WALK MS: 2014

This past Sunday was the Walk for MS.
It also marked exactly 2 months since my mom's funeral.
I feel like I have a lot to say about it and nothing at all.. you know how that goes.
It was a chilly but beautiful morning in Minneapolis and the route was perfect- through Minnehaha Falls Park and along the Mississippi River. We wound up having about 60 people (WOW, didn't realize that until I counted the people in the photo) show up for the walk and raised right around $4,500. On short notice, I'm pretty proud of our efforts. I think mom would've been proud, too.

Now that the event  has passed, I feel like a weight has been lifted. For the first time in.. maybe.. a year, I'm not the "point person" on some organized effort. All of last year I was planning the wedding, fielding questions, and organizing people. The wedding came and went, we got back and were embroiled in the name-change-buying-a-car process for the next few weeks, and then I found myself in the position of family spokesperson when my dad had his heart attack. (If we're being honest I still can't believe that happened). We were finally entering "fully recovered" zone with him when my mom was admitted to the hospital. Once again I was family point person, fielding phone calls, organizing items, making decisions- which of course led into the MS Walk where.. you guessed it.

That's not me complaining.. although it's been entirely overwhelming at times, I don't mind (usually). But I realized that for the foreseeable future, I have nothing to plan or organize and I'm feeling a sense of freedom. It's nice.

We had M's dad and sister from Michigan in town as well, and went out to a fantastic dinner Friday night with both his sisters, his dad, and my dad. I love that our parents are all familiar and comfortable with one another, and we actually get together quite often. M's mom and step dad were at the walk on Sunday, as well.

Saturday was spent running errands in preparation for Sunday.
Some more photos from Sunday:

{Errybody's favorite: LO & the Jess-ster}

Unrelated, I finally cleaned up my office and am starting to settle in.
If you're doing the math on when I started my job (September) and thinking "just settling in, now?" that's okay. You see, since I started, I've been told "we're moving." First it was January, then March, then April, then May. Things just weren't going smoothly in that department and rather than force through a move, we re-signed a year lease in our current building. SO, I've been in this weird state of limbo with a semi-unfinished office.

Yesterday I cleaned up and hung up a few smaller items, but need to get a drill/hammer/nail situation in here to hang my diplomas and art. Maybe after that I'll snap some pics. If you're anything like me (read as: nosy) I figure maybe there's some interest in what my office looks like. I've also been meaning to do one of those "hour a day" posts because again, if you're like me (read as: super nosy) maybe there's some interest in what it is I do throughout the day.

Hope you all had a good weekend!