Laura's Real Life Dramatizations

I have now seen, and I believe

2011-10-02T19:02:00.014-06:00

Over labor day, my friend Ashley Allan and I set off on a marvelous adventure. We headed north to the magical kingdom of Cape Cod. This is a land fraught with mystery and majesty, secrets and surprises, fantasy and fiction. You never know what you might meet round the next bend. Nothing is impossible in Cape Cod. You might even see the allusive and mystical humpback whale. I have long maintained that whales do not exist, for how could such a fantastic creature possibly be real. I mean look at this thing.

Cape Cod is truly a land where dreams come true, where miracles happen. For I, Laura Hess, now add my witness that the humpback whale is a true and living creature. For I have seen it with my own eyes. In fact, I saw nine of them.

I am so thrilled to be among the believers. So thrilled in fact, that I have honored the whales by naming my new beloved after them. I love fish, and I frequently own fish. When my last fish, Apollo, died I thought that I could never love another fish. However, with the change in scenery (aka, the move to Virginia, more on that later!) I decided to purchase a new fish! I named him Entropy, which was the name of the one of the whales that we saw. He is absolutely beautiful!

He looks very similar to Apollo after Apollo changed colors, except Entropy is more turquoise purpley.

I love him, and I'm so happy to have a fake boyfriend again**!

**If this doesn't make sense to you, see post from November 2008.

A visual accounting

2011-09-28T15:46:00.024-06:00

Here is a brief spattering of pictures from a few random things. I'll try to post more later!!

At Easter time, we found ourselves wanting to paint eggs. Turns out when you go to buy Easter egg dye the day before Easter, the stores are sold out. So we used nail polish!

Still a little confused about how on earth I got a degree from Yale.

The graduation party

This may surprise you, but it rained.

My church had a mustache party. It was silliness to perfection!

Terrence and I inside the ancient Colosseum!

Ancient Rome. Words cannot describe how awesome this place was. Rome on the whole was not my favorite part of the trip, but these ancient ancient ruins where real life really happened was amazing!!

St. Peter's Basilica was really awesome. While Peter never wanted this kind of church, the dedication and effort it must have taken to build it really touched me. It was the most elaborate building I have ever seen.

The amazing country cottage that we stayed out in Lucca, just outside of Florence. It was an incredible place, and is where I shall honeymoon...

Cinque Terre, breathtaking!!!

Terrence and I on a gondola in Venice. Touristy? Perhaps, but I had a much higher opinion of the city after taking the water tour!! Before it just smelled bad, after it smelled like ancient sewage problems.

Lauterbrunnen Switzerland. Holy cow was it pretty here! The biggest collection of waterfalls in one glacier valley is here!

Oh, sweet mystery of life at last I've found thee!!

All roads lead to Interlaken. No really, they do!

I knew I would find true love in Salzburg!!

The classic Salzburg picture, taken from the Mirabel gardens! Several famous movie scenes have been filmed here, including my fav from the Sound the Music!

Russia!!! St. Petersburg!!! Yes, I loved it as much as I always thought I would.

Peterhof, where Peter the Great, found of St. Petersburg in 1702, built this elaborate gold plated fountain system!

The Kremlin. I had no idea that the Kremlin had so much history. We saw the burial grounds of all the ancient tsars, as well as this particular church, where the tsars were inaugurated!

St. Basil's cathedral was maybe one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. Each little spire is its own individual chapel, which means that the inside is this awesome ancient little maze. With awesome acoustics as a beautiful singing group proved!!

Adventures of late

2011-09-03T19:14:00.006-06:00

When I say adventures of late, I am referring to adventures as of the last 7 months since that is the last time I updated my blog. I would say that the last 7 months have been extremely action packed, which means that I will not have much detail, which is a shame for my posterity. I have lost the blogging game but will attempt to catch up!! I will first post descriptions, then do an intense picture post.

Professional life front:

I graduated!! Wow, it is very very hard to believe that my education at Yale University has come and gone!! I am officially a certified family nurse practitioner and have accepted a job in a pediatric primary care office!! Yippee!!! I have a real life again!

Personal life front:

Did I mention that the job is in northern Virginia just south of Washington DC?! I will be moving down at the end of September! Very excited and a little nervous for this new adventure. I will be living with my good friend Nicki Schoonmaker. You may ask me why I choose DC, and I will tell you: it seems like a good idea.

Fun life front:

I went to Europe!!!!!! Holy cow, I cannot have enough exclamation points behind this!! I loved it! I went with Terrence, and my friends Ben, Matt and Charles. I went to several cities in Italy, Switzerland, and Austria. I love Salzburg!! And Lauterbrunnen! And Cinque Terre! I just love it. I left the boys and joined my friend Anna in (drumroll please) Russia!! I have been wanting to visit Russia for as long as I can remember, and now I have!!! Yes, it was everything I dreamed of. I was on vacation for 3 weeks in June, and could have happily stayed for the rest of the summer at least!

I have seen many Broadway shows in my time here in Connecticut. Here is a complete list

In the Heights x2
Shrek
Memphis x5 (I know I know, but I really liked it, you can live stream on Netflix and learn for yourself)
Finian's Rainbow
Addams Family
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (almost x2, I'm going again next week!)
West Side Story
Billy Elliot
Lend Me a Tenor
Catch me if you Can

I sure love Broadway and will miss it immensely!

Crazy weather life front:

um, we had a earthquake. yes, yes we did. Most unfortunately I was driving at the time so didn't even feel it.

and, uh, in the same week, we had a hurricane. Wowzer. Last days or what! It was somewhere between a tropical storm and a category 1 hurricane, but it sure did its share of damage! Trees down everywhere, and many people still don't have power!! I decided to play it safe and leave my fabulous beach house so can't report on how awesome the ocean must have looked at the time. Definitely the most wind I have every encountered! My house had a touch of damage, but overall I came out of it very well.

Ok, I think that's all of the really big stuff, I will be back later in the week with lots of pictures of all of these occasions!

And God said, let there be snow.

2011-01-27T12:27:00.009-07:00

Snow snow and more snow! Last winter, the Connecticut weather was fairly mild. Cold of course, some snow storms, but not too much accumulation. This winter I prayed for snow because I love it (please see previous post) and boy oh boy did God deliver!

There is this special type of storm over here called a Nor'easter. Now, I haven't figured out exactly what makes this different from a good old fashioned Colorado blizzard, but here is what Wikipedia says it is:

"A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below) is a type of macro-scale storm along the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada, so named because the storm travels to the northeast from the south and the winds come from the northeast, especially in the coastal areas of the Northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada. More specifically, it describes a low pressure area whose center of rotation is just off the East Coast and whose leading winds in the left forward quadrant rotate onto land from the northeast. The precipitation pattern is similar to other extratropical storms. Nor'easters also can cause coastal flooding, coastal erosion, hurricane force winds, and heavy snow. Nor'easters can occur at any time of the year but are mostly known for their presence in the winter season.[1] Nor'easters can be devastating and damaging, especially in the winter months, when most damage and deaths are cold related, as nor'easters are known for bringing extremely cold air down from the Arctic air mass. Nor'easters thrive on the converging air masses; that is, the polar cold air mass and the warmer ocean water of the Gulf Stream.[2]
However, in common parlance, "nor'easter" is often used to refer to any strong rain or snow storm that occurs in the northeast part of the United States, regardless of season, prevailing wind direction, direction of storm travel, or the geographic origin of the storm. This "bad storm" usage has even spread to local TV channel newscasts, at least in the greater New York City area, which makes the common use of the term "noreaster" all the more confusing. Within common parlance, even if a particular storm has a generally rotating formation and a portion of it presents northeasterly winds over some part of the northeast, other sections of the same storm may be presenting prevailing winds from other directions over other parts of the northeast but the storm will still be called a nor'easter."

Mostly what I get from this is that nor'easter means bad weather. Here are some pictures from our latest storms.

Last week, I woke up to this:

It was wonderful! About a foot and a halfish. I was so sore from shoveling, had some great fun sledding, I felt more at home then I have in a long time. Then something really strange happened about a week later. It had been really cold, so not too much of the snow had melted. It snowed a little more, and then started to rain!! Ew ew ew. Freezing rain. This was the result

That's no decorative pattern on my window, that is ice!! Somewhere around an inch of ice!

This much ice was everywhere! On all my windows, covering my car, and it was coating the snow! It is not too clear in this next picture, but my backyard was a bonifide skating rink!

You can sort of tell that the "snow" has a glazed, smooth look. Definitely the strangest weather I have ever seen. We got another 5 inches or so a couple days later, not too bad. Then this morning, woke up to another 18 inches! Now mind you we still had a lot of snow on the ground because it hasn't really gotten out of the 20's. Wow!

I figure that there is a total of 3 feet on the ground right now! Boy oh boy I love the snow!!

Snow, snow, snow!!!

2011-01-04T20:16:00.014-07:00

I love the snow!!! I just do! If it has to be cold and dreary, it might as well snow! I love to sled, to throw snowballs, to make snow angels, snow cones, snow forts! And it is so beautiful while falling and even more beautiful when it is fresh and untouched, and the sun can just make snow sing! And who doesn't love a good snow day!

Take for example the March storm of 2003 where we got about 3 feet of snow, and school was canceled for a week! It made the world wonderful. Doesn't this just look fun? (just to give you a frame of reference, there is a car in this picture...you can see the rearview mirror barely sticking out!)

Need further proof that snow is incredible?

Here is snow's contribution to Alaska's scenery:

And what about this random picture I found on the internet? Gorgeous!

Snow has also been an essential part in creating some wonderful creatures, snowpeople! Who doesn't love this guy?

Who would put the star on the tree without him? And what about this wonderful lady (Stella I think was her name...my sibs and I made her)

Or this snowbaby, Felix, that Sara and I recently made

Don't we just look so happy together?

This is only a small sampling of the snowpeople have touched my life.

Plus hot chocolate tastes so much better after you have been playing in the snow. Trust me, snow is God's gift to the world!

Deja vu

2010-12-08T13:51:00.003-07:00

One of my dearest friends Jessica and I have been through so much together. We support each other through thick and thin. Combined, we have had some of the most interesting dating experiences. In order to get a good laugh (because otherwise we would cry right? Let's face it, it is hard being a single LDS woman), we have decided to write a book cataloging our various experiences in our quest for our prince. Here is my latest chapter.

Deja Vu

(names have been changed to protect the not so innocent. If the subjects of this story happen to come across this blog post, please accept it for what it is, an expression of my feelings, not any kind of attack. I still think you are both fantastic gentlemen.)

Salt Lake City, Utah, Christmas time, 2008

Laura was going through life quite contentedly. She was working as a nurse on an infant unit at the local hospital and loved her job! She felt comfortable about furthering her education by obtaining her masters degree. She felt like she had a warm circle of friends that supported her. She was choir director in the ward, had just made her debut in local community theater, and she had a great fish named Elmer! Things seemed to be going great for Laura. She was surprised that things got even better when a great guy named John started coming around! He showed some interest in Laura, which Laura reciprocated as best as she knew how. She held hands with him, cuddled with him, invited him over, was excited to see him and hear from him, shared with him her interests and took interest in his interests, cooked him food, etc etc. Laura was super excited about this new development. This was the first time that someone Laura wanted to date wanted to date her back! But suddenly Elmer died, and John became aloof. Laura didn't know what happened, John stopped calling. After a couple of weeks, John was mature enough to sit down with Laura to discuss events. Laura was surprised to learn that John had been gung ho at the beginning, but started thinking that Laura was not interested! Laura emphatically asserted that she just isn't very good at dating and showing physical affection, but was definitely interested and just tell her what you need, she would make it better!! Well, by this time it was too late. Instead of talking to Laura and clearing it up, John started dating someone else. Really? It only took 2 weeks to replace Laura? Burn.

2 years later...

New Haven, Connecticut, Christmas time, 2010

Laura was going through life quite contentedly. She was working as a nurse on an infant unit at the local hospital and loved her job! She felt comfortable about furthering her education by obtaining her masters degree. She felt like she had a warm circle of friends that supported her. She was choir director in the branch, had just made her debut with a solo at the stake Christmas concert, and she had a great fish named Apollo! Things seemed to be going great for Laura. She was surprised that things got even better when a great guy named Jack started coming around! He showed some interest in Laura, which Laura reciprocated as best as she knew how. She held hands with him, cuddled with him, invited him over, was excited to see him and hear from him, shared with him her interests and took interest in his interests, cooked him food, etc etc. Laura was super excited about this new development. This was the second time that someone Laura wanted to date wanted to date her back! But suddenly Apollo died, and Jack became aloof. Laura didn't know what happened, Jack stopped calling. After a couple of weeks, Laura was mature enough to sit down with Jack to discuss events. Laura was surprised to learn that Jack had been gung ho at the beginning, but started thinking that Laura was not interested! Laura emphatically asserted that she just isn't very good at dating and showing physical affection, but was definitely interested and just tell her what you need, she would make it better!! Well, by this time it was too late. Instead of talking to Laura and clearing it up, Jack started dating someone else. Really? It only took 2 weeks to replace Laura? Burn.

I don't think I'll get a new fish.

Ode to Apollo

2010-11-28T20:39:00.013-07:00

My faithful fish, Apollo, who has been through so much with me over the last two years, passed away on Friday. It was truly a sad day and marked the end of an era. I first got Apollo from a fish store in Holladay Utah. My good friend Jessica helped me pick him out.

He is so beautiful and we were happy together.

About a month or so after purchasing Apollo, something strange happened. His brilliant blue color started to fade. I worried that he was perhaps getting sick, but he was still eating and was active. Suddenly one day, Jessica made a remarkable connection, the water at the pet store was blue!! Apollo had been dyed!! He was fading to his natural color! I loved Apollo just the same.

Apollo and I were happy in Salt Lake City, but as things often do, life started changing and I decided to relocate to Connecticut. Apollo came with me on a fantastic adventure. We picked up and started a 5 day drive. Apollo lived in a tiny tupperware dish for the journey. I worried about him at times, but he pulled through.

Apollo enjoyed the trip. He especially liked Niagra Falls, and the missionaries at the Hill Cumorah. We made it to Connecticut and got settled into our new home. Something odd happened at our new home, Apollo decided to turn more reddish. It was very strange...still haven't figured that one out, perhaps he missed Jessica.

He has had this reddish hue ever since. Apollo lived a good life, and, as dumb as this may sound, provided some good consistency for me when everything else in life was changing! He was a great fish and will be greatly missed!

It's too bad that whales don't exist!

2010-10-09T11:22:00.004-06:00

Here it is, the bi-annual post (there goes my goal!). But this is a bonus post because this is 2 posts in one. A fake post, and a real post.

Fake post

In July, my sister Sara came and visited. We had a blast! It was seriously so much fun. The thing we were most excited about was whale watching! We got up uber early and drove this beautiful drive down the coast of Connecticut, into New York City, then back around up to the tip of Long Island.

We then hopped on a boat with this awesome naturalist named Arty, and prepared ourselves for the coolest day of our lives.

We were not disappointed. We saw this:

And this:

And this:

It was truly a dream come true!! Life doesn't get much better than that!

Real post:

In July, my sister Sara came and visited. We had a blast! It was seriously so much fun. The thing we were most excited about was whale watching! We got up uber early and drove this beautiful drive down the coast of Connecticut, into New York City, then back around up to the tip of Long Island.

We then hopped on a boat with this awesome naturalist named Arty, and prepared ourselves for the coolest day of our lives.

We were bitterly disappointed. We saw this:

And this:

And this:

Why didn't anyone tell us that whales didn't exist before we spent a bunch of money, time, and excitement whale watching!! What a harsh way to find out that the existence of whales is just another government conspiracy. It all turned out ok though, because later in the trip we saw this:

And this:

And this:

I know this picture is a bit dark, but yes, that is Tony Shalhoub, aka Adrian Monk, in the flesh. As is fairly normal, I did create a bit awkward of a situation when he got over to us to shake his hand. As you may or may not be aware, Tony Shalhoub attended Yale back in the day to get his masters degree in theater. Being the person I am, I happened to know this information. So I said "I occasionally walk past the Yale Rep Theater and think of you". He squints his eyes in confusion, says "hm. But you're probably too young to have seen me in anything there.", signs my playbill and gets into his limo and drives away wondering what just happened to him. Nonetheless, if I can't see any whales, the least I can do is make Tony Shalhoub feel awkward.

Organ donation

2010-02-16T16:41:00.003-07:00

I really really liked this article in the Salt Lake Tribune. It is worth reading the whole thing, I promise!

Ashley's gift: A liver for LuLu

Organ donation » Two mothers and their daughters are forever linked by a 'wonderful, yet horrible' donation.

By Heather May
The Salt Lake Tribune

Murray » Liz Badger is scouring every cupboard and drawer, tossing enough kitchen containers, blankets and clothes to fill at least a dozen bags for charity.

This time, though, she's not nesting before bringing a baby home from the hospital. She's working off her anxiety about taking her dying daughter back there.

In a pink bedroom down the hall, 13-month-old London slumbers most of the day, in end-stage liver failure.

Affectionately called LuLu, the dark-haired, dark-eyed girl is one of the sickest children on the pediatric transplant waiting list in the Western United States. Without a new liver soon, her doctors fear, she won't make it.

Her family mostly stays home to avoid germs so she remains healthy enough for surgery. They watch movies. They play games.

They wait for someone else's child to die.

Liz's cell phone is always within reach.

But part of her hopes it won't ring, not yet. LuLu is sick but stable. And in the silence there is solace: Another family has another day with their baby.

The phone is quiet for now, but not for much longer. The life of another dark-haired, dark-eyed girl is also fading.

'I love you, mom' » Nearly 200 miles away, Camie Lacey drives her daughter, Ashley Maynard, to her bus stop in a small eastern Utah town on Jan. 5. It isn't their routine, but it's too cold for her 12-year-old to walk. As the bus approaches, Ashley steps out of the car and says, "I love you, mom."

Camie sees her wait for one car to drive by. Realizing Ashley doesn't see the next one, Camie calls out her name and watches Ashley turn toward her. The car strikes Ashley, and she rolls onto the hood, then falls to the street.

Camie knows there is little hope when she gently pushes up Ashley's eyelids in the Vernal emergency room: The sparkle is gone.

In the coming days, Camie will pray for her firstborn to let go.

Time running out » At 2 months old, doctors diagnosed LuLu with Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. The rare genetic disorder traps a protein in her liver, causing scars and preventing it from controlling infections, filtering toxins and processing food.

As she grew, LuLu didn't have the fat, dimpled fists of a healthy baby. Every protruding vertebra in her back was a reminder of the food she couldn't eat. The disease made her nauseated and prevented her from digesting the nutrients she eventually had to take through a tube.

Yet her belly was swollen. High blood pressure in the veins leading to her liver caused fluids to leak into her abdomen, which had to be drained by a needle.

Before her first birthday, it was clear she needed a liver transplant.

Liz and her husband James, both 28, were determined one of them would give their daughter life for a second time. In theory, a surgeon could remove a portion of one of their livers for LuLu.

"I want us to have matching scars," Liz wrote in November on a blog chronicling LuLu's illness. "I want her to be able to look at me whenever she feels self-conscious and see how proud I am of my scar."

But both parents were ruled out, and doctors at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City put LuLu on the waiting list for a deceased organ donor. When her kidneys started to fail in December, she advanced to the top.

Liz learned LuLu's ideal match would come from a child. That kept her up at night. Will he or she have been ill for months? Or will the death be unexpected?

"I will be sick for that mom that wants to die because her baby is no longer in her arms," Liz wrote at about 2 a.m. in late December during LuLu's third extended hospital stay for an infection and care that had her kidneys working again.

"I would want to die, too. And that is why I feel heartbroken tonight and every night as I lay thinking about this wonderful yet horrible process of organ donation."

Letting go » At LuLu's weekly appointment on Jan. 8, Liz sings the Bob Marley song "Three Little Birds." LuLu likes to shake her belly up and down to the words: "Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing gonna be all right." Today, Liz wants to calm LuLu, who has just thrown up, and convince herself that the lyrics are true.

Linda Book, Primary's medical director of liver transplantation, tells her and James, "I know you're anxious to get this finished and get her well."

Liz struggles to agree. "We are," she says, thinking of where the liver will come from, "but it's a strange spot to be in."

Just down the hall, unknown to Liz and James, Ashley lies still in the pediatric intensive care unit.

The sister of 7-year-old Samantha, 5-year-old Abigail and 13-year-old stepsister Danyeal, Ashley is in sixth grade at Vernal Middle School. She is the type to comfort a crying classmate at lunch and to correct her Sunday school teacher's grammar.

She dreams of becoming a veterinarian. As a younger child, she toted around a toy bat dressed in doll clothes, trotted through the house pretending to be a horse and made nests in the backyard.

The crash fractured her skull and stopped her heart.

Emergency room physician Aaron Bradbury was just ending his shift at Ashley Valley Medical Center, where severe trauma cases are unusual. Hearing an ambulance was on its way carrying Ashley, he stayed to help.

Several of the staff resuscitating Ashley knew her. When they found a pulse -- she may have gone up to 20 minutes without one -- Bradbury felt something like regret.

"I knew what was going to be in store for the family," he said later. "She might die in the ICU or she could persist in a vegetative state for years."

Ashley was flown to Primary Children's, where doctors left her in a medically induced coma, controlled her temperature and increased her blood pressure to move blood through her brain.

But days later, her brain is still swollen.

Camie, 35, already knows it's time to let go. She's been looking in Ashley's eyes every day and can't find her daughter.

"The best part of Ashley was her heart, her soul, and then her brain, her intelligence," Camie says later. "I knew she wasn't going to come back."

'The most difficult thing to do' » Refusing to let Ashley become an organ donor, Camie felt, would be like killing another child. She asks doctors for reassurance that the drugs keeping Ashley paralyzed and sedated aren't ruining her organs.

Camie has a choice: If she turns off the ventilator and Ashley's heart stops quickly, she could likely donate her liver and kidneys. But if she survives longer than an hour, low blood pressure and oxygen would damage her organs.

If Camie waits and Ashley's brain stops first, doctors can keep her on life support and more lives can be saved.

Camie, a member of the Church of Christ, starts to pray for Ashley's brain to stop. She also hopes families awaiting a call don't feel guilty.

"It's got to be the most difficult thing to do - wait for another child to die," Camie says later. "I can't imagine the feeling."

To better assess Ashley, doctors stop administering the drugs sedating her, and she begins showing primitive responses, blinking and coughing.

Camie runs into her room and kisses her, asking, Are you going to be my miracle baby? She is so close she can taste a salty tear from Ashley's eye.

Ashley's father, stepfather, aunts and uncles gather at her bedside. She isn't awake. But for the first time, Camie feels Ashley is there, spiritually, to hear them say goodbye.

After her last visitor leaves in the morning, Ashley stops responding. The swelling has forced her brain stem into her spinal column.

She is pronounced dead around noon on Jan. 13. On a ventilator, her heart continues to beat. Ashley will give her heart, pancreas, kidneys and liver.

Camie can't part with her eyes.

She lays in bed with her daughter. She bathes her and combs her hair.

'Can you say a little prayer?' » At 3 the next morning, Gina Wiser's pager wakes her up.

A transplant coordinator at Primary Children's, she confirms the liver offered to LuLu is a good match, then dials Liz.

Liz cries, thinking of the donor's family.

Wiser consoles her, sharing how tissue donation helped her own family cope with the death of her 14-year-old brother, Zachary. "This is a good thing," Wiser tells her.

Behind the scenes, the symphony of donation is playing out.

Intermountain Donor Services must find a home for the donor's organs, and the transplant surgeons must be in the room at the same time to remove them.

As LuLu's family waits more than 30 hours in the hospital, they hold and play with her as much as they can. She sits on a mat on the floor as James and Liz blow bubbles into her startled face.

When surgery finally starts, at noon on Jan. 15, LuLu's 3-year-old brother, Jonah, her parents and grandparents say good-bye. "LuLu's about to get a liver. Can you say a little prayer in your heart?" Liz asks Jonah as she touches his chest.

Jonah folds his arms and bows his head.

The surgery lasts for about 10 hours. Chief pediatric surgeon Rebecka Meyers works on disconnecting LuLu's bumpy, scarred liver. At the same time, Willem Van der Werf, Primary's surgical director for liver transplants, is removing organs from the donor.

Once he divides the liver for LuLu and a baby in California, Van der Werf walks the soft, pink left lobe to LuLu, whose room is next door.

"You just want her to move without being connected to anything," James says of his post-surgery hopes. "I want her to be able to wrestle with Jonah. [Go] on a simple walk."

At midnight in the ICU, Liz places a gloved hand over LuLu's already-shrunken abdomen and on top of her new liver. She quietly says a prayer of thanks to her daughter's "donor angel."

Caressing LuLu's head, she says: "You did it. You got a new liver."

'She's dying a hero' » Officially, Liz and James only know LuLu received the left segment of a liver. But they're convinced they've seen their angel.

On the morning of LuLu's surgery, Liz received an e-mail from her sister urging her to read a story in The Salt Lake Tribune.

Liz stares at Ashley's quiet smile and reads about her family's decision. "I always had a feeling in my heart that my little girl would one day become a hero," William Antico, Ashley's father, told the newspaper. "She's dying a hero."

Organ donation is anonymous to allow families to give and accept freely, without the pressure of knowing each other, says Karen Hannahs, a family liaison for Intermountain Donor Services.

To protect families from difficult emotions that can accompany donation, Hannahs advises them against meeting for at least six months.

But Liz and James feel compelled to go to Ashley's funeral to pay their respects. They need to know about the girl who saved LuLu's life.

Three days after LuLu's surgery, they leave her in intensive care to drive 170 miles east through the night and snow to Vernal.

They arrive early to the viewing, offered by the LDS Church to be held at a stake center, and are alone with Ashley, in her white casket with images of horses, for a half hour. Liz gently strokes her cheek, holds her hand and touches her where her liver was.

Thank you, Liz says, I am sorry you had to die.

An LDS bishop comes in and, seeing Liz and James' tears, asks how they know Ashley. The couple, also members of the church, hesitate. They hadn't planned to explain their connection to Ashley, wanting to keep the day's focus on her.

After the bishop asks for a third time, Liz whispers, "We believe Ashley was the donor for our baby."

In tears, the bishop embraces them, insisting Camie will want to know.

At peace » Driving to the stake center, Camie prays, wondering how she will make it through the day. When she walks into the room, she sees her answer: James and Liz are standing next to Ashley's coffin.

A relative eagerly tells Camie their little girl got Ashley's liver, and Camie instantly feels at peace.

The two mothers hold each other and cry.

Without knowing it, they had been praying for each other for days.

Invited to stay as the casket is closed, Liz and James listen as the family prays for the driver who hit Ashley and the people who received her organs. They watch as Camie kisses Ashley for the last time.

At the funeral, Camie guides them to sit among Ashley's relatives.

"She's a piece of our family," Camie says of LuLu. "They always will be."

'You can be OK' » A week later on Jan. 26, Camie and Liz sit on a couch, holding hands at Primary Children's. Camie has been following LuLu's progress on Liz's blog and she and Ashley's stepfather, Len Lacey, want to meet her.

As the two couples talk for more than an hour, the mothers occasionally touch their matching letter-A pendants.

Liz wants a picture of Ashley to sit next to photos of her children. She vows to Camie she will raise a daughter to make her proud; Ashley, she says, has set the bar.

"I wish more than anything she was alive," Liz says.

Camie comforts Liz. "You can be OK, because I'm OK," she says. "I've spent my whole life trying to get me and my family, my kids, to heaven, and I got one there."

Bradbury, Ashley's emergency room doctor, now says he is comforted she lived so that she could save five other people. Camie is proud that a boy in Canada has her heart; a baby girl in San Francisco has part of her liver; a Minnesota woman has one kidney while a Utah woman has the other, along with her pancreas.

Intermountain Donor Services confirms LuLu has Ashley's liver. There will always be a risk she could reject it, though the chances are highest in the next year. A lifetime of anti-rejection drugs will bring their own problems.

But within days, LuLu will be home, rolling on her stomach, finally hungry, eating cereal and cupcakes and chocolate. She will jump higher in her bouncy swing and laugh louder. Liz will feel Ashley gave LuLu not only life, but some of her own zest to fully live it.

For now, holding LuLu in the hospital, Liz points to Camie and tells her baby, "You can say, 'Mama.' She gave you life, too."

Camie kisses LuLu's bandaged stomach, saying. "I love you, sweetheart."

In the room, she can feel Ashley again.

The sparkle is back.

Ashley

Lulu

I look like who!?!?

2010-02-04T20:34:00.010-07:00

Lately on facebook there is this thing going around that you put as your profile picture a celebrity you've been told you look like. Well, to be be perfectly honest, the only people I've been told I look like are my siblings, and sorry sibs, none of you count. So I had been pondering last week who I might look like, to no avail. When I was about to give up the search, content to just look like myself, my answer came! I was seeing a patient in my clinical when out of the blue she says "you know, you look like Sissy Spacek." I was then accused of being too young when I responded "Sissy who?" But she insisted I was the spitting image, and called me Sissy the rest of the visit.

As soon as I got home I googled Sissy Spacek and found that this is what I'm going to look like when I am 50.

I couldn't find a younger picture but, ok, I can see some resemblance and she's a pretty lady so I'll take it. I was about to buy into it, when I came across some information that completely turned me off from ever wanting to look like this woman. She has recently joined the cast of the HBO series "Big Love", a show which is the very reason that I will never watch a single thing on HBO. This show practiced blatant religious intolerance when they aired a sacred LDS ceremony on TV. It was tactless and showed an obvious lack of respect for religious beliefs in general, not to mention put on display something that faithful LDS members have promised to keep sacred by not discussing outside of the temple walls. My favorite part was that HBO tried to make church members feel better by saying that they had consulted experts to ensure accuracy. First, any expert that would have communicated this information to them is an ex-communicated member of the church. Second, if they were concerned about accuracy, they would have accurately depicted the ceremony as being sacred and not appropriate to show on national television. Sorry Sissy, I think I'll just stick with looking like myself.

Here are some my favorite shots of temples. They are truly magnificent buildings but even more magnificent is the work that goes on inside of the walls!

St. George, Utah

Denver, Colorado

Manti, Utah

Melbourne, Australia

San Diego, California

Salt Lake City, Utah

Parade induced panic

2009-12-10T20:54:00.007-07:00

This year for Thanksgiving my sister Emily came out to good old CT to play with me. We decided that it would be fun to brave the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade! You apparently have to be a person specialer than I to stand where you can see the performances, but it was fun seeing the floats, and especially seeing Cheyenne Jackson ride by on the Big Apple.

What I found most striking however about the parade was what I observed on human behavior. We arrived about 3 hours early and we found this cozy little spot towards the end of the parade route. There were just a few people there sitting on their blankets enjoying each other's company with the sweet sounds of kids laughter, anxiously waiting for the signs of the coming parade. This nice couple in front of us even bought us donuts! We quickly learned however the true meaning of 8 million people living in New York City. As more and more people crowded in and started standing behind us, I became more and more grateful for our little spot in the front. Then disaster struck. A police officer came by and moved the fence that was keeping people off the street up about 2 feet. A meer 2 feet. Can you foresee what happened? The people standing in the back saw their chance!! "Look!! Space up front" they all said, "we can definitely beat all those early people who are sitting down and have to move their blankets!" They quickly rushed up front, not concerned about who might be bumped or stepped on. After the second time the fence was moved, our cozy little spot had no sitting room, and had turned into a sea of backs for a short person such as myself. If everyone had stayed where they were, I estimate 87.6% of the crowd would've been able to see well. The people sitting would've been able to see, and those standing would've been able to see over the people sitting. As it happened, only those that had aggressively pushed their way to the front and the select few tall people could really see, an estimated 8.3% of the crowd.

As I contemplated this interesting behavior I have tried to understand what psycological explanation there is for it. I came across a good term for what may have happened. This term encompasses behavior we saw at the parade, such as

Individuals attempt to move faster than normal
Interactions between individuals become physical
Exits become arched and clogged
Individuals display a tendency towards mass or copied behavior

Sounds fitting right? What is the term you ask? Escape panic.

Intriguing! In this instance, people are not trying to escape, but rather they are going into the heart of the beast (aka ginormous crowd), yet the behavior is the same! Therefore, with all the evidence laying before me, I have coined the name for a new psycological condition, parade induced panic. The central components are: the combination of a large crowd, and the overall weirdness yet historical significance of parades, will put people into a panic mode causing them to act as though they were escaping while actually moving toward the danger, thus enhancing the danger, thus enhancing the panic, thus creating an ongoing cycle. BEWARE! NO ONE IS IMMUNE!! I myself followed the strange pull of the parade. One day you too may find yourself happily blocking the view of a 6 year old child who had been waiting patiently since 7am to see the parade.

A good question was posed, who does clean up all of his webs?

BROADWAY!

2009-11-11T18:41:00.005-07:00

What do you get when you put someone who highly enjoys Broadway shows an hour north of New York City? That's right, you get me. Here's what I've seen so far!

I just loved "In the Heights" and I had been wanting to see it since it won the Tony for best musical, best score, and best choreography and best orchestration in 2008. It was so amazing. I love Usnavi.

That's me and Usnavi (just ignore that bright flash on his hand implying that he might be a poster)
Shrek! This show was also fun, won best costumes in 2009 and nominated for best musical, and a slew of others. The best part about this show though was the woman who played Fiona, Sutton Foster. She is probably my favorite Broadway singer, and I got to see her live! Ah, made me infinitely happy.

Don't worry plenty more musicals to come! Ragtime is back on Broadway! As is Cheyenne Jackson and Kristen Chenoweth and Hugh Jackman and John Stamos! So many shows, I could spend a life time!

Pumpkin, the forgotten fruit

2009-10-18T19:38:00.008-06:00

Did you know that Antarctica is the only continent that cannot grow pumpkins? Did you know that the biggest recorded pumpkin was 500 pounds? Did you know that pumpkin is a fruit in the squash family? Did you know that 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins are produced each year? Did you know that pumpkins originated in North America? Did you know that you can eat a pumpkin? I'm guessing that the answer to most of these questions is no. When people think of pumpkins, they generally think of Halloween and the many creative ways to carve a pumpkin. For example, picture above, "Elder Potato head". One may also think of Cinderella and her amazing Fairy Godmother's work with a pumpkin. The reprobates of the world may be thinking "whose car can I throw one at?". But when I look at a pumpkin, as with many other fruits, I see food. Somehow in all the hustle and bustle, we as a society have forgotten that you can cook a pumpkin. Said one when I mentioned I was cooking a pumpkin "you can cook pumpkin?". Another when asked where they thought canned pumpkin came from answered "the grocery store".

I am here to remind you that yes, not only can pumpkin be cooked into several delicious delicacies, it is exceedingly nutritious! Let's break it down.

per 1 cup cooked boiled and drained pumpkin there are:
Calories 49
Fat 0 grams
Protein 2 grams
Carbohydrate 12 grams
Dietary Fiber 3 grams
Calcium 37 mg
Iron 1.4 mg
Magnesium 22 mg
Potassium 564 mg Zinc 1 mg
Selenium .50 mg
Vitamin C 12 mg
Niacin 1 mg
Folate 21 mcg
Vitamin A 2650 IU
Vitamin E 3 mg

Might I specially point out the 2650 IU of Vitamin A!!! That is 245% of the daily vitamin A you need folks!

It is true that pumpkin does take some time and energy to convert into a usable form, so now that you feel sufficiently guilty for simply carving your pumpkin and leaving all that vitamin A outside to rot, let me tell you one way to cook a pumpkin.

1. obtain a pumpkin. Because of the aforementioned societal bias, October is the best time.
2. cut it in a manner to sufficiently be able to carve out the guts
3. carve out the guts (be sure to keep the seeds! They can make a yummy snack! I'm not sure if there are any uses for the goo...)
4. Chop the pumpkin into manageable pieces, i.e. pieces that will fit into a pot
5. boil the pumpkin! It will need about 30-45 minutes or until it is very soft.
6. Here I usually let it cool well, and then peel it. It can be peeled before boiling, but I find it infinitely easier to peel it after boiling. The flesh should fall off the skin fairly easily.
7. Stick it in a blender and puree it. There should be no clumps and it will seem a bit runny, should remind you of baby food.
8. Return your canned pumpkin to the store.
9. Freeze it or use it right away!!
10. Enjoy your scrumptious treats year long.

tip: pumpkin seeds are especially delicious when they have been soaked in worcestershire sauce and then roasted!

There you have it, pumpkin with a purpose. By all means, continue to carve pumpkins, I obviously am amused by it. However let us expand our horizens and utilize one of pumpkins most valuable assests, its flavor.

You did what!?!?

2009-10-01T19:56:00.007-06:00

I thought I would save you all some breaths, and say for you what I know you will say when I announce what I did. I went to a Yankees game! It's true! I hopped in the car with a crazy New York driver, went down to the Bronx, sat in the brand spanking new Yankees stadium and watched an entire baseball game. And guess what, I enjoyed every minute of it! I've discovered my problem watching baseball, I've always sat too far back to be able to see the ball. Turns out when you sit close enough that you can see the ball, you don't get bored nearly as quickly. It's much more enjoyable! This was our view.

But Laura! you're saying, those seats are 21 rows back from the field! Those have got to be at least $300 seats! I know, don't worry, I didn't compromise any standards, we only paid $25!! Through an interesting series of events, we got extremely lucky.

They somehow knew I was coming so they put my name up on the board. Some people may try and convince you that is an advertisement for the gas station, don't be deceived! I'm still wondering though who the heck has a last name of Budweiser...

I was accompanied by a couple of great guys I have met in the branch, Alan (above) and Clarence (below). Alan unfortunately carries a curse of the home team losing when he attends the game, so the Yankees did lose. Fortunately I'm a *social fan so didn't lose any sleep. Clarence on the other hand...

*social fan - Whomever I happen to be with at the time, whatever their favorite team is, that is my favorite team. I'll probably end up cheering for the Red Sox by the time the year is over.

I'm a Connecticutian!

2009-09-17T20:25:00.009-06:00

Hard to believe that I have been here a month, but it is starting to feel more like home. Ok, I'm really not a Connecticutian, it is funny some of the differences here. First, people in the store look at me like I am crazy when I look at them and say hi. They are so confused by it! (once you start talking to people though, they are very nice) Second, tonight I borrowed my roommates GPS to go to a party that some classmates were throwing, the GPS wasn't working properly, and I didn't have a clue what direction I should start driving! Third, trees!!! Wow are there a lot of trees and woods! I am excited for how beautiful the fall will be! My house is fun, here are pictures of some of the way we have decorated the inside, many of the features may look familiar.

Susan, my piano, made it safely across the plains! She didn't even get knocked too bad out of tune! I really need to get a de-humidifier for her though...

One of my favorite parts so far about Connecticut is living so close to the ocean! I should put a little disclaimer here, really it is the Long Island Sound. I'll explain for those who don't know what that means, because I'll be honest, I wouldn't have known what that meant before I became a Connecticutian. If you look at a map, Long Island, New York is right across from Connecticut and having such a big island right across the way affects the water. It is still the ocean but it is a lot calmer, we don't get the big crashing waves, crazy tides etc. Also the closest water to me (about 5 minute drive!!) is in a little bay called the Branford Bay. Really though, it is delightful. Most of the beaches are quite rocky, but my town has made a little sand beach for us and there is a nice park right by the water. One of my new favorite places.

Random chair on the dock

Apollo's new groove

2009-08-30T19:26:00.006-06:00

My fish is adjusting quite nicely to the east coast. He seems to be happy, swimming well, eating well. However he has undergone a strange mutation. Let us review his Utah look.

Nice blue color (which actually did fade some, sorry I don't have a more recent picture), white fins with splashes of red. Apollo has decided that with the change in environment, he needed to also have a drastic change. This is the new Apollo.

He is still acting healthy and I still love him just the same, he's just turned more...red. Four prevailing theories right now. The first is his little container that I brought him over in was red, and maybe he just misses that container and it is kind of like the patronus phenomenon. The second theory is stress, it's a killer. The third theory, Apollo died on the trip, my fam didn't want to tell me so switched him when I was sleeping hoping I wouldn't notice. The fourth and most likely theory in my mind is the fact that there is fluoride in the water in Connecticut that was not in the water in Utah! Hm...what do you think?

RELOCATION!!

2009-08-25T16:22:00.015-06:00

Wow, I can't believe where life has gone, I have officially moved to Connecticut to get my nurse practitioner degree at Yale University! This explains lack of recent posts...extreme business with getting ready to go plus soak up as much of my Utah friends as I could muster! But you'll be happy to hear that I have a goal to update at least once a week!

To get to Connecticut, my sister Sara, Mom, best friend Nicki and fish - Apollo - went on an intense cross country trip. We drove a truck which I lovingly named Phillipe and Millie (my car) through 11 states which are:

1. Utah!
Sara with Phillipe and our entertainment, Harry Potter!

2. Wyoming!
Boring picture, but Wyoming is a boring state! In the Walmart parking lot trying to stay out of the sun.

3. Nebraska!
We slept in this charming town called Sidney. My favorite part was passing a town called Friend.

4. Iowa!
we accidentally took a video instead of a picture...

5. Illinois!
not too much exciting happened here

6. Indiana!
Are you getting the gist yet that not too much happened on the first part of our trip?

7. Ohio!
Finally excitement! We stopped in Kirtland to visit some of the church history sites. The Kirtland temple was beautiful.

8. Pennsylvania!
We weren't here for too long...

9. New York!
We did several things in New York, we stopped at Niagra falls, Apollo got so excited, he tried to join his fish friends, but I told him he didn't want to go down the waterfall and he calmed down. We also went through Palmyra. On the same day that we went to the Kirtland Temple, we got to go to the Palmyra Temple! It was a neat experience. We saw most of the sites in Palmyra, the missionaries at the Hill Cumorah (huh, apparently I have no idea how to spell that...is that right?) babysat Apollo for me while we saw the sites. I think they were amused.

10. Massachusetts!
Turns out we didn't get a picture in Massachusetts.

11. Connecticut!
yeah! Apollo made it back into his bowel!

I'm excited to see what new adventures await me here in the east! Coming up next, why Connecticut has turned Apollo blue again with some red splashed in...

garden!

2009-06-30T12:30:00.013-06:00

Gardening is by far my favorite part of the summer and this year I have been so blessed to have a great little place to plant! Utah has been getting some great rain that has kept my flowers really happy. Here are some progress pictures. My flowers are a bit like my children so there are quite a few :)

This is back in April when I first planted, please pay special attention to the ity bity pink snap dragons up in the corner.

More shots from April

ok, so all of the following pictures are from the last couple of weeks! the garden has really taken off! A few of the plants were added or rearranged, but for the most part, the original plants just grew really well, for example, the snap dragons! this next picture is those same snap dragons that just took off!

cool how much more full it looks! I did get in some fights with the apartment gardeners to get them to stop picking the "weeds" that were coming up that were actually seeds I had planted, but finally I was able to get them to last to the point that they flowered and the gardeners finally understood that they were not weeds and stopped pulling them.

You may be asking yourself, what happened to those really pretty orange flowers that are in the April pictures but not the June pictures? Well, unfortunately, it turns out that our common enemy, the snail, likes to eat them. The following picture is what happened to my rununculus.

Snails also like to eat mums.

But I have since spread down some poison and that seems to be keeping the snails away. So there you have it, my little garden!! The love of my life!!

Cruise!!!

2009-06-30T11:56:00.011-06:00

The fam went on an awesome Caribbean cruise in May. I just loved it. A cruise is perfect for my personality type. You get the perfect blend of laying around with absolutely nothing to do, sleeping in, reading on the deck, watching the ocean, playing minature golf, adventure, shows, macaroni and cheese, steak, etc, etc. It was lovely.

ah the bahamas

we saw some pirates off in the distance

not photoshopped!! I know amazing, just off of Key West

Getting ready to snorkel!

My feet really really rejected the Caribbean sun

Wow life!

2009-06-30T11:55:00.001-06:00

huh, so I promise life has happened since May first! Here are some quick marathon posts to catch up since I have been a slacker.

Snails. Why did it have to be, snails?

2009-05-01T23:12:00.013-06:00

I looked out my front door and what did I see? This...

okay okay Laura, Utah has a few snails, it's just one snail crawling on the fence. Don't panic. Then I looked a little harder and saw this...

huh. If you look carefully you will see no less than 5 snails on this fence. As I was inspecting the fence I heard a crunch, I looked down and saw this...

If you look carefully you will see no less than 7 snails on the sidewalk in front of my house (haha, including the one I accidentally stepped on). I started looking around and gasped. An army of snails was accumulating right outside my door!! Forget about swine flu, I am preparing for invasion! I must admit while I believe that snails are the spawns of the devil because they kill gardens, they are fascinating creatures, so I started collecting them in one area to get a better idea of how many there were and to observe. Folks, these pictures you are about to see are not for the weak of heart. They are not fabricated. None of these snails you see below are duplicates of those you see above. All of these snails were collected within 10 feet of my front door.

That is correct. You are counting 25 snails. Including the first pictures that makes 38 snails, and these are just the ones in visible, easy to kidnap places. Doesn't just their slime trail make you cringe?

Please, support my cause, step on a snail.

Easter!!

2009-04-22T17:24:00.003-06:00

Been a while since I posted (which means I don't have much to report on...) so thought I'd just do a quick one. Ah Easter. Well this Easter was not too out of the norm. Choir sang a wonderful Easter song and then I spent the afternoon at my favorite cousins house and ate ham and played with the children. It was fun. One very exciting thing was this amazing sale on tulips at Smiths! I just had to buy and I made this cute little arrangement that I was quite proud of! Happy Easter all, I'm so grateful for the Resurrection!

Are people born wicked, or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?

2009-03-06T20:26:00.001-07:00

Just wondering.

Ah, sweet mystery of life at last I've found thee!

2009-03-05T21:48:00.004-07:00

I wanted to share the sweetest little moment that I had at work today. I was on my way out after a long 12 hour shift but I stopped at someone's office that I needed to speak with before I left. I'm standing at the door waiting, and a family walks by. First comes the mom, who seems to me to be a bit frazzled and stressed, she walks past me without any acknowledgment. Next comes a boy about age 8 or so I'd say. He walks by and gives me a big toothless grin, says hi and keeps walking. Next comes a sister, maybe age 6 who wants to share an understanding womenly glance with me, so gives me a little eye roll as if to say "sigh, brothers". Last comes the little brother, age 4ish. As he approaches, I wondered what he would do to entertain me, but instead of entertain me, he taught me. He walked right up to me, threw his arms around my legs, and looking up at me, he smiled and said "hi, how are you?". At hearing these words his mother turned around and saw what was happening. Mortified I'm sure, she commanded him to her side. Still beaming at me he said "well, I have to go now." and without another word walked off leaving me speechless. I stood there for a moment basking in the warmth of that moment. How is it that little children can radiate so much love! Where does it come from and how can I get it? Somehow, in that moment, through this innocent child, I caught a glimpse of Heavenly Father's love for me. If He were here, that is exactly what He would do; without hesitation, throw His arms around me and, beaming, would ask me how I am.

p.s. the picture is not really relevant. I was thinking I needed a cute little child picture to go along with my story, and in perfect sync, my cousin Jenn provided one of her cute little 4 year old. Jenn, I hope you don't mind my borrowing this pic :)

New car!!

2009-02-27T19:18:00.006-07:00

I bought a new car!! I named her Millie. If you are thinking that everything today is thoroughly modern, you are absolutely right, but I know that not many of you probably thought of that.

Ward Choir: a commentary

2009-02-07T19:52:00.002-07:00

Ah that quirky phenomenon known as ward choir. I recently had the pleasure of being called as the director. I suddenly have a new respect for those blessed with this assignment. I know that I usually have some strong feelings about ward choir...and it turns out the rest of the ward usually does too. It seems to me to be a unique entity in the church. Let us get in the frame of mind for a moment that each choir practice is a meeting. An organization in the church is getting together to prepare for an event (singing in church) just like activities committee except we get to have more fun because we get to sing to prepare. I'm a pretty experienced meeting goer, and I must say that of all the meetings I have attended, I have noticed a general trend that as far as meetings go, the strongest feelings are elicited in choir! People who wouldn't say a word in ward council, will speak up with passion in choir. Please don't get me wrong, I admire passion! Given a choice I would take a passionate meeting over a boring meeting. I love choir, I'm enjoying the calling and as a relatively inexperienced choir director, I usually appreciate the input. I'm just wondering what it is about choir that ignites this flame inside people? Is it the personality type that choir attracts? Is it the passion of the music? Is it the fact that people are usually a little hungry due to the extra hour at church? I really don't have an answer. Do you agree and/or have an opinion?

Self Portraits

2009-01-12T10:56:00.019-07:00

What is it about self portraits? I love to take them, and I love to rope others into taking them with me. Perhaps it's the double chin elimination factor that I believe self portraits create, perhaps it's a never ending fascination with digital cameras (you can just keep taking and taking and taking!) Perhaps it's sheer vanity. We may never know the drive behind them. Here are some of my favorites, and as a bonus you see some random tidbits of my life.

My beautiful roommate Kaylee and I at a ward party.

My brother is a big inspiration to me on self portraits.

My lovely roommate Jessica and I at the airport on the way to Australia!

Cute little 4 year old cousin Jason didn't quite understand the concept...

ok ok, I really did just think my hair looked really good and wanted to capture it on film.

A particularly silly night with good friend Nicki, there are an endless amount of self portraits with this chicka, don't ask about the outfit.

This is my good friend Lucas at Bryce Canyon, I love that you can see my hand holding the camera through his glasses!

My good friend Lynette and I at a ward activity.

Another one of Nicki and I, we decided to take a night hike to the top of the Y, and I had some problems with the flash. My pupils just wouldn't adapt!

Me and a wild koala we found on the side of the road in Australia

Again, my brother is my self portrait inspiration.

hm, maybe it runs in the family...my little sister Emily.

My brother and I looking especially cute on our pseudo Christmas morning (I had to work on Christmas day, so we did Christmas a few days early)

And there you have it. Just a small selection of the type of pictures that fill my photo albums: self portraits.

Tagged!!

2008-12-03T16:13:00.002-07:00

8 favorite TV shows
1. Jon and Kate + 8
2. Scarecrow and Mrs. King
3. Remington Steel
4. Star Trek
5. Smallville
6. I don't really watch very much television...

8 Books you recommend
1. Harry Potter
2. Mistborn
3. Les Miserable
4. Fablehaven
5. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
6. Ender's Game
7. Parly P. Pratt's Autobiography
8. Work and the Glory

8 things that happened yesterday
1. Said goodbye to my good friend
2. Got on a metro in Washington DC
3. Got on a bus in Washington DC
4. Sat in the Dulles airport for a long time
5. Sat on an airplane for a long time
6. Sat in Detroit for a long time
7. Read about 300 pages from my book
8. Had dinner with a really cute boy

8 things to look forward to
1. having a husband
2. having children
3. having a house
4. going to the Temple
5. having normal work hours
6. grad school
7. the end of Hero of Ages
8. my cruise!!

8 things on my wishlist
1. husband
2. children
3. house
4. new car
5. sewing machine
6. travel
7. to be in more plays
8. the day that I am sitting in a public place and everyone around me (including myself) bursts into the same song and dance!

8 things I love about fall
1. the color of the leaves
2. the lights on the Temple
3. I get to pull out my flannel sheets
4. I get to pull out my puff quilt
5. I get to put my fall quilt on top
6. hot chocolate
7. pumpkin bread
8. the heater

8 people to tag
1. Kaylee
2. Sara
3. Nicki
4. Jackie
5. Alicia
6. Pam
anyone else who wants to :)

My new fish

2008-11-15T21:56:00.009-07:00

Alright, I've figured it out, my old fish Elmer had some trust issues, he couldn't trust me to give him the right amount of food. But this time it's true love. His name is Apollo, and the salesman taught me what to feed him and how much. Who could resist this face!!!

He's Beautiful

He's fiercesome (check out those eyes)

We just make a cute couple.

Is having a fish like having a fake boyfriend? An essay on humanity.

2008-11-15T21:36:00.004-07:00

My ward just implemented this fake boyfriend thing...if you'd like more details, I'll give them to you, but needless to say I had some strong feelings about this. I wrote a little essay on it.

I had a very special man in my life once. He was amazing. He was always there when I needed him, he always listened no matter what he never judged me. I felt so comfortable around him. He got along well with all my family and friends. Granted, he would never let me get very close. He had his hesitations. Despite his hesitations however, I got attached to this man. I should've seen that it would never work, but I fell and I fell hard. And this man couldn't even catch me, in fact he didn't have any arms. That was difficult. But nonetheless, I pretended that it could work. In my heart of hearts I knew that he only stuck around because he had to. If I had let him go he would have swam wild. And yet inexplicably, my heart lept every time I went home and found him anxiously waiting for me. I blissfully ignored his indifference in me after I fed him. I thought we really had something. I thought he cared. But now I'll never know. I'll never know because, first of all he went belly up, second of all, it never had a chance to work because it was fake. His name was Elmer, and Elmer was a fish. So I would like to propose this question: is being in love with a fish kind of like like having a fake boyfriend, and does my love affair with Elmer teach me or Elmer about what it's like to date?

My cool socks

2008-10-31T22:14:00.009-06:00

I was born with a problem that I carry around,
actually now that I think it carries my pounds.
It has given me pains, it has given me corns,
I always viewed it with such tremendous scorn!
It gave me a bone spur, it makes my back ache,
On occasion it has even roused me awake.
I was born with a curse that I cannot reverse
in fact it even at times makes me spout verse.

Yet, recently,
I've begun to see things differently.
In an effort to turn my attitude more cheerful
I tried to find ways to make my curse less leerful.
After much contemplation I did finally surmize,
it means that I can wear a child size!
Wow! This could be the start of something new!!
Suddenly the ideas just started to spew!
I finally found what I was looking for,
now I needed a way the idea could spore.
I no longer would simply stick to the status quo,
it was time I Laura Hess would become the pro;
no one could doubt how I love this show.

We started searching, my two friends and I,
we would find those cute shoes, we would find them, or die!!
We searched hi and lo,
kept our heads in the game,
to all stores did we go,
okay, my heart is really in the song, is that so wrong?

At last, at last, at last, at last!
The shoes finally surfaced, my dream was not beat!
Zac Efron could finally live on my feet!
I carry him around like he's my best pal
I took him with me to see the third High School Music-cal
Now all my best friends do walk around with me
for all the wide world to look down and see!
Zac joins the ranks of our dear Harry Potter,
there also is Sponge Bog, they only get hotter!
Tinker Bells zooms on one lovely pair
While Santa Claus makes his presence with care.

So all of you born with that one gnawing flaw,
I urge you, please! Do not let it rub raw!
Simply instead find a way to live on
Turn it around and it soon will be gone!
You must find a way to let it bring joy,
even if it means having on your socks, the face of a boy

Disclaimer: these socks are real. I really own them, and I really wore them :) I loved HSM 3 by the way that I saw last night with my good friend Emily.

My dear friends Emily and Nicki found me these shows. Alas, in the child section. If you did not guess, my curse is small feet.

Ernie, The Mouse

2008-10-13T19:18:00.001-06:00

Warning: This is not a dramatization! All events reported were real events that could happen to you!! This is not a story for the faint of heart!

Disclaimer: the views and opinions voiced in this editorial do not necessarily reflect the views of the author concerning all matters of the same nature, nor do they necessarily reflect the views of anyone or anything affiliated with the author, execpting her roommate Jessica whom Laura knows shares the same views and opinions.

Chapter 1: The Thief

"Hm" Thought Laura one night after work. "I'm hungry, but I don't feel like macaroni and cheese, what should I eat?" Laura had a sudden bout of inspiration, it had been almost a week since she had made pumpkin bread, her favorite baked good, it was unarguably time for the next installment. She cheerfully pulled out her Hess Family cook book and started to search for the recipe, which was usually easy to spot due to its frequent use. "I don't know why I bother" she thought "I know it by heart". But nonetheless, Laura quickly found the page and started pulling out her ingredients. It first called for a cup and a half of sugar. Laura pulled out her colorful measuring cups and opened her sugar to begin the masterpiece, but something made her stop. There were little black things in her sugar! "Oh man, I've got bugs, that stinks" Upon further inspection, Laura began to doubt her first assessment. "Wait just a minute, that's a hair and..." the hair on Laura's neck stood on end as she gasped "oh my heckity schmeck, that is a hole nibbled into my sugar!!!!" Laura cringed and did not want to think about what critter would have the nerve to eat her sugar, but knew in her heart of hearts the only reasonable solution. Still she denied, "I must have bought it from the store that way" next thought "Mutant bugs must have done this" last thought "what about the rest of my food!!" Laura slowly and carefully opened the cupboard to inspect the integrity of her flour. To her horror and disgust and absolute one-hundred percent vomit-inducing revulsion she discovered that the culprit was still in the cupboard, and watched in dismay as it scurried into a hole in the wall. Laura did the only thing that any decent woman would have done, she screamed, grabbed her keys and ran out of the house vowing that there would be blood that night!!

Chapter 2: The Trap

Laura drove as fast as she could to Walmart. She did not normally enjoy shopping at Walmart, too crowded for her taste, she much preferred quaint little Shopko, but alas Walmart was a three minute drive down the road and in a situation like this every minute counts. That nasty critter could be breeding at this moment (don't think too hard about that one). She raced down the isles while calling her mother to find out what nasty little creatures ate. She couldn't bear to think what her roommate Jessica would say when she learned of the infestation. Laura perused the selections, trying to choose from the wide selection of weapons. Should she go Saddam Hussein style and find a trap which would ensnare her enemy without her ever having to look at it? Should she follow Osama Bin Laden's example and use the mouse as a dramatic example of the beheadings that will occur to anyone who dares to eat Laura's sugar? Or should she make OJ Simpson proud by poisoning him, letting him crawl somewhere and die, and therefore deny that she did any harm? Laura decided to go Osama Bin Laden style, mostly because it was cheapest. She went home, put her untampered food in a safe place, and set her traps. Her roommate Jessica took it better than expected, she even insisted on naming the furry little thing Ernie.

Chapter 3: The Tease

While Laura was at Walmart, she figured she might as well replace her sugar so that she could at least make pumpkin bread. As she made her bread, she listened jumpily for a crack, a squeak, a moan, a cry of anguish, anything to indicate that her trap was serving it's purpose. Nothing happened. Laura had her first sleepless night feeling psychomotor tingles where she could imagine the mouse crawling all over her. Every morning she awoke exhausted, to check her traps. 3 Days passed with no sitings. Laura started to rest easier thinking, maybe since Ernie's food is gone he has moved on! Or, maybe he died on his own! Or, maybe Heavenly Father answered my prayers and cast the devil out of my house! Just as Laura began to be convinced that he had to have gone, disaster struck. She arrived home from work and performed her ritual of checking her traps. To her once again horror and disgust and absolute one-hundred percent vomit-inducing revulsion, the enemy was once again caught scuffling off to his hole in the wall. Laura's fear mounted as she realized that the food around the trigger was eaten!!! "Not only is this a mouse, this is a mutant mouse" She realized with horror. "Alright, this calls for evasive maneuvers" She called the managers at once, insisted they join the battle, and began to get creative. Laura started trying to out think the little x-mouse. She precariously filled one end of a toilet paper tube with flour and set it ever so carefully on the edge of the dryer. Underneath, Laura filled a trash can with some water for the mouse to fall into. Laura didn't know if mice could swim, so she added some hydrogen peroxide to the water just in case it could. At her genius roommates suggestion, she stuffed towels under her bedroom door so that she could finally get some sleep knowing that the mouse could not get in. The managers came and set their traps as well, and Laura prayed.

Chapter 4: The Triumph

The day the managers set their traps, Laura came home from work, and performed her ritual of checking the traps. To her intense relief, the manager's Osama Bin Laden style trap had worked, there was a mouse with a clearly broken neck lying next to the bait. Laura was a little disappointed that her Hitler style trap hadn't worked (lure them into a false sense of security and then slaughter) because she thought it was clever, but fortunately, dead is dead. Laura was so happy, she decided to make more pumpkin bread.

Postlude

Ernie turned out to have a little family of four!

Laura's fabulous blogging adventure

2008-10-13T19:08:00.000-06:00

I love reading other people's blogs and I love writing stories, so I decided to start my own blog! Feel free to comment and enjoy! I decided to begin with a good Halloween story that I wrote after moving up to Salt Lake. Have a great day!