Just What the Doctor Ordered

Okay, so maybe the doctor didn't really order me to pay a visit to Tilton, but it sure was exactly what I needed. 

Yesterday, I ventured to Tilton (and Georgetown) to visit many dear family and friends that I just don't get to see too often. I decided I was going to kidnap Laury for the day and take her to visit some other friends and family.  What a blast! 

First stop - Adam and Jamie's

I hadn't seen them since February .. and let me tell you that is WAYY too long!  What a great time catching up with both the adults and the precious kiddos. Little, sassy A knows exactly how to tug at my heart strings. When I walked in, she seemed so excited, so I grabbed her for a hug. She instantly remembered my name. No too long after sitting down, she comes up right next to me and asks, "where's Bobbo?" ... What a sweetheart!  It amazes me that she remembers exactly how she knows me .. through one heck-of-an amazing guy!  I told her he was in Heaven, and she was just fine with that answer.  She went on to look through pictures of my phone and laugh at some of the silly ones I have of her Bobbo.  I enjoy so much joining in helping these little ones to remember the one and only Bobbo. 

I tried to get this little girl to take a cute picture with me, but she was so FULL of energy and sassy-ness.. which is exactly why I love her! 

The many faces of precious little A! 

Rockin' the shades!

 This precious girl has also just recently became a big sister to a completely adorable baby R!  R is simply precious.  She looks just like a perfect little baby doll, and I enjoyed every minute of cuddling with her.  There's nothing better than holding a brand new baby! Congrats Adam and Jamie on another precious little girl!  Let's just hope she gets some sass as well. (I may or may not take credit for the first one...)

Little precious and perfect R! 

 I wanted to meet up with Katie as well, and she was able to bring her girls over to Jamie's too. We were all able to spend a few hours all together catching up, and it was fantastic! Adam also got home from work while we were there, so I was able to spend some time with him too.  So awesome to see everyone again.. and discuss the chocolate milk incident yet again! :)

Katie, Precious S, Baby R, and I

I'm not sure how we never got a picture of Katie's oldest, sweet P, while she was there. She was having too much fun playing with all the toys. Now, Sweet P, also has a way of tugging at my heart strings.  She was SOOO excited to see my car when they pulled up, that she just walked into the house (without knocking) walked right up to me and gave me a HUGE hug.  This girl is extra special as well.  She is Robert's God-daughter and was going to be the flower girl in our wedding. I can't explain the amount of love I have for these previous little girls! It's soo touching to me that they can go so long without seeing me, but don't forget about me.  

After the visit, Laury and I headed back to her house for a bit to spend some time with Doug. He just loves every minute he gets to spend with me. There's nothing better than having a little brother to pick on, and I had to wait an awful long time to gain 2 little brothers!! 

Laury, Doug, Jake, Melissa, and I all headed up to watch Sweet P play t-ball coached by her Dad. There's nothing more fun than watching theses teeny little kids playing ball. It was like a whole team of kinders and brings me back to missing my kiddos from school.  There were "zombies" in the dugout, dirt being thrown, kiddos sitting on the bases, and sitting in the dirt. Amazing! 

What a baller! 

After the game, we stood around and talked for a bit.  It was so nice to see everyone together, and I could feel Robert right there with us. Sweet P asked her mom if they could take me home with them. Just another tug at my heart strings!  I would take her home with me if I could!!  We discussed setting up another date for them to head this way and go to the zoo.  Sounds like a fun day! 

We headed back to Laury's and I had to hang out there for a bit to wait out the storm. 

Didn't really want to drive through this...

I know I say this over and over (AND over), but I just enjoy each and every minute with Laury.  I am SO lucky to have someone like her who is more than a mother-in-law to me. I consider her a very near and dear friend. I'd spend much more time with her if we were closer. 

Heading home last night brought back the tears.  Usually it's tears of missing Robert. There were many trips home from there that brought me to tears, sometimes so much that I had to pull of the road for a bit.  Last night, the tears were different.  I felt Robert with me every step of the day yesterday. I feel like I'm making strides, and it doesn't make me sad to be over there anymore.  It just makes me grateful!  Grateful for the life-long love and friendship I have with these special people!  Through my tears I was thanking Robert for all of it.  Without him, I wouldn't have any of them! 

I Survived...

....almost a whole entire week at home alone!

My Mom took my Grandma and Aunt with her on an excursion to go visit my Uncle in Atlanta. This was the first time that my Grandma has been down to see his house, and they were so excited for the trip. I would've loved to go, but this was my very last week of school. There was no possible way I could join them. I was forced to stay home by myself (with 2 pooches) for a whole week....

I know what you're thinking... most 27 (almost 28) year olds should be able to spend time at home alone without any hesitation; however, for me, this was the longest time I've been alone since losing Robert.  Thanks to my amazing family and friends, I haven't had to spend much time alone in the past year. 

One thing I learned this week was... even though it's been a whole year, I'm not quite emotionally stable enough to spend that much time alone. Now, I know I could've reached out to friends here in town to spend time with after work, but the last week of work is quite busy and most nights I just wanted to be home. To top it off, I also developed some sort of sinus infection throughout the week, so I wasn't sleeping well and seemed to be exhausted at the end of the work day. 

Here's some pictures of what I kept myself busy with this week:

Last weekend, Jen came to visit. We went and met Courtney for lunch in Champaign, did some shopping
 

If you know me, you know I didn't buy these ... but had to try them on ...

and she helped me make these for my kiddos:
 

I'll sure miss this precious class!

 The fantastic pool that I was so proud of had way to many leaks to fix.  So... I took it down .... 

And put it in the truck.......

 

Goodbye pool with 17+ holes!

There was a lot of lounging time .... 
 

<3 these boys

The water heater wasn't working, so Harrison came to save the day and light the pilot light and showed me how to do it, so in the future .. I'm ON it!  

and I ended the week with putting up the NEW pool (mostly by myself)..... 

I was so happy to see my Mom, Grandma, and Aunt make it home!  To top that off, Laury showed up for a surprise visit yesterday and made my day!!!  I'm so grateful for her. What an amazing lady that I'm so proud to forever call my mother-in-law!  

 It was definitely a long lonely week, but, I made it, and I'm proud to say I was able to take just another step forward ... It's been a long road, and I know there's still farther to go, but I'll keep chugging along... 

ONE teacher work day tomorrow separates me from Summer 2013!!  Now, that there's a working pool full of water, I'm more than ready! 

This pool and I have many summer dates scheduled!

 Happy Summer!!