Yenno.. Just... RAIN.

Here's how the beginning of the day looked: 

workday... and rain. 

Here's how midday looked:

lunch... and rain. 

Here's the drive to volleyball after work:

driving... and rain. 

Here's Grand Sands, in between sets:

volleyball.. and rain

The running theme of pure saturation was branded all the way through the day today. However, there's always a silver lining, and in our case today, that came in the form of winning the league after a round of tournament games! Not too shabby for rain-soaked sand, players and volleyballs. Yay, team!

league champs ;) 

Next session starts next week. Here's hoping for no rain in sight :D

xo | cmd

I Play Sand Rainyball

So, it rained a lot today. Like.... all day. Awesome, right?
No... not really...

right before the lightning... 

The good news, we walked away tonight with our championship Tshirts from the last session, where we somehow managed to pull away with both league champion and tournament champion status. I could've done without the rain & lightning, but I'm not complaining - it was still a blast.

woop woop! 

Let's all say a quick prayer that the rain will not be here when we wake up tomorrow... wouldn't that be nice? ;)

Maybe. We'll see.
G'Nite!

xo | cmd

In OTHER News...

THE COUNTDOWN IS ON!

I mean, at this point, who even cares that we lost our volleyball game tonight? [which is exactly what happened :(.. ]; The countdown to some games that really matter is ON and we only have a FEW days left until the opener in Winnipeg.

Gahhhhhh!!!! I can't WAIT!

xo | cmd

Clone the Hiking Pack

It's heeeeeeeeeeere!

So way back in March, when my SonRise team and I headed off to the mountains of Suiche, we were equipped with borrowed hiking packs, courtesy of Chris' old church up north. It's been on my bucket list for about the past 5 years now to snag my own new pack, but I never got around to it... until now.

Out of curiousity about a week ago, I asked Professor Google about "Swiss Gear Hiking Pack," to see what the results that would ping back from the World Wide Web of Wonder.... As it turned out, the exact same bag that I carried for that trip was on Ebay, used twice by a seller who found that he had another bag that he wound up preferring.

Bottom line, I bought it.
And today, it arrived!

it's here! :) 

I let Elisa have the pleasure of opening the box, and before I knew it, this happened. Dave came out just as she was answering a call, stuck somewhere between a mountainous trek and an office:

hahahha

The arrival [& excellent condition!] of this new/used hiking bag shoved my day in the right direction; I topped it off with a client meeting in Springdale - with a fellow Pinoy!, and then with a 3-2 win over our competition at volleyball.

And now I'm home.. planning my next outing.
Any and all ideas are welcome!

xo | cmd

Wednesday - OWN IT!

It's... JOB FAIR season! I scheduled our first two bigger events of the season for today and tomorrow; we loaded up our gear yesterday to prepare for today and headed off in full Express thunder to see where the day would take us.

First things first though: Let me just say that any day that starts like this... is guaranteed to be a fruitful day, regardless of whether or not we're out hiring:

.... a few of my favorite things!

^ I love that, over and over again!

Sooo... yeah, there was the job fair. It's the first of two that Elisa and I have scheduled this week, and I have to say that it went very well! We even stumbled across Kelly, from the Eastgate office - coincidentally one of my former colleagues from the Days of OLD... aka Clearchannel [that's a different story.. haha]

express cinci central | express eastgate

It's not often that we get out of the office for hours at a time, but it's a fun change of pace, especially when the halls are buzzing with potential candidates and business partners!

fun at our hiring event! 

The job fair came to an end, allowing us a small window to take lunch and whatever else happened to accompany that.

Therefore,
Stop #1: Coffee Emporium.
Stop #2: Ault Park:

catching some sunshine!!
ault park | cincinnati, oh 

We returned to the office and finished off the day before parting ways for the evening. I thought it fitting to continue the evening in like fashion, in the gap between work and volleyball:

sideyard hammocking! 

After a few hours, it was time to head to volleyball [by a few hours, I mean 10:20 PM, *le sighhhhh]. It was tournament week, so we plowed through our games at the back-to-back pace that comes with tourney weeks.

We played, we played and played some more, and a few hours later, we stood as league champs! Given that we're a 4C team in a 6D league, I probably wouldn't have predicted this to go any other way, but it was still a blast getting back into the structured league play of Grand Sands, and I'm proud of my quad team.

Yay, team!

martin. cori. beth. paul
league champs!

It is LATE. I am tiiiiiired, and it's an early day tomorrow. See you then!

xo | cmd

IT'S BEGINNINGGGGGGG: #RCSTOKES2016

Today's completed agenda: 

1. Job fair during the day with Elisa! 

naglene was there, too ;) 

It was a successful day of hiring, as it usually is when we partner with our career fair affiliates, and just another reminder of why I love what I do! 

2. Volleyball! GUYS, the outdoor courts are officially OPEN!!! Grand Sands is one of those places most-enjoyable when it's beautiful outside and the same and sun can be found at the same time :). 

grand sands! | loveland, oh 

3. Home from volleyball, it was time to dig into a few things for neeeeeext year...... 

These are going out here in a few days, and once I have a little more to share, I will ♥

All in all, no complaints from today! I hope your day was just as beautiful as mine, if not more! 

xo | cmd 

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

Ali's Birthday & Marianne's Arrival! [& Other Things, Too!]

Guys. First things first today: It was pouring rain this morning, BUT.... that didn't deter my waking up in a stellar good mood.

Why?

WELL...

FIRST, it's ALI'S BIRTHDAY!

yiieieeee!!!! 24!!!! ♥♥♥♥♥

Downside: I am about 500 miles away from one of my best friends this year on her birthday, and won't get to see her this weekend, either. :(
Upside: Her 25th birthday is next year, and that will be a production if I've ever seen one. Also, I heard that she did in fact receive the package that I sent off to her on Monday, so kudos to the U.S. Postal service crew on delivering to that 2-day shipping promise! I am all about the silver linings.

Anyway, this girl deserves a million birthday salutes and then some. She's what I call an all-around incredible friend: She laughs with me, cries, gets real and above all, keeps me accountable when I get tangled up in life and lose my sense of footing... or just my sense in general. She's there in a heartbeat if I need her, and for the most part has a sane head on her shoulders ;) [haha, love you Ali]. She's a solid example of a woman after God's own heart, and is bold in her faith and commitments to serving Christ. She's hilarious, down to earth and just as aloof as I am sometimes.

Summary? HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALI!

And THEN... the girl who woke up to [& posted] this: 

morning sun in nyc

.. flew into CVG today for a weekend vacation with Becky, Kalyn and me! 

BE STILL MY HEART. I AM.. SO EXCITED. 

mare!! 

 ^ No, that's not the picture of her from today's arrival. Yes, that's a picture I stole off her Facebook from her recent time spent in Italy. Yes, that's a Colosseum behind her. Yes, she looks like a brunette Dianna Agron here. YES, SHE'S HERE IN CINCINNATI! [Mare, that is.. not Dianna. Just to clarify that.. ahemmm..]

Mare's flight was delayed for about an hour, which equated to Becky and I driving from Market to the airport exit, getting off said exit, and then U-Turning right back onto 275 back to Cincinnati. Becky had a work event starting mid-evening, and I had volleyball in Loveland ad 7:15. Mare landed right at 7, and my every-day-impressing-me fiance Rob was kind enough to step in and serve as an airport shuttle. They came to Grand Sands for the tail end of my set with Paul and Martin, followed by a rendezvous with Jessica at El Rancho for dinnnnnaaaa [dinner]!

I think it's safe to say that this has been a long day for everyone. Tomorrow I'll be back at work, Mare will do whatever she can find to get into for the day, and then Syd will be here for the evening before Becky, Mare and I take off for North Carolina for the weekend.

PHEW.

OH YEAH! Before I forget, Ali's present made it to her, safe, sound and in tact. I think? she liked it. Haha. ;)

for my favorite turtle-loving ginger! 

Happy, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you, Ali.

Oh, and it was Earth Day today if you missed that. Smoothie King stepped up with a BOGO on plant-based smoothies, so we clearly took advantage of that. Stay tuned for another couple days when we do a belated celebration of Earth Day with some more hiking, camping and nature-esque things for our getaway.

Good night for now!

xo | cmd

Dreary & Drab... Oy :/

* SIGH. 

Here's the part where I have to recognize that Satan is challenging my resolve; it's been raining all day long and the atmosphere at work reflected the exact mood of the skies. It was a frumpy, gray day all around, pushing me dangerously close to the edge of my patience. 

Here's a stock photo I found of a little Amazon.com box-man sharing my sentiment to the weather, the day and the overall vibe of this Wednesday: 

i hear ya, little guy.... i hear ya.
#rainraingoawayyyyyy

I survived the day with my sanity in tact, and was rewarded with a bright spot in the day: volleyball! We put up a win, and even though the rain came down all around us outside, it was the perfect reprieve from the drab, dreary world outside. 

Here's to Thursday... let's get some sunshine in here, yeah?? :)

xo | cmd

Breathing.. In The City

ault park

I'll lead with that. I took a break today. It's only Wednesday. I gave in today to the pressure of a week that's barely started, and found myself in a steep downward spiral into an attitude and aggressively negative mindset. By the time noon rolled around, it seemed as though the stresses just three days into the week were succeeding at cracking me and turning me against myself. Today clashed with the type of energy I want to project; I forgot to count my blessings when I woke up today, and lost track of them in the shuffle.

Fortunately, we have several spots of reprieve nestled right here in the Queen City.. that even though we've got the asphalt and bricks that define us as a metro, we can still escape if we need. Ault Park, one of those gems, was my solace today. At Elisa's suggesting, I gathered what little composure I had left when my lunch hour came knocking, and made a bee-line for the hill. I partked myself for a good 45 minutes on a stone wall overlooking a split view: The far left a green plain, marked with a pasture and a treeline. The middle was a field of dirt, resurrected there by the lone Caterpillar parked off to the side. Another small strip of green right of that, and then a sharp incline straight up the retaining wall and onto the highwway. Nearly a full range of the city offerings, in one panoramic.

Fast-forward about an hour, after a light stroll around the place, sans shoes, but with 60 minutes worth of deep inhales and exhales, sunlight and birds, breeze and fellow passersby replacing the ringing phones and buzz of conversation. It was peaceful and still, yet still bustling with the energy of other people out to enjoy the weather.

I took that one on the way back to my car, barefoot [my favorite]. It struck me as funny that there is such a clear definition of the the construction and the au naturale [ok, yes, I get that mulch is not a naturally-occurring element... just... shshshoosh, mk?], and that in three days, I'll be making a very drastic switch between the two, when I head out with my team to Panama.

Despite the overwhelming nature of the day, the evening proved to be the exact opposite. I'd made a strong resolve at the park at lunch to approach the rest of the day with a renewed sense of positivity and grace, to ensure that I ruled the day, and not the other way around. It's all about where we set our minds, really.

Thankfully, I had Paul, Martin and Beth to help re-focus me, when we rallied together for our first session run as a team in the sand at good old Grand Sands. It was a reunion of sorts, but the perfect second-to-last stop of the day.

grand sands.. we're baaaaack! ;) 

Rob, as always, was there to show his support, and afterwards let me accompany him back down to Northside to rendezvous with Becky & Co. for a nightcap at Northside Tavern. Karaoke night + quesadillas from The Comet? I think so. I think... so ;)

It shaped up to be a beautiful day. With the refresher course of humility and patience [hard-learned, self-inflicted] this morning, followed by the turnaround from the second half, I'd have to say I leave this one behind with no complaints.

Oh, and three days.
We have three short days remaining to take-off for Panama. Please continue to pray for us! :)

xo | cmd

Sick Day, Hey Hey...

So this was me:

.... for about 10 hours today.
Awesome.

I don't take a sick day unless I feel like I'm physically inches from death; today was one of those days. What you don't see in that picture is how I even got the joy of crawling from room to room when I needed something, for fear that my head might literally explode if I stood upright, and I just didn't see it a mess that any of us needed to deal with.

The GOOD NEWS: I got a call from Grand Sands somewhere around... afternoon [I have no idea what time anything happened today... gahhh], that a spot in the Wednesday 6's league had opened, and while we're just a 4's team, we could have the vacancy if we wanted.

Ummm... NO brainer. The first game was tonight, which I missed out on, but I'm pretty excited to get back on the sand with Paul, Beth & Martin!

But yeah, for now.. this is all I've got. Womp womp :(

Sicky sicky sick....

xo | cmd

St. Patrick's Supercross!

Weeeeeellp.... we planned on an earlier start than what we got this morning, but it turned out pretty daggone good, all things considered. That's just like us, isn't it? ;)

So we got moving finally, Rob and I, on the road to Indianapolis, to rendezvous with Dillon & Dylan and continue on to the 2015 Supercross. This would not be a repeat of our time here in 2013, we were certain, but there were plenty of jokes to go around that it would be just as interesting..

The drive to Indianapolis is a range of trees, city and overpass driving; we made it with no issue to the outskirts of the city, where we met up with D&D at the hotel we'd planned to stay the night. I'm sure at one point it had seen days of glory, but the honest truth about it now is that it's a shady, rundown dive that scared me a little just being there to check in.. haha.

The four of us made our way into the city, where the traffic was already dense; it's St. Patrick's Day weekend in Indy. There was a marathon taking place early in the day, on top of streets closed for St. Pat's festivities. On the edge of all that was Supercross, where we were going.

heeeeeeeere we go! 

We parked eventually and met up with some of the other guys who came in from Illinois for the event, and hung around with them for a while before we eventually got separated inside the Lucas Oil Stadium a few hours later. The tickets we bought came with pit passes, so we took advantage of those and explored the pit areas with a few thousand of our closest fan friends.

millsaps

mitch payton

Before long, it was time for the races to start; Rob's boss & his wife met with us, and the last two last-minute entries were soon behind them: Becky & Mike! Poor Becky - bikes doing laps in the dirt for 4 hours really wasn't her thing, but she was a solid sport and seemed to at least enjoy the company if nothing else.. haha. [[Thanks again, Becks, for coming!!]

chip. beth. dylan. dillon. rob. cori. becky. mike. 

and this.. waiting on the 450s to start .. 

Dungey took 1st place in the main 450 event, which seemed to be a generally-predicted outcome, but as always, proved to be an edge-of-the-seat sight to watch.

dungey! 

We wrapped up at the stadium with no issue, and somehow made it to and into seats in the restaurant of Chip & Beth's hotel without much of a wait at all. Some late night grub to wind down, and then the decision of how the rest of the evening would be spent. Mike & Becky came to the conclusion that they weren't really feeling the vibe of staying overnight, especially since we were all slated to share a hotel room. After some consideration, I voted to ride back with them, which I later realized was a perfect decision..

a shot we shared for mare! 

Oh, and this is just a little backdated. We got here around 1am last night, and there was no room for blogging at that point. Either way, it was an excellent time with awesome people, and a sure improvement on the first go-round.. haha.

Happy Supercross!

xo | cmd

Pancakes, Big Screens & Knitting [Of Course!]

On our never-ending quest to try all of the foodie places in Cincinnati, Rob & I gladly obliged a breakfast invitation with Chip, Beth & Shane at the Original Pancake House, which is just a short drive down a straightaway from our house [go figure!]. It was excellent dining, and adorably accessorized to boot!

original pancake house

After breakfast, Rob and I parted ways with the Silcox family and embarked on our day of Christmas shopping. We both knew we were crazy for agreeing to the crowds, long register lines and traffic that is Christmas shopping in EASTGATE of all places, but against our better judgment, we went, we bought... we conquered.

The little girls' gifts are bought.
Our parents' are all taken care of.
Our siblings are good to go.
And we.... well, Rob took the plunge for an upgrade at our home, after the retail spirit got the best of him. That little inkling of a thought turned into THIS:

welp... there's that.. haha

Yeeeeup, thank you, Santa! ;)

We finally settled in for the day; Rob switched out the TV's and basked in the glory that IS this monstrosity mounted above our mantle... and me? Well, I finished THIS:

all done! 

This is a Christmas gift for one of my friend's girlfriends; he requested this one a few days back and I surprised myself by completing it within two days, when I was counting on at least three or four. Yay!

I'd say we're good to go here; just five days until Christmas! Yiiieee!! ♥

xo | cmd

Brakes? What Brakes?

My morning routine typically starts with leaving for work. Yenno, something basic like that.

Well, I didn't get very far. I didn't even make it out of the neighborhood before my brakes completely gave up the ghost and stopped working for good. I somehow managed to coast back home and into the driveway. Rob came home for a bit to inspect the damage; we ordered some brake parts to be delivered to his work later on today, and he headed back. Lizzy was kind enough to come and get me, so I eventually made it to the office. 

well.... yeah.

Two hours late, but made it no less. Thanks, Lizzy!

After work, Nancy took me home. I think I needed today if for no other reason than a clear reminder to appreciate my [usual] mobility. I coordinate things daily with people reliant on public transportation, so often that I lose sight of how grateful I should be for having a car that functions. Anyway, I made it home just before Rob showed up to save the day [again].

He wasted no time digging into the back brakes on poor little Subie.
I'm glad he did, because it... was.... a mess.

poor subie

whoa!

he. is. awesome!!

Kalyn called in the midst of it all; she was looking for something to do in the gap between work and our 9:30pm volleyball game. She stopped over and we headed to Eli's, because YES. That's why ;)

It was then home, food and a little more relaxing before our journey over to Hahana, where we put up a big WIN before calling it a night.

*Yawn. What a day!

We'll see how these brakes hold up tomorrow. If I'm right, these puppies will have me stopping on a dime. My mechanic's pretty awesome ;)

See ya then!

xo | cmd