We left Nashville today. I have to believe I wasn't the only one who was beyond exhausted as we prepared for our individual drives back from where we'd originated on this trip.
Before we left, we left one final stamp of ourselves to celebrate this weekend. Kalyn will fill in the picture later :).
The idea was tossed out to set up a camera on the mailbox to capture some group shots of us. It was only a couple thousand takes it seemed before we were able to get the ones we needed. We certainly looked more like normal humans than the dolled up specimens we were for the past two nights, and I think I loved this the most.
And of course, the obligatory - and hilariously necessary - group jumping pic:
The drive home was a laborious one, given that we were all spent from the weekend festivities. Kara, Kalyn and I stopped in Lexington for lunch at Cosi before parting ways again. Kalyn headed back to the Gorge, while Kara and I made the last leg of the trip back to Cincinnati. Once Kara was dropped off, it was home again for me, where I was greeted by my two loves that had spent the weekend on quests of their own - boats, pancakes and home videos of cows and horses. Haha..
Oh, and THIS!
tooth #3 - gone!
I... am... crazy tired. Folks, see ya in the morning!
Saturday morning in Nashville, in a [gorgeous] rented house you're sharing with nine other women:
Yoga.
Coffee.
Breakfast.
A Barrage of Planning.
More Yoga.
More Coffee.
More Breakfast.
I was never in a sorority in college, nor did I ever spend time living in close quarters with more than 3 other women at a time for an extended period of time. The closest I think I ever came was sharing a bus and hotel rooms with other soccer girls, but when there's no practices, diet regulating and ice baths to top it off, it's a totally different experience. I'll admit I'm totally out of my element here, but I don't dislike it. It's a fun change of pace, and I found out today that I really appreciate it and them.
The afternoon portion of our Saturday was dedicated to a Country Swagger dance class at Studio Goddess in Nashville. SG is cute little watering hole [dance studio] for weekend bachelorette parties to congregate and attempt to absorb basic choreography.
And they give you champagne, just in case you need some fizzy courage to egg you into doing it.
.... like so!
[back] kelsey. jess. jess. maddie. kara
[front] layla. dalia. britt. cori. kalyn
Okay, okay, okay. We, as a group are probably not in line to be the next slam dunk backup crew, but we didn't do half bad for whatever stunted focus we had on what our instructor was trying to show us. We're not awesome dancers, and that's ok.
We are however, apt to nail a good pyramid at any given moment. Maybe not the first time... obviously.. but when we get it, we're good!
hahahaha
Ladies, you're a riot.
Dance class ended, so we made our way a few blocks down to Jackalope, a tap room that looked like The Eagle in Cincinnati blended with every other rustic-esque bar I saw in Phoenix.
those 2 darling sisters!
We grabbed our brews from the bar and found ourselves a cubby spot on the stairs outside. Cheeeers to you, Britt!!
and the other sister!
cheers to you, b!
random asics picture.. team tennis shoes here..
Before we left, we obliged a photo opportunity from a pretty wall on the other side of Jackalope, in the only way we knew how...
layla. cori. kalyn. kelsey.
handstand practice
Back at the homestead, we tested Brittany's guessing abilities, something that I will never again underestimate! We each bought Britt a pair of underwear, and when it came down to guessing who purchased what, she was 6 for 10, and guessed the first 3 in a row correctly. Nailed it, B!
brittany, the queen of guessing!
And then.... came the prep for our second and final night out to celebrate Britt's final soiree as a single gal.
had to snag some with this girl.. love you, kp!
And the night out!
the bridal party, minus mandy
kara. britt. dalia.
philippines & mexico here as the "brown girls" hahah
It wasn't as wild as last night, but it was just as late when we returned to our little house on Holley. Layla had the excellent idea before we left to do before & after mugshots, and I'm so glad she did - they came out great!
Tomorrow we head back home, but not before what I'm sure will be a few more surprises and a little more laughing. For now, gooood night!
'Tis the seaaaason!
Okay, well not yet, but we're quickly approaching the wedding season, and there's no better way we figured to kick that off than with a Nashville bachelorette weekend to celebrate Brittany's last few weeks as a single woman.
britt & wayne | 4.1.16 can't wait!
I started the morning off by dropping Sydni at school; I won't see her again until Sunday night [sad face], so it was fitting and fun that we were able to sleep in a little and head off to school together. From there, it was rental car pick-up, luggage loading and then leaving..... right?
Well, almost:
thank you sasha.....
^^ My perpetually-delayed everything dog, Sasha, managed to finagle her way off her tether in the backyard today, and in the course of the 7 minutes she was out there anyway, tumbled through some sort of mud and came back in to greet me looking like this. Typical Sasha.
So after I cleaned up the dog and the trail of chaos she dragged in with her, I departed for the first leg of the journey: Pick up Kara and meet Kalyn in Lexington. The journey begins!
Kara and I drove to Lexington, where we rendezvoused with Kalyn and continued on to Nashville:
hello, super photoshopped nashville picture i pulled from google.....
[^ the picture I took as we entered the city included the AT&T Batman tower, too, but looked more like it was taken from a 2001 digi cam, sooooo.... ]
We arrived at the house we'll be inhabiting for the course of this weekend, where Britt & Co. were already assembled. The cast was complete, and we readied ourselves for a full roster of bachelorette-based activities.
It's awesome when a group is comprised of various - and very different - walks of life, personal interests, careers, political views and whatever else there is that can vary [so basically anything goes]. I met a few of these women for the first time, and realized very quickly that we come from the same planet, but from very different worlds.
And ya know what? I loved it :).
To my cousin Maricor, the Sephora manager & makeup artist extraordinaire:
These women are your tribe, seriously. I don't know how ya'll do it, but I'm flat out impressed - and a little jealous - that ya'll can draw all over your faces for hours with this makeup stuff & still manage to not look like you got attacked by a box of crayons. Ya'll are talented, and I..... am lost. High five, you make-up queens!
look at those artists :p
After Dalia, Layla, Kara and Brittany came to the rescue, Kalyn and I [the two with the least amount of makeup ability] managed to put on faces for the night and did so with minimal mistake. Success!
Some highlights from the pre-trip:
i didn't do too bad on my own :)
i hardly ever get to see this girl anymore.. jess, you're such a beaut!
the bride getting her gear!
freakin' adorable!
love you b! happy bach!!
the sisters, aka the blonde kardashians.. haha kalyn. brittany. kara.
And then it was off to Merchant's for dinner!
cheers to this girl haha :)
yummmmm!
with the lovely powell sisters brittany. kalyn. cori
Our original plans [I thought] were to get dinner and then head home for the evening, but once we'd filled up on delicious food, we thought we'd take advantage of already being in the heart of downtown Nashville. So off we set...
the tribe!
It was an interesting evening from the time we set foot outside of Merchant's, but still a fun experience. We retired to the house via Uber with sore feet and a few fun surprises still in store.
Kalyn's birthday is Thursday [my present to her is back in Lexington in the trunk of her car.. haha], but Brittany pulled some stops to do one gift before the night was over.
the almost birthday girl :p
Pajamas were all around, which was a great way to phase out the night, in the company of 9 other hilarious women.
the "brown girls" here to represent the philippines & mexico! ;)
And yes, this is a backdated entry... it got late, and we got tired.
bedtime!
See you in the morning, for our Studio Goddess dance class!
I realized on Friday that this blog I've been neglecting for the past several months is more than just an outlet for me to bore an occasionally-engaged reading audience.
Isn't that somethin'?
This isn't the first time I've relied on my blog to answer my own questions: 'what DID I do that day?,' or 'When WAS that thing?' It's been a while since I've need affirmation that's of any real significance other than satisfying a curious gap in my recall. Given that I haven't updated this thing recently, I'll just swallow the irritation weeks from now when I ask the same question but can't answer it from a blog reference. Meh.
Anyway, the end of 2015 was the beginning of the time Rob and I decided to be real adults and take our first steps down the road of home-buying. Neither of us have done this before, but apparently part of the process entails the mortgage company asking you for the last few years of your work history. No biggie, right? Well, no... unless you've worked for a franchise installments of the same corporate company for the past 6 years but they need to have specific dates. #AdultingIsTimestamped
I can't even remember what I ate for breakfast 5 hours ago. What I can do, is my due diligence to myself not just for the primary purpose of journaling, but for the the side benefit of revisiting any given day in as much vivid detail as I cared to use in scribing what was still fresh in my mind. And, as you may have guessed, I was able to hunt down the exact dates of my first and last days with each of my franchise installments, all from referencing my dear, recently-neglected blog.
I didn't make any real "New Years' Resolutions," because I figured making it through this year with our sanity and with at least a few bucks in our pockets after buying a house, going on a mission trip and getting married.... is a medium-term goal that speaks for itself. It's now January 24th; this month is almost over and I've decided I not only want, but need, for myself, to keep this blog from going on vacation. December will be here before we know it: Willing God's plan allows - We'll have a house, Sydni will be in 2nd grade, we will have gone to and returned from a second week of missions in the mountains of Panama and I'll have celebrated my final holidays under my maiden name. This of all years, makes sense to keep my blog afloat.
THAT BEING SAID:
Our first week of January included the viewing of and offer-making on what we're praying will be the fifth and final search result houses. We uncapped our pens and started practicing our signatures, not just for the house, but also for our wedding photographer! We agreed that the new year would usher in more intentional efforts of planning this wedding, so when I reconnected with one of my dear hometown childhood friends who now has her own photography business, I knew it was a golden opportunity.
Yep, it's KARA!
circa soccer '99
kara & her hubby matt now! right photo cred: tracie maglosky / tracie jean photo
I am so daggone excited to see this gal, especially since she'll be in a few days earlier for the pre-festivity fun. Who knew?
Week 2 of January:
More house stuff, including the initiation of real paperwork, negotiation and questions. My work, which I haven't touched yet in this entry, took another dive into change, as one of my fellow staffing consultants left the business, and I reabsorbed a double workload that I'll carry [again] until we hire a replacement. Prayer warriors, I won't be mad if you could spare a little extra for this one.. :) It's not the end of the world. We'll be okay.. but just a little extra encouragement would be nice. Oh, and I spent the week sick, with two days as a complete mute, thanks to a small tango with laryngitis. But the show must go on...
Week 3 of January:
Ever have one of those weeks that just doesn't feel.... calibrated? Although I'm pretty sure that it's just that stage of readjustment that comes with a shift in activity at work, given that we spend at or over 40 hours each week together at work, it's not a surprise that any disrupt can ripple out across the team and even individually. At home, it felt like nothing was getting done, and the signing of our loan paperwork doubled as an exciting and equally-unnerving experience. It stamps the progression of this process, but amplifies the other stuff that's still temporary: our current residence, and more central - the looming task of cleaning and moving out. Haha. This will be the last time. Breathe, repeat.
That brings us to this weekend!
family dinner for mom's birthday!
Friday consisted of us cleaning the house. And by cleaning, I mean detailing Sydni's room, along with the rest of the house, in preparation for our special weekend guests. Laundry was done, small presents were wrapped, and dinner reservations for the following night were confirmed. Pajamas were donned and an early bedtime was surprisingly accepted without contest under just the mere thought of Nana and Pappy arriving in the morning.
Saturday came in with the sunrise: We are among the fortunate this weekend who were not buried up to our eyeballs and then some in multiple feet of snow and ice. My parents had a smooth drive to [& from] up north to visit with us, and we were able to rendezvous with our realtor Tiffany, so they could get a first look at what is almost certainly the new house.
Nope, there won't be any pictures yet... oh, the suspense! ;)
... I'm just kidding; I know nobody really cares that much. Le sigh..
Anyway, it was no surprise that they loved the new place, and frankly, I can't wait to have my mom's help with decorating. We finished our quick visit at the new digs, and headed back home for an afternoon relaxing: Dad & Rob watched golf, Sydni played and ready with Nana and I enjoyed being right in the middle of it all.
The evening came, and we headed out the door to Seasons 52, where a 7:00 reservation in a carved out corner booth greeted us with a team of smiling servers and a bottle of Wrongo Dongo to get the night started. Between the food, the company and the fun that's never absent from a gathering with my parents, I'm confident this was one of the best birthdays we've orchestrated for Mom in a while.
Whoa, did I just get on Mom's level?!?
- Okay, no... not quite I don't think... but hey, I was definitely in the zone today and felt more like my mom than I do most other days ;).
So Saturday was a wrap, with delicious food, spirit and memories under our belt, we headed home to unwind for the evening. What I always forget though, is that although we may annually celebrate mom turning another physical year older, there is nothing OLD about this woman.
These two... hahah. Gosh I love them.
Today, was church [which was incredible,btw] with the family, followed by Mom making us one of her signature brunch menu's. They were soon on the road back to Mt. Vernon, leaving us with a leisure day ahead of us.
Well, with soccer, of course. USWNT friendly game vs. Ireland? I think so :).
With so many new faces to watch, I have to say I'm looking forward to rabidly cheering on the USA through this year and their next road to the Olympics! #USWNT!
It's been a beautiful weekend and I'm ready to see what this next week will bring. Even with just one more blog under my belt, I feel a bit more like I'm back in my element and yeahhhh, that's good :).
Phew,
Happy weekend, ya'll. It's the last week of January at our fingertips, and I think it's gonna be a good week.
1. Church.
I'm not really sure exactly what the direction is that our latest sermon series is heading; I'll have to weigh this one a few more times and see if we agree or not. It's basically entitled, What Would Jesus Say To....________________, and the blank is filled with the name of some A-list celebrity. Pardon me for saying this, but it was really hard for me to connect with a lesson centered around what Jesus would say to Kim Kardashian. Frankly, that's nothing doctrinally-centered for me, and I was left disappointed. Sorry to say it, but certainly not one of the stronger messages I've heard. At least Sydni and I had a little more quality time after church:
sunday selfies.. yep!
love her love her looooove her!
2. Kara's Grad Party!
So, Kalyn & Brittany's little sister Kara is graduating from high school. I can only imagine how fast they feel like this has gone; I seriously feel like it was just somewhere around last year, at the farthest, that I met Kara when she was in 6th grade. Holy whoa. Happy graduation, Kara!!
syd found the hammock!
she also found the horses :)
these two. ♥♥♥♥♥.
tree girl
with the powell girls
ladies! happy graduation kara! [aka, sydni & me with our blonde entourage!]
3. World Cup : USA v. POR!
After Kara's graduation party, we headed back home, where Becky & Mike meet up with us to watch the USA v. Portugal game. To spare you all from the ruckus that came out of that house, here:
this....
... followed by this.
Nobody's mad here!
Thanks again to Kalyn's mom & family for having us out today. Not a bad way to end the weekend!
