Cory & Bree: Love is a Battlefield

I love water. I love drinking water, swimming in water, putting my hands in running water, making footprints on the concrete after stepping in water. I just love water! That is, in fact, why Cory and I decided to do some engagements underwater, a common love.

And actually, when I'm mad or sad, running water over my hands or feet or something is the absolute best soother for me. So, you get that I love water. I also love getting up high in the air. I grew up going to Lake Powell every year with a family of cliff jumpers and thrill seeking tubers. You had to like getting high (in the air) to survive. So, it goes without saying, I like swinging! The higher I can go, the better. I get mesmerized with being so high on roller coasters and such activities. It's such a thrill!

Notice the crazed look in my eyes?

This was the stratosphere in Las Vegas. I had to BEG Cory to go on it and, as this picture shows, Cory does not share the love of heights with me at all.

Now that you have the basic background information necessary, you can now understand my elation upon seeing Cory's uncle's new swing set. 15-20 feet high. Set on a hill. Swinging out over a lake. It was like he had taken a dream from my mind and made it reality. We swung on it the first time at night and it was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. I couldn't wait to get on it during the day and jump off into the water. We had driven to Stansbury Park (right by Tooele) that night because we were volunteering at the Stansbury Triathlon the next morning at 6 am! Luckily, Cory's Uncle Steve and Aunt Judy live there and were nice enough to let us stay over. So the next day we did our volunteering, wrapped it up at noon, and made it back to the swings! Cory and I jumped off a few times and had our fun before wanting to get higher. It is impossible to propel yourself higher on that swing set. Once you hit a certain height, you need assistance, so Steve came over to help us out, of course! Cory bailed the second he saw Steve behind him (remember the Stratosphere picture?), so I got on ready for a thrill. Steve has a requirement that you can't jump until you see the lake above the cross bars on top of the swing set (a man after my own heart), but while approaching that level my shorts/hands/everything slipped and I had to hold on to make sure my neck and head made it to the water before back flipping in. I came up surprised to be in one piece, while Cory and Steve were high-fiving how awesome I am (it was all a little foggy, but I'm sure that's how it was). It wasn't until I started making my way to the beach that I felt the pain in my left pinky. I looked to see why and sure enough it was bleeding from a slice, so, just to be sure, I checked my right hand too. It was a lot worse over on that one. I had a pretty gross, torn up side of my hand. Deep red blood and white fatty layers were protruding from a torn up layer of skin. However, I felt more hurt that I was so betrayed by the two things I love. Love, as they say, is a battlefield, right? Cory and Steve helped me clean the wounds, support me when I was almost passing out, and bandage me up; and then Steve said "you'll probably have to get stitches." And Cory said, "yeah I didn't want to freak you out, but I thought that the minute I saw it." Stitches?! No way. My mom always treated our wounds with steri strips or butterfly bandages. I had never had stitches! We drove to the instacare in Sugarhouse and my fears were confirmed. I would no longer be a stitches virgin. Apparently I had a skin avulsion. I'll let wikipedia explain that to you : an avulsion is an injury in which a body structure is forcibly detached. It most commonly refers to a surface trauma where all layers of the skin have been torn away, exposing the underlying structures (e.g. subcutaneous tissue, muscle, tendons). This is similar to an abrasion but more severe, as body parts such as an eyelid or an ear can be partially or fully detached from the body. The term comes from the Latin word avellere, "to tear off". I bet you feel smarter now. The whole thing probably took less than an hour and only a few painful moments (okay, more like 20 painful moments), and then I was nursing my pain with an oreo milkshake and corn dog. That makes me happy. I am, however, pretty disabled as I am the worst at everything left-handed. Like so so bad! Cory has been an angel. He braids my hair, puts on my clothes, does my make-up, and spreads the cream cheese. Can you believe it? I don't know what I'd do without him. I love/hate it. I already hate being so dependent and making him do everything! But he is the best. I'll be getting all SIX stitches out Saturday and then, hopefully, be back to being right handed. I am currently typing one-handed and this has taken me an hour+ to type. :) (sorry for the following graphic pictures...)