Going Away Party : Part 2

Today, step 1: Stop at the gas station and get coffee.

I ran into Ali as soon as I got there, which wasn't that surprising. What brought me to my senses was the group gift from the crew working at the gas station. See, I've gotten my coffee from the same place nearly every day for the past two years, and in the course of doing so gotten to know each of them a little here and there.

Long story short, they paid for my coffee, gave me an extra muffin and a styrofoam cup filled with beautiful orchids. How many people get that from their gas station staff? How much am I going to miss all of these sweet people???

I walked into work covered with things that I've received as gifts over the past couple of days and weeks here. It was not a horrible way to start my last day here at this place....

scarf: deshawn | flowers: gas station crew
camera lens coffee mug: ali

I had no idea my coworkers had all decided on their own version of a going-away token for me, either.

this, from kyle, of course.. haha.. thanks...

More amazingly, the owl-themed battery of things by which I will remember these people, and enough hugs to last me for a few weeks at least, without them. :/ Haha. Seriously though, I was floored, and walked around for the rest of today covered with owls. I tried to take pictures of everything, but realized I missed the picture of the 1.5-foot tall garden owl that Marc & Diana gave me... to perch in the garden I'll one day have and fend off any intruders....

owl earrings: andi | owl necklace: linda
random turtle earring? - well, it's ali's, from andi, but looked cute with an owl.
owl ornament: marybeth | paper owl: andi | owl scarf: deshawn

Oh, and I cried some. A lot, actually. Like the sissy that I am when it comes to saying goodbyes to people I love. The good news is, we managed to take some great pictures in between the tear fits.

besties | linda.cori.kyle

DRUM ROLL....................

................. CAKE!!
- It's okay, you can get excited. I did. I really did. Andi, our resident baker extraordinaire, came to work today bearing a SMORES CAKE in honor of our potluck. Add that to the fried chicken, pasta salad, Linda's signature [lettuce+] salad, fruit & veggie trays, asiago cheese breads from Bread Co., and drinks, I'd say lunch went well.

Cake. Amazing. I might still be drooling, hours later as I write this. Oh well.


you can totally be jealous. it's okay.
... hello, andi's smores cake. y-u-m.

Oh, and as promised, here's what that frame that Ali got me... looks like with pictures of people we actually know.

frame!! ♥ ♥

*sigh. Lots of crying was done at work today. It's all right though. I'm not actually losing any of these people, just moving on to different places. It could always be worse. ;)

Dinner tonight was at Chubby's in Alton with Rob's mom and stepdad. It was great to see them both and forget to take pictures.... -__- ........... way to go, Cori.... I know, I've been doing a lot of that lately. No worries, though; I'll see them next weekend when I'm back to visit.

chubby's | alton, il

I'm... tired. We leave tomorrow morning for my final move to Ohio. We get to rent a car in the morning, too, so that Rob can get back to Illinois. I just decided I need to turn my brain OFF for now and just go to sleep.

Love & more love to you.. happy weekend, friends!

xo | cmd

Hey Friday - I Love You (:

It's that time again! HELLO, WEEKEND!!!

Sheesh. Today was definitely not a bad day, by any means. It'll be easier for me to just itemize this one (:

1 | OFFICE POTLUCK! [I told you today was good.. haha]


mushroom. ehhh... : /

I decided to be a butthead and send this picture to Rob mid-way through the lunch festivities; he loves mushrooms about as much as slugs love salt.... so I figured it would only be right to flash this thing his way.  I for one don't care much for mushrooms, so I didn't eat it when I was finished, but I was feeling particularly rambunctious, so yeah.... ;)

2 | RENTAL CAR? YES!

'ello, rental!

Rob and I quickly decided a few days back that my car with its current tire conundrum would not suffice for a 5-hour jaunt to Cincinnati and back again, so he used his work ties and landed us a nice little rental for the weekend. It's currently sitting with 178 miles on it; we'll just see what that's like when we get back..... it's a spiffy little thing though; guess we'll see tomorrow how it does on the road!

3 | CHALK CHALK CHALK.. aaaaaaaand CHALK

chalk chalk & chalk!

Dawne gave Sydni an Easter basket again this year [love. her.], this time equipped with a slew of Tinkerbell gear. There was chalk included, so of course the most urgent imperative step of action upon arriving at the house was opening said chalk and taking to the driveway. Well, it was more like the cul-de-sac, which proved to be a much larger canvas, and perfect for my mini Matisse. She covered patches of concrete all over that thing with her beautiful little art. Love love love.

4 | NOMORERACK.COM = AWESOMETHINGSFORCORI&ROB


nomorerack.com | obsessed....

A few weeks back, I introduced Rob [on accident, actually] to nomorerack.com. It's a website that retails various products well under the MSRP, and ships them to you in quite the timely manner. Since he's found it, the boyfriend has obtained a small collection of things just as random as the site itself. First it was a couple of down pillows [love them], then some laser pointer / LED light ink pens [entertaining], a few other things, and then today a back up camera for his truck. He went into tinker mode outside tonight wiring it up, while Sydni decorated the streets & I sat by with my Canon in full swing.

....... Speaking of camera.... the whole obsession with nomorerack came from some arbitrary Facebook newsfeed post I'd seen almost 2 months ago for a coffee mug that was shaped like a Canon camera lens. It immediately demanded my attention, both by its creative design and more importantly its price tag... or lack thereof : $12. DUH. I almost bought it on the spot, but for some reason didn't, and then definitely didn't after he carefully instructed me not to.



cameraholic..... caffeinaholic...

Long story short, that arrived at the house today, too, and I am in love with it. Thank you boyfriend, for being your amazing self and for snagging me this totally me mug. Love it... love YOU.

Like I said... today's been a great day. We opted not to head out tonight for Cincy; we'll be headed that way at some super early juncture tomorrow morning. Time to call it an early night (:

xo | cmd

Express Christmas [Because the World DIDN'T END]

Holy smokes, ya'll. It's FRIDAY!

First things first: WELCOME back to the daily Friday grind, especially to all of you who had planned on the world coming to a close sometime earlier today. I really hope none of you are disappointed, especially if you've shelled out wallet weight on Christmas gifts this year or have plans for New Years ;). 

..... things that didn't happen today....

Funny story to get this rolling. Okay, well it's not so much funny as it is just plain weird. It's not really even a story, really, but it's still bizarre: Basically, it was an early night last night, only to awake at 3am to not one, but every single smoke detector in my house on high alert. It was synchronized in that they all started at the same time, but definitely not on the same pulse. For all I could tell, it was one steady blare on surround sound for about five minutes before it... just.... stopped. Weirdest thing ever. We're on a love/hate relationship, my house and me. Between the thermostat tantrums and the smoke detectors party rockin' at random hours of the night, I'm not sold that there isn't some sort of maniacal scheme brewing...... I even mentioned to my friend Rob that I thought this was indication of the world ending.... I don't think I sold him on it. Oh well.

ANYWAY,

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
[early!!]

it's a good day for christmas sweaters, peroni & breakfast! (:

By that, I mean that today was my office Christmas party. Everyone in my office has a track record of excellence in the arena of potlucks. I work with all women and a man who used to run a restaurant, so it's pretty fail-proof that we'd be eating well. Oh, and we may have added some additional spirit to the party. Haha.

merry christmas! | with ♥, express

So yeah.... we made with it gettin' busy on some food, but the best part by far [as is customary with Christmas these days] was not only a blast, but hilarious all together. [I'll get some of those pics up soon, too].

Here's just a preview of how thoughtful these people are:



secret santa gift + mini christmas bonus + express columbia fleece?
.... we're loved.

yep. love it. & love her.
merry christmas!

My addiction to popcorn may have finally been satisfied on a whole new level; Diana had me as her secret santa draw, and because everyone here is fully aware of my obsession with popcorn, I got this little guy, all wrapped up and ready to go. Plus, we each got part of our Christmas bonus in cash form, and a suuuuper comfy Columbia logo'd fleece. We were as surprised as we were grateful. It's been a crazy year here, but we're sticking it out and enjoying ourselves.

Tonight I'll drive back to Ohio for the weekend; I can't wait to see my family and a few long lost faces before I get back.

Wish me luck......

&& very MERRY [early] Christmas to all of you, my dear friends & blogbots!

xo | cmd

Big Small Group

that's right, potluck!

I'd said yesterday that we would be closing up shop 3 hours early today, contingent upon us meeting all of the numbers our boss had laid out. We didn't have any doubts in our mind that we would be free and clear at 2pm; we knocked out all the requirements by 1 in spite of taking an hour to do our typical family-esque huddle around our food-laden table. We don't often all eat together, but when we do, we eat well! I don't know a lot of offices that can break out rotisserie chicken, taco dip, cheddar bay biscuits, ambrosia salad, fruit pie, oreo pie and salad, chow down, and still do some serious damage to the necessary tasks at hand. I was wailing away karaoke style to some song on the radio by 2:12pm, halfway home. Woo!

I used those few extra hours to do some last minute touchups to everything from the food for tonight's small group to tidying up around the house and loading up the car with just about every detail except for Sydni and myself. I bided my time getting some other miscellaneous things done before picking Sydni up and heading to the Woods for our large group gathering.


small group love :)



I'd forgotten just how much fun it is when we're all together. Even though I was goin' solo on this one [Joe's in the process of flying back to Ohio], it was a blast. The Closky's brought new baby Izzy to the party, baby Evan Goble was in attendance, and we even coo'd over the Babots up-and-coming little Emilia. The tykes were all the rage, but more than that the energy of company was at a high buzz just with having everyone together. I loved every minute of it, and was admittedly a little sad that it was over just as quickly as it'd begun.

I really need to put this blog to rest for the night and put myself to bed. Sydni and I plan on head starting outta here by 4am tomorrow. I'll letcha know if that schedule holds fast. Good news, Joe landed safely in Cinci and will be home when we get in tomorrow. Prayers for safe travel :)

G'nite!

xo | cmd

Potluck :)

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Baptists love fellowship, and Baptists love food.

Put those two things together and you've got what's called an incredible potluck.

That's what we had today following our morning service, after we listened to the words of missionary Ronny Carroll. I have such immense respect and admiration for those who are called to serve abroad in developing areas such as remote areas of Asia, where the Carrolls had been serving. It may not be a calling into which God is leading my and/or my family, but if it were, I would be ok with that. What an experience.


my laundry thief!

Anyway, the potluck was a huge success. Many, many thanks to those in my church who were behind the scenes on organizing, planning, and preparing for that meal. Everything was delicious, and it was a great time to spend talking with Meagan, Rob, and another new couple to the church. I'll tell ya, that fellowship thing... *phew. Amazing :)

After church, the Dills headed back to their lair to catch up on some family time and household to-do's. I was attempting to do laundry, when someone came flying by the laundry basket and managed to snag a pair of daddy's shorts. Before I could stop her, she was down the stairs and into the living room. By the time I caught up with her, Sydni had both legs in one side of the shorts and was waiting for mommy to come and see what a good job she'd done. I was so proud. Haha.

We like Sundays around here, so I'll bid farewell to the keyboard until I have to fight with one again all day tomorrow ;)

Good night!

xo | cmd