Chaco Chillin'

I think yesterday finally caught up with me. It's been an incredible weekend, but certainly a busy one! As jam-packed as it was, it was still simple, relaxing and full of friends, laughter and good vibes! I found myself after breakfast this morning realizing that our life isn't full of extravagant things, but it's filled with irreplaceable, incredible people.

We had breakfast with Jesse before he left to head back to Illinois, then ran to do some errands before heading home. We made a pit stop for Rob to cut his hair, and while he was there, I sat outside waiting in the truck, letting my feet soak up some of the Sunday sun.

workin' on the chaco tan .. haha

I circled back to the idea of living a simple life, and realized that while we're not down to the raw necessities like I somehow wish we were, we certainly don't need much more than a couple of great friends and a body of water (or forest, whatever) to bring smiles to our faces :).

I'm a pretty happy chickadee tonight.
It's back to the workweek grind tomorrow. I'm ready!

xo | cmd

Canoeing, Kayaking & Tim McGraw!

Today started with a few quick errands, then it was back to rendezvous with Rob and Jesse to head out to Harrison for a day on the water! We met up with Jessica, Bumper, Andrew and his brother Will, then continued on to find a couple of Jessica's other friends Phil, Liz and Alicia. The lot of us loaded up on the bus and made our way down to the livery, where we stocked our canoes and kayaks with goods for the day and launched out onto the river!

perfect day for a new hat debut! 

Off to the water!! 

jesse

my favorite guy ♥  

andrew, jessica, will & bumper in the water swimmin' 

bumper & will 

go bumper, go!

hangin' out with panama jack :) haha

slow down and enjoy life! 

bumper! 

one of many beaches

jess, bumper & andrew 

jesse

captain bumper!!

cute little paddler!! 

so freakin' cute! 

he hopped up with us for a bit - heya! 

diggin' these guys! 

in love with that guy! 

love love love. 

liz & bumper

more fun on the beach

Eight miles after drop in, we pulled off the river and dragged ourselves back to the car. It was a quicker-than-expected 45-minute drive back to the homestead, with a quick stop off at Eli's BBQ first. We opted not to stay and eat due to the wait time, but did get to smell the flowers & soak up some of the simple stuff :) 

We headed up to storage, grabbed the boat and headed back down to the boat ramp. Jessica and Andrew were waiting, and in no time, we were all geared up and en route to Riverbend for Tim McGraw.

the persian cat because the glasses don't fit my face... face. 

riverbend!! 

jesse and me.. after about 20 attempts between
3 of us to get the "right lighting" with the flash.. haha

concert time! 

perfect ending for the perfect saturday night! 

Jessica and I finally wore out, and took advantage of the warmth from the cuddy; so we wound up falling asleep there and apparently snoozing through the rest of the night until we pulled off the river..

welp... haha.. there's that. 

PERFECT. SATURDAY. IN THE BAG!

That's a wrap, folks!

xo | cmd

Random Evening Cruises!

It's FRIIIIDAY!! Wooo!

What a week it's been! I had to admit that while this has been a wholly productive week at work, I was ready to welcome the weekend and the fun we've planned for the next couple of days. On top of that, Jesse's in town for the weekend, which is always a great time!

I met Rob and Jesse at the house after work, and on a last-minute decision, we piled into the truck with boat in tow and headed for the river. I texted Jessica along the way, who was at the Red's game with Jill, and agreed to hitch a ride with us.

on our way!

coming up to the stadium - cincinnati, you're a beaut! 

gorgeous.. 

We swung by the Serpentine Wall to get Jessica and Jill, then were off to Ludlow Bromley for dinner.

lovin' it! 

on the river!

the haaaaat ... thanks jessica! haha

We haven't been to LBYC in a little while, but it was the perfect night to kick back and relax with good people, good food and live music! 

we look a little ragged from the boat ride, buuuut.. i love this guy! 

Once we had dinner under the belt, we hopped back on the boat to drop Jessica & Jill back off. It was a karaoke ride back, in preparation for tomorrow's Tim McGraw concert! 

these two! :) :)
[and me... being creepy in the background?!]

mid-dance party shot.. thanks jesse .. haha

love her at night! 

so thankful for this guy. so, so thankful! 

What a perfect Friday night! :) 

It's canoeing tomorrow, and then Tim McGraw on the water! Gooood night! 

xo | cmd

Memorial Day 2015

I'm elated to have had today off work. I love that we were able to spend just a little extra time visiting with our friends and family in Illinois. I love that businesses around the country closed down to "celebrate" today. BUT, in the midst of all that, I want to stop and THANK.... those who are beyond my reach to physically thank. The ones who gave all, so that we could have the liberties we have.

amen. 

For the families of those who paved the way and gave their lives to do so, today is to honor the memories, courage and ultimate sacrifice of your sons and daughters, husbands, wives, siblings and friends. I salute them, and I salute you.

My day started earlier than I'd expected; the air mattress gave way at some unknown point in the night, so there wasn't much sleeping between that realization and the sun rising. I took advantage of the silence to dig into some of my own sustenance, which was a perfect way to reflect on what Memorial Day should signify for us.

perseverance, tenacity, hope. 

I was finishing up with my devo time when Jesse and Rob starting moving, and in a matter of about 40 minutes, we had breakfast ready..

not too shabby! 

We ate and relaxed while the dogs did the same..

we don't wanna get in the car! :( 

We hung out at Jesse's for a little while longer, until we finally loaded up and hit the road for the trip back to Ohio.

on the roaaaad again.... 

Fast forward about 5 hours, and we're here, home, safe & sound and ready to nestle in and do nothing for the rest of the night. We made some dinner, lounged around for a couple of hours and are ready to call this one a night :).

Gooood night!

xo | cmd

Holiday Shores On the Water!

Today started off with breakfast at Lenny's with Rob's mom and Don, before we headed back to Jesse's for a nice long bout of laziness. The morning hours crept on past, and by noon we were ready to rendezvous with the rest of the group on the lake for a day in the sun.

We drove up to Dillons' dad's, where we hitched a tow from one of the clan out to the pontoon, and from there, it was the rest of the day at our disposal.

this guy! ♥  

There are few greater things in the world than spending time with either family or friends, or both! Today was an awesome day, filled with sunshine, refreshing lake water, friends and good times.

not sure... not sure.. hahaha

courtney & matt 

Even the ducks were out to play: 

little family! :) 

We floated, we stopped off at some of the lakeside dives, and eventually found ourselves rounding out the night at Gilliganz. We ate a late dinner as we compared our after-sun skintones and laughed about random things, before parting ways in the downpouring rain back to Jesse's. 

It's so nice to have one extra day of leisure time; Sundays for us here are usually spent driving back home, but since we both have tomorrow off, it'll be one more day. 

See ya then! 

xo | cmd