BMT Birthday

Yesterday was the 7th year I celebrated my bone marrow transplant with Megan and the family. It's crazy how time has flown! We celebrate by me giving Megan a gift, and then my parents give all of us kids our Christmas ornaments for the year. Broc was able to come and share this happy memory with all of us and my mom even got him his own ornament...a candy cane that was decorated with Utes all over it. We still don't approve of him siding with the enemy team but he is always welcome at our house! I now want to share a page of the journal my parents kept while I was in the hospital for everyone to keep up on what was going on.

Nov 27, 2001
Transplant Day!

This is from Ruth

We got Megan checked into the hospital at 6:00 a.m. and then Roger and I each took a daughter and stayed with them. Megan's bone marrow harvest was done around 9:30 a.m. Then they had to process it and get as many stem cells from it as they could. Heather was patiently waiting in her room. Poor thing--her face was so puffy and swollen. She could hardly see out of her eyes. I was down with Megan as she was in recovery. She had a hard time coming out of the anesthesia and I had a hard time staying awake. At 1:30, they came down and told me that they were starting the transplant and that we could take Megan up to Heather's room in a wheelchair so she could be with her sister. I wheeled her up there and opened the door into Heather's room. Heather and Megan looked at each other and both smiled, and in a tired and weak voice, said hello to each other. As a mother, watching this little interchange between sisters gave me such a warm feeling of love. This experience will give them such a strong bond of sisterhood. I love these two daughters of mine!
We wheeled Megan over to the couch an got her comfortable so she could be there with Heather as her life-giving bone marrow dripped into Heather's line. Several staff members came in with gifts for the 2 girls and sang "Happy Birthday" to Heather. They say that it is a tradition for Heather to have an additional birthday--her BMT (bone marrow transplant) birthday. We had party hats for everyone to wear. Roger's parents were also here, alone with Nathan and Natalie. Amie was home sick with a neighbor and we couldn't afford to have her be around Heather. After the song, the girls were given a poster, a mylar balloon, a beanie baby bear, and a blanket from the staff. Then Roger and I gave them each a Hallmark Christmas ornament. Megan's was a little fairy that was giving away an icicle. Heather's was a little fair that was holding a small bag to receive the gift. Then Heather gave Megan a gift and wants that to be a yearly tradition, because basically, Megan is giving Heather the gift of living.

It's so humbling to go through and read all these journal entries. The time in the hospital is such a blur to me, but I am so thankful for Megan and for this special gift that she has given me. I'm so grateful to have such wonderful loving parents who stayed strong and never gave up hope during this hard time in our lives. I'm so thankful for the support of friends and other family members that I received during this time in my life! Without them, this would've been a long, lonely trial. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Crazy week + fun weekend = good memories

Wow....where do I even begin?

Last week....
~Monday: Meteorology test
~Tuesday: 7 page paper due (that was started and finished on Sunday!)
~Wednesday: I don't even remember what happened Wednesday!
~Thursday: Work was crazy and people were just being stupid. Bio Med test which I hadn't really studied for....BUT....only missed two questions out of 60!!! Don't know how that happened. Midnight Twilight movie! I did indeed like it. Characters were good, (still don't really like Bella) and I thought they did a good job!
~Friday: Wasn't supposed to work but got called in anyway. Went to school and work on around 3-4 hours of sleep....that was fun!

And now for the weekend!
~Friday (night): Dinner at Buca di Beppo with the most hilarious group of people you could ever eat with! Had lots of funny pictures taken! Bells on Temple Square....I enjoyed it...but wished it could've been a lot shorter. Plus with only on 3-4 hours of sleep the pretty sound of the bells were slowing putting me to sleep :)
~Saturday: Got blindfolded (had people make funny faces at me and laugh) and was taken to a movie theatre to see Bolt with Broc and his little sister. It was such a cute movie and I enjoyed it immensely. It made when want to get a dog really really bad! Ate lunch at Charlies grilled subs (very good but I think I like Quiznos better). Put on my BYU shirt with pride and watched the depressing game with Brocs' family who were a bunch of Utah fans and ate some good food. Talk about outnumbered! BYU did really good the first half but totally bombed the second half. All in all I had so much fun and it was good to be home! Only three days till Thanksgiving break! Wahoo!! Mash potatoes and pumpkin pie here I come.

Privilege

On Sunday I had the privilege to go listen to President Packer at a fireside. He actually was there at our institute! There were around 2,000 people there in our chapel, gym and lounge area. My roommate and I were lucky with our row K tickets and sat down on the very last comfy bench in the chapel. President Packer walked in with his wife, (the cutest little lady ever) and sat down. Here are my thoughts and some notes I took through the fireside. On my paper they are all over the place so hopefully I will be able to make sense of them.

"Oh dear...people are already passing around tissue boxes and we still have 10 minutes before it starts! Knowing me....pretty sure I will need some. And by some I mean a lot. I have my mother to thank for that attribute!"

The opening song: The Spirit of God
"Wow!! What an amazing song to open with. You could just feel the power and the spirit that came with singing that song; especially with how many people are here. Voices rang everywhere."

President Packer first talked about how he met his wife here at Weber State and how he served in the war as a pilot. He shared with us a chant that he and some of his college friends made up in institute. Root de toot, root de toot, we're the boys of the institute. We don't smoke, and we don't chew, we don't date the girls that do. Some say we don't have fun...we don't.
Everyone was laughing so hard when he finished like that!

Here is some advice and other subjects President Packer gave us/talked about:

• You can do whatever you choose. But you cannot choose your consequences.
• Only repentance can heal what he, (Lucifer) hurts. And repentance CAN heal what he hurts.
• Marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a women.
• Family Proclamation to the World
• The atonement of Christ can clean anything. We must find it and act upon it for our self.
• Don't be critical of the Lords Church
• Caution: Beware of the word tolerance. It does not stand alone. We are not required to tolerate anything that does not bring happiness.
• In all our struggles, pay your tithing first.
• Economy troubles: We will be alright if we follow the Lords way.
• As Latter day Saints, we need not live in fear. Fear is the opposite of faith. We need not wonder through life lost and uncertain. Look to the plan of happiness.

A blessing from President Packer:

• That we may know good from evil.
• That we may find ourselves in a happy married life; to be as happy as he and his wife are.
• Know that our Heavenly Father is always with us.
• That we may come to know the Savior through prayer and study

Closing song: Come thou Fount (My favorite song) provided by the institute choir

Again I am left speechless. They did such a good job. I didn't cry through the whole entire fireside until this song! It gave me chills the whole entire time they sang. Every note was hit how it should be, and if someone messed up, it didn't matter because the spirit was so strong.

My thoughts on music: I love how music can solve almost anything. The emotion it brings. The spirit that comes with it, and how you can bare your testimony through it, different than any other way. I am humbled, sitting here, so grateful for the talent that I have been blessed with. Music is such a huge part of my life and I hope that I can share my love for music with my kids when I am older; and that I may also do the Lords work by sharing my testimony with others through music.

$1.95

Gas is finally under $2.00!! Wow didn't think I would ever live to see this day come!
Party like a rockstar!!!

Tag...you're it

So usually I just ignore these but I'm feeling "the mood" right now so here it goes.

5 things I was doing 10 years ago
1. Playing with pogs! Totally the cool thing to do.
2. Competing in a chess tournament....yes I was a nerd.
3. showing off my awesome jump roping skills.
4. Playing football with the boys. I couldn't throw a football for the life of me but if I caught it...you wouldn't be able to catch me :)
5. Listening to Radio Disney.

5 things on my to-do list today/tomorrow
1. Lock myself in the library and finish 2 papers!
2. Run another 5k.
3. Study for Bio Med.
4. Mail a letter.
5. Watch another fantastic episode of Kyle XY.

5 things I would do if I were a Millionaire
1. Buy lots and lots of shoes!
2. Pay for tuition, new car, text books...that kind of thing
3. Travel. A lot.
4. Buy all my favorite books and the classics of course.
5. Help someone else pay for college that can't afford it.

5 places I have lived (wow...I can only put three!)
1. Orem
2. Pleasant Grove
3. Ogden
4.
5.

5 jobs I have had
1. I have been a dental assistant since I was 15! Thank goodness! I have been very happy with my one job and I think I will keep it!
2.
3.
4.
5.

I tag....anyone else who feels the mood the answer this silly thing

Peripheral Vision

I wanted to sleep in just a little bit longer this morning so I told my roommie that I would drive. So I slept for another 20 blessed min. before I rolled out of bed and decided to get ready. Me and my fetish with the weather, I already knew that it was going to be raining today so I did my hair curly, grabbed a jacket and headed out the door. The hood on the jacket was so big that I couldn't see to the left or the right of me. I couldn't tell if my roommate was still next to me so I yelled her name and just kept walking because it was pretty cold. She lost me for just a second, then turned around to see that I was right beside her. The grounds were covered with leaves and you think it would be fun walking through them, feeling them crunch beneath our feet but no! They were all soggy and wet; instead of a pleasantly "crunch," we got a squashy "squish" as they stuck to the bottoms of our shoes and my pants! We both went to the institute building to get in line for tickets. President Packer is coming here to Ogden to talk to the youth and I for sure wanted to go! After waiting in line, we both got our tickets, (row K...hmm that can't be very close) walked to the library and just sat there....staring out into the dreary sky that lay before us. Pretty sure you could tell we were both extremely tired. After a little rain gazing we both went our separate ways. I decided to go out of the norm for a bit and take a different path to my class. I felt very observant on campus, noticing the very random things that go on campus. I wondered, have these things always been going on while I take my every day routine walk to my classes? Here is a list of random things I saw today.

• a person driving their mustang on the sidewalks around campus. How lazy can you get people! Now I would understand if he was delivering the newspapers and didn't want them to get wet but he didn't have anything! He just drove to each building...walked in, and walked back out!


• Walking through the Union building, there was a random person in the corner playing the harmonica.


• an Eskimo with the cutest hat I had ever seen. We exchanged conversation for a bit then went our separate ways.


• a bunch of signs with words spelled wrong. I mean really....we are in college. (but really I have no room to talk because I spell things wrong all the time. But I would make sure they were spelled right before I made a huge poster to hang around campus!)

• A man dressed in a kilt....hello it's cold and it's raining!!!


• around the corner from the gym was a little house and a bowl of food and water for a stray cat. Yes that's right we are animal friendly here at Weber State.

I think usually when I walk around campus, I usually have my headphones in and if it's a nice day I am usually preoccupied with the scenery to notice the strange individuals that I go to school with.

What the girls in B 207 do for fun

I've been procrastinating this whole entire week with my papers; so I decided I would sit down and actually start on them. Now I actually really do love writing papers. And I will say that I am pretty dang good at it. So I sat down for a good 4 hours and went to town. I finished one paper and got a little bit done on the next. My eyes were killing me! haha so I decided to take a break. One of my roommates was getting caught up on Kyle xy, (because I was impatient and watched a couple of episodes without her...sorry!) and as soon as she was done with her episode, I decided we should have a grape eating contest. We had 4lbs worth of grapes in the fridge...why not! So we washed the grapes, got a pen and paper, and a camera of course and began the competition. Now just to fill you in....these grapes are HUGE! We had fun trying to take pictures without laughing and gagging on all the grapes. We each got twenty in our mouth and decided that if we tried to fit one more in we would choke so we called it a draw and ran to the sink to get rid of the plethora of grapes we had just shoved in our mouths. Here are a couple of pictures we were able to take. Enjoy!

$2.25

Oh blessed beautiful day!
I pulled up to Smith's gas station to fill up Mater. He was pretty much on empty and I decided now would be a pretty good time to fill him up. Usually I try to fill up when I get to the halfway mark, but haven't done the best job at that lately. A huge smile came over my face as I saw what the final payment would be. $20.00 to fill up from empty to full! I was overjoyed!

Slow down

I know I say this just about every post that I do, but really...where has all the time gone? As I was walking around campus this morning, I overheard a conversation about registering for next semester. This is close to what went through my head at the time.

"What?!? Oh my gosh it's November! Thanksgiving is in three weeks! Finals are in 4 1/2 weeks! Shoot I need to start looking at classes! I haven't even looked that far into my planner! I need to start putting together my application for the Dental Hygiene program!"

Another example: Today my mom and my little sister came up to Ogden for a scholarship meeting at Weber. My sister is planning on going into Radiology and Weber has a great program for that; they actually have a program that is through Weber, but taught in a hospital in Provo. What a great place to start! When I saw her there on campus, I kind of had a weird flashback to when we were both very little; rollerblading around the block, painting with water colors at Grandma Crosland's house, and practicing the piano together. Another thought entered my head...

"She can't be going to college!! She is way too young!"

I feel like my life has been on fast forward mode ever since I got into high school. I've always known what I wanted to go into for my career so my plan was to just get it done as soon as I could. Be done with dental hygiene by the time I was 21. Now I need to slow down a bit. Take time to smell the roses as many would say. Take in all the little things around me instead of just passing them by. I feel like I never have time to take a class that I wanted to take, really read my scriptures, go to the temple, or to sing just because I wanted to. Lately it's always been just to fulfill a task. To check another thing off my list. I shouldn't feel like I have to do it. Time slips through your fingers if you are not careful. And sometimes it takes you a while for you to notice it. But there is always something you can do to fix it. Here is a list of goals I hope to achieve this winter.

• Read scriptures every night. (I find if you are doing what is right, somehow the time that you thought you didn't have will just come to you)
• Go to the temple for baptisms every Wednesday or Friday. (It's always easier to go if you plan to go with another person...for support)
• Make sure I spend some quality time with the roomies. They are my second family after all!
• Be above average in all my classes. (That is always a good one!)
• Find ways to do service, whether it be for the church, community, or even a neighbor.
• Then thank my Heavenly Father for the time that he has given me to do all these things!

It's so hard as a teenager to figure out how to balance school, work, religion, and to have some what of a social life. Some learn it faster than others. Me....I don't think I will ever figure out how to perfectly balance it, but all that matters is that I try my best.

"Time is free, but it's priceless. You cant own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it, you can never get it back." -Harvey MacKay

Body Worlds

I had the opportunity to visit the Body Worlds museum at the Leonardo Saturday; what an amazing experience that was for me! If you go to the cite, there is a little video you can watch that will tell you a little bit about it. I got a little preview of the exhibit in Chicago when I was there for choir tour and I wondered if I would be ever to see the whole thing again. I thought the whole thing fascinating in a different sort of way. Yes it was a little creepy knowing everything in there was real...just plastinated, but I was intrigued. At the beginning of the museum they gave you this little book to right down some interesting facts and quotes, and here are a couple that I was able to jot down.

• The muscle that lets your eye blink is the fastest muscle in your body. It allows you to blink 5 times a second. On average, you blink 15 000 times a day. Women blink twice as much as men
• Lance Armstrong's heart is 30% bigger than the average human heart
• Red blood cells are warn out after 120 days
• " It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." -Antoinedo de Saint Exupery
• Your heart pumps around 1800 gallons of blood a day
• A newborn baby's head accounts for one-quarter of its weight
• It takes about 72 muscles to produce human speech
• During a 24 hour period the average human with breathe 23,040 times
• The smallest bone is the 'stirrup,' deep in the ear. It is hardly larger than a grain of rice
• There are about 60 muscles in the face. Smiling is easier than frowning. It takes 20 muscles to smile and over 40 to frown
• About 8 million blood cells die in the human body every second, and the same number are born each second

Now for those who are interested in this kind of thing, I highly recommend it! I think it is there in Salt Lake till January. They didn't allow any flash photography, but here are some pictures that I was able to find online of some of the things that we saw.

This one is my favorite! I don't know how they did it but it's the blood vessels of the head

Camel split into three different sections