Post-Christmas Video Blitz

The day after Christmas is slow in my line of work. Elisa was off today, which left just me in the office along with Dave & Nancy on and off throughout the day. I honestly didn't mind the lull; I'm still a little spent from the past couple days and the road trip back yesterday.

I picked Sydni up after work, and we headed out to run some errands before heading back to the house. Rob showed up with Sasha a short while after that, and we settled in for the night. Really, it's been a whirlwind of a week so far; it doesn't look like that's going to stop anytime in the next seven days, but I'm embracing it. We sat together after dinner tonight as Sydni watched The Croods and watched some videos that came out earlier this year. I thought I'd share some of it, since it's stuff that in the midst of crazy busy holidays reminds me of the simple [& sometimes very complex] beauty around us.

1. This video of twins just moments after birth. I am so fascinated with new life that when I first say this, I had to watch it several times just to satsify my awe of it all. This. [like the other videos] is beautiful.

2. A video from the Mimi Foundation. After watching my cousin, along with a few friends wage and overcome their own battles with cancer, this melted me. I wonder what kind of courage I would have if I had to walk in their shoes. I applaud them.

3. This video went viral earlier this year; it's a couple of guys whose mission consisted simply of making the less fortunate feel... loved. Nothing in return, just loved. This is the kind of human compassion that the world needs to keep functioning. On a small scale in our own community or on a global scale, it matters, and it makes a difference.

I could go on and on, but there really are too many to list here. I'm glad we're winding down tonight and filling the brief space between Christmas celebrations with some inspirational people like these.

I hope you have all enjoyed your Christmases and are staying safe & well moving into the new year!!

xo | cmd

Practical Advice

How many times have we all heard things like, "You make your own destiny," or "the future is what you make it," ... or something to that effect?

I know I have. A lot. It's not that I don't like those little snippets of encouragement, but I often find myself discounting them for the truth they could carry if for no other reason than that there are so many of them.

Today I came across this one. I don't know why, but it spoke to me a little differently, perhaps because of the poetic correlation I felt between it and the last few years of my life.

I don't know why, I really don't, but I absolutely love this. It's really nothing extraordinary, but I suppose I just never approached it this way. I think I liked it too because it really is.. just.. that.. practical. I am in fact not a tree. There is nothing but me rooting me down to a situation, a relationship, a life that I hate except for my own impeding of the progress I could be forcing myself to make. [It's okay, I had to think about that for a sec, too.]

It's almost February; I can't believe the first month of 2013 is almost finished; it feels like it sorta flew right on by, but that's okay. I'm bent on making February just as good as it can be, which coincidentally is synonymous to being just as good as I want it to become. Man... I should start writing these things.. haha. Jk.

Here's to you, friends, and your life. May you not find yourself a little tree, unless you truly are happy and it's worth the fight. In that case, plant your roots and grow there!

xo | cmd

Gratitudes 2013

Yeah, so it's safe to say we got something of a delayed start today after being out for most of last night. It was entirely worth every minute [great show, great company, great time!], but it came with limited activity for the early part of today.

In the spirit of things belated, I figured I would share something I actually saw a few days ago, at the actual beginning of the month. Excuse me for being five days behind on posting, but I think it's an awesome idea and I very well just may go get a mason jar solely for this purpose. It'll have to be a big one, I've already decided, because 2013 is gonna be a loooong, event-riddled year, I can already tell you that.

Really, anything in a mason jar is generally a winning idea, and I like focusing on the things for which I'm grateful, so yeah.. great concept all around.

I'll start: I am... intensely thankful for my job. I work in a position that's faced every single day with honest, driven people who've endured oftentimes more than their fair share of bad luck, who are unemployed. I have the chance every day to directly impact those people, so not only do I have a job, but my job has a specific purpose and a very tangible payback. I am BLESSED.

Anyway, I suppose I'll start doing normal human things today, like moving, eating... that sorta stuff.

Happy January 6th!

xo | cmd

Resolve VS. Resolution: Hello, 2013.

"What happened in your past is not nearly as important as what is in your future. Don't let "good enough" be good enough" - Joel Osteen

... truth.

 I'm not exaggerating when I say that I am BENT on making 2013 a great year.

Forget about the fact that it's January 1st, and that everyone around me is hunkering down on an unrealistic list of resolutions [yeah, how'd that first and only day at the gym go? heh...]


bahahaha... so true.

 Anyway, to be quite honest with you, I really put just shy of ZERO thought into laying down any hardcore resolutions for the new year. I've done that in the past, and while I stuck to my guns with some of them, the majority of those over-zealous claims ended up withering away by May at the latest.

That being said, this year I'm entering into January with more general resolve than any specific resolution. Sounds goofy, I know, but after the dramatic turn of events that could've easily driven me straight into a downward spiral in 2012, I'm still standing, better than ever actually, and for that I'm more thankful than anything else.

If you asked me how 2012 started off, I really couldn't tell you. I remember I had a really shiny to-do list that to which I was going to adhere in a direct effort to better myself and the world around me. I held my ground on a couple of those things, but I'm not bragging since most of those things were just the exaggerated versions of stuff I already did [working out, reading, writing, hanging out with Sydni... etc].*sigh. The year flew by, and, like I said in my post yesterday, proved to be quite the pivotal thing. There were transitions at my work; we lost and added staff and expanded the building itself. I undertook a leadership role as a team captain for an entire Relay for Life team for the ACS, one of the most poopular charity events in the country. New car, new friends and new insights. My daughter turned three. And of course, I made the decision to step back from the one and the biggest relationship in my life that was crippling both people involved.

It's been a year.

HOWEVER....
I don't know that I've ever felt more rejuvenated than I do right now. I feel confident. I feel blessed, and I feel extremely zealous, but not in the way that would incline me to tackle a list.

I'm content, for the first time in years. It's a bizarre feeling to have, and while it's starting to feel familiar, like an old friend I haven't seen in a long time, it still feels a little foreign considering the state of blah in which I'd been floating around for the last ohhh, 915ish+ days or so... Nobody's counting. Haha.

I have my sights set on big things for this next year. I can feel an evolution coming on, not necessarily to completely reinvent myself, but moreso to rediscover that genuine happiness that I know I have. There are people [a few specifically] who are helping me get there, and a few more that have enabled me define what I want and don't want out of life, relationships and the pursuit of my goals. I'm so thankful.

Oh, and top of that, today was the epitomy of a lazy day. I spent the bulk of it doing all of absolutely nothing with Rob, followed by some laundry, house cleaning, and meeting back up with Rob for dinner.. which leads up to now, watching The Hunger Games and fighting off sleep. I think sleep's gonna get this one. Sorry, Woody Harrelson. Another day (:

Happy 2013, my friends. I hope it's fruitful, however that is defined for you.
Be safe. Love wisely. Live fully.

xo | cmd

Eve Of a New Year

I'm getting old. So are my friends.

You know how I know that... besides the fact that this may be backdated? Haha...

.... Just about everyone I've talked to this year had formulated plans for New Year that included more "No idea" and "Mehh... I dunno..." than actual plans. Haha. Personally, I don't hate it. I really had no desire to go anywhere and find myself watching a ball drop surrounded by loud, drunk strangers. It didn't help that the weather started a nose dive into that wet, sticky snow that isn't fun even for play; as soon as you touch it, it turns to slush and soaks through all your clothes at what seems to be double the pace of regular water.

So.... as we finished up our half day at work [right???], Rob came up to meet us at work; Ali joined us and we trekked over to STL Bread Company for lunch before heading our separate ways. Rob & I kept it super exciting with some errands and miscellaneous things before I headed home to do more fun things like laundry, cleaning my house and washing dishes. Haha. Oh, and I managed to get another gorilla bread assembled in that time. I still need to pinch Nancy for giving me that recipe... haha.

Dinner? Red Lobster. We didn't take any pictures, but ironically my other Ali friend posted one just moments afterwards of the exact same dish one of the girls at our table ordered. Nobody's complaining; RL is a good choice if for no other reason than cheddar bay biscuits. Let's just be honest. (:



Festivities pertaining to the actual ringing in of 2013 boiled down to us relaxing with a group of Rob's friends at their house, around a table filled with more food [nooooooooo, lol] and some perfectly sober laughing to move us all from 2012 to 2013. I was a big fan.

We ended the night with Kelly and I watching Rob & Mike set off some fireworks from the yard... haha.. rowdy, I know. It was a competition with the neighbors across the street for a few minutes before we all called it a night. We're party rockers... for sure [pshhh.. haha].


2012 is over. Holy cow.
I'm excited for 2013.
I hope you are, too!

xo | cmd