#Lisa Rasmussen

[wausaupilotreview]

City, nonprofits scramble amid Trump’s executive order suspending federal grants

The Trump administration’s order to temporarily suspend billions in federal grants has left Wausau-area organizations scrambling, raising fears about the future of essential programs for low-income residents, students, seniors and veterans.

By Shereen Siewert | Wausau Pilot & Review Wausau-area nonprofits, higher education institutions, health care providers and governments were gripped by uncertainty Tuesday as they sought to understand the potential impact of a Trump administration order that temporarily suspended billions of dollars in federal grants. According to Roll Call, “as written the pause could affect a big swath of…

[thisisyourdriverspeaking]

Here we are...In honor of Indycar racing in Toronto this weekend. This is another installment of racing tunes. Enjoy 😊

Helio Castoneves (10th May 1975) - Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons - The Night

Takuma Sato (28th January 1977) - James Brown - Bodyheat

Katherine Legge (12th July 1980) - New Musik - Sanctuary

Scott Dixon (22nd July 1980) - The Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue

Ryan Hunter-Reay (17th December 1980) - Electric Light Orchestra - Don't Walk Away

Will Power (1st March 1981) - The Stray Cats - Rock This Town

Ed Carpenter (3rd March 1981) - Slade - We'll Bring The House Down

Romain Grosjean (17th April 1986) - Eartha Kitt - This Is My Life

Marco Andretti (13th March 1987) - Marilyn Monroe - When I Fall In Love

Colin Braun (22nd September 1988) - Spear Of Destiny - So In Love With You

Graham Rahal (4th January 1989) - A-ha - You Are The One

Tristian Vautier (22nd August 1989) - Wendy & Lisa - Satisfaction

Agustin Canapino (19th January 1990) - Seven - Inside Love

Marcus Ericsson (2nd September 1990) - The Farm - Groovy Train

Josef Newgarden (22nd December 1990) - Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby

Alexander Rossi (25th September 1991) - Rozalla - Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)

Felix Rosenqvist (7th November 1991) - Amy Grant - That's What Love Is For

Conor Daly (15th December 1991) - Pet Shop Boys - Was It Worth It?

Kyle Larson (31st July 1992) - Roxette - How Do You Do

Jack Harvey (15th April 1993) - Madonna - Fever

Scott McLaughlin (10th June 1993) - Spin Doctors - Two Princes

Tom Blomqvist (30th November 1993) - Wet Wet Wet - Shed A Tear

Luca Ghiotto (24th February 1995) - Zhane - Shame

Toby Sowery (30th June 1995) - Celine Dion - Only One Road

Pietro Fittipaldi (25th June 1996) - Deuce - No Surrender

Alex Palou (1st April 1997) - 3T ft Herbie - Gotta Be You

Santino Ferrucci (31st May 1998) - Aqua - Turn Back Time

Kyle Kirkwood (19th October 1998) - Fog - Been A Long Time

Callum Ilott (11th November 1998) - Tatyana Ali ft Will Smith - Daydreamin'

Linus Lundqvist (26th March 1999) - Kele Le Roc - My Love

Pato O'Ward (6th May 1999) - Martine McCutcheon - Perfect Moment

Hunter McElrea (21st November 1999) - Westlife - Flying Without Wings

Colton Herta (30th March 2000) - Will Smith - Freakin' It

Christian Rasmussen (29th June 2000) - Britney Spears - Oops! I Did It Again

Marcus Armstrong (29th July 2000) - Darude - Sandstorm

Rinus Veekay (11th September 2000) - Storm - Time To Burn

Christian Lundgaard (23rd July 2001) - Cast - Desert Drought

Sting Ray Robb (3rd September 2001) - Faith Hill - There You'll Be

David Malukas (27th September 2001) - Sisqo - Dance For Me

Theo Pourchaire (20th August 2003) - Mark Owen - Four Minute Warning

Kyffin Simpson (9th October 2004) - Ashlee Simpson - Pieces Of Me

Nolan Siegel (8th November 2004) - Jay Sean - Stolen

All added to this playlist 😊

[freifraufischer]

Lisa Vaelen is out for the world cups as she is still suffering the effects of her mono.

A door closes another opens. This makes the second vault QF spot a dead heat between Oksana Chusovitina, Camille Rasmussen, and Ofir Netzer.

[goalhofer]

2024 olympics Denmark roster

Archery

Kirstine Danstrup-Andersen (Copenhagen)

Athletics

Simon Hansen (Herning)

Ida Karstoft (Lemvig)

Lisa Pedersen (Copenhagen)

Katrine Koch-Jacobsen (Ballerup)

Badminton

Viktor Axelsen (Odense)

Anders Antonsen (Aarhus)

Kimmo Astrup-Sørensen (Copenhagen)

Anders Skaarup-Rasmussen (Copenhagen)

Mathias Christiansen (Copenhagen)

Mia Blichfeldt (Solrød Strand)

Maiken Fruergaard-Sørensen (Hvidovre)

Sara Thygesen (Frederiksberg)

Alexandra Bøje (Copenhagen)

Boxing

Nikolai Terteryan (Vejle)

Canoeing

Lasse Madsen (Solrød Kommune)

Victor Aasmul (Rudersdal Kommune)

Morten Gravesen (Copenhagen)

Magnus Sibbersen (Hvidovre)

René Holten-Poulsen (Sakskøbing)

Frederikke Hauge-Matthiesen (Høje-Taalstrup Kommune)

Emma Aastrand-Jørgensen (Bagsværd)

Cycling

Mikkel Norsgaard-Bjerg (Copenhagen)

Michael Mørkøv-Christensen (Kokkedal)

Mads Pedersen (Tølløse)

Mattias Skjelmose-Jensen (Copenhagen)

Carl-Frederik Bévort (Copenhagen)

Tobias Aagaard-Hansen (Odense)

Niklas Larsen (Slagelse)

Rasmus Lund-Pedersen (Odense)

Simon Andreassen (Odense)

Sofie Pedersen (Aalborg)

Rebecca Koerner (Herlev)

Cecilie Uttrup-Ludwig (Frederiksberg Kommune)

Emma Bjerg (Silkeborg)

Amalie Dideriksen (Kastrup)

Julie Norman-Leth (Aarhus)

Caroline Bohé (Hillerød)

Malene Kejlstrup-Sørenson (Randers)

Equestrian

Daniel Bachmann-Andersen (Sønderborg)

Peter Tersgov-Flarup (Viborg)

Andreas Schou (Kolding)

Nanna Skodborg-Merrald (Kirke Hvalsø)

Cathrine Landrup-Dufour (Kirke Hvalsø)

Golf

Nicolai Højgaard (Aarhus)

Jacob Olesen (Dubai, U.A.E.)

Emily Pedersen (Copenhagen)

Nanna Koerstz-Madsen (Nørrebro)

Handball

Niklas Landin-Jacobsen (Gladsaxe Kommune)

Magnus Landin-Jacobsen (Gladsaxe Kommune)

Niclas Vest-Kirkeløkke (Ringe)

Emil Manfeldt-Jakobsen (Kerteminde)

Rasmus Lauge-Schmidt (Randers)

Emil Nielsen (Aarhus)

Magnus Saugstrup-Jensen (Aalborg)

Hans Lindberg (Høje-Taastrup Kommune)

Mathias Gidsel (Skjern)

Henrik Møllgaard-Jensen (Bramming)

Mikkel Hansen (Helsingør)

Lukas Lindhard-Jørgensen (Lejre)

Lasse Bredekjær-Andersson (Copenhagen)

Simon Hald-Jensen (Aalborg)

Thomas Sommer-Arnoldsen (Skanderborg)

Simon Bogetoft-Pytlick (Thurø)

Sandra Toft (Gribskov Kommune)

Sarah Aaberg-Iversen (Nykøbing Falster)

Rikke Iversen (Nykøbing Falster)

Helena Hagesøe-Elver (Copenhagen)

Anne Hansen (Glostrup)

Kathrine Brothmann-Heindahl (Rudersdal)

Line Haugsted (Skive)

Althea Reinhardt (Aarhus)

Mette Tranborg (Aarhus)

Kristina Jørgensen (Horsens)

Trine Østergaard-Jensen (Skanderborg)

Louise Vinter-Burgaard (Esbjerg)

Mie Enggrob-Højlund (Voldum)

Emma Uhrskov-Friis (Herning)

Michala Elsberg-Møller (Aalborg)

Judo

Lærke Olsen (Hørsholm)

Rowing

Sverri Sandberg-Nielsen (Tórshavn, Faroe Islands)

Marie Hauberg-Johannesen (Solrød Kommune)

Julie Poulsen (Odder)

Astrid Steensberg (Sorø)

Clara Hornæss (Copenhagen)

Sára Johansen (Tvøroyri, Faroe Islands)

Nikoline Laidlaw (Dunblane, U.K.)

Karen Mortensen (Fredericia)

Caroline Munch (Bjæverskov)

Nanna Vigild (Copenhagen)

Sofie Vikkelsøe (Copenhagen)

Frida Werner-Foldager (Roskilde)

Sofie Østergaard (London, U.K.)

Hedvig Rasmussen (Frederiksberg)

Fie Udby-Erichsen (Hobro)

Frida Sanggaard-Nielsen (Copenhagen)

Sailing

Johan Søe (Aarhus)

Johan Lundgaard-Schubert (Aarhus)

Nikolaj Hoffmann-Buhl (Lyngby-Taarbæk Kommune)

Daniel Nyborg (Copenhagen)

Mathias Bruun-Borreskov (Skanderborg)

Andrea Schmidt (Aarhus)

Johanne Schmidt (Aarhus)

Natacha Saouma-Pedersen (Odense)

Anne-Marie Rindom (Søllerød)

Shooting

Jesper Hansen (Bjegsted)

Rikke Mæng-Ibsen (Herning)

Stephanie Scurrah-Grundsøe (Roskilde)

Skateboarding

Viktor Solmunde (Copenhagen)

Swimming

Thea Blomsterberg (Birkerød)

Martine Damborg (Kastrup)

Elisabeth Sabroe-Ebbesen (Skanderborg)

Schastine Tabor (Copenhagen)

Julie Kepp-Jensen (Hvidovre)

Helena Rosendahl-Bach (Holstebro)

Signe Bro (Copenhagen)

Table tennis

Anders Lind (Hørsholm)

Martin Buch-Andersen (Rudersdal Kommune)

Jonathan Kjaer-Groth (Albertslund)

Taekwondo

Edi Hrnic (Brøndby Kommune)

Tennis

Clara Tauson (Kongens Lyngby)

Caroline Wozniacki-Lee (Miami-Dade County, Florida)

Triathlon

Emil Holm (Frederiksberg)

Alberte Kjær-Pedersen (Aarhus)

Wrestling

Turpal-Ali Bisultanov (Copenhagen)

[breitzbachbea]

The surnames are sometimes in brackets because they aren't always part of what I consider 'wack', but I wanted to have them for all options for an uniform look.

[chelseafcwmemes]

Yeah it's insane how many players have been/are in Linköping! From the top of my head and in no particular order it's:

Jonna Neto Minde Pernille Magda Frido Stina (x2) Nilla Kosse (3 times iirc) Frida Maanum Vangsgaard Bredgaard Labbé Pauline Hammarlund (now in Fiorentina and apparently the best paid player in Serie A) Lindahl Janni Arnth Rasmussen Jessica Wik (formerly Samuelsson) Slegers Gajhede Knudsen Nico Kildemoes Hurtig (with wifey) Selerud (now in Roma) Saori Takarada Landström (now in Roma) Mimmi Larsson (now in Kansas City Current) Angeldahl Dajan Hashemi Emma Holmgren (now in Lyon) Skinnes Hansen Ebere Orji Chinaza Uchendu Banusic Olga Ahtinen Yuka Momiki Uchenna Kanu Anna Oscarsson (now in Glasgow City) Rantanen Homare Sawa

Then the current coach Jeglertz can be added. He coached Umeå IK in their golden era with players like Marta, Hanna Ljungberg, Hanna Marklund, Frida Östberg, Caroline Jönsson, a young Lisa Dahlkvist, Sofia Jakobsson, Bachmann and Elaine in the squad. He then became head coach for Finland wnt and assistant coach for Canada wnt before he came to Linköping.

And of course Denise Reddy who's been a coach for Linköping twice and not to forget Martin Sjögren.

It is quite surreal the talent that’s been through, wonder what they put in the water up there to make them develop that much

[risingstarblog]

Natasha’s car accident

Car crash with Natasha Fester: How shocked the community was

Natasha’s car accident It’s always sad to bury someone we love, but it’s even sadder when they die suddenly because it leaves a void that can’t be filled.

This was the case with the sad and unfortunate Natasha Fester who lost her life in a car accident.

Natasha Fester was a prominent member of her community and her recent accident that claimed her life has left many people in shock and grief.

Table of contents

·Natasha Fester’s heartbreaking car accident

Natasha Fester Who is she: Biography – Early Life and Education

About Natasha’s passionate career as a nurse

Personal life

The accident: what happened?

The consequences: damage and healing

Community response

Condolences from family and friends

Promote awareness of road safety

Uncommon causes of accidents and safety tips for drivers

A call to action to honor Natasha’s memory

Conclusion

The heartbreaking car accident with Natasha Fester in Natasha’s car accident

This blog post is dedicated to the memory of Natasha Fester’s car accident and emphasizes the need to follow road safety measures to prevent such incidents.

Natasha Mae Fester was another intelligent and hardworking woman who was born on September 13, 1990 in Will-mar, Minnesota.

She had grown up with relatively loving parents. According to an interview with Jeff Adkins and Lisa Adkins, Natasha had an interest in education from the early stages of her life.

She attended Will-mar High School, where she was very active and happy, participating in academics, dance, volleyball and track and field as well as the FFA club.

Natasha’s teaching experience shows her determination to change the world.

To put it more precisely, after high school from Willmargymnasiet in 2009, she planned to become a nurse. She completed her LPN at Ridge water College and her RN at Rasmussen College St. Cloud.

Natasha’s passion for her career led her to earn a BSN degree from Mankato State University Natasha’s car accident and a PMHNP degree from the University of North Dakota in August 2023.

About Natasha’s passionate career as a nurse

Natasha was a very passionate nurse and her passion is evident on several levels in this career. Therefore, she had many passions, especially doing what others want and being a joy in her patients’ lives.

Natasha worked as a nurse at the psychiatric psychiatric nurse level.

She was employed at CentraCare Rice Memorial Hospital and began working there as a practitioner in November 2023. The love could never be described except by colleagues and patients.

The lady was a workaholic and very professional in her work.

In addition to his sprint career, R. Middle ware was an administrator for C.A.R.E. in her journey to a leadership role that demonstrated passion for improving health care in her community.

She worked in nursing and her influence was enormous; The lives of the people she met would never be the same. The positive effects will also be felt in the coming years.

Privacy for Natasha’s car accident

 Together they formed a happy family and had four children. Mason is 12 years old, Marshel is 8 years old and Maxton is 5 years old. Mainline is only 3.

She was a good mother who cared about her children and was always ready to help them get something.

There is still much that needs to be said and remembered about her, and the most impressive is that it might not have been because of her adventurous spirit and passion for home improvement such as demos, derbies and car races.

The accident: what happened?

The tragedy that befell Natasha Fester in Will-mar, Minnesota occurred on an ordinary day. Witnesses said it happened in the afternoon, when there were probably a lot of people out and about.

Natasha was also traveling in her own car when she met with an accident at a particular intersection where her car was hit by another car.

[sunraysandrunway]

Louis Vuitton Spring 2002 Ready-to-Wear

(Model: Anne Catherine Lacroix)

(Model: Lisa Ratliffe)

(Model: Rie Rasmussen)

[tv-moments]

Unbelievable

“Episode 3“

Director: Lisa Cholodenko

DoP: Quyen Tran

[glassprism]

Hey glass, could you make a list of some classical, operatic, and musical theater Christine's from London, Broadway, and the World Tours? If that's too much I wouldnt mind if you included all productions, I just know that Worldwide Christine's often have more operatic and classical voices so I'm not as curious about them. Thanks!

Keeping in mind that the boundary between these three can be a bit nebulous, here's a few examples from productions all over (note that this isn't everybody, I'm trying to get a representative mix from all over, plus a few could easily fit into two or more categories):

Musical Theater:

Meredith Braun (London)

Leila Benn Harris (London)

Lisa-Anne Wood (London)

Samantha Hill (Broadway)

Kaley Ann Voorhees (Broadway, World Tour)

Katie Travis (US Tour)

Clara Verdier (World Tour)

Classical:

Maria Kesselman (London)

Harriet Jones (London)

Amy Manford (London)

Patti Cohenour (Broadway)

Rebecca Luker (Broadway)

Mary D'arcy (US Tour, Toronto)

Claire Lyon (World Tour)

Mia Karlsson (Copenhagen)

Operatic:

Rebecca Caine (London, Toronto)

Claire Louise Hammacott (London)

Lisa Vroman (Broadway, US Tour)

Elizabeth Welch (Broadway, US Tour, Oberhausen)

Meghan Picerno (Broadway, World Tour)

Ana Marina (World Tour)

Elisabeth Berg (Stockholm)

Inger Olsson Moberg (Stockholm)

Agnete Munk Rasmussen (Copenhagen)

Irasema Terrazas (Mexico City)

[wausaupilotreview]

Security concerns raised ahead of Wausau council meeting amid ethics discussion

The mayor is calling for the complaint to be dismissed, while Council President Lisa Rasmussen cited inflammatory commentary which she said aimed to provoke anger without presenting all the facts. Heightened security at Tuesday's meeting was requested.

Damakant Jayshi A potential ethics inquiry into Mayor Doug Diny over his controversial removal of a ballot drop box last year has heightened tensions in Wausau, prompting security concerns ahead of Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Council President Lisa Rasmussen cited inflammatory commentary from conservative media outlets, which she said aimed to provoke anger without presenting all the facts.…

[marleneoftheopera]

are there any christines who you think would have looked good also as blondes?

Off the top of my head (and nowhere near a complete list):

(Robyn North, Corinne Cowling, Gina Beck, Lauri Brons, Katie Hall)

(Patti Cohenour, Karen Cuilliver, Tabitha Webb, Harriet Jones, Maria Coyne)

(Clara Verdier, Samantha Hill, Sara Jean Ford, Lisa Anne Wood, Celia Hottenstein)

(Sylvia Rhyne, June Crowley, Susanne Elmark, Teresia Bokor, Agnete Munk Rasmussen)

And finally, Amy Manford and Celinde Schoenmaker. They might not count because they did actually go on to be blonde Christine's in a non-replica, but they didn't wear blonde wigs when they were both in the replica version.

And yes, most (if not all) of these actresses either are blonde in real life and/or wore lighter wigs. Or at least wigs that had a good dose of highlights if they were in the right light. I suppose they are the easiest for me to imagine in a blonde wig because there's already a bit of an example. (And some have played Cosette and/or Glinda where they wore a blonde wig, so there's that too.)

[freifraufischer]

2022 World Artistic Gymnastics WAG Qualification Standings after 6 Subdivisions

PLEASE NOTE THERE ARE 4 MORE SUBS.  This is who is -currently- in qualification positions.

WAG Team

USA 167.263

CHN 162.064

FRA 161.428

CAN 159.661

AUS 156.095

BEL 156.063

KOR 153.363

HUN 152.296

MEX 150.962

ESP 149.162

SWE 147.529

UKR 142.729

WAG AA

1 Shilese Jones (USA) 55.766

2 Jade Carey (USA) 55.132

3 Ou Yushan (CHN) 54.466

4 Elsabeth Black (CAN) 54.131

Jordan Chiles (USA) 53.998

5 Melanie de Jesus dos Santos (FRA) 53.865

6 Georgia Godwin (AUS) 52.866

7 Tang Xijing (CHN) 52.865

8 Carolann Heduit (FRA) 52.698

9 Lisa Vaelen (BEL) 52.432

Aline Friess (FRA) 52.265

10 Ana Barbosu (ROU) 52.233

11 Laura Casabuena (ESP) 52.032

12 Lee Yunseo (KOR) 51.833

13 Romi Brown (AUS) 51.731

14 Maellyse Brassart (BEL) 50.699

15 Natalia Escalera (MEX) 50.365

16 Camille Rasmussen (DEN) 49.899

17 Lucija Hribar (SLO) 49.899

18 Mayer Greta (HUN) 49.599

19 Ahtziri Sandoval (MEX) 49.566

Jutta Verkest (BEL) 49.565

20 Lihie Raz (ISR) 49.432

21 Nathalie Westlund (SWE) 49.432

22 Caitlin Rooskrantz (RSA) 49.200

23 Tonya Paulsson (SWE) 48.998

24 Eom Dohyun (KOR) 48.799

R1 Szilagyi Nikolett (HUN) 48.765

R2 Emma Fernandez (ESP) 48.566

WAG VT

1 Jade Carey (USA) 14.483

2 Jordan Chiles (USA) 14.316

3 Coline Devillard (FRA) 14.299

4 Yeo Seojeong (KOR) 14.249

5 Elsabeth Black (CAN) 13.749

6 Lisa Vaelen (BEL) 13.499

Leanne Wong (USA) 13.433

7 Lihie Raz (ISR) 13.416

8 Camille Rasmussen (DEN) 13.233

R1 Aline Friess (FRA) 12.900

R2 Ahtziri Sandoval (MEX) 12.866

WAG UB

1 Luo Rui (CHN) 14.900

2 Nina Derwael (BEL) 14.700

3 Wei Xiaoyuan (CHN) 14.700

4 Shilese Jones (USA) 14.566

5 Melanie de Jesus dos Santos (FRA) 14.400

Tang Xijing (CHN) 14.333

Ou Yushan (CHN) 14.166

6 Kate McDonald (AUS) 14.066

7 Jordan Chiles (USA) 14.066

8 Elsabeth Black (CAN) 13.933

R1 Szekely Zoja (HUN) 13.766

R2 Romi Brown (AUS) 13.566

WAG BB

1 Ou Yushan (CHN) 13.900

2 Skye Blakely (USA) 13.733

3 Marine Boyer (FRA) 13.666

4 Kovacs Zsofia (HUN) 13.533

5 Elsabeth Black (CAN) 13.266

6 Shilese Jones (USA) 13.200

Jade Carey (USA) 13.133

7 Georgia Godwin (AUS) 13.000

8 Laura Casabuena (ESP) 12.966

R1 Sydney Turner (CAN) 12.866

R2 Zhang Jin (CHN) 12.833

WAG FX

1 Jordan Chiles (USA) 14.100

2 Jade Carey (USA) 14.066

Shilese Jones (USA) 13.800

Skye Blakely (USA) 13.600

3 Ou Yushan (CHN) 13.400

4 Marine Boyer (FRA) 13.300

5 Sydney Turner (CAN) 13.300

6 Ana Barbosu (ROU) 13.300

7 Elsabeth Black (CAN) 13.266

8 Melanie de Jesus dos Santos (FRA) 13.266

Laurie Denommee (CAN) 13.266

R1 Lisa Vaelen (BEL) 13.200

R2 Laura Casabuena (ESP) 13.200

[pigeonbreedaday]

Egyptian Swift

First bird bred by Lisa Brazell Rasmussen. Second bird bred by Keaton Taylor. Originally posted in Middle Eastern Pigeon Club

[warofroyalsrpg]

On this day, the 4th of April, we as a staff would like to wish a very happy birthday to Princess Rebekah Oslin-Rasmussen of Sweden. We hope that you enjoy your bag of desserts including traditional sweets such as Sockerbitar, Knäck, Semla, Kladdkaka, and Mormor Lisas Cocos.

In honor of Princess Rebekah Oslin-Rasmussen, the dining hall will be serving Swedish dishes for the entirety of the day. Some favorites include:

Pickled Herring

Kroppkakor

Falukorv

Pea Soup and Pankcakes

Toscakaka

[juliemcadoo]

Post Traumatic Growth

For those who prune their shrubs or plants each year, you will understand this metaphor.  When Kevin died, I lost a huge chunk of me.  I got cut back by nearly half.  He was my go-to for all things regarding maintenance of the exterior of the house.  He was my partner in crime for grand family adventures. He was my +1 at dinners, my date night, my co-parent, my best friend, my confidant, my hug every day, my New Year’s kiss at midnight, my personal comedian and my audience, my sounding board.  He was half my brain (7 and 1/2 lessons about the brain, Lisa Feldman Barrett).

So when he died, if I was a bush, I was cut back to the stem.  I had been with him nearly half my life.  His death was shocking, disorienting, painful, heart rending, all consuming.  Had life not prepared me for moments like this, I might have curled up in a ball and fallen apart. My life with him had prepared me for his death in many ways.  I had lost my identity back in 2005 when he broke his leg, and the fallout from that caused me to decide to leave the military.  And I came back from that.  When his dad died in the 2013, I did all the paperwork so that Kevin could grieve. And so I knew what to do and whom to call when Kevin died.  That was one less hurdle to overcome in the midst of grieving.  We had also gotten our financial house in order, and I was the master of that project, so I knew most all of our positions, holdings, insurances, accounts, etc.  And we had planned for the off chance that one of us might die early and had invested in term insurance on both of us for the duration of the time we expected our kids still to be living with us.  So while I was cut back to the stem, I still had a good root system and was planted in a place where I had all the resources to survive.

These past 9 months have been a period of tremendous soul searching and spiritual growth.  I have had to learn to rely on myself for all the things that Kevin used to do.  I have had to fix the vehicles, fix the house—replace a water heater and a well tank so far.  I have had to learn to use the snow blower and winterize the irrigation system. I have begun to craft our life going forward in the ways that serve the girls and I.

I was blessed to have been able to talk to a friend of Kevin’s who is a widower roughly a year ahead of my on his journey.  He was kind enough to talk with me even during the very earliest days after losing Kevin when I was so raw and still bleeding.  He went into his own pain and experiences to help me talk through my pain and experiences.  His empathy and understanding was so very helpful in my not feeling alone in my journey, and he pointed me in a couple of directions that were very fruitful for me (Hot Young Widows Club, Journey of Souls).  It was courageous of him to do so because the average person might have rejected his suggestions on religious grounds.  But I was searching for answers, and it was a direction to look.  I obsessively started trying to figure out where Kevin had gone and if he was still with me.  I read everything I could get my hands on that told me more about the afterlife than I had learned in church.  

I started with Near Death Experience (NDE)accounts, Proof of Heaven and Map of Heaven by Eben Alexander. That sent me into a study of Journey of Souls by Michael Newton, which sent me into looking at mediums, channelers, psychics, and the like.  I read Christina Rasmussen’s “Where Did you Go?” and many other books that talked about the afterlife and what might happen when we go there. I still maintain that we won’t really know until we get there, but it gave me a lot of peace about Kevin’s death.  Ultimately I decided that he was free from pain and suffering, that he loved me dearly, and that he very well might still be with me cheering me on, nudging me from time to time, and maybe even protecting me sometimes. And believing that, I started to see signs of him everywhere I looked.  I would see his favorite number pop up all the time in random places.  I would see other significant numbers to us appear in odd places.  He would visit me in my dreams and so vividly.  One morning I smelled him even though neither he nor anything that was his was anywhere around me. I stood there motionless and tried to drink in every drop of scent I could. Some nights in the quiet darkness I could actually feel him.  

I also started learning about the brain and how it works.  I have always maintained the fact that chemical and electrical pulses in our brains create thoughts is all the proof I need to believe in the soul and a higher plane of existence.  I have also marveled at how incredibly improbably it is for any person to exist.  I’m sure someone has tried to do the math on that, but if your parents hadn’t had sex on the night that they did, you wouldn’t exist, and it gets less probable from there.  Had they not met, had they not been born, and so on.  Think about all the variables that had to go exactly right in order for you to exist.   Think of all the variables that had to go right to bring you to this moment.  It is up to you to decide what to make it mean. To me, it can’t have been for nothing. And at the same time, we are also insignificant.  There are more than 7 Billion people on this earth.  That is about 7 Billion people who are so busy with their own struggles that they really don’t care I exist. My study into the afterlife has helped me to make my mind up about what all that means, and none of that searching would have come about had Kevin not died, which caused me to examine parts of life and death I had never considered, never had to consider.  I had never lost anyone so close or whom I cared for so deeply. He was my soul mate, still is a soul mate.  

Also in the journey, I started working on me.  I found Krista St-Germain’s Widowed Mom Podcast and found her short teaching episodes to be very sensible and helpful, not just in moving on from the disorienting immediate shock in the aftermath of Kevin’s death, but also rebuilding life in general. Between her and Christina Rasmussen’s book Second Firsts, I have a lot of tools for recovering from adversity and moving intentionally into a future that suits me.

So this last 9 months has been a period of massive growth.  And if you have ever pruned a health bush back to the stem, you have no doubt seen it explode forth with all kinds of new shoots and growth.  The stress causes it to react with new growth, they say.  I’ve got new shoots sprouting everywhere.