Love for Arianne

There are people you meet in your life who you feel like you've known forever.  People who you meet online, then in real life and think, "haven't I always known you?"

I have a handful of these friends that I have met online.  One of them is throwing a virtual shower for another one!

Waiting for Wicked in New York.  Yep, I'm a hot sweaty mess. Aren't they gorgeous though?

Arianne is one of my favorite people in the world.  She and I have similar parenting styles, philosophies about life, and Angel daughters waiting for us up above.

Ari is pregnant and due any minute now.  I found out she was pregnant at Blissdom this year.  She pulled me aside and said with giddy anticipation, "I'm pregnant! but SHHHH don't tell anyone, ok? I'm only about 6 weeks".  I squealed and hugged her tight.  The babe in my womb jumped for joy.

I knew she would have an emotionally rough road.  Just 18 months ago she gave birth to her sweet Mabel Love.  Pregnancy + Grief = crazy emotions and lots of crying. LOTS OF CRYING.

But, I knew she could do it.  And she has.

Ari and Sara on our way to a NYC apartment where we sang  Newsies all night long.

So, to celebrate this amazing woman, who so many adore, our dear friend (and Ari's twin (not really, but OH MAN, you should SEE the two of them together. They really are twins)) Sara Sophia, has organized an amazing online baby shower!

 Sara Sophia has contacted some of the most amazing companies to give Arianne fabulous gifts.  And, those great companies are giving them to Sara Sophia's readers also!

But that is not all.  Even though free stuff is amazing, there is another aspect to this shower that I especially adore.  The writing.  Arianne and Sara Sophia are writers at heart.  Their words resonate with so many, and just flow off their fingertips.  They appreciate good writing, and not so great writing (like mine, ha!).

So, Sara Sophia has contacted many of Arianne's friends to have us write a little something for her.  My words come straight from my heart and my experience. I read them again and I cry every time because they are so so true.

Please join with me in showering Arianne with love as she prepares for the birth of her new beautiful baby. 

Community

After a long day of conferencing, eating, talking, laughing, and just being plain goofy, we lay on beds, sit in chairs and are just talking.

Photo by Allison Worthington

Decompressing from the day, talking about our plans, our families, our lives....connecting.

Then, I remember what I had read that morning.  I asked, "did you all read Steph's post today?  Ivy broke her arm".

Instantly the 5 other women in the room gasped and got on their computers.  It was a Saturday, so not many people are online, and not many comments had been left yet.  We sat around reading about sweet Ivy falling off a chair while sleeping and her broken arm.  We laughed at Steph's awesome fashion sense (leg warmer on the offending arm, LOVE IT!) and were so sad for our friend.

This is what it is about.  Community.  This caring for one another.  This love that we share for our sisters. 

This is largely what I spoke about on Saturday.  I spoke with two amazing women about emotional blogging and the negative and positive consequences that come with it.

I pointed out that the positive outweighs the negative time and time again for me.  It is this community, this amazing group of friends that I have made through the last 8 1/2 years, and the ones I will continue to make, that keep me going. 

These amazing women who inspire me, make me laugh, make me think, and tug at my heart strings.  These are amazing people who I am so honored to know, and call my friends. 

This community that I have found, one that I would not have found if not for the internet, these are my people and I am so grateful to have found them.

This is why I do what I do and why I am not going to stop.

For Maddie

Birthdays are supposed to be happy days.  They are days to remember and celebrate life. They are days to watch our children gorge themselves on cake and ice cream and be excited about gifts and phone calls and time with Mom and Dad.  Birthdays are special and fun.

Except when it's a birthday for your child that has died.  Then it is just hard.  Especially that first birthday after your child is gone.  That really sucks.

Today is my friend Heather's, baby girl, Maddie's birthday.  She is 2 today.  She has been gone for 7 months 4 days.  Her Mama and Daddy will remember her today with video, pictures, and all the empty spots in their home.  They will laugh when they remember her being silly and cry when they think of what they've missed, what they miss now, and what they will miss in the future.


I am closing the comments today and ask that you please go on over and share your love and support with Heather today.  I know how hard those birthdays are, give her the love and support you always give me.

For Maddie's birthday, all sales of pillowcase dresses or repurposed dresses from my Etsy shop through next Wednesday, will be donated to Friends of Maddie.

Angels

I have long been a believer in Angels.  I firmly believe that when we need them most, they are sent to us to give comfort, aid and whatever else it may be that we need.

Now, I need to clarify something.  I do not believe in the angels with wings and halos and such.  At least, those are not the ones that help, uplift and give what we need in our most dire moments.

The Angels I am talking about are flesh and blood.  The people that come into our lives, maybe for just a short time, but leave an imprint on our hearts and souls forever.  Quite possibly, someone you meet and say, "I swear I know this person" because you feel just so comfortable with them.

Those people, they are the ones that are on my mind today.  Those friends Angels, are the ones that are lifting me up.

I often reference Emma's death when I talk about amazing things happening.  Amazing things happened, friends came to my rescue and saved me.  However, that is not the only time in my life when these Angels have been present.

The first memory I have of this was in 2nd grade.  On the first or second day of school, I met my best friend.  She and I were inseparable until we moved the summer before 6th grade.  Even after that, we stayed in contact, got together (the 6 hour drive didn't matter to us) and have seen each other off and on over the last 20  years.  She was one of the cool kids, I was not.  She made sure that I was included and invited to all of the gatherings.  She doesn't know it, but she was so very influential in who I am today.  It is because of her that I have always befriended the underdog, always tried to make everyone feel welcome, to be kind and play nice.

In High School, we moved to Utah.  On the first Sunday here, I met my soul sister.  I swear we were destined to be friends.  Annie and I were joined at the hip.  She got me.  She made me laugh (still does), loved pretending like we were from New York and were dating Christian Bale and Robert Sean Leonard (yeah, we were dorks), watching Swing Kids and Newsies with me, oh the list goes on.  She was my darling friend that moved me to Logan when I started college.  When my heart was torn to shreds our Sophomore Year in college, she made the ice cream run and let me listen to Celiene Dion, The Cure and Sarah McLaughlin ad nausem in our dorm room.  When she got married and had her first 3 children, I was there to cheer her on.  She and I have been through so much together and truly, she is still one of my very best and dearest friends.

When I decided to serve a Mission for the L.D.S. Church, I met my next fabulous friend in the MTC.  We were both loud, loved to laugh and had GREAT morning hair.  Kerri and I were two peas in a pod.  She went to Poland, I went to West Virginia.  She was an Army Brat, I was...well, not.  Shortly after she returned from her mission, she went to KU.  I moved to Kansas the next summer and the next fall moved in with her.  This is when I met Jeremy.  She taught me how to go backpacking (one of the best trips EVER), about the joy of bike riding, and to count my blessings.  Every night she would write in her journal about the highs and lows of the day.  Always focusing on the highs.  Neither of us knew that 9 years after we first met, I would be able to give her comfort as she faced the unthinkable, her infant son dying. 

So many more people, so many more stories.  These are three of the Angels I have had in my life.  I really could write all night about this.  But, there is another Angel sitting on the couch waiting for me to come snuggle with him.  My darling.  He is an Angel to me.  Despite his grief when Emma died, he stood by and picked up the pieces of me.  He listened, let me do what I needed to and never wavered in his love for me.

I ask you now, who are the Angels in your life?  Who are those people that have been most influential to you?  Have you told them recently how much they mean to you?  If not, what are you waiting for?

Psst...

If you read me in a reader, click over to see my amazing new design. In the last year I have had 4 fabulous designs, each one more fitting than the last. Christy from Ruby and Roja has been my amazing designer.

Ruby and Roja is a team of graphic designers who love to make all things beautiful. Beth, Christy and Sarah are not only fabulous designers, but great women.

I love supporting other Women and their work. I love even more when they are Moms, just like me, and are trying to find a way to earn money while staying home with their babes.

Are you in need of a new design?? Then go on over to Ruby and Roja and let them make you look as beautiful as I do!!!