Monday, August 29, 2011

Generosity . . . .

People.  Good people.  Bad people.  The rest of us.

Although we hear and read about a lot of bad people in this world, there are far more good people that we don't hear about.

We do hear about the famous good people.  Princess Diana was a good person.  Mother Teresa was a good person.  There are a few good people that get a lot of publicity, but what about the good people that go unnoticed?  In the past few months I've had the opportunity to come across more good and generous people than ever.

It's a funny thing, when you find out you are pregnant, people (90% women) bring out their kindness and generosity.  After announcing my pregnancy almost one year ago I received cards and gifts for my unborn baby almost instantly.  Then I had my baby shower and received an unbelievable amount of gifts for baby. People are so generous when it comes to babies.  Not only that, once I had baby Leah and everyone found out she was a girl, I had baby girl clothes coming in left and right!  Which was a great thing for us since we had zero clothes for our poor little baby girl.  Here we are, 3 months later and just last week we still received a gift card in the mail for baby Leah.  People are just so nice and can be so good sometimes.

After my cousin got into his first accident in January, my family came across more good-hearted people than they could have ever imagined.  People from other countries had heard of Tyler's accident and began sending my aunt cards, gifts, money, you name it.  My aunt opened a mailbox strictly for Tyler so that people could send him cards and she could read them to him in the hospital.  The cards came pouring in for Tyler, it was amazing.  Then came all of my aunt's wonderful friends!  They came through and made, shirts, stickers, websites, bracelets and put together fundraising events to help pay for Tyler's outrageous medical bills.  After Tyler's death now, those kind-hearted and generous people are still working in my aunt's life.  Another fundraising event is happening next weekend, a car wash took place before Tyler's funeral, and dedications in Tyler's name are happening.  Even a group of professional BMX riders took time out of their day to attend Tyler's funeral and sign his guest book, how amazing for Tyler and for my family.  It's a great thing when people can push aside the bad and come together for a greater good.  You never know how your kind actions truly help that person in need.

Not only that, Marc and I have found that we have some really great friends in our lives.  We are so lucky.  From the smallest actions to the biggest one, we are truly grateful for the generosity of our friends.  Whether it be us hopping on their boat for the weekend or shacking up under their umbrella at the beach, we appreciate them.  We have so many people that we can call at any time and they will be there for us in a second.  We don't want you to go unnoticed and we want you to know that your generosity and your big hearts make us want to be better people as well.

It's funny how one good action can lead to another.  You know, like paying it forward?  That whole concept of paying for the person behind you in the Starbucks drive-thru.  Hopefully that one action will lead to a string of others and the good people will make the news rather than the bad.

I encourage you to do something kind for someone today, you'll never know how that one action might make that person feel.  Even if it's just as simple as a smile or a hug.  Life is too short to be unhappy.  Live life to its fullest, love unconditionally and laugh some belly laughs every now then would ya :)

If nothing else, take the time to smile at this beautiful little bundle of joy!

Baby Leah @ 3 months young

Happy Monday to all! 

XOXO Jen 



Thursday, August 18, 2011

See you later . . .

Well . . . my blogs are normally pretty upbeat and happy, but I must warn you, this one is not.


My cousin Tyler passed away on August 7th at the young age of 18.  He would be blowing out the candles on his 19th birthday next month.


Here he is just one year ago on his 18th birthday at Bari Bari 

Tyler was on his way to becoming a professional BMX bike rider.  He was sponsored by Monster Energy drink and was the biggest daredevil you've ever seen.  The things he could do on that bike were just so unreal.  He could fly so high in the air with no hands and do all of those crazy tricks that you see in the X-Games!  Look at him fly:




Tyler used his bike riding as a hobby and was planning on making it his career.  He is very well known in the BMX world and without a doubt would have been pro in the upcoming years.  

Tragically, Tyler was involved in a hit and run accident back in January.  A truck came from behind and hit Tyler as he was walking on the horse trail just 200 feet from his house.  The driver took off leaving Tyler there to die.  After much publicity thanks to Casper News as well as our local news stations Kcal 9 and ABC 7 the driver of that truck was found in the high desert.  Unfortunately, our justice system is crap and almost 7 months later a trial has still yet to begin on Tyler's case.  To keep it simple, that accident left Tyler with a brain injury.  Tyler was in the process of healing and just beginning to get back on his bike again and re-learn how to live life.  

On Saturday July 30th the unthinkable happened, Tyler was hit a second time by a car.  This time the car did not see Tyler at all and was going about 60 MPH or so.  The driver did stop and call 911, Tyler was in a coma when he arrived to the hospital.  I'm going to spare you all the details because it's not necessary to explain.  Tyler put up the biggest fight possible and after 7 months of fighting from his first accident his body just couldn't handle any more.  

Yesterday we celebrated Tyler's life.  He was one special guy that's for sure.  He had so many people there to celebrate that it became a standing room only for some.  Tyler had a bike outside his casket because we all know that he is really flying high up in the clouds of Heaven right now.  We were all able to sign his casket and say our "see you laters" to him.  He was an amazing guy and he touched the lives of so many.  Even now, he is still living on after his death.  His family made the selfless decision to donate Tyler's organs and he now lives in a 4 year old child and a 30 year old man, way to go Tyler!



Some say that Tyler must have been a pretty important guy to be needed in Heaven so soon.  I agree.  

If you believe in any type of higher power I would just like to ask that you please pray for my Aunt Belinda and my cousin Michael (Tyler's mom and brother).  They need strength to move forward from such a difficult and tragic time in their lives.  Thank you so much!

Heaven is an unimaginably beautiful place, enjoy Tyler, see you later!


September 23, 1992 - August 7, 2011
Ride in Paradise