When we signed to play baseball in South Korea for the 2020 season, we knew we had an exciting adventure with plenty of newness and uncertainty ahead of us. What we didn’t know was the added sense of newness and uncertainty that COVID-19 would bring us all…

There were surely times of doubt, and I would be lying if I said that he didn’t struggle a bit with patience. You see, an injury like this is a mental setback just as much as a physical one. You wonder…Is he ever going to get his pitching authority back? When will he see the next level?

This adventure has only just begun, but has already brought me to places I would have never traveled to otherwise. It has reassured me just how wonderful people can be, and has pulled me out of my shell entirely.

We were ecstatic and I was already setting up job interviews and finding a place to live. Two days later, we got the news that he’d actually be staying in extended spring training. We had to make the hard decision for me to move back home to KC for the time being. If there is anything that I’ve learned in almost a year of pro baseball it’s to try your best to not have expectations.

Every day you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. REALLY. Everyone in your life will ask and you can’t even explain it to them. Baseball is good in that way. It is the absolute greatest lesson of “taking life one day at a time” and “if you woke up today you should feel grateful to be alive.” I don’t know if there’s any other profession that will throw you for a loop on this consistent of a level.

The day before our Dodgers activities got rolling Matt was doing something ridiculous in the hotel room to make me laugh then he said, “Ten years ago when we started dating did you think we would be staying in a hotel in downtown LA and going to Dodgers FanFest tomorrow?” We both started busting out laughing like what is our life.

This season has been unlike any before because it’s not just the hubby and I navigating through baseball life together, we added a little peanut to the wild ride. And believe me when I say that a baby changes everything.

They understand this life and some of the struggles we have to go through because of baseball. They will be there for you as if they’ve known you forever. What I’m saying is, you need these girls! And they need you. You’re all in this life together and the support will be unreal.

What the airstream means for us is that we can pick up our home at any time and move it with us, which is a luxury during the baseball season. We have everything we need here with us, and we don’t have to worry about apartment hunting and then buying or renting everything to furnish it. When we move for the season, we just hook up to the truck and drive to the next destination with all our belongings in tow.

It's Thanksgiving week, and I'm sitting here thinking about our 17 years in professional baseball. I don't take any of this for granted, but today I am especially grateful for these 5 things:

Unfortunately things didn’t go as planned and my husband was the last cut of spring. We went back to Arizona to wait out waivers and eventually were out-righted to Triple A Salt Lake City on April 5th.Just a short time later on April 22nd my husband was called back up to the bigs, just one day later on the 23rd he was designated again and we went back to Arizona to wait out waivers. During our time in Arizona, so many things were going through our minds - Will my husband get a job? How will we provide for our unborn child if he isn’t picked up? The stress was at an all time high.

As wives of professional athletes we all have one thing in common and that is a unique understanding of what it means to live this lifestyle. We are the ones who experience the day in and day out blessings and hardships that are brought on by a lifestyle SO few human beings will ever truly be able to understand. Being alone a lot definitely falls under that category.

Pain and suffering changes us like nothing else can. It draws us to God. My faith in Him and my family is what has gotten me through this last year. My new normal now on this new road I'm on is still bumpy and twisty and unknown, still full of doctor visits, blood work, scans, shots and scars. But this new road has benefits too, perhaps not in ease but in seeing life differently.

I have met so many amazing people along the way and I have seen how God has used different circumstances to challenge me, strengthen me, and use me and my experiences to make a difference in other people’s journeys. I will continue to be grateful for the opportunities we have been given and I am already looking forward to the adventures that lie ahead.

My husband Corey is playing for a team in Mexico this season, the Tijuana Toros. This is his first year with the team so prior to the start of the season we really had no idea what to expect. During spring training, he talked with a few guys who played for the team last year and they said a lot of the “imports” live in the San Diego area and just cross the border everyday for the games. WHAT? The thought of having to cross the border with 2 kids by myself, everyday (if we ever wanted to see dad) sounded terrible...

Most people spend their summers at the beach or lake. Me? I spend nearly every day at a ballpark. My boyfriend plays professional baseball, and naturally I want to be there every day to support him chasing his dream! However, being a baseball player’s girlfriend is not what most people would think it would be! I’m going to give you a little insight into what it’s like to be a players girlfriend.

When you make the decision to travel with your husband for his job, people make assumptions. They assume you have given up everything you have ever wanted and he has given up nothing. They assume you must have no dreams or goals of your own because you're too busy supporting his. They might even feel sorry for you because you don't live a "normal" life.

Sharing a bathroom with 5 other people is less than ideal but Brian was playing great, we would be moving soon. An air conditioner that didn’t get cooler that 75 on it’s best day didn’t phase me because surely Brian would get the call and we’d be on our way up and out.

While getting ready for the 7:00pm game, I got a txt from Tyler at 6:00pm saying “Going up to Chicago, I have a flight leaving in 2 hours”. Under most circumstance’s couples would be thrilled to hear this and while we still hoped for the best we suspected it wouldn’t be for too long, but hey it’s baseball, anything can happen right?

"Have you always liked baseball?" I receive this question regularly, and it is an easy answer every time. Yes.

I certainly understood the WAGS in real life long-distance dilemmas, FaceTime dates, and countdowns until the next visit. But I couldn’t relate to the WAGS life because I wasn’t traveling. WELLLLL, now I have been for only a month, and let me tell you #WAGSinRealLife is alive and kicking with Jesica Beaty.