FIRST. DAY. OF. SCHOOL!!!

I'm not ashamed to brag on myself today: I did not cry.
That doesn't sound like a huge feat to most people, but this mama fully expected to shed some tears watching her baby board the school bus for the very. first. time today.

& i love you to the moon & back! ♥♥

Nope. :D I held it together. Barely. But I did it.

Bottom line: This little girl is a kindergartener. My heart.. is happy. I am so proud of the beautiful soul she is becoming.

So here they are: DAY 1 - KINDERGARTEN!

first day! 

my beautiful girl ♥

and this is my world. 

hangin' at the bus stop with mallory

The time finally came.. 

it's here! 

It was time for hugs from Mindi. This was special for me, since Sydni has been in Mindi's daytime care since she was 6 months old. Aside from the time we lived out of state, Mindi has always been there for Sydni, and for me as well. What a sweet moment! 

thank you, miss mindi! 

sweet mallory [mindi's daughter] being a watchful friend for day 1! 

After the extensive 8 minute journey to school... ;) 

:D 

day 1 in class.. meeting new friends & finding a rhythm.. 

There ya have it. My baby girl is a school kid, as she calls it.
I am one.. proud.. mama. ♥♥♥

The day must go on, of course. Off to work it was, to finish out the Tuesday. As a reward for holding my composure for the day, Rob and I took advantage of the evening and made a second attempt to see the new TMNT. Fortunately, bad luck didn't strike twice, and we made it through the entire movie with no theater power outages. (:

tmnt!

P.S. - Tuesdays -- at least this Tuesday -- are discount days at the theater in Oakley. NOTED.

*Whew! That's a wrap, kids.

xo | cmd

Hello, BAJA!!

It's HERE!

I have to say it was a little funny this morning to see Rob awake well before me.... that is, at 4:00 AM. Today was the day slated to head north [like, way north] to pick up the boat that Rob hadn't yet seen in person, but had technically already purchased, according to the banks.

that's no lie.

I was a bit nervous for him, yes. Buying something big like that without the opportunity to first see it in person, but I took cues from him and stayed positive about the experience until a reason should confront us not to stay that way.

It was a 4-hour ride up north, just a short time past Cambridge & Zanesville to Bowerston, where we met with an awesome couple about to hand over their boat to us.

We stayed much longer than we expected; the couple turned out to be a really interesting, funny pair of people and our conversations extended far past the details of the boat sale. We've agreed to stay in touch, and if they should ever find themselves heading to Cumberland, they'll look us up.

MOST importantly here though: WE HAVE THE [NEW!] BOAT!

i couldn't get back far enough to get both truck+boat in the pic :p

My boyfriend was a jargled, excited little mess all the way home, rightfully so. I may have had my reservations about this whole arrangement, but I have to hand it to him: he did an excellent job on this. His ability to hunt on Craigslist is truly unrivaled. Good job, babe!

This lovely behemeth is now parked in our driveway, safe and sound for a sleepover before its maiden voyage tomorrow [yes, tomorrow]. Rob and I decided to celebrate with a date night out to Rusty Bucket & a movie.

We accomplished two things tonight:

1. Rob's first trip to Rusty Bucket was a success.
2. We saw the new TMNT! Hahaha... okay, we saw HALF of the new TMNT; it would be our luck that about halfway through the movie, an entire BLOCK of Oakley's power would crash, leaving a theater full of movie-goers with raincheck tickets for a future show. I'm not complaining; we'll definitely be back to see it!

date night with this guy ♥

I guess in the scope of things, a power outage at a movie theater is nothin'. It's been an awesome day.

Time for some rest; tomorrow's a lake day!

xo | cmd