Throoooow It On Back, Thursday!

I can't help it. These are GOLD. Here's, in no particular order, an ode to a solid #TBT:

maricor & me | 2005?

Yeeaaahh.. Haha. There's a tribute to one of my original best friends, my cousin Maricor. This is when I still had all my facial piercings and gauges... and according to this picture, also thought I was maybe training as well to become a pirate. What can I say? Neither of us had kids at that point.

Another best friend, who I'll be seeing again here in a few weeks:

thanks, pottery barn! | 2008?

^ Kalyn, I miss you. Doing this kind of stuff, in super expensive stores... and not regretting it. :) This chick's one of my favorites, and even though we're now 2 hours apart, I'd have her back any day of the week. [See you shortly!!]

Oh, oh,  here we go - a #TBT to that time Sydni was too cool for school:

2010

And also to later in that same day, when she disagreed wholeheartedly with her shirt:

2010. 

More Sydni.... because she makes the best TBT's:

2010.

^ I think that's actually the same day as the first two, but either way, it's a miniature lawn gnome inside a metal tunnel, and it is perfect ;)

A pet throwback? Okay. Here's the infamous Kobyashi [aka Kobi!], but as a baby:

2005

And I had gauges, still. This was before the blonde hair debacle that happened somewhere around 2006.

Want some random famous folks from the early-mid 2000's? Okay:

ghotsface [wu-tang] | 2004

wyclef jean [my radio days!] | 2007

And let's not forget: 

2012 ;) 

 ^^ Awhh.. look at those two.. it seems like forever ago, and now we're engaged. Crazy how time flies! ♥♥

Last one, because I for some reason was able to just identify a hodgepodge of throwback from across the board. This one's by far the most recent: 

[matching] compasses! 

^^ That one time last year, when Mare & I went and got matching tattoos? Yeah. That was a real life situation. Haha. 

There are plenty more that I could spend all day - and night - and year, really - sharing, but I think that's a good collection for now. 

Hopefully you have some beautiful people and memories on which you're reflecting today, too!! 

xo | cmd

NEWS, Part 2: New DIGS (:

Today started like this:

breathe it in!

^ I love ... winter at my parents' house.
I also love getting to see my little [well, not so little, I suppose] Maine Coon fuzzball Kobi (:

kobi cat!

There is a season for everything, as it's said:

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time forpeace.
-Ecc 3:1-8

This has definitely been a year of many, many different seasons. The underlying themes have been a balance of challenges to overcome, accompanied by the grief and admittedly the stress that comes with it, and countered by the pure joy in realizing God's timing is never a millisecond too soon or too late in His answers - which, by the way are likewise never in anything but my best interest.

Rewind this year to May, when I completed the first phase of my transition back into Cincinnati. Becky became a saving grace to me, as I found myself living with her for nearly a month in between finding a place of my own. I lived off a small collection of my things and had a split life between her apartment and a storage unit. When I found the house I have now, I counted it a profoundly-timed answer to months of prayer. Sydni and I found a soft place to land, finally, in June of this year.

settling in

I cried the first night Sydni and I both slept in our little house; the first half of the year had been a roller coaster of anxiety, nerves, prayer, supportive friends & job transitioning as well, and somehow I managed to get us back to Ohio and back into a track of stability. We had a "new" place of our own, a new job and new starts on many other levels.

We have thoroughly enjoyed living in this little community, specifically our little dead end street neighborhood; it's teaming with small families and relatives who knit together to ensure it stays safe and that each other are provided for. I've been welcomed by many of them and while we've not necessarily grown close, it's absolutely been a massive encouragement, nonetheless. My closest friends are within a short drive of us, and Rob has had no problems finding us to visit.

And we started planning. Rob had intentions of moving here in July of next year, but an unexpected riff in his job security brought his employment to a premature halt, which accelerated the need for revised plans. My little house quickly became perfectly adequate to something of a primary element of consideration in weighing out our next steps.

With time not necessarily on our side, I was faced with the need for a new car & apparently a new house as well, within a very limited span of what I deemed ample time. I have never idolized or hungered for excess money, but time has always been something I value in the highest regard. You can't take it away once you've given it, and those you earnestly give it to usually don't thwart or dismiss it. In this case, we were faced with needs outweighing our financial limitations... or so it seemed. Time was ticking away loudly in my head, day and night. I set a deadline of December 31 to finalize vehicle plans. Those materialized from start to finish in about four days after nearly five months of searching; that was yesterday's celebrated blessing.

TODAY, I received the paperwork signifying a three-way commitment between a new landlord, Rob & myself that will begin in February. 

we... can't wait (:

February 1 will be the official date that we convene again as a unit. We have accepted and managed the task of a long-distance relationship since April, which has proven to me that I have never felt so dedicated and synced with a significant other, ever. I for the first time have felt appreciated for what and who I am and what I can give, not the measure of my professional success, size of my bank account or notariety of my friends' names. I am recognized as a competent individual playing a partnership role, not an employee or muted voice in joint decisions. I am held accountable by realistic standards, and trusted with transparency. I've never had that before... and now, finally, I will have him, the man who has catalzyed my distanced mind and heart, at my side to support, encourage and love me the way I will him. Like I said, time is the most important thing we can give in this world; it's also the most important thing we'll ever receive. We, along with our dogs & of course my incredible Sydni, will finally settle for the first leg of our time here in Ohio, alllll together.

*Squeal!!

More updates on the new digs as I have them.
I'm blessed, beyond measure & beyond what I deserve.
Amen!

xo | cmd