TOUGH MUDDER 2012!

After months of preparation, training, blood, sweat and dieting [do you hear the drums rolling in the background?  haha], TOUGH MUDDER 2012 fiiiinally graced us with its impending presence. Yay, mud!

We started the day off by agreeing beforehand that we would all rendezvous at the Tower at 5:00AM [oh.my.earlybird.]. That being said, we took all measures to have everything as ready as possible last night in efforts to get out the door as quickly as possible this morning. I woke up already dressed for the day and plugged a half-conscious Sydni into the carseat to drop her off at Jarod's. Becky couldn't make the trip out to Poplar Bluff, so she opted to stay back with Lyla & Sydni [thank you thank you!!]. All was going swimmingly until I got pulled over on the way to Jarod's. Here's kinda how that went, in a nutshell:

Cop: "Where ya headed at 4:30 in the morning with a kid in the backseat?"

Me: "Tough Mudder."

Seriously. I wanted to tell him I'd just returned from the casino and was acting as the DD for the 3-year-old in the backseat who'd had oooone too many apple juices. Oh, and thanks for giving me a warning only. I really do appreciate it :), and I was just kidding about the apple juice thing. Hah.

SO, I made it to and from Jarod's in decent time, and soon enough found myself buckled in with Joe and Jarod in the back of Jimmy & Mo's car en route out to Poplar Bluff to the offroad park that served as the grounds for Mudder.


ninja photog mode... commence.

Jason set me up with a killer getup for the day, with which I had more than enough fun throughout the day: L lense and all. I don't need to tell you I had fun with it ;)
Mudder was about as magical as it usually is: loaded up with hilarious moments, great costumes, and of course, pictures galore. There's a full set available online if you feel like perusing the entire day via photo-documentation. You'll have to excuse any gaps you see; we did spend about 2 hours lost on the course due to excellent mapping [that's a joke] by the mudder teams, but it's cool. We got the shots and we had fun doing it. Congrats to The Fighting Cocks for a day well spent!!

Fighting Cocks | Tough Mudder 2012

the ladies of mudder this year... that one front & center won't be so
clean this time next year... #participant!

To celebrate survival of the Mudder, we headed out to Lambert's, which, if you haven't visited, is absolutely amazing and now has my solid seal of endorsement. That, and the servers throw bread at you while you're eating. What more could you want? Haha.

We're exhausted, as you could guess. It's been a good day, but we're callin' it.

Tough Mudder 2012 = SUCCESS!

xo | cmd

TGIF: Office Baseball & Koinonia

TGIF!

May I take this moment to present to you....

... my co-workers and managers.

True story. 

tgif. express mode.

juggling in heels? sure. (: 

Let me explain.

Every once in a while, my office lapses into a state of uncontrollable chaos. Since there is just a handful of us, it's pretty much essential that we take these little breaks every so often. Some of you remember the last episode of Express PAUSED; it involved a course of 12 holes of mini golf through  the office. I lost, bigtime. Haha.

Today's debauchery started with a padded bat and a foam ball. SOMEhowwwww ... escalated into an all-out war, with an arsenal including an umbrella, a nerf dart gun, a soccer ball, and a wiffle ball. Don't ask why we have all of these things readily available in our office, but these things happen.. haha.

Oh, and for this bout, we went with some video footage, too.
[dun dun dunnnnn]

oh heyyy, ali! (: 

Good stuff, haha. More pictures to come.. probably on facebook. Yenno. 

Ohhhh yeah, and it's Koinonia night! These have a strong track record of being my favorite type of Fridays. Tonight was no stranger to that same vibe, it was just funny because apparently we were all on the same page - not wanting to cook. I'm fairly certain this was about the most unhealthy buffet of food I've ever had on my counter at the same time. Meh. I don't feel guilty; none of us eat this way on a regular basis and it was pretty delish anyway... so... yeah. We'll do some cooking next time ;). 

Happy weeeeeekend!

xo | cmd

Alex Babot Day

There is something to be said about the power of good friends and the impact they can have on us.
There is something even more to be said about the power of fellowship among believers; we, on so many different levels, are capable of reaching so much deeper into each others' lives than just the surface, and have that relationship echo back to us.

That being said [I know, something of an epic intro for what is actually pretty silly], today was orchestrated to be Alex Babot Day among a few of the guys at the Tower. For those of you who don't know Alex, his better half is Lara, and they are the first couple with which we really bonded when we first got to Towerview. I love them to pieces, and wish we had more opportunity to see them outside of church [ah, life]. Anyway, one of Alex's signature trademarks is his affinity with, and absolute ability to successfully sport the bowtie. I'm telling you, it might seem like a dated form of neckwear, but this guy can pull it off.

Erego, Alex Babot Day. :)

joe. pastor ron. adam. jarod.
ta-da! [this wasn't even all of them]
{missing at least jason, jimmy, kyle, and of course, alex! :( .. }

And if you think the fun stopped at the grown boys.....


cutest thing, ever. haha.. little luke!

^ I was actually on nursery rotation this week with Mo & Tanya; Tanya put Kyle's tie on Luke to see how it would look... and might I just say, he was dashing! He looked like a little sub-contractor; Tanya even managed to snag a shot of him making some important business calls. [We don't mean to interrupt, Mr. Luke! ;) ].

Now, because my husband is a married man, he is part of the larger collective group of married men who so often are found with one or both of their feet squarely planted in their own mouths. [I say that lovingly.. lol] In this case, a comment was made that Joe should buy lunch for every participant of Alex Babot day if Alex did not show up to bear witness. Welp, Alex did not make it this morning, so I'm not really sure if or when that's going to actually happen, because today was consumed with last-minute errands before Joe headed out to Cinci tonight. Haha. Good. Work. Joe. :p

Anyway, just a few more days before the next weekend, during which we'll all be in Cinci. I'm chompin' at the bits to get home.. good grief. I can't wait :) :) :)

Almost Monday!

xo | cmd

Lyla's Birthday Party!

I said it earlier this week, but I'll say it again:

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY, LYLA!



new ride? of course :)

 Joe is still out on business, so Sydni and I made our way over to the Thompson digs today for Lyla's birthday cookout. It was everything a 4-year-old's birthday should be, complete with a hand-decorated cake [sidenote: Becky, those princess eyes were to die for! hehe], Dora cupcakes, a mountain of pink and glittery-wrapped presents, and of course, a brand new convertible.


awesome cake[by becky!] + dora cupcakes = kiddie sugar overload ;)

Thanks again, for having us over! We had a blast. Mo even made the suggestion that Lyla, Sydni and Emma should be getting together at some point in the near future to do some drag racing in the church parking lot. Haha. We'll have to see. I think Sydni may have the advantage only because she hasn't figured out the driving in a straight line yet, and with the bigger SUV of the three, she may be more of a bowling ball than anything else. Hah. 

happy birthday, lyla!!!
[jarod, we'll all be happy to give you some free pointers on
managing synthetic barbie doll hair ;) lol..]

Anyway, not a bad way to spend the bulk of a Saturday. We followed it up with some errands before heading home to catch us up to now, relaxing and waiting on Joe to get home from his week away.
Oh, and yes, I decided on a song to sing tomorrow. Say a prayer for me, yeah? :)

xo | cmd

Happy Birthday, Dad!



my dad. ♥

She spins and she sways
To whatever song plays
Without a care in the world
And I'm sitting here wearing
The weight of the world on my shoulders

It's been a long day
And there's still work to do
She's pulling at me
Saying "Dad, I need you

There's a ball at the castle
And I've been invited
And I need to practice my dancing
Oh, please, Daddy, please?"

So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone...

She says he's a nice guy and I'd be impressed
She wants to know if I approve of the dress
She says, "Dad, the prom is just one week away
And I need to practice my dancing
Oh, please, Daddy, please?"

So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone, she will be gone

Well, she came home today with a ring on her hand
Just glowing and telling us all they had planned
She says, "Dad, the wedding's still six months away
But I need to practice my dancing
Oh, please, Daddy, please?"

So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone
- "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman
^That was the song to which I danced with my father at my wedding. I love it because it is my dad and me, and reminds me just how quickly my childhood flew by. Moreso it reminds me of the fact that my father is a remarkable man with a heart of gold and fierce passion to love his family and his friends. I love him so dearly and hope that today is the best birthday yet. Happy birthday, dad! ♥

----
Our pastor is back from vacation, and made with it to bring us a solid message on the parallel between olympian dedication to running the race and our plight to prevail in our own race of life. Very inspiring. Following closely behind the service was lunch at Applebee's with Becky, the kids, and Becky's mom before she headed back out of town. Jimmy, Mo, Jarod, and Julie made for great company, and we had some inevitable moments of laughing fits before we parted ways and I headed home to rest up before volleyball.

Volleyball proved to be more food than play at first; we were celebrating all of the August birthdays and Irene's farewell as she returns to college in a week or so. The perk behind having a barbeque before volleyball: getting home two hours earlier than I would have on a typical vball night when we make our stop at BDubbs after play is over. The weather was beautiful, the friends were awesome, and for a break in the INSANITY routine, it wasn't bad at all.

Not too shabby for a Sunday. Let's see what Monday has in store :)

xo | cmd

Koinonia :)

Koinonia night, as always, was a huge succes. Tonight was something of a unique night, in that Joe was still gone in Reno for work. The Page family joined our group for the evening, as well, since the members of their extension had regretfully opted out for other obligations. It was awesome having them; we so rarely see the other families of the original large group if we're  not at one of those gatherings. I felt like we'd exhausted the typical food themes, so we went with a more simple menu of "finger foods."

I think this may've been the best buffet we've had yet! :) I think the highlight of the spread was the batch of whoopie pies that Cathie baked. Apparently, this is a Maine thing, because not only had I never heard of them before, I'd certainly not ever tried one. Yes, yes I will be asking her for that recipe ;)

Oh, and that little couch debacle we'd had a few weeks back? Well, leave it to Jarod and Jimmy to engineer an almost embarrassingly-quick remedy to that whole transferring of couches from room to room. Solution? Remove the door from the guest room and haul that sucker in. Really? Haha. I'm almost glad Joe wasn't here to witness this, since it was a pretty polar contrast to the hassle he and Jimmy had faced in the original attempt to store the Prescotts' couch in our basement..... or guestroom.... or the living room. Haha. This ended tonight with the loveseat in the guestroom; Jarod and Jimmy snapped a couple shots of their success. 

Pretty funny stuff. I love these people. I wish every Friday was Koinonia Friday :) 

xo | cmd

Koinonia Grill Out

Thaaaaaaaat's right, it was a Koinonia Friday (:

y-u-m.

We went with grilling tonight, since our group was a tad bit smaller than usual. With Becky, Jarod, Jimmy & Mo, we opted for some grill time, and it.. was... great :)

I love our friends.
And I love Fridays.
Oh, and I love sleep.....

xo | cmd

VBS Day #2 | Softball

I wanna walk, I wanna talk, I wanna live in your power! I wanna pray, I wanna stay, I wanna move in your power! I wanna walk, I wannt talk, I wanna live in your power! I wanna pray, I wanna stay, I wanna move.. IN YOUR POWER!

^ Day 2, complete.
*Whew.

Conveniently enough, Dawne had asked early last week if Sydni could spend the night at her place tonight with Olivia and Lu, the two other little ones that she watches, for a slumber party. That left me free to really gauge how much time I would need to get from work down to church. I found I was good to go with enough time to stop at the house and let the dog out before heading over. With fifteen minutes to spare, I snagged some food with the rest of the VBS staff downstairs [many thanks to Miss Margaret, Miss Shirley, & the volunteers preparing this all week!]. Then it was upstairs for three hours of cardio ;)



we stole a vbs'er! ;)
cori. lyla. mo | softball



It seems to go by much quicker once the end approaches, but we're having a blast and doing our part to exhaust the little ones before we send 'em back home to their parents. Haha.

Tonight was extended by the weekly softball game to which us VBS workers slowly trickled once we were finished with our festivities at the church.

We didn't walk away with wins this week, either, but us bystanders had some fun of our own.

That being said, it's late, folks.

I'll be up and at it again in a few short hours!

xo | cmd

Micah 6:8 Laundromat Outreach | Somber Loss

Today was a bittersweet day. Emotions are all over the board in my church family as the day closes with a ministry success shadowed by a tragedy.

caitlin

We've met so many fantastic people so far as part of the Towerview family. Jarod and his daughter Lyla are just two of them. Late last night,  Lyla's mother Caitlin was involved in an ATV accident that cost her her life. I personally didn't know her, but what I do understand is the effect that losing a parent can have on a child, and even on the other parent, regardless of whether or not they are still together.

My heart breaks for the Thompsons, and for Caitlin's family. The gravity of this, the freshness, proved to be a dark shadow not easily cast from our minds over the course of our morning on ministry. It's going to be a long road for Jarod and for Lyla; My continued prayers for peace, comfort, and strength are theirs.

It's hard to transition from that. If there is one thing I have discovered about my church family, it is that they are able to emanate their own sense of mercy and grace while simultaneously displaying perseverance and strength unlike any other. Today's example of being faced with news of this tragedy yet still completing the ministry we had planned, with genuine smiles on our faces and in our hearts for its purpose, not only encouraged me, but made me proud to be a part of it all.

towerview bus!

Back during our 40 DITW study, my study group had developed a plan for our Micah 6:8 project. It started with a church-wide yardsale [remember that??], the profits of which would fund a community outreach. We collectively decided that we would break into teams and hit a few of the local laundromats, armed with coffee, donuts, laundry detergent and quarters, and just pay for people's laundry. No catch, no fee, no sermon. Just free laundry and breakfast. 


 << Oh, btw, our Towerview bus is now complete! Just in time for the youth group missions trip, which heads out tomorrow. It looks great! :)

We arrived at the church this morning and divided up into three teams, quick to plan our routes and off we were. I joined Diana, Olivia, and three of the youth group at the Maytag in Fairview Heights. Our very first offer was met with flat-out denial. I was amazed over the course of the morning at the wide range of response elicited by our desire to load quarters into washers and dryers and provide the detergent to go along with it. While it was slightly discouraging to be turned down, what mattered more was the handful of people who accepted, perhaps questioningly, but accepted nonetheless, and were so deeply moved by it that some of them even began crying. I met a woman today whose husband is in the hospital for a medical condition that has almost taken his life twice. Her two children's lives with their father consisted more of hospital visits and stays than it did of him being home. The trips to the laundromat are a family outing for them. I sat and listened to her story after we'd loaded quarters into the washers and dryers, and realized that this was more than just gratitude for her laundry being covered for today. She poured out her heart to us, and I would be willing to guess we'll see her soon, at the Tower. I was moved by this, in a sincere way. I was reminded today just how powerful God's love is on a simple Saturday morning, in a laundromat, over coffee and a donut :). I was blessed to be a part of this.

look at this little guy!! adorable friends at the laundromat

these things are expensive!

yummm summer salads!

The other two groups had very similar stories: rejection by some, whether by pride or fear that a 'church group' would demand an ear for preaching if they ceded to them paying for their laundry. Others were more than receptive, appreciating our efforts, and even delving into conversation over life in general. We all ended up at the Page house, where the kids had spent the morning along with Lara and Cathie. We ate lunch there before we all headed home. 

It's going to be a very difficult remainder of the weekend for the Thompsons and Caitlin's family. I hate that tragedies like this are what it takes sometimes to put life in perspective. Our very deepest condolences go to their families, and our love and support will be among the flood of such for which our church family is so well-versed.

xo | cmd  

The Perfect Midweek

Today was awesome :).

1. Early morning workouts! It's not really all that often that I can drag myself out of bed at 4:15 A.M. to get over to the gym, but I talked myself into it today - it was totally worth it.

oh heeeey wednesday morning

2. Roses are red, violets are blue... but roses are way more fun. :) 

These were on my car seat when I went to go to the gym; I ended up taking them to work to display. I hadn't expected them, but they sure are adorable! [Thank you, Joe!! ♥]

my roses! :)

3. Husband and daughter visiting for lunch?! I think so! Unfortunately, our regular sitter [Dawne] had a medical issue needing attending today, so she wasn't able to take Sydni. Joe decided to take the day off and hang out with her, giving them some much-needed daddy-daughter time. The two of them made it up to Glen Carbon for  my lunch hour; we grabbed a quick bite and spent what was left at the park playing :). It was gorgeous outside today, and we took full advantage of it. Plus, major major kudos to Joe for coordinating an outfit for Sydni that was not a halloween costume, rather one of the little sundresses my Ate Gazelle had sent. She was so stinkin' cute!

my loves on my lunchbreak!

4. After work, I made it home to find that Lara and Alex had dropped off some of the Relay for Life fundraising money for me to take to the ACS office. I am SO proud of Team Towerview!! We are going to be at our goal in NO time, which means I'll get to raise the goal, again. << Geeze, what an amazing problem to have ;).

hey, that's us! so so proud of team towerview!!!

5. Jarod joined us on a whim for dinner; we grilled out and hung out for a couple hours over dinner before he headed out and I made to it with cleaning this place up a little.

Like I said, happy Wednesday, right?! I couldn't have asked for a better one.

Let's see if Thursday can compare. :)

xo | cmd

Towerview Fundraising Breakfast: Relay2012

Hey Sunday! Thanks for stopping by :)

Today started off a couple hours earlier than the average Sunday; I was out of the house with little monster and en route to the Tower an hour or so before the usual departure time. With two cases of homemade muffins in hand, I unloaded toddler, Bible, camera, and eventually muffins into the most appropriate resting spots downstairs in the fellowship hall [well, aside from the toddler; those things don't ever rest...]. I spent a few moments snapping pictures of the helping hands and attendees of what was purposed to be a fundraising breakfast for the church's Relay for Life.

greg. ron. margaret
our trusted cooks! :)

my mini muffin monster!

breakfast

It was a huge success! Not only did we have a sturdy set of helping hands on board to flip pancakes, serve drinks and clean up, but the crowd elicited so easily by food didn't disappoint! I'm not one to regularly emphasize the strengths of individual denominations, but for what it's worth as it's relevent here: Southern Baptists have absolutely no qualms with cooking up good food, and we'll show that same lack of dissent when it comes to eating it. We love food, we love hanging out with each other, and we love coming together for a common and important cause. That being said, hosting a pre-Sunday school breakfast was guaranteed to be the hit it was.

When it was all said and done, we had $230 to put towards our [revised!!] team goal of $3,000. Our original goal was set at $1,500, but after just a month or so of We are getting closer!!! :)

pancake patrollers | lara & cori

on our way home.. cakehead ;)

After another home run sermon from our pastor [sorry for the inside joke; you'll understand if you were there], our 40 Days in the Word group [remember us? Yardsale?] rallied together at Lonestar to discuss the allocation of our yardsale proceeds.... and of course eat... again :). We nailed down some details on our next step in our plan to service our community, and did it with the usual flair of hilarious moments and musical-chair children.

I don't remember the next three hours following lunch at Lonestar; I'm going to attribute that to the fact that I spent that time napping :). I rolled back out of bed just in time to make it back to church for choir practice before coming back home again and wrapping up the day.

Oh, and I almost forgot about the grill Joe brought home yesterday. He spent a large part of the afternoon cleaning and configuring his new toy, and we wasted very little time giving it some exercise. Jarod, Jason, Alex, Jimmy & Mo stopped by after choir practice for some late evening grilling: burgers and chicken. I'm pretty proud of Joe: He didn't do half bad! :)

*Yawn.. Something about today indicated to me that this is going to be a great week. If the week's got other plans, too bad; I'm bent on making this a good one - and I've got God on my side :).

G'Nite!

xo | cmd

Small Group Goodies

just a taste of what our friends are like :)
i love 'em.

It was a small group night. You know how these go.

* We were a few men short tonight; Julie & her boys, the Sandvens, and the Sleemans were all MIA, but we picked up Jarod for the night, along with both Becky's mom and Lara's friend Kim, both of whom were visiting from out of town.

It should go without saying that I beyond love our small group nights; I'm gonna say it anyway though, and with gusto at that:

I:: LOVE ::OUR SMALL GROUP.
♥

Truth. See for yourself :). 

Oh, and the picture there is a depiction of inevitable social time after small group lessons, juuuuuus-so-yenno. We actually did have a fairly cored discussion tonight over Matthew 9, which ultimately resulted in adding a few more points to the already flowering list of reasons that I admire, adore, and cherish my small group. 

.. But I'm still spent. Night, folks. 

xo | cmd  

Life, Oh Life... Hallelujah!

Man oh man, this has been a weekend. I can't complain, not one bit. :)

Friday was our small group.
Saturday was our small group local missions project [hahaha] at the Gobles'.
Today was church, lunch, and just plain old family time.

jump start mma lesson: intro to triangle choke + face bite. hah... :)

Are we blessed, or what??


hilarious.. she put that there and then passed out...

 Our day ran its typical Sunday schedule of Bible study; the DeMonds have joined our class, and Cathie Page's parents were in visiting, as well. I had the opportunity to stand in for Trish in the praise band while she's out of town, which was a great time. Joe was here for the service as opposed to working in or out of town. It was a beautiful morning. We topped it all off with lunch afterwards at Eckert's with Pastor Ron & Miss Debbie. [♥ them!]

Oh, and I wanted to share this, not because I'm so closely or directly involved, but because it moved me :). As we all know, I've been appointed to spearhead this year's Relay for Life team for the church. Since the event revolves solely around conquering cancer and all that goes with it, I felt it completely appropriate to spread this message to cancer: You're at war, and from the looks of it, I wouldn't wanna mess with these guys, either :). One of Towerview's own, Kyle, is heading into his battle with Lymphoma, but he's not going alone. This is just a fraction of the army backing him; in honor of his physical spat with chemo, these guys took the Bics to their heads in support. Jason compiled this montage, and I wanted to share :). I only hope that if I ever find myself staring down something like this, that I'd be so blessed to have such an eager batallion behind me. :) Thanks for the encouragement, all of you - What a testimony!!


jason. kyle. matt
jarod. jim
[[ rallying against cancer! ]]

The rest of the day was spent here at the house, doing absolutely nothing, and more than thoroughly enjoying every millisecond of it. Joe's past work week following the hail storm was maniacally busy, and mine was a bit flurried as well what with Meagan phasing out of the office on a short notice. After a good long nap, the rest of the afternoon meant lounging with the family, enjoying a couple hours of sheer relaxation before finishing up the laundry and putting Syd to bed.
The only problem I can find with jampacked weekends is that they end all too soon and take way too long to come back around. It's back to the grind tomorrow... time to call it for now...

xo | cmd

Workhorses!

I'm friggin' beat. This was the first truly exhausting yet sheerly gratifying day of manual labor I've had yet this year. I loved it!

I started the morning off by sleeping in to a magnificant 8:30 [in mama-world, that alone is the equivelant of a mini-vacation]. Since Sydni was up late last night with all of her little friends here, I crept out of bed and left her to snooze while I got the laundry moving, cleared and cleaned the remnants of dishes and pans from last night, and tackled what ended up nearly an hour and a half cleaning up our basement, which serves as the kids' stomping ground during small group. I topped it off with a house-wide vacuuming, and when it was all said and done, I spent another near hour buzz-cutting our dog's hair down to a 1. It's not exactly the best look for her, but we do it a few times each year for a little relief from the summer heat. Come to think of it, she looks a couple years younger with short hair. Puppy mode :)
 

yeah, that's the same dog :)
before + after

getting started!
step 1.. movin' bricks

Once I'd cleaned up all the dog hair, given her a bath [and myself, since I was by then itchy and covered with dog shavings], Sydni and I loaded up for a pitstop at the store before making our way to the Gobles. We wasted no time getting right down to it; I managed to snag a few shots during breather breaks before and after. It wasn't long before nearly our entire small group was on scene and fully engaged in everything from ripping out weeds, gravel and brick, painting shutters and garage trim, tearing out rock and plastic liner, tilling, planting, mulching, and even chopping wood. In the midst of it, we even managed to have a little fun climbing trees, playing with the kids, and of course eating. Hey... we're actually a pretty cheap labor force: we'll work our tails off for burgers, hot dogs, and chicken, and not be a bit sorry for it! :)




repainting shutters | jackie

takin' breaks to play with the kiddies in the tree :)
becky. tom. cori. raymond. william. jacob!

mulch. lots of mulch.
jackie. tom. julie

ripping up gravel & plastic
jarod. becky. julie. alex

gettin' dirty!
tom. cori. joe. alex. julie

chopping wood
joe!

ax men
jarod. raymond. joe. landon

Tom, Jarod, Becky and I were the last men standing at 10pm as we unloaded the last bit of mulch from Tom's truck into the newly-planted flowerbed in the blasting glow of Jarod's headlights. We tidied up and sank down next to the fire pit to unwind for a bit before calling it a night and heading home with sleepy kids and dirt-creased hands.
Shower.. check. I think I might've even dozed off a few times during. I can't remember.
My bed has never looked so comforting..... Time to oblige it.

Church in the AM!

xo | cmd

Happy Birthday Joe!

Well would ya look at that! Just when he thought I was the only one that gets older in this family, today Joe went and added another year to his belt. He is officially an old geezer. Ha.

!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!

Anyway, since Justin is here visiting for both the weekend and his first time to the St. Louis area, we took full advantage of it all and went out for a little jaunt show him the base before heading over to the arch. It was definitely a nice little road trip.



cori. joe. jb
- the arch! -

Once we finished up with our little arch excursion, we headed back to the house and the boys proceeded into the basement for a few rounds of indoor cornhole.

The original dinner plans were targeted for Lotawata Creek, since Joe loves that place and it’s a great spot for visiting guests. I’ve known from past inquiry that they do not accept reservations at Lotawata, so I spent the day silently hoping we would be able to secure call ahead seating for us and a few others. I’d sent out some invites, and had about 15 heads total lined up and ready to rendezvous for a surprise birthday dinner.



syd & mo @ 54th street



Two hours before our projected meeting time, I came to find out that Lotawata wouldn’t be able to accommodate a party of our size until nearly 11pm. Excellent. Lacking a backup plan, and somewhat anxious about where to re-direct my efforts, I consulted Mo to see if she had a decent idea. Having lived in the area for a while, her input helped, and landed me at the

54^th Street

Grill in O’Fallon, parked on the wait list for nearly an hour before our friends started trickling in. By the time 6:45 rolled around, Joe, JB, myself, Meagan & Rob, Amy, Kyle, & Tessa, Jarod & Lila, Mo, Jimmy & their friend Stefan were all packed into two booths, stuffing ourselves full of deeeelicious food J. Add the cheesecakes I’d stopped off an snagged earlier, and it was a full-blown party. Hah.

 After dinner, the Prescotts and their friend stopped back to the house; we spent the evening with them before calling it a night. JB heads back to Cinci tomorrow, but we’re doing church before that. So.. until then… J

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, POGI!

xo | cmd

Fellowship, Mexican Style

If you don't know by now, I love our church and the family it holds. I love our pastor and his family; I love the dynamic of our congregation, and I love the relationships we've already begun forging in the short 7 months we've been here. I have to confess that this is the closest I've ever been to the heart of a church, and I attribute that to the fact that the heart of the church is so genuinely broad and willing to embrace on impact, and unconditionally.

Today was another one of those weekly gatherings with said church family; the message was on point, and our fellowship made its way from the pews to a nearby Mexican restaurant. It wasn't anything extraordinarily spectacular; it wasn't a celebration of anyone's birthday; it wasn't for any special announcements. It was however, another small event that served not only some delicious food, but some casual conversation, funny stories, and hearty laughs. It was a chance for fellowship, and even in its simple, impromptu form, we took full advantage of it.

the motherload of enchiladas

Oh, and for the record, I can't for the life of me remember what the restaurant itself is called, but this sucker came out steaming on its plate and settled right in front of Joe. I have no idea how he finished it off, but I definitely give him kudos for that. We thought we'd photo-document this for the sake of remembering the accomplishment, but also in case we would need to explain to a doctor later on what it was that knocked him out. :)

Luckily, we're still stomachache free, at the end of the day.

Meagan and Rob made their way over after lunch to finally see our new digs, and experience the hybrid indoor cornhole set up in our basement. Once they left, it was naptime for the rest of the afternoon, and that puts us here now.

What a great weekend. :) We are truly, truly blessed.

xo | cmd  

Merry, Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas, loved ones!

It's Christmas!!

The only thing that I can pin that would've made this day any better would have been the presence of Joe's mom and family. Aside from that, it was an incredible day filled with worship, food, family, and friends.

We started the morning with the customary opening of presents, followed by breakfast, followed by our church service. The usual Towerview morning worship was replaced today with a choir-based service, complete with cantada and mini-message from Pastor Ron.



yay, presents!



After the service, we rushed back to get started on the afternoon's menu. I finally put the turkey given to me as a Thanksgiving gift by my bosses to good use: we had that buster in the roaster in no time and were on to getting everything else done. Three hours later, we were putting the finishing touches on maple-glazed carrots, green beans almondine, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, and salad. Our guests started trickling in around 3pm, and in no time we were off to a full course meal. The Pages were the first to show, followed Jarod, and the by the Babots. Both Lara and Cathie brought desserts to share, which were absolutely delicious; I'm glad they took the leftovers back home with them, for the sake of my diet. ;). The kids were able to run completely wild in the basement, and eventually settled in the living room for an early evening showing of Finding Nemo. Even the Sandvens stopped by after dinner with Tessa, who wasted no time joining in on the cycle of kids racing throughout the house.

This may be one of the best Christmases I've had so far.

We are truly, truly blessed. Amen.

xo | cmd