Its not the product its the process...

I learned today in one of my classes or maybe not learned but what i took away from class tonight was its not the product thats important its the process in which you took to get the product thats important. In todays society their is so much pressure on producing an amazing product that we often forget the journey or process on which we took or went on to get such product.

Why that stuck out to me is because right now i feel i am so worried about the outcome or the end product of my life that i am not fully enjoying this amazing ride i am on on trying to get that product. I know this might all be far fetched and i am relating something out of left field to my life, but it hit home with me.
I feel like this journey of Anthony chasing his childhood dream of trying to be a Big Leaguer is amazing and so so so rare, and the journey i am on supporting him and my ups and downs of being a long distance girlfriend to a minor league ball player need to be documented. This journey is a crazy one and has many amazing moments and creates such caious that i feel we need to capture it all on paper, pictures, or something. I know many of you who may read my blog are also baseball players girlfriends, wives, fiances and i think we are all in agreement that this baseball lifestyle is hectic, fun, crazy, and amazing! I just think we need to start documenting it all...

I don't know am i completely nuts? haha please tell me i am not! Anyways back to me loving my class tonight and what i took away from it. I believe its not whether Anthony makes it to the Big Leagues but that he takes the most out of the journey he is on to get there and I believe i need to do the same because this doesn't last forever and while it does it needs to be enjoyed and remembered so i can maybe 20 years from know look back and read or see or something about this crazy time in our life!

Remind Me...

March 1st, 2011 ....

6 Months ago Anthony left me for his childhood love... Baseball! I remember that day like it was just yesterday. I remember every emotion I felt, trying to make him stay a little longer, and trying to get one last hug and kiss in. I remember feeling like someone shot me in the heart and like I couldn't get through another season apart from him. I remember thinking when is it not going to be like this, and there will be no more goodbyes. I walked him to his truck, tears streaming down my face, and saw him leave me again  for his 2nd season of baseball. I remember walking back in my house going straight to my room closing the door and crying into my pillow for hours. No one can ever prepare them selves for someone you love leaving you and then on top of that them being gone for 6 to 7 months. Its almost as if for 6 months of the year I am a different person than I am for the other 6 months that Anthony is home. Its crazy the adjustments that one has to make when someone leaves or is coming back into there daily life again. 

Here I am 6 months later... Surviving the distance, stronger than ever before, and I now have a great couple blog friendships with other baseball wives, fiances, and girlfriends. I feel so thankful for the past 6 months and the amazing things it has brought me and taught me. Just when I had given up and thought I couldn't do it again there I went surprising myself and did it all again. I am not going to lie there was quite a few dark dark days here and there that I just wanted to call it quits and give up this crazy lifestyle but, many of your blogs have helped me pull through and gave me hope to keep pushing on so Thank you!! I guess just knowing that my crazy feelings are felt by others makes me feel more sane rather than insane! ha ha 

I am beyond excited to have Anthony back in 11 or so days. It truly feels so unbelievable to me I still haven't wrapped my head around it. I know in many of my posts I say I Hate baseball and I do hate it sometimes but for the most part I secretly love it and all the ciaos it causes! 

Milo.

My pup is 9 months tomorrow... 

I miss when he was small!

He is no longer my little teddy bear but, my BIG teddy bear!!

He is probably the most lovable pup pup in the world. He still thinks he weighs 10 pounds and jumps in my lap to sit and lay. My dad seems to think that this cute little pup is his dog and like him way more than me but, truth is this lil pup loves me way more! haha he waits outside my door in the morning for me to wake up. Jumps up on my bed when I am just sitting in my room relaxing. He's truly the best gift my boyfriend ever got me!!! :) 

love you puppy Mi.

Big Big Big Big Plans...

I am super excited that the end of August is here. There are big big plans in store for the end of August and beginning of September, and I am WAY too excited for them all!!!

Wednesday August 24th... My Last first day of school ever!!! woo hoo
Saturday August 27th... Jenn and Ron's Wedding!!! yay
Friday September 2nd... My Big Bro's 26th Birthday!!!
Tuesday September 6th... My boyfriend comes home!!! finally... haha
Friday September 9th... Ashley and Steven's wedding!!!
Friday September 16th... Rascal Flatts with my babe!!!
Saturday September 17th... Giants vs Dodger game with my babe!!!

OH I CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS OFF SEASON! THESE NEXT 2.5 WEEKS BETTER FLY BY!!!

but, watch baseball throw me another curve ball and destroy all my already made plans haha! baseball is really good at destroying my plans and punishing me when I plan in advance! haha

HAPPY END OF AUGUST EVERYONE!!!! :))

The Trick...

The trick is to enjoy life and not wish away your days waiting for better ones to come.

I actually find myself wishing away a lot of days during baseball season, and I find myself wanting time to slow down in the off season. Don't get me wrong I fully enjoy my days, but I do sometimes wish time away just so the days go by so I can be in the off season and live a little bit of a normal life with my baseball boyfriend. I haven't seen Ant sense June 8th that was over 2 months ago. Distance really does take its toll on our relationship. All we have is our phones and our computers to communicate and stay close. I find myself living my days by my phone waiting for a call or a text, and I know that is no way to live but at this moment in my life its the only way I can stay close with my boyfriend and have a relationship. It sucks... I hate texting because things sometimes get taken the wrong way due to the fact you cant see the expression or hear the expression of the person writing the text. I can't be sarcastic in a text without saying lol or ha ha otherwise it is taken the wrong way. When we talk on the phone on road trips or spring training where Ant shares a room with a roomie we have to have a secret word we say like "Bull dog" when the roommate comes in the room and it now becomes awkward talking on the phone and we have to say goodbye and text! (Bulldog is my "Q" to say "okay babe love you bye"... so Ant doesn't have to say "hey my roomie just came in the room and its awkward now" lol) The roommate always has the worst timing! ha ha Skyping is nearly impossible with the time difference me and Anthony have. Me being in California and him being across the country in North Carolina which is 3 hours ahead and that really blows the big one!!! 

Here's the Daily Schedule...

Ant wakes up at 12:00 (Asheville time )which is (9:00 Cali time) I am up by 7:30 (cali time) to go nanny.

Ant goes to the field around 2:30 (Asheville time)  which is 11:30 (Cali time) for hitting and bullpen stuff  that means no phone till after the game or he gets fined. Ants game starts at 7:00 (Asheville time) which is 4:00 (Cali time). When Ant's game is going on I am just getting off work and getting ready to go on a run. Ant's game ends around 10:30-11:00 (Asheville time) which is (7:30-8:00 Cali time) After his game I usually get my first and only call of the day when he is waiting for his ride home and the conversation usually lasts about 5 minutes and we basically talk about our days. Then after the game is over at like 11:00 (Asheville time) 8:00 (cali time) he usually eats, goes home and sleeps, goes out , or plays video games with his roomies. If he goes out I usually get a text saying "Hey babe, I am going out with the guys tonight. I love you." Then i'll respond with a text like "okay, have fun, be safe, and please text me when you get home love you" So basically we have a an hour to two hours a day to talk to each other. Next week I start school back up and he is in his last 2 weeks of baseball which means less talking than ever ha ha... Yikes.

Time difference you suck, long distance you stink, and baseball I HATE YOU!!! 

Thank god there is only 3 weeks left approx. 17 days till my baseball boy returns or I might go nuts oh!!! ha ha 

I can't wait to have Anthony back and stop living by my phone and stop wishing time away! 

Today Was my 22nd Birthday!!

I love my boyfriend for his super sweet midnight happy birthday note text!!! 

And the beautiful flowers he sent me!

I also love his grandparents for sending me happy birthday flowers!!

And i love all this family for all the Birthday love they sent me!!!

It's my 22nd Birthday!!! yikes... haha

I love all my friends for their amazing Birthday wishes!!!

I love my cousins for decorating my car last night!

these are the car decorators! they are great! love love love

I love Birthdays and couldn't of asked for a better one. The only thing I wish I had but didn't was Anthony but he's working tonight behind the plate catching the game so i guess its alright he's not here! ha ha 

Just because I am a Romantic...

AMES YOU DA MAN!!!! HAHAHA

I don't know if any of you watch Bachelor Pad, but I sure do! Along with all the other sappy lovey dovey reality shows. Last nights episode of the Bachelor Pad was amazing! I love Ames I just think he is the greatest! ha ha What he did for Jackie made my heart melt. 

I am in love with a ball player my romantic love story doesn't exactly have ending like Ames and Jackie's did last night. When Anthony and I say our goodbyes it usually goes a kiss, a long hug, and then he is off to baseball. Then I go lock myself in my room and cry for a couple days! ha ha maybe not a couple days, I have definitely gotten much better at goodbyes! I wish when I said my goodbyes sometimes I could just run after Anthony's big Dodge Truck and say I am coming with you... I would be lying if every time I said my good bye to him I wasn't tempted to just stay with him. My heart always tells me to stay and be with him, but then my head goes "Steph, not a good idea you have school, work, and basically no income" So, in the war between my heart and my head... my head always wins! One day I am determined to follow my heart and choose love... ha ha  

So , Hi I am Stephanie Righetti. I love reality shows. I love all Romantic movies. I am determined to have a Happy fairy tale moment with my unemotional, long distance, nonromantic baseball boyfriend! ha ha (Sorry Ant... You're going to kill me!) I think its growing up watching all those Disney princess movies where prince charming swipes his princess off her feet and they fall madly in love! ha ha Or maybe I am just nuts... You take your pick! ha ha

Summer Catch!

Ryan leaving his no hitter to catch Tenley before she leaves for San Francisco to say "I love you!"

I just am one hopeless romantic...  

The baseball Family...

I come from a baseball family. My papa played for the Yankees way back in the day, my dad played in the minor league system for the Texas Rangers, and my uncle has played professional baseball for a bunch of teams and is now the pitching coach for the San Francisco Giants.  Growing up with my uncle in professional baseball I was always asked when people heard my last name "Righetti" are you related to Dave? is he your dad? You would think it would be cool having a famous family member. I am not going to lie it has its perks but, it also has its down side. In high school a lot of girls were mean to me and would say "guys only are her friend or like her because her uncle is the pitching coach for the Giants" Like, really who says that?  My recent encounter happened during my Western Athletic Conference Championship game against Fresno State. The game was in penalty kicks and I was chosen by my coach to be one of the five kickers to represent my team. When it was my turn to take my Penalty Kick the goalie for Fresno State thought it would be funny to come up to me as I was placing the ball on the line and tell me that she is a huge Giants fan, and to tell my uncle hi! Really?Right when i am about to take my penalty kick for the WAC Championship!!! Really!! (THE WAC CHAMPIONSHIP game was about 3 days after the Giants had won the World Series) She totally blew my concentration making me miss my penalty kick... I guess her strategy worked. If my uncle wasn't the pitching coach for the Giants the Fresno goalie would of had nothing to say to me and it would of been a fair game on each side of the ball but, nope she used the one thing I have against me to blow my concentration! props to you Fresno State goalie! ha ha

I personally love that my uncle is the has played pro baseball and is currently the pitching coach for the Giants. He has a lot of good advice that he gives me in my long distance baseball relationship with Anthony. This summer I was at my cousins grad party and my uncle walked in and said hi and the first thing he said to me was "Anthony is 2 for 3 today, he's looking pretty good." I had honestly no clue what was going on in Anthony's game because, it wasn't over yet and I hadn't checked his stats or play by play on my phone yet! ha ha I thought it was cool that my uncle had been keeping tabs on Ant. I can be sitting on the coach with my phone in my hand and my uncle will say "Don't get mad at him for taking forever to respond he is a busy guy." ha ha he even sticks up for him when he take forever to respond to a simple text lol!

My uncles wife, my aunty Kandice is an amazing woman. She is probably the sweetest, down to earth, and the nicest person you could ever meet. She always talks to me about the long distance, the insanely long road trips, and spring training. She's an old pro at it all now ha ha. This last Spring Training she and I were there at the same time. It was so great I got to sit next to her at one of the Giants Spring Training games and we just talked about everything. She told me she usually only stays a couple innings and then heads back to the hotel because its too much for her sometimes. I feel so blessed to have my uncle and my aunt in my life. They truly do help give me advise when it comes to this crazy life style.

Plus I think my dad secretly loves Anthony and wants me to marry the kid because my mom told me he tells people I have already found the ONE! ha ha ha Thanks dad... so embarrassing!!

Happy Monday Everyone!

"I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong.

I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls.

I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I believe in miracles."

~Audrey Hepburn~

I love quotes. A good quotes can change my whole mood, inspire me, make me determined, put a smile on my face, or all of the above. I do believe that happy people are the prettiest because when you're happy you always wear a smile. Smiles to me are contagious. I see an old man crossing the street smiling; I smile, I see a baby in a stroller smiling; I smile, I see a woman jamming to music in her car; I smile. Smiles are contagious and the best curve on the human body! There is always something threw out the day that can make me crack a huge smile! I am one of those dorks who smiles and laughs at literally nothing. A little more embarrassing is I even smile and laugh when I am alone! ha ha

The Rules Of A Lady!

A wise man Said...

I have gotten away...

I have gotten away from things I love to do. I love to quilt and make little crafts so today I decided was my Arts and crafts day. I need an escape from my day to day life sometimes so today is craft day! haha

I love making quilts so today I made my sister shannon a blanket for her college apartment. I even used grown up colors and fabrics! ha ha

here is a little look at the beauty! lol

I am still starting out and trying to get the hang of my sewing machine haha but, I dont think it is half bad! haha

Antsy Antsy Antsy!!!

Next week is my 22nd birthday and this upcoming spring I graduate with my Bachelors Degree in Creative Arts. So, I have this weird anxiety and anxiousness to grow up and figure out my future. Well last night I proposed a proposition to my boyfriend...

my text went like this: (Me)

"I think that once i am done with school and graduate this spring i take the summer off to be with you and watch you play ball cause then we will both get what we want. you get baseball, I get you, and I get to watch you play. What do ya say babe?"

His response:(Anthony)

"Yeah I like that but what I don't like is you not having an income Steph. That's very important for  our future."
 "Income is important babe."

My text (Me)
"I just wanna see you play and be with you!"
"It sucks for once can i have a fastball down the middle and hit a walk off grand slam to win the series!! shit ha ha. Baseball is hardball"

I guess I should be happy that Anthony is thinking of a future with me and its important to him that we are stable financially. But, I wanna be irresponsible and enjoy the baseball life with him even if it may only be for a month or two. I know that just isn't possible because we need to both be saving and making smart money choices so our future together. I am so antsy to grow up and figure my life out and i am only 22 is there something wrong with this? haha Off season please come soon and bring my boyfriend home safely or i just might go crazy!! haha

I just can't help it I am a Romantic...

Love Him and Love Her!!

still wish they were together!!

My Boyfriend!!

My boyfriend... 

Everybody meet my Boyfriend Anthony... 

Say Hi!! ha ha

He doesn't talk future

He isn't Mr. Mushy Mush

He loves Football

He watches Football whenever he can

He plays baseball

He is all about looking good

He is not the most romantic guy, but he tries

He is not very emotional

He is hilarious

He makes me smile

He makes me laugh

He makes me better

He loves me to the moon and back (he said so himself) ha ha

He makes me love him more and more everyday

He cares about me

He is very creative

He thinks he was an amazing Chef in his past life

He is Determined

He is inspiring

He is courageous

He is my best friend

He is crazy good at retarded things

He is my soul mate

He is my favorite person in this world to be with (sucks we spend over 6 months apart) damn you baseball ha ha

He drives me nuts sometimes

He challenges me

He is a jokester

He is an amazing man

He is my Boyfriend, I love him to Pieces, and I miss him so very much!!! 

 Ya see my boyfriend he wears a lot of different jerseys not just his baseball one! He is much more than just a baseball player much much much much more!!!

I haven't seen Anthony in what feels like forever! I last saw him June 8th... holy cow that was a long time ago. I feel like I don't even know what he looks like anymore... I don't even think I'll recognize him when he comes home in a couple weeks... ha ha just kidding I couldn't forget that face and those amazing blue eyes! ha ha My boyfriends main jersey he wears in life is his baseball, family, and boyfriend jerseys and he wears em all very well! I cannot wait till the baseball jersey gets put up on the hanger in a couple weeks for the off season, but who am I kidding that jersey never really gets put on the hanger in the off season ha ha its a 24/7 worn jersey! ha ha I like to think in the off season the family and boyfriend jerseys become the main ones but, I know that baseball jersey is still in the lead! ha ah 

Last year the day Anthony was coming home from Asheville North Carolina because the season had ended I was so excited, nervous, and anxious. That day went by so slow. I remember always looking at the clock and it was like time was moving in slow motion!! On my way to pick up Anthony from the air port that night all these crazy emotions were running through me. Then I saw him and it was like my emotions were gone and I was just purely Happy. A smile on my face that went from one ear to the other. Total cheese ball ha ha. There is nothing like that first hug after months apart. Its indescribable. Its just perfect and makes all those months apart just disappear. (Sometimes your boyfriend is gone so long you start to go crazy and ask yourself is he even real or if he is a figment of your imagination!! ha ah just kidding) 

Baseball threw me for a curve ball again that night. Just when I thought his season was over and he was officially in off season and I had my boyfriend back. baseball came knocking again... ha ha Anthony received a call from some guy his the Rockies Organization asking him to do playoffs with the Modesto Nuts. Of course Anthony accepted the opportunity and the next morning he was off to Modesto to play with the Nuts for the playoffs. Thank god he was in California and only 2 hours away, and Lucky for me the first Nuts playoff series was against the San Jose Giants so, that meant I could catch some of Ant's games here in San Jose!! The went to the 2 games that were played in San Jose and waited for Ant after every game to get my little hug in! ha ha The Nuts ended up losing the series to the Giants and that lead them to be out of the playoffs. So, 3 days later I officially had my boyfriend back!!! 

I pray next year Anthony is in the California league or Double A so, then at least I can have him close, or he will be making a little more money than he was this year! ha ha

Love Love Love 

A picture of the happy couple ha ha

A League Of Their Own!!

We May not be the players like our Husbands, Fiances, or Boyfriends 

BUT, we still have a League of our own!

I am a proud girlfriend to a ball player. I have learned over the last 2 years that behind almost every hardworking ball player their is a wife, fiance, or girlfriend supporting him and saying "You can do it!" We give our ball players a sense of relief, calmness, and strength. They go to us when they want to escape the game or just have someone to share their good or bad game with! We stand by our men and give 110% to make our relationships work despite the struggles baseball or long distance may throw at us. Like it or not WE are the backbone to our relationships with these ball playing men!! We may be weak and defeated at times but, we never give up! For that I say we have a League of Our Own!! ha ha We don't get paid the big bucks to be in this league or travel the world but, we get to stand by our men and support them at chasing their childhood baseball dream! I don't know about you... but thats enough for me!!! :)

This ones for you Shan Shan

To My Beautiful Sister: Shannon

This one is for you!!!

I know you so want to be her in this picture. ha ha So, for that reason I am going to tell your future husband to be that when he gets to kiss you on your wedding day he has to throw his fist in the air so,  the photo guy can can capture the moment!!

ha ha love you shan shan!!

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

Family

I am a very family oriented girl. I have one of those huge families that always finds some silly reason so have a BBQ or a get together!! I love it!!! I have never lived away from my family for when I had the chance to when picking colleges for soccer one of my biggest things was it had to be close to home so my family could watch my games..( not typical for a girl going into college. Most people wanna escape there families and hometowns... not me!!) ha ha Ever sense I can remember I have been going to my grandparents house maybe 5 times a week with my brother, sister, and cousins. Weather it was to swim, hangout, get gram and papa time, or just so my parents could go to work and we could have a baby sitter. (My parents tried the whole having a non family baby sitter but, it didn't sit well  with them so, they would just drop me,my bro, and sis at my gram and papas!) As I have gotten older I haven't skipped out on any of my weekly visits to my grams house. It's probably one of my favorite places on earth. I love that when you go over to visit that their is always someone else their visiting as well. When I was 2 my dad would wake me, my bro,and sis up every morning around 5:30am and pick us all up out of bed and carry us to the car so, he could drop us off at my grams before he went to work. When he would drop us off we all would run to my gram and papas bed and jump in bed with them to sleep till it was a decent time to wake up! Those were the days! ha ha. I love my family and I feel so blessed to have such amazing people in my life that i love and love me unconditionally.

This Thursday my whole entire family leaves for our annual summer camping/boating trip. Its pure amazing-ness!! 3 motor homes, 3 boats, 3 jet ski's, and lots and lots of great BBQ food!! A whole week of family and fun love love love!!

This brings me to the point of this family post...
When I first started dating Anthony I told him I am a homebody and very family oriented. It was important to me that he met my WHOLE family and come to family things with me. He told me he was very family oriented and his family was very important to him as well. I love that I have a boyfriend who shares the same love for family as I do. Me and Anthony have been together 3 years and I now don't just have 1 family I have 2. I love his family so much and they have become my 2nd family. His little sister is  my 2nd little sister she is one of my favorite people, his 3 brothers crack me up, his grandparents are exactly like my grandparents; I love it (It's kinda scary how alike they are.) His mom is a sweetheart and probably one of the nicest people ever, and his dad likes to make jokes sometimes at my expense ha ha just like my own dad does!! Its like my family away from home when I go down south to visit and I just love every lil bit of it all!!

One thing that makes me kinda sad is that me and Anthony have been together about 3 years now and hour families have never ever met... :( It's hard with them being from 2 different places... but, one day they will all meet and for that I am a tad bit excited about!!!

It is finally August!!!!!

                                                            Let the countdown begin!!!!

Thank god it is finally August, other wise I would probably go insane!!! ha ha It has been way too long sense I last saw Anthony!!! I know lately my blog has been mostly about Anthony or our relationship and a tad bit lovey dovey but, I just can't help it I love the kid, and I am so gosh darn excited he is coming home in a month!!!

But, with Anthony coming home it arises so many questions in my poor little head!!!!!! yikes...

I am not going to lie my relationship has its high and low points. A lot of our problems tend to come from Baseball, unplanned futures, long distance, and me over thinking and over analyzing everything ha ha. I have chosen this summer to put aside my feelings on everything and choose my battles. I choose not to fight about every little thing that bugs me or upsets me like I used to do because that would just make for an unhappy relationship so, instead I pick my battles. I have learned to speak kinder when I am mad and address the issue and speak without frustration (this is sometimes hard and I need to take a 5 minute break to cool down before I proceed with the conversation ha ha). I have started to accept things instead of thinking the baseball world is against me and i have stopped taking things so personal and just enjoyed the ride and I laugh about the silly things. I used to think I was strong before baseball but, now after baseball has entered my life along with long distance I have realized I am NOW strong and mentally tough! ha ha

Most of Anthony and my fights consist of me worrying about our future!! Last night I unloaded on Anthony with Text Messages ha ha Poor guy was asleep it was midnight in North Carolina but, it was only 9:00 in California so, of course I was up to think about a whole lot!! (can I just say I hate time difference ha ha) Anyways, back to me unloading with texts on my poor asleep innocent boyfriend... Baseball can really drive a girlfriend to go nuts, crazy, and worry about things she has never worried about before. My texts to Anthony all were regarding my future and our future together. I am in no hurry to get married and have a family for I am only going to be 22 but, I would be lying if I said it never crossed my mind. Truth is I do want to marry Anthony and I truly believe he is my soul mate and when the time is right I know in my heart it will happen! I worry a lot about our future and how unstable it is due to baseball, long distance, and both of our families being from different parts of California! With me entering my last year of college and graduating this upcoming spring I have a lot of questions I need answered but, Anthony doesn't have the answers right now because, he just doesn't know where his future is with baseball or how long he will be living this lifestyle... So here is my dilemma and what I unloaded on him last night while he was asleep!! My dilemma is After i graduate do I find a big girl job and pursue a life with my hard earned college degree and eventually get my own place in San Jose? or do I go out to where ever Anthony is for baseball and be with him and watch him pursue his baseball dreams? Or do I do my 3rd season of long distance and wait till off season 2012 and live with him in Southern California and figure it out from there!? UGH... so many questions and ZERO answers to them all. not fun!! especially not fun when you got all these questions and your unloading them on your asleep boyfriend who doesn't wake up for anything ha ha! All my girlfriends tell me I should take time off after college graduation and be with Anthony but, I am just scared if I put the real world on hold for so long and just live the baseball life with my sweet man I will never fully get out there and accomplish the things I want to with my hard earned degree! ugh what to do what to do? ha ha

Happy August Everyone!!