U-S-A!!!!!!!!!!! [vs. New Zealand]

Wheeeeere... to... begin.

Holy smokes. I couldn't tell you when I last went to Crew Stadium for soccer game.
And forget just any game, how about a US Women's National Team game? Tonight was a friendly game [meaning it doesn't count for much of anything; trust me, gameplay is not always super-civil, haha], so Becky, Mike and I headed north to Columbus after work and met Brandon there. I gotta tell ya, it's a beautiful sight.


crew stadium field

gametime! (:

I love everything about going to league soccer games. I grew up on the stuff and honestly, I don't think I will ever tire of it. I came tonight with burning excitement to see Hope Solo & Abby Wambach: Solo because I think she's pretttttyyyy much the perfect female athlete, and Wambach because, well, I've been a fan of hers since the early 90's and she's now the veteran on the USWNT. She's part of my childhood just as much as the fab five were [Mia, Brandi, Julie, Joy & Kristine], along with the other greats like Briana & Michelle. 

hope, abby & the uswnt
#13 alex morgan | #2 sydney leroux | #1/gk hope solo | #12 lauren holiday
#10 carli lloyd | #9 heather o'reilly | #14 whitney engen | #4 becky sauerbrunn
#20 abby wambach | #6 crystal dunn | #22 meghan klingenberg

We had... a blast.

gameplay...

abbyyyyyy! [#20]

hope.. freakin'.... solo. (:

And we visited the merch tent.. because we're those fans, and completely not-at-all embarrassed by it.

yep. owned.

We ended up at a tie 1-1 versus the Kiwis, but it was a good game to watch and we had ourselves a great little time doing just that, so hey.. not upset at that at all!

at the 0 & 90 minute marks (:

What I do know, is that I'm going to be exhaaauuuusted tomorrow.
So... good night!

xo | cmd

T-T-T-Tuuuuesday.

I took Emergen-C for the first time in my entire life today. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I didn't hate it. It all started when Elisa couldn't decide if she was hot or cold, resulting in a perhaps-diagnosis of being sick. Nikki had EC's at her desk, and was quick to hand them out to each of us.

... & of course in an express cup.... yeeeup.

The good news: I don't feel any different than I did before I drank the stuff, which I'm going to conclude means that I wasn't sick before I did, and it didn't make me sick. So.. THERE. In-ya-face, sicky bugs.

 

In other news, in the world of alliteration-crazed social media hounds, it's Transformation Tuesday, and that means.....

lovelovelovelooooove her.

I couldn't tell you how hard it was selecting only two pictures for each of those years. The kid has so many sweet, sassy and perfectly-timed action shots that I sat there stewing over this for about 20 minute before I remembered it's just Instagram and it's okay. Haha. Still. LOOK AT HER! Ugh. It's not that I wish she'd stop growing up, because really, I'm excited to see how that challenges both of us, but really I wish there was at least a way to slow it down sometimes, or at least re-visit them. My 6lb, 9oz baby girl is now a 4-year-old and I feel like that happened overnight. *Sigh. I love it though ♥.

 

With the day out of the way, I got some exercise in before stopping off at the grocery store and heading home. From there on out, it apparently became my mission to cancel my workout entirely by indulging in a whole bunch of magic stuff as I kicked back by myself on the couch. Don't.. judge.. me. (:

yeah. it was that kinda night.

.... I'm okay with it though, because I'm still at a point where my metabolism will do its job in a timely fashion; I'll run it off if not, and for the record, this is a delicious combination, movie & all.

 

TOMORROWWWWWW = US WOMENS NATIONAL TEAM VS NEW ZEALAND....

... How.. excited... am... I. I haven't been to Crew Stadium in a few years, but I think I'm just most excited about seeing the lineup [because I'm hopelessly woman crushed over Hope Solo]. Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan won't hurt my feelings, either. Haha.

 

G'Nite, blogbots.

 

xo | cmd

Jen's Birthday..& Some Other Schtufffffff..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEN!!!!

love you & hope today is amazing!

That girl is one of the most kind-hearted, Godly women I've ever had the privelege to know, and beyond that call my friend. We have seen a lot together as friends, and my only regret now is that we don't live closer so that we'd see each other more frequently. Happy, HAPPY birthday to one of the sweetest gals, best mommy's out there, and greatest friends around. Jen, I hope today is amazing!

My day... on the other hand.. was pretty much a Monday if there ever was one. I got some disconcerting news from Rob early on in the day, something that while not life-threatening or anything that serious, is pretty disappointing and frustrating. I'll refrain from posting details here, but I'll suffice to say that it's going to be a big hurdle that will eventually make him - us - stronger and wiser for it.

The important thing.. I love that guy and I'm there for him no matter what. I saw a quote posted somewhere today that read,

"You should love each other by presence, not by presents."

.. And that reminded me that through all the whirlwind things [thanks, Express, for the terminology...] in our lives: stuff, menial tasks, etc, that at the end of the day, people are what make my world spin, and in this case, he and I still have each other and that's more than okay.

On an unrelated note, I also found these today, that just made me smile. I needed a smile today.

Ya'll know I'm a sucker for talent like this.. especially when there's a cool story behind it. I don't know much about the Robotboys, but when it comes to Remote Kontrol, I remember watching and hearing Chibi's story on SYTYCD a while back. If you don't know what or who I'm talking about, get over to Google and check him out. He's .... inspiring. And I needed some inspiration today. 

So yeah. That's a wrap for today. Tomorrow's a new day with new opportunities, and it's up to each of us to make the most of what we have and what's out there.

With LOVE...

xo | cmd 

Great Wolf Lodge, Pt. II

Day 2, Step 1? DOOF! Spell that backwards and you have our first priority everywhere we go.. hehe.

Don't act surprised. Plus, it was a buffet-style breakfast, which was.... delicious. My daughter eats like a teenager, too, which on an unrelated note is actually pretty impressive ;)

breakfast shenanigans ;)

And after breakfast, we made a pitstop at our room to change and pack up all of our stuff. Sydni spent that time making very important phone calls, first to the local authorities [the cops] to report me for having my shoes on the bed, and then to the fire department, cops and taxi cabs to go and rescue a  kitty in a tree. Ya can't make this stuff up, folks.

Hahahaha. So yeahh... finally we were off on our adventure of day 2 at GWL. There was some more magic questing, and then a beeline straight for the waterpark.

goofin off with  my favorite goofball, ever ♥♥♥

And let me tell you, we had a blast. This little sassafrass had us laughing all afternoon.

silly water monster faces & a lounge in the big kid chair. she looks so tall! :(

My favorite of the day at the waterpark:

like mama, like daughter... ♥!

I didn't think I was going to be able to pull Sydni out of the waterpark, but as soon as I told her we were getting pizza, it was a done deal.

... Sometimes, I actually believe this kid is mine. ;)
Just kidding, of course. I'm the only adopted one here.

Anywho, pizza it was, with Nana, Pappy, and this random giant cupcak-hat-bear-sitting-on-a-cookie statue...

normal stuff.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. Fortunately for us, that only meant bidding farewell to GWL and promising Sydni that we'd all come back sometime. I have absolutely no problem with that.

This is the face of my favorite story-teller, recapping the weekend on the drive home:

she's fabuloso!

Here we are now, back at home, laundry going and a movie in.. and the weekend catching up to us. We're calling this one an early night.

Thanks again to my incredible parents for this weekend!

xo | cmd

Great Wolf Lodge, Pt. I

As with each Saturday morning, today started off with soccer practice. It was one of those "OFF" mornings, though, where Sydni was stubborn and really just not feelin' soccer practice. Even so, she made grumpy look good and I was able to steal a few action shots.

manuevering.

I may have to come to terms with the fact that she's not into soccer.. at least not just yet. I realize that yes, she is only four, and yes, she will probably change her mind at least a billion times between now and when it matters, but we'll see. I mean she did after all tell me today that she wants to play basketball. That's probably the furthest thing from what either myself OR her dad would've ever played or guessed. So yeah. Wiggle room. ;)

AND THEN.........

Post-soccer, it was a quick change and then off to a Great Wolf Lodge! Luckily for me, it's only about 15 minutes from soccer, and really I think it's highly underrated as an attraction right here in Cincinnati. Especially if you have kids. Espeeeecially if you and your kids like splashparks, arcades, spa's, pizza shops, magic treasure hunts, mini golf glo-courses, bowling alleys and mascot woodland creatures who roam the halls creeping out parents while the kiddos think they're cute and/or funny.

No brainer.

So, Syd and I met up with my parents and wasted zero time getting into the magic that just is... GWL.

First stop? FOOD. Like it'd be anything else.. c'mon.. ;)

trying to color but distracted by all the cool stuff everywhere!

After lunch, it was off to the giftshop to pick up a wand.
These things..... aside from being moneymakers for GWL, are actually pretty cool. The entire place is riddled with sensor-activated things that react to the wands. There's a whole Quest series in place, and once you choose a certain quest, then you're off in search of the various elements needed to complete it. That would explain why there were groups of tweens flying around the lodge the entire weekend. It's not just a little kid thing. Haha.

magic wand... presto!

We did that for a little while, chasing Sydni back and forth across the hallways as she darted from treasure chest to magic crystal to talking painting. I have to admit, it's an absolutely genius idea. Even so, we came here specifically because it's an indoor water park. It's complete with four full length waterslides, a lazy river, wave pool, all sorts of places to climb, kiddie pools, a jacuzzi and one of those giant buckets that spills out 1,000 of water every hour or so onto the excited crowd standing under it.

quick peek. there's much more to it than this

We had fun. (: (: (:

pappy & nana with sydni!

My little sassy pants mcswimsuit here.... 

mini model. strike it!

I somehow coerced Sydni into taking a quick nap between waterparking and the rest of the night. She wasn't happy about it, but was even grumpier when we woke her up and told her she had to get dressed again. Yeah, she's mine: grumpy when she wakes up & hates clothes all together.. :p. Sooo, we donned the fairy costume and set off for the Halloween costume parade, story time and animatronics show. 

happy halloween, grumpy girl.. heheh..
[i look like a vampire. that was an accident.]

... Oh, and that arcade here.
We did that after all the Halloween jazz.
Sydni gave my dad a run for his money. And... he loved every bit of it.

pappy & sydni racing cars.

syd challenging pappy again.. on bikes.

To top it off, video proof ;)
Love.

We're back in the room now, after what seemed like one of the longest but jam-packed fun days we've had in a long time. We're doing it all over again tomorrow, so here's to a great first day at GWL!

xo | cmd

Laney's Birthday | Fearfest

There is nothing better for me than to wake up on a Friday to this:

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

^ And I just realized her pj pants read yolo. Good grief, really? *sigh.... oh well. In her case, we'll let that stand for, "you're only little once," and leave it at that. Anyway, with or without stupid phrases on her pants, this little girl made my entire day just by being there when I woke up.

And then.. I realized today is...

LANEY'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!

eeeeiiiii!!!! happy birthday, laney!!!!

I hate when I can't be around to celebrate my friends' birthdays with them.. but this gal knows I love her bunches and will absolutely make a cheers to it the next time we see each other [which, who knows when that will be.. she's in Oklahoma!] Happy, HAPPY... HAPPY birthday wishes, to you, L-Bug!! You deserve the best.. keep making those dreams a reality and being that example of how hard work PAYS OFF! So proud of this girl & can't wait to see her again soooon!

And thennnn.. after work - which let out a half hour early because my bosses are amazing - it was home for a quick change and then off to Mason for a night at King's Island's Fearfest with some of the other Express folks from the other offices.

We had a blaaaast. I am definitely glad I went.

express folk! [sorry this is grainy!]
kate. chris. deb. jess | amber. brandi. cori.

boogity boogity boooo... ;)

And last but definitely not least: Our favorite of the evening, of Chris stuck in his seat at the end of the Drop Tower.. hahaha.. Ohhhh, Chris.... (:

chris... c'mon, we're leaving!

Hahah. Many thanks to my bosses, & the Eastgate owners for toting us all around PKI for [my first adventure ever, visiting] Fearfest!

 

Tomorrow = Soccer & Great Wolf Lodge with Syd & my parents!

Can't waaaaaaaait!

 

xo | cmd

Sydni's World!

I concluded four years ago that I was no longer the pilot in my own world.
I am now a co-pilot in the world of a bright, beautifully spunky 4-year-old.
I am probably the luckiest woman on planet earth to have her [says every mother, ever... and rightfully so if their kids are half as cool as Sydni].

Today was another chilly day, topped off with some icy sputters that I couldn't really decipher as rain or wannabe snow. It stayed a muted color pretty much all day; the brightest part of it all came at 6:30 when I sat and watched Sydni do her little fish thing at swim lessons.

She's getting better.. and better.. and better every single time I watch her. That little girl definitely loves water..

Afterwards, we headed home, eager to get out of the testy weather and into some snuggly PJ's, dinner, a movie and a bedtime storybook.

We accomplished all of those things, including a pre-bedtime photo shoot.

..... Complete with a mini video clip!


With that being said, tomorrow is FRIDAY!
There's an Express outing scheduled for tomorrow night at Fearfest up at King's Island; it should be a good time.. we'll see (:

my goofy girl!

For now... that's a wrap. Goooooodnight!
xo | cmd

Volleyball Troopers!

Bro, it's cold outside.

hello, empty courts....

I was the first of our clan to show up tonight, and was hesitant to even leave my car. Yeah, it was that chilly. So while I waited, I figured I'd document the two conflicting feelings of getting out of the car.

selfie moments: #wevegotthis & #ormaybenot

But hey, good news for 3 of our 4-man volleyball squad? We're all seasoned to the midwest weather. Keifer, unfortunately is still reeling a little in the stark contrast of the bitter chill here vs. the temps in Phoenix, but I have to give him credit for hanging in as long as he did tonight.

jameson = liquid courage + a little warm-up ;)

The sand was pretty frigid, but we trekked out there anyway, with a little inner warmth as encouragement [thank you, jameson]. We found our balance of inner warmth and prickly-cold sand, and coupled with the usual Hahana crowd of volleyrats, it turned out to be a fun little night!

shoes & all!

oh, how i love 'em.

Yep, it's October... and it's getting cold, and we are still.... going to play outdoor volleyball. We already agreed snowsports are in the near future, but until that happens, we're milkin' the sand for all it's worth ;)

♥♥♥♥

Stay warm, blogbots!

G'Nite!

xo | cmd

Simple Enough..

I'm pretty sure this is foreshadowing of the.... well, rest of my life: 

.... she insisted.

Yeah. It's cute now, when she's only helping me sign my own name at the Sephora checkout... I'll hang on to the cuteness of it now, before she's 16 and this same image gives me nightmares. Hah.. Anyway, that was the early part of our evening: running errands and [me] listening to [her] stories about dragons and princesses and some random butterfly that is now part of the character roster in her diatribes. It sounds like a funky little bunch; I love her imagination, and it was everything I could do to refrain from interrupting her laughing not at her stories, but moreso in awe of her on-the-spot creativity. Some say she's my kid..... hm... ;)

It's an early night here at the house.
I'm okay with that.
♥.

forever yours, little monster.

Sydni time > Blog time.

xo | cmd

Giggle Fits!

I didn't get to see Sydni this weekend, BUT, she's BACK tonight [talk about a HAPPY mama over here]. I'm never surprised at how much I miss her when she's not around, but I am constantly mind-blown at how much more I enjoy her company each and every single time. She reminds me why everything else that's a struggle for me [.. for us] right now.. is entirely worth it.

this girl makes my world complete.
she makes me complete.

We settled in after dinner for some Veggie Tales, to which she boldly choruses the opener.. every single time. I caught the tail end of it here, and in a rare moment that she's unlike me, became camera-shy and refused to do it again while I had the video camera trained on her. Oh well (:


We did some rapid fire shots, so of course, another .gif! Actually, this is even better than a video, except for the lack of sound, because there's no way I would've been able to steady a camera between tickles and giggles...
... And ponies. MLP, for days, at this place. Haha.

she.. is.. everything.

So here we are, together at last and giggled to sheer exhaustion. It's an early morning tomorrow; we've already done dinner, movie and a battle of wits over the phone with Mr. Rob [she won, babe, we all know... it's okay], so it's time to call it an early night.

See ya tomorrow!

xo | cmd

Farewell Sunday :(

Kyle opted out of joining us for an early lunch today, but he made up for it by finishing off the leftovers...

From where?

Well.. where else would we go.... Hahaha. 

eli's bbq | cincinnati, oh

Sunny day, smoke pit BBQ, and the best mac n' cheese in greater Cincinnati?
As cantankerous as this place can sometimes be, there are certainly a good share of no-brainers. Eli's BBQ is one of them. We'll call it even, since Rob loves Eli's and I love Bindy's fried green beans. We both use those as selling points to convince the other to visit.. heh. Just kidding.

Anyway, we took advantage of relaxing for the early part of today, before the boys had to head off back to Illinois. I'm here now, a couple hours later, feeling that familiar "down" tinge after an awesome time with awesome people that seemed to have ended too soon. I'm happy though, because I'm reminded every time that I have surrounded myself with some of the best people I could imagine.

proud to say i'm his.

I'll leave it at that: thankful for surprises, for friends, for hilarious moments and random adventures. I'm bummed that the weekend is over already, but Sydni is back here tomorrow so I am absoLUTELY looking forward to that!

Fun keeps on comin'! (:
Here's to the week!

xo | cmd

BOOM. Saturday.

Rob & Kyle are here [I still can only half believe that, for some reason..].
Kyle has never been to Cincinnati before.
Erego, Kyle has never had Taste of Belgium for breakfast before.

Don't worry... we fixed it.

a round for the table, please!

It was a no-brainer this morning when we finally got moving; Kyle never having visited Cincinnati before obviously meant he'd never had the full TOB experience [aka, chicken & waffles, from TOB]. We met up with Catie & Andy in the drab, half-sputtering weather downtown at TOB and introduced Kyle to this magnificent course. They sat us at the kitchen table, which is even more interesting for any trip there.

Plus, this awkwardly-statured gnome?

catie: "nice gnome?"
kyle: "too bad that's not a syrup dispenser"
catie: "that'd be genius. here's what it would look like if it were."

... It really doesn't take much to entertain us. (:
After breakfast, we all parted ways, partially due to the weather being monochromatic and... blah.. and the other part of it being that we just wanted to relax. We knew there would be a long night ahead of us, so we all headed home. At mine, we parked ourselves on the couch and watched Iron Man 3, this time without the descriptive services turned on, thank you very much.... Haha.

We hung out at the house for most of the early afternoon, and finally pulled ourselves together near dinner time. Rob wanted to show Kyle Newport, so we went off in that direction, of course taking a detour/pitstop up to the overlook.

kyle & rob | overlook @ eden park | cincinnati, oh

kyle on the wall lookin' at kentucky
overlook @ eden park | cincinnati, oh

We decided on dinner at Bar Louie Newport, joined by Catie & Andy, and afterwards back up to Norwood to Nader's place. His house is once again the common meeting grounds. Lauren met us there, and the cluster of us made a united decision that we wouldn't miss Oktoberfest two nights in a row.

Listermann Brewery it was!


oktoberfest!
nader. andy. kyle. rob. catie. lauren. cori
listermann brewery | cincinnati, oh

these girls! ♥ [+ photobombing rob in the back]
listermann brewery | cincinnati, oh

favorites (:
listermann brewery | cincinnati, oh

ermagersh.. cerggert! ;)
listermann brewery | otr - cincinnati

After Oktoberfest, it was probably the most comfortable decision to head into OTR, to the usual digs.. with the usual people.. PLUS VISITORS! I love that Rob & Kyle are here this weekend!

What I love even more, is how [& we just realized this this weekend] much alike Nader & Kyle are, not only in stature and eerily enough facial features, but in personality, too. They are just about the white and brown version of the same person. I guess everyone's got one, huh? Haha.

.. never met two un-related people who are more
similiar head to toe and inside-out.
rheinhaus | otr - cincinnati, oh

i. love. these. people.
rob. cori. kyle. catie.
rheinhaus | otr - cincinnati, oh

I have some downright knockout people in my life, and I'm so thankful for them. I didn't get to see all of them tonight but it's a healthy start (: It's been a whole day into this and I'm still a little off from the surprise of Rob coming out to see me. What I did to land this guy, I'm not sure, but I've never been anything but myself so I'll just keep doing that and hope he sticks around ;).  

can't get enough! ♥

So that's how we did an unplanned Saturday in Cincinnati. It wasn't entirely eventful, but I think we all had a good time, and that's all that matters. Next time, maybe I'll be able to actually plan some sort of outing (:

Anyway, we're done for the night .. even moreso than this entry is backdated :p

xo | cmd