Mr. & Mrs. McNerney

On Saturday June 29, 2013 (one month ago today!) I had the great pleasure of witnessing the wedding of two good friends.  The bride I have known since I was in third grade; we went to grade school, high school, and college together.  The groom I have known since the bride brought him to the birthday dinner of a mutual friend and introduced us several years ago (when it was like pulling teeth to get him to talk to anyone if you can even believe it!)

Though not constantly present in their lives for geographical reasons, I still had the opportunity to watch their relationship start, develop, and blossom.  And it has been beautiful.

As their wedding favor indicated, it started with a cookie.  They literally baked oatmeal cookies on their first date.  Something so simple and yet it perfectly defines them as a couple and as friends to others - they are sweet and comforting. 

They uniquely enjoy just being with each other and each lights up when the other enters the room.  They are truly halves to a whole and yet, they are complete in and of themselves.

 You may kiss the bride!

 The Groom

 The Bride

Though these two friends are younger than me, I admire them and look to them for an example of what I want in a relationship.  To me, they are quite possibly the epitome of love.  Congratulations to these two wonderful people ... I wish you nothing but happiness, though I think you have already found that in each other! 

Living life everyday, celebrating the start of happily ever after.

Motivation Monday: Things That Matter, Things That Don't

On this early Monday morning, many people are thinking about how they still wish it was the weekend (I am almost always one of them, today included, as I sit in the airport headed back to Orange County after a nice weekend in SF).  We are very busy people.  There are a lot of things going on in our lives, both good and bad, fun and tedious, enjoyable and terrible.  There always have been, there always will be.

As I digest and consider some of the developments in my life over the last two weeks or so, I have found that there are simply things that matter and things that don't.  So when you are worried about something, mad about something, anxious about something, nervous about something ... think to yourself does it really matter?  When you think something is the end of the world, is it really?

I have been replaying this Rascal Flatts song in my head over the last couple of days and it really hits home the point.  So when something happens to you that puts you in a bad mood, or you are not having a good day for whatever reason, take a chance to give yourself some perspective … because there are things that matter and things that don’t.

Living life every day by reminding myself there are things that matter and things that don’t.

Only 2 Seasons

Yep, that pretty much sums it up.  There are only 2 seasons - winter and baseball.  And we all know how much I loathe winter (for the lack of baseball almost as much as the cold weather, almost).  But I LOVE baseball season.

While I moved away from my beloved Giants after the end of last season, I have been able to make it to quite a few baseball games in the first couple of months in the season and have many, many more planned.

First was spring training (you can see previous posts HERE and HERE).  I had the pleasure of attending 3 Giants games and a Rockies/Padres game.  It was pure bliss after the cold, baseball-less winter.

Then April started with a bang when my Giants played the Dodgers at Dodger stadium in the first series of the 2013 season.  Though I could not make opening day (why did you have to make opening day a 1 p.m start?!), I was there the very next night to see Madison Bumgarner pitch and the Giants win.

 With my Dodgers fan "buffers"

April continued in it’s awesomeness with 2 back to back weekends of baseball.  April 19th and 20th I joined friends at the Angels games.  On the 19th, the Angels beat the Tigers in what was a close game that got blown open in the 8th inning by the Angels.  It was capped by a fireworks show, making it my first Big Bang Friday of the season.  On April 20th, I again saw the Angel’s play the Tigers.  In the first inning the Angels scored 10 runs, aided by Mike Trout’s first career grand slam.  It was pretty awesome.

Big Bang Friday!

Then on April 27 and 28, I headed to San Diego to watch my Giants take on the Padres.  It was my first time back in Petco Park in probably 6 years.  I love that park, it is beautiful.  It is not AT&T, but it is wonderful nonetheless.  We watched Barry Zito and Ryan Vogelsong pitch.  Unfortunately, neither got the wins.  The Giants were swept by the Padres in that series after having just swept the Padres the previous weekend.  Oh, baseball, how fickle you are!

Sunny San Diego

May saw no baseball games until the last weekend, but the game was worth the wait.  On the Sunday of memorial day weekend, I took my sister to the Giants’ game at AT&T park to celebrate her birthday (her birthday is in January, a little late I know).  We had a blast.  We took a couple laps around the ballpark, looked out over McCovey Cove, enjoyed the food (traditional hotdog for me, tri-tip sandwich for her), went shopping in the dugout store, collected our Barry Zito bobbleheads, and cheered Matt Cain and on our Giants to a 7-3 win over the Rockies!

Happiest Place on Earth

June, much to my dismay had been, gulp, baseball game-less, until the this past Wednesday.  BUT on June 26, 2013, I again ventured up to LA with a very good friend of mine to see the Giants take on the Dodgers at Dodger’s stadium.  Unfortunately this was the first Giants loss I have witnessed at Dodgers stadium and was the final game of a Dodgers sweep. :(  But at least we had a good time!

 Go Giants!

July and August have baseball games planned already and September is in the works.  The baseball season is nearly halfover?!  Say it ain’t so!

Loving baseball, living life every day!