Birthday weekend!!

So Wednesday a few weeks ago (yeah I'm a little late writing this) was Damon's birthday. I'm not great at planning, but this was a big birthday and I really wanted to do something special. I planned way ahead and took months to scour my brain for fun ideas and ways to show him how grateful I am that he is here. Birthdays are definitely different as an adult than they were as a child. When you're a kid it's all about presents. The rest of the year you don't worry a whole lot about what goes on for other peoples birthdays. As an adult you almost try to forget that it's your own birthday. But for the people around you, it's an opportunity to celebrate the fact that you were born and how grateful they are for your life. This is how I feel anyway. I have to say my planning paid off; we both took Wednesday through Friday off, so we had a whole weekend just to play!


Wednesday morning we both woke up early and headed downtown to have breakfast at Market Street. We had an amazing leisurely breakfast with all the fixings and then headed to temple square. We spent an hour or so just walking the grounds and enjoying the visitors centers. It was the PERFECT morning for a walk. Beautiful weather, no crowd, it was wonderful.

The Salt Lake City Temple, and UPSIDE DOWN DAISIES I want some of these.

After this we strolled across the street to City Creek to explore the shops, since neither of us had been there before. I was pretty impressed, and again grateful that there was not a crowd. We did a little shopping and then went and saw a MOVIE. This never happens, so maybe it was more of a gift from Damon to me... or me to me. Anyway, we finally saw The Avengers, which was just as awesome as everyone has been saying for weeks. And because we apparently needed a reminder as to why we rarely go see movies, we both walked out of the theatre with killer headaches. We decided that this would be a good time to check into our room. I didn't tell Damon exactly where we were going before hand, so it was a surprise as we drove up to a beautiful Victorian style bed and breakfast in the Avenues. This place was adorable and our host was so sweet! I had never been to a B&B before, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by the service and hospitality. I took a nap to get rid of my headache and our host made us chocolate chip cookies. We relaxed for a while there and then decided to drive up the mountain and take a short hike so we could look out over the valley.
For dinner we did something really fun, that I would recommend to anyone who has the time and ability. Damon called it a "tour" of Salt Lake City. First, we went to Bambara for an awesome appetizer. We had the "All Local Cheese Board" which came with olives, salami and grilled bread. I'm kind of a cheese freak so this was absolutely delicious. Our waiter was kind of a snot, so it wasn't disappointing to leave after just the appetizer.

Next we went to the Cheesecake Factory for our main course. This is one of our FAVORITE places to eat. Their sweet potato fries are to die for.

Lastly, for dessert, we went to the Melting Pot. If you haven't been there before, GO. We had PB&J chocolate fondue. It was amazing and fun! Now we just have to save up our pennies so we can go back to do the whole meal!

I forgot to take a picture of the beautiful food when it got there. I was too excited.

At this point we were both pretty much exploding and on the verge of food coma, so we decided to call it a night...
The next morning we had a surprisingly delicious breakfast (fruit, sorbet, french toast, sausage, juice, etc...) and headed home.
Damon worked on his Halloween stuff for most of the rest of the weekend, which he loved, so I would call it a success! He told me I set the standards pretty high for next year, to which I responded that he only gets the special treatment every 10 years or so... :)

Leftovers

So I am one of seemingly few lucky girls that ends up marrying a fantastic cook. Seriously. Which is a good thing, because cooking is certainly not my forte, though I can bake a mean cookie. Anyway, this past weekend, Damon decided he wanted to do some entertaining, so we invited our parents and available siblings over to our house for Sunday dinner. I should probably note that this kind of thing completely stresses me out, so unfortunately I can't take any credit for the masterpiece that was our dinner on Sunday.


If any of you have ever been to Cheesecake Factory hopefully you have had the opportunity to try their Thai lettus wraps (try it with salmon instead of chicken. You will love yourself). It's a favorite of ours so last time we were there, we got a bottle of their amazing Thai peanut sauce. We weren't sure what to do with it so we went super original and decided to make our OWN Thai lettus wraps. Damon of course went all out and did chicken, salmon and shrimp, plus all the veggies and everything to go with. I of course didn't take pictures, but it was beautiful and absolutely delicious. It was also surprisingly easy, or would have been if he didn't do so many different options. So if you can't make it to the Cheesecake Factory, give it a try yourself!


Damon always makes enough food for three times the people that are actually going to be eating so naturally, we have leftovers. Oh left overs. The possibilites are endless...

Last night we had salmon and cream cheese stuffed crescent rolls. AMAZING. Amazing enought that I thought to take a picture and ended up writing a blog about it.

April 18, 2009

April 18^th marks three years since my accident. It still hits hard after three years. I am reminded of it and think about it more than I’d like to admit.

On April 18^th, 2009 I headed home from Damon’s house. It was late Friday night/Saturday morning and we had just watched most of Supersize Me. Damon and I had only been dating for about a month and a half, but I was getting pretty comfortable with the commute from his house in Draper to my house in Orem. I was driving on I15 through AF in the left lane when a vehicle from the carpool lane swerved into my lane.  Automatically, I swerved so I wouldn’t get hit. I over corrected, and ended up losing control of the family suburban. I remember looking up at the lights of the overpass ahead and realizing that I wasn’t going to be able to regain control. The next few hours are still completely lost for me, but here is what I am told.

The suburban crossed three lanes of traffic, rolled down an embankment and flipped end-over-end landing upside down in a parking lot.  There was a man who saw the suburban leave the road. Witnesses said that he stopped his car on the side of the freeway and ran over the now  torn down fence, down the embankment, and into the parking lot where the suburban landed. He called 911. Somehow I was able to give him my dad’s cell phone number and he called my dad. I don’t know how old he was, what he looked like, or where he was going on the freeway that night. What I do know, is that his name was Spencer. As he waited for the emergency vehicles to arrive, he got down on the ground next to me, he held my hand and he prayed that I would be okay. I don’t know exactly what it is about this that makes me so weepy. Maybe it’s the fact that I was a complete stranger to him. Maybe it’s the realization that my Heavenly Father, for many reasons, couldn’t keep the accident from happening that night, but still he provided for me exactly what I needed. I am humbled and eternally grateful.

By the time my dad arrived, the ambulance and other emergency vehicles were already there. It took 45 minutes and the Jaws of Life to remove me from the suburban. My dad said the emergency crew was SO good and SO happy when I was finally out and they were able to determine that I was stable. I had an obvious head injury and was complaining that my back hurt. They were concerned about a possible spinal injury and with my dad’s go-ahead, called in life-flight. I was taken to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center where I underwent numerous tests. I have a few tiny memories of my time at the hospital. I remember a sweet nurse telling me that I was going to be okay and they would get me somewhere more comfortable soon. I also remember waking up and seeing my dad standing over me. He sat with me and picked dirt and glass out of my hair for hours waiting for news. He also had to answer me over and over again as I repeatedly asked what happened. (I feel unfathomably guilty for putting him through that. All of it) After 5 or 6 hours of testing, waiting, a tetanus shot, and pain killers I was discharged. I was wheeled out of the hospital but walked into my house on my own. I was diagnosed with a compression fracture to my T5 vertebrae, which they couldn’t do anything for. I also had a significant concussion and a cut on my right hand which required 7 stitches.

I have the most amazing family in the world. I mentioned before that I have a lot of guilt about what I put my family through, even though I had no control over it, the knowledge of what that night was for them makes me sick. My life has changed in so many ways since April of 2009. I am grateful EVERY DAY for the beautiful life I have and the love I share with my family.

I ended up using a back brace for about a month, against my will. The fracture was in such an odd place that they weren’t really sure how to help. So the goal was just to keep it from getting any worse. I had to quit my job at the fabric store and spent three long months unemployed and recovering. After wearing the back brace I started physical therapy and continued that for 8 months. I continue to see a chiropractor about once a month. Other than being a bit achy after exerting myself, I have no physical symptoms or signs that I was ever in an accident that serious. Now I have a daily reminder that the Lord has a plan for me, in the form of a scar on my right hand.  

Here I am in my "Buddy" as Damon nicked named it.

Here are some more pictures. THESE make me cry. I have some sort of emotional attachment to this suburban. For months after the accident, any time I saw a truck of the similar model in a similar color my heart would stop.

The Sadester

Nothing says love like 60 lbs of dog body slamming you as you walk though the door after a long day of work.
Seriously.
I have a darling almost 2 year old weimaraner. Her name is Sadie, but around our house she is lovingly known as "Crazy Girl", "Peaches", "Turnip Head", and my personal favorite, "The Kraken". I promise these names are all well deserved... 

It is almost ridiculous how happy she makes me.

It appears that "Alien Face" should be added to our list...

Introduction

I've wanted to start a blog for a long time. I read several other people's blogs and -usually- think "Wow, that person is so creative/witty/interesting". My husband likes to tell me that I don't have a creative bone in my body (in a loving sort of way of course), so this is my attempt at branching out and being more creative. I'll apologize in advance to anyone who chooses to read. This may just end up being a journal of sorts, since I stopped keeping an actual journal quite a while ago.


I'll start with a cute story:

Damon and I met on February 18, 2009, it was a Wednesday. At this time in my life, on a regular Wednesday, I would be attending classes at UVU from morning until early afternoon. From there I would take the bus straight to work at Home Fabrics. On this particular Wednesday, I had been asked to open the store because my boss's father had recently passed away and his funeral was that morning. I skipped classes that day without a second thought (or a first thought really. who doesn't love an excuse to skip class?). Little did I know that events of that day would start a new chapter in my life.... queue corny music…

 A day or two before this momentous Wednesday, while working, I received a call from a young man looking for a specific fabric. It was the end of the day and I was tired and grouchy. He had a very attractive voice so I automatically came to the conclusion that he had to be married, (that and the fact that he was calling a fabric store..) and this just intensified my grouchy-ness. He wanted to know how much of this specific fabric we had because he was going to try to reupholster a couch. I very shortly told him that I could estimate how much I think is on the roll, but if he wanted me to take the time to roll it out he would have to come in. He said okay.

 So on Wednesday morning, he came in. I can't remember if he came and asked for assistance or if I saw him wandering around looking cute and lost and asked if I could help, but either way, I ended up locating the fabric for him -the same bolt of suede I found for him on the phone before. He was also looking for a complimentary fabric, so I helped him find that as well. We had been doing mark-downs in the suede section and since this particular one was $20 a yard, I marked it down and asked how much he would like for $10. I got him all checked out and he went to leave, but then hesitated and stopped, pretending to look at rugs. I had to go back to work, but kept an eye on him. Not sure what I was hoping for, but when I glanced back and he was gone, my heart sank. About 20 minutes later, I was sitting on the floor stocking shelves and I saw someone walk up in front of me. I looked up and there he was again, this time holding out a small slip of paper. He said he could use some help reupholstering his couch and in return he would like to take me to dinner. Completely smitten I accepted the paper and he left. The slip of paper was a piece of a receipt and had “Damon” and his phone number written on it. Needless to say, I grinned like an idiot for the rest of the day. (Turns out he spent that 20 minutes sitting in his car trying to find a piece of paper to write his phone number on and convincing himself to go back in and give it to me.)

I waited until Friday and then I texted him. He was busy at work so he couldn't talk, but we ended up setting up a date for the next Wednesday, February 25th. We planned for him to pick me up directly from work. I was SO nervous I almost canceled on him several times. But I didn't, and I'm glad. He was obviously determined to impress me with this date. We first went to dinner at Tucano's, where I was so nervous I forgot to put salad dressing on my salad and then was too embarrassed to go back. After dinner we went bowling. He told me he wasn't great at bowling, and then he bowled a 230... to my 110. After that we went to Sub Zero and had ice cream and talked until the store closed. He was adorable. And older. And not a member of the LDS church. This last fact was a deal-breaker for me as my faith is a huge part of my life, but even so I did not want the date to end! Apparently neither did he, because after ice cream we went for a drive up Provo Canyon where he tried to teach me how to drive a stick, which I failed miserably at and still can't do. He drove me back to my car and asked me to go out with him again on Saturday morning. That was it. There was never a discussion about how we felt about each other or where we wanted this to go. We both knew pretty early on that we wanted to be together… That fact made the next two years as difficult as they were wonderful. There was quite a struggle and a WHOLE bunch of stubbornness on both ends, but it made us both grow in many ways. Finally, with the encouragement of his wonderful (now OUR wonderful) Bishop, we compromised.


On February 25, 2011, we got married at Sleepy Ridge. It was the perfect day.

On February 25, 2012, after one crazy, wonderful year marriage, we were sealed in the Draper Temple. That day was joy. Pure, beautiful, joy. It was such a journey to get there, and it was worth EVERY SECOND.

As a side note... That couch, still not reupholstered...