I GOT.. My Fried Green Beans

Welp, we made it!

We're here in Illinois now, and this is unashamedly backdated. That being said, here's what yesterday would've sound like, had I been telling you about it... yesterday ;)....

*******

Work ended early today, immediately following our weekly office lunch. The benefit of working for owners who are not only generous in every other regard, but who are also Catholic, is that they wholly support not working on Good Friday. Our business kind of dictates that we do at least some work on Fridays, but none of us were complaining when we locked up at noon for the weekend. (:

I took that time to get an oil change and finish up some last minute packing. Fast forward an hour and Rob had joined me at the house, loaded up all his gear, and the two of us were on the road en route to an Easter weekend in Illinois.

I can say this now, because we're past the point of the weekend, but I'd been putting the final outer layers on a piñata for Ali's surprise birthday bash, but hadn't managed to get all of it done by the deadline of hitting the road today.

What'd that mean? It meant me sandwiched in the front seat between the seat itself and a giant slowly-becoming-green handmade piñata. Luckily, I only had about an hour's worth of work left to be done; I was completed and cleaned up long before we hit the halfway mark of the trip.

We stopped first to see Rob's mom. Kyle happened to make a quick appearance, too, and so we started off our Illinois time with that before we were on to Jesse's.

Speaking of Jesse's, Zeppelin is getting big! I love when puppies start looking more like dogs, but I also always miss the puppy size. Zepp's a beautiful boy, and was super excited to see us.

It wasn't long at Jesse's before we decided to set out for dinner, which had been decidedly Bindy's. You know you've been out of Granite for a long time, when you start planning ..... days in advance .... to go to Bindy's. Haha. Really, all I wanted were some fried green beans.

What I didn't know, until tonight, was that Bindy's gets theirs from the Schwan's guy.
Mind. Blown. 

schwans. they are from schwans!

Anyway, we hung out there for a bit, and in the typical weekend fashion that is Bindy's, the clock ticked into the night and drew out several of Rob's friends.

these guys (:

So yeah, we're here. And to Bindy's we went and came...

fave!

And now, we sleep... haha.
See ya in the morning!

xo | cmd

Hello, 2014!

First orders of business for 2014? Lunch with JAY!
I ran down to pick Sydni up from Dawne's, and then it was off to Applebees to catch up with Jay. We had much to catch up on, and I'm so glad we got to sit down over lunch to spill the updates.

not a bad start to 2014!

Of course, with it being the new year, there's a million "resolutions" I could be making... I think it was last year though that I decided to start refining the definition of resolution, or at least steer away from those annoyingly cliché ones like "go to the gymmmmmm," etc.

This year, I decided I would do some reflecting on where I stood this time last year versus where I am today. I thought that'd be more at least a more realistic metric on which I can base some goals for '14.

So, here we go:

2013

Age: 28
Kid(s): Sydni
Pet(s): Stella
Better Half: Rob... "official" Jan 1!! (:
Where I lived: Belleville, IL
Where I worked: Glen Carbon, IL
What I drove: Nissan Altima
Book I was reading: Hunger Games, Catching Fire
Favorite Song: Rye Whiskey, by the Punch Brothers

What I did NYE 2012/2013: Dinner at Red Lobster with Rob, Tawny & Ryan, Taryn & Kenny, Mike & Kelly and Gary, followed by a relaxing night at Ryan & Tawny's to ring in the new year!

{My} Top 3 Monumental Milestones of 2012:
1. Relationships: The controversial decision to step back from the one and at the time biggest relationship in my life and liberate myself from its crippling effects on both people involved. In 2013, I committed myself to a new, healthy relationship with the man who is now moving to Ohio for me.. for us.
2. Transitions at work, including everything from internal restructuring, a promotion & raise, physical building expansion and redefinition of our goals as a team.
3. My self-collapse. I'm not proud of it, but it happened in 2012 and I spent most of 2013 rebuilding and healing from the implosion that finally overcame me as a result of the things I postponed, the denial I had and the debilitating pride that kept me from asking for the help I needed, when I needed it.

Pop Culture Things I loved about 2012: The Hunger Games theater release, Instagram, Felix Baumgartner's Space Jump, The Fierce Five USA Women's Olympic Gymnastics team, "The Walking Dead,"
Pop Culture Things I'd rather FORGET about 2012: Honey Boo Boo, "YOLO", Gangnam Style and of course that whole Mayan apocolypse that was scheduled for 12/31/12.

{My} Best Accomplishment of 2012: Liberation. It came at a steep cost, a lot of social backlash and an overwhelming amount of stress throughout, but it was entirely. worth. the fight.
Worst Regret of 2012: There were a few select individuals that, during my personal struggles in 2012, I neglected, pushed away and essentially cut out of my life in what I believed at the time to be in their best interest. We are still in the repair process now...
Strongest Resolve for 2013: M E N D. At the end of 2012, I was hanging on by a very thin string to the me that I knew was still in there somewhere. I laid out an action plan that was more general than it was a detailed step-by-step: get back to happy. And I did. BAM.  
Biggest Anticipations of 2013: I had no idea how I'd let my life get so out of control, but I made a resolve to upright my sailboat and get back on the right course. I then had no idea how I would accomplish that, but I decided I would take it day by day, prayer by prayer in faith, and I would somehow make it. I was relocating back to Ohio, switching jobs, and residing within 20 minutes of the one person I wanted to avoid the most at that point. One thing at a time.....

2014

Age: 29
Kid(s): Sydni
Pet(s): Stella & Sasha
Better Half: Rob♥
Where I live: Cincinnati, OH
Where I work: Norwood, OH
What I drive: Subaru Impreza
Book I was reading: Allegiant
Favorite Song: Let Them See You, by the JJ Weeks Band

What I did NYE 2013/2014: Dinner at River's Edge with Rob, Mike & Kelly, Jesse & Anna, then off to STL to the Lumiere to celebrate the final minutes of 2013.

{My} Top 3 Monumental Milestones of 2013:
1. I moved back to Ohio. It wasn't easy, but it served not only to strengthen me in areas I never imagined I could brave, and reminded me that the people in my life are nothing short of extraordinary.
2. Work: I transferred Express offices as part of relocating back to Ohio. With a gap of only the two weekend days, I moved from Edwardsville to Norwood almost seamlessly.
3. My daughter turned 4; now that both her parents are within 20 minutes each other, I know there is now the stability she deserves and the balance of time she deserves is hers. I grew closer once again with my parents and sister, and started healing some of the other relationships that had been damaged in 2012.

Pop Culture Things I loved about 2013: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire theater release,
Pop Culture Things I'd rather FORGET about 2013: Twerking [& Miley Cyrus in general], The Harlem Shake

{My} Best Accomplishment of 2013: Transitioning back to Ohio and all the surviving all that came with it.
Worst Regret of 2013: Not having the facetime I wish I could've consistently throughout the year to see my friends back in Illinois, and to be there to help mend some of the relationships I'd damaged during my self-collapse of 2012.
Strongest Resolve for 2014: Realize my true potential as a mother, a coworker, a Christian and a contributor to the various walks of my life, knowing now that I am strong, confident and always... always learning.
Biggest Anticipations of 2014: Moving [again], this time with the best thing Illinois had to offer - I can't begin to explain how excited I am for my little blended family to be together and start building some stability again! ♥♥♥

*****************************************

^^ That's a small scratch of the surface to the list of ways I've "evolved" in just a year's time. I sometimes like to see that stuff in writing, side by side, because it makes me realize that while it all seemed to blur together for a period of time, it's actually a collection of pretty drastic changes that have catalyzed me from the inside out over the past 12 months. I have regrets, of course, but I'm pleased and proud that they do not outweigh the blessings.

Since I'm not setting fire to the 2014 me with a list of tasks to complete by the time the calendar changes again, I'm content to dedicate this year to improving the quality of the elements I already have. By proxy, I'm hoping that will introduce some new things, people, places and experiences into the mix, but I think I've got it made pretty good right now, and if I can add layers of beauty to what is already present, I'd call that a successful year.

Here's to you, yours and your 2014.
Happy New Year!!

xo | cmd

Operation Pack Up & Eat Fried Green Beans ;)

Hello, rainy day in Illinois... Here we were hoping for half decent weather to get the bike out for a sping, but of course it had to be a dreary day. On the flip side of that, I realized by the end of today that we were meant to be confined to the house; Rob and I made some major headway in getting things packed up and sorted through at his place in preparation for the move.

But first things first, it was time for a haircut for Rob today, so before breakfast we stopped by and got that all taken care of...


holiday haircut lineup (:

From there, it was out to breakfast and then back to the house for what became a day of digging through boxes, furniture and all that other miscellaneous stuffffff that seems to materialize only when you're trying to pack up and move somewhere. We wound up with a giant truckload of drop off for Goodwill, and braved the steady rain to do it.

dreary drop offs at goodwill

I orchestrated my visit this weekend in sync of course with when my favorite staffmember of Bindy's would be working; my sweet Santa friend Alicia and basically the entire cast of Bindy's was on hand tonight for their Christmas party, and there really weren't any dull moments (:

alicia!!! ♥

we'll call it... Christmas spirt... vegas bomb style...

best friend.... && i love him so.

And that's that! I'm here through Christmas Day, so until then, we are tackling the oh-so-enjoyable task of staging Rob's belongings for their big road trip to Ohio. I'm happy to say that tomorrow morning I'll finish the last load of laundry here; at that point every single thing he owns will be clean. At the same time. Holy... record first. Hehe.

But for now, lights out. G'Nite!

xo | cmd

H-A-P-P-Y Saturday!

apple tree | granite city, il

First things first:
Places we've - well, I've - never been... and breakfast.

Rob introduced Syd and I to the Appletree Family Restaurant in Granite today. It's not a spectacular venue by most standards, but my hometown has very similar places and I love them... so I wasn't opposed at all.

It turned out to be much more like a diner than anything else, and I happen to love diners. Breakfast was delicious, Sydni was happy... we were all together in the same place at the same time... life's good.

From there, we headed down to a car show in Belleville, hosted in part by a guy Rob works with. Today was the perfect day for this (: 

perfect day for a car show!

And then it was off to Dawne's! It was so good seeing her, and if I'd had my stupid phone with me, I would've taken a picture to commemorate the first time I've seen her in months. She and Sydni had some long-overdue catching up to do, so we chatted for a few minutes and then went on our way.

We stopped by the mall for a few minutes, snagged some Orange Julius and checked out the new trends at Zumiez [luckily nothing spectacular enough to take home this time], and were back at Rob's in no time.

These two got some quality play time in today (:

tug tug tug tuuuuug...

Once the pups were a little tuckered out, we geared up for an afternoon ride out on Rob's [newest] bike. It's sad, but this is the first time we've ridden together.. haha. There's a first time for everything! Ours is just usually... delayed. (:

knockout bike. knockout boyfriend.
all around win (:

We rode over to Jesse's, where I finally got to see his little Zepplin [new puppy!], who is far too cute for his own good. I didn't have my phone with me, so these are borrowed.. but trust, the next time I see this little one, I'll have some shots of my own ;)

zepplin! adorable growin' lil brute (:

The three of us took off in search of a hangout, landing us at a pool table and a drink before deciding not to risk the chances of rain on the bikes for the night. Rob and I headed back to change and trade a chopper for a diesel.

goofball. & i love everything about him.

Before long it was back to Jesse's, to pick up him and his friend Kelsey.. and off to Fast Eddie's it was. We were in the mood for some grub and chick-on-a-stick sounded just about right. Y-U-M. (:

fast eddie's bon air | alton, il

Then to Rajun Cajun piano bar, where Jesse, Kelsey & Rob all failed at convincing me to get up on the stage and play anything. I thought about it, yes, I did... but I didn't. Sorry guys.. maybe next time. Haha ;)


rajun cajun piano bar | alton, il

We dropped Jesse & Kelsey off before our final destination of the night: Bindy's. Alicia made Rob promise the last time he saw her that I'd come by when I was in town next. So... it seemed perfectly fitting, especially with it being Bindy's 24th anniversary party!

♥ alicia!! [not my best picture, but we'll deal...]

This is backdated, fo sho. We made it home, had one of those liquid-encouraged, brazenly-candid conversations on the way, and at that, called it a night.

¡Hasta Mañana!

xo | cmd 

♥ Happy Birthday, Boyfriend!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TO YOU ♥
[my best friend turns 27 today!]

♥.

Today's his birthday (: He's currently en route back from FL / LA with one of his friends, and if I'm right, I'll see him halfway through this week on Wednesday. To say I'm excited is an understatement.

Since I love posting photos and all that jazz, here are some of my favorites with this incredible guy of mine... Sure, it's not been that long so far, but we've been friends for far longer than photo history cares to document. The funny part is, that as obsessed as I am with pictures, we're usually having too good a time together to stop and take any. I'm thinking that's not a bad problem to have... but of the rare few we do have, they are ours, and I think that's pretty cool ღ

⑩ | Our first picture together, after what... 1+years of being friends? May sound dumb to most, but I usually have pictures of all my friends right away, in some fashion. This one was at The Old Rock House in St. Louis, for a concert we went to with some of his friends. Yes, I look scraggly. No, I didn't care....

old rock house | st. louis, mo

⑨ | Bindy's. You can't see any of that place behind us, but Rob introduced me to this place and now I make it a point to visit whenever I'm back. It's one of those local dives that everyone in town knows, and you always run into someone you know there, if you're a local yourself. In a weird way, it kinda makes me miss Mt. Vernon. In a weirder way, I just said ... that I miss Mt. Vernon. Whoa.

bindy's | granite city, il

⑧ | Rob finds Cincinnati! I finally persuaded Rob to come back to my stomping grounds with me for a weekend. This is the first time he accompanied me back; we found Catie and some others and made a night of it. Who really knows where we were here or what we were doing, but I know myself well enough to know that's a real smile on my face and it was there because of this guy.

rob in the 'nati.. uh oh.. haha

⑦ | Kyle's 30th birthday! In the spirit of birthdays, I thought I'd post this one, because 1) I love birthdays, and 2) I love this picture. Simple as that.


at kramden's for kyle's 30th

⑥ | Supercross in Indianapolis. This was back in March this year, St. Patrick's Day weekend to be exact. This night did not turn out the way we'd expected, but this is still a good picture. The weekend? Not so much, but hey... life happens, we all survived, and downtown Indy can bite it. Hrmmph!

lucas oil stadium | indianapolis, in

⑤ | Just us. We were lazing around one night and one of us pulled out a cell phone. There's nothing particularly special about this one other than it's just us, not being fancy [not that either of us really are in the first place, but still..]... but really just hanging out and being simple. Probably some of my favorite time.

couch potatoes. completely ok with that.

④ | Mudbash 2013. This was pretty much awesome... mainly because I was surrounded for an entire day with other people who enjoy sloppy mud, huge trucks and tailgating just as much I do. I'm not sure how I managed to get clean within 24 hours after this, but it was totally worth it.


mudbash 2013 | buchanan's mudpark, mo

③ | My going-away party. So this whole process still stings a little, but Rob made sure he came to the tiny shindig we had for my farewell back to Ohio. My office team set up a dinner at Edison's in Edwardsville and we spent the entire evening goofing off and telling some of our favorite stories about the people and events we encounter at work. As small as it all was, I was so thankful for my friends from work and for Rob coming to be a part of that.

edison's | edwardsville, il

② | Styx. Ted Nugent. REO Speedwagon. This was from just a couple of months back, at the VZW Amphitheater in STL. Rob's mom bought tickets for us for this show back in February, and held onto them all the way up until this show. We went with his mom and stepdad, and had an amazing night. I went back to IL for the weekend just for this, and I'm glad I did.


vzw amphitheater | st. louis, mo

① | And duh. Ya'll are probably sick of this picture, but I don't think I'll ever be tired of it. This is the most recent, from Rob's last visit here and our day trip down to Findlay Market & Washington Park. There's nothing to say about this that I haven't already said... other than, "girls it's okay if you're jealous... he's pretty awesome." - I'm joking, not about him being awesome, but about being catty over it. I just love the guy, and I can't... freakin'.. help it.

♥♥♥♥♥. | findlay market | cincinnati, oh

So happy birthday, lumberjack.
Love you, & can't wait to see you this week.

xo | cmd

12-HOUR CLEANING

Q: Wanna know what I did today?

A: I made friends with all my cleaning supplies..................................

............................ for twelve hours.

Literally. 

hello..... clean house.

I spent the night at Rob's house last night for the first time in a while; we moved one of his vehicles back to his house and took some of my leftover things to store in the basement. I opted to take a day off work today with the sole intention of cleaning the house top to bottom before the landlords came to do my checkout.

Mission accomplished, baseboards and all. Two full bathrooms, four bedrooms, living room, hallways, kitchen, basement, laundry room and garage: DONE. This girl......... is SPENT. I even relocated the robins nest that was situated above the porch light [I wore gloves, and carefully re-positioned it in a nook of the tree where we always spotted mother robin; I hope she continues to tend to these little eggies!]. I know there's a risk there, but the nest really couldn't stay, but the last thing I wanted to do was harm any of the beautiful eggs. Cross your fingers with me....

no makeup... exhausted, but done!

I'm tired. I am.. super tired. I smell like pinesol and windex. I have some bleach spots on my knees from cleaning the bathroom floors, and I'm pretty sure I will wash out a full layer of dust from my hair when I hit the shower tonight. 


I picked Rob up from work and helped him put the bed cover back on his truck, also loaded up with some of my things, did a final walkthrough of the house with the landlords, and pulled out of the driveway for the last time. It's been a little bittersweet leaving that place, but I'm looking forward to this next chapter of my life, too.

I've done nothing but clean and reflect all day long today, and I've come to the conclusion that life is too short to be anything but happy. It really is that simple. I'm dedicating myself now to looking forward, not back. To seizing new opportunities and making the best of the ones that are just residual runoff from a life from which I am now liberated. I see people around me with so much less than I have, even in my current state, and I know that I'm blessed with more than I deserve, but less than it's worth if I don't take the steps to make the most of it.

I have my faith, and a Savior who does not disappoint. EVER.

I have a beautiful, healthy daughter.

I have a job.

I have family, friends and colleagues.

I have my health.

I'm stressed, but I'm happy.

I'm cleaning out more than a house, from here on out. (:

[[[ I'll keep ya posted ]]]

xo | cmd

Marianne Is Leaving :(

We all know I'm leaving. Most of ya'll know that Marianne... is also leaving :( She scored a sweet job with YoungLife in Virgina, so she's headed there first thing in the morning. And I do mean first. thing. Like, 2am departure mode. It's a 10 hour drive, so I would ask you to be in prayer for a safe trip and safe arrival.

I will definitely miss this girl....... :(

"let's swap contacts!" - marianne

We got the chance to finish up Marianne's painting, too. I met up with her for a little while at Starbucks [last time I'll see her, for a while, .... sad face] to add my hand-footprint to the painting she did of the world.

"your footprints don't define you; your friends do."
footprints l-r : cori. ali. marianne.

We're back at Rob's tonight. This will be my home for the next couple of weeks until I move back to Ohio. Tomorrow is Stella's first day kenneled all day [we bought her a kennel tonight... ohhh goodie!]. So far, she's done well with Sasha and Ziggy [Kelly's dog], so hopefully we can hold out for another week and a half or so.

Tomorrow I'm off work [hallelujah], but I'll be spending the entire day at the house cleaning, scrubbing, and removing every last shred of belonging I still have there.

*Sigh. I'm ready for this to be over....

xo | cmd

Aw, I Got the Dundie!



dundie & mr. rat .. welcome to our office ;)



A week or so back, Marc decided to institute a small reward/punishment system for us as we went about our daily business. This stemmed from some issues we had with documentation and some other small flukes, but either way, his solution was this:

For screw ups, you get Mr. Rat. He's an obnoxious, rubbery thing that serves as an eyesore on your desk.
For good works, you get..... A Dundie?? Hahaha. It's not an exact replica, but it's close enough, and that's what we collectively decided to coin it.

So when I rolled into work today, I had the dundie on my desk. (: Apparently I earned it for working from home on Monday. I thought that was pretty sweet of them, yeah?

Well.. the sweeter part of the day came after work, when I snagged Sydni from Dawne's and rendezvoused with Ali at the mall. She hadn't had the chance to meet Syd yet, so the three of us did dinner and some shopping. That's always interesting with a hyper toddler in tow, but we made it work.

Dawne is keeping Sydni overnight; Apparently Luke & Olivia are there and they begged for a slumber party, so I agreed. I took advantage of the unexpected breath to join Rob & Co. for a quick stop at Bindy's in Granite before calling it an early night [yeah, I'm an old fogie these days and I... am... cool... with that. haha].

Short week, yay!

xo | cmd