So, baseball is a business huh?

 Everyone says don't get too attached, baseball business is out of your hands. Where that might be true it is IMPOSSIBLE to not be attached to Oakland and the entire bay area. 
From the start I felt the love in the Coliseum, though I would joke about its cold cement atmosphere, and on those certain freezing nights that the only people there were the right field bleachers and the wives.... I still loved it. I loved those loyal fans, I loved the gritty stadium, I loved the wild players it all made the A's THE A'S!
Never have I seen or heard of such amazing, and positive fans. When a player is down you guys encourage them to get up. You find their family and tell them you are rooting for him to come back, you make signs, buttons, flags all to show that you support and love your players. You guys are seriously amazing, and I think that is what I will miss the most.
There is no easy way to transition into this, but September 5th was a very scary day for our family. I will never forget the love that the A's showed me. To have Billy Beane, Bob Melvin, and Nick Paparesta all drive into the city in the middle of the night to sit with me and wait for Brandon to get out of surgery was emotional and amazing all at the same time. Grown men who I have had minimal contact with for two years prior left their families to sit around telling me stories of their past and get me laughing. They were all there when he came out of surgery, and as fathers and friends they were concerned with Brandon and wanted to say hi to him as he woke up. Baseball business didn't exist that early morning.
The days that followed there were hourly check ups from the entire front office, players, and players families. The sheer love and support we felt was so humbling and it all helped so much. Never will I forgot a moment of all that.

 The outpouring of tweets, emails, and letters was astonishing. They made us feel like we were one huge family. Everyone was concerned, and everyone just wanted good things for us. It makes me smile just thinking about the people who sought me out at the games to tell me how happy they were to see him back on the field. I have never felt so close, and had so much love for complete strangers.
So in closing.. I just want to say from the absolute bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you to the front office for being awesome and putting up with my crazy requests. Thank you to the players for being a family to us, and thank you to the fans for showing us love and support for the entire two years, and lastly, thank you to my little group of A's wives, I know I am a handful :)

Thank you everyone for two of my favorite years in baseball so far. 

I have been an awful tease

Yes, I know that I have been teasing ya'll with all this online auction talk. It is taking me a little longer than anticipated to get it all in order- I thought while I am working on it I would publish a list of the items that we have so you guys will get excited!

Remember Brandon and I are doing this to help the people and animals in Colorado who were affected by the fires. All proceeds will go to the Colorado Chapter of the Red Cross and the Pikes Peak Humane Society. If none of these items interest you, but you would like to help Brandon and myself raise money please donate here: https://secure.mlb.com/oak/community/fire_relief.jsp

And now for the items that were donated to us to raise funds:

Evan Longoria autographed ball 

Pablo Sandoval autographed jersey 

Jonny Gomes games used autographed batting gloves

Dustin Pedroia autographed ball

David Ortiz autographed ball

Ferguson Jenkins autographed ball

Paul Konerko autographed ball 

Tim Lincecum autographed ball

Brian Wilson  autographed ball

Ryan Sweeny autographed ball

Aubry Huff autographed cleat 

Jeremy Hellickson autographed ball

Joe Maddon autographed ball 

BJ Upton autographed ball

Desmond Jennings autographed ball

Luke Scott autographed ball

Carlos Pena autographed ball

Matt Moore autographed ball

Jake McGee autographed ball

Ben Zobrist autographed ball

J.P Howell autographed ball

David Price autographed ball

Michael Young autographed ball

Nolan Ryan autographed ball

MItch Moreland game used autographed helmet

Nelson Cruz autographed jersey

Ian Kinsler autographed ball

2012 SF Giants team autographed ball

Jarrod Parker autographed ball

Jeremy Affeldt autographed used ball

Brad Penny autographed ball

Santiago Casilla autographed ball

Clay Hensley autographed ball

Jacob Hester game used autographed cleats (NFL)

George Kontos autographed trainers

Shane Loux autographed used hat

Joel Hanrahan autographed cleats 

Matt Cain game used autographed bat

Justin Christian game used autographed bat

Emmanuel Burriss autographed bat

Brandon Crawford autographed used bat

Buster Posey autographed bat

Angel Pagan autographed bat

Sergio Romo autographed bat

Brandon Belt autographed bat

Barry Zito game used autographed bat

Ryan Vogelsong game used autographed bat

Aubry Huff autographed bat

Gregor Blanco autographed game used bat

Hector Sanchez autographed game used bat

Nate Schierholtz bat

Pablo Sandoval Bat

Melky Cabrera Bat

Madison Bumgarner autographed bat

Javier Lopez autographed bat

Joaquin Arias autographed autographed

Kurt Suzuki autographed bat

Brandon Hicks autographed bat

Kurt Suzuki game used autographed bat

Brandon Hicks game used autographed bat

Brandon Inge game used autographed bat

Elvis Andrus game used autographed bat

Chris Carter game used autographed bat

Seth Smith game used autographed bat

Brandon Moss game used autographed bat

Jemile Weeks game used autographed bat

Ryan Theriot autographed bat

We are really excited to raise some money and help the people in Colorado out. I would like to thank all the players, wives and teams that donated these items to us..

Thanks!

Amanda

Remember me?

I know I have been an awful blogger, but there has been a lot going on. No- I am not going to list everything that I have done this off season to try to convince you that I am not a bum, but I will say I have been awake before noon THREE times this week already!! All kidding aside, I stayed away from blogging since we have been traveling and relaxing. I knew if I blogged about our trips I would want to post pictures and frankly I am tired of my pictures getting ripped off and re-posted on other sites. So, now you get a tame blog about my travels, cooking and wine adventures SANS personal pictures (I might sneak one or two in here and there)

So what have I been up to?

Cooking.. I have fallen back in love with the kitchen- I love to cook, but I get nervous that it wont turn out well and all my hard work will get tossed out- this has happened, and it ruined me! Also, I have strayed away from my culinary love since we travel so much, and I am usually just working with a spatula, a frying pan, a small pot and my blend-tec.  I have bought and re-bought so many kitchen items in all the homes that we have lived at... that I have finally given up! I buy simple items to cook or premade meals from whole foods since I am always cooking for one. (Brandon eats at the ballpark, I don't ignore him.. jerks)

So this brings me to my new obsession:

I got it for Christmas and I have been cooking every meal (that we are home) ever since!

Now, if you follow me on twitter (which you have to, otherwise how do you know about this blog) I have been posting pictures of my meals pretty frequently, BUT last nights meal was so tasty that I have to share the recipe:

Pasta with meat ragu

1 small onion cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 small carrot cut into 1-inch pices

1/2 small celery rib cut into 1-inch pices

3 ounces white mushrooms brushed clean trimmed and broken into pieces

1/2 slice of high quality white bread torn into pieces

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon of whole milk (must use whole)

Salt and pepper

8 ounces 93% lean ground turkey (do not use ground turkey breast or 99% lean, it will be dry and rubbery)

1 (28 ounce) can of whole tomatoes drained,  but saving 1/2 cup of juice

1 tablespoon of unsalted butter

2 garlic cloves

3/4 cup of slightly sweeter white wine (not a dessert wine)

1 table spoon tomato paste

1 package of spaghtti

steps:

Pulse onion, carrot and celery in a food processor to a fine mince about 10 pulses

trasfer to a bowl

pulse mushrooms about 5 pulses and add to same bowl

pulse 1 table spoon of milk, bread 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper until a paste is formed- about 4 pulses

add turkey to processor and pulse with the "paste" about 5 pulses

remove and add to separate bowl

Pulse tomatoes and 1/2 juice until smooth. About 8 pulses and add to a separate bowl

Melt butter in a skillet and add pulsed veggies. Cook until soften and lightly browned. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant about 30 seconds.

Stir in processed turkey meat and cook until it is no longer pink. About 4 mins (hint break apart using a wooden spoon). Stir in remaining cup of milk and simmer until milk evaporates and only s clear liquid remains. Stir in wine and let simmer for about 15 min. Stir in tomato paste for about 1 minute. Add processed tomato mixture and simmer until slightly thickened about ten minutes. Salt and pepper to taste

Make paste per directions and on the box and then add sauce to the pasta.. and just like that yummy pasta

I wrote this whole thing out, so ya'll better make this pasta!!

Now I promise that I will blog more, and since the season is starting back up it will be a lot easier for me to do it. So get ready people.. I am back (kinda)

NOW I am off to consume wine.. I need a drink, my father in law is here for 5 days (Hi Pat)