my tv shows.. and do debate with me which bachelorette or housewife was the most crazy.

I always had someone around to talk to.. I don't mean spill my guts to, I mean just to have a even conversation about the weather with. Sometimes living alone can seriously drive you batty . If I spend an entire weekend at my place by myself, I sound like a crazy person by the time I come in contact with someone next.

Who else would be around to help me bling my cast, steal road signs, make up our own game shows, or would loan me their shorts to wear because half my bathing suit fell off while tubing in the lake..

I can't tell you enough how much these girls mean to me. I know I am beyond lucky to have roommates I love, but especially lucky that I get to love them. Most people have horrible experiences with their living arrangements after they leave home. Me, on the other hand, my living arrangements got better. I gained family and best friends. 

sometimes life just gets away from us

..lately life has just been getting away from me in the blogging department. Work is really doing a number on me, therefore I have had zero time or desire to update. Lucky for you, you haven't missed much. Here's the quick recap of my not so interesting week..

My week sucked. Work sucks. I pretty much was having the crappiest week from you know where. Every time I checked one thing off my to-do list, two more things managed to make their way on. One of my sweet coworkers made me this hinge bracelet to help brighten my day. She has no idea how much it turned my outlook around. It's adorable.

I had dinner and went shopping with Kat. I love her. I hate I didn't take any pictures while we were together. She is one of my best girlfriends in the city, and it was so great to finally see her again and catch up on all the things we've been missing out on since she graduated.

Of course, then there is trivia night which is always the highlight of my week. Ret and I proceeded to make up drink cominations with our new found favorite whiskey, fireball. This is us sharing our concoction lady and the tramp style. It's strange that Billy thinks this is perfectly normal behavior for us and is surprisingly cool with the fact that Ret is my other boyfriend when Billy is slacking on his job.

{FYI: Fireball and Apple Juice or Cider.. phenomenal.}

This weekend we celebrated Billy's brother's birthday at the cabin. We surprised him by flying his girlfriend into Atlanta without him even knowing! Bazinga. So we spent a few days enjoying the North Georgia mountains and we even finally got to go tubing down the river! Our cabin neighbors came over and enjoyed the cookout with us, which was quite nice because the husband is also in the IT field with me. We got to talk about how lazy and dumb some people can be, which after the week of work I had, it was a great way to release steam.
I apologize for being a horrible picture taker. All I have is this dumb snail.

Now I'm back in Atlanta already looking forward to the weekend again.. I know this is a horrible post, but I am well over due for at least telling you hello.. so hello. I promise I'll get more interesting soon and that I'll catch up on my blog series as soon as I catch up on my sleep.

{Roommates; A blog Series - Part 3} Our Apartments over the years

If there was one thing we always agreed on it was that we always wanted to decorate our apartments as cute  as we could (and cheaply to boot). We always prided ourselves in keeping a nice, clean apartment that was worth visiting and people enjoyed to be inside.

Freshman Year

Our freshman year our room was pretty bare. We were really not getting the hang of having a cute apartment for the longest time. We didn't even put a rug down or a tv in the living room until almost Christmas.. You're lucky I'm even sharing this place it's so dull..

Our living room.

My room, which I was quite fond of. That bed, believe it or not, slept like nobody's business. Loved it!!

Our Zebra Dorm

Sophomore year, the first year we were able to put all of our minds together and the year we had gotten the hang of college, we decided to show out.. sort of. :) 

We were brainstorming things and came up with that we wanted to use pink, because Ashlyn had a lot of pink and black things we could incorporate.This was right about the time zebra print was cool, but still not over done.. think chevron, but last summer. We all loved it, and wanted to incorporate it into our room as the accent somehow. During our brainstorm, I came up with the idea to put zebra print fabric on our walls to act as wallpaper! Looking back, it was a stroke of brilliance. Keep in mind, this was pre-pinterest, so it was even more cool for us. 

Everything we hand made.. well except for the furniture, the pink chair included. Ashlyns' grandmother threw together the adorable pillows with our extra fabric. We painted all of the pink frames from $1-3 frames at walmart. Everything else had been left overs from the year prior. The TV was in Ashlyn's den at home. Her parents were sweet enough to let us take it to keep us from having to buy a new one!

Note Ashlyn's big screen tv. I bet your dorm didn't have that!

The tedious act of putting the fabric on the wall.

The Bellamy

After we left our juco, we moved into a real RA-less apartment in  Milledgeville. We actually really hated this apartment. It was loud, the people were rude, everything inside of it was cheap, and it was really expensive. We got out of there as soon as we could. I looked and looked for pictures of my room, which was adorable, but couldn't find any.. Because we didn't get too fired up about this place we didn't really bust our creative juices too much. Keep in mind this was also like move in day, so we eventually added a few more things. on the other walls I failed to get pictures of.
If only Megan of the past knew that blogger Megan of the future would want those pictures..

The Town House

Our last two years fondly known as our senior and super senior years, we technically didn't all live together. We couldn't find any 4 bedroom places that were worth living in. We toured a few, but they were really unrealistic. We lucked up and found an adorable yellow town home in the cutest little mini-community a block from campus for half the price of what we were paying before. Each side had 2 bedrooms and 1 bath.. ideal for what we needed, we we all lived in the same townhouse, just on different sides. So it was twice the decorating. I loved this place, even if it didn't have a dish washer or washer/dryer.

I hate Christmas. Ironically enough, we had a pretty legit tree.

My room, which is pretty much identical to my present day bedroom.