Otis :)

After last night, today started a little later than we had planned. We're cool with that.

We headed over to see the Edwards for a bit at their house since it's been quite a while. They have a new addition to their family: Otis! He's an English Mastiff, and he is adorable.

otis

giving puppy kisses!

Not a little guy per say, as he's already 45 lbs his paws are the size of my hands. This tyke is gonna be a big boy one day.

But for now, he's still a manageable size for even Sydni, who enjoyed playing in his crate just as much as he did. It's pretty roomy for her... Ideas for travelling? *Kidding.

He was impressingly docile with little hands, little fingers, and sometimes a not-so-little excited squeal chasing him around the kitchen and the yard. It's a shame we don't still live closer; in a year or so, he'll be pony sized. Haha. I joke.

Joe and I also made a pitstop at our favorite crepe restaurant downtown before I dropped him off at Eric's again and headed home to let him, Eric, and JB have a much-needed guys day to shoot pistols, play cards, and well.. just be guys.

I took that time to head up to Deerfield to BuyBuy Baby with two goals:

1. Get Holly [Joe's cousin] a gift for her baby shower next weekend which I can't attend.

2. Don't buy Sydni a bunch of stuff that Mama wants more than Sydni does.

I accomplished both of those things. Score.

Tomorrow we'll pay a visit to our now former church, New Harmony. I'm excited to see everyone!

xo | cmd

Wuest Wedding!!

The Art of Marriage, by Wilferd Peterson:

the wuests | todd & donna

A good marriage must be created.
In the art of marriage the little things are the big things...

It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once each day.

It is never going to sleep angry.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.

It is speaking words of appreciation and
demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.

It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.

It is not only marrying the right partner...
It is being the right partner.

This is what Joe was asked to read during the wedding today. [He did it perfectly, too, for the record!] It was such a gorgeous wedding, even though the sun was both blindig and blistering.



More hilariously, this wedding is one I will never forget.
This is a true story:

Joe started the day with an 18-hole golf session with Todd and some other guys from the bridal party. I'm glad it wasn't me; it was sweltering out there today, and I'm not much of a golfer. They survived with no heat-stroke casualties, though, so that's always a good sign.

JB & his date Jess came by and picked me up around 5:30 and the three of us trekked up to West Chester to meet Eric at his sister's house. I hopped [literally, stupid dress] into his truck with him and we led the way for JB & Jess out to Northbend to the country club.



Did I mention it was h-o-t outside?? Todd & Donna craftily ensured that their wedding programs doubled as fans, but most guys our age don't jump at the option of sitting and, well, fanning. It seemed so unfair, since the boys were all in suits, and the girls... weren't. I did my very best to funnel as much air as I could on to Eric, since the poor guy had sweat dripping off his face by the end of the ceremony. A moment of cool relief finally crept over us when the sun disappeared behind a cloud and we no longer had to squint.

jess | justin | eric | cori | joe

CONGRATULATIONS, TODD & DONNA WUEST!!

The reception was everything a reception should be: food, friends, and plenty of dancing. And not just dancing, oh no, but the older adults dancing. Moms and dads and grandparents always make for the best duos at wedding receptions. Of course that didn't stop any of us from cuttin' up some pretty good rug to a well-constructed soundtrack.

Speaking of which:

Ooooone of us decided to not only cut the rug, but slide on it. I don't blame him, because that floor looked pretty slick. It wasn't. :( Eric attempted to slide across it into the worm [he powered through!], but unfortunately, the floor fought back and Eric ended up splitting his chin open. So, Joe, Justin, Jess and I all loaded up into our respective vehicles and set off in search of the nearest hospital.

First attempt = fail. GPS found Christ Hospital....... medical testing center. Ooops.

Second attempt = lesser degree fail. GPS found us Mercy Western Hills. For lack of a better term, that place is hood. Really.

So here we are, dressed like wedding yuppies [oh, and the wedding colors were bright pink & black; Joe was therefore sporting a bright pink tie and vest] at a hospital in the middle of the night, in the middle of a savory neighborhood. Thumbs up.

Justin tailed Eric back to the fixer-upper room to witness and photograph the stitches, leaving Joe, Jess and I in the waiting room to witness something I'm still unsure I didn't just imagine: 



wedding battle wounds | 8 stitches!



Roughly 45 minutes into our wait, a shirtless man comes waltzing into the hospital. By man, I mean likely some WWE has-been, standing at about 6'5" and impossibly weighing anything less than 300 lbs of sheer muscle. Scarier than his stature was the blood covering the entire left side of his torso. It didn't take us long to spot two holes, one in his chest, right above his heart, and the other parallel to it in his bicep.

Fast forward to when we're no longer freaking out about the bloody man to when we learned he wasn't shot, but he was stabbed. A lady not much smaller than he had accompanied him into the hospital and informed us that we "should see the other guy." No thanks, lady. No thanks.

So we leave, finally, after Eric and his 8 stitches emerge ready to go.
What do you do after an adventure like that?
You go to IHOP.

It's 2AM.

Yep.

Scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, and pancakes will cure any crazy evening. Especially when the entire meal is spent reflecting on a journey that began at a country club and ended at IHOP.

I love my friends.

So, all in all, this was the wedding.

Quite the eventful evening.

Congratulations, Todd & Donna. We wish you the best and then some for this new chapter of your lives!

xo | cmd

P.S. - Yeah, I'm cheating on this one and backdating it to the latest possible time that I can so it'll post on the right day ;) Shhhhhh.

Lunch with Lynn | Dinner Time with Donna & Todd

We're back home in Cincinnati, and for some reason, it's just a relieving feeling. We started off our mini-vacation by driving down to meet Lynn in Kentucky for a relaxing afternoon and some lunch. I'm sorry, Lynn, I didn't think to photodocument the occasion. I promise I won't be a slacker next time around.

We left Lynn's around 3:30 to go pick up Joe's tux for the Castelli-Wuest wedding, and then stopped back home to clean up quickly before the rehearsal dinner.

Todd & Donna's wedding will be at a country club on the other side of Cincinnati. We nearly got lost finding it, but as luck would have it, our GPS did its job and we made it there for the rehearsal dinner. This place is gorgeous, and I'm so excited for Todd & Donna!

todd & joe | cori & donna

We stayed at the rehearsal dinner for quite some time, enjoying the company and enjoying the food!
Tomorrow's the big day... We'll get rested up now!

the dills | joe & cori

xo | cmd

Ohio, Again.

It's wedding season. Everyone knows what that means, especially when the wedding is two states away.



in | ky | oh



Work.

Drive.

Drive some more.
Indiana.

Keep driving.

Kentucky.

Keep driving.

Ohio.

Almost there.

Cincinnati.
*ahhhh, home.

-----

It's gonna be a pretty packed weekend.
Tomorrow = lunch with Lynn & the Wuest rehearsal dinner.
Friday = Wuest wedding!

I can't wait!

xo | cmd

"The Sky is His Resume"

So this is from yesterday's devotional from my little Max Lucado study:
_________

God can do all things.
~ Mt. 19:26


... and he soars above ....



Nature is God's workshop. The sky is his resume. The universe is his calling card. You want to know who God is? See what he has done. You want to know his power? Take a look at his creation. Curious about his strengths? Pay a visit to his home address: 1 Billion Starry Sky Avenue.

He is untainted by the atmosphere of sin, unbridled by the time line of history, unhindered by the weariness of the body.

What controls you doesn't control Him. What troubles you doesn't trouble Him. What fatigues you doesn't fatigue Him. Is an eagle disturbed by traffic? No, he rises above it. Is the whale perturbed by a hurricane? Of course not, he plunges beneath it. Is the lion flustered by the mouse standing directly in his way? No, he steps over it.

How much more is God able to soar above, plunge beneath, and step over the troubles of the earth!

~ The Great House of God

________

I love the line, the sky is His resume. How true. I thought about this one a lot today, and how all the things in this world are either His or allowed by His permission. Pretty humbling.

Things to ponder.  Things to remember.

xo | cmd

My Poor D90 :(

sad broken d90

So remember when I, like the mindless fool I so often am, left my camera in Phoenix?

Well, Kalyn shipped it back to me, and I got it today.

Good news: I got it.

Bad news: It's looked better. Much better.

Good news: My lense is completely fine.
Bad news: The LCD screen on the body is shattered, and the card door is broken off.

Good news: Kalyn put insurance on it.

Bad news: The shipping crew that handles USPS is apparently shady as all get out. Lame.

Basically, I got the camera back, with body and lense wrapped and taped separately in the same box. The little card door was wrapped up with the lense, and, when talking with Kalyn, I learned that she hadn't taped anything. Such shadiness. Sad, sad, sad. Thank goodness for insurance; it's a waiting game, now.

In an act of divine consolation, it was my luck that weather was just a bit too extreme to take a toddler to sit outside at a softball game. Sydni and I laid low at home for the evening while daddy went off to play, and I quickly found that those few hours with her cheered me up and made my broken camera seem like such a small issue.



couch potato

Now, taking it one step further, I'll say now that it's a rare occasion that Sydni will ever sit still with me, let alone remain there long enough to fall asleep. Tonight I was treated with not only a good half hour of conscious cuddling, but my little bean fell asleep in my lap, wearing her socks and shoes out of which she refused to get, and holding tight to the beloved blankie. I don't care how bad my day is; I've got my family, and that's all it takes sometimes.

Shhhh ;)

Night night, world....

xo | cmd

Officially Members!

Today was a big day for us in our church; we made the step to move our membership from New Harmony back home to Towerview here in Illinois. We still consider New Harmony very much a church family to us, but I heard a good quote from our new pastor the evening we met with his wife and him for dinner at Eckert's:

While your church family at home will always be just that, if you're going to be somewhere else, then be there, fully.

I really liked that, and I'm taking to it. We are here, believe it or not, so we might as well really be a part of this. We're going to make the most of this experience, not the other way around. So here we are: members of Towerview Baptist Church in Belleville.

Amen!

To celebrate, we did spaghetti for lunch. Why? Because we can. :) Oh, and because Sydni loves her "skitsi," as she calls it.

"my skitsi!"

This is a good way to start the week, right? ♥

xo | cmd

Base Picnic

Another scorcher out there today…

Let’s go to an outdoor picnic, eh?

Okayyy.



caitlin & sydni

It was definitely warm out there. We spent most of the morning into mid afternoon hanging out on base at Joe’s squadrant picnic. It was a pretty good time; giant grill out, cornhole tourney, volleyball, soccer net, and a huge playtower off of which Sydni nearly shoved someone else’s kid. She’s a bully, I tell you.

We left halfway through the afternoon after we had spent the entire day sweating; Sydni needed a bath and a nap, and after she was down for the count, I found myself waking up on the couch 2 hours later.

This was pretty much how a standard Air Force Saturday goes. I’m a fan. J

xo | cmd

[Her] Last Day

[[Happy Birthday[s] to Jess Cochran & Eric Edwards, two separate friends of ours back home in Cincinnati! I truly hope today is a wonderful day for you!]]

Today was my office’s current FOC’s last day before she moves on to her new position [to which we assigned her, ironically]. We took full advantage of any reason to celebrate, and I was introduced to Imo’s. Imo’s is a pizza parlor-esque restaurant that seems to have a good reputation for reasonably priced lunches. The girl I’m replacing seemed to have a habitual craving for this place, so we secretly ordered the office a round of Imo’s for a group lunch.

Basically, for $5, they give you a 10” personal thin crust w/ one topping, and a side salad. I was impressed, for it being quick, inexpensive take-out.

Behold, Imo's: 



imo's | pizza + salad | yum.



What better way to find the best quickie digs than by referrals? While I definitely wouldn’t want to eat this more than once a month, I’ll have to, on one of those lazy, unhealthy days, introduce this stuff to Joe.

Back at home, I had about 15 minutes to finish the prep on a pasta salad I was to take to our evening small group Bible study at Pastor Ron & Debbie’s. It didn’t turn out half bad, and went over much better with the crowd than the Skyline dip we took last week. I don’t blame them; apparently that stuff tastes like pure magic, but is far less appealing in appearance. Oh well.



Do we have huge plans for the weekend? Of course we do. *Kidding.



pasta salad



Tomorrow = Base picnic. We’ll see how this goes in this ridiculous weather J

Who knows, I may even sport some sunscreen… we’ll see!

xo | cmd

Silly Movies Make Perfect Nights

The first place I needed to find when we moved here was a reputable grocery store. Around here, there are two primary options: Schnucks or Dierbergs. I’ve not done much shopping at Shnucks yet, simply because I live within striking distance of a huge Dierbergs. Think Beechmont Kroger’s with a touch of local farmer’s market, all in one. Pretty sweet.

There just happens to be a Dierbergs by my work, as well, and today I took full advantage of their sushi department. I enjoy that its constantly manned by an adorable little sushi man who always seems to be smiling, and thanked me repeatedly for the California roll & nigiri I plucked from his collection today.

Work was work, as usual. I feel like I’m making some valuable headway, but I’m still treading softly, as the former FOC is still here and I don’t want to inadvertently step on her toes.



pb&j

At home, I found my little family anxious to eat dinner, so, at Sydni’s request, Daddy made his famous PB&J, and we munched away at our sandwiches and listened to Sydni tell us the tales of her day in a language that will someday translate to actual English words. For now, it’s nothing short of adorable and heartwarming to hear her express her thoughts out loud, even if we can’t understand a single lick of it.

Since we’ve not yet turned on cable services at our house [we’re never here, what’s the rush?], we’ve been quite the movie-watching family on the occasion that we have free time during which we vote to stay up late. Tonight it was Joe’s turn to pick-a-flick, and we wound up snuggling on the couch to a little throwback action in Without a Paddle.

Tomorrow’s Friday! [yesssssssssssssssssss]

G’Nite!

xo | cmd

El Maguey's

I don't think I ever mentioned that the girl training me for my position at the Edwardsville office is leaving at the end of this week. As an office, send-off dinner's aren't uncommon, but they are more interesting when it's held at a place to which I've never been. Although El Maguey's turned out to be your standard Mexican restaurant, it was still good, and I appreciated the opportunity to sit down in a more casual environment with the people I see for 8 hours a day every Monday through Friday.

el maguey mexican restaurant

I honestly miss the staff from the office back in Cinci. There isn't much I can do about that, so I'm determined to make the very best of and keep an open mind to this new staff; ironically, aside from the owners, I would technically be considered the senior staff member if ranked by longevity with the company. I have high hopes for my run here, and I do wish my departing predecessor all the best luck in her new job!

¡Adiós, y hasta mañana!

xo | cmd

Tuesday Perks

Today I’m feeling rather hopeful.

I’m going to be bold and say that I am finally adjusting to my new environment at work. Not a day goes by that I fight the urge to compare my old office to my new office, but the confusion seems to be subsiding and a more distinct sense of organization seems to be emerging. I have strong hopes that we’re all headed in a productive direction.



hello, dresses!



Anyway, as I sat in front of my computer arguing with payroll (Tuesdays, love it….), the UPS guy popped in with two unnecessarily large boxes. The store name tattooed across every inch of its surface was a dead giveaway to the fact that the dresses I ordered on Friday, made it safely to me by Tuesday. Not too shabby, and quite frankly a monstrous elephant removed from the back of my mind.



I also managed to order a few other odds and ends which I’ll need to complete the wedding ensemble, and if all goes well, I expect those deliveries to be just as punctual as the first.

When 5:00 hit today, I left work feeling an overall sense of accomplishment and progress. I headed home to Joe and Sydni, who, as it turned out, weren’t even there yet. That gave me ample time to get laundry moving and start dinner with minimal interruptions. They made it home shortly after me, and immediately set the goal of watching Road to Perdition while I was making dinner. Did I mention we’re harboring a Tom Hanks addict? ;)

Behold, the pierogie:



pierogies, pre-adornment

Yum. Home run on that one, if I must say so myself. I rarely say that of my own culinary doings, but after a long day of haggling employees for lost hours and adjustments, it felt good to focus on nothing but the flavor of the food.

I think I'll ask my mom for her pierogi recipe. She makes these suckers from scratch, and there's not a chance in the world I'd argue with that. :)

All in all, not an awful day, for me at least. I’m still praying that Joe and this weather deal will start to get along better and stop butting heads.

Tomorrow = midweek. HUA.

xo | cmd

Week 3. Here We Go.

Yeahhhh, Monday.

And yeah, it’s freakin’ HOT outside. I’m not usually one to be discontented with warm weather, but this is a little out of hand for the Midwest. So yeah, *sweating*….

Today was one of those days during which I was so entirely consumed in my work that I skipped lunch altogether and was consequently faced with leaving an hour early. Welcome to the perks of hourly wages. J  Ha. So, that gave me plenty of time to do some light exploring of Belleville, which meant stopping by Peace by Piece, a local shop that carries only American-made products and caters to the sale of local artisans. My kind of shop… 



peace by piece | belleville, il



I had planned on stopping there for one reason only, and found exactly what I needed within the first minute I entered. It’s certainly not Park & Vine, but it’s mildly comparable. I’d definitely go back. Now if only I can hunt down a local dig that carries all natural products and all the hippy stuff I love: Moby’s, cloth diapers, beeswax soap, household items made from recycled bike parts… ya know, that sort of place. Any suggestions?

Towerview’s softball game was scheduled for 6:00 PM, but I craftily used both Sydni and the well-overdue grocery trip to escape sitting in the blazing sun for 3-4 hours straight. Joe headed to the game; Sydni and I headed to Dierberg’s. We managed to shop, return home, and shelve everything within the hour, which left us plenty of time to catch the second game. By the time Syd and I made it to the field, the heat had partially retreated, so the evening was tolerable. We didn’t pick up any wins tonight, but the guys played well and we had fun watching. Plus, Jarod rode his motorcyle and had forgotten shorts, so he opted to simply chop off the lower half of his jeans. Yeah for softball fashion statements. :)

before: jeans | after: jean shorts

It’s still hot, even inside, and I’m pretty sure I’ll end up falling asleep as close to ground level as I can….again, tonight. We’ll see.

xo | cmd

USA v. JAPAN

There are a handful of televised sports that can hold my attention, but nothing quite like soccer. Especially if it’s an important game. By important, I mean, World Cup finals important.

So this morning was fairly relaxed: nobody wanted to wake up early, not even Sydni. She was zonked on the fold-out couch when I woke up around 9am. Mom & Dad came over from next door and we did the hotel breakfast thing. After breakfast, we decided to take a quick swim in the hotel pool. Syd is still hesitant of deep water, but is coming around faster and faster each time. She’s brave! Her first order of business was jumping into the pool from the ledge with one of us there to catch. I’d say that’s a good step for a 22-month-old!

Around 1, we loaded up the cars and headed back north to Indianapolis. We drove past the old location of Glass Master’s (Joe’s professional alma mater), which is now nothing more than a pile of excavated sand. He showed me the new building which he and his team had basically transformed from the ground up with their own hands. Our stop landed us at the B-Dub’s, where we settled in to eat and watch the USA v. JAPAN women’s World Cup.

I had high hopes. I think we all did. There was a part of me that kept saying I wouldn’t be horribly offended if Japan won; after the tragedies that have forcibly taken the country’s attention captive, that victory would be a welcomed encouragement. I’m glad I had that thought inkling in the back of my mind, because when it was all said and done, we basically handed Japan the game and they came out victorious. It’s depressing, yeah, but I’m not going to speculate here.

abby wombach | hope solo

Let me just say though: Hope Solo and Abby Wombach may be tied for my athletic girl crushes. Don’t judge. Haha.

After 120+ minutes of soccer, Joe, Sydni and I hit the road for the 4-hour trip back to IL.

That lands us here, now, home in the house which has not experienced A/C since we left. My word, it’s muggy in here. Haha. Good news is: we made it home safely. My parents made it back to Ohio safely, and we’ve finally got Sydni home. We sure did miss her.

I’m sleepin’ on the downstairs floor tonight, folks. True story.

G’Nite.

xo | cmd

Let's Go See SYDNI!!

Part of me doesn’t feel like it’s been just shy of two full weeks since we last saw Sydni. The other part of me feels like I haven’t seen her in forever, therefore I couldn’t wait to get to Indiana today to meet up with my parents and her. She’s been doing her monthly stay with Nana and Pappy, but with the distance now over double what it was when we lived in Cincinnati, we voted for a two-week stint instead of just one. We’d taken our break after the July 4 weekend; while we’d enjoyed some time sans toddler, we were more than ready to see her.

We got a late start, 150% due to me, as my husband would argue. We were afraid my parents would be left waiting for nearly an hour for us at the hotel. My poor parents got stuck on the outside of Indianapolis behind a haz-mat spill, and ended up gridlocked in traffic for almost 2 hours. We beat them to the hotel, but thankfully they weren’t too far behind us.

Mom, as usual, was prepared for a picnic feast. We set up camp in the hotel dining area, cooler and all. Let me tell you, my mom doesn’t mess around when it comes to food. J



edin outlets



After the late lunch and some settling in, the five of us headed back up the highway to the Edinburgh outlet malls, where we did some shopping and got some decent exercise after hours of being cramped in vehicles.

One day I’m going to look back and wish I had ten thousand more chances to meet up with my parents after they’ve had Sydni for a week, two weeks, etc. I am so blessed to have the parents I have and even more so that they are the people that they are.

Tomorrow we all head back home. Maybe the USA will get a decent win over Japan in the Women’s World Cup. Who knows.. who knows….

ZzZzZz…..

xo | cmd

Double Date

Work was work. Aside from it being Friday, I’m not here to talk about work. J

Good news: I finally ironed out the kink [at least I believe I did] with the wedding wardrobe issue I’m having. I ordered new dresses today, and if I’m lucky, I’ll see those within the next two weeks. I also ordered the TOMS I'll be sporting, as well as two pairs of silver TOMS for two of my bridesmaids. Scoooore.

toms toms toms toms | ♥.

Earlier tonight, Caitlin and Nick met us here at the house and the four of us loaded up for a double date. First stop: Eckert’s. [Thank you Pastor Ron & Debbie for helping us discover this GEM!] They’d not been, and Joe consumes the biscuits like water, so really, nobody lost there. They loved it, we loved it, and we all left with just one unanimous complaint of overstuffed bellies.

From there, we headed over to a mini golf course near our house. We’d been meaning to visit, but hadn’t yet, so we figured we would utilize a perfect summer evening and challenge each other to 18 holes of putt-putt.



such focus!



I won.

Don’t ask me how it happened, because I bet I wouldn’t get that lucky again in a million years. But, for the record, I won. Haha. I can’t celebrate too much, though, because Joe was the only one of us that managed to sink a hole-in-one on the last hole to earn a free game. Don’t act surprised… J

This little place turned out to be a lot bigger than we thought. Once we finished golf , we grabbed some bats and each took a turn for one round in the batting cages. I’m not nearly as bad as I thought I would be, but not nearly good enough to say I’m anything worth noting. Softball was never my thing. We did decide that we would make another trip soon and try out the bumper boats, go-karts, or the other mini-golf course.

we are barely tall enough to ride these things

*Yawn.
Tomorrow, Joe and I head up to Columbus, IN to rendezvous with my parents. They’ve had Sydni for two weeks now and this will be our halfway meeting trip to pick her up and spend the weekend with them. I suppose I should get some sleep….

xo | cmd

Betrayal!



qdoba quesadilla



Dear Chipotle,
I’m sorry. Today I ate a quesadilla from QDoba, and I didn’t hate it.
I feel like a traitor, but I promise I’ve not forgotten you.
For what it’s worth, I still think you’re better. 

Apologies,
Cori

P.S. – This was Joe’s fault. Had he not had an early day, he wouldn’t have met me for lunch, and we wouldn’t have randomly picked a lunch spot.

P.P.S – Ok, that’s a lie. We decided together. He’s sorry, too. We’ll see you soon.

xo | cmd

Dude, it's HOT outside.



hello, sun

Over the past few days, the weather around here [well, from what I understand, it’s all over the Midwest] has been more than just nice. I hate to say it, but it’s so hot that it’s almost been mildly irritating. I heard on the radio on the way in today that there was a heat-related fatality in this area. It saddened me, and made me thankful at the same time that my family and I are blessed with the luxury of relief and shelter from the elements that should not be taken for granted.

get into the Word!

Plus, I live with a U.S. Air Force weather forecaster. The term, high pressure cell has become a regularly-used term around our house. High pressure, in laments terms for all us non-weather guru’s, means simply clear, beautiful, sunny skies.

Whatever the case may be, it was friggin’ H-O-T out there today, and apparently that isn’t going to change anytime soon. Let’s get sweaty.

Relief = Wednesday night Bible study. These are always good refreshers to have for the middle of any hectic week.

Orevua!

xo | cmd

My Dear Jimmy John['s]

[[Happy Birthday to our friend back home, Tim Edwards!]]

This is really all I’ve got to say about today:

I love the Lord, my Savior.

I love my family.

And,

I still ♥ Jimmy John’s.



nom nom nom!

J  

xo | cmd

St. Louis Bread Company

Yeah yeah yeah, Monday. I’m thankful we survived each other, again. See ya next week.



panera? or st. louis bread company?



So, back home in Cincinnati – well, Ohio in general, really – there is a place called Panera Bread. I’ve seen them all over the place, even when we lived in Alabama. What I didn’t realize though, is that Panera’s parent company is the St. Louis Bread Company, and that, aptly named, it’s centered out of St. Louis. That means that in the are of Illinois in which I live, there are all kinds of St. Louis Bread Company locations. We ate there tonight, because the novelty of the name made us feel like it was actually something new. 



I’m such a tourist.

After Panera, it was off to church softball, where the boys secured a well-deserved win and the crowd cheered them right along. I love these outings.

I feel like this will be a good week. I guess that’s mostly up to me, huh. J

xo | cmd