Healing Chant... by Mary Dawn

Mary Dawn came over to visit teach Breezy. After she was done we all talked. She signed my cast and did a healing chant so my arm will heal quickly. What did this healing change consist of you may ask? Watch the video below...

The Curse of a Hard Cast: A Blessing in Disguise

Well, on Tuesday this week I went to the doctor for a follow up on my broken arm. The fracture was hardly visible from the X-ray, but he said it would still take about 4-5 weeks to heal. Last week the PA said there was a chance I wouldn't need a hard cast, that I would be able to just keep the splint. After looking at the X-rays, Dr. Hafen asked how active I was. I wasn't really sure what he meant by that, so then he asked if I wanted to snowboard again this year. I said yes. I guess that means I am active because he said he would cast my arm.

So I now have a beautiful blue cast which is obnoxious, but at least my arm will heal and I don't have to worry too much about it right? So while it is a curse, for reasons which I will assume most of you can figure out, it is also a blessing at times.

You might be wondering how this bulky, non-waterproof thing can be a blessing, so let me explain. Having a cast makes it difficult to type/write, so at work if I don't get as many emails done as I usually do they understand (I still usually get about the same amount, or at least more than most other people... funny how that works...). I have a good excuse if my hair is messy because it is hard to do my hair with a broken arm. I constantly remind Breezy how cool she is (her name is huge on the top of my cast :). People feel bad for me and just about everyone has told me that if I need anything I can call them... this could be greatly used to my advantage...

Probably the best thing for me about the hard cast is I can't take it off. That may seem obvious, but it is a great blessing for me. As many of you know, last year when I sprained my wrist I probably didn't wear the brace or have it wrapped long enough for it to heal completely. Sometimes it still hurts if I do too much with it. So, the advantage of the hard cast is I don't have an option of taking it off. Even if it doesn't hurt (which it doesn't and hasn't since last Wednesday) I can't take the cast off so it still stays put and has plenty of time to heal.

So there you have the benefits of my cast, truly a blessing in disguise.

Photography Thoughts

So I was sitting at my desk (doing something important I’m sure) and I was looking at the pictures that were on my screensaver. I started thinking about photography. I was thinking about the types of pictures I take. I have a lot of pictures of friends and family but most are not posed and different than your typical photo. Then I started to think about what I love to take pictures of.

I love photographing people, but not in a studio or formal setting (like at Kiddie Kandids… which I found out pretty quick). I like taking pictures of people, and just pictures in general, that tell a story or capture their personality. I avoid typical picture of people in front of buildings or with something they like. While those are sometimes essential and they can be done creatively or tell a story, I like taking photos that show the details and tell the story with little or no written/verbal explanation needed.

The other day I also realized that I don’t like having other people take pictures for me. While it is good to have pictures of myself so people know I am alive and remember what I look like, I sometimes get frustrated because usually these pictures end up being snapshots and typical. I know that may sound really vain and somewhat rude, but some days I wish I had a second me that could take pictures of me. However, I realize that I can get picky when it comes to photos and I really do appreciate the people who are willing to take photos of me.

It makes sense to talk about capturing people’s personality and emotion with photos, but it may sound weird that I try to do the same thing with places, buildings, and nature. Maybe it’s not so much that I try to capture personality as much as I try to tell a story with the picture. I try to avoid the typical “postcard” picture, but rather take a photo that would make a great postcard because it really captures the mood or feeling of the place. I try to get photos at angles or of different details that most people don’t notice.

That is what I really love about photography though is that it is so versatile. I can take typical photos, or as my favorite photography title indicates, extraordinary photos. I have started to look at the world in terms of a photograph. I cannot tell you how many times I look at something and then analyze it and try to determine how I would photograph it or what I would try to capture in a photo. I have seen so many gorgeous sunsets and sunrises that are very unique and I always wish I had my camera with me. But, whenever I think that I start looking at it as if I was going to take a photo and then I enjoy the beauty of it so much more.

One of my favorite photography quotes is:

“My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.” ~Richard Avedon

This is so true! While I feel like it is good and somewhat essential to have photos of myself, I feel like all of my photos have a part of me in them. A lot of my personality comes out in my photographs. The subjects of my photos, the angles I use, how I place things in the photo, what stands out the most, and the focus of the photo all tell something about me, or by piecing them all together you would be able to see what is important to me and what I love.

So there you have a few of my thoughts and feelings about photography. Basically that is just a taste of what really goes on in my head when I think about photography, but maybe more will come out later…

“There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.” ~Ansel Adams

Temple Square

So I never did a post about when Natalie, Breezy and I went to Temple Square, but there are some really cute pictures so I decided I would post them now. Not much of a story except this was Breezy's first time experiencing the lights at Temple Square so that was pretty exciting.

Snowboarding: A New Passion

As I mentioned in a previous post, Breezy and I are taking a snowboarding class at BYU. It is so much fun! The week before class started we went up to Sundance twice to just try it out, as neither of us had been before. Well... as it turns out we improved greatly in the first two runs we made. By the end of the second run we were switching from our heel side to our toe side. Don't believe me? Just watch the movies!

Seriously though, we were decent by the end of the first day (two runs) but by the end of the second day we were even better. The movie was from the second run of the second day, so we were a little bit better than the first time we went. It has been so much fun!

On the first day of class we were definitely a lot better than most of the people, but then again, most people hadn't been before. Well, the second week of class they let us move up to the level two class. It was so much better! The teacher definitely knew what he was doing and I improved so much. I now know what I need to work on. However... I probably won't be able to work on those things for about three or four weeks because...

I was going down the hill doing great. I knew what I was doing and was just practicing so that eventually I wouldn't have to think about it. All of the sudden as I was switching back to my heel side I caught an edge and fell on my back. Being the intelligent person I am, I put my left arm down to break the fall. And while I broke the fall... I also injured my wrist. Well... it didn't hurt too bad so I finished that run and then Breezy and I did two more runs (the class was over so we had about an hour of free time). I still practiced the new skills we had learned, but I was careful not to fall again.

So after we were done, we stopped off at the bathroom and I took of my glove. To my surprise (I really wasn't in that much pain), there was a good sized bump on the top of my wrist and my hand was pretty swollen. It didn't help that my hand was freezing. A lady (who I believe works at Sundance) said I should go to Ski Patrol. So... she took me to Ski Patrol and they put my arm in a "splint". Basically they put some wire mesh under my arm and wrapped it in gauze. Then I took the bus back to BYU where my mom picked me up to take me to the doctor.

One thing I took for granted is being able to take off your coat when you get in a building. Because I was in my ski clothes when they wrapped my arm at Ski Patrol, my coat was wrapped into the splint. When we got to the doctor's office I wanted to take my coat off, but I couldn't really. I was able to remove one arm from the coat, but then I just had to leave it on the other arm. I walked in to get x-rayed with a coat attached to my arm. It was great. I just carried it wherever I needed to go.

So, in the end, I found out there was a small fracture on the side of my wrist. They gave me a hard splint (which was much more comfortable than the ridiculous one I got from Ski Patrol) and told me to come back in a week to see if I needed a cast. The PA said it should probably heal in about 3-4 weeks. Sadly, that means I have to drop the snowboarding class, but fortunately I should be able to ski for the last part of the season. I probably won't be going back on the snowboard until next year, but at least I am good enough on skis that I don't have to worry about getting injured and I can still enjoy the great snow Sundance has had this year.

So there you have the story of my snowboarding experience. For eight years I have been skiing with no injuries, and after four days of snowboarding I break my wrist. How stupid is that? Oh well! I got 10 hours of paid time off at work and now I will have some free time on Tuesdays!