Inspiring Mom Recovers From Tragic Plane Crash Through Faith, Family, and Community
October 5, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 4 Comments
Christian Nielson describes his wife’s personality as green, because she’s “mild, lovely, and creative.” Even after only meeting Stephanie once, I would agree!
Stephanie, or Nie Nie, as many refer to her, writes the Nie Nie Dialogues. Her bio reads: “Stephanie Aurora Clark Nielson returns from an almost fatal plane crash. Happy to be blogging again from Utah and recovering too. Four happy children and one sweet husband make her life as good as it gets.”
She inspires, she motivates, she shares. And people read. Lots of people! If you haven’t made your way over, grab a box of tissues and stop by, but make sure to start at the beginning because this is one inspiring mama!
August 2008 marked a time of change for Stephanie and Christian when their plane crashed near St. Johns, Arizona and more than 85% of Stephanie’s body was badly burned. After more than 3 months in a coma and now more than a year in recovery, Stephanie shows us how to overcome challenges through faith, family, and community.
“My faith is everything,” Stephanie says when asked what has helped her overcome life’s challenges. “It is my life and my strength. I rely on the amazing power of prayer and being guided by the Holy Ghost. It is really a beautiful thing. It guides me and leads me to understand my children better. I believe that my children are precious spirits of our Heavenly Father and I am preparing them to be good parents and citizens themselves. I couldn’t do that if my faith didn’t play a role.”
Her husband, or her “Mr. Nielson” as she refers to him in her blog, has also been a strength to pull her through. “He took care of me when the accident happened as if I was his child. He became mother and father for almost a year. He has been there to lean on when times get frustrating and tough…and they did and still do. He is my listening ear, my best friend, and most importantly my greatest support in this life.”
When I chatted with Christian, I got a sense of the good friends that he and Stephanie are. He shared with me that at his last job, he used to have his desktop set to his wife’s blog. He said reading her blog was the first thing he did every day before delving into work-related tasks. He joked that he learned so much more about his family that way!
When Stephanie was unable to blog, her sister Courtney took over the writing for her, updating her growing readership regularly on Stephanie’s status and progress. The blogosphere cried together as Stephanie struggled to make it through each day. We were thrilled when Christian was able to finally see her for the first time after the accident, and we banded together to raise money to help offset the medical bills.
“When the accident happened,” Stephanie shared, “So many mothers and women sent me gifts, letters, cards and donations. My favorite was getting handmade crafts that they made for my children or me. They made me smile and cry knowing that other mothers were feeling my pain and using their creative works to help me heal. It was overwhelming and so kind.”
Now, Stephanie and Christian are reunited with their children, living near family in Utah, and are experiencing a lot of “AC” (after crash) firsts. When I visited Stephanie, she excitedly shared that she had just vacuumed the stairs for the first time since the accident. I sat in wonder, thinking how much I typically complain about vacuuming stairs. She commented, “I think the toughest part right now is not being able to help [my kids] tie their shoes, button their shirts, and run around with them. We really take those for granted.” I asked her what her favorite part of being a mom was and she replied: “I think the best part is being needed. I am nothing if I can’t serve them.”
Learn more about Stephanie and her family by reading Nie Nie Dialogues or CusineNie. You can also follow her @nieniedialogues on Twitter. If you’d like to hear her speak in person, be sure and check out her key note at next summer’s Evo Conference for women in social media in Park City, Utah.Giveaway—Three Lucky Winners Will Win a Dyson Vacuum Cleaner
August 29, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 1,203 Comments
This week, Dyson is giving you the chance to win one of three vacuum cleaners!
Prize
Three lucky winners will receive one of the following. (See entry requirements below.)
- Grand prize: Dyson DC 31 (handheld)
- 1st place: Dyson DC 24 (upright)
- 2nd place: Dyson DC 23 (canister)
Entry Requirements
To enter for a chance to win, you are required to do four things (make sure you leave a separate comment for each of your entries).
Note: Entries that do not follow all of these requirements will not be considered.
- Become a fan of the Mom It Forward Facebook page.
- Join Mom It Forward Google Friend Connect (see right sidebar).
- Follow @momitforward on Twitter.
- Post these messages on Facebook and/or on Twitter and leave comments here, linking to your messages:
Check out these housework/cleaning nightmares & share your own: http://facebook.com/momitforward PLS RT
GIVEAWAY! Enter 4 a chance 2 win a #dyson vacuum cleaner (3 winners) http://bit.ly/7cqtk Ends Sunday! PLS RT
Extra Entries
You can earn up to five extra entries for this week’s giveaway. Leave an additional comment for each.
Share your best or worst housework experience on the Mom It Forward Facebook fan page.- Read the Summer of Service post this week and either share how you completed the challenge or leave one cleaning or organizing tip.
- Nominate a mom to be featured in the “inspiring moms” section of the Mom It Forward blog.
- Join the Mom It Forward Facebook group.
- Post the “Mom Is a Verb” button on your blog. (See right-hand sidebar for button with code.)
The Fine Print
No purchase necessary to enter. Winners will be selected randomly through http://random.org. Dyson and Mom It Forward employees are ineligible to participate. All entries received after Sunday, September 6 at midnight PDT will not be considered. Entries that do not follow all of the entry requirements will not be considered. Winners will be notified and will have 24 hours to confirm receipt of the e-mail. If they do not reply within 24 hours, another winner will be selected. Open to participants in the US and Canada 18 years and older.
This Summer’s Last SOS Challenge—Giving the Gift of Cleaning and Organizing!
August 29, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 31 Comments
Does your spring cleaning ever turn into fall cleaning? Or, do you feel that the housework is never done? This week is the last in 14 weeks of Summer of Service challenges and is sponsored by Dyson, because it is all about making this week—starting with today!—squeaky clean for you, your friends and family, and/or your community. Here are 10 ways to do that.
- Make time to clean or organize one area of your house/apartment each day this week no matter how big or small.
- Put the days of the week on a different piece of paper and have your children draw a different day out of a hat. On the assigned day, help your child clean his or her room, teaching the skills needed to do it on their own.
- Go through all the sock drawers in your house, matching up all the pairs and throwing out those without a match.
- Have a family cleaning party. One example is to play songs like “Whistle while you work!” and see who can pick up the most things or get the most accomplished before the song ends.
- Be a clean person by living according to your values. For example, be honest and fair in all of your dealings, be a person of integrity, etc.
- Identify a friend or family who is sick, having a difficult time, or who could use a break. Stop by their house unannounced and do their dishes, empty their garbage, sweep and mop their floor, or clean the guest bathroom. If you know this person well and have access to their house, do it anonymously!
- Take your children to a local park or cemetery and spend 15 minutes picking up the trash.
- Call a local non-profit agency or church and make arrangements to help weed, pick up trash, or clean the facilities. If appropriate, take your children along to help.
- The next time you are at a friends, family members, or in laws for dinner, offer to do all the dishes after the meal.
- Have a laundry folding party as a family and play games as you fold and put away the clothes.
How Will You Give to Others This Week?
- What other ideas do you have for being squeaky clean this week?
- What are things that get in the way of cleaning for yourself, your family and friends, or your community?
- What are ways to overcome these challenges?
- How has being squeaky clean this week made a meaningful difference for you? For others?
Remember to enter this week’s giveaway where 3 lucky winners will get a Dyson vacuum cleaner!
Household Helps—How to Establish Cleaning Routines
July 1, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee · 2 Comments
Discover the productive and calming effects of cleaning through defining routines. Here’s how:
Have a cleaning morning every week.
Notice I used the word “morning” instead of “day.” Part of the great thing about cleaning is enjoying the fruits of your scrubbing after the fact. My most productive times are the afternoons after I’ve cleaned. Everything is in place. You feel energized by the clearing of the clutter that also clears the mind.
Establish an efficient order.
I clean my kitchen first. It gives me great satisfaction to see a clean kitchen for one, and the dishwasher can run while I clean the rest of the house. The key is establishing something you like to do first. This gives you motivation to keep going.
Appreciate cleaning as quiet time.
I enjoy cleaning because it’s one of the few times where I’m both outwardly focused on an activity and inwardly not using much mental energy. My mind can wander into different directions, new ideas can bubble up, and I can be focused on the task at hand that largely isn’t stressful.
I know that the cleaning work will be done in an hour or two and then I can take pride in creating a safe, comfortable environment to live in.
- Do you enjoy the rituals of cleaning?
- How do you get and stay motivated?
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