Mav's Birthday | New Haircut | Pups in OTR!

So.. first,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMY!!! 

happy birthday, mav!! [even though you're not really mav anymore.. still!]

As a way to ease into a flashback Friday, here's some fond memories I had handy of Amy [& girl we're both LUCKY I couldn't get into the hard-copy collection haha]

Just a few, to celebrate this awesome girl!

one of my favorites.. mvhs circa 2003, senior year!
me. allison. amy. jena [r.i.p]

of course.. some high school dances.. whhhoa... haha

keepin' it classy for britt's bachelorette party (:

columbus runs with hilary & kylie

arley's wedding reception!

amy's wedding!!
dani. steph. amy. britt. shanda. me. nikki. arley

So... HAPPY BIIIIIIRTHDAY, MAV!!!


hope it's the best one, yet!

Oh....
... aaaaaaaaaand...
I finally cut my hair last night. I meant to mention it yesterday, but honestly I just forgot. So yeah..

before .. right before .. and after! 8" gone..

^ I think I'm still going to venture a little shorter, but I'll be consulting a professional when that time comes.. and really I'm okay taking it a little slow, too. (:

To round off the night, I ventured out with Nader & Keith into our usual stomping ground of OTR; I'm glad we did - It must've been dog night down there!

late night dogs of otr! (:

I have more pictures of the dogs than I do of my friends, but we did manage to take one or two.. haha. But hey, it's never too late to celebrate a way-belated birthday for Keith, either [which, btw, happy wayyy-belated!].

we wish we were hipsters... haha... :|
w/ keith & nader | otr, cincinnati, oh

It was one of those nights, that warranted a post-festivities stop off at Shanghai Mama's before heading home.. really though, it wasn't bad at all.

To say I'm spent is an understatement.
To say this is backdated isn't... (:

xo | cmd

Paddlin' Munchkins [&TBT!]

Today = another perfect day as far as the weather went.
Work = Amiable and productive!
Sydni = With  me, and as we speak, thoroughly spent.
Me = Happy mama, happy girlfriend, happy daughter going home this weekend to see the fam!

That basically sums it up. Today was plain for the most part, but a good day no less. After work, I picked up Sydni and met up with Becky and her nephew Noah at Winton Woods for a quick evening paddle. Needless to say, the kids loved it, and while Becky and I walked away with soaking wet clothes due to a couple of unnamed splashers.... coughcough sydni.and.noah..... haha.

WELL worth it ☺!

tandem kayak time!

becky & noah

me & sydni

she worked so hard! ♥

best. tourguide. ever. | "mommy, look! another duck!"

"dancing boats" haha.. they had a blast!

We dried off some afterwards at the playground, and then headed home to get some ice cream [I promise these things so sporadically, but yenno what, she deserved it ♡].. she did a great job today and worked so hard paddling her kayak.. call me a proud mama, absolutely!

Tomorrow is FRIIIIIDAYYYY!! & that means after work Sydni and I are hitting the road north and heading to my parents' house in the good old Mount Vernon, OH. Semi-on-that-note, in the spirit of Throwback Thursday, here's a gem Nikki posted earlier today on Facebook of some of us on our last day of high school.. which was ten years ago, if I'm being honest about my age here... hahaha.

front: britt. hilary. amy m. nikki. | back: amy s., ginna, myself
mvhs senior year, 2003!

I say that because I'm about to head to my parents' house for the first time since Christmas, and I have no doubt that one of my missions on this trip will be to uncover some long lost artifacts [to be shared at a not-really-that-far-away-but-still-"later" date...]. I'm kind of excited. I'll apologize up front for any and all inevitable fashion faux paus, but hey.. I'm a kid of the 90's and I will embrace it.. wacked out hair, Old Navy shirts and all ;)

See ya tomorrow!

xo | cmd

Mutant Fruit | HBD, Amy!

One of the things I don't do often enough is get to farmer's markets. It's a task usually obstacled by work, picking up Sydni, and attempting to be omni-present at four other places. I didn't say impossible, but it certainly falls short in the competition whenever food is needed; Dierbergs definitely affords an absolute convenience in that capacity.

Anyway, today I made a venture to the Dierbergs down from my office in search of some sushi. I ran into Ali as I was gawking over a display of honey crisp apples that looked to be about the size of small pumpkins, rather than apples. I've seen healthy fruit before, but really.....


standard sized tp vs. ginormous apple.

I have yet to try and conquer eating that thing in one sitting, mostly because I just ate some sushi and a couple of grapes. I know it doesn't sound like much, but while I'm there, these are the grapes I brought back, too:

essie. grape. eos balm. nissan key

That picture really doesn't do justice to the size of these grapes. I used what I had sitting within reach around my desk to compare size - these grapes were on average the same height as an essie nail polish bottle, and just slightly smaller than an eos lip balm, and as you can see, just under half the length of a nissan car key. That being said, eating just about five of them on top of some sushi was enough to hold me over for a while.

There ya have it, folks. Mutant fruit.
Good stuff.

Oh, and before I forget to mention [not to be confused with forgetting altogether], today is my dear friend Amy's birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMY!

top: me. alison. amy. jena[restpeacefully], 1999
middle: amy. me at arley's wedding reception, 2007
bottom: amy's wedding with the ladies, 2010

I've known this girl for what seems like forever, and even though we're not as close as we once were, I still love little Mav and hope today is amazing. :) HBD, AMY!!

***

Small group tomorrow; I should probably get to cleanin' this place up & getting food ready. :) See you then!

xo |cmd

Little GIRLS Run the World!

.... well, they did today at least.

We were graced with a visitor today - well, two really. Christine stopped by the office on her way to run a few other errands, and she brought little miss Ava with her. That kid is as cute as they come, and she made with it taking over my job for a few minutes. I think she did rather well, and even got a quick interview with me before she did all her documentation, i.e. drawing little face pictures all over my post its. Too cute. I'm pretty excited to get down to Waterloo and take their pictures. :) Soon!!

meet our newest staffing consultant.. haha.. little ava!
she took over my desk.. notice the candy dish has been strategically
relocated ... by her mama. haha.. see if you can spot it. 

card for nancy ♥

Halfway through the day, I was told that I get the day off tomorrow. It was kind of surprising, seeing that tomorrow is Nancy's last day. I almost didn't want to take it [don't worry, I'm not that crazy], but I did because it's a Friday and without working it, I'll have a nice four-day weekend. The downside is that I won't be there for Nancy's last day, and she'll be there running solo with the new girl for her last day. :( The upside we decided was that her new job will still be close by, so we'll be making lunch plans very soon. I'm gonna miss her.... crazy to think she won't be there on Tuesday when the office reopens. I gave her the card today that I found at Target and decided was absolutely perfect for her, for the office, and for all that our jobs have stood for so far. Haha. Ugh. I miss her already! :(

By the time the work day was over, I was gearing up for the evening with more little munchkins. I'd talked to Amy earlier in the week and offered a night of fun for Tessa here with Sydni and a break for Amy & Kyle. Originally, it was going to be just for a few hours since I'd thought I had to be back up and out the door for work in the morning. Instead, I've got two little girls running circles around the living room in their pj's, pretending to be flying mermaids on a school bus. I love it. I know how nice it is every so often to have just one night sans kiddo; I'm so glad we could do that for the Sandvens tonight! We're having a blast tonight.. lol.

tessa & syd - little buddies!

My parents are flying in tomorrow; Syd and I will go pick them up and get the last minute details nailed down for the big party on Saturday :). Exciting :)

Let the weekend begin!

xo | cmd

Office Fridays & Breakfast for Dinner [Koinonia]

TGIF!

Phew. What a day! It's been a busy one :)

First things first, I'm amazed I hung on through the entire day after the metrolink fiasco from last night. I showed up to work a little groggy still, but nothing compared to poor Courtney. This is what found its way to my desk before we even got the day started:

kicks! 

nobody puts baby in the corner!!
... except express.
express will put you in the corner. 

^ Poor Courtney was at the Cards game last night, too, but had to do a little more walking than we did, in uncomfortable shoes. [It's a tough pitch being a girl sometimes] She ended up sporting these bad boys to the office today. Haha. Classicly done!

Oh, yeah, and speaking of office folk, there was some minor rearranging done today in lieu of our office expansion project. Someone stuffed one of our chairs in a crevice between a file cabinet and Marc's office; we decided that would be the best place to park Christine for the afternoon. She clearly loved it ;)

This buildout thing has been fairly taxing on all of us over the past couple weeks. Between the frame building, wiring, drilling, dry walling, sanding, and prepping, the wall completing Marc's new office space is now fully in tact, walling Nancy and I for the time being in a big cubby hole. Courtney's been shoved just about out the front door, and Christine... well Christine's temporarily nomadic as her desk sits on the open range of still-usable space in the office. Needless to say, we're ready for this phase to be done. Amen.

*****

breakfast!! | quiche. cinnamon rolls | y-u-m.

Once work was behind me, I made straight for the house to get started on breakfast. [Yeah, breakfast!] The Harris family joined us for the evening, and even Dawne stopped by for a bit! It was, as always, an absolutely amazing night with our small group.

Most of the regular crowd was in attendance: 1/4 of the Gobles [Tom! Jackie & the boys, praying for safe travels as they're out of town!], the Prescotts, Julie, Becky, the Sandvens, and now the Harriss clan, too. Sleemans, Babots, Jarod & Lyla - we missed you, and can't wait to see you guys next time! :)

In the absence of Evan, we were able to focus double the baby love on the little munchkin in our group who is certainly lovable. Check him out in his pink Bumbo [it was Sydni's.. haha]. Handsome Liam!

the cutest little chunk everrrrrrr... love him!

Our Micah 6:8 group is heading out in full force tomorrow for our laundromat outreach. Praying that it goes well and we have some response!

Time to gear up [aka, sleep. Chyeah!]

xo | cmd 

Happy Birthday, Tessa Bean



baby liam! love, love, love.

Today happened to be one of those days where I found myself alone on my lunch break in my car, sitting at the park, wondering almost aloud where time has gone. In a couple short months, we will have already lived in IL for a full year. Joe's Air Force anniversary is approaching in June, and that's not to mention that we now have a 2-year-old. I'm not entire sure what it was exactly that sparked the mini outburst of reminiscing, but I thought all the way back to this same time last year. Joe was just getting ready to make the official trip out to the strange little destination of Belleville, IL, and I was probably gearing up to leave work behind for the day and finish off the evening with Kalyn, Tim, & Paul over on the sand courts of Cinci Sand Volleyball. I'm amazed how one simple year can move so many mountains. We have been so challenged, but ultimately so blessed by what the last year has brought. Just little sidenotes, I suppose. :)

In other news, I got a text from Joe today reminding me that we were due on base at the Sandven house this evening to celebrate miss Tessa's 3rd birthday. Sydni was beside herself as we headed over there, knowing she would get to play with Tessa. I was excited to see baby Liam, since we had yet to see him since the day he joined the family. He. Is. Adorable.


chicken! :)

 A&K totally outdid themselves on the cooking; grilled chicken, pasta salad, fruit salad, and brownies made for the perfect dinner menu, and we even met a great new couple, Nick & Rebecca. It looks like they may be joining us at church this upcoming Sunday, along with their little one, Max. Exciting!

Happy, HAPPY birthday to you, Tessa Bean!

It's bath & bed time here!

xo | cmd

Babysitting :)

Kyle & Amy are one of the couples we know from base; Kyle works with Joe, and they were the two we initially hung out with as soon as we moved to Scott. Their daughter and Sydni always have a blast together, so it was our pleasure when Kyle asked us to keep an eye on Sydni while he and Amy went in to the hospital to await the birth of their second baby. Joe texted me at work to let me know that Tessa was already at our house, and that the two little girls were taking the afternoon by storm. 



welcome baby liam!



As soon as I got back to the house, I relieved Joe of babysitting duty and took the girls to church. It was quite the production getting them both into agreeable clothing; each of course had to have her own ensemble: cartoon character shirt, skirt, leggings, pigtails, backpack, stuffed animal, blankie, and juice cup. When I finally got them out the door and loaded into the car, I was forbidden to leave the garage until I got the Veggie Tales’ Hairbrush song running.

We made it through church with very little fuss, and for being such good little girls, I treated them out for some dinner together before heading back to our house. Since I’m editing this entry to backdate it, Tessa spent the night last night and her baby brother Liam was born this morning at 12:30AM!

We’re so excited to see him!

I’m a bit tired… Ciao for now J

xo | cmd

Happy Birthday Joe!

Well would ya look at that! Just when he thought I was the only one that gets older in this family, today Joe went and added another year to his belt. He is officially an old geezer. Ha.

!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!

Anyway, since Justin is here visiting for both the weekend and his first time to the St. Louis area, we took full advantage of it all and went out for a little jaunt show him the base before heading over to the arch. It was definitely a nice little road trip.



cori. joe. jb
- the arch! -

Once we finished up with our little arch excursion, we headed back to the house and the boys proceeded into the basement for a few rounds of indoor cornhole.

The original dinner plans were targeted for Lotawata Creek, since Joe loves that place and it’s a great spot for visiting guests. I’ve known from past inquiry that they do not accept reservations at Lotawata, so I spent the day silently hoping we would be able to secure call ahead seating for us and a few others. I’d sent out some invites, and had about 15 heads total lined up and ready to rendezvous for a surprise birthday dinner.



syd & mo @ 54th street



Two hours before our projected meeting time, I came to find out that Lotawata wouldn’t be able to accommodate a party of our size until nearly 11pm. Excellent. Lacking a backup plan, and somewhat anxious about where to re-direct my efforts, I consulted Mo to see if she had a decent idea. Having lived in the area for a while, her input helped, and landed me at the

54^th Street

Grill in O’Fallon, parked on the wait list for nearly an hour before our friends started trickling in. By the time 6:45 rolled around, Joe, JB, myself, Meagan & Rob, Amy, Kyle, & Tessa, Jarod & Lila, Mo, Jimmy & their friend Stefan were all packed into two booths, stuffing ourselves full of deeeelicious food J. Add the cheesecakes I’d stopped off an snagged earlier, and it was a full-blown party. Hah.

 After dinner, the Prescotts and their friend stopped back to the house; we spent the evening with them before calling it a night. JB heads back to Cinci tomorrow, but we’re doing church before that. So.. until then… J

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, POGI!

xo | cmd

Merry, Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas, loved ones!

It's Christmas!!

The only thing that I can pin that would've made this day any better would have been the presence of Joe's mom and family. Aside from that, it was an incredible day filled with worship, food, family, and friends.

We started the morning with the customary opening of presents, followed by breakfast, followed by our church service. The usual Towerview morning worship was replaced today with a choir-based service, complete with cantada and mini-message from Pastor Ron.



yay, presents!



After the service, we rushed back to get started on the afternoon's menu. I finally put the turkey given to me as a Thanksgiving gift by my bosses to good use: we had that buster in the roaster in no time and were on to getting everything else done. Three hours later, we were putting the finishing touches on maple-glazed carrots, green beans almondine, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, and salad. Our guests started trickling in around 3pm, and in no time we were off to a full course meal. The Pages were the first to show, followed Jarod, and the by the Babots. Both Lara and Cathie brought desserts to share, which were absolutely delicious; I'm glad they took the leftovers back home with them, for the sake of my diet. ;). The kids were able to run completely wild in the basement, and eventually settled in the living room for an early evening showing of Finding Nemo. Even the Sandvens stopped by after dinner with Tessa, who wasted no time joining in on the cycle of kids racing throughout the house.

This may be one of the best Christmases I've had so far.

We are truly, truly blessed. Amen.

xo | cmd

Toddler-sitting!

Today was an exciting day for Sydni. It's not unusual for her to hang out with other kiddies on the weekends, especially Sundays due to church and post-church play dates. Today was special because Amy & Kyle asked us to watch Tessa for the afternoon while they got some Christmas shopping under control. I told Sydni about it Thursday after I'd originally confirmed with Amy, and she's been babbling about it since.



little buddies :)

 I was quickly educated on what it would be like if I had been graced with twins. It was funny watching two little girls being two little girls and all the wonder that comes along with that. They were more than content to play Barbies in the doll house, push baby dolls around in the stroller, and marvel over newly-painted fingernails [I lended some aid in that one]. After hours of squealing, chasing, playing, and the inevitable increments of innate toddler territorial disagreements, they settled into the big bean bag chair and peacefully remained there for nearly the entire duration of Finding Nemo.

All in all, a pretty fun day here at the Dills residence. Joe slept through the majority of the day since he'd worked last night, but he was awake when Kyle & Amy showed up later in the evening. He works again this evening, so I'll leave it at that and get back to the rest of our evening here.

Ciao!

xo | cmd

Happy Birthday, Amy!

It’s a bittersweet thing for me when I consider where I grew up and where I am now.

It’s bitter because I am the product of a small town. I wasn’t born there, but from the age of 4, I grew up there. I lived in a log home on the outer edges of the more densely populated area, and spent more time by a wooded creek searching for craw-dads than playing video games or watching television. We learned how to swing on grapevines in the backyard before we learned how to paint fingernails or accessorize. I was an awkward, free-spirited kid with braces and unruly black hair in a mini metropolis of blonde and brunette. In that small town, I fell in love, got my heart broken, learned how to trust, how bad betrayal hurt, how to compete, and the sensation of that whole teenage angst thing. I also learned about a God who creates real life, loves unconditionally, and forgives endlessly. I studied Him, and started my relationship with Him there, in that small town. 



dren & mav | cori & amy



It’s bitter because when it came time for college, I traded small town familiarity for big city invisibility. I looked back a few times, and always knew I was returning home whenever I’d visit, but that small town didn’t stop just because people left. The classes cycled through until the kids who’d been pre-schoolers when I graduated were making newspaper headlines for college scholarships. Teachers were retiring, coaches were moving on, and classmates either stuck around to hold on to their most intimate friendships, or they fully embraced a life outside of small town USA and rarely looked back. Eventually we all become names in an alumni book.

BUT,

It’s sweet, too. It’s sweet because of what I’ve seen and done since I left. I give all the credit in the world to my friends who chose to stay after graduation. They’ve continued to build on the friendships that started in kindergarten, middle school, even high school. I see pictures of them on facebook sharing in the beauty of each others’ weddings and baby showers. A large part of me wishes I was still there, still a bigger part of the action like I was back then. The larger part, though, looks at my life now and realizes that God’s plan came to perfect fruition and everything I have now is a result of leaving the small town.

That doesn’t mean I don’t still have friends back home. It’s a constant reminder that time isn’t slowing down, and nearly all of my friends from high school are having babies and/or getting married.

I said all that to say that one of my oldest friends from hometown USA is celebrating a birthday today, and also the soon-to-be end of her first pregnancy with little Easton! Amy [& Chas], you deserve everything you have and I’m thrilled for you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAV!!!

xo | cmd