Sunny Monday!

Today was beautiful!

Don't believe me?
Here's a taste [ya see what I did there? ;) ]

chocolate cheesecake happens... mmkay?

Yep. For a Monday [at work], the amount of situational management I had to exercise today was also at a bit of a low for the beginning of the week, so that was an added benefit.

Most importantly, mini is back and that makes me the happiest little mama today.

ohhhh... her... ;)

We spent the evening talking about the new things she's learning at school with Mrs. Smith, and how she's going to be a veterinarian when she grows up. I've got a career-minded chiclet on my hands, folks. Hah.

Speaking of learning, tonight Rob taught me how to fix my flat iron. He'd never done it before, either, but there's a first time for everything and now I know what I'm up against if this ever happens again. If you've ever wondered what a disassembled umberto iron looks like, here ya go:

poor little straightener!

^ Have I mentioned lately how thankful I am for this guy?

Here's to a continuously awesome week :)

xo | cmd

Luke Bryan.. From the Water!

Trish and I rendezvoused this morning for an attempt to find a church that spoke to us.

I wouldn't call it a successful mission, but we finally landed at Crossroads in Oakley that, despite its massive size, provided a much-needed refresher on life, our purpose in it as it related specifically to work, and just some quiet time between the music to reflect on it all.

You'll never know until you try it. It's a beautiful facility, just a little too much for me.

Back at home, Rob was up and ready to go, so we opted for a run out on the river. A week or so back, Rob and one of his work buddies had taken the new boat out for a spin, which was perfect, considering his friend is a seasoned traveler of the Ohio. It was our turn today, so we loaded up and dropped in just past Eli's and opened up the Baja for an afternoon on the water.

little river cruise

Jessica & Andrew joined in soon enough, and we were off down the water for a quick bite at Ludlow Bromley. Then it was back on the water; we decided last minute to anchor down on the waterside of Riverbend, where Luke Bryan was playing night 2 of sold out shows. I've never attended a Riverbend show from the river side before, but I loved it and will definitely consider doing it this way again.

hey girl, hey! 

the back side of riverbend

captain! 

The sunset on the water is amazing in and of itself:

love. 

We'll be back, yes we will.

river panoramic! 

I'm looking forward to waking up refreshed tomorrow for work, not drained from sun exposure and swimming. I could get used to this!

xo | cmd 

Farewell for Brittany | Night Out With Trish!

The good news from today: 

- Lawn is mowed. 

- Gardens are weeded, cleaned and trimmed. 

- Boat is clean. 

- Cars are washed. 

- House is vacuumed.

- Laundry is done. 

- Dogs are [sorta] clean. 

Basically, we got gross today before we prettied up again. It was well worth it, and in some ways, overdue. 

We managed to clean ourselves up in time to head to Brittany's for her going-away party. This gal is moving to South Carolina for work and I'm super happy for her. Congrats, Britt; thank you for letting us share in your going-away festivities! We are coming to visit you, also. Just so you know :D. 

After Britt's, it was down to good old OTR to rendezvous with some faces I haven't seen in way too long. The usual suspects, Keith & Nader were among them, but the gaps of time that lapse between visits with TRISH proved to make tonight a great opportunity to catch up. 

thanks for hangin' with me, pretty mama! 

I don't know where my mind was tonight; I didn't have my camera out at all at Brittany's, which I attribute to the fact that we were all having too much fun to worry about pictures. It's a miracle we got any decent pictures at the end of the night, too.. and Rob decided to photobomb nearly all of them. Awesome :|. 

Anyway, that's not a bad start to the weekend; I'll take it! 

xo | cmd 

Friends & Friends & Friends: Support ALS Research!

I am having a blast watching people band together all over social media to share this challenge with her families and friends. I've seen several people who, like me, didn't really understand the full scope of how ALS affects those who have it, their families, caretakers and friends.

It's.. horrible.
I've seen a handful of videos over the past couple of weeks, made by individuals directly affected in some way by this STUPID disease. The 26-year-old guy I showed ya'll yesterday even stated that for him, ALS is something that people either equate with the title of Lou Gehrig's Disease & know very little past that, or they are aware of what it really is, and the conversation after that is slim to none.

What an awful way to have to live.
So yeah, I'm loving the video streams of people having a little harmless fun with the ALS challenge. Call it narcissism, call it vanity, call it dumb.. call it whatever you want: money is being donated and awareness is being raised. Let's not forget why we're making these videos, but let's keep challenging the world to shed light on this. Let's save some lives, yeah??!

Here's a mini compilation of my lovely friends, directly challenging me & challenged by me to participate.

kalyn

 ^ She started it for me... thanks for the nomination, Mom! [& yes, we call each other that for reasons even we don't really know... leave it be... ]

My nominations went flying yesterday, and these are some of the early responses:

Becky is scheduled to this sometime tomorrow at Market.
Jessica already did this from someone else's challenge...  

Chad, who decided he would do this before he even left volleyball:

hahana beach!

From the IL lovelies I called out, all three of them nailed it:

Ali:


my favorite ginger

DeShawn: 

damanji himself

Tim: 

timmy!!

Earlier footage of Marianne, who was previously challenged by someone else. What an awesome idea, btw!

love this.



Allllll right, Becky & Rob - you two are still on the chopping block. Let's see it!

Oh, and guess what - it's the weekend... so...  yeah. Love it.

TGIF!

xo | cmd

New Girl On The Block

Rob, the Craigslist afficionado, has struck again.

I think the rampant string of buy-sell-buy-sell may finally be at a stopping point -- for now.

Meet the newest addition to our family. She is still nameless, although we've received numerous suggestions of an appropriate nickname of Lexi.

welcome to the family, newb!

We're still working on the name.

Whilst Rob was working out the final deal on that little gem, Sydni and I busied ourselves in the grass by a nearby church, where she was ready to show me exactly how well-rounded she is:

We stretched. Playing is now an activity that, according to Sydni, requires extensive preparation. This is called the cross-your-arms stretch. Who knew? 

♥♥♥♥!!

We tumbled.

We laughed. A lot.

happy girl

Since she just started school, I figured I'd give her a pop quiz on something she learned this week: addition.

It's true. This little chicky seems to be too smart to handle sometimes.
And most importantly, we hydrated. ;)

sticker-clad chickadee

Overall, I don't think we can complain. We have a new set of wheels in the driveway, two wagging pittie tails curled up on next to us and a kindergartener who loves life.

We're pretty happy.
Hope you are, too!

xo | cmd

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Our volleyball tournament was tonight.
We'll suffice to say this: "Next time. NEXT. TIME." Haha.

Afterwards, I accepted the challenge passed on to me by Kalyn: The viral sweep of ice bucket douses, all in the name of raising awareness and funds for ALS research. The ultimate goal? FIND A CURE.

Amidst the handful of skeptics and those otherwise reluctant to participate for whatever reason, I personally find it endearing to see the newsfeed on my preferred social media outlet -- Facebook -- saturated with video snippets of people dousing themselves or handing that favor off to someone else, in support of a cause. Is it literally every other post just about? Yeah. Does that really bother me that much? NO.

Does it seem a bit narcissistic?
Probably. Sure, we're all posting footage of ourselves doing this, but hey, here's an interesting read I found about this current phenom:

>>> What An ALS Family REALLY Thinks About the Ice Bucket Challenge <<<

This is one of the few times I really want to speak up and tell the naysayers to just... calm down.
This gal says,

"... here’s the deal: We are in for the fight of our lives with this monster, and the very LAST thing I want is for people to give quietly, anonymously, and then slink away. Raise the roof! Raise a ruckus! Call all sorts of attention to yourself! I will be happy for you and every Facebook like you receive, as you nudge ALS an inch or two closer to the collective public consciousness."

Okay. She wins. The ALS-affected win. Douse AND donate, I sure will.

And I did.


In case you can't hear, yeah, I did nominate quite a few people [someone told me the limit was 3? woops] - I guess we'll call it 3 groups of people, as opposed to just 3 individuals:

1 - volleyball team: Becky & Chad [Jessica already did it]
2 - My IL darlings: Ali, DeShawn & Tim [Marianne also already did this]
3 - My better half Rob. Not really a group on the last one... hah.

Anyway, 1, 2 & 3 - you've got 24 hours to accept AND donate. GO!

Oh, and just in case you're still one of those critics who think this too is a fad equitable to that of Gagnam Style or The Harlem Shake, c'mon.. really? Those two things benefited the greater good of mankind .... how, exactly?

>>> Here's ALS, in REAL TIME. <<<

 

Yeah. I'm on board, 100%. If we as a collective group of humans can find a cure for this, I'd say our efforts now, regardless of how funny we and our friends think the videos to be, are worth it.

 

Happy Wednesday!

 

xo | cmd

FIRST. DAY. OF. SCHOOL!!!

I'm not ashamed to brag on myself today: I did not cry.
That doesn't sound like a huge feat to most people, but this mama fully expected to shed some tears watching her baby board the school bus for the very. first. time today.

& i love you to the moon & back! ♥♥

Nope. :D I held it together. Barely. But I did it.

Bottom line: This little girl is a kindergartener. My heart.. is happy. I am so proud of the beautiful soul she is becoming.

So here they are: DAY 1 - KINDERGARTEN!

first day! 

my beautiful girl ♥

and this is my world. 

hangin' at the bus stop with mallory

The time finally came.. 

it's here! 

It was time for hugs from Mindi. This was special for me, since Sydni has been in Mindi's daytime care since she was 6 months old. Aside from the time we lived out of state, Mindi has always been there for Sydni, and for me as well. What a sweet moment! 

thank you, miss mindi! 

sweet mallory [mindi's daughter] being a watchful friend for day 1! 

After the extensive 8 minute journey to school... ;) 

:D 

day 1 in class.. meeting new friends & finding a rhythm.. 

There ya have it. My baby girl is a school kid, as she calls it.
I am one.. proud.. mama. ♥♥♥

The day must go on, of course. Off to work it was, to finish out the Tuesday. As a reward for holding my composure for the day, Rob and I took advantage of the evening and made a second attempt to see the new TMNT. Fortunately, bad luck didn't strike twice, and we made it through the entire movie with no theater power outages. (:

tmnt!

P.S. - Tuesdays -- at least this Tuesday -- are discount days at the theater in Oakley. NOTED.

*Whew! That's a wrap, kids.

xo | cmd