Jeep vs. deer

Last month at this time, I was on my way back to Jay Co home from Kentucky. Nothing out of the ordinary. We got back to JC around 11 and I was on my way back to Marion to get to bed because it had been a very long day.

I was cruising along a road that I could drive in my sleep because I've traveled it so much. But this trip would be very different from any other trip down this road. Here's how everything very quickly went down:

I came around the curve.

Hey there's a deer.

Bam!

Oh crud. Flashers. Side of the road.

Call Mom.

Call Eric.

Mom calls.

Eric calls.

Call Eric

Call 911. Yeah I know a little late.

Mom calls.

Eric calls.

Cop #1 shows up. Shoots deer. Deer gets up. Cop #1 shoots deer again. Deer is now dead.

Mom shows up.

Eric shows up.

Cop #2 shows up.

From the time the deer hit me to the time Cop #2 showed up, it was maybe 20 minutes. I was so mad because the stupid deer hit my Jeep.

Here's a look at the damage. This picture doesn't do it justice.

It was a pretty big deer. A 6 point buck and all I did was break its leg (I have pictures of the deer, but I thought they might be too gruesome). But it busted my grill, dented my hood, completely took my gray fender off, dented my door and actually pushed the entire door in. There was some other stuff but that was the majority of it.

Within a couple of days, we had a freezer full of deer and an appointment set to get the Jeep fixed.

Two weeks after the accident, the Jeep was fixed and looked better than it did before the deer and it cost me absolutely nothing. Thanks to insurance and no deductible.

Who are your links?

Brian preached about missing links. How different people in life are links to God and who you are today. Its funny to think about different links in my life. Chain of events that have brought me to where I am today. I sometimes play the "What if" game. What if the BCM ad hadn't come in the mail and salad been on sale...would I still have gotten a job there? Then would I still have met Eric? What if my mom hadn't gone on a road trip and I hadn't stayed at Brian and Jaye's? Would I be as close to them as I am now? Would we even still have a relationship or would I just be another one of the youth group kids that get pushed to the back of your mind when they graduate and move on?

Its crazy to think about how you got to where you are today. What has happened in life that has made you who you are? My next personal mission is to somehow let the links in my life know how much them mean to me but I'll get on that after Thank-you notes are done.

Life is all about change.

I'm now married. I live in Marion. I start school tomorrow.

I start my final semester at IWU tomorrow. I'm only there for 2 classes. It feels so weird though. I'm not living on campus and I don't have a full load. My friends are all gone. I'm sitting in the Student Center right now because I'm using free internet and it is rather awkward. I'm still one of these people that are walking around conversing with friends but yet I'm not. I won't have a campus life, I will put in my 6 hours a week and head home. I know people on campus but they aren't people that I would hang out with. Good thing I work before and after class.

We have a place in Marion. Its weird because I don't quite feel comfortable calling this place Eric and I live in home. It is slowly becoming a home but home will always be where I lived for 22 years. It will always be JC. Sometimes I call our house home but it doesn't come out easy. I'm working on it.

I'm married. For over 3 weeks now. Its crazy. I don't really feel any different. Just now when I do laundry, I have boy clothes with mine. There's more crap in the bathroom that isn't mine. I have to fix more food because Eric eats a lot more than my mom. I now feel broke because we've had to buy stuff for the house that's been needed and I don't have money like I used to. But all in all, married life is good. We've had our fights but we had our fights before the wedding.

So life is full of changes. Good, bad, inevitable changes. Its just a part of life.

I'm Going Home...

Its the last day of camp. I am so happy to be going home. I can't wait to get home. This week was crazy not only with the kids and the hospital visits but also the people I was around and conversations I had with people this week. 13 more days and I won't have to deal with the conversations that I've had recently.

As we sit here waiting for the kids to come back, this could be the last time all 6 of us will be together. Over the last week we've become very close. We have our own little inside jokes and everything like that. I guess being around each other for a week straight with no break-you get close fast. Its been both good and bad.

Well, now the kids are starting to trickle in so I need to go. I can almost go home. Woo Hoo!

Injury after injury

Monday was an interesting day. A group of kids were going out to play capture the flag after dark. We gave them boundaries, everything seemed like it was going to be ok. But I didn't have a good feeling about it.

At about 10:30, Kari gets a phone call and my name is mentioned. Someone who was playing capture the flag needed to go to the ER because she got up close and personal with the curb. I rushed over to where they were at and we head over to the ER. This girl's chin has a pretty good size chunk out of it. So we fill out her paperwork, and we sit and wait. And wait. And wait. We waited out in the living room for about 3 hours. Then we get to go back into a little room. A person comes in, takes her vitals and we wait some more. The doctor comes in to see us, looks at her chin, tells us what we already know (she's going to need stitches) and we wait some more. They come in to clean her chin up and we wait some more. The doctor comes in to actually put the stitches in and that didn't take very long at all. In total, we were in that little room for 3 hours. So we left around 10:30 Monday night and we got back around 4:30 Tuesday morning and the ER was only a block away. Ridiculous. 4 stitches, that's it.

Tuesday morning I wake up to ref the volleyball tournament that's been going on. We only have 2 games in the morning and they had been going rather quickly. During the first game, the very last point, a girl passed the ball and then fell backwards. No one really thought much about it. The game ended, her team lost. We I went to the other ref to write down who won and the girl's team is gathering around her because she is crying. My first thought was, "Holy cow girl, its just a volleyball game. Get over it." Then she asked for some ice because she fell on her wrists. She gets off the court and someone gets her some ice and we go on with the next game.

After the 2nd game, the girl is still sitting there in pain and her adviser and teacher are talking to her. I go up to see if there is anything I can do. The 3 of them think she sprained her wrists, so I have to take her to the health center. Oh great. Keep in mind it is only 12ish in the afternoon.

We go there, get more ice, and go into a little room. This wait time was nothing, I was becoming a pro at waiting. You can tell she's really in pain and her wrists are really swollen. The health center wanted us to get X-rays so they sent us down the road to a place. We get there and we wait. Still not as long as with the chin girl. She gets in with only waiting maybe 45 minutes. Then afterwards we have to wait for the doctor to read the X-rays and the took the longest here. They don't tell us anything except for they have called ahead to the Orthopedic place in town and want us to go there right away.

Wrist girl and I go there. I fill out her paper work, we get moved to a different waiting room and we wait. We waited there for 3-4 hours again before we got moved to another room. They take her vitals, the doctor comes in and tells us she broke BOTH of her wrists. She was devasted. She gets splinted up because the doctor tells her she can get her casts on when she gets home, and we head back to camp. We get back at 7 pm.

So in a 24 hour time spand, I spend 13 of those hours in medical facilities. It sucked but it was fun at the same time if that makes any sense. I got to know the girls that hurt themselves really well.

Back to wrist girl. Imagine not being able to use your wrists for anything. You can't go to the bathroom by yourself (found that one out first hand), can't drink or eat without help, can't do much of anything. You don't realize how much you wouldn't be able to do until you can't do it.

Well chin girl is still here at camp but wrist girl ended up going home last night because she felt so bad. Her dad flew in from Kansas City and they flew out this morning. It's been a pretty bad week for injuries and I always seem to get them. Better me than some other people here.

We have one more volleyball game tonight and I'm just praying for no injuries because I really don't want to go the ER again, that was the worst. We'll see what happens.

Some updates and other stuff

It has been a really long time since I've been on here. A lot has gone on since I've been on.

The wedding is 19 days away. My dress has been altered and it fits wonderfully. Everyone else has their dresses. All but two of the guys have been sized for tuxes and they will do that this week. People are sending in the RSVP cards, but I don't think fast enough. I have a packet of wedding stuff that I get to go through to plan the ceremony. I had a shower a couple of weekends ago, we got a lot of good stuff. Eric is taking my ring down to Indy on Friday so I will be ringless for 2 weeks!

I quit the grocery store finally. After 5 years of my life, they don't even throw me a party or anything. Fantastic. I like them too.

I've been staying at Brian and Jaye's during the week so I don't have to waste as much gas driving to work. It's been fun. Hanging out with the kids and getting to know them better because they're growing up so fast. Everyday is a new experience.

Now, I am here at Journalism camp doing the RA thing. We've been here since Saturday. We have over 200 kids here. Some are better than others. I had to yell at a group of kids a little while ago because they thought they were going to be able to run all over Ball State Campus at 10 at night to play capture the flag. Yeah don't think so. Not on my watch.

During rec today, I'm in charge of volleyball and I had to climb an 8 foot construction to get 3 volleyballs that were hit over the fence. I got all cut up. I'm hurting a little right now.

I'm super tired right now but can't go to sleep until atleast 1 because we have to check rooms at 11 and then start lights out at 12:30.

I'm going to go waste some more time. I have some pictures to put up so maybe I'll do that.

Sneak Peak

Here's what the girls in the wedding will look like, sorta. This is Jessica.
This is Suzie. This isn't her actual dress but its basically the same style and everything.
This is Brittani. This isn't her dress either but very similar. She is going to have spaghetti straps added and not wear the wrap thingy.
This is Bri.

The bouquets are not going to look like that. And everyone's hair can be however they want.

Just thought I'd give you a little sneak peak.