stories of a real life wonder woman

Since the end of 2014 is upon us I thought I would reflect on my year. At first I thought that it was maybe not my best year. But then I was updating the photos in one of my frames that a friend wrote one of my favorite verse on and I realized how good this year has truly been. Psalm 27:13 "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." With that in mind here is a bit of my year in review told through pictures because big things happened that are worth remembering. Such as counseling these girls with Anna!   And spending time with this precious little girl! Then there was the time I stood up again with one of my favorite couples  as they renewed theirs vows at this fun party!   (Photo taken by Jon Larson of Jon Larson Photography) Or Mom and Dad finding this house and it already looking so different! How could I forget about this! I finished school and got my diploma in ...

Some updates on the week - Different people have been in and out of the house again this week taking out the old furnace, putting in plumbing, and wiring the place up along with Dad, Kenny, and Mike being there. Insulation is installed in part of the house so we are a step closer to the drywall going up. I have part of my current project at the society done and I got to see 25 binders go on the shelf that were scrapbooks from a town historian. I moved the scrapbooks into the binders since a lot of the folders and binders that they were in were ripped, moldy, and generally in a bad condition. It felt really good to see them with new covers and then go on a shelf. The plan is for this to be my last week of advice from a sick person but if anyone has questions I can post answers. Because I am forgetful I figured I would try do a recap of what I already posted about. First was finding a support group as we are not meant to go through life alone. That was followed by how the emotional sta...

I haven't been feeling that great this week. Stomach pain and nausea are not my friend. Work still continues at the house as it gets wired and such before the walls go up. And that is pretty much all I've got by way of updates. I've got this weeks post and next weeks planned for the advice from a sick person blog posts. If I haven't answered questions you may have feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer. This week I want to talk about what might be described as how I personally dealt with things. As I have mentioned I am not the best at dealing with things. I feel like a lot of my life I have simply survived without processing what was happening and that has not been the best. But I will get to that. Something I had to constantly remind myself was that it was ok to be emotional. Sometimes all you can do is ride out the emotional days and let the tears come. I feel like this is something I still have to remind myself of because even though there are times ...

If you didn't read my last post please check it out. I am not often proud of my own work but I am proud of that one. I am excited to write to my donor family again. And this time I can write without worrying about anything being edited out by transplant/donor services. I am so looking forward to sharing more of myself with them and learning more about them from them. I will say that I am still very emotional about the whole thing. It does not escape my mind for one moment that Alex's death gave me life. Since getting the letter I find myself wanting to say Alex's name over and over again. In other news the roof is mostly shingled at the house and now work inside can move ahead full speed. We can start getting guys in the do plumbing, electricity, heating and more. We are getting there slowly but surely. Thanks again to everyone who came out this weekend and all the others times. We are only as far as we are on the work because of you. And now this week in the sort of se...

I got a letter today from the donor family. It was a bit unexpected. I figured they weren't going to write to me. I thought I was opening some note about my next appointment or extra blood work Dr. Sader wanted me to do. Instead I got one of the best shocks of my life. And that letter sent me into librarian mode of trying to find the family since they want to talk to me. I big part of me wants to talk about everything that I found and yet another part of me wants to keep this to myself. Well my mom, my dad, and myself since they were there when I was searching. But I have this feeling that as I write I will want to write more. Here's what I know I want to say - His name was Alex. He was 25. He was brilliant and adventurous. And he was so well loved. And now he is enjoying the best party in Heaven with Jesus and I can't wait to meet him.  When I say that Alex was brilliant I feel like that is an understatement. Alex was easy to find because he was a big deal becau...