OLYMPIC SPOONS!

Here we aaaare, smack dab in the middle of another week of organized mayhem.. haha. Today was a bit on the taxing side; it's one of those seasons of life where we are challenged with difficult and immovable people, if for no other reason than to continue refining our own character and tenacity. It is a marathon in this particular season, and although today aired more on the brutal side, I've come to a realization of the light at the end of the tunnel, if you will. Soon. Very soon :)

So with that in my heart, it was easy to transition into my evening, complete with my small group and a night of games, snacks and open-hearted fellowship. I am so. wildly. grateful for this group of people, especially on a night when I really needed some encouragement. My small group is where it's at, when it comes to prayer warriors and real people living real lives, bringing practical application and wise advice in whatever subject is on the table.

Tonight though, we took a break from our regularly weekly studies and just... hung out.
It was so, so, SO very needed.

SO, in the spirit of the Olympics, we decided as a group to play something with medaling potential. That something was decidedly SPOONS. If you've never played before, you're missing out. If you have, you'll understand then that we issued each other preemptive apologies for any and everything that might be said during play ;).

It started with 8 of us.
And then there were 7.
And then 6.

The semi finals came down to Jen, Scott & Randy:
Randy missed the grab during the semi finals, which left Jen & Scott to battle it out for the gold. Scott, in what we determined to be reverence to his wife [and that happy life, har har], conceded the victory to Jen, who's spoon-grabbing reflexes are so far unrivaled.

Nice job, Jen!

From what I hear, there are actual Olympics happening somewhere else... or something like that. :p
I'm kidding, of course. These games have kept us all up well past our bedtimes. *Yawn.

Good night for now, all you blogbot champions.

xo | cmd 

"A 6-Die Farkle is a Bad, Bad Day...."

It's almost Friiiiiday! 

Today was a good one. I've been buried up to my eyeballs in work for the past couple weeks, but after a refreshing break to grab dinner with Becky & Mike last night, and after the good news today that we'll be adding a new girl to our staffing team to absorb the other half of what I'm currently doing, well... it's all been a blur, but it just made today really... interesting. In a good way, I think.

I left work per the usual schedule to get Sydni; for over half the trip, I trailed a car that kept asking me the question of the ages [or at least of the past few weeks, seemingly so whenever I look up for a split second..]

i mean........ 

^ It's a valid question, and I know I'm not the only one who feels like I'm asking my own brain this and expecting some third party answer half the time. Like, I busted into Milford today with no idea what my name was after following that guy, who also probably thought I was stalking him after I snapped this picture at the red light. Meh. 

Sydni told me all about her school's Valentine's Day party as we cruised back home, until Nana called and we got to coordinating plans for the clan to come down and visit [aka help us clean the current digs once we pack it up next month and head to the new place!]

It was a short U-turn at home, where we squeezed in homework, a snack, a potty break and costume change from work to street clothes before rushing right back out the door for small group. Tonight was especially hilarious, as we took a 1-week break from our usual studies to indulge in a time of fellowship of games and snacks. I am beyond grateful for this crew, for the fellowship, and above all, for the fact that a game of Farkle has never before been so much daggone FUN! 

farkle! 

I think as I finish this week and head into next week, I'm not going to be able to unhear Jen's exclamation, "A 6-die Farkle is just a Bad, Bad Day!" How a cup, 6 die and a group of awesome people can lighten up an evening and get those happy little endorphins movin' :). 

Yeahhhhh... 

Seriously, this week's been a blur. Last week, too. Tomorrow's Friday, and I'm pretty certain it's going to be the perfect start to a weekend of fun :). We've got a celebratory work dinner planned with Chris & Deb as a reward for winning the quarterly sales contest, followed by the weekend I'll spend in Cleveland with these two [+Q&E!] - 

heading to cleveland on saturday with this lovely fam! 

Happy, happy, HAPPY almost Friday, blogbots! 

xo | cmd

Chacos | City Flea | World Cup | Farm Fresh

Bro, I am TIRED today.
It could be the fact that I stayed up with Nader and Keith well past my usual bedtime, and woke up this morning on my body's workweek alarm setting. Meh.

To combat my grogginess, I opted to do something outside the box.
I'm here to say that, after nearly five years of belligerance, I broke down and replaced my old Chaco's with a brand-spankin' new pair. Thank you, RRT in Milford!

newbies!

They are fantastic! My first order of business post-purchase was a mini hike down by the Little Miami. It was a perfect morning for it all, and despite being tired, I was quickly rejuvenated by my little jaunt.

pretty little morning :)

nature selfie!

It wasn't long before Becky and Mike called; they were heading from Findlay Market over to the 513 City Flea, so of course I joined.

513 city flea, washington park | cincinnati, oh

Our friends at Fab Ferments were of course there, so it was an easy choice to pick up some kombucha along the merchant route.

fab ferments kombucha = deeeeelish.

And on the opposite end of a body cleanse, some grilled cheese from C'est Cheese:

yum!

And on our way out, Becky and I made a stop off at one of the vendors, where I picked up this cute little number:

wooden hair accessories - love!

yay, city flea! :D

After City Flea, it was time for some World Cup Coverage; for that, it was Hap's Pub in Hyde Park. The World Cup is just beginning, so it'll be interesting to see where our good old boys from the U.S. land, and how they play, since Landon Donovan obviously won't be making an on-field appearance this time. GOOD LUCK!

standing room only!

Our last stop of the day was out to Becky's parents on the western side of Cincinnati. It was egg-collecting time, and there were plenty for the taking. Thanks, chickies!

straight from the chicken!

There's nothin quite like farm fresh eggs.

Anyway, it's definitely been an extended day, and I'm ready to do all of nothing else tonight. I'm pretty excited for that (:

xo | cmd



WOrld Cup @ Hap's. 
Home. Relaxed. Did NOTHING rest of night.

Jen's Birthday..& Some Other Schtufffffff..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEN!!!!

love you & hope today is amazing!

That girl is one of the most kind-hearted, Godly women I've ever had the privelege to know, and beyond that call my friend. We have seen a lot together as friends, and my only regret now is that we don't live closer so that we'd see each other more frequently. Happy, HAPPY birthday to one of the sweetest gals, best mommy's out there, and greatest friends around. Jen, I hope today is amazing!

My day... on the other hand.. was pretty much a Monday if there ever was one. I got some disconcerting news from Rob early on in the day, something that while not life-threatening or anything that serious, is pretty disappointing and frustrating. I'll refrain from posting details here, but I'll suffice to say that it's going to be a big hurdle that will eventually make him - us - stronger and wiser for it.

The important thing.. I love that guy and I'm there for him no matter what. I saw a quote posted somewhere today that read,

"You should love each other by presence, not by presents."

.. And that reminded me that through all the whirlwind things [thanks, Express, for the terminology...] in our lives: stuff, menial tasks, etc, that at the end of the day, people are what make my world spin, and in this case, he and I still have each other and that's more than okay.

On an unrelated note, I also found these today, that just made me smile. I needed a smile today.

Ya'll know I'm a sucker for talent like this.. especially when there's a cool story behind it. I don't know much about the Robotboys, but when it comes to Remote Kontrol, I remember watching and hearing Chibi's story on SYTYCD a while back. If you don't know what or who I'm talking about, get over to Google and check him out. He's .... inspiring. And I needed some inspiration today. 

So yeah. That's a wrap for today. Tomorrow's a new day with new opportunities, and it's up to each of us to make the most of what we have and what's out there.

With LOVE...

xo | cmd 

Pumpkin Chuckin'. OWLS!. Bluegrass | Asian x2!

Today was something of a random day. I know that's surprising. Haha.

It started off with my trekking down to Catie's place and heading out together to one of Cincinnati's park areas for a Pumpkin Chucking festival. It wasn't a huge production, but everything you could possibly need on a chilly Saturday was all in one spot: Hot chocolate, apple cider, grilled cheese, burgers, midieval trebuchets for pumpkin launching, an owl, a falcon, a goat & a sheep, and most importantly, one of my best friends playing some mean fiddle for a live bluegrass rundown.

+ I hugged the sheep. Let's be real, he looked warm.
Like I said, slightly random. But awesome.


owl! i almost stole him. | cincinnati

catie & her band! loved loved loved it | cincinnati

trebuchet for pumpkin launching | cincinnati


Once we were cleaned up from the perpetual dew that still hadn't burned off by the time the morning was over, we tailed it to Eli's BBQ [recommend!!] for some true pit BBQ, before we all split off on our separate ways for a bit. 

not even a hard decision. this place is amazing. | eli's bbq | cincinnati

>> Insert Nap. 
+ in a hammock. (:

Becky and I decided it would be a good idea once she was off work to head up to Kenwood to grab some coffee and then to Norwood for a window-shopping visit to REI [who does that?! Oh wait, we do..]. It was a successful mission until we started digging in to our personal lives and spilling onto each other all of the things that move us to the core. As Becky happens to be one of my closest friends, it wasn't hard to give her the raw, unaltered version of my life in real time, but not without the consequence of a few tears. We drove all over Hyde Park, O'Bryonville, Madisonville, Norwood and Kenwood in search of food that sounded good, but landed ultimately right back at The Comet in Northside. Go fig. We managed to pull ourselves together, grab some food, and head back to her apartment. She left to go have a slumber party with her aunt and uncle's dogs [sitting, yeah!] while they're out of town, and I managed somehow to put myself into a presentable shape for dinner at Sung Korean [another recommendation] with Catie & Jen.

jen & me! | otr.cincinnati

^^ Would you look at that? There's another Asian girl around these parts! Haha. I joke, I joke. I only say that because of the circle in which I typically ran the last time I lived here, it was myself and my two dingo brother bears and that was the extent of the Asian presence. I always thought it would be nice to have some mocha estrogen around, so as it stands now I'm pretty stoked to have JEN, who, in a streak of awesome coincidence, is Pinay, too. Bah-riiiiing it. Haha. I'm joking. (:

I love these folks.
Blessed, yeah.

xo | cmd