Ms. Wheelchair Utah Pageant

The pageant is right around the corner!

I am really excited - I have probably cried more times this year than in years past, but it is truly coming together. We have our first event (Orientation) this Saturday.

I love working with all the people who help me make this happen. It is amazing to get to know the people I've met along the way.

The pageant info is at http://www.mswheelchairutah.org/this-years-pageant.html

And info for Young Women groups is at http://www.mswheelchairutah.org/for-yw.html 

Yw groups can come to the pageant for $1 each (a dramatic drop from the $8 admission cost). Leaders of these groups get the same discount. Everyone must be in best dress for this coupon to apply. Please bring a copy of the page on the website or print the coupon on the site.

...and the YW coupon works for any group of teenage youth, young men or young women, LDS or not. The point of the coupon is to bring teenagers together to support the contestants, who are almost all their age, and also be uplifted in their own lives also. The pageant transforms someone's opinion on what "beauty" really is.



Priscilla

I have a pet!

Whit never had pets growing up, so this has been a long time coming. I have wanted a dog (he's not quite there yet), a cat (never going to happen), a chinchilla (yeah right), but he finally consented and we got...

...a chicken.

Her name is Priscilla. She is a "Cochan" - the kind with feathers on her feet. She is straight off a Mary Engelbright calendar.

My parents have always had chickens and my mom got Priscilla (she named her) and brought her home to join their other chickens but nobody liked her. The other chickens are regular Rhode Island Reds and were probably jealous of the feathers on her feet. Ayway, they pecked her, almost to death. She only survived because she stuck her little head out through the chicken wire and my dad found her, barely alive.

I guess she was at the bottom of the 'pecking order' - this is where that term comes from. I guess if there's no rooster, the chickens are meaner to each other.

So my mom asked and Whit said yes! So now we have Priscilla! I think Whit was hoping she'd eat the box elder bugs. She doesn't.

But she is seriously the calmest, most friendly chicken I have ever seen. She hops up onto my lap and just nestles down. I love it, even tough the whole time I'm thinking, "Don't poop. Don't poop. Don't poop."

She eats out of my hand - or anyone's hand. She comes running when I get home from. She is so cute.

Our neighbors have met her and have all commented on how mellow and friendly she is. It surprises us all. Even the cows love her. I don't know why, but they often come close to the fence and stare.

But she loves me the best.

We got her a friend, a Rhode Island Red from my dad's chicken bundle. We named her Roxanne. At first they didn't like each other, but now they're inseperable. Always running together through the yeard, eating the bugs (not the box elder bugs), and pooping on the deck.

They're favorite place to poop is the deck. Chicken punks. 

I love Governor Herbert!

I have met him every year for the past 3 or 4 years. He has "honest eyes" and a good heart. He always seems like he has all the time in the world to sit and take pictures. I go with the titleholders for the Ms. Wheelchair Utah and I always get to have my picture taken with him.

You can see me in the background with one of his people, Fran, who I got to know when I coordinate this each year. She rocks. They are so kind to allow us to come!

We made a video to show how I paint my toes. I really like making these youtube videos, but I think they might be jinxed.

We started with Episode #1 - Tying an Apron, which led nicely into Episode #2 - Making Eggs, which led nicely into Episode #3 - Breaking Eggs.

...I rarely (dare I say never?) drop eggs on the floor, so I was totally miffed, but it turned out okay.

Later we filmed me Episode #8 - Clipping Nails, which led nicely into the newest video: Episode # 9 - Painting Toes, which will lead nicely into our next Episode # 10 - Breaking Toes:

...there seems to be a disturbing pattern...

making eggs/breaking eggs, painting toes/breaking toes...

Too bad we didn't get the toe-break on camera. Trust me, it'd have been awesome. Long story short, I fell out of my wheelchair.

I didn't go to a doctor, but I am pretty sure he'd tell me to stay off of it for a while.
No problem.

(ps, if you want to see the scary pattern youtube videos, they're here: http://www.megjohnsonspeaks.com/watch-videos.html)

New Hat

When we moved into our house a couple months ago, I thought that the computer would be the very best right in front of the window. It does. However, the window faces West and from 5-8 pm we have the most beautiful sunsets, which pour beautiful pink light into this room, making the computer screen impossible to see.

So I got a new hat.



I always have a headband around my wrist to help me strap stuff to my hands if I need to, but, now I can strap stuff to my head. I think the paper is a speaking contract. It keeps the sun out of my eyes and lets me see the screen and I don't have to move my computer.

Maybe I'll market these.



5th Annual Cupcake Cook-off

The Fifth Annual Cupcake Cook-off was a success. It happened at my house house after we ate soups and salads. We all crammed onto the backyard patio to test-taste the scrumptious treats. 

The contributions were:

Dark chocolate cupcakes topped with fresh raspberries and filled, not once, but twice with a creme-brulee filling and a raspberry filling...



 Caramel-apple cakes (see the popsicle stick?) filled with fresh green apples and topped with caramel sauce and pecans...

Ice-cold icecream-filled chocolaty Baked Alaska...

Fudgy, caramely, sweet, gooey goodness cupcakes, appropriately (and kid-friendly-y titled): Better than ... Cupcakes!

And last of all - and best of all - a chocolate blackberry-filled cupcake with candied mint leaves!

This cupcake was the winner.

...and this winner baked the cupcake:

Meg in Montana

Whit and I were invited to fly up to Montana to speak for a tri-stake youth conference. It was a nice, short flight but we got there early to film me getting through the airport security (see my new video series at http://www.megjohnsonspeaks.com/watch-videos.html). It was a total hassle because they didn't want me to film it - at all. The one manager lady was so mad I would even ask. I asked her if it was illegal and you would have thought I threw sand in her face. 

I understand her concern - I mean, so many people are out to make others look bad. I saw a video of a 6-year-old getting patted down at an airport and it was a huge youtube sensation but the security people are just doing what they have to do to keep us safe on our flight. I just wanted to show what it takes for someone in a wheelchair to geton board!

Well, we got the clearance. Filmed the video. and flew to beautiful Montana!

Where it really is the Big Sky Country.

I am unsure how the sky can look any bigger, but it does.

At the conference, I spoke every day - Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It was way fun. The other keynote speaker was this guy - Dane Iorg. He is a retired pro baseball player - and a Mormon. Coolest guy ever. He is one of those guys who shakes your hand with his whole body and pats you on the back at the same time with a massive teddy-bear paw. It made me lose my balance, but his handshake grip kept me grounded. He is totally solid.

He told some really funny stories about playing major league baseball. He kept saying that pitchers are crazy. His team was playing another team where another Mormon played and Dane and the other Mormon always ate dinner together when their teams played. During the game, Dane's pitcher had pitched a no-hit inning (maybe the whole game had been a no-hit, I don't remember...) but the other Mormon from the other team got up to bat and hit it clean out of the park.

In the locker room, Dane was attacked from behind and slammed to the ground and choked by his own pitcher who kept saying that Dane told the other Mormon what pitch he was going to throw. He kept saying that "all you Mormons stick together!"

We stayed with Bob and Delis Olsen at their beautiful home. They were so nice and kind and everything was wonderful. They drove us around and told us all about the history of the little town we were in. They even let us ride their 4-wheeler around the streets (its legal to ride them on the streets there). So we did!

The air felt so good. The sky was so big (no joke). The grass was so green. The trees were so pretty. The cows were so fat. It was awesome. I thought several times that if God lived on earth, He'd live in Montana.

It seems that sometimes - just sometimes - my hair goes curly when I go into the mountains. I don't know if MT is higher in elevation than UT but something is different. My hair likes the mountains.

After the conference, we got a beautiful book about Montana, giant chocolates bigger than my face, and this awesome poster signed by the kids from the conference. They are really good kids. Check out the great service project they did during the conference:

http://www.ravallirepublic.com/news/local/article_ee524eec-bcd9-11e1-80c1-001a4bcf887a.html?fb_ref=.T-fR-zljf84.like&fb_source=timeline

When life gets hard...

A great writer from the Deseret news has written an article on my new book, When Life gets Hard...

I hope you enjoy it!

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865558330/Motto-of-Utah-quadriplegic-author-works-for-everyone-When-life-gets-too-hard-to-stand-just-keep.html