I'm [About to Be] 12 Again...

Guys.

I'm 30. 

Over the span of the last 5-6 years, I've become increasingly aware that my once perfectly straight teeth are no longer formed to the mold they were when my braces came off in middle school. That's due to the fact that I never had a permanent retainer installed, and to top that, had some perfectly horizontal wisdom teeth stay in their place for far longer than they should have. Long story short, it's been time to check into corrective measures for a while now, and today was the day I took action. 

Well, the first step at least. 

nice poster.... 

I've got options, moving forward, which is good. I initially walked into that office with my heart set on committing to a plan of braces. I'm an adult who wants braces. I'm crazy, I know. However, when the orthodontist himself suggests Invisalign, you listen, because he gets paid the big bucks to know these things, and ironically, it's the "big kid" option that 99% of your peer group would choose if given the option. 

So we'll see. Stay tuned. 

pre-vball munchies! 

In other news, I met up with Rob after that at his shop so I could detail my car [much needed] before some sushi and eventually volleyball! Beth is back from her run of absences, so we were, for the first time in 3 weeks a full team of four.

we can dig it :)

pondering something... haha .. not sure what though.. 

Chalk up another 3 wins! We're on our way to a solid seat in the tournament. 

Oh.. Did I mention the game was at 10:00 PM? Yeah..... the schedulers hate us.. haha. 

my greatest supporter :) 

It's late. I'm tired. And sandy.

G'Nite, ya'll. 

xo | cmd

Findlay Yoga?!

It's not uncommon for Elisa and I to make Findlay Market our lunch destination, but today as we sat outside in the sun and enjoyed the day, we noticed a newly-painted window on the corner building adjacent to the front patio:

All I have to say is TELL ME WHEN, AND I'M THERE. 
I sent the picture to Becky for confirmation on this, and I'll be sure to share when I find out. :)

Ohhhhh... and guess what Rob and I did after work today?
We started wedding planning.... oooohhhhh...

#truth

Stay tuned for more on this; fortunately we've got plenty of time to nail our plans down. I know the time will fly by in that time, but I'm bent on walking into and out of that wedding with no debt or reason to freak out about the orchestration and execution.

Until then, have a wonderful Wednesday tomorrow, dear blogbots!

xo | cmd

That Familiar "Monday After"

With our hearts in the right place, Marianne and I originally planned to begin our weeks with a 6am bikram class.

Instead, we both slept in until about 7:15am, and parted ways within about 10 minutes of that.

This was what she posted from the airport late morning:

Gahhhh...
I saw this post as well, that she posted on Thursday [I didn't see it until today], with an off-hand comment I'd made about our impending jaunt into the wild. The comments happened today, and with any luck, there will be follow through to this and Mare will wind up in Cincinnati. Like... for good. :)

hahaha

I don't know what it is about the first night in a real bed after a camping outing, but I honestly am starting to believe that I sleep better in a bag on a floor than I do in an actual bed. Even my own bed last night did nothing to soothe me, but rather kept me awake all night tossing and turning. It made for an interesting point of consideration as I dragged my tired, groggy self out of it this morning to head in for work.

Fortunately, Rob was off a little early, which meant he was in line to pick up Sydni from Milford. I don't know what I've done to deserve a man like that, but I am not complaining. I'm in a trance still, from this weekend. Nature does this to me every time, and I come back to reality wondering if there isn't something more I'm meant to be seeing out of my every day life.

For now, it's late, and we're tired. I've got my best friend and my mini at my side again and for that I'm grateful and content.

Here's to the rest of the week!

xo | cmd

Appalachian Trail, Ramsey Cascade Falls & A Smelly Ride Home!

Today was our last day of our mini getaway into the Smoky Mountains. That meant packing up and gearing Ernie for one more day of adventure and the drive home.

packed up... again

Off we set, in search of our day's adventure. We identified Ramsey Cascade Falls as our end goal, and after an hour jaunt in the car, we were winding down the gravel path towards the foot trail. We strapped on our day packs and were off on the 4ish mile ascent up the mountain to the falls.

more rivers! 

bright colors of the woods! 

hey, mare! 

subiendo, subiendo... subiendo y no bajando

orange spotted newt

We made it to the top, after a grueling network of rock steps, slippery tree roots and loose shale rock. 

nothing like this boost of confidence at the top.. :/

ramsey cascade falls - totally worth it. 

 Fortunately, we managed to get all of our photos done without any casualties.

friends :) :) 

just gracefully snacking..... yenno.. 

 

We breathed in our fill of God's gorgeous work at the top of this mountain. We sat with each other and did nothing but just listen and stare at the waterfall. We stayed there in that place together, yet silently still: isolated in our own internalized conversations with God. I wouldn't have traded that for the world.

And then the descent..

It couldn't have been a better day for a hike up to and down from the falls, and there's no two people I would've hand selected to spend that time with today, either.

We left the falls and captured a last reminder of the morning on the way out:

The laughable moments didn't end when we stepped off the trail for the last time this weekend; in fact, it continued from the moment we were back in our seats. Marianne and I traded spots for the trip into the city, and I decided it would be fitting to assume the role of my seat's previous occupant... and to own it.. haha.

i. am. marianne. 

We journied back into the commercial part of Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, with a few stops before lunch. I suggested we stop off at NOC, which is the PF equivalent of REI. Always a good choice:

It was a fuel stop after that, during which we thought it fitting to capture Ernie in the aftermath of our excursion:

a successful day! 

Our last notable stop before the drive home was Starbucks - Let the fru fru drinks begin! My love-hate relationship with Starbucks continued; I can't drink their coffee because it's always so burnt, so I indulge in the fancier drinks on the rare occasions that I find myself there. I share a similar sentiment with both Becky & Mare, and today we learned that Mare's pseudo name is still a tricky one, even in its true classic nature:

"fankenstien" 

I'll let you decide what you think that should have been. Haha.

Fast forward through all the other stuff: Lunch at TR, then the 4ish remainder of a drive back to Cincinnati. We made it unscathed, and Becky's continued on to her place. Mare and I are both showered, which was desperately needed.. laundry is running and our bags are already unpacked for the most part. This is the super-accelerated version of an unwind.. hah.

We're spent. I'll be re-living this several times until the next outing, I'm sure.

Until then, good night blogbots - see you in the AM!

xo | cmd

Saturday in The Smokies: Boogerman, Clingman's Dome & The TN/NC State Lines

Today was so full of laughter that I'm not really sure just how to fully encapsulate it in one blog. Don't get me wrong; I'll try, but there are no guarantees.

Not sure what I mean? Well, for starters, the three of us collectively agreed last night that we would play today by ear, depending on the weather. Varying forecasts had been handed to us from separate parties at the camp and then from radar readings as well. We were expecting somewhere between zero rain to a washout. Fair enough.

That being said, at 5am, Mare and I awoke in our tent to the sound of "rain."
Okay, no. Correction to that: Marianne awoke to that sound. I awoke to the sound of Marianne saying [in the most matter-of-fact voice ever], "BECKY." Becky replies, "Yes?" Marianne: "LIGHT. RAIN."

I say "rain," because we're not all together lucid at 5am in a tent, and had forgotten that we were within a stride of the river. It was the river leading us to believe we were in a downpour, not the rain [a relief at 5:15am when we finally got out of the tent].

yeah... there's only 3 of us on this trip, believe it or not.. haha

With that first false-alarm disappointment out of the way, we packed up our tents as a pre-emptive measure, made & ate our jet-boiled breakfasts on Ernie's tailgate and then climbed in the car to continue sleeping for about 2 more hours. Yes, there were sleeping bags involved. Yes, it turned out to be just fine.

car sleeping done right :/ 

With the extension of sleep out of the way, we realized that the rain still hadn't come, so we committed at that point to a day hike over the Boogerman Trail. P.S. - Marianne drove us the 600-some-odd yards there while wearing a sleeping bag. Thankfully, there's no traffic on that straightaway stretch of road at 7am... not even the elk.

We unloaded at Boogerman and opted to leave packs behind. That left us with rain gear, river-crossing footgear, daypacks and water.

 

The hike itself could be mostly summarized in 4 bullet points:

* Footbridges are optional; river crossing is not. 

* Cold Water. Barefoot Hiking.
* Pictures. Laughing. Real Conversation. 

To Becky's disappointment, the Boogerman trail did not contain the longest footbridge in the park that she had believed was there; My best guess is that it was washed out, as many of them were. Marianne made her mark in the wild by forcefully sitting down [aka falling] halfway on a rock and more so directly into the river, after which point she finished the remaining 2 miles barefoot. I had a fight with my Chaco's that lasted for about 80% of the 4.5 hour hike, until we finally stopped and I did a total readjustment. 

The GOOD THING [among the many, really] was that the scenery and history of the Boogerman property had completely consumed us, and regardless of our immediate inconveniences, we were elated to be there and just.. be present in those moments of exploration and discovery. 

hello from the boogerman property! 

For anyone who might wonder what people on a woodland hike do, here's an example: 

Also this: 

tool from the boogerman workshop property

We concluded our hike with that sense of accomplishment that comes only after you've forded rivers without bridges 9 times, and with bridges an additional 7... without losing any of your equipment or breaking skin [or bones] by way of falling. :) 

last river fording.. 

With the first part of our day concluded, we thought it fitting to explore a different part of the mountain, so we set off in search of some other wonders. Our journey took us through a smaller stretch of the commercialized zone, which we were nearly confident we would dismiss, until we spotted a familiar object of affection: COFFEEEEEEE. It seemed like such a luxury after just 2 short days of being without. It was a rather impromptu stop: A small, empty coffee shop in which we found both our caffeine fix and a kind suggestion of a local gem that wouldn't take long to visit. With caffeine in hand, we obliged the suggestion before continuing on the whatever the day had to unfold:

coffee vs. waterfall..... always say yes to coffee..

We switched gears and opted for a more domestic chapter of the day, so we started our drive ascent further into the mountain, a process interrupted several times by the photo opps:

Eventually, we reached Clingman's Dome, a lookout that is the highest point in the entire Smoky Mountains Park. It was a windy little jaunt to and from, but well worth it.

On the way back down to camp, we veered off again to the State Line lookout and did what all the tourists do when they are at the divide between two states in a national park: take pictures!

We made it down to camp just shy of daylight disappearing, which gave us ample time to once again set up hammocks for a short time, stake down tents and get dinner going. The day's been pretty full already, so it's an early night. Tomorrow's going to be a long day...

We're ready :)
Goodnight from the Smokies!

xo | cmd