So, one of the things I do to help Reed is get him ready for bed. This process usually includes brushing his teeth, washing his face, helping him go to the bathroom and getting him a drink (all of this is done while I tell him some sort of bedtime story that he generally sleeps through because I’m annoying). Next, I tuck him in and turn off the lights.

Then, at 2:56 in the morning I make my way up the stairs and completely crash on my bed. And then do you know what I do? I think to myself,

“Crap”

Do you know why? Because that is the moment when I remember that I still have to brush my teeth, wash my face, go to the bathroom and get a drink. And that moment is the worst moment of my whole day. Seriously. (I know, I know-I have a really hard life)

All I’m saying is that sometimes I think that Reed is living the dream.

I have got to get myself a personal care attendant.

Mirror Images

In my room I have a dresser with a mirror over it. For some reason I cannot keep this dresser clean (I'm pretty sure I get it from my dad). Anyway, as I was cleaning it off this morning, I caught myself telling jokes in the mirror...to myself. I started making funny faces and proceeded to laugh and tell myself that I'm funny. It was weird. And I acknowledged that to myself in the mirror, of course.

Tonight, like most nights, I was holding up a small mirror so that Reed could look at himself. He's usually looking for dry skin or pimples or something that is bugging him. But tonight I was watching him and I noticed that he wasn't trying to spot any imperfections at all. He was simply making funny faces at himself.

The great thing is that in so many ways we're all the same. Exactly the same.

Hilarium

This is what I did at work today. Productive? You could say that. 

Funny? Obviously.

Reed read an article once that said that people who laugh a lot live longer. He keeps telling me that I'm probably going to live to be 120 years old because I laugh too much. 

I told him that's great. It will be awesome because all the people my age are going to be hilarious. 

And he said, "compared to what?" in his best Marcel voice.

So good.

I've been feeling a little bit eugghhish lately. I feel like my emotions sort of remind me of runny eggs. I don't even know what that means but I suppose that would be my excuse for the lack of interesting posts as of late.

 In fact, I still have nothing of real interest to say so I thought I would simply inform you that a long while back a read a book. A really great book. The Secret Life of Bees. Read it because you will like it! It didn't exactly get me branching out in the reading area but my mom suggested it and she only suggests really good books so I read it and it was wonderful. I'm currently working on Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis. I'm having a hard time focusing on it (that reminds me--it's due tomorrow. Shows you how much effort I've put into reading it) but he makes a lot of good points and I feel like there is a lot of truth to what he has to say. So, read on. 

Maybe when I feel like I can put my feelings into words besides "eugghh" and "runny eggs", I'll get back to you. To keep you satisfied, please enjoy these pictures of Reed on his 33rd birthday! That old man... Gotta love him. 

I got him that awesome shirt with his favorite quote on it.

All of those animals sing... I promise, it's not as creepy as it looks.

WHY? Have I never had an Edible Arrangement before today?? Incredible. 

Some February Fun

 Birthday Partay! 

Valentine's Day Cookies! 

I Love My Quad

A Story for Your Soul

Would you like to hear the pathetic story of the century? Ok, I'll tell you.

Two days ago Reed's nurse gave Reed a big pile of tiny bags of chips. I love chips. I love them. Reed is really a nice guy and so obviously he was willing to share his chips with me while we were eating our lunch. But later.. when read was asleep I wanted some more chips. I didn't want to wake him up to ask him for more and I knew he wouldn't mind so I just took some. I took the cheesy Doritos because there were still two packets left--so thoughtful.
Well, Reed really likes chips too. When he woke up the first thing he shouted (it wasn't actually a shout but he sounded angry) was "hey! did you eat my bag of chips??"
"NO!" I replied. "It must have been your mom. She didn't get dinner. Are you sure you had another bag? Maybe you're just imagining things..."
It was just like that Brian Regan moment where I could hear the words coming out and my brain was screaming for me to shut up and tell the truth but my mouth just kept moving and there was nothing I could do. Reed was still confused. He has a super brain and he can remember everything perfectly. He knew there was another bag of chips before. He also really likes to be right so he was bound and determined to figure out what happened to the bag of chips. Meanwhile, I was just shutting up in the corner and letting my guilty conscience swallow me up. It was horrible. So horrible that I haven't been able to sleep. I felt so ashamed when I would say my prayers and I had been lying to Reed about the Doritos--those delicious Doritos.
So, last night when I went down to help Reed, I promised myself I would tell him the truth about his precious chips. It was horrible. I was so embarrassed. He just laughed of course. He didn't care about the chips at all. I knew that. I just couldn't get it off my mind! How could someone trust me if I couldn't even be honest about a stupid bag of chips?! So, we're friends now--my conscience and I, I mean. Repentance is a wonderful gift.

Anyway, the main thing that was like "Ahah!" for me was that I finally figured out this quote. "It's easier to keep commandments 100% of the time than it is to keep them 98% of the time" by Elder Christensen. My ward has been really focusing on this lately and I was kind of confused about it. But now I get it. It would just be easier for me to tell Reed that I ate his chips and be honest than be honest about some things and lie about others. 


Curse my parents for teaching me not to lie. (by "curse" I mean "bless" but man, if only I didn't have to have that embarrassing moment)


Moral: Liars get their pants on fire. Amen.

What's Your Deal, Reed?

If you've ever hung out with me, you probably know that I love to play a little game I made up all by myself called "What's Your Deal". It's where one person has to stand up on a chair and everyone gets to ask them questions to get to know them. It's such a great game. If I've never played it with you, I apologize. So! Considering the fact that Reed is a pretty big part of my life--make that biggest part of my life--I thought it would be a good idea for me to let you get to know him. He acted like he wasn't that interested but I know he was way excited about it. Obviously, I didn't make him stand on a chair, but I think we got the same effect.

Ok, Reed, what's your deal?!?

Me: Color?

Reed:Forest green

Me: Fruit?

Reed: Fruit?? Ughh probably a peach

Me: Nicknames?

Reed: What was that last thing you said about nicknames? (he was still waking up from his nap at this point) Well, uh. I’ve had a couple. Reedo Mosquito, my uncle came up with that one. That’s about it. Some people called me Tex. But that didn’t last for long.

Me: What is your biggest pet peeve?

Reed: I don’t know if I have one. My biggest pet peeve is uhh, uhh, uhh that people don’t do things in the right order. I have a lot of ‘em. (arguing occurs over whether he has pet peeves or not)

Me: Best childhood memory?
Reed: (long moment of pondering over whether he has any good childhood memories or not) climbing trees, I guess.

Me: Most embarrassing moment?

Reed: You’ll have to come back to that one. Probably… How about… Oh.. When I was in third grade, in the school play, I was supposed to be Little Boy Blue and I forgot my lines. I only had four lines. I remembered when I was supposed to talk but I didn’t know what to say. The little girl whispered to me my lines.

Me: What song best describes your life?

Reed: The song that best describes my life? (weird snorting noise escapes him) Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’ Raw Hide (he made it up himself)

Me: What is your favorite mineral?

Reed: Were you prepared for this? How did you come up with these questions? Amethyst. It’s the first one I ever had.

Me: Describe your most successful date.

Reed: (tells some sort of punny joke and proceeds to be confused about what I’m trying to ask him and then is distracted by the football game going on) My funnest date was the Winter Ball with Amy Mosher, it was fun.

Me: What is your favorite thing about yourself?

Reed: I’m very personal.. I mean personable. You can say my sense of humor, sure.

Me: Most embarrassing moment?

Reed: You’ll have to come back to that one. Probably… How about… Oh.. When I was in third grade, in the school play, I was supposed to be Little Boy Blue and I forgot my lines. I only had four lines. I remembered when I was supposed to talk but I didn’t know what to say. The little girl whispered to me my lines.

Me: What song best describes your life?

Reed: The song that best describes my life? (weird snorting noise escapes him) Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’ Raw Hide (he made it up himself)

Me: What is your favorite mineral?

Reed: Were you prepared for this? How did you come up with these questions? Amethyst. It’s the first one I ever had.

Me: Describe your most successful date.

Reed: (tells some sort of punny joke and proceeds to be confused about what I’m trying to ask him and then is distracted by the football game going on) My funnest date was the Winter Ball with Amy Mosher, it was fun.

Me: What is your favorite thing about yourself?

Reed: I’m very personal.. I mean personable. You can say my sense of humor, sure.

Me: What historical figure would you invite over for dinner?

Reed: Abraham Lincoln. Because of all the situations he was put in.

Me: What is something most people don’t know about you?

Reed: (looks around the room as if someone might hear his secret) That I got top 10 in the Nation in DECA.

Me: Which TV game show do you feel you would dominate at?

Reed: Family Feud.

Me: If you were a country which would you be?

Reed: (repeats the question several times with confused voice) United states because there are lots of different environments.

Me: What is your favorite thing about being quadriplegic?

Reed: (slight chuckles) sporting tickets! Easy to get seats.

Me: If you could have different parents who would you choose?

Reed: Uhh I don’t think I would.

Me: What is your favorite thing to do on the weekends?

Reed: Probably just watch sports. It’s what I do most. So it’s pretty good.

Me: If you could be any professional athlete who would you be?

Reed: I would be a professional baseball player. I’d be my own! I’d be me! I’d like to play third base in baseball.

Me: What would be your dream job?

Reed: I think a financial planner would be fun. I think…

Me: Favorite quote?

Reed: “Running is life. Go the extra mile.”

Me: Please, sum up your life in three words.

Reed: Service, Patience, Enduring

Me: Final words? Speak your peace. What’s your deal?

Reed: Uhh. Hee hee hee. Any final words? Let’s see, let’s see. (eyes get extremely large and begin staring at ceiling) no, I don’t have any final words. (tries to make me spell antidistablishmentarianism but he couldn’t say it and therefore I couldn’t spell it)

Oh, Reed. Just love this guy. If I could give everyone in the world a gift, it would be that they could have their own Reed. I feel extremely blessed to get to spend every day with him. He's so positive and inspiring and hilarious. We have so much fun together and he's my best friend. I'm going to be really sad when I have to leave here. Seriously, everyone should meet Reed. This post doesn't even begin to describe his awesomeness. 

Reed Loves the Celtics

 I Love Rondo

I'd say it was a good night for both of us.

Oh, and these guys came, too! So fun to have Rob and Katie here. 

The Bomb Christmas Continued

Ok, kids. This holiday season has been busy so I'm sorry I've slacking on my blogging duties. But who has time to blog when there's so much excitement going on?! 

I was kind of nervous for this Christmas because it was my first Christmas away from home and with no family around. My dad had consoled me with stories of his mission Christmases and assured me that this would be one of my favorites. At first, I was kind of offended that he enjoyed his mission Christmases better than all the Christmases with us! But now i understand. I tried to have a good attitude and just enjoy every thing that I was doing with Reed and not dwell on the things that I was missing out on at home. And it worked! We did so many fun things and the Nixon's were so wonderful to me. It was like being with family that wasn't my family but still felt like it. I've just been so grateful that even though this Christmas was so very different and hard at times, I've been able to have a lot of fun and really enjoy myself. I'm grateful that my parents were so supportive of me staying here and for the Nixon's really taking me in and making sure i felt comfortable and loved.

 Reed's brother, Rob and his wife, Katie have been here for the holidays and it has been so nice to have them around. We have been partying like it's 1999. Just kidding. But really. 

We started off by going to The Nutcracker at the Boston Opera House which was incredible! Boston was beautiful, the Opera House was beautiful and The Nutcracker was spectacular. I felt so Christmasy! You should see Boston at Christmas. No one has lights, but it has it's own kind of feeling that makes it sort of magical. And I've never seen so many adorable little girls in their fancy dresses and pea coats in one place. 

On Christmas Eve, Sheryl treated Katie and me to pedicures and manicures. It's not really my thing but I'm thinking it could become my thing. It was wonderful. We had a delicious Christmas dinner and then read scriptures and sang hymns for the spiritual part. Katie and I opened our Christmas P.J.'s (red footies for me-thanks mom!). We finished the night with Muppets Christmas Carol. A successful evening. 

Christmas morning started at around ten thirty which is super weird and super great all at once. We had pancakes and started the present opening at around 12 and finished at 2! I got wonderful presents from the Nixon's and my family. Everyone was so thoughtful. I'm so blessed. 

On Monday we went to the Wang Theater to see the ROCKETTES! in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular! and man! It was spectacular! You think the Rockettes are going to be lame because all they do is kick, but they do more. They're actually really cool. And the Spectacular ends in the nativity scene with live animals! They even enter the stage through the audience! Not the animals, just the people. It's always a little creepy when they do that, but it was still a good time. 

The rest of our time has been spent playing games, doing puzzles and watching football. We also saw the movie True Grit. I wouldn't recommend it if you get queasy at the sight of blood. Actually, I just wouldn't recommend it. Unless you're Grandpa Fred, in which case, you would love it. 

Katie and I seem to be the only able-bodied pair of the bunch so we decided to take my day off to go sledding. Well, we tried to go sledding. You see, there aren't many hills in the vicinity and ski ward seems to have monopoly on the only good one. You can go skiing or tubing there! The problem is that it costs $20 to go and I just feel like that's a little pricey, yeah? So we heard of this other ski hill, Jericho hill, that had been closed down so you could go sledding for free. We got directions and headed out but, just my luck, we couldn't find it. We were looking for an hour and a half and actually quite enjoying ourselves. We found this bizarre little diner, The Tropical Cafe. You'd never know it existed unless, of course, you were looking for Jericho hill. We got directions from two people who obviously were not from this country and obviously had no idea what we were saying but felt free to lead us on in any random direction just for kicks and giggles, i suppose. After we'd come to the conclusion that Jericho hill doesn't actually exist, we were out of ideas so we just went back to Ward hill. But! the man there told us of a hill not far away that we could take our own sleds to! great! We headed right over there and there was a great place to sled! It just wasn't covered in snow.. there was, however, a nice patch of snow nearby just big enough to do some somersaults and build a sad, little snowman. We got a little wet, talked, laughed and then decided we had had enough. some might say it was unsuccessful, not i. 

Ward Hill and their money thieving ways. They don't even use real snow.

This is completely irrelevant to Christmas, I've just never had REAL frost on my window before.

Wang Theater. Oh, the Rockettes.

I'd say this has been such a great holiday season. New Years Eve was a little uneventful considering the lack of noise makers, fireworks and screaming children but the idea of it all was the same. Now, onto bigger and better things in 2011. It's going to be a good year. I can feel it. 

One Fish, Two Fish

a couple of weeks ago reed and i went to the fish store to get a few new pals for the tank. we got two firefish, three snails, one scooter blenny, and one angel fish. they were so cute and they added so much fun and excitement to the tank! we were nervous at first because adding that many fish can be a little disturbing to the rest of the tank. they get a little petty when someone else comes into their territory. so selfish-mind the pun. but everyone seemed to be doing great! everyone was eating and sharing and playing nicely. but then, tragedy struck. you know that angel fish i was talking about? it had another angel fish friend. one who had been in the tank a long time. well, the two started getting on each other's nerves and one day they both disappeared. we couldn't find them anywhere. we determined they must be behind the rocks somewhere. so every day reed and i would search for them. we looked and looked for probably four days which is a long time for a fish to hide in such a small space. as we were searching reed suggested/demanded i hurry and look in one tiny space. such a silly idea-how could they fit in there? but sure enough, there they were! the more established angel fish was blocking the newcomer fish in this tiny hole so he couldn't get to the food! it's horrible, really. so, we moved some barnacle around and let the fish free. but the hostility didn't end there. for some reason the two of them kept chasing each other around the back and hiding for days. then one day, the new fish emerged from the rocks and he plopped himself down on the barnacle as if he had just used up his last ounce of energy to get there. his fins were all shredded and his coloring was faded and he could barely move. i wanted to cry, it really was quite dramatic. at this point, there still hadn't been any signs of the old angel fish, he just kept hiding back there. i didn't really care because i was rooting for the new fish all along (i picked him out). after a while the new fish made it's way to the back for what i'm assuming was the final battle because today was the day we found the remains of those poor fish floating at the top of the tank.

dead fish, blue fish.

Happy Halloweek Ago

BOO!!

I'm Not a Witch! I'm Your Wife!

i heard once that i'm related to rebecca nurse.. creepy, right?

reed and sheryl and i went to salem today and it definitely wasn't creepy but it was really fun. we started off the day by going to a play called "cry innocent" where they let the audience play the part of the jury during goody bishop's trial. it was a good way to get the history side of things and it was really fun. there was a junior high class on a field trip at the show at the same time so things got pretty exciting and hilarious. before the show starts you can follow the actors taking goody bishop into the town hall and act as the mob. the kids were yelling hilarious things like "off with her head!" and "kill the witch!"

next, we went to a magic show that in most situations would've been pathetic and definitely not worth the 10 dollars spent on it, but i guess the whole atmosphere made it pretty fun. there were only three other people in the show so we had ample opportunities to participate. of course, the first question this self-acclaimed vampire asked me was if i am afraid of ghosts because one was about to get very close to me. yes! i am! sheesh..

after we'd had enough witchy fun for one day we went to the house of seven gables which was actually really cool. by really cool what i mean is it's a really old house about a story that i've never read. a good historical stop, nonetheless. and i learned what a gable is. it's different than a dormer.. in case you were wondering. unfortunately, i didn't get any pictures because it was dark. i actually would recommend going there. the story of the house is pretty cool and there are all these secret staircases and such you get to go through.

here, enjoy some other sights from the day!

HAPPY HALLOWEEEN!!! MUAHAHAHA

My Heart Hurts

reed has a urinary tract infection and his back and shoulders have really been hurting him for the last couple days. he's constantly in pain and i can tell, but when i ask how he's doing, he always says, "i'm ok, don't worry" and then puts on a smile. that's the great thing about reed. nothing ever seems to go his way and let's face it: he doesn't live the life most of us would want to have. but, regardless of his situation, he is always happy and he wants others to be happy. even with all of his pain, he still manages to joke around with me and talk to me and he even asks how i'm feeling. i wish i could take away his pain. my heart hurts for him.

Lessons Learned

every night is a struggle for me. should i go to sleep? or should i stay awake? it seems like there's no compromise: if i sleep i'll have a better day, but if i stay awake i know i'll hear reed if he needs me. during my prayers the other day i realized that the only way i could be successful was with Heavenly Father's help. previously, i had been praying that i would be able to hear reed during the night but this night i decided to change my prayer a little. i asked to have faith that Heavenly Father would make everything work. that i would know that He's looking over reed and He'll keep him safe. all i have to do is trust that if reed needs me, Heavenly Father will direct me in what to do.

when i was six, my dad took me on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at disneyland and he even let me drive! i was really happy to drive until we went through a tunnel and i couldn't see. i thought that we were going to crash. dad told me not to worry, we would be alright. again, i was afraid of the dark. but, maybe that's the point. Heavenly Father knows it's dark and scary but He wants us to trust Him. we have to be willing to say "ok, even though i'm afraid of that, i'll do it, because i know you'll help me". we have to walk a little into the dark, out of our comfort zone, into the unknown, and trust that Heavenly Father is directing us.

every night i have to put my faith in Him and believe that if i need to, He'll help me wake up because He is watching over me. but then i was thinking that it's bigger than that. sometimes i feel like i don't know where my life is going or what lies ahead but i have to believe that He knows the path in front of me even when it looks dark to me. i made it through the tunnel in Mr. Toad's Wild Road and i'll make it through any other dark tunnels He sends me through.

i guess that's just what i was thinking about this week so i thought i'd share it..

take note that i was not the only child who was scarred by Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

Run, Read, Reed, Repeat.

i realized that i only post when i do something out of the ordinary so i thought i'd shed a little light on what my life is actually like. here's a daily rundown for ya:

i usually wake up at around 10:30 every morning and wonder why i'm awake and then try to get in at least another half hour of blessed sleeping time. sometimes i fall back asleep for another hour or so and sometimes i just lay in my bed wishing i was still sleeping.

first thing's first, say my prayers then put on my running shorts, shoes, watch and i'm out the door. i drive in my cute car, kevin (the name needs to change, she's actually a girl but it'll do for now), over to Dean Park which turns out to be one of my grandma eldredge's favorite places from when she was little! i run my little heart out for however long i please and then allow myself to be swallowed up in my own thoughts as i sit on the hill next to the pond. i spend as much time there as possible. i love to sit and feel the breeze off of the water and watch all the geese fly around. oh, side note: the other day as i was sitting, i watched this mom take her son, bread bag in hand, to feed the geese. they each threw one piece of bread and the whole flock of geese started chasing after them and the mom ran away like a little girl, leaving her poor son behind to be mauled by the geese haha. anyway, there are a lot of people at the park around this time. it's like the whole town decided they were going to meet up there for their lunch break. the plumber and the mail man even park their trucks there for a while each day. it's kinda like a little park partay.

once i've thoroughly enjoyed my stay at the park, i have two options. one, go home. two, go to the library or find some other way to get out of going home. i generally choose option two. i spend a lot of time at the library. sometimes i go get a book from the library and then go back to the park to read there. other ways i spend my alone time are by meandering around wal mart by myself or taking myself on a historic tour of Shrewsbury or making unnecessary trips to the bank or post office (i still only know my way to a couple of places. i'm working on it).

when my few hours of freedom are over, i slowly make my way back to wiles farm road where i can find my lovely abode (haha rhyme). sometimes i leave enough time to take a shower. sometimes i don't. reed can't smell so i usually don't worry about my body odor that often. i kind of enjoy being dirty and sweaty.

the rest of the day is usually filled with hanging out with reed. i love to hang out with him. he's super smart and funny and we get along most the time. we usually watch tv or work on selling things on ebay. but sometimes, reed gets really sick and tired and he sleeps all day long. when it's one of those days, i usually spend my time writing or reading. if the nurse forgot, i give reed his 3 o'clock meds through his g-tube while he sleeps. the next nurse comes at dinner time and she feeds him while we all watch Wheel-of-Fortune and Jeopardy. we never miss a day. sometimes we play a game together but usually we just watch more tv. our favorite things to watch are sports or the history or discovery channel. reed retains just about everything he hears and sees so he knows so much from watching all those shows all the time. most of it just blows over my head.

reed usually gets in bed around 10 and i help get him into his lift and onto his bed. then we (the nurse and i) get him undressed and ready for the night. i change his leg bad and get the breathing treatment set up and take care of the laundry while the nurse does her thing. we usually give reed a suction, where we help him cough and get the mucus out of his lungs, about three times while the nurse is here.

after that, i pretty much just sit around and wait till reed needs me. when the nurse leaves i like to go hang out in his room with him. sometimes we just watch more tv but sometimes we read or just talk. reed always wants lots of Werther's so i stay in his room to make sure he gets all that he wants. he usually ends up having more than he should and i give him a shot of insulin for his diabetes.

when he's ready to sleep i give him a suction again and give him more meds. i dump out the water, roll him on his side, make sure he's comfortable, take his temperature, pull up the covers, turn on the monitor, say goodnight and turn off the lights.

then, i go up to my room and turn on the monitor upstairs, get myself ready for bed, read scriptures, say prayers and get to sleep around 2.

at four thirty, i wake up to my most obnoxious alarm clock and run down stairs to turn reed on his back, dump out the water again, give him another suction, give him more meds, take temp. again, roll on other side, pull up covers, push the trach on tight, say good morning and i'm up to bed for another blessed six hours of sleep.

as i'm writing this, it's taking me a long time and i'm realizing how not exciting it is and how most people don't want to read it considering i got bored writing it. but! i'm going to put it up anyway for anyone who has a life more boring than mine and would like to entertain themselves.

My Gift

running used to be my passion. i lived to run. more than anything, i wanted to run. but it is more than just a passion, it's a gift. running made me the person that i am and helped me with a lot of struggles. there are a lot of great things about running: it makes you strong, it teaches you determination and hard work, it's a great way to make amazing friends, it gives you a chance to be by yourself and just think, it doesn't require a lot of coordination and you can do it all your life. at least, you hope you can do it all your life. i remember sometimes i would be injured and i thought my life was ending. if i couldn't finish a season or couldn't run my best, i was just torn apart. several times, i thought that if there was some reason that i could never run again, i would rather die. not being able to run would be the hardest thing for me to live through. well, i went to college and i didn't run all the time. i didn't take the time to go out and do the thing i loved.

so i'm here, with reed, and i'm reading a book about him and i learned that reed was a really great runner. he loved to run more than anything. then, when he was 17, he was in a car accident and could no longer run. it was like i was reading my worst nightmare. he just woke up in the hospital and realized that he couldn't do that one thing that he loved so much.

i realized that i take running for granted. i've been given this great gift. i can go out and make my body strong and clear my mind and feel good about myself and i don't even use it. it's not fair that i can run and reed can't because i know he would if he could. so i made myself a promise to run every day. those days when i really don't want to get out of bed i just remind myself that some people can't get out of bed and then i run. i run for reed.

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift" - Pre

Red Sox and Dodgahs!

I went to Fenway Pahk! It was wicked! Really... i LOVED it. I even had a Fenway Frank and wore a Red Sox shirt. I guess you could say I'm a true fan now. It was a beautiful day and the Red Sox won. Overall, it was a great time. I don't really have much to say about it so i'll just post the pictures :)

Ben: I thought of you the whole time and wished you were there with me. You would've loved it! Love you, bud. Work hard and maybe you could play here some day ;)

Ben, Jerry, Joseph and a Couple Candlepins

We made a trip to Vermont yesterday to see the Ben and Jerry's original factory. It's a pretty cool place to go because the tour is short and sweet... haha punny. But really, you just go through a short thing and then you get lots of ice cream. We had a really good time and it was actually really interesting. We didn't get to meet Ben and Jerry cause they're off somewhere rollin' in the dough, I was kinda bummed about that. But I do thank them for the love handles on my body thanks to their most delicious creation.

Ben and Jerry went on some little tour thing and gave out ice cream from a van like this one. This isn't the actual one because while they were serving ice cream it spontaneously combusted and no longer exists but it looked something like this.

Since we were already in Vermont we decided to stop in at the birthplace of Joseph Smith. The missionaries there were really great and helped us get Reed to all of the different locations at the visitors center. They were very knowledgeable and I learned a lot. In the visitors center they had the original hearth and doorstep from the home. They also had a cool display of sculptures that has been on tour for about a year. I saw them when I was in Kirtland a year ago so it was cool to get to see them again. It was a really neat day and I've come to the conclusion that Vermont is basically made of trees

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Apparently in Boston you can make up your own sport and so, we have Candlepin Bowling. It's this really great game that is super easy to cheat at. It's just like bowling but you get the throw the ball three times but they don't clean up the pins in between throws. If you're playing with people who tend to get distracted by other things, you can quickly get in a couple extra throws and hope that you knock down a couple more. Then, you keep score on your own piece of paper so no one really knows what you write down and it's really just a great time. Even with all of my cheating, I still managed to lose the game. It's really not as easy as it looks but it is a lot of fun!

Welcome to Bahston

Well, I came home from school and I decided to quit my job at the campus mail in hopes that I would find a job closer to my house but that plan epically failed. I applied at a couple of places and then just hung out with my mom waiting to hear back about those jobs. Then, one magical day one of my neighbors told me about a job opportunity in Boston to help out her brother, Reed, who is paralyzed from the neck down. So, instead of staying close to home, I hopped on a plane and moved to Massachusetts for a year. I live in Reed's house with him and his parents. His brother and sister-in-law have been here for the past year and a half and are training me for a couple of days until they move back to Provo. I've only been here a couple of days but it has been really fun so far. I've been to four states since I got here and I've been able to see some cool things. Reed has been really patient and gracious as I've been learning his care and I'm really grateful for the opportunity I've been given to try something new.

This is my new home and it's beautiful. All the houses here are pretty incredible and the trees never end. Right behind the house is what looks like miles of trees.

We went to a little tourist town called Rockport. It's right on the coast and they have hundreds of cute little shops. The weather was perfect and we spent the entire day eating treats. Beautiful. We bought a whole box of fudge, ate pie and ice cream and hot chocolate for dinner, bought another box of salt water taffies and for lunch I had a raspberry ice cream cone dipped in "jimmies". It was wicked awesome. And I don't know why this is blue...

This was just at the end of one of the roads with all the shops so Kent, Kayla and I ran out to the end and put our feet in the water. It was really quite neaky, an adjective that has a meaning only a few would know. Right on the other side of the rock wall are probably 50 lobster cages and there are several little restaurants that serve lobster straight from the ocean. We ate pie instead.

I saw a bunch of other people taking pictures in front of this red house so I figured it must be important but I have no clue what it is. Looks cool, though! It was a wonderful day in Rockport.