Then & Now : Memoirs to Me

I've been a prolific journaler [shh.. I know] for as long as I can remember; my mom has often shared with me the many manuscripts arranging my many legitimate struggles...

... at like, age five. What can I say? Life was pretty rough, when

"... I and can't have and the and turkoys [turquoise] doll and because Santa got and me the purple one and for Christmas." 

My love of conjunctions started early on, an indication of my aptitude development.

Anyway, I read yesterday THIS, authored by none other than my fellow star-chaser Marianne. She raised several interesting points just by penning this thing to her future self, something I coincidentally also did in 2004. I committed last night to unearthing some of those words, penned inevitably during a phase of angsty, pre-twenties self-discovery. And loathing. And soul-searching. And so on... and so on.

ohhhhhhh, the aaaaaangst.... 

Uh-huh. :|

So here's what I did: I went and in fact unearthed that duct tape-covered composition book [complete with some tattooed Dashboard Confessional lyrics, for effect #emoproblems...], which contained everything from my grocery lists [?], to random and elicited observations re: my little world of college things, and stickers, tickets & other miscellaneous swag from all the cutting-edge things/places I was going. In hindsight, I was just collecting for some imaginary scrapbook that materialized in the form of a misshapen novel.. with bumper stickers.

Folks, I naturally preferred hard-copy over e-filing in 2004, and from the looks of this, I was holed up in a corner of the 13th floor [the 'Quiet Floor' reserved for the most studious dormers, for those of you who remember Calhoun Hall].  Secluded in the vacant, dimly-lit corner of a study hall, silent but in that very way, so. EMOTIONALLY CHAOTIC... If that doesn't paint the angst for you, well..... idk.

So here's an excerpt from 2004. I wasn't much of an Headline gal in the early 2000's, so there was no other title to this other than the date:

March 10, 2004
[a Wednesday]

I swear to God I will NOT be here in 10 years. There's no way in hell that I'll feel like this in 10 years. There's no way in hell that this shit will still be getting the best of me in 10 years. I mean it. 

[Okay, as a prelude to this: 2004 was my sophomore year of college, and a/the point of my life where I, for lack of better explanation, abandoned a lot of what I stood for, including {apparently} my manners, class, faith, dignity and a bunch of other relatively essential qualities. Just an FYI; carry on....]

I made a list of New Year's Resolutions 2 months ago and haven't kept more than 2 of them. HELL YEAH! Great start, right? I thought I would be advantageous this year and reinvent the wheel, but who am I kidding? I can't even find common ground with half the people around me. 

I wonder a LOT about where I'll be in 10 years. If I'll be in this city. This state. This country. If I'll still have the same friends. At this rate, I almost HOPE I don't. That's sad. I need people who I can relate to, for REAL reasons. Not because we're both Filipino. Or because we're in the same classes all morning for 3 days a week. Or because we both play soccer. Or because we live in the same dorm. Or because we're both eating food at the same place at the same time. THESE are why I'm friends with over half of my friends... and THAT sucks. I miss my REAL friends [from my hometown; remember I'm only a year into this whole living-away-from-home thing] and know that I'm just going through the motions here. God I'm lame. 

I'm dating a guy who's clingy, not supportive and stupidly obsessed with his hair. Call me shallow, but if you can't get your shit together for the day JUST because your hair isn't cooperating? Grow a pair. He has an intellectual brain though, and for some reason I can't seem to part with it. I just wish he was more..... I dunno, grounded.

I flopped on the new year's resolutions, so I wonder if by the time I'm almost 30 in ten years, maybe I'll get it together? 

Goals: 10 years out [in no particular order]: 
* Graduate college
* Get a job. A real job. 
* Visit another country. Maybe 2. 
* Find real friends. Or stay socially-removed until I'm ready to figure out what that means. 
* STOP letting people down. 
* Get a tattoo. 
* Think about marriage when dating. Not immediately, but if he even has potential. Otherwise don't waste your time. 
* Get home more often. 
* Repair broken relationships. 
* Run more. Remember how soccer was the highlight of your life now... do NOT let it control your life in 10 years. 
* Live somewhere other than Cincinnati. Or even Ohio. 
* Stop procrastinating on EVERYthing you do. And when you decide TO do something, don't push yourself so hard that you exhaust everything you have: time, social life, money, ambitions. 
* Remember how you felt TODAY: Confused about what you actually want out of life. Broken because you've relied on yourself and not on God for the things you need, even though you know better. You're lonely, confused, hurt and broken by the damage of bad friendships and superficial relationships. You're not excited to see what the future holds - honestly, you're afraid of it and that's not what should be happening. You don't EVER want to be in this place, ever again. 

Get a hold of yokurself, Corin. You're better than this. 

*******

I condensed that down from the near 4 comp pages it consumed when I originally wrote it, but in reading it, the feelings came back. The intensity of that moment feels vague now, but not the sense of confusion and helplessness. The dark place they usher in was a place I revisited just a few short years back, and I found my way out then, too, but with a strength I didn't know I even had. 

I've thought it appropriate for a while now to extend some sort of homage to my former self, and in the process perhaps a couple of notes for the future me. Thanks again for the inspiration, Mare! 

To Corin, 2004: 

First things first, it gets better. It gets bad again here and there, but the beauty outweighs the pain tenfold. You finished college, and you have that job that you truly love. You have a small but irreplaceable network of true friends on whom you can rely when you're doing well and when you aren't. Out of an incredibly un-ideal situation came the most beautiful child you've ever known; she is a reflection of the love you want to show the world, and continues to impress you every day. She calls you mama and there's not a moment of the struggle you would trade to have her changing your world every day. You have two tattoos, one of which you got on a random outing with the girl who inspired this time-traveling letter. You've lived in a couple different states, been to a couple other countries and are on the home stretch of preparation for a missions trip to Panama. You're engaged to a guy who makes you crazy, but in the ways you laugh about, not the ones on which a relationship actually hinges. He brought you out of a place void of emotions altogether, let alone happiness. He is patient, funny and supportive of your dreams, goals and ambitions. You are still flighty when it comes to certain grown-up things: taxes, health insurance, financial portfolios. < You will probably never fully comprehend the logistics of those things, but you're doing better. You've learned to finally start speaking up when you're dissatisfied with something, instead of bottling it to the point of combustion like you did for the first 25ish years. You're no expert, but you're getting better. You still procrastinate on small things, and when you invest yourself wholly into something, you still haven't mastered the art of pacing yourself. You're damaged, imperfect and a constant work in progress, but know this: You are happy. You are growing. You are loved.

And Corin, 2025: 

That was twenty years ago now that you took your duct taped journal and stowed away in the corner of a dormitory, ridden with confusion, loneliness and anxiety. It was thirteen years ago that you relapsed into that dark place, and vowed to never repeat it ever again. You lost parts of yourself that you won't ever get back, but in the process learned more about your limits, recognized your strengths and weaknesses, and acknowledged that you can't do this on your own - and that you don't need to. You don't need to prove that to anyone, regardless of what you always thought. You've redefined real strength as pursuing your faith and letting go of toxic things and people. That's important, so don't forget that, okay? 

Your daughter is 15, which I can guess now has its own set of stresses and joyous moments alike. You're married to the man whose engagement ring you're wearing now in 2015, and continuing to grown and learn together with him just as you are now. I'm going to guess we've since added a few mini's to the family; I'm excited for us to look back on this moment now wondering what he, she or they will be like. 

Twenty years ago, you were a hot mess, going through your emo everything stage. You thought you could outsmart the system of life, but weren't smart enough to see the depths of your insecurities and inexperience. You fought back against wiser peers and council who tried to help you, because quite frankly, you weren't ready to face the reality that vulnerability isn't inherently evil. Thirteen years ago, you fought tooth and nail for a failing marriage before you were able to level with the fact that the only way your daughter had a fighting chance of life in a happy household, was to divide yours and pray that two separate but functional households would bloom out of its ashes.

You did that thing where you shut down emotionally, first to the world, then to those closest to you, and then to yourself. You were a drone for months, surviving on faith and desperate hopes that you were right. You struggled like most wouldn't believe with the guilt of divorce, wrestled with how that conflicted with your core beliefs and waited almost two years after your divorce to finally start forgiving yourself for the ways in which you failed and disappointed yourself and those involved. You became intentional about your time, and even more selective about who would be permitted to get close. You were scared of hurting them in the long run, but learned over time that that would only happen if YOU give permission and YOU choose to let little things turn into big things. You are slowly earning your bachelors degree in Letting Things Go, and are making great strides in the section about harboring bitterness, resentment and pride.

In 2015, you're a work in progress. This is your first full year of your 30's, and you are happy.
You still hate tomatoes and pickles, but have managed to eat bananas without wanting to vomit. You don't smoke, and as far as drinking goes, you officially have next to zero tolerance, which isn't actually a bad thing. You don't work out as much as you should, but you're bent on reverting back to old habits in that regard, which include committing to a half marathon before the year is over. You are head over heels - often literally - with yoga, and have disproved every single one of your college-conceived notions of its principles. Your parents are visibly aging, but still as vivacious and fun as ever. Sydni is the light of their lives and she knows it. You're ready for the future, and are on the hunt for ways to ensure that it's a culmination of your investments now. You wish you could still eat whatever you wanted, but your body isn't going to let that happen.

You're only an adult based on the time you've spent on the earth; your heart is still young. You are aware the heartache and disappointment are inevitable, but you are more secure with your abilities and limits in coping than ever before. You have an acute sense of detection for and equally sensitive disdain for the artificial - things, people and situations and are no longer hesitant to eliminate them from your life.

You're not the perfect human, and you will never be perfect in the eyes of every beholder. But, here's one thing that you KNOW to be truth [& then some] as you walk into 2015:

#truth!

Love your life at 40, because 30's lookin' like it's gonna be tough to beat.

xo | cmd

Throoooow It On Back, Thursday!

I can't help it. These are GOLD. Here's, in no particular order, an ode to a solid #TBT:

maricor & me | 2005?

Yeeaaahh.. Haha. There's a tribute to one of my original best friends, my cousin Maricor. This is when I still had all my facial piercings and gauges... and according to this picture, also thought I was maybe training as well to become a pirate. What can I say? Neither of us had kids at that point.

Another best friend, who I'll be seeing again here in a few weeks:

thanks, pottery barn! | 2008?

^ Kalyn, I miss you. Doing this kind of stuff, in super expensive stores... and not regretting it. :) This chick's one of my favorites, and even though we're now 2 hours apart, I'd have her back any day of the week. [See you shortly!!]

Oh, oh,  here we go - a #TBT to that time Sydni was too cool for school:

2010

And also to later in that same day, when she disagreed wholeheartedly with her shirt:

2010. 

More Sydni.... because she makes the best TBT's:

2010.

^ I think that's actually the same day as the first two, but either way, it's a miniature lawn gnome inside a metal tunnel, and it is perfect ;)

A pet throwback? Okay. Here's the infamous Kobyashi [aka Kobi!], but as a baby:

2005

And I had gauges, still. This was before the blonde hair debacle that happened somewhere around 2006.

Want some random famous folks from the early-mid 2000's? Okay:

ghotsface [wu-tang] | 2004

wyclef jean [my radio days!] | 2007

And let's not forget: 

2012 ;) 

 ^^ Awhh.. look at those two.. it seems like forever ago, and now we're engaged. Crazy how time flies! ♥♥

Last one, because I for some reason was able to just identify a hodgepodge of throwback from across the board. This one's by far the most recent: 

[matching] compasses! 

^^ That one time last year, when Mare & I went and got matching tattoos? Yeah. That was a real life situation. Haha. 

There are plenty more that I could spend all day - and night - and year, really - sharing, but I think that's a good collection for now. 

Hopefully you have some beautiful people and memories on which you're reflecting today, too!! 

xo | cmd

Rained In ...

First, here's the obligatory #TBT, to the time when I wore a pastel onesie and made scrambled eggs for the fam: 

... and i bet it was delicious ;) hahh..

We had plans to take Sydni down to Bluegrass in the Park tonight, but it of course is raining. Welcome to the Midwest, folks.

Instead of heading out and taking the gamble, we defaulted to our regular fail-safe plan: hanging out together as a family!

or pre-bedtime mini napping.. whatev..

There really isn't much to report today, so I'll leave it at that. It's a dreary day out there, but I'm a happy camper, no less. I love this little family of mine... to the moon and back!


xo | cmd

#TBT | Video Stuff | S&S Pibbles

It's Thursday.
In the world of all things social media and hashtags, it's #THROWBACKTHURSDAY, aka #TBT. In honor of such, here's a dedication to my mom, who saved this gloriously vintage picture of us from my babyhood. This is proof that babies can make anything look halfway cute, including pale yellow pj's. Pale yellow. We match, mom. I love it. Haha. ;) ♥♥♥

#tbt with mom! ♥

On a random note, here is an interesting video I found online; it's photoshop in motion, and I find it intriguing! I have no idea what the lyrics translate to, but it's neat to watch, anyway.

Speaking of videos, I captured a couple quirky moments from the pups tonight.
First, it was playtime with the floppy-eared beauty herself, Miss Sasha:


And then, it was apparently mandatory bathtime:

Poor Stella has turtle-like abilities when it comes to landing upside-down. She's short and stocky [short girl probs, yyyaknow...], so in some instances, flailing and wriggling does nothing to upright a turned tank. In the event there's a Sasha dog in your face holding you down to give you a bath, well... it's best to just let her finish. Hahah. Poor.. poor stocky Stella Bella. ♥

I skipped the gym tonight. Shhhh. I'm freakin' SORE from head to toe, and I haven't taken a day off yet this week, so ... uhhh.... yeah. I'll go tomorrow. Promise.

Right now, I'm going.... to bed.

xo | cmd

All KINDS of Flashbacks

Well today definitely trumped yesterday. I woke up at a decent morning hour, and right away was able to celebrate Sydni's first soccer practice! It's a little hard for me to grasp that she's actually a year older than I was when I started playing, but also that she is now playing... aaaand... that she appears to be a left-footer like me. Enter proud parent moment HERE. (: (:

ahhhh! my little leftwinger!

*Sigh. Time, please slow down! :/

On to the rest of the day, I had a few initial things in mind, but quickly realized I'd left my wallet in Mike's truck last night. I didn't mind at all; it gave me a reason to stop by Findlay Market for a couple hours to hang with him and Becky.

welcome to the only cool [outdoor] spot at market today

After market, I stopped by Kroger and snagged up a a couple of peaches for a cobbler recipe I've wanted to try. I came home...& fast forward to the finished product!

y-u-m.

If I do say so myself, this was.. a SUCCESS! This makes me look forward to Fall.. that means baking season for this non-baker. Maybe this year I'll get really good at this whole baking thing.. maybe. Haha.

Anyway, with a new dish under my belt, I spent the rest of the afternoon tidying up around the house and taking a nap before the evening began. It was a late start at that, too; I met up with Nader and Keith just after 11 in OTR. We wound up at Neon's, where I ran into some very familiar faces! I shouldn't act all that surprised, but it was a refreshing sight & hopefully the first of many reprises now that I'm back.

david & nina! blasts from the past... 2004 (:

OTR has yet to disappoint, even on a low-key night like this one. My favorite part of the entire evening however, was the 2-hour stretch of conversation that somehow always happens after the establishments- & even the streets- are quiet. I'm inspired and challenged by these little chats and realize again how thankful i am for candid friends in my life.

"the famous neon's unplugged" ... aka... neon's
summer 2013♥

Suuure, this is backdated... I didn't make it home until nearly 2:30am... and frankly I'm still a little sleepy.

I'll leave this on a grateful note: my friends, this incredible summer... family, Sydni, Rob... all of it (:

Until next time...

xo | cmd

MVHS, Class of 2003!

Among the list of things I find hard to believe:

 

I have been out of high school for ten years.

whoa.

That's right, ten years. Some of you just called me a youngster, and some of you just realized how old I really am compared to the 23-24 you originally thought. Either way, I graduated high school in 2003 and that means that my class and I celebrate our tenth anniversary of freedom from MVHS.

 

In pictures... here are some from the night {find the full collection HERE}!

kait. amy. nikki. britt. collette. me

me. sarah. mary. rachel

known these two since elementary school... josh & jim .. or jim & josh?
... thanks for labeling yourselves by your last names only.. haha..  

rachel. drew. pruitt. kelly. me.

only thing missing in this picture is clark .. haha.. the "brown kids"
of mvhs' 2003 class: me. kevin. brandie.

stef! the face & talent behind SOKAY DESIGNS!

kelly & me
three words: ohio junior miss.
four more words: i miss..those days!

becky & me
cheered together .. sang together ..
... caught my hair on fire in chem class together... standard stuff (:

me & arley... she's on baby #4 & still making it look great! 

me. becky. kelly.
i call this... chemistry choir misfits (:

sarah. stef. me.
known these girls since kindergarten...
... still as goofy as ever (:

Like I said, there are 30 some pictures all together, so feel free to go check 'em out. Many thanks to Kait for organizing this, and to the staff at Winestein for hosting! I had a great time (:

And because I'm old & lame nowadays, I'm callin' it a night. Sorry post-reunion party, maybe next time.

xo | cmd

Killer Yardwork & Asian Volleyball

First things first, let's talk about yardwork.
... Let's talk about that time I completely forgot I had a backyard in the capacity of the jungle that had taken it over. I haven't bothered going back there in quite a few weeks due to the massive camps of mosquitos who I'm convinced are just patiently staking out until I'm in striking range, so honestly, it didn't occur to me that the yard might look more like a forest than an occupied property. Embarrassing blunder.. definitely won't happen again.

Good news, I took care of it, with minimal damage [only TWO mosquito bites.. take that, suckers..]. Note to self? - This sucked today. Don't forget about this again, self, don't... forget. Yeesh. 

massive overhaul. whoa.

Moving on to the rest of the night... it has been.... a while since the last time I was surrounded by this many of my Asian friends. Let's take a second to give a flashback just for the sake of a flashback...

uc dpsa 2004 (discover philippines student association)

Ohhhh yeah. That's a bomb right there, haha. Look at all those old faces.. and that's barely the half of it. There were definitely some great times with these guys and gals, and though I'm happy where I am now, I had some incredible experiences, road trips, conferences and performances with this group.

So tonight, for a miniature reprise, I opted in for some volleyball at Hahana Beach after B found out I played there. He and a crew of Asians catapulted me back in time to my college years when we stormed three full courts for a few hours tonight to play.

nothin' like late night sand volleyball (:

This was my favorite part... because I've become so used to now taking pictures and having no way of mistaking which one is me. I'd also like to say that yes, the obsession with taking pictures is absolutely an Asian thing, and I will embrace that to the bitter end ;)

asian overload!

Hilarious. Thanks again, B, for the invite! I'll be back here in the same spot tomorrow night for league with Kalyn, Keifer & Beth. I'm certainly getting my fix if nothing else!

On an unrelated note, I finally made it home after some debachle finding my keys post-game [it could be worse... I'm just glad I got back], and for what it's worth from the situation I must note that once again, I've been reminded that I am dating an incredible guy and even from 500ish miles away, he's there for me whenever I need him. I don't deserve it, and count myself one of an elite handful to have someone on whom I can rely and trust. //endrant (:

And that's the day, folks! Let's meet here same time tomorrow? ;)

xo | cmd

& Monday Makes Three

I'm back in Cincinnati. *PHEW.

Rewind to the beginning of today:

I originally opted off work today to tend to some Sydni-related things, which ended up being unecessary.. I already had the day off though, so I figured I'd put it to good use and make the trip back to Ohio a leisurely one. It worked itself out, too, for yesterday's adventure on the river that would've been impossible had I needed to be at work today.

So yeah. On my day OFF, the first thing I think to do is go to work. Haha. My old office in Glen Carbon was on my list for the morning; I stopped off to get them some donuts & say hello. I miss these folks!

the express crew, sans carmalita & mb .. and now without ali too :p
miss this gang!

I sat for a few minutes with Linda, who was always cracking me up in one way or another... she didn't fail to disappoint today, either... 


love her.

^ Ya'll won't get why that's funny.. but if you worked a week with her & the rest of that staff, you'd have the time of your life for it being a job.. too much fun (:

Back at the house, I made the traditional breakfast, because that's just part of thge lineup whenever Rob & I get together, and spent some time just relaxing in the lull between cooking and driving. Well... let me rephrase that. We let the dogs out in the backyard, and Sasha the Houdini dog decided again that she'd let herself out.. and of course Stella just followed up right behind her. Go figure. Rob spent nearly 30 minutes casing the neighborhood for them, when the neighbors across the street found them in her backyard.... And THIS is what the girls looked like once they were back in the house, fully aware that they were in trouble.

bad. dogs. adorable... bad.. dogs.. tsk tsk tsk...

So once the dog-chasing debachle came to an end, I did get to relax with Rob for a while before I finally hit the road - construction and all - back to Ohio. The dogs did their timeout reflecting like little kids on what they did wrong [not that it'll matter... grrawwwr...], and again managed to win my heart over even as I left..


just.. can't... stay... mad. i love these two.

I made it back in decent time, all construction traffic considered, and weirdly enough am ready to head back to work tomorrow.

the face of long distance relationship commutes ;)

 Four day work week?
.. I'll take it (:

xo | cmd

A Video & Some Tha-ROOOOWBacks

I keep up with the installments of CWM2YO - so here's episode 8. I can relate, for sure, with Sydni.

Funny stuff.

So, remember how I mentioned I would share some "vintage" material I found at my parents' house over the weekend? Well...... here ya go. There are just some of my favorites ;)

This was post-adoption some time, going back for my citizenship stuff... Mom & I noticed that my liaison looks a little elfish... which is just fine, other than that it now begs the answer of where exactly I'm really from.. The Philippines, or... The North Pole. Hrmmm.. ;)

^ Breakfast is served, friends. Look at me in my little jammies, getting an early start on those scrambled eggs... Say YES to that saucepan that I'm pretty sure we still have. Haha.

Camping. I love: 1 - Mom's lumberjack coat. 2 - 1980's pop up camper. 3 - Plastic folding chairs. 4 - My mom as we're going through this album present-day, saying, "Look, you're drinking whiskey!" .. hahah.. well all right then?

Dad & his kid-carrying backpack. I'm on the ground. Something's wrong here.

Cousins.. doin' some good old fashioned front porch sittin... I have no idea where or when this was, but we all look pretty excited to be there. Especially Chris (far left). Rob (center) looks like he wants out, and I'm... well, doing my best to smile. Yay, kids!

My grandmothers on both sides. Top is "Grammy," my dad's mother, and bottom is "Nana," Mom's mother. [Nana is Italian for Grandmother, so that's now what Sydni calls my mom]. I miss them both so much... for all of you out there who still have surviving grandparents, cherish and love them... I've lost all four of mine and there are days that it makes me sad, still. Love you, grandmothers!

HAHA! My younger cousin [I can't say little now, because he's nearly 6'3...] Tyler when we were kids and I forced him to play dress up. In his defense, I pretty much bullied him into this, but he just saw this picture again and basically decided he looked awesome, and is now owning the get-up. Haha... my poor cousin..


I started theater at a young age.. this one I found was from a summer rendition of a Shakespeare play, with Zeva. I just thought it was cute :) Look how little we were!

Sports buttons. I also have the picture of mine from track and cheerleading, but I think one shot is enough. I'm not sure if this was the same across ALL high schools, but I know that if you played a sport at mine, you had buttons. It was just a thing. A horrible thing, but a thing. Good grief.. haha.. look at us babies! ♥


So... I've always been an animal fanatic. My mom was the president of our county's humane society for yeaaars. At age 7, I was standing beside a vet doing spays/neuters. At 11, I was gloved up with a coffee can of kerosene, plucking deer ticks from a poor dog my mom had rescued. By 14, I was stringing cage wire for kennel runs at the place. I thought every kid did this type of stuff.. and looking back, I honestly think every kid should. Either way, mom's work led to Chez, a Golden Retriever rescue who became our dog for years before he finally passed away. I have loved with my whole heart every dog I've had since then, but he will always be my favorite. Miss you, Chezzie.


Knox County & Ohio's Junior Miss Scholarship program - local level. This was my senior year of high school.. our county was typically the home country for the Ohio Junior Miss competition, and once you hit your senior year, most girls opted to do this. This picture was from the poise & composure portion of the competition... and funny fact: following that year, they instituted gloves as a requirement for this part. Something about elegance, but surely not from me.. because let's face it.. I'm nearly as clutzy as they come. Haha. 

Binisuan: A traditional Filipino dance in which you wear a skirt and balance two cups of liquid in your hands and one on your head for an entire dance.. including floor work. I was president of the Filipino student association at UC for a few years, and this was part of my experience.. I loved it, and I definitely miss it. Never dropped a cup in performance! ;)

Not the oldest of throwbacks, but I couldn't help but to laugh at this one.. this was in 2010 when I was in charge of moving our family out of our old house and into a new place. Two weeks prior to this, I'd shattered my collarbone into 10 pieces, which led to the installment of a metal plate and 10 screws in my shoulder. Oh, and that snazzy sling. I had no choice but to do the physical work that I could here, and with Sydni in tow, I became living proof that a mother's job is full time, and when push comes to shove, we will do anything and everything we have to... evidently with a smile and time to take pictures of the experience. Haha.

Last but NOT least... the REAL throwback here.. this gorgeous picture of my mom, age 33 .. working in Pittsburgh. There is NOTHING I don't love about this picture; she's beautiful, all the way around, and honestly, I love her shirt, too.

♥ .
Welp, I promised these, right? Haha. There are more, but I'll save the rest for another time. For now, I'm spent.. the house is clean though, laundry is done, and I'm ready to call this one a night.

xo | cmd