SonRise Women's Gathering : Missions Preparation!

Tonight, I joined the women of SonRise to represent our small team of people heading out in a few short weeks to Panama. Our goal tonight was to gather together, fellowship, pray over the trip and the team and put together the care bags for each separate trip. [There is a separate trip heading out to Haiti in April, as well!]

ready, set, go! 

goodies for haiti ♥

For the Panama trip, we put together the little baggies containing Salvation Bracelets, which we will take with us and share with the Ngobe people. It's an awesome, simple little project that I'd forgotten about until tonight, that provides an easy, daily reminding visual for the wearer of what it represents.

salvation bracelets!

If you're unfamiliar with, or like me and need a refresher now and then :) - of what the six different colors of the salvation bracelet represent, here's a quick visual for you!

colors of the salvation bracelet

1. Black - Sin

2. Red - Blood of Christ

3. White - Cleansing/Purity

4. Blue - Baptism

5. Green - Growth/Development in Christ

6. Yellow - Heaven! 

Here's the individual breakdown, in case you'd like that too visual, too! 

1. Black - Sin

2. Red - Blood of Christ

3. White - Cleansed/Pure

4. Blue - Baptism

5. Green - Growth & Development in Christ 

6. Heaven [Our Ultimate GOAL!]

What a great way to start off the week! Tomorrow we've got our team meeting; it's amazing to see how close we are getting to our launch date. Please, please please continue to pray for my team and me as we inch closer to heading out into the mountains of Panama! 

xo | cmd 

FRIIIDAY!

Phewwwwww, Friday!

So, here's a throwback that has resurfaced from years back. Remember this girl?

nancy. meagan. cori. courtney
express edwardsville - 2012

^^ [Original photo from  THIS May 8, 2012 entry] This was from Meagan's going away party, during my time back at the Edwardsville Express office. It's been about 3 years since I worked with Courtney, but she just recently paired up [such a small world!] with one of Rob's good friends.

Happy Birthday, Courtney! 

lol.. happy birthday, girl! 

At work, we were [still] celebrating Elisa's birthday; she chose The Eagle for her lunch out, and with it being our standard Friday office lunch, it worked out perfectly.

the eagle | otr - cincinnati, oh 

^^ YOU GUYS. If you've not been to this place yet, you need to go. :) This is the first time I've been there for lunch, but it's just as good if not slightly better than dinner. Haha. YUM!

We endulged ourselves with chicken, spoonbread, mac&cheese, grits, fries and succotash before wrapping up and heading out. Well, almost heading out. Despite the bitter sting in the air, we braved the walk down a few blocks to 1215 for some mid-afternoon pick-me-ups:

elisa & i spotted a fun selfie wall...
1215 wine & coffee bar | otr - cincinnati, oh

peppermint mocha = per.....fect! 

Peppermint mochas on Fridays are an incredibly encouraging touch. What's even better though, is when you receive a little something you've been anxiously awaiting for a few weeks. 

That was today, too! It was a random day perusing Etsy when I ran across The Copper Fox, specifically a Latitude & Longitude bracelet stamped with a line I will forever love: The House That Built Me. Anyone who knows me knows the gratitude and love I have for the house my parents built, in which I did grow up: physically and emotionally. That place built me, just as much as my parents built it. So when I saw this item listing, it wasn't a tough decision to fill and empty the little shopping cart icon. 

IT ARRIVED TODAY: 

i am... in love. 

And I... I can't. It's beyond perfect. This girl Sarah who creates these pieces and runs the little Etsy shop will never know how much I truly treasure this little cuff and what it represents to me. Love, love. LOVE. 

I took off at the day's end, en route to get Sydni and thankful for it being Friday. Rob called as I was heading back to the house, and let me know that Jesse had made it town and was at the house with Zeppelin! Syd and I pulled into the driveway at the same time, and spent the next hour or so catching up with our friend... and furry friend :)

yay, weeknd visitors! hi zepplin! 

And then there was the question of dinner: Jesse wanted to try out something local, so we voted again for Buca Di Beppo, where we wound up with enough leftovers to last us probably through the middle of next week. #PIZZA. Haha. 

buca with mini! 

So that's not a bad way to start the weekend!

We're supposed to get some heavy snow overnight tonight folks - be CAREFUL out there if that applies to you, too!

TGIF!
xo | cmd

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAMANJI!!

He's 21!

this guy (: (: 

Haha, yeah.. this one:

21, yeah! 

From two states over, I miss you friend and hope today is EVERYthing it should be - 21 years and all! :)

While Damanji was celebrating his 21st, here in Cincinnati, we were celebrating the unity that comes as a result of my overbearing amount of free time with waxed cord:

cori. becky. jessica.

THAT happened... Jessica later posted this on Facebook with the caption, "Bracelet MEGA Power," which had us cracking up for a lot of different reasons that I'll omit from this entry for the sake of that whole inside-jokes-don't-make-sense-and-aren't-funny-if-you-weren't-there thing. Meh.

Anyway, we chalked up a win and left volleyball feeling pretty decent. It's gonna be a solid week!

xo | cmd