2012: Chalk Another One Up

Well hot dang, this year was pretty amazing. I do not intend for this post to be super long, but just wanted to recap this last year for me. I had an amazing year and learned a lot about others, myself and about life in general.

January 2012: I stay home for the winter semester, and was able to land an internship and job. I started interning with Poobah Marketing (www.poobahmarketing.com). This firm specializes in SEO and online marketing. The internship was amazing, and I have been working for them part time this whole year. I have learned a lot about what I want to do as a future career because of this company. I am very thankful for it. I also worked at Caroba Plastics. They make plastic pieces for medical parts. It was a factory, pretty cool to learn about and I am thankful for that job, but glad it's over.

February 2012: Was a pretty chill month, just worked a lot and enjoyed home. I was able to snowboard with my brother in law, Jordan, a few times. I also hung out with Chandler Brown and Abby Gallacher a lot. A pretty quick month.

March 2012: I continued to work for both jobs, but this month was fun and crazy. At the end of the month I went out to Utah for the Festival of Colors to meet up with all my besties from school. It was an awesome weekend and I had a blast. I also was able to snowboard with Skyler. But it ended up not being a good thing, haha. I got back from Utah and had a really bad pain in my lower stomach. Turns out I had a hernia, so I had to get surgery. School started 3 weeks later, so it was pretty rushed. I had surgery while my parents were in Hawaii so my sister helped take care of me. it was a pretty minor surgery and all healed well, I just had to take it easy for a few months.

April 2012: I was suppose to go to Mexico with Sam and her family right before school but because of surgery I had to bail out. I was a little bummed but that is ok. School started up and it was awesome to be back! The first bit of school went great. I was working for the school doing landscaping and had my online job, so I was busier than i have ever been but also was saving money too. It felt good. Oh and I got pink eye, that sucked bad.

May 2012: Up at school and my birthday was this month. It was a good birthday, the big 23. I am getting old, haha. Spring semester is the best at school. We do a lot of stuff outdoors and have a blast doing it. Met and made some new friends and gals and it was awesome.

June 2012: a continue of may pretty much. we just had a blast and did alot of bridge jumping, camping, shooting guns and doing manly things. haha.

July 2012: 4th of july rocked. it consisted of getting pulled over for shooting fireworks out of the car on the highway, floating the river with a bunch of friends which turned into me and Sam having to hitch hike on a road back to the end. We also saw the Rexburg parade, and then we headed down to Idaho Falls. They have the best firework show west of the Mississippi. We got a sweet spot right on the river across from where they shoot them off. We were with all our friends and it was a great way to end an adventurous day. haha. July was also the month when the semester ended, and we had made some sweet plans for our 7 week break.

August 2012: at the end of july, i went down to Bear Lake with Taylor Klein and his family along with Sam, JOJO and Miles. We had a blast. We got raspberry shakes for dayz, went to the lake, 4 wheeling and shooting guns. it was just so fun, and we made many great memories, such as the bear lake dance place. (ask me about it if you really want to know, hahaha) After being there for a week, i headed back to CO and spent time with my family. all my siblings were able to come back for my baby nieces baby blessing. Larissa had her baby, Lydia earlier in the summer. So we spent many days at the lake jetskiing and made some sweet videos with our gopro camera. After being home for a bit I went down to Mexico with Sam, her family, TK, and Annalisa. and we had a blast. right on the beach. got tan, had fun and just relaxed. It was so fun and nice to get away and enjoy chilling. I got back from mexico and was home for 2 weeks and then went off with Dad to NYC to watch the US Open for Tennis. we also did some sight seeing, saw the Dennys and just had a blast. I got back to denver a week before school started, skyler flew in to party and jetski and then we headed back to Rexburg.

September 2012: Fall semester started and we were having a blast. School is school, but i really liked my classes this semester. first good month.

October 2012: the month from hell, haha. school was going great, but I ended up tearing my ACL and meniscus in the same knee ive done it before twice on. We were playing soccer when it happened. I did school in a wheelchair for a week and decided I needed to come home. My dad flew up the weekend before halloween and packed me up and we drove home. it was really hard to leave but i needed surgery. So i got home and prepped.

November 2012: I had surgery Nov 8th and it went really well. I got a new ACL and they had to remove my meniscus this time. So no more soccer or football and maybe no snowboarding, we will see. I just need to be smart and protect it. I started physical therapy two weeks later and still go. The PT is awesome. Recovery has gone super well, and I was able to go to Dallas with my family to see my extended fam for thanksgiving. it was really fun and I enjoyed the trip alot. My knee was doing good too. I also found out i could go back to Rexburg for finals for the last two weeks. I had be given access to continue my classes from home, so I did not have to drop any classes. Very blessed.

December 2012: i flew back to rexburg and suprised everyone. I didnt tell anyone except for Skyler. haha it was so fun to do that. School was great, ended up getting the best grades ive ever gotten, so i was stoked! And it was fun being back and seeing everyone and meeting new people too. I look forward to spring. I came home from school and just been continuing to do PT for my knee and enjoying family time and Christmas. I got a shot gun and it is dope!!

Overall this year has been full of memories and trials, but everything has been amazing. I feel like i packed a lot into this year and it was amazing. I am thankful for everything I've learned and for the experiences I had. This next year should be a good one too. I am back home for winter, landed another internship with Turner PR as a digital communications intern. I am stoked. (www.turnerpr.com)

I am thankful and you should be thankful for your year too. Happy New Year~

Curt

Back to the Grind

Well last time I updated you all I was in Colorado. 3 Days after that, I was back in Idaho. I had kept it a secret to all my friends except for a few who would help me surprise all of the rest of our friends. I flew into Idaho Falls on Dec 1st. I came back to see friends and finish my schooling. I was able to do all my school work from home, and wanted to come back for finals and make sure everything was squared away, and it has been beyond busy, but also a really good time. Seeing old friends and throwing them off those first few days were awesome. haha. I got a lot done with school and tomorrow I will be done after my final two presentations for classes. It feels good to have another semester done. I have also had a lot of fun with my friends this last week or so and have met a few new friends that I am pretty jazzed about to.

Essentially, I feel really blessed right now. Heavenly Father has really blessed my life. I have had a great recovery with my knee, been able to do school and come back and finish the right way. I am excited for this next winter with my continuing knee rehab and new internship with Turner PR in Denver. I am a little bummed that I have to leave. Rexburg is a fun place with a lot of good people. I will miss my friends this winter, but hopefully get to visit. I have learned a lot about myself this last month with recovery and all the down time. I have learned what I need, what I want and what is most important for me at this point in my life. I know that the situations I have faced, the trials, and the people I have met are all part of helping me become a better person. And I like it.

Life is good.

This is betty, our car. we bought this for 400 bucks.

this is a cow/newest friend from today

Erin, Curty, Cow, Macy

GoPro, one of my closet friends

Well, me and TK own a GoPro action camera and we love it. Here is a clip of some of the stuff from this previous year. Enjoy!

 this picture is a link to the newest GoPro. buy one. wont be disappointing.

Knee'd an Update?

Was that not an awesome way to title this post? Obviously, I am going to update you on the knee and surgery and everything.

I had surgery on November 8th. They went in and found that my acl was still intact, but was so loose that it was not functioning as it should, so they replaced it with a cadaver tissue. They also had to drill a new tunnel or hole into my leg bone to screw the new acl into. My medial meniscus was also completely ripped, so they had to trim out most of it. So I am without some pretty important padding in between my knee, but thats ok.

So surgery was on a thursday, they got me home that day and started me on a this knee mobilizer. Essentially it would bend my leg for me and get my acl working and functioning. That machine hurt like crap, but was a blessing at the same time. I tell you more about it below. But things were going well, then we hit a wall. That narcotics are really hard on you. Usually they can mess with your stomach  and slow down your digestion. Not to be gross, but I got constipated pretty bad. I was not able to use the bathroom for a few days, and after getting off the pain meds and taking laxatives, I finally started going, but I think that between the laxatives, back of bathroom usage and ibruprofen intake, my stomach was toast. I spent all saturday and night through to sunday throwing up and having horrible heartburn. Stomach flu sucks, but imagine not being able to hunch over a toilet to throw up because you cant bend or put pressure on your knee.... yeah it sucked. haha. But sunday morning I went to Urgent Care, got some nausea medicine and a bunch of antacids and meds to help with the acid reflux. Monday I started feeling good, but that was the weekend from Hell. No doubt about it. I felt pretty bad for my mom because there was not much she could do, but you could tell she wanted to do something. We just had to wait it out, and it sucked. But as always, life moves forward and things better and they did.

Its been almost two weeks since surgery. The goal was to be able to get my knee to bend past 90 degrees. I got it to 110 degrees! I can start to walk, with a slight limp because all my leg muscles are dead and real weak. I started physical therapy today and will continue to do it 2 to 3 times a week for the next 3 to 4 months. they have to take it a little slower because its the third revision on my knee, but the PT is awesome. I am excited to get my leg back to full strength and move forward.

As usual, this was an adventure, this was my third knee surgery, but it still brought new problems and situations. It is never the same twice. haha. but I can walk, I feel good and I am happy. Life is good and I am thankful for the blessings and experiences I have had through it. I continue to learn more about myself and about others through trials I am facing or experiencing and it is life changing. I am very thankful for it.

Enjoy the pictures below:

The first day of Physical Therapy. (the guy on the table to the right of me was David Jones, #54 from the Colorado Avalanche!)

Knee post surgery.(2 weeks post) 

My list of exercises to do 

Started with that chunk of a brace, and graduated to this small one for the next 6 weeks

And finally...no more of these crutches. They have been there through all 3 surgeries. considering having them gold plated and put above my fireplace one day.

A Major Curveball

Hey friends.

Well where should I start. Life is pretty interesting. You make goals, you have plans and one event can change those. You do not always know why, but you have to eventually accept it. That being said, let me tell you about my last few weeks.

School up at BYU-Idaho was going great. We were having a fun, productive semester. I had met a lot of new guys and girls. I was successfully juggling school and two jobs and life was really in a good balance. I was pretty stoked on how everything was going. My good friend, Skyler Nelson, came back up to Rexburg, and it felt great to be reunited. We created a soccer team and football team with our friends and we were having a blast. Things were just panning out really well. I had never stayed in Rexburg for a winter, so I made an effort to save money and was on track to be able to actually afford to stay if I found a good job and no other internship offers came up else where.

Everything was great, until Oct 18. We had a soccer game that night, and our team was doing really good. We were one of the best teams in our league and we were having fun playing. I play defense, so I just like to boot the ball out and keep our side safe. I am not the best soccer player and I am not in shape either, and I think that led to my downfall. As i was going to safe the ball and kick it out, it happened. I kicked the ball with my left foot and in the same action landed on it after the kick. When my leg planted, my knee gave out and i heard a very gross noise. it sounded like someone crushing a plastic water bottle with their hands. I immediately fell over and called for a sub and crawled to the sideline. I knew this was bad. I have had two previous knee surgeries in high school for ACL and meniscus repair, and I think that this is what happened again. I could not bend it, or put any pressure. We did win the game, but I got home, and then called my mom and she wanted me to go to the hospital. That is when the pain and emotion set it. I became a wreck and was pretty sad. At the hospital I got X-rays, which didn't know anything ( i knew they wouldn't because i know i didn't break anything, it was ligaments) they gave me some pain meds a brace and sent me home with a surgeon to follow up with on Monday.

That weekend was spent in pain, lying on the couch, icing and elevating my knee. The swelling that occurred was the same as the previous times I messed my knee up, so I was positive I did the same thing again. I met with Dr. Mills on Monday. Got a scheduled MRI for Wednesday  He was pretty sure it was torn, both my acl and meniscus. So I had the MRI done, and got the results the next day. Dr. Mills confirmed the problems and talked with my mom via phone. I could put off surgery but would be in a wheelchair for the remainder of the semester. Or we could do surgery there and have to deal with recovery. Either way, any way it would suck.

That evening, a week from when the accident occurred, my mom called me. Her and my dad felt that the best possible solution would be for me to come home to Colorado, to do surgery, recover and defer from school or figure out what needed to happen as far as school work was concerned. I was pretty sad and emotional about it. But I met with all my teachers and was able to work it out so that I did not have to drop any classes and continue all the work from home. I am very blessed to let this happen. I was worried because it was right in the middle of the semester and it would have been very hard to have to defer and retake everything.

Friday and Saturday were my last days in Rexy for the Fall. We were able to have a blast and go to a Halloween party. We dressed up as Star Wars characters. I was a storm trooper. (see pics) I had my wheelchair, so I was a handicapped storm trooper. haha. But it was so fun to have a good time with my friends before I left. Dad flew into Idaho Falls on Saturday afternoon. He helped me pack up, took my roomies out to dinner and hung out with all my friends. It was so awesome to have all my friends meet him because he is freaking awesome and now they know where I get my weird, funny side from. But it was really cool to have that experience.

Sunday morning came and I went to sacrament to say goodbye to our ward. This bishopric has been the first bishopric that  I felt close to up here at school. They were my friends and I truly value them. It was pretty hard saying goodbye, but it needed to happen. Me and dad took off for Denver, drove through boring Wyoming and made it home around 10 at night.

Monday, I met with another surgeon. He confirmed what Mills said, and we scheduled surgery for November 8th. So now I am just waiting, being lazy, doing hw, blogging and watching old family tapes and videos. I am still able to do work for Poobah Marketing, which is also a blessing. But I have had a lot of time to think.

Like the title of this blog says, this was a major curve ball in my life. It was really hard and still sometimes is to think that I will have had three surgeries on the same knee for the same problem. Why?? Every time I have been home from school since my mission I have had some form of surgery ( tonsils, hernia, and now this). So why does this happen? I tried to sit there the night i found out i would be leaving Rexburg and whine and complain to myself. I tried to find self pity and question God's role in my life. I tried to be angry and hold onto the pain, but I could not. And I am thankful for that. I guess it is the faith and overall understanding of my purpose in life. I cannot get hung up on problems I face. Everyone had trials and problems. Mine just happen to be surgery and health problems. But I cannot sit here today and tell you that I blame God. I do not, and will not. This is something for me to learn from and hopefully grow from, and I know I will.

I can not stay angry, it almost seems impossible to live that way. I will have the surgery, I will move forward and I will have to give up some of the things I love. I will give up certain activities because in the long run it does not matter. I would rather heal properly and prepare for my future family and career than do this again. So no more soccer, probably no more snowboarding. I will need to harness my activities into exercise, biking and swimming. I will make it work.

But out of all of this, I just want people to understand that there is no reason to blame God and hold anger against Him or anyone else because you will look back on it and realize it was a small trial in a life full of miracles. My life, the people in it and the experiences I have had are miracles and I am thankful for the Lord and His tender mercies upon me.

I love you all and hope that you find the strength to let go of pain, anger and hard feelings you are feeling. I hope that you find and understand your purpose and overall experience in this life. It is wonderful and amazing, so find it. :)

Enjoy pics below!

My left quad is dying from lack of use. haha

Just happens that I wrecked a moped and cut up my bad knee a month prior to this. Any chance its connected to my current problem?? let the judge decide.

being bored at home. i am becoming a pro at this.

This is what I was for Halloween

Shelbourne 9 (minus graham, he was darth maul)

we found them on amazon.com and other cool sites. click pic below to see other cool costumes!

If You Were The Coach

Hey Guys,

Taylor K and I have started up a website where we create sports polls and commenting to occur. We will be posting new polls daily that have something to do with a major call or game that occurred in the sports world.

Please take a chance to go and check out the website and share it with your friends. We are excited to get this idea going and really spread the word.

www.ifyouwerethecoach.com

www.facebook.com/ifyouwerethecoach

Thanks guys!

CS

Wildlife Wednesday

Hello Friends,

I want to talk to you guys about something you will probably find silly, but I still enjoy. It is something called Wildlife Wednesday. Me and my good friend, Skyler, have always had a niche for weird things and one day we had this great idea. We wanted people to wear those cheesy wildlife shirts and be proud of them. I like animals, but I am no animal rights person, I mainly just think these shirts are funny and a cool way to unite with friends and other people at school. I have met and made new friends through doing this. The shirts are always a good convo starter. So although some people make fun of me, I am glad we do it because it is fun and it is harmless and enjoyable. I love coming to school on wednesdays and seeing what people will have. So enjoy it, and try to get a cool animal shirt. Ill put some pics below. Enjoy and Happy Huntings. (hahaha)

cs

Back to school, back to school

Hey friends. I am back to school. two weeks in and it is pretty busy. between school and my two jobs, its going pretty well. I am finding good balance and still having a blast with my friends. Stay tuned for more news on my adventures and life this semester. I feel like it will be a good one.





In the mean time, check out my new pair of pants I just got. Mine are white, but super stoked. The picture is a link to it, if you want to check it out.

CS

Forgot to tell you about NYC

So I forgot to tell you about the last part of my summer break. it was probably the best ending to a summer I have ever had. I had the chance to go to NYC with my dad to watch some of the US Open for Tennis. We went over labor day weekend. I will post some pictures below, but Ill tell you how it went.

It started pretty crazy. We were originally suppose to fly out of denver straight to Newark NJ at 6am denver time. We get to the airport at 4 30 am to find out that our flight has been delayed for a minimum of two hours, possibly longer. we did not have any set plans for that friday, but did want to get in and settled for the rest of the weekend. The flight was a mess, we eventually ended up volunteering to take a flight to houston texas, taking a layover and then heading to newark, which would get us there by 4 in the afternoon. We also go food vouchers and ticket vouchers, so made about 700 bucks in flying money. Not too shabby. It was annoying, but oh well, we fly to houston. Dad slept, i did not because I was in the middle being squished by him and a guy who practically engulfed me. I was a little flustered, but he was handicapped, so i cant be too mad.

anyway, we got to houston, had our layover time, ate some much in the humid airport. i hate humidity. haha. but then they start loading us on our flight on a huge 767 plane. Well we get seated and now this plan has problems. the battery had to be replaced, which took 1.5 hours, and eventually they took us off the plane because air traffic was too busy. so the flight was delayed for up to 4 hours, so we were over it. at this point pops decided to make this an adventure. long story short, we got a plane to take us to Philadelphia, we of course had a philly cheesesteak and then we took the train from philly to jersey. all in all, we made it to our hotel just outside of newark around 1am. it was quite the adventure, started out being very frustrating, but turned into something that we could laugh about and i can honestly say i got to do that with the perfect person. I am just like my dad, well i like to think so, so i was very thankful to be with him. to be pissed at the airlines with him, but to eventually laugh it off and make it fun. We have a good time together.

we finally get to bed, the next day was our all day pass at flushing meadows to watch tennis! we take up, and take the subway out to flushing, NY. The US Open was amazing, I had been one time before in highschool with my tennis team, and always wanted to go back with my dad because he is the one who got me into tennis in the first place. So we had a blast. We saw alot of great players. Some very generous lady, who had been attending the Open for 41 straight years gave us her tickets to see federer play. So we got to go into the main stadium, Arthur Ashe stadium and see him whoop some butt. I also got to see Murray, and other top 20 players. It was seriously so amazing. The grounds of the area are awesome. Everything tennis and lots of rich people. It was pretty fun to people watch.

After being at the open all day, we went back into manhattan and met up with some of my best friend, Kim and Ryan Denny. They moved to NYC last year for a job with Pepsi, and it was seriously such a treat to see them. I have known Kim since my freshman year and got the chance to really become great friends with Ryan through their dating and engagement and eventually got to be a groomsmen in their wedding. So seeing them brought back a lot of great memories. We went to go get some sushi in SOHO, where we just happen to see Kevin Costner! We wanted a picture with him, so i yelled, "Mr. Costner! You did a great job in Hatfields and McCoys (a mini series on History channel, and yes i actually did watch it. it was amazing, but anyway) and i think you are great. Can we get a picture?" he looked annoyed but let us do it anyway. it was perfect, Kim had a childhood crush on the guy, so it was great. see pic below. so we did that, got some very good sushi ($$$$) and then had a chance of a lifetime. If you ask me, a possible one and done type of deal, personally. hahaha. we went to this place called Rice to Riches. It is actually in the movie Hitch. But anyway, it is a gourmet rice pudding dessert place. they had all kinds of flavors. so it was pretty fun to do that. it was better than i thought it would be, but yeah...haha. Anyway, it was a great day at the open and seeing the Dennys. They are the greatest, if you ever meet them, consider yourself lucky. seriously.

Anyway, the next day we did one of those double decker bus tours all through manhattan. we saw harlem and where michael jackson performed and we saw lots of cool catherdrals. We got off the bus at central park and walked around. we got off at the top north end of the park, dad wanted to see the penguins in central park zoo, so we walked to them, which was at the south end of the park. That park is amazingly huge, ask my feet. haha. but we get to the penguins and it costs too much and is too crowded so we didnt seem them, but thats ok, we burned some calories and saw an amazing park in the middle of a booming city. so cool. after that we took a very expensive taxi ride down to ground zero to see the memorial site. my cousin cortney got us tickets. what a nice gal, seriously. it was very humbling and amazing to see the site.

After that we hit up china town and bought some fake stuff. when in china town, you must. we also saw little italy. then we went back up to times square. we hung out in this huge Brazilian festival. I wonder if brazil has big USA festivals...doubt it. haha and then we met up with my cousin, cortney and her friends for some authentic NY pizza at....SBARRO! hahahahaha just kidding, we went to this sweet place that my dads friend told him about. it was really fun to eat their and see my cousin. I have not seen her in seriously like 7 years or something. So sunday was spent doing the tourist deal. We even got to see the LDS temple in manhattan on the bus tour. Way cool.

Monday we just spent relaxing and getting ready to go back home. we made home around 5 denver time.
that was amazing trip, i had a blast with my dad and we did quite a bit of different activities within such a short time. i love my dad and the things he does for his children and family.

Everything can change in a New York minute.....ooooooooooo ewwwwwwwwweeeee  oooooooooooo

until next time...

CS

Summer lovin, having me a blast

Well this summer has treated me pretty well. I was in a better financial situation this summer compared to last summer so I was able to come home and have some fun. While off from school, I have still worked for Poobah Marketing doing alot of video and social media work, so that has been a huge blessing. But between that and summer break, it has allowed me to have a pretty relaxed and amazing summer. Right after school got out, I went down to Bear Lake with Taylor K, Sam H, Miles B, and Jordan G. We stayed with TKs family and met his cousins. Some of the pics are below. We spent the time there hanging out, swimming and four wheeling, and we had a blast. It was a nice get away and we had enough raspberry shakes to kill somebody. Bear Lake is known for their raspberries, so we capitalized on that. But all in all, a great week! 

After that I went through Utah on my way home to Colorado. I saw a few friends and was able to reconnect with one of my besties, Lucy Tingey. She just got home from serving a mission for our church. She went to Japan and had an amazing time and experience. It was really nice to see her and catch up. I look forward to seeing her again soon. 

Once home, i settled in and did some work and just enjoyed beautiful colorado. I was home for about 2 weeks and then I took off to Arizona to meet up with my friends Sam, Taylor and Annalisa and all of Sams family. We then went down to Sams property in Rocky Point Mexico. We were right on the beach and had an amazing time relaxing, eating tacos and drinking pina coladas. (no alcohol of course) But that week was so nice to be able to take a break and have no set schedule. We just did whatever we wanted. Enjoy some of the pictures below and the link at the bottom is to a video from the trip. We made a music video. haha

But now i am back at home. Just been working alot and going to the gym to swim and get in better shape. Swimming is pretty hard and i really need to keep doing it. School starts in about 2 weeks, so things are wrapping up. To finish off the awesome summer I will be heading to NYC this week with my Dad to watch the US Open for Tennis. We will be there to enjoy that, sight see and have some good father son time. We will also get to meet up with the Dennys, which I am stoked about. But I will make a post about the trip and have some pics for you too.

All in all, life is great. I have been blessed this break and I am excited for a new semester.(pretty nervous too) haha. 

Until next time.

Curt

Video:

Wide Awake in Mexico 2012