Our Little Sunday

Church started off the day for this family, and to mirror Pastor Jeff's message on being prayerFULL with the intent of living full lives, this little girl brought the beauty to life in my life for the morning. Clad from head to toe in hues of pink & purple, she insisted [which is rare for her, given my never-ending requests for photo-ready smiles] on having her picture snapped atop a stone staircase in the far parking lot. 

I can't get over how much love I have for this kid. 

We splurged for lunch, stopping by Dickie's on the outskirts of Anderson for some BBQ & soft serve.

yes pleaaase! 

After lunch, it was on home to revel a bit in the USWNT U-23 team victory over England in the Four Worlds Tournament! It's World Cup Season, which naturally focuses the spotlights on the men & womens' cup teams, but that shouldn't discount the U-teams :). After all, they're the future of our National Team!

us u-23 wnt! 

I have a feeling it's gonna be another busy week, but I think this time, I'm ready for it :)
See ya there!

xo | cmd

Saturday Projects

Today was... a busy day!

First things first, our new microwave unit went in today! Per the request of our landlord, the old vent unit in the kitchen has finally been replaced by a smaller vent system that happens to include an overhead microwave [yay!]

before & after! :) 

I took off mid-project and left the guys to their devices in working through this project. I'm so excited to be a part of Brittany and Wayne's wedding early next year, and the first step in that was the fitting for and purchasing of my bridesmaid dress! I'd share some pics now, but I wouldn't dare spoil that surprise. It's nice to have it out of the way first thing this weekend, and not have to worry about missing any deadlines :). I can't wait!

Back at home, my little family was hard at work on their own projects, right alongside the two installers working on the vent unit. 

syd & rob :) 

The early afternoon wound down; the installers finished up and left, Rob took to the boat to finish up some additional work, Sydni took to hunting for baby bunnies to pester in the yard, and eventually we all reconvened in the house for the USWNT's last friendly game before they head off for the openers of the World Cup! 

nil-nil at half 

Good News? TWC came through this time with the station broadcast.
Bad News? This was the final score, after 93 minutes of play: 

womp womp.

It's the first time in several years that the US team has gone through a shut out on home turf, but fortunately it was a friendly game that doesn't stand for a whole lot right now. It was still worth watching, and I cannot wait to follow through coverage of the tournament! 

Laundry. Yardwork. Housework. Family work. That's been our day today. 

perfection :) 

Gosh, this little family of mine. I'm one happy mama! 

xo | cmd

That's a WRAP

Ya know, for a short week, this one was pretty stuffed!

Today was Dave's last day as active franchise owner for my office. It's a bittersweet thing to recognize, given the near two years of ebb-and-flow progression and digression that has led us to this point. My heart is happy to see him step into full retirement, and to know that our business will no longer serve as an added distraction to the things he hopes to accomplish from here on out. I do have some admitted sadness to see him go; there are so many things about Dave that we have come to love, and he has certainly been a part of our small office family. 

Dave, we wish you the best in your next ventures. Thank you for all that you've given us through your LLC and of course, for lunch today! What an excellent way to celebrate YOU! 

elisa with the mexican guac
cori with the thai chicken
..... typical 

It seemed as though our final farewell was far less ceremonial than we'd originally envisioned, but the time came and went, and that was that. It was a typical Friday on all other cylinders, with the weekend finally in our hands. 

pop... pop.. pop pop pop popppp....

Dinner plans took a spontaneous turn, and we found ourselves with bellies full at Los Cazadores. We enjoyed our casual family dinner date before heading back here to enjoy an otherwise uneventful night with each other :).

Here's to the weekend! 

xo | cmd

Stock Photos of Food I Really Did Make... [*Sigh]

There are a few things that help me unwind at any given point in the week, and one of those is cooking. It's rare in its own sense for me to have the time to do it the way I'd like to, but on those rare instances, I get to pace myself, get lost in stirring whatever is in front of me and just... let everything else go for a little bit.

Soccer. Knitting. Reading. Writing. Photography. Cooking.

I'll only have gotten to two of those in depth today, but it's okay.

First thing up on the plates: Honey roasted chickpeas!

stock photo, thanks Google...

^ I have got to get better at taking pictures of food before it's eaten. Seriously. That stock photo looks identical to ours, but for the basis of copyright stuff, that's not my batch. HOWEVER, you'd better believe we'll be making ours again, and there will be pictures! [Nom Nom NOM]

Also on the unchartered menu tonight: Turky chili! I call this one garbage can chili; I rooted through the cabinets and started dumping in beans, spices and whatever veggies I had in the fridge to put this guy together. I threw in some ketchup and tomato paste at the end, and, well... call it a win.

You know what's not a win, though? That I have to use a stock photo on this one, too, because for some reason I gave up photographing my food. I'm serious; redemption is on the horizon.

My goal: Next time I'll get to at least three of those things that settle me down.
For now, I've got a lot of dishes to do... I'm... OUT!

xo | cmd

[Go &] Live

I saw this today, and while there are some menial details about my day that I could share [work, volleyball, eating food...] ... but I thought just maybe someone else out there might need this just as much as I have this week:

Just in case you didn't see that the first time, then here is one more time:

I needed that today.
Did you?

xo | cmd

Sleep Deprived Blogging....

I am usually all about finding the dry side of a rock in a thunderstorm, but today was one of those days that just started off as a mud puddle and try as I did, it didn't really change until it was nearly over.

 

Downside? Elisa was out sick today. I remained the only one onsite all day. 
Upside? It's a short week. WOO!

Downside? I got next to NO sleep last night.
Upside? It's not always like that, and I know I'm gonna cah-RASH tonight. 

Downside? Sydni didn't get the best version of me tonight. 
Upside? There is tomorrow for me to redeem myself. 

Okay, so I guess there is still silver lining. In fact, yes. Yes there is, and there's plenty of it.

amen.

Wheeeew. I need sleep.
We'll try this again tomorrow.

xo | cmd

Memorial Day 2015

I'm elated to have had today off work. I love that we were able to spend just a little extra time visiting with our friends and family in Illinois. I love that businesses around the country closed down to "celebrate" today. BUT, in the midst of all that, I want to stop and THANK.... those who are beyond my reach to physically thank. The ones who gave all, so that we could have the liberties we have.

amen. 

For the families of those who paved the way and gave their lives to do so, today is to honor the memories, courage and ultimate sacrifice of your sons and daughters, husbands, wives, siblings and friends. I salute them, and I salute you.

My day started earlier than I'd expected; the air mattress gave way at some unknown point in the night, so there wasn't much sleeping between that realization and the sun rising. I took advantage of the silence to dig into some of my own sustenance, which was a perfect way to reflect on what Memorial Day should signify for us.

perseverance, tenacity, hope. 

I was finishing up with my devo time when Jesse and Rob starting moving, and in a matter of about 40 minutes, we had breakfast ready..

not too shabby! 

We ate and relaxed while the dogs did the same..

we don't wanna get in the car! :( 

We hung out at Jesse's for a little while longer, until we finally loaded up and hit the road for the trip back to Ohio.

on the roaaaad again.... 

Fast forward about 5 hours, and we're here, home, safe & sound and ready to nestle in and do nothing for the rest of the night. We made some dinner, lounged around for a couple of hours and are ready to call this one a night :).

Gooood night!

xo | cmd