As 2023 came to a close our personal and professional lives were tested.
Scott and I had spent the last six months combining our businesses to create Pinnacle Design & Remodeling, remodeling Scott's house for sale, buying our new house, moving two houses into one, having all 6 kids get used to living together, moving our Rogers' office into our new house, selling Scott's house, and having our baby girl Izzy. So... just a few things going on.
This inaugural blog post for Pinnacle Design & Remodeling will be a personal one, as I will tell you the story of how our lives changed in an instant Christmas Day.
Christmas Eve and the day prior was spent in my (Jeanna's) hometown of Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was our first holiday as a family of 9 and my extended family was so excited for all of us to attend. We stayed at a waterpark and the kid's had a blast. We even celebrated our niece Alayna's baptism.
Christmas morning we embarked back home after a big breakfast so that we could spend the day with Scott's side of the family.
I will let Scott's words take over from here... this was his Facebook post recounting the events from that day.
"A Christmas that will not be forgotten…
The trip to North Dakota to meet many of my new family members was wonderful. We went to church, ate, opened presents and had some fun at a water park. The experience opened me to the idea of Christmas! (I haven’t ever really liked holidays at all).
Christmas Day. We had a giant breakfast together. It was time to head home. Two cars. Brady was driving with Max and were following me down the freeway. The conditions suddenly changed. Icy rain and the road become a skating rink. I checked the rear view mirror and Brady’s vehicle was sliding from fog line to fog line across 3 lanes! He managed to get it back under control! The traffic slowed and moved to the left lane as they all witnessed the close call. We pulled to the shoulder. The plan was for me to jump into his drivers seat and Jeanna would take over our vehicle. I ran back to the passenger side and max rolled down the window. I was mid sentence letting them know the plan…. Next thing I knew I was stumbling around the ditch 20 yards from the vehicle I was just standing next to. Delirious. Bleeding. Hurting. I had been struck by an out of control vehicle traveling at 60 mph whose driver decided to ignore the obvious danger and attempted to pass all of the other vehicles.
Stretcher…ambulance…clothes cut off…injections…
The paramedics could not believe that I had just survived this event. Not only survived but walked myself back into the vehicle! Adrenaline is amazing!
After running me through a hundred different tests…. Broken rib, torn ligaments in my neck and back, and lots of bruising. That’s it!
I have a guardian angel. The man upstairs decided it was not my time to go. I need to be here for my family and my baby daughter. I have a new respect for this life. I have a new respect for God. It will be a rough road to recovery but I know He will be there watching and supporting me."
So, fast forward a month... here we are. Still grateful beyond measure! The pain has become manageable, but still a daily struggle. Scott is in a neck brace for another 7 weeks, which makes him unable to drive. He still has lifting restrictions of 15 pounds, which making working in the field impossible.
We made it this far with the help from his mom coming to stay with us for 10 days, the hockey community doing a meal train, my oldest Addi babysitting and helping constantly, my friend's coming over with meals, hugs, (and welcoming arms to snuggle Izzy) and hiring a nanny so I can work for the both of us and be able to help him. Our client's have been so understanding and our team (especially Hailey) have stepped up and added to already impressive resume tackling kid pick up and drop offs as well as bank runs.
So even thought this year did not start out how we planned, we are pushing through and reevaluating what is important and what realistic goals and plans look like in this season. We have so many awesome projects coming up and are excited to share it all with you. This blog post will be a mix of design tips, behind the scenes on our projects, post project interviews and recaps, construction advice, and a glimpse into our lives running a construction business as partners both personally and professionally.
Happy to have you along for the ride,
Jeanna
Comments