Sales Contest Winners... Again! :)

'Thank Goodness It's Friday' has never been exclaimed more earnestly.. or desperately, in today's case. It's been a tumultuous week at work, so it was nice when we were able to put the office aside for the weekend and head down to Montgomery Inn to celebrate the successes of the first quarter sales competition... that we won :). 

montgomery inn boathouse | cincinnati, oh

Cincinnati, you're a murky mess in the middle, but you're still beautiful [don't get all offended, 'Natians, you know darn well that this is true...]

sunny day! 

It's been quite a while since I was last at Montgomery Inn, but that doesn't change how delicious I always find it. Chris disappeared momentarily, and returned with a box of celebratory cigars to commemorate our team's winning the first quarter.

3rd in a row! 

express pros - cincinnati central
kristin. cori. clarissa. paul

the whole gang!
front: cori. krstin. melissa. clarissa
back: rob. chris. deb. paul. micah (missing aaron!)

Gathering with the work clan outside of work is always a refreshing and often much-needed change of pace, content and atmosphere, and tonight was no different. 

Congratulations, team... I couldn't be more proud of what how our hard work has materialized like this! ♥

Not a bad way to start off the Mother's Day weekend, I will say that. 

xo | cmd 

Aftermath

I can't tell you how thankful I am to have woken up to these two today. Rob was not here this morning when I left mid-morning for work, but after the night we all endured last night and the overspill to this morning, they were the perfect little faces to see.

Speaking of the overspill, the better part of the morning today was spent cleaning up from the mess of yesterday and making plans to rectify the damage that has been done. Thankfully, nothing irreversibly permanent or serious has come out of this, but even this morning some of my other concerns were validated through the communication exchanged before I even got to work. It's exhausting. If you're reading this and have no idea what I'm talking about, I would only ask that you just pray... for me, for my family, for my daughter & for some peace and endurance to focus on the blessings that come from every situation, joyous or challenging as they may be.

I was beyond grateful that today passed without much conflict at all. I finally got into that groove of functioning, halfway through the day, just in time to make reservations as something of an I-Owe-You to Rob for everything, but also because he'd never been.....

.... to...

THE BOATHOUSE!

out to dinner with my best friend ♥

We both needed a night to just be there, in each other's presence and with or without words remind the other that neither of us are going anywhere. We are in this together, and now that certain words made have been proven weightless, we have successfully navigated our way through another battle, together. I am especially grateful for this man tonight. For my daughter. For our Christian and moral values and determination not to quit when the first stones are tossed at us. For the realization that I finally have someone in my life who is there for me, not for his own selfish gain and recognition. I may feel a little battered after yesterday and today, but I am also feeling hopeful. Exceptionally so, at this point.

And with that being said, dinner was about as much excitement as either of us could handle tonight, so we declined a very tempting offer to meet up with Kalyn & Keifer, and rather to just sit this one out.

I'm thankful, but exhausted.
See ya'll tomorrow, blogbots.

xo | cmd