Well, ya'll, a lot has changed in the last week and a half.

First, I had a birthday. For those of you who don't know, I do look quite a bit younger than I am. Thankfully, this will work for me when I get old. I'm now all of 21, and as my dad kindly pointed out, I have lived 1/4 of my statistical life. What have I done in those 21 years? I have trusted God with my life and learned that 's the best decision I will ever make. I have painted my nails blue (don't worry, they'll be pink again by tomorrow). I have started a blog, though I'm not the best at keeping up with it. I have secured my third internship at the first company I had a big girl job at (that's right, I'm headed back to Riverwind this summer). I have fallen asleep on the Swim House couch during every movie we ever watched. I have discovered no matter where I go or what I do, I'll always be daddy's little girl. I have completed three years of college, which brings me to the next point.

I'm officially a senior. I will graduate in December from the school I dreamed of since I was a little girl. Thank you Daddy and Mom for enabling and encouraging me to chase my dreams.

My big is officially graduated. Caylee, I'm so excited for you. I will miss you soooo much next year, but I know God has big plans for you! Also, congrats to my twin, Stephanie, for graduating as well. I love you both!!!

Another change/cause for excitement - I got released (temporarily at least) from physical therapy!!! I'm so excited! I LOVED everyone at PT, but I'm not sad not to have to do it anymore... I still have exercises to do and I might have to return as my arm heals some more, but mostly I'm just so excited not to have to start out the summer in PT. Thanks to everyone at Newcastle and Stillwater who helped in my healing :)

Also, thank you Denise and Brenda! They brought goodies to physical therapy to celebrate birthdays (and found cause for a celebration almost every week, I think) and mine happened to be one of those. You two ladies are awesome!

Now on to blogging...

I realized after my last blog post that I went in a completely different direction than originally intended. I planned to blog about Idina Menzel's new EP, which has the song Defying Gravity on it. 

"I'm through accepting limits 'cause someone says they're so. Some things I cannot change, but 'till I try, I'll never know." How many times do we let people dictate what we are and are not capable of? I let people do that more times than I can count. Not things like following rules, because clearly that has to happen. But people telling you that you can't do something? Why can you not do it? Because you let one person (or group of people) influence your thoughts. Turn that around - make it an encouragement. One time, my dad told me I couldn't win Grand at county. At the time, it was true. He said if I won he would build me a half court basketball barn. I had awesome sheep, don't get me wrong. But I wasn't working. He said I couldn't win and it made me mad. I wanted to prove him wrong. Did the months of solid hard work pay off? Well, there is now a 40 x 40 barn hanging out behind the house... Maybe this isn't the best example, because I had the talent and the goods I just wasn't applying myself, but once Daddy tried to limit me, I wouldn't take no for an answer. Don't let others create limits for you.

How has not accepting limits created an opportunity for you?

 "As someone told me lately, everyone deserves a chance to fly."
Shae Suzanne

Idina Menzel, Defying Gravity

...are three of my favorite things. Feel free to buy me a diet coke, add me to your BBM contacts and compliment my nail color. I also enjoy acoustic guitars, Twitter, OSU and shoes... and that part of this blog post is now over.

It's been a crazy week since I last posted! Last Friday, I finally got to go play dress up with my little cousin Kiera. Every time I've talked to my grandma, she has told me Kiera asks when I can come over and play dress up with costume jewelry... She even made grandma call me one day so she could ask me to come home! If I wasn't two hours away, I would have been there in a heartbeat. So, I decided to surprise little miss KFL and show up at grandma's Friday. She was really excited to see me...until the sleepiness sat in! Anyway, we had fun for a few hours at least & I always enjoy getting to play with her.

Later that night was Brittany's birthday party downtown! We had so much fun at dinner and posing for silly pictures, and the girls who actually stayed awake for the midnight movie said it was good! Happy (late!) birthday Brittany!

Saturday I got my nails done (Shae Pink, of course) and went to get garden stuff with mom. I tried to convince her to buy me a bunny but they were out :( She wouldn't go for the turkey either.

Easter was wonderful - I was glad to get to spend it at my home church. My pastor said something along the lines of God has a plan in everything he does, good or bad, even if we don't know what it is or understand why it happens. That part of his message really stuck out to me. It's was nice to be reminded of - I understand it but I don't always remember.

This week has been full of spring sing, class, work, PT and writing papers! I also have a doctor's appoint tomorrow morning to find out MRI results...pray they'll decide what to do about my knee!

Don't forget - Spring Sing is Saturday! After Mom's Day activities, bring your mom to GIA at 5:30 to see all the hard work we've put in! 

-Shae Suzanne

Music for the Week: Danger Zone (Who doesn't love some Top Gun!?) and Footloose! Thanks goes to my brother Kaden - his favorite songs have been rocking my playlist all week.

So, there are only 5 people in my class today, including my professor. My suggestion was bonus points then leave. His suggestion was for him to give us quiz answers for next week. I'll take that. Anyway...

I went to the Taylor Swift/Kellie Pickler/Gloriana show last night! I loved it...thanks for the ticket Katie! Gloriana was an incredible opener and I can't wait until they headline their own tour. Kellie Pickler has one of the strongest voices I have heard and I loved listening to her...and her shoes were fabulous! Taylor Swift put on an awesome show, however...standing and listening to people scream for ten minutes between every song got old pretty fast, and I think she might have forgotten some words words during Today Was a Fairytale...something like "sajdklandskafndskja PRIN-CESS" came out of her mouth. But her set was good and I had a great time!

Also yesterday, I had MRI #2 on my knee. MRI #1 was 4 days after the accident and a bad experience because the MRI lady smashed my knee onto the table (ouch!). This time was a horrible experience! They were doing an arthogram, so they get me on an x-ray table and started poking me with needles. OK, actually they took two x-rays before the poking started. Then the doctor came in and poked me FIVE times...trying to find a good spot to put the lidocaine! Note: sticking a needle inside the place where a knee exploded isn't a good idea. Neither is touching it just to see what it feels like. Then came the dye, which apparently wasn't going in because of what the doctor thinks might be scar tissue. She decided to wiggle the needle around MORE inside my knee. I was NOT a happy camper by the time all the poking was done. My knee was full of dye (fluid), swollen and hurting. At least by the time I got to the actual MRI the lady didn't smash my knee into the table again. I go back next Friday to find out what (and if) they found.

As for my arm, I got a new accessory for it yesterday. I got a bone growth stimulator, which looks like a giant watch...or a mini robot. It doesn't hurt, thankfully, and is portable, so I don't have to just sit around while wearing it.

Everything accident related yesterday kind of put me in a grouchy mood. The tightness and pain of my knee reminded me of how it felt in the weeks after the accident. It hadn't been as swollen as it was in probably three months. I couldn't walk and I thought I was going to have to drive my mom's car again instead of my beautiful mustang Gerard. I was so upset about what was going on, so confused as to why the accident happened, and so irritated with the pain! I lost focus of the faithfulness of God. I forgot how far I've come. I quit thinking how blessed I am just to be alive. I stopped asking God to use this to reach people. I pretty much gave up. Thankfully, that only lasted for a few hours, but just going back to where I was after the accident wasn't a good thing. I realized yesterday that things aren't always on an smooth road. We are going to hit potholes. We aren't perfect people and this certainly isn't a perfect world. Philippians 3:14 came to mind: "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (NIV). I lost sight of all the greatness going on right now for just a small amount of time. Don't let yourself do that, press on.

BTW, my sorority retreat was last weekend. It was awesome. I'll reflect on it later :)

-Shae Suzanne


Music for the week: Pressing On, Reliant K

When I heard the song Faithful (Steven Curtis Chapman), it immediately made an impression on me. Since November 19, 2009, I had a lot of fears. I had nightmares, I wondered how long it would take me to heal. I was frustrated. I got irritated. I couldn't figure out why I was the one to get hit by the truck, why my arm was stuck in a cast, and why my knee hurt. I mean seriously, this is the kind of stuff that happens to people in movies or on the news, not in real life. But apparently it does happen in real life.

Since hearing the song, I have gained a whole new perspective. No matter what God is faithful. In our darkest hours, on our happiest days. God is so faithful.

So although I still don't understand why I was hit, why my knee hurts or why I'm stuck in a cast, I do understand that God is faithful. I'm alive, and that's what counts. This cast will eventually come off. My knee will eventually heal. And hopefully my nightmares will stop and I won't be scared of cars or crossing streets. When will any of this happen? I have no idea. Do I want to know? Well, kind of. But I'm content with where I am, knowing that God has perfect timing for everything.

Always remember that God is faithful. And please keep praying for my recovery :)
-Shae

P.S. - Listen to the song here: Faithful, Steven Curtis Chapman
"I will proclaim it to the world/I will declare it to my heart/and sing it when the sun is shining/I will scream it in the dark"
Faithful, Steven Curtis Chapman


Pictured below: third cast, a left handed drawing & my knee brace