My (fertile) friend had a miscarriage

I was admittedly shocked.  It seems as if my fertile college friends have been immune to all-problems-reproduction, and so I am just kind of speechless.  I do not know the pain of miscarriage, and I would never wish infertility or a miscarriage on anyone, and I am pretty sure that while some emotions are the common, there are differences in the struggle of infertility and the grief of miscarriage.  I just never expected any of my fertile friends to even come close to the infertility/infant loss circle. 

She would have been 14w today.  I called her and left a voicemail and emailed her with the same sentiment: that I was praying for her and that she could call anytime and I would be a shoulder for her for whatever she was needing to say or cry.  I asked her to let me know how I could be the best friend to her in this time of sadness.  I don't really expect to hear from her, but I feel like that was a good start.

What more can I do?  She lives several states away.  Flowers?  An miscarriage remembrance necklace?  A care package with treats?  How have you supported miscarriage survivors in your life?

As a 2-time marathon finisher...

Belated Happy Easter

Our Easter was great this year :-)  We filled a whole pew at church, and afterwards we hosted brunch for everyone... 9 adults and 2 tots.  I made everything from scratch: spiced nuts, fresh fruit, cinnamon rolls, warm ham, fresh bread, fried potatoes, couscous with peas and pine nuts, spinach salad, breakfast casserole.  My sister brought a cake that was excellent, too. 

This year, we tried using natural dyes for our eggs.  I am so excited about the results!  Here are our results (hope the picture loads!) (all white eggs except the first one):

Red cabbage with brown eggs: dark teal
Red cabbage: bright blue
Red onion skins: dark red
Turmeric: yellow
Red zinger tea: green
Yellow onion skins: orange

Basically you just have to boil the natural ingredient in enough water to cover the eggs for a half hour, then let it cool, strain it, add 1 tbs of vinegar per cup of dye, pour over eggs, and refrigerate overnight.  I found the colors to be so much richer than fake dyes- everyone commented on how beautiful they were!  What is cool is that I had everything to make the dyes except the red cabbage!  I definitely will do this again next year and indefinitely after that!!