Rob came to Roanoke to visit this weekend and on Sunday afternoon I lay in bed with my head on his shoulder, thinking about the days we spent in a long-distance relationship. Earlier that morning the rain poured down outside and we made egg sandwiches and pot after pot of coffee, and even though I'll be home again on Wednesday, I couldn't help but feel a little melancholy knowing he was going to be back on the road before long.

I had almost forgotten those long distance vibes: the gloomy Sundays and the long goodbyes; the extra-long brunches or Netflix marathons and maybe just one more cup of coffee--there was always a sadness that hung over the second half of the weekend and I felt it a lot yesterday.

But our life is together now--no more flights or long drives; instead we wake up together, eat breakfast in our apartment, share a car, go out for drinks after work, and do all the other day to day things we used to dream about when we lived half a continent apart.

So yesterday as Rob packed his bag and drove away I actually marveled at my luck--what a treasure to find the person you never want to say goodbye to, and then to live a life full of hellos together.

Hi and happy Friday! We're finally catching up on sleep around here and my mom is feeling a lot better every day. Rob is coming to town for the weekend and I can't wait to see him.

I'll be in Roanoke through Wednesday and then I'm heading back home before catching a flight to Minneapolis for a long weekend--it's been a busy few weeks.

Just wanted to pop in and say hello. Hopefully things will calm down again soon, but until then I'll be in and out (but posting regularly on Instagram, as usual)!

When I planned this time away, I thought for sure that I would be writing and blogging and getting tons of work done, but the truth is that so far I've spent a lot of time watching my mother sleep.

You always suspect that one day you might have to take care of your parents, but the truth is that my Paleo-eating, heavy weight-lifting, always-cooking, high-speed laundry-folding, CrossFitter of a mom has always seemed pretty unstoppable. But a double mastectomy will slow down even the most heroic of women.

The truth is that even at their most difficult and painful, things are going well. Her surgery went smoothly and both surgeons were happy with everything. I hope I never forget the way it felt to get good news in that waiting room on Wednesday.

So I'll be here, maybe not blogging so much, but distributing pain meds, heating up food that our neighbors and friends were kind enough to make for us, and cruising through Parenthood in between naps (I can't think of a better show to binge-watch at a time like this). 

I can't even begin to thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and well-wishes this week. This community is an amazing one and I'm so happy to be a part of it.