Life After Leaving.

Last night was amazing!

I went to Sam's Buger Joint to listen to some awesome music. Laura Marie and James Vives opened up the show for Wes Harllee's CD Release of Life After Leaving! All three performances were absolutely amazing. If you've never heard of any of them, I seriously think that you should look them up. They'll all smooth your soul and make you happy! Definitely some of the best live performances that I've ever been lucky enough to see.

Laura Marie

Website

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James Vives

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ReverbNation

Wes Harllee

Facebook

Twitter

I sat down pretty much the whole time because it was packed and I was really nervous. I didn't want anyone to accidentally run into me. That would have been horrible! I still bounced my little feet to the music as much as I could.

I've always been a huge people watcher. More so now than ever before. There was a guy that kept yelling, "DRUM SOLO", over and over again. I can't even explain how many times he said it. I think I even had a nightmare of him yelling it.

I got to hang out with my awesome friend Mack, see a bunch of people that I haven't seen in a while, and I met some new friends! When Mack picked me up to go to Sam's, he had a present for me, a pretty pink and purple squeaky horn to put on my walker! I love it. It's really loud and kinda sounds like a dolphin! After the show, we went to the gas station which just so happened to have $1 Icee's. Yum! I got a Big Red Icee and it was absolutely amazing! Then we went to The Lion & Rose for a few minutes to meet up with some people. On the way home, we got pulled over. Luckily, Mack is a badass and didn't get a ticket. As we got closer to my neighborhood, we saw a car flipped on it's driver side. We pulled over to see if everyone was okay and there was no one in the car! I guess they fled the scene. Whenever I started to hear all the sirens from the police car's, ambulance's, and fire truck's, I began to feel sick to my stomach. It was "too close to home", if you know what I mean.

After an eventful night full of random yet awesome adventures, I was exhausted. And still am. I decided to take today easy and just relax. I'm supposed to go to Reckless Kelly's Celebrity Softball Jam tomorrow but now it's supposed to thunderstorm really bad. I'm not too sure that being in a vehicle from San Antonio to Round Rock in a thunderstorm would be a good idea. I'm already nervous being in vehicles as it is. We shall see how the weather looks in the morning.

Xoxo.

Day Is Done.

Day Is Done by John Prine



Do you like me?

Well, I hope you do

'Cause if you like me

Then I think I'm gonna have to like you too

We'll share our things

And have some fun

Then we'll say goodbye

And go back home when the day is done

If you tell me

I'll tell you too

And we'll say the things

And do the things that lovers do

We'll keep it to ourselves

We won't hurt no one

Then we'll say goodbye

And go back home when the day is done

We'll carve our names

On a tree

Then we'll burn it down

So no one in the world will see

And we'll make love

While we watch the flame

Then we'll walk away

As if we never had no shame

Now we must hide

To be alone

And we can't say

Our sweet things on the telephone

If we can't stop

What we've begun

We should say goodbye

And go back home when the day is done

Do you still like me?

Well, I hope you do

'Cause if you still like me

Then I think I'm gonna have to still like you

We shared our things

And had some fun

Now we'll say goodbye

And go back home when the day is done

Yeah, we'll say goodbye

And go back home while

We still have one

Let's say goodbye and go back home

Now the day is done

Be kind and considerate to others.

Ever since I started walking again, I've been going out and doing a lot more things. Trying to make up for lost time, I suppose. This post is on how things have changed and how I view things as of now.

We'll start this off with handicap parking. I never really thought that people could be so rude until all of this happened. I remember one time when I was trying to leave physical therapy and a lady parked in the no parking spot right infront of the wheelchair ramp so I couldn't get off of the sidewalk. When she came out she said, "Oops, sorry! Didn't think there would be anyone that really needed this ramp." And she was a nurse at the dentist office right next to my physical therapy place. There's people always coming and going, using that ramp. Besides the fact that she was inconsiderate, you can't park there anyways! Which brings me to my next irritation. I went to Tilted Kilt to see some friends, parked in handicap of course, and as I got to my mama's truck, there was a motorcycle parked right next to my door! I couldn't even get in the truck. Again, you can't park there. It doesn't matter if you have a motorcycle or a car, you cannot park there. I park in those spots for a reason. My walker can't fit between cars so I park next to the spaces that you can't park in so that I can fit.

Sorry for my little rant, it just really frustrates me when people think they can just do whatever they want. Without thinking about how it might effect other people. Enough about handicap parking, on to the next subject.

I use a walker. Mainly because I'm still learning how to walk again and I'm not the most stable person. I walk a little funny still, but I'm still trying to get the hang of it. I love walking, I really do. It's amazing! I don't love people staring at me though. It makes me feel uncomfortable. Though, I just brush it off. They're probably just wondering what happened. If I was in their shoes, I'd be curious too!

I've got to HEB and people behind me get mad because I walk slow. Or they run into me with their carts and don't even have the decency of saying "Sorry!". They just keep on going. I went to the mall and people did the same exact thing. While I was at Tilted Kilt and I was trying to leave, instead of people being nice and making a path for me, they decided to just stare at me. They didn't even budge a little. So I folded up my walker and held onto my mama. As I walked past them they would say, "Wow, hope you get better!". If you noticed that I couldn't walk very good, why wouldn't you just move over a few inches so that I could make my way through?

Enough about all the mean people. I've encountered a lot of very generous people! People that go out of their way to make sure I can get by. Or being really patient letting me walk by, even if they're in a hurry. It's people like them that make me feel better. I went to Salt Grass to have dinner with my mama, and I was trying to open the bathroom door, the bartender completely dropped everything that she was doing just to open the door for me. She said, "I've had 4 knee surgeries, I know what you're going through and I wish you the best of luck!". Just a kind person to a stranger. It always makes my day a million times better when I run into a random act of kindness.

I think that we could all do a little more to help out others. Even if it's something small and simple. It could make all the difference in the world to someone.

Throw a stranger an unexpected smile.

Xoxo.

More than fine.

Whew. What a long and amazing weekend!

Friday night, I went to dinner with my Lorennda, Sara Beth, and her husband Rich! It was a lot of fun. And it was so good to see Sara! Hadn't seen her since her wedding. I'm glad we got to hang out a little while she was in town. And I always love hanging out with my Lorennda!

Saturday was an extremely long day. Mama came and picked me up. We went to lunch and shopping. I love my new clothes and new shoes. Let me tell you though, shopping and trying on clothes is not an easy task with a walker but I made it work. By the end of the day, my right ankle was so swolen from walking so much. It was worth it though!

Now onto Sunday. Which was technically yesterday but for some of you it's today. It was an awesome Easter! A fun filled Easter of food, desserts, and family! Perfection. After family time, I went to my store for the Hooter's Regional Pageant! It was a lot of fun! I got to spend some time with a lot of my friends and see a lot of people that I haven't seen in forever. And I got to hang out with my friend, Kyle, for his birthday! Congatulations to my best friend, Candace, for making Top 10! And the other two girls from my store, Deja and Sophie for making Top 10 as well! They all looked absolutely amazing. I'm so proud of the 3 of them! Now it's onto the Hooter's State Pageant in Pasadena, TX, for them! I'll be there cheering them on!

And as of midnight, happy birthday to my mama!

Xoxo.

Know your limitations and then defy them.

Whew, what a long day today was!

Physical therapy really kicked my ass this morning. They gave me 5 new exercises to do, on top of the ones I already do, and they definitely weren't easy but I pushed through. Bring on the pain and the work outs! I'm glad that I have people actually making me exercise now because I wouldn't do it on my own. I'm starting to get the hang of it though! My therapist also said that next week they're going to start taking me off the walker! Wooooooo! Awesome news. And I've only been using the walker for a week! I can't wait to be walking on my own again.

My friend Moses came over today and we went to lunch at Firehouse Subs. So yummy! Then we went to Hooter's to visit some of my lady friends! It was really good to get out of the house and do things. Plus, it's good for me to walk around.

Now I'm at home, relaxing, and watching some tv. I just got done watching the new The Office episode. "Michael's Last Dundies". I'm sad. What an emotional episode. I might have even shed a tear. I love Steve Carell!

Everyone reading this should check out my friend Wes Harllee's new music video, "London"! It's amazing!

Produced by Mack Damon

Drums by Joe Cortez IV

Xoxo.

Happiness is only real when shared.

Let me start off by saying that I loved today!

I started it off by going to physical therapy, which you should know by now that I absolutely love. Since I've started using my walker, my main focus has been building all my muscle back up. For not walking for over 4 months, I think I've built my muscle back up pretty good! Looking forward to getting better and better!

I finally got my x-rays!

 I was really excited because I had never seen them before!

      One of my very good friends, Joe, came to town and I was really excited because I haven't seen him in forever! We went to lunch with Mack and Alyssa. It was an awesome lunch! I hadn't seen Mack in forever. I miss hanging out with him! And I finally got to meet Alyssa. Yay!

After lunch we went to Mack's studio for a little bit and I watched Joe record some drum tracks for Matt. Wes stopped by too so I got to see even more friends! While they were recording music, I was mixing some tunes.

Totally kidding. I don't know what any of that stuff means. I'm pretty sure if I actually touched it, it would break.

Awesome music to check out:

Wes Harllee

Matt Adler

And for Joe, Twitter

And Mack makes awesome music:

Mack Damon

There's a little music playlist on there filled with awesome songs.

Now I'm home and completely exhausted. Today wore me out like no other. Walking makes me tired. It was worth it though. Seeing awesome friends always makes it worth it!

My heart is full of happiness and love.

Xoxo.

Hair pins.

I can't sleep. I blame my insomnia. At least I'm productive! I decided to make a few hair pins.

They're silly but they keep me busy!

Just wanted to share before I fall asleep.

Xoxo.



I get by with a little help from my friends.

It's always during hard times when you figure out who is really your friend and meant to stick around in your life. There are the amazing friends that are there no matter what you're going through, never judging you and just wanting to help you through everything as much as they can. There are the friends that somehow seem to vanish. And then there are the people who maybe you're friends with but don't really talk all that much or even people you don't even know at all, that quickly have become some of the greatest friends you could ever hope for.

I've experienced all of these. Very recently.

I do have to say that I truly have some of the greatest friends ever. They are amazing people, inside and out. Calling or texting me just to check in and say "hello" and see how I'm doing. Bringing me silly presents to cheer me up or sending me little things in the mail. Sending me funny websites to look at, videos, and/or pictures online. Coming over just to lay with me and talk, even if it's only for a little while. They all do something different but it all makes me feel the same, blessed and loved. It really means a lot to me to see how much they really care. I don't know if I tell them that enough, but I really hope they know how amazing they are. I'm so lucky to have them all in my life.

I used to be really bitter about the friends that somehow managed to vanish when all of this started to happen, but not anymore. I guess they have their own reasons, which I don't really know about or understand. But it happens.

Then there are the people that have surprised me and have become really close friends now. It means a lot for them to show how much they care. Whether I've always been friends with them or have become friends with them through mutual friends, I know that when this is all said and done, my relationship with them will only get better and better. I can't wait to see how close we truly become.

All of these friends, have helped me in so many different ways. They are a main reason that I've been so strong through all of this. Inspiring and encouraging me every single day to push myself to get better. I can't thank them enough.

I would name all of my awesome friends, new and old, but for the fear of possibly leaving someone out, I'm not going to. You all know who you are, at least I hope you do.

Can't wait for new adventures with the amazing friends that I have in my life!

Xoxo.

I dare you to move.

I woke up today, extremely sore. I think I overdid it yesterday. It was totally worth it though. Bring on the pain!

Even though I was sore, I still had to go to physical therapy. After a little exercising, my soreness started to go away. I actually got to walk without my walker too! Not a long distance or anything, but it still counts. I plan on going walking around the park every day that I don't go to physical therapy. Just to build up my tolerance.

If anyone ever needs a physical therapy place, I highly suggest going to the one that I go to. Everyone that works there is so amazing. I feel like I've known them forever. They are a huge part of my life now. Almost like a second family. I appreciate everything that they do for me and everyone else that they help. They are the reason that I'm not in my wheelchair. Always pushing me to do my best and push through the pain. I wouldn't be where I am today, if it wasn't for them.

Xoxo.

I feel like gold.

I started off my day super nervous. I didn't know how my doctors appointment was going to go and it was starting to really get to me. I was hopeful that things would work out in my favor and guess what? They did!

My doctor cleared me to start using my walker. I could not stop smiling after he told me that. I felt like a little kid opening Christmas presents. I haven't been this happy in a long time! He also told me that I'm going to have to have another surgery, repairing my left ACL but not until the summer time. And it won't mess with me walking on my own before then, I just have to continue to wear the brace until I get the surgery. No big deal! I think I'm more than okay with that. I was hoping to get my x-rays today but I'm going to have to wait until Monday to get them. Pictures will be posted as soon as I get them!

Right when I got to physical therapy, I couldn't wait to tell my physical therapist my good news about using my walker! I started on the bike, to loosen up a bit and then I wheeled myself to my little table. Right when I got to the table, she brought the walker over and BAM, I started to walk. It was really crazy at first. I couldn't stop starring at my feet, I wanted to make sure I was stepping in the right place. I guess it'll be a while before I won't have to stare at the ground the whole time. I even did a little walking without the walker! I was holding my physical therapist's hand the whole time though, just incase. I thought that I was going to go to pt, walk a little and still have to be in my wheelchair until I really got the hang of it. To my surprise, I don't have to use my wheelchair at all anymore!!!!

Gah, I'm happy!

After all this awesome news that I got, I decided to go and share it with a few people. I went by my mama's first so that she could see me walk. She was so proud! Then I stopped by Hooter's to see some of my beautiful friends. It was awesome to see everyone again and they were all so excited to see me walking and happy again! I'm glad I got to visit with them. I miss that place! Parker, my little brother, was also excited because as he said, "now you can walk to the backyard and watch me ride my ATV"! He's too cute.

Sibling love!

Parker pretending to use my walker.

What a glorious day today was!

I'm the happiest girl!

Xoxo.

Neon.

I had an awesome day today! One of the best in quite a while.

I finally got my new EVO!

I got a case for it too. It kinda looks like a ninja turtle! It's so nice to have a phone that acutally works. Now my conversations won't have to end because my phone decides to shut itself off.

I also got my hair done again!

I only need to get it done one more time until it's completely blonde again. I can't wait! I will never dye my hair black, ever again. Lesson learned. Stickin' to blonde!

Summer is almost here and I'm so excited! This will be the best one yet. I've got so many things planned to do. I might just sit in a tube and live on the river though. Actually, now that I think about it, probably not because I've been doing a lot of sitting lately. I'm about to start an exercising routine, mini diet, and going to cut back on the sodas. Time to get in shape!

On a more serious note, I go to the doctor on Thursday. It's almost here! I'm anxious and nervous. I really hope that he okays me to start putting standing weight on my left leg. If he does, then my final step before walking again will start. (fingers crossed) If I get to stand on both legs at physical therapy on Thursday, I'll have someone take a picture so that I can post it on here. I've also been working my ass off to build up all the muscle in my right knee so I'm hoping that he doesn't think I'll need my last surgery, which would be repairing my right ACL. I think I'm doing pretty good without one but that's for him to decide.

I hope everything works out in my favor!

By the way, I hope you all read my last blog post. If not, I think that you should really check it out.

Here's the link: A light along the path.

Xoxo.

A light along the path.

As most of you know by now, I got into a car accident in December. What most of you don't know is how down in the dumps I was. I don't like to feel vulnerable, ever. So I did my best to hide all of my sad feelings but deep down, I couldn't understand why this had to happen to me or why bad things seem to always follow me around. I was lost and depressed.

It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I really started to be optimistic about all of this. There's a girl named Lainy Loyola who changed my outlook on everything completely. I have never met her but we have a few mutual friends, which is how I found her and her story. She inspired me to focus on positive things and not dwell on the past.

Lainy was in a car accident in 2008 when she was 16, which left her with a Spinal Cord Injury. Her determination to one day walk again, has inspired me in so many ways and really touched my heart. She is a very strong person and I am so lucky to have found her story. If I wouldn't have found it, I'm not sure I'd be the happy, optimistic person that I am now.

Become a fan of her Facebook Fan page. You can read her story in the info section. Click here.

She wants her story to be known, to put a face to spinal cord injuries, and to help raise awareness.

She is hosting a fundraiser on May 20th at Floores Country Store called Texas 2Step For Lainy's Footsteps. And all proceeds will go into the support for spinal cord injury rehabilitation. If you can, please go and support her!

I'm writing this to help share her story and I hope that you pass it along as well. I hope that it inspires you as much as it inspires me.

Here's her blog too, to keep up with her amazing journey:

http://believeinmircales.blogspot.com/

Xoxo.

Just a matter of time.

Yesterday, I was a little upset. I shouldn't have been. I need to be more patient. Everything will get better and that's all that really matters.

Today was really great!

I went to Sprint before my physical therapy appointment because my phone will not stop turning on and off. It's really inconvenient whenever I'm trying to have conversations with people. Anywho, usually the people at Sprint aren't very nice so I was prepared for battle! The guy that helped me was really nice though and ordered me a new phone. I can't wait for it to come in! It'll be nice to finally communicate with people without interruptions.

Physical therapy was amazing, as it always is. I noticed that I'm finally getting all my muscle back! I can see them now. It's a great feeling when you start seeing results! Standing on my right leg is a piece of cake now. Can't wait until I can finally start using my left leg. I've still managed to keep it almost as strong as my right leg. Exercise, I own you! My physical therapist told me that I need to start getting my arm strength back up because I'm really going to need it for when I start to use my walker. She also said that I'm going to need to start thinking about what I want my long term goals to be! So I have a lot of decisions I need to start making.

My doctors appointment on the 14th can't get here quick enough. He's the man with the power to tell me yes or no on starting to put weight on my left leg. I really hope everything has healed great and that he says yes! If he does, that will also be the day I start to use the walker! I'm also going to ask him for my x-rays. I haven't seen any of them! I want to see all the damage and repairs. If I get them, I'll post pictures.

I'm so glad everything is finally coming together, it's just a matter of time until I'm back to normal and I couldn't be happier!

Xoxo.

Whatever it takes.

Today is exactly 4 months since my accident and not walking.

Today did not go as I had planned it to.

There's good news and bad news.

Bad news:

My doctor said that I can't put any weight on my left leg until my next appointment with him which isn't until the 14th. It sucks because I was really looking forward to using the walker this week but it looks like I'll just have to wait until the end of next week. I'm already counting down the days.

Good news:

They upped the height on the quantum machine so that I would actually be using more of my muscle. I loved it! I did some new exercises for my ankle. And I started doing a balancing exercise, if you know me then you'll know that I probably wasn't the best balancer to begin with, so it wasn't easy but I like a good challenge. We also increased my standing times! I was thrilled! I did 5 stands at 10 seconds each, 3 stands at 30 seconds each, 1 stand at 1 minute, and the last stand was for 2 minutes! Two whole minutes! All by myself. It was awesome!

The 14th can't come quick enough! 8 more days. And I'm still hoping that I won't need my last surgery. I think I've finally got my knee strong enough to where I won't need my ACL. We'll see though.

Even though I can't use my walker yet, I'd like to introduce her to my blog.

And to my uncle's suggestion, her name is Eunice.

Xoxo.

Make me over.

I know it's really late/early, however you'd like to think of it, but since I'm probably not going to sleep for a while, I thought I'd write a little.

Saturday, I finally got to go to Hobby Lobby and pick up some more supplies. I got a bunch of awesome new materials so I'm excited to start new little projects. I've decided that I will never again buy anything that I can just make myself. I've also been wanting to learn how to crochet for a while, so I bought a little teach yourself crochet kit. It's definitely not easy but I'm not going to give up on it. I am determined to make myself a purse, and a few other things.

Yesterday, was pretty uneventful. Since my wreck, my whole sleep pattern is off and I spent most of the day just sleeping. I did a little standing on my right leg though, just trying to build my tolerance back up. And I wanted to see if I could actually lock my knee. It's getting better and stronger every day. I can't wait until everything is back to normal.

Today is finally Monday! Yes, I know it's 2:40am, but it's still Monday. It has officially been 6 weeks since my last surgery. Which means I can finally start putting standing weight on my left leg!! I don't have physical therapy until Wednesday though, so I'll have to wait until then. I'm counting down the days. I can't believe I finally get to bring my walker to physical therapy! I smile every time I think about it. It's been a slow recovery but now it's starting to all come together.

I've changed. I'm a completely different person now. For the better. There's so many things I want to do and accomplish. This summer will be amazing. I'm going to live, really live. Experience life. The world is just a big playground and I plan on taking full advantage of it. Never again will I let work take over my life. It's not worth it.

I will always make the best out of every situation. I'm a strong and happy girl, and it's going to stay this way.

"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly."

Xoxo.

Flower power.

Today, I made a bunch of the leather leaf headbands. I love them! Very fun and cute. I wound up having a few leftover leaves so I decided to turn them into flower pedals.

I'm very happy with it! I think that it turned out really good. I think I'm getting more and more creative every day. I'm not complaining at all!

Xoxo.

Headbands.

As most of you should know buy now, I have a lot of time on my hands. I've been really crafty since my accident, mainly to keep me busy. I found a ton of tutorials of really amazing DIY things. I thought I'd try making headbands first because they looked the easiest.

I've made a bunch of fabric headbands. Here's a few of my favorites:

           

I saw a tutorial not too long ago making a leather leaf headband. And it was adorable so I thought I'd attempt to make it. It's just a practice one so it's not perfect but I think I did a pretty good job on it.

Not too bad for my first one but there's a lot of changes I want to make to it. Practice makes perfect!

Xoxo.