Operation Smile 4-20-14

This week has been one of the hardest weeks for me. One of my childhood best friends had a stroke and was rushed to the emergency room. They found out that she has Fibro Muscular Dystrophy, it is a condition that causes the smooth muscle in the carotid artery becomes hard like pearls and begins to constrict. They believe this has been going on her whole life and just never knew it. Jordan and I fell a part when we started high school and just hung out with different people. When her sister called me to let me know, it was like nothing ever changed. I left class early to rush over to her room to see her. On 4-18-14 she was released and they believed she was out of immediate danger of having another stroke. That night I went to visit her and sat with her for an hour or so. We reminisced about all the fun times we had and how much we missed being friends. On 4-19-14 she was rushed to the E.R. at 4:20AM with another stroke. She was rushed into emergency surgery where a stent was placed in her carotid artery. She was allowed no visitors besides immediate family. I was worried sick and just wanted to visit again, we are so young to be going through this. On Easter she was allowed to have visitors and I knew that it was my chance to go see her. To much surprise she was improving tremendously. She was able to begin writing her name again and eating with her right hand. I brought her a get well gift, nothing special, but I just wanted to see her smile again, like when we were kids. I spent a few more hours with her talking and reconnecting. Unfortunately it took something so traumatic for us to see how important our friendship is, but I would change the bond we now have together. Operation Smile was designed to make other people around me happy, but I can't begin to explain how happy it is made me. The smile Jordan gave me when I gave her the bear and balloon is something I will treasure the rest of my life.

Operation Smile 4-10-14

This past week I practiced pure happiness. I only did things that made me and the people I came into contact happy! I held the door this week for 60 people, only 40 smiled at me, and only 10 said thank you. I never stopped smiling, I was just doing what made me happy. I also was able to spend my off day with my nieces and nephews,  showering them for how perfect they are in my life. I, along with my boyfriend Zach, took all four out to enjoy pizza, juice boxes, ice cream, and a playground to ourselves. I didn't care what they did wrong that day with mom and dad. It made me the absolute happiest person along with the 5 people I spent it with! It's absolutely a necessity for people to take time every day to make themselves and those around them happy!This is Kara, Evan, Kade, and Charlie, they literally are the coolest kids to be around and taking them out to show how much I love them really was one of the coolest things I have ever experienced as an aunt!

Operation Smile 4-3-13

Today was one of the coolest experiences ever! Last night my boyfriend and I made white cake cupcakes with chocolate chips and dark fudge chocolate icing. It was a lot of fun to cook with him and be able to share my project with him. So today my mom and I went to Green Township Fire and EMT department to hand deliver the cupcakes. I met Mr.Gallagher who was very surprised by the cupcakes and our visit. He was really excited to show us the fire department and explain what exactly he does. There are only three guys on shift at this station and they work 24 hour shifts a piece, three days a week. Just hearing him speak with such pride of his work and his team really grew on me, just from baking cupcakes which cost me $3.57 to bake and just about 30 minutes out of my time! My appreciation for these men and women is beyond measurable and the fact that they are just so excited to do it everyday made baking these cupcakes worth so much more. After speaking with Mr.Gallagher he offered me the chance to do a ride-a-long this summer with the squad, so now I will be building a friendship and a different kind of appreciation for these individuals and I really cannot wait!

The last picture is of me and Mr.Gallagher, it is the start of a friendship caught on camera. I never thought that this project would really impact my life. I am so thankful for the opportunities I have experienced and will experience so far this semester. This rainy day was made bright after my visit to the fire department. Operation smile is really taking over and I can't wait to share this with my friends and family at the end of the semester and encourage them to be a part of this movement!