Friends and Animals (or, We Went to the Zoo)

Last Tuesday was a great day. After 4 extremely long years, I finally got to see one of my very best friends. It was so great, because in the 5 years since I graduated high school, I've only seen a handful of my friends. And the fact that they were able to come visit? Even better.

6 1/2 years difference.

Here we are, getting ready to go to our Junior Prom (2007), and the night they got here. Not too much has changed, and I was so thankful for that. (Sometimes it breaks my heart to see how much people have changed since the last time I saw them. I understand that they are discovering who they are, but I miss the person I knew growing up.)

Wyatt and his boyfriend Alex spent the week going to the beach, Disneyland, Aquarium of the Pacific, and on Saturday, they took us to the zoo. I was so thankful, and excited (giraffes!).

Sper was so unimpressed with everything that day.

Alex (left) and Wyatt being adorable.

Bear and Husband loved seeing the animals together.

Bear sat here for a good ten minutes with Turtle.

Me and Wyatt.

This was my favorite part of the whole day.

I really loved having them here. I miss them already, and can't wait until I get to visit them again. This was Wyatt's first time in California, so I was super happy that I could be a part of that.

Bear loved having them here, as well. He called them his "People." (That's what he calls visitors that are around often enough to make an impression on him, but not often enough that he knows their names.) He has been so sad since they left, and keeps asking for them.

Bear and Wyatt watching Monster's Inc.

All in all, it was a really good week, and it was just the thing I needed to lift my spirits up.

Any of my other friends want to come visit? We'd love to have you! (Hint, hint!)

Reminders

It's been a long two weeks. I've spent the better part of the time forcing myself to smile, to be strong, to be happy. My boys are very empathetic, and when I'm upset, so are they. And when I'm upset, the last thing I want is two very upset toddlers.

But I've been noticing that I'm forcing myself less. I am actually happy, and I'm not going to lie: it scares me.

I am scared because I don't want to forget what happened. I don't want to lose the memory of my tiny little Rowan Emory, even though I never got to meet them.

I am still working on my tribute painting, but I don't know when it will be finished. So I decided I would get a second tribute made for me.

Enter Spiffing Jewelry. 

website - etsy - facebook

I bought Husband's anniversary gift from them and was so impressed by their customer service skills, the quality of their products, and the fact that had so many options for me. I worked with Gretchen from the Spiffing Team to get my piece absolutely perfect, and placed the order last week.

I got my ring today. It is so beautiful, and exactly what I imagined. Gretchen helped me pick out the font, and the name of it, Little Love, is so fitting. (It's really hard to capture the full text with an iPhone camera, but I tried.)

In the near future, I am going to be ordering two more rings with Bear and Sper's names on them to stack with Rowan's. I honestly can't wait to work with Spiffing again. They do some amazing work.

I find myself opening my sketchbook to look at Rowan's name quite often, and now all I have to do is look down at my hand. It makes my heart full to bursting to know that there are people like Annie and Gretchen and the rest of SJ to bring smiles to heartbroken people.

-L

PS: Husband and I would like to say thank you to everyone for their positive thoughts and prayers. It means so much to us to know that you care.