Kickball Game #6

Tonight we had the last game of our regular season. We started off the game STRONG, we were up 5-0 after the 1st inning. The other team game back and was ahead 6-5, but in the end we came back to WIN 8-7. Woooo Hooo for another big W-I-N. What a GREAT game & AWESOME WIN!! :)

Wordless Wednesday!

Tuesday Lunch Dates!

I always look so forward to my Tuesday Lunch Dates with my dad. It is so special to meet each week to catch up, reminise on growing up and talk about the future. I value this time with my dad more that words could ever describe!

This week J is in town so he joined us for lunch. It was so special to have lunch with 2 of the most important guys in my life today. I'm one lucky gal!

After lunch Becker and my mom met us downtown for an ice cream cone. Becker LOVES my dad so much, its always so cute to see how much Becker looks up to my dad and how much my dad enjoys spending time with him too. I know my dad is going to make the BEST grandpa...

Nada Night!

My friend Lauren who currently lives in Genova, Switzerland is in town to visit/work for a few weeks. So J and I met her last night at Nada for dinner. She told me that there is no Mexican food over in the UK, so Nada is the perfect fix to fill that Mexican void. We sat outside and chatted for hours, we saw tons of interesting characters & enjoyed the pretty night out on the patio! Good food, great friends & amazing summer nights!

Roadtrip to South Bend to Surprise Linda!

This past weekend we packed up and headed up to South Bend to surprise J's mom for her Birthday! When she saw J the look on her face was priceless. No better present then quality time for your mom!

Surprise... "Happy Birthday to You Linda..."

Saturday morning we headed up north to lake South Haven, Michigan. South Haven is a cute little town on Lake Michigan. There are a bunch of little shops, restaurants & ice cream parlors. We had lunch at a yummy spot called Clementine's. After lunch we took a walk out on the Boardwalk down to the Lighthouse. On our way back we stopped at the "Idler" a stationary boat that has a restaurant/bar upstairs for a drink out on the boat deck.

Ray, Linda, J & Me out on the Boardwalk by the Lighthouse!

On our drive back form Michigan we planned to make a stop at Tabor Hill Winery. The winery was hidden over the river and thru the woods. When we arrived there it was a beautiful vineyard. We sat out on the patio and soaked up the sunshine while enjoying a glass of wine overlooking the perfect rows of vines.

Linda & Me with our Souveniors from the Winery

 J & Linda with her special Mickey Eifel Tower Statue J got her in Paris!

Happy Birthday Linda!! :)



Summer Night @ Kings Island!

Tonight J & I took Riley & Braden to Kings Island. The kids were waiting by the window when we pulled up to pick them up. Ri even had a thank you note written to hand me when we walked in the door, too sweet & so excited.

Off we went to KI. Jon had not been before, so this was his 1st trip to the Park. It was a perfect summer Night at KI full of fun times, fast rides, yummy ice cream and lots of smiles & laughs! Good Times with my favorite little cuties! :)

Ri & Snoopy

 Braden & Woodstock

Charlie Brown!!

Roller Coaster Buddies...

Braden & me watching the Coaster Riders!

Hands Up....

 Ice Cream...Yum Yum!

Fun Times with my 2 favoite kids!



Kickball Game #5

Two words for the game tonight...SHUT-OUT!! YAY! Tonight the wind was blowing like crazy to our advantage, we caught up pop-up's and managed to score one run in the 1st inning. This one run ended up being the only run of the whole game. SO we won 1-0...

 W-I-N-N-I-N-G...

Merkle & Me

Wordless Wednesday!

Fathers Day with the World's #1 Dad!

Happy Father's Day to the most AMAZING, hard-working, loyal, loving, dedicated, unselfish Man I know. Dad always knows how to make me laugh, smile and always give the BEST compliments! No matter what I look like each day, he is always there to tell me how beautiful I am. From the day's he coached my soccer teams, to Magic Carpet Rides, to the days of Indian Princesses, to the 10k's to have run together, to my FAVORITE day of the week Tuesday Lunches... Dad has always been there to push me to be the best person I can possibly be.

Dad is always helping other in the community, whether it is his time or money Dad always knows how to lend a helping hand no matter what the circumstances. I am so PROUD to call him my Dad. I am so THANKFUL God loved me enough to give me him as my Father here on earth. He sets the PERFECT example on how to live a life of success, by keeping God #1 and always giving of himself in any way he possibly can. If there were more guys like Dad this world would be a better place. Thanks for being my HERO Dad! Love you!!

Cutest Couple... Dad & Mom!

Silly Time with Dad & the Kids...

Sweet New Shades...

 iPod for Dad's Running & Biking Workouts!

Car Vacuum, Hint Hint, Clean Car Alert!!

Sporting his Nice New Bling...

 My Favorite Present for Dad, Personalized Poems from the Kids!

Dad's Special Poems!

Last Present I ordered up for Dad ...A Pretty Sunset after the Rainy Day!

So Thankful for a Special Family Day celebrating the most amazing Dad. Happy Father's Day to you & to all the wonderful guys who are or will one day be daddy's! :)

Friday Funday @ the Pool!

When I worked for ReachUSA I used to meet my mom & Becker for lunch atleast 3 times a week. Since I started working at Kroger I no longer can meet them for lunch since I work downtown. I miss our lunch dates so much and always love seeing Becker whenever I get the opportunity too. So this past Friday I got off work early and headed up to Mason for an afternoon Pool Date with Becker & my Mom. They forgot Becker's Swimsuit and our time was limited so we had to find him an alternative outfit...

So he tried on my bikini....Too big. LOL

Then we found him some girls Nike running shorts we were able to convince him were the "Red's" colors! And off we went to the pool!

Along with the swim shorts, he needed a swim shirt. This Bears Jersey was "Kev's swim shirt" when he was younger. Wink Wink!

Becker & GiGi

Fun Times @ the Pool!

Chatting the Night Away with Renee!

Tonight I met my best friend I first met when I moved to Cincinnati when I was going into my Freshman year of High School. Renee was so sweet to include me & intoduce me to all her friends and always made me feel so welcome, because it wasn't easy moving to a new city right before high school. We  ran the local "baby sitters club" and then funny thing is we continue too. We have always remained good friends thru the years no matter how often we get together and are able to meet for dinner or coffee, we always catch right back up where we left off!

Tonight we met for dinner at the New Dancing Wasbai in Hyde Park Square. It was the Grand Opening night, and we just happened to be the 1st customers! We had a fun night of non-stop chatting and catching up. We could've sat out there and chatted the night away about guys, weddings, old friends, family, etc. Love dinner dates with old friends!

Dinner with the Girls!

My friend Caylah moved to Portsmith Ohio a few months ago. She is back in Cinci for the week for work, so we set up a girls dinner at Cock & Bull out on the patio Tuesday Night. It was a beautiful night, perfect for lots of chat time & catching up. The most exciting news of the night: Caylah is PREGO!! Caylah & Justin are expecting their 1st lil one the day after Christmas, so so exciting. Can't wait to do some baby shopping! Fun Nights with my girlies!

Homearama Time!

A girl can dream right?! Tonight my mom, sis & I went out to West Chester to Homearama to check out the latest home trends, amazing decorations and dream about our future homes. This year the houses were all between $600,000-$800,000. Which is of course a huge gorgeous house, but is way more realistic then the homes in the past few years which were 1-2.5 Million!

The 1st home was my favorite. The layout, back porch, basement, kitchen, basement all blew me away. The most amazing part of the whoel house was it had a basketball court down the basement...AMAZING! Super fun girls night out! :)

View of the basketball Court

Other side of the basement

How cute is this Game Room...

Absolutely LOVED this little girl's room!

A Red's Fans dream, awesome wall in a basement! 

Weekend at the "Lake House" in Indy!

We rarely spend time at J's, which I like to refer to as the "Lake House" because we are never there. We were able to sneak away this weekend and spend 2 nights away! We had a fun lil cookout & bon-fire with friends Saturday night. It doesn't get much better than this for a Sunny Summer Saturday Night!

Man of the Year 2011

On April 1st, 2011 my Dad was nominated to be a canidate for the Leukemia Lymphomia Society Man of the Year. His mission was to raise money for the LLS foundation over the next 10 weeks.

Dad did amazing job over those 10 weeks raising fund thru generous donations, the Yard Sale, etc. for such an amazing cause...to find a cure for Leukemia. This past Friday Night was time to Celebrate these amazing mem & women who have spent countless hours campaigning to raise money for LLS. The event was held Downtown Cincinnati at the Netherlands in the Hall of Mirrors. What a beautiful evening to celebrate working to find a cure for these diseases! Congrats Dad you're our HERO & will ALWAYS be the Man of the Year in my eyes! :)

Dad & me

Me, Dad & Shan



Kev & Me

J & Me

Dad's Table

Dad & Mom

Best Parents!

Shan, Mom,Dad, Kev & Me