State Bank Pay it Forward... Winner!

“When we lay the soil of our hard lives open to the rain of grace and let joy penetrate our cracked and dry places, let joy soak into our broken skin and deep crevices, life grows. How can this not be the best thing for the world? For us?” 
― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

Winner... I'm not sure that word has sunk in yet.  I'm not sure anything has truly sunk in yet.  I have such a "heady rush" leftover from the events of the last 24 hours that I have not landed squarely on my feet yet. 

I am the State Bank Pay it Forward grand prize winner- because of all of you!  All those votes, counted and added up and multiplied and were sewn into 5,000-dollars.  But really?  Its 5,000 hugs, and 10,000 prayers, and 15,000 well wishes and its love to infinity and beyond.  

I simply can't wrap myself around the magnitude, the joy, the gratitude.  I can't settle on one moment, one emotion, one word or any string of words.  

I arrived at  State Bank yesterday a few minutes before 11.  The lobby was filled with people!  Everywhere I turned were friends who were surprising me with their presence.  And then the media started to stream in. 

And then I thought, good thing Dr. Panwalkar isn't here to see my heart rate, cause its about to beat right out of my chest.  

Then the ceremony started and I watched as one by one, each of the finalists stepped forward for their check.  And my name hadn't been called.  And my knees shook, as my heart raced and the reality of what that meant sunk in.  I won...  and part of me was still so caught up in the stories of the others... that I wasn't really sure it really was me.  

Because the other finalists?  Were all so deserving!  How do you pick?  One need isn't greater than another.  I am no more worthy than they.  They are no less worthy than me.  They all deserve.  

But then I feel the gentle hands around me usher me forward.  Some sort of autopilot sets in.  This is so much bigger than all of me.  Okay God, I'm trusting you.  I'm stepping forward in faith again.  

On the left in the picture is Jeanine Larson who is in marketing and coordinated the contest on Facebook.  Directly next to her behind the podium is the President of State Bank and Trust, Michael Solberg.  The three beautiful women surrounding Rick and I are from my book club where all of this began- Pam, Amy and Heidi.  

And then the next thing I knew, a reporter came and asked to talk with me.  And when I said yes, the rest of the media came and set up around me.  Thank goodness my book club girls, Heidi and Amy, were there with me.  I have no idea what gushed out of my mouth or if it was even coherent.  

Amy and I...

Heidi, Amy and I.

From left to right, Amy, Sue, Kim, Mike, me and Rick, Ben (Ben made the video!) just off of Rick's shoulder, Anne, and my sister-in-law- Missy. 

How cute are these two women?  Beyond sweet, and I was so happy to meet them yesterday!  They made me blush with their high praise.  Thank you Julie, thank you Amy!  Truly, the pleasure is all mine.

Whew, you can see why I feel a little at a loss for words. I feel the bigness of the moment, while still feeling like a tiny speck on the radar.  Because I am part of something so much bigger than me.  And that is my takeaway right now.  

This is about a group of people, who have embraced the mission of their bank, (State Bank and Trust) to "Pay if Forward."  And in so doing, they have sent out compassion and concern and 10,000 dollars that have undoubtedly made a difference in 10,000 ways in 6 people lucky enough to be on the receiving end.  And all of you dear readers?  You embraced their mission and sent it out into the world with all of your votes, and your cheers and well wishes and prayers- and turned 10,000 into "MORE" than anyone could possibly conceive.  

A few more places to read/ watch about our amazing event yesterday...

KVRR- really great write up by Kyle Johnson.

WDAY- video and write up. 

valleynewslive- video here

Inforum- write up here

A million "thank you's" from a humbled soul, doesn't even come close to covering all the gratitude this girl feels.  

Team Vicky

Courage is tiny pieces of fear all glued together.  ~Terri Guillemets




I have a permanent smile today, tattooed to my face.  Just try and take it away.  I couldn't be more proud and impressed with this special group of kids.  We've assembled a AAA hockey team to play in the North American Pepsi Cup hockey tournament for 5 years now.  Our first year skating our kids had never played in a full ice game.  They had very little concept of what "offsides" was or how to pass the puck to each other, let alone any idea of what the penalty box was like.  We were blown out of the water by teams with a score of 21-0.  It wasn't pretty.  But each year we've improved.  As their passion for the sport grew, so has their skill and development as players.  After last year, we knew we could at least compete with the others.  


So we were all excited for this weekend again to play in the Pepsi Cup.  We had three practices as a team.  Most of these kids play on 3 different teams throughout the year, but they are almost all born in the year 2000.  


I fell asleep shortly before the start of the first game and arrived after out team was down 1 goal.  But very quickly they mounted a comeback and the announcer was calling them something I couldn't quite comprehend.  It seems that on the program they were called the M & M team, but they had been asked to be called "Team Vicky," in honor of me.  It was the first of many surprises they had in store for us over the weekend. 

Colton, Nolan and I. 

Friday, after coming from behind, we won our first game.  In between attending graduation parties on Saturday, we played two more games and won both of them, securing a place in the semi final game.  If we won the morning game, we would go on to play in the championship game.  Team Vicky persevered!  We won our way into the championship game and faced a team we had played already form Grand Forks.  






Here we are forming a cheer tunnel for our players.  They were fired up and excited to play!  A big trophy is on the line!  Could this be our year?  The year of the pink breast cancer ribbons emblazoned on their jersey's and helmets?

Parker with the puck...

Gavin with the puck...

Colby stickhandling...

Landon firing a rocket shot...

Kade with the puck...

Ethan with the puck...

Griffin with the puck...

Clay taking the puck... Clay's dad was in the hospital recovering from a tough gallbladder surgery.  His mom videotaped the games and brought them to the hospital so his dad wouldn't have to miss seeing him play.  Clay had at least a hat trick in most of the games and inspired most of us with his phenomenal play.  A very wan and pale Craig arrived out of the hospital in time to see the team play in the championship. Clay did not disappoint... in fact none of the boys did.

Nolan with his pink taped stick and the puck... he managed one goal in the semi-final game.

Tommy scoring!  We are now up 3-0, with Clay having scored twice already. 

Carter, the other reason we won so many games, making a big save, which he did time after time for us.  He was rock solid in the net and went on to shut out the other team 3-0 to win!

Team Vicky is the 2011 Pepsi Cup champion in the boys open 2000 division!  Way to go Team Vicky!!

Notice who is asked to be in the photo?  One proud momma and all "her boys" who demonstrated to her what courage and strength and fight is all about.

Team Vicky's locker room door! 

Hoisting the big trophy and taking turns kissing it, just like it was the Stanley Cup...

The coaches, in the background, who were very humble, but are very deserving of our gratitude for leading the team to conduct themselves in a manner we were all proud of.  Thank you coaches!

Speaking of courage, this one took a stick to the chin and was lucky that it only scraped him, but he went  back in and continued to play.  Most of our kids got pretty banged up at one time or another but they fought on.

Rootbeer floats afterwords on a beautifully sunny day.  

Our youngest and biggest fan sporting his Vicky bracelet! Poor Andrew was such a trooper as he sat squinting away the sun so we could finally get a shot of his bracelet he wears so faithfully every day! 

You'd think that was the end.  Sunshine, rootbeer floats, and a Pepsi Cup Championship Trophy... could it get any better than this?  Well yes... I was summoned to the locker room... it seems somehow, the person they had decided to designate for keeping the trophy... was me.  I feebly tried to deflect a bit, truly wanting the boys to have a place where they can congregate and look at it whenever they want.  But they were having none of it.  Parker said "we did it for you!"  They were selfless and generous and so full of heart I get a lump in my throat every time I see the trophy.  Team Vicky is living proof that strong will, tenacity and all heart are what you need to conquer the major obstacles in life.

I came home exhausted.  In need of a soak in the tub and some rest.  As I crawled out of the shower I went to comb my hair.  I watched as strand after strand tumbled from my head.  I pulled again, and a clump came straight out of the side of my head.  Its the beginning of the "thinning" of my hair and we'll see if I eventually lose it altogether.

Courage is tiny pieces of fear all glued together.  ~Terri Guillemets

But its a tiny piece of fear, and I still have a permanent smile with a whole lot of courage behind it, which is much greater than a fistful of hair.  

Team Vicky Rocks! 

Princess for a day...

there came a moment in the middle 

of the song (benefit) when she suddenly felt every 

heartbeat in the room & after that she 

never forgot she was part of something much bigger


Story people Brian A.




Oh my word, where do I begin?  I've had over 24 hours now and I still can't quite believe it all.  Pinch me please.  But first I have to tell you the day started off with snow! Seriously, can we start just one month without snow?  This is the 8th month in a row we have had snow!  

But where I will really start is with my family...  see them below, some family I have huh?  Yeah well let me explain.  See we aren't related in any way.  But the name of our family is hockey and that says a lot right there.  So when one of us is knocked down?  The hockey family is the first to step up and not just ask what they can do, they just do.  And they've been "doing" almost since the day I was diagnosed.  They formed a committee, they lost a lot of sleep, they formed a tight bond, and to listen to them bicker and joke with each other?  Well yeah, I'd say they became a family.  And I became the luckiest girl in the world because of them.  

They decked out the gym in all pink and all pretty.

Amy and Nancy set the pink purses in hockey pucks as decorations on the table!  The details they came up with are so clever and cute and they didn't forget a thing.  I know these two have worked on so many projects and I couldn't tell you half of them.  But I could see their artistic touches everywhere.

Sara works at the hockey office and I know without her help on that end, so much of this would not have been possible.  By the way, Sara, is also the mom of "Grace," Colton's "friend."  

Riley is on your left, and Grace, is on your right.  My son has excellent taste and now that Sara has event planning down,  do you think planning a someday wedding could be in our future?  

More of my family, Rachel and the rest of her crew.  Rachel hosted the first party for me at her home and has not stopped with her amazing support!!  How cute are those boys?? 

Susan on your left is not part of the hockey family, but she is still a part of OUR family, well because we all love her!  And Nikki on the right, was still vacuuming and cleaning floors at 8:30 last night, hours after the event.  That would be our Nikki, beautiful on the inside and out. Thank you girls!

This is Kim, who might be younger than me, but really she is like a big sister to me. She is the one you turn to when you need pretty much anything.  So when I told her I was sick, she pretty much got busy taking care of me, my family, and everyone else.  I can't begin to tell you how much she has done, because she won't even tell me half of it.  But I know I couldn't do this without her. 

These lovely ladies, are 1/2 of our book club, although all of the girls were there!  How lucky am I that they would care so much, the entire book club would come and pitch in and help.  They've decorated my house, sent me gift cards (for books of course!) and volunteered at the event yesterday... and way more things I don't even know about I am sure.  Best. Book. Club. Ever.

All of these photos came from Amy as I sit editing all the rest my father-in-law took... many more to come

Wow, seriously from 2pm till 6pm, nonstop people.  The line for the food wrapped around the whole outside wall. Everyone raved about how good the food was!  If someone has a photo of the food, please send one my way!!

All of the tables were filled with auction items.  I never did make it to all the tables to see everything.  I just know there was a lot of bidding and lots of happy people.  Such cool stuff everywhere,  it was a great day for some competitive shopping! 

And done!  Bidding closed! 

Amy and Kim said they had something for me.  Remember when I said I would be all twinkly like a princess?  Well, wait till you see what they got me.

Shauna from book club and Mary, Amy's mom who hung out for two days helping with everything! How cool is the hockey net headboard?  Nolan was simply drooling and it was a hard sell for him that WE were not bidding on anything.

Now when the idea of a guest book came up, who would have thought I'd get a "scrapbooked" and personalized book.  Nancy, (photo 4 above) made it for me, and I can't wait to get my hands on it! 

So when I said I felt like a princess, Amy and Kim delivered everything fit for a princess.  From a tiara, to princess balloons, to glass slippers and a wand.   And oh how I wish I could wave it over the top of the church and grant just one wish for each person there.  Because everyone deserves a day like mine, where they are loved on in such a way, they will never quite be the same again.

Perhaps all the dragons of our lives

 are princesses who are only waiting 

to see us once beautiful and brave.

Rainer Marie Rilke

So this is my story.  I'm just a girl who had a bad thing happen to her.  Breast Cancer is both the worst thing that has happened to this girl, but also the thing that has delivered some of the biggest blessings.  Her hockey family made her princess for a day, through many long hours of their blood, sweat, and tears.  They raised a lot of money for her medical bills, but mostly they showered her with love.  They SAW her that day, as they do every day, just a girl who will keep fighting the fight, standing up to cancer and calling herself blessed beyond measure.

Big, big thank you's go to all of the sponsors!!  

Food Services of America

Andy Johnson

Speak Easy

Mosaic Foods

Cass Clay Creamery

Pan O'Gold

Dakota Growers

Randy Evavold

Sysco

Chad McCaslin Agency

Hornbacher's 

Cash Wise Foods

SunMart Foods

Lutheran Church of the Good Sheperd

Tuesday is chemo day.  But please know I have more pre-benefit photos to share from another amazing night, and many more of everyone who attended the benefit.  I may have to lay low for a couple of days, but will return as soon as possible.