10 Years Ago Today...

Ten years ago today, I experienced one of the scariest days in my life: a horrible car accident that thanks to God above, me and my friend Kelly lived through. A man ran a stop sign as we were on our way to Norfolk to a wedding, sending our car across 3 lanes of traffic and far into a ditch. I was driving and was sure that when I looked over after the car came to a stop that I was sure to find my friend seriously injured or even dead, as it hit her side. Thank God she was not. She was concsious, bleeding and had the car embedded on her legs, but conscious. We landed outside of a pizza hut (Madison, NE), and the customers in there came to our assistance within seconds. A man gave Kelly the shirt off his back to press to her bleeding head. In the whirlwind of it all, she took my hand and started to pray (that is how amazing and committed she is). Shortly before the ambulance got there, I noticed something was seriously wrong. My stomach was starting to bloat and I started to "black out"-I remained fully conscious but when my eyes were wide open, all I saw was black. But when I heard the voice of the paramedics, my sight came back...I think because I knew help was there, it was going to be okay. They transferred us by ambulance (lights, sirens and all) to the Norfolk hospital and after some tests were completed and while Kelly was getting treated for her numerous injuries, they found out I was bleeding internally and would need to be life-flighted to Omaha. As if I wasn't scared enuf already...I was transported to the helicopter by myself-having to say a tearful and fearful goodbye to Kelly, her mom and some of our NCC friends that had gotten there. I was helicoptered to Omaha and kept there for a few days, some of them in ICU to monitor the internal damage to my liver and spleen. I also broke my left wrist, had a deep cut from my seatbelt (which saved our lives, I am sure!) and some other strained muscles. This is not to mention the amount of windshield glass I had all over my body-in my mouth, etc. In the following days, I had the most amazing support from my family and friends-some who traveled many miles to visit me. And of course, my now husband, Dan-who drove back and forth numerous times during that week to stay by my side.
I am indebted to those amazing EMT's and doctors who tended to us that day, as well as the citizens who stayed by our side thru the chaos. We came to find out later that our car actually started on fire not long after the jaws of life got Kelly and I out. Also that the impact of the accident actually made a cut into the cement on the highway. Also found out out the other driver had been thrown out of his car, but walked away with a broken arm.
And I must mention my parents, because what a dreadful day for them-one to receive that phone call, but then after a 3 hour drive to arrive at Norfolk to be told I was no longer there and that they needed to drive a few more hours to Omaha before they could get to their little girl to comfort her. A parents worst nightmare, I am sure.
The outcome of this day could have been a LOT worse-I believe God was watching out for us-I believe that we did not roll and that there were no other cars in the 3 lanes we crossed because He had a plan for us to stay on this earth longer. Had those things occurred, it would have been a (potential) tragedy. While it has been 10 years to this day, I must remind myself everyday that God kept me here for a reason....I must not let Him down. I think of this day often-sometimes to remind myself of how lucky and blessed I am, but sometimes because I simply can't get that moment of impact out of my head. I can close my eyes and relive it in an instant. It sticks with you forever. And that is okay-becuase while I may be a very paranoid driver sometimes (especially if I see drivers making fast stops to my right at intersections, my heart seriously starts to pound), and my heart skips a beat when I see an ambulance, I am okay having those reactions because it keeps it real. It reminds me that we will not be here forever and so while I am here, I need to do the right things. The things that honor God and his goodness. Something I strive for every day.

Why Politics?

I am currently taking a scrapbooking class at Big Picture (www.bigpicture.com) that is about documenting "me"-my family, my hobbies, etc...a little weird to do as you get used to scrapbooking your kids, etc. but great to do so that I can be documented FOR them as well. Anyway, one of the challenges is to scrapbook about my politics and while I have been thinking about how I want to approach that page, I have been thinking deeply about why I am so into politics right now and why I have chosen to be so outspoken about my beliefs:

In the last few weeks, I have noticed that I have lost about 4 Facebook friends-one I know for sure because of my political posts (blogged about that a while back-he was extremely mean too! Totally unnecessary!) and I am not sure of the others, but the assumption is pretty safe. That is all fine and dandy-I don't care now, but at first my thoughts were that maybe I should stop posting political posts, stories, etc. because I was losing those friends. But then I realized that it should not matter. And here is why:

It is my duty as an American to stand up for this country and the values that it was founded upon. My DUTY. This country has gone so far from where the founding fathers could have ever imagined and it is time to bring back the traditional values in which they believed in and implemented within the Constitution. It is my duty to point out that President Obama is implementing policy and debt that is extremely harmful to our country and future generations. The way I have chosen to do this is thru facebook/twitter/blog because TOO many people out there are uninformed and if something I write will spark the interest, it is totally worth losing FB friends. Take the last election-Obama was elected because he was a rock star, because he was cool, and was going to be the "1st black President." He was elected because the media had done such a good job at annhilating President Bush (hope and change!) and Sarah Palin (stupid conservative), and lifting up Senator Obama (like a god). The media did not question Obama on ANYTHING. I guarantee if every voter truly knew his record, his ideology, his plans for our country-he would not have been voted into office. TOO MANY ARE UNINFORMED!

However, the tide is turning. As more Americans are paying attention, his poll numbers are decreasing greatly. He is losing support and confidence because it has finally become obvious how radical left he really is. It has become obvious that he is not a miracle worker, but the opposite-he is implementing policies with the beliefs that we should spend more money to avoid bankruptcy (stimulus is failing, plus has never worked!), policies like Nationalized health care (not working in other countries, or in Massachusettes for that matter!), and Cap and Trade (also not working in other countries, or states like California within our own country!) all making things worse in this great country of ours.

So while I am not the type to run for an office, this is how I have chosen to get my opinions out-out of a sense of obligation to this great country. I am not mean about it (sometimes passionate, but not mean), I still respect President Obama and pray for him as our President, but I feel that if I can do a little to inform those who may not be so informed, then it is all good-even if I lose some friends in the process. After all, if they can't summon up the courage to have a decent debate, or even just have the ability to simply ignore the posts and look past my politics-then were they really a friend?

This is why I scrapbook.

I am currently taking an online scrapbooking class (bigpicturescrapbooking.com) that is about using vintage supplies for scrapbook pages. One of the challenges was to use a vintage milk cap, and that challenge led me to make this page. This photo is of the Gardner farm in Bloomington, Nebraska. My great-grandfather Charles Gardner built this house, and my Grandfather and father both grew up in this house. I spent a lot of time in this house, until my Grandfather passed away and the farm sadly left the family. It is approximately 100 years old. In talking to my mom about the history of the house, it led us to talk about other details of the lives of my great-grandparents, reasons why they settled in Bloomington, etc. and that, my friends, is why I scrapbook. To keep these memories alive. To keep my ancestors and their accomplishments alive. To relive special times in my own personal history. Love this amazing hobby.