The Journey [Is a Long One]

Dude, hoooooly driving..

Where the trip to South Carolina went off without a hitch, the haul back was quite the contrast:

Cons: There was so. much. traffic. 

There were detours.
Ignorance was running rampant on social media.
Thirteen. Hours. In. The. Car.

PROS: 
Woke up to the smell and sound of the ocean, palm trees and sand.
Tackled the journey with one of my best friends & her beau.
It was gorgeous weather the entire trip.
North Carolina bartenders will make you a specialty Wedding Tea, if you ask!
Plenty of time to peruse and reflect on photo reels from the weekend.
Finished reading City of Bones (now on to City of Ashes!)
Took a stand against ignorance and self-made bigot #forthewin #saynotowestborokids

Traveled back through the 5 states: SC, NC, TN, KY & OH! 

Returned to my family: Rob, Syd & the Pups!

I'm... tired. Like, beyond tired. Today was a gorgeous day, and while I'm here blogging, the newlyweds should be well on their way to their Caribbean honeymoon. I'm so thankful to have been a part of this wonderful weekend, and can't wait to see the pictures!! 

Love, love & sleepinginmyownbedyesssssss... 

xo | cmd 

The Overzealous Me...

So on March 5, long before I took off for a week to the mountains of Panama, I scheduled the monthly career fair for April. Good job, Cori.

It's amazing that even when I know I'm a ragged mess, I can push on when I have to. I don't know why I'm so baffled by my own ability to do that, but I really wasn't sure walking into that conference room today if I had it in me.

Good news, I did.. and Elisa was a sure and steady supporter through it. We celebrated a slow but semi-successful event [thanks to the rain] with lunch at Findlay. The pops of color there certainly appealed to the otherwise mopey feeling that's been lingering in my gut since I got back to planet USA, and I was quite thankful for the cheerful atmosphere.

colors on an otherwise drab day... ♥ - thank you, findlay!
findlay market | cincinnati, oh 

The day closed, and I headed off in search of something I've been hunting down in my head for the past 24 hours: A bilingual Bible. [I FOUND IT!] As I stood at Family Christian awaiting the completion of my Bible engraving, my sister was kind enough to send my phone into a seizure ;) -

... my sister vs. my facebook photo album... haha.. 

I've made it quite clear to her that she must find a way to come along on the next journey out of the country, specifically with me... which will hopefully be with the Vega team back in the mountains of Panama. Can you tell my heart is still aching to be there?!

Dinner.
More rain. 

I'm already over this week :p 

xo | cmd

See Ya Next Year, FACEBOOK

In the least first-worldy way I can find to say this, I took a step today and removed Facebook from my palette of available social media. I've always moderately wondered why some of my friends have bid it adieu and whether it's a statement of something or just a realization that Facebook & the rest of our social media outlets don't have to rule us.

I'll be the first to say I go through roller coaster spurts of Facebook usage. Sometimes I'm on it every day, others I won't do a thing on it for weeks. Today I decided to just cut it out for a little while. I did this originally in a moment of irritation over something unrelated to FB, but hey, it's not like I just sawed off one of my arms. It's Facebook, for pity's sake, not a limb or organ.

So yeah. Blogging it is for now, along with some Instagram if I really feel spunky over the next few weeks. Call it something of a social experiment on my part, too. I wonder what I'll miss over the next 3 weeks that I won't find out about until the new year when I've figured I'll stop boycotting. Whoooo knows....

farewell for now!

Anyway, now that I've wasted three paragraphs on the fundamentals of Facebook account deactivation, today was otherwise a day that I'll happily dismiss. Just. One of those days, ya know? I've had worse, oh yes, but today and I really just didn't me
et eye to eye and I think we're both ready for about a week's worth of space [ehhh? eehhhhh??? See what I did th-... nevermind].

Tonight = More Christmas present creation. I'm happy to report that I finished all EIGHT sets of coasters I planned to finish before the time came to gift them. I also knocked out a couple of other gift sets, and am aiming at the end of next week for some finality to the whole shebang. Woo!

AND, in the midst of my fickle mood and situational idiocracy of today, I must remind myself that this is about to be the BEST [fingers crossed] ending to a year that I've had in a LONG time. There are some very big things and changes quickly approaching that, while requiring copious amounts of preparation and work, will be new, exciting and the product of thorough planning. Once everything finds its stone mark, I'll share more... for now, I'm just idling in that pre-elation phase of prayer, gratitude and continued configuration of all the little details.

*Sigh. Tomorrow's FRIIIIIIIDAY, and buddy, I can't freakin' wait.
Maybe I'll post that status on Facebo- ... oh wait. (:

xo | cmd

To Chop or Not to Chop?!

Oh, hello...  

july 2013

Dilemma: I've been at war with myself for the past two months [at least] now, over whether or not to make the leap of cutting my hair. Honestly, I've never had this much trepidation over having short hair.. and I had to stop and wonder why that was...

Oh yeah, that's right. Two things!
1] The last time, I donated 13 inches of my hair. I shattered my collarbone into 10 pieces the following weekend and had to deal with the task of managing short hair.. with one arm.
& 2] When I did donate it then, I went to one of Cincinnati's best-known salons and came out with a bob that looked more like the shoulder-length-with-bangs do I had when I was 7. Not quite the edge I was hoping for... yeesh.

yeeeeup. short hair + newly-installed metal plate + 10 screws. awe-some. >:|

MMkay, bad timing. Since then, I've been overly-cautious about losing massive lengths at one time, which is an absolutely stupid thing to fear, I know.

That being said, the collarbone incident was over three years ago now, so I think I'm finally in the market for a new haircut.. and if I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it.

Thanks to the input from a few folks, here are some of the top contender styles [as of now.. I'm fickle, so for all I know, next week I'll be shopping for extensions. Who. Knows.].  Anyway... here:

For a much shorter, slightly conservative look:

If I'm thinking more bob-ish, but not too drastic [& the gal on the left has texture very similar to mine, if not a little straighter, naturally].. I almost picture the straightened version of the left picture as something like that on the right [two different people]:

Slightly more daring, I can't deny considering singer Kina Grannis.. because I love her, with long or short hair. She also has hair texture not unlike mine if I don't touch it with a straightener or a dryer...:  

Of course if I was really feeling like going polar opposites, I could always do one of those and throw in an undercut [not undershaved, sorry] side, just for kicks [something I could still conceal, if need be] .. Of course, this fascination could also be that I just think Rosario Dawson is classically-gorgeous, as well. Who knows:

Lastly, I'm looking to my cousin for some encouragement; she just chopped her hair a few weeks back and while she.. looks... stunning in that particular cut, my hair would never agree with that so I'll be adding my own twist, of course. It is inspiring, motivating and encouraging though. Haha.

my too-beautiful cousin & her new do

*Sigh. I still wish I didn't feel so apprehensive about it, but I now know a few gals who I'd actually trust to the task and so that will be where I start, if I'm brave enough. The issues I have with my Spanipino [dad was Spanish {Madrid!} & Mom was Filipino {Cebuana}]

First world problems, I know.
#spanipinoproblems, more like it.

For now, I'm taking this to the streets of facebook; We'll see if I can find some solid advice from any of my friends who do this, yenno, for a living. (:

xo | cmd

Attitudes in the Kitchen

I love cooking. What I love even more is when I have a good recipe passed along to me. The credit today for the new dish goes to the boyfriend (: He found this on one of the facebook pages [liked! haha], and I decided to take the plunge and go for it.

work in progress..... chicken + hot sauce! 

I figured I would share the recipe with you, too.... since it's crazy easy and apparently really good. Plus,  if you're moderately hungry but not into left-overs, it serves about 4.

So a-here..... a-youu... a-go!

:: BUFFALO CHICKEN & POTATO CASSEROLE ::

SCHTUFF IN IT: 

(CASSEROLE):

* 2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1" cubes

* 8-10 medium potatoes, cut into ½" cubes

* ⅓ cup olive oil

* 1½ tsp salt

* 1 tbsp black pepper

* 1 tbsp paprika

* 2 tbsp garlic powder

* 6 tbsp hot sauce

(TOPPING):

* 2 cups fiesta blend cheese
* 1 cup crumbled bacon
* 1 cup diced green onion

MAKE IT: 

*Pre-heat oven to 500°. Spray 9x13 baking dish w/ non-stick cooking spray.

*In large bowl, mix olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder & hot sauce. Add cubed potatoes to coat. Carefully scoop potatoes into baking dish, leaving behind as much of the olive oil/hot sauce mix as possible. Bake potatoes 45-50 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes, or until cooked through and crispy/browned on the outside.

* While potatoes are cooking, add chicken to the left-over olive oil/hot sauce mix to coat. Once potatoes are cooked, remove from oven and lower temperature to 400°. Top cooked potatoes with raw marinated chicken. In a bowl, mix together cheese, green onion & bacon, and top the raw chicken with cheese mixture.

* Return casserole to oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and topping is bubbly.

[photo from website;] ours didn't have bacon :p

I'm still trying to condition myself to liking super spicy food, so I didn't participate in the eating of this dish, but Rob assured me it was delicious. Next time, I'm going to adapt this to a BBQ version. Hmmm....... (:

Sydni didn't hate it either. Looks like everyone wins.
Yep. Happy Tuesday, bloggerbees.

xo | cmd 

Bullies... All Grown Up... But Not Really.

... and no, unfortunately I'm not talking about adorable pitbullies.
I'm talking about adult humans, who have both the capacity and the ability to distinguish right from wrong, up from down, and cruel from compassionate.

You'll have to excuse my rant, especially if you're the one(s) responsible for this, because you crossed a line that I've never had to face, but know plenty who have... and the saddest part of it is that YOU have too.

Here's the scoop:

In one of those arbitrary moments of Facebook newsfeed scrolling, I came across THIS picture: 

this makes me sick

Let me explain this:
1. I blocked out faces because really, that's unecessary.
2. This was originally of a girl and a guy standing together. The person who edited this picture did a hack photoshop job of another girl's face and hair onto the girl's body and posted it online for the rest of us to see. The girl whose face was put on here is a girl we all know; she's a sweet girl who, in high school, had something of a slight social disability. In any case, the picture was posted and immediately hit with a range of comments from people thinking it was hilarious to people asking for it to be removed.

It makes me sick. Yeah, I know... Cori, this type of thing happens all the time; your little rant isn't going to stop or change people. Bro, I know. I'm not trying to change the world, but I was honestly just left in a state of simple sadness and pity for the people who did this to her.... but not only just for her.

I think after brooding over it, I may actually feel more pity for the people who actually think this is funny. It's crazy to me, too, since in the slew of comments that had made it there by the time I first saw it, there were only 2 or 3 out of 10-15 that I didn't recognize as people who I knew had met her, likely had classes with her, or crosssed her path at some point in high school. REALLY?

.... No, it wouldn't be any less of an offense if it were a total stranger, but it certainly speaks even more volume to your character for the fact that you are that callous to do that to someone with whom you've had actual contact.

Folks, I know we live in a world that is breaking and fraying at the seams a little more each day. I'm fearful at times that Sydni and any other children I should have will face in their adult lives a society with absolutely no moral compass, value system, or filter of any kind. I force myself to shut out the inkling that boundaries will be completely non-existent by the time they are grown, and that a basic respect for LIFE in general will be something of an obsolete, historical theory as opposed to something tangible taught by and fought for on the behalf of parents to their kids.

A little known factoid about me, while we're at it [this will make sense, bear with me]: I'm an advocate representative still for the AFSP. If you haven't thought about the impact that these kinds of things have on people, you should take a second to read through a handful of those stories. It sounds like a far, dramatic cry, but it's not. I've seen that, firsthand, and it's real.

I'm encouraged, though. In the moments of anger I had after seeing that, I was met by several classmates who took a personal stand as well against the posting and expressed the same disgust. It isn't even a scratch in the grand scheme of things, but it helped to know I wasn't completely alone in the disappointment I was feeling.

For any of you out there who have a relative or friend who battles every day with a disability or handicap of any kind, this is for you... I pray that you're free from this kind of idiocracy and that you have a peace in the face of what you're handling. I'm encouraged by this to re-dedicate nothing short of my best efforts as a parent to raising my daughter the right way: knowing and believing that human life is valuable no matter what it looks, acts or sounds like. I pray that if I fail at teaching, that at least I can succeed at instilling in her a compassion and the courage to stand up for those around her who can't do it themselves... even if that means she's standing alone.

I suppose I'll stop ranting now... but I hope that if you've found yourself in the position of going along with the crowd just be cool..... it's not worth it. I hope maybe you heard something here, if that is you... and if it's not.. welp, thanks for hangin' in there with me (: 

Tomorrow's FRIDAY!

Let's make it count (:

xo | cmd 

Twihards!

Things I just can't for the life of me get into:

*Clowns [demented frickin' things]

hahaha

*Wood Roller Coasters [hey, chiropractor?] Red Bull [just... can't.]
*Straw Wrappers [intensely personal]
*Bad Hair Dye Jobs [beeeeen. there.]
*Smart Cars [My kid-sized shoes are bigger]
*LOTR [stop.]
*Balut [tried really hard there, gagged every time, ugh.]
*Harry Potter [graduate already, Harry]
*Bad Grammer ["I seen..." starts no correct sentence, ever.]
*The Color Pink [just not a fan]
*Spiders [snakes I love. Spiders? Not so much]
*Wasabi [& all things spicy; I'm a wuss, I know....]
*Star Wars, Star Trek & Star Fruit [pass, double pass, food pass.]
*Lipstick [tomboy. Sorry.]
*Clowns [they deserve six more listings, but we'll just do two]
*Glitter [herpes of craft projects everywhere]
*iPhones [I won't. You can't make me]
*Burnt Popcorn [tastes like roasted cardboard]
*Sneezing [mine are far from graceful.. haha]
*........ Twilight. [I'll just blame Kristen Stewart]

^^ Ali has been inviting me to see this for days now, but I made a personal promise to myself that I would never get into it. I don't know what it is about fictional movie franchises; I suppose I just never thought to try them out to see if I'd actually like them or not. Whatever the case may be, you'll all have to excuse me for not having ever ["never have I ever...."] seen any of the Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Star Trek, Twilight, or whatever else is out there that's classified under that umbrella. Just never my thing.

I said all that to say that I so appreciate seeing this on my facebook last night.
She's hilarious.
Still no, though.
Maybe one day. I'll stand corrected in front of everyone. Haha. :)

Are YOU a Twihard? [I heard that term about 28 times yesterday, referring of course to die-hard Twilight fans = Twihards] I'm not, but I dig the dedication of the true Twihards!

I AM a fan of Fridays. Frihard?
Ok, maybe not. It's still Friday.
Make it great!

xo | cmd

Dora

Hello, land of toddler-girl-mothers!
& Hello, Dora.

Sydni said something really funny today while we were watching an episode of Dora. Let me set this up for you just a little bit ... :
Swiper was at it with his swiping [which, btw, he's a little punk - taking everyone's stuff.. and then making sure to throw it as far away from its owner.. little turd... haha], and at one point Dora said, "Where DID Swiper put the crown?" On cue, Sydni said aloud, "IIIIII Dooooon't KNOOOOOW!!!"

Okay, it was funnier if you'd been there, but she was so upset by the question that I couldn't help but picture one of those randomly viral photo-edits that cycles around on Facebook and Pinterest for a few weeks. Pretty funny stuff. :)

Speakin' of Dora :

early birthday present :)

^ Nuff said. She's pretty stoked... hopefully this might aide in the whole please-sleep-in-YOUR-bed-tonight,-Sydni thing with which we've been working. Totally worth it to see the sheer elation on her face over some bedsheets. Haha.

We did some digging on the voice behind Dora, because for some reason I just realized that there probably is a human being behind that pint-sized animated adventure-seeker and her talking pet... and backpack .. haha. I found out that Dora has so far been two different gals: the more recent one on the left side.. Cute girls, and since I'm that person that likes to know the names of all the actors/actresses I'm watching at any given point, I feel like a much more evolved Dora viewer. Hahaha. Whatever.

dora... and dora! 

Random, but yeah. Dora is taking over this house one phase at a time... so I figured we'll enjoy it full throttle. That being said, I think it's about time to finish up the latest re-re-re-re-re-re-re-run episode of Dora.. for about the 749217402183092 time before bed. We're a wild bunch here, I know. :)


xo | cmd

35 Reasons + A Birthday + Pierogies = :)

First things first.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRISTINE!!!

birthday gal! | birthday card, made by yours truly....

---------------
Onto my current thought:

Facebook is usually more of an unavoidable nuissance to me, kind of like a car wreck on a roadside. It's like that in the sense that I know I need to be focusing my energies to a much speedier departure from it, but I can't help but gawk sometimes. Well, happy day for me, because today one of my dear friends from college had this posted as his status, and it popped up in that little newsfeed thingamajig. Thirty-five reasons to avoid sin. Hello, reality check :).

Thank you for this, Ryan!
----------------

35 Reasons to NOT sin:

1. Because a little sin leads to more sin.
2. Because my sin invites the discipline of the Lord.
3. Because the time spent in sin is forever wasted.
4. Because my sin never pleases but always grieves God who loves me.
5. Because my sin places a greater burden on my spiritual leaders.
6. Because in time my sin always brings a heaviness to my heart.
7. Because I am doi...ng what I don't have to do.
8. Because my sin always makes me less than what I could be.
9. Because others, including my family, suffer consequences due to my sin.
10. Because my sin saddens the godly.
11. Because my sin makes the enemies of God rejoice.
12. Because my sin deceives me into believing I have gained when in reality I have lost.
13. Because my sin keeps me from qualifying for spiritual leadership.
14. Because the supposed benefits of my sin will never outweigh the consequences of disobedience.
15. Because repenting of my sin is such a painful process, yet I must repent.
16. Because sin is a very brief pleasure for an eternal loss.
17. Because my sin may influence others to sin.
18. Because my sin may keep others from knowing Christ.
19. Because sin makes light of the cross, upon which Christ died for the very purpose of taking away my sin.
20. Because it is impossible to sin and follow the Spirit at the same time.
21. Because God chooses not to respect the prayers of those who cherish their sins.
22. Because sin steals my reputation and robs me of my testimony.
23. Because others once more earnest than I have been destroyed by just such sin.
24. Because the inhabitants of heaven and hell would all testify to the foolishness of this sin.
25. Because sin and guilt may harm both body and mind.
26. Because sin and service make the things of God tasteless.
27. Because suffering for sin has no joy or reward, though suffering righteousness has both.
28. Because my sin is adultery with the world.
29. Because, though forgiven, I will review this very sin at the Judgement Seat where loss and gain of eternal rewards are applied.
30. Because I can never really know ahead of time just how severe the discipline for my sin might be.
31. Because my sin may be an indication of a lost condition.
32. Because to sin is to not love Christ.
33. Because my unwillingness to reject this sin now grants it an authority over me greater than I wish to believe.
34. Because sin glorifies God only in his judgement of it and his turning of it to good use, never because it is worth anything on its own.
35. Because I promised God he would be Lord of my life.

---------
^ Pick your favorite!

delish :)

For the day, it was another furiously busy day, and by the time I made it home, it was just enough time for me to make it to the store for a quick picking of days-overdue grocering [pretend.verb.mode.chyeahh]. It wasn't a half hour after I'd finished that Mo was at the front door with the information from last night's Relay meeting. I made with it and got dinner ready for her, myself and Joe.

Life is good. Life is really good. :)

I'm blessed.

xo | cmd

Twenty-Seven!!

Oh my word.
I made it!

I think I’ve decided that my next endeavor in this earthly life is to cure Deceptive Birthday Syndrome. Allow me to explain.

You see, each year, this thing comes around that seems to get people excited when it has their name on it. [Duh, birthday.] So today is mine, and when it was all said and done, the day was wonderful, save for the fact that I am indeed getting older. Call it a quarter-life crisis, call it ridiculous, call it whatever you please, but sooner or later, I think most people would argue that turning the clock back wouldn’t be such a horrible thing. So, to solve the dilemma of actually getting older, I think I’ll start working on a way to preserve the customary fête – small or large – just sans the whole … aging part. I don’t think the odds are in my favor on this one, but hey, 27-year-olds can still dream, yeah?

There’s a special something about birthdays that will never fail to elicit well-wishes from an enormous chunk of friends, family, and facebook connections. Don’t lie; I’m one of those, and so are you! J I compiled just some of the blessings and wishes I got throughout the day, and I realized I am truly one fortunate girl. Be it a week, a year or five years, I’m grateful for all of my friends and extended family who took the moment to send annual congratulatory wishes via text, web, and/or phone call. Thank you!!

My first surprise was a box of donuts from Meagan; they arrived on my desk as soon as she walked in the door, and, although I did share, I have to say it was tough to decline eating every single one, in their delicious-looking state. Thank goodness for co-workers, hah.

Anyway, the second surprise came in the form of a text message from Joe telling me he’d left a work-related document in the backseat of the Murano. I went out to retrieve it, only to find a beautiful wooden decoration painted with my namesake verse, 1 Corinthians 13:13. [Yeah, for those of you just tuning in: I've since shortened my AKA to Cori, but post-adoption, I was given the name Corin, derived in this case from that exact verse, 1 Corinthians 13:13. Yenno, FYI.] In any sense, it’ll harmonize beautifully with the [Goodwill] frame I’d re-done with a picture of Joe and me.

For lunch, Diana treated me to my first visit to Peel, a relatively new but phenomenally delicious pizza dig in Edwardsville. With enough salad and pizza to fill up both us and a few takeout boxes, we headed back to the office. I’m certainly taking Joe there when we have the chance!

After work, I headed home with just enough time to change clothes before I was whisked back out the door for a double dinner date with Ryan & Stephanie Lopez at the Sushi Bar off 159. I’ll say this: that place definitely looks a little sketchy from the outside, but it is well worth the trip if you’re ever in the area. After dinner, we came back home with plans to watch a movie; of course Joe left me in charge of film selection, and as always, my answer: “Surprise me!” Well, he surprised me all right. He flipped on the T.V. and suggested we watch… maybe… Sportscenter?! Yeah, we have channels now, too! It’s been a long time since we’ve had satellite, and I’ve gotta say that while we were just fine without, it is a nice perk to have it.

That being said, it’s about time I call it a day. I had an excellent birthday, and for the time being, I’ll leave it at that and forget I’m inching my way closer to completing my third decade. We’ll cross that bridge when the time comes. Hah.

G’Nite!

xo | cmd