randomness...

Thank you for all of your sweet comments on Ben's message! I am going to read them all to him this weekend! If you didn't have a chance to listen to it, it was in my last post! He worked so hard on it!

Yes, it is that time again for another post of randomness! It is what I do when I have a few pics that don't really have a place but I want to share!

*Fall is here! I love the fall but don't like the fact that our sunshine and heat is going away! I love me some sun! Ben and my tans are fading and that is never a good sign either! We don't have alot of fall decor compared to Christmas so I have started to slowy gather and make a few things. It is far from done but I needed to start somewhere! Love burning my pumpkin candle thats wick crackles like wood but I cannot wait to sink my mouth into some pumpkin goodies!

{the beginnings...}

*Ben had an appointment for a follow-up EEG (monitor for seizure activity) this past week so we headed up on post for this appointment. It was a beautiful day and Mt. Rainier was amazing! I couldn't help but stop and thank God for His creation! Of course while being mezmorized by the mountain a helo decided to just come close and hover! Just another day on post...





*we went to my nephews soccer game...



*Ben went back to the chiropractor this week. We missed a few weeks because we have been super busy with no extra time to schedule anything. He was put in traction again and this time for 9 min. I think that last time was 5! It looks horrid but not as bad as it appears! The last photo is after and on the way home! I really think that it is helping!





*I did something that I don't think I have done in about 8 years...chopped my hair! I had way to much hair, it took forever to dry and I was tired of always wearing it up! I got about 6 inches cut off! I am liking it but still trying to get used to it being short and ways to do it! At least Ben liked it! Not the best pick...




*While I was in bible study the other day Ben had therapy and then my bro came to hang with him since our nurse never showed...uhhhgg! It all worked out and Ben had a better time with my bro! They took my lil bro's tiny car to Burger King and brought back a triple stack bacon burger meal! Holy batman huge! Of course Ben ate the whole thing!




*This past week Ben has been working on his standing balance with PT and OT! He has been doing well and they have been timing him. On Monday he balanced with OT for 1:04which was up from I think 24 sec last week! On Tues, in PT, he balanced for 2:45!!! Huge progress in just one day! Now PT and OT are in a competition to see who can get Ben to stand the longest!! Ben was quite proud of himself!

*Also we started reading the Psalm of the day together except I have Ben read it to me! Today was the first day in the Psalms and so he read Psalm 6! It was an amazing one for him to read today because it included verses that said, "have mercy on me for I am weak; O Lord, heal me for my bones are greatly troubled," "my soul is greatly troubled, but You O Lord-how long," and "the Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer!" I have to say that I only helped him on a few words! His reading is really good! By doing this it helps him not only to read the words but also to say them slowly, cleary and in a way that people could understand! We plan to keep this up!

*Ben's funny quote...yesterday morning Ben said that I needed to start sleeping on his left side because "that side is weaker and needs more love!"

*Ben's serious quote...we were laying in bed and out of the blue he said that I was beautiful and he was glad that we were not hurt more then what we were. He went on to say, "I am glad that I got hit on my side of the car because I was protecting your!" tears!! What an amazing man God has given to me! Even though Ben has suffered the most from this car accident he still knows how to take care and look after his wife!

*Please be praying for Ben's side of the family. Him mom's brother passed away this past Tuesday in a tragic car accident. He was only 53. Car accidents have never been my friend and they continue not to be! Please pray for peace and comfort for the whole family as they walk through this sudden death.

*Lastly, if you have any questions you have been dying to ask Ben or I we would love to answer them! I will compile the ones we receive and then post the answers! It doesn't have to be related to the accident but can be on anything...as appropriate! :) Please ask away to Ben and I!

a message from ben...

{opening wedding gifts}

"May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous." Ps 119:172

"Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." Prov 16:24

I finally figured out that I put alot of stuff up about Ben's PT. OT and alot of things that we do but not alot of what he does in ST! He really has been getting better in many of his ST exercises. First his speech in general is getting louder, clearer, more defined and he is using alot more words to make longer sentances. He is also doing well in his short term memory!! This is huge for him! Although he has a long ways to go Ben is really doing well!

So, Ben has been working hard at putting something together for you all! Yes, you finally get another video of him speaking! He told his Speech Therapist what he wanted to say, she wrote it down and he practiced it a few times. Like last time he did read it off his papers because it would be alot for him to memorize...although he almost had it down by the time he was done practicing!

Before he did his message he had a few things in ST to work on. I sit from afar usually and from what I remember he has never really done this exercise before. I would have had more but realized that when I was recording I really wasn't because there was no SD card in my camera...duh...remind me again who has the brain injury here??!!


So, here is Ben working on spelling some words forwards and backwards...




Here is Ben's special message to you all! He worked so hard on it and I am so proud of him...



Just in case you couldn't pick up all the words here is what Ben said...
"Hi everybody, this is Ben!
I thank you for your prayers, I am doing great.
I'm working really hard to beat this brain injury.
I am now walking over 25 steps (actually much more but this is what he wanted to say) with help from one person.
I am using my hands for things like washing my boat, writing and playing computer games (on his ipad.)
I am also working on my speech being clear.
Please keep praying for me.
Good-bye and I love you!"

Just to leave you on a fun note I also started recording a bit more after Ben was done recording the above message! Let's just say that Ben was a bit stubborn!!



Did you get the words at the end when I asked him how he got so hot and sexy..."I get my hotness from my mom and my charm from my dad!" Note that I didn't say anything about his charm but he just had to throw that in!

An area where I love seeing Ben is, is actually singing. Ben has not been much of a singer and always sang quitely. He now sings loudly and really quite clearly. When it comes to worshipping at church or watching church online at home and the words come up on the screen...Ben sings them! Usually word for word and on the louder side! It amazes me and really touches my heart that he's singing to our Jesus!

One big area in ST that you can pray for Ben in would be to instigate and keep a conversation going. If asked questions Ben will answer them and usually stop. Please pray that he will instigate conversations when given the opportunity and that the sentances, questions and interest to keep it going would be there!

we be like...

we...

...practice standing against the wall for balance! sometimes we like it, sometimes we don't...




...go to the fair and Ben requests vintage, old school photos and this pose was his pick and we enjoyed yummy fair food...




...fall and bonk our heads on the deck (he's ok) and two days later the wife hit her head on the corner of the kitchen cabinet...no photo taken...



...take naps...



...make new desserts after we nap and hit our heads...



...watch wheel of fortune almost nightly and husband is almost better then wife...almost...



...do our therapies and wife attempts to get to the gym...





...see buddies that we have not seen in about 8 years and 2 years that happen to be in the area to teach a shooting class...



...take more naps...notice wife is never napping and that husband is so handsome...



...start a new bible study...wife does...



...take pics in the swagger wagon on the way to lil bro's football game...



...love on each other...



...try trecking poles...


...feel bad that wife is behind in responding to e-mails and blogging...



...cannot wait to use this...more to come on this...



...getting ready for fall...

if...Ben edition...

{yours truly}

If...

•If Katie were to get pregnant...I would take care of the new baby

•If I could have any job in the world…I would be a high ranked soldier in Delta force

•If I had a day to myself...I would REI and watch football

•If I could get married all over again…to Katie, I would!

•If I could live anywhere in the U.S...Washington

•If I were to have more children...I want two, one boy, one girl

•If I could have any talent in the world…be an awesome airplane models maker

•If you met me in real life...people would think I’m hot and strong!

•If I went back to school...I would be smarter

•If money were not an object...I would go to Hawaii, go to the Bahamas, I would take my brain injury away, put money towards charities

•If I could meet one celebrity...Bear Grylls from Man vs Wild, we could go jump together out of airplanes!

•If I could shop at only one store for the rest of my life...REI

•If I could choose an animal/pet...Dog…stay tuned for more on this! 

•If I could go on a trip right now...Honolulu, HI

•If I had to choose between a house cleaner and personal chef...I don’t need one, I have Katie! If I had to choose (Katie is making me) it would be a chef

•If I had the option to get plastic surgery…I wouldn’t because I wouldn’t like what they would do to me!

if...katie edition...

{yours truly}

If...

•If I were to get pregnant...I would be elated…waiting for the right time is hard though!

•If I could have any job in the world…I would be a flight nurse to babies and kiddos

•If I had a day to myself...uninterrupted sleep would be the first thing followed by a day of being pampered and spending any amount of money I wanted...only if we had it of course!

•If I could get married all over again…I would get married to the same man and love him as much as I do now!

•If I could live anywhere in the U.S...Hawaii all the way!

•If I were to have more children...when we have children they will be miracles because their mommy and daddy are still alive!

•If I could have any talent in the world...I would like to sing

•If you met me in real life...you would find me easy going and very protective of my man!

•If I went back to school...I would go back for my masters in nursing or in paramedics

•If money were not an object...I would use it to create a magic pill to heal brain injuries and give it to as many people affected as I could. With the extra money I would buy a lake house here in WA and a vacation home on a beach!

•If I could meet one celebrity...there are not to many I admire but one that would be fun to meet would be Kelly Rippa

•If I could shop at only one store for the rest of my life...Nordstrom all the way with that “if money were no object” deal!

•If I could choose an animal/pet...it would be a dog and nothing else

•If I could go on a trip right now...I would take my man and we would escape to a private cabana where our every need was met but also allowed a lot of privacy

•If I had to choose between a house cleaner and personal chef...it would for sure be a chef! I love cooking but its easier for me to clean then cook these days. It would have to be healthy cooking though!

•If I had the option to get plastic surgery…I would not get it. The only thing I might get fixed would be my scars from the accident but at the same time those remind me that I am alive and well!


I saw this on one of the blogs I follow so I thought that I would do it for myself and Ben! I am doing mine after he was already in bed so I will be asking him to give his answers tomorrow! Should be interesting as to what he comes up with!!

spectacles...

Yes, we played with some spectacles and made spectacles of ourselves today! Ben had an eye exam today...can you tell?? Where we were waiting for the doc (waiting room was full) there were two big baskets of old frames. Some had lenses and some did not! Well, we took advantage of them and had a lil fun while we were waiting! Ben and I had a pretty good laugh when all was said and done...

...just in case you were wondering...

~ The first eyeglasses were made in Italy at about 1286, according to a sermon delivered on February 23, 1306 by the Dominican friar Giordano da Pisa.

~ The American scientist Benjamin Franklin, who suffered from both myopia and presbyopia, invented bifocals.

~ The first lenses for correcting astigmatism were constructed by the British astronomer George Airy in 1825.

~ In the early 20th century, Moritz von Rohr at Zeiss, developed the Zeiss Punktal spherical point-focus lenses that dominated the eyeglass lens field for many years.

~ it is now possible to purchase frames made of special memory metal alloys that return to their correct shape after being bent. Other frames have spring-loaded hinges. Either of these designs offers dramatically better ability to withstand the stresses of daily wear and the occasional accident. Modern frames are also often made from strong, light-weight materials such as titanium alloys, which were not available in the earlier times.

the end!

week in review...

"I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you..." Daniel 2:23

I know I have posted alot of randomness all in one post but that is kind of how it is these days! I need to do what some people do and it's called midweek randoms! It's where they take all their random photos of the week and throw them into a blog post! Let's just say this time it will be a week in review...and try and do it in an orderly fashion! Todays will just be a week in review! I have tried to post a few times but my pics wouldn't load and my computer keeps shutting off at random times. I actually had to type that line twice because right as I was typing it, it shut off!! Uhhggg technology sometimes!

This past week has been BUSY! We had 4 additional doctors appointments this week and all of Ben's normail therapies! Some of those days were days where we had to get up early, which was totally fine with Ben! The appointments went well and Ben was able to answer most of the questions asked and things talked about accurately! He did really well!

Monday was the chiropractor in the morning in which I posted some on last Tuesdays blog and then he had OT in the afternoon. My bro-in-law, who built our ramp in the front of the house, also just put up a railing in the back of the house along the deck! Ben has been working with OT on this rail and has been doing really, really well! They work on alot of side stepping, one hand walking, squats and a few other things. Balance and head control is still huge for Ben but his legs and feet a pretty solid. So, please pray for balance and continued head control!!







Tuesday was up and at em for an appointment in Tacoma. I didn't know where it was or how long it would take to get there so of course we got up earlier and had plenty of time when we got there! The apppointment went well.
After that Ben and I decided that since we were half way there we would go to Ikea! I had been wanting to go for a bit but just hadn't had the time. This was Ben and mine first big adventure on our own besides going to Target or simple stores. We had been wanting a new desk and so I was wondering how I was going to push a cart and Ben. It worked out fine though. We grabbed one of their big bags and Ben was able to hold it on his lap with the smaller items. The staff helped us with the desk and after asking a few times they helped me get it to the car as I helped Ben get to the car! Ben was getting hungry and told me that he wanted to hot dog combo and a cinnamon roll...darn those good smelling things! I got it all, started eating in the car and took off. Right before we hit the freeway Ben asked, "did you get my cinnamon roll?" Oh man, I ordered it and the lady forgot to get it for me and I forgot to ask for it as I was attempting to carry out my wallet, 4 hot dogs, 2 bags of chips and 2 drinks...all with no carriers! Needless to say I had to go to Target the next day so I picked up a Pilsbury pack of rolls and Ben was a happy camper!
Since the Ikea staff got the boxes into the car it was my job to get them out when we got home! I got one in since it wasn't heavy but the other there was no way I was going to be able to lift it. I didn't want it to sit in the swagger wagon so I was drilling my brains to see how I could do it without hurting my back...then I saw Ben's wheelchair! It made a perfect dolly and I didn't have to lift a thing! It now gets more then one use!
We didn't put the desk together until a few days later but here are the photos of Ben helping me! I had him stand against the wall (which I have been having him do more often these days) and help me do some screwing and putting together! Ben did great!






Wednesday, was another morning appointment for Ben. It was an audiology appointment in Tacoma. Again gave ourselves some time and we were early! Thank goodness I brought Ben's ipad because I was not able to sit in on this one. I guess they didn't want any distractions. We called one of my sisters on the way home to see if we could oome by for a visit. We got there and got to playing Sorry with the younger neice and neph! Of course the lil guys didn't really know what they were doing and it was fun to see Ben trying to correct and teach them! We also got a yummy lunch that Ben made a hilarious face about and he read How Do You Hug a Porcipine all the way through with little help!





Thursday we got to sleep to our normal time because Ben would not be having an appointment in the morning but in the afternoon. He did have speech in the morning though. While Ben was in ST I got cleaned up and a few things done around the house!
...side note, as I am typing Ben is teasing me by bringing his hand over and typing lettters I don't want typed! Typical Ben, all done a smirk on his face!
After ST we had a calm lunch and then took off for Tacoma again. I knew today was going to be a longer appointment but I didn't think it was going to be 3 hours! They did x-rays that I thought were never going to end. I think they got an picture of every part of his body at every angle! The most annoying thing about this appointment is that the nurses kept talking to Ben as if he was a child. They also kept callimg him sweetheart and honey...so annoying...and they were years younger then him! I did decide to keep my words and hands to myself. Just because Ben has a brain injury and might be a little slower at answering and is in a wheel chair doesn't mean you have to talk louder, use terms of endearment that don't need to be used and not treat him like a man that he is!
Well, after that 3 hour appointment we hit traffic coming home. We decided that it would be best to pick up some pizza and head home. Two of my lil brothers stopped by and ended up falling asleep on the couch...I guess we have a comfortable house!

Friday was back to a normal day for us. Ben had ST again in the morning and while he was in ST I ran to Michales to get a few fall decorations. I need some more but just wanted to get a few. I have been burning my pumpkin candle a few times since this weeks weather has been debby downer compared to the week before in teh 80-90's! This weekends even was bad but Monday-Wed is to be 70-80's! Weird weather for sure!
Followed by ST was a quick lunch and OT. Ben worked for the first time with some treking poles. They are kind of like ski poles but for hiking. He did ok for his first time and will be getting more practice in the days to come. I forgot to download those photos but will get them posted soon.
THe evening was a chill time for us. My lil bro's football game was in Aberdeen so we opted to stay home. Good choice because he only ended up playing the first half because they were ahead by so much! We won 50-0 and are now 3-0! Go Rams!

Saturday was cleaning and organizing! I have a love hate relationship with this but it needs to be done. Friday while Ben took a nap I actually organized the garage. Pretty much things need to be organized around the boat which takes up 75% of the garage. There are still a few things that need to be done but are to heavy so I will wait for my bros and dad! Anyways, I cleaned and organized closets, rooms, more closets, bathrooms, dusted, vaccumed and organized dressers and such. The three areas left are teh kitchen, family room and our bedroom. Also the yard needs to be tended to and summer stuff stored away. So, things are being crossed off my list!
Later yesterday we went to my lil bro and sis in laws house. They were redoing my neices bedroom for her birthday while she was away. We had dinner with them and then went to Lime Berry...yummy! Ben and I also go our baby fix in and got to hold our newest lil nephew! While we were at Lime Berry my sis in law was asking Ben some questions about growing up, some I knew and some I didn't. Ben did awesome at remembering things and explaining them in full sentences. She asked him who his fav therapist is now and he said his ST. He really has been working hard on his speech and I think Ben is beginning to see that it is getting much better which is awesome!

Today is just a chill day for us. One of these moments I will get up and try to tackle more things on my list. Right now I am thinking of chuncky sweaters, rain boots and coffee! Although I don't like the cold I love fall and winter weather clothing! Of course it doesn't compare to running around in jeans and a tank but there is something about the fall that just tickles my heart! I pray that this fall is so much better for us then the last! I pray for more miracles to transpire in Ben's body and mind! I pray for transformation in our lives and others as well!
We are blessed and I thank God every day for the healing and restoration that He has blessed Ben and I with!

"Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done." 1 Chron 16:8

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."
1 Chron 16:34