On the Road Again...

We are in Rochester right now cheering on Casey for one more night! Tomorrow we head out again on tour with Team USA to Pittsburgh. We are thoroughly enjoying our visit of a couple of days taking advantage of every minute together. Ace is just talking up a storm... shouting "Mum" constantly. Its so adorable, I can't get enough! Its hard to imagine he will be 2 in a few days. Time is flying by as we try to slow it down with pictures and video. He is saying so much more not repeating lots. He said Daigle for the first time a couple of days ago! Still enjoying trucks more than ever and animals! You would think he wouldn't leave home without a ball or glove but that's not the case! For him its his Binky, Blankie, and trucks! Those are his necessities.

We had such a great couple of weeks on the road from New Mexico, to Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and stopping in Sulphur, La for a couple of days.
In Sulphur which is Casey's home town the "Jennie Finch Softball Camp" hosted Team USA against ULL right in basically Caseys backyard. We had the largest crowd so far on tour! It was so much fun! The Daigle's, Family, and Friends made it such a weekend to remember for us!!!
The facility was top notch and by far making it my favorite stop so far. I want to thank the entire community of Sulphur for all their support and hard work pulling off such a great weekend. We started by eating at one of Casey and I's favorite places Tony's Pizza! We pulled the bus and motor home right in and was spoiled with some fantastic food. The police escorts made it all that much better. We were treated like such VIP's all weekend. The Sheriffs even brought us some Boudain Balls!!! Yummy cajun food!
We headed to Sulphur High to lift some weights from there... it was fun being able to lift in Casey's high school gym with his picture in the hall!
The game was Saturday it was a beautiful day and the stadium was filled hours before game time. Our nephew Brock even helped us shag during BP and was able to hang in the dug out during the game. I heard he almost jinxed our perfect game... 2 outs in the 7th he told the dug out, "one more out and Aunt Jennie has a perfect game". He then was told to knock on wood by my teammates looking out for me and minutes the out was complete! It ended a great weekend just "perfectly"! It was the least I could do for all the support we were blessed with.
Sunday we had a fun day out at the Daigle's and Doc Rhodes. We had the BEST cajun food cooked just for us by Uncle Fred and his crew. Oh we had it all... crawfish, crawfish fettuccine, crawfish ettoufee, jambalaya, his famous brisket, shrimp cornbread dressing, chowder, and so much more! I didn't want it to end! He topped it off with Bread Pudding as if it couldn't get any better! After dinner Doc took us on a tour of his ranch getting out his 4 wheelers, dune buggies, gators, and all. We started out fishing for cat fish on his dock and some even went for a boat ride. Bergy, Nuvey, and Jess all even were able to shoot his guns. We ended the fun filled day with a tour on the fire truck we all loaded up all 18 and the Coaching Staff. Doc has so many animals to see... its a tour of the world right in Louisiana. We saw and road some horses, petted donkeys, bunnies, chickens, and more. We saw Buffalo, Deer from all over the world, Elk and so much more. We had such a blast, it was something we will never forget! Doc was so gracious letting us invade and explore/
Thanks again to the Sulphur community for your first class hospitality! Oh and how can I forget as soon as we pulled up we were again spoiled but this time with Peanut Butter Fudge from our one and only beloved Ms. Smurf! We wished it would never end.

From Louisiana we headed to Los Angeles to play UCLA. It was an emotional night with Lisa ending a great outing and unmatchable career leaving her cleats in the circle. My eyes tear up just thinking about it again. Lisa is the best softball player to have ever played this game in my eyes and many! She has done and has been so much to the game of softball and to me personally. I can remember watching her play whenever I could get the chance growing up. She was and is excellence. 3 gold medals and much much more, but most importantly I can call her a role model and a friend! She has taught me so much and has been an example for me to strive to be. Her work ethic and commitment is indescribable. It speaks so much about her to continue to train, travel and help us prepare to bring home another gold as an alternate and as ready as ever just in case. I am and the game will always be in debt to Lisa and all she has done!!! Its awesome to see her also as a Coach at UCLA and continuing to give back to this game and the players of the game. Thank you Lisa Fernandez!!! You will always be a part of everyone who plays this game. One of my greatest thrills was to first share a dugout with you and then to top it off share the podium with you, Thank You!

My week in LA was a bit crazy but worth writing about. Lots of fun! Cat, Lovie and I did a photo shoot for Men's Health Magazine, then taped an episode of the Elevator for HBO online, taped an interview for Natural Advantage Skin Care, did a satelite media tour promoting healthy eating over 35 media outlets, and finished with a photo shoot for Dudley! Needless to say I slept a couple of hours. Lots of exciting stuff coming up. We are enjoying our last day here in NY getting some rest and looking forward to our next stop Pittsburgh!

Thanks again for all the thousands of fans who continue to fill up the stadiums with so much love and support! I look forward to meeting many more of you as we travel across the US getting ready for Beijing.

A Crazy Spring...

We are in Houston right now continuing our Bound for Beijing tour! We just were in New Mexico yesterday, what a crowd we had! We are so blessed to be able to walk into stadiums all across the country and be so welcomed! I love it! I love this game! Its amazing to see the support for our sport! Im so blessed to be able to be a part of it! We've had a busy month... from Ca to OKC and continuing on! We as a team know we have our work cut out for us and except the challenge. Its a process and for us we need to be at our best come Beijing. We are working hard on and off the field to accomplish our goal! Its been such a blast meeting up with friends and fans that have become friends throughout the years from all over the country. We live an exciting life playing a game and having the honor of representing our great country. We have really began to Bear Down and hit it hard... enjoying everyday!

Ace just continues to brighten each day! Getting bigger and bigger by the minute. He now knows all of his colors! He is just a joy!!!! He has such a great sense of humor and is really just a little goof ball! I can't get enough of him! He had fun in Oklahoma with his cousins and is enjoying his buds on the road, Lisa's Antonio, and Stacey's Chase! They are the cutest, roaming the hotels and airports, and joining us on our bus rides! Playing ball, watching videos, and chasing each other around, they are true buds!

Ace went to NY with me for the Apprentice finale. It was so fun to see all the cast again and catch up. It really was a great group of people and a delight to see them all again! We will be in NY as much as possible with Casey. He had a great spring training and is off to a great start with the Redwings. The season has officially began for him. Lots of exciting stuff.

Thanks to all of the many fans who continue to write and pray for us, as a family and our teams. Thanks for filling the stadiums with such excitement and dedication. Its not easy being apart from our families but when you see young girls faces light up with joy it makes it a little easier. This is why we play for the love of the game and for the future of our sport!

Keep dreaming and believing!

Good Times in Florida!

We are in Clearwater about to play 6 games in the next three days! Our Florida tour has been great so far, great weather, great training, great games! We are looking forward to playing lots in the next few days. Florida is beautiful so lush and so green. We are loving Clearwater being right on the beach with ocean views, it doesn't get any better than this! Bustos is soaking it all up on the balcony looking out at the water with a big grin. Its been an exciting trip getting to go to the Yankee's Game on Sunday (I skipped out for Casey's game but the team had fun) and having Terrell Owens stopping by our game last night. We are invited to go to see Tampa Bay play on Friday, we are looking forward to it! Lots of baseball going on around here!!! I love the spring and baseball is one of the many reasons why. We bused today from Hollywood to Clearwater making a pit stop at the IMG Academy. Our team had an appearance at the Academy and had a meet and greet with many local high schoolers. Its a pretty amazing place to say the least. Its resort living with everything you need for athletics, academics, and life for the athlete in training. We had a great time, plus it broke up the bus ride!
Well I better get going and get some R & R (rest & recovery) it doesn't come too often! :)
Dream & Believe!
#27

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you all have a great day and you let your loved ones know they are loved! We as a family will celebrate when we are together again and us three are looking forward to it! Ace and I are digging into our gift basket daddy sent us. Ace is feeding me caramel corn as I type, thanks honey! We love you and miss you our hearts will be complete when we are together!!! Happy heart day and share it with your loved ones!

Ace is getting big fast! He now has over 5 little cars in which he adores! His favorite is his Winnie the Pool car, that plays music! He is adding more words to his vocabulary every day, truck, read, red, blue, and eat. He walks around the house shouting mom, mom, its so cute! He points out every truck with excitement, I think because he knows his daddy has a truck. We think he is saying at times Prada (my dogs name), grandma, and grandpa too. He is coming along. He makes the fire engine sound, meows like a cat, moos like a cow, and much more. He has so many signs too its incredible, we play charades everyday!

I had a moment yesterday... I was at a park in La Mirada, where I grew up, pitching to my dad with my mom looking on holding the radar gun. In the back ground was my Grandma holding Prada watching Ace ride his car around the sidewalk. It reminded me just how much I've been blessed with! Here I am going on over 20 years of being able to play catch with my dad! I just walked off the field with a big grin, so grateful and so thankful!

We head out to Arizona next for our opener against the U of A. We are looking forward to having another team to play and for me going home. I love practice but it helps when you mix a game in here and there! It is crazy to think we are less than 7 months away from the games. We are training hard looking forward to the Bound for Beijing tour across the country. I continue to be so honored and grateful to play for the USA and with my teammates! This is such a great game, I love it! I look forward to the many memories we will make this year as a team and all the many people we will meet as we prepare to win the Gold!

Its about the time to shut the lights out and get Ace settled!

Lots of Love!

My First Firing...

Alot has happened since my last blog...
As for The Apprentice- We lost 2 more tasks which means 2 more people out the door for Team Empresario. Big Bummer... Gene Simmons (known for having the worlds greatest black book) being the first to go and myself in week number 4. It was a tough one to swallow... but for the best. Back to my family and back to my teammates, my true teammates! I left appreciating the fact that I play a team sport and we have each others backs on our team! All working hard and striving to achieve one common goal, GOLD. I am so grateful for my experience on The Apprentice. I was able to meet some incredible people and learn from my Trump experience. Mr. Trump amazed me with his professionalism... in and out of the boardroom. Ivanka blew me away too. She was so well spoken, poised, intelligent, and carried herself so well. I am so thankful for the opportunity. I was a little bit happy and relieved to get back to my family and team. It was a very stressful environment... like it should've been. I am so blessed to have my faith and family to keep my sanity! :)
Oh and CONGRATS ladies so happy for Empresario and their Big Win this week. Keep it up!!!
It was a very entertaining episode. Vinny, I just love him. He is tough, but a teddy bear too! Sad to see him go.

We are training right now together as a team, getting ready. We get to put our uniform on and actually compete in a couple weeks. We can't wait! We open up against University of Arizona, my home! Its going to be such a magical year for us! We are so excited to get out on tour and play for the fans all over the country. There is no greater feeling than hearing U-S-A as you enter a stadium! Its so fun seeing all the future softballers all across the US. I am grateful for the honor, to a part of something so incredible.

Casey and Ace are great! My 2 stars! Casey is on his way out to Spring Training, he's been working hard getting ready for the season. We just celebrated our 3rd anniversary, so fun! Ace is just wonderful. Saying more and more and just becoming more and more grown up. He's a little boy already. He continues to brighten our days with his goofy-ness and smile. He is soaking up the world and making it his world.

We are under 200 days until the Olympic games, it will be here before we know it. Making the days count.


#27

Another loss, still high hopes!

Well another loss for the women... big bummer! I was so sad to have to see another teammate go, as you could tell by my 2 minute pause when Mr. Trump put me on the spot. It was terrible having to name someone. It was so tough... I was so torn and in a position I didn't want to be in. Nadia was so much fun to be around! She was of few words and when she spoke it was usually funny or very clever! I enjoyed getting to know her, especially being a big fan of hers! She was very thoughtful and very much a team player. We women really needing a victory being down 0-2. It was a lot of fun seeing Nelly in action, she is exceptional and full of knowledge. She is a great leader and very talented. Again, we did not use our "celebrity-ness" and came up short.

Training is going well! We are here at the Olympic Training Center surrounded by some of the greatest athletes in the world. I was chatting with some of the bmx women's team today, it was so interesting to hear about their world! They have built this massive ramp and course down here that is quite intimidating. They are working hard fighting for the Olympic spots! There are lots of track athletes that are residents, field hockey, and rowers. Its pretty inspiring us all having one common goal. Beijing!

Ace is doing great... he is loving having grass to play in. Our yard in Az consists of cacti and rocks. He loves driving his Winnie the Pooh car around, he thinks he owns this place. It was so funny talking to the bmx riders, them on their bikes and Ace on his car. He was trying to figure out how to upgrade, he was checking them out. Antonio (Lisa's boy) and Ace had fun with finger paints today that ended up to be full body paints. They are little buds! Its so cute! I better get going I'm missing out on kisses from Ace. I love it I could just eat him up, he loves to cuddle. The cutest most irresistible sight is him taking his binky out and leaning in to give me a kiss! Nite, gotta go it's my favorite time of the day, cuddle time.

The Apprentice and Training

The Apprentice has begun!  Lots and lots of people are watching and letting me know!!!  No more not being able to chat...  what an amazing experience it was!  I had a blast and really enjoyed meeting the other "celebs".  I was really excited about the task of selling hotdogs, I was raised at the ball park so for me it was very familiar.  It was great because here we are so called "celebs" and I was reliving my snack bar days!  We knew it was about who you knew... $1 dogs weren't going to lead us to victory.  To put it nicely we lost by a bit... over 30k little bit.  We women got smoked!  Big bummer to have to go to the boardroom on the first task and lose a team member.  I was deeply saddened to have to say good bye to my friend Tiffany.  We really got along and I was looking forward to having more time to hang out, she is an incredibly sweet girl.  Stay tuned for more of the drama Task #2... more fun stuff!

We are down here in So Cal at training camp with Team USA... training hard, getting ready for Beijing!  I believe its 210 days away, its coming up on us quick.  We had testing this morning, a couple fun 300 yd shuttles!  Its always fun being together and training together as a team!  One thing I left the Apprentice with is an even greater appreciation for my teammates and us all getting along and sharing one common goal.  We strive to make each other better daily and love doing so!!!  I love my team!  Go USA!!!

Best Always,