Snow. Snow Everywhere ❄❆

One of these days, I'll start paying more attention to the weather forecasts.

no, i was not prepared for this.

I stepped out back to let the dogs out and found my neighbor calf-deep in the snow in his driveway, clearing his car. Apparently I wasn't the only one caught off-guard by the white mess. I was a little upset that it all looked so powdery, and well... fun .. and instead of playing in it, we'd all be heading to work. Schools, I assumed by the trails of kids I saw toting sleds down sidewalks as I was driving in, are closed today.


it's so pretty!

The commute to work was slow but steady; thankfully Nancy pardoned us all to arrive later due to the road conditions, and as much as we just inched along, I'm certain that extra hour or so made a huge difference. I have to admit that although the roads looked like junk, it was otherwise a pretty drive. This, once again, is the midwest. This is what winters in Ohio were like from my childhood. (:

snowy roads & snow-covered trees

And then there was work... which was mildly productive in spite of the weather. Nancy treated us to lunch, so naturally there was no protesting a baked potato in the middle of the day..


guilty eats.. and it's only tuesday... haha

^ No worries, though. I made it to the gym after work and in my own pained silence, trodded away at burning off whatever I could for the day. It was leg day, so of course my lower extremeties at this point feel more like noodles than limbs, but hey..... worth it ;)

Dinner post-workout was well worth it.

ooommmm nom nom nom (:

And then, as I was checking over everything for the evening at the new digs, I peeked inside the mailbox to find that Rob had beat me to the punch in having something delivered to the house! Sneaky, that one... Apparently he ordered facemasks. I couldn't decipher a company name from the shipping address, but it doesn't really matter; they're pretty nifty.

+ jacket + helmet = alllll set!

I told him I was wearing this thing to work. In the minute or so that it took me to sport one and snap a picture, I have to admit it got a bit toasty. Oh, the stuff available to us.. hah.

Anyway, I can feel the soreness encasing my legs the more I sit here, so it's time for a goodnight stretch session and some sleep.

*Crossing FINGERS for no. more. snow tonight! ❄❆

xo | cmd

Sub-Zero Weather :/

Bro, it's COLD.

It started snowing last night, and I was totally prepared to awake this morning to huge drifts and an excessively-lengthy commute. Fortunately, the snow must've changed course; all that was to be seen this morning was a dusting across the ground. Unfortunately, we traded snow banks today for sub-zero temperatures.

.... and did they ever. Instagram for hours, folks.... haha..

I made it work just as my own car's dashboard settled on -3 degrees. The weather forecasters predicted drops throughout the day to about -6 or so. Yeah, it's cold. At work today, Elisa informed me that in Indianapolis, it was near -35. Sheesh... :/

Sydni was at her dad's tonight, so I took the opportunity to make one run to the new house with the things I'd loaded up last night. It was a short-lived visit; this is the kind of weather that makes your nose hairs freeze the instant you step outside and take a breath. I was ready to be home, make dinner and cozy up with my dogs.

diiiiiinnnnnner! (: (:

Things I didn't really plan thoroughly when I  moved all my kitchen stuff to the new house: I am still living here, but had nothing on or with which to eat. So, in the classy fashion that is, I found a stray fork that had been in the sink, washed it and paired it up with the paper plate china. Fortunately, I forgot about the pots and pans in the drawer beneath my stove when I was moving, so I still had all of those. Add some chicken, green beans and pierogies, and I had myself a dinner that would've been delicious right from the pan. I just had to laugh at my present first-world-issues of no real plates.

Tomorrow it's projected to be even colder than today. I'm not motivated to move any more stuff for a day or two, if I'm being honest. I think tomorrow it's going to be a gym day. I need some motivation, and I know some indoor cardio [because let's be real, I'm not a diehard runner who likes lung expansion exercises in sub-zero weather] and circuit training will do the trick.

For now, STAY WARM and STAY SAFE, friends.
P.S. - If you have elderly relatives or neighbors, it might be a good time to check in on them, ya know, just to make sure they're ok! Also, if you have ANIMALS outside in this crap........ don't get me started. Just bring them inside. This is dangerously cold....

Good night!

xo | cmd

Tuesday Come & Gone

I had special visitors today at work!

happy.. little.. me! lunch visitors!

Sydni asked to stay and hang out with Mr. Rob today while I was doing the whole work thing... she helped him run some errands, including stopping by to see me for an hour during lunchtime. I was a little worried at first that she'd stuff him in a closet or drive him mad, but instead, I got home to fixed appliances, a beautiful princess sticker collage and two pups who tied the whole picture together.

So I made them dinner (:

dinner for my fam (:

And the funniest part: I'm not sure who was more excited to watch this, Sydni or Rob and me.. but we made quick with it to throw in Monster's University, the second-but-prequel-to Monster's Incorporated. Parents and non-parents everywhere really need to acknowledge and embrace their inner kid, because this movie's funny no matter which way you spin it.

cute movie.. watch it!

Here's where my day and this entry end.. I have my family here and I am one happy little camper. Not everything is perfect right now but it sure does feel like it sometimes (:

xo | cmd

Lara & Emilia's Baby Shower

Today started off a little more on the sluggish side that I'd originally expected. Sydni and I both took a leisurely approach to the morning and were barely ready to roll when Mo showed up at noon. The three of us headed over to Babies 'R Us and then Once Upon a Child to do some gear shopping for Lara's baby shower before we raced back home to put the final touches on everything. By the time Jackie made her way over, we were all ready to get going.

lara! the beautiful mama :)

tea party time for little miss emilia!

Lara's shower for little Emilia was aaaaa-mazing! The lady who hosted it had transformed her entire basement from her kids' playroom into a tea party, decked from top to bottom in simple yet elegant decorations highlighting baby girl, complete with everything from little baby cupcakes to a banner with Emilia's name. We had a blast. 

adorable baby cupcakes!

presents :) [i love baby showers]





Oh, and it wouldn't have been a baby shower with these creative ladies without a craft session: Lara had it arranged for all of us to design little headbands for Emilia. Each of us picked out our own colors and patterns and put together an array of little elasticized bows, which I must say were all adorable. In the event I have another girl down the road, I may or may not - but probably may - borrow this fun idea. In hindsight, it might've helped out a lot when Syd was a munchkin, since she lacked hair off the bat and on more than 20 occasions was declared an adorable little boy by passersby. Hrm. Anyway, here's how those turned out:


bows [arrangement by yours truly :) ]



blueberry struesel muffins



Once we retired ourselves from the baby shower festivities, Mo headed off to do some babysitting on base for the Werners, otherwise I would've enlisted her services for the muffin-baking that consumed the rest of my evening :). We've got the Towerview fundraising breakfast tomorrow morning before Sunday school that's purposed as a fundraiser for our Relay for Life team. I'm excited for it! - Oh, and the muffins look stellar [thanks, Nancy, for the recipe!].

I made some pierogies & peppers for us while the muffins were baking, too. Yay for my [adoptive] Polish roots shining through! :)

It's gonna be a long day tomorrow; time to get some Z's!

xo | cmd

35 Reasons + A Birthday + Pierogies = :)

First things first.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRISTINE!!!

birthday gal! | birthday card, made by yours truly....

---------------
Onto my current thought:

Facebook is usually more of an unavoidable nuissance to me, kind of like a car wreck on a roadside. It's like that in the sense that I know I need to be focusing my energies to a much speedier departure from it, but I can't help but gawk sometimes. Well, happy day for me, because today one of my dear friends from college had this posted as his status, and it popped up in that little newsfeed thingamajig. Thirty-five reasons to avoid sin. Hello, reality check :).

Thank you for this, Ryan!
----------------

35 Reasons to NOT sin:

1. Because a little sin leads to more sin.
2. Because my sin invites the discipline of the Lord.
3. Because the time spent in sin is forever wasted.
4. Because my sin never pleases but always grieves God who loves me.
5. Because my sin places a greater burden on my spiritual leaders.
6. Because in time my sin always brings a heaviness to my heart.
7. Because I am doi...ng what I don't have to do.
8. Because my sin always makes me less than what I could be.
9. Because others, including my family, suffer consequences due to my sin.
10. Because my sin saddens the godly.
11. Because my sin makes the enemies of God rejoice.
12. Because my sin deceives me into believing I have gained when in reality I have lost.
13. Because my sin keeps me from qualifying for spiritual leadership.
14. Because the supposed benefits of my sin will never outweigh the consequences of disobedience.
15. Because repenting of my sin is such a painful process, yet I must repent.
16. Because sin is a very brief pleasure for an eternal loss.
17. Because my sin may influence others to sin.
18. Because my sin may keep others from knowing Christ.
19. Because sin makes light of the cross, upon which Christ died for the very purpose of taking away my sin.
20. Because it is impossible to sin and follow the Spirit at the same time.
21. Because God chooses not to respect the prayers of those who cherish their sins.
22. Because sin steals my reputation and robs me of my testimony.
23. Because others once more earnest than I have been destroyed by just such sin.
24. Because the inhabitants of heaven and hell would all testify to the foolishness of this sin.
25. Because sin and guilt may harm both body and mind.
26. Because sin and service make the things of God tasteless.
27. Because suffering for sin has no joy or reward, though suffering righteousness has both.
28. Because my sin is adultery with the world.
29. Because, though forgiven, I will review this very sin at the Judgement Seat where loss and gain of eternal rewards are applied.
30. Because I can never really know ahead of time just how severe the discipline for my sin might be.
31. Because my sin may be an indication of a lost condition.
32. Because to sin is to not love Christ.
33. Because my unwillingness to reject this sin now grants it an authority over me greater than I wish to believe.
34. Because sin glorifies God only in his judgement of it and his turning of it to good use, never because it is worth anything on its own.
35. Because I promised God he would be Lord of my life.

---------
^ Pick your favorite!

delish :)

For the day, it was another furiously busy day, and by the time I made it home, it was just enough time for me to make it to the store for a quick picking of days-overdue grocering [pretend.verb.mode.chyeahh]. It wasn't a half hour after I'd finished that Mo was at the front door with the information from last night's Relay meeting. I made with it and got dinner ready for her, myself and Joe.

Life is good. Life is really good. :)

I'm blessed.

xo | cmd

Tuesday Perks

Today I’m feeling rather hopeful.

I’m going to be bold and say that I am finally adjusting to my new environment at work. Not a day goes by that I fight the urge to compare my old office to my new office, but the confusion seems to be subsiding and a more distinct sense of organization seems to be emerging. I have strong hopes that we’re all headed in a productive direction.



hello, dresses!



Anyway, as I sat in front of my computer arguing with payroll (Tuesdays, love it….), the UPS guy popped in with two unnecessarily large boxes. The store name tattooed across every inch of its surface was a dead giveaway to the fact that the dresses I ordered on Friday, made it safely to me by Tuesday. Not too shabby, and quite frankly a monstrous elephant removed from the back of my mind.



I also managed to order a few other odds and ends which I’ll need to complete the wedding ensemble, and if all goes well, I expect those deliveries to be just as punctual as the first.

When 5:00 hit today, I left work feeling an overall sense of accomplishment and progress. I headed home to Joe and Sydni, who, as it turned out, weren’t even there yet. That gave me ample time to get laundry moving and start dinner with minimal interruptions. They made it home shortly after me, and immediately set the goal of watching Road to Perdition while I was making dinner. Did I mention we’re harboring a Tom Hanks addict? ;)

Behold, the pierogie:



pierogies, pre-adornment

Yum. Home run on that one, if I must say so myself. I rarely say that of my own culinary doings, but after a long day of haggling employees for lost hours and adjustments, it felt good to focus on nothing but the flavor of the food.

I think I'll ask my mom for her pierogi recipe. She makes these suckers from scratch, and there's not a chance in the world I'd argue with that. :)

All in all, not an awful day, for me at least. I’m still praying that Joe and this weather deal will start to get along better and stop butting heads.

Tomorrow = midweek. HUA.

xo | cmd