Worship & Winter Walks

First things first, WELCOME BACK, Josh!!

We've been waiting anxiously for weeks for Josh to be well enough to return and take up his spot on the praise team. While we'd adjusted to his absence, having him back today was the best way we could've started the service. Oh, and we brought out the instruments to celebrate :)

we're all here! ♥

rehearsal time :) 

We headed home after church, where I threw in a load of laundry, made a couple eggs and did a quick change to head out for a quick hike with Jess & Bumper.

stella didn't feel like going.. 

i was hungry?

let's go, bumper! 

East Fork was pleasantly quiet today, with the exception of a few mountain bikers and one couple hiking with their dog. Jess, Bump and I took to the Harsha Lake circuit - today was the perfect day for it.

hi jess!

william harsha lake | east fork state park | ohio

(and the masses ((and I)) said yes.)

all the while knowing full well i wasn't going anywhere..

cold but happy ♥

Earlier this morning at church, Chad emphasized the idea that in walking with someone, we have the opportunity to find true transparency. He referenced the amount of time Jesus spent walking - physically - with His disciples. With strangers. With the outcast. With everyone. They walked and talked with each other. Some of the Bible's most iconic characters became such as a result of the relationships they developed while literally walking.

I was reminded today how thankful I was to be present in that moment, with one of my close friends. I'm thankful for her insight, conversation and what she has already given me as a friend. We talked at length about what 2018 looks like for us individually, and agreed that we've both put self-love on the list of things we intend to pursue this year. Self-love. Self-care. Self-inspection. More investing into the things that really fuel us, rather than the things that deplete us.

It's something I'll build on as the year gets underway, but today was a secluded eye-opener as we marched through the woods alongside the frozen stream bed and sunlight. Today though, I'm grateful for the praise team and church family who continue to walk through life with each other, and for my beautiful friend Jess, who walked with me today and obliged real, life talk. I really do have much more than I've earned.

Oh, and I made some banana bread that's Whole30 APPROVED, so if y'all would like the recipe, well.. it's the easiest thing you'll make this week, so just ask :)

It's back to work tomorrow, and I think I'm ready.
January, you're lookin' okay so far. :)

xo | cms

An Easy Little Sunday

I woke up today in a tent, in my little sleeping bag, next to my two favorites:

these two ♥

It was a beautiful morning, and we took it in stride, leisurely with  hearts full after the night camping out. We took our sweet time tearing down; with a nod, a 'see-ya-next-time,' and a super-helpful little girl helping tote our campsite out to the truck to pack up.

the best helper out there! 

We stopped at the house to drop off boat, gear and extra weight, then continued on out to Plain Folk Cafe for breakfast. Between the pancakes and hashbrowns, there were plenty of giggles and cheesy peace signs from this girl who's really just no so... little anymore. 

This is what I mean...

It's crazy how gratifying it is sometimes to just ... relax for a day. It was the perfect cap to a beautiful weekend, and I'm one happy gal to have spent it with some great friends, my better half and my mini me. Not bad at all! 
Now baaaa-ring on the week! 
xo | cmd

Mini Family Lake Day

My parents left early this morning. I wish we could have taken them out with us today! The weather today was much nicer than it was yesterday. We had a few chores on the list for today but decided that family time was much more important. It's all about priorities, right? The grass can be mowed another day.

captain syd! 

^ That alone made the entire choice of lake > housework worth it.

Part of what was included when we bought the boat was an inflatable couch - one of those that will ultimately hold 3-4 people to tow behind the boat. It was just the three of us: Sydni, Rob and me, so we thought it wise to hold off on fully inflating it for a real joyride around the lake. Instead, we set it up as a floating couch, which worked out just as well.

Syd even got a little taste of it in motion, to prepare her for the real deal when it comes down to that.

[moving at about 5mph to a new anchor spot] 

she loved it! 

She cracks me up.

Perfect Sunday if you ask me.

Here's to looking forward to the next weekend ;)

xo | cmd

[The Baja's] Maiden Voyage!

The moment of truth was upon us! [Will she sink or will she purr?]

Before the day got started, Rob and I set out on our separate tasks to prepare for the day: He readied the boat and I headed out to grocery shop for the cooler. Our timing was perfect; Jessica & her friend Andrew arrived right on time and we were on the road by 11.

Eastfork, we have to admit, is not necessarily a place of any sort of splendor. It is however, very convenient for us, and the perfect place for Rob and his new toy to really get to know each other. Norris Lake & Cumberland are on the list and we'll get to those as soon as we can plan the weekend out.

We were so excited to get going that I skipped taking any pictures right away. You know it's intense when my camera isn't out ;). We held our breath as Rob throttled out for the first time and we were off into the day. We cruised around for a bit to feel out the ride [which was pretty. daggone. awesome] before settling into a cove for a bit of swim time.

It wasn't long before Brittany and Wayne joined the party; the rest of the day passed by without a care in the world, and I'm pretty sure we were a bunch of happy little campers by the time it was over :)

happy people, happy day!

There's nothing better in this world than enjoying life in the moment, whatever that moment may be. Today we did just that.. in the company of some awesome friends and a day that was at our disposal.

We. Are. SPENT.
Rob's burnt, too.. and it's time for us to call this one another awesome day for the books.

G'Nite (:

xo | cmd  

Boatin' With The Gang

Man I love these people (:

As promised, we made an early start out of our day trip to the lake.

little tagalongs

Kalyn & Brittany showed up, and it was out to a cove for the day.

just a couple of wannabe yogi's on a boat!

and the water yogi's ;)

Jesse planned on going back to Illinois today.
Guess who didn't go back to Illinois today :).

Instead, he joined us all for dinner!

homemade guac to start it off!

Try that whole leaving thing again tomorrow, Jesse :)
Another awesome weekend come and gone. Cheers to a great week, everyone!

xo | cmd

Memorial Day 2014

First things first:

To my cousin Jeremy, my other family in service, my friends back at Scott AFB in Illinois, and to the ranks of men & women before and after them who have laid or are unconditionally laying down everything to serve our country, THANK YOU. Today is for YOU, your families and the service you give to the rest of us.

thank you. thank you, thank you, thank.. you.

Our little family started the morning off with breakfast out, since nobody felt much like cooking.

little toes by little flowers out to breakfast!

After breakfast, we took our time deciding what to do for the afternoon. With it being Memorial Day, the possibility of canoeing was immediately nixed once we realized the rest of the city was out on the same mission and rentals were booked through tomorrow for the most part. We defaulted to the boat, which seemed to be the best alternative.

Brittany, Chad and Kalyn met us at East Fork, where we loaded up, dropped in and prepared to haul out for a day on the water.

That went just fine until about 10 minutes into the outing, when a part on the boat prop broke and left us floating in the middle of a wake zone. It seemed like it may have been a sad, premature end to our efforts, but then I was reassured that my friends are a lot like me in the spirit of attaching to the bright side of even the most annoying circumstances.

So what did we do? Well, we tossed anchor and hung out! Sydni had a blast swimming, showing off her crazy fish-like skills to the rest of us, and of course got to practice her casting with the fishing pole that has been repaired since the little hiccup two days ago with Papppy.

We laughed, we swam, we ate lunch and hung out. For having zero horsepower to move us through the water, I'd have to say it was nothing but a fun time and I'm not complaining!

love those girls!!!

All good things eventually do end, and when it came time for us to haul in, we managed to flag down a passing boat and grab a tow for the short ride back to the dock.

womp womp womp... haha

favorite girls!! ♥

Well, boat.. it was a good start to the summer, and this is just a hiccup. It's the end of the night now, and Rob's already got a tentative plan built as to how he's going to fix it [one of the many things I love about him!].

Today wasn't wasted, at all. After we hauled off the lake, dropped Sydni off for her week away from our home and tied up our poor dead boat, we headed to Brittany's for the most delicious veggie burger I've ever had. That, plus friends and Brittany's adorable dog Daisy, proved to be the best unwind for the day.

c'mon, aunt kalyn... just a bite?!

Happy Memorial Day to you, your family, and most importantly to the service men and women who have rightfully earned the praise due their way. We salute you!!

xo | cmd

Family. Boating. Roasting!

My parents arrived, as promised this morning. We exchanged our usual hello's, which mainly included Sydni saying, "Nana! Look at ________!" a few hundred times within about five minutes. I love it. We helped them get settled in, and then started packing up for our day trip out to the lake.

We toted everything out to East Fork, somehow got my aquaphobic mom on a speedboat, and took off for a day on the water.

Yeah, it was a picture kind of day :)


mom & syd

^^ Look at my mom in her wayfarers! Haha. Freebie from the credit union, she told me, and really the perfect accessory for a boat trip. Love my mom (:

It wasn't long before we found a nice spot in a cove, where we ate our picnic lunch and started really enjoying the day. Sydni strapped on her lifejacket and hit the water right behind me. Swim time!

look at her go!!

thumbs up!

We floated and cruised, cruised and floated, and then rode up on one of the narrow strips of shore in one of the coves for some more fun in the shallows.

syd, dad & rob working on syd's fishing pole

syd finding good rocks for skipping!

nana & syd playing in the sand ♥♥

The day really was all about Sydni. She's like a fish when she's in the water, just as I was when I was little. It was tough telling this girl that it was time to go. I mean look at her! She looks like a little grown-up in the water....

little summer babe!

When it finally was time to head back, we of course let Sydni show Nana & Pappy how well she could drive her boat. She's a champ!

vroom vroom!

Fast forward through the trip back to the house, during which Sydni zonked out almost immediately; she got a healthy little snooze in before we were back at home and gearing up for round two.

Round 2 = Bonfire!
The only problem was.. we didn't have a fire pit.
I wanted a fire pit.

The best solution I could think of at that moment, was to make ... a fire pit.

SO, I DID. (:

boom. back yard fire pit.

I turned into a little sod farmer for about an hour, peeling the lawn up in a circle to form a little pit. We used the brick pavers we got from Jay & Trey's house to build a small outline, and while it's a bit lop-sided, we weren't going for an aesthetic accolade as much as functionality. Oh, and we didn't have sand or gravel at our immediate disposal, so yes, that's cat litter.

Rob fired up the grill, Mom and I skewered some chicken, Becky and Mike showed up with firewood, dad set up the chairs and coolers, and Sydni ran around with a headlamp attached to her head to occupy the dogs. Talk about teamwork (:

The sun eventually began to fade, our dinner plates were all empty, and it was time to get the real evening started with fire.


not too bad!

dad, mom, the dogs & a couple of my little pony characters

becky & sydni..
.. sydni's that blur of a headlamp running by ;)

S'mores.
It's not a family bonfire with smores. It's also not a real kick-off to Summer nights without smores. Becky got us started, using a peanut butter cup instead of the traditional Hershey bar.

nommmm!

Soon, we had a production line of smores lined up around the fire, a system in place, and seven sets of sticky fingers.

it's time for smores.
it's time for summer!

I could do this every weekend ♥

xo | cmd

Mother's Day On The Water!

Today was part 2 of Mother's Day.

Today...

... was...

amazing.

I thought I'd start today with a tribute to my own mothers. Yes, plural. If you're just now tuning in to this itty bitty little life of me, hang on tight. Here's the super-abridged version:

I was born in the Philippines, to a mother who decided she would rather her child live a fulfilling, prosperous life than raise her in a world of intense poverty and instability. I was consequently adopted by an American family, which was, has been and still is spearheaded by the self-sacrificing, unconditionally-generous woman who I've called my mom for as long as I can remember. So yeah, I have 2 mothers; they are both two of my greatest heroes.

Today, I wanted to pay tribute to my adoptive mom and her mother, my Nana. These two women taught me some of the most fundamental things I learned in my early years. My Nana passed when I was 12, but I smile even bigger every time Sydni calls my mom, "Nana."

3 generations of love ♥

To start off our Mother's Day, we headed to SonRise, where we were able to witness a Sunday full of baby dedications and baptisms! The sun was shining bright today, giving signs that it was a perfect day for both of those things. AMEN!

baptisms @ sonrise

my coordinated little family..

After church, I attempted to take a family shot, but Sydni had the grump face plastered to her head because we'd told her we were heading out in the boat for the day.... and it wasn't happening fast enough. Haha.. rough life, kiddo.

But yes, we did vote yes to boating for the afternoon. We stood and cotemplated the skies for a bit, and after a little while decided that the worst that could happen was us turning back around and heading home. So off we were, for Sydni's first time on the lake!

To say she was excited is a bit of an understatement... She finally got to sit in the front seat!

little stingray girl!

Sydni took to the boat like she does to just about everything else: seamlessly. Five seconds out of the loading area and she looked like she'd done this a million times.

oh, just another day, eh? ;)

happy mother's day, to me!

We cruised out to a cove, where Rob went flying off the back of the boat, and Sydni shortly behind him. They're both crazy; it might be May, but the water felt even colder today than it did when we had our last crowd with us. Little fishies don't mind though; I remember being a kid, unbothered by frigid water, and wondering then why all the grown-ups just wanted to stand around and watch. Now I get it ;)...

because we left her pretty life jacket at home, this will do!

i'm ready, mommy!

leap!

big & little fish ♥♥♥

Some footage:

Love them. Back on the boat, we set our sights on a little cruise around the place. Sydni got her first lesson in functional steering today, and I must say she didn't do half bad! On a side note, I heard a news brief on the radio earlier about a mother who passed out while driving, and her 8-year-old daughter steered the car to safety. The daughter later told police that she knew "kinda how to do it," because she'd been allowed to steer the tractor and lawnmower sometimes. This, folks, is one of the reasons I love these kinds of small lessons. My kid will be able to steer this boat on her own by the time she's 8 [not that she will, but I'm just saying...], and won't be panicking on a quad or a lawnmower, either... I can guarantee that.

Plus, she looks adorable doing it!

mini driver!

cruisin' around!

More footage of my little boater:

"You mean THAT cone??"
Hahaha.. I love her.

More lounging around on the boat.. checkin' out the itty bitty fishies swimming under our feet..

the best mother's day yet! ;)

On our way back in, Sydni expressed her frustration at the very idea of a no wake zone. We explained to her the logic behind it, in a way that she then re-defined. Frankly, I like her idea better, all logic and reasoning aside ;)

In case you couldn't hear over the boat motor [dangit!], Sydni is explaining to me which parts of the water the SUN is allowed to touch. When the sun touches it, it wakes up. When it doesn't, it's sleeping, and therefore is in the no wake zone. The sun's not allowed to touch anything inside the floating cones. We'll worry about correcting her when it matters; today's not that day though, amiright?!

Back at  home, it was some big relaxing in order, and that's exactly what we've done. Sydni is playing with the dogs, Rob's gotten everything from the boat put back in its place, and I'm well into the last round of laundry.

Thank you, Rob for giving Sydni and me the most perfect Mother's Day experience I could've imagined. You are the best!

Happy Mother's Day, to the rest of my fellow moms out there - AND to the dads who are on a solo mission right now - your TIME & PRESENCE is more important than any amount of money you could ever give.. I celebrate all of you who give of yourselves every day for your children!!

Love & More Love!

xo | cmd