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Since the last time I’ve blogged I’ve been through an absolute roller coaster. Last week I began hitting and seeing the ball really well. I finally have figured some stuff out with my swing and I’ve found some confidence that I haven’t had since my sophomore year at Missouri. I’ve gotten to the point where I feel like every time I come to the plate I’m going to get a hit. That’s how you have to think when you step into the box, if you don’t you’re pretty much defeated.

Last week I hit a ball to the warning track in dead center field and in another game I hit a double over the left fielder’s head and hit a ball to the warning track in left field. I know that when I am hitting the ball to left field I’m at my best. A couple days ago I hit a triple to right center and today I walked twice. And that’s all I remember about my at bats (the bad at bats are already out of my memory!). I think we have about 10 days or so left until spring training is over. It seems like it’s absolutely flown by but I’ve loved every minute of it. I was telling Drew the other day that with me being hurt for all of last season might have been a blessing in disguise. It was bad not being able to play and not be able to move up in the organization but I was able to get into really good shape and I renewed my love for baseball. I basically realized that I can’t stand living without the competition of baseball.

Drew got down here Thursday night and my mom, sister, and my sister’s friend Madi got down here Sunday night. They’ve been keeping each other busy with the beach and the most glamorous mall known to man. It’s always nice to see the people that I love and miss so much when I’m away from them.

Yesterday was our first “camp day”. What that consists of is a morning practice with no game in the afternoon. What it also means is a day of releases. There were about 10 guys that got released yesterday and one of them happened to be my roommate Jordan. He’s become one of my best friends and I know he would do anything for me and it’s just so hard having to say goodbye to such a good friend. That’s the tough part of playing professional baseball; you never know when you’re going to lose a good friend. Even though I won’t be playing with Jordan this year I’m positive that we’ll keep in touch. There will be two more “camp days” where they will probably let go 15 or so guys total. I couldn’t imagine my baseball dream being taken away from me, I try not to think about it but I do know that in the back of my mind it is a reality and could happen.

At about 6:00 p.m. yesterday my day made a drastic turn for the better. Drew and I have been dating now on and off for about 2 years now and I know that there is no girl better for me and yesterday I decided that I couldn’t wait any longer and I had to ask her to marry me. My mom brought down the ring with her that we had put in a different setting from the one that my grandma had given me before she had died. For the past few days I had been contemplating all these different ideas about how I was going to ask her but I finally decided that I was just going to be spontaneous and was going to surprise even myself. My mom’s hotel is right across the street from this neat little bar that’s on the beach called The Square Grouper. Mary and Madi needed some time to get ready for dinner so I decided to show my mom The Grouper, along with Drew. Once we got there we just kind of walked around and took in the environment and scenery. We went to the end of one of the docks and I had my mom take a picture of Drew and I. After we were done taking the picture I got down on a knee, took Drew’s left hand, pulled the ring out of my pocket, and asked the girl of my dreams to marry me. My heart was fluttering like a butterfly, I hadn’t been that nervous in a long time. But she said yes so everything was all good. On the way back to the hotel Drew couldn’t stop looking down at her new ring, and I don’t blame her one bit. Another interesting tidbit about this story is that The Square Grouper is on Love St.

For all of you that are wondering our wedding date is tentatively set for January 2, 2009!

A few days ago I also got a picture with my baseball idol Carlos Beltran and tonight at the mall Drew and I saw him again, and once again I got a picture taken with him! The other pictures that I have posted are with Javy Lopez and Jeff Franceour; both of them play for the Atlanta Braves. The next two pictures are of The Square Grouper, the coolest bar on the planet. The final two pictures are pretty self explanatory.

Movie Review for Ashley:
10 Items or Less- I thought this movie settles in the range of the OK movies. I liked the whole story line and I liked the how it was all portrayed but it was just a little too slow for me. I did however think it was pretty unique how Morgan Freeman played himself in the movie.
My rating: 6.0

So there it is, you can now see why it’s been such a roller coaster week for me. To sum it all up I met my favorite player of all time, I began hitting the ball with authority, my best friend in the organization got released, and I got engaged to the most wonderful girl in the world. It’s been crazy but hey, that’s the life of a minor league baseball player.

The previous poll question ended with Nebraska being the second most hated team in the Big 12. I have a new poll question posted, make sure you vote. Blake I’ll put your poll question idea up eventually.

Hopefully my new fiancé gives me some more free time this week so I can get to blogging!

*Reach out and try to obtain your goals, it won’t hurt to try.