Tag Archives: ohio

Jan28

Ice Skating Fun

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Hello everyone and happy Thursday! Last Sunday my darling boyfriend, Kyle, and I went ice skating at the Lock 3 skating rink in Akron, Ohio. I skated competitively for quite some time and now I’m a coach for the Special Olympics. Kyle and I have never been skating together before so I was so excited when he finally agreed to making a date out of it on Sunday afternoon. We bundled up, I gathered my skates (I’d rather die than wear rental skates), and then we hit the road for our date.

Once we got to Lock 3, we saw that the rink was pretty crowded. Lucky for us, though, it cleared up by the time we were done waiting in line to rent skates for Kyle, getting our skates on, and walking over to the rink. This was Kyle’s first time ever on ice skates and right from the get go he gave it a valiant effort, which I thought was so sweet. Walking to the rink which was about one hundred feet away proved to be a struggle, to say the least. To me, skating and walking around on skates is second nature so I never thought how difficult it must be to put these contraptions on your feet for the first time and then walk to the rink let alone skate on it!

Once we got on to the ice hand in hand we began our first trip around the rink. My poor Kyle got the worst rental skates on the planet and I felt so bad at how difficult it looked for him. The blades on each skate were so crooked but I didn’t have the heart to have us walk back to the rental shack, get new skates, and then have to walk all the way back to the rink. After a few times around the rink, the skates started to hurt Kyle which is pretty common with rentals. We then devised a plan that I would go skate for a while, he would watch and rest, and then we could skate some more together.

I happily took the opportunity to get some skating in for myself. When I’m coaching, I rarely get the chance to do any spins or jumps before or after the session so it felt so good to do some of these things on my own. Whenever I go skating at a public rink, I’m always so flattered by the people who stop to watch me do my thang. I was greeted to some applause after I pulled out of a spin and many a “good jobs”, “beautiful” and “well done” throughout the hour or so on the ice. My favorite compliment came from a teenage boy who was with a group of friends who asked me if I would stay on the ice and do a show after every one exited the rink for it to get zambonied. It was definitely an unexpected and very sweet compliment, considering the boy was surrounded by his gaggle of male friends!

After a few minutes of skating on my own, I always would return back to Kyle so we could take a journey around the rink together. After a while, we both decided that it was getting cold and that we should head back home. We got off the rink and I walked while Kyle waddled back to the rental shack to take off our skates. Taking our skates off and putting our shoes on felt so good that we used the term “pillow feet” to describe the walking on air feeling!

The real question that arises from this is “did going skating with your boyfriend really happen if you don’t have pictures”? The answer is NO, so to prove the validity of this post, take a look at some cute pictures of me and Kyle. My featured image photo is my favorite picture of us!

^^^ I love us!!

So there you have it, some weekend Ice Skating Fun with my beau! We had a blast and I hope we can hit the rink again sometime soon. What is your favorite winter sport? Who has never gone ice skating before? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan26

My Detroit Trip

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My Detroit Trip

Hi everyone and a very happy Tuesday to you! Last Friday I took a little road trip to Detroit, Michigan with my Uncle Ray as a favor to him. My uncle is a total car guy and he needed a wing girl so he could drop his car off at Monkey Wrench Racing to get some work done on his whip. I told him I was up for the journey and even though my day was filled with a lot of driving, it was still a lot of fun!

My uncle and I departed for our adventure around ten on Friday morning to begin the three and a half hour drive from Mentor, Ohio to Detroit, Michigan. The plan was to follow my uncle in the Little Red Love Machine for the trip there and then we would travel back to Ohio together. The drive to Michigan was relatively easy and we luckily had really good weather for the trip. The only snowfall we experienced was this random little flurry once we got into Michigan and that was it. I was really happy about that because the last thing I wanted to do was drive in unfamiliar territory in the snow.

I don’t really mind driving if I have things to keep me occupied so the trek wasn’t too bad thanks to my iPod, phone calls from my boyfriend, and occasionally waving to my uncle as I followed him. I was telling my boyfriend while we were chatting that the Detroit drive was an emotional rollar coaster because I had my iPod on shuffle. During the drive I was hearing everything from pop to screamo to rap and R&B so needless to say, I was an emotional wreck during some of the trip…Thanks a lot, Hawthorne Heights. -_-

Before I knew it, we finally arrived at Monkey Wrench Racing to drop Uncle Ray’s car off. We stuck around and chatted for a half hour or so and let me tell you, hearing all of the gents in the shop engaging in car talk with my uncle was like hearing an entirely different language. I didn’t understand one word of what they were saying but I’m glad my uncle had a good time with it! We also both got a free Monkey Wrench Racing t-shirt compliments of the crew so that was really nice. It’s in my color palette of black and white so I’m sure I’ll make use of it some day!

What killed me about my Detroit adventure was that once my uncle was done at the shop, we started making our journey back home. Haha, the break at Monkey Wrench Racing was much needed because I was essentially driving seven hours straight. -_- At least this time around, I was in good company because my Uncle Ray is one of my favorites! We’re very similar to each other so it was easy to fill our journey home with good conversation and laughter.

My Uncle Ray and I made a stop in Lakewood, Ohio to meet some of his friends for dinner. We went to a little Greek place called Our Friends and enjoyed a nice meal with my uncle’s comrades. It was so great to meet them and we all ended up having a really good time. My uncle ended up staying in Lakewood for a little while so I drove back to Mentor solo to have some quality time with my Aunt Mary Ellen before I made my way back to Akron.

I was so happy to spend some time with my Aunt Mary Ellen because I don’t get to see her as often as I would like. It was really nice to sit down, relax, and have a chat with her before I began my journey back home. My aunt and uncle are seriously the most perfect couple ever so any time with either of them is time well spent!

I would make the journey back to Detroit again for my uncle in a heartbeat because I’m one of the best people that I know of…But lucky for me, my uncle and his friends will be traveling back to Michigan to pick up his car once it’s done being worked on. I’m not complaining! All in all, it was definitely an adventure of a day and I’m so happy that I was in such fantastic company for it! ❤

My Detroit Trip was one of the best most random ways to spend a Friday that I can think of but I wouldn’t have it any other way! How was everyone’s weekend? Who has been on a road trip recently? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Interested in making a road trip to Cleveland? Let these videos inspire you to take the plunge and DO IT! #werenotdetroit 😉

Jan25

Monday Update: Forever 21 Haul Edition

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Monday Update: Forever 21 Haul Edition

Hi everyone and happy Monday! Last weekend my mom and I ventured to one of the bigger malls that my area of Ohio has to offer, Southpark Mall in Strongsville. We rarely go to Southpark and the last time that I went was years ago. The mall is absolutely gigantic and we went during the holiday season last time around so needless to say, it was quite overwhelming. Last week we went just to change things up a little bit and I died and went to Forever 21 heaven. Their store was huge! Take a look at my latest goodies from my most recent shopping trip:

^^^ I’m a fan.

As all of you know, Lil Red rocks all black everything more often than not so when I saw these edgy hoodie dresses, I knew that they had to be mine. When I used to work at an urban clothing store called Next, they carried the brand HBA (Hood By Air) and I was obsessed. I think that these hoodies are very reminiscent of HBA which is one of the many reasons why I like them so much. Plus, they were infinitely cheaper which was an added bonus! For both of these hoodie dresses I paid fifty dollars which is a quarter of the price of one HBA top. Score!

Usually I’m not one to gravitate towards hoodies or sweatshirts. I much prefer sharp sweaters, tops, or jackets. However, I really liked that these hoodies both went down below the normal at the hip length. The “Killin’ It” sweat dress went down to a little below my knees and the “In High Demand” zip up went down to my calves. This automatically made them way more edgy to me and it created endless styling possibilities.

The great thing about these hoodie dresses, asides from how cute they are, is all of the different outfits that you can wear with them. I tried the sweat dresses on over my black skinnies which worked really well but the possibilities are endless! I can’t wait to wear them with nothing underneath as a real dress or with a pair of opaque or sheer black tights. I also plan on wearing the “In High Demand” dress with the zipper undone to show off a cute pair of shorts and top in the summer. I really like pieces that you can wear all year round so that you can get creative with how you style it!

I’m so aware that these sweat dresses are really similar to each other but I couldn’t pick just one to save my life! I know that if I chose only one that I would be thinking about the hoodie that I left behind for forever. I’m also really glad that I did buy both because when my boyfriend and I went to the mall that he lives by, I popped in the Forever 21 there and they didn’t have either of them! That made me even happier with my decision.

I’ve worn both of my hoodie dresses multiple times already and I can’t get enough of them. I like that these pieces are both amazingly comfortable but they by no means sacrifice style while wearing them. The “Killin’ It” sweat dress is so fun and I had to laugh because I wore it on Thursday night when I was coaching figure skating for the Special Olympics and we just happened to be taking photos that day. I’m sure all of the pictures that I’m in turned out really swell since I’m rockin a hoodie with “Killin’ It” plastered across the front!

As I write this post I’m wearing my “In High Demand” zip up over a pair of black skinnies and a graphic baseball tee and it certainly spruces up the outfit! It also keeps me nice and warm because it’s very chilly in my neck of the woods today. I’m so pleased with my latest purchases and I can’t wait to wear them for many seasons to come. Thanks, Forever 21! ❤

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Forever 21 Haul Edition! I hope all of you are having a wonderful start to your week so far. How was everyone’s weekend? Who has recently snagged some cute new clothes while shopping? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan21

ANIMAL LOVERS UNITE!!!

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ANIMAL LOVERS UNITE!!!

Hello everyone and welcome to a very important post on lifewithlilred brought to you by the amazing work of Ohio rescue group, Canine Lifeline. There is a sweet pup named Sapphire who desperately needs help here in Ohio. I am sending out the Bat Signal and asking all of my readers to meet Sapphire, read her story, share this post, and please donate if you can to help pay for her extensive medical care:

sapphire

Sapphire’s Story:

“Sapphire, the emaciated young stray dog, who came to us from the Mahoning County Dog Warden last Wednesday, was transferred yesterday from Macedonia Vet Clinic to the Akron Veterinary Referral and Emergency Center for an ultrasound since she continued to eat very little and appeared to be declining. Her white blood cell count was through the roof and continually rising indicating some type of infection but nothing definitive could be seen on x-rays. The ultrasound this morning showed some foreign masses in her abdomen so she underwent exploratory surgery there this afternoon. Fabric material was found in her stomach and intestinal tract. Her stomach had to be opened to remove this material. Her intestine had been perforated in 5-6 places from having this material in there for so long and was the source of the infection so 16 inches of her intestine were removed. The fact that she survived 2+ hours of surgery in her emaciated state is truly amazing but we had to try as it was the only thing that was going to save her. The surgeon told us that her prognosis is guarded at this point due to the risk of sepsis and will be touch-and-go over the next few days. We are grateful to the extraordinary staff at the Akron Veterinary Referral Center for taking such good care of Sapphire and giving her a chance at a happy and healthy life. Her vet bills are already in the many thousands of dollars so PLEASE consider making a tax-deductible donation to Canine Lifeline to help us save Sapphire. Online donations may be made on our website at www.caninelifeline.org or a check may be sent to Canine Lifeline, PO Box 25742, Garfield Hts OH 44125. THANK YOU!”

Other than visiting CLL’s website, you can also go to their Facebook page for additional information especially if you would like to get in touch with one of their incredible founders or volunteers. Please, please, please share Sapphire’s story and ANY donations are much needed and forever appreciated. Much love. -Sarah

Jan20

Busy Busy Week!

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Busy Busy Week!

Hello everyone and happy Hump Day! This is a Busy Busy Week for Lil Red…One of my college classes started yesterday, my boyfriend’s mom is getting surgery, I have Special Olympics skating to coach, siblings to drive, and I’ll be out of office Thursday night and Friday for a road trip to Detroit, Michigan. Detroit?! Yes, Detroit. My uncle is trading in his car to someone in that neck of the woods so I’m going to be his wing girl so he has a way to get home! It will be about a three and a half hour trip and luckily my travel partner is one of my favorite relatives so it should be a lot of fun.

One of my classes for my spring semester at Tri-C started yesterday so I need to get a jump on that since I won’t have much time to work on it throughout the week. I’m taking French II, Introduction to Criminology, and Abnormal Psychology which is the one that just started. I’ve taken so many different psychology courses at Tri-C that I can’t even think of them all off of the top of my head. I’ve loved all of my psych courses but I’m really looking forward to my newest class. I enjoy learning about mental health and different disorders so I have a feeling that the Abnormal Psychology class will be one of my favorites. My French and Criminology classes don’t start until February 1st so it will be nice to get a little refresher for a few weeks after my winter break!

I have a lot of fun posts lined up for this week once things slow down a little including some new purchases from Forever 21, a possible article for a new company that I’ll be posting for if it’s ready, and some beauty product reviews. I’ll try to get some of these prewritten so I can schedule them for when I’ll be away during my Detroit drive! I’ve really enjoyed my winter break but I’m so ready to get back into the normal crazy swing of things. Having some time off was nice but I can’t wait to get back to work and get a few steps closer towards getting my Associate of Arts degree!

It’s definitely a Busy Busy Week in the world of Lil Red but you can always count on me to keep supplying the latest and greatest here on the ol’ blog! Where are all of my college kids at? What courses are you taking for your spring semester? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan18

Monday Update: My Second Beauty Blogger Award Edition

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Monday Update: My Second Beauty Blogger Award Edition

Hellooo everyone and happy Monday! I hope all of you had a fabulous weekend! On Friday I got nominated by my friend, Kezzie, at: kezziescorner for the Beauty Blogger Award. I was so flattered to be nominated for the second time by such a fantastic blogger so make sure you check out her page! With all of the fun blogging awards comes rules, of course, so take a look and then see how I answered the questions that Kezzie asked her nominees:

The Rules:

  • Tag and thank who nominated you.
  • Respond to the questions that your nominator gave you.
  • Nominate 10 new beauty/fashion bloggers.
  • Create 10 new questions for these bloggers to answer.
  • Tell the blogger that you nominated them.

Got it? Good! Now let’s take a look at Kezzie’s questions:

Q & A:

Are you studying? If so what?

Yes, I am! I’m currently working towards getting my Associate of Arts degree at Tri-C in Cleveland, Ohio.

What are you reading right now?

I just started The Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll. I’m about one hundred pages in and I really like it so far!

What is your favorite lipstick shade?

That’s easy! I love NYX’s Pure Red matte lipstick. It’s seriously the best matte lipstick I’ve ever used and the shade is perfect for Lil Red!

What is your go to outfit for winter?

During the winter, I like to wear my black skinnies (obviously), with a chunky sweater, my Michael Kors booties, one of my many peacoats, and the super warm gloves my boyfriend got me for Christmas.

What is your favorite all time TV character?

This is also an easy one. Elaine from Seinfeld will always be one of my all time favorite TV characters. I want to be her when I grow up.

Do you have a favorite Youtuber?

Not really, I don’t go on YouTube very often.

What inspires you the most in life?

People who are working their asses off to improve their lives and themselves.

What do you do when you are having a bad day?

Hmmm…Before, when I had a bad day I used to use really unhealthy coping mechanisms. Now that I’m clean from that, I like to take bubble baths, write, and binge watch Netflix in bed when I’m having a bad day…So basically what I do every day. 😉

What is your favorite nail polish shade?

Black. Black. Black. I don’t paint my nails often but when I do I always paint them black. Lol, I sound like the Dos Equis guy! When I used to have my talon like fake nails, they were always black with red for an accent nail and a cross on both of my middle fingers. I miss my fake nails so much but they were a lot of upkeep and not having them is a total money saver. Now every time I do something that definitely would have broken a nail, I breathe a little sigh of relief in knowing that I won’t have to rush to the salon to get it fixed!

What is your favorite makeup store?

I love The Body Shop and a lot of my makeup does come from there but honestly, I’m just as happy getting the last odds and ends of what I need at Target. They have a shockingly wonderful makeup selection and I like to use Covergirl and Rimmel. For a treat, I like to use their Pixie brand!

My Nominees (I’m only doing three):

My Questions For You:

  1. What is your favorite beauty item that you treat yourself with?
  2. What was one of your worst fashion or beauty moments?
  3. If you could raid one celebrity’s wardrobe, who would it be?
  4. Would you rather wear the same outfit every day for a week or not wear makeup for a month?
  5. Bubble baths or long showers?
  6. Did someone teach you how to wear makeup or did you learn how to do it on your own?
  7. What is your favorite makeup or clothing store to score a bargain?
  8. What was your favorite fashion or beauty moment?
  9. How would you describe your style?
  10. Everyone has a color that just looks perfectly awful on them. What color is that for you? What about the color that looks best on you?

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: My Second Beauty Blogger Award Edition! Thank you so much again to my friend, Kezzie, at: kezziescorner for the nomination! How was everyone’s weekend? How would you answer some of the questions that I asked my nominees? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan5

Christmas Gift Night – Sister Style!

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Christmas Gift Night – Sister Style!

Hellooo everyone and happy Tuesday! This Saturday I was surprised with the literal best Christmas gift ever…Two tickets to see Elf the musical with my beloved big sister, Kristen! My sister purchased us two tickets for a night on the town to see one of our favorite movies turned into a musical at Playhouse Square in Cleveland, Ohio. Take a look at us being pretty (!!) and then let’s discuss:

27dc7f4b-39f7-4709-b204-632e9833ed5e

Last Friday night when Kristen asked me if I had plans for the following evening, I didn’t think anything of it. But when Saturday came around the next day and she texted me with meticulous plans for when to pick her up, I started to get suspicious. When I called her to ask her where we were going for our hang out she told me it was for my Christmas gift and asked if I wanted to know what it was. The thing about me, though, is that I HATE surprises with a capital H and a capital ATE – so of course I wanted to know! That’s when she told me that she got us two tickets to see Elf the musical at 7:15 sharp this evening! I was blown away!!!

After I came out of my happiness coma we began to make plans for when I could pick her up and where we would go for dinner. We settled on our favorite…Taco Bell! Afterwards, she treated me to a full tank of gas and we went on our merry way to Playhouse Square in Cleveland. The drive was easy peasy and once we were in the downtown Cleveland area we got to enjoy seeing all of the buildings lit up beautifully for the holidays – it was awesome!

We arrived at the theater in perfect timing and Kristen managed to get amazing tickets for our date night. We were about twelve rows away from the stage and smack dab in the middle so our view was spectacular. While we waited for the show to begin, we took lots of sister pictures and I also took a picture of the stage, which is my featured image photo. I couldn’t take any pictures during the show, of course, but rest assured that it was incredible!

Elf the musical was simply fantastic. The actors were sublime, the music was catchy, the set was darling (it was storybook themed), and the choreography was superb. Kristen and I had a blast watching one of our favorite films come to life on the stage. The story from the movie was modified a little but all of the changes were clever and made perfect sense. We were in stitches the entire show and spent the whole car ride back to  her apartment quoting the musical.

Before we returned to Kristen’s place, we stopped at Giant Eagle to pick up some holiday gifts for her coworkers. The Giant Eagle that I live by is open twenty four hours and I found so much joy in just roaming the aisles with her at ten o’clock at night. We found gifts that suited our needs, as well as some treats for ourselves, and then headed back to her apartment.

Once we arrived at her place we crawled into our pajamas ASAP. As soon as we were comfy we made further preparations for our sister sleepover because this was the first night that I spent the night in her new apartment. Afterwards, I drove back to my house quickly to grab my sleeping pills and morning medication. It was no biggie, though, because we live a whole three minutes away from each other!

By the time I arrived back at her place, we were both beyond ready to hit the hay. We got tucked into her super comfy queen size bed and turned on the tube to fall asleep to. It was the absolute perfect ending to a perfect sister Christmas date night.

I can’t begin to tell you how much fun I had on Saturday night with my big sister. She completely surprised me with my Christmas gift and it will be a memory that I’ll cherish for forever. Everything that we did from our dinner and the show to even just driving around to our locations was a blast and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend our Christmas Gift Night with each other. I love you, Kristen! Thank you for treating me to an amazing evening – Sister Style!

So there you have it, my Saturday Christmas Gift Night – Sister Style! Kristen and I had a glorious time wrapping up the holiday season together and starting 2016 on a wonderful note. Have any of you seen a musical lately? What is your favorite Christmas movie to watch? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan4

Monday Update: New Year’s Eve Edition

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Monday Update: New Year’s Eve Edition

Hello everyone and welcome to the first Monday Update of 2016! On New Year’s Eve my darling boyfriend, Kyle, took me out on the most wonderful date night ever. We enjoyed dinner at Gervasi Vineyard, where he works as the assistant manager. In our over four months of dating, I had never eaten there before – asides from food heated up in the microwave, which so doesn’t count! When Kyle told me he had made New Year’s Eve reservations for us I was beyond excited! Take a look at us being a cute couple and then let’s discuss:

kyle!

^^^ I love us!!!

Gervasi Vineyard is one of the most gorgeous eateries in the Akron/Canton, Ohio area. There are three restaurants on the property, Tuscan style villas to stay in, an apple orchard, a beautiful lake, and of course – their vineyard! Kyle has been working there for close to five years and is amazing at his job. I kept telling myself it was only a matter of time until we had a special dinner there, so as I mentioned before, I was so thrilled when he told me about our reservations!

The entire night was so fun and even just getting ready to go to our 6:15 reservation was a treat. I got to help pick out Kyle’s outfit for the evening and it was so cool! Haha, I always love exploring a new wardrobe! We got dressed to the nines and made our way to the restaurant, which he lives very close to. We were the perfect amount of fashionably early for our table and got seated right away so we could begin our meal.

One thing (of many) that I love about Kyle, is that no matter what restaurant we go to, he always plans the dishes that I can eat ahead of time by researching their menu because I’m a strict vegetarian. Since we were on his home territory, however, he spent the whole car ride there describing all of the different things that I could order. Believe me, by the time that we were seated I was drooling like a dog in front of a tub of peanut butter. Classy! 😉

Thanks to Kyle’s expert descriptions of all of my options, I didn’t even have to look at the menu to know what I wanted. For our first course, I chose their butternut squash soup and Kyle got the apple salad. We also ordered a bottle of their sparkling white wine to enjoy with our meal. Butternut squash is my all time favorite kind of soup and it was seriously the best bowl I’ve ever had. It was so creamy and perfectly seasoned and it was so worth the four month wait to try it out!

For our entrees, Kyle ordered the lobster gnocchi and I opted for their linguini with an aglio e olio sauce topped with fresh spinach and arugula. While we waited for the main course we were serenaded by the saxophone player who was performing in the restaurant and it was all so very romantic! Our entrees came very quickly and they were to die for – just like the entire meal!

We finished the main course in record timing and then ordered a small dish of their bread pudding for dessert. We could barely finish half of the serving before tapping out but it was delicious! It had a caramel sauce and rum ice cream to top if off and it’s safe to say that I was in carbohydrate heaven! Once we completed the three course meal, I felt like I was going to explode from my belly full of food. I also was wearing a skirt that wasn’t very forgiving so I’m sure the whole restaurant got a nice view of my big ol’ gut! 😉

To finish our night, Kyle and I went to Giant Eagle after we decided that we could move again and purchased a bottle of champagne to toast with. It was around eight thirty when we got home and after a glass or two of champagne and a few episodes of Malcolm in the Middle, I was beyond ready for bed. I ended up falling asleep at nine thirty, well before the commemoration of the new year at midnight!

By the time I woke up the next morning, I felt like such a goon for falling asleep so early and missing what would have been our first new year’s kiss together. Lucky for me, I have a boyfriend who’s always coming up with sweet surprises for his girl! Kyle showed me a poorly lit but super cute picture that he took of him giving my sleeping self a kiss on the forehead at midnight for proof that I still got my new year’s kiss. How lucky am I? Very. ❤

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: New Year’s Eve Edition! My evening was straight out of a fairy tale and I’ll never forget it. I hope all of you had just as great of a time celebrating! How did everyone ring in the new year? Is there a place similar to Gervasi Vineyard in your neck of the woods? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love and happy 2016. -Sarah

Dec23

The Happy Couple

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The Happy Couple

Hellooo everyone and happy Hump Day! Kyle and I celebrated our four month anniversary on Monday (woo!) and we have the cute photographs to prove it! When it comes to taking pictures, Kyle and I are the polar opposite. I like very posed photos that are taken in a timely manner and Kyle just presses the “Ok” button rapidly thirty times in a row and hopes for a good one…Not that there’s anything wrong with that!

After we examined the photos taken from his shooting spree, he told me that we were only going to put two on Facebook so we don’t look like an “annoying” couple (Which is a good rule to live by.). Kyle’s choice is my featured image photo, which has grown on me after a few defiant “no-s” from him when I asked him to change his mind! My choice is as follows:

babe2

^^^ The lighting is lousy, but when the opportunity for a couple’s pic arises you have to seize it!

My beau and I had a great day together. We went for drinks at the Burntwood Tavern, which is where we had our first date. Then we hit up the gigantic Giant Eagle that I live by to grab some beer, compliments of the option they have to “build your own” six pack, which Kyle loves! After we got our refreshments, we settled down at my place for some snuggle and TV time followed by dinner with my family. We concluded our day by watching Kicking and Screaming, which Kyle has never seen before and ended up really enjoying! It was perfect. 🙂

Today, Kyle, my brother Peter, his wife Megan, and I will be going to the Great Lakes brewery in Cleveland for drinks and dinner, which should be a lot of fun! Anything that keeps my mind off of trying to guess what Kyle got me for Christmas is time well spent!! For the past two weeks the poor thing has had to deal with me asking him if I can have my presents multiple times per day…Whoops. :*)

I’m so excited for a great day with my beau, brother, and sister-in-law and I hope all of you have a wonderful day as well! What are your holiday plans? What is a gift that you’ve bought or made that you’re most excited about giving? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec21

Monday Update: NCI Training Edition

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Monday Update: NCI Training Edition

Hi everyone and happy Monday!! This past Thursday I had my training for the National Core Indicators (NCI) research project in association with the Ohio Board of Developmental Disabilities at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio…What a mouthful! I had the honor of being one of fifty out of over five hundred selected to take part in this opportunity and I was so happy to be there – even though I had to get up at 4:15 in the morning to begin my day! Let’s discuss, but first take a look at some of the responsibilities that my new job will hold by watching some or all of this video:

My day began early on Thursday morning and didn’t stop until I got home at roughly 7:30 in the evening. After I finished getting myself ready for the day, I packed some snacks, made some coffee, and then hit the road. I live in Akron, Ohio and my drive to Columbus took a little over two hours. Luckily, I began my drive early enough to account for traffic because the rush hour traffic was insane! I had to be at The Ohio State University’s McCampbell Hall by 8:30 to begin checking in and because of my early start I made it right on time.

When I got to our designated room number, I was a bit taken aback by the fact that I was easily the youngest person there. Everyone was at least thirty or older and as I learned throughout the day, all of them had some type of job in the field of service for people with developmental disabilities. Other members of the research project had children with some type of special needs and there were also some fantastic self advocates taking part in the day as well. My parents were so impressed when I told them this and I have to say, I was quite impressed with myself, too!

Our day began at 9:00 sharp and we were introduced to the responsibilities we would have as members of the NCI research project. It’s going to be our job to interview people with developmental disabilities to make sure that through the Ohio Board of Developmental Disabilities they’re receiving the best care possible. It’s also going to be our duty to report anything suspicious to make sure that there is no negligence or abuse going on.

Throughout the day we watched and analyzed the video I posted above, learned how to report possible cases of abuse, and listened to speakers such as the head of the Nisonger Center at OSU who is assisting with this project, department heads at the Ohio Board of Developmental Disabilities, and the people in charge of the NCI project. It was so cool to be able to ask questions and interact with people who are in such high esteem in the world of developmental disabilities.

My training went on until five in the afternoon and I learned so much. We went over the survey that we’ll be completing in extensive detail and I feel confident in my ability to do it well. I have a folder full of paper with the slides of the Powerpoints that we were viewing too so I can look over them whenever I need. My mom read some of them with me too because she’s a developmental pediatrician and is always hungry for more knowledge!

My day was so jam packed with information that I couldn’t even begin to cover it all in one post. All of the speakers did a great job of holding my interest because it definitely would have been easy to zone out during the day! I am so happy to take part in such an important project and I can’t wait to begin conducting my interviews throughout the next few months!

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: NCI Training Edition! How was everyone’s weekend? What are your plans for the holidays? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah