I have the best job in the world

This summer has been amazing. I can honestly say that I love what I've been doing. I mean, how could you not love going to watch baseball games every night? And apparently the owners have noticed that I like my job, because they recently offered me a full-time position for the next year. I accepted, so it looks like I'll be sticking around for a little bit longer. Feel free to visit anytime ;) I am very excited and I know it will be a great opportunity for me. Below I have posted some random pictures from the park that I've taken over the last couple of weeks.

Me and Jessie Nava. He's from Maracaibo, Venezuela. Great guy. If you didn't read my story about him last week ... he was the league's pitcher of the week. His wife and son are in Venezuela, and he has yet to meet his son. He (Jason) was born at the beginning of the season. It's so cute because Jessie carries pictures of Jason around with him everywhere so he can show people. So cute.

The only word to describe these guys: STUDS. They were chosen to be on the league's All-Star team. Ramoncito, Jorge Agudelo, Jose Rivero, and Tim Boyce.

Seth and Slider sharing a moment.

Haha ... this is what I have to work with every day :)

Two of Pulaski's most faithful fans: Wally and Meredith McGrady

"El Keche"

Me and my friend Brittany. She had to leave early to start school at the University of Tampa. She's the shortstop on the school's softball team there.

Best JEFE in the world. TC Calhoun is my boss. You should see this guy dance ... it's a treat. He likes to break it down to reggaeton.

Visit from the Jensen's

I finally had some more visitors this past weekend!!! What what! Darrin and Lori Jensen came out to good ol' Pulaski to pay me a short visit. And when I say short, I mean they flew in Saturday morning ... went to the game that night ... and then peaced out Sunday morning. They were supposed to get in late Friday night, but due to a MASSIVE storm near the Atlanta airport, they were slightly delayed. So basically they got here 7 hours after they were supposed to. But they were champs. They stayed awake the whole day as we ventured around Pulaski, Blacksburg, and Draper. And that night at the game, the announcer gave a special welcome to Darrin and Lori ... seeing as they had clearly come the farthest to watch the Mariners play ;) Just so you know ... you get the VIP treatment when you come to Pulaski. Yep, that's a hint to you, mom and dad. There's no time like the present.

Inside VT stadium.

Classic shot in front of the stadium ... making good use of the camera's timer.

Lunch at Cabo Fish Taco in Blacksburg. It was sooooo good.

D and L posing with the Hokie.

Pretty full house Saturday night.

Our boys after beating the Elizabethton Twins, 5-2.

D and L at historic Calfee Park

The Trio after the game.

D and L posing with Ramoncito.

Around the World with the Mariners

Last Saturday's game was a stressful one, but one to remember nonetheless. I was fortunate to meet and interview the President of Minor League Baseball, Mr. Pat O'Conner. I gave him a tour of the ball park before the game and we talked about my mission, my future plans, and how I got to Pulaski. We also planned an "Around the World with the Mariners" night to coincide with his visit. We set up tables for the different countries that our players represented and invited fans to come early and learn more. We also had some of the players from each place come out and educate the fans about where they are from. It was an awesome night. Everyone had a blast and most importantly ... we won 8-5.

Pat talking to the staff before the game.

Wayne (owner) and Cookie Carpenter next to the Virgin Islands table with Jabari Blash. He is from St. Thomas, aka paradise.

Two of my favorite Dominicans George Mieses aka "El Toro" and Ramon Morla.

Larry Gonzalez (catcher) and Jose Rivero (left fielder) representing the Venezuela table.

Adorable.

Pat telling Ramon about his favorite restaurant in the Dominican Republic.

Striking a pose. This guy is going to play for Seattle one day.

Slider posing with the Manager's son, Andrew.

Me and Pat

My boss TC with Pat

I laugh every time I see this video. Just before I taped it, Ramon was singing a song about the Dominican Republic. But when I started taping him, he refused to sing. Little punk. And then at the end I get a line from OMG by Usher ;)

We Are Virginia Tech

I know that it seems like the only thing I do is visit college campuses ... but this one might be my favorite. I attend the Virginia Tech singles ward, because Tech is only about 35 minutes from where I'm living. Everything about the campus is impressive. It's located in the city of Blacksburg, which surprisingly is not THAT huge. I was expecting something similar to Provo, since Tech has about the same number of students as BYU. The town is kind of out in the middle of nowhere, but it's BEAUTIFUL. Right before you hit the sports complex you drive past fields of corn and pasture. And you will know when you're in Hokie Country, because almost every car has a decal on the back of it in support of Virginia Tech. I love it. My next goal is to attend a game at Hokie Stadium. This bucket list just keeps getting longer and longer.

This is what you see when you first come up on campus. What more do you need?

Outside their football stadium.

I want to watch my Granty play here one day.

This is where the magic happens. This stadium holds like 66,000 fans.

From when they won the Orange Bowl in 2009 against Cincinnati.

This is the memorial on campus that honors the 32 students and teachers that were killed in the 2007 shooting.

One of the buildings on campus.

This is in the entrance to campus. Soooo sweet.

The commons area on campus.

The schools official name: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Such a mouthful. That's why the locals just call it Tech.

The administration building

Main street in Blacksburg

I came upon this restaurant in Blacksburg when I visited for the first time. I obviously had to stop in for lunch.

Anyone who knows me knows that I take issue with people that name their dog Abby. I come across it more than you think. After talking with the waitress for a while, I soon found that the place was named after their yellow lab Abby, who passed away a couple of years ago.

What. A. Killjoy.

Yeah baby. I need this sign.

Mi Casita

Well, this is the Davis' home. Everyone's been asking me about it, so I thought I'd put up some pics. It's beautiful. They live on 5 and a half acres right by a lake. They are surrounded by trees, which is common in western Virginia :) Even though it's out in the middle of nowhere, it's only about 15 minutes from the ball park. And then at the end of the pics I snuck in a picture of my friend Ramon bowling. Haha. Good times had by all.

They have the biggest trees of all time around their yard.

Great shot from the road up to the house.

They usually have like 50 cars in their driveway, but they're at their beach house this week .... so there's only 20.

This is what John Denver was talking about.

This is what you get when you have someone who has swung a baseball bat since he was a fetus, and put him in a bowling alley. Haha. This is my friend Ramon. The hardest part of the evening was getting him to put on the bowling shoes :) He found the whole sharing shoes thing to be disgusting.