Me, Adulting, 2017.

It's amazing how some of the simplest things can provide so much excitement. These days, I'm losing it over coordinated curtains and clean towels. Don't even get me started on matching furniture. All of the sudden, I actually care about that stuff, and it's weird.

So when Rob's mom bought this for me for Christmas and we saw the box there a few weeks ago, I've been patiently biding my time until we took a vehicle large enough to transport it [with us + dogs + stuff, etc] back to Cincinnati. It came back with us last night. It's here, and I love it ♥

final bedroom furniture touch! 

For any of you who see these things online, I will say to you that YES, it is a good investment.
Oh, and as a note to future me, buy this book:

... & buy it because The Sun is Also a Star made you ugly cry in the best way.

& also, I'll be adding The Bane Chronicles to this hoard later this week, along with pre-ordering Lord of Shadows. I'm tellin' ya... addicted. 

because... Shadowhunters

It seemed far more like a Monday than the Tuesday that it actually was, and I can already tell I am thankful this is a 4-day week. 

Cheers! 

xo | cms

Trains & Great Wolf Lodge

Trains, trains, TRAINS!

Anyone who knows my dad knows that his affinity for trains has been a lifelong thing. The Drenn Lodge, as I've affectionately always named their home up north, now has a train display where there once was a loft lounge, and they are launching a full scale village to go along with it.

dixie union station! 

Today we met with them at a specialty train shop, where Dad was able to gather ideas for his vision [& let's be honest, Mom too, as she'll be the real civil engineer here..].

Be it the small shop it was, it was certainly packed with all things trains, and quite a bit of history if you looked closely enough.

dixie train station | mason, oh 

dixie train station | mason, oh 

tiiiiiny little people..
... tiiiiiiny little expensive people. 

syd marvelling at the village

cute little houses!

so much detail! 

I had to include these, because I often forget just how Italian my mother really is.. until I see pictures like this. She may or may not have been speaking actual words; she's a seasoned Italian-hand signer.. haha.  

We wrapped up at the train shop once Dad and Mom were armed with material, ideas and determination to get their own village up to speed, and we were off. Sydni had done an exceptional job of being patient for the hour or so that we were in the train shop, despite our frequent instructing of DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING.

Her reward?

a day at gwl! 

Syd went bananas when we stepped foot into Great Wolf Lodge; she knew that although we weren't going to the water park itself, we were going to be there for a while, and the day was now all about Magic Quests, arcade games and ice cream.

And fun :)

welllll hi there! 

these two.... hahaha

Day outings with Nana & Pappy are the BEST. 

We bid adieu [for now] after a long day of trains and play, and headed back home, where the day for Sydni wasn't over yet. We had one more belated Christmas present for her from Nana & Pappy: 

We've read this book three times already tonight; it's super cute.

What an awesome day, amiright?! :D

Love.. love... and more love.
See ya tomorrow!

xo | cmd

OK, I Lied [About Being DONE]

It's true. I think I may have overstated myself yesterday when I said that we'd finished all things Christmas. This has now become a nearly 3-week affair for us, but I'm not complaining! ;)

First came the work day: The girls and I came in full force at the office today, and seemed to all have the same idea: NEW YEAR, NEW EVERYTHING. Our first order of business was cleaning and rearranging each of our spaces, something that kind of speaks for itself in ushering in the aura of new. It's refreshing to switch things up, de-clutter and in a way just re-calibrate the zen for the space we occupy for 45+ hours each week.

So there's that... and to round it off, we ordered a supply trip to Office Depot & lunch at Fresh Thyme.

fun times at fresh thyme! |  cincinnati, oh

^^ You know you're an adult when office & market itineraries can actually excite you. Hah :p.

Anyway, today was a progressive lineup of awesomeness; once work was finished, I picked up Sydni and we headed home to get started on dinner. More specifically, Sydni's mission statement for dinner:

"Mommy, I wanna surprise Mister Rob with dinner
because he is always doing stuff for us." 

Say what, little heartstring?! Of course we will.
I gave Sydni reign of the recipe book, and she decided on chili. Have I mentioned how much I love this girl?

Chili it was!

chili! ♥

Sydni's chili recipe hit the nail on the head, and with bellies full, we dialed in for the highlight of the night: MORE Christmas presents!

That's right, Santa made a stop over Christmas to Rob's mom's house, specifically for Sydni. Now that she and the presents were both here, we wanted to share that with his mom.

it continues..... 

Here are the spoils of that adventure:

skype! 

fuzzy coats!! 

the coats not being hugged ;) 

dresses

and of course, shoes! 

All presents aside, I am so grateful for Rob's family. His mom & stepdad are continuously thoughtful and have a blast thinking of things and places that Sydni would enjoy. His dad & stepmom are the same, and his step-niece Ella now has a new friend with Sydni. There are a lot of families that clash against the choices of their son or daughter, but I'm fortunate not to have that problem. My parents love Rob, and vice versa, and that alone is enough for me :)

And NOW.. I think Christmas is complete. I'll keep ya posted if I'm wrong... again. ;)

xo | cmd

Christmas & Supercross

Christmas 2014 has crossed over into 2015, continuing on with each of the family stops we're making on this trip back to Illinois. It's not going to be completely done until Syd's back and has torn into all of the gifts she'll have waiting after this trip, but we had our time today with Rob's dad and stepmom. We took the gift that Santa brought us for Ella, and had fun watching her tear into that... I wish Sydni had been here to share in the fun of it all, but we'll be coming back and those two can have their time together ;)

ella! 

We also had the chance to celebrate Kate's birthday, which was the first time up to now that I've been able to share in that with them as a family [many more years of this to come!]. I'm so grateful for her as part of his family, and from here [soon!] on out, part of my extended family as well. Happy birthday, Kate!! ♥

happy birthday, mama kate! 

After the Christmas and birthday celebrations were had, we parted ways until tomorrow morning; our next and final stop for the night was Gilliganz for the Supercross race. Dillon, Matt & Courtney were already there, so we joined in for some dinner & the 450's. Jay and Cindy even made an appearance to say hello!

snapchatting it to ali!

And that's a wrap, folks! Tomorrow, we'll head back to Ohio and wake up on Monday to the grind of work and all the other stuff that marks our lives. And really, I'm kind of looking forward to it!

For now, good night from Illinois!

xo | cmd

Friends & Family on Friday

Breakfast out of town is usually a far cry from whatever dietary regimen I'm trying to follow, but I can't say I was upset about some turkey bacon and eggs to get the day started. To top it, we stopped by my old stomping grounds to say hi to a few familiar faces, and the new ones I'd not yet met.

Man, I miss these guys!

oh, how i miss these two! [& the rest of that team!]

We didn't plan it, but it turned out we'd see Marc twice today; we ran into him several hours later at Bindy's. We were set for the afternoon to celebrate Christmas with Rob's mom and stepdad, which provided the final item on Rob's Christmas wish list. We've now got a new acoustic for the house, and I have to say, it's beautiful.

he's in love! 

A couple hours later, we wrapped everything up at Rob's mom's and headed back to Dillon's to decide how to allocate the remaining hours of the night.

Bindy's it was. The crowd started pouring in as it does every time I've seen the place, and with it came Marc, who we just saw earlier this morning, and even Taryn, who was at a birthday party just before stopping through to see us. There were plenty of other familiar faces, which made for a fun [long, but fun] night!

hi jesse, hi taryn! :) 

taryn :) 

random snapchat? 

I'm not even sure who that SnapChat ended up going to, but if I had to guess, it was probably Ali & Damanji. Either way, it's been a night with these folks and I'm happy to have spent it the way we did. I'm also happy to be home for the night.... ;)

That being said, G'Nite!

xo | cmd

More Family. More Food. More Fun!

We managed something of an "early" start this morning, even without rushing through breakfast or the multiple attempts at a family photo :).

it's been a long & incredible weekend ♥

cousins ♥

With promises to see each other within the next few weeks, we parted ways, with a pitstop destination in hand for Maricor's. It's been way too long since we've seen each other, so how appropriate it would be for us to swing through to celebrate some Christmas time with the James family.

Sydni took to her cousins as though no time at all had lapsed since their last visit; the girls took off at once to their own little world, leaving the adults to catch up on life and all the recent and upcoming things of life that will shape 2015.

My cousin is one of the few women in my life who knows me backwards and forwards, and past the point of where even a best friend can identify. She's been there for me through nearly every insignificant struggle I've ever faced, and without a doubt every single one of my major celebrations, let-downs, trials, mistakes and achievements. I am thankful beyond words to have the kind of connection that we do, and despite our infrequency in getting together, we, like the girls, can pick up right where we left off as seamlessly as though it was just the day before when we last saw each other.

[So Merry Christmas, Maricor! LOVE YOU!]

cousins! 

The girls of course had a mini gift exchange:

sophie. madison. sydni
cousins ♥

Major kudos points to her too; I couldn't tell you the last time I had pancit [Filipino dish], but I'm about to change that this next year, because it... is delicious.

pancit!
[masarap, masarap!!!]

We finally loaded up for our last leg of the trip back home, where we are now. I'm a little worn out but completely content with how the weekend panned out!

hi pup pups!! 

OH! I finished this tonight, too! This two-tone guy is for Maricor's sister, my cousin Caridel, and I'll be shipping it out in the next week or so. Phew! 

o-h.... i-o!!!!

And that's a wrap, folks. I'm outta here to switch spots with the laptop & snug up to these two ♥

love 'em. 

Happy Sunday to you & yours - Go take Monday by the horns!

xo | cmd

I. SAID. YES!

Today was.... LOADED.

Holy friggin' COW, ya'll... I'M ENGAGED!!!!

Nononono....

WE .. are ENGAGED!!!!!!

WHAT?! YES... I SAID YES!!

Let me slow down for a moment and start at the beginning of what is now officially one of the greatest days of my life:

First things first, Santa - bless his jolly soul and all the overtime he's putting in this year ;) - well, he made another stop as expected last night here to the Dren Lodge, and what Sydni found under the tree this morning was a stockpile of wrapped goodies!

santa was here!!!! :D 

As is customary with Christmas presents, very little time was wasted before it was all hands on deck for the mass demolitions of paper, bows and packaging. Fortunately, Sydni's got a firm understanding of the "take turns" concept, which is very difficult to follow when it comes to spoils from Santa - I was very proud of her patience this morning!

nana & pappy took their turns :) 

sydni's biggest gift - a 4.5 ft tall dollhouse! O.o 

To say that Sydni was beside herself is a HUGE understatement; even we were impressed with the elaborate design - and size! - of this dollhouse that my sister and parents found asked Santa to get Sydni :) :).

Here's the part I did NOT see coming. I usually have a pretty good intuition about these things, and it is very difficult to surprise me [it's a curse more than a blessing, most of the time], but my man delivered and managed to blast my expectations of the day completely out of the park.

Guys Guys Guyssssss.....

♥WE ARE ENGAGED!!♥

How it happened [an entirely "us" story, too]:
I stood with Rob's arm around my shoulder as we watched my mom & Sydni tear into the dollhouse box. Dad, off to the side, had purposefully removed himself from the pit of the action, a move I of course didn't find peculiar. Rob kissed the side of my unceremoniously bunned up head and said, "I love you," as we often tell each other. I thought nothing of it, even when he repeated the phrase and hugged me tighter. I smiled at noone in particular, engrossed in the bliss of being with my family, in my parents' home, celebrating Christmas.

And then came out the box. He pulled it casually out of his pocket and held it in front of my face, to which I did what every movie-perfect recipient of a diamond ring does:

I cupped my perfectly-manicured hands over my pristinely-madeup face and nodded an emphatic Yes, YES! while tears welled up against my life-proof mascara, backed by the frizz-free, symmetrical waves of my red carpet hair. 

Uh.... yeah.

So what happens in real life in situations like this looked a lot more like what actually went down here this morning:

He held out the ring. I immediately started crying, but not the type of crying that makes you wish you looked like Rachel McAdams from The Notebook. Nope. The kind of crying I did was more like the ugly crying that Fat Amy does in Pitch Perfect when Bumper hits her with a flying burrito.

yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes &....... yes. 

That's not an exaggeration. I buried my makeup-free [thank HEAVENS] face into Rob's shirt and sobbed. Snot and all. This is life, guys. This is real life. I bawled, for lack of a more sane response, because I could not process the idea that this man wanted to commit everything in him to one person for as long as he walks this planet.. and that that one person is somehow... me.

xbox one controller | dollhouse piano | engagement ring
looks like we all got the best for this year! ♥♥♥

I cried. Mom, who is more the emotional basket-case in the feely situations, stopped what she was doing and started crying. That's now two of us ugly crying. Sydni, who's now been left to her own devices to destroy the dollhouse packaging, slips and cuts [the.tiniest.cut.ever,btw..] her finger on a stray cardboard edge, and starts her crying, for the obvious & entirely unrelated reason. Dad, who by this point doesn't know if he's tearing up because of the engagement or because of Sydni, just stands there in between the two decisions.

Rob,
This is our life... welcome to it ♥♥
Hahaha... This was exactly how everything transpired, and in hindsight several hours later, I can honestly say that I would not have changed it. I'm one heck of a lucky girl, and when it actually hits me that I'm marrying this insanely amazing guy, I'll really start freaking out :).

For now, it was a morning to be envied here at The Dren Lodge: Mom's breakfast, followed by the sun pouring in through the gable windows to illuminate a Christmas morning marked by the sounds of my happy family.

dad & sydni : card games! 

Thanks to Rob's dedication to the cause for three hours, the dollhouse was finally erected and moved to its home in Sydni's room. The addition of nearly four boxes of my Barbie stuff from my younger years completed the furnishing of the new house, which was complete with a campground, thanks to the tents, grills and miscellaneous outdoor accessories. 

the house. + side garage. +campground. 

^ Oh, and the cards were moved outside to of course accomodate the horses, which obviously took precedence in residing in the garage stable. She's my mother's grandchild, I can say that much ;).

Mom & Dad took a short trip out together to complete a few errands and one of Mom's petsitting stops; we stayed back to hold down the fort, which added to the perfectly made-up agenda for today.

tickle. giggle. belly laugh.
repeat. 

[just] hangin' out @ the dren lodge! ♥

I'm still not over today. I won't be for a very long time.
I'm here in the house that [literally] built me, in which another irreplaceable memory was made today. I wouldn't have chosen any other place on planet earth for that to happen, but I didn't know that until it happened today. I'm here now, nestled in a bundle of blankets and tiny toes, surrounded by my family. This is perfect.

Good night from here, and from the proud-to-be future Mrs. Stokes! ;)
[it'll set in, eventually!]

xo | cmd

The Merriest of Merriment: Christmas Day 2014!

♥♥♥♥♥♥!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! 

Yayayayayayayay! 

♥

Friends & Family: I hope today was a beautiful experience for each and every single one of you! In our house, the celebrating started bright and early, once Sydni realized Santa had delivered on his annual promises to visit and bring goodies. Lila was perched in her rightful spot, embracing the Christmas ornament Sydni made, ready to oversee the decimation of wrapping paper.

hi, lila! 

We wasted no time:

someone was a very good girl this year! 

Santa brought a pile of dolls, travel toys, markers, coloring books... and this: 

for my little artist! 

Rob and I assured her that Santa would be stopping at Nana and Pappy's this weekend, and that our Christmas presents would come then; today was all about Sydni!

Well, except for just a couple things...

merry christmas, pup pups!! ♥♥♥

^ The fur kids were definitely not forgotten, and would soon be chewing away to their hearts' content. Santa is quite the puppy lover, too!

Since we spent the majority of the day unashamedly jamming away in our PJ's, there was little photo action, so I thought I would share a glimpse of us from around this time last year when we held our post-Christmas celebration at my parents':

Christmas flashback, 2013! ♥♥♥

This year, I couldn't have hand-picked a better way to spend the day if I had the choice to do so. My little family is the greatest gift I could have under this roof, and celebrating our perfect saviour with the people I love the most is what I would trade for any thing the world could offer.

So from our family to you and yours: 

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2014!!!

xo | cmd