Vernon Bound

Some memoirs of my dietary relapse today at work:

this avocado-filled veggie burger..

& this. this decadent little work-out-canceller.

Meh. It's Friday. (:
It's probably not gonna get much better as far as the amount of food we intake this weekend, what with us heading to my parents'. We made a quick a getaway as possible this evening, after loading up my old dryer and a couple of our things for the weekend. Before long, we were ready to head out.

nobody panic. we weren't moving.

Fast forward through the bumpy diesel jaunt across the landmarkless farmland that exists between Cincinnati and Columbus, to us arriving at my parents'.

yep. this is my homeland ;)

We. Are. HERE!

Mom had chicken paprekash ready when we walked in the door. Nobody's surprised... but nobody's starving, either. Haha.

We're in for an awesome [Post-]Easter [celebration] weekend, loves!

xo | cmd

Praise Team | Boat Fixins | #TBT!

We'll do all of ^^ that, in reverse order.

So first, #TBT! 

same place.. same girl ;) ♥

I was rummaging around on an old memory card and came across those two pictures. I hadn't planned to do a series of them at the time, but now that I've found two, I think we may head back there again this summer and snag another shot at the park on the .. umm... whatever that thing is, haha.

Here's a glimpse at what we're lookin' at today:


When Sydni and I pulled up in the driveway, we found Rob waist deep in the bowels of his boat. We've been talking about it for a couple of weeks now, but it looks like the red goblin is finally going to make her debut in a week or so. Tonight he got the engine cleared and cleaned, ran some water through it and took the whole rig for a spin around the block. IT IS ALMOST TIME!!!

this.. just... love love love.

Oh, and today I joined the SonRise praise team! That probably doesn't sound like much to anyone, but it's kiiiind of a momentous thing for me. I've been back in Cincinnati now for almost a full year and had yet to commit myself to any one church. Well, until SonRise. I met with the worship pastor today and it looks like I'll be joining forces with the morning praise team in the near future. This is pretty big for me; there was a very long period of time in which I didn't feel like singing. That's not me, and now that I've rediscovered complete and genuine joy, I'm happy to sing that from the top of a mountain.

outside sonrise!

AWE.SOME.

Tomorrow, it's off to Nana & Pappy's house for the weekend for our Easter celebration. We've got some big things planned!

xo | cmd

Atlanta Bound!

No, not me.

A couple of weeks back, I received a random phone call: It was a student from Miami University [Oxford, OH, ya'll..], with the Farmer School of Business. She is apparently pursuing a path in marketing, staffing, recruiting and whatever other elements are tied into that degree. At the time, I honestly found it mildly inconveniencing, as the call happened right in the midst of a few high-priority things.

She seemed eager to learn about what we do in the world of recruiting and staffing, and I was immediately reminded that there was a point in time when I had the exact same questions. As it stands now, I love my job, so who was I to shrug off the opportunity to help someone wanting to pursue this type of role?

Anyway, it was probably a 5-minute conversation that came and went in the flow of the rest of the day. I received a nice follow-up email after that, and thought that would be the end of it.

Then this came today: 

(:

It's not much to some people, but for me, I'm pretty daggone excited for this girl and her team. Who knows if she'll remember her college trip years from now, but I hope she does and that she lands the job she's pursuing with her degree!

Good luck, Miss Alex!

Give a little back to the universe, friends. You may hear from it again, and you may not. Either way, just do it (:

xo | cmd

Ali's [Actual] Birthday | Job Fairs & FOOOOOD!

Today is Ali's actual birthday.

So dear Ali,
Here's a giant picture of us:

love. her.

And also..

In all seriousness, you are a one-of-a-kind friend, and I frequently am reminded of how thankful I am to have you in my life and to be a part of yours. Who knew you and I would cross paths [thank you, work!] and become great friends? Thank you for being who you are, and for that person being such a genuine, Christ-loving, flat out awesome individual. You'd better have the best year yet!

 

LOVE YOU!

Since I couldn't make it to Illinois to celebrate Ali's birthday, I substituted it with an Express function, which really seems fitting anyway, since that's where we met. Haha.

express job fair!
... complete with creepy face sign... yes ;)

Elisa and I hosted a hiring event today, which meant free range of lunch options afterwards!
Findlay Market was the most obvious choice, so Findlay it was!

hello, findlay!

all of it. give. me. all of it.

yessss!!!

So. Much. DELICIOUS. I need to find a way to get to Findlay more than once every couple of weeks for lunch. It's just too good not to. Noms!!

After lunch, we headed back to the office, where somehow, I managed to complete 3 quick interviews before Lizzy and I turned on our heels and headed right back out for a meeting. Food seemed to be a very prominent theme for today; I walked out of our afternoon meeting holding a very decadent, tiny red velvet cupcake.

red velvet.

Back at the office, the day was nearly over by the time we were all back in one place. It was a nice shift in the routine to be out for most of the day, but I'm also ready to get back in and caught up on what I missed today.

At home, the food craze continued; Rob fired up the grill and I got the oven going. Together, we crafted a delicious dinner and sat around like 3 savages picking chicken off skewers and licking our fingers (: These are frankly my favorite kind of nights..

homemade potato chips?

love that man...

and loved dinner... ahh!

Thanks again, Pinterest, for nailing this one on the head. I put together a cannellini bean salad to pair with the chicken and potatoes; this was a perfect dinner, and I happily checked hungry family off my evening list.

Let's pray this weather stays this gorgeous for the week... yes? (:

xo | cmd

Post-Dated Easter Cards & Mini Pot Pies

Happy MONDAY!  

love love loooooove!!

My little Easter egg is back, and we started off our week with a mama+mini selfie, because... we can (: We had big plans for this evening, so we made it a point to get started as soon as we got home.

1. DINNER!
I'm going to share this one with everybody, because it's just... that easy. And delicious.
Here ya go. Here's the scoop on making mini chicken pot pies:

NEED

2 cans pillsbury grands dinner rolls
1 bag frozen veggies (the peas/corn/green beans/carrots work well)
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups of shredded chicken (or 1 can.. if you're into canned meat)
Shredded cheese, if you please!

Muffin tin
Cooking spray (or flour, if you do it that way)

DO

1. Pre-heat oven to 375. Thaw your veggies & cook your chicken if you need to. Put all the ingredients in a ziploc bag.

looks great. uhhhh.. haha

2. Prime your muffin tin with either cooking spray or flour, whichever method you like best. Try not to have a heart attack while opening the grands container.... even though we all know what's coming, if you're like me, it still scares the crap out of you every time.

3. Stuff grands rolls into the muffin tins. 





gettin' there.

4. I used 2 tablespoons of the bag mixture per dough cup. Spoon everything into the muffin tin. Bake at 375 until the dough starts browning slightly. Since everything in the mixture should be cooked already, be sure not to overdo it.

noms.

5. EAT!

deeeeelish!

These were a huge hit tonight. I wouldn't say I have a picky eater, but it was exceptionally easy with this one. No, not the healthiest thing we could've done, but we don't regularly eat this way.

Anyway, that was the solution to dinner. The rest of the night was dedicated to the creation of Easter cards! Okay, correction: Post-Easter Easter cards. It's never too late for well-wishes ;)

prepared earlier last week!

here we go!!!

Our dining room table transformed from an eatery to a craft bench:

colorful girl

mister rob, come help!

markers & colors & eggs, oh my!

love these nights

After what seemed like "fooooooreverrrrr, Mommmyyyyyyy," the glue had dried on all the eggs and our cards were ready:

egg cards!
artwork compliments of miss sydni herself ♥

........... Whew! That's a lot for one evening, but we're caught up now and relaxing together like we should be. Here's to a great week!

xo | cmd

Illinois Easter, Part II

The first part of Easter was yesterday, when we met with Rob's mom & Don for lunch, and hung out with them for a little while. Today, we bid farewell to Jesse and made our way to his dad's house, where we met with him and Kate, and continued on to his sister's house.

Rob's sister has a 5-year-old who made me miss Sydni even more than I already have so far this weekend, but it was still fun to watch her enjoy an egg hunt and the festivities of Easter. Sydni gets hers next weekend at Nana & Pappy's house (:

Anyway, here's the highlight reel from today's outing!

rob with his dad and stepmom kate (:

ella on her egg hunt

eggs!

yes. i think she and sydni would get along just fine!

We spent the better half of the late morning and early afternoon at Rob's sister's house; from there, we made a quick stop back at his dad's to help them move part of a backyard project. I took that opportunity to photograph one of their dogs, Travis, and a cozy nest of robin eggs.

awwww ♥

peek-a-boo!

perfectly colored.

^ I loved that the egs perfectly complimented the mosaic onthe birdbath right above their nest. It made me think of it as a tiny little nursery, ready for five chirpy little babes. Ahhh, SPRING! Love, love, love.

Onward we went after our goodbyes; we set a course for home but not before we swung back by Rob's mom's house to see her one more time. This meant more pictures.

rob & his mom

yay, self timers! :p

And of course, pictures of the dog. There have been a lot of dogs this weekend; we have a lot of explaining to do when we see our own two pups tonight.. haha..

soliman!

It was a long trip home, mainly because yesterday while I was out and about readying up for Ali's birthday, I caught a rock from a truck in front of me. I didn't see it at first, but that sucker nailed me, and I've now endured a full road trip staring glaring at this feather line in my windshield. Luckily, I have a boyfriend with resources to get this fixed professionally and honestly, and hey, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

ya jerk.

On our way home, we stopped off at Olive Garden... for two reasons:
1. We were hungy [the most obvious reason]
2. We needed to take this picture. Ali specifically requested a picture of me at Olive Garden, for when she goes there this Tuesday on her actual birthday. I obviously won't be present; she asked Marianne and I for pictures like this to stand in for us. Haha. So here ya go!

olive garden! nom nom nom.

And with that, we're home, safe & sound.
It's been a long weekend. Sydni will be here tomorrow and I... cannot... wait.

G'Nite!

xo | cmd

HAPPY [surprise party for your] BIRTHDAY, ALI!!

We started the day off with a visit from Mike over to Jesse's. I have yet to meet Elaina, but hopefully that will happen on our next trip out here (:

We headed to Alton with Rob's mom & Don for lunch, and Jesse met us there.

chubby's | alton, il

It is obviously getting gorgeous outside:

... for blocks! (:

After lunch, Rob & Jesse stayed back to do a few things, and I set out on a mission of my own, to complete some last minute errands for Ali's surprise party. I would've been done I'm sure nearly 2 hours sooner had it not been for the trains. I'd forgotten how many of these stinkin' things they have in constant circulation out here.. haha.

choo.. chooo... choooooose a better route next time, cori.

Aaaaanyway,
The culmination of so many people's efforts this week happened around 6:30 this evening, when DeShawn brought Ali back to her apartment to us, a clan of surprisers, ready to pounce on her as soon as she walked through the door.

Picture Time!

presents

cookie cake

A series of pictures with Tim & balloons...

because... balloons.

the birthday girl!
.. & tim.. with an orbiting balloon.. ;)

turtle piñata, post candy spill!

one of the many similarly-themed and
absolutely age-appropriate presents (:

tim got balloons...
damanji got bubbles

the ringleader of the surprise party plans
& the birthday girl!

This adorable picture of Ali & her roommate:

a&d

.... that came right after this other picture of Ali and her roommate... and some others: 

this.

My date:


my best friend (:

Here's a fun fact: If you rub balloons on the carpet, your shirt, or pretty much any other static-enhancing surface, you can stick them to Ali's ceiling and they will stay.

Here's us exploiting that fact:

anti-gravity balloons

creeeeeeeepy damanji & the anti-gravity balloons

Eeeeeverybody now!

this weird, posed picture...

... and this completely normal one (: (: (:

In closing,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to one of the most incredible gals I know. Ali, I hope you loved your party tonight almost as much you're loved by the people who planned it for you and who could and couldn't make it out tonight. You're another fabulous year young, my friend. LOVE YOU!!!!!

love. this. girl.
happy 23!

Love you, Ali! Haaaaappy Birthday!!!

xo | cmd