i meet nienie

while the menfolk (my dad and brett) went to the priesthood session in SLC, my mom, everton, and i wanted to check out the new and massive city creek mall on saturday night.

it took us 2 hours to just browse the bottom level.

when we got to the other side of the mall we ended up at deseret bookstore.

i started frantically looking in the windows to see if stephanie nielson from nieniedialogues was still inside.  i knew she was gonna be there signing her new book, "heaven is here" (which is not going to be released to all bookstores till april 3rd.)

if you don't know who she is, she's a popular stay at home mom blogger who's been blogging everyday since 2005. she went through a horrifying plane crash with her husband about 4 years ago, on our wedding day to be exact.  and since then she's been documenting her recovery and continuing about her life everyday on her blog.  she writes a lot about our LDS faith and how much it has helped her to survive.  she's such an inspiration to me.  she helps me to be a better mom and that if anything gets me down, i know i can pray to my Heavenly Father and He will help me.  she taught me that we all go through hard trials in our life but there is nothing that Heavenly Father gives us that we can't handle.  stephanie has been through hell as she recovers from her burns and her pain.  and yet she has this amazing strength to get her through her days.

my good friend rachel told me about her a long time ago and i remember getting chills hearing about her story.  i love her.

back to the story...i asked my mom to watch everton while i hurried inside and asked an employee if she's still there and if she's still signing books.  the lady said yes so i ran back to the stroller to grab my camera and my wallet.

i was one of the last ladies in line and as i got closer i started freaking out.  stephanie had such a sweet spirit about her.  i was about to meet a celebrity in the mormon blogging world!  when it was my turn i started to cry.  she sweetly said, "oh don't cry, you're ok."  she asked me if i'm married or if i have kids.  and i told her that i have an 11 month baby boy and that i'm so excited for her new baby.  it was amazing having a little conversation with her.  she later said, "have fun with your cute little boy."  i took a picture with her and her sweet daughters.  it was so crazy seeing them in real life!  she signed my book and i paid for it right after. then i saw mr. nielson come back from the priesthood session to get his sweet pregnant wife to go home.  they are an amazing family who loves each other unconditionally.