Hello, Lakewood!

Rise and shine!
On a Saturday? Cori, are you okay? 

Guys, I was meeting up with the Costanza clan and heading north to Lakewood. The Vega's were waiting on the other side, and so were a cast of folks I'd not yet met, but was looking forward very much to getting to know.

Roooooad trip!

We piled into the van at the Costanza house and wasted no time finding the highway northbound. It was a smooth ride nearly the entire way, until we hit a stretch of unpaved roadway and a broken down semi that resulted in nearly an hour of lost time. Good thing there were some interesting views along the way:

What should've been 4 hours turned into 5, but the end was all that much better when we rolled into the driveway of the Constanzas' friends, and were greeted by them, their 4 awesome kiddos and of course, Talsy & David!

We settled in, exchanged introductions and cozied up with some heated blankets to talk with the Vega's about the recent happenings in the mountains of Panama. It's been just a little over a year since we've seen Talsy & David; we've all changed so much but still hardly at all [if that makes any sense at all] in just a years' time.

talsy. david. chris

OH, and I experienced Angelo's for the first time. This place alone would be enough to bring me back. Thanks for ruining pizza anywhere else for me for the rest of time, Angelo's... haha. 

this place.. yummmm...

The night wound down as David & Talsy headed back to their host home for the night, the kids all headed upstairs to bed, some of us took showers and then started to wind down until the air mattress was finally inflated, the couch was made and each of us retired to our respective spots for the night. 

Tomorrow: Church at Crosspoint, where the Vega's will share the update on the missions with us. I'm ready & excited to experience Crosspoint and see what they're all about. Plus, Todd gifted us with these super soft and super comfy shirts [thanks, guys!!!]

thank you!!

Good night, Lakewood! 

xo | cmd

Journey | Steve Miller Band

On Sunday, Rob told me to check my email. I'd assumed it was information for our upcoming vaca, but I was wrong.

It's been a while since I've been so happy... to be wrong.
Instead of itinerary notes, it was a ticket confirmation to see these guys:

journey

steve miller band

STAAAHHHP.... My poor heart!
I LOVE the SMB, and Journey is, well.. they're Journey! C'Mon!
I have the best boyfriend imaginable. While the fastest and most direct route to my heart is through my stomach [aka, food], a very closely-contending route would be through live concerts for some of the bands I adore.

So I spent the entire day with SMB & Journey on my Pandora, singing "wheel in the sky keeps on tuuuuurnin'... don't know where I'll be tomoooorrooow...." over and over in my head in anticipation that they'd play that song [*spoiler alert: they did.].

Work passed quickly enough and it was home-bound to get ready. The sky threatened rain for a mere 20 minutes until it passed through and we voted on taking the bike down to Riverbend. Good call, too, since there's a Harley Row literally just outside of the entrance to Riverbend [tiny things = big wins!]

harley parking!

Kalyn, Brittany and their dad Papa Todd were on a separate trip to the concert, but we rendezvoused with them and parked ourselves on the lawn for a good night.

rob. me. brittany. todd. kalyn

And that's exactly what it was.

brittany! [& rob filming the concert.. haha]

love. this. guy.

and someone brought.. watermelon?

because sharing.. is caring... ;)

he loves me ♥

some smb!

A little [shaky, sorry] video footage of us and a thousand of our fellow folk enjoying perfect weather for the show!


happy people!

Last one for the night before the sun went down...


& so i love these people.

What an awesome night.
I told Rob next time, I'll drive, too ;)

whatcha think?? ;)

We're all home safe & sound. That's a wrap here, folks!
Good night!

xo | cmd

Welcome, Baby Sally!

She's HERE!


sally irene | looks like mama!

After much anticipation, nail-biting, and patience, Joe's cousin Holly and her husband Todd finally welcomed their first baby, little Sally Irene, into the world yesterday. [I'm just now getting the photo to post; sorry about the delay!] We are elated that both mommy and baby are doing well, and daddy is, too. Our prayers are dedicated to the continued stable health of little Sally, and a speedy recovery for Holly.

The holidays are approaching just around the bend; we'll get to see her sooner than we think!

[[Can't wait!!]]

Congratulations, Holly, Todd, and the rest of the family!!

xo | cmd

Renewed, AT LAST!!

renewed | joe & cori
photography: amy hildebrand

T-Minus… ZERO days.

Whoa.

TODAY!!! [& in case you’re wondering, yes, this entry is backdated. Hush.]
p.s. - more wedding photos coming soon. Stay tuned!

The day started [for the gents] with 9 holes of golf. It was colder this morning than yesterday. So yeah. Take that for making fun of us floating around icebergs yesterday. J



preparation is hard work.. :)

The ladies all made their way to the ‘Big House’ [factual term] for a bridesmaid breakfast. Thanks to Maricor for jumping right in on the omelette pan – you’ve got skill, cousin, SKILL. It was so nice seeing all of my bridal party together, informally, just eating and getting to know each other. I am so grateful to have these women in my life, and even more blessed that they were all here because I asked them. Each one of them means the world to me; I am definitely one blessed girl.

Once the ladies headed back to their hotels to spend some time with the dates they’d brought or just to tie up any last minute details, Kalyn and I embarked on our own mission to get all the final finites in order. We all rendezvoused back at the big house to do the hair & make-up prep before tailing over to the manor. We met up with the photographers there for final touches, zip-ups, double checks, bobby pins, and hairspray before lining up in our aisle-marching order. The music trickled in, and we were off.

Show time.

I had a revelation:

During the moments I stood still holding my father’s arm, staring at the husband God created for me, it hit me. As Cynthia finished out singing Look at Me, I had just a moment to breathe deep and realize that everything – all the planning, re-planning, budgeting, phone calls, emails, stressing, and crafting – had not only paid off, but was completely minute compared to the serenity of that moment. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that.



top photo | jess. cori. kalyn. brittany. donna
bottom photo | our handsome gentlemen!



To say that we are blessed is a gross understatement. My beautiful niece/bridesmaid Cynthia blessed us by singing, Eric did a reading, my husband and I sang our first public duet, our friends and family were there to see us, and we couldn’t have asked for better weather. I wouldn’t have changed a thing. We had officially had our first real wedding, and it was perfect.

As the night wound down to a close, and our guests started trickling home, we loaded all our gifts into Adam’s car, and we all headed back to the hotel. That brings us to now [still back-dated], which means curing our exhaustion with some sleep.

[The renewed] Mr. & Mrs. Dills are gonna get some Z’s, starting now.

xo | cmd

Wuest Wedding!!

The Art of Marriage, by Wilferd Peterson:

the wuests | todd & donna

A good marriage must be created.
In the art of marriage the little things are the big things...

It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once each day.

It is never going to sleep angry.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.

It is speaking words of appreciation and
demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.

It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.

It is not only marrying the right partner...
It is being the right partner.

This is what Joe was asked to read during the wedding today. [He did it perfectly, too, for the record!] It was such a gorgeous wedding, even though the sun was both blindig and blistering.



More hilariously, this wedding is one I will never forget.
This is a true story:

Joe started the day with an 18-hole golf session with Todd and some other guys from the bridal party. I'm glad it wasn't me; it was sweltering out there today, and I'm not much of a golfer. They survived with no heat-stroke casualties, though, so that's always a good sign.

JB & his date Jess came by and picked me up around 5:30 and the three of us trekked up to West Chester to meet Eric at his sister's house. I hopped [literally, stupid dress] into his truck with him and we led the way for JB & Jess out to Northbend to the country club.



Did I mention it was h-o-t outside?? Todd & Donna craftily ensured that their wedding programs doubled as fans, but most guys our age don't jump at the option of sitting and, well, fanning. It seemed so unfair, since the boys were all in suits, and the girls... weren't. I did my very best to funnel as much air as I could on to Eric, since the poor guy had sweat dripping off his face by the end of the ceremony. A moment of cool relief finally crept over us when the sun disappeared behind a cloud and we no longer had to squint.

jess | justin | eric | cori | joe

CONGRATULATIONS, TODD & DONNA WUEST!!

The reception was everything a reception should be: food, friends, and plenty of dancing. And not just dancing, oh no, but the older adults dancing. Moms and dads and grandparents always make for the best duos at wedding receptions. Of course that didn't stop any of us from cuttin' up some pretty good rug to a well-constructed soundtrack.

Speaking of which:

Ooooone of us decided to not only cut the rug, but slide on it. I don't blame him, because that floor looked pretty slick. It wasn't. :( Eric attempted to slide across it into the worm [he powered through!], but unfortunately, the floor fought back and Eric ended up splitting his chin open. So, Joe, Justin, Jess and I all loaded up into our respective vehicles and set off in search of the nearest hospital.

First attempt = fail. GPS found Christ Hospital....... medical testing center. Ooops.

Second attempt = lesser degree fail. GPS found us Mercy Western Hills. For lack of a better term, that place is hood. Really.

So here we are, dressed like wedding yuppies [oh, and the wedding colors were bright pink & black; Joe was therefore sporting a bright pink tie and vest] at a hospital in the middle of the night, in the middle of a savory neighborhood. Thumbs up.

Justin tailed Eric back to the fixer-upper room to witness and photograph the stitches, leaving Joe, Jess and I in the waiting room to witness something I'm still unsure I didn't just imagine: 



wedding battle wounds | 8 stitches!



Roughly 45 minutes into our wait, a shirtless man comes waltzing into the hospital. By man, I mean likely some WWE has-been, standing at about 6'5" and impossibly weighing anything less than 300 lbs of sheer muscle. Scarier than his stature was the blood covering the entire left side of his torso. It didn't take us long to spot two holes, one in his chest, right above his heart, and the other parallel to it in his bicep.

Fast forward to when we're no longer freaking out about the bloody man to when we learned he wasn't shot, but he was stabbed. A lady not much smaller than he had accompanied him into the hospital and informed us that we "should see the other guy." No thanks, lady. No thanks.

So we leave, finally, after Eric and his 8 stitches emerge ready to go.
What do you do after an adventure like that?
You go to IHOP.

It's 2AM.

Yep.

Scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, and pancakes will cure any crazy evening. Especially when the entire meal is spent reflecting on a journey that began at a country club and ended at IHOP.

I love my friends.

So, all in all, this was the wedding.

Quite the eventful evening.

Congratulations, Todd & Donna. We wish you the best and then some for this new chapter of your lives!

xo | cmd

P.S. - Yeah, I'm cheating on this one and backdating it to the latest possible time that I can so it'll post on the right day ;) Shhhhhh.

Lunch with Lynn | Dinner Time with Donna & Todd

We're back home in Cincinnati, and for some reason, it's just a relieving feeling. We started off our mini-vacation by driving down to meet Lynn in Kentucky for a relaxing afternoon and some lunch. I'm sorry, Lynn, I didn't think to photodocument the occasion. I promise I won't be a slacker next time around.

We left Lynn's around 3:30 to go pick up Joe's tux for the Castelli-Wuest wedding, and then stopped back home to clean up quickly before the rehearsal dinner.

Todd & Donna's wedding will be at a country club on the other side of Cincinnati. We nearly got lost finding it, but as luck would have it, our GPS did its job and we made it there for the rehearsal dinner. This place is gorgeous, and I'm so excited for Todd & Donna!

todd & joe | cori & donna

We stayed at the rehearsal dinner for quite some time, enjoying the company and enjoying the food!
Tomorrow's the big day... We'll get rested up now!

the dills | joe & cori

xo | cmd