It's TOOTH FAIRY TIME!

Welllll..... this day was coming sooner or later, but I don't know that I believed it would actually happen until it did happen. And that was today! 

this girl... 

Gosh, kiddo.. I need you to stop growing! 

It's crazy to think that this week, we'll be doing her first grade open packet pick up. On Wednesday next week, her open house. And then on Thursday? School. ALL DAY... School. I don't know that Syd realizes yet that first grade is an all day affair, as opposed to the half day she did as a kindergartner. 

*Sigh. Time, slow down! ;) 

We're off for the night, to celebrate the tooth loss and prepare for the tooth fairy's arrival this evening. See you in the morning! 

xo | cmd

And Home Again

It's been a loaded weekend, to say the least. We're home now, but not without a day full of activity under the belt.

We started off with breakfast at Rob's dad's house; yesterday's visit there brought us back together for the morning there with them, this time complete with a visit from Rob's younger niece Ella, who is Sydni's age. We were greeted first by the little furry reminder of joy in the face of an otherwise tense situation: Ginger!

good morning, beautiful girl! 

hi, ella! ♥

We ate breakfast and spent the morning in the company of family, which was exactly what everyone in the house needed.

kate with the pups & ginger 

We soon said our goodbyes [for now; we'll be back asap!] and headed back to Dillon's to scoop up our dogs and be on our way.

Oh, I can't forget to mention the other pitstop before we hit the highway:

ohhhhhh brother.. 

Remember this girl? Yes, she's still in operable condition and has spent the last couple of weeks shacked up in Matt's shed. We made a detour through Collinsville on our way out to say our thanks to him and load her up. The guys took to that task, while I hung back and marveled over Apollo, Matt's dane:

apollo! 

The process went a lot smoother than I'd expected, and within a matter of minutes, the bike was hauled up, strapped in and ready to go!

ready to go!

Despite the roller-coaster of emotions, we seemed to stay in decent spirits for the ride home. We know the next couple of months are going to be a bit strenuous, regardless of how the course of events fall, but we know we're stronger together and when you add God to the mix, joy in the midst of it all is an undeniable fact.

road trippin' it! ♥

We're home now, exhausted and ready to call it a night.
Happy week, loves.

xo | cmd 

Illinois, Here We Come!

We were both beyond ready for 5:00 to roll around, and when it did, we wasted no time in packing up our bags and load up with the dogs for an evening launch to Illinois for the weekend.

hittin' the road with panama jack here.. haha 

We brought the truck with us, which I'm sure will benefit us at some point over the next couple of days, but for long trips, it simply serves to prolong the adventure and force normal conversations to be held at a medium yell.

Driving...
Driving...
pee break..
and driving...

.... and dog butts.... 

... and some mooooore driving....
leg stretches...
... and then driving some more.

And finally an arrival here at Dillon's, where we're both more than happy to remain unmoved from our collapsed positions on the couch. Dillon just returned from an outing to scout a new truck. He's here now and the three of us are in a unanimous vote to do absolutely nothing for the rest of tonight.

*yawn! 
See you tomorrow, blogbots.

xo | cmd

Is It FRIDAY YET?!?

Welp, I signed up for this today: 

can't wait!

I'm so excited to get to Summit this year, especially with Paul & Clarissa going for their first time. To add to my excitement, I realized today that the Edwardsville & Fvw Hgts Express offices will be going as well, which means I'll get to see all of them!! :D Yay!!

This happened in my office today.. haha..

he's lucky i didn't crush him to death... yiiiikes.. 

This has been a grueling week, void of just about all productive activity outside of work hours. This is one of those weeks that didn't see the inside of a grocery store for more than 6 minutes at once, and with us heading out tomorrow to St. Louis, we've made it by on what we still have in the pantry and opted for seafood tonight. Exhausted as we both are, I still had the chance to sit down with this handsome guy for a dinner that revolved around just.. us. Date night, woo! :)

date night with this guy! 

Don't mind me... just eating like I still live in Alabama.... haha.. corn on the cob and all!

corn on the cob? yes, i think so. 

Tomorrow it's one more day of work and then we're outta here for IL. It's WEDDING VENUE selection time! [please pray for us.. haha]. 

See ya then! 

xo | cmd

Whew, Wednesday.

Here's something that I don't do nearly as often as I should: 

I'm fortunate to have a boss who understands me from a deeper level than daily clusters [& flusters] of activity in the office, and can sit me down in his office with a simple, "what's UP [with you]?"

Wednesdays are a good time to recount my steps taken through the week so far, and in doing so, count the ones moving forward and map out the path to take. I'm perpetually awful at delegating, so too often I find that while I'm still moving in the right direction, I'm slowed by nothing other than my own stubborn refusal to lighten the load and share it with fellow travelers. 

I know; that's a little to deep for just work stuff, but it's true. My job is one shared by many all over the country [& technically in Canada & South Africa as well], and there are days that are, despite our best efforts, prove to be not only thankless, but wholly depleting of any confidence, steam and fragment of sanity we may have had walking into it. BUT THEN, there are the days that come with a mission of triumph, happy coincidences and birthing of new partnerships. Our end goal is to help people, and although some days come to test endurance, character, tenacity and integrity, the others are there to lend reprieve and thank us for the work we do. 

To be honest, today was one of those scattered days that felt as though I was trying to boulder straight up a bar of wet soap. I mean there's really no other way to put it. I drove home in a weird cloud-like state and collapsed into a straight line on the floor as soon as I shed bags and work material. Savasana, talk some sense into me, pleaaaase..... Flow, stretch these muscles and strengthen my brain. God, I give you my frustrations, failures and gratitude and know you are unfailing. Breathe in.. and out. In... Out. Rise... Hold... Rest. REST. For just a moment, just rest. 

true story.

Volleyball was within earshot at 7:15, and came and went in a similar fashion to the day, with a player out and two others standing in, then trading the lineup mid-game - it was just as scattered as the day preceding it had been, but it was OKAY. :) We were there, in the moment, and all was well.

Rob and I jumped into tennis shoes when I got home and went for a walk, a short 2-miles of reset that was much needed for him and for me, both separately and together. 

It turned out to be a beautiful experience, all wrapped up into one, otherwise ordinary Wednesday. 

Happy Wednesday to you and yours, and HEY - Take a moment for yourself this week - whatever it is that you do, and just... BREATHE. It's OKAY.

xo | cmd

Take Me To The Tofu....

Work was long today. I was ready when

Rob surprised me by taking me to Comet to meet up with Becky and Mike. I was due in for both some time out with Becky as well as a tofu quesadilla. It was perfect.

setting up at comet! 

tofu quesadilla

Not to mention, we demonstrated our clear choices in beverage selection. Can you guess who's who?

guesssss.. 

Okay, okay.. from left to right it was Mike, Becky, me and then Rob. I mean, we all know Becky's obsessed with MadTree, Rob's the Jamaican beer drinker, and I can only handle pale ales these days. And Mike? Well, Mike's a dark brew guy.

I needed this. I've got a man who knows me, and knows how to put me back in a happy place :). I'm a lucky girl, for sure.

Good night, lovely blogbots!

xo | cmd

Monday Pep

Happy Monday, ya'll! I'm still reeling I think from an awesome weekend with awesome people.. and am now settling back in to a week full of everything that is a typically week for my little Express family and me.

It started as quite the dreary day, after a night of intense thunder-storming and insomnia [fantastic... guhh, haha], but the morning hit me like a blast of fresh air and I was off to a sprint. To top off the Monday morning bliss [which is pretty rare], the Speedzter armband I'd ordered came in today, and it's perfect! Time to hit the trails and not have to worry about sliding velcro or the taking the cover off my phone, for that matter. Love it! :)

speedzter armband - highly recommended! 

Woo! I had every intention of taking my new Speedzter for a spin outside after work, but I have this thing about lightning and try to avoid coming into direct contact with it, plus running in the rain probably isn't the most responsible choice for someone who can't afford to miss a day of work right now. ;)

rainy day pumpkin plant!  

rain rain go awayyyyy! 

Next time, little Speedzter!

Rob and I spent the evening listening to the rain and relaxing after separate but equally hectic days at work, alongside our dogs. Syd's with her dad this week on vacation, so we've got one more week of attempting to entertain ourselves :p

We'll come up with a more exciting plan tomorrow..

xo | cmd

Chaco Chillin'

I think yesterday finally caught up with me. It's been an incredible weekend, but certainly a busy one! As jam-packed as it was, it was still simple, relaxing and full of friends, laughter and good vibes! I found myself after breakfast this morning realizing that our life isn't full of extravagant things, but it's filled with irreplaceable, incredible people.

We had breakfast with Jesse before he left to head back to Illinois, then ran to do some errands before heading home. We made a pit stop for Rob to cut his hair, and while he was there, I sat outside waiting in the truck, letting my feet soak up some of the Sunday sun.

workin' on the chaco tan .. haha

I circled back to the idea of living a simple life, and realized that while we're not down to the raw necessities like I somehow wish we were, we certainly don't need much more than a couple of great friends and a body of water (or forest, whatever) to bring smiles to our faces :).

I'm a pretty happy chickadee tonight.
It's back to the workweek grind tomorrow. I'm ready!

xo | cmd

Canoeing, Kayaking & Tim McGraw!

Today started with a few quick errands, then it was back to rendezvous with Rob and Jesse to head out to Harrison for a day on the water! We met up with Jessica, Bumper, Andrew and his brother Will, then continued on to find a couple of Jessica's other friends Phil, Liz and Alicia. The lot of us loaded up on the bus and made our way down to the livery, where we stocked our canoes and kayaks with goods for the day and launched out onto the river!

perfect day for a new hat debut! 

Off to the water!! 

jesse

my favorite guy ♥  

andrew, jessica, will & bumper in the water swimmin' 

bumper & will 

go bumper, go!

hangin' out with panama jack :) haha

slow down and enjoy life! 

bumper! 

one of many beaches

jess, bumper & andrew 

jesse

captain bumper!!

cute little paddler!! 

so freakin' cute! 

he hopped up with us for a bit - heya! 

diggin' these guys! 

in love with that guy! 

love love love. 

liz & bumper

more fun on the beach

Eight miles after drop in, we pulled off the river and dragged ourselves back to the car. It was a quicker-than-expected 45-minute drive back to the homestead, with a quick stop off at Eli's BBQ first. We opted not to stay and eat due to the wait time, but did get to smell the flowers & soak up some of the simple stuff :) 

We headed up to storage, grabbed the boat and headed back down to the boat ramp. Jessica and Andrew were waiting, and in no time, we were all geared up and en route to Riverbend for Tim McGraw.

the persian cat because the glasses don't fit my face... face. 

riverbend!! 

jesse and me.. after about 20 attempts between
3 of us to get the "right lighting" with the flash.. haha

concert time! 

perfect ending for the perfect saturday night! 

Jessica and I finally wore out, and took advantage of the warmth from the cuddy; so we wound up falling asleep there and apparently snoozing through the rest of the night until we pulled off the river..

welp... haha.. there's that. 

PERFECT. SATURDAY. IN THE BAG!

That's a wrap, folks!

xo | cmd