Blessingway

Last weekend, I flew to Idaho for 2 days to attend Dan's cousin's wife's (also my very good friend) blessingway. I have been to a couple of these now and I much prefer them to a baby shower. They are incomperable, really, but the whole idea of the "regular" baby shower thing with games and a bunch of pink and blue ribbon-adorned presents just doesn't have quite the appeal of the calm "sisterhood" atmosphere of a blessingway.
We strung beads into bracelets that we will all wear until Shantel has her baby. This way we will all think about her everytime we look at our bracelets. I'm particularly fond of mine so I'm sure I will wear it beyond the birth. Some of us also got henna tattoos. We prepared birth affirmations on one card, then Shantel's strengths on another card. We read them aloud to her and her friend collected them all to make a keepsake for her. It was really nice. We all shared our birth stories too. I especially love that part because I will share my birth stories with anyone who will listen!

Idaho was snowy and cold, but it was still nice. Well, for me, anyway. Most people there are pretty sick of the cold weather and since a good percentage of the folk work in construction/developement, well, a long winter can mean some lean times.
Dan's cousin and wife were even tossing around the idea of moving to So Cal and I never thought they would even consider that. They've always loved northern Idaho. Guess that weather can really get to you after a while!