A Little Friendly Fun

Last week was full of fun. Mostly because my best friend, Jane, and her family were visiting unexpectedly. 

B was in heaven to see Jack again. And the weather has been so unusually warm that we got to hang at the park on Tuesday. 

The next day was Wednesday. I try and do an hour-long run while B is at school and always make sure I stop and visit my girl. 

I have felt a shift recently in my soul about how I am feeling about life without her here physically. 

Today was the first time I didn't cry at her graveside. 

It's also almost time to get her a permanent headstone. Something I wish I didn't have to do, but we'll figure it out. 

I got to take B to the Spongebob Movie too. 

Oh. My. Gosh. 

We were the only ones in the theater and he kept telling me "thank you", and "you're the best mom ever".

Thursday I spent some time with Jane and our friends before she heads back to Kansas. 

We basically act like we are 80. Eating, playing scrabble, putting clay on our faces that pulsates ....:)

Our faces were so tight, it hurt to smile or laugh. But it felt like a baby's butt afterward. 

Friday night, Bill took me up to Salt Lake overnight. Dinner at Flemings and a hotel stay=perfect. 

The next morning I had a fitness workshop to go to, and finally met my coach Brooke (who I completely forgot to get a pic with 😕). She is just as amazing as I thought she'd be. 

And the workshop was awesome. It left me feeling super motivated about my fitness goals, and also helped me to find what else I'm passionate about, like organ donation, adoption, and working with kids in general.

 I'd love to become an advocate for organ donation. How healing would it be to know that sharing Dru's story may be the reason another child doesn't have to wait so long for a donor?!?

I also met many other wonderful women at the workshop. Some of them have been heroes of mine on Instagram for a long time. 

This girl, Jenny, is a new fave because we have so much in common. She was relatively older when she got serious about fitness. 37 like me. Her boys are the same ages as my boys. And she's an adoptive mom. Not to mention, she looks great. (Shows me my potential ;))

While I was doing my thing, Trey had a practice game in Salt Lake too conveniently, so that's where Bill hung out. It's a new team for Trey and in a highly competitive league. It will be a great opportunity for him. 

His other team, the Tribe, got their uniforms Friday night. They are dedicating their season to Dru, and had a patch made for the sleeves. It's so perfect. 

We finished our week with the Annual Hooper Wii Bowling Tournament at my mom's. This year we added in a little fun dinner creativity a la "Chopped". Each group had 4 ingredients. We made the appetizer, another group made dinner, and a third made dessert. It was a hit. 

Unfortunately Bill stayed home with B because he had a sore throat. 

So this week is starting off with no school for Brevin, and the doctor telling us he has a mild case of RSV. 

So pajamas, movies and video games are all we do. ALL DAY. 

Moving Forward

The last 3 months of our lives have been interesting. 

The holidays have come and gone. 

We've celebrated Dru's gotcha day in our own way. 

We've begun a new year. 

We've worked, gone to school. Carried on. 

We've been OK. Probably more OK than I expected us to be without our girl. 

We have cried and missed her and talked about her everyday. 

I think I hit my personal rock bottom on New Year's Eve. But looking back, it was necessary to be able to move forward. 

We have been shown many tender mercies along the way to help us heal. 

Among these tender mercies was a Remebrance Run for Dru that was organized for our family yesterday. This event tipped the scales for me into being better than OK--

Yesterday's run was a celebration of Dru and honestly I didn't know what to expect going into this. But it was amazing and ...HAPPY...and just what I needed. 

I woke up this morning with a feeling of peace that I haven't had since we knew how sick Dru was. It's like I've realized that I can miss her and mourn her, but be joyful at the same time. 

I'm actually grateful for the depth of my lows because my highs are the highest. And there are so many highs in my life--they far outnumber the lows!!!!

I want to move forward appreciating every little thing and soaking up every minute I get with those I love.

 That's what Dru taught me. 

Don't ever feel bad for loving too much, or feeling too much--there's no such thing.