Lyndsie's Days of Thanks

[deelaem]

They have the same fuckin' expression in every single picture. That's sort of horrifying. :o

[WonderingInWA]

They have the same fuckin' expression in every single picture. That's sort of horrifying. :o

Yep. And that was the "charm" of them and her stupid sister, too -- they all have that plastic smile that looks the same in every single photo. They used to take lots of "look at us in the car" photos that were just absolutely pointless (who wants to see them in the car?) but she kind of stopped doing it finally. And then once she adopted a baby after begging for donations toward her adoption, she stopped blogging. She's an interesting person, but not in a good way.

[WonderingInWA]

Search FB for Kendyl (Lyndsie's sister) -- she's got that same "deer in the headlights" look as Lyndsie. Their parents must be so proud. If either of them would just back off on the makeup, they'd actually be pretty and not so 80's. I guess it must be a southern thing, all the gobs of makeup?

[WonderingInWA]

Not to mention the fact that Kendyl dates Lyndsie's husband's brother. Keepin' it in the family!

[lilwriter85]

Search FB for Kendyl (Lyndsie's sister) -- she's got that same "deer in the headlights" look as Lyndsie. Their parents must be so proud. If either of them would just back off on the makeup, they'd actually be pretty and not so 80's. I guess it must be a southern thing, all the gobs of makeup?

I think to a certain extent it might be a Southern thing. I lived in Alabama for a few months during exchange program during college and I would see some women who had heavy makeup like Lyndsie and Kendyl. I keep in touch with some of the people I met there through FB. Occasionally I'll see pictures of my Alabama or other southern friends with heavy makeup or sometimes there are pictures of them with female relatives who have heavy makeup.

[lilwriter85]

Yep. And that was the "charm" of them and her stupid sister, too -- they all have that plastic smile that looks the same in every single photo. They used to take lots of "look at us in the car" photos that were just absolutely pointless (who wants to see them in the car?) but she kind of stopped doing it finally. And then once she adopted a baby after begging for donations toward her adoption, she stopped blogging. She's an interesting person, but not in a good way.

Lyndsie's whole blog, her attitudes on adoption, and the donation fund is what made her seem interesting to me. I agree with you she isn't interesting in a good way. She There are other couples who have donation funds for adoptions on blogs and FB, but some of the other couples I saw didn't have the entitled attitudes that Lyndsie and Daniel had. I think part of the entitled attitude stemmed from the fact that L&D's friends and family were probably all fundie lite. I doubt she had any 20 something single female friends without kids. I also don't they think they would be friends with a young married couple who doesn't want kids right away or ac ouple that doesn't plan to have kids. She and D were eager to fit in and they wanted to adopt babies quickly. It was hard to sympathize with them not being able to afford an adoption, because Lyndsie refused even to work part time. During the time I followed the blog, which was only a few months, I wondered if she would ever budge and at least work part time. She and D have lucked with being to adopt two kids in less than a year. It will be interesting if they adopt a third child within the next two years. On a side note, I occasionally read a blog that was linked to L&D, it is the Ben and Katie blog. They were the couple who got into a car accident and the husband Ben suffered brain damage. Something about Katie seems off to me. I kind of get the vibe that she maybe using the blog to get donations through snail mail.

[WonderingInWA]

Lyndsie's whole blog, her attitudes on adoption, and the donation fund is what made her seem interesting to me. I agree with you she isn't interesting in a good way. She There are other couples who have donation funds for adoptions on blogs and FB, but some of the other couples I saw didn't have the entitled attitudes that Lyndsie and Daniel had. I think part of the entitled attitude stemmed from the fact that L&D's friends and family were probably all fundie lite. I doubt she had any 20 something single female friends without kids. I also don't they think they would be friends with a young married couple who doesn't want kids right away or ac ouple that doesn't plan to have kids. She and D were eager to fit in and they wanted to adopt babies quickly. It was hard to sympathize with them not being able to afford an adoption, because Lyndsie refused even to work part time. During the time I followed the blog, which was only a few months, I wondered if she would ever budge and at least work part time. She and D have lucked with being to adopt two kids in less than a year. It will be interesting if they adopt a third child within the next two years. On a side note, I occasionally read a blog that was linked to L&D, it is the Ben and Katie blog. They were the couple who got into a car accident and the husband Ben suffered brain damage. Something about Katie seems off to me. I kind of get the vibe that she maybe using the blog to get donations through snail mail.

Ooooh, must get the link to that one! Care to share?

[lilwriter85]

Ooooh, must get the link to that one! Care to share?

The link is katieandbenupdates.blogspot.com

Here's some extra info Katie seems to be on the fundie lite scale. But she and her siblings attend/attended public schools and her dad works at one. Ben was an Army Ranger and he served 2 or more tours in Iraq prior to the accident. Katie hasn't worked since the accident, I can understand her not working because Ben's brain damage is a bit severe. Ben gets VA benefits and stuff, but other things about their situation seems off to me. I kind of get the vibe that Katie takes too much advantage of military affiliated organizations and certain people. She went to a retreat for wives of men disabled due to combat. I hate to sound mean, but I just didn't think Katie should have attended that because Ben's injuries weren't caused by combat. I'm not trying to trivialize Ben's situation, but Katie could found another retreat or some other event to attend. There are some other things that I make me wonder about her.

[WonderingInWA]

Her blog is painful to navigate. Can't really get the straight and short story on her husband's condition. I wouldn't wish that on anyone and hope they are finding a "normal".

[emmiedahl]

All I can say is "where honor is do." O_O

[lilwriter85]

Her blog is painful to navigate. Can't really get the straight and short story on her husband's condition. I wouldn't wish that on anyone and hope they are finding a "normal".

When I first started looking at her blog it was hard to navigate. In the beginning, family members were doing the updates and eventually Katie started doing them when she recovered from some of her injuries. They were living in Georgia at the time of the accident, and they moved Washington at some point after Ben went to rehab place in New Jersey. They live in the same town where most of Katie's relatives live. Her family seems pretty supportive and they help her out. I do feel sorry for them, because they hadn't been married long when the accident happened. Like I said before, there are some things about Katie that seem a bit off. It seems she is planning to stay with Ben and I give her credit for sticking by. But she rarely talks about how finances in the long run and now it seems like they are surviving off Ben's benefits and donations which she may be getting from some of her readers. I kind of get a Lyndsie type vibe from her. She has a bit of a fanbase online with other military wives and families. I see that fanbase growing tired of her at some point because she gets involved with certain things that aren't relevant to her.

[emmiedahl]

I could not figure out where in WA she lives, anyone know?

[lilwriter85]

Their P.O. box is in Olympia, but in one of the pics from an even they were at, there is a sign that says Lacey.

[WonderingInWA]

Their P.O. box is in Olympia, but in one of the pics from an even they were at, there is a sign that says Lacey.

Well, Lacey is a suburb of Olympia.

[DowagerDuchess]

The link is katieandbenupdates.blogspot.com

Here's some extra info Katie seems to be on the fundie lite scale. But she and her siblings attend/attended public schools and her dad works at one. Ben was an Army Ranger and he served 2 or more tours in Iraq prior to the accident. Katie hasn't worked since the accident, I can understand her not working because Ben's brain damage is a bit severe. Ben gets VA benefits and stuff, but other things about their situation seems off to me. I kind of get the vibe that Katie takes too much advantage of military affiliated organizations and certain people. She went to a retreat for wives of men disabled due to combat. I hate to sound mean, but I just didn't think Katie should have attended that because Ben's injuries weren't caused by combat. I'm not trying to trivialize Ben's situation, but Katie could found another retreat or some other event to attend. There are some other things that I make me wonder about her.

Thank you! I have been reading Katie's blog for over a year now and I can't decide what it is about Katie that bugs me so much. I think she is being paid by the VA to be Ben's full-time caregiver, which has got to be hard on their marriage. I agree she should not have gone on that retreat. Ben has a serious brain injury but it did not happen in combat, it happened in a car accident while they were going out to dinner. There is a world of difference.

I really want to like Katie, but something seems off about her and I can't pinpoint what it is. I don't think she is looking for snail mail handouts, as I have never read, in her blog, her asking for anything but prayers. I have emailed her a few times and she does not respond back. She also does not respond to questions and comments left on her blog. I don't get the impression she will ever leave Ben, as she seems to really be in this with him for the long haul, but it is a bit uncomfortable that she continually posts pictures of Ben pre-accident.

[DowagerDuchess]

I could not figure out where in WA she lives, anyone know?

I thought they were in Tacoma, but now I think they are closer to Olympia/Lacey. She talks about their church a lot and I believe it is in Tacoma. I could be wrong abotu it all though.

[lilwriter85]

Thank you! I have been reading Katie's blog for over a year now and I can't decide what it is about Katie that bugs me so much. I think she is being paid by the VA to be Ben's full-time caregiver, which has got to be hard on their marriage. I agree she should not have gone on that retreat. Ben has a serious brain injury but it did not happen in combat, it happened in a car accident while they were going out to dinner. There is a world of difference.

I really want to like Katie, but something seems off about her and I can't pinpoint what it is. I don't think she is looking for snail mail handouts, as I have never read, in her blog, her asking for anything but prayers. I have emailed her a few times and she does not respond back. She also does not respond to questions and comments left on her blog. I don't get the impression she will ever leave Ben, as she seems to really be in this with him for the long haul, but it is a bit uncomfortable that she continually posts pictures of Ben pre-accident.

Katie being Ben's full time caregiver is a possibility and it would make sense. I recall a few postings in which she talks about nurses coming over. The nurses could be doing respite work so Katie can go out and run errands or relax. Katie once mentioned something about having her brothers or friends stay with Ben while she goes out and does things with friends. I think it is great that Katie takes breaks at times and hangs out with friends away from home. The retreat thing really turned me off though. I got the feeling after reading about it, that Katie is taking too much advantage of certain organizations and services that aren't relevant to her and Ben's situation. She also once posted a poem called "Wounded Warrior" and she sort made it seem like the poem related to her and Ben. I can understand Katie connecting with veterans who have TBI from combat, but she shouldn't go to certain events for combat injury victims and their families. I think if she continues going to those types of retreats or events, someone will eventually call her out on it and it won't be pretty.

She might be a bit overwhelmed when it comes to email responses, and questions. But she could at least do a Q&A blog posting. I also found the posting of the pre-accident pictures to be a bit uncomfortable. I can understand why she posts them for anniversary postings, but often times she posts the pre-accident pictures with no purpose. Maybe she hasn't completely accepted that Ben is now a different person. There are times I wonder if she makes up certain things about Ben.

[lilwriter85]

I found someone who is seems to be really annoyed with Katie.

http://www.facebook.com/USAA/posts/1015 ... omments=18

Ed Ok... Maybe I'm being too harsh, but the woman's husband got into a car accident. There are thousands of women going through much worse. Say for example; KIA surviving wives, and this lady comes along with her husband that hit an unfortunate everyday occurrence, and she gets a reward for posting about how hard its been, while sporting her middle class life being unaffected? Get real. Poor taste. I'm sorry. There are people dealing with much harder situations that deserve REAL awards. Its sad that this lady is top pick.

I do think this guy's comment is harsh, but I can see why he disagreed with her being the top pick an getting that award. I do think others in military communities do get annoyed with Katie getting certain awards or going to certain events. I think Katie should focus on connecting with other TBI from car accident patients and families. I found out some other info about Katie from another blogger, Katie was either homeschooled part or her entire childhood. She also did missionary work.