How Angie continues to be Fabulous in spite of the obstacles placed in her way!

This is a story of an amazing women who continues to Celebrate her Abilities everyday, with Faith and being Fabulous.

Let me start by introducing myself …

My name is Angie Larsen.  I have a fabulous life, and it all started because I was born to goodly parents.  I was raised in Plain City, Utah area; the second of five children.  I graduated from Weber High School, where I was lucky enough to meet my incredible husband, Gary and we have been married for the past 16 years.  We have been blessed with 3 darling kids; Berkley, Brad and Cooper. I love spending time with my family; we enjoy sports, camping, swimming and just being together. For the past 15 years I have been a Business/Marketing teacher at Weber High, and have had the honor of working with some of the finest students around. But most importantly I am a daughter of a Heavenly Father and I know he loves me.

My favorite scripture is the 13^th Article of Faith:

13^aWe believe in being ^bhonest, true, ^cchaste, ^dbenevolent, virtuous, and in doing ^egood to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we ^fhope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to ^gendure all things. If there is anything ^hvirtuous, ⁱlovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

Personally the second half of this Article of Faith is what resonates with me: We believe all things, we ^fhope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to ^gendure all things. If there is anything ^hvirtuous, ⁱlovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

In my short life I have been given the opportunity to endure several physical trials- I would like to share some of my experiences with you…

I love to be fabulous! Typically when someone (from the cashier at the grocery store to a family member) asks me “How are you?” I reply with fabulous!  When I reply with the word fabulous- I often get strange looks from people, one time I even had someone say “really?” Yep really! I know that even if I am not having the best moment, that just by saying the word fabulous makes my outlook immediately change.  I choose how I feel and I choose to be fabulous, and I always try my hardest to act fabulous.

I believe that the experiences we have in life, help shape the people we become.  Six months after high school graduation I had one of these life shaping experiences.

Thursday Nov. 18, started just like any other day, I was attending school at Weber State University and after school I was working at a local dry cleaner. After getting off work for the night, I stopped by the mall to pick up a coat.  I remember feeling uneasy when I got into my car in the mall parking lot; it was cold and dark and I just didn’t feel right.

I started driving toward home, as I approached a busy intersection there was a driver in the oncoming turning lane. Rather than yielding to traffic before making her turn she turned right in front of me.  Our cars collided head on.  The force of the impact threw my body forward, my face hitting the windshield.  I had glass tear through the cartilage of my nose, essentially lifting it off my face.  I would eventually end up with a part of my nose dying.  I also had several large cuts and lots of glass pieces in my face. My right knee was shoved into the bottom of the dashboard, shattering my knee cap; my tibia was a compound fracture coming out right above my shoe.  My fibula was broken in two places and my ankle in three. The worst of my injuries occurred when my abdomen hit the bottom of the steering wheel.  The impact split my liver almost all the way through.  Because of the way my legs were pinned in the car, the paramedics had to use the “jaws of life” to tear open the passenger door. I was rushed by ambulance to the hospital.

When my mom arrived she was escorted into a room and told to wait for the doctor.  The doctor’s prognosis was bad.  He told my mom, that I was on my way into surgery, but the extent of my injuries was serious, and that she needed to prepare herself that my injuries could be fatal.

I spent seven hours that night in surgery; they cut me from the bottom of my sternum to the top of my belly button in order to check all of my internal organs.  The following days included more surgeries and procedures.  I spent 17 days in the hospital; nine days in the ICU.

The next 18 months were spent in and out of doctors’ offices and physical therapy; including having 5 plastic surgeries on my face. My parents have always been there for me and this time was no exception.  My dad would attend therapy with me, holding my hand and encouraging me along.

This wasn’t the first time my dad had taken my hand in his to give me strength and support.  When I was 3 years old, my family and I were attending the Little Buckaroo Rodeo.  We were at the top of the bleachers enjoying the show, when I slipped and fell.  I landed head first on the cement below, fracturing my skull.  By the time I was carried to the medic station, my body was lifeless.  The paramedics were able to revive me and I was rushed by ambulance to the hospital.  I spent some time in a coma, and as a result of the fall I had epilepsy.  I continued to have seizures until age 9.

Recovering from things this horrific has been a long and very hard process; it has definitely taken a toll on my body.  And it was a long time before I could see the good in my situation.  It wasn’t until I began focusing on my spirit and doing things that would strengthen my testimony, like seeking after things virtuous, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy, that I began to see myself, my scars, my aches and pains all as fabulous.

I felt like my life was going well and I was fabulous, but the Lord knew I needed something more. Recently I was given another opportunity to remember how fabulous I can be. 

The older I got the more concerned I was with my health, so I started going to the gym and trying to eat better.  But I got to the point where I wanted something more; something more challenging. So after seeing my doctor and completing another stint in physical therapy, I signed up to run a half marathon.  I knew this would be a big goal for me and I would need a lot of training. My doctor and I came up with a plan, and I gave myself 8 months to get ready.  I started slow, but consistent.  Slowly over the next three months I continued to increase my distance as well as my strength.  I was executing my plan with precision; I hadn’t missed a day. On the day I was to run 4 miles for the first time, half way into my run, I started to feel some pain in what I call my good leg.  I ended up stopping my run before reaching my goal, thinking it would happen another day.  This was not to be.  After about a week of doctor’s visits and different tests I was diagnosed with a stress fracture on the neck of my left femur.

The injuries in my right leg in the car accident at 18 had caused my legs to be different lengths.  Now that I started running, and running regularly, my left leg was being pounded into my hip socket, creating the stress fracture.  The doctor assured me that after six to eight weeks on crutches, I could continue with my plan and would still be able to accomplish my half marathon goal.

Again I believe that we have experiences to help shape us; my plan was not part of my Heavenly Fathers.  After just 3 days on crutches I tripped going down the stairs, snapping the neck of my femur.  Again I was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.  I had emergency surgery to put my hip back together.  I would go on to endure 3 more surgeries on my hip, the last being a total hip replacement.

At age 37 my life and activities in it would be altered forever.  My body; my bones may be broken but nothing can break my spirit. I choose how I feel and I choose to be fabulous!

Sometimes in life we have things happen to us, whether by own doing or by the choices of others that may cause us to forget our fabulousness.

I am here to tell you that it is okay to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and keep moving forward – most of all you must never forget that you are a son or daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves you more than you will ever be able to comprehend, and as overwhelming as things in your life might seem; you have an elder brother, who has been where you have been, experienced what you have experienced, and felt what you feel!!

I believe all things; I have a testimony of my Heavenly Father and his loving plan for me.

I hope all things; I want more than anything for me and family to return and live with Him again.

I have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things.  If there is anything virtuous, lovely, of good report, praiseworthy, or fabulous I seek after these things.

I hope that as you read this story you felt the love and hope from this amazing women like I did. What an inspiring story that she shared with us. If that isn't Celebrating your Abilities I don't know what is. How she celebrates her abilities is by being 'Fabulous' and I LOVE that.