Whew, Wednesday.

Here's something that I don't do nearly as often as I should: 

I'm fortunate to have a boss who understands me from a deeper level than daily clusters [& flusters] of activity in the office, and can sit me down in his office with a simple, "what's UP [with you]?"

Wednesdays are a good time to recount my steps taken through the week so far, and in doing so, count the ones moving forward and map out the path to take. I'm perpetually awful at delegating, so too often I find that while I'm still moving in the right direction, I'm slowed by nothing other than my own stubborn refusal to lighten the load and share it with fellow travelers. 

I know; that's a little to deep for just work stuff, but it's true. My job is one shared by many all over the country [& technically in Canada & South Africa as well], and there are days that are, despite our best efforts, prove to be not only thankless, but wholly depleting of any confidence, steam and fragment of sanity we may have had walking into it. BUT THEN, there are the days that come with a mission of triumph, happy coincidences and birthing of new partnerships. Our end goal is to help people, and although some days come to test endurance, character, tenacity and integrity, the others are there to lend reprieve and thank us for the work we do. 

To be honest, today was one of those scattered days that felt as though I was trying to boulder straight up a bar of wet soap. I mean there's really no other way to put it. I drove home in a weird cloud-like state and collapsed into a straight line on the floor as soon as I shed bags and work material. Savasana, talk some sense into me, pleaaaase..... Flow, stretch these muscles and strengthen my brain. God, I give you my frustrations, failures and gratitude and know you are unfailing. Breathe in.. and out. In... Out. Rise... Hold... Rest. REST. For just a moment, just rest. 

true story.

Volleyball was within earshot at 7:15, and came and went in a similar fashion to the day, with a player out and two others standing in, then trading the lineup mid-game - it was just as scattered as the day preceding it had been, but it was OKAY. :) We were there, in the moment, and all was well.

Rob and I jumped into tennis shoes when I got home and went for a walk, a short 2-miles of reset that was much needed for him and for me, both separately and together. 

It turned out to be a beautiful experience, all wrapped up into one, otherwise ordinary Wednesday. 

Happy Wednesday to you and yours, and HEY - Take a moment for yourself this week - whatever it is that you do, and just... BREATHE. It's OKAY.

xo | cmd

Yenno.. Just... RAIN.

Here's how the beginning of the day looked: 

workday... and rain. 

Here's how midday looked:

lunch... and rain. 

Here's the drive to volleyball after work:

driving... and rain. 

Here's Grand Sands, in between sets:

volleyball.. and rain

The running theme of pure saturation was branded all the way through the day today. However, there's always a silver lining, and in our case today, that came in the form of winning the league after a round of tournament games! Not too shabby for rain-soaked sand, players and volleyballs. Yay, team!

league champs ;) 

Next session starts next week. Here's hoping for no rain in sight :D

xo | cmd

Sunshine & Soccer Stats

Between work and volleyball, there wasn't a wide open space to do much else other than analyze the USWNT World Cup bracket. Naturally, my money's on the US taking it all, but only time will tell, and if I had to pick a second choice, my money's on Germany.

world cup bracket funnnnnn 

But I mean, the U.S. is gonna take the cup, but it's fun to pretend there might be a chance for another winner, haha.. ;) 

Meanwhile, in not Canada, the local happenings of the evening [volleybal] at least went by with sunshine and happiness. 

sunshine is good for the soul! 

lovely volleyball! :D

Ahhhh... That's a good Wednesday!

xo | cmd

I Play Sand Rainyball

So, it rained a lot today. Like.... all day. Awesome, right?
No... not really...

right before the lightning... 

The good news, we walked away tonight with our championship Tshirts from the last session, where we somehow managed to pull away with both league champion and tournament champion status. I could've done without the rain & lightning, but I'm not complaining - it was still a blast.

woop woop! 

Let's all say a quick prayer that the rain will not be here when we wake up tomorrow... wouldn't that be nice? ;)

Maybe. We'll see.
G'Nite!

xo | cmd

Volleyball, Volleyball aaaaand... Volleyball

It's been a little while since I last played at Hahana, but after receiving a text from Suzanne asking me to sub in for her early game, I of course obliged. I headed down to familiar grounds early in the evening, and then didn't stop until the night hours were well underway.

My life... for about 6 hours... haha..

That's a good night, but I'm sandy... and tired.. and ready to call this one a night.

G'Nite, folks!

xo | cmd

In OTHER News...

THE COUNTDOWN IS ON!

I mean, at this point, who even cares that we lost our volleyball game tonight? [which is exactly what happened :(.. ]; The countdown to some games that really matter is ON and we only have a FEW days left until the opener in Winnipeg.

Gahhhhhh!!!! I can't WAIT!

xo | cmd

Clone the Hiking Pack

It's heeeeeeeeeeere!

So way back in March, when my SonRise team and I headed off to the mountains of Suiche, we were equipped with borrowed hiking packs, courtesy of Chris' old church up north. It's been on my bucket list for about the past 5 years now to snag my own new pack, but I never got around to it... until now.

Out of curiousity about a week ago, I asked Professor Google about "Swiss Gear Hiking Pack," to see what the results that would ping back from the World Wide Web of Wonder.... As it turned out, the exact same bag that I carried for that trip was on Ebay, used twice by a seller who found that he had another bag that he wound up preferring.

Bottom line, I bought it.
And today, it arrived!

it's here! :) 

I let Elisa have the pleasure of opening the box, and before I knew it, this happened. Dave came out just as she was answering a call, stuck somewhere between a mountainous trek and an office:

hahahha

The arrival [& excellent condition!] of this new/used hiking bag shoved my day in the right direction; I topped it off with a client meeting in Springdale - with a fellow Pinoy!, and then with a 3-2 win over our competition at volleyball.

And now I'm home.. planning my next outing.
Any and all ideas are welcome!

xo | cmd

Wednesday - OWN IT!

It's... JOB FAIR season! I scheduled our first two bigger events of the season for today and tomorrow; we loaded up our gear yesterday to prepare for today and headed off in full Express thunder to see where the day would take us.

First things first though: Let me just say that any day that starts like this... is guaranteed to be a fruitful day, regardless of whether or not we're out hiring:

.... a few of my favorite things!

^ I love that, over and over again!

Sooo... yeah, there was the job fair. It's the first of two that Elisa and I have scheduled this week, and I have to say that it went very well! We even stumbled across Kelly, from the Eastgate office - coincidentally one of my former colleagues from the Days of OLD... aka Clearchannel [that's a different story.. haha]

express cinci central | express eastgate

It's not often that we get out of the office for hours at a time, but it's a fun change of pace, especially when the halls are buzzing with potential candidates and business partners!

fun at our hiring event! 

The job fair came to an end, allowing us a small window to take lunch and whatever else happened to accompany that.

Therefore,
Stop #1: Coffee Emporium.
Stop #2: Ault Park:

catching some sunshine!!
ault park | cincinnati, oh 

We returned to the office and finished off the day before parting ways for the evening. I thought it fitting to continue the evening in like fashion, in the gap between work and volleyball:

sideyard hammocking! 

After a few hours, it was time to head to volleyball [by a few hours, I mean 10:20 PM, *le sighhhhh]. It was tournament week, so we plowed through our games at the back-to-back pace that comes with tourney weeks.

We played, we played and played some more, and a few hours later, we stood as league champs! Given that we're a 4C team in a 6D league, I probably wouldn't have predicted this to go any other way, but it was still a blast getting back into the structured league play of Grand Sands, and I'm proud of my quad team.

Yay, team!

martin. cori. beth. paul
league champs!

It is LATE. I am tiiiiiired, and it's an early day tomorrow. See you then!

xo | cmd

I'm [About to Be] 12 Again...

Guys.

I'm 30. 

Over the span of the last 5-6 years, I've become increasingly aware that my once perfectly straight teeth are no longer formed to the mold they were when my braces came off in middle school. That's due to the fact that I never had a permanent retainer installed, and to top that, had some perfectly horizontal wisdom teeth stay in their place for far longer than they should have. Long story short, it's been time to check into corrective measures for a while now, and today was the day I took action. 

Well, the first step at least. 

nice poster.... 

I've got options, moving forward, which is good. I initially walked into that office with my heart set on committing to a plan of braces. I'm an adult who wants braces. I'm crazy, I know. However, when the orthodontist himself suggests Invisalign, you listen, because he gets paid the big bucks to know these things, and ironically, it's the "big kid" option that 99% of your peer group would choose if given the option. 

So we'll see. Stay tuned. 

pre-vball munchies! 

In other news, I met up with Rob after that at his shop so I could detail my car [much needed] before some sushi and eventually volleyball! Beth is back from her run of absences, so we were, for the first time in 3 weeks a full team of four.

we can dig it :)

pondering something... haha .. not sure what though.. 

Chalk up another 3 wins! We're on our way to a solid seat in the tournament. 

Oh.. Did I mention the game was at 10:00 PM? Yeah..... the schedulers hate us.. haha. 

my greatest supporter :) 

It's late. I'm tired. And sandy.

G'Nite, ya'll. 

xo | cmd

Ali's Birthday & Marianne's Arrival! [& Other Things, Too!]

Guys. First things first today: It was pouring rain this morning, BUT.... that didn't deter my waking up in a stellar good mood.

Why?

WELL...

FIRST, it's ALI'S BIRTHDAY!

yiieieeee!!!! 24!!!! ♥♥♥♥♥

Downside: I am about 500 miles away from one of my best friends this year on her birthday, and won't get to see her this weekend, either. :(
Upside: Her 25th birthday is next year, and that will be a production if I've ever seen one. Also, I heard that she did in fact receive the package that I sent off to her on Monday, so kudos to the U.S. Postal service crew on delivering to that 2-day shipping promise! I am all about the silver linings.

Anyway, this girl deserves a million birthday salutes and then some. She's what I call an all-around incredible friend: She laughs with me, cries, gets real and above all, keeps me accountable when I get tangled up in life and lose my sense of footing... or just my sense in general. She's there in a heartbeat if I need her, and for the most part has a sane head on her shoulders ;) [haha, love you Ali]. She's a solid example of a woman after God's own heart, and is bold in her faith and commitments to serving Christ. She's hilarious, down to earth and just as aloof as I am sometimes.

Summary? HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALI!

And THEN... the girl who woke up to [& posted] this: 

morning sun in nyc

.. flew into CVG today for a weekend vacation with Becky, Kalyn and me! 

BE STILL MY HEART. I AM.. SO EXCITED. 

mare!! 

 ^ No, that's not the picture of her from today's arrival. Yes, that's a picture I stole off her Facebook from her recent time spent in Italy. Yes, that's a Colosseum behind her. Yes, she looks like a brunette Dianna Agron here. YES, SHE'S HERE IN CINCINNATI! [Mare, that is.. not Dianna. Just to clarify that.. ahemmm..]

Mare's flight was delayed for about an hour, which equated to Becky and I driving from Market to the airport exit, getting off said exit, and then U-Turning right back onto 275 back to Cincinnati. Becky had a work event starting mid-evening, and I had volleyball in Loveland ad 7:15. Mare landed right at 7, and my every-day-impressing-me fiance Rob was kind enough to step in and serve as an airport shuttle. They came to Grand Sands for the tail end of my set with Paul and Martin, followed by a rendezvous with Jessica at El Rancho for dinnnnnaaaa [dinner]!

I think it's safe to say that this has been a long day for everyone. Tomorrow I'll be back at work, Mare will do whatever she can find to get into for the day, and then Syd will be here for the evening before Becky, Mare and I take off for North Carolina for the weekend.

PHEW.

OH YEAH! Before I forget, Ali's present made it to her, safe, sound and in tact. I think? she liked it. Haha. ;)

for my favorite turtle-loving ginger! 

Happy, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you, Ali.

Oh, and it was Earth Day today if you missed that. Smoothie King stepped up with a BOGO on plant-based smoothies, so we clearly took advantage of that. Stay tuned for another couple days when we do a belated celebration of Earth Day with some more hiking, camping and nature-esque things for our getaway.

Good night for now!

xo | cmd

Rainy Day Volleyball

Things I'm a little bit over here in Ohio:  RAIN.
[Although we're used to it by now around here, and don't let it get us down... that much ;)..]

Things I'm thankful for on the rainy days:  VOLLEYBALL. INDOOR. SAND. VOLLEYBALL.
[Even when Beth is out of town and it's just 3 of us!]

ahh... relief! 

Oh, Grand Sands. You delivered again, and you don't know how much I needed this. It doesn't hurt to have won the set, either. Beth, we're ready for you to come back!

I'm over this rain.
Here's to a dry day tomorrow!!

xo | cmd

Breathing.. In The City

ault park

I'll lead with that. I took a break today. It's only Wednesday. I gave in today to the pressure of a week that's barely started, and found myself in a steep downward spiral into an attitude and aggressively negative mindset. By the time noon rolled around, it seemed as though the stresses just three days into the week were succeeding at cracking me and turning me against myself. Today clashed with the type of energy I want to project; I forgot to count my blessings when I woke up today, and lost track of them in the shuffle.

Fortunately, we have several spots of reprieve nestled right here in the Queen City.. that even though we've got the asphalt and bricks that define us as a metro, we can still escape if we need. Ault Park, one of those gems, was my solace today. At Elisa's suggesting, I gathered what little composure I had left when my lunch hour came knocking, and made a bee-line for the hill. I partked myself for a good 45 minutes on a stone wall overlooking a split view: The far left a green plain, marked with a pasture and a treeline. The middle was a field of dirt, resurrected there by the lone Caterpillar parked off to the side. Another small strip of green right of that, and then a sharp incline straight up the retaining wall and onto the highwway. Nearly a full range of the city offerings, in one panoramic.

Fast-forward about an hour, after a light stroll around the place, sans shoes, but with 60 minutes worth of deep inhales and exhales, sunlight and birds, breeze and fellow passersby replacing the ringing phones and buzz of conversation. It was peaceful and still, yet still bustling with the energy of other people out to enjoy the weather.

I took that one on the way back to my car, barefoot [my favorite]. It struck me as funny that there is such a clear definition of the the construction and the au naturale [ok, yes, I get that mulch is not a naturally-occurring element... just... shshshoosh, mk?], and that in three days, I'll be making a very drastic switch between the two, when I head out with my team to Panama.

Despite the overwhelming nature of the day, the evening proved to be the exact opposite. I'd made a strong resolve at the park at lunch to approach the rest of the day with a renewed sense of positivity and grace, to ensure that I ruled the day, and not the other way around. It's all about where we set our minds, really.

Thankfully, I had Paul, Martin and Beth to help re-focus me, when we rallied together for our first session run as a team in the sand at good old Grand Sands. It was a reunion of sorts, but the perfect second-to-last stop of the day.

grand sands.. we're baaaaack! ;) 

Rob, as always, was there to show his support, and afterwards let me accompany him back down to Northside to rendezvous with Becky & Co. for a nightcap at Northside Tavern. Karaoke night + quesadillas from The Comet? I think so. I think... so ;)

It shaped up to be a beautiful day. With the refresher course of humility and patience [hard-learned, self-inflicted] this morning, followed by the turnaround from the second half, I'd have to say I leave this one behind with no complaints.

Oh, and three days.
We have three short days remaining to take-off for Panama. Please continue to pray for us! :)

xo | cmd

Sick Day, Hey Hey...

So this was me:

.... for about 10 hours today.
Awesome.

I don't take a sick day unless I feel like I'm physically inches from death; today was one of those days. What you don't see in that picture is how I even got the joy of crawling from room to room when I needed something, for fear that my head might literally explode if I stood upright, and I just didn't see it a mess that any of us needed to deal with.

The GOOD NEWS: I got a call from Grand Sands somewhere around... afternoon [I have no idea what time anything happened today... gahhh], that a spot in the Wednesday 6's league had opened, and while we're just a 4's team, we could have the vacancy if we wanted.

Ummm... NO brainer. The first game was tonight, which I missed out on, but I'm pretty excited to get back on the sand with Paul, Beth & Martin!

But yeah, for now.. this is all I've got. Womp womp :(

Sicky sicky sick....

xo | cmd

Love Culture | Lemon Grass | Grand Sands

There were three big things on the agenda for today:

1. Secure "THE OUTFIT" for impending New Year's Eve celebrations. [Done!]

so there's that.

^^ Now, just imagine that without the super skinny, visible midriff showing, and with me being just a couple shades... *ahem.. darker. :p Preview! Hah..

2. Dinner at Lemon Grass with the one & only Catie! It's been way too long, and to say that it was excellent catching up & celebrating my recent engagement with this gal is a huuuuge understatement. Love you, Ceggers & THANK YOU for the little celebratory gift! ;)

yay, catieeee!!

3. VOLLEYBALL!
Yessssssssss, finally! It's been since Summer that I hit the sand for some volleyball, let alone anywhere with any sort of real structure to the matches. I randomly received a text from Paul while at dinner with Catie, inviting me to sub in for the evening at Grand Sands [whoa there, flashback..], and naturally, I obliged, even at the risk of cramping up from the amount of food consumed at said dinner :p.

welcome! :D

This place brought in a flood of memories, specifically the days when I played on a team with Kalyn, Paul & Tim. Thanks a lot, Paul... now I'm bent on coming back!

yes, please! 

I'd say that's a pretty solid start to the final few days of December. Tomorrow's my last day of "work" for the year, and then it's off to Illinois to celebrate Christmas with Rob's family & simultaneously usher in 2015. It's gonna be a full-throttle weekend, but I'm ready :)

For now.. I've still got sand in some weird places, so I'll see you blogbots next time!

xo | cmd 

And BOOM. Tourney!

This is pretty much encapsulating of "outside, today:"

rain. and then some more rain.
... and also some rain. 

Yay, rain! :|

Despite the drab and dreary skies, Elisa and I unanimously voted a lunch getaway to Park+Vine. It was the usual trip, but with an added, impressive bonus of this guy:


There were some folks sitting at P+V who informed me that they'd been there for over an hour, and this man had been doing this for that entire time. Elisa and I ate our lunch, and nearly an hour later when we left, he was still doing nonstop reps. MAJOR kudos to this guy.

And,

[want!]

♥Local!

After lunch - more-so after watching that guy workout for an hour straight in jeans.. in the rain, on the side of a busy street, I was more than ready for volleyball.

AND COOKIES!
[thanks, Jessica!!!!]

Holy cow. Here's a little PSA for anyone around the Cinci area who needs [or wants; let's be honest... it's the same thing when cookies are involved..] ahhhhmazing cookies! Her name is Allison, and she is amazing. > FIND HER HERE. <  Thanks again, Jessica, for scooping those up for us!

talented work of tu-tu sweet! 

They were so good.

More and MOST importantly, we ROCKED the tourney! Poor Becky was out for the night; she had an unfortunate run-in with a kid's fist at practice over the weekend, which is resulting in a root canal this Friday [recover QUICKLY!]. Jessica was scheduled to work late, so Chad and I were planning to be left at our own devices for the night. I arrived at Hahana and nearly ran smack into Tim as I walked in the door, and recruited him to join Chad and I until Jessica was able to make it down. With the single-elimination bracket on our shoulders, we managed to survive three teams before we fell in the fourth round. In our defense, that team ended up in the finals and may have won [we left before the end of all that], so at least it wasn't a fluke team ;).

becky. cori. chad. jessica. tim

Thanks again to Tim for stepping in to sub for us [for nearly 5 hours!], and to Jessica for bringing these awesome cookies. Becky, get better soon :)

I thought the night was going to end there, as we said farewell to outdoor volleyball for the year. I made my way home, and found that Rob had made dinner:

he's the best. ever. 

I'm a lucky, happy girl these days. Awesome job & co-workers, friends & volleyball team and of course my better half to complete the day. Sydni will be here tomorrow night, which will absolutely complete my week before we take a break from everything to see Rob's family for the weekend.

Phew! G'Nite!

xo | cmd

DWTS : Duck Dynasty Edition! | ESPN @ Hahana

fafa
[Sadly often-needed-these-days disclaimer: NO, this is not my material: the music, choreography, costumes, lighting, feathers and duck calls did not come from my own imaginative creation. NO, I'm not attempting to credit myself for any of this, so please don't bother crying wolf on attempted plagiarism. Just so we're clear.]

I've said it before and I'll say it again - way to go, Sadie Robertson! I don't follow DWTS, nor do I really watch that much Duck Dynasty anymore, but I love seeing such positive influences in the headlines.

And hey, let's be honest - this was a fun number. Especially with Mark Ballas looking like another secret, miniature Robertson brother! Insert flashback to meeting Mark here in Cincinnati? Sure, why not :D

kalyn. cori. mark! 2011
montgomery inn | cincinnati,oh

Aaaanyway, congrats from across the states to Miss Sadie and her family on her run so far on the show - it's crazy awesome to see what she stands for represented on a stage like that.

After work, I made my way home to unwind for the short breath between the day and night, and then layered on the gear for some chilly sand before hopping back in the car for volleyball.

hahaha, thanks rob ;) 

It was indeed brisk to say the least out there tonight. The sand is starting to take on a winter feel, leaving that familiar icy, itchy feeling once you leave it. That didn't stop us from having a blast, and posting another win to the board.

♥ 'em.
cori. chad. jessica. becky.
hahana beach | cincinnati, oh

Also, here's the before shot that in truth, captures a much more accurate candid:

hahah. yeah. 

On our way out, we noticed this little home, a beautiful little tribute to October and Halloween: 

beautiful! 

We apologetically devoured some Village Tavern before calling it a night and parting ways. It's up and early for 6am yoga tomorrow, so that's a wrap for now!

xo | cmd