Golfer in need of love and prayer

David and I are in Houston for the Shell Houston Open. We flew in early Monday morning (up and out of the house at 4 am). David had to get out to the golf course for a Pro-am event. While he was on the course I was busy exploring a bit of Houston and trying to get us all settled into our hotel. Tuesday was tax day for me and David got a good practice round in. Wednesday, I met up with Kelly (Bettencourt) for a fun day of shopping and a dinner date at Rudy's with my hubby. For those not familiar with Rudy's it's the best Texas BBQ ever! I'm from the Carolina's and I'm ashamed to say it's way better than the pork back home.

We love Rudy's! From left to right: me with Rudy's BBQ sauce; David's pulled pork and sweet tea; Kelly says Welcome to Rudy's!

Thursday started the Shell Houston Open. David was suppose to tee off at 9 that morning, but a terrible storm came through Houston and delayed play by several hours. New tee time was at 1130, but shortly into the round the wind started howling! David miss a 2 foot putt for par because the wind blew it off line... Halfway into hole # 5 the tour officials blew the horn to halt play. Apparently the winds were so fierce (not to mention the greens were already conditioned to play incredibly fast) the course was deemed "unplayable." We hung out in the clubhouse for several hours and then were told round 1 would continue Friday-am. Needless to say, Friday was an early day. Players were to be in position before 8 am, which meant up and at 'em at 5 am! Play conditions were not much better. It was incredibly cold and still a bit breezy. Then, the unthinkable happened... David made an 8 on a par 4! Ouch!! And it escalated... putts not dropping, trouble = more trouble, etc. Every golfer, regardless of skill level knows the story. At the end of the round we went inside the clubhouse for a bite of lunch. On our way to the clubhouse we saw a caravan of SUVs... guess who's comin' to watch golf?!?! Mr. and Mrs. George Bush Sr!! I knew they were aging, but didn't expect to see Mr Bush look so feeble. Tell you what, Barbara Bush is the cutest little lady with the whitest curly hair.

Round two was no better than round one. Good news is his high score does not mean his hurt... just in need of love and prayer. It's definitely frustrating to see your A+ golfer struggle because of an inch. I know God is totally in control. His big picture for David is way better than we could ever imagine! We just need to trust and obey. I swear those are the hardest of God's commandments. No matter the outcome, we're going to strive to glorify God in the good times and bad...

That's all for now... time for some good 'ol Rudy's Texas BBQ and banana pudding (3x this week) with Mikee and the Bettencourt's!

Bye-Bye Rain; Hello Sunshine!

We're in sunny FL folks! Considering 5 of my days at home last week were nothing but rain days, I'm tickled to see the sunshine. The weather here has been wonderful; 70s and 80s.

David and I met back up Tuesday night and we have been all smiles since :) I love how much we miss each other and the happiness we have when we are back in our norm of traveling together. Wednesday, David put in some good work while I attended a wives outing. I was so excited to catch up with my friend Kelly now Bettencourt (Yes, like all tour folks, they are honeymooning at the tournament site)! It has been weeks since we last saw each other and I'm so please my play pal is back out on the road with me!

David says the golf course is "pure." We checked the scores from last year's tourney to learn even par finished top 10. Scores will probably remain single digits, though Furyk posted -6 his first round! David is hitting it exceptionally well. Seems like those changes he started working on last summer are coming to fruition! Now we're waiting for the putts to go in. This has been a struggle for us because putting has been his strength and this season we still in waiting for it to kick in. It will!!! We pray for putts and patience daily!

So, yesterday David finished at Even par. After his round, we left for Chick-fil-a with Mikee and then the boys went back to work on the putting. He's feeling better about it now, but we can always use prayers if you are a prayer warrior!

When work was finished it was time to play. We put on our flops and headed to Clearwater which is about 30 mins from were we are staying. We had a fabulous dinner at Frenchy's ( I highly recommend the clam chowder), saw the beach (briefly because the wind was a bit cool for us) and then enjoyed dessert at the Melting Pot (yum!).

We are currently sitting among the old folks in Panera having coffee, news paper time and catching up with our online work. We love growing old in our ways :)

David tees off at 215. Time to get ready for the day!!

Quick Update on Puerto Rico

This week was a no go. David shot +1 on Thursday, which left him with some work to do on Friday. Completely manageable and he had it when he was -3 (-2 total), but ran into trouble in his last few holes resulting in his first missed cut. He caught a flt to FL last night and since the weather is cold and rainy here he's staying in warm FL to work on his game. The plan for me is the same; I will join him Tuesday night in Tampa. As of yesterday, he is in next week's field by 1. Top 10 in Puerto Rico will determine whether he moves outside the field, but we feel fairly certain he is good for next week. Bay Hill (2 weeks) is out so we will likely be home for a week and then off to Houston. That's our 3 week game plan. I can't tell you what happens next for us. We live life by the seat of our pants!

No Fair!

So I've been home this week while David is in Puerto Rico. In the short amount of time being home David has gotten a big box of clothes (20-30 shirts), 6 pairs of shoes among other things delivered to the door. I want to know when my delivery of shoes and clothes are coming?!!? I use this every time I want to go shopping :-) Granted, his is "work" purpose, but still! That's my case. We get massive packages all the time. I think the UPS guy tries to avoid me because I harass him about bringing a storage shed for all the stuff he keeps dropping at the door. I guess it's not really his fault, but really! Where do you put all of it!?!? It would be interesting for me to go through the house and take an inventory of all the golf bags we have around here.

While I'm missing my hubby, I'm enjoying the comforts of home. I love sleeping in our bed, knowing the house is clean and laundry is done, making coffee the way I like it and watching HGTV! I never watch tv when we're on the road (except for 24 our favorite) so it's exciting to come home a veg out. It has been rainy and cold out ever since I woke up this morning so it's been an HGTV marathon day. I promise to be more productive... tomorrow :)

Here and There

David finished out at the Honda with his best finish thus far; tied for 27. He had such a solid start Thursday and Friday; even got some tv time! Saturday was one of those tougher rounds, but David started to get the right feelings back in his last 6 holes. Sunday, well... he really played better than he scored. That's golf and it happens sometimes, but all the same we are so grateful for every opportunity God gives. We know it's coming!!

This week David is playing in Puerto Rico and I am at home sweet home catching up on life at home. I will join David in Tampa next Tuesday evening. Before I left work and started traveling with David we were sort of use to spending weeks apart. How in the world did we do it!?! The house is so quiet and it's just me to look after. He said it was weird going through the airport without me beside him... While I'm enjoying my comforts here, I'm really looking forward to seeing him in Tampa!

I'll keep y'all updated on his play.

Thank you God for good putts!

David had an awesome round yesterday ;-2 top 10 for round 1. When we checked the PGA Tour website this morning there was a great post on the front page! It's no longer up, but I'm sure I can find it somewhere on the site and post a blurb. How exciting. Thanks God for allowing some putts to fall! Praying for a low round today :-)

Viva Mexico! Playa del Carmen y Cancun

Our recent Tour stop in Mexico was incredible! We finally got to Cancun around 930 that Monday night. I was so please how quickly we got through Immigration and collected our bags (especially after the debacle we experienced in Fort Lauderdale Airport… see previous post). A driver was waiting for us and took us straight to the Fairmont resort (site of the Mayakoba Golf Classic). I found it interesting that every major resort we drove by was on a gated compound... no kidding! At least we didn't have real worries about safety! We checked into our room, ordered room service and called it a night.

Tuesday I decided to be brave and go swimming in a Mayan cave. I tried my best to talk some friends into going with me, but no luck and David had to work. I decided it was worth the experience and went anyways with 2 other couples on Tour. At first, I felt like a complete 5th wheel, but in the end, we had a lot of fun and I was glad I went because I made a few new friends. The cave experience was awesome; aside from looking like a total dork in a wet suit and helmet with a flashlight on my forehead! Good thing for the helmet… I just about knocked myself out when I ran into a piece of stalactite!! The cave exploration took about 2 hours. There were times when we only had 2 feet of space between the surface of the water and the cave ceiling. I even saw bats. Thankfully they didn’t see me…

Wednesday, David and I went swimming with the dolphins (yes, again...). It’s amazing how friendly they are! The neatest trick we did was called the foot push. Basically the dolphins come behind you and push you on top of the water. A bit scary, but a complete thrill!

Thursday the tournament started. I hate to complain in February how hot it was, but it was smoldering in spots on the golf course! I felt guilty wishing for a breeze b/c it makes it tough on the golfers. If you looked at the scores you noticed David had a not so great round on Saturday. We talked it out over fruity tea, a strawberry daiquiri and chips with salsa. Basically, there's no real room for error if you hit a poor shot off the tee. Beside the cart path were tall, thick, jungle like bushes. You pretty much took a lost ball if you missed the fairway. For the record, David is 5-0 in cuts (yay!), but we’re anxiously waiting a top finish…. It’s coming!!

Last note on Mexico…. It’s just not Mexico unless you experience some sort of stomach ailment. David was up at 3 Sunday morning. I felt so bad for him, but considering I had my share of stomach issues the previous week I was glad it was not me with a second-go-round. We shared gross bathroom humor and he actually laughed with me when he started to feel better. The joys of marriage :-)