First World Problem #2: Flimsy Hair Pins

Okay, so this is admittedly a big, fat, genuine First World problem if I've ever had one, but I figured I'd share it anyway. Here goes.

[Unrelated, today really was a great day. My husband joined us for church for the first time in weeks! He's back in town and back with us in the pew. We even had a special little lunch date with the Sleemans and Sandvens afterwards. Good day? GOOD DAY! xo.]

K, so back to it:

I have thick hair. I'm not the only person on this planet with this challenge, but either way: I do, and sometimes it's a drag managing the mop on my head. It was by chance early last year that I came in contact with the hairpin that has now revolutionized the styling process of what is often a belligerently tangled mess. As part of the 'bridal party' for Kalyn's mom before her wedding last May, we all gathered at the Regency Salon in Eastgate and had the students exact their up-do skills on our hair. Mine was completed with the help of three different students and a battery of little black hair pins. Not bobby pins; hair pins. Excuse my frankness, but I'd never really put much thought into delineating between the two.



i didnt' realize they'd send me a 1 pound box, but okay. i'm supplied.

Since those gals loaded my hair down with over 45 hair pins [yeah, for one up-do], I had a pretty solid supply up until just a few weeks back when I realized I was running low. The mystical labyrinth to which those suckers wandered, filled with important store receipts, dental retainers and mismatched socks, must be a booming metropolis, for all the stuff I've contributed to it alone. Good grief. Anyway, I was running low, so I didn't think much of it when I ventured out to a local corporate retailer and snagged up some seemingly-okay hair pins. On not one, but two separate occasions over the past 2 weeks, I've been severely disappointed at the flimsy, pithy nature of my new purchases. Enough was enough, so I finally put a call in to Regency, way back in Ohio, and asked them where they got theirs. I don't know why I didn't think of that in the first place; it would've saved me a boatload of time and approximately $9.00. Haha.

Anyway, these little guys arrived a day or two back, and I. Love. Them.

Just thought I'd share that pointless tale of all things ponytail, if for no other reason than to deviate from the regularly scheduled ramblings of my day.

Oh, yeah, and as a PSA for our 2012 Towerview Relay for Life: If you didn't get your $$ in to Gordon or Diana today for the Cards tickets, you'd better call someone; today was the last day! :) [My phone is literally ringing; is it you??]

... It wasn't you. :)
See you tomorrow!

xo | cmd

Towerview Yardsale | Hail Storm?!

Rise and shine!

That's right. I was at church this morning, on a Saturday, earlier than I even leave my house every other day during the work week. Pretty insane, but absolutely for a good cause!

TOWERVIEW BAPTIST YARDSALE[is upon us!]



yard sale!

Back whenever we were immersed in our 40 Days in the Word study, each group was assigned to develop and execute a project based around Micah 6:8. It was aptly called the Micah 6:8 Project; our group was feeling especially zealous at the time and decided we would throw a churchwide yardsale. The proceeds from that would serve as funds for us to provide a day of free laundry at a local laundromat, and the remainder to go towards fulfilling a need of a local family. After that, if there was any left over, it would all go towards funding our youth group's local mission trip. For weeks, we've been staging the first step of this endeavor. 

[just a fraction] of the towerview family manning the event

It was 6:15 AM when I rolled into the Towerview parking lot. I was already behind schedule; half the crew was already assembled and hard at work toting all of the items out of the building for setup. I jumped right in and busied myself with aiding in the prep efforts. It was advertised that the yardsale wouldn't officially commence until 8AM, but by 7:50, we'd already made over $200 in sales for the early bird passersby.

mary. cori. lara
cash lane extraordinaires... ;)



It was a full day of register duty, assigned to Lara, myself, and Mary. The Pages were so gracious to serve as the childcare facility for the day; Sydni, Landon, Jacob, Alex, Raymond, Evan, and of course the Page girls spent the entire day I'm sure ransacking the Page house and playing to the point of exhaustion. A midday report from Adam confirmed at least that Sydni at one point wandered away from the noise and found a quick nap in Carlee's bed on her own accord. I sometimes wonder if she's not just a completely different child when she's at other folks' places... but I digress. Hah.

Anyhoot, the yardsale was an all day event, manned by the hands of Towerview Baptist, and attended by a few hundred people around the community. We watched as large ticket items like dressers, armoires, desks and tables were carted off, and we organized a bagging assembly line of sorts as the line of small-item buyers processed through the registers. It was an absolute blast!

havin' a little fun
jarod | becky & kallie | becky's new jessica rabbit getup ;)

Once it was all said and done, we broke down the remaining setup and loaded it into the truck that the Salvation Army sent over. It was amazing how quickly we tore that place down and restored it to its original operating order. Barely a trace of the mass event was visible by the time boxes were packed, tables dismissed, and floors swept. We made just under $1800 today, all of which will benefit local missions around our community, on behalf of our church. I. Am. THRILLED! Mary and I even found some less than conventional use for two of the Gobles' wheeled thingamajigs [I won't even pretend like I know what they're called....].

Exhausted but thrilled, Joe, Sydni and I regrouped at our house, expecting a calm remainder of the day.

Not so. 

hail?!



Mid-afternoon, the sky turned a dark grey, and Joe called me out onto the backporch where we both watched with wide eyes as the beginning of a funnel cloud swirled directly over our neighborhood. Jimmy & Mo called, asking if they could seek temporary, just-in-case refuge at our place since they are without basement; by the time they made it into our driveway, the hail was already coming down. We watched from the porch as it grew to the size of golfballs, pelting our neighborhood. We later saw pictures plastered all over Facebook of hail the size of softballs and cell phones that caused measurable damage to cars, buildings, and homes in some of our surrounding areas. Joe's already established that tomorrow is going to be a psychotically busy day for his business. Sad, but true.

We survived the rest of the afternoon and evening without much event... and with that being said, I think it's about time to call it. Here we come, work week. Here. We. Come.

xo | cmd

Grubbin' with the Gobles | Joe's HOME!

I have an obvious affinity for alliteration; I think this week alone it's been pretty evident. Hope you're okay with that....

:)

So it's FRIDAY! WooT!!


sriracha. hot hot hot!



Jackie had invited me to dinner yesterday, via voicemail left on Wednesday, that I didn't notice until halfway through the day yesterday. To make that less confusing, the abridged version of that really just boils down to us rescheduling a dinner date from yesterday to today. I put together some veggies and took it to work, miraculously remembering to take it with me when I left. I made my way over to the Gobles for my second dinner date of the week, with some more amazing people.

JOE [remember him??] flew back in today and met me at the Gobles' to relax a bit, eat some dinner... and some ice cream, and discuss some final details for the big Towerview yardsale that takes place tomorrow. We re-introduced him to Sriracha sauce, which he now endorses, made a few last minute touches to the donation jar for local missions, and decided to call it a night. We've all got early starts tomorrow.

We thought our day was completely over, but when we walked into our house, we found this little guy, compliments of Jimmy & Mo, awaiting us on the kitchen counter. I don't know everything about life, but one of the few things I know as fact is that the people in our lives are extraordinary [and clearly thoughtful!!!].


cookie cake .. good call, prescotts. good call. haha :)

I'm on a sugar-high right now from this cookie cake, but I'm gonna attempt sleep anyway. :)
6AM is just around the corner; I'll see you at the Tower!

xo | cmd

Dinner with Dawne

Work didn't yield much interesting news to share with the class, so I'll just fast-forward to the fun part of my day.

When Joe and I left Cincinnati, one of our biggest regrets was leaving behind our in-home daycare provider, Mindi. She was the first and only daycare Sydni had attended up to that point, and we loved everything about it. In our eyes, Mindi had set a standard for daycare that we were nearly certain we wouldn't be able to find anywhere else. It wasn't much of a concern for a little while; I didn't get to work immediately after our relocation, but the time came for me to go ahead and make the transition back into Express, at the local office here, and thus Sydni would need somewhere to spend the day. 


dawne [on the right]
love her. :) really do!

 We weighed our options, and decided to try out the on-base in-home daycare program that was offered to enlisted families. We matched ourselves up with a gal, but after a few months, it was simply too taxing mentally to keep up with unreasonable requests [such as, the supposed mandate to at least offer my child milk even after we'd specifically requested she not for a few days]. It seemed that each time one of us arrived to get her, there was some unecessary bit of advice or rant to be offered. They fell eventually on deaf ears, for ours were honed into finding the quickest possible remedy to what had become a real headache.

There's no doubt in my mind that a God-intervened thing took place when I found Dawne through a Craigslist search for in-home daycare. This is just another testament to my faith in Craigslist; Mindi had been a result of Craigslist digging back in Cinci when I'd first started with Express, and we couldn't have been more thrilled. It only took a few short weeks for me to connect with Dawne, and after just the initial conversation, I was pretty sold on the whole thing. Once Joe and I had the chance to visit her home and meet her, we were entirely certain this was the best move. We jumped, and I am SO, SO, SO glad we did. She is amazing!

With Joe being out of town, Dawne and I figured it was time we got together and did dinner. We decided on Texas Roadhouse [hello, sweet potato] and met there with Sydni this evening to grub and have a conversation lasting longer than the 5 minute standard each time I pick Sydni up after work. I realized tonight how very blessed we are with Dawne and everything she does for us and for Syd. She loves that kid almost as much as we do, and I have no doubt in my mind that she's well cared for whenever we leave her [even for the overnighters, which we've done!].

We've since returned home and Syd's down for the count. I'm about to follow suit.....

Joe gets home tomorrow.
JOE GETS HOME TOMORROW.
HALLELUJAH.

*can't wait!!

xo | cmd

Breakfast on the Bosses

aww! breakfast suprises!

Most days, I love my job. Today was one of those days that made me especially appreciate working for a small business. We're a tight-knit group [most of the time :p], and so whenever we have the chance to drop whatever business is at hand and relax together, it's a welcome break.

Diana called me last night to advise me against eating breakfast this morning; she said she was going to take care of it. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I figured it would be something along the lines of a quick but savory bite to tote back to our desks while we got started on the day. I was taken back when I walked in the door and saw this layout, ready to go, complete with placecards.

We got waffles! That might sound silly to some, but did you go to your office job today and get a fresh breakfast, compliments of your bosses? [If you did, well, major kudos to you; let's celebrate it together!]

Thanks a million, M&D. This made my day!

I figure I should quit slacking and do some cleanup around this house. Somewhere between the weekend and now, it puked up toddler toys and laundry in virtually every room. Don't ask me how these things happen. Hah.

Midweek's over!

xo | cmd

Christine's Creative, Too!



christine's DIY watch



I hope I'm not the only halfway creative person out there who occasionally goes through a lull in craft productivity. I'll find myself lapsing through spurts of weeks on end where I'm essentially pining to get my hands on some beads or yarn and needles, to forge some sort of necklace, earring set, scarf, something. Adversely, I'm known to lay all creative urge to rest for another few weeks in order to pursue some other endeavor.

Todayyyy, Christine waltzed on by with a little diddy on her wrist that prompted my asking of where she'd found it. As it turns out, she made it. High FIVE! Another kindred DIY spirit. I shouldn't really be so surprised, what with Pinterest taking over the world one household at a time, but it was a watch that she'd made, and I realized quickly I've yet to make a watch. I was actually a little shocked at that revelation, but hey, that just gives me another halfway-justifiable reason to make a trip to Goodwill, maybe eeeeven Michael's or Hobby Lobby... << You know it's serious when I volunteer to pay full MSRP on anything, even craft material. Just sayin'.

Anyway, so I'm going to bid adieu for now to the computer and get my brain warmed up for some designing. I'll letcha know how this one pans out.

xo | cmd

Monday. Bite Me.

 

it's nothin' personal ;)

Poor Monday. It definitely handles the brute of the early work week days. Today was a slight step up in the direction of being calm, but I've still got some ground to make up in efforts to return everything back to normal. Sorry for being elusive with the details; you'll just have to trust me that in the course of being human, I'm prone to doing things, omitting things, and saying things that I later regret, to a hot degree, and consequently am left fending for my dignity. It's a sad cycle, and I'm sure it won't be the last time I find myself in it.

BUT, [dear English major friends, I am fully aware that a good sentence does not start with 'but,' however this is my blog, and I'll flounder it as I please ;)] today was no match for the relaxing entertainment afforded me by two hours of The Voice. Nancy and I spent the evening texting back and forth over choices in wardrobe, song, and judgment calls, and I unwinded into a pretty little evening. I'm cool with that.




^Mathai. She's still in the running as one of my favs.

Tuesday comes after Monday, most days, and I'm holding this one to a high standard. Bring. It. On.

xo | cmd

Thanks, Craigslist

Never underestimate the power of Craigslist.

I feel it's almost warranted that I apologize to the free online mecca of trading, buying, selling, or simply e-window thrift shopping; in all my time using it for divesting of unwanted gear or hunting down something specific, it's never failed me. Today especially, my sincerest gratitude was earned by the swift turnaround of fellow Craigslisters like myself.

Remember those kittens I told you about yesterday [in something of a backdated entry, hush hush]? Right, well, one of the tasks to which I assigned myself upon returning home last night with the quadruplets in tow was to hop on Craigslist and post a little diddy about the furry little babes that cannot and would not be able to share my address as a permanent residence. *Sad sad. I did that, according to the timestamp on the posting, at 12:11 AM this morning.

craigslist - amen



Long story short, by 3:30 PM today, all four of those little darlings were packed up, loaded up, and toted off to their new homes with new families. I'm still hearing phantom mews coming from the kitchen, but I'm blaming that on my current, near-delusional state of exhaustion.

Between the sleep-speckled night and the final farewells, I was fortunate to at least share nursery duty with an equally-groggy Mo, and then a small rendezvous with some members of our small group, organized together for Alexander's birthday party. Sydni was off with Dawne for her nephew's 1st birthday bash, giving me a relieving reign over the afternoon, in all of my bordering grouchiness from inadequate sleep. After Mo and I had returned to my house for the fuss of kitten caboodling, it was back to church for choir practice. I'm still not entirely convinced that I know where today went, but I do know that it's winding down to a close, and I'm goin' with it.

What a weekend!
I'm callin' this one a day, folks. I'm spentttttttttttttttttt.

THANKS AGAIN, CRAIGSLIST!

xo | cmd

Kittens?!

[[[[[baaaaaaack....dated. Pshyeahhh.]]]]]

sydni:
glasses | snoozin' in target | oil change

I took advantage of Saturday being that day on which any agenda gets a full fledged dismissal from duty. I didn't roll out of bed until well nearly 10am, which really doesn't seem late at all until you stick it in line after my typical rise time of 5:15am every other work day. Sydni is on board with this process, and synced her schedule up with the extended sleep times. The two of us took our sweet time putting motion to the day, and I can guarantee neither of us felt all that badly about it. 

Since Mo had originally volunteered to watch Syd in the event that Marlene and I happened to coordinate hitting up a yard sale at one of the local high schools, but since that didn't happen, Mo joined Syd and I for our round of errands. Good thing, too, since I happened to accidentally leave my wallet behind when we'd left for the store. Wooops. Mo was kind enough to pick up that tab, which I immediately reimbursed as soon as we got back to my house and I was able to retrieve my wallet. Embarrassing, still. Since Bonnie had called inviting us both to dinner at their house later on, we decided to get some other things done before that. We headed off to hunt down an open venue for an oil change on my car. It only took three different stops to accomplish that, and we even made a pitstop at Target. Sydni accomplished a new feat for her: sleeping upright in a Target shopping cart. It was impressive actually.

Before making our way to the Prescotts', we dropped Sydni off with Dawne to spend the night; tomorrow Dawne's nephew is having a birthday party, and she'd asked if Sydni could go along. I was completely obliged, finding it endearing that we're able to have such a solid relationship with our in-home daycare gal [who by the way is AWESOME].

At the Prescotts, we were greeted at the porch by a symphony of tiny little kitten mews, coming from under their porch. Bonnie informed us that the mother cat hadn't been around nearly all day; it made us all frown, but we figured she'd return at some point during the evening.... I'll get back to that. 

paella! thanks to the prescotts!!

 Bonnie was in the midst of making Paella while Jimmy, Mo & I took a walk a few blocks over to check out two cruisers marked for sale in the front yard of someone's house. We found a crimson Harley Davidson soft tail as one of the two, and I contemplated for a moment how Joe would react if one day he came home to find one parked in the garage. Hah. I didn't go through with it.

Back at the Prescotts, we dined on paella [amazingamazingamazingamazinnnggggg] and settled into some episodes of NCIS before we finally started to tire. I offered to drive Mo home while Jimmy stayed behind for a bit with his parents; we were out to my car when those little kitty cries from earlier forced me to stop.

If you know anything about my upbringing, then you know two things for certain: As a kid, I ate healthier than a Chinese gardner, and an ultra sense of compassion for animals was hardwired into my soul. Both of those are a direct result of my mother instilling into us an abnormal awareness of eating healthy [1 spoonful of raw flaxseed oil each morning, thankssss], and that every animal is essentially a defenseless creature in need of our intervention in a world littered with people abusing them. The latter of those two theories is what drove me into what began the series of events for the rest of the night....

four fuzzies. so. stinkin'. cute.

We set things in motion by prying apart the lattice that borders the bottom half of the Prescotts' porch, followed by me army-crawling my way under it to the back corner, retrieving the four little fuzzies, and handing them out to Mo and Jimmy. We patched the porch back together, padded up the kittens in a blanketed box. Mo and I made a pitstop to grab some necessities: kitten formula [it's a real thing, folks], a cat carrier that would act as their overnight dwelling, some droppers, and some claw trimmers. We toted the whole lot back to my house, got the heating pad and some blankets arranged in the cat carrier, and crafted a makeshift home for the four little fuzzies.

2am flea baths and mealtime..

Fast forward to after Jimmy had arrived, when he crashed on the loveseat as Mo and I both passed out momentarily on opposite ends of the large couch, and all three of us waking up just hours later to mix formula, feed, and ultimately flea bathe... at 2 am.

It was quite the interesting evening; here's what's currently living in my kitchen. Don't get too attached, mmkay? :)

runt!

so daggone cute.

that's right.

cell phone kitty cats

hangin' with jimmy

mo feeding an itty bitty

So yeah. It's been that sort of Saturday. Meeeeeow.

xo | cmd

Big Small Group #2!

I was more than ready for this week to end. Yenno, just one of those weeks. Eggghhhhhh.

Anyway, it was time tonight for our bi-weekly small group meeting. Last week, we had combined our 3 small group extensions into one big fiesta at the Woods'; tonight we joined forces in similiar fashion, this time at the church, along with the Webb's small group and the women's group. While this obviously extended our mingling time, it was an absolutely refreshing cap to what was otherwise a less-than-savory day.


love. we've got it!
oh, small group ♥ ♥

 ** Let me take just a moment and insert a free plug for not just our small group[s] at Towerview Baptist, but on behalf of all small groups, every and anywhere. If you don't have one, you should really invest some time researching one. I have no doubt you've heard the rumors of how involvement and relationship within a small group setting can impact you. Good news: they're true. I don't know that we would or could be so deeply immensed in a church family without some sort of small group. I thank God every single day, especially every other Friday ;), for ours and for the dynamic presence that it has on my life and the lives of my family. We've been blessed, blessed, and then some. We love you, small group [our hosted one AND the other extensions!]

So tonight, we gathered, we mingled, we dined, and we prayed. Those four fundamental components of our small group settings brought together made for one fun night. With Joe still in Atlanta, I've felt fairly depleted all week.

I'm definitely refueled.

goofin' off with jimmy & mo [love 'em]
[[ we miss you, joe..... ]]

Tomorrow is going to have a late start if nothing else, I guarantee that.

See you there.

xo | cmd

Sweet Moments

Today was another rough day. That's an understatement, but it is what it is. I'll spare the gore.

However, the dark tunnel inside which I felt I was treading all day ended in a very clear, very vivid light once I was settled into my evening. I stood outside my house for moments, relinquishing the weight of the day and promising I wouldn't take so much as a speck of it inside with Sydni and me.

It paid off; we had quite the playful evening, watched The Voice together, and then it was off to bed. We got all tucked in, said our prayers, and twenty minutes later when I went back to check, this is what I found:

love and peace, embodied.

Needless to say, the entire rush of funky day dissipated entirely when I saw this.
My heart melts, every time.
Love You, Syd.

xo | cmd

Gravity.

Today meant returning to the office, after six days of R&R in Phoenix. I've acquired a major tan for such a limited time there, but I like it no less, and I've yet to start peeling, so high five there.


a shared sentiment for today.



Every so often, I think it's appropriate, and totally normal, to say that we've had simply put, a bad day.

Today was one of those days. I could try and scribe it into a fluid flow of words, as I'm usually so prompt to do, but that really wouldn't do it much justice. I'd rather be a bit more concise for today, and leave this one stand alone, open for interpretation and speculation; that would seem fitting for today, anyway.

Hello, Gravity.

See you again tomorrow, I'm sure. Eghhh.

xo | cmd

Airport Debachles

I'll start at the end of this one:

We're HOME! [woo!]


reading. waiting. thx, airline.



Now rewind to how we almost had to get here separately today. It was an early start after we were up mega late with Sam & Kalyn. Luckily, we had everything packed up and ready to go; this time I did NOT leave my D90 behind at their apartment. Hah. Anyway, KP was still asleep when the rest of us left, bound for the airport. We passed back by Camelback, which we didn't have the chance to conquer on this trip, but will absolutely do on our next. Sam dropped us off curbside, we bid our farewells, and headed in to start the process of checking in. We were both still half asleep.

It became obvious to me today that I don't fly often enough. If I were anything of a frequent air traveler, I would have known that when you purchase a roundtrip ticket, you are required to make your outbound flight[s], otherwise you forfeit your ticket back. Okay, so not only did I not remember that, I had no idea that pithy rule existed in the first place. News for ya: It exists. It totally exists.

heading home.... together!!

As it turned out, because Joe had been forced to fly from Atlanta straight to Phoenix, instead of his original intention of flying out from St. Louis with me, his return flight home had been canceled. After weighing it over, we decided to send me on my way, and get Joe on the next available flight. Had that happened, Joe wouldn't have made it back to St. Louis via connecting flights until 9pm. Not cool.

He made it through standby onto the first leg of our return trip: Phoenix to Denver without much protest; we even sat together. It wasn't until every single passenger was buckled in and I was nearly positive I'd be making another trip back to St. Louis later that night that my jaw dropped to the tray table [in its upright and locked position, please and thank you] as they shut the cabin doors after my husband, the actual last person to board the plane. We were separated by four rows of seating at this point, but that sure beat the daylights out of separate arrival times over five hours apart. Wahoo!

beauty from an aerial perspective over the rockies

Touchdown in St. Louis > shuttle back to the hotel at which I'd originally crashed for a whopping three hours last Wednesday > retrieve my car > head over to Joe's St. Louis store. It was a catapult back in time to the days when Joe toted me around to all his stores, meeting all his managers, csr's, and techs, and waiting patiently for him to handle whatever piece of business was at hand. We're back.

Once we finished up with a dip in the glass world, we made our way back home, picked up Sydni, and settled in for a relaxing night with just the three of us. Good thing, too, since he heads straight back out tomorrow to Atlanta, again.

*Sigh. We don't ever stop. :)

Hittin' the hay.....

xo | cmd

Last Day

I'm getting a nice little tan here. Just sayin'. :)

Since today was Kalyn's first day completely off work, and our last full one before we fly back tomorrow, we took full advantage of it and got right into the day. We started off with a hike up from the apartment to the resort on the neighboring mountain. Being everything except conditioned to traversing inclines of any type right now [IL is essentially like treading across a sheet of paper], it was admittedly a winded experience, but absolutely worth it.

Back at the apartment, we showered up and made our way into a different part of Phoenix to Aunt Chelada's, a quaint little Mexican dive that they seem to like. We snagged a table outside on the nearly empty patio and devoured some tasty grub before heading back.


besties @ aunt chelada's



dos amigos



dos mas amigos ;)



It was easy for us to spend the rest of the afternoon playing volleyball at the resort before resigning to a few hours of basking by the pool. The boys took to the water, a section marked with a waterfall centerpiece, which afforded me some time to really catch up with Kalyn on the happenings of our lives over the last year since I last visited there. I realized today just how much I really do miss my best friend, but likewise how fortunate I am to have one like her in my life. :) Good times, good times.

We called homemade dinner tonight, complete with more grilling out and simple relaxing before getting everything packed up and ready to go first thing in the morning. This trip has been oh-so-relaxing and really a huge blessing for Joe and me. 

grilling out :: beautiful....

Love love love.

See ya back in the midwest, kiddios.

xo | cmd

*@&!?? - Sunday Snow in Sedona?!

KP was already gone this morning when we rolled out of bed and got ready for church. Sam, Joe and I made our way over to the service at the church Sam & KP attend regularly. It was a unique experience, one that I'm glad we were able to have. As it turned out, the 'regular' senior pastor was out sick with strep, so one of the associate pastors was standing in. Apparently, the senior pastor is someone to marvel; I'll have to remember that and look up his webcast.


rainin dippin' dots in sedona

 Anyway, once church was out, we headed over to Grayhawk for a quick bite and to see Kalyn briefly before we decided collectively to make a run for it and go up to Sedona for a few hours. It was cloudy for the most part in Phoenix today, but we figured it might be a bit more clear up in Sedona. We couldn't have been more wrong.


snow day!



Gone were the brilliant red rock formations that mark then entrance into the heart of Sedona; instead, there was haze everywhere, and by the time we were nearing the central strip, it was flurrying. Yeah. SNOW. You can imagine how frantic the locals were when we pulled into the parking lot and it was coming down in sheets. You really would've thought the second coming of Christ was just around the next cactus judging by the looks of sheer confusion and hints of terror on the faces of these people. Snow in Arizona?!?! EVER?! ABSURD!!! Yeah. Well, it turns out it wasn't just an average blase snowfall; this was a shower of ice pellets, which in non-weather-nerdo terms look and feel just like dippin' dots, sans flavor. We know. We tasted. If you could do a farmer's market version of dippin' dots, this would've been it. The strangest part was, as soon as they'd come, the clouds passed on and they melted, almost instantly. So bizarre....



goofin' off in sedona

sedona olive oils!

We tried to wait out the clouds by busying ourselves with stops to some of the touristy spots; a cozy pub restaurant, and one of the artisan shopping plazas. We stopped in at one particular gallery, where the artist himself greeted us with warm welcomes, proceeding to share with us everything about his work, all the way down to the technique [using technical words, meaning that the whole shpiel escaped us, for the most part]. He was such an endearing spirit, I couldn't help but fork over $5 for a postcard of his work, simply because in the half hour we spent bonding, not one other person so much as passed by his entrance. I'm sure he's not a starving artist, since one of his larger pieces was mounted next to its pricetag of a mere $18,000. Yeaaah.


these two fools.......



The vibe of Sedona is one so eccentric and spiritualistic that it was nice to retreat back into Phoenix after a bit, if nothing else than to clear my head of images of my palms being read by a polar bear wearing a suede vest and an onyx navigation staff..... It was that type of thing. The good news: by the time we started our trek back, the clouds had dissipated and the truest reds of Cathedral Rock, Bell Rock, and all the other structures that Sedona hold dear, were clear for the viewing. Pretty incredible stuff. God has a flair for bold colors.

Anyway, back in Phoenix, we met back up with Kalyn; Fred joined us a bit later and the lot of us took off into Phoenix, finding our dinner spot at the Yardhouse. Talk about portion control! The plates at this place were enormous! Not a problem though; we went in with appetites, and satisfied them with brews off their in-house taps, oversized dinner portions, and good company. Sam's cousin was in town for a dentist conference; he, his wife, and another couple joined in the festivities. This was a first for Joe and me, to meet another couple named Joey & Corey. We savored that rare moment with a photograph :).



joe. cori. corey. joey.
yes. :)



my. best. friend.
xoxo.

We're back now, and completely spent. Kalyn's off all day tomorrow; about time for us all to relax!

xo | cmd 

Better Be a Baller to Bowl in Phoenix...



tennis :)

We got off to something of a late start today, but it was all good once we did get moving. We started off the day with a hike up from the apartment to the resort on the neighboring mountain. Being everything except conditioned to traversing inclines of any type right now [IL is essentially like treading across a sheet of paper], it was admittedly a winded experience, but absolutely worth it.
Once we'd done that, we headed to the apartment to meet up with and trek over to the resort. We got into some good tennis there before making our way to the resort pool. The guys insisted on doing a few runs down the waterslide before we recruited a random vacationing couple to even out the numbers for a fervent game of pool volleyball scored on a scale of "good one" or "that's gotta be out!". Needless to say, it was sheerly recreational with no final score.


we make our own fun :)

 Back at the apartment, it was a quick shower [and some quick refreshments!] before the four of us headed out to the bowling alley. P.S.: Bowling in Phoenix is crazy expensive! I definitely took for granted the $1 games, $1 shoe rentals, and $1 food and beverage items at the base bowling alley. Here, it was nearly $15 each, which tastes just as icky recalling it now as it did while we were standing at the registers tonight. Oh well. We made it through two sorta serious games before the third game rolled around and we were getting sick of bowling altogether. That usually leads to goofball bowling, which is exactly what happened. We got some of that glory on tape :)

See exhibits below.

Love them.

Kalyn's gotta work in the morning; Sam, Joe & I are going to church and then meeting up with her later. Time for some ZzZz's..........

xo | cmd

'Tis a 13 on Friday. 'Tis.

wakin' up to this... again. :) hi again, arizona

And?

zucchini | window plants | veggies :)

I'm in Phoenix! Correction - WE are in Phoenix! What a transformation it's already been coming from the flatlands of IL to the elevated terrain of AZ. I woke up this morning to the familiar mini mountain that ascends in the immediate backdrop right outside of Sam & KP's apartment, and felt immediately rejuvenated. That of course, didn't happen until almost mid-morning, but I was ready in time for Sam to get back from his errands. Kalyn was already at work, so he and I headed out to see her, tour the elaborate golfcourse, and of course, eat breakfast at Mojo, the deliciously adorable and classy coffee bar/deli in which she works. It's totally her, too.

brunch @ grayhawk

After consuming the signature breakfast burrito off their menu [to.die.forrrr], I got a brief tour of the place: the peaks dotting the skyline in every direction surrounding the stark but lush greens and flowering color bursts on the golf course itself, stone laid veranda overlooking the experience, the pro shop laden from wall to wall with purple plaid golf shirts priced at a quarter of my car's value, and lockerrooms complete with lockers reserved for choice celebrity golfers. Hey, if I was a golfer, I'd be falling over myself to play here. I'm pretty sure the caddies here probably have caddies. [I'm outta my league, yo.]

that's right, valet ... at the grocery store. seriously?+ + hummus hummus & more hummus!

poolside. not bad for a friday afternoon :)

Anyhow, after brunch, Sam and I headed out to run some errands: last minute grocery shopping, but more importantly some souvenier scoping for Joe. I wanted to do something of even a small suprise element for him, knowing that even so, it wouldn't equate to a surprise trip to Arizona. Turd.. haha. We passed through REI, where I found what I  wanted, only to find the exact same thing at a much more sane price 20 minutes later at Costco. Some things never change :).

bottom of the hiking trail
top of the hiking trail :)

We invested the rest of the time between then and Kalyn getting home from work hanging by the pool at their apartment, reading books and basking in the early afternoon rays. Once Kalyn rolled in, Sam took off for some hangtime with his uncle; KP and I took to hiking up the exercise mountain across the street before hitting the tennis courts and the pool at the Marriott resort that's nestled into the mountain right beside their complex. Really not a bad way to spend the afternoon.

When we'd had our daily share of outdoor rec, we rendezvoused with Sam at his Uncle Fred's house, stayed to chit chat for a bit and then headed back to clean up for dinner. We wound up at Pei Wei, where we found the most advanced beverage dispenser I've ever seen. We ordered some grub, proceeded to devour all of it, and then settled into the evening back at the apartment before KP headed off to bed and Sam headed off to the airport to pick up Joe.

pei wei space-age bev dispenser

He's here! Let the weekend begin. It was the final part of getting all four of us together in the same place at the same time; we'll get the fun underway starting tomorrow.

Phoenix is two hours behind Illinois; I feel like I'm still jetlagged for some reason. Weird.
G'Nite!

xo | cmd