'Tis the Season to Be GENEROUS

She finally got me.
Sydni the germ-buster brought her sniffles home on Monday this week, and somehow I didn't contract anything until today. Fortunately, we were able to get out of the house for a few short hours to take care of some shopping:


1. Christmas Tree Lights

round lights! 

We don't have them all up yet [we didn't buy enough strands; go figure], but this year, we decided to go with round Christmas lights, as opposed to the traditional slender strands. At this point, only half the tree is lit, but that half sure is beautiful ;)

2. Christmas for SOMEONE ELSE.

♥& be merry about it, too! 

We are called to GIVE!

"Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to." - Dt 15:10 NIV

Anyone out there who's ever been to a church around Christmas time has probably seen some version of this practice: You draw or pick a name of a child, and with that comes your commitment to provide for that child [or children] gifts appropriate to their age, gender, needs and possibly wants. Our church is of course participating, and it was our pleasure to choose a name and give Sydni a reinforcing experience of giving generously to someone she doesn't even know.

Sidenote: Parents, if you and your kids have never participated in this, I would strongly encourage you to do it. Not only does this give you and your family something you could do as a team, it is a teachable moment built to easily give us a platform to lead by example in giving generously AND joyfully to those in need. In our case, we reminded Sydni that not every little girl and boy has a family like ours and sometimes the only gifts they may receive could be the ones we choose.

And JUST LIKE THAT, my 5-year-old's response gives me as the PARENT a very obvious and very BOLD reminder:

Give not JUST joyfully, but give nothing but what would be fit for a queen [or king!]. 

Whoa.Right?! Because it would've been easy for us to pick out some random, maybe even knock-off versions of what was listed on her little slip: clothes, princess items, baby dolls. We could easily have finished our "obligatory" shopping for this 2-year-old girl in a matter of minutes, but Sydni proved a reminder to us that this little girl deserved the best:

"Oh, MOMMY! I know what we should get her!! Let's get her................."

And just like that, she started spouting off lists of things she would enjoy. And I realized that, although we weren't planning on the cheapest way out for this little girl, I had not actively been approaching this as though I was buying for my own child. I would want the prettiest doll, most fun little game, fuzziest PJ's and functional clothes that would keep her warm. And so for the little girl being assisted by my family and me this year, that's what we did. ♥

#truth! 

3. Christmas Decorations & Of Course... Knitting

The last thing on our agenda today was some comfy family time at the house. Sydni and I perused some Pinterest ideas for fun Christmas decorations. I had to laugh, because of all the crafty, more "kid-friendly" ideas floating out there on the interweb, Sydni has adamantly chosen mock faberge painted eggs. In this case, Sharpie'd faberge eggs. But still. Thanks, kiddo.. haha. Leave it to her to pick one of the most delicate projects on the entire site ;)

thanks, pinterest! 

Although, I've gotta hand it to her - they are gorgeous!
Maybe next year. For now, it's back to these [knitting] needles; these scarves aren't gonna finish themselves! ;)

xo | cmd 

Chacos | City Flea | World Cup | Farm Fresh

Bro, I am TIRED today.
It could be the fact that I stayed up with Nader and Keith well past my usual bedtime, and woke up this morning on my body's workweek alarm setting. Meh.

To combat my grogginess, I opted to do something outside the box.
I'm here to say that, after nearly five years of belligerance, I broke down and replaced my old Chaco's with a brand-spankin' new pair. Thank you, RRT in Milford!

newbies!

They are fantastic! My first order of business post-purchase was a mini hike down by the Little Miami. It was a perfect morning for it all, and despite being tired, I was quickly rejuvenated by my little jaunt.

pretty little morning :)

nature selfie!

It wasn't long before Becky and Mike called; they were heading from Findlay Market over to the 513 City Flea, so of course I joined.

513 city flea, washington park | cincinnati, oh

Our friends at Fab Ferments were of course there, so it was an easy choice to pick up some kombucha along the merchant route.

fab ferments kombucha = deeeeelish.

And on the opposite end of a body cleanse, some grilled cheese from C'est Cheese:

yum!

And on our way out, Becky and I made a stop off at one of the vendors, where I picked up this cute little number:

wooden hair accessories - love!

yay, city flea! :D

After City Flea, it was time for some World Cup Coverage; for that, it was Hap's Pub in Hyde Park. The World Cup is just beginning, so it'll be interesting to see where our good old boys from the U.S. land, and how they play, since Landon Donovan obviously won't be making an on-field appearance this time. GOOD LUCK!

standing room only!

Our last stop of the day was out to Becky's parents on the western side of Cincinnati. It was egg-collecting time, and there were plenty for the taking. Thanks, chickies!

straight from the chicken!

There's nothin quite like farm fresh eggs.

Anyway, it's definitely been an extended day, and I'm ready to do all of nothing else tonight. I'm pretty excited for that (:

xo | cmd



WOrld Cup @ Hap's. 
Home. Relaxed. Did NOTHING rest of night.

12-HOUR CLEANING

Q: Wanna know what I did today?

A: I made friends with all my cleaning supplies..................................

............................ for twelve hours.

Literally. 

hello..... clean house.

I spent the night at Rob's house last night for the first time in a while; we moved one of his vehicles back to his house and took some of my leftover things to store in the basement. I opted to take a day off work today with the sole intention of cleaning the house top to bottom before the landlords came to do my checkout.

Mission accomplished, baseboards and all. Two full bathrooms, four bedrooms, living room, hallways, kitchen, basement, laundry room and garage: DONE. This girl......... is SPENT. I even relocated the robins nest that was situated above the porch light [I wore gloves, and carefully re-positioned it in a nook of the tree where we always spotted mother robin; I hope she continues to tend to these little eggies!]. I know there's a risk there, but the nest really couldn't stay, but the last thing I wanted to do was harm any of the beautiful eggs. Cross your fingers with me....

no makeup... exhausted, but done!

I'm tired. I am.. super tired. I smell like pinesol and windex. I have some bleach spots on my knees from cleaning the bathroom floors, and I'm pretty sure I will wash out a full layer of dust from my hair when I hit the shower tonight. 


I picked Rob up from work and helped him put the bed cover back on his truck, also loaded up with some of my things, did a final walkthrough of the house with the landlords, and pulled out of the driveway for the last time. It's been a little bittersweet leaving that place, but I'm looking forward to this next chapter of my life, too.

I've done nothing but clean and reflect all day long today, and I've come to the conclusion that life is too short to be anything but happy. It really is that simple. I'm dedicating myself now to looking forward, not back. To seizing new opportunities and making the best of the ones that are just residual runoff from a life from which I am now liberated. I see people around me with so much less than I have, even in my current state, and I know that I'm blessed with more than I deserve, but less than it's worth if I don't take the steps to make the most of it.

I have my faith, and a Savior who does not disappoint. EVER.

I have a beautiful, healthy daughter.

I have a job.

I have family, friends and colleagues.

I have my health.

I'm stressed, but I'm happy.

I'm cleaning out more than a house, from here on out. (:

[[[ I'll keep ya posted ]]]

xo | cmd

Oh, That's EGGSellent | Easter Crafts Pt. 1

I got into an Easter spirit late last night, but it was clearly too late by that time to jump into any craft projects. I decided we would do some egg dying. That happened tonight.

By the way, I do recognize the stark contrast between the true meaning of Easter and the dying of eggs and excessive chocolate consumption. I don't think the two are interchangeable, but for what it's worth, I love crafts; therefore, bring on the egg projects!

Sydni and I jumped right into it when we got home.

eggtastic!

It was a blast. I think next time, we'll be using KoolAid to get this done, even though the food coloring route really wasn't that difficult. After some consternation and debate over whether or not, then futhermore which kind of VINEGAR to use in the whole process [btw, Cori 1, Rob 0 ;) ], we settled for apple cider vinegar and got on with it. I'm thinking that if we go the KoolAid route, we may be able to skip using vinegar and thus spare the house from the smell. We'll just have to see.

Anyway, that was the bulk of our night. I can tell it's getting close to spring [well, technically is, but a cold one]/summer, because I'm feeling the craft / DIY bug scratching at my fingers. That being said, here's a few of the other egg projects we didn't do this year, but may certainly keep in mind for next year: 

scuba divers! super cute, super easy, super recycled!

i moustache you a question.......

my personal favorite! silk tie transfer

Easter is quickly approaching! I think tomorrow, we'll knuckle down on some cards for the family & friends... with love, from Sydni, of course. :)

I'm tellin' you, that craft bug is is gettin to me!!

xo | cmd