Friday the 13th

On a scale of 1 to stereotypical, today was 5 paces past the latter for being a Friday the 13th. My team [at work] managed to make it through the day in tact, but it sure didn't come without a fight. 

Albeit a day of chaos that came in waves, I received my second installment from the Book of the Month club that I joined. The first book, The Sun is Also A Star from last month, introduced me to Nicola Yoon, and I read it as quickly as I could. I promptly wanted to either re-read it, or have a sequel materialize into my lap so I could continue being a fly on the wall to Natasha & Daniel. 

I haven't heard of either of these authors until now, but I am all about it and these two reads look like they'll be quick to finish but long to forget [here's hopin'!].

With the work day finally conquered, I made a beeline home and traded my office pants for lycra and met Rob at the gym. We squeezed in an evening of working out on separate sides of the building before reconvening for a jog side-by-side on the treadmills. 

I'm about to crack open the bigger of these two new books; I'll keep ya'll posted on how it goes. :)

Happy Friday the 13th! 

xo | cms

When Tuesdays Play Nice

Yes, yes & yes. 

Today was admittedly much better of a day in general than yesterday, and to add to it, I added another book to the collection. This one was recommended by Britta, and now I own it, and soon I will read it. These are the little things in life and lunch breaks that I live for.

the snow child | eowyn ivey

^ I am taking this slowly, believe it or not. There's an entire ship's worth of books on this to-read list, I know, but what's a goal if not challenging? ;)

Other than another bookstore on a sunny day, I did manage to do some other adulty things too: work, more work, some more work and then a parent teacher conference to top it off.

OH, and today a little birdy chirped that there's a return missions trip to Panama, scheduled for May 30 - June 6. Yes, yes & YES.

Gosh, Tuesday. You're all right. You're all right.

xo | cms

Magnificant Magnus

Today was the perfect day to finish up reading through the world of Shadowhunters; as it stands now, this was the only book I had not yet tackled, and now that I've done it, I'm just patiently waiting for Lord of Shadows to be released in May. 

bane chronicles

^ Oh, and I am so thankful that Harry Shum was cast as the show Magnus.

Really not much to report here, folks. Read on!

xo | cms

Me, Adulting, 2017.

It's amazing how some of the simplest things can provide so much excitement. These days, I'm losing it over coordinated curtains and clean towels. Don't even get me started on matching furniture. All of the sudden, I actually care about that stuff, and it's weird.

So when Rob's mom bought this for me for Christmas and we saw the box there a few weeks ago, I've been patiently biding my time until we took a vehicle large enough to transport it [with us + dogs + stuff, etc] back to Cincinnati. It came back with us last night. It's here, and I love it ♥

final bedroom furniture touch! 

For any of you who see these things online, I will say to you that YES, it is a good investment.
Oh, and as a note to future me, buy this book:

... & buy it because The Sun is Also a Star made you ugly cry in the best way.

& also, I'll be adding The Bane Chronicles to this hoard later this week, along with pre-ordering Lord of Shadows. I'm tellin' ya... addicted. 

because... Shadowhunters

It seemed far more like a Monday than the Tuesday that it actually was, and I can already tell I am thankful this is a 4-day week. 

Cheers! 

xo | cms

Proverbs 4:23

I was doing a little bit of reading this morning, something that I admit escapes me more often than not due to my love of sleeping in. Let's be honest: I'm not nearly as diligent as I need to be. 

BUT, this morning, I managed to get my Bible open before the work notebook, and realized that in spite of its worn-out spine, pages rubbed thin by my flipping them over the years and the overall appearance of a book, this thing... could never be fully absorbed. 

Here's the deal: I'm heading out this weekend with Becky for a mini retreat; we'll be in a treehouse reflecting on the road behind us and re-calibrating ourselves for the road of 2015. So much of what that will demand of me requires me to do one simple thing: 

Guard. My. Heart. 

guest blog : marianne! 

As with every worthwhile objective, it's easier said than done. It's a huge undertaking in and of itself; applying it to the daily drudge can be daunting if we don't know how to do it. I had that spark of inspiration to get in and do some writing of my own. That's kind of my thing whenever I feel compelled to translate the mess in my head into strings of words. 

And then.... I remembered that my awesome friend Marianne is currently overseas embedded in the field of missions and giving of herself to the field. There was a post of hers from December that is wholly applicable both then, now and really at any point. 

I give all the credit for this entry to her, and am thankful that she took the time to sit down and organize those thoughts into something we can all follow and reference. 

So if you're ready to really examine the question of why it's mandatory that we guard our hearts and minds [or what that even means??], then click HERE. 

If for some reason you can't click that, then just follow this link: 

http://isaiahsixeight.tumblr.com/post/105042431882/between-the-cappuccinos-and-the-gospel

Powerful stuff, am I right?!
Except seriously, I'm insanely proud of that girl & I'm grateful to have her as an added source of encouragement. Love you, Mare!

If you're interested in what she's doing over in Italy, check it out HERE.

prov 4:23

xo | cmd

Separate Sundays

Rob went to paint his car all day, and I... read this:

done & done!

^^ If you want an intense read, I would recommend this... but only if you're savvy to the English lifestyle and don't misinterpret slang terminology, like I did a few times. Woops ;)

Anyway, as an appetizer to my afternoon spent reading, I absorbed some love and light at SonRise before a quick grocery trip and return home to the couch, a blanket and that book.

I caught glimpses of Rob's progress throughout the day:

in the paintbooth! 

Different variations of the progress kept rolling in, until finally there was the finished product:

little lexi! 

Although I'm not the least bit surprised that Rob did all this work basically by himself [aside from the sanding job; that took professional assistance....from yours truly, of course... ;) haha], I am super excited for and proud of him for getting this done. It was clear that this project was eating at him, so now that it's done, I'm sure little Lexi will be fully welcomed to sit in the driveway. Hah.

Entralled yet?
I know, this is pretty menial stuff to an audience, but I write these e-memoirs more for my own recollection more often than not, so your patience and silent endurance are greatly appreciated ;)

Monday's here again tomorrow, despite my ongoing protest [to whom can I write a letter on this?!].
Time to close out for now. I hope you've had a wonderful weekend, too!

xo | cmd

HBD Nikki, On This Ho-Hum Day :/

Nikki walked into work this morning with what we are all convinced to be the early stages of either strep throat or laryngitis. Neither of those are any good, but I do remember clearly when I had laryngitis a few years back at Chris' office and was rendered vocally useless for nearly two weeks. Not a good time. And... it's her birthday, TODAY.

So let's focus on that instead of the yucky part. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NIKKI!!!!

yeah, november bdays!

It kind of seemed like today was bound and determined to drone on into next month. On a few separate occasions I found myself checking the time only to find that not even an hour or two had lapsed since the last time I bothered to look. And then, as is usually the case, I found myself in the midst of a task I hadn't planned on doing and racing the last hour of the clock before 5pm rolled around. Good thing, too. The "eventful" nature of the past week definitely took a hit on me and I was down for the count by the time I got home.

 

Plus, this came out today and I made a beeline to pick it up after work:  

third & final installment of the divergent series

^ Yep. Here I go again, embracing my inner teenage bookworm for the next couple of days, sucked back into the world of Tris Prior & Tobias Eaton... we at work have all agreed not to judge each other for our shared affinity for stuff like this [we'll include Hunger Games in there, too]. I'm not quite halfway through it, but that was quite a war in and of itself anyway: to devour the entire thing in one sitting? ... or.... pace myself because I've already decided it's going to be a relaxing week and what else do I really have to do? Yeah.. issues. :p

Oh, and I laughed when I saw this from Rob earlier today as he toted the meatballs back home to Illinois. [I already miss them all..... ]

car full of my favorites.. aww..

Anywho, I'm beat. It's not even 9pm and I'm at the finish line for the day.
Sleep is a poor man's remedy..... G'nite!

xo | cmd

✿ Saturday With Sydni ✿

This is how today started:

not complaining one bit.

& Then...
SOCCER PRACTICE!

soccer monster!

-- I felt like I was back in my childhood, except on the other end of it now. I've only seen pictures of me then, but they were not unlike the scene today: Sydni in her pint-sized soccer gear - cleats and all - and a t-shirt that even in the smallest size available drooped off her tiny frame. As much as I tried for the pigtail today, it looked unusually disheveled by the time we got there, which in a way magically available only to little girls, made her look that much cuter.

so cute. so. stinkin'. cute.

soccer kiddies

And some short but fun action I captured [*note to self, take an actual camera next time.]
 

^ My little [future] left-wing (:

^ Red Light, Green Light!

I just.. can't get enough. (: (: (:

Soccer practice off the checklist, we made a break for iHOP.. because it's Saturday, pancakes sounded amazing, and we had no agenda. We were already in Mason, so once breakfast was out of the way, we made a stop at Half Price Books and came out with a couple of movies, a book for Sydni, and of course: Insurgent. I couldn't resist buying it, but didn't feel like paying retail for the thing [proud consumer moment]. It's the second of the Divergent series that I started last week.

insurgent by veronica roth

And ok.. I originally planned to start the thing today, while Sydni napped or snuggled up for a movie at the end of the evening or something. No. Instead, I devoured it cover-to-cover before tonight was over. I'm still blaming Nikki for getting me hooked. It's. So. Good.

Between chapters [& Sydni's nap), we got outside for bike riding, bubbles into the sunset, and some hiking around the area. She's my little trooper!

bubbles into the sunset: i could literally do this every day.

& again, because we're spoiling ourselves today, Graeter's!

hahaha.. graeters!!!

.. And that is how we do it on a Saturday. Tomorrow we'll be on the river for a bit, but for now it's time to call it a day.

xo | cmd

First World Village Problems & Things That Are Nikki's Fault

And by Village, I mean the Village of Fairfax, where I live.
And by problems, I mean this:

renovation time!

^ Anyone recognize that? If not, well, it's the Skyline on Wooster in Fairfax. I don't know how I didn't notice this yesterday, but apparently the thing is now closed facing renovation.. until mid-October. This doesn't phase me in a major way; it is after all a chili joint and I don't eat there often enough for it to bother me... but I do feel for all of my little village neighbors who I see pulling their distinct vehicles into that place 3+ times/weekly.  Womp womp...

The good news? I found a new book trilogy on which I'm quickly becoming obsessed.

I blame Nikki...haha.

divergent!

We were discussing books a couple of weeks back and I mentioned the fact that it's difficult for me to latch on to any series; I have a very limited window of interest that is either tamed or bored within the first 20 pages of the first installment. For this reason, coupled with the fact that I'm not into many of the bigger sci-fi franchises [Harry Potter, Twilight, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc.], I've been sticking to non-series reads. Knowing I'm a fan of The Hunger Games, she suggested I try this out. I caved and bought it today.. and I haven't put it down yet. As much as I'm enjoying it though, it begs the question of why I'm so fascinated by novels revolving around steel-willed teenagers in apocolyptic landscapes...haha. Oh well. I'll have this finished by tomorrow.

So until thennnn.... g'nite (:

xo | cmd

"Night Night, Moon"

night night!

Of the many books we read to Sydni, one of her favorites right now is A Night Night Prayer, by Amy Parker. We read this at least twice a day on the weekends, and usually at least once on weeknights as well. This evening was no different, except that on the page where we say Night, night, moon!, we took a break and went outside to take a look at the real moon. It was high and magnificent tonight, shrouded occasionally by passing cloud cover. I thought about getting out the real camera to capture the glowing circle, but opted instead for the more convenient cell phone. I kinda liked it, though.

That's about all I've got to report tonight, but for the record, I like it.



belleville full moon



This is the first 5-day work week I will have in two weeks; I'm not quite excited about it, but I'm pretty sure already that it's going to be a pretty packed, hopefully productive one. We'll have to see.

Night, night, friends!

xo | cmd