Spreading some goodness at Mountain Point Medical Center with UtahRUN and Hoka One One

With life drastically changed right now and let's face it, sucking it big time, I'm glad when I get to have a day filled with happiness.

Some context and background.  I have been running in Hoka shoes for years.  I won't run in anything else.  I have so many pairs that it's laughable.  Unless you're Splenda Daddy and then maybe it's cry-able.  Just kidding he's as much a believer as I am.  You see, after my two neck surgeries I was told to stop running.  I didn't. I stuck with my Hoka's.  After a couple of injections in my knees for arthritis, I was told to stop running.  I didn't.  I stuck with my Hoka's.  I have found that as long as I run in my Hoka's, train on my treadmill and the trails and only race on the trails, I have been able to run injury free now for over 5 years.  I really limit my road miles to no more than a 5k but the mountain trails have my love.  Jeez, I'm a freaking walking spokesperson for Hoka and the benefit they are to runners, walkers, anyone who needs deluxe cushion under them.

As manager and buyer at UtahRUN, I get to interact with our vendors and sales rep's.  My Hoka rep's have been outstanding and some of my favorite people to work with.  They, along with many other brands have been extending offers to reward our health care workers on the front lines during this Covid pandemic.  My Hoka rep reached out first with the easiest way to accomplish this as a combined effort.  With UtahRUN's owner's blessing, I jumped on it.  I reached out to a hospital right in the same town but after no timely response, I thought of the hospital just a few miles away that had taken such good care of me after my car accident.  They are a little smaller and not part of the big fish of Healthcare systems in the state of Utah, but they still have ER staff that are exposed and dealing with the Corona Virus just the same as others. 

I reached out via email and within minutes had a reply excited about the opportunity we were offering them. We had some back and forth figuring out logistics and then we were set.

Mountain Point Medical Center in Lehi, UT

Yesterday, three of us from UtahRUN and a videographer Travis (there to capture it all) met at the hospital with over 70 pairs of Hoka One One shoes. 

Jess, Mindi, me, Travis

We got set up in a board room and in two different shifts were able to fit 24 ER nurses with brand new, comfortable shoes.  They could choose which model was most comfortable, and sometimes we even had the perfect color. 

Nurses with their new Hoka's

They look awesome on their feet!

Words cannot express how heartwarming it was to hear and see the gratitude they expressed to us.  I watched as some nurses who had just finished their shifts put on a pair and then audibly sigh as they walked around on the marshmellow-like feeling of their Hoka's with smiles on their faces.What an incredible feeling it was to be able to express OUR gratitude to them for all their hard work and sacrifice with a simple gesture of new shoes and then they in turn expressed their gratitude for the new shoes.  I only wish our Hoka One One rep could have been there.  It truly was a amazing experience.

I wish there was more of this in this world. 
Mutual respect. 
Mutual gratitude for the actions of others.
Love reciprocated.

I am so grateful to work for UtahRUN and the amazing owner who wants to serve the community in any way he can.
I am so thankful to Tres, my Hoka One One rep, and their amazing program of giving back to our heroes on the front lines, in the trenches, doing the dirty work.  Those nurses run around for 12 hours tending to the sick all the while hoping they don't contract it themselves.  Not to mention the injured that come in as well.  I've watched them.  I've seen them in their element and they are amazing.  Thank a nurse the next time you see one!

And yeah..... mutual respect, love reciprocated.  Give it a try.

Hope on a Sunday despite the stupid Covid

It's been a hard week.
Like really hard. 
Like the darkest abyss, lowest point hard. 

I went through the motions, but I felt nothing.  I couldn't be nice.  I hated everyone and everything.  Beyond the constant state of irritation, I felt nothing.  No happiness, no sadness. Nothing.   My poor husband could offer no help. No music, no podcast, no TV show, no movie, none of my usual sources of distraction were working.

I prayed.  I read my scriptures.  I did the things I've been taught to do that usually bring happiness and peace in my life. Nothing.

I finally broke down Friday and asked my husband for a priesthood blessing.  For those that might be reading and are new around these parts, I'm a Latter Day Saint.  We believe that Christ's church he established in the New Testament and was lost with the death of the disciples has been restored including His priesthood.  My husband, among millions on male members of my church hold that priesthood and he can give me blessings of health, healing and comfort.  All outcomes depending on my faith and the will of the Lord. 

His blessing Friday night was very nice, and I felt the Spirit of my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ providing his words.  I cried.  I went to bed pleading in my heart that I would wake up feeling better.  Feeling different.  Feeling something.

And I did.  I woke up for the first time in a long time not wishing I was dead.  I woke up and was actually happy that I woke up instead of disappointed I hadn't peacefully passed in my sleep.  It wasn't all butterflies and unicorns but it has been a start.

I know I can't be alone in these feelings.  Covid-19 has wreaked such havoc on our lives that it is way too easy to become hopeless and despondent. I was there.  Now, don't get me wrong, I wasn't truly suicidal, but I was certainly more than happy to be done.   I know others feel that way, but *gasp* we don't talk about it.  People then get worried, they get protective and unbearingly hoverish.  I just made up that word, but think hovering in a negative way.

Saturday, I got on my bike trainer, bot an hour in and then some light weights.  I made my bed, opened all the blinds, cleaned my kitchen and put on some new clothes I had purchased previously.
We got in the car, complete with my pup Maggie and headed out for a drive.  No real plan in place other than a custard from Nielsen's.  We just wanted to be out in the sunshine and the only way to safely do that is in our car.  We ended up driving to Park City, and tried to go over Guardman's Pass but it's still too early in the year, so instead we went through Heber, and Provo Canyon to basically travel a large circle back home.  It did wonders for me.  We listened to a book we both enjoyed, with Maggie in my lap I constantly was stroking her, petting her and kissing her.  All soothing things.  Topping things off were my ministering sisters dropping off flowers and a treat (to add to some my daughter-in-love dropped off earlier in the week), we got some take out and watched a movie.  It was a day that wasn't steeped in routine.

(Mt Timpanogos in the background)

Today, Sunday is another day of sunshine and warmth.  Some gospel studying, a zoom call hearing about my dear friend's mission to Panama, a walk with the dogs and an evening finishing up laundry, some work stuff and getting ready for the week.

Will this week be better than last?  I feel hopeful that it will.  Does anything change with Covid -19?  In my world no.  Still isolating as much as possible.  Still missing all the things that this miserable virus has taken away from me.  Maybe I'll slump back into the dark abyss.  I don't know.  I just know that I feel more hopeful. 

That will be enough for now.

Life amid Covid-19 and other random thoughts

*blows dust off blog*

OMG - I almost didn't even remember how to long in and create a post. My last post was in 2018, a year after the previous ones.  It's clear that with the emergence of social media, blogging went the way of the dinosaur.

Facebook.  Facebook is what killed blogging.  It came on the scene, knocked over MySpace and took off like a rocket.  Soon, myself and all the connections I made through blogging deserted our own little pieces of the interwebz and began building followers and racking up our friend numbers.  I loved it!  I could connect with family members clear across the country, my blogging friends, friends in real life and friends of friends.  I found myself posting multiple times a day and commenting on every post I could.  I posted funny situations, serious thoughts and shared pictures.  I began journaling my life on social media.  Soon, I would have "memories" show up of the things I had posted a year previous and I became content with that form of connection. Years I have spent on Facebook, and then Instagram came and it was another form to connect,  Now we have Twitter, Reddit, Tik Tok, Marco Polo, Snapshat and I'm sure more that I don't even know about. Each have their pro's and con's, and I use most of them on some level.  What I enjoy the most is the connection I have to family members.  These platforms are great for seeing pictures and video's of my kids and grandkids.

So why am I so restless about it all?  Well,  currently life is in a state of  unease and unknown.  We are dealing with a global pandemic - Covid-19  a Corona virus that originated in China and has since spread all over the world with millions infected and dying.  My home state of Utah is doing fairly well with it at the current time, but we are behind others in the onset of infection, so our numbers will likely get worse before we get better.  We are practicing CDC guidelines of  washing hands frequently, not leaving our home except for essential needs, wearing masks when in public and practicing "social distancing" which is no closer than 6 feet to another person not of your household.  To say that this is a disruption in our lives is an understatement.  Restaurants can no longer host people inside, grocery stores have limited hours, essentials have been cleaned out of the shelves as people anticipate the worst, many businesses have suspended their services and sadly many have had to simply close - costing millions their jobs.  The unemployment rate is astounding.  Spending even 15 minutes googling around about this virus and the effects on lives and our economy is enough to cause even the calmest of persons some serious anxiety. 

You would think at a time like this, social media would be my place to turn to.  I could use it as an escape, chat with friends, check in on family, find some humor among this daily bleakness.  And I think for many people, this is exactly the purpose it serves.  For me?  It's not.  Facebook and Instagram's algorithms have made it a barren wasteland of nothing but meme's either funny or intended to be inspirational (I'm just as guilty) but all miss the mark for me. I love seeing pictures of my family and friends, but it seems that those particular social media platforms would rather I not.  I almost have to go searching for them and that's just too time consuming. And before anyone starts to tell me about unfollowing or muting... I know all of this.  It doesn't help.

So, I'm stepping away and going back to a forum that I enjoy.  I like writing out my thoughts and feelings.  Sometimes they are coherent, most times they are random.  But if I'm going to journal my life, I think I prefer this platform.   It's here on my piece of the internet that doesn't belong to Facebook or other social media, only to Google (which is likely just another devil to beholden to).  I no longer have to feel my self-imposed pressure to "like posts" or comment just to let someone know I am validating them.  I'll use text and messenger to stay in contact with friends during this time of isolation. And while I can't even go to church right now, I can share my spiritual thoughts here.  For myself.  For anyone who stumbles upon it.  For my family to see after I'm long gone.

If they want to.