Hoxworth Reds Blood Drive

The fact that I participate in blood drives will forever be blamed on Becky. Hahh. I'm not upset though; I'm glad that she ingrained the necessity to attend these as frequently as I'm allowed.

The last time I attempted to donate, I nearly passed out, apparently not having eaten enough earlier in the day. I decided this morning that that would not be an issue today: 

breakfast

lunch

It was time to go! It's always unnerving to get a needle stuck in my arm for 15 minutes, but I was happy to report even halfway through that it was a no-worries situation!

good to go!

SUCCESS!

cincinnati reds swag ;)

Your turn, friends! These donations save lives; if you are able, GO DONATE!

xo | cmd

Indianapolis | Reds Opener | April FOOLS!

So.... Rob and I awoke this morning to an EMPTY parking spot where our RENTAL car had been sitting the night before. Thanks, a lot, Cincinnati police.

You know what else?

HAPPY

!!!

Yeah, we didn't get towed. Not even close. We actually got an early start out since it was opening day for the Reds and downtown Cincinnati goes completely insane by 11am. We didn't feel like getting caught in street closures and all that jazz, so we made a break for it before the madness ensued.

That being said, .... LET'S GO REDS!!!!!


let's go redlegs!!!!

Once we were out of Cincinnati, we made a pit stop in Indianapolis for lunch and a couple of other things. I ran across this sign, and had to share, because I find myself constantly being the sole witness to weird stuff like this. I mentioned before that Indianapolis reminds me now of an excerpt from District 12 of The Hunger Games, so this just served to justify my conclusion. What. A. Weirdo. Place.


ok? sure thing, indy.

We're HOME now, with the evening still wide open. We stopped at the house long enough to let Stella out, then stuff her into the truck so we could return the rental car. We did that, made a quick pitstop at Target for some dinner food [which is sitting idle in the fridge as we speak; our tired tails just ordered in... don't judge, heh]. We laughed, because Rob had drawn some sunlight for us on the inside of the windshield on our way to Cincy and had forgotten to scrub it off before we hit the rental car place... lol, woops.

oh, sunny dayyyy! (:

Stella had started to take on the smell of dirt, since all she does outside is barrel roll down the yard every chance she gets. With Rob's help, we hoisted her into the bathtub and gave that poor girl a doggie shower. She hated every second of it, but I can safely say she's not a completely different color. Note to self: I need to do this more often. Haha. Next step is cutting down those bag lady claws she has. We'll get there. 


our beautiful stella pittie, so fresh & clean!



It feels so good to be home. Plus, we've now got a 4-day week ;) I don't mind that... at... all (:

G'Nite, Blogbots!

xo | cmd

Emma's Birthday | Lovin' Ohio Sports!

What a Saturday! I'm spent. And I'll tell ya why.

It started off with some early morning errands, some photo editing, and finally out to Becky's for Emma's birthday party. It was a great time with our friends, and the kiddos had a blast, too. Jason & I got to babbling on about cameras, Jimmy & Joe finalized their plans to have an eating contest, and Jarod was hailed as the reigning champ of trial mud runs, despite his affinity for Slim Jims and Mountain Dew. Oh, and there were plenty "That's what MO said"'s to go around. Haha. Don't ask; we're a funky bunch....

[I'm still editing down the pictures I took, so I just borrowed Jason's. Haha. I'll get mine up later....] Either way...

HAPPY THIRD BIRTHDAY,
EMMA!!!

[photog: jwisely] | happy birthday, sweet emma!!!

... of course it wouldn't be a show without something random, unnecessary, and silly. For that reason, Becky dug out the crimson gloves she snagged at the Towerview yardsale.. and, well.. here's that mini-story [thanks, Jason]: 

you can't see it, but that is a uc sweatshirt.. just sayin'
.... oh. and the gloves? you can thank becky for those ;) 

*I love our friends.*

You know what else I love, in a separate but equally-awesome way?

Being an OHIOAN. Hehe. 

I know, I know, I live in Illinois, but let's be honest. I breathe Ohio, and I don't expect that to change anytime soon, even if I never set residence outside this state ever again. Sorry to disappoint. Haha. Anyway, today was one of those days that made me super proud to be a Bearcat [alumni], a Buckeye [state allegience], and also a supporter of the Redlegs. 

O-H! .... I-O!

ahh! my alma mater! happy homecoming!!!!
[with a victory, too?! not a bad way to go!! ohh, ohhh, ohhhh uc!]

My alma mater! Cincinnati's homecoming was tonight, and since I obviously was unable to be present for the festivities, I sure do remember homecomings and the fun we had at the games. Nippert was packed tonight, and those Bearcats did their job to earn a WIN over Miami for homecoming! 52-14, we'll take it! SO PROUD OF THOSE BEARCATS!!! (:

the ohio state, at it again!!

Ohio State, also failing to disappoint, came out on top of Nebraska on Columbus turf with a big win. O-H.... I-O!!! 

brandon phillips.. you sir, are fantastic! yeah, reds!!!

Last but definitely not least, Brandon Phillips and the Reds came through with a win tonight, and basically left us Ohioans [Cincinnatians, specifically] on the edge of our seats for the last couple innings. The Reds took it with a win over SanFran, and if we do it right, we'll snag another W tomorrow! 

*Whewwww. I'm definitely not the one to continuously post sport-related updates, but I had to today. Hopefully the Bengals will take a win tomorrow... and we'll be all set :)

Church in the morning. Time call it a night! 

xo | cmd

It's a Good Day to Praise!

Amen? Aaaamen!

So today was one of those days that was a blessing from top to bottom.

adam baptizing carlee! :)

First, we started with church [as always!]. We are home this weekend, a welcome return from visiting my parents' church back in Ohio. Adam had asked Joe to lead Sunday school, since he was tied up with another obligation for the 9:00 hour.

At the start of the service, the projection screen lifted to reveal Adam, dressed in baptistry garb, in the water ready to do his first baptism. We excitedly watched as he baptized their youngest, Carlee, into the church and into Christ's family. It totally melted my heart to be a witness to that moment; how awesome to baptize your own child! :) Welcome, Carlee!!

dan & robin
dan, we'll miss you | robin, we love you!!

On a slightly more somber note, today was Dan Werner's last Sunday with us for at least 1 year. He leaves for a 1-year deployment on Tuesday this week. We surrounded Robin & Dan before the service and prayed over them. I know how tough it was some days when Joe was gone for a year, but we were free to coordinate Sydni and I visiting on average once a month. Not only will Robin be void of that luxury, she'll be with two children here. My heart goes to them, along with all of the military families who face the challenges of deployment. Either way, it was wonderful to see them together at church today and to be a part of Dan's church family send-off. I pray this time will pass quickly!

rebecca & nick | new towerview members!

It's that time of year again for graduations, and today we honored our high school graduates. Congratulations to all of them!! :)

Lastly [but certainly not of any lesser value!], Nick and Rebecca took to the aisle during the invitation and joined the church. They are now official members of Towerview Baptist!! It's been nothing but fun getting to know them through the Sandvens, and seeing them get more and more involved with us - like our small group Friday - made me thrilled to see them join up with the ranks of the rest of us Towerviewers. Welcome!! :) :)

After the service, we gathered downstairs for lunch and a VBS kickoff of sorts. Joe gained a whole new level of appreciation for childcare workers after it was said and done and we'd left him with the kids for nearly an hour. Hah. Back at the house, Joe and Syd settled in for a nap and I took to grocery shopping and some other miscellaneous Sunday things.

Now we're all back here, settling in for the evening, and I can't complain one bit about that. :)

This is the way to start a week!

xo | cmd

Tri-cycle

We're just not quite there yet. Bless her heart, she really did try. The good news is, she's starting to understand the concept and how she could make this work. The bad news: her little legs just aren't long enough, yet. We'll give it another few months, and when the snow is gone, we'll give it another shot.

The other good news: It's still absolutely beautiful outside, so we were able to do all the frolicking we wanted in shorts and t-shirts for the day, before the cold sets in next week. [[Many thanks, again, to Deb & Chris, and my entire former staff @ the Cinci East Express for getting her this adorable pint-sized Red's shirt!]] I'm just not ready to see the warm days go, but if that means snowboard season, I guess I'll be okay with that, too.

This morning was church, then lunch, then hangin' out around the house and playing outside before dinner. Not a bad end to the weekend, yeah?

And thumbs up for me not having to leave for work until 7:20 tomorrow... not 6:35! I like it :)

xo | cmd

Work Dinner Date!

Express Cincinnati East
Cori. Deb. Chris. Brandi. Jess

In celebration of my amazing but interrupted run at Express, my work treated me to dinner at El Coyote in Anderson. I hadn’t been, but it was certainly a good pick.

I read a poll once [back when I worked at ….. the ‘radio station’] that 89% of middle working class Americans did not like their jobs. At that time, I was relatively confident that I comprised at least 25% of that number. My empathy goes out to any commissioned sales reps who maintained employment survival between 2007 and 2010. I was asking for money people didn’t have, for air time they didn’t really need, for bosses who didn’t really care. Awesome.

In March 2010, I found Express: A global, Christian-founded company with small, local franchises. By small, I mean offices of 2-10ish people. I decided to go for it, and I will never regret that.

Fast forward 1+ year. Our owners rewarded their success by upgrading our office to a building with the space and storage to satisfy everybody.  We no longer communicated with the entire office just by raising our voices, and we added a wall-size logo inside on the main entry wall. Small, but rewarding touches.

When Joe & I found out his base assignment for the next 3+ years was Scott AFB, IL, I was thoroughly disappointed that I would be leaving. I didn’t expect the kind of going-away that I got from my work.

This is what they presented me at dinner:

 Here’s what my Express & Cincinnati Basket contained:

- Collapsible picnic basket

- Framed 8x10 of our office

- Montgomery Inn BBQ sauce

- La Rosa’s pasta sauce

- Can of Skyline chili + box of spaghetti [<3 Cinci!]

- Busken Bakery smilies

- 6pack of Mt. Carmel

- STAT drug test [I actually laughed audibly at this]

- Express bobble head pen

- Graeter’s buckeyes

- Jelly Bellies

- Cincinnati Reds shirt for Sydni

- $100 Best Buy gift card

- Card w/awesome well wishes J

- Reference letter created by and signed by both owners

I definitely didn’t see that coming, and I was blown away by their combined generosity. That’s by far the best going-away bundle I’ve ever received. I left the restaurant even more bummed out that I would be parting from both my coworkers and all of Cincinnati’s prized favorite stops.

I got home to find that Joe was already back from IL J It’s good to have him home. Our crazy weekend is about to commence!

xo | cmd

SEVENTEEN [round 2!]

What better way to celebrate the end of another cycle in the Michael Moreno 17-day 'diet' fiasco, than to wrap your successful little self in a blanket of muted, soggy silver.

....sweet. sounds like fun.

The perpetual wetness that took such a brief yet welcomed hiatus from its nesting spot over Cincinnati is back. Technically, it came back Friday afternoon, but it's still here, and it's quite the drab adversary to ignore in hopes of creating an energetic Monday.



rain in cincinnati | originally uploaded by desizemoe


^^ I found that shot and had to include here: I love the graining he added and the character it takes under the clouds parting. 



serpentine wall | ohio river

The running theme here is this persistent weather and all of its insipid nothingness. *sigh.

Tonight, I had toyed with the idea of attending a Reds game, at the 2-ticket generous offerings of my bosses. Kalyn and I thought it over and decided she'd freeze and I'd end up sicker than I already am now; it just didn't seem conducive to our common sense to go. From what we saw on TV, the 6th inning would've made enduring the elements well worth it. Oh well. Nice job, Reds!

Oh yeah, P.S. - Day ONE starts (again) tomorrow! Cycle THREE: I'm comin' for ya.....

xo | cmd