Monday, February 7, 2011

fall and winter


okay...so here are the very few pictures I have from this fall and winter so far. The first two are from Halloween. Colin wanted to be "little bear" which is his favorite show in Noggin'. I thought that would be adorable and I searched high and low for a cute bear costume in his age and FYI they do not exist. So much to his slight disappointment he had to be Thomas the Train. I went to my party as an 80's rocker chick...or something.

I just barely got back from Long Beach for a hair show. The girls from my salon go every year and I got a chance to go this year. It is a girls dream come true to be in a huge room with all the best of the best makeup, hair products etc for a real good deal. I also have actually moved to another salon after the owner decided to raise our rent. Luckily we found a place that had room for the 7 of us that wanted to stick together. So now I'm at Blush Hair Studio and Spa right in the heart of sugarhouse.


So here are the few I have of christmas. This Christmas was bitter sweet for us. It was our first Christmas without Chris and it was harder than I thought it would be. But we were all together and it made it alot easier. And there were LOTS of presents everywhere we went.
Yesterday we celebrated the one year anniversary of Chris' passing. We call it "chris' day". I have been dreading that day for probably 11months. It stressed me out just thinking about facing the reality. But it was actually a very nice day. Close friends and family met at the grave and we talked about some fun memories and sang I am a Child of God. After, Colin and I went to the Hales and watched the Superbowl. Chris wasn't a big sports fan...but he would watch the game. So we got ALL of his favorite junk food to eat. Sausage and Pepperoni pizza from Litza's, garlic bread and ranch, cookies and cream ice cream, and even Mt. Dew and Dr. Pepper! At the end of the night we watched the photo montage the Jacki and Austin put together last year for the funeral. It was the perfect way to end the night. I can't believe hes been gone for a year, I can barely comprehend that hes gone at all. But Chris' mom put it best last night when she said she wished we had years more of pictures to look at, but if he had to go then we are grateful we are through with the first year. I am so grateful for this last year. I really do think it has been one of the best years of my life, which i realize sounds weird, but I have learned so much. I am really proud of Colin and myself and all of the Hales family in how well we have dealt with everything. I am determined to look at the bright side of life and not wallow in self pity. So on to another year...which will be even better than the last!

4 comments:

Ashley said...

You are amazing and I'm so glad last night ended well.

We miss Chris so much and are so proud of you for continuing to be an amazing person.

We love you!!

Shana Smith said...

Wow Ellie, you continue to be a inspiration to me. I remember getting that phone call from Shannon that Saturday night and texts from Maren about Chris' passing.. I cried like a baby, and kept praying over and over for you and Colin.. I could not sleep for days knowing that you guys were in pain! I continue to think about how strong you are to this day and get emotional! You amaze me Ellie, I hope I could be just like you if something ever happened to one of my family members. I do look up to you. I am glad that that first year has come and gone and that you and Colin are doing well. Looks like you are working with a bunch of great girls, I miss that and I miss you dearly! Lets do a spa dinner again soon!

Jinksfam said...

Ellie you really are such an amazing person. I am so proud to call you my friend. You have gone through so much and still are such a good person. You are a great mom, a wonderful hairstylist and an awesome friend. I am happy to hear you and Colin had a good 'Chris' day. It sounds like it was the perfect way to honor his memory. I cant wait to come visit you at your new Salon. I miss working with you and hope we can get together soon for dinner!

Melissa Black Polteno said...

I love you Ellz! You are amazing. I cannot believe that it has been a year. I know I have not been the greatest of friends lately, but my thoughts have been with you countless times over the past two weeks. I have continually thought about Chris and amazed how fast and slow time is.

Love you tons!!!

Melissa