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

A Tuesday with the Truschinski's

I said I would take a more well-spirited attitude with me to work today, and I made good on that promise to myself. Today proved overall to be a much better experience than yesterday. While I was right in predicting that some of my client fires wouldn't fizzle out before 11am, by 5pm the cycles were back in balance and I left with a sense of peace and confidence that I reluctantly did not have at the same time yesterday.

Good stuff.

I actually started off the day with some Joy FM [99.1 fm], which is the normal frequency on our car stereos when the CD's aren't playing. The first thing we always do when we move to a new area is hunt down the best radio stations, so a finding the Christian-based dial is always good. Aaanyway, all week, the morning show hosts have been amped up about Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife Mary Beth being in the studio to talk about their organization, Show Hope. [I just danced to Cinderella as the first dance with my father at our wedding!] I usually stray away [I'm just being honest] from listening on days like these, because I'm a commute-soloist who can usually be spotted at redlights wailing away to some catchy tune. Yeah, don't act like you don't ;).

So this morning, there they are, explaining how the origin and current function of their organization: a medical program operating in China. They provide the medical treatment and corrective operations to children who are otherwise unadoptable in their current physical states. They shared story after story of successful operation or treatment that led to an approved adoption status and ultimately the placement of a child with a life-long family. Talk about tugging at the heartstrings. For me, this holds personal weight since I was an orphan in a third-world country with odds stacked against me. I dedicated the my entire commute to hearing their testimony and how they're impacting lives in a truly measurable way. I rolled into work with a smile on my heart for their work and kept that with me throughout the day.

After work, I headed back to base to grab Sydni and creep [I say creep, because with base speed limits, that's the only thing you'll do] over to the Truschinski house for dinner. On a side note, the Truschinski's have been blessed with one of the most beautiful base housing setups I've ever seen, and Melanie's decorating skills are top-notch. Kudos :).

Dinner was phenomenal, and the kids had the chance to play while the adults had conversation time. Many thanks to Melanie and Ryan for opening their home to us and giving us a break from cooking!

Lastly, but never least: Joe is STILL in the running for a spot on the All Air Force soccer team. His latest report is that he's sore beyond belief, but hanging in there. Our prayers are on the table for him :)

Today was a good day.
Those are the best kind.

xo | cmd

Columbus Day

Happy Columbus Day!

Well, to the government, bank, and school kids who got to take the day off today :).

I found myself at my desk for the day, battling an onslaught of client fires that burned heavy throughout most of the day, and will probably need final extinguishing tomorrow. It was one of those days, one of those Mondays, one of those times. I've prayed consistently for calm nerves during this time of personal adjustment with Joe being gone, but today I made the subconscious mistake of bringing a semi-frazzled past few days with me to the office.  Here's where I publicly admit that I left work in tears that'd I'd built up past capacity over the course of the day. Meltdown.


landon. sydni. cyle.
playdate

Thankfully, Lara had been so helpful and kind to pick Sydni up from our on-base provider an hour earlier than normal, so Syd was at the Babots when I got there. I ended up spontaneously staying for dinner, which turned into a fiasco of its own sort when Lara's neighbor realized she'd locked her infant daughter in the van after pulling into their garage. In the brief time it took for me to catch up on her day, I instantly came to the conclusion that my day, my Monday, my life is absolutely nothing to have gotten so worked up over. [In case you're wondering, seg-fo and the locksmith were very prompt in resolving the locked van issue.] Ultimately, I'd had a rough day, I'd seen a rougher day, and through it all I both saw the greater haves in my sitation than the have-nots, and had dinner with one of the sweetest gals around. 

All in all, win-win.

I'll try and that that to work tomorrow and see how that changes things. ;)

xo | cmd

Base Picnic

Another scorcher out there today…

Let’s go to an outdoor picnic, eh?

Okayyy.



caitlin & sydni

It was definitely warm out there. We spent most of the morning into mid afternoon hanging out on base at Joe’s squadrant picnic. It was a pretty good time; giant grill out, cornhole tourney, volleyball, soccer net, and a huge playtower off of which Sydni nearly shoved someone else’s kid. She’s a bully, I tell you.

We left halfway through the afternoon after we had spent the entire day sweating; Sydni needed a bath and a nap, and after she was down for the count, I found myself waking up on the couch 2 hours later.

This was pretty much how a standard Air Force Saturday goes. I’m a fan. J

xo | cmd

A[n actual] Day of REST...

scott | sun & water | beauty at the base

Let’s talk about lazy days…

This was one of those lazy days.

I honestly don’t have much to report; for the first time in quite some time, Joe and I didn’t have a single thing on the agenda today other than church, and a late evening soccer game at Vetta. Other than that, we really did, in fact, do nothing but relax at home and hang out with Sydni all day long.

This is the stuff weekends are made of. ♥

See ya tomorrow…

xo | cmd

Base Picnic & Bible Study

Today started off with waffles. A day that starts off with waffles is rarely ever a bad day. Haha.

waffle time!

The boys headed out to meet up with Kyle, Lorne, & Nick to help one of their buddies move his things out of a storage unit. Sydni and I hung back to clean up, which we finished sooner than we thought. That meant some free time for jewelry!

Behold:

handmade fun:
dragonfly pendent for mama
simple purple droplet for sydni

Sydni & I headed to the Sandven’s and the lot of us trekked over to the Scott AFB picnic. We hadn’t been to a base picnic yet, so we weren’t sure what to expect. It was a free event, and the entire base was invited. This thing was huge, more like an outdoor festival with free food, swag, and hot, hot sun. We ate, we walked, and we played. Definitely not a bad day for a picnic. We took Eric over to the lake for some cool-down cornhole before we headed back home to get ready for Bible study.



local radio station promo inflatable | eric & joe trying out a picnic game




bengals cornhole



rick warren

Towerview has a couple’s bible study that takes place every other Friday at the pastor’s house. This was our first session; the topic series tonight was the first of three on Raising Your Kids Without Raising Your Blood Pressure. How appropriate! J Excluding us, the pastor and his wife, there were five other couples in attendance, all with at least one child. We watched a video lesson by Rick Warren on parenting, and had a group discussion following. I was thoroughly impressed with how it went, and with how warm and welcoming this group is. I have a feeling we’re going to fit in and stay here. We’ll see.

We plan on doing a little touring tomorrow! The Gateway Arch, in St. Louis is on our list, along with either the Anheuser-Busch brewery or Grant Farm. We’ll see what we fancy more when we wake up in the morning….

xo | cmd

Hello, Lake

It felt so good to sleep in with Joe and not lend a single thought to any unpacking or cleaning. Sydni somehow ended up snuggled between us, so the three of us indulged in the complete nothing that Saturday mornings should be. That’s the stuff perfect is made of.

When late morning rolled around and we finally got moving, we loaded up cooler, cornhole, and kid and headed to base to pick up Lorne [or Sheppy, for his last name Shepherd, as Syd calls him]. The four of us drove out to a secluded spot on the base next to a lake and an on-base campground. There we met up with the Sandvens and the Paulsons [Steve & Tiffany] for some fresh air, cornhole, volleyball, and exploring around the lake. I couldn’t have imagined better weather for it, and the company certainly wasn’t bad, either.

We rounded out the afternoon with dinner at the BX and some winding down back at the Sandvens.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow; Joe attended a church right down the street from our house and from what I hear, he thoroughly enjoyed it. I read the email that the pastor sent Joe after he attended, and I must say I was impressed. We’ll see how it is tomorrow!

xo | cmd

TGIF. Yeah.

Holy smokes, it’s Friday! I feel like the days have just flown right on by, but the good news is this place is finally starting to resemble more of a dwelling place than a storage unit.

Today I whipped the kitchen into shape, and took a trip to the Commissary/BX to do some tax-free grocery shopping. Now we’ve got dishes and food. Pretty sweet, I’d say.



Scott AFB Commissary & BX

A shorter entry here, primarily because today was pretty much a rinse-and-repeat of yesterday: unpack, shelve, clean, donate.

Tomorrow I’m takin’ a break. Believe it J.

xo | cmd