Here We Go, AGAIN....

DagGONNIT!! This has got to stop.


boooo :(. i don't like that empty chair....



My counter-coworker and co-staffing consultant, Nancy, tendered her 2-week resignation today. I knew it was coming and was completely prepared for it last week even, but that's not the point. The point is, there were, at one point, FIVE of us: Meagan, Christine, Nancy, Courtney and myself. Meagan moved to Missouri [which, by the way, kudos for transferring to that Express office :)..]. Courtney, well.. that's another story for another day.. about which I will only say that it was unfairly handled and executed. Christine left exactly one week ago today, and two weeks from now I will bid adieu to Nancy. She, aside from the owners, is the only one here who's been hanging around here longer than me, by about 2ish months. I am literally the last man standing.

I am not a happy camper as work is concerned. I would call this a valley, for sure. A week ago today, Christine parted ways with us; consequently, Nancy and I ended up going rounds with upper management for a large portion of the day until we all fizzled into what I could only describe as still-disagreement, just sans dissension. What a place to be, eh. Haha. In the defense of the office though, it seems to have been on a mild upswing, but with Nancy now heading off to pursue another avenue, I can only brace myself and say my little prayers that we will all sustain, maintain, and, in some cases, restrain... for the next couple of weeks. :) I know, I know - first world problems of an employed person... I'll stop. I really do count it a blessing to have a job in a nation littered with job-hunters, so make no mistake that I am grateful for that. It's just taxing sometimes. Not impossible, just taxing :).

Aaaaaaaaanyway,
My mood [and my entire day, really] was lightened substantially when I received an unexpected invite to the Gobles' for dinner. I don't really think Jackie had expected it either, which made it that much more fun. I gathered up Sydni and stopped at the house to change and we were off to the Gobles for the evening. In that little whispering way - well, in this case, not so much of a whisper, more of a bold proclamation dressed up as pulled chicken and salad ;) - I was reminded of the simple daily graces I am so often afforded but unfortunately don't always appreciate like I should. My pastor had joked on Sunday that God probably has a good laugh many times at the way we overreact to frivelous speedbumps in our lives before sending us a post-it reminder that He is still in control and that all.... is... OKAY.

So thank you, Lord, for THIS day, for yesterday, and for the ones to come. Thank you for the trials - large and small, and thank you for the courage and endurance to see them through. :)

The week is still young; I'm bent on making the most of it! With a visit to Miss Debbie tomorrow for some bead working [yiieeee!!], a slumber party with Mo on Thursday, and Koinonia on Friday? I thiiiiiink that's a pretty good lineup so far ;)

xo | cmd

Farewell, Meagan [For Now]

oh, christine. how i love ya. 

My coworkers are one of a kind. Just thought I'd share this little moment that happened towards the end of the day, catching me in a rather frazzled moment and turning it into one of those I-dare-you-not-to-laugh things. 

Me: [on the phone]: "yes, client, I can send that information right ov--"
Christine: [parked at my desk like this]: "..........."
Me: [stifling a smile]: *ahem, "over. Absolutely. No problem! Kthanksbye...[click] .. WHAT. IN. THE. WORLD."
Christine: "heeeeeeeeey"

See? We keep it fun :)

We're on day 2 of work without Meagan, but today was special in that we had scheduled her official going-away dinner to take place at the 54th Street Grill down the street from the office. That being said, we flurried our way through yet another jampacked day and gladly made our ways out the door a few minutes early to rendezvous with Diana at 54th.

I was quickly reminded that I'm not a huge fan of the standard margarita from 54th, but that's no reason not to finish it once you've ordered it. Oy vey. So we dined, drank, and spent a few hours hilariously recounting some of the brightest and not-so-bright -.....-at-all moments of random happenings that are so frequent in our office. Moments that, moving forward, are certainly going to be void of Meagan's input and equally funny reaction.

nancy. meagan. cori. courtney
office ladies [minus christine & diana]

WE WILL MISS YOU!!!

I managed to make it home just after the opening moments of the final night of The Voice. Nancy and I got to our usual text tidbits as the show played on, eventually crowing Jermaine Paul as the season winner. Nanc & I both agreed that Jamar Rogers should've been in the finals, but he took part in over half of the finalists' songs, so I suppose we were content there.

I thought one in particular [Pip, Jermaine, Jamar, James] , was adorable :)



See? Told you it was fun.

Anywho, big thanks to Mo, who stood in for me this evening at the Relay meeting while I was at Meagan's going-away. We've got the Towerview Relay meeting scheduled for Thursday, 6:30 PM at the Tower....

... See you there! :)

xo | cmd

Day 1: Chaos!

There is something already writhing about Mondays. I'm not certain I could put my finger on anything past the usual daunting thoughts that usually come late Sunday night as I stop to realize that I'm not sleeping in the next morning, and that I will be hauling my tail into work with the rest of America's working class.

a little going away gift from the goer herself!
[we'll miss you, meagan!!]

^ Or maybe it's that exact sentiment that triggers the inevitable dragging feeling I experience at the beginning of each work week. Yeah. I think it's that.

Today flew by. It was a flurried flash of overload and it was over before I felt I'd done anything at all. It sounds contradictory, but that's exactly what it was.

Back at home, it was time for The Voice, with a few more eliminations, and relaxing for the rest of the night. Joe literally just got home a few minutes ago, and I think we're both gonna call this one a night.

This is gonna be some sorta week!

xo | cmd

Birthdays | Meagan's Last Day | Koinonia

What a FRIDAY!

1. HAAAAAAPPPY BIRTHDAY[S!!!] TO...

MY SISTER [xoxoxoxo]

and MY NEICE [her daughter; I know, right? xoxoxo to her, too ;) ]

LOVE YOU BOTH.. and can't wait to see you, soooooon!!!!

my sister | beautiful mom & daughter | my neice
my beautiful family.. that share the same bday - fun!!

-------------------
2. SAD US [@ work]!

So last week, Meagan broke the [bittersweet] news to us that Rob had received a promotion [congratulationssss!!!!] for his job, but that it would come with a relocation for the two of them...

... to Cape Girardeau.

Boo HISS!

1. She'll be leaving us here in the office.
2. She'll be leaving us at church.
3. She's leaving, period.

We got started early this morning with the sour but celebratory process that we're so diligent in doing whenever someone leaves; we each signed and gave Meagan the book I'd crafted last night. Courtney brought Kruta donuts and a cake [adored], and we all chipped in with little goodies, balloons, the whole nine yards. We're really going to miss her! 

we certainly will miss you!!! :(  



♥ candids: mo. lara. jackie+evan |
little evan g | kyle+liam



That being said [and so I'm not left dwelling still on the fact that she will not be there on Monday], it was Koinonia night, which is aaaalways a blast. We were especially blessed tonight with the Sandvens making their first appearance to the extension group. The Sleemans were scheduled to come, too, but had to back out at the last minute [feel better, Rebecca!!!]. It was another excellent night all around :)

The lot of us decided to meet at the Gobles' tomorrow for some aesthetic renovation to their yard and house. It's gonna be a scorcher, for sure, so I'm gonna call it a night and get some rest.. charge up time!

See ya tomorrow!

xo | cmd

Murano Be Gone!

real talk.

[This one's for all the other folks who've gone out to see this & would agree with this sentiment.]

More IMPORTANTLY!, today marked the selling day of the Murano that's been lying dormant in our garage for a few weeks now. Amen!! I have to admit I was a little apprehensive at first, but primarily because Joe called me to inform me that an interested buyer was driving in from over an hour away to test drive and likely purchase the car. Since Joe's in Atlanta, it's just me, so I did a quick exploration of my options. At first, I called Cathie, wondering if they may be available to swing by for a few minutes. It seemed fitting, since Adam is our go-to auto mechanic of sorts. They were already en route with their dog to the vet, so I called Mo, who had planned on coming by already. She agreed to come an hour or so early. I informed my neighbor of the transaction about to take place, jokingly but with a slight edge of honesty telling her to call someone if she hears random screaming emerge from inside my house.

As it turned out, the adorable couple of country bumpkins that came bopping into the cul-de-sac in a beat up pick up couldn't have been more fun. Mo and I settled into the backseat of my Murano [weird] after explaining in great length to the wife how the keyless entry on this particular car actually works. The four of us took a test drive in a big circle around some populated areas, idly chatting about things related to farm equipment and country phrases that I haven't heard since I left my own podunk hometown. Good stuff :) We made it back in four separate but whole pieces [think about it], and when it was all said and done, we ended up with a garage emptied of one car, a check for partial payment, and a wad of real live cash to cover the rest. Holy I've-never-held-this-much-money-in-my-hand-at-one-time-EVER. [[Don't try to find me, it's already at the bank.]] before depositing, Mo and I had ourselves a little fun with the green paper, pretending for 15 minutes that we were actually two crazy celebrities so delusionally wealthy that this would've been pocket change. We took a few pictures before stacking that stuff back together, handling it like fine china for some reason, and locking it away.

yenno. no big deal ;)

Bottom line, Murano = Sold! Amen! :)

That's about it, folks. We made back just in time for The Voice!

xo | cmd

Big Small Group

that's right, potluck!

I'd said yesterday that we would be closing up shop 3 hours early today, contingent upon us meeting all of the numbers our boss had laid out. We didn't have any doubts in our mind that we would be free and clear at 2pm; we knocked out all the requirements by 1 in spite of taking an hour to do our typical family-esque huddle around our food-laden table. We don't often all eat together, but when we do, we eat well! I don't know a lot of offices that can break out rotisserie chicken, taco dip, cheddar bay biscuits, ambrosia salad, fruit pie, oreo pie and salad, chow down, and still do some serious damage to the necessary tasks at hand. I was wailing away karaoke style to some song on the radio by 2:12pm, halfway home. Woo!

I used those few extra hours to do some last minute touchups to everything from the food for tonight's small group to tidying up around the house and loading up the car with just about every detail except for Sydni and myself. I bided my time getting some other miscellaneous things done before picking Sydni up and heading to the Woods for our large group gathering.


small group love :)



I'd forgotten just how much fun it is when we're all together. Even though I was goin' solo on this one [Joe's in the process of flying back to Ohio], it was a blast. The Closky's brought new baby Izzy to the party, baby Evan Goble was in attendance, and we even coo'd over the Babots up-and-coming little Emilia. The tykes were all the rage, but more than that the energy of company was at a high buzz just with having everyone together. I loved every minute of it, and was admittedly a little sad that it was over just as quickly as it'd begun.

I really need to put this blog to rest for the night and put myself to bed. Sydni and I plan on head starting outta here by 4am tomorrow. I'll letcha know if that schedule holds fast. Good news, Joe landed safely in Cinci and will be home when we get in tomorrow. Prayers for safe travel :)

G'nite!

xo | cmd

L Y S O L

Nobody tell my mother about this. I can already hear her offering the loving yet inevitable reminder that chemicals [especially aerosole-based] are unecessary, unhealthy, and just flat-out bad for everyone and everything. I'm not mocking her, because I really do believe that's true; we don't use harsh stuff like that at home. We're the vinegar cleaning solvent type of family, but that's a whole other tale for an entirely other day. As it currently pertains to work, we are a big proponent of regular, full out germ extermination.

It's probably because we cross paths with anywhere between 10-40 people per day, in our office confined space, who come bearing who-knows-what little bug just waiting to pounce and put one of us out of commission for a few days. Luckily for us, we've got Meagan, our full time patrol[wo]man of the icky folk, our resident Lysol-er. She's all over it.

c l e a a a a a a a a n . . . . lol

Today was one of those days that reminded me how real her affinity for Lysol really stretches. I got caught with an associate today whose bronchial cough seemed to go unnoticed by ONLY her, and she didn't mind forgetting to use so much as a pinky to cover her random fits of hacking and wheezing. I could feel my toes curling by the time we had finished the interview; but I should've known that Meagan was already waiting with a finger on the trigger of our industrial-size Lysol can. We proceeded to sanitize nearly every square inch of my desk, the chair, half my computer, my chair, a large portion of the floor, a few spots on the wall, and ourselves, accidentally moreso than purposefully. I may or may not have ended up with some remnant overspray in my eye, not to mention layered on thick inside my nose. Hah. It was probably overkill. Oh well. Haha.

I said all that to testify that even though I'm not an avid supporter of chemical sanitizers, I sure do appreciate the comic value that can be brought to any day by a hilarious little southern gal armed with a huge can of Lysol. My coworkers are stellar :) :) :).

Tomorrow, my office undergoes a mega update on the software and hardware side; here's to our sanity during the process! :-X

It's juuuust about time for The Voice (night #2); I think it's about time I get to texting Nancy :). See ya'll in the morning!

xo | cmd

Friday Fun | & Sara's Bday!

I ♥ FRIDAY

Ahhh, Fridays. Thank you for being you, and today especially, for being so marvelous. It's been a great week overall, and I absolutely believe this was the perfect way to round it out.

dewey's edwardsville
y-u-m.

It started with a planned lunch outing with my coworkers; I piled Nancy, Meagan, Courtney and Christine into the Altima and in no time, we were having a blast at the newly-opened Dewey's in Edwardsville. Since apparently this is a new trend in this area [these puppies are all over OH/KY], Nancy and I were the only two who'd been before this. The general consensus was good; I'd forgotten that I enjoy that place, and it was definitely a welcome change of pace from the usual list of available pitstops for the hour break. We got back to the office to find Jay, one of our favorite associates and personal family friend of the Voegeles, replacing each of our computers for the upcoming software upgrade. That slowed down the process of doing actual work, which made for a nice little cap on an already lovely last weekday.



niiiice :)
hoppy hoppy hoppy!



At home, I dug a special package out of the mailbox, addressed to one specific little lady, from my parents back in Ohio. Sydni wasted no time tearing into the bundle of bright, glittery foam eggs and a hilarious bunny mask. Sydni's been hopping around all evening, "hoppy hoppy hoppy.. Sydni's a bunny rabbit!" LOVE.

Oh, and in a completely unrelated matter, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Sara, waaaay back in Cincinnati. Her birthdays were always so much fun, because she is such a fun person! Hope your day was extraordinary, Sa!! Happy 26th, from Illinois to KY/OH! xo :)

happy 26th, sara!
[lauren. sara. cori] | circa 2007

Tomorrow = Zoo? Maybe. It all depends on whether or not Courtney has to babysit, and if Christine, Meagan, and I decide we're all motivated enough to get our hind ends out to St. Louis. :)

G'Nite!

xo | cmd

I Have Lovely Coworkers!

I remember [very clearly] the days of sitting at my desk, wondering nearly aloud how in the world I would ever survive my job on a long-term basis. It was my first real job out of college, and it was one of the most.... unique ... experiences of my life. I'll sum it up by saying simply that I learned a lot over those two years about what type of work I really loved, what I didn't love, and that the life to which I'd become accustomed to was actually not rational... or justified... or really even normal, for that matter. That was excellent news for me, considering I wasn't sure that my sanity would withstand that job for much longer than I spent there. Hah. It was an absolute God thing: the timing, the specific situation, and the introduction to the job I have now, with a company purposed to helping people, as opposed to soliticing them for money they don't have for a product they essentially don't need. It's a beautiful feeling, absolutely!!


my first express family | cinci east, 1663!
cori. deb. chris. brandi. jess | circa christmas 2010
miss you guys :)

I additionally believe that a large part of enjoying any job is built around the people with whom you interact on a daily, hourly, consistent basis. Since I started with Express, even back in Cincinnati [hi, 1663!! ♥], I realized that coworkers and bosses as a whole concept are not in fact evil deities employed to complicate my life. I no longer loathed office jobs; in fact I found myself developing a quick and genuine sense of endearment for my job, my company, my coworkers, and my bosses. Work became fluid and fruitfully productive [whaaat??], and for the first time ever, I was proud to say I worked for my company, instead of timid and robotic, like before. Haha.



yay, nancy! happy 1-yr expressaversary! here's to many more ;)

Alllll that being said, I now find myself surrounded by all women and one gentleman in an office that drives me up one wall and down the other at least once a week, but I love it. Even since I transferred in, there've been change after change, slowly but surely pushing us in a forward direction. Today in particular marked the 1-year Expressaversary for the only SC who predates my merging with this office. Congratulations, Nancy!! You definitely have an accomplishment under your belt! We celebrated with some balloons, congratulatory signs, and a gooey butter cake, compliment of Diana. Not a bad way to celebrate, that's for sure :)



shoe envy! itty bitty beauties for
a little lady with a huge heart: meagan!

 Oh, and because I work with some of the trendiest gals this side of the river, I couldn't help myself last night when I made a pitstop off at Target. My original intention was to exchange a damaged item I'd bought last week, but I must've blacked out momentarily; when I came to, I had plucked up an impassible pair of cork wedges on clearance, and another equally-adorable pair of pumps in a much smaller, much more Meagan-appropriate size. I couldn't help it; I figured that even though they were clearly too small for my collection, someone needed to own them! I'm still suffering from mild shoe envy, but hey, she sported them today once I gave them to her, and from that I'm satisfied. Hah.

My coworkers are the best. :) It's definitely gonna be a great year.

Happy mid-week to you, and all of YOUR coworkers!!

xo | cmd

The Hunger Games

It's not very often that I find myself getting into whatever current literatary phenom is trending among the tweens, teens, and even young adult crowds. Aside from the Bible [the original timeless classic], I find myself more prone to re-reading even a library-rented copy of The Little Women before I'd even think to crack open anything related to Harry Potter or Twilight. No offense intended to the wizard and vampire junkies out there; hey, if this is your thing, then you are fully entitled to it regardless of what anyone says.


not too bad, i must admit!

I'm talking now about Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games, which is debuting onscreen with the help of director/producer Gary Ross. Apparently, this particular trilogy is the material of choice right now [for school cirriculum, too, I learned], and was expected to render record-breaking sales in terms of the movie premier. We've been watching the previews  for the past couple of weeks, and I finally became intrigued enough to do some Googling. I found enough information on the premise of the story, the base layout for this current movie, and the cast of familiar faces we would see during the big screen debut. I hadn't actually committed myself to wanting to go see it, but at work yesterday, Meagan brought it up, which spurred some more conversation. From what I'd heard so far, this was supposed to be pretty good. She texted me mid morning and asked if I'd like to accompany her and Rob to see it; I figured why not?

lincoln theater | belleville, il
1930's | 2011

I didn't hate it!

I rendezvoused with the Greers for a late afternoon showing at the historic Lincoln Theater downtown Belleville. I'd not been to this place before, but I'm so glad I went! You wouldn't believe there were three theaters in this place just by looking at it from the outside, but it does, and plenty of character to boot! Adorable place, even when it is crawling with teenagers in the middle of a Saturday :)

So regarding The Hunger Games: I won't call make this a spoiler alert per se, but I will say that it was much better than I'd expected. Cinematically, I thought the characters had been cast with excellent reflection of the actor's individual persona, and it flowed well - even I, someone who clearly hasn't read the books or done any intensive homework on the plot, could follow along almost seamlessly. Sure, there were some details lost in the book-to-film translation, I'm sure, but it still all seemed relevent and fluid to me.

The rest of today was spent cleaning up, doing some laundry, and catching up on a few creative endeavors that have been lying dormant for a few weeks now. Once those are finished, I'll share with the class, too.

Two more days until Joe's home - what a nice switch back to normality that will be!

xo | cmd

Whew, Friday!

*Whewwwwww!
What a week!

It was one of those weeks that flew right on by, and ended with our office hiring a new outside sales girl. She starts Monday; it'll certainly be a new change of pace around work. It's funny for me to look back and see how much my office dynamic has changed even in the short time I've been at the office. When I first started, I was intentioned to replace Susie, who had accepted a position with one of our clients. Karen & Nancy were there, and when Karen left, I took over her accounts. Meagan came onboard then as the third staffing consultant, and just a month or so back, Courtney joined us as the new FOC. Christine will make 5, and join the team as the newest addition to the zoo that is our office. :) Congrats, Christine!


koinonia!

 Aside from the new hire news, it's been another jampacked week at Express! The day didn't end there; I picked up Sydni and headed back home just in time to do some last minute preparation touches to the house before our Koinonia group started rolling in. The Sleemans couldn't make it, but we had a great turnout no less, and as always, we were oh-so-well fed! :) Joe is still out of the country, so Tom took over and carried us the rest of the way through the last chapter of James. [Great job, Tom!] Two weeks from now will be our first big small group gathering, during which all three extension groups will rendezvous back together as a whole unit at the Woods. I'm certainly excited to do that, especially with the addition of so many new couples across the board in all the groups.

It's about that time to call it a night, after all the craziness that is my beloved small group. Just a few short days until Joe returns!

xo | cmd

And Now, For the Tour [& Christmas Part II!]

fiona's | eds.ville

We realized this morning as we were getting moving for the day that we have done this sort of standardized tour for all of our visitors. Seriously. We thought back to Eric, who was the first to come and visit our new house, then JB, Lynn, Tim, Heidi, Paul, Jonathan, my parents, and now Joe's mom & aunt. We also realized that after this visit, unless KP & Sam make their way out in the near future, we should be just about done with our quick version of the IL-MO tour.

In honor of our last tour, we thought we'd spice it up a bit. First, we took them on base to show them where Joe works. We even made a pitstop by the Babots for a quick second, and they were able to see what base housing looks like. From there, we took a turn off the beaten path and  headed up to Edwardsville for a brunch at Fiona's. Now, keep in mind that up until today, I've only heard rumors of the superior quality of this little dive. Meagan and Rob frequent this place seemingly every other time he's here for her lunch hour, and Nancy speaks highly of it as well. So, we thought we'd give it a whirl. We were NOT disappointed. It was quite scrumptious, and at the very end, we ran into Nancy and Karen, who'd been there entire time we had, neither of us noticing the other party. Funny things. 

sandy. syd. joe | shadow of the arch from atop the arch :)

From there, we trekked into Saint Louis, being very mindful to avoid Soulard [mardi gras]. We found ourselves at the arch, and, at the request of our visitors, journeying up into the arch. We'd done that once before, the first time when Eric visited us. It's a nice chance to catch an aerial view of the city, and I suppose it's a must-do for any tourist not planning a trip back anytime soon. 

syd gazing out over st. louis

By the time we'd finished at the arch, we headed back home, ordered pizza, and got down to opening Christmas presents.

Wait.. what? 

merry [part II] Christmas!



Yeah, that's right. We weren't able to make it back to Ohio as originally planned over the Christmas holiday, so we had a very late Christmas here at our house tonight with just the four of us and Sydni. She made out like a bandit, and of course we all got exactly what we'd asked for during the pick-a-name drawing we do each year with his family.

It's been a great day. I hate that it was so short, but we are blessed to have our family.

xo | cmd

Pint Size Rock Band

We started off the day with church; I was in the nursery for the morning, but still managed to spend some of the service upstairs with Joe & JB. After church, we headed back to the house and stayed there for just a bit before JB packed up and headed back to Cincinnati.

Joe, Syd, and I settled in at the Babots for lunch and a few rounds of our favorite couples card game, kemps. Landon and Sydni fished out some of Landon’s toys, and serenaded us with some toddler show tunes. It was… lovely J. 



http://www.40ditw.com/



Sunday evening service today was our introductory lesson into Rick Warren’s 40 Days in the Word study. This is a study that dissects scripture and teaching in an intensely literal, repetitious way. It’s quite practical in that it allows for a natural sense of deeper interpretation of each individual word, which ultimately leads to easier memorization. Pretty basic concept. Pretty cool results. 



casserole!
[thx rob & meagan!]



Meagan & Rob surprised us by dropping to bring us a chicken casserole at the church before we left. By the time choir practice was over, we were more than ready to head home and do some serious work on that little casserole. [Delicious. Thank you, thank you to the Greers!]

*Whew! What a day. See ya tomorrow, y’all.

G’Nite!

xo | cmd

Happy Birthday Joe!

Well would ya look at that! Just when he thought I was the only one that gets older in this family, today Joe went and added another year to his belt. He is officially an old geezer. Ha.

!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!

Anyway, since Justin is here visiting for both the weekend and his first time to the St. Louis area, we took full advantage of it all and went out for a little jaunt show him the base before heading over to the arch. It was definitely a nice little road trip.



cori. joe. jb
- the arch! -

Once we finished up with our little arch excursion, we headed back to the house and the boys proceeded into the basement for a few rounds of indoor cornhole.

The original dinner plans were targeted for Lotawata Creek, since Joe loves that place and it’s a great spot for visiting guests. I’ve known from past inquiry that they do not accept reservations at Lotawata, so I spent the day silently hoping we would be able to secure call ahead seating for us and a few others. I’d sent out some invites, and had about 15 heads total lined up and ready to rendezvous for a surprise birthday dinner.



syd & mo @ 54th street



Two hours before our projected meeting time, I came to find out that Lotawata wouldn’t be able to accommodate a party of our size until nearly 11pm. Excellent. Lacking a backup plan, and somewhat anxious about where to re-direct my efforts, I consulted Mo to see if she had a decent idea. Having lived in the area for a while, her input helped, and landed me at the

54^th Street

Grill in O’Fallon, parked on the wait list for nearly an hour before our friends started trickling in. By the time 6:45 rolled around, Joe, JB, myself, Meagan & Rob, Amy, Kyle, & Tessa, Jarod & Lila, Mo, Jimmy & their friend Stefan were all packed into two booths, stuffing ourselves full of deeeelicious food J. Add the cheesecakes I’d stopped off an snagged earlier, and it was a full-blown party. Hah.

 After dinner, the Prescotts and their friend stopped back to the house; we spent the evening with them before calling it a night. JB heads back to Cinci tomorrow, but we’re doing church before that. So.. until then… J

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, POGI!

xo | cmd

Fellowship, Mexican Style

If you don't know by now, I love our church and the family it holds. I love our pastor and his family; I love the dynamic of our congregation, and I love the relationships we've already begun forging in the short 7 months we've been here. I have to confess that this is the closest I've ever been to the heart of a church, and I attribute that to the fact that the heart of the church is so genuinely broad and willing to embrace on impact, and unconditionally.

Today was another one of those weekly gatherings with said church family; the message was on point, and our fellowship made its way from the pews to a nearby Mexican restaurant. It wasn't anything extraordinarily spectacular; it wasn't a celebration of anyone's birthday; it wasn't for any special announcements. It was however, another small event that served not only some delicious food, but some casual conversation, funny stories, and hearty laughs. It was a chance for fellowship, and even in its simple, impromptu form, we took full advantage of it.

the motherload of enchiladas

Oh, and for the record, I can't for the life of me remember what the restaurant itself is called, but this sucker came out steaming on its plate and settled right in front of Joe. I have no idea how he finished it off, but I definitely give him kudos for that. We thought we'd photo-document this for the sake of remembering the accomplishment, but also in case we would need to explain to a doctor later on what it was that knocked him out. :)

Luckily, we're still stomachache free, at the end of the day.

Meagan and Rob made their way over after lunch to finally see our new digs, and experience the hybrid indoor cornhole set up in our basement. Once they left, it was naptime for the rest of the afternoon, and that puts us here now.

What a great weekend. :) We are truly, truly blessed.

xo | cmd  

Spreadin' Some Scarf

I’ve been knitting almost daily since that first little inkling I had a month or so back, and it’s paid off. I had an immediate goal of finishing enough scarves to assign one to each one of the names I’d added to that part of my Christmas list. I’ve always appreciated a handmade gift, especially one tailored specifically for me, so I thought I’d give it a whirl.


pretty little gift boxes | michael'scardstock cards with embellishments

In order to help me better customize, I thought I’d name each project accordingly. I got pretty creative with them [*sarcasm*]. Here’s how that’s going, so far: 

diana :: crimson reds



nancy :: cobalt blues

meagan :: burgundy & rose

I thought I’d stir up the Santa-bug a couple days early at work, so I gathered up everything last night and of course did a little documentation for the digi-scrapbook beforehand.

Just a few more days!! J

xo | cmd

Gearing Up for Christmas!

Well, we've started in a little early on our Christmas prep for this season at work.

I have a personal rule of thumb that I refuse to listen to Christmas music before my birthday. That's primarily because radio stations start jingling and joy'ing practically on Halloween's heels, so by the time Christmas actually rolls around, I want absolutely nothing to do with singing about roasted chestnuts and mistletoe.

SO, in a roundabout way, in a completely out-of-suit decision, I hopped on the Express pre-Christmas task of toting out the stored decorations and lending a hand to create some neat little festive scenery in our office. On behalf of us here at the office, we'd also like to celebrate Meagan's first year of being able to reach the top of a Christmas tree. This is gonna be a good season, ya'll ;)

Oh, and to top off the cheer, I came home to find my husband trotting around with a roaring cowgirl perched on his back. I'll tell you, there's one thing that is certainly more adorable than a man in uniform: it's that man, in uniform, crawling around the room on his hands and knees to play with his baby. Love love love love.

Upcoming this weekend:

Turkey, stuffing, sweet potato bakes, green beans, more turkey, more stuffing, and of course... family!!

We've got one more half day before a much-anticipated, travel-packed, long holiday weekend. I'm so excited!

xo | cmd

Stinkin' Swing Shift

Today was Joe's first day back at Towerview after his month-long run with the championship All Air Force soccer team. It was so nice to have him beside me during the service, and afterward he even orchestrated lunch plans with the Greers at McAlister's. They're hilarious, and the four and a half of us [Sydni ;) ] had a great time just kicking back for a bit.

We had to cut our afternoon short so that Joe could get to work on time. Stupid swing shift. Part of being a military family is being flexible as an entire unit to the schedule of the active member[s]. Any military spouse can tell you that. Between TDY, deployment, or just an inconvenient set of working hours, there's inevitably going to some sort of uncomfortable time frame during which everyone involved just grits their teeth and grins. We're still major newbies at the whole process, but even up to this point I've realized how much credit should be given to families of active military members. [[So I applaud you, husbands, wives, and children of our men and women in uniform!!]] I'm not seeking credit here, simply stating my empathy.

Anywho, I took advantage of some good Sydni-Mommy time, because I'm quickly finding that no matter how much time I get with her, I'll look back one day and wonder where it all went. We plowed through a few books, tore apart a toy chest, and played dress up with some oversized plastic rings with fake 75 carat colored gems. Good stuff.

Tomorrow it's back to the work week. My bosses are returning from their week-long Cancun getaway, and we'll be hitting the ground running.

Oh, and it's Halloween!

xo | cmd

Canoeing | Rehearsal Dinner

jess | meagan | becky | kalyn | brittany | cori
loveland canoe & livery

Thanks to my best friend and maid of honor Kalyn, our original plan this morning was to head up to Loveland Canoe & Livery for an early morning float down the river. However, what we hadn’t considered was that when we were ready to head out, we found ourselves confronted with a temperature well below what we felt like enduring for two hours. It started with Kalyn and I at her house with Joe and Sam, brainstorming different options: sand volleyball? Rock climbing? Horseback Riding? Bowling? – Gettin’ desperate on that last one; remember it was just before 10am at this point. We finally agreed to bundle up and take it like real men: canoeing it was. Kalyn, Brittany, Meagan, Becky, Jess, and I loaded up and carpooled over to Loveland....

Fast forward to us arriving at the livery and Becky knowing the guy working the desk from one of the summer camps on whose staff she’d served with him. All I need to say is that if Becky knows someone, that’s always a good sign. For us, that translated into some certain ‘liberties’ which aren’t usually afforded to canoers, and that made for a fantastic time. The weather even surprised us by warming to a final product of us all stripped down to short sleeves or tank tops. Perfect.

The only downfall of the morning was that we had spent valuable time in deliberation, which meant that we had about 45 minutes to get back to Sandy’s, pick up my things, get back to Kalyn’s, get showered, and get over to the Norlyn Manor for rehearsal. I have no idea how in the world I was only 10 minutes late. [Thanks, Sam, for your superior chauffeur skills!] We managed to wrap up a walk-thru with minimal drama [save for the disgruntled and socially inept woman that booted us out, unwarranted at the end], and off we were to the rehearsal dinner at The Great Scott. [If that made you think of The Office, you’re not the only one!]

Great Scott Oktoberfest menu = interesting, but delicious. Oh, and after that experience, I think I should probably learn some German. Just sayin’.

I’m shacking up with Kalyn tonight, and Joe with the boys. Sydni’s with Sandy, so that means we’re all accounted for. There’s something big happening tomorrow, so I suppose I should get some shut eye.

‘Til then!....

xo | cmd

Let's Celebrate!

I've been at my new Express office for just about 2 months now, and so far so good. It's certainly been an adjustment, but I am finally in the phase where acclimating feels a bit more natural, and I'm no longer finding myself completely lost in trying to follow the flow of this office.


marc | nancy | karen | diana | meagan | cori

We are an office of Christians who believe that God gives, takes, and surprises on a daily basis. The first thing He did [since I came into the picture] was to open an avenue for Susie, my predecessor, that granted her a much better schedule, lighter commute, and better compensation. That created my opening here, and I'm so grateful for that. The next big adjustment came when Karen [an SC here] announced that, while she hadn't been looking, an impassible opportunity had presented itself to her as well. She would get the hours she needed, the flexibility to spend more time with her kids, and the chance to work with some close, familiar former co-workers. That announcement blossomed into our bringing Meagan on board, and my climbing up a couple rungs on the internal ladder. I love when I can recognize even just a glimpse of the plan God lays out for us.

So, that being said, we thought we should absolutely celebrate the concept of radical transition that's occurring here in our office. We seem to do well with Mexican restaurants, so we opted for another round a Mexican dig nearby. It definitely worked. :)

Congratulations, Karen, on this new opportunity..
Congratulations, Meagan, on joining the EEP Edwardsville family..

and THANK YOU, to the heads of our office for trusting me with this promotion. :)

xo | cmd