Memories & Macchiatos

I wanted to take this chance to tell everyone thank you, thank you, thank you for your support love and prayers for AJ and I during all of this. Truly, saying "I don't know what to say" means more to us than saying nothing at all. We have witnessed the goodness of humanity and generosity in ways we have never imagined. We are surrounded by love and it holds us up daily. We have our moments, our times when things "trigger" our sadness and anger, but we are okay. We will be okay. And that's because of the people in our lives. I don't like to use the term "blessed" anymore (if tragedy strikes, does that mean you are not blessed?), but I will say we have abundance in our lives and we are thankful. Thank you.

We are in the dog days of summer and I am cherishing this time to rest and relax. Usually every year I'm jazzed for the new school year and already have things planned and ready to roll. This year I'm just not there yet and that's ok. I'll think about it in August. Although I may make a visit to the teacher store this weekend because nothing gets me pumped for school like coordinating decor. And starting to fill in my teacher planner always makes me excited #nerd.

I've visited Hadley's grave site a few times and love just sitting in the warm sun hanging with my girl. We have ordered her grave stone and I am looking forward to its arrival. I know as time goes on we will do more things to commemorate Hadley and celebrate her life. Our wheels are already turning for how we will honor her on her birthday every year. We hung some mirrors above our dresser and added a floral arrangement (Hobby Lobby, I love thee) and AJ had the idea to add a single pink lily in memory of Hads. We also ordered a canvas of our hands stacked up and I just love it. The hospital also did wonderful things to help us remember. Just yesterday I went through some items from our hospital stay (yes, it took me that long to go through it...it was an emotional process) and I found her little pink hat, her hair bows, her hand and feet molds, some hand prints and things too. The NICU nurses also made us an adorable scrapbook. I smiled through my tears enjoying the fact that my little gal "made" crafts for mommy and daddy without us knowing. Thank you, baby girl!

We celebrated our 2nd anniversary on Tuesday. We toyed with the idea of going to a fancy dinner, making dinner, or having a picnic. We settled on an easy picnic at Memory Grove park where we were married. It was a much cooler evening than it was on that day two years ago. We strolled around and just enjoyed being together. I am so passionate about marriage and this year even more. We were both amazed as we looked at our picture together from our one year anniversary (we are doing the picture in a picture thing every year, thank you pinterest) and how much life had changed since then. In a year we bought a house, AJ turned 30, his mom beat a major illness, and of course, we got pregnant and had and lost our baby girl. What a difference a year makes.

I am rediscovering my love for a good strong cup of coffee. I know they are super sweet and not great for you, but I am loving an iced caramel macchiato. YUM. I had to laugh at the way my name was spelled on the cup this week, "Lesleigh."  Speaking of coffee, I've gotten into "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" with Seinfeld. It's light, fun, and I've finished every episode this week! Also AJ got me into the show "East Bound and Down." It's an old show from HBO and it's filthy but hilarious. We appreciate the comedy these days.

This blog is officially one year old next week! It started out as a random place to document recipes, books I'm reading, and our weekend activities. It has turned into such a special part of my life. I love writing and I appreciate you reading. Sharing in life together is powerful and I just love it.