#SRP2015 Day 8: We Are Home.

ENGLISH: BLACK FONT (Or gray).  SPANISH: RED FONT

INGLÉS: FUENTE NEGRO (O gris).  ESPAÑOL: FUENTE ROJO

*******

Today, we left Panama. We ate a fast breakfast at our hotel with Talsy & Ruth, then loaded into the hotel shuttle and were at the Tocumen Airport in a matter of minutes. It was there that we said a rather rushed and informal goodbye-for-now to the Vegas, grabbed our bags and proceeded in to start our day of traveling.

Hoy en día, salimos de Panamá. Comimos un desayuno rápido en nuestro hotel con Talsy & Ruth, luego cargado en el transporte del hotel y estábamos en el aeropuerto de Tocumen en cuestión de minutos. Fue allí que dijimos una vez apresurado y adiós-para-ahora informal a la Vegas, cogimos nuestras maletas y procedió a iniciar nuestro día de viaje. 

we are going home.. 

goodbye, panama!
adiós, Panamá

Flight 1: Panama City, Panama to Denver, CO. That's about 5 hours, in case you're wondering.
Flight 2: Denver, CO to Chicago, IL. That was about another 2 hours.
Flight 3: The last flight - Chicago, IL to Dayton, OH.

Vuelo 1:. Ciudad de Panamá, Panamá a Denver, CO Eso es cerca de 5 horas, en caso de que usted se está preguntando. 
Vuelo 2: Denver, CO a Chicago, IL. Eso fue sobre otras 2 horas. Vuelo. 3: El último vuelo - Chicago, IL a Dayton, OH 

obligatory airplane wing + cloud picture.. somewhere over Panama
avión ala obligatoria + foto nube .. en algún lugar sobre Panamá 

art as we ran through the o'hare airport
arte mientras corríamos por el aeropuerto O'Hare 

chicago  (chicago)

A mere 9-9.5 hours of flying later, we are here, in Ohio, in the good old U.S. of A. We are back in North America. We're a motley bunch right now, but with hearts full of a week we won't soon forget.

A sólo 9-9,5 horas de vuelo después, estamos aquí, en Ohio, en los buenos viejos EE.UU. de A. Estamos de vuelta en América del Norte. Somos un grupo heterogéneo en este momento, pero con el corazón lleno de una semana que no olvidará.

our final landing
nuestro último aterrizaje

Day 8: Return from the mission.
Check.
But, the work continues...

Día 8:. Regreso de la Misión.
Hecho. 
Pero, el trabajo continúa. 

xo | cmd
♥ | cmd

Remember, Life is Beautiful

What an incredible day this has been.


best friend. scottsdale arizona. rooftop @ izzy's.

I mean, thoroughly incredible.
I am in Phoenix, awaiting the arrival of a plane that will deliver me back to the midwest, just reflecting on the past four days. I'm in a state of raw gratitude.

Scottsdale has been my little bunker for the past couple of days; I've been on a mini vacation here with my best friend, Kalyn. It seems like I blinked and Thursday night turned into Sunday evening, but it was entirely worth it and I'm already looking forward to my next trip out.

peroni & fire. hi, sunday (:

Today started off with a trip in to Mojo [& a breakfast burrito, deeee-lish], then off to do some Christmas shopping for Kalyn's list before we headed back to Grayhawk to rendezvous with KP's friend and coworker, Jennette. She's probably the prettiest real-life human being I think I've ever seen. Sidenote. Haha.

Keifer works across the street from Grayhawk at Isabella's Kitchen (Izzy's), so we parked ourselves there for some Peroni, some food, and some live music by Ryan & Madison. This girl was only 12 years old, but I can tell she's got a future brewing. She's talented!

Of course, there was a fire pit and a random girl insistent on being a camera woman. Couple that with peroni refills and you've got a couple of best friends as happy as could be on a day that couldn't have been any more relaxing.  

cori. kalyn. jennette | izzy's - scottsdale, az

SO much so that we found ourselves doing back handsprings and triple planks in the middle of the golfcourse. Yeah, it was that good. Hahaha. Jennette joined in, too, at one point. There's not much bad to be said about a Sunday afternoon spent lounging by a firepit with good friends, live music, and spirited brew.

attempt #1 @ triple planking = unsuccessful.

ok. double plank then. we'll compromise.

These are the things that entertain us. In front of mountains, live music, and Christmas lighted wicker reindeer, there was us, doing this. We finally had a breakthrough:


attempt #3 : success!

Ahhhhhhhhhh. What. A. GREAT... trip this was.


I'll be home in a matter of hours.. we'll see if Rob can get that crazy diesel up to the parking garage at the airport in time to pick me up... otherwise it's gonna be a looooong walk home. Haha. So long, for now, Arizona. I'll be back in January some time for another visit, and I'll be sure to bring some extra company with me (:

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL.

xo | cmd

Kick ROCKS, IL - HELLO, PHOENIX!

Welp, as far as work went today, I was like an impending high school graduate with a severe case of senioritis. I'm not sure where the morning went, but I was fine with that. I think I zoned out for the last half hour before I actually left. 

airlift me..... 

Anyway, it's raining in Arizona.

Seems fitting; apparently that's a rarity out here, but for now it goes well with the aura of things that are quite out of character and far from the norm. 

--- I have got to find some way to block myself from accessing a keyboard after 1) a certain time at night or 2) after certain mental capacities have been altered or stopped all together. *sigh. Freakin' VINO….
---- I need new friends that [while in similar states of mind] don't encourage me to start writing at these totally inappropriate times, too, so they can read it WITH me for the first time in the real morning. Ya jerks.. haha.

The first thing I thought of when I touched down at PHX was the overwhelming amount of sssssstuff on my mind that I'd be spilling everywhere when my best friend when she picked me up from the airport. The gal next to me on the plane agreed that it seemed more like a six hour flight than the short 3.5 we'd been airborne, so I was more than ready to be on solid ground. After some minor disconnect on discourse - gate assignment, I found myself in that familiar little green Jeep with the Ohio plates, bound out to Tempe with a girl who might as well be a direct extension of myself. I'm in Phoenix, with Kalyn…. and Becca…… and Justine. Since I believe perfection is relative; this is definitely on point in my book. 

kalyn. cori. justine. becca | postinos

First stop: Postino's. If there's one grand idea for converting an old post office, it would be transforming it into a wine bar with killer food and the most courteous, laid-back wait staff to boot. That pretty sums up this place, and it wasn't but a few minutes into the dinner run that I realized how much I'd missed my best friend and the liberty we have with each other to be the raw and so far sheerly uncensored characters that we are. Add the Jones girls to the mix and dinner really couldn't have been any better. We wined, we dined, and we wined some more before we made it back to their house and staked out our real estate on the couch. 

Apparently, I'm not the only one running in place when it comes to conquering my loose cannon brain on love, the pursuit of "happy", avoidance of pain and the general direction of that whole weird life thing. It didn't help that in seeking some accountability in perhaps the form of, "No Cori…put your phone away," I was met with "Mama. DO IT." [you'd only have to hear her say it once to imagine it clear as day again] … Inhibiitions are usually asleep by 3:30 in the morning (….hello), but I do know that some of my best A-grade quality papers in college were done in the wee hours. Sooo, in addition to ill-advised phone calls, I'm no stranger to late-night-writing with a side of morning-after-literary-regret. It's like [that] shot of truth serum that makes your head spin and dissolves whatever filter you had left between your brain and your mouth. In some cases, it's the heart and mouth disconnect you have to fear, but that… is another day. Right now I'm just thankful for auto spellcheck. [Red. lines. everywhere…lol]. Oh, and I sure as day returned the favor on the phone call advice, KALYN….. we can scold each other in the morning. Haha. 

love you, kp

I haven't laughed so hard in one evening in a long time. I kinda forgot how well we know the other and how KP is just as ruthlessly blunt and inappropriate as I am. Haha. We've swapped just about all of our most recent and vicious stories, in great detail from start to the present [end  isn't really applicable for either of us, unfortunately], and I've only been here for less than 12 hours. In spite of the way my gut has decided to remain twisted and tense for the time being, there is nothing quite like having your best friend there to reiterate to me that I am a thoroughly messed-up individual AND that she probably wouldn't love me if I were any. other. way. Especially when we're both in stitches laughing at each other, doubled over so hard that we're crying and our sides hurt. 

I needed this. 
It's only day one of four.
Whoa.

Tomorrow [well, later today, but I'll clarify since this is backdated…. again] we'll be hiking Camelback, eating more food, and gearing up for the debacle that will inevitably be five of us girls at Greasewood Flats: Bluegrass, food, cowboys & mechanical bulls, and a steady flow of libations are sure to generate some tales for the taping…. stay tuned.

Hello, Phoenix. (: 

xo | cmd