lynn in love with nie nie

I can't even begin to explain this woman to you. If you're blogger, you've probably have heard of this woman. If you're new to the blog world, let me introduce you to Nie Nie.

Nie Nie is Stephanie Nielson, a beautiful young mormon mother who has such a zeal for life and mothering. She wrote a darling blog before her accident called NieNie Dialogues. Her blog was delightful, sprinkled with gorgeous pics of her children and their daily adventures. She was both honest and encouraging and inspiring in her tales of motherhood. She is also madly in love with her husband and isn't shy to say so...and then came the news that she was in an airplane accident.

She had gotten her husband pilot lessons and this was one of their first long trips with his flight instructor. It was horrifying to hear that Mr. Nielson's flight instructor had perished and that both the Nielson's were badly burned... but they were alive. Over the course of the next few months, we followed as CJane, Stephanie's sister took over both her blog and 3 out of 4 of Stephanie's children. We were updated on the Nielson's conditions... both were badly burned, but Stephanie bared the worst - she was burnt over 80% of her body including her face. She remained sedated for months as they worked to control infections, performed surgeries and skin grafts. I don't believe I have ever seen a bigger outpouring of love from the online community for this woman and her family and church (LDS) who launched fundraisers and events of support (the balloon release). It was quite beautiful.

After 3 months of sedation, Stephanie was woken up and told her condition, of the lost time while she was sedated, of her new face. Stephanie came home and moved to Utah to be near her family... and when she was strong enough she started writing on her blog again. We watched and read as she struggled with her new identity and the pain of recovery. We watched as she relied on her faith and family to get her through the trials. We all took a big breath at her absolute bravery when she revealed the first glimpse of her new face.

While I am not a mormon, I have been so encouraged by Stephanie, at her honest depiction of her perils and struggles and how she uses her faith and family to bring her back to life. I love that she uses her love for her husband and children to keep up the faith. Really, I think she is quite amazing. She helps me to remember to cherish everyday no matter the circumstances.

Anyways... Stephanie is going to be on Oprah today! I cannot believe that after witnessing her story online, we will actually meet her and hear her story from her mouth. You can check out Oprah's website for details: http://www.oprah.com/index. You can follow her at www.nieniedialogues.com.