Today has been one year...

...since we moved to Utah. One long year. I mean that in a good way. It's just that most people think we have been here longer when I tell them that. And a lot has happened in that one year. Our girls are one year bigger and older. So are we (older, not bigger:)). Travis has had a job he loves-- the biggest blessing. We bought a home. Just to name a few; It's been a busy year.

One year exactly.

I consider August 16, 2008 to have been a big deal for us. Compared to something else that happened on that day, it's nothing. On that same day, something very heartbreaking happened to another family. Heartbreaking, but it has a happy ending (not that their story is over, it's just that it is a story full of hope, that could have ended much worse). If you have never heard of the NieNie Dialogues, you are missing out. Stephanie Nielson is my hero. I don't know her, I simply blog-stalk her. (I mean this in the most innocent, non-creepy way, I promise. It's therapeutic to read other people's blogs. So many wonderful, funny, uplifting stories to read!) I came upon her blog because my sister-in-law posted about her back around Mother's Day, I think. And I had seen the "I read Nie Nie" button before. But it wasn't until more recently that I visited her blog. And then I got hooked on Nie's sister CJane's blog, too. Love my daily dose of these ladies! Gotta have it!! (And their blogs have lead me to many others. But they are the two I follow religiously.) Anyway, we moved to Utah last summer and got our TV hooked up and news of Stephanie and her husband's airplane crash was on the news. I remember hearing about it several times. And I will never forget it. I remember seeing their family photos on the news. What a cute family going through such a life-changing, awful trial. And now I like to follow her and her family's adventures of getting back to what is normal daily life for them. She is such a strong woman. There are no words to describe how I admire her. How my heart breaks for the struggles she has had to overcome. She is a young mom of four. And since coming upon her blog, I have gone back years, reading her posts since she first began blogging. I have spent HOURS reading them. If you come to my house, you can tell...I need a cleaning lady! Anyway, I just wanted to celebrate our being in Utah a year, but more importantly, I am privately celebrating Stephanie's surviving and overcoming. I know she still has a ways to go, but she has come so far. I am thankful for the lessons I can learn from her. To not take any day, moment, -anything for granted. To find pleasure in the simple things. When I am having a bad day, I know it's nothing to what many people have had to go through. I am truly blessed. I have no right to complain (this does not mean, however, that I won't complain. I am human. And I am a woman. And I think that gives me some right. Okay, maybe that doesn't seem valid, but c'mon? It's just human nature.) Nie Nie's life is a beautiful love story full of triumph and hope. She has touched thousands (probably more that that!) of lives. And I am but one person in that huge following, but I am so grateful for her and the strength and example she is. I think she was an incredible woman before her accident, but she is even more inspiring having gone through the nightmare she did. She has incredible family who has done so much for her. I wonder if I could have done what they have? Had I been in their shoes. I mean, sometimes you have no choice but to live, and do what needs to be done, but what struggles!! I just can't imagine. But I am grateful for the lessons that can be learned from this tragic event and for the things they (Nie and CJane) teach everyday about being moms, women, etc. Today's relief society lesson was about "Relief Society: Divine Organization of Women" How fitting that this is an anniversary for me, an anniversary for Nie, and the wonderful blessing she is in so many lives! And more importantly, the blessing that I might be able to be in some one's life. You never know who you will touch or who you can help or uplift. I hope I can do the same for others :)