cousin in a coma

I usually don't blog about things of a spiritual nature in any form, but tonight i shared a very touching moment with my cousin Angie. It was a month ago this Saturday that her husband Jeremy was bucked off his horse, while he was holding their 2 year old daughter, up in Idaho on the family ranch. This accident left Jeremy in the ICU in Ogden with a traumatic brain injury. He was in a drug induced coma for 11 days. He had 6 broken ribs, and a bruised lung as well.

Growing up i was very close to Angie. Every summer my family would drive up to Idaho and play for weeks on the family's ranch there. She and i would spend countless hours playing in the barn and exploring all over the farm. When we'd part ways at the end of the summer, we'd always spend the rest of the year writing each other letters using our Lisa Frank stationary. She introduced me to wrangler jeans and Garth Brooks, and i shared all my barbies and Tinkerbell lip gloss with her. As the years went by and we got caught up in our own lives, the letters became less frequent and the friendship and code words we'd shared faded away.

After my LDS mission i took a road trip from Phoenix to The Ranch to see her on her wedding day. We had grown so far apart i didn't even know how she met her husband or any of the details. She was all grown up and starting her own life of which i wasn't really apart of any more. Nor was she a part of mine.We were cousins, and we heard through our parents how each other was doing, but never touched base. We sent each other Christmas cards and photos. We hugged at the family reunion and i held her baby for a photo. But the closeness, gone.

Angie just left my apartment a few minutes ago. She has being living in the on-campus housing at the University of Utah while her husband slowly recovers in the rehab hospital. She has been at his bedside for about a month now. For the month that she has been in Utah with this hardship of a situation we have been in almost daily communication. She has texted me with updates, and i have sent her texts of encouragement to cheer her up. Tonight i made her dinner (My world-renowned Green Chili Enchaladas). Tonight i sat alone with Angie and talked to her for hours. It was just us, like it had been 15 years ago in the Big Red Barn up on the Ranch.

We talked of faith and miracles. She told me with tear-filled eyes about the dozens of tender mercies she and Jeremy had been blessed with. We tried to count the many families we knew who were praying for them. We discussed the many LDS temples world wide that had Jeremy's name on the prayer lists. And there it was, my testimony leaving my lips and entering Angie's heart. A testimony, that i honestly haven't shared in a while because of my own personal struggles this fall, ( none of which were as drastic as a coma) My own spirituality which lately had felt a bit flat-lined had been revived in the simple words Angie and i had exchanged. My cousin and Her husband haven't been to church in ages, and here she was beside me feeling the same awakening. I cherished it. It was a connection that she and i had never had before. I remember now how great if feels to share your faith with others, and to feel edified by what they add to it.

I love my cousin Angie and her family. I am so greatful that her husband will be ok, and that he gets to go home on wednesday.I love that they have been so blessed during this experience, and that i can feel and partake of these tender mercies they have been shown by a loving Heavenly Father.

weight loss update

so i realize that i haven't posted an update for this week, so here it is. the weather has changed and so going walking outside which is my favorite form of exercise isn't an option, that and the perverts come out when the sun sets so i cant really charge up the hill at sugar house park in the dark. i however have been doing really well on diet part of the team known as diet and exercise. i lost 2 lbs last week, which feels great. i love that lil rush when stepping on the scale that you get when the bright red numbers that stare back at you are less then the evil ones you saw last week. so i will stick with it, its gonna be hard because the holiday season approaches, including Halloween which in the child development profession equals lots of cupcakes with plastic spider rings on top. then comes my birthday. then thanksgiving, then Christmas. so i am trying to be strong. i am realizing that when you are on a diet and saving you calories for special occasions, there seems to be a lot more of those then you remember when you ate whatever you wanted. anything could be a special occasion. so keep me in check friends. every so often text me and say "stay away from the cupcake," or "put the candy corns down". good thing they don't have mini eggs this time of year.

ODE TO UTA

i currently am riding the bus to work, for various reasons, none of which are al gore-documentary-influenced. this morning as i was running late and applying my mascara while sitting in the back of the bus, i found myself reminiscing through the many bus adventures i have had while living here in utah. i want to share the by far most funny and awkward bus moment ever.

when i 1st moved to taylorsville i didnt have a car. it was back in new mexico getting the engine re-built. so i rode the bus everyday up redwood road to my job. Being the friendly out going girl that i am i talked and chitsy-chatted with the other peeps at the bus stops. i was eager to make friends having just moved to the area. there was this girl named connie who i met at the bus stop on redwood road and 5600south. she was from missouri and she was working as a pet groomer at petco. she was nice and friendly i thought "sweet, i am making friends!". so we exchanged numbers thinking we could hang out and i could have a social life again.

she texted me all the time. i wasnt too quick to text her back. i got busy and at that point i was always in provo where i had my token byu friends. i felt bad because she always wanted to do stuff and i never really made plans with her.

months went buy with the texting and a few sightings on the bus. christmas was coming and the temple square lights were up. my roommate and i and some friends made plans to have our own lil family home evening and go up to the square to see the twinkle lights. connie sent me a text that day and i felt guilty for never hanging out with her, so i invited her. she was all excited and my roommate was very unenthusiastic that i had given my whereabouts to a bus stop stranger.

connie shows up and walks in. she looks at our jesus art work on the walls and says "are you mormon?", and i said "yes". and she shook her head and looked very stressed. " you guys realize i used to be mormon, up until june?". she says. "no i didnt, but calm down i am not gonna preach at you we are just gonna go look at lights". she simmered down a bit. then liz and our friend steven showed up. i was excited to see steven because it had been 2 years since our last encounter. he was fresh home from his mission. this seemed to distress connie even more, she then says "you guys dont understand, my whole life style is against mormonism." i couldnt figure out why she was wigging out. i was thinking "did this girl used to have a drug problem or something?" it didnt even cross my mind that she could be a lesbian or bisexual. i was thinking crack whore or something. it was around this time that my friends who pointed this all out to me afterwards, began to notice her rainbow necklace, earrings and bracelet, and pin on her bag. i was oblivious. she was beginning to get very uneasy. she then said "hey i'll meet ya there. just text me where you park." she got in her car and drove away even though she said she would follow us and we werent in liz's car yet.

it took me a few minutes to put 2 and 2 together. i had brought home a lesbian who was trying to "hang out" with me. i had no idea. didnt even cross my mind. Man alive did my friends think it was funny. i never heard from her again, not once since she drove away in haste that night. to this day everyone loves to tease me about connie and the awkwardness. i hope where ever she is in the world she is happy and less weirded-out than she was that night. when the day is done it boosts the self esteem a bit, that connie and then a week later a guy from pakistan wanted to date me, all from saying hello to a stranger on the bus.

HOMESICK

look at these pics and try not wanting to bet there. its october. its time to wake up early and look out the window to see what balloons are headed towards the north east heights of town. its time to wake up at 4am, wear 5 layers of clothing, drive being stuck in an hour of traffic to park and walk to the park, spend money on the best breakfast burritos in the world and watch. i think it is the most magical time in albuquerque. the dogs on the other hand hate it, cant handle the noises of the burners. i love it. when we were little we'd wake up early and grab blankets load up the the family chevet and drive to winchells doughnuts, grab a dozen and chase our favorite balloons to watch them land, or try to skip the water of the Rio Grande. and if we were lucky the chase crew would let us help pack the balloon. Once the purple balloon with the yellow pyramid landed across the street from our house. the wells fargo stage coach balloon almost hit the trees in our back yard. i took a ride in the J&B liquor bottle shaped balloon when i was 8. i loved the whole 2 weeks of it; the balloon glow at night and the fireworks, and the special shapes rodeo, i miss it all. The coolest thing about it is that its almost like a secret magical window of time every morning, and if you sleep in till even like 9am, you miss it all. shout out to my happy place, hot cocoa, green chili burritos, and the most photographed event in the world.