Festival of Pumpkins!

Meet Amy Purdy.

Stephanie, Bannister and I went over to Burton Snowboards for a women's "networking event" this evening. What started off as mini cupcakes and cider mimosa's soon turned into a pretty inspiring evening. This girl with messy brown hair was sitting in a large comfy chair in the middle of the room-participants were sitting all around her. I didn't know much about the guest speaker but, she started off by saying she was totally out of it. She had taken a red eye from Utah and arrived at noon after having taken a benadryl. She had some coffee and then a drink before doing this talk. Hmm...

She moved on to share a story about who she sat next to on her flight last night. Some bizillionaire from the TV show Jersey Shore. They talked for 3 hours or so over twizzlers. He explained how he became a bizillionaire. He said one thing to Amy that was kind of meaningful. He said he was no happier now than he was before the fame/money. Now he's got everything. He doesn't dream. There you go. How wonderful is it that we still have our dreams?!?!

Amy started sharing her story. How one day she was on top of the world, living a happy and healthy life doing what she loved-massage at the Bellagio in Vegas. The next day after having what she thought was a 24-hour flu, she was near death. She felt sick and spiked a fever. Hours later she felt exhausted and could barely move. Her cousin came to check in on her. When she arrived she saw that Amy's feet, hands and face were entirely purple. She was in septic shock. Her organs failed. She went into a coma and went into emergency surgery.

Tonight she explained how she heard and saw what was going on around her before surgery despite being in a coma. The doctors gave her a 2% chance of survival. They spoke to Amy before surgery and said, "Amy, if you believe in anything, think about it now...hard." She heard this. She wasn't religious but, she thought about what she believed.

Love. She hadn't loved yet. She wasn't ready to go. Jesus. If that didn't get everyone...

She explained how she knew she was dying and felt her last heartbeat. She fought death. This changed her life forever. She believes she chose to stay. To be alive. To live.

Although Amy lost both legs from the knee's down, she is the thriving! She snowboards, skateboards and travels the world sharing her story. She started a non-profit called Adaptive Action Sports. She is also working with a small team to build a prosthetic foot that is engineered for board sports. There isn't one yet. Hers is currently made of wood, bolts and duck tape.

She had lots of inspiring words for the group this evening including this: View your obstacles as something to push off from, not something to overcome. You truly become disabled when you choose not to overcome your obstacles.

Awesome.

AHHHHH. I couldn't resist.

Soe's owl themed baby shower!

Such a lovely morning with the Wall family celebrating Soe and Colin's little bundle. There were lots of owl themed gifts, decorations and even an owl shaped carrot cake! We're all crossing our fingers that the new baby isn't afraid of birds. :)

Kiddos!

Aren't they awesome? This was shot by a photographer my sister knows down in VA. Too good not to share. :)

Quechee Gorge

Ended up at the Quechee Gorge today during a day of 251'ing. It's a long way down and a little dizzying!

Pumpkin Carving!

This was my first experience carving pumpkins with legit wood carving tools. I only walked away with 1 bandaid!

Kristen's, above. Mine, below. (obv)

Choices.

It's nice to have them. Not everyone has as many as we do. It's a very freeing thing to recognize/remember. If you're not happy or satisfied with something, you very often have the power to choose a different path. You just have to do it--with conviction. Being around a complain-a-thon is NO fun. I'm guilty of being one every once and a while but, it takes too much of everyone's energy to stay in that space. So, remember...

It's not about the opportunities that are available to you.
It's about how you respond to the opportunities.

It's not about what you have in your life right now.
It's about what you do with what you have in your life right now.

It's not about getting other people to change.
It's about you changing.

If you can choose, wonderful. If you can't, remember...you can always choose your response.

This moment is the end of your past and the beginning of the rest of your life. In each moment we can and do make choices and decisions. In each moment we decide about our future.

Bluebird Bachelorette Bonanza!

This post is a bit out of sequence. I've already posted wedding pics of the bride and groom but, I wanted to share these anyway. We threw a little celebratory dinner for the lovely and talented Miss. Dana Burchfield on Saturday, Oct 1st! I only wish that someone had kept an eye on our server. He had an uncanny ability to refill glasses without anyone seeing! Danger.

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Routhier!

This couple is one of those couples. They just work together and it's amazing to watch. Their wedding planning anxiety soon turned into what you see below. Pure happiness! I love you guys. Thank you for an incredibly special three days!

The last September sunset of the year.