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

Sunshine & Soccer Stats

Between work and volleyball, there wasn't a wide open space to do much else other than analyze the USWNT World Cup bracket. Naturally, my money's on the US taking it all, but only time will tell, and if I had to pick a second choice, my money's on Germany.

world cup bracket funnnnnn 

But I mean, the U.S. is gonna take the cup, but it's fun to pretend there might be a chance for another winner, haha.. ;) 

Meanwhile, in not Canada, the local happenings of the evening [volleybal] at least went by with sunshine and happiness. 

sunshine is good for the soul! 

lovely volleyball! :D

Ahhhh... That's a good Wednesday!

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

Volleyball, Volleyball aaaaand... Volleyball

It's been a little while since I last played at Hahana, but after receiving a text from Suzanne asking me to sub in for her early game, I of course obliged. I headed down to familiar grounds early in the evening, and then didn't stop until the night hours were well underway.

My life... for about 6 hours... haha..

That's a good night, but I'm sandy... and tired.. and ready to call this one a night.

G'Nite, folks!

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 

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

Rainy Day Volleyball

Things I'm a little bit over here in Ohio:  RAIN.
[Although we're used to it by now around here, and don't let it get us down... that much ;)..]

Things I'm thankful for on the rainy days:  VOLLEYBALL. INDOOR. SAND. VOLLEYBALL.
[Even when Beth is out of town and it's just 3 of us!]

ahh... relief! 

Oh, Grand Sands. You delivered again, and you don't know how much I needed this. It doesn't hurt to have won the set, either. Beth, we're ready for you to come back!

I'm over this rain.
Here's to a dry day tomorrow!!

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

Love Culture | Lemon Grass | Grand Sands

There were three big things on the agenda for today:

1. Secure "THE OUTFIT" for impending New Year's Eve celebrations. [Done!]

so there's that.

^^ Now, just imagine that without the super skinny, visible midriff showing, and with me being just a couple shades... *ahem.. darker. :p Preview! Hah..

2. Dinner at Lemon Grass with the one & only Catie! It's been way too long, and to say that it was excellent catching up & celebrating my recent engagement with this gal is a huuuuge understatement. Love you, Ceggers & THANK YOU for the little celebratory gift! ;)

yay, catieeee!!

3. VOLLEYBALL!
Yessssssssss, finally! It's been since Summer that I hit the sand for some volleyball, let alone anywhere with any sort of real structure to the matches. I randomly received a text from Paul while at dinner with Catie, inviting me to sub in for the evening at Grand Sands [whoa there, flashback..], and naturally, I obliged, even at the risk of cramping up from the amount of food consumed at said dinner :p.

welcome! :D

This place brought in a flood of memories, specifically the days when I played on a team with Kalyn, Paul & Tim. Thanks a lot, Paul... now I'm bent on coming back!

yes, please! 

I'd say that's a pretty solid start to the final few days of December. Tomorrow's my last day of "work" for the year, and then it's off to Illinois to celebrate Christmas with Rob's family & simultaneously usher in 2015. It's gonna be a full-throttle weekend, but I'm ready :)

For now.. I've still got sand in some weird places, so I'll see you blogbots next time!

xo | cmd 

Sandy Weenis: The Reunion!

Today was a blur. That's not a bad thing, and I know I was productive, but at the end of it I was left kind of wondering what I did all day. I know I'm not the only one this happens to; Elisa said the same thing when 4:45 rolled around. So TAKE THAT, Wednesday!

Of course Wednesdays = volleyball, which always gets us excited. Beth was out tonight, so our friend and former teammate Paul stepped in. So good to see an old face!

paul. cori. kalyn. keifer.

Paul, Kalyn & I played together on a team with Tim back at Grand Sands a few years back and wound up winning the league, as team Sandy Weenis. For those of you somehow unfamiliar with what a weenis is....  it's your outer elbow. I don't know why that was the first place we went with our team name then, but it worked and was kinda funny.

Now, as team Backseat Sets [it's customary to have strangely-insinuating team names in sand volleyball leagues], we've not had the best streak all season but I expect the next go-round to be a bit better.

Meh. Thanks again, Paul, for standing in with us tonight!

Tomorrow = Thursday = almost Friday = almost the weekend!
Also = finish the daggone edits tomorrow night and get them posted.
.... I will, I will. I promise.

Happy Hump Day!

xo | cmd