Wham BAM, Thank Ya, Marianne!

I was not thrilled that three of my four guests had to leave this morning. None of us really had looked forward to this part, but we made the best of it and naturally grabbed a couple of last minute pictures before they were gone.

just one more group picture (:

^ We look like a World Vision commercial. (:

coffee emporium ♥

In the bustle of everyone packing up, showering and making sure nothing was left behind, the time for church came and went. I hate missing a service, but I committed to making up that lost time with the podcast later on.

Rob decided to get caught up on some of his things while Marianne and I went off in search of some adventure to occupy us for the day. It really didn't take long.
We found ourselves at the Coffee Emporium, which kind of happened by default when I mentioned the mushroom house in Hyde Park. Once we were caffeinated, we hopped back in the car and decided the day was promising enough to include new tattoos. That's right, new ink.

[Holy crap.]

cheetah carpet.. and a blank canvas.

I have had one tattoo before today. It's a rendition of the sun from the flag of the Philippines, altered to reflect the connectivity of my identity as a Filipino-American adoptee. It took me five minutes to draw, and two years to save up the courage to actually do it. That needle came and went when I was 19. Ten years later, it took us 30 seconds to commit to the doing part, and about a half hour deciding on the what-to-get part. Go... figure.

So THIS [thank you, Pinterest] will stand to represent the following statement:
My life has been beautiful, and it has been ugly. The human side of me has created messes bigger than I could have ever deciphered on my own, while the God in whom I believe and give ALL the honor & praise, has righted my sinking ship more times than I ever would have believed possible. It's been a cycle of beauty, mediocrity, heartbreak and learning, and I don't intend that to stop anytime soon. A compass is an unchanging guide to remind me which way I'm facing when I'm completely lost, and fluid continuity of outer arrows remind me that in every stage, in every season, what has been and what will be are what make me... me.

The first tattoo I had was clearly a symbol applicable at the time only to me. I was always more of a piercings gal than a tattoo gal, which worked hugely to my benefit in the years that followed my spree of facial, ear, nape & naval rings and studs. Most of those are marked now only by the little dots or indents left behind. I think I may have gotten my nose pierced alongside a friend in high school, and I'm almost certain she's since removed hers. The obvious point here is that I've never had a matching tattoo with anyone. Not that any one person's struggles are of any less or more credit than another's, but I whole-heartedly believe that Marianne has earned the stripes of this tattoo, absolutely moreso than I have. That being said, the amount of regret I have for doing this on a whim today is next to non-existent.

So after the consequence of making Marianne wait for something... haha...

... this happened ..

that's kyle. and those are both my chins, thanks&you'rewelcome.

.. and eventually looked like this:

done. ♥♥

So uhm, yeah.. went for it, did it, and I'm not looking back. In fact, I'm looking up, down, and both ways before crossing the street.

Fun fact: Once you've started the day with an unplanned tattoo, the rest of said day's agenda really doesn't matter. Haha. So, in the spirit of continued spontaneity, we took a trip down to Park+Vine, where we made our tattoo announcement via their typewriter:

remington says......

[in case you missed it]:

... except skip was nowhere to be found :/ womp womp...

Yeeeup.
Between Park+Vine, Findlay Market, Eden Park & RRT in Milford, we collected some great memoirs for the day:

hanging gardens at park+vine

neighbors of findlay market

my getaway at eden park

me, climbing off the skyline...

.. & marianne, climbing back over it

Onward to Milford, RRT:


guatemala & new york.

Totally need:

honest-to-goodness want.

We hadn't quite exhausted our cameras, but the day was winding down and that indecisive space between lunch and dinner had approached, so we opted for food at Main Street. Kalyn wasn't working, but Chad was, so once Rob rendevouzed with us [via bike, because it was gorgeous today], we hung out for a bit and then headed home.

Now we're here, a trio of sweatpants-clad bums huddled with laptops and a movie playing on the TV. Mare leaves tomorrow to go back to VA, and the work week will commence as it has this reliable habit of doing.

that's a wrap, folks.

On that note... good night, loves (:

xo | cmd

FAMILY HERE! [+Photo Sneak Peak!]

My family was here today.
That means....

We took a few pictures. Just a few. ;)

Mom, Dad, Sister & Nephew all came down just for the day, and along with Sydni, the whole lot of us toted off for a picnic lunch and picture session at Eden Park. That place never gets old. (:

I figured I'd launch into the preview right away, since really, that was our day today. There will be more... many more, but I wanted to share some of my favorites! Enjoy! ❤


a little flower | ©cmdphotography2013

kisses | ©cmdphotography2013

adoption: blood doesn't define family; bonds do. [myself with my mom & my sister]
©cmdphotography2013

playing in the water | ©cmdphotography2013

mama's girl | ©cmdphotography2013

sunbather! | ©cmdphotography2013

senior picture, the reprise.. haha | ©cmdphotography2013

[parts of] my family: parents. daughter. myself. sister. nephew
©cmdphotography2013

[**pleaaaaaaaaase excuse the graininess or low reso. quality of some of these; I'm working on the originals and will eventually post those, too. I promise they're better quality!]

So there it is... like I said there's a much bigger collection, but I'm still working on those. I'll get those posted periodically as I get them finished... orrrr... you can check on the Facebook page to see if they're up yet ツ.

 

I'd say today was a huge success. I'm relaxing now with Sydni; she's nearly passed out from all the excitement, and I'm on a good run with these edits.

 

Happy Weekend, Blogbots!

 

xo | cmd 

Sydni Makes Sundays Fun ☑

Saying that today was a monumental improvement over yesterday is a gross understatement. Of course, that always puts a silver lining on any bad day, because really how do we know to appreciate "good days" without anything to which we can compare them?

Enough of that deep thought stuff, though.. today... was.. awesome.

awww :( .. bye friends...

The only un-awesome part of the day was at the very beginning, when we bid adieu to Ali & Melissa, who parted off after breakfast [the standard Drenn traditional breakfast, might I add... haha] to Illinois. It's gonna be a photo-kinda-entry, so here we go....

morning tradition (:

Once Ali and Melissa had gone and we got the house cleaned up, Sydni and I were ready to enjoy the SUNSHINE that fiiiinally made an appearance today. I can't tell you how gorgeous it was outside; sunny but not scorching hot, and an entire unchartered day for her and me. LOVE.

Photo highlights?
... But of course!

☑ | We're OFF! We couldn't wait to get in the car and go do something... anything.. to enjoy this rain-free day. Our final vote? The ever-faithful Eden Park. Definitely a good choice.

here we go!!

☑ | Mini horseshoe water fall! As soon as our feet left the car in the parking lot at the park, I asked Sydni what she wanted to do first. Her response was to go watch the ducks and fish swim, so we parked ourselves at the edge of this little spillover in the lower part of the park. We watched our fair share of the ducks and fish, just like she wanted, and even learned about the zero-traction property of that green fuzzy stuff in the water .. aka, moss. 

mini horseshoe waterfall | eden park - cinci, oh

☑ | Sandwiches for Sydni with SmartWater & Swissgear. Gosh, I love that little girl. She told me she wanted to eat her sandwich by the waterfall, so I snuck across the other side to snap a shot of her enjoying her lunch. She'd selected SmartWater [my daughter, whaaaaa?? haha] earlier and we stuffed everything into a Swissgear bag. She made sure I knew that all of those things, her included, start with S, so therefore by default they are all hers. "Okay, Mom?"

little lunch buddy... i hope i remember these moments forever

☑ | Get your feet wet!! Okay, so we didn't get soaking wet like the last time we played in a water outlet, but I couldn't help steal a shot of us sitting on the edge of the rocks, adventure feet ready for whatever we wanted to do today. Sydni's convinced that when she's a grown-up, she'll get toe shoes, too. Add that to the list of things that make me over-the-top proud of her. (: 

Vibram KSO's & mini Keen's. It's a good day, folks.

☑ | Take a hike. We were swinging on the playground when I spotted this cleared little hill off to the side. The upper part of Eden Park is at the top, with the famous Overlook, but I thought it'd be fun to try a little climb with Sydni. It's been raining here lately [in case I haven't griped enough about that.... ], so it was more mud than dirt, and fairly slick from others before us clearly traversing up and probably down, too. I must say though, despite her hesitation at getting dirt under her nails [we're working on that], she didn't do half bad and made it nearly to the very top without my help! Hello, proud mommy moment. I love.. my little nature bug.


future hikers of America.. hi monster ♥

☑ | SPENT! I just realized that when we look back on this, it's probably going to look like Sydni had narcolepsy as a toddler, from all of the pictures I have of her crashed out in various places. Haha. Oh well. I'm a camera addict with a cute kid, so she'll have to accept that and trust my half-serious promises to only display a few of these at events like graduation parties and her wedding ;) Haha... 



sure signs you're doing it right.... (: adventure success.

*Sigh. I kind of wished today wouldn't end, for a lot of reasons. She goes away again tomorrow for the week and of course tomorrow itself is Monday, so I'm okay putting those both off for a little while longer. Either way, we had an amazing day and are both ready to wind down. She's out, snoring [hehe], and I've got a quick Skype date with Rob, so we'll bid this blog goodnight.

ALLLL RIGHT, MONDAY, let's go..

xo | cmd

My Family.

Sydni and I ended up crashing at Becky's last night while we were waiting on our laundry to finish up [still working on deciding what kind of plug-to-wall adaptation we're going with for the dryer at our house], so this morning we were up early, laundry folded and out the door. Back at home, we tidied up some and relaxed until Nana & Pappy [aka, my parents] arrived.

Mid morning, the knock at the door came, and I hugged my parents for the first time in six months. It was awesome. Mom of course came bearing an entire cooler of food for a picnic, so after the mini tour of the new digs and a breather from the drive, we loaded up and headed for Eden Park for a picnic and an open agenda.

It was the perfect day for a picnic. We made it up the hill to EP and found a great shady spot under a tree for lunch. Sydni got some bubbles from Nana & Pappy, so we took our time playing on the overlook, blowing bubbles, and later playing in the miniature waterfall at the duck pond.

Picture tiiiiiime (:

mini in the park!

dad ♥

mom. syd. me (:

 

syd & the greatest man to ever be there for her.. pappy!

we found some wildlife (:

i love this picture.. | syd with nana & pappy

After our romp in the park, we decided to walk down the hill to the Krohn Conservatory for the annual butterfly exhibit. This is one of the gems of Cincinnati that's fun every couple of years to see. My first time was back in 2008 with Catie, and today was much like that, just with many more butterflies than I remember. The signs indicated 12,000 butterflies. That's a lot of butterflies. Sydni spent nearly half an hour trying to catch a butterfly on the little card they hand out, one landed on her head and sent her screaming. Too funny.

butterflies everywhere!

another waterfall...

another great picture w/ nana & pappy

my. love.

We decided that was enough fun for one day, so we headed back to the house and got Sydni settled in for a nap. A long nap. That gave me a chance to talk to my parents. Actually talk... to my parents. It's been a very rocky road, this whole "transition," as we'll call it, and since most of it was done over the course of moving from two states away, there was very limited availability of having a face-to-face with my parents. Talk about overdue.

couldn't have said it better. 

I can't begin to explain how grateful I am for what happened today; I'll admit my nerves were in defense mode and I was uneasy about approaching the subject of my moving on, in specific regards to my relationship. Fortunately, before the whole weekend started, Rob reminded me that everything would be okay, and reminded me to be open. It's no secret that I'm about as good at verbalizing my heart as I am at operating on one, so it was with caution but deliberate focus that I let piece by piece of myself unfold to my parents. Honestly, candidly, and unabashadly. It was liberating. I'd underestimated their response, more specifically their genuine support. Rob was right; everything is okay.
Once the monster was up and stirring from her nap, we squeezed in a bike ride before dinner. Dad ran out to grab a few things and Mom and I finished up the end of our conversation, in a mother-daughter heart-to-heart. Did I mention how grateful I am for my family?

biking with nana!

And then....
Dinner at Main Street Cafe!

dinner fun with nana & pappy ♥

We really didn't waste any time finding our groove, and although it's only 9:30, we're all pretty spent. We're settled on the couch watching a movie with Sydni, and I couldn't ask for a better moment with my family.

See you tomorrow (:

xo | cmd

☼ SUNDAY WITH SYDNI!! ☼

Today was the best day overall that I've had in a very long time. To the core, I have next to zero complaints about the day, other than the fact that it's over.

First stop: Picking up Sydni and heading to breakfast! We have a thing for going to Taste of Belgium every time we're in town, so it only made sense to take Syd there for her first time. She definitely didn't mind a fruit waffle, and I definitely didn't mind having breakfast with two of my faaaavorites: Miss Sydni, and Mr. Rob. ;) 

taste of belgium | cincinnati, oh

After breakfast, we decided we'd go take some pictures and enjoy the goooorgeous day. It wasn't hard to pick the place; by default I toted us out to the one and only Eden Park, my all time favorite park in the area. It's served as my refuge since college, and I jump at the chance to take visitors up there. We had a blast. I figured I'd show it rather than tell it.... enjoy ♥ 

this little face... melts me, every time.

duck pond!

hangin out with mr. rob (:

mama & mini

she's suuuuuch a model! ;)

"mommy! look at me and mr. rob, we have monster faces!" - sydni

walking around the mirror pond .. and maybe splashing in the water ;)

with my two favorites ♥ ♥

*Sigh. I couldn't have asked for a better day. Like I said, my only real regret is that it's coming to a close. I had the opportunity to meet Joe's new girlfriend today, and have to say she's a sweet girl. It's been a long road, but I'll suffice to say that we all deserve to be happy, regardless of what we've done and where we've been.

Even the drive home was tolerable; I made some final touches on the decorations for Ali's birthday tomorrow, and spent most of the time just reveling in the amazing day we had. I caught the last few shots of the night on the drive back, and was reminded that I'm surrounded by beauty, from the smallest things to the bigger picture. 

God's canvass : aaaaabsolutely beautiful.

To sum up today: [a gift from my amazing friend Ali : lovelovelovelove her!!!!] This is what hangs now in my mirror and reminds me every mile of the way....

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

We're home now, after a stop off at the office to decorate for Ali's work birthday celebration; I'm preparing food for the office lunch and hanging out with this weirdo boyfriend I kiiiiinda adore. :p

Love & more Love, blogbots!

xo | cmd