Worship & Winter Walks

First things first, WELCOME BACK, Josh!!

We've been waiting anxiously for weeks for Josh to be well enough to return and take up his spot on the praise team. While we'd adjusted to his absence, having him back today was the best way we could've started the service. Oh, and we brought out the instruments to celebrate :)

we're all here! ♥

rehearsal time :) 

We headed home after church, where I threw in a load of laundry, made a couple eggs and did a quick change to head out for a quick hike with Jess & Bumper.

stella didn't feel like going.. 

i was hungry?

let's go, bumper! 

East Fork was pleasantly quiet today, with the exception of a few mountain bikers and one couple hiking with their dog. Jess, Bump and I took to the Harsha Lake circuit - today was the perfect day for it.

hi jess!

william harsha lake | east fork state park | ohio

(and the masses ((and I)) said yes.)

all the while knowing full well i wasn't going anywhere..

cold but happy ♥

Earlier this morning at church, Chad emphasized the idea that in walking with someone, we have the opportunity to find true transparency. He referenced the amount of time Jesus spent walking - physically - with His disciples. With strangers. With the outcast. With everyone. They walked and talked with each other. Some of the Bible's most iconic characters became such as a result of the relationships they developed while literally walking.

I was reminded today how thankful I was to be present in that moment, with one of my close friends. I'm thankful for her insight, conversation and what she has already given me as a friend. We talked at length about what 2018 looks like for us individually, and agreed that we've both put self-love on the list of things we intend to pursue this year. Self-love. Self-care. Self-inspection. More investing into the things that really fuel us, rather than the things that deplete us.

It's something I'll build on as the year gets underway, but today was a secluded eye-opener as we marched through the woods alongside the frozen stream bed and sunlight. Today though, I'm grateful for the praise team and church family who continue to walk through life with each other, and for my beautiful friend Jess, who walked with me today and obliged real, life talk. I really do have much more than I've earned.

Oh, and I made some banana bread that's Whole30 APPROVED, so if y'all would like the recipe, well.. it's the easiest thing you'll make this week, so just ask :)

It's back to work tomorrow, and I think I'm ready.
January, you're lookin' okay so far. :)

xo | cms

HELLO, MAY!

It's MAY!

I'll spare you the Timberlake/N*Sync memes today; I got mine in yesterday, hah ;).

So YEAH, it's Friday, it's May 1st, and today was... awesome.

To start off, the sun was out. That doesn't sound like a big deal to most people, but when you live in OHIO, in MAY, the weather can be doing any number of things other than being tolerable. The good vibe was set for the day, and it grew better and better as the day wore on.

Elisa and I escaped the monotony of work for the traditional Friday lunch; Northside was our destination, and after a beautiful back patio timeout with delicious chicken wraps at Melt, we stopped by Sidewinder for some iced coffee.

not too bad for a day in the city! ♥

And when you're in Northside at Sidewinder, you don't not go to Chicken Lays an Egg right across the street. In fact, you go and you try on all the sunglasses. Because they're awesome, that's why!

stolen from e's IG

snazzy. 

Love.
Work ended, and the routine led me into Milford to pick up Sydni. She was out within 10 minutes of the car ride home, like usual, but not before giving the universe another priceless kid quote:

Syd: Mommy, is tomorrow my day off? 
Me: Yes; it's Saturday! That means you get to sleep in! 
Syd: YEAH. It means we can do whateeeever we want! Except play with knives.
Me: Yeah... ummm.. except that. 
Syd: Perfect. Don't wake me up tomorrow morning. 

^ Gotta love kids, hahaha. Not five minutes after she said that, this happened: 

zonked. 

We made it home only to change our clothes and head right back out the door; Rob had the excellent idea to take an evening hike before dinner. I thought that was an amazing idea, so we headed out to Withrow for a short jaunt around the property, which culminated at an overlook to the Ohio River. 

giant tree... perfect for climbing! 

little nature girly

Back in the car, our bellies were rumbling; we voted a Friday night family dinner date in Eastgate, but not before a pitstop at Family Christian. To my heart;s joy, not only did I find a new 365 devotional, but so did ROB! ♥♥ This is a pretty big step for us to do together, and I'm prayfully confident that there is growth beyond measure in store for both of us.

#truuuuuuuuuth.

We finally made it to dinner before heading home for a few minutes of unwind before bed. It's been a long and fulfilling day; my heart is happy with my simple little life  and I'm anxious to see what tomorrow has in store!

xo | cmd 

Saturday in The Smokies: Boogerman, Clingman's Dome & The TN/NC State Lines

Today was so full of laughter that I'm not really sure just how to fully encapsulate it in one blog. Don't get me wrong; I'll try, but there are no guarantees.

Not sure what I mean? Well, for starters, the three of us collectively agreed last night that we would play today by ear, depending on the weather. Varying forecasts had been handed to us from separate parties at the camp and then from radar readings as well. We were expecting somewhere between zero rain to a washout. Fair enough.

That being said, at 5am, Mare and I awoke in our tent to the sound of "rain."
Okay, no. Correction to that: Marianne awoke to that sound. I awoke to the sound of Marianne saying [in the most matter-of-fact voice ever], "BECKY." Becky replies, "Yes?" Marianne: "LIGHT. RAIN."

I say "rain," because we're not all together lucid at 5am in a tent, and had forgotten that we were within a stride of the river. It was the river leading us to believe we were in a downpour, not the rain [a relief at 5:15am when we finally got out of the tent].

yeah... there's only 3 of us on this trip, believe it or not.. haha

With that first false-alarm disappointment out of the way, we packed up our tents as a pre-emptive measure, made & ate our jet-boiled breakfasts on Ernie's tailgate and then climbed in the car to continue sleeping for about 2 more hours. Yes, there were sleeping bags involved. Yes, it turned out to be just fine.

car sleeping done right :/ 

With the extension of sleep out of the way, we realized that the rain still hadn't come, so we committed at that point to a day hike over the Boogerman Trail. P.S. - Marianne drove us the 600-some-odd yards there while wearing a sleeping bag. Thankfully, there's no traffic on that straightaway stretch of road at 7am... not even the elk.

We unloaded at Boogerman and opted to leave packs behind. That left us with rain gear, river-crossing footgear, daypacks and water.

 

The hike itself could be mostly summarized in 4 bullet points:

* Footbridges are optional; river crossing is not. 

* Cold Water. Barefoot Hiking.
* Pictures. Laughing. Real Conversation. 

To Becky's disappointment, the Boogerman trail did not contain the longest footbridge in the park that she had believed was there; My best guess is that it was washed out, as many of them were. Marianne made her mark in the wild by forcefully sitting down [aka falling] halfway on a rock and more so directly into the river, after which point she finished the remaining 2 miles barefoot. I had a fight with my Chaco's that lasted for about 80% of the 4.5 hour hike, until we finally stopped and I did a total readjustment. 

The GOOD THING [among the many, really] was that the scenery and history of the Boogerman property had completely consumed us, and regardless of our immediate inconveniences, we were elated to be there and just.. be present in those moments of exploration and discovery. 

hello from the boogerman property! 

For anyone who might wonder what people on a woodland hike do, here's an example: 

Also this: 

tool from the boogerman workshop property

We concluded our hike with that sense of accomplishment that comes only after you've forded rivers without bridges 9 times, and with bridges an additional 7... without losing any of your equipment or breaking skin [or bones] by way of falling. :) 

last river fording.. 

With the first part of our day concluded, we thought it fitting to explore a different part of the mountain, so we set off in search of some other wonders. Our journey took us through a smaller stretch of the commercialized zone, which we were nearly confident we would dismiss, until we spotted a familiar object of affection: COFFEEEEEEE. It seemed like such a luxury after just 2 short days of being without. It was a rather impromptu stop: A small, empty coffee shop in which we found both our caffeine fix and a kind suggestion of a local gem that wouldn't take long to visit. With caffeine in hand, we obliged the suggestion before continuing on the whatever the day had to unfold:

coffee vs. waterfall..... always say yes to coffee..

We switched gears and opted for a more domestic chapter of the day, so we started our drive ascent further into the mountain, a process interrupted several times by the photo opps:

Eventually, we reached Clingman's Dome, a lookout that is the highest point in the entire Smoky Mountains Park. It was a windy little jaunt to and from, but well worth it.

On the way back down to camp, we veered off again to the State Line lookout and did what all the tourists do when they are at the divide between two states in a national park: take pictures!

We made it down to camp just shy of daylight disappearing, which gave us ample time to once again set up hammocks for a short time, stake down tents and get dinner going. The day's been pretty full already, so it's an early night. Tomorrow's going to be a long day...

We're ready :)
Goodnight from the Smokies!

xo | cmd