Mother's Day Weekend: Part 1

How do you start the perfect Mother's Day weekend?

YARDWORK! 

backyard outta control....

^^ Yeah, so in the midst of us [still, forever likely] unpacking the internal contents of our house, the backyard has gone untouched - specifically the old mulch beds. We woke up early and split the work: Rob took the mowing and weed eating, and I did what I could to get the mulchbeds in the front and backyard under control. It's not perfect yet, but it's on its way! 

wheeeew! 

This whole homeownership thing sure has a lot of little fun extras wrapped up into it.. ;) On the bright side, we wrapped up all the work in a matter of a few hours, and hit the showers to transform from yardwork mode to matinee date mode! 

Throwback to a month or so back when an email popped up in my inbox to tell me Rob bought us tickets to this show as a Mother's Day gift. I've counted down the days and was suuuper excited even on the way down to the arena.. 

yiiiieeee!!!! 

Admittedly I look a little rugged, but maybe that's from five hours pulling weeds and landscaping right before we came down? Haha. Who knows. What I do know was that this show was about to be amazing - and I wasn't wrong! 

love you, mister! 

cirque du soleil | toruk 

cirque du soleil | toruk 

cirque du soleil | toruk 

cirque du soleil | toruk 

By the end of the show, there were enough blue lights to give us a glimpse of what it'd look like if we were all to start roving over Pandora... even without stripes :p

avatar blue! ;) 

It was a really cool show, and if you've got the chance, I would highly recommend it! 

finale!
cirque du soleil | toruk 

We headed home after the show, did one more wardrobe change for the night, and headed back out to meet up with Becky & Will at Rhinegeist. It wasn't a super long night out, but it was fun nonetheless and as always, even more so with great friends in tow. 

hiiiii... 

becky! 

Tomorrow's Mother's Day, and I can't wait to spend it with my two favorites - Rob & Syd. For now, goooood night! 

xo | cmd 

MAYWEATHER v. PACQUIAO

Filipinos everywhere have been anxiously awaiting this day for months now. The rest of the world has chimed in, too. It's been a topic of conversation for a while now and today was the DAY.

If you need to question my allegiance, you may as well just go now... I'm FILIPINO.
'Nuff said? ;)

#TEAMPAC
#TEAMPAC

#TEAMPAC

Hopefully that answers the question ;)

The day leading up to this event, for us, was pretty tame. It started off with my fiance making an incredible breakfast for us, and Sydni sharing scripture with us. She had no idea what she was reading [she was in the old testament.. haha], but it made my heart so happy to see her so determined to read from her Bible.

I spent the day catching up on some blog work, parked on my front porch soaking in the sunshine & occasionally bidding hello to neighbors passing by.

Sydni busied herself with some garden work, clad in her Queen Elsa dress, flip flops and eventually my chacara I'd brought back from Panama. She may be a Hapa, but she definitely looked pure Pinay today... we'll say in honor of Pacquiao.. haha.

little hapa gardener ;) 

Rob spent the day at work in the garage, where his bike now sits with at least some sense of semblance, versus where it was at this time yesterday. There's still quite a few hours left before it's back in running condition, but he made some solid headway today and I know that's an accomplishment for him.

The day wore on; we tidied up the house, did a few chores and managed to catch up on all of our individual projects before dinner [I'll mention here that Rob nailed dinner, too; he's been on a solid roll all week in proving his culinary prowess.. I am both impressed and grateful!]. Andrew showed up soon after dinner to watch the Pacquiao fight with us; Rob bought it and we were all anxious to watch it.

It started off rather slow...

pre-main event.. 

We watched as the openers took their places in the ring and went head to head for their honor, as the seats behind them on the screen started to fill up. The two openers finished and it was finally time for the fluff and thrill of the main event.

opening! 

And no, I'm not going to recount this to you play-by-play, or really even with highlights, because this was the fight heard 'round the world for anyone who cared to know the outcome. Filipinos and others everywhere left disappointed tonight, but I know I'm not alone in my unwavering allegiance to Manny, especially looking past his boxing into his code of ethics, values and priorities. Mayweather may have taken a title by technicality, but Manny remains a tenfold force to be reckoned with, and respected.

I think that's about we can handle for tonight, folks. It's an early one tomorrow.
G'Nite!

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 

MONday Funday

Mondays usually give me some amount of anxiety, just from the inherent nature of Monday itself. Today though, while it was stacked top to bottom at work, proved to be busy but manageable. That's rare, for what I do, especially on Mondays. Haha. I'm not complaining.

Post-work was a continued contradiction to what Mondays usually bring. Sydni is back this week, and our first order of business was a little yard and garden work.

Over the weekend, Rob's mom gave us a couple of plants to get started. I decided this would be the perfect project for Sydni. She seemed to agree, wholeheartedly, when we parked ourselves on the front porch tonight to work on it!

let's get started!
[& yes, that's her chalk drawing of a cross on a hill.. ♥♥]

I'm convinced this little girl can do anything.

potted plant success
look at my little gardener!!

Excited!

i'm exciiiiiiited!

With the potted plants out of the way, she was ready to move on to the big leagues:

i'm digging... and i'm diiiiigging...

And to cap it off:
Watching that clip again now, I hear the bossy little girl from Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory in my head making obsurd demands. So to clarify, no, Syd's not as spoiled as this clip makes her sound. I couldn't help but trade my garden gloves for the camera though as she fought with one pesky mosquito and several gnats that kept intruding on her workspace.

Either way, if she wants to claim a garden of all things, I'm not gonna stop her ;)
She's just like her mama.. haha.
G'Nite!

xo | cmd

Opposites: National Donut Day & A Farm Outing

1. National Donut Day!

I'm being honest, and just a little sad, too, that I did not eat a donut today. The way I had it figured, someone out there would compensate for me. Haha. I borrowed an Instagram shot from my dear friend Ali M., and a capture of Willie & Phil from Duck Dynasty in honor of this minute yet sugar-filled holiday.

ig cred: @indiechick [miss ali m!]

donuts with duck dynasty?

Friday, other than being Nat'l Donut Day, didn't have much else to offer outside of that. Most of the things we'd had scheduled for the day didn't stick, which is as much a relief as it is a bad thing, since the numbers won't build if they don't happen. I took the opportunity to get caught up on the rest of the things I had scheduled for next week, so hopefully Monday will take flight without much hassle.

And then....
Farm time!
Mike & Becky took me out to Jen & Jordan's farm to pick up the trailer we'll use to officially move me tomorrow. It's been so long since I've been to a local farm; it was a breath of fresh air [literally, but also mentally] that I'd so badly needed. Everything I loved seeing on some of the farms back home was here, plus an adorable dog....

[I didn't take any pictures while we were there, but I went digging and found some that almost do justice to what I actually saw..]


gardens in full beauty... pretty much what i saw,
only j&j's was definitely better ;)

And their dog! Again, I didn't take either of these pictures, but it's the same type of pup, with the same gorgeous heterochromia iridum as this one. I wish I'd had my camera to capture his amazing features, but for what it's worth, this aussie shepherd again almost meets what I saw.  

aussie shep! | photog cred: karen moe photography

Ah. So adorable! On top of the multiple plots of blooming plants, a garden by the house itself and acres of plain old serenity if you ask me... there were goats, baby chickens and some sheep. We didn't have to travel to the end of the earth to find this escape either; I have to say I could've stayed all evening, just for the ambience.

... But we didn't. Haha. We hitched up the trailer to Mike's truck and headed back to Northside, where we ordered in from NYPD Pizza in Northside and finished the day just relaxing.

Tomorrow is the official moving day.
See ya there.

xo | cmd

How's THAT For a Midweek?

I think I have a problem...
Seriously.
I'm addicted.

I watched the third night of blind auditions for The Voice tonight, and I've gotta say I'm goin' on night 3 of inspired by some of their stories, their talent, and the fact that they're putting it all on the line for the approval of the industry's megastars.

This one, by far, was my favorite from tonight:


I've always been a fan of the Marley vibe - there's something so relaxing about the emotion behind reggae in general. This kid's got it nailed down, and I'm kind of excited to see how he does in competition.

Then there was this one, by a guy whose family suffered through extreme political turmoil in Nigeria; his father was wrongfully incarcerated, while he and the rest of his family fled the country and made it here to the U.S. It's one of those heart-string stories that makes me stop and appreciate the gravity of the life with which I am blessed [magnified by the whole adoption thing]. His testament that music saved his life is dually-noted [no pun intended].


Suave, yeah?? I like the natural rasp in his voice. Major talent. 
Oh..  ... and just in case I'd forgotten this is still mainstream media programming, I'll include this one particularly unique gal: You can search her audition on your own if you feel inclined; I'd rather not have it on here... I didn't realize until I went back to watch the others that she ["Domo"] is on crew for Rhythm City [ABDC]. Interesting. Definitely conceited, though. Too bad, too - she's a pretty talented dancer, if nothing else. :/ 
Well.. all things The Voice aside, I caught some of the opening moments of America's Got Talent before retiring the TV for the night, but I did see this, which I thought was cool [apparently they're in the finals now? Sure.]: David Garibaldi & His CMYK's - I'll let you look that one up on your own too [video.overload]. Pretty amazing stuff! 
****
Anywho, today was about as decent as they do come.
Do I dare forget the birthdays for today?
Umm, absolutely NOT! ESPECIALLY since we LOOOVE these two munchkins! 
HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY, LYLA!!!

beautiful lyla! 

and of couuuuurse,

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY, JACOB!!!

silly candid from the dual bday party we had a few weeks ago : jacob!

We have the privilege of having both of those little ones [along with Landon, the other September birthday kiddo] in our small group every other Friday, so we get a little extra dose of them from time to time, and we love it. Happy birthday to both Lyla & Jacob [& no, in case you thought to ask- they are not related. hehe]

**** And in other news: 
Nancy stopped by to see us late this morning - her new job seems to be treating her well and she's enjoying it. I'm so happy for her, but slightly reminded still that we miss her. Well, I miss her. A whoooole lot. *Sigh. So good to see her though!! Miss you, Nanc!! To top off the morning, I gave some blood and such to the life insurance medical examiner. I found out today that my heart's still beating and my arm still bleeds like it should with a needle in it. It's a start. :p.
Sydni and I did some more damage to the weed infestation that keeps threatening to overtake every spare inch of soil in the front and back gardens. I'm almost glad for The Voice airing at the same time every evening for the past 3 days - it's brought us back inside after about an hour of digging and pulling. I don't think it's over-exerting work by any stretch, but the mosquitoes have taken an equal liking to the moderate temperatures and it's made for very itchy evenings. My arms and legs look a little bit like broken brail sentences right now. Oy, bugs. >:[ Grawr. 
It's been a jam-packed week so far; I've got some last minute details to do on one of the Towerfest mail-outs, so I suppose I should get back to that before tomorrow. Oh, and I'm slated to sing this Sunday and have yet to solidify a song choice. 
Hey procrastination, heeeey. 
xo | cmd

Delightful Drenning Days

Hey, Ohio :).

yardwork. do work. hah..

Sorry I didn't get all my formal salutations in when we arrived like owls in the night earlier, but I was exhausted and I didn't care who knew that. Anyway, we're here now, and so far it has been everything a beautiful homecoming should be.

It started before I was awake. Remember a few odd weeks back when we sold the Murano? Well, because it was licensed and titled [and all that jazz] in Ohio, the title had to be sent to Ohio. Silly, but timely I suppose that we would be here when it happened. Joe and Dad headed in early to snag that, and were home before I was even conscious enough to think about rolling out of bed.

itty bitty house for an itty bitty girl

Fast forward to when the entire house was alive - we started off the true Drenning way: Mom cooking for the entire family and relaxing to the sight of us all feasting away. As soon as we were done, it was off to town [hey again, Mt.V] to the childrens' garden at the KCCC. Sydni nearly lost her mind once she realized the place was stocked with everything a standard neighborhood has, just pint sized and in perfect proportion for someone of her whopping 2.5ish foot stature. It was adorable.

With the children's garden under our belt, we made with it to get some ice cream at what used to be a Sonoco station in front of R&M's off Martinsburg [can you tell I'm a local to somewhere??]. I was flooded with since-forgotten memories and fragments of childhood history being there; driving through the high & middle school campuses, the soccer fields, and nearby neighborhoods that at one point housed so many of my friends was a flashback that sparked both fond and happily-gone recall.

ice cream with nana & pappy!

hangin out on a miniature balcony

oh hey family!

a stone map of the U.S. - [boooo michigan!]

Meanwhile, back at the Dren lodge after the out-and-about festivities had been accomplished, we settled in for an evening of typical happenings whenever we visit:

I for some reason always sleep whenever I come home. I'm not talking about going to bed at night with the rest of the world; I'm talking about midday snoozes. Every single time I come home, I find myself settled into a prolonged nap of some sort. It's inevitable. We've all come to terms with it.

Joe, during these naps, never fails to commandeer my camera and capture himself in his signature pose. That happened tonight, many times [I'm sparing you the details of the other 8 or 9 shots that were either misfired or lesser quality in some way].

cori : sleeping | joe: self-portraiture | dad: nails painted.
... welcome to the dren lodge. lol.

My parents managed to take their creativity to a whole new level; Sydni has her toenails currently painted red to match mine; they coincidentally matched my mom's, too. Dad felt left out, so after much coercing, he let mom paint his nails. Haha. In most situations I would've thought that to be a bit strange, but my dad's totlally comfortable with himself, and besides, Sydni asked too. ;)

the 'dren lodge' aka, my parents' house | us in the chairs under the porch ;)

Dear smalltown,

I miss you in the sense that I will gladly visit you anytime you'd like, but make no mistake, I'm not stayin'. :)

* Back home it was, where we spent the evening lounging out at the Dren Lodge and building energy for what is sure to be a jampacked day tomorrow. My sister & her family will be here, along with my cousins.

Can't wait!

xo | cmd