My birthday is next week, and I was trying to come up with something fun to do. My family and I usually go hiking for my birthday, but I'm still too broken to hike. So I was trying to come up with another fun activity, but I was having a really hard time coming up with something I thought was really fun that I was physically able to do. Also, most of my family will be out of town on my birthday, so that was another issue. I couldn't come up with anything! Then I started thinking, why does the activity have to be centered around me and what I want to do? Let's do something for someone else! That always helps when I'm starting to feel sorry for my broken self. :) I did a little research, and decided to collect and make school supply kits for the Springs Rescue Mission. These kits consist of the following:
Solid colored backpacks
Blunt-tip scissors
Colored pencils
Crayons
Erasers
Fat markers
Glue sticks
Hand sanitizer
Highlighters
Notebooks – wide and college ruled
Pencils
Pens
Pocket folders
Rulers
Supply box Tissue – pocket-size
Watercolors
White glue
Calculator
I would love love LOVE to be able to donate 50 of these kits-but that means I'm going to need a ton of help!! If you are interested in helping me, first off, you are awesome. Second, here's how you can help! Mostly, I need people to donate these supplies. I called Wal-Mart, and they said that they will be stocking their school supplies this upcoming week. Also, I bet the Dollar Store would be a good place to find some of this stuff! You can drop off any of these items at my house up until July 11th at noon. My address is 9270 Bellcove Circle, Colorado Springs, 80920. Please don't TP my house, just drop off school supplies. :P After the 11th at noon, we will be at my church putting together these kits. The church is just a couple blocks away from my house-8610 Scarborough Drive. The church is right down the street from Liberty High School. Another way to help is to join us at the church on my birthday (the 11th) to help us put together the kits. I really hope you will all be willing to help-tell your friends about this too! The more people I can get involved, the better. :) Thanks everyone!!!
I just wanted to let you all know that I am incredibly excited for summer. It's going to be one of the best so far. :) Here are some things I have to look forward to the summer:
In May, I will be doing a lot of babysitting and spending my weekends working up at Lake Wellington. I love babysitting, the lake is going to be great. So May will be splendid.
Lake Wellington. Be jealous. :)
Then I will spend June and July working at Camp Firewalker again. But wanna know why it's going to be extra exciting this year? Because my best friend AND my favorite little brother will both be working there! We are going to have so much fun up in the mountains together. :)
I will hopefully not be a gimp anymore at this point, but keep your fingers crossed that I will be able to work at camp without too much difficulty! But I will always have my way cute brother there to carry me around if I need him too, right? :)
I will also get to spend some quality time with my family, whom I love oh so very much. Here are some picy pics to show how adorable we are. :) I love my family and I can't wait to be with them!
Then the plan is to spend a fair amount of August traveling around Europe with a couple of my friends. :) More details on that later, as we figure them out! But Europe is actually happening this time, don't you worry.
Can you see why I am so anxious for summer to come? It's going to be so wonderful! But I am loving the last few weeks of this school year. It's my last few weeks with a lot of my friends, as they are leaving for their missions this summer! If you want to follow my roommates on their missions, I will post pictures and stories and other happy things on http://friendslaughtogether.blogspot.com/ It doesn't have a whole lot on their right now, but that's because only one of the seven future missionaries have left! So happy for all of them. Life is fantastic and I love it!
Also, conference was spectacular. You can watch some of those inspirational talks here. :)
Another thing. If you want to start your day on a happy note, watch this video: http://www.wimp.com/helpingout/
Cutest and happiest thing ever. Just remember, you can help make someone else's day! :)
Not gonna lie, I've been having a hard time the past few days. Being completely dependent on my crutches is incredibly frustrating. I still hurt a lot, and little things like getting something out of the oven or carrying a notebook are so hard. And that's frustrating, because it shouldn't be hard so carry my silly notebook from the kitchen to the couch. It's amazing how far behind I am in my schoolwork, and I only have three weeks to get caught up before the semester is over.
So I was really angry, frustrated, sad, and overwhelmed today. Then I watched this video, and it made me feel better. You should watch it. My favorite part starts at 1:27-I was reminded to look at this trial with an eternal perspective, which has helped me be a little bit happier today. :)
I'm alive! :) I survived my surgery. Wahoo!! Although I sure felt better pre surgery than I do now. But I am now officially on the road of recovery! :)
Turns out I tore my ACL, my medial meniscus, my lateral meniscus, and I have a periostial contusion. Which is just a bruised bone, but sounds intense when you call it a periostial contustion. :) Neither of my parents, who are both in the make-hurt-people-better field, had ever heard of someone tearing BOTH menisci. So I'm cool! Booyah.
Part of your meniscus has blood flow and part of it does not. If you tear your meniscus in the white zone, the part without blood flow, they remove the tear. They just take out a hunk of your meniscus. This procedure yields a faster and easier recovery, but you tend to have more arthritis issues in later years. If you tear you meniscus in the red zone, which has blood flow, they suture your meniscus for a better long term fix. If they sew your meniscus, you have a longer recovery and are non weight bearing for a few weeks.
They were able to repair both of my menisci, which my doctor had not seen many times before. Again, I'm cool! So this means good things for the long run, but my recovery will be a lot slower. I am not allowed to put any weight on my leg for the first 2 weeks, and then I can bear a teeny bit of weight the two weeks after that. So basically I'm non-weight bearing for the next month. Not gonna lie, getting around in a straight leg brace without being able to put any weight on that leg is super hard. So I got a wheelchair to help me get around campus. Wheelchair adventures, here we come! :)
They gave me a nerve block, which means my left leg was absolutely and completely numb. I couldn't feel it or move it at all! Weirdest feeling ever. Here is a short, pretty funny video of us playing with my dead foot. Haha. When I was walking around that first day, my foot would get caught on the ground. I couldn't feel it, so I couldn't tell it was stuck and it kept tripping me. :)
My parents came out for my surgery, and I am so very grateful that they did! My nurse told us how often she sends college kids home with their roommates right after surgery. That would make me so sad! I love my roommates to death, but sometimes you just need your mommy and daddy to take care of you. My mom is staying for a week or so, and it has been so amazing to have her here. Not only is she helping me so much, but I love getting to spend time with her. We have had multiple movie nights and have spent hours talking. I love it so much!!
Here are some Happy Things since surgery:
-My awesome aunt and my grand grandparents sent me fabulous flowers all the way from St. George! :)
-I ordered way cool new Chacos, and they arrived the morning of my surgery! I have been rockin em ever since. :)
-We went to Wal-Mart, and there was a cute special needs guy rounding up all the carts. He saw me crutching in, so he came over and asked if I wanted a scooter. When we said yes, he ran to the store and got one all ready for me. It was totally adorable.
-Kevin came and hung out with us one night. It was really fun to be with him and my mom. He brought me beautiful flowers too! :)
-My friend Lauren had her ACL repaired a couple years ago, and I have been able to talk to her a lot about this. She has been so encouraging and optimistic and I love her!
-I'm staying in Lehi with my mom, and my roommates sent me a super happy card here. With a band-aid for my boo boo. Totally made my day. :)
-I was expecting my scar to be way longer than it is. So that's really happy! :) I have so many surgery scars on my legs. Kind of a bummer, but I'm glad this one is not as big as I thought!
-I got TWO handicapped stickers. What? So cool. And it lasts for half of the summer too. Watch out Wal-Mart, we're parkin nice and close.
I'm grateful they were able to fix both of my menisci and that the surgery went so well! It's going to be a long recovery, but that's ok! I have another summer at Camp Firewalker to look forward to, and that's my motivation to get all better! :)
Welp, I had my follow up appointment today! I officially tore my ACL, with a possible meniscus tear. Probably just ACL though. My doctor complimented me on a job well done in regards to tearing my ACL. Clean through baby! If I'm gonna do something, best do it all out, right?
I am scheduled to get surgery on the 14th, a week from tomorrow. My parents are going to come out! My mom will stay with me for a couple weeks, for which I am so grateful! No one can nurse you back to health quite like your mommy can. :)
My doc wants me to have a full range of motion before I get surgery. This means he wants me to be out of my brace and walking without crutches in a week! Challenge accepted. Sorry classmates whom I will confuse greatly with this gradual removal of brace and crutches, and then the return to both. It's fine, it really is.
I have been awkwardly walking around my apartment without crutches already, and I'm pretty sure I look like a dinosaur or a duck. I can only bend my knee so far, so I walk in an awkward bend, swing, plant, wobble, repeat motion. I look very graceful, I'm sure. But I'm walking! :) It's kind of frustrating that he wants me to get strong so I can walk unaided just so he can cut me open and put me back on crutches a week later. But I'm glad I will have a few days crutch free-my armpits will be very happy. :)
My roommates and friends have been totally awesome. They have given me rides EVERYwhere and have patiently spent hours in boring waiting rooms. They have brought me ice cream and Reese's and have just been awesome! I am so grateful to all of them for helping me out so much! And for helping me do fun things like longboarding and racing around grocery stores. :)
I have had some hard moments. Like when I realized I wouldn't be able to go on the epic St. George trip Johanna and I have been trying to make happen all semester. And when I get out of bed and that first step reminds me that walking isn't so easy anymore. But then I eat a brownie for breakfast or sit out in the sunshine and remember that life is awesome! I am so incredibly blessed! Life is so good folks. :)
"Keep trying. Be believing. Be happy. Don't get discouraged. Things will work out!" -President Hinckley
So I was in a skiing class for the first block, and it was so much fun. And then on the last run of the last day, I took a nice little fall. Definitely wasn't my first fall, and it won't be my last. But during this fall, my left ski got caught under my right knee, and I kept tumbling down the mountain.
Tumbling.
And twisting.
And then 'POP'!
And then I was laying in a pile.
And then I was getting tobogganed down the mountain, wrapped like a burrito.
Now I'm in a straight leg brace and on crutches.
I tore my ACL. :( Well, my doctor is pretty sure I tore my ACL. I have an MRI scheduled for Tuesday, so we shall find out for sure then.
I was pretty mad and depressed yesterday. I feel like I have been injured ever since my freshman year of high school! I thought of all the awesome things I had planned for the rest of this semester and during the summer that may not happen anymore. I was in a lot of pain, and I was so frustrated that I was injured AGAIN. Especially this-tearing your ACL is a big deal! It takes a long time to fully recover from a torn ACL.
Rockin' the super awesome brace.
Can you tell how swollen my left knee is?
But it's all going to be ok, ya know? It might take awhile to get completely better, but I will get there! It may be a long road, but that's ok. I mean, I've already gotten to ride down the mountain in a toboggan! That was a pretty exciting adventure that wouldn't have happened if I hadn't gotten hurt.
I have realized some other things that were totally getting me ready for this injury.
One, the required age for sister missionaries for my church was changed from 21 to 19. Basically all of my friends have decided to serve a mission, which is totally awesome and they are all going to be fantastic missionaries. I had decided not to serve a mission now, which totally works out because I would have been delayed by a year or so!
Also, I had applied for a way sweet summer job, but I wasn't accepted because I wasn't 21. Second job that turned me down because I am too young. Haha. But instead, I will get to work at Camp Firewalker again!! Which will be so fun, and a lot easier with a gimp knee.
Funny how everything always works out, isn't it? :)
My first artifact is an Air Force flag! My dad serves in the United States Air Force, so I have been raised as a military brat. I have lived in California, Germany, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Virginia, which really is not very many places for a military brat. This flag is a symbol of my culture because the Air Force is the reason I have experienced many different cultures and met so many different people. My middle school in Virginia and my high school in Colorado are exact opposites, but I have learned to appreciate and love both experiences. Being able to live in many different places has helped my family grow closer and it has also helped us all become better at making new friends. I love to travel and was able to travel in Europe this summer. The Air Force has sent my dad all over the world, and that has shaped my life because it has taught me to love new people, places, food, and to always be open to new experiences.
This picture shows my CTR ring and a copy of the Book of Mormon, both of which represent my religious culture. CTR stands for Choose The Right, and my ring reminds me daily to make the correct choices that I am taught in the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon. My religion has had a huge impact on my life, as it has molded my attitude and outlook on life. Being raised LDS, or Mormon, has taught me the purpose of life on earth and has given me hope through my trials. The testimony I have of this gospel has helped me throughout my life, as I know I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father and that He has a plan for me. My religion has led me to study at Brigham Young University, where I am surrounded by others that believe the same things I do. As a member of the LDS faith, I do not participate in many activities that your typical college student may enjoy, but I have so much fun at school with all of my friends. My faith has impacted my life because it has taught me how to make correct choices that make me truly happy and is constantly helping grow into a better person. My religion has shaped me because the gospel is not just something I know is true, but it is a way of life that I love.
My climbing shoes are a symbol of my culture because I lived in Colorado for all of high school and my favorite part of Colorado is the outdoor adventures you can have there. Because I lived in Colorado for so long and experienced the culture of outdoor fun, I love to be outside more than anything else. My friends from Colorado taught me how to climb and climbing has now become one of my favorite things to do! Climbing taught me to work hard at something and not give up until I accomplish my goal. Outdoor fun is a big aspect of the culture in Colorado, and many afternoons and weekends were spent in the mountains. I plan on spending many more days outside in our beautiful world!
Tissue – pocket-size
.jpg)
