#FCCvNYRB

That Cincinnati has such a huge futbol following right now is something that I love. There's nothing really like the energy at futbol games, and although the majority of Cinci has likely never truly experienced that in its fanatic European format, I'm still amped that soccer is at least on the map now in this city. Even in our infancy USL stages, I'm proud to be here and watch them grow.

photo cred: instagram @fccincinnati

Tonight was sold OUT!

photo cred: instagram @fccincinnati

It was a muggy day outside all throughout the actual daylight hours, and it wasn't about to stop at 8pm, either. Rob and I met up with Brandon for dinner before the game, which gave us the chance to see the parade through the stadium for the first time. Cinci, I applaud your spirit!

Brandon left us shortly after we found our seats; his work had one of the suites up at the top, but we were at least able to text our string of play-triggered emotions back and forth the entire time in a group text.

In case you weren't there, or didn't watch it, or really didn't and probably still don't care, here's an overview of this evening, as seen through the lens of... well, yours truly. 

Better luck next time, boys. We came out of the gate roaring but lost a lot of it in the 2nd half. I'm sure the tides will eventually turn when the growth cycle is complete, but with record attendance of 33,250, it's clear that your fanbase is ready to back you up, win or lose. After all, this is Cincinnati ;)... 
Whew. Tomorrow is a big day for a certain kiddo.. time for some serious ZzZ's! 
xo | cms 

FCC v ROC

The alternate title for this entry was almost,

I'M SORRY, WHAT?! : An Open Letter to the USL Game Officials, and the Optometrists Who've Failed You

... and then I realized that a title like that just would't work aesthetically on the main page ;).

moderately unimpressed.

Ok, but really. Rob and I spent the majority of the morning running random errands after breakfast at PFC, agreeing that it was nice to actually be home with no pre-set agenda.

Becky touched in early afternoon and invited us last minute to the FCC game; of course we obliged, and at 7p we found ourselves 2 rows off the field watching FCC take the rhinos on home turf.

>>This is where I'd insert my rant of unchecked discontentment with all but maybe a couple of calls made out of our favor.<<


It's been easy for me to get lost in these games and forget that the majority of our home turf fanbase is comprised of newly-immersed soccer watchers, who haven't had the chance to really download the game of futbol - at least not in the way we've done so far with football, baseball and basketball. What matters, in my incredibly non-expert opinion, is that futbol's gaining some much-earned traction and attention here in the Queen City. As someone who played on the college platform on the exact same campus a decade ago, I can easily say the awareness now versus then is night and day.

love them.

And I love it.
And I love the crew that sits beside me through the adrenaline rushes and, in tonight's case, every single one of those ri.di.cu.lous yellow cards... haha.

Next time, boys.... next time. Phewwww.... g'nite!

xo | cms

Catching Up on 2017...

Well hello, old friend.

It's been exactly 4 months yesterday, since the last time I came here to scribble something - and if I remember correctly, it was something menial. Let me open this then with a bitter admission: I've accepted the fact that my days of blogging for the dual purpose of chronological time-mapping [for my future self] and flexing my penmanship.... are long gone.

Because not all change is bad, right?

I'm not sure where it came from, but I've felt a weird tug for the past couple of weeks that it was time to revisit this blog and just start writing. If there's anything I've learned about myself in the past 30+ years, it's to never ignore that tug. This morning, I didn't have one singular thing weighing on my mind, rather that weird cloud of all the things that just sort of hung around the outskirts of my thoughts. By the afternoon, smaller, focused thoughts, and by the time I left the gym tonight, I was floating in a mental pond of Cori.

.... what a wretched analogy, sorry.

So let's see. Since the end of March alone, the universe has taken full liberty of reminding me that what I have planned is a laughable rough draft of what I'll get. My agenda has very little to do with my life in realtime, other than positioning myself at a when-and-where.... and even that's iffy.

damanji. ♥ you, friend! 

For starters, immediately after my last entry, Damanji shipped off to Turkey for the next year[ish]. We dressed up as mannequins from a Gadzook's display and sent him off with a night of drinks, dancing and a blur of 90s-inspired plaid and Converse. Born from that were some new friendships [both a broccoli-hater AND a Liverpool fan made the ranks, I KNOW, it's been a weird year...], rehashing favorite old memories and accepting that Damanji won't be physically around to annoy and humor us for at least the next 11 months.

And then Angela moved to Boston.
And Nick to Croatia.
And Megan to Ecuador.
At least Becky came back from New Mexico, even if it's just for the Summer.

Speaking of Summer, I can't remember the last time one felt like such a blur.... of everything. 
Here's [more for my future recollection of and proof that I didn't zone wholly out for the duration of] Spring & Summer 2017, as they've transpired so far:

April: Damanji's 90's themed going away party was the perfect kickoff, complete with friends, libations and really loud bass speakers :).

ali. shawn. cori

♥♥

A few weeks later, Ali celebrated her birthday by spending it here in Cincinnati, and a small host of some other favorite friends moved away, varying from temporary to full scale relocation. At the barking protest of my pride, I resumed physical therapy after intentionally avoiding it for.... a while, and found that although I now have one of the best DNS wizards in this hemisphere, I still. hate. PT. Oh, and the Fountain in our driveway has been officially traded in for an Eliminator, because ya know, it's practical to own a Catamaran when you live in Ohio. 

matching tattoos.. because that is what we do...
happy birthday, ali!! ♥♥

May: I returned to Panama with Chris and a roster of 13 other people from Ohio, Vermont and Arkansas who rendezvoused in the Atlanta airport 24 hours before we embarked on a pack-hike into the remote mountains of Balsa, Panama for a week. Run on sentence, you're welcome. We spent that week constructing a physical church building, under the direction of a foreman whose approval of any given task could be determined only by whether or not he was shaking his head at you. A good exercise of trust building in a team setting - I've found - is to incorporate 3 languages, 3 countries and 3 separate U.S. states' worth of team members onto one construction site, provide them with gas generators, power tools and a living blueprint [aforementioned foreman], with the understanding that this structure will be mapped out and finished within four days. An OSHA rep would've been escorted off this site, likely by an ambulatory pack-mule, from the heart attack they would've suffered trying to document this project. BUT, for and by the Glory of God, it came together at the midnight hour, and I had the honor  of singing praise music next to one of my best friends [for the first time], in the first service ever held in the new Balsa church. Not a bad trip. In other May news leading up to Panama, Sydni finished 2nd grade, lost a tooth that same day, and we spent much of the month catching up with family and friends. 

our favorite 2nd 3rd grader!! 

climbing with kalyn & brian | red river gorge, ky

hang times with jennica | columbus & dayton, oh

family biking | loveland, oh

panama 2017

June: The Employee Month of the Year as the count should stand, derived from my entirely made-up metric system: Surprise Factor, Relief Induction, Joy Increasing and Overall Mental Health Appreciation. I returned from Panama with my usual post-missions acute awareness of just how much stuff we have, and talking myself off the ledge of donating everything but the clothes we need for the week. Fortunately, that tirade was lessened by a trip to Chicago for a book festival & Britta's birthday, followed by a long weekend at Norris Lake with some of our favorite friends from Illinois. Oh, and lest we forget that in between those two, I got myself kicked off a sinking ship by the tempest itself, and found myself onboard a 5-star ocean liner the next week. Yeah, I know it was a crap analogy, but it was a crap situation that did a cartwheel and ended up better than ever, so whevs. Life on the professional front did a full reset, which forced me to realize how poorly I'd been just existing before everything changed. Another one of my best friends wound up here in Cincinnati for her birthday, which we celebrated in true Mare & Cori fashion: a soccer game, a piercing session, food, laughing, coffee... and more coffee.

britta boooo's birthday!! ♥ | chicago, il 

norris lake 2017 | norris lake, tn
cori. jess. taryn. liz. rob. matt. kenny. jesse.

♥ happy birthday, mare!! | cincinnati, oh

work fam :)
jess. stef. cori. chris. [missing deb]. tonya. rami. kelley. nick. ashley. brandi

nick & rami! ♥
[taken 7.13.17 ;) ]

July: I fully immersed myself back into my old-but-new job, realizing to no small amount of surprise least once every couple years. I've just accepted this as who I am at this point - perpetually scattered :).
just how neglectful I had been of my inner well-being where my professional life was concerned. Rob's birthday came around, which put us in Illinois for a weekend bash with some of our favorites. It happened to be the same week that Nick & Rami (two of my coworkers) had their wedding! Sydni and her friend Mattie had their first weekend sleepover here at the house, and I managed somehow to lose my entire wallet somewhere between the grocery checkout and my house. Don't worry guys, this is like an annual thing for me at point. Fortunately, everything was handled quickly, and with the exception of an MIA Kate Spade, all is well. OH, and July was the month we really kicked it into gear with the FC games. Now that Cincinnati has its own USL (we're aiming for MLS) team, we now have something to do every random night of the week and weekend ;).

2017 objective: pet all the dogs. these are matt's.

birthday bash for rob's 31st!

liz! 

alejandraaaaa .. or ali, if you're a regular mundane ;) 

jay & cindy came out too! 

ladies ♥

ridiculousness, in motion.

Oh, and some certain folks went and got baptized this month, too.. but that deserves a separate entry, so give me a few more days to rally all those pictures :). 

So that brings us to now, in a nutshell. I've said before that I'll be more consistent in daily updates, and after having written just this one day's slew of stuff-scattered as it is, I know- reminds me why I need to flex the blog muscles at least weekly, and eventually daily, like before.

I promise I'll start stringing together more cohesive trains of words and thoughts, too, once I get back into the rhythm of this without a 4-month hiatus.

Thanks for tuning in, blogbots :)

xo | cms

She Loves - Series Day 9: Just Me :)

Happy kinda-almost-Halloween, blogbots! If you're anything like us, your trick-or-treat night was tonight, because Halloween itself is on a Monday [aka work & school]night, and half of us lack either the time or energy - or both - for that. And yes, we trick-or-treat on Halloween not because we are demonic, but because we enjoy fun costumes, hanging out with friends and bringing in hauls of candy. [I was recently warned by someone that Halloween is not something a Christian family should celebrate; this is perhaps a conversation for another day, but I'll say this - I appreciate the weigh in, and understand the argument, but I don't agree. Connect with me directly if you want to dialogue on it!]

soccer tourney!

ANYWAY, we obliged an invitation an hour north by our friends Shayne & Cassie, and after a morning of soccer here in Cincinnati, we rested up for the long night ahead of us. There is something to be said about the excitement kids find in trick-or-treating. It's a community effort, and in some cases a rather extravagant one. We as adults reminisce on all the times our parents trailed us through neighborhoods as we willingly walked miles of residential sidewalk and driveway for chocolate and other varieties that very well could've sucked our teeth out.  I did that tonight with my own daughter, whose ballerina costume earned her several compliments, and an equal collection of Reese Cups [everybody wins!].

awww, flashbacks to jamaica!
the kittles. the stokes. the gills.

1 Corinthians 15:10 - 

By the grace of God,
I am what I am. 

This I think is ultra-fitting today, because as we get into costume as someone [or something] else, it's not permanent and it doesn't change who we are.

trick or treating 2016

I was reminded today of the novelty in being that other thing - even just briefly. As our kids meandered around the neighborhood- this pocket-sized battalion of story & comic book characters, I was struck with appreciation for: 

- all the times our parents braved trick-or-treating with us as kids, which IF I REMEMBER, was WAY more of a bloodsport for kids than it is now. I'm serious. I can't be the only one that remembers savage battles with sibling or friend over who got to ring the doorbell first. Kids these days are so... polite. Weird.

- all those times our parents had to take us trick-or-treating, in weather that sucked. Also something we're all politely choosing to ignore: I don't remember one single childhood Halloween when we didn't have to modify our costumes to fit over everything but the snowsuit itself. Today it was a very nice 65ish degreese outside, without a cloud in the sky. I said a silent thank-you for it.

- the fact that trick-or-treating is still a very real past-time, and that I get to share this with my daughter.

Rob and I didn't dress up this year. Really, we could've planned for something, but whether by lack of time or inadequate incentive, it just didn't happen. We're fine with that, but honestly, I agonized over the idea of not dressing up for longer than was really necessary. I get the festive spirit from my mother, who loves taking participation to a new level every time, not because she's competitive, but because she legitimately loves to be wholly entrenched in the spirit of whatever it is she's there to celebrate [Renaissance Festivals, if you need an example].

I didn't have a huge epiphany tonight, if that's what you thought I was going to say.. no. I didn't. I do however, think there's no better time than today to have this verse as an underlying reminder that we can dress up as anything under the sun that we can imagine, but it doesn't change who we are. This mama is learning every day to take and keep ownership of the mess she is, day in and day out, and embracing the idea that I am what I am, and every bit of it - both good and bad, by the grace of God.

excuse my face.. i was chewing.. haha

I hope all of you out there collecting candy, peering through little eye-holes in your mask, or bargaining all night with an itchy wig - I hope ya'll are having a blast, staying safe and spending some quality time with your crew. 

Happy Kinda Halloween! ;) 

xo | cms

Omniscience.

Today made me happy. For a few reasons:

First, there was church.

Then there was barbeque.

And then soccer.

A homemade drop top guestbook.

Cleaning, laundry, wedding planning.

Snuggles & bedtime stories.

**************************************

So I wanted to talk about this whole mini-series that our Pastor has constructed for us, based on the concept of drones. Yes, drones - those all-seeing aerial cameras that have become so popular over the last several years.

Omniscience. I sat for the morning hour today and listened to things I already know, but decidedly needed put into short, concise bullet points for the taking. See, as we plow steadily through this final phase of wedding plans, I find myself not nervous, but anxious. I'm anxious! The "end" is in sight, and in another couple of blinks, it'll be upon us, and then it'll be over, and this flutter of loose ends will become a thing of the immediate past. The result will be a wonderful party with our closest friends and family, to commemorate the changing of my last name and two people making one promise of indivisible partnership for the rest of our lives.

I can't wait.

For now though, I'm anxious.

Why is that?!

One of the opening passages for this message today was Hebrews 4:13:

Nothing is all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Okay, so let's peel that apart like an onion:

1. There's not a door in the world that's either so thick or so tightly sealed to separate me from God.

2. I'm accountable, both in and out of sight.

3. He's not surprised by anything, and there's ab.so.lutely nothing that is too large a challenge for Him.
(This is a bigger onion, but we'll save the rest for another day.)

I thought about this as I sat among my church family, and realized that (once again), He was making a clear point to me about my anxiety and stress as I plan this wedding.

He sees all. He knows all. He has conquered all. Why then, do I worry? Why do I give in to the pressures of multi-tasking, logistics and coordination? It's not bad stress! It's a good thing, that we have a wedding to plan! It's incredible that we are getting married, and whatever work must be done to create our special day is worth it, no questions asked.

And as I think about what the future post-wedding looks like (which I tend to do at more often than I realize at this phase in the planning), I start to wander off into that field of weeds where uncertainty grows like vines, over rocky ground. Today I was reminded that it's not my job to know the future. It's not my job to carry the past. It's my job only to trust in Him, and accept that whatever He has planned for me, and whatever He has led me through before, is part of the big picture of my time on this earth.

He. Is. Omniscient.
And I am not.
And that, is how I'll start this week.

xo | cmd 

Tis the Season!

Let the memories come flooding back!

Today was Sydni's first official game, now that she's playing with SAY. It was an absolutely beautiful day and couldn't have been better weather to go watch some soccer!

Pictures are better.. yes?
Yes:

SAY!

go syd, go!

 This little girl and her team played their hearts out!

And because Sydni is cut from the cloth of a field player and a keeper, it seems only fitting that she play both in the same game. I see a well-rounded player in the making, yeah?

They didn't win this one, but whatever. That will come in time and with practice. For now, we're enjoying this budding little athlete in action.

Happy Sunday!!

xo | cmd