A Day On Norris!

This is definitely a photo entry:

First, I made it a point to get up early and head down to the boat dock. The fog was starting to lift off the water, and there was only the occasional passing boat. With my mat in tow, I headed down, did some flow and sat for a bit just breathing it all in.

AND... I held this guy for a 30-count. It's not a huge brag, but I'm working into a scorpion and at this point, this is a pretty good feeling to accomplish this.

*Sigh. Okayokayokay... I've become a total hippie. Meh.
Stella joined in, for what it's worth...

happy girl! 

The sun crept its way little by little until it was visible, and then it seemed to all but leap from the mountain skyline to the top of the sky. Rob, Jesse and I did a little running around to get some grocery items [for later this evening], and then proceeded back into the boat for the meat of the day: LAKE TIME!

everywhere. | lake norris | lafollette, tn

I cannot believe it has taken us this long to discover and visit this lake. There are hundreds of miles of shoreline here, over a dozen marinas and just about everything in between. This place is heaven on earth, in my book.

We took the raft out, too, each of us taking turns. I, by the grace of wearing my favorite pair of sunglasses, did find myself tumbling over choppy wake, but I did fly - literally - a few times, on board the raft. Jesse and Rob both took spills off into the lake, but no harm was done and it was hilarious.

My run:

Jesse's run:

Rob's run (shortened by his spill into the lake, compliments of Jesse):

We rafted, then we cruised some more, then we drifted and relaxed a bit. The water was warm yet refreshing, and the clouds [as you can see] were sparse in contrast to the bright blue sky. Today... was... awesome.

♥♥♥♥♥♥ him 

We gave Rob's boat a run for her money today; we came to rest as the afternoon turned to evening in a cove, watching other boats pass by and waving to skiers and jetskiers. Rob and Jesse went for another dip in the water, while I took to laying across the front of the boat and soaking in the view of sun and sky meeting mountains meeting water.

perfect.

It was finally time to get back, so we headed on "home" to our dock, climbed up the hill to the cabin and started preparations for dinner. There is something about being in a kitchen with my friends collectively making dinner that is just.. familial to me. No TV, no cell phones, but actively engaged in something for the group. The bulk of my family lives at least 2.5 hours away; this was a small but perfect substitute for a night in with family making dinner together.

veggies!!! 

jesse doing some kabob prep work 

I kept an eye on the stovetop foods while the boys got the bonfire and the grill going. Within the hour, we had dinner and a warmed space to sit around.

dinner & a bonfire!! ♥

The table's cleared, sweats & hoodies are on, and we're watching this from the hammock:

good night, tennessee! 

I could re-do this day over and over again.
Norris, we'll be back!

xo | cmd 

Memorial Day 2014

First things first:

To my cousin Jeremy, my other family in service, my friends back at Scott AFB in Illinois, and to the ranks of men & women before and after them who have laid or are unconditionally laying down everything to serve our country, THANK YOU. Today is for YOU, your families and the service you give to the rest of us.

thank you. thank you, thank you, thank.. you.

Our little family started the morning off with breakfast out, since nobody felt much like cooking.

little toes by little flowers out to breakfast!

After breakfast, we took our time deciding what to do for the afternoon. With it being Memorial Day, the possibility of canoeing was immediately nixed once we realized the rest of the city was out on the same mission and rentals were booked through tomorrow for the most part. We defaulted to the boat, which seemed to be the best alternative.

Brittany, Chad and Kalyn met us at East Fork, where we loaded up, dropped in and prepared to haul out for a day on the water.

That went just fine until about 10 minutes into the outing, when a part on the boat prop broke and left us floating in the middle of a wake zone. It seemed like it may have been a sad, premature end to our efforts, but then I was reassured that my friends are a lot like me in the spirit of attaching to the bright side of even the most annoying circumstances.

So what did we do? Well, we tossed anchor and hung out! Sydni had a blast swimming, showing off her crazy fish-like skills to the rest of us, and of course got to practice her casting with the fishing pole that has been repaired since the little hiccup two days ago with Papppy.

We laughed, we swam, we ate lunch and hung out. For having zero horsepower to move us through the water, I'd have to say it was nothing but a fun time and I'm not complaining!

love those girls!!!

All good things eventually do end, and when it came time for us to haul in, we managed to flag down a passing boat and grab a tow for the short ride back to the dock.

womp womp womp... haha

favorite girls!! ♥

Well, boat.. it was a good start to the summer, and this is just a hiccup. It's the end of the night now, and Rob's already got a tentative plan built as to how he's going to fix it [one of the many things I love about him!].

Today wasn't wasted, at all. After we hauled off the lake, dropped Sydni off for her week away from our home and tied up our poor dead boat, we headed to Brittany's for the most delicious veggie burger I've ever had. That, plus friends and Brittany's adorable dog Daisy, proved to be the best unwind for the day.

c'mon, aunt kalyn... just a bite?!

Happy Memorial Day to you, your family, and most importantly to the service men and women who have rightfully earned the praise due their way. We salute you!!

xo | cmd

Ali's [Actual] Birthday | Job Fairs & FOOOOOD!

Today is Ali's actual birthday.

So dear Ali,
Here's a giant picture of us:

love. her.

And also..

In all seriousness, you are a one-of-a-kind friend, and I frequently am reminded of how thankful I am to have you in my life and to be a part of yours. Who knew you and I would cross paths [thank you, work!] and become great friends? Thank you for being who you are, and for that person being such a genuine, Christ-loving, flat out awesome individual. You'd better have the best year yet!

 

LOVE YOU!

Since I couldn't make it to Illinois to celebrate Ali's birthday, I substituted it with an Express function, which really seems fitting anyway, since that's where we met. Haha.

express job fair!
... complete with creepy face sign... yes ;)

Elisa and I hosted a hiring event today, which meant free range of lunch options afterwards!
Findlay Market was the most obvious choice, so Findlay it was!

hello, findlay!

all of it. give. me. all of it.

yessss!!!

So. Much. DELICIOUS. I need to find a way to get to Findlay more than once every couple of weeks for lunch. It's just too good not to. Noms!!

After lunch, we headed back to the office, where somehow, I managed to complete 3 quick interviews before Lizzy and I turned on our heels and headed right back out for a meeting. Food seemed to be a very prominent theme for today; I walked out of our afternoon meeting holding a very decadent, tiny red velvet cupcake.

red velvet.

Back at the office, the day was nearly over by the time we were all back in one place. It was a nice shift in the routine to be out for most of the day, but I'm also ready to get back in and caught up on what I missed today.

At home, the food craze continued; Rob fired up the grill and I got the oven going. Together, we crafted a delicious dinner and sat around like 3 savages picking chicken off skewers and licking our fingers (: These are frankly my favorite kind of nights..

homemade potato chips?

love that man...

and loved dinner... ahh!

Thanks again, Pinterest, for nailing this one on the head. I put together a cannellini bean salad to pair with the chicken and potatoes; this was a perfect dinner, and I happily checked hungry family off my evening list.

Let's pray this weather stays this gorgeous for the week... yes? (:

xo | cmd

[Satur]Day of Play!

Today's Highlight Reel:

1. Good morning, happy pup!!
>>> Stella is the stoic of the two, and since she rarely smiles to express herself, this was a rare glimpse of the cheesy face I love so much!

stella pittie!

2. Breakfast! Nom Nom Nom...
>>> I woke up with a craving for French Toast. So, I made French Toast.

delish!

3. Princess Cycling Gear.
>>> We broke out the bicycle for her first spin of the season at the house. We discovered some new parts of the neighboring areas and Syd proved she's just about ready for the training wheels to be weened away!

go go go!

4. Fields of Golden Flowers.
>>> Or, just our yard. While it certainly looks pretty, these little buddies will unfortunately disappear in the next couple of weeks when the lawn mower comes out. 

still kinda pretty ;)

 That meant some serenading [of the Frozen soundtrack, duh] from my theatrical little monster.. ♥

let it GOOO

candid running faces.. haha

more uh... jazz hands?

field of little flowers (:

5. The Scariest Donut I've Ever Seen.
>>> In a moment of extraordinary weakness, I caved and bought this disgusting star-shaped, overly-frosted, sprinkle & gummy crap-covered thing for Sydni. I had zero intentions of letting her eat this entire donut, but she was being good and caught me in a moment of generosity, so yeah. If you're wondering, I took one tiny bite of this thing and decided it was just as disgusting as it looks. I really don't know how people could eat these things all the time and not have heart attacks. Oh, well...

goooood grief.

6. My Family.
>>> These two are my everything.  Today it was team turquoise, apparently.. haha.

my little world ♥

7. Grilling Out With Becky!
>>> An impromptu visit from Becky, who joined us for dinner, suffered a gigantic foot splinter from our deck and still agreed to come back and dogsit for us. There rarely are better friends. (: Hopefully my bribing of homemade mac n' cheese along with Rob's perfectly-grilled chicken & potatoes were enough to alleviate the unfortunate 2.5" splinter that she had to remove from her foot.. haha.

best way to recover from giant splinters?
.... cloudgazing, apparently (:

So aside from gigantic fragments of our deck splintering off into our guest's foot, I suppose we have no complaints from today. Thankfully it was Becky, who is probably my most durable friend. Haha.

Splinter is gone, sun is fading and everyone's happy again. (:
That's a good Saturday!

xo | cmd

All Together ♥

First things first: BREAKFAST! [Rinse & repeat with us.. duh..]
* I think I'm losing the battle of favorites here....

"noooo mommy, i wanna sit with mr. rob!"

Well THEN. Haha. Luckily for me, I still have the meatballs [aka S&S Pups, Extraordinaire].. They never disappoint. Okay, maybe sometimes, but I love 'em all the same and was glad to have some time to play with my other two, very furry kids.


stella.. sasha.. sasha.. stella... ♥♥

Rob's mom & stepdad stopped by for a little while; I wasn't expecting it but it was great for Rob's mom to finally meet Sydni. Syd made sure to show off her superhero skill by flying laps around the yard just for them. And yeah, Rob & his stepdad rode the chopper through the grass.. don't mind the tracks ;)

Once they'd left, we realized that the pups had annihilated a stuffed animal [not Syd's, thankfully], leaving little beanbag pebbles scattered all over the floor. I'm sure this was an act of retaliation for us not letting them join the outdoor festivities. In our defense, we would've spent the rest of the afternoon chasing them around the city had they gotten out, unleashed.

You might call this chaotic, noisy or unorganized. I call this the absolute perfect way to relax, with my favorite humans and dogs, all under one roof. It's not often now that we are given these types of days, but when we get them, I celebrate that. This is [& they are] my life. I am so .. so blessed.

I finished off today with some fried rice for all of us, which I have to say paired up with the chicken Rob grilled juuuust perfectly. The littlelest of us all is the biggest food critic, and her plate was clean, so I'll call that a win (: 

easy fried rice!

What a Day.
I. Love. Them.

♥ words just don't cut it....

This didn't turn out to be a bad weekend at all...
Homeward bound now.
xo | cmd

TGIF | Koinonia!

Ahhhh, small group nights! [My favorite kind of Friday!!!]

First thing, this is a tribute to my husband.... [if you don't know, take a look through some of his pictures; this is his signature self-portrait pose :p]

who am i?? ;) 

We took a new approach to this week's get together, and grilled out for the first time as a small group. We made some notes on getting in gear a bit sooner in the event we want to grill out again. It was a bit of a later start than anticipated, even with the Babots and Prescotts both being absent. The good news - Nick & Rebecca were able to make it!!

What a great night [again!]... I can promise you I'm sleeping in tomorrow! ;)

xo | cmd