The funeral for grandma B. went well yesterday...or as well as a funeral can go I suppose.  The service was wonderful, and being that the pastor knew Aino on a personal level made it that much more special.  You could tell that he really put a lot of thought into what he was going to say, and shared some funny memories of his own that he had of grandma.  When we went up to the casket to see grandma, I realized she was wearing the same purple dress that she wore to our wedding back in 2007 (refer back to my last blog entry).  Something about this was very calming to me. I can't really pinpoint what it was though.  Could it have been because the last time she wore this dress it was to celebrate us, and yesterday, we were celebrating her and her life? 

We couldn't have asked for a better day in terms of the weather.  The skies were blue and the sun was shining the entire day.  The only thing keeping it from feeling warm was the wind.  When we were heading over to the burial plot I heard a couple ladies say, "well...there goes my hair!".  I can't help but laugh at this.  What were they so worried about??  If anyone was going to lose their hair, it was going to be me...literally!  Wouldn't that have been a sight to see!  Can you picture me running around in heels trying to catch my hair??  Thank goodness the wig stayed in place the entire time we were outside.  It was a little crazy by the time we got inside, but my dear sister-in-law helped fix it for me.  Thanks, Kristin!

Later on in the evening once things settled down and everyone went their separate ways to head home, Josh and I came home and hosted a chili cook-off at our place.  Sure, it made for a long Saturday, but it ended up being so much fun.  After the week we had, it was good to get together with some of our closest friends to catch up, and most importantly - laugh!  There ended up being 4 chili's to be tested (1 of those was a chili casserole with tator tots =)  ), and everyone got a prize - some sillier than others.  I think we're planning on doing some sort of cook-off / bake-off each year just for fun!  It really honestly doesn't matter what we do.  It's more about the memories we create with the people we love. 

I wanted to share this quote and picture that I came across today through the Fight Like A Girl Club on Facebook.  It's so true, and I couldn't have stumbled upon it at a more appropriate time...

"You may not believe that you were built for this journey, but we assure you that you are stronger than you could ever imagine. We know you feel weak, but you are not. You may feel battered from the seemingly endless storms you have weathered, but you stay afloat and ready for uncharted territory. You even take your own precious time to throw others like you a life vest. Be kind to yourself today and remind yourself that you can do this."