My rude awakening - follow-up

Last summer I posted the blog "My rude awakening". I decided to post a follow-up blog, just as an update.

In December, Christmas Eve specifically, the pain I described in the aforementioned blog became a common occurance. Over the Christmas break I lost three complete days at the mercy of this pain. I decided to visit a new chiropractor on the recommendation of a friend. She said he would do the initial exam free of charge and gave me one of her appointment cards with his information. I called at about 8:00 a.m. and was able to get in at about 9:30 a.m. that day. I desperately needed the quick service because I was in a great deal of pain.

The exam included physical observation of how my body moves and bends, x-rays and a nerve test. I had never had a nerve test but this was the greatest tool for me to see and understand how my spine being misaligned was really affecting my body. I was able to see on paper how much my nerves were being impacted, and it wasn't good. He did not want to give me an adjustment that day until he had a chance to look over the x-rays and analyze the nerve test. I went home frustrated, but grateful that he wanted to make sure that he would not give me any further damage, and he didn't want me to waste money by starting treatment without being able to afford continuing.

I started trying to figure out how to pay for the treatment and determined the best way would be to make a hardship withdrawl from my 401(k). During this time Dr. Peterson called to follow-up with me and find out how I was doing. He wrote a letter to help me get the withdrawl and even looked at my insurance provider list to see if there was a provider that he could recommend that might save me some money. In the end, we would only save about $200 by going to a provider because he gives a 20% discount if you pay for the entire recommended treatment upfront. Since I had the withdrawl money it was the best option for me anyway. We felt that the service he had already given me was worth the extra money we would spend, rather than going to a new doctor and having to do the intake process all over.

Since then I have had a re-examination. He said I am 40% better and I we decreased my visit frequency. I can feel the difference in the strength of my spine and actually find my posture better naturally, especially right after an adjustment. I can tell that it is time to go back because today I realized I was starting to slouch again. The exercises I received to help strengthen the muscles also really help.

Now...we just need to figure out how to afford to get Steve going on a regular basis as well!

Beads

My sister Britta introduced me beads and making bracelets. I got hooked and I now have quite the collection of tools and supplies. I have made a lot of bracelets and have done quite a few for gifts. Many of you have been recipients of one. About a year ago I taught a class for church. These are my samples that I did for the class.

Clasp bracelets, the charms and clasps are:

red - hearts
blue - dragonflies
black - stars

Stretch bracelets
I wear the pink one all the time and
gave the blue and green one to a friend

Memory wire bracelets
I had a request for one just like the white one
and have made several for people like these

Tonight I got together with Britta and we went bead shopping at Hobby Lobby, Abby's favorite store...she's only 3! I didn't spend much money but made these earrings.

I really enjoy making jewelry for several reasons. But I think my favorite is being able to say "Thank you, I made it!" when someone gives me a compliment on something I am wearing. And seeing other people wear something I made for them.

Flashback Friday - Colorguard

I was trying to think of what to do for a Flashback Friday and brought up my profile to listen to while I work on it. The first song that came up was Flood....this reminded me of colorguard.

Britta did her Flashback Friday on soccer. I was very involved in soccer through my sophmore year of high school. I was also on the colorguard that year and soccer and colorguard had some big conflicts. There were three of us on both teams that year. Even though soccer had been my activity for many years, colorguard took my priority. I fell in love with it immediately! We weren't very good, but we enjoyed ourselves, especially when it came to Winterguard.

In the fall we had to deal with the band, the football field, the cold, etc. In the winter, it was just us on the basketball floor, INDOORS! We could choose our music for what we wanted to do, not what the band director chose...which was usually pretty lame!

I remember all the shows we did except for fall show my sophmore year. It was probably so bad that I blocked it out. We had these black dresses that we used for Fall show and Winterguard for two full seasons. We just adapted things slightly, like adding a sheer sparkly skirt, a cape or a silver sequin vest that made us look like a disco ball. I hated that dress, but it is great for Halloween!

My junior year I was a squad leader and my senior year Angela and I were the flag captains. Basically it meant that I could tell people what to do when the captains weren't around. My junior year Kearns got Michele James for the advisor for Winterguard. Things really started to turn around and by the next year we were kicked out of B class (the lowest class) because we were too good! My senior year was the only year she spent in A class before moving the guard to Open. My sisters were all so lucky for this!

After high school I was on the colorguard at Snow. I co-wrote the show my freshman year and was the President of the Colorguard Club my sophomore year. That year I also helped Angela who was the advisor for Copper Hills High School. I continued to go to the competitions and support my sisters who were doing shows I only dreamed of.

Several years later, Michele left Kearns and went to American Fork and this left the guard in bad shape. Ranna was a senior and she and her best friend were the captains. They asked Angela and I to come and help. This was a fun year and why Flood reminds me of colorguard. Part of the reason it was so fun is the time I was able to spend with Ranna. She and Latecia were fabulous captains and I built a relationship with my sister that I wouldn't trade. Since we are 6 years apart we hadn't had much of an opportunity to spend a lot of time together. She is the one person in the family that truly has any physical similarities to me. We have the same build and even sound similar, especially on the phone. We have even had people in the store ask if we are twins....

The year after Ranna graduated I continued being the advisor at Kearns but left mid-year due to many conflicts with the new band director (Howie decided he didn't want that job anymore), school staff and parents. I did not have the support from any of these groups of people that I had the previous year and I decided that it was not worth my emotional health. Since then, the only involvement I have really had was going to the colorguard competitions every year starting in February.

This is such a brief overview of my life in colorguard....I could write a blog for each show. And, one of these days I will have my own colorguard gym for everyone who wants to come play!