Happy Birthday, Kalyn!

I feel sometimes like my closest friends and I are more like a collection of puzzle pieces that happen to be settled all over... everywhere. From Illinois to Pennsylvania, South Carolina to Michigan, New York, California... seriously.  I love and hate how spread out we are, but that just means we're all pursuing what our hearts are telling us to do, and finding happiness that way. Plus, it just makes the reunions - sporadic as they may be - just that much better.

Today's Kalyn's birthday. This girl's one of those scattered pieces that comprises my core circle. We definitely don't see each other nearly as often as we should, but when it happens, it's like no time has lapsed at all. Happy birthday, lady... love you to the mountain and back, ya weirdo!

happy biiiiirthday! 

And for the sake of nostalgia, some of my other favorite memories that didn't fit into a pre-sized photo collage: 

antics in phoenix, az

the day we wore the same shorts and went the grand canyon

the time we thought the camera was way lower than it was.
there were probably 3 feet of dead space that i cropped off the top of this.. haha

kalyn's mom's wedding.. we sang that time, too.. haha

Kalyn, thanks for being a stone-cold odd bird; if you were any different, I just don't know how we'd swing being friends.. haha. Seriously, love you dear friend, and I am so thankful for all the times you were there and the memories that were made. Cheers to the next year of adventures! 

And cheers to the rest of ya'll - have a beautiful week! 

xo | cmd

And Home Again

It's been a loaded weekend, to say the least. We're home now, but not without a day full of activity under the belt.

We started off with breakfast at Rob's dad's house; yesterday's visit there brought us back together for the morning there with them, this time complete with a visit from Rob's younger niece Ella, who is Sydni's age. We were greeted first by the little furry reminder of joy in the face of an otherwise tense situation: Ginger!

good morning, beautiful girl! 

hi, ella! ♥

We ate breakfast and spent the morning in the company of family, which was exactly what everyone in the house needed.

kate with the pups & ginger 

We soon said our goodbyes [for now; we'll be back asap!] and headed back to Dillon's to scoop up our dogs and be on our way.

Oh, I can't forget to mention the other pitstop before we hit the highway:

ohhhhhh brother.. 

Remember this girl? Yes, she's still in operable condition and has spent the last couple of weeks shacked up in Matt's shed. We made a detour through Collinsville on our way out to say our thanks to him and load her up. The guys took to that task, while I hung back and marveled over Apollo, Matt's dane:

apollo! 

The process went a lot smoother than I'd expected, and within a matter of minutes, the bike was hauled up, strapped in and ready to go!

ready to go!

Despite the roller-coaster of emotions, we seemed to stay in decent spirits for the ride home. We know the next couple of months are going to be a bit strenuous, regardless of how the course of events fall, but we know we're stronger together and when you add God to the mix, joy in the midst of it all is an undeniable fact.

road trippin' it! ♥

We're home now, exhausted and ready to call it a night.
Happy week, loves.

xo | cmd 

In The Midst of It All

I took a walk this morning. The first thing I thought when I woke up was that I needed, desperately, to get outside, touch my feet to the earth and reconnect myself to it, to the circle and to the Creator. I stopped and sat for a minute, just outside the cabin, and prayed. There isn't enough gratitude in my body to fully express the way I feel today. 

Rob slept through the night just fine, with minimal pain. He went to bed with arms and legs fully in tact and functioning. He has no back injuries. Aside from the visible damage on his face, his head is fine. He is damaged, but he will be okay. Most importantly, he is still himself, but now with a heightened sense of awareness to his own vulnerability. 

But he is still here. He is alive, by the grace of a God that I will never fully understand, but praise and thank daily for the blessings - both big and small - that somehow find me, despite my (our) undeserving state. 

I called off work today. Our first task as a group was recovery of all the bikes; we visited two separate places to get Rob's, then Dillon's. 

there she goes... 

TO THE OFFICER WHO TOLD ME YESTERDAY, AT AROUND 2AM ON THE PHONE THAT ROB AND HIS BIKE WERE ESSENTIALLY TOTALED, YOU OUGHT TO BE CAREFULLY RECONSIDERING YOUR OATH TO HONESTY. You do NOT tell someone's family member a course of events that did not happen, your certainty in the matter stamped only by the status of your badge. We were told that Rob's bike was a complete lost cause, and that upon impact, he had flipped off the bike and into the unknown at that point. 

Does this look like the aftermath of a bike abandoned by flight?! 

bikes going to illinois

 No, it doesn't. 

No.... it... doesn't. Urgghhhh

The guys managed to get her up and onto the trailer, with the help of the backyardigans's flatbed. Sidenote: Here in TN, it's very lucrative to own and operate a tow business out of your house. These guys are pros at it, and if I should ever find myself living in this region, you can go ahead and know now what business I'll be pursuing.

We headed back to the cabin to do the final pack-up of our things and get all 3 bikes situated on the truck and trailer, before saying our farewell-for-now's. Dillon, Matt, Courtney & Cadence took off back to Illinois, while Rob and I made our way back here to Knoxville. We stopped at Panera for lunch, and started formulating a plan on what to do for the next couple of days. As it turns out, we'll be stuck here, since on such short notice, we aren't able to get in to any Cincinnati facilities for the surgery he'll need on Wednesday. Womp womp.

Rob found a hotel on Expedia, and long story short, we're here now, checked in and planted here for the next two nights.

The consultation appointment is tomorrow. I'll put this prayer out in the blog world for tonight: for confidence, easy nerves and painless completion of the whole ordeal.

See you in the morning!

xo | cmd

Not The Plan...

It was late last night before my head hit the pillow. It's always a strange sensation adjusting to an empty house; even the dogs weren't entirely sure if making noise and ruckus was the way to go for the evening. They were snoozing long before I climbed into bed for the night, but it wasn't about to stay that way.

I was somewhere in a dream, when the soundtrack of my phone ringing started cutting in. I don't know much about the dream states, but I know I've been there before, doing some random dream activity, and the sound of an alarm clock or a ringtone becomes surround sound, and there I am, in a concert blend of dream and reality.

And then I woke up, to Rob's call that he'd wrecked his bike. It was 1am. I'd been asleep for probably just shy of 2 hours at that point, but I was awake in no time. In the 40 minutes that followed, I gathered what information I could from Rob and Matt on the accident, and was bags packed in my car on the way to Tennessee.

Five hours. Five hours driving, texting and calling Matt with updates. 

Rob is at Leconte Medical Center in Sevierville. Dillon was not involved in the accident and is okay.

Rob will be transferred to the trauma unit at UT Medical Center in Knoxville. 

Rob has been transferred.  Matt texts back. Jesse texts back.

Matt is meeting Courtney halfway between Kentucky & Illinois to get his trailer for the bikes. 

Rob's mom calls. His dad calls. Becky calls. Matt calls. My mom calls. Jesse calls.

Calls. Texts. Driving, driving, driving. I'm relatively good at keeping calm through things like this, and for some reason, I had a strange peace about it all even as I navigated through the mountains in the dark. I was over halfway through the trip when the sun met me to rise, and I pulled into the hospital in the golden light of early morning, into a front row parking spot of the garage just outside the main entrance.

My heart broke when I walked into his room. I've never seen him like this, even though I know he's been in situations of mishap before. I've never experienced it, not until today, and I can boldly say I am not a fan.

:( 

Now, as with every other hospital I've ever been in, when you want or need something, you've gotta speak up. It's not being rude, it's just a fact of life. You're one of many in that place, and they'll get to you quicker if you just ask. That's the part I hate, as I'm horribly nonconfrontational about these things. However after arriving in his room at 9am, the clock turned over to 1:30 pm and I decided it was time to pipe up. My requests were met with polite smiles and promises of attention which were fulfilled within the hour of my asking. I had faith in the UT Med Center staff :)

The trauma surgery team came down to do an assessment. Then the maxillofacial team came down. A doctor explained to us the extent of the damage as shown by x-ray, and their intended steps to correct and mend. He began to suture the gash in Rob's nose, while I opted to wait in the lobby.

I came back to find a semi-mended Rob. His face still held the damage, but at least now it was contained, both aesthetically and on the scale of pain. We began our discharge, and after eating some food, made the walk together out of the hospital.

look at those snazzy socks.. haha

I stopped to fill the prescriptions, then continued onward for the 45ish minute drive to the cabin the guys had rented in Gatlinburg. The prayers I said today were that of gratitude, for safety and for healing. I know the next few days aren't going to be fun, whatever they hold. We're not even sure yet.

Walking into the cabin, we met Dillon, who looked as exhausted as I felt. Within the next half hour, Matt, Courtney and Cadence arrived with the truck and trailer. We made dinner and sat down, each at the end of his and her daily energy supplies.

It certainly wasn't how I'd intended to rendezvous with these friends, but we're here together regardless, and it's a nice spot in a cloud, if that makes sense.

Tomorrow, we'll leave this cabin and decide if the next few days will be spent here in Gatlinburg, or if we'll be heading home. We'll see. We'll see.

For now, gooooood night, world.
And Lord, THANK YOU for all that You are and give to us. We are so, so undeserving of Your mercy.

Amen..

xo | cmd

Mini Master Mechanic [At Your Service!]

This is what my evening looked like: 

mini master mechanic! 

Rob takes off tomorrow for a weekend in the Smokies with a couple of his friends from back home. Before he even got the garage door open, Sydni was there, snow boots and long sleeves to "protect" herself.. haha. She is such a ham, and there's no other way we'd rather have it. 

This went on for hours. I busied myself with tidying up the house and getting dinner on the table, the details of which I'll spare all of you out there.. haha. 

It's also the birthday of one of my dear friends, Ladd! Happy birthday, Mister .. and hopefully I'll see you and your little family soon! 

Tomorrow's FRIDAY! WOOO! 

xo | cmd

Beating the Monday Bear

There's nothing like a Monday to crush some of whatever residual joy I have from the weekend. That's a little dramatic, but it's true and I needed something to kick-start my week.

This did the trick:

Watch it a few times if you need a smile like I did this morning ;)

To say that the rest of the day floated by like a cotton candy cloud is a blasphemous statement of trash, so I was more than ready to sacrifice my body for the sake of yoga when the work clock wound down.

[before] .. because the after... is just gross. 

I sweat like I've never sweat before; if I'm being honest with myself, I may have had a little more than I could handle on Saturday, and am clearly still paying for it two days later.

That little theory of mine was proved by the time I showered, got home and headed right back out with Rob to Mainstreet Cafe. Thankfully, Chad was working, and in a greatly-appreciated act of empathy, I survived dinner without the need to ask for a refill:

thaaaaaank you, chad! 

So yeah. The Monday bear has been tackled, and I think I can handle tomorrow without as much fuss or cloud as today ;)

xo | cmd

Journey | Steve Miller Band

On Sunday, Rob told me to check my email. I'd assumed it was information for our upcoming vaca, but I was wrong.

It's been a while since I've been so happy... to be wrong.
Instead of itinerary notes, it was a ticket confirmation to see these guys:

journey

steve miller band

STAAAHHHP.... My poor heart!
I LOVE the SMB, and Journey is, well.. they're Journey! C'Mon!
I have the best boyfriend imaginable. While the fastest and most direct route to my heart is through my stomach [aka, food], a very closely-contending route would be through live concerts for some of the bands I adore.

So I spent the entire day with SMB & Journey on my Pandora, singing "wheel in the sky keeps on tuuuuurnin'... don't know where I'll be tomoooorrooow...." over and over in my head in anticipation that they'd play that song [*spoiler alert: they did.].

Work passed quickly enough and it was home-bound to get ready. The sky threatened rain for a mere 20 minutes until it passed through and we voted on taking the bike down to Riverbend. Good call, too, since there's a Harley Row literally just outside of the entrance to Riverbend [tiny things = big wins!]

harley parking!

Kalyn, Brittany and their dad Papa Todd were on a separate trip to the concert, but we rendezvoused with them and parked ourselves on the lawn for a good night.

rob. me. brittany. todd. kalyn

And that's exactly what it was.

brittany! [& rob filming the concert.. haha]

love. this. guy.

and someone brought.. watermelon?

because sharing.. is caring... ;)

he loves me ♥

some smb!

A little [shaky, sorry] video footage of us and a thousand of our fellow folk enjoying perfect weather for the show!


happy people!

Last one for the night before the sun went down...


& so i love these people.

What an awesome night.
I told Rob next time, I'll drive, too ;)

whatcha think?? ;)

We're all home safe & sound. That's a wrap here, folks!
Good night!

xo | cmd

Friends On The Water

We woke up this morning to that atmosphere you can only find when camping. The smell of dew from overnight was still hanging in the air when we crawled out of the tent, and the sun was peeking through between the trees. The campfire ashes were still smoldering, and the familiar feeling of being surrounded by mud and camping gear first thing in the morning set in immediately.

I LOVE it.

I also love being on a boat.
With Rob.
.. And our friends (:

This was day 2 of taking the boat out on the water; yesterday was her baptism to the 2014 season, and today we motored a course around the lake by ourselves for a couple hours before Kalyn, Brittany and Chad rolled in.

Here's the photographic story of that happening :P 

my love (:
day 2!

sparkly water (:

floatin' away!

We decided to dock up for a minute to get our friends in on the action!

hi guys!!!

laid out with my best friend

love. love. looooove. these girls.

And what's a boating trip without doing yoga on the bow of the boat? 

just a little yoga for the trip out

Oh, and the polar plunge, aka the cold water challenge... whatever you wanna call it. It might be warm out, but the water is still pretty.. freakin'... frigid.

trying to talk ourselves into it....

go!
.... coldcoldcoldcoldcold...

We talked Chad & Rob into doing it, as well... 

 

I love these people...  

loungin' out without a single thing on the agenda

besters.

It was finally time to tow in... we were all winding down and ready to eat.

headin' on home



i am one absolutely content girl (:

^ Yeah, lots of selfies on the boat today. None of us could help it; happy people, happy pictures!

 

Rob & I dropped the boat at the house, threw on some jeans and made a U-Turn back out of the neighborhood on the bike to meet the other three for dinner. Our destination: The Eagle in OTR. We hadn't yet been, but we'll be back!  

sweet potato bake, chicken sandwiches, mac & cheese, spoonbread..
... nomsssss.

Whew. That's the way to finish a Sunday! We definitely got some sun out there this weekend, but it's nice to be home again with our pups for a the rest of the night. We're gonna crash here in a minute, I can tell.

I'll deal with Monday when it gets here... hah. G'Nite!

xo | cmd 

Redemption

I won't say I feel perfectly normal, but in comparison to yesterday, I'm not complaining on the stark contrast. I survived work with no major issues, only a slight headache, which is nothing now.

Luckily, it was another gorgeous day out; Rob and I took advantage of the mild weather and took off after work to run some errands and get ourselves lost for a bit on the bike.

harley sunsets ♥

Like I said, no complaints.

Here's to the rest of this week (:

xo | cmd

Taking Advantage of Beautiful Weather

Today... was... BEAUTIFUL.

But before I was allowed [dictated by me, just so nobody thinks Rob's a monster, hah] to go outside and enjoy it, there was a small price to be paid:

a small price to pay to spend the day outside!

I'm also saying that because it's a pretty big accomplishment for me to want to do laundry on a Saturday. I don't know what got into me... haha.

ANYWAY, the first really nice day in a few months very obviously warranted a day on two wheels. Rob brought the Harley out and we built our agenda one item at a time around wherever the bike took us. Our first stop: Eastgate. I've been procrastinating on a couple of things, but we finished up there in no time. AND, because I am spoiled out of my mind sometimes by this guy, we came home with this in the bag: 

his & hers.
hers... was not cheap.
she... is a lucky, lucky girl. ♥

 ^ Yeah. I'm the lucky girl who landed a guy she doesn't deserve. I've been out of this stuff for months now, primarily because my last one was 'stolen by a stalker' [not my words, but it was needed comedic relief at the time, and a story for another day....] and I couldn't justify buying a new one. Thank you, boyfriend! ♥

sunshine & flames [that will be gone, soooon]

We were in love with this day. Our list of errands carried on at a pace decided by the breaks in our leisure cruising. I think the entire midwest population was in need of a day like this, and I hope everyone was able to take advantage of it the way we did!

pilot & co-ri. heh ;)

And, what makes us even happier than being out on the bike all day?
... How about adding Eli's to that mix?
Yes. Yes, that's a sure favorite.

happy little wind-bristled folk (:

 And Eli's.

as sloppy as it is delicious.. and worth every single napkin!

We finally made our last stop to get a couple of new walking harnesses for the dogs; I've spied several of our neighbors and other random dog-walkers in the past few weeks using step-in harness systems, so I figured it would be worth a try for the meatballs. Stella, being as stocky as she is, can somehow still wriggle her way out of the standard buckle harness, so I was prettyyyyy excited when we completed a half mile circle with no escapees!

success!

For dinner, we found ourselves at The Varsity B&G down the road, a spot introduced to me by Brittany & Co. We originally thought we'd be out on the town tonight, but after all the fresh air and constant running of the day, we're ready to curl up and call it a day.

We're old... we know. ;)
Haha. G'Nite!

xo | cmd