FAMILY HERE! [+Photo Sneak Peak!]

My family was here today.
That means....

We took a few pictures. Just a few. ;)

Mom, Dad, Sister & Nephew all came down just for the day, and along with Sydni, the whole lot of us toted off for a picnic lunch and picture session at Eden Park. That place never gets old. (:

I figured I'd launch into the preview right away, since really, that was our day today. There will be more... many more, but I wanted to share some of my favorites! Enjoy! ❤


a little flower | ©cmdphotography2013

kisses | ©cmdphotography2013

adoption: blood doesn't define family; bonds do. [myself with my mom & my sister]
©cmdphotography2013

playing in the water | ©cmdphotography2013

mama's girl | ©cmdphotography2013

sunbather! | ©cmdphotography2013

senior picture, the reprise.. haha | ©cmdphotography2013

[parts of] my family: parents. daughter. myself. sister. nephew
©cmdphotography2013

[**pleaaaaaaaaase excuse the graininess or low reso. quality of some of these; I'm working on the originals and will eventually post those, too. I promise they're better quality!]

So there it is... like I said there's a much bigger collection, but I'm still working on those. I'll get those posted periodically as I get them finished... orrrr... you can check on the Facebook page to see if they're up yet ツ.

 

I'd say today was a huge success. I'm relaxing now with Sydni; she's nearly passed out from all the excitement, and I'm on a good run with these edits.

 

Happy Weekend, Blogbots!

 

xo | cmd 

Don't Touch My Baby :-ϟ

You'll never catch me doting endlessly about myself or anything I've done... however if there is one thing I know for certain about good ole' me, it's that I am fiercely loyal to those I love. There's a lot I would do for a friend in need, and when it comes to my family, specifically Sydni, there is very little that I wouldn't do for her.

So today, as we headed in for a consultation over the small inguinial hernia she has, I was faced for the first time with a tangible sense of maternal instinct. I know, I knowwwww this is an outpatient surgery and it happens to kids all the time, and thisssss, and that.... yes, I know. That doesn't mean I want my monster to have to go through it.

In my head, this is what I felt like I probably looked like today.. or at least how I felt:

don't ........ touch.

Haha. Yeah, I'm a nerd, but Neytiri from Avatar, about to whoop someone if they take one more step in the direction of someone she's protecting... is the first thing that came to mind today. Go figure.

In reality, here's what it really looked like:

hahaha...

True story. The consultation today consisted of more time watching Sydni spin this chair, climb the table, pull that curtain out and dance around the room than it did visiting with the actual surgeon. AND.... this is an outpatient procedure, so whenever we schedule it will be her day in and out of the hospital. AND... it's Children's, so I'm really not worried. It's not like it's Mercy Fairfield.... ☹

So yeah, I need to relax.. I know. I can't help it though, yenno? That's my baby.. and as majestic as Neytiri is.. I really don't see the need to turn into a blue feline-human warrior out for revenge. I'm trying to keep my blood pressure down these days...

Anyhow, all other quips aside, I headed out after all of that to meet up with Kalyn, Keifer, Brittany & her boyfriend Joe, and Tim & Jess at Quaker Steak in Eastgate. It was a five minute stand there before we hauled off to Varsity in Anderson for dinner and a good series of catching-up stories before we all dispersed our separate ways and headed home.

That's now, and I'm spent.
My family comes in tomorrow.. I can't wait!

Time to catch some Z's.

xo | cmd 

Ohhhh.. IT'S ON...

Today was my office's first real hiring event, held downtown at the local SuperJobs office. It was a new experience for both my boss and me, but we had a blast and met with some really great people. It's starting to feel like Express again, and I'm super excited to see where we go from here.

nancy & me | hiring event | @ superjobs | cinci, oh

minus beth.. say hello
to hahana's newest party crashers..
backseat sets :p

After work, I headed home to switch clothes, ran a few errands and then saw my best friend for the first time since I flew out to visit her in January.

KALYN'S HOME!!!!!!!!! && She brought Keifer!!

SO, we decided we'd grab some grub at Hahana and scope out the competition for the upcoming season of sand volleyballers. Tonight was 4's and 6's, so that didn't really offer much of an accurate portrait, but we did run into Rob Patterson & his team [totally random] on our way out.

Oh, and along with Beth, we'll be joining the rest of these people starting next week on Wednesday... Backseat Sets are comin' to get ya... hahahah..

I have a feeling this summer is going to be an improvement from last summer, for sure. It's wild to look back just one year and realize the level of contrast between the two. I was so.. unhappy... so not me then, and now? Now, my best friend is back in Ohio, she brought her awesome boyfriend...I have my boyfriend, who I'll see at the end of next week. My family and I have made huge strides in re-connecting.. my daughter is with me constantly, and I have more than I could have ever wanted [just about everything, actually] within reach, or at least sight.

It was dark for a very long time, but I've always believed that blessings come to the faithful.
Stay faithful, friends. It works. HE works.

xo | cmd

Nails | Nancy's Birthday | MVP's

Welp,... we only saw Nancy for a fleeting moment this morning but sure enough, the birthday surprises were a success! Elisa picked up some flowers, a balloon and a bag of chocolate, and we were ready by the time Nancy arrived this morning. I.. love.. birthdays (:

happy birthday, nancy!! (:

[Winning!]

Oh, and on that DIY note...
...... Thanks a lot, Instagram.
I swear, if it's not Pinterest shelling out new experiment ideas, it's Instagram. Haha. I should've known better than to browse around on some DIY pages a few days back, but I've been wanting to throw some polish on the nails and haven't really been motivated enough to do it... yet.

And then I found ombre [gradient] nails. This is definitely a rough sketch of what these could look like if I really put my mind to them, but I don't think they came out half bad (:

getting ready (:

Sponge + colors + way too much time on my hands....

base coat... prime color...

Sponge feeding the second color... It's not a pro job but then again, I'm no pro. I did find a few ways that I'll remember for the next time [assuming there is one] that I decide to spend this much time painting my nails.. ehh.

ta... da.

Yeaauuup. Probably not my favorite project, but worth at least one try and maybe another one down the road once I've forgotten how annoying this actually got after about 20 minutes. We'll see.

Lastly, to piggyback off of yesterday's dote on my friend Ladd, I figured I'd try and actually see him sometime before his next birthday rolls around... so yeah.... MVP's it was, to rendezvous with Ladd, Jason & Keith.. and eventually Kelly, too [*sidenote, Melissa .. feel 100% better, soooon!].

Good to see them, even if Ladd is still trying to be an honorary Asian. Jury's out, buster; I'll have to consult Nader & Nalom to see if your membership renewal is negotiable.. haha.

mvp's | silverton, oh

I'm home. It's late. I'm tired.
It's gonna be a loooong day tomorrow, I think... but worth it, since I'm supposed to see KALYN [*squeaaaaaaaal] tomorrow evening.

Adios, amigos.

xo | cmd

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LADD!!

Sooooo... birthday shout outs are my favorite.
And awesome people are also my favorite.
So.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LADD!!!!

happy birthday, friend!!!

Good grief.. this guy..

Everyone has different types of friends. I know I do. The best kind, I think, are the ones who you can't picture yourself not having... the ones who would drop everything and be there for you when you need it, and know that you'd do the same for them. They're the ones to whom you might not speak or might not see for months at a time, but can pick up right where you left off when you do see each other. I have a small handful of those, and Ladd's one of them. His name's Matt, but I'm not sure I'll ever call him that. Haha.

[in no particular order until the last 3 or 4.. hah,]Top 10 favorites over the last 6 or so years of Ladd in my life.... lol... GO:

⑩ | Zoolander. Noooo, not the movie. But I'm not sure I've ever known someone who can do a better rendition of Blue Steel than Ladd. Haha. I probably have a hundred pictures of him making this face at different times, but that's part of why we're all friends.. in this crowd, the only way to fit in is to be just as weird as the rest of us. No need to be serious allll the time.

kim's birthday one year... and this guy... and his face. hahah..

⑨ | "Family Dinners" - So, for nearly an entire summer, the clan would gather for dinner just about every week. Honestly, it was more than once a week, but I'm talking IN the kitchen, cooking actual food, and sitting around a dinner table at THE SPOT like one big dysfunctional family. Nalom usually had a sippy cup of some sort, if it survived his climb up and over the balcony, Catie & I were usually responsible for not killing everyone with our cooking, and the rest of it's history. (:

family dinners.. minus nader & kim...
nalom. grueter. drenn. ladd. cegg.

⑧ | Lightning Fights. I have no idea where this picture came from [my best guess.. the spot, by default.. haha], but what I do remember is that the group of us didn't plan these out, but managed to take over 60 shots of random lights in our faces. Yeah, this is kind of a crappy picture, but it benchmarks one of the many random adventures I had with Ladd & co.

lightning fights. typical stuff :p

⑦ | Lending a helping hand... always.. haha. So this one was from a trip we took to the zoo, coincidentally the same day that Nalom ran his first full Pig [Flying Pig Marathon, Cinci OH]. Nalom was practically crippled afterwards, but we insisted he join us at the zoo. Solution? Wheelchair. Benefit to us? I think each of us took our turn at shoving him off at different times down some sort of hill, and placing bets on what he'd hit first. I think Ladd was the only compassionate one that day. Maybe. Probably not, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt on this one....

they both look thrilled.... good shot, nalom. :p

⑥ | Midweek Luau's. Because everyone deserves a luau on a Tuesday. Or Wednesday. Or whatever day that was that we spent just about the entire afternoon and evening at some restaurant after nobody planned to be there in the first place. Again, one of the many random outings.. great times with these fantastic people...

nalom. nader. burg. cegg. drenn. catie. ladd.

⑤ | The Squish Dance. The signature anti-pickup line from Nader & Ladd. I've lost count of how many times these two fools attacked unsuspecting people with their mad dance skills. I usually did a much better job of avoiding the ambush, but Kim managed to trap me into it one night and captured this incredibly-accurate footage of my reaction. Thanks, fam... haha.

help. me.

④ | The famous foam board family portraits. These were a result of Nalom thwarting his time into the enlargement and foam mounting of a few of our 'family' moments. They sat on the mantle at the spot for almost a full year. Who can really be mad at this...

i spy..... ale.. ladd.. cegg.. nader.. nalom.. kim.. grueter.. anyone else? :p

③ | Duct Tape, Bubble Wrap, & other things he probably caught us doing.... & it is probably exactly how it sounds. Not once in my adult life had I crammed so many child-like things into one summer. First, it was duct tape. Then it was the covering of the spot from top to bottom, inside out pretty much.. with industrial grade bubble wrap straight from the roll. And then... it was the tracing of every person onto the wall with sharpies. Who knows what else... but usually it was Catie and I creating some sort of disturbance and Ladd walking in on it. Go figure.

.... don't ask.

② | 2013. I'm back in Ohio as a permanent fixture now and am proud to say that I still have my friends here, who could've easily quit on me [with good reason, at that] when I left, but they didn't. I owe them more than I could tell them, and hope that maybe one day I'll actually be able to do it.

ladd & drenn. a completely horrible duo.. but effective. hahaha... (:

① | Last but not least, this horrible picture of both of us that I'm only ranking #1 because Ladd wanted to kill me for about a week after this was taken. This started off as a joke, but Ladd almost ended up passing out, not eeeeven because I'm that strong or anything like that, but because somehow, I just caught perfect timing. I have to laugh at this, because we still talk about it and how badly he wanted to murder me for the next five days. Party in the Park has never been the same.

.... still love you friend... sorry about that one .. hahaha...

ANYWAY... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Love you friend.. and here's to many many MORE.

I'm out, scouts.. time to do some more DIY junk around the house. I'm sure I'll come up with something to show ya'll tomorrow... hopefully ;)

xo | cmd

DIY Birthday Cards

So this weekend, as I shared with everyone, was a little bit of a trying situation as it relates to my relationship with Rob. Not that anything is wrong or even warranting concern at all, but it's just plain old tough sometimes when the face-to-face contact that so easily solves this kinda thing isn't available. The struggle is real, people... :p .

And then he sends me a picture of his desk space.
... And I smile.
.... And so I took one of mine and threw us both on there and called the whole thing a his&hers kinda deal. It won't seem like much to most of you, but it meant a whole bunch to me today, and I was quickly reminded that I am a blessed girl, in many ways.

his & hers workspaces (:

He's awesome.
& I love that guy..
... a lot. (:
& 'Nuffa that.

One of the BEST perks of all my stuff being out of storage and into my house now is that I have all my craft stuff back. I'm not a true DIY snob, no, but if there's one thing I hate doing, it's buying birthday cards for people from the store. I'll do it if I have to, sure, but why, when I could make one?

this is no game. this... is birthday card time.

Not only did I have reason to make one card, but I have two people with approaching birthdays! (:

The first one.. I cannot show you right now, because it's Rob's, and his birthday isn't until next week, and there's no way the world will see this silly card before he does... so that'll have to wait. The other one is for my boss, Nancy, who I know won't see this.. or if she does, I can pretty much guarantee it won't be until after she's seen the card in person.

stamps galore ;)

Either way, there was MUCH DIY fun had tonight.. with two cards that are pretty fun if you ask me (:


diy birthday card for the 'first lady' of our office!

I'm praying this will be a good week. Sydni has an appointment on Friday for a small hernia that more than likely will require a quick surgery, but I'll know more after the consultation. I'm doing my best not to overreact; I'm trying to stay in that neutral zone of concerned but not panicked on the whole thing, but I've had my moments the past week. The good news is, she's a healthy little ox right now, so I'm just praying for minimal time under the knife and a quick recovery. And no, it's not me pretending to be noble when I say that I wish this was me and not her.... but I really do. *Sigh. I'll keep ya'll posted, but prayers would be greatly appreciated.

Make it a great week!

xo | cmd

Sydni Makes Sundays Fun ☑

Saying that today was a monumental improvement over yesterday is a gross understatement. Of course, that always puts a silver lining on any bad day, because really how do we know to appreciate "good days" without anything to which we can compare them?

Enough of that deep thought stuff, though.. today... was.. awesome.

awww :( .. bye friends...

The only un-awesome part of the day was at the very beginning, when we bid adieu to Ali & Melissa, who parted off after breakfast [the standard Drenn traditional breakfast, might I add... haha] to Illinois. It's gonna be a photo-kinda-entry, so here we go....

morning tradition (:

Once Ali and Melissa had gone and we got the house cleaned up, Sydni and I were ready to enjoy the SUNSHINE that fiiiinally made an appearance today. I can't tell you how gorgeous it was outside; sunny but not scorching hot, and an entire unchartered day for her and me. LOVE.

Photo highlights?
... But of course!

☑ | We're OFF! We couldn't wait to get in the car and go do something... anything.. to enjoy this rain-free day. Our final vote? The ever-faithful Eden Park. Definitely a good choice.

here we go!!

☑ | Mini horseshoe water fall! As soon as our feet left the car in the parking lot at the park, I asked Sydni what she wanted to do first. Her response was to go watch the ducks and fish swim, so we parked ourselves at the edge of this little spillover in the lower part of the park. We watched our fair share of the ducks and fish, just like she wanted, and even learned about the zero-traction property of that green fuzzy stuff in the water .. aka, moss. 

mini horseshoe waterfall | eden park - cinci, oh

☑ | Sandwiches for Sydni with SmartWater & Swissgear. Gosh, I love that little girl. She told me she wanted to eat her sandwich by the waterfall, so I snuck across the other side to snap a shot of her enjoying her lunch. She'd selected SmartWater [my daughter, whaaaaa?? haha] earlier and we stuffed everything into a Swissgear bag. She made sure I knew that all of those things, her included, start with S, so therefore by default they are all hers. "Okay, Mom?"

little lunch buddy... i hope i remember these moments forever

☑ | Get your feet wet!! Okay, so we didn't get soaking wet like the last time we played in a water outlet, but I couldn't help steal a shot of us sitting on the edge of the rocks, adventure feet ready for whatever we wanted to do today. Sydni's convinced that when she's a grown-up, she'll get toe shoes, too. Add that to the list of things that make me over-the-top proud of her. (: 

Vibram KSO's & mini Keen's. It's a good day, folks.

☑ | Take a hike. We were swinging on the playground when I spotted this cleared little hill off to the side. The upper part of Eden Park is at the top, with the famous Overlook, but I thought it'd be fun to try a little climb with Sydni. It's been raining here lately [in case I haven't griped enough about that.... ], so it was more mud than dirt, and fairly slick from others before us clearly traversing up and probably down, too. I must say though, despite her hesitation at getting dirt under her nails [we're working on that], she didn't do half bad and made it nearly to the very top without my help! Hello, proud mommy moment. I love.. my little nature bug.


future hikers of America.. hi monster ♥

☑ | SPENT! I just realized that when we look back on this, it's probably going to look like Sydni had narcolepsy as a toddler, from all of the pictures I have of her crashed out in various places. Haha. Oh well. I'm a camera addict with a cute kid, so she'll have to accept that and trust my half-serious promises to only display a few of these at events like graduation parties and her wedding ;) Haha... 



sure signs you're doing it right.... (: adventure success.

*Sigh. I kind of wished today wouldn't end, for a lot of reasons. She goes away again tomorrow for the week and of course tomorrow itself is Monday, so I'm okay putting those both off for a little while longer. Either way, we had an amazing day and are both ready to wind down. She's out, snoring [hehe], and I've got a quick Skype date with Rob, so we'll bid this blog goodnight.

ALLLL RIGHT, MONDAY, let's go..

xo | cmd