Smoky Mountains, Here We Come!

We left today for a weekend in the Smokies.

Before that could happen though, it was a prioritized early morning that began with yoga at 6AM.
That was followed by breakfast at First Watch once Becky came by to get us.

Here we go!

let's go! 

Here's the before shot... I can guarantee we'll be 1) nowhere near this clean in 3 days, and 2) probably still wearing these exact clothes [still] in 3 days. We've already accepted it.

The drive through Kentucky into Tennessee is beautiful enough when you're by yourself. When you're with two of your favorite friends, it warps into something beyond a scenic drive; it becomes a 5-hour launch into hilarity, during which you spend the entirety of your time doing one of three things:

1. Sleeping
2. Eating
3. Laughing so hard that you're crying & gasping for air. 

All of those things happened within the 5-hour confinement on the way down. 

WE MADE IT! 

Cataloochee is our starting point for the weekend; we're here in the lower portion of the North Carolina mountains, surrounded by trees, rivers, elks and hammocks. 

Our first order of business was a suspended timeout:

1-2-3, go. 

just... leave... me..... here.
forever.

 

Our contingency plan:

We broke out the JetBoils and had a successful first night of Mountain House dinners.

let's do it... 

Marianne and I managed to gather firewood; for Mare, this translated into full tree branches, but hey - noone's judging.. haha.

"wrist size or smaller.... " haha

Day 1: COMPLETE. We are here in the Smokies and ready for the weekend! 

xo | cmd

One Day To Go

Marianne is HERE! She was here for the last half of the day yesterday, too, but she's been here all day today, and tomorrow we leave for the Smoky Mountains!

As I was at work, I caught glimpses of Mare's day, some of which she spent with Becky, and the rest that she improvised on her own like she usually does.

I lived the sunshine somewhat vicariously through Mare & Becky today, until they came and took Elisa and I away for lunch at Aladdin [delicious by the way].

aladdin mediterranean!

I was glad Elisa was able to join us for lunch; my friends are certainly a rare breed, but love welcoming others in and making them feel included/accepted. Plus, Elisa's awesome, so it worked out!

Mare & Becky dropped me off at work, where the day finished up and I headed to Milford to get Sydni. The original plan was to circle back to the zoo and meet them there for Tunes & Blooms; we didn't get to that part for a few different reasons... Sad face.

Fortunately, I was able to sneak away for a bit and rendezvous with them and Brandon on Ludlow for some more delicious eats.. this time at Marrakech. All I have to say about this place: TEA. I LOVE IT.

We disbanded after some incredible food and much laughing, and made it home with just enough horsepower left in us to finish packing bags for the ride out tomorrow.

Cheers!

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

rainrainrainrainrainHAMMOCKrainrainrain...

Me & my sentiments towards today:  

staaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhp!!!!

Today's Weather:

Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Sunshi---nope, just kiddinnnngggg... Rain! Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. And then no more rain, but just... wet.. everywhere.

HowEVER:

got it got it got it!!!!

^^ That was exactly what I needed to brighten up the otherwise rainy day: MY HAMMOCK!!! I'll be heading out this weekend to the Smokies with Becky & Mare, and I needed this sucker to get here. PERFECT. TIMING.

Le sigh.
And more RAIN.

Let's try this again tomorrow.
G'Nite! 

xo | cmd

My BiPolar City

Here's the course of a typical day here in Norwood [& really, in all of Cincinnati]:

8:00 AM. 

10:00 AM

11:00 AM

11:15 AM

1:45 PM

3:45 PM

Get the drift? 

If there's one thing you've got to accept and not fight living in the midwest, it's the weather. Seriously. We're about as close to bipolar as you can get without professional intervention. 

Fortunately, I have a collection of a few thousand of my closest friends here in Cincinnati who get the joy of suffering through all of this together. 

Now PICK ONE, CINCI. 

xo | cmd

Sunday @ SonRise

Ohhhh, Ohio.... your weatherrrrr.....

raaaaaaiiiiin..... *sigh

There wasn't a cloud in the sky yesterday, so naturally today, it poured.

All day. :|

It didn't deter us from our usual Sunday routine of heading in to church. I was surprised when Trish and the kiddos joined in for the morning service, which in itself was one of those messages that pulls at some of those uncomfortable corners of our hearts.

photo cred: sonrise church! 

It's messages like these that challenge me to put my own feet to the fire and pursue what's right over what I oftentimes want to do and follow based on my emotions [because honestly, there's a running list of ways my emotions have misled me... well... a lot over the course of my existence]. I am so thankful for a pastor and staff who can incorporate grace and love into a message that otherwise may easily offend the prideful nature we all naturally have.

After church, we took a quick lunch break down the street at Frisch's before making a pitstop and home and then a U-turn riiiight back to SonRise for the membership initiation class, also known as Class 101.

c.l.a.s.s.:
christian life and service seminars

The class was fairly intense: a 3-hour session chock-full of background on our church, its mission and purpose and operating principles. It's the first time I've been involved with a church to this degree: learning the internal structure, doctrinal beliefs exercised and leadership structure up front, before committing myself as a member. This is the first truly non-denominational church I've ever felt compelled to explore, and the more I learn about it, the more I find I'm embracing the approach. SonRise functions on the mission of loving all people, reaching them for God, and training them with the knowledge and tools to go and share the word with the world around them.

these two :) 

Syd challenged Rob to a game of ping pong, and while I would typically question her version of the game rules, she apparently won, and that was settled ;)

Speaking of simply loving God, Sydni created this yesterday and I forgot to share:

"sydni art"

^^ Oh, be STILL .. my heart. I can barely handle this. Syd, you are such a light in this little life of ours, and I hope you never ever question just how beautiful you are. I love you, mini me!

It's been a long day, but spending it at SonRise was one of the best I could've envisioned for an otherwise drab day. I am one lucky mama.

CHEERS to a wonderful week!

xo | cmd

The Busiest Non-Busy Saturday...

Well, I'd say that over 75% of the day today was spent at the house, but looking back at the past 12 hours, it was anything but lame.

First things first, breakfast - the timeless classic that  my mom made for us growing up: Cream of Buckwheat. Sounds weird, but don't knock it til you try it. :) 

nommmmmm.... :) 

Once breakfast was off the list, we made an attempt to gather our thoughts for how we'd take advantage of the day [which was beautiful, btw]. We settled on some necessity things, which turned out to be a perfect way to spend it.

Sydni was ready to go: 

i just... i can't. i love this so much. 

Item 1: Poor Subie. She's been singing the infirmary song of her people for a couple weeks now: her rear brakes are going bad and a couple weeks back, we drilled a pothole in the never-ending field of them en route to Milford. My fiance, being the stand up guy that he is, ushered in the assistance of his contacts at the tire repair shop, where we left Subie for the better half of the morning.

In the interim, we made our way to Oakley: Michael's and lunch. I can't spill all the beans now [since I know this page is frequented by a certain someone whose birthday may or may not, but in this case may be approaching in like... 4 days or so], but the Michael's mission was a success!

Lunch at Which Wich afterwards wasn't a shabby experience, either: I always enjoy showing new dives to Rob & Syd. 

love at which wich!

Back at home, Rob set out on the second half of his quest to fix my car, while I set to work on my.... "project(s)." I suppose I'll leave you with one small spoiler for now, but that's it!

that's all you get [for now!]

The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out together as a family, doing our own separate tasks, but there together. Sydni made a little flower garden and some mud pies, Rob changed my brakes and fixed Subie's squeaky hubcap, and I was able to finish the craft tasks on my list. We all had our hands busy, but were all within earshot of each other and free from the distractions of technology for the afternoon. It was beautiful! 

Evening eventually found us, which meant dinner... which I was bound and determined to make healthy for us: 

salad salad salaaaaad

And yes, I count it as a monumental life victory that my kid will eat salad without protest. I don't have this whole parenting thing down to a science yet, but it's small things like this that remind me we're doing something right :) 

Goodnight, blogbots! 

xo | cmd