In all of my years of living in the North Valleys, I never actually attended the races. I guess I saw no purpose in going since I watched the show for free every year.

As I young girl, I can recall how excited I was to watch the planes write ”Pepsi” in the sky as I stood waiting for the school bus or the times my ears perked up as I heard the planes come thundering over the Peavine Mountain ridge.  

Well, on September 16th, 2011, as I was preparing for a bicycle ride, my boyfriend called and said his boss had just given him 4 free tickets in the box seat area with pit passes. He asked if I was interested in going and I agreed! I was actually very excited!

We arrived at the Stead International Airport around 3 pm, grabbed a few beers, walked around and looked at a few planes, and then headed to our seats (which were pretty close to all the flying action). We watched a few races and some stunt flying. Then the second race we watched started.  I eagerly picked a plane which I named “mine” as it flew through the laps. On the third lap, I turned to my left to watch the planes as they were headed through the start/finish line.

I cannot describe in words what I really saw.
A plane had flown over the “deadline” (course line near spectators) and over the crowd in the grandstands. I watched as it flew straight up in the air (to try and recover some say) and then fall backward, coming straight towards the ground!! My brain didn’t want to believe that he was going to crash. I kept thinking and hoping he would do some “stunt” and go straight at the end, avoiding the crash. Unfortunately, this was not the case. I watched in horror as the plane crashed its nose straight into the tarmac and explode into a thousand different pieces. It was like being in a movie, except no amount of 3D could render the image I saw.

As soon as the plane hit the tarmac and started to explode, I wanted to keep watching, but something inside of me said “SHIT!!! We are NOT far away from the impact, there will be pieces of metal shrapnel flying through the air. DUCK!!” So I took cover in my boyfriend’s lap, while he was frozen watching the whole thing.

In a matter of seconds, the plane was in pieces lying on the ground. I stood up, shaking, crying and totally confused. I looked around and all that I saw was disaster; people lying on the ground bleeding, crying, shaking, all of us in awe. I just kept looking over at the initial site crash and asking ‘if we really had just seen that?!’ Five feet in front of us, a woman was getting CPR!! I was trying to stay calm, but seeing that made me really freak out. People were dead or dying and I was lucky enough to NOT have been hit by a SINGLE PIECE OF SHRAPNEL.

After a few moments of shock, my boyfriend and I decided there was nothing we could do. Since we were unharmed physically, we gathered out things and walked to the car. I was in shock and I cannot remember much of what I saw on the way out. I only remember seeing spectators crying, laying on the ground, or covered in blood from injuries or from helping others. On the way home, we must have passed about 30 ambulances and 15 police and fire trucks.

It was the worst crash in the history of the Reno Air Races.  I am SO THANKFUL that I walked out of there alive. It was honestly the most terrifying thing that I have ever witnessed.

My heart goes out to all of those who have lost someone or know someone who is in critical condition…it could have easily been me in that place! ♥ 

And although I consider myself lucky from a near miss with death, I will continue to live each day without fear in my heart. Life is not worth living if you cannot enjoy things in it! I think back to the sounds of the planes thundering by, the words written in the skies, and the adventurous souls who fly those planes…and it makes me thankful for each passing moment and experience.  Thank you.

Check out the link below for my “journal” blog:

http://lepetiteosieau.wordpress.com/2011/06/07/this-little-bird/

“Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write every piece you finish’ – John Jakes

“It is only possible to live happily-ever-after on a day-to-day basis.”

- Margaret Bonnano

It’s the little things that make life interesting and fun.  The stupidest, smallest things in life put the biggest smile on my face. For instance, I love to mow the lawn.  When I owned my house, I couldn’t wait to go home, put on some shitty old shoes, grab a glass of water, and take out my lawn mower. 

There was always some gratification in the presence of the freshly cut grass. I knew that everyone who drove by would know that I took pride in my yard simply because the grass was neatly trimmed. The best part about it was that I had been given the opportunity to have a yard. It reminded me that I had something to be thankful for; and in turn, that made me happy.

Take nothing for granted because you never know what it is worth.

• Even though tax season may be hard, be thankful that you have a job and a police station/fire station to look after your safety.
• You may be frustrated when someone cuts you off in the parking lot and leaves you the with the farthest spot from the door, but remember that you are still able to walk.
• When you hear all the complaints about the government, be thankful for your freedom of speech and your right to vote.
• If the line is long at the grocery store, be thankful you’re not out in the fields with blisters on your hands.

Sitting on that chairlift, I began to explain my current living situation, that I was unsure what I wanted to do with my business degree and all the “mistakes” that I felt I have made in the last few years. That’s when the gentleman started to give me some advice.

He shared with me his belief that people in their twenties shouldn’t know what they want to do or how to do it, and instead they should make mistakes and learn from them. By age 30, he said, people should have had enough time to make mistakes and turn them into advantages and lessons.

At age 40,you should have a plan.

A lot of you may be reading this and saying, “yeah, my life did NOT turn out like that.” That’s alright, we all march to our own drum and have our own paths that we follow; it doesn’t make you any less of a great human being. I personally just thought that his view on life made what I think to be my quarter-life crises seem more like an experience.

I find error in his beliefs with the fact that we face challenges and decisions in all stages of our lives. Sometimes people find their path early in life and have everything planned out, only to find that it is destroyed later. I don’t think there is any age that is “right” for making mistakes or having your life together. Part of what makes life enjoyable is the little unexpected turns and twists, the hardships, and the triumphs.

I took his advice with a grain of salt, maybe just seeing it as something to work towards and not be disappointed about now. I am sure that I will have more challenges, and who knows if I will ever know what I want to “do with my life” by the time I am in my thirties. I understand that it could all change in a moment as well. All I can promise is that I will be stronger, and have more life experience. I will take each mistake as a learning experience and appreciate all turns; for in the end, I am the only person responsible for my destination.

Photo taken by J.B. Lundemo

I cannot remember where I learned to be honest, I would like to think it has something to do with the time I jumped the neighbors fence when I was 9 years old. I grew up on 3 acres of land right next to some railroad tracks. Behind them was a meadow, followed by BLM land and then Peavine Mountain.

My neighborhood was spread out for the most part and everyone has owned their pieces of land since the 1970′s or so. A very old man owned the property to the east of my childhood home. My brother and I liked to jump our barbed-wire fence and hang out in his yard. We never did any vandalizing, just hung out. I am not sure why we found this so fun, it seems really silly at the moment.

One day while my brother and I were playing in his yard, he drove up the driveway and saw us running for home. He came over to speak with my Father about the situation and I denied it to the fullest. I was so afraid of being punished. My brother even stood up for me saying I wasn’t there. I must not have been a good liar from the very beginning because my father gave me a speech about how telling the truth is so important.

I felt so guilty for not telling the truth to my Father and my neighbor, Vern. I felt even worse when my brother was punished and I got away scot-free! It was surely that day when I decided I couldn’t bear the weight of lying about anything. It just wasn’t worth all the guilt, and it certainly wasn’t worth the pain of watching someone I loved be punished for something I did.

To this day I am not sure if I ever confessed to my Father that I had jumped the fence…he may find out for the first time as he reads this blog. What I can tell you, is that I learned my lesson about truth and the importance thereof.

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” -Abraham Lincoln

Well, it is the New Year! I have a tough one to beat, 2010 was pretty good all things considered. Even though it started with me losing my job and needing to find a new place to live within weeks, by July I was employed with a great company, loving  life, and having fun. 

In the early months of 2010 when I was unemployed, I enrolled in a life-enrichment course which taught me the importance of loving thyself and loving others. I began to accept my faults, mistakes, and things that I wished had gone differently. It opened my eyes to a new way of living; a purer, more fulfilling life. I was able to think through my experiences and talk about them with strangers.

I certainly appreciated the time I had to explore; whether it was exploring within myself, or within the world. Sadly I must say that when you are unemployed it is hard to go far and travel. So I made due with what I had around me. I went to Tahoe often, hiked around on local trails, and soaked up some vitamin D in the sun!

In the middle of the year after much perseverance, I landed a job with Patagonia! I could not be happier about it. Some things in life just fall in place and I really think that I was meant to work here.

In the fall of 2010 I was tested for sure, as you may have read in my blogs about forgiveness.  Karma comes around to those who deserve it and I truly feel I am on the rise for the good end of it.

And finally in December I graduated with my undergraduate degree in Business. While a lot of my fellow graduates are searching out high-paying jobs and moving accross the U.S., I decided to stay where I am for the moment.  I’m happy where I am at so I’m going to enjoy it for a bit!

I am excited to see what 2011 will bring me, although so far it has been a bit of a challenge mentally. I didn’t make any resolutions; it’s not because I don’t have faults (believe me I am FAR from perfect). I decided not to make any because they are always the same; eat better, drink less soda, stop cursing like a sailor, do more cardio. I have a list of things to accomplish over the whole year instead; things that are more fun like SKYDIVE, road trip on the coast of Washington/Oregon, visit Megan in Boston, get the Burning Man experience, and get a professional massage and spa day!

So 2011, here we go! You better bring me lots of luck, love, and adventure!

As I sat here comtemplating how to sum up all of the years I have spent at the University of Nevada Reno, I came to the conclusion that I would have to write a really long blog…or at least a few of them. Instead of boring you to death writing about my college life, I decided to pick a few things that have stood out in my mind over the past several years (yes, I said several).

In the past years I’ve spent a lot of money on books: $4,320

I even bought a few parking passes before I started parking below the University : $800.00

And with my in-state tuition and scholarships I still managed to pay approximately: $13,700

Yet here I am seven years later (four and a half if you don’t count the three-year break I took), in a melancholy mood.

I remember my first years at college, walking through the quad lined with trees, listening to the bell ring in Morrill Hall, eating lunch in the old Jot Travis Student Union (The “JOT” or JTSU), studying (or trying to…) in the very old Getchell Library, taking the shuttle bus to my car in the far North parking lot, and struggling to concentrate in my classes as I stared out the window to watch the snow fall quietly on the ground. 

I spent four and a half years on campus figuring myself out.  I went through many rites of passage: gaining my own independence, finding romance and heartache, educating myself, learning personal finance, engaging in college drinking rituals, and much more!

I was 18 years old as a Freshman at the University of Nevada Reno when I first fell in love.  I remember all of the things I did for him on campus from leaving candies on his truck on Valentine’s Day to writing the words “I ♥ you” in leaves on the concrete  next to his parking spot.  I was 21 when we broke up and I remember every day of pain thereafter.  I would always look for him in between classes; just one glance was all I needed..

From long nights in the library with the help of plenty Redbulls to all-nighters at home, I learned the importance of not procastinating.  As I recall the many papers I wrote at the last minute, each of them were written exceptionally fast! I am happy to say that even though that was the case, I wrote them with the same quality as if I had written them days before.  This assured me that I can do anything I put my mind to, even with limited amounts of time and increased amounts of pressure.

Numerous nights were spent studying with friends around kitchen tables or alone in my bed by the light of a small lamp. Sadly, I must admit all of the chapters of Economics, Math, Finance, Chemistry, Accounting, and other various subjects that I didn’t read for class!

We all know that college would not be college without parties! I was never much of a drinker, but that didn’t stop me from trying. I remember underage drinking at houses, all of the plastic cups and games of beer pong.  Or what about that time I went drinking at bars with my old roommate’s I.D. and the night that it got taken at Bully’s Sports Bar?

I made many friends throughout my college experience and I am thankful for each and every one; whether you were a “study-buddy,” someone to turn to and ask a question, or a lifetime friend, you will never be forgotten.

As I begin a new chapter in my life, I know I can always return back; that is the great part about education…it NEVER stops! However, this ending of an undegraduate life is a little bitter sweet.

“Getting an inch of snow is like winning 10 cents in the lottery” – Bill Watterson

First snowfall of the year on the valley floor and I couldn’t be more excited! I am a winter baby through-and-through, born on a snowy day in January 1985. It was Superbowl sunday and the 49ers were playing the Dolphins when my mom headed to the hospital ( I just added that because I think it is pretty cool).

I wake up for work every morning between 4 and 4:45 a.m; I know, it’s early huh?! This morning it was raining and I could hear the pitter-patter of the drops as they hit the pavement outside my room.  As I walked out to start my car in the early dark hours, the rain had changed to snow. It was such a beautiful sight.

There is something so peaceful about the winter and I think that is what draws me to it. I feel more energized in winter months than I do in the summer, which most people feel is weird.  Maybe it’s because while everyone else is tucked away in their houses, sipping hot chocolate and watching movies, I like to be alone taking in the beauty of the great outdoors. It makes me feel like I am in the “olden days” out in the woods or sitting on the dock at Donner Lake. I just watch the snow fall, listen to the silence, and take it all in.

Photo taken by J.B. Lundemo

This last lesson is forgiveness (if I can even call it that since I know there will be no end) actually was one of the first. I guess I should have started from the beginning huh? I would say I am doing it Tarantino style, but that is not the case either since I didn’t start with the most recent story.

I was living with my best friend at the time (for verification purposes this is a different best friend from the previous forgiveness lesson). We had many good times together, shared many laughs, watched Finding Nemo together when we couldn’t sleep, cried on one another shoulder’s, and did things best friends do.

He lost his job right after he moved in with me, and being the kind hearted person I am, I let him stay under the condition that he pay me back when he found a job and help me around the house. Well, time passed and neither one of these obligations was filled. I was working two jobs and hardly had time to breathe. When I came home one night he said he was moving out in a week into an apartment with his girlfriend. Not even a month’s notice…

The final straw wasn’t when he gave me the news, but what I saw when I came home from working both jobs a few nights later. It was late, like 1 a.m., as I walked into the house. The door to my spare room was shut, when it had always remained open. As I opened the door, I saw a bed, multiple boxes, and other random furniture. The room was full with his girlfriends stuff!! I was now a personal storage for a roommate who owed me rent! I was furious. I stormed into his room and immediately started yelling to get all of the things out before I threw them out.

I was upset. REALLY REALLY UPSET. I think it was the worst temper I have ever displayed in my life. I felt totally taken advantage of.

After he moved out, we didn’t talk; except for the time someone cut his break lines and he accused me of being the culprit.

After losing my house I went through a healing stage. It was honestly probably the best thing that could have ever happened to me in so many ways. I changed as a person.

I contacted my old roommate and told him I didn’t want anymore hate in my life. I wanted to clean the slate. We wound up talking quite a bit and although I fear we will never again have the bond that we once did, I am happy I faced that resentment.

It was honestly a rain cloud hanging over my head; people would constantly ask me if I still talked to him. Everytime  he was brought up, all the emotions of hatred and anger started to boil within me. Now when people mention his name I just smile…and think back on those days full of laughter and nights of watching a little clown fish try to find his way home.

Photo taken by J.B Lundemo

I had just finished my evening Entrepreneurship class at UNR and headed up the stairs. At the top stood an old friend whom I haven’t spoken to in years. I had called her many times over the years, wishing her happy birthday, calling her to say that something small had reminded me of her, etc and not one phone call was ever returned or answered. Eventually I gave up trying, assuming that she no longer wanted to continue our friendship.

As I approached her from the back, I gave her a big hug. She swung around and looked suprised to see me, but not thrilled.

We started talking randomly about our lives and the like, then out of nowhere she said that the reason she had ignored me was because there was a rumor that I had tried to hook up with her ex. I was hurt that she had ignored me because of that rumor. Her ex was a friend of mine who even dated another friend of mine a long time ago. I am not a friend hopper and I would never double cross TWO of my friends. I was never interested in him and although I may have been friendly when I saw him out one night, I was not trying to go home with him.

So I stood there in shock at the top of the stairs, yet also in admiration. It takes a lot of courage to face someone and tell them why you were angry. It also takes forgiveness to have that conversation. She could have ignored me and kept walking; instead she chose to have a heart to heart with me and tell me what was going on in her head. In return, I forgave her for not speaking to me.

Another lesson in this story is the importance of communication. If she had confronted me right after she received the news, I would have been able to clearly recall the evening and fill her in on all the small details. Then we could have salvaged our friendship right then and there. I do not blame her for choosing the option she did, although I truly did miss her.

We went our separate ways that evening, and although we may not speak again, I admire her courage and I thank her for setting a small part inside of me free.

“Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were” -Unknown