Pre-Thanksgiving Roundup

As we all expected, today was about as quiet as we could stand in the office, with the holiday weekend approaching and most people busying themselves with that. Dave & Nancy are in Florida, but called us to cut us loose a little early. Nobody complained [thank you, D&N!!]

We whipped up a quick dinner at home before rendezvousing with the funky bunch for a couple of hours down at the Banks. The Moerlein Lager House was our destination, where we found Kalyn & Keifer, Brittany & Joe, Jackie, Jess & Tim, and even Chris, for a short bit. While it's a little out of our usual taste, a change of scenery never hurts. Besides, it was an easy night for all of us; a few of them are doing the Turkey Trot tomorrow morning, and we've gotta be on the road northward to Mt. Vernon pretty early, too.

jackie. jess. brittany. me. kalyn

♥him!

Happy almost Thanksgiving, blogbots! Get your appetites ready for all that yummy food we'll see tomorrow!!

xo | cmd

Food, Football, Addicting Games & Tornado Warnings

As I promised, I headed off to SonRise this morning for my second installment of the Relentless series. I'll tell ya what, when there's a message meant specifically for you, it's meant FOR you. This time it was all about maintaining relenting faith under pressure, under unfavorable odds and especially when we are called to step outside of our comfort zones.

 

I checked the church's website, but they've not yet uploaded the podcast of today's message. I did however, find the one that rocked Rob and I last week; it's never too late to share some good news. It's a little long [well, standard sermon length but timely for a blog entry], but it's good nonetheless.

 

Enjoy, and I'll try to get today's up here ASAP.

After work, I had two goals:
1. Retrieve my debit card from P.F. Chang's from last night, where I signed my bill and left my card in the little holder thing. [You can face palm that one, it's okay.]
2. Make it out to Brittany's house.

I accomplished the first, and the second greeted me with a welcoming surprise: they had cooked brunch and had it laid out pretty much in front of me when I walked in the door. It wouldn't be a complete experience without scrambled eggs, homemade hasbrowns, fresh fruit, bacon [not for this allergic kid, womp womp...] & of course, mimosas.

And then.. an afternoon cozied up watching the Bengals game.
It's about TIME...we whooped up on the Browns.

cozying up to some WHODEY action!

I noticed at one point during some replays that all four of my friends were curled around their cell phones playing CANDY CRUSH. I couldn't help but take a picture, for the sake of showing them the visible proof of their addictions. Joe even looks to be fist pumping a victory over a level. I'm not judging; honestly, I've never even thought to play it, but it's still fun watching and hearing other people do it.

candy crush-aholism.
brittany. joe [yesssss! #fistpump]. kalyn. keifer.

Keifer eventually headed out for work, and the daylight started to wear down. We started watching North Country, but were thwarted by all the tornado warnings and watches going on in the area. It was literally raining sideways across Brittany's backyard, and all over the news were pictures of damage here locally, but more seriously devastation in parts of Illinois and some other areas. My heart broke for the people caught in the path of this, and I am so thankful that, even though we ate dinner [delicious, thank you, Joe!] in the basement and had weather alerts as background music through it, that we and those all around us are safe, untouched by the storm.

little red riding pup!

^ Daisy, especially, seemed grateful for another night cozying up to everyone on the couch.. and now that her cone is gone, she's as happy as ever. So is little Maddie, creepin' there in the background.

I'm home now, glad to have the rain and wind gone.
It's another week to conquer, starting tomorrow.
I'm ready. (:

xo | cmd

[Encouragement] Exactly When You Need It

Rob and I went to church this morning.
.... An hour early.

Woops. I've been out of town for the past several weekends, and with everything that's happened over the past few days, all I knew was that we were going to church. Why I thought it was at 10am, I'm not sure... but we filled the idle time with breakfast before heading back for the 11am service.

Today was one of those days that I .. just .. knew He would have something in store for us. It's been a stressful time over the past few days, and though it's all settled now, there are still other [unrelated] challenges for us to face together in the very immediate future, and it's not going to be a walk in the park. I couldn't count how many times I've closed my eyes even for just seconds to pray over all of this, for the answers to be revealed, whether in our favor or not, and for some sort of direction. Most of all, I'm praying for tenacity. We are all called at points to be a rock for someone else, and I feel that right now that's my position. So some courage, tenacity and some direction are things I'm after these days.

And then Pastor Jeff hit us with this [I want MORE]:

sonrise series: relentless

^ This is the series in session right now at SonRise. PJ wasted no time unfolding this to us, digging specifically into the life of Abraham and the life of change he endured at the most unexpected times. Today's installment of the series posed the question,

"How can I be relentless with my faith to change?"

I was glued to my seat, and as I saw Rob nodding occasionally in my peripherals, I knew I wasn't alone.  Call me stoic here, but the hour and some change that we spent listening to this message today was a pivotal point for me.. for us.. in realizing our own potential if we can just clear away the doubt and replace it with faith. I hate to admit that I walked into church today feeling not entirely defeated.. but certainly deflated and a little lost in the clutter of our current situation.


from illinois to ohio...

We are in the process of relocating Rob from Illinois to Ohio. Like I said, that's not going to be an easy feat for either of us. Until he has his feet firmly planted in a solid job here, I will bear some of the weight of sustenance. Adversely, when he leaves Illinois, there will be family and friends in his absence that he won't see every day. He'll be in a new city, and - for a touch of humor in it all - he'll be stuck with me as a primary friend.. at least immediately. ;) . But really, this is going to test us on a multitude of different levels because there is never a guarantee that any given plan will run its course without deviation or hurdle, but today I was reminded that if I - if we - are RELENTLESS in our faith, then we will focus on the next step, one at a time, reminded that while change does require sacrifice, we will never be given more than we can handle.

I definitely have something new to reflect on and pray over during devo time this week (:

After church, we stopped by the house to unwind for a little before heading to Brittany's to watch the game. Rob hadn't been to her house yet, so it was nice to show him around and of course to see Brittany & her boyfriend Joe, Kalyn, Keifer, Kara & her friend McKayla. We hung out there for a little bit before Keifer had to split out for work. Shortly after that we followed him down to Bakersfield for some grub to end out the day.

bakersfield tacos. nobody's mad. (: (: (: (:

And since Keifer was working, of course there were some spirits a-flowin'. Kalyn ordered a round of this stuff [let's just say it's clear and you take it with salt+lime].. we're a goofy bunch but I love 'em.

kalyn. rob. brittany. joe
tequi, tequi, tequiiiila...

We left Bakersfield and now we're here, at home, watching Olympus Has Fallen, which is probably going to give me nightmares about our country going under seige in a sheerly apocolyptic way. Go figure; I should've known better, watching an action flick with the main protagonists being who they were. I'm a big fan of Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart, so I suppose it wasn't a total loss.

A few days ago I wasn't sure just how this weekend would go, but today, all the way around was testament that right here, right now, we have the unwavering faithfulness of the God we serve, and the friends next to us that are there.. really there.. when we need them. It's the month of being thankful, and on this 10th day of it, I am absoLUTELY thankful for what we have, including the struggles that will fortify us for pursuing through them. [BE RELENTLESS! ;) ]

Rob leaves tomorrow to head back to Illinois and I've gotta be up to beat Monday morning to the punch, so we'll say good night for now (:

xo | cmd

Keith Urban | Little Big Town | Dustin Lynch

It was a GOOD day for a concert! Well, maybe a little toasty outside, but a good day nonetheless!

I felt so bad for having the leave Rob at the house all day while I was working. At the end of it, I don't think he really minded though.. he seemed to have enjoyed the downtime, especially before we met up with the rest of the group for the concert at Riverbend.


light the fuse tour, stop 1: cincinnati!
little big town, dustin lynch, keith urban

Becky met up at my house around 6, and we loaded up to head down there. Kalyn & Co. met us at Riverbend, along with Brittany and her group.

Picture Time! :


beautiful sun. hot sun, but beautiful sun (:

my favorite goofy person. boyfriend. best friend. love him.

becky!!! so glad she was there.. can't even tell ya .. haha

my man ♥

cori. kalyn. kelsey. brittany | love these pretty gals!

.... don't act surprised.

well, i thought this was a random funny camo-spandex guy
until one of my other friends pointed him out.... apparently
his name is bobby. welp, thanks bobby! haha

blurry.. but yeah. love this guy.

keith. urban. yessss.

Fast forward to now... we dropped Becky off and headed to Frisch's because we were starving. We caught them just in time before their kitchens closed, scarfed down some food and took the rest home as leftovers. Now we're home, and ready to put a cap on the night.

 

Good. Stuff.

zZzzZz...

 

xo | cmd

Don't Touch My Baby :-ϟ

You'll never catch me doting endlessly about myself or anything I've done... however if there is one thing I know for certain about good ole' me, it's that I am fiercely loyal to those I love. There's a lot I would do for a friend in need, and when it comes to my family, specifically Sydni, there is very little that I wouldn't do for her.

So today, as we headed in for a consultation over the small inguinial hernia she has, I was faced for the first time with a tangible sense of maternal instinct. I know, I knowwwww this is an outpatient surgery and it happens to kids all the time, and thisssss, and that.... yes, I know. That doesn't mean I want my monster to have to go through it.

In my head, this is what I felt like I probably looked like today.. or at least how I felt:

don't ........ touch.

Haha. Yeah, I'm a nerd, but Neytiri from Avatar, about to whoop someone if they take one more step in the direction of someone she's protecting... is the first thing that came to mind today. Go figure.

In reality, here's what it really looked like:

hahaha...

True story. The consultation today consisted of more time watching Sydni spin this chair, climb the table, pull that curtain out and dance around the room than it did visiting with the actual surgeon. AND.... this is an outpatient procedure, so whenever we schedule it will be her day in and out of the hospital. AND... it's Children's, so I'm really not worried. It's not like it's Mercy Fairfield.... ☹

So yeah, I need to relax.. I know. I can't help it though, yenno? That's my baby.. and as majestic as Neytiri is.. I really don't see the need to turn into a blue feline-human warrior out for revenge. I'm trying to keep my blood pressure down these days...

Anyhow, all other quips aside, I headed out after all of that to meet up with Kalyn, Keifer, Brittany & her boyfriend Joe, and Tim & Jess at Quaker Steak in Eastgate. It was a five minute stand there before we hauled off to Varsity in Anderson for dinner and a good series of catching-up stories before we all dispersed our separate ways and headed home.

That's now, and I'm spent.
My family comes in tomorrow.. I can't wait!

Time to catch some Z's.

xo | cmd 

IL >> IN ... IN >> IL

I did a lot of driving today. It's only 3:30 PM and I've already been to the edge of Kentucky and back.


at least it was beautiful.

It was beautiful outside today; the snow fell pretty heavy last night - early on but not long enough to hinder any of the road cleaning crews. By the time I got on the road with Sydni this morning to meet up with Joe in Indiana, the trees were still covered but the roads were perfectly clear. I couldn't have asked for better driving conditions.

It's safe to say that I don't wanna get back in my car for a little while.
I'm vegging right now...... (:

Happy Saturday. Go enjoy the snow!

xo | cmd

Pumpkins 2012

Guess what we did tonight...

joe's [left] & cori's [right]

Happy [almost] Halloween!

That's the 2012 version.. It kind of got me thinking back to some of the past few years of pumpkin carving. I thought for the sake of coming up with a new design next year, that I'd share some and see if I can think of anything new. 



ghost in a graveyard [2009]

That one there was from 2009? [I know, I'm heavily ashamed that it's been 3 years since I last did any sort of pumpkin carving; there was always something else going on and we just never got to it. Oh well. Never too late to break the cycle :) I did this round of carving with KP, Brittany & Joe. We went big on that one and even had the tarp out on the backporch. We don't mess around when it comes to pumpkins.. haha.


proud pumpkin owner ;) [2008]

And then there was this year: 2008, with Catie & Burg, back at the 23-49 in Norhood. Haha. Those were definitely some fun times, but I would have to say pumpkin carving and pumpkin seed batching with those two was one of the highlighted moments.


"skell" - we named him. haha. [2008]



*phew. Pumpkin carving can really take the wind outta ya. Well, probably not most people, but if you're like me and realize that you've been holding your breath through the majority of those detailed little areas, well, you should know it's tiring work ;) 

Happy ALMOST Halloween, blogbots! 

xo | cmd

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

HOME (:

She's back!

Joe and Sydni have both been gone for the past two weeks; Joe for work, and Sydni on vacation with Mamaw. It's been a heck of a long day, and it is so good to have them back safe and sound. 

That's about it folks. 

Happy WEEKEND!!

xo | cmd

Farewell for Now, 'Nati :|

[#backdated.entry]

Did I mention it's amazing to be visiting back home? Well, you should've gathered by now that it's incredible seeing familiar faces, going to old favorite hangouts, venturing into new places that didn't exist when I last lived there, and above all realizing that I am still home in Cincinnati.

We visited our old church for the service this morning, not realizing it was a baptism Sunday. Andrea Jones and one of the youth girls made their show of faith with Pastor Poe today, and it was a blessing for us to be witnesses to the event. Congratulations!


baptisms @ new harmony!
congratulations, andrea!!

Another thing I dearly miss about New Harmony is hearing Julie sing each week. There are some people who can "sing" [I sometimes fit into that category], and then there are people who can SING. Julie is the latter, among the ranks of say, Trish here at Towerview. She picked a great song, too; definitely not a shabby Sunday to be at New Harmony!


julie singing - beautiful!

After church, we made a quick stop by Mindi's, who was our full time in-home daycare gal whenever we still lived in Cincinnati. Since Sydni is scheduled to stay a week with Joe's mom, she'll be spending the weekdays at Mindi's while Sandy's working. It was incredible to see them again, to catch up, but ultimately to know that Sydni is going to in good hands all around while I'm back in Illinois. 

love love love & LOVE her.

It was then off to It's Just Crepes downtown to rendezvous with Jimmy & Mo -- WAIT A MINUTE! Aren't you in Cincinnati still?! -- << I know, right?! As it so happened, Mo's sister lives up here, and she got married yesterday, too. That put the Prescotts on our turf on the same weekend we were scheduled to be here, so of course we wanted to show them around some of our favorite spots. Oh, and I did their maternity pictures, too! I can't show you those just yet, because they've still not seen them. Nothing personal, and don't worry, I'll have them up soon. I can however, give you a glimpse of the best photographer's assistant, ever... Haha.

*sigh.
So obviously this is backdated, but the good news is, I'm back safe and sound in Illinois and getting ready to take on the week sans husband and child. Holy smokes.. I may actually get this place clean after all! ;)

And
heeeeeere

we.... GO.

xo | cmd

Cinci Part 2: Catie, Choco Rocks & Michelle's Wedding!

Meanwhile, in
CINCINNATI ....  



"dren & cegg" | a classic

Meet Catie: I'm sure you've already met her before, but just in case... meet Catie. I love this girl because she is one of the most candid, hilarious people I think I've ever met. I love to laugh, but hangin' with this lady will put me in tears. Or peeing my pants, depending on the severity of our laughing bouts. It's totally true, and I'm fine to admit that. Haha.

where it all started.. that blasted clearchannel job....

Anyway, Catie and I took an afternoon stroll downtown; she took me over to The Banks, a new development that has replaced the previously useless plot of dirt situated between the two stadiums. It's beautiful! There's a park, a string of restaurants, some shops, and even a Christian Moerlein brewery/taphouse. Oh, and if you didn't notice, there were plent of randomly-strewn Kiss107 signs, everywhere. That's significant only because that's where I met Catie in the first place, a debachle of a job that only those who've survived escape will ever truly understand. Trust me, that much is unanimous. Haha.


froyo @ orange leaf!

They've got an Orange Leaf downtown now, too! I'm a huge fan of froyo, and so is Cegg, so we made a stop off to test out the pumpkin spice froyo [REC-O-MMEND!!!]. At the self-serve toppings line, we were faced with a pit of choco rocks. Neither of us knew what they were, so naturally one lone little rock made its way into my yogurt to hang out with the cherries, almonds and boba. FACT: I'm not a fan of choco rocks. Just sayin'.


blues blues blues | michelle's wedding reception!

The culminating reason I came over here in the first place this weekend was to see Michelle get married! The time was finally heeeeere :). Joe and I trekked over to a beautiful Catholic church in Cincinnati to be witness to Michelle and Mark tying the knot, then on to The Newport Syndicate in the heart of Newport, KY for an absolutely GORGEOUS reception. We had to leave a few minutes early, but it was a dazzling affair, complete with a live band, delicious food, and a table full of ex-Clearchannel employees with whom I was able to re-connect. Hilarious.


me with the drop-dead-gorgeous bride, my amazing friend, michelle

I'm so excited we were able to be a part of Michelle & Mark's beautiful day. I can't wait to see honeymoon pictures!

Tomorrow = church at New Harmony, lunch & a maternity [photo]shoot with the Prescotts, and then the solo drive back to IL. *Yawn.

G'Nite!

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

Coconut Pancakes? SOLD.

magic. it's a magic pancake.

If you're asking what that is, it's a pineapple/coconut pancake from The Egg & I in O'Fallon. If you're wondering how much of it I ate: well, I'd love to exaggerate and tell you to just imagine that plate sans pancake, but that sucker was intimidating. I only finished about 3/4 of that thing. Next time, I will either eat faster so as to fool my stomach [and likely pay for that later], or order half of it in a to-go box up front.

Either way, YUM?!
I've never been to this place, even after almost two years of living here. -- Which, btw, almost 2 years? Has time really escaped me so? *Sigh. Rabbit trail...

Fortunately for us, but unfortunately for the purpose of blogging, the rest of our day was consumed with plain old Dills family time. It was great for us, but again, not exhilirating as it goes for an itemized account of the day. I will say that we did find Sydni a Halloween costume. If you've not seen it yet [that's most of you], sorry, but there shall be no spoiling. You'll see that soon enough.

Happy Saturday, lovebugs. Go hang out with your loved ones!

xo | cmd

NO Transformers In The House! ;)

Ya see that?  That, my dear blogbots, is nothing more than a simple chai latte from Bread Co, but it was delivered by one of our clients. He toted in three little lattes and three little bagels for three gals who didn't realize how delicious they both would be this morning. How thoughtful, right? [Thanks, Warren!]

So I can't complain about how the morning started once we got going; M&D are out this week at Summit, so we're left again to our own devices. The day passed by without too much fuss and that was that. I made a pitstop at St. Clair Sq. at yet another attempt to nail down a dress option for Michelle's wedding next weekend. Update on that? SUCCESS. As Nancy would've said, "Cha cha CHAAAA...."

At home, I found Mo already there, with Jimmy following about 15 minutes later, and lastly, Joe. Since he's slated to do some travelling for work that does not warrant flight time, he rented a car for the journey.

Well.. let me re-phrase that.

He rented a Transformer. I'm pretty sure Bumblebee is in my garage. It's pretty wicked cool, the ONLY exception being that this is in fact real life, Cori, and the autobots don't really exist.

Well boo hiss. [It still looks like a Transformer. Hmph!]

Anyway, we thought it would be fun to take it for a spin out to dinner; as funny as it was, the short jaunt to Texas Roadhouse was quite the episode as it was the four of us plus Syd in her carseat.

*Note: This car is not really meant to have backseat passengers. Haha.

Oh well. We're back here now, at home; the boys are downstairs disassembling the tent - pardon me, the castle, and Mo and I are about to zonk out to some CSI. I love our dear friends. That's a good Thursday, yeah?

I think so :)

xo | cmd

Robin's Birthday & A Driving Lesson

Happy birthday, Robin!!!

Today started out with some sleeping in..... because Saturdays should always be that way. Right? :) 

... By sleeping in, I mean 8:45am. Watch out, I know. :) 

Anyway, we loaded up and headed over to Eckert's to meet up with the Pages and Robin and her boys; Joe and Adam had decided they would take the kids out to the farm for the day while we took Robin for brunch and a movie to celebrate her birthday. Well, the guys taking on five kids for the day was a large part of the birthday present as well, so I wouldn't dare detract from that value ;) 

I've never had breakfast at Eckert's, but after today, I certainly will again. Deeeelish. From there it was off to Wehrenberg, where we met with Rachel and headed in for a late morning showing of The Words, starring Zoe Saldana [who I adore!] and Bradley Cooper [who Robin adores! haha.. ]. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from it, but whatever that was, it wasn't that. I definitely liked it; very unique. I'll probably have to re-watch this one at some point. Either way, it was a fun little outing and we even snagged a shot of us.... with Bradley Cooper. It was definitely by chance, lol. 

cori. rachel. cathie. robin.
...... & bradley. hahaha.... 

We found after the movie that the guys had finished the fair and apple picking at Eckert's, and had moved the party to Chuck-E-Cheese. We rendezvoused there for a short bit before heading back home for some family-wide nap time before making with it onto what is now an open driving range, literally. Remember a few days back when the Alexanders' birthday gift for Sydni arrived at our house and we weren't able to take it for a spin?

Well......

She's DRIVING!!! :-O

uh-oh..... driving already!

She had a BLAST. Holy cow. I loved every second of it. Love love love love her. A million x million thanks to Gerald & Leslie for their incredible generosity and for being so thoughtful!

Time now for some dinner with the fam....

See you tomorrow at the Tower!

xo | cmd

Owing Some Odes. Chyeah.

Good Tuesday evening, blogbots :)

Wellll... today was the first work day of a now four-day week, thanks to the holiday. I took a deep breath before walking in the door this morning, and good thing, since it was over in a blinding flash of call-offs, fires to be extinguished, and of course the ever-looming task of weekly payroll. Sidenote: Shortened work weeks are good for many things; payroll is not one of those.

Anywho - towards the end of the day, Joe texted me to see if I'd be up for dinner with our pastor and his wife. Duh. Since we're officially "staff" now, I suppose it would've been rude to decline..... Hah....

JOKE! I was super excited - One, it's our pastor and his wife. The two of them are among the coolest of the cool people we know, and in the realm of admirable humanoids, they are at the top of a very sparse list. Two, whether or not we're dining at their house or out somewhere, they always know how to pick cuisine. As we're still quite the novice pair at navigating around the local dining scene, it's always helpful when the places recommended by other people turn out to be awesome.


pretty lil' macro compliment of google...
[because i know some of you would
call me out on the bacon.. haha]

 Word to the residents of, in, and around Fairview Heights: Olga's Kitchen is a gem. I found it quite endearing based solely on face value because my maternal grandmother's name was Olga. [Remember, I'm adopted, erego only Italian by purchase order ;) ........... some of you will get that later] So we rendezvoused with the Woods at St. Clair Square and quickly found ourselves taking quite the liking to this place. It was one of those clear face-palm moments because I've passed by the place surely a handful of times while at the mall, but never had a reason to stop.

Yeahhhh.. so once we had our fill of snackers and Olga's [menu item.. I'm tellin' you, just get there], we went on mall-walker mode and did some light traversing back and forth across the grounds before we did two trips up/down the glass elevator for Syd, egged on especially by Pastor Ron & Debbie [so clearly grandparents ;)]. All in all a great night, impromptu as it was!

Oh, and speaking of Pastor Ron - we are prolific followers of each others' blogs, and tonight he shared with me the journey of one of his former youth group-ers, a gal just a couple years younger than me, who is in the midst of a repeated bout with cancer. [[While I don't have cancer, I've seen the havoc it can rain on any one person and their families. After heading up the Towerview team for the 2012 Relay for Life, I've gained a deep, earnest appreciation for the ongoing effort of the American Cancer Society, and moreso for the courage behind every individual person who has had to stare cancer in the face. MAJOR kudos doesn't even begin to describe the level of admiration I have for the conquerers :) ]] Soooo.. this girl, from what Pastor Ron told me, recently started a blog, and since that seems to be a thread that we both understand, he recommended I check it out. He seemed to think her candor and style of scribing were similiar to mine, too, which naturally peaked my interest.



remember this? :) | relay for life belleville 2012
the towerview fundraising tire

 So I checked it out.
And I loved it.
Blunt. Honest. Funny.
Don't believe me? -- Check it out for yourself :)
I'll be following these chronicles, for sure.

So...

Today turned out to have some unexpected turns:
Thank you to Pastor Ron & Debbie for the dinner invite, excellent company, and new reading material! ;)

Thanks to Olga's Kitchen for being so fabulously delicious... I'm on to you now..
Thanks to Ashley Brown, the girl with cancer who has decided to laugh in its face rather than succumb to it. I think that's the absolute spirit with which we should approach anything threatening to overcome. That, and pray, of course. :) Fresh perspective? Check.

Over and out, folks.

xo | cmd

Four Day Weekend Begin!

We got a ridiculously early start for not having to be out the door by 7am.

rain rain...

Kyle came by to pick up Tessa early this morning, but not before we'd already done baths, dressing, and some light toy clean-up to get the day moving. I decided to tackle some last minute cleaning before Syd and I packed up for the short trek to the airport. Nana & Pappy are here, safe & sound! We picked them up from Lambert just before 10 and brought the whole party back home. Since then, we've made it to the grocery store, Target, and a couple other pit stops. Mom went straight to the kitchen [shocking, I know] and laid down some of her crazy culinary skill. Yayyyy, parents! Haha...

Oh, and it's been raining off-and-on all day. We've been taking advantage of the short dry pockets throughout the day, retreating back under shelter when the drops start falling again. Since rain has been such a foreign thing around here for the past few months, the only complaint I have for all this precip is that it scheduled itself for the weekend my parents are here. Selfishly said, I know. We've made the best of it though, even if it is a bit damp out there.

playtime with nana & pappy! 

Dad called me out at one point to check out the new mailbox decoration. I think it's a good look - certainly unique, and probably in violation of some sort of law. Just my guess. Haha.

mailbox topper!

It's almost dinner time. Joe gets back tonight, too. Sydni & Jacob's birthday party is tomorrow.

In other words: Weekend, we're a-comin' for ya. :) 

xo | cmd