She Is My Hero

I have followed Stephanie Nielson's blog Nie Nie Dialogues for about 2 years. I found out about her plane accident while she was still in a coma recovering from her horrible burns. You can read about the whole story on her blog. Her accident was on 8/16/08 so you can start around that time if you're interested. You can also Google her name and find a lot about her.

She's one amazing gal. I can't read her blog at work anymore because it makes me cry. But, definitely in a good way. She is so inspiring.

She lives in Provo with her adorable family and I have hopes of 'running into' her at some point - like while I'm shopping at Target or something. So far, no such luck. But I have hope.

This is what she and her husband (and her kids too, I guess) looked like before the plane crash.

And this is how they look now. She received third degree burns over 84% of her body and was placed in a medically induced coma for 3.5 months so her body could heal. Her adorable husband Christian broke his back and was burned on about 30% of his body. I can't imagine what they have gone through. The most touching part of their whole ordeal, for me, was when after their plane crashed into a neighborhood, some of the residents came out to offer aid. One man said he was sitting with Stephanie's head in his lap. She was burned so horribly bad but reached her charred hand up to touch his face and thanked him for sitting with her. Man, it still makes me cry. This is such an incredible woman! She totally inspires me to be better.

And, I think she is still absolutley beautiful.

My dream of meeting her is getting closer, I just know it. She spoke at BYU tonight and I was so excited to go! I had a rough day at work and was so overly exhausted that I almost decided not to go, but I decided I would regret it, so I went. When I got to the Wilk, the line to get in was down the full length of the building, around the corner, down a whole other long hallway and around another corner. Geez! And I was even half an hour early! I almost left because I didn't know how they would get all of those people in the ballroom. Well, I'm pretty sure I was witness to a miracle, but it worked out. Sure, my good pal Sharla and I ended up sitting all the way in the back (see red arrow) but I'm so glad we went. Stephanie is so awesome and her talk was incredible!

She is definitely a role model. I sure hope I won't have to be in a plane crash, but I want to be like her.

What?

This post will be repetitive for my FB friends, but I'm still laughing about the phonecall I got a couple of hours ago, so I need to share. I got a call from an agent who had talked to one of her clients and had questions for me. Here's how the call went:

Agent: "So, this lady wants to know about specific coverages on her home policy."

Me: "Ok."

"She wants to know if her policy covers the home for wind or hail damage."

"Yes. There is coverage for that."

"Ok, she also wants to know if there would be coverage for a tropical storm and/or hurricane."

(Seriously? She wants to know that?)

I was trying really hard not to laugh while I asked, "Does this lady know her home is in Utah?"

I was hoping that the agent had some sort of sense of humor but, no, I didn't even get a chuckle from her.

"So, is there coverage for that?"

Oh my gosh, chica.

"Yes. Any damage caused by a hurricane and/or tropical storm (in Utah!) would be covered on this home policy.

First of all, I can't believe that a client was sitting around this morning, thinking about potential risk to her home and worried about hurricanes and tropical storms.

Secondly, I can't believe that the agent humored her by saying, "Let me call the company and check into that for you!"

I think they both need new hobbies - something that doesn't involve annoying me with stupid questions.

If I were a homeowner (hopefully soon!), my biggest concern - since I live in Utah - would be earthquakes. We offer that coverage and when I asked the agent if the insured were interested in that, she said that she wasn't.

Whatever helps you sleep at night, lady.

Tuacahn!

I just got back from a fun-filled weekend with my great pal Anna in St. George. We went down to see Tarzan and had such a great time! My friend Jen and I got tickets clear back in June, but something came up and Jen wasn't able to come. So, Anna graciously accepted and we headed south. We loved, loved the show. It was fantastic! And, can I just say that James Royce Edwards is seriously hot? Yes, I know he's married, but c'mon! Not many guys can pull off a loin cloth, but he definitely can. Ooh baby. Every woman (and a few men) in the audience sighed in disappointment when he came on stage fully dressed for one scene.

All of the cast was fantastic. It was such a great show. The only disappointing thing was that all of the actors, except Tarzan, came out after the show to meet the audience. Huge disappointment. Oh well, Tuacahn is doing The Little Mermaid next year, so maybe he'll be Prince Erik, or better yet, King Triton (no shirt required) so I'll get to meet him then. I so wanted a pic with him in his loin cloth though!

This little kid was amazing. He looked about 6 but he told us he was 10. So adorable.

Here's what Mr Edwards looks like in real life.
...and again


The play was so great. Totally worth the trip! (James' abs alone were worth the $65 ticket!) It was such a fun weeked. Super hot, but such a good time. Anna and I laughed a ton. She's such a great friend! Can't wait to go again next year.

Falling for Fall

I love fall. I love crisp mornings and cool days. I love having to use more blankets because now my bedroom window will be open (at least a little) until July '11. I love long sleeves and pants and jackets. I love the change of seasons. Through the extreme heat of summer and the extreme suckiness of winter, I yearn for the moderate comfort of the in-between.

Hopefully, it will last a l-o-n-g time this year.

Make The Cut

I made the cut! I cut 10 inches off my hair and donated it to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. It was really hard but my little pal Ashley has done it twice and she inspired me to do it too. My good friend Becky is a stylist so I went to her. Here's a photo log of the event:

I love not having any split ends. I wonder how long it will last. Probably just until tomorrow when I attack it again with product, a blow dryer and a flat iron.

Labor Day Weekend 2010

Labor Day Weekend is one of the best weekends of the year in the Wood River Valley, so I loaded up my car with Jordan's boyfriend and Janae's boyfriend's two adorable kids (we were quite the crew) and headed north. We had such a fun weekend. Those 2 little boys are so stinkin' cute.

It was such a long drive. It usually takes 5.5 hours but we had to make so many stops, it took us 7 this time. The funniest part was that the 2 boys never fell asleep at the same time. One would sleep and just about the exact time he would wake up, the other would fall asleep. It was so funny. They were so good and didn't ever complain about the super long drive.

One of the best parts of Labor Day at home is the Wagon Days Parade. It is the longest non-motorized parade in the world and it is a good time.

The boys got to sleep in a tent in the living room. They thought it was pretty cool.


The hot tub was a definite highlight for them.

Yes, Jordan really did get stuck in the swing.

We played a lot of board games. We laughed a lot.

Sorry for the photo overload. It was such a great weekend that I wanted to document it well. I promise I was there. I was just always behind the camera!