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Somehow, my 200th post slipped by without me noticing. I really can’t believe I have that much to say. Well, that’s not true. I can’t believe that some of you have READ all that I have to say! So, thanks. This has become a really fun creative outlet for me.
I had my first brush with “blogger world meets real world” a few weeks ago. Someone approached me at a function because she recognized me from my blog. Now, this is a small town, and she knows my husband and most other people I know, so it was pretty inevitable that I’d meet her at some point, but she saw me from across the room and knew who I was because of this here little space on the internet. It was a little strange to have someone feel kind of close to me because she knows so much about me from reading, but in about 15 seconds it turned into a lovely conversation about knitting (we happen to be working on the same baby sweater pattern for the same mama to be!) and cooking and all the rest.

What? It was raining on vacation. . . what’s a girl to do?

This is all to say, that I really love that I’m connecting with folks from all over the country (and world!) through this creative endeavor, but that it’s bringing me closer to my own community right here around me is pretty incredible too, and important to me. It would be really easy to get caught up in the amazing community of bloggers out there who don’t live here. And, I do, but I don’t want that to be to the detriment of my community and relationships that are here and in the flesh. So, having my cake and eating it too feels pretty great.

I’ve chucked in a couple of pictures from our trip to the Oregon Coast. I doubt I’ll end up doing a whole post about the trip. I will say that the last time we were down there, Tom was REALLY sick with his headaches. Being able to go down again and see him so strong and healthy and full of joy was a huge gift to me. It’s easy to forget how far he’s come in the last year when I hang out with him every day. He does still vomit a few times a week and his skull feels like the surface of the moon. . . really creepy, but man, he can do EVERYTHING he could before he got sick. He is healthier than he has been in probably 4 or 5 YEARS!
Being in that beautiful place with him and seeing the contrast between how he is now and how he was 18 months ago when we were there last really made me feel so grateful and joyful. We all came back glowing with life. Yahooie!