Sunday @ SonRise

Ohhhh, Ohio.... your weatherrrrr.....

raaaaaaiiiiin..... *sigh

There wasn't a cloud in the sky yesterday, so naturally today, it poured.

All day. :|

It didn't deter us from our usual Sunday routine of heading in to church. I was surprised when Trish and the kiddos joined in for the morning service, which in itself was one of those messages that pulls at some of those uncomfortable corners of our hearts.

photo cred: sonrise church! 

It's messages like these that challenge me to put my own feet to the fire and pursue what's right over what I oftentimes want to do and follow based on my emotions [because honestly, there's a running list of ways my emotions have misled me... well... a lot over the course of my existence]. I am so thankful for a pastor and staff who can incorporate grace and love into a message that otherwise may easily offend the prideful nature we all naturally have.

After church, we took a quick lunch break down the street at Frisch's before making a pitstop and home and then a U-turn riiiight back to SonRise for the membership initiation class, also known as Class 101.

c.l.a.s.s.:
christian life and service seminars

The class was fairly intense: a 3-hour session chock-full of background on our church, its mission and purpose and operating principles. It's the first time I've been involved with a church to this degree: learning the internal structure, doctrinal beliefs exercised and leadership structure up front, before committing myself as a member. This is the first truly non-denominational church I've ever felt compelled to explore, and the more I learn about it, the more I find I'm embracing the approach. SonRise functions on the mission of loving all people, reaching them for God, and training them with the knowledge and tools to go and share the word with the world around them.

these two :) 

Syd challenged Rob to a game of ping pong, and while I would typically question her version of the game rules, she apparently won, and that was settled ;)

Speaking of simply loving God, Sydni created this yesterday and I forgot to share:

"sydni art"

^^ Oh, be STILL .. my heart. I can barely handle this. Syd, you are such a light in this little life of ours, and I hope you never ever question just how beautiful you are. I love you, mini me!

It's been a long day, but spending it at SonRise was one of the best I could've envisioned for an otherwise drab day. I am one lucky mama.

CHEERS to a wonderful week!

xo | cmd

SonRise: Doors & The Haiti PEACE Team!

My church. I'm falling in love every single week with the messages being shared. Trish joined us this morning, which was terrific! Girl, I'm so glad you were able to make it out! She reminded me of the time I told her that I wasn't entirely sold on the series my church was going through; at the time, I really wasn't sure if I wanted to stay, as I'd felt some of the content was starting to stray a bit, doctrinally-speaking.

It's been a 180 since then; I realized this morning when she brought that up, and looking back at that, it also hit me that I've been with this church for over two years now. Yay!

Today was the second installment of the newest series: Doors. Pastor Jeff, Pastor Chad and the rest of the team has done an excellent job of incorporating real, life-applicable teachings into a message built around God's word. I mean, we can all relate to what a door is, and how it's an access point either into or out of somewhere, something, someone... they're digging into this deeper each week, and illustrating the avenues in life that are either accessed or denied by our choice to open and close those doors.

are we listening?

AND, many many prayers of excitement went out today to the SonRise PEACE team that's headed to Haiti at the end of this week! Marissa's (from my Panama team) sister Tana is going, along with 9 others: Chad, Evan, Joy, Matt, Noah, Rachel, Jamie, Wendell and Jacques will all make their way to Haiti in less than a week to be the voice and presence of God's love among the people in need there. I am asking that you, my fellow blogbots, please lift them up in prayer the same way you did for my Panama team and me!

go team haiti! 

What a beautiful thing!! We are praying you guys to and from safely, and that God will do what He does best through your hands while you're there. I can't wait to hear your stories when you return! :)

For us, it was a nice day spent relaxing here at home: Getting a couple things done, and enjoying the weather outside for a bit.

Here's to a solid week!

xo | cmd

All-Over Saturday

Hello, weekend!

I guess I should go ahead and disclose now that Taste of Belgium is currently serving their seasonal gingerbread waffles, and... well, GO.

yum! 

Nom nom nom nommmm!
We took our time today, getting through our to-do list at home. I had originally slated us a trip to IKEA for some Christmas shopping; Rob jumped the gun and went ahead and ordered everything online. That saved us both the drive there and the "fun" of traipsing through the pool of lawless goldfish that is the typical IKEA in-store experience. *Whew!

Oh, and Rob christened our house with the first fire of the year, while I started in on another knitting project today: This one's for Jess!

fireside knitting ♥

Stella was less-than-impressed with the fact that my knitting needles were getting more attention than she was, and have, for the past couple of weeks.

awhhh.. love you, pup-pup.. 

Poor girl. I promise that once Christmas is over, the knitting will cease to take up every evening. Okie? ;)

Trish invited us to join her and some friends in Newport, so on a last minute decision we obliged, meeting her and some coworkers at Hofbrahaus on the Levee.

:) :) 

Always a fun time (:
It's been a while since I've visited Hofbrahaus, and Rob's first time there, so we'll naturally be back. I couldn't tell you the last time I actually went to Arnies, either, but that happened, and was a blast in itself.

♥♥♥

We made a lot of good decisions today. We also made some not-so-good decisions today. This is the worst of it, and while it seemed a wise choice at the time, I'm making a note for next time [like I usually say] to never let this happen again:

yes... yes that is lucy blue's.... :/ 

All around I think that's a win. Happy Saturday! 

xo | cmd 

Friends & Kids & Pumpkins & Apples & OTR

Today was a full throttle day from the time we woke up. Sydni was up at 3am to remind me that, "kids are coming over today!!!," and from there on out it was non-stop until our heads hit the pillow again. 

"honey, it's 3am. we still have a few hours."
- [skeptical response...]

First things first: Why pay a gutter service when you can just do it yourself?

do it yourself.

:). I was wrapping up the gutters just as Trish and the kiddos rolled up, jackets and snacks in hand, for an early afternoon of pumpkin painting and carving.

the girls (: 

mamas & kiddos

 Sarah made it out after work, with her daughter in tow. There were then 5 kids attacking one pumpkin..

paint, paint... and more paint! 

the aftermath? beautiful! 

 

Once the pumpkins had been thoroughly - and I mean thoroughly painted, the kids migrated to the front yard for some cardio and leaf-mud sandwiches [made, not eaten.. as a sidenote ;).. ]

gosh... love them ;) 

Soon enough, the kids departed, and we took a deep breath in preparation for round two: Jessica and Andrew soon arrived with their pumpkins. Sydni was off to her dad's for her father-daughter dance, so the grown-ups were left to their own devices.

great action shot of bumper & sasha! 

caramel apples!! nomnomnom

lol.. pumpkins ;) 

Round 2 of the day complete [carved pumpkins & caramel apples], we parted ways again to rest up and prepare for the evening, which was decidedly going to be spent in the bows of OTR.

We started our venture at 1215 Wine Bar, if you count our standing in one spot for 20 minutes deciding where the rest of the night would be spent. If that doesn't qualify, then we technically started with a pitstop at The Drinkery before they somehow coerced me into going to - and staying at - Japp's for more than a half hour.

yeah, so i guess when i'm photographed mid-laugh,
i look... super asian. ^_^

this folks, is what otr had to work with tonight...
oh i'm proud of this one.. hahaha.. 

that fan. we're music video superstars.... ;) 

We soon retired from the heat of Japp's and found our final grounds for the night: The Famous Neon's Unplugged!  

oh, lovely neons! 

runnin' the town.. into the ground [laaa dee daaaa... ]

we found chad!
ps - can't even be mad at the chick who bombed this...
.... she nailed it. #thanksdoodydood

nobody knows. 

that time jessica's hand was 2 feet in front of my face
& managed to still look insanely inappropriate.

i'm a cat. rob's an angry ghost.
#notsure...

some more of this.. 

... and consequently this, too. 

And it's Neon's, so there's Jenga...

we lost.

Along with a few hundred of our closest friends, we closed down Neon's and made one last pitstop for grub at Lucy Blue's before calling it a night.

pizza. because... yes. 

PHEW.
.. yes, this is backdated.. 

G'Nite!

xo | cmd

Luke Bryan.. From the Water!

Trish and I rendezvoused this morning for an attempt to find a church that spoke to us.

I wouldn't call it a successful mission, but we finally landed at Crossroads in Oakley that, despite its massive size, provided a much-needed refresher on life, our purpose in it as it related specifically to work, and just some quiet time between the music to reflect on it all.

You'll never know until you try it. It's a beautiful facility, just a little too much for me.

Back at home, Rob was up and ready to go, so we opted for a run out on the river. A week or so back, Rob and one of his work buddies had taken the new boat out for a spin, which was perfect, considering his friend is a seasoned traveler of the Ohio. It was our turn today, so we loaded up and dropped in just past Eli's and opened up the Baja for an afternoon on the water.

little river cruise

Jessica & Andrew joined in soon enough, and we were off down the water for a quick bite at Ludlow Bromley. Then it was back on the water; we decided last minute to anchor down on the waterside of Riverbend, where Luke Bryan was playing night 2 of sold out shows. I've never attended a Riverbend show from the river side before, but I loved it and will definitely consider doing it this way again.

hey girl, hey! 

the back side of riverbend

captain! 

The sunset on the water is amazing in and of itself:

love. 

We'll be back, yes we will.

river panoramic! 

I'm looking forward to waking up refreshed tomorrow for work, not drained from sun exposure and swimming. I could get used to this!

xo | cmd 

Farewell for Brittany | Night Out With Trish!

The good news from today: 

- Lawn is mowed. 

- Gardens are weeded, cleaned and trimmed. 

- Boat is clean. 

- Cars are washed. 

- House is vacuumed.

- Laundry is done. 

- Dogs are [sorta] clean. 

Basically, we got gross today before we prettied up again. It was well worth it, and in some ways, overdue. 

We managed to clean ourselves up in time to head to Brittany's for her going-away party. This gal is moving to South Carolina for work and I'm super happy for her. Congrats, Britt; thank you for letting us share in your going-away festivities! We are coming to visit you, also. Just so you know :D. 

After Britt's, it was down to good old OTR to rendezvous with some faces I haven't seen in way too long. The usual suspects, Keith & Nader were among them, but the gaps of time that lapse between visits with TRISH proved to make tonight a great opportunity to catch up. 

thanks for hangin' with me, pretty mama! 

I don't know where my mind was tonight; I didn't have my camera out at all at Brittany's, which I attribute to the fact that we were all having too much fun to worry about pictures. It's a miracle we got any decent pictures at the end of the night, too.. and Rob decided to photobomb nearly all of them. Awesome :|. 

Anyway, that's not a bad start to the weekend; I'll take it! 

xo | cmd 

The Doeblerts: Stock the Bar Train Jamboree!

*backdated! ;)

I've seriously been waiting all week for this.
By mid-morning, Rob and I were in the car, en route to Connersville, IN to rendezvous with Catie, Andy & Co. for their Stock the Bar Train Jamboree [aka, joint wedding shower]. Let me tell you, this was a genius idea, and an all-around awesome time for everyone.

I'll spare the chatter & get straight to the pictures. I borrowed a couple from Ryan & Reena, but since I forgot to bring the D90, I had to count on Ryan's Canon to capture a lot of the day (:




whitewater vally railroad | connersville, in

We boarded the train and got caught up with some familiar faces we hadn't seen in a while...

jen! a little filipino love for the trip (:

me, catie & trisha: "roommates," 6 years later!

the beardless guy i brought to the party ;) ♥♥♥♥

This was a legit train ride, complete with a conductor, tickets & all:

(:

and yes, we made him yell, "aaaaaaaaaall aboooooard!"

Once we started moving, The Tye Dyes [aka, Catie & her band] provided some of the soundtrack for the trip out to Laurel. There is nothing quite like an old fashioned train ride with awesome people and live bluegrass music. I could do this every Saturday.

LOVED IT!


yeah, catie!!

Of course, there's nothing like an unfortunate fender bender to add some awe and quick prayer to the first train ride we've taken in a long time. It didn't appear that anyone had been hurt, but we did spend the next 10 minutes after this all speculating on how that may've happened..

ouch :(

The train plugged along for about 45 minutes before we reached Laurel. There, we were met with some Indiana hospitality for lunch.

not nearly as shanty as it might look!

you had us at fried food

^ Lunch = buffet. Of fried food. Let's be honest, nobody was watching their diets today, and a good thing, too, because the food was pretty good. I'm pretty sure we were all back for seconds, if that says anything. (:

After lunch, we all took to exploring a bit outside the restaurant. The train was awaiting us just a few meters away on the tracks; there will be lots of pictures surfacing soon of us all on the train as it stood waiting. 

yes, that's rob. lol ♥♥♥

We boarded back on the train for the trip home, and watched as Catie & Andy tore into all the gifts that were brought to actually stock the bar. I think they did pretty good, haha..

stocking the bar for these two!

because why not?

We arrived back in Connersville, and bid temporary farewells to everyone. Back in Cincinnati, I managed to squeeze in a quick catnap before I was up and heading right back out the door to Rhinegeist for the girls-only part of Catie's bachelorette party.


yessss!

traditional fobby picture from your brown girls ;) haha

I even got a random text from Trish, asking if I was getting into anything tonight. I told her to come and join us, so she did, and it was awesome having her there to spend the evening with us! We left Rhinegeist and bounced around some to good old OTR. Our final landing spot to finish the evening was The Drinkery, and we all left with huge smiles knowing we'd done our due duties as friends to celebrate Catie's approaching nuptials.

trish came to play!

adore her!!

Catie, I LOVE you, and I am SO excited to see you in a month, walking down to tie the knot with Andy! Thank you, THANK YOU for including me on your celebration. LOVE YOU!!!

xo | cmd