I hope and pray this Christmas season is a great one for all of you. I was able to come home for about 2 1/2 weeks and so far it has been a really nice time catching up with friends and family here in Florida. As always, it’s been very busy and stressful at times, but mostly really great.

Besides everything that goes along with the holidays, I graduated this past weekend from the University of Florida. My family and I went up to Gainesville, so I could walk and take the pictures and all that stuff. I have to admit that at first, I was doing it just for my mom because I knew it was important to her. But now I am glad I wore the cap and gown, walked across that stage, and took all of those pictures because had I not done that, I’m not sure that the significance of getting my degree would have been so obvious without participating in those traditional festivities. The highlight of the day was having dinner with my family and friends. I had invited my academic advisor, strength and conditioning coach, athletic trainer, and sports information director to a nice dinner. These are the people who were incremental in helping me get to where I am today. During my four years at UF, they are the ones who pushed me, supported me, challenged me and believe in me. It meant a lot to have them all there on the day I graduated from UF.

I encourage everyone to really enjoy these few days leading up to Christmas and the few days afterwards. Soak it in and don’t get lost in the hustle and bustle, stress, and traffic. Enjoy your families and friends and remember that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving with your families- crushing food and watching football. Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday because it isn’t about anything but spending time with family and friends and eating good food. It’s not about gifts and parties and it’s just not so busy like Christmas is.

My wife and I, being in Arizona, didn’t want to make the long trip back to Florida for just a few short days. So although we did miss our families, we drove to California and spent Thanksgiving with some close friends of ours. The food was good, the weather was beautiful and it was totally relaxing. 

Earlier that week I went to Vail, CO for a check-up. Both my doctors were extremely happy with my progress and think I should be ready for spring training. That was definitely good news, but the best news came when they told me I didn’t need to use my crutches anymore! Haha. I am so relieved to be rid of those things. I am still in a boot, but I even get to take that off for a few hours a day. I will start baseball activities in January and am really excited to get going again.

Well I hope you all have a great weekend. Make sure you cheer on my Florida Gators in the SEC Championship!