#GoRed

Today I Go Red in honor of my best friend Molly.

Molly was a beautiful person, inside and out. We were friends since grade school and did everything together, including rooming together in college and studying abroad together in France.

She loved to run, but found out she had a heart condition. Under her cardiologist's supervision, she was cleared to walk a half marathon for which she had trained. In Dec 2009, Molly finished the St Jude Half Marathon in Memphis.

And then she suddenly collapsed from heart failure. She was 32 years old.

I love and miss my friend very much. She continues to inspire me to run, to take chances, and to visit the beach whenever possible.

Molly after she finished a 1/2 marathon in 2008.

Me and Molly overlooking Florence, Italy in 1998.

october 25

every season, every holiday, every annual event reminds me of molly.

new years eve luau party, 4th of july in the cul-de-sac, halloween parties in college, wearing black for valentine's day, fall wine and cheese party, st patrick's day at too talls, christmas around our mini tree, ash wednesday at the vatican, kenny chesney concerts, homecoming parades and football games, spring breaks in chicago, new orleans and south padre island. 

birthdays.

today molly would have turned 34. 

she loved this time of year - especially halloween.  one year we dressed up as m&ms.  another year she was buffy and i was a vampire. mustard, dominatrix, mail-order bride.. the list goes on. i really need to scan some old pictures in.

i want to talk to her about so many things. the things no one else would understand. (tom had a baby!) but i'm sure she's seeing it all from above. i've had a lot of lessons in biting my tongue, but this is the hardest.

happy birthday, friend. wish you were here to celebrate with us. here's to making it count.

taking time for memories

we've been working on cleaning out drawers, closets, etc. in preparation for baby girl. i've stumbled upon quite a few treasures along the way, one of which is e's baby book.


"hm" i think to myself. "i wonder what all i wrote. i don't remember writing much."


there's a page where i filled in the family tree..


and that's about it. oh lord, i am in trouble.


so tonight i spent a couple hours filling in some blanks here and there. i did have his baby hospital bracelet tucked in there and i'm 90% sure i know where the little footprints and handprints are. just need to order a few photos from 2006 off of walgreens.com and we should be up to speed!


it's truly amazing how time gets away from us. maybe i live in the moment a little too much sometimes and forget to jot down the memories from just yesterday. then yesterday turns into last year. and i start to forget the little stuff.


i made a promise to myself tonight (over a jar of dill pickles) to do some better record-keeping from here on out. more photos. more videos. more note-taking.


life happens in a flash.






started to pull a baby pic from 2006... but landed on this one instead. even more of an example of why we need to capture and savor the little moments.