Bright Eyes, Beats & Box Jumps

I started off today in a way that I've never done before: Working out at CYOFL with Jessica!

If you don't know what CYOFL is, it's Create Your Own Finish Line, owned and operated by the one and only Jessica G! She's hardcore when it comes to fitness, but not in the maniacal way that you'd think. This girl is all about working everything, from the inside out, so the details that will ultimately make or break your body don't go overlooked: posture, form, balance, flexing, stability muscles, breathing... all of it. I don't have enough good things to say about this girl's work, but if you feel inclined to check her out, you should totally DO IT!

let's do it! 

I'll even make it easy for you: CLICK HERE to see it on Facebook!

Anyway, I arrived and we got started, with some trampoline running, planks, pull ups, TRX, deadlifts and of course.. box jumps. My personal favorite :) 

That is not a bad way to start off the day; I will say that.
I'll say this: nothing kick starts a day like a workout, especially when you're in the right company, with the right music, and of course the right exercises to kick your butt! ;)

Today = Owned.
Tomorrow? Bring it On. ♥

xo | cmd

Mondays (:

As it happened, I actually didn't have a frumpy feeling when I got up and headed in to work to start the week. Usually there's at least some bit of residual weekend vibe that makes Monday a tough pill to swallow, but today was good. I'm pretty sure I'm still on a high from yesterday's USWNT victory, but hey... who's to really say?? ;) 

So with an amount of pep that both baffled and annoyed even me, I pranced into Monday with a heart and mind ready for the week. I found this uncredited thing floating around the web, and thought it was a perfect reflection of how I felt this morning:

I bounded into work to find an egg mcmuffin and $12 sitting on my desk, which confirmed that today was in fact going to be one that would prove to be terrific. [The $12 was my change from money I'd given Elisa last week to pick up food, but still... who doesn't love finding money on their desk, even if it is yours to begin with?? ;)]

So there was that, followed by a day stuffed to the gills with activity, and topped off with the salad I'd prepared for myself during meal prep last night. Nom Nom NOM!

After work, it was off to get Sydni, and then home to get some homemade chicken noodle soup rolling. There were some visitors in the neighborhood that naturally put Sydni on high alert, and I must admit it was a pretty cute little band of critters.

surprise neighbors! 

We made and ate dinner, before Rob hit the garage for night one this week of bike assembly; he's got a trip coming up this weekend, so he's racing the clock. To say I'm impressed yet again by what this guy can do, well.. that's an understatement of course.

newly painted parts... wooo! 

Syd and I let him have the garage to himself, but not after Sydni made sure to inventory all the parts taking temporary refuge across my dining room floor.. haha. It's about time for teethbrushing & bedtime stories, so I'm outta here for now! 

G'Nite! 

xo | cmd

!!!!! WORLD. CHAMPIONS !!!!!

Today started out in church, alongside my best friend [that's Rob, fyi..] and our congregation as we sang praise, worshiped and studied. I made it my prayer that I would maintain myself and a level head for later today in the event that the USWNT would fall to Japan in the WWC2015 finals, and I meant it. It sounds frivolous to pray for something like that, but I've been making very intentional efforts lately to BE present in mind and focus on ALL cylinders, according to the way I'm called to act, speak and behave, so praying for self-control if the ladies lost was really not an illegitimate prayer.

We headed home, took care of some errands and chores around the house and then.. it was time!

all day long. thinking about this.... all. day. long. 

I met up with Brandon a little earlier than necessary, but with good reason: When Germany played, we nearly missed kickoff because Goodfellow's was packed and we got lucky with room at Latitude's. I was determined to stay put at Goodfellow's tonight. He'd snagged the big center table, a space that would soon be shared by Jessica, Rob and then by chance, a group of people who knew Brandon. It was the perfect arrangement, and within no time, kickoff happened. 

And I... MISSED. The. First. Goal.

I mean come on! We were still getting situated with menus and drink orders, and WHO would've honestly thought that we would score in the THIRD minute?! (Not me, so that means I'm a bad fan with no faith.. I know, I know!)

So there was Lloyd, in replay, with the first goal of the final WC2015 game, and it was beautiful. Goodfellow's was roaring with fans, and just as I was trying to calm myself down, Lloyd nailed another one in the 5th minute.

UN. REAL!!! 

lloyd, you're an animal!!!

Brandon declared that Carli Lloyd was his spirit animal, and I somehow became even more nervous than I was at kick-off, because all too often we've seen strong leads [especially this early on] be dashed by an unprecedented opponent comeback. 

I didn't stay nervous very long - Holiday with her 14th minute goal, and then Lloyd with the back half LAUNCH that cleared the keeper put us at 4-0 at half-time. Holy freakin' crap, USA. You. Are. On. FIRE!!!! 

holiday & lloyd!! 

I'd been saying the entire game that I wanted 2 things:

1. Tobin to score a goal, and 

2. Wambach to sub in for at least some playing time in her last World Cup. 

Minute 54 was Tobin... 

tobin!!!!!!!!

And then in came Wambach, with an even bigger surprise trade from Lloyd, who insisted that Wambach take the captain's band to finish out this monumental game. Sure, Abby's absence from the team is going to affect me and all the years of my childhood leading up to this [we won't even talk about Rampone possibly leaving], but to see her have the captain's band for the Title game of the 2015 World Cup was about enough to make me cry.

captain wambach! 

And then Wambach insisting the band move to Rampone, for the trophy ceremony: 

christie rampone - hero from my childhood! 

[Here's the link to the article & page from which I borrowed those shots: USAToday Article]

And I would've cried, if I hadn't been so busy screaming my face off as the minutes wound down and it became clear that even with a 2-goal answer, Japan was going home in 2nd place and the USA were taking the Title of WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!! 

The amount of can't even'ing that was me tonight was basically unrivaled. 

FIVE to TWO. WORLD CUP CHAMPIONS. I am SO. FLIPPIN'. ECSTATIC!!!!! 

I wore my Lloyd shirt today. It was a solid choice to do that, and I don't think I've ever been so excited to watch a group of women play and win a game in my life.. not even at UC! [Sorry, ladies]. Lloyd, you deserved every single bit of that Golden Ball award!!! 

congratulations!!! 

And, despite other ways in which Hope Solo's made headlines, when it comes to the game, there's not a better keeper out there. Angerer is a close contender, but Hope is the brick [wall] in the box, and while some may not agree, I wholeheartedly believe she earned the Golden Glove, too! [Quick question though, where exactly is Julie Johnston's award for baddest-to-the-bone defender?!] 

yeah, solo!!! 

Guys, I'm exhausted from screaming like a psycho in the public view of the poor patrons at Goodfellow's, but a] don't care much.. sorry not sorry, and b] we just WON THE FRIKKIN' WORLD CUP!!!! So there's THAT.. and now I don't know what I'm going to be looking forward to for the next few weeks... but I'll figure it out ;) 

U-S-A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

xo | cmd 

Happy Birthday, 'Merica!

We really don't know how good we've got it. I know I certainly take for granted the freedoms and amenities that come so easily and immediately to all of us. I am a PROUD American, and am proud to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my beloved country!!

To celebrate, Rob and I loaded up the boat, finishing just as Jessica pulled up to the house to add her gear to the inventory. We hopped in the truck and were off to find Cave Run; it had been recommended to us by a few different people, so we opted to check it out.

We came to the realization about an hour and some change into the trip that there were a number of boats traveling the opposite way on the highway, and that eventually got the best of our curiosity. After some Googling, phone calls and research, we ended up abandoning our original plans of Cave Run, and in turn found ourselves on a direct route to Taylorsville Lake Marina somewhere in Kentucky....

love these two! 

Taylorsville Lake was a blast! I totally dig the fact that my tribe is a pack of spontaneous adventure-seekers, and can roll with just about any situation. We didn't land at our intended destination today, but had an awesome day anyway!

The evening started creeping in, so we packed back up and trekked back to Cincinnati, where it was a quick shower and turnaround, and back out the door we went, to spend the rest of the evening and watch fireworks with Andrew, Jessica and a collection of their friends on the west end of Cinci.

love this guy! 

Fireworks, new [& existing] friends, food and fun! From what I've seen, birthday parties are full of those things, so I'm pretty certain we did it up just right.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY!
U-S-A!!!

xo | cmd

Eve of America's Birthday

Today had something of a late start; we had no work today and planned to take full advantage of it! 

these two... 

I couldn't help it; check out this little sassy-pants... 

hahaha.. love you, grumpo.. 

After breakfast, Syd headed off to her dad's, and the day took a turn into a list of miniature errands, chores and some shopping, while Rob spent the bulk of the day off working on his bike. My first order of business was to take on a small section of the backyard. 

just a little bit of the work.. 

PHEW! If there's one thing I was reminded of today, it's that vine doesn't go down without a fight, and that stuff back there is stubborn! PLUS, we accidentally unearthed a patch of brand new little cottontails, which I'll be guarding for the next several days from our dogs' romping and whatever else I can, until Mama Bunny returns or they reach the point where they can scamper along on their own..

itty bitty buns!! 

I'd told Jessica earlier in the week that I was ready to hit OTR for a night back on the scene; I don't know the last time I was actually down there, so it was high time for us to have a rompus! 

We even ran into Chad's sister Paige at Neon's, after we joked that it'd be funny if we saw either her or Chad on the one night we decide to venture on down to OTR. We wound up at Japp's, dancing the night away and hanging out with a few of Jessica's friends.

As of this afternoon, our confirmed game plan for tomorrow includes some version of us on the boat on water.. somewhere. That being said, I'm OUT!

Happy weekend, loves!

xo | cmd

Rain. Rain. And Some Rain.

Today:

And in case you missed it: 

Yeah, that's about it. 

Good night, rainy world. 

xo | cmd

SEMI FINALS!!!

TODAY. WAS. THE. DAY!!!!

omgaaaah.. 

and this one. 

I spent the entire day amped up over the game, and even though Becky and I didn't make it to Montreal today, I'm fortunate to have a viewing area big enough at home to [kinda] compensate for not seeing the ladies in person on the field.

Anyway,

#solo

#harris

#morgan

#krieger

#leroux

Ob.SESSED. 

It'd been raining for the greater part of the late afternoon/early evening, so when I turned into my neighborhood, I wasn't surprised to see it a bit tousled from the storm. Small bits of trees and branches were down and fresh leaves and twigs were strewn across all the lawns. My backyard has a particularly larger ticket item sitting on my shed [which appears at first glance to remain unharmed], that we will have to deal with on a night other than World Cup Semifinals:

well that's.. just.. very nice, storm. thanks. :/ 

The storm not only took its toll on my backyard, but it knocked out the already so-reliable Time Warner Cable, leaving me with a pesky, stubborn and overall aggravating sight of the white screen telling me it's more or less thinking about thinking about letting us watch anything. It's a hit or miss every.single. game with TWC, so I wasn't surprised when we had to rally together and determine our contingency plan. 

That plan was set for Goodfellas, but that was dashed as soon as I arrived to find Tim & his family standing in line by the front door, without an open table in sight. We quickly weighed our options, and took a chance on running across the street to Latitudes. GOOD. DECISION. We snagged a table for 10, and before long there were 10 of us craning our necks in the direction of the big screen, where kickoff happened just as we were being seated. 

There are few sporting events on planet earth that will ever elicit the type of emotional response comparable to that of soccer. It's safe to say really that there are no other events that could do so. I've never traditionally considered myself a feminist, but our USWNT is a collection of the most talented, charismatic and patriotic athletes out there - after tonight's game, heck yeah I'm proud to be a woman, an American, an athelete/a soccer player and a supporter of these ladies paving their own way to World Cup victory.

No, it wasn't Abby's 2012 goal against Brazil, but it was an absolutely beautiful sight nonetheless to see our team challenge Germany and come out on top. 

I snagged this from ussoccer_wnt's IG, which sums up the night in what words just can't... 

#lloyd #ohara

I. Love. This. Team. Love It. 

Congratulations, USWNT! Here's to ONE. MORE. GAME against the winner of tomorrow's matchup. Just a few more days.. YOU CAN DO IT! 

And to this group [minus 2], thanks for hanging out and hanging in there together! I couldn't have hand-selected a better group to roll with on a night like this! :) 

@ latitudes

U-S-A! U-S-A! 

Let's go get it, ladies!

xo | cmd