The Back-Brace Duo

This crippled couple is proud to show off their back braces. They were really funny and wanted me to take this picture of them.:) Mom thinks she looks like a skeleton. They're trying to have angry faces.

First of all, thank you, thank you. We've loved your cards and calls, your texts and emails, your gifts of food and DVDs to keep Mom happy while immobile, and your prayers. We love you and feel so grateful for each one of you. Mom and Dad are doing much better.

Dad's been going to a physical therapist. He's not supposed to plant a garden or do any bending—basically a great way to get out of chores. But for Dad it's torture, and I still catch him leaning over to put the silverware in the dishwasher even though it's hurting him! He loves his garden, so we'll see how long the doctors can keep him out of there. His leg isn't swollen or yucky looking anymore, and he seems to be walking on it okay now.

Mom is to wear her brace for 4 more weeks, about half the time they originally told her, so that's great news! The break is in her L2, and it's actually on the anterior of her spine, not the interior, which is a lot less dangerous. This coming week, she is to start going with Dad to physical therapy. She can have her neck and shoulders worked on, but not her spine. She's taking less of her pain pills now, which is great because she's awake and out of bed more, sitting on the couch or standing. Dad and I used to get up every three hours to lift Mom up out of bed to give her her medicine, so it's nice to sleep through the whole night. I don't know how you parents do it with babies! Those first two weeks, I was so tired the next day for work. I could never fall back to sleep right away.

Tagged 2 Months Ago!

So a creepazoid has been commenting on my blog, so I started searching each post to delete his comments and I came upon a comment from Tiffany back in March. She tagged me, and I didn't know!! Ha ha. Sorry Tiff. So here goes.

1. What was I doing ten years ago?
This is going to be good. I have my journal here in front of me with an entry from May 23, 2008 and one from May 30, 1998, so this is literally what I was doing ten years ago. Basically, I was crying over how Mohammed was going back to Monica, his ex-girlfriend who went to Columbus the drop-out school. What was I thinking??? "He says he feels bad about getting back with Monica, but I'm sorry. That isn't gonna make me feel any better. I am like his girl at school for when Monica isn't around. He doesn't realize how much he is hurting me. I feel like such a retard—like an inexperienced little girl. What am I gonna do? I think I'll go cry." That's it for the 23rd. May 30th I went to a bonfire at Huntington with friends. Karina's going to love this . . . "Karina was freaking out the whole time because Jeff Steadman was there. He looked so cute! Mohamed came, too, along with . . . ta-dah . . . Monica. Yipee! Gosh, I truly can't stand her." Then I talked about how Monica and Mo faught the whole time they were at the beach, and how Mo came over to talk to me and then said good-bye when they left. Good times junior year. Ugh. I would never go back. And just for fun, the next entry in my journal says that Nick was now saying all of our names, and when you asked him who built the ark, he would say, "Noah!"

2. Five things on my to-do list today:
a. donate all my Baby-sitter Club books to Nick's school
b. finish getting everything for my 72-hour kit
c. update Relief Society visiting teaching
d. look up costs of flights to Egypt, Kenya, and Ghana
e. do laundry, fold laundry, and clean my room!!

3. Snacks I enjoy:
a. chips and salsa
b. homemade chocolate-chip cookies with milk
c. Oreos with milk
d. Kosher dill pickles
e. kettle corn

4. What would I do if I were suddenly a billionaire?
a. create nonprofits to help people all over the world
b. buy houses and cars for all of my family and friends
c. spend my days learning languages, writing, traveling, spending time with people I love, doing humanitarian work, and visiting my island
d. fund all of my dad's screen plays
e. invest

5. Three bad habits:
a. showering for too long
b. taking on too much and thus not getting enough sleep or katie time
c. jumping on my bed

6. Five places I've lived:
a. PA
b. UT
c. CA
d. Venezuela
e. Mexico

7. Five jobs I have had:
a. age 6: front-lawn seller of sea shells—10 cents for a whole one, 5 cents for a cup of broken ones
b. age 7: front-lawn seller of paper fish—5 cents for small fish, 10 cents for larger catches
c. age 7: door-to-door salesgirl of handmade bookmarks—20 cents each
d. ages 19–24: door-to-door CD saleswoman—$16 for In Him Was Life, $15 Covenants and Crucibles
e. age 22: resource teacher at an elementary school

8. Five things people don't know about me:
a. I love water and I LOVE the ocean, but it's also one of the things that scares me the most.
b. I adore the history and the rules of the English language. I'm a nerd! I could just read my usuage dictionary all day long:)
c. I can't stay in one city or one country for very long . . . but I guess that's something you probably already knew.
d. I LOVE clothes. If I did have lots of money, I definitely worry that I would form a teensy bad habit of buying in excess.
e. The day before I left on my mission, my eye doctor found a hole in my retna. I had to go see a surgeon that same day to laser it shut.

Tagged: Sam, Chelsea, Jacqui, Dee, and Brenda. Copy, paste & answer for yourself. Have fun!

Nothing to Lose

Too often we are scared.
Scared of what we might not be able to do.
Scared of what people might think if we tried.
We let our fears stand in the way of our hopes.
We say no when we want to say yes.
We sit quietly when we want to scream.
And we shout with the others,
when we should keep our moths shut.
Why?
After all,
we do only go around once.
There’s really no time to be afraid.
So stop.
Try something you’ve never tried.
Risk it.
Enter a triathlon.
Write a letter to the editor.
Demand a raise.
Call winners at the toughest court.
Throw away your television.
Bicycle across the United States.
Try bobsledding.
Try anything.
Speak out against the designated hitter.
Travel to a country where you don’t
speak the language.
Call him.
You have nothing to lose
and everything,
everything,
everything to gain.
JUST DO IT.

Carol gave me this poem when I graduated from high school. My sophmore year of college, I put it up by the front door of our apartment. Every time our friend Corb would come over, he would read it to us, emphasizing "Call him" and "Speak out against the designated hitter" (because we thought that was a weird thing to do). I found it as I was cleaning my room, and it brought back lots of funny memories. All of you who were my roommates at the time (Jenn, Cyn, and Em), those of you who visited, and everyone who reads this, I hope you take advantage of every opportunity to fulfill your dreams and become a better person!

From Sponge Bob & Patrick

This card is from our neighbor Michael. He has autism and is 18 years old. He weighs twice as much as my mom and just adores her. Every Sunday he finds her at church, yells out, "Lisa Newbold," and then goes to put his arm around her. When he sees my dad and my brothers, he calls them Lisa Newbold, too.:) The ladies he lists in the card are in our ward. And Michael's an amazing artist—look at how detailed Sponge Bob and Patrick are! He makes me smile—I love reading this card. We got to talk to Dan (in Spain) this morning, and we read the card to him, too, and he laughed. He knows Michael.

I am so glad Michael is watching out for my mom. I just hope he doesn't crush her the next time he sees her! Ha ha!

Celebrate Sweden

Sugarhouse rocked tonight. First because they hosted the Swedish Celebration. Mandy and I dropped in, scanned the crowded firepit, noticed that money was required to eat the hotdogs (we were misinformed), and briefed the table of Swedish delights. Then we decided to go grab some real food and come back for the festivities. People were actually speaking with accents (which we assumed were Swedish), so we knew we were in for a real treat!

We headed to the cute little strip of shops where the King's English is located. It took us about 20 minutes to find it!! Ha ha. We had so much fun looking at the picture-perfect houses and are more determined than ever to buy a house up there. Once we found 15th and 15th, we parked and walked to Mazza's for some Middle-Eastern food. We splurged just a tad and tried a little of everything. The humus was too sweet—we got the kind with bell peppers and pomegranite seeds—so I advice you try a different kind. But the pitas were SO yummy and warm!

A resort shuttle pulled up and dropped off a whole load of out-of-towners. Then a couple walked buy with ears and tails on. We figured they were on their way over to the Swedish Celebration for their part in the skit. Who knows. We didn't see them again, but a lady did walk out of the restaurant next door to check them out! No one knew what to do.

This was the cutest thing out front of the restaurant. I think I'm going to bring Izzy here and tie her up and take her picture. I think she would make friends okay if I left her there. She's a social butterfly.

Mandy and I didn't really want to leave this bookstore, but they were closing so we had no choice. I think bookstores are like airports. See if you can figure that one out. I found an author/illustrator whose work I bought in Argentina. I recognized his book for the watercolors! It made me happy and sad and motivated to pull out my brushes and go buy 140 lb paper. And then I bought the book so I can keep looking at his beautiful work and be inspired by it. Oliver Jeffers. Check him out. I now own Perdido y encontrado and The Way Back Home.