We took a Bruising!!!!!

We got killed in both of our softball games Monday night! All around bad day. I was pitching and got hit by a line drive from about 30 ft away...easily the hardest I have ever been hit by anything. I got hit by a 95 mph fastball in high school and it didnt even compare with the amount of pain I was feeling monday night. Left a good bruise...remember this is 5 days later, I have been in Montana visiting family and never got a chance to take a picture but still you can see some good colors. (No commenting about how white my legs are!) I rubbed some dirt on it but it didnt help very much. I figured since Caleb got to post about his softball scars I can too. Hope everything is going good. Thanks for the good comments about the Bonds post. I appreciate hearing different opinions.

New Home Run King

In light of Barry Bonds breaking the Home Run Record last night I thought I would make a post about my opinion on the whole ordeal. To everyone who has been living in a cave for the past two months, San Fransisco Giants Barry Bonds broke Hank Aarons lifetime record of 755 career homeruns. Great accomplishment, but what makes this situation bad is that Bonds has had allegations of steroid use over the past couple years. As a baseball player of 16 years and a true love for the game, I feel like steroids has single handedly destroyed America's pastime. As a player of college baseball I can easily say that over 25% of the players were taking somekind of illegal supplements. Not all were Anabolic Steroids but they were definitely in the mix. (Yes even athletes at Harding University!) It is really strange to see guys go home at Christmas weighing 200 and playing okay, and to come back a month later with an extra 40 pounds of muscle and absolutely smoking the ball, it raises some flags. Let me make myself clear in saying that I never took steroids but I can see how players can justify trying to get to the next level. When it seems like everyone else ahead of you is getting help from chemicals the only way to not get left behind is to take them as well.

The number one problem for pitchers is not how fast they throw but how fast there muscle tissue heals after pitching a game. A normal pitcher throws about 150 pitches in one game. (20-30 warm up pitches, 100 actual game pitches, and about 5 warm up pitches before each inning, so if he throws 7 innings it should be around 150-160 pitches.) The "over the top" arm motion is not normal for the human body, and it can destroy the shoulder and elbow over time. I would pitch one day and for the next two days I would not be able to raise my arm over my head, because it was so sore. The number one thing steroids does is promote faster recovery time for muscle tissue, therefore allowing pitchers to throw more often leading to a stronger arm. For a college baseball player who is average the thought of taking steroids and getting just a little better and becoming more noticed could possibly mean a major league contract equaling "Set for Life!" Yeah the "What if" question has crossed my mind a couple times but I would never have been able to live with myself realizing that illegal chemicals got me to where I was. So now as I am realizing how hard Chiropractor school really is the easy way out is sure looking better everyday (Just kidding). It will only make success in the end that much better!

I got to watch the game last night and I saw the homerun. I was happy that he finally broke it because quite frankly I was sick and tired of hearing about it! I think that Barry Bonds had a fine moment as a person last night, as well as, as a baseball player. And there's no taking away from his skill, I just feel bad for Hank Aaron because he hit 755 homeruns through hard work and sweat. Let me know what you think...This is a really interesting topic and I would like to hear some different opinions. Hope all is well

(20 yrs. ago 180 lbs. Hat size 7-3/4; 2007 240 lbs. Hat size 9-1/4)

No more Xbox...for now!

Well Caleb and Audria got their new T.V. today, good news for them but bad news for us (Just kidding Caleb). Trisha and I bought Caleb and Audria's old T.V. last week, because they had ordered a new T.V. and it was time for us to upgrade to HD. So for the last week we have had Caleb's Xbox 360 over at our house, because they had no T.V. To say the least we have enjoyed it! I got spoiled to coming home after a long day of Chemistry and getting to take it out on my opponents on Xbox (hahaha). Since Caleb and Audria got their T.V. today we unfortunately had to give them back their toys. Although, Caleb found us a great deal on a used Xbox 360, so it should just be a matter of days until the stress releaser is back. We are off to Arkansas for my graduation this weekend. Kind of a hassle having to drive 6 hours their and 6 hours back just to walk across a stage and get a handshake, but it will make my mom happy. Hope all is well.

Long time no post

Hey guys, sorry it seems like the last couple weeks have been really crazy. We will try and get back to posting every couple days. Maddie is doing much better, her pads have completely healed and her surgery went great. She is almost back to normal, her stomach is still kind of sore but it doesn't bother her too much.

We played Pleasant Ridge Red (the old guys) tonight in our softball league. We beat them 15-11! It was our first game in almost a month. We have had two rain outs and then last week we had a bye, so we were worried going into tonight's game (especially since Caleb is on the DL with a broken finger) but we pulled out a victory. This was the first time that the young guys have beat the old guys in two years. It was fun getting back out and playing some ball. Hope everyone's summer has been going good, we will try and keep everyone updated a little better. See ya soon

Maddie update

Hey guys thanks for all of the prayers for Maddie, we know she is just a dog but we feel like she is a member of our family. She is doing much better, her pads are healing and she is getting back to her normal self. The vet has cleared her to have her surgery tomorrow morning. He wanted to wait until her pads healed up a little more that way she doesn't get an infection because the hysterectomy is a pretty invasive surgery on a dog her size. We will keep you updated on how she is doing. Hope all is well.

Rough Day for Maddie

This afternoon I decided to go for a four wheeler ride. It was a beautiful day and I had been cooped up in Chemistry labs all day, so I wanted to get out and burn off some steam. Maddie gets so excited when she sees me load up the four wheeler, she knew exactly what we were about to do. For the last 5 months, everytime we would ride Maddie would be right behind us, having a blast. Well today was different, about half way through our ride I noticed that Maddie wasn't staying as close as she normally does. Didn't think much about it until after we were done riding. I noticed some blood on the ground, and then I say that she was favoring her front legs. After closer inspection, I realized that she had completely torn off her "pads" on the bottom of her feet. She had been used to running on "soft" ground up in Arkansas, lots of grass, dirt, mud, etc. Texas has a lot more rocks and "rough" terrain, and her feet took a beating. I felt horrible. We took her to the Vet, and they had to sedate her and then perform minor surgery to remove the damaged pads, so that they could heal properly. She has these huge bandages on her front paws, but the Vet said her pads should grow back in a couple weeks. While we were at the Vet, we discovered that she is also having a false pregnancy! Basically her body thinks that she is pregnant, when she actually isn't. We noticed that her "mammory glands" had become enlarged, but knew she wasn't pregnant because she had no interaction with any male dogs while she was in heat. Once again didnt think much of it until the Vet started "milking" her on the table. She told us that we needed to get her spayed ASAP, because she would not be able to handle true pregnancy. She said that she would carry the litter full term but the pups would be dead at birth, and Maddie would become very susceptible to getting cancer. Trisha and I had been planning on bredding her next month. We were obviously dissappointed but we dont want to do anything to risk losing Maddie. We also found out that she is having an allergic reaction to something down here in Texas, and it is causing her hair to start falling out. So long story short, Maddie had a rough day. She has all kinds of medication to take over the next week, so hopefully she will get better. She is sedated, so she cant feel any pain. I felt bad about her feet but I am glad that we found out about the false pregancy and skin reaction, because the long term effects of both could have been worse. The Vet said they had the same problem with their lab, so they put "booties"(a.k.a. doggie shoes) on her feet and she has done much better. Pray for Maddie over the next couple days she is going to need it. Hope all is well, see ya soon.

(Maddie sedated, Lilly wondering what is going on.)


(Lilly winking for the camera.)

First week of work

Hey guys. Just wanted to let you know that Trisha started her job (Dillard's Corporate) this week and she absolutely loves it. She has an incredible boss and she loves the work that she is doing. I know that lots of you have been praying that everything will go smoothly this week, and it has. Thanks for all of the prayers.