Something that made me very sad while recovering from my stroke was the fact that I didn’t have a reason to dress up anymore. I love dressing up and putting together outfits with all my clothes but when I had a stroke it took way too much energy to get ready for the day and it was pointless also because I never went anywhere! Now, I mean I can’t wear some things (like high heels because of balance) but that’s okay, I make do with what I can and now I have energy and places to go so I am back buying clothes and putting together outfits that now I have reason’s to wear! I LOVE to shop, so I try to make my money go as long as it can, so I can buy more clothes and that is why I LOVE Forever 21. It is pretty cheap and their stuff is the styles that are in at the moment. Another fav of mine is Target, they always have really cute stuff and they always have some waaaayyy cute stuff in their sale sections. The lace jacket I am wearing, it’s from Target and was in their sale section and I LOVE IT. Also, that little black scarf I am wearing is from Target. It is so cute and always helps bring more to an outfit, I don’t know if you can tell but it has sequins on it and that I really feel brings a little sparkle to the outfit. Anyway, everything I am wearing is from all over, kind of random but that is what I like.

Also, I know my make-up can be a bit extreme but I like to stand out and have what I am wearing say to people that I don’t care if I have a disability, I am still confident to wear what I want. Another favorite of mine is wearing bright eye-shadow. I have hot pink on and it is from M.A.C. Cosmetics, my favorite place to buy eye-shadow. It stay’s on and never flakes all over the place.

Today is Tuesday, December 21st. Christmas is this Saturday and I LOVE IT! I love this time of year! I love all the lights and decorations, parties, family get-together’s, and just the spirit in the air. And, then a month after Christmas is the 2 year mark of when I had my accident! It’s amazing how time has flown!! The Fall Semester for BYU-Idaho is now over and that is SO CRAZY! I remember like it was yesterday and thinking it would never start and now IT’S OVER! I mean, part’s of school seemed like forever while I was in it, but now that it is over, seems like time had flown! Now, I just wish we could skip the winter and then it be spring time haha but I know I need to be patient. I decided that I won’t survive going to class everyday in the snow and, then when it becomes ice, that scares me! I was thinking maybe I’ll take online classes and live in the same apartment up in Idaho but I realized I might go insane, since I can’t really go on my own any places, I would always feel trapped. I feel like going up to school this last semester was so important and it helped me a lot in so many things! It helped me to become independent again and it pushed me to become closer to my old self again. It helped me to become social again, helped me to learn how to take care of myself again, I learned how I can live on my own again, and so much more.

During the Semester I had been working with Sister Dienhart, a teacher at BYU-Idaho who teaches ballet and had a stroke herself. I mentioned I was planning on working with her in an earlier post, I had been going to a beginning ballet class of hers and then we had worked one-on-one once a week also, to get back my ability to dance again. I had to hold onto the bar when the class would move to the middle of the dance floor and still when the semester ended but I improved in being able to control my foot a lot moore and my energy improved by the end of the Semester. She was an angel to work with and is an inspiration to me that I will be able to dance again!

My room-mates and I before going to church. From left to Right there is me, Amanda Ellis, Alex Grooms, Laura Hargiss, and Stephanie Cumsille.

Last Friday I came home after the Semester had ended at byu-i and on Sunday my family and I went to see the lights at Temple Square, they were BEAUTIFUL!

Progress Up-date

I forgot on my last post to update on my progress so here is an update if anyone was wondering. I am doing really good but still progressing. I still have trouble with my balance, I still fall over at times, I walk in zig-zag patterns because when there is a bump in the road, or a slant in the side-walk my legs will react to little gravity pulls and so I just have to go where my legs take me. My right leg will start shaking when I am standing on it too long. Sister Dienhart is still working very hard with me in and out of the dance class, still when the class goes to the middle of the floor to practice ballet moves, I have to go over to the bar and hold on because of balance problems. My progress is still coming, there are very little improvements I see daily but so small that they are sometimes very hard to notice. All is good though and there it is! The end. J

K, I know I haven’t updated my blog for some time. Going back to school and having to think again is something I am trying to learn how to do again, so doing the blog hasn’t been a main priority of mine lately. My progress is still coming along though, very slowly but coming along. Here is a few picture's from school, I am sorry that I don't have a lot, I will try and take more and then post them!

Here is a picture of my FHE group after an activity:

For my friend Kelsie’s color photography class, she took pictures of me for one of her assignments. Here is a few of the pictures she took:

The Lovely Cabin

In the summer my family and I take lots of trips to our cabin. We spent memorial weekend at our cabin because of the 3 day weekend and that was the first time my family and I went up for a trip this year. My dad built the cabin when my sister’s and I were little and we spent almost every weekend up there at that time so now my sister’s and I are a little sick of it but we still love it because so many memories were made there. Here are some pictures of the trip my family and I took. Also, I probably won’t be posting very many posts for awhile. I am trying to get my balance really good before I go back to school so I am going to be working hard on my balance until then.

Someday...

Today was kind of a yucky day. It has been raining a lot lately and come on, it's May, the weather should be wonderful but it's not! My sister's, their kid's, and I all wanted to go outside but it kept raining and was cold so we all spent the day inside. I love summer day's so I want the rain to go away but I guess i'll enjoy it because it's all I can do right now anyway!



My sister Aubrey holding her little boy Blake, my sister Marie holding her newborn baby Ava, and Marie's little boy Logan sitting just below her eating a chip. Trying to enjoy being inside.

Oh, and I really like these shoes! I can kind of be obsessive with shopping sometimes and I'm pretty sad that I can't wear high heels right now, it would be impossible to wear them, my balance is still really horrible! I'll just dream until that day comes...

Create Video by Elder Uchtdorf

I know this video is kind of old but I still love it and it still remains true. My sister showed me this video when I was in the hospital last year and at that time it was very hard to see. I had to squint and look at the screen just at the right angle to see the picture and now I can see the picture really good, I love how time can heal! Really, we have the power to create and I am so grateful that we can because right now my body is having to create new pathways for my brain to use so I can have all those functions that my body once had. Really, having this experience I have learned how amazing the body is blessed to be. Also, a ballet teacher that I had at BYU-Idaho, Sister Dienhart had a stroke herself. She was thought by doctors that she would never be able to walk again but re-learned to walk and is now back TEACHING DANCE! I don’t know the whole story, I only know bits and pieces but she is amazing and I think of her a lot when I feel something is too hard or I can’t do it. I e-mailed her asking her thoughts of me being in dance class in the fall and she e-mailed me back telling me to take the class of hers and also she will help me a lot. I am so excited! I know the Lord helps me achieve my goals when I do what is right and when I rely on the Lord for help! I can’t wait for the feeling of being back in the dance room again!