Links to some of my personal favorite blogs….check them out, you’ll see why!

Favorite Style Icon Blog:  http://ultimatecarolyn.blogspot.com/

Favorite Inspiration Blog:  http://nieniedialogues.com/

Favorite Bloggers Group:  http://www.CincinnatiWomenBloggers.com

Favorite Cincinnati Food Review Blog:  http://winemedinemecincinnati.com/

Favorite Cincinnati Downtown Living Blog:  http://5chw4r7z.blogspot.com/

Favorite Local Eco-Awareness Blog:    http://www.parkandvine.com/

Favorite Adult Swim Website:  http://www.dlisted.com 

Favorite Domestic Blog:  http://thepioneerwoman.com/

Favorite Green Blog:  http://www.treehugger.com

Nie Nie is back!  Today, Stephanie wrote her first blog post AC (after crash.)  She and Mr. Nielson together, once again….it’s a beautiful thing.  I’m thrilled that Miss Stephanie is blogging again.  Good to have you back, sister!  So glad you felt our prayers.   Visit NieNie’s site and show her some love, please.  If anyone needs it right now, it’s Miss Steph.    xoxo

 Also, visit her sister, Courtney’s, blog, http://blog.cjanerun.com/#null  .  Great family. 

This post is certainly off topic as it doesn’t pertain skincare or beauty, however it’s a story that deserves to be heard.  

While thumbing through Twitter feeds yesterday, I came across a post from the Today Show, something about blogging.  So I followed the link and found it wasn’t about blogging, but about a girl who blogged….who is now laying in the hospital, burned over 85% of her body.  Her husband, Christian, who bears the same name as my first born son, was burned over 35% of his body. 

Horrified, yet intrigued, I went to Stephanie’s blog, aka Nie Nie, the Nie Nie Dialogues.  What I found was this amazing woman who chronicled her life every couple days.  You can see straight away Nie’s love and devotion to her family, her husband, and to God.  Such a young woman, yet so centered, so intently centered on what’s important in life. 

Christian and Stephanie Nielson, along with Christian’s flight instructor, Doug Kinneard, was involved in a plane crash on August 16, 2008.  The flight instructor was pronounced dead at the hospital, and Stephanie and Christian badly burned.  Both still remain in critical condition to this day, some three weeks later.  Doctors say both have a long road to recovery ahead of them. 

After reading their story, I felt paralyzed with sadness for their situation.  Going through page after page of Nie’s blog entries, it’s clear to see how amazing she and Christian are, and what a good job they were doing raising their family.  Their love for each other, so obvious.  Their devotion to God and family, so very obvious.

I tried to continue on with my day, yet somehow this sadness haunted me.  I was in my workshop yesterday making lip balms, usually a time I’m completely in my element.  Yet Nie and Christian kept drifting in and out of my mind.  Before I knew it, I was sobbing, almost uncontrollably, for this young couple.  The sadness consumed me. 

The Irishman had taken me out to dinner last night, and in explaining this story to him, my eyes started to well with tears once again…..in the restaurant.  Last night, I woke up at 2:00 a.m., then 3:20 a.m, then 4:15 a.m, and finally got up at 5:30 a.m., the thoughts of Nie and Christian weighing heavily on my heart and mind.   

Christian woke briefly recently and said he could “feel the prayers.”  The fact that Nie and Christian survived is a miracle within itself.  Visit Nie’s blog, http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/, now being operated by her sisters, to learn about this amazing love story.  It truly affected me deeply, as I’m sure it will you as well. 

On the site, you can donate to their mountain of medical bills.  The couple also have four young children. 

My hopes and prayers are with Stephanie and Christian Nielson, along with their children and extended family.  The unthinkable has happened and to that, we can make no rhyme nor reason.  All we can do is pray, of which I have done personally, many times since learning of their story.  Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.  They so desperately need it right now. 

Love to you, Nie and Mr. Nielson.