After a little over ten years in the wide world of baseball, it would be safe to say that I have collected my fair share of Coach’s Awards over the years. As you can probably imagine, it seems that every other year the ‘encouragement award’ of sorts would ironically, go to the single only girl in the team. A rather polite yet still socially acceptable way of saying “Sorry you didn’t quite get there, but hey Congratulations on trying!”

Needless to say, while I always smiled an overly appreciative smile and graciously accepted, the truth is that I never really thought much of it.

This year however, despite being given that very same award, the emotions that go alongside it appear to be entirely different. Instead of being given the award purely out of encouragement in regards to a skill level or rather lack thereof, it seems that this time around, the concept of skill level never entered the equation and I could not be happier.

For the first time in a little over ten years, I no longer feel as though I was awarded a trophy purely for encouragement purposes. Instead, I am walking away with not only the world’s biggest smile, but what seems to be an award of the kindest recognition and while it may not have been in regards to numbers or statistics, in my opinion, it was in regards to something far greater.

According to the wise words of a rather wonderful coach of mine, words that may or may not have caused a few hidden tears, the general consensus is that I was apparently, the heart and soul of the team this year. A statement that to be perfectly honest, not only has me completely lost for words, but has me feeling like the luckiest girl in the whole entire world.

So to my beautiful baseball boys, the ones who have without a doubt made this season one to remember, while I may not have made a speech as such I will say this:

While you may choose to believe that I was the heart and soul of our team this year, the truth is that every single part of that heart has been filled to the brim with love, laughter and memories from each and every one of you. Unconditional love that I am certain time will never change, endless amounts of laughter that has cemented our unbreakable bond and memories so bright that I doubt they will ever begin to fade.

It is no secret that diamonds have been known to sparkle and shine and ironically enough, it seems that the world of baseball is no exception.

With the overwhelming support from each and every single one of you, not only am I back shining brighter than ever before, but I am armed with a comeback story that to be perfectly honest, borderlines on fairy-tale worthy; a fairy-tale that just so happens to have the happiest ending of all.

As a girl who absolutely adores birthdays and all things slightly festive, it may come as quite a shock to hear that this year, I was far from ready for celebrations. Despite my beliefs in the notion that age is simply a number, given the fact that I am one of Tay Swift’s biggest fans, I suppose you could say that 22 was not a number I was willing to give up lightly.

After three hundred and sixty-five days of endless singalong’s each and every time my phone would ring, realising that the precious little two had just become a three was somewhat of a bittersweet moment. A bittersweet moment made all the more bearable, compliments of a sneaky little midnight dance session and a day filled with endless celebratory smiles and while it should come as no surprise to hear that I am undoubtedly one of the luckiest girls in the whole entire world; something that I am constantly reminded of day in and day out, there will always be something so uniquely special about birthdays. Something that somehow, seems to make life all the more magical, even if it is just for one single day.

Just one single day of endless heartfelt messages, countless beautiful phone calls and sneaky surprise visits. Just one single day where all of the wonderful people we are so blissfully blessed to have in our lives, all band together in an attempt to have us feeling on top of the world and nine times out of ten, they manage to do just that.

So to all of those beautiful people who I can safely say my life wouldn’t possibly be as bright without; thank you. Thank you for not only making my birthday so completely wonderful, but for doing just that with each and every day in between.

At twenty-three years young I am pleased to say that regardless of losing a two and gaining a three, it seems that with a Mumma Bear like mine and just the right wrapping paper, any little girl can feel like a princess; quite possibly all year round.

They say that time flies when you’re having fun and I think I can speak for all of us when I say that given just how much fun we’ve all had this past season, it’s really no wonder time has passed us by so quickly.

For those of you who may have missed it though, here’s a quick recap of a day in the life of ‘Narangba Demons C Grade’ – the highlights reel of course:

1. Compulsory training sessions; short shorts only.

2. Animal themed Onesie nights, just because we can.

3. Epic Australia Day parties and weekly tavern trips.

4. Serenading sessions by our very own Matt Corby, only cuter.

5. Lap dancing lessons by the one and only ‘he wishes he was Magic Mike’.

6. Free barber shop visits; the kind you wish you never had.

7. Face time opportunities should you ever happen to miss a game.

8. The occasional, unexpected ambulance ride.

9. Far too many “That’s what she said” jokes.

And last but certainly not least…

10. The best homemade jam you will ever come across in all of your life, compliments of our cute little ex-baker’s Mumma.

So really, all things considered I suppose you could say that as far as a comeback is concerned, I did get fairly lucky with the crazy kids that I happened to come back to and while I may have started the season with just one big brother by my side, that is certainly not the way it all ended.

Here we are now, six months on and I can say with quite possibly the worlds biggest smile that I have somehow stumbled across a brand new, beautiful little family. A family that consists of nine slightly bigger brothers and one beautiful baby sister and honestly, I could not have imagined it any other way.

Three long years spent desperately waiting to be back out on that diamond and now, it all makes perfect sense. All of the waiting and all of the dreaming was leading up to this very moment; the moment I was destined to fall completely head over heels in love with that little white ball, all over again.

First season back, first ever Grand Final game and first ever Grand Final trophy; I think it’s fairly safe to say that family definately does it best!

It seems to be a rather well known fact that unfortunately, it was curiosity that killed the cat all those years ago. Luckily for me however, while I have always been the curious type, I have never been overly fond of cats and so for the most part the theory hasn’t exactly been much of a deterrent; not for me at least.

As far as I’m concerned, curiosity is what makes even the dullest aspects of life exciting. Not only is it the spark behind the fire, but it’s the depth of colour behind the rainbow and quite frankly, everything else in between.

As far as I’m concerned, life was designed to be lived and the world was created to be explored.

Lessons were discovered to be learned and questions were raised to be asked.

Rules were made to be broken and lines in the sand were drawn to be crossed.

Authority was elected to be questioned and boundaries were put in place to push past.

The imagination was born to run wild and thoughts were formed to float freely and while at first glance the world may appear to be purely black and white, it’s often what we find hidden in amongst the endless grey matter that makes life exciting.

So exciting in fact, that it seems to have sparked just enough curiosity to coincidentally, have killed a rather infamous cat; a cat who would have more than likely, discovered countless answers to a rather long list of questions that realistically speaking, most of us won’t ever be brave enough to ask.

So while it has long been said that the lesson is to be found in the notion that curiosity is what killed the cat, perhaps the reality is that curiosity is quite possibly the single, defining factor in what may have just allowed that very same cat to ever truly live.