Diabetes: Why I Ride

You may have heard, but allow me to repeat it: I am going to ride in the Tour de Cure for the American Diabetes Association this May in Seattle, Washington.  It is a fundraiser for Diabetes Research. Why is this so important to me?  Let me tell you how Type I Diabetes has created this person I am today.  Let me explain why I ride.

All my life, I have tried to downplay the fact that I have Type I Diabetes.  No big deal, I'm just like everyone else.  My first doctor, at age 5, told me that I would get a kidney transplant for High School graduation if I didn't fix my blood sugar.  I was 5.  Sure, let me figure that one out on my own.  Because of this horrible physician, from Primary Children's Medical Center, I ride.

I remember my mom slipping into my room in the middle of the night (frequently), rubbing her hand on my cheek to check for a cold sweat meaning low blood sugar.  Or worse, a child who was no longer breathing.  Now that I look back on that memory, I am horrified for every mother everywhere with a Diabetic child.  I cannot imagine how many sleepless nights my mother experienced.  How much worry she lived with each day, hoping that I could know how to care for myself when I was not in her care.  Because of my wonderful mother, and every single other worried mommy out there, I ride.

When I was ten years old, I did not wake up- I had a seizure in the middle of the night due to low blood sugar.  Fortunately, my sister woke up.  After a shot of Glucagon (pure sugar), I began to come to.  My only memory of that is waking up in my daddy's arms, with mom looking down at me.  For every terrified sibling and family out there, I ride.

When I was 17, my sister got sick.  After only a short time of extreme thirst, fatigue, and nausea, she was diagnosed with Type I diabetes as well.  I was crushed.  How could this misery plague yet another person I adore?  Despite my paralyzing dispair and fear for my sister, she immediately took it in stride, and has worked very hard to control it ever since: she has two adorable, lovable, beautiful, perfect children.  For my sister, as well as my own hope for children, I ride.

My daddy and his brother each donated a kidney to two of their Diabetic siblings.  Shortly afterward, my dad was diagnosed with Type I diabetes.  I was not around, but every time he took us kids swimming, we saw the scar extending from his spine to his belly button.  My daddy was cut in half for Diabetes, and then was thanked by the disease itself.  For him, my dear daddy, I ride.

When I went to college, I met an intriguing man.  He was missing a foot and part of his right leg.  He showed it off like it was next year's style.  He radiated confidence.  He was different.  He is now my husband.  Because of that confidence, I am finally accepting Diabetes.   And so, becuase of my confident, different, intriguing husband, I ride.

I am grasping it after 16 very difficult, painful, tearful years.  I am coming to terms with the fact that I am different.  And it's okay.  I can finally let all of the words of wisdom from my parents, my doctors, and my family sink in; I CAN take care of myself, and I CAN do what everyone else does.  I just have to put the Diabetes first.

I'm different.

 

I'm confident.

 

And so, I RIDE.

Bigger and Better Things

Mike and I are so proud and excited to be moving on to new things!  I just completed my last semester of college and will graduate from BYU-Idaho on Saturday!  Yay!  Rather than doing homework in my spare time, I’m going to spend my time developing my green thumb in my flower beds all summer and giving our puppies a little more love.  I am still working at Advanced Dermatology and I’m finally getting more hours as the clinic is picking up business.  I’m working two days every week in surgery and two days in the clinic.  It is a new adventure every day! 

 Mike is also moving on to new things.  He is transferring from a department that has been very stressful and difficult to bigger and better things in a different department with an entirely different crew.  We are so excited for this summer and all of these new things!  We will keep you updated more often, but if we don’t, you can find us enjoying our home, family, yard, and some beautiful Spokane weather.

Our New Home Makes its Debut

  We have finally taken pictures of our new home!  We adore this cozy place. 

The door to the right goes to our garage. Take note of the fork and spoon clock.  It's definitely a favorite of mine!

This is another angle of the kitchen.  I love having that big window there!

This photo is of the hallway from the kitchen.  This picture lets you see our floors.  Beautiful!  The former owners tore up carpet to find this beautiful original hardwood floor.   They stained it and this is the result.

This is our guest bathroom :) You can't see it very well, but the
walls in here are a blue-green.

This is our cozy little guest room!  The bookshelves are a must in my home,
as is the hundred-acre-wood theme.  There are stuffed animals of every
Winnie the Pooh character on the other side of the room on a shorter bookcase.

Welcome to the Man Cave!  This is Mike's sanctuary and the one
place I promised never to move things or change the decorations he wants.

This is our exercise room. :)

My absolute favorite spot in our home.  The living room.  The shelves on the right
would be our china cabinet.  Beautiful.

We have a fireplace. That was something that really drew me to this home.

This is our cozy little dining room. The nook in the wall is hard to see,
so I took a picture for everyone to see what's inside the display!

These are my cherished belongings.  On the left is a book of our wedding photos that Mike's parents gave to us this Christmas.  Below is my wedding boquet. Front and center is our cake topper, a willowtree figurine. On the far right are two more willowtree figures that my  mom gave to me at very important times in my life.  And finally, in the right corner is our christus.  This is the highlight of our home, and our wedding gift from my parents.



This is our social corner.  We love to have friends over, and this
is the place where anyone can find food.  The highlight of this photo:
the entire top shelf of this snack-rack is shaved ice flavoring :) Mike bought
me a shaved ice maker and all the extras for christmas.  I think I'll go into business.

This is our basement entertainment area!  It's all about games and movies and food.

Another angle of the basement, also showcasing my desk where homework is
neglected and social networking occurs :)

Our bedroom and again, another bookshelf! The paintings in this picture are done by
Thomas Kinkade.  We have numerous paintings throughout the house.  I love his work!
Also, the bedframe has a story to tell.  Mike's sister, Meg, designed it for us as a wedding gift,
and a friend of ours at work created it.  At the head of the bed, there is a claddagh ring, which
is in reference to Mike's Irish ancestors.  At the  foot of the bed, there are family crests for each
 of our families, then a new family crest that combines our names.

Our HUGE closet. To. Die. For.

Probably this is my actual favorite room... food!

This is the master bathroom.

And another angle so you can see the pretty sinks that were put in :)

And that, my dear friends, is an introduction to our home.  It has taken us almost a year to make it our own, but it now has Mike and Kristen Parkes in every nook and cranny.  We adore it, and hope to be here for a very long time.

Our Story

 These two pictures summarize Mike and I.  We are happy, we love to laugh and we love life.  Let me summarize our story for you. 

Mike and I both attended college at BYU-Idaho.  We were on an activities committee together, and were planning an activity with lots of food and movies.  We are both food oriented, so of course we took charge of the food.  Mike and I were supposed to go grocery shopping in a group of about 12 people.  This was not acceptable in my mind, as  I recognized Mike from a previous semester; I found myself quite interested in him, so I immediately got crafty in getting rid of everyone else in the grocery-shopping group.

 Persistence won, so Mike found himself shopping for ketchup and pickles with me.  Just me.  As we made our way through the grocery store, we chatted and bantered and teased.  The rest, folks, is history.  Fact of the matter is this: I got the man of my dreams.

Mike and I were married in the Rexburg, Idaho LDS Temple on April 30, 2011 for time and all eternity.  Translation: when we both kick the bucket, we'll still be married and that will go on forever! How exciting!  Anyways, on with the riveting story...  The following day, my belongings and the gifts from our reception were distributed among family members' vehicles and we made our way to our home in Spokane, Washington where we now reside in our humble home.  And that, my friends, is how the Michael and Kristen Parkes family began.  Stay tuned, as there is much more to tell about our happy life!