Today really was wonderful. As officers, we got to go to lunch with next year's group. I am so excited for them. We went to Joy Luck, just like last year, and it did not seem like it had been a whole year. This year went so fast. Everyone said that it would, but I didn't believe it. In some ways, I wish I were just starting this year over again, and in others I am beyond ready to be done. This year was by far my favorite year of high school, but also the most stressful. Even sophomore year seems calm in comparison. Tonight we planned on sleeping on the football field like we did during Homecoming Week, but the sprinklers were on. Instead, we drove up to Kelsey's and partied all night long. It was a great stress reliever. Everyone was super relaxed so we laughed the whole time. I love the 27 people I got to work with this year. I'm so glad a couple of them are coming down to BYU with me.
story time
I have a really long story today. It started in 9th grade on April 28th. I was leaving Seminary and some boys in my class were having a tug-of-war with a rope they had made of toilet paper. When it inevitably broke, 3 very large boys landed on my leg. My teacher saw it happen and asked me if he should call my mom. I said I was fine and stood up to walk to Spanish. Upon taking a step, I learned I couldn't walk, and fell over. I reluctantly told my teacher he better call my mom. She came and we went to the ER. A very painful x-ray was taken and it was confirmed that my leg wasn't broken, that I had probably dislocated my knee. I went home on crutches, told I would be fine in a couple of weeks. We scheduled an appointment with an orthopedic. Another painful x-ray was taken and I was given a brace to wear to prevent my knee from dislocating again while the muscles healed. From the x-ray, they could tell that my knee cap had moved all the way to the back of my leg before snapping back into place, tearing every muscle and ligament surrounding my knee. They said if I wore the brace and didn't dislocate my knee again, I wouldn't have to have surgery. I was determined not to dislocate my knee again, but the doctor was skeptical. I made it 4 months without incident. The weekend before starting high school, I was hanging out with some friends. We had run to the gas station to get a slurpee, so my muscles were loose. I stood up and my knee randomly dislocated. I instantly went into panic mode. I knew that I would have to have surgery. I was terrified of getting an IV because of the bad experiences I had earlier that year with IVs when I had appendicitis. I had another appointment with the orthopedic and surgery was scheduled. It was a very simple procedure that would fix the problem. Surgery was set for September 16, a Wednesday, and I was supposed to be back at school that Monday. Getting an IV was horrible, but no where near the worst part. I did not go back to school that Monday. I remember I had to sign my knee so the right one would be operated on. Once I was in the OR, the surgeon found several problems not revealed by the x-ray and MRI. A very simple procedure quickly became an intense set of procedures. I don't take medicine. Especially pain medicine. Even when I had my appendix out, I only had Ibuprofen in the hospital. I was shocked to wake up from surgery and need pain medicine routinely, as I never had before. It was weeks before I could go to school again. When I did go back, I had extremely limited energy. I went to school part-time, working my way up to a full day. My school has 6 floors and 4 buildings. Not exactly a conducive environment for someone on crutches. While I was recovering, I got Swine Flu, further inhibiting my recovery. We found out some of my lack of energy was due to hypoglycemia. The test to determine this was horrible. You drink a large amount of this substance that resembles orange soda without the carbonated water. So it's basically like syrup or orange cold medicine. After drinking it, you have 4 containers of blood drawn every hour. This test is Hell for anyone as afraid of needles as I am. When the results came in, everyone was shocked. Most people start passing out when their blood sugar reaches 60. Mine had dropped to 40, and I hadn't passed out. After taking medication for my blood sugar, I started to get more energy. I got well enough to start physical therapy. The first visit, I had a charlie horse in my leg. I told the physical therapist and he walked down the hall to talk to my doctor. He came back and said, "the chances of this occurring in a teenager are very low, but if it were my doctor, I would head to the ER to rule out the possibility of a blood clot." After several hours in the ER and an unbelievably painful ultrasound, we finally heard from the doctor. He confirmed that I had a DVT the size of an orange in my right calf. I wasn't too upset until he told me what it meant. He told me I had to give myself shots in the stomach for 2 weeks. No. Freaking. Way. Terrified of needles, remember? He told me about a girl my same age who died of a DVT in his arms the week before. I wanted to punch him, but I didn't have the energy. Apparently he was unfamiliar with the term "bedside service." He then told me I would take Coumadin (basically rat poison) for 6 months and I would have to have a blood draw every week. Then Dr. Compassionate told me to suck it up, go home, take some Ibuprofen, and go to school the next day. 1) do not take Ibuprofen if you have a blood clot. Tylenol only. 2) I did not go to school the next day. I looked like a corpse, so my mom took me to see my regular doctor. He said, "There probably isn't anything wrong, but I would feel better if you had a CT taken of your lungs." So back to the ER I went. The scan revealed that the blood clot in my leg had broken off and filled my lungs. I was given 2 weeks of bed rest. My doctor told me "You are one lucky girl. Had you gone to school, you likely wouldn't be here right now." We saw Dr. Compassionate when we were leaving the hospital. He didn't seem the least bit concerned that his negligence nearly cost me my life. After I was off bed rest, I finally got to start physical therapy and move towards getting better.
The reason I told this extremely long story is because of what happened tonight. From those 4 months, I remember the big things, but nothing else. When I turned in the first assignment of the second term of financial lit, I got a message saying I had already submitted it. I investigated further, and found that I had completed the entire course while I was on bed rest. I had no idea. Like I said, I don't remember hardly anything from those months. Finding that the class was completed already was quite the welcome surprise.
beyond my wildest dreams
Here is my list of 5 tasks I wanted to accomplish today.1. Memorize 6 studies for the psychology test 2. Find at least one black pen that works 3. Clean room 4. Put away laundry 5. Get 7 hours of sleep
Hmm...2/5. I'll try again tomorrow. I don't even care because today was so amazing I feel like I am floating on the whipped cream atop an old-fashioned strawberry milkshake with a striped straw. Yep. That good.
Prayers are answered in ways we don't expect. I've heard that all my life, but never have I experienced it more fully than today. Up until now, I haven't had to make a whole lot of hard decisions. They've always been between bad and good or good and good. Both situations impossible to mess up. Now I have been faced with the task of choosing between good and better. Even harder, it has often been unclear exactly what choice was good and what was better.
I have had to throw up my hands and give up control, something I struggle with. I am very independent, so it was hard to let go and trust that everything would work out how it was supposed to. Through some experiences in this last little while, I have come to an unshakable knowledge that my Heavenly Father has an exact plan designed specifically for me. He knows the difference between good and better. He was directed my choices. He has revealed solutions to unsolvable problems.
My priorities completely shifted today. I saw a glimpse of the long-term plan for my life. I don't know what lies ahead or what road to take, but He does. Prayers are often answered in unexpected ways, but the outcome is always better than we could have envisioned, even if it doesn't seem like it right away.
Hello 18.
I've technically been an adult in the wizarding world for a year, but now I'm official in the muggle world too. I had a very "big bang" 18th birthday. I ditched all two classes of school today (gotta love home release) and went to lunch with my mom and dad at The Cheesecake Factory. It was lovely. We got to sit outside. The new City Creek mall really is amazing. I thought the menu said "Big Bang Chicken," but it actually said "Bang Bang Chicken." Just being at the Cheesecake Factory made it a Big Bang Theory day because Penny is a waitress there. Then I got a tiara.
We headed up to Park City to shop before going to Pizza Factory (kind of a factory day I guess) for dinner with everyone.
Best of all, this girl rented season 4 of The Big Bang Theory. Happy Birthday to me.
Oh and I have this friend. Her name is Hannah. She rocks. She made me a Pinterest cake. Could there be anything more appropriate? The fondant recipe was even the same one we found on Pinterest during our AP Research days together.
somewhere under the rainbow
I was assigned to give a talk about General Conference today. I read all of the talks again, looking for my favorite. I probably shouldn't, but I have a favorite apostle. His name is Dieter F. Uchtdorf. I found that reading all the talks in his accent made each talk seem special, even the ones that didn't seem to apply to me before. President Uchtdorf's talk from the priesthood session really stuck out to me. He was speaking specifically about the priesthood, but his words apply to so much more. He talked about how knowing the reasons behind the priesthood makes living worthily easier. I think having a 'why' makes anything easier. When you have a reason, it is easier to overcome obstacles. Next he talked about an overabundance of good things to do. Just because something is good, it does not necessarily warrant our time. I have found this to be so true, especially this year. Something may be good, but there is often something better to do with my time. Next he spoke about the power of doing. Whenever I am confused about what I should be doing, the answer always comes after I start doing something. Once started, I either feel an assurance that I am doing the right thing, or I feel prompted to change what I'm doing. Choosing a college has proven to be a situation where I have needed to act before receiving an answer. I knew without a doubt that I wanted to go to BYU. I love the atmosphere and they offer a program that combines graphic design with advertising. I was offered a double-full-ride to UVU. Suddenly I wasn't so sure BYU was worth it. I considered finishing my generals at UVU and transferring, but that doesn't make sense because I only have one general credit to complete. I have prayed a lot throughout the decision process, but I still wasn't sure. I know I am supposed to go to BYU. I have no idea how I'm going to pay for it, but it will all work out. My decision was confirmed when I went to Provo today. There was the biggest rainbow I have ever seen directly above the BYU campus and I had the strongest feeling that I need to go there. I still don't know how the financial logistics will work out, but I'm confident it will all work out.
what an exciting day
Today started off normally enough. Then at the very end of English, we were told to go into lockdown. I figured it wasn't a drill since it was so close to the end of class. Instantly everyone's phones were out. Some witnesses in the library quickly spread word that a bomb had gone off on the spiral staircase. I was skeptical. We didn't hear a bomb. But sure enough, pretty soon we could see Bountiful City Public Safety, the Bomb Squad, the Bountiful Police, and every news station out the window. Turns out 2 students saw a Youtube video about how to make a bomb from household ingredients and decided to try it out so they could "hear the loud boom." Another one went off within minutes near the junior high down the street so they were put under lockdown also. They didn't tell their students it wasn't a drill because enough has happened at that school already. A teacher and student have both died in the last month. 2 more bombs were found in a gutter. None of them caused a significantly large explosion or damage, but anyone standing nearby would have received severe acid burns from hydrochloric acid. It's amazing no one was hurt. Bomb-sniffing dogs swept the school for more bombs before we could leave our classrooms. Guess who got to spend 3 hours in English! It wasn't too bad. Mrs. Drake gave us Oreos. The news exaggerated the events greatly. They made it sound like Columbine. It could have been very bad, but the results were considerably minor.
