Surviving Devastation and Turning it Into Spring

Image taken from http://therealsouthkorea.wordpress.com/2009/01/07/spring-in-busan-korea/

While I was still working as a Technical Writer for a small tech company down in Pleasant Grove, Utah, in the community chat it was brought to our attention that the sister-in-law of one of the founding members of the company was going to be on the Oprah Winfrey show.

I decided to check it out and followed the link. What I found touched my heart and broke it. What I found was a woman who had suffered a horrible small plane crash, with her husband. The pilot, a close friend, was killed. Her husband had to bang and rip their way out of the burning aircraft. He got out. She could not. He ran to the window and you can imagine the panic, the desperation and the fear. There was no other way, except the way that he had gone, which apparently was engulfed in flames. Somehow, she turned herself in the direction she need to go and she made it out. She rolled around on the ground putting out the flames. Burns covered over 80% of her body. She was put into a medically induced coma for multiple months so her body could heal. When she woke up, her children did not recognize her, her baby who had only been a few months old at the time of the accident, would not come to her. *She* didn't recognize her.

Her ordeal is not over. However she has walked a good portion of the beginning path in this new life. She has had up days and down days, sad days and glad days, mad days and joyful days, desperation and exaltation.

When I found the link to her blog, I spent a couple of hours, pouring over it--backwards--from most recent to the furthest back. I read her story by days and by moments. At times she made me smile and my heart leapt with her bravery, and her sense of humor. At times, her story and her frustration and heartache brought me to tears.

This woman is a woman of courage. A woman of fortitude. A woman of faith.

She is a woman whose life was catastrophically altered from the happy, beautiful path it had been on--changed into something new, and something different, but hopefully, and what is looking to be, a new, happy and beautiful path, just of a different kind.

Her story also speaks of the power of family; of commitment; of love; of marriage through sickness and through health; it speaks of the power of community and of loving and serving your fellow man. It speaks of seeing the things that are truly important, the things that are inside of a person--not the shallowness of clothes, of cars, of shopping, of physical appearance--not the shallowness of keeping up with the neighbors, or having the latest and greatest of whatever trend is floating about on the moment. There is beauty in the human soul--in the divine spirit that is in all of us, if we will only open our eyes to it, and people, all of these people that walk around us and inhabit this planet with us, are more than just a brain inside a physical vessel of flesh that talks and breathes and eats and does.

She does not know me. I do not know her. But she is a person that can touch you just the same, if you let her. I admire her for her perseverance, for putting her feet on the floor every morning, for her tears and for her love; I admire her for her faith and for her hope; I admire her for not losing her trust in God and in a bigger picture. I admire *Her*.

Her name is Stephanie Nielsen. If you are looking for somewhere that hope is, if you are looking for somewhere where love is, if you are looking for something uplifting or something that will help you to put life into perspective, her story, her perspective, may help you to find those things.

http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/

Here's to you Stephanie--may your recovery continue successfully--may your heart always grow--may your faith wax strong--and may you continue to touch the hearts of strangers and loved ones alike.

Double Time to Party!

Image taken from: belloyescakes.com

1,000+ Visitors

Wow!

So I've surpassed the 1,000th visitor--that's pretty exciting...especially since I began my true visitor count from "0."

I'm not sure who all of my interested parties are, well, I know who some of you are, but I think there are quite a few who happened on my site by chance. Thanks to all of you for the visit! I hope you've had some fun perusing around and checking things out. I know I've sure had a lot of fun putting it together.

The other big milestone I see is that I've had my blog for a whole year! October to October. Honestly that's amazing!

Happy Birthday Beautiful Distractions!
One GIANT year old!

Image Taken from: foodchannel.com

I have to admit that I haven't posted nearly as much as I expected to, but I'm hoping to get better at that. One thing though, I've loved keeping in closer touch with friends and family, I've enjoyed the new friends I've made, and I have loved reading and looking and exploring other blogs here on blogspot.

Thank you one and all...and I hope you stop by again soon!

October is here at last...

My Photograph of the Mountains in Utah County, September 2009

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it,
and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth
seeking the successive autumns."
-George Eliot-

October is my absolute most favorite month of the year. It is primo Fall -- the middle of Autumn and everything delightful before the weather changes and really turns into Winter. The leaves are changing, the air is crisp, night comes on earlier, the cooling air smells like leaves, grasses, apples, hay and dirt and like it is actually clean. The geese and ducks fly away, away, away, in great masses over head. They stay over in the fields as they make their journey, and their honking and quacking wakes the morning skies.

Here in the mountains, everything changes very quickly. One day it's 98 degrees and the next it is delightfully cool and down in the 50's and 60's. Unfortunately it lasts for a very short period of time, which is really my only complaint.

"I want to tell you what hills are like in October
when colors gush down mountainsides
and little streams are freighted with a caravan of leaves,
I want to tell you how they blush and turn in fiery shame and joy,

How their love burns with flames consuming and terrible
until we wake one morning and woods are like a smoldering plain--

A glowing cauldron full of jewelled fire;
the emerald earth a dragon's eye
the poplars drenched with yellow light
and dogwoods blazing bloody red.
Traveling southward earth changes from gray rock to green velvet."
-Margaret Walker, October Journey-

Looking out my window at work, I have an amazing view of the mountains, and I've noticed the color pattern changing over the past couple of weeks. Reds and yellows have replaced the dusky greens and some of the browns. Today, the mountains are white capped from the snow they received yesterday. It rained in the valley but snowed up in the mountains. I'm o.k. with that. No snow down here just yet, but white, snowy, beauty at a higher elevation...I'm all for that!

Fall always reminds me of the excitement of change. Probably because after a fun summer it was time to go back to school. Time for learning and libraries, books and papers, sweaters and jackets, apples and popcorn, crisp walks outside, kicking crunchy leaves with booted feet, football games, new friends and if I was lucky, maybe some kissing and hugging from a new love interest. Of course, some of that is long gone in the past, being an old married lady these past 17 years...but a girl can remember and dream about what use to be.

"Well, it's a marvelous night for a Moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
'Neath the cover of October skies
And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And I'm trying to please to the calling
Of your heart-strings that play soft and low
And all the night's magic seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush."
-Van Morrison, Moondance-

All of my romances took place in the Fall--meaning that's when they kicked off. Every last one of them. No matter when they ended, they always kicked off with sweaters and falling leaves. Not sure how that worked out but it did. By October, love was always in full swing. Maybe that's why Fall weather always conjures twittering heartfelt emotions and I always look forward to it. What's not to love about love and leaves and sweaters and boots?...o.k. and maybe some hot chocolate too!

I remember the thrill of a new love! Sparkles in the eyes, coy looks and sidelong glances, secret smiles and contemplations, schemings and dreamings, secret hands held under the cover of an afghan hoping that no one noticed but not really caring in the end if they did. I remember well the kissing on the picnic table and the gentle groping and grasping and sighing by a glowing campfire, the smell of leaves and smoke, noses and cheeks nipped at by cool mountain air. Flushed cheeks, warm skin and dusky voices murmuring against swollen lips and against dewy napes of necks. I remember leaves in my hair and a little stick or two, from tumbling around on a blanket under an Autumn Moon. What is not to love and value and sweetly reminisce about love found and indulged and coaxed along in the magic of an Autumnal eve?

"All things on earth point home in old October: sailors to sea, travelers to walls and fences, hunters to field and hollow and the long voice of the hounds, the lover to the love he has forsaken."
-Thomas Wolfe-

October is always magical for me. Mystical almost. I always have felt earthy and close to nature...feeling that Mother Nature is at her "homiest" during this time. I know, I know, all you crazy people who can't wait for Spring, and all the rejuvenation that comes with it...I get it...but Fall...that's when everything is quieting down, calming down, cooling off, resting, finally so much work is done, and now it's time for a chair by the fire. The bottling of fruits and vegetables has been done. Harvests have been reaped or are in the last stages of being gathered in. The garden has been plowed under, dirt turned and seeds are going to sleep. The cacophony has tempered and your ears are resting. The heat of the summer sun has diffused and the sun is lower in the sky, easier on the eyes. It's a great time for walks, and contemplating what has been and what will be moving forward.

I have always felt fully a woman during the autumn. Knowing of herself, of her mind, of her soul. I have always known that there is more than just the daily grind. The moving of cars and people, the flickering on and off of electric lights and plumbed water. In autumn, the soul sings out in its fullness, letting everything around it know that there is more than the mechanics of living, but that there is also light and vibrance and beauty, that there is music and magic and myth to be sought, and seen and found!

"On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels..."
-Charles Dickens-

Are you Pre-40?

Image taken from: pt-pt.colourlovers.com

...So...I was informed that apparently I have reached that most illustrious and life changing age of..."Pre-40".

Now you may ask, what is "Pre-40?" as I did...and I will tell you, as it was told to me...

"well, it's happening this next year...its like when you are 12. You are a pre- teen and you start getting treated like a teenager and not a child. You are pre- 40 this year... Yeah, so no purple hair... Your 40's will be even better than your 30's!... Stay off the liquor and you will be just fine. 40s are still young. 50 is the prime of life. You have 10 years till you hit your prime."

Hear jaw drop.
Hear it snap shut.
Hear all kinds of things running through brain...some of them being adult words.
Hear silence as I contemplate it all.
Hear gears in brain grinding and reason agreeing, but not really in the happy fashion.

Now this all came about because of the photo of 1 of 2 haircuts that I was considering. One was somewhat conservative and the other a little more on the wild side (read soft black with just a smidge of purple). I asked "Why are you stifling my purple?" and the reply was "Because you're a grown woman and you need to choose your rebellions carefully."

That's a pause that refreshes isn't it? I am a grown woman, and given the state of things in the world today, it's true--I do need to choose my rebellions carefully. Everything I do impacts others, and while selfish and self-centered thoughts are all good and well (or maybe not), they are just that--selfish and self-centered and not to be arbitrarily acted on. My personal belief is that I do have a responsibility to the people around me to be a good example in all things as much as possible. I know there are a lot of people that I influence and have an impact on...not because I think I'm so fabulous or anything like that...just that I do interact with a lot of different people during the course of my day-to-day existence. Old people, young people, children...everybody. The distraction of crazed hair won't build things forward nor will it help people to view me as a professional, with-it woman.

Well, in the end point taken. I do concede. I don't really want purple hair so much as the idea of it sometimes. I do like being a grown up and being taken seriously. I don't have any inward or outward need for rebellion, I've just always kind of liked purple in all its guises. And then, there always is Halloween if I really feel the need. And if we're being honest, and I am, I've always thought the mohawk was a snappy, edgy look, but I never did that either and won't be, ever, that I can see. It's o.k. to let all of that go. Let it float away down the river of Could-have-been-but-never-will-be.

But back to the Pre-40 bit...It's funny now, but I can say I was not pleased at the time...I mean Pre-40? I had never really looked at it this way. I've loved my 30's, and I was thrilled to leave my 20's behind, especially the later portion which was hard and full of tests and trials. But this Pre-40 business? This isn't a sexy title. This isn't something you think you want to grow up and be. When you're 25 you're not thinking "Hey! I can't wait until I'm 40 years old. Wow, that'll be some awesome times! Woo Hoo!" Yeah. That's not something I have ever thought.

So who said it? Yeah...it was Beloved when I sent him the photos asking his opinion. I can always depend on him to lay it out straight, even when he knows I won't be thrilled with what he might have to say. But that is one of the things that makes this whole marriage bit work. Honesty wrapped up in love and logic in times of counsel and discussion.

I wasn't *really* going to do it, but in the smallest sense I did actually consider it for the briefest of moments...but at least I have this memorable moment to add to the "Memorable Moments" file of marital bliss!

BTW...fortunately for him, this was through chat...so the pause that hits...he was able to duck out of a good thwack to the arm...That look a wife can give a husband when she is not pleased, that if her eyes were laser beams he just might be a pile of ash...yeah...he totally missed out on that.

So...To all of you other pre-40 year olds out there...Without purple hair, but definitely considering that the 40's may be better than the 30's...I raise my glass of Alka Seltzer to you...may you age as it pleases you...and may you do it gracefully and with moments of delight!

Storybooks & Fairies...Rivendell Take Me Away!

I came across something really interesting today...Storybook Homes. It is straight up my little happy alley.

Being a girl who has always loved that which is fantastical, imaginary and full of legend and myth...and being a girl who finds castles, manors, bungalows, gardens, hidden valleys and magically singing brooks and creeks to be of great appeal...and being a girl who has thought (and continues to think) that Rivendell from The Lord of the Rings really would be a fabulous place to live someday...the Storybook Homes from the 1920's & 30's are a delightful discovery and of intrinsic appeal.

http://storybookers.com/

I've always loved nooks and crannies, little hidden rooms under stairwells, hidden doorways and libraries which have secret passageways hidden behind the books. Books and stories that have any of these things in them, if reasonably well done will always pique my interest.

I would love to have a home with all of these things, not to mention a turret or tower and somewhere a spiral staircase. I would love a home with a beautiful, almost overgrown garden full of roses and other flowers and tweeting, twittering birds.

Late Night Musings...and Catch Up! Catch Up! Catch Up!!

O.k. seriously...I've tried to squeeze a post in here and there over the past few weeks, and I really mean *squeeze* it in, but I get done with loading photos and writings, and I get a SUPREMELY annoying error message. No doubt it has to do with typing something up in MS Word and then cutting and pasting it in here...but by the time it has all been said and done, frankly, I've been out of time...so sorry...no post for a couple of months now.

I know...SUPER SLACKER GIRL...but it's summertime and oh well.

So now, I'll play a little bit of catch-up over the next few days and post-a-plenty.

For now, though...since it's tres late and I've got a bunch of stuff to do tomorrow, I think I'm going to pop some photos in here with a brief commentary and then call it good for now.

So here we go...

One of my big events (which I had a huge post on...which you will see later once I get it straightened out) was a girls weekend getaway with my book club--The Late Night Bookies. We've been trying to take a quick vacation together for a couple of years now and it just hasn't ever worked out. This year though, we made it happen. We went up into the mountains into the forest and stayed in a cabin for a couple of days. When we got there, we found that two moose had taken up residence there at the cabin. They hung out with us for the weekend...we named them Moosifer and Mork. Here's a quick pic of our new friends.


O.k. and these are my girls...I'm the only one not in the pic because I was taking it. These women are amazing...every single one of them. What an amazing time we had. I am truly blessed to have the friends that I do. L-R: Kristin, Tiffany, Anna, Mary, Michelle & Melissa.



Between all of them we have such a plethora of creativity and talent.

Among all of us you'll find somewhere in there a business owner, single mom, student, business woman, homemaker, beautician, manager, customer servicing, finance, artist, seamstress, researcher, chef, retail experience, project manager, harlequin lover, music lover, bird collector, Asian art lover, Renaissance adorer, interior decorator, an environmentalist, a libertarian, a democrat, a republican, bi & tri-lingual speakers, painter, furniture refinisher, independent thinker, writer, baker, creator, singer, rubber stamp enthusiast, card maker, crafter, musicians with piano, harp, flute and guitar...and no doubt...Rock Band aficionados...

You'll find women with a varied ethnic background...all of them from immigrants at some point, some more recently than others...Native American, French, Scottish, Irish, German, English, Spanish, Mexican, Latvian, Russian, Swedish, French & Greek...

You'll find women who have overcome divorce, abandonment, broken hearts, death and betrayal and while hurt by it, have come out on the other side stronger for it.

You'll find thoughtfulness, love, service, friendship and compassion among every single one of them.

You'll find beauty and talent.

You'll find women who will touch your life for light and good. Women who concern themselves with the cares of the world and the people in it. Women who try through small acts and great to make the world a more kindly place.

You'll find women of light. Women of faith. Women of fortitude and strength. Women of conviction. Women with the hearts of giants.