Last week, our families went to the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo! 
Logan and I had so much fun being with both my parents and his entire family, which was long overdue. 

During the Verrett's stay with us, everyone gathered in the kitchen, like most of our get-togethers. They noticed the desk next to the fridge that has been falling a part since we moved in and expressed concern that my wine may fall and shatter. We made the decision that day to tear it down and find something to replace it. 

We knew we wanted something with a shelf large enough to hold the wine fridge that's been sitting on the floor of the dining room for over a year. We took some measurements and spent an entire Sunday afternoon searching for a transitional kitchen island -- At Home, The Container Store, Bed, Bath & Beyond, World Market... -- nothing met our needs (that was under $300)!

So, my creative and talented husband made all of this. 

We bought 4 porch/staircase poles, a few 2x4's, and the closest thing we could find to a butcher's block from Lowe's. For the wine fridge shelf, Logan used a few leftover fence posts from ... actually, I'm not sure where they came from ... but golly, doesn't it look awesome! Altogether, less than $100! Totally worth it knowing my wine is safe.

Happy New Year! 

What a wonderful New Year celebration it was - Logan and I were both in the wedding party of fellow pageant friend and baseball wife, Jordan Johannsen and her sweet, adorable husband, Logan Bawcom. We had an amazing time closing out 2014 and beginning the new year together with best friends.  

As I think about the coming year and all the possibilities, I am overwhelmed by God's goodness and how many doors He has opened to make this year one full of dreams coming true.


Logan was recently picked up in the Rule 5 draft (see earlier post for my attempt to explain the process) by the Baltimore Orioles. He will be starting the year on the 25-man roster at Spring Training, and if he continues to work as hard as he has these past three years, he will hopefully start the season in April on the Big League Roster! We've been treated so well by the Orioles fans thus far as they have welcomed us with open arms to "Bird Land." 


I will miss our Mets family tremendously and all the wonderful men and women we have met through the organization. The Mets gave Logan his initial opportunity to play professional baseball, and because of their belief in him, the Mets will always have a special place in our heart. 

With so much excitement happening these past few weeks, and very little time to reflect on it all, I have finally sat down and tried to take it all in. Ultimately, I am attempting to prepare myself for his year's ups and downs, whatever they may be while setting new goals and aspirations for 2015. After reading several articles on 'New Year's Resolutions everyone should have,' I was most inspired by Elite Daily's post and from that have cut, spliced and responded to those I want to apply to my life this coming year. Behold -- 15 Resolutions for 2015:

2. Don’t focus on losing weight, just focus on being healthy. Think about what you are putting into your body and make time to exercise. Your body is your greatest asset, take care of it. Run in the American Odyssey Relay. 

3. Continue to invest in those relationships that I value. Don't become discouraged because everyone else is busy. Instead, be persistent in your efforts to see those you love and cherish. 


4. Learn a new skill. There is always room for you to improve, but it doesn’t always have to be life changing. Don’t ever feel limited in your growth potential. Take a calligraphy class and practice the art of writing!

5. Stay off your phone in the company of others. If you can’t appreciate the time you are spending with that person, re-evaluate if that person is even worth your time.

6. Keep a journal. Writing about things that made you happy in the last 24 hours lets you relive the happiness. Otherwise, being able to look back on how you were feeling and reading what you were thinking at any given time is something you can appreciate down the line. Make an effort to blog once a month and journal privately three times a week. 

7. Conquer a fear and learn to embrace failure, remember it is a part of the process. The only time you’re not allowed to fail is when you have not exhausted all your options. If you failed, you did something most people won’t ever do. You tried. If you have trouble starting, stop making excuses and start again. If there is something you want to do, just f*cking do it. Learn how to buy & sell residential real estate just for fun. 

8. Learn to cook. Eating out every day is only going to make you wonder where your money went. Eventually, you will have to learn to take care of yourself, but it’s also a skill you can use to impress that special someone. Learn to poach eggs and make a hollandaise sauce from scratch so we can enjoy Eggs Benedict on a weekend at home :) 

9. Leave the country – These past three years Logan and I have traveled to so many new and exciting places within the U.S. for baseball and this past fall we took a few fun trips to Napa and Annapolis. This year, we are making it a goal to save enough money for a trip to Italy in the fall. I’ve been planning on making this happen for three years, and 2015 is finally here! Let’s do it! 

10. If you hate your job, quit your job. Love what you do, and you will never work another day in your life. Continue to invest in my businesses and capitalize on my strengths to contribute to my team and thus. 

11. Practice meditation. Meditation is not about thinking of nothing. It helps build your awareness of your own thoughts and how you think about and treat others. With every distraction we have in this world, meditation helps you practice focus so you can appreciate being in the present. Do Yoga once a week, at least. 

12. Figure out the areas of your life where you want to improve, and ask for help. There are plenty of benefits to having mentors, but make sure you are ready before you start looking. Meet with financial advisor to find out how minimize debt on auto and student loans and help us create a budget fit for our lifestyle.

13. Start your day by expressing gratitude for what you have. Giving thanks and appreciating what you have allows you to scan the world with a positive mindset to uncover opportunities. Begin a morning "quiet time" with a Bible Study. 

14. Drink more water. It is easy to forget how important water is to living. Skip the sugary drinks and make water your new favorite beverage, you will live guilt free. 

15. Do first things first. We do a lot of things that are not urgent and not important to us but it’s often where most of our time goes. Think about everything that you do and how much it contributes to your overall happiness. If it isn’t helping your cause, don’t do it.

Cheers!   - E

After three full season with the New York Mets, we have been picked up by the Baltimore Orioles. This is awesome news for Logan’s career! We are so thankful for the Mets – they gave Logan the initial opportunity to pursue his baseball career when they drafted him in 2011. We’ve made so many friends and memories throughout the years.

This opportunity comes after great disappointment. In November we thought Logan would be placed on the Mets 40-man roster, protecting him from becoming eligible for the Rule 5 draft and opening him up to another team. To our surprise, the Mets decided to leave him off the roster. It’s tough to swallow after three seasons of great numbers and many, many wins by Logan.

To put this in perspective, it’s kind of like working for a company for over three years and producing top results – good enough to promote to the next level each year. Then, when it comes to the big promotion that comes with a pay-raise and some job stability, your company posts the promotions online and turns out they’ve promoted a guy that you didn’t even know could interview for it. Uhhh, what?  

I want to be clear that we are thankful to the Mets and love the staff, players and friends we’ve made, and I understand that it’s a business and you gotta do whatcha gotta do. On top of that, you never know where this career could take you, and we could very well end up with the Mets again as early as the end of Spring Training this coming year. 

But God is always working for the good. I kept repeating to Logan every morning, “Something good is gonna happen.” 

So Rule 5 Draft Day rolled around. December 11th, 2014. We had spontaneously decided to go out the night before to go see a rapper that invited us back stage. Turns out it was a Frat party, but that’s a story for another time. Needless to say, I rolled into work looking awful and feeling quite dehydrated. 

So I’m listening and trying to work at the same time. I was attempting to type, but I was shaking so badly I finally just stopped. This process happens very quickly because only teams that have an open spot on their 40-man roster are eligible to pick someone up in this draft. 

So I’m sitting there and hear “… RHP Logan Varrett” and I kinda screamed and immediately turned up the volume. Then the coordinator repeats, “The Baltimore Orioles take RHP Logan Verrett” (Yes, I spelt it different the first time because they mispronounced his name). I screamed! I called Logan. He was still sleeping. 

What an incredible feeling to relay the news that he was picked up on someone’s major league roster! It’s the coolest. 
We are feeling immensely blessed, a little confused, and VERY excited for what this next year holds.  

Hey-O! 


New tunes I have playing on repeat right now: 


This cat loves them all, so I have reason to believe you will too.

Colin Leonard - Valleys. Colin was featured last summer on Walk-Up Wednesday when he released his first single on iTunes. Well, this kid is back in action and better than ever! He hit #2 on the Singer/Songwriter charts once his album was released on Tuesday! Please do yourself a favor and download this talented, Christian STUDENT's blissful & uplifting EP.

Ingrid Michaelson - Girls Chase Boys. I have always been a fan of Ingrid's unique ability to top the Pop charts with such an original sound. Her album, Lights Out, will be on iTunes this next Tuesday. I cannot wait to hear what else she has to offer!

Dance away, crazies. \\ E

M.I.A. - Double Bubble Trouble. Yes, it's from a commercial. BUT IT IS AWESOME! I've enjoyed some of M.I.A.'s singles in the past, but honestly, they can be a little repetitive. This specific song has enough rhythm changes throughout to keep me entertained during the entire song.. and want to hear it over again! There are a few others that are enjoyable, however, this is one of the only ones on the album that is NOT explicit. You can barely understand most of the lyrics, though - so rock on.