Let's be real here. As I tried to write a simple post about my happiness in April I realized I didn't have a whole lot. It was another rough month. I kept making just enough progress to keep my chiropractor from ordering an MRI, but not enough to where I felt like I was actually getting better. The weather here is perfect this time of month and I've been spending my days fighting through work and then coming home and crashing, hard. Not a whole lot of climbing or hiking for us. I've been exhausted and in pain all month long. Needless to say it's been a fairly depressing and very stressful month for both me and Chad.
Like I posted yesterday, I am getting better, and I've made a lot of progress in the past week, thanks to Chad. Now that we have found exercises and stretches that work (and I've stopped going to the chiropractor) I'm very hopeful about finally getting better. My goal is to be able to stand up by the time Val and Bill get out here.
I have learned one very big important lesson through this whole ugly experience. One that I hear all the time but hasn't ever effected me so much, health is everything. Everything. Once I can get this problem fixed I need to get to work. I have a finicky SI joint, tight psoas muscles, an overworked piriformis and a weaker core and glutes. It is what it is. Sitting all day has not been kind to me. I have never been so excited to know what parts of my body are not pulling their weight!
Part of this lesson is learning that I need to care for my body better. Not just sneak in some vitamins here and there and work out on the weekends. I need to create a better lifestyle for myself. To be honest I don't think I had a horrible lifestyle before, I just need to do better. I need to listen to what my body needs on a daily basis: water, rest, exercise, sun, fruits, veggies, the list goes on . I need to make taking care of my body one of my very top priorities.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Lucky Duckies
This past weekend Chad and I have had an amazing string of luck.
First, and most importantly, I now have a keyboard!!! AHHHH! I am overwhelmingly excited! Chad was looking on craigslist for camera gear and whatever he typed in his search randomly pulled up this keyboard. It was decently priced so on Sunday we decided to go and check it out. It was fantastic! Touch sensitive keys - I am over the moon! A Dixie State student was trying to sell it before he moved back to Hong Kong. We ended up paying less than half of what these used keyboards go for on Amazon. #Winning! Finding this gem at the price we paid was pure and complete luck! I haven't really played the piano in well over 2 years, so I am very excited to get back into it. I can also plug in my headphones so when it's evident I haven't played in 2 years so I won't have to assault Chad's ears.
My back had kinda stalled out on improving lately. So after a couple very, very rough days, Chad took matters into his own hands. We abandoned the stretches that my chiropractor gave me, they apparently were overstretching everything, and Chad found some killer websites all about my lovely SI Joint problem. After doing the stretches once, ONCE, I iced, napped, and then was standing almost straight. A freaking miracle. After doing these stretches all weekend and during the day on Monday, I am almost upright and the pain is slowly starting to disappear. Slowly but surely. I really am lucky to have an amazing hubby who has worked his butt off trying to help me get better, and when I get better, it will all be because of him. Thank you Chad, and thank you internet.
While this may not be luck, it is amazing. A Culver's opened up in St. George. Maybe it's lucky that it's just far enough away that we won't be tempted to eat their every stinkin' day but close enough now that I can have fried cheese curds and all of the frozen custard!
We have made best friends with the coolest woman who works in the climbing store. Seriously, I want to be her, but that's a whole other post. The best part of this is that we actually remember the first time we met her because she was that rude. Now, I want to bring her Christmas presents and go out to lunch with her. Anyways.... now that we are BFF's she gives us a discount every single time we buy something there. And not like, oh here's 5% off, yesterday she gave us 20% off of our purchase. Thank you very much!
First, and most importantly, I now have a keyboard!!! AHHHH! I am overwhelmingly excited! Chad was looking on craigslist for camera gear and whatever he typed in his search randomly pulled up this keyboard. It was decently priced so on Sunday we decided to go and check it out. It was fantastic! Touch sensitive keys - I am over the moon! A Dixie State student was trying to sell it before he moved back to Hong Kong. We ended up paying less than half of what these used keyboards go for on Amazon. #Winning! Finding this gem at the price we paid was pure and complete luck! I haven't really played the piano in well over 2 years, so I am very excited to get back into it. I can also plug in my headphones so when it's evident I haven't played in 2 years so I won't have to assault Chad's ears.
My back had kinda stalled out on improving lately. So after a couple very, very rough days, Chad took matters into his own hands. We abandoned the stretches that my chiropractor gave me, they apparently were overstretching everything, and Chad found some killer websites all about my lovely SI Joint problem. After doing the stretches once, ONCE, I iced, napped, and then was standing almost straight. A freaking miracle. After doing these stretches all weekend and during the day on Monday, I am almost upright and the pain is slowly starting to disappear. Slowly but surely. I really am lucky to have an amazing hubby who has worked his butt off trying to help me get better, and when I get better, it will all be because of him. Thank you Chad, and thank you internet.
While this may not be luck, it is amazing. A Culver's opened up in St. George. Maybe it's lucky that it's just far enough away that we won't be tempted to eat their every stinkin' day but close enough now that I can have fried cheese curds and all of the frozen custard!
We have made best friends with the coolest woman who works in the climbing store. Seriously, I want to be her, but that's a whole other post. The best part of this is that we actually remember the first time we met her because she was that rude. Now, I want to bring her Christmas presents and go out to lunch with her. Anyways.... now that we are BFF's she gives us a discount every single time we buy something there. And not like, oh here's 5% off, yesterday she gave us 20% off of our purchase. Thank you very much!
Friday, April 25, 2014
5 {Pins} Friday
Oh Pinterest, how I love you. You give me so much hope and ambition that, if we are being honest, really never actually gets fulfilled. I am an avid pinner but a horrible doer of the pins. Here are 5 that I'm going to do! Hopefully... maybe.
1. Pad Thai. I loooove it. And I should really learn how to make a killer version. I've got a few different recipes pinned, I'm gonna try to find the best one. If you happen to have a dynamite recipe for this please share!!!!
2. Do something with my hair. I need to do something now before I see Cheryl and chop it all off.
3. You can never have enough headbands. Never.
4. Chad would be so happy if I wore any makeup. Poor guy. I'd like to try this out since I feel like you can never see what color eye shadow I'm wearing.
5. Much like I'm searching for a recipe close to Panera's chocolate chip cookies, I'm also looking for a sugar cookie recipe that's close to either the Clarkston Bakeries or Swig. I'll let you know if I find either one :)
1. Pad Thai. I loooove it. And I should really learn how to make a killer version. I've got a few different recipes pinned, I'm gonna try to find the best one. If you happen to have a dynamite recipe for this please share!!!!
 |
| Just a Taste |
2. Do something with my hair. I need to do something now before I see Cheryl and chop it all off.
 |
| XO, Angelina |
3. You can never have enough headbands. Never.
5. Much like I'm searching for a recipe close to Panera's chocolate chip cookies, I'm also looking for a sugar cookie recipe that's close to either the Clarkston Bakeries or Swig. I'll let you know if I find either one :)
 |
| Vintage Revivals |
Let me know if they've worked out for you or if you've had other Pinterest successes lately!!!
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Awkward and Awesome Thursday
- Waking up at 2 am in a lake of very cold ice water in my bed. I fell asleep while icing my back/hip and clearly the Ziploc baggies couldn't handle it. SO cold and SO wet. Then my hip hurt, not from pain but from how ice cold it was (and for how long it had been that cold). As you know, we've since made better ice bags. Brrrr
- A large group of people hiking up to the wall where we were climbing didn't expect to be attacked by a giant fluffy black bear. They didn't see us and didn't think anyone was there... until Rukia went barreling towards them and scared the crap out of them. They were good sports about it and ended up playing with her so it was all pretty funny in the end.
- The crabbiest lady IN THE WORLD (yup, I'm feeling dramatic today, but seriously, crabby pants) yelled at me at the nursing home yesterday, telling me to pull my shirt down because she could see almost an inch of my back (no, my butt was NOT hanging out!). I just laughed as she told me I was offending her and the guy sitting next to her. He responds "I didn't even notice it until you pointed it out. But now that you mention it... nope, it doesn't bother me".
- The Sno Cone shacks are open! Let summer officially begin!
- Getting a gross looking pizza from Dominos and then having them give us a second one for free. Nothing wrong with one pizza per person.
- Moving the TV in to our bedroom. We've discovered we really could mange just fine in a loft.
- We have consistently been in the 80's this month.
- Tax Returns! Procrastinating our taxes means we've successfully "saved" enough money for our crazy months of May/June.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Ice Ice Baby
I've gone through a lot of ice lately. Finally a few weekends ago we broke down and went to the drug store to get an ice pack. My sandwich bags were leaking all over the place and sitting on a bunch of ice cubes in a pool of water isn't the most comfy. What we found were $20 ice packs. Ha! Thanks but no thanks!
Instead we got some decent ziplock bags and alcohol. We figured if we could lower the freezing point of water we could make some stellar ice packs ourselves. You could use salt too! We got home and mixed 3 parts water with 1 part alcohol and let the ice packs freeze over night.
Let me just tell you, they are rockin' awesome. They don't freeze completely solid, which makes it nice to bend around my hip. Also, lowering the freezing point means that this ice pack is COLD. Real cold. And it stays cold a lot longer. Make sure you wrap it up in a towel first because that sucker will stick to your skin. So if you're ever in need of some ice packs try it out, it works great and is slightly less than $20 :)
Instead we got some decent ziplock bags and alcohol. We figured if we could lower the freezing point of water we could make some stellar ice packs ourselves. You could use salt too! We got home and mixed 3 parts water with 1 part alcohol and let the ice packs freeze over night.
Let me just tell you, they are rockin' awesome. They don't freeze completely solid, which makes it nice to bend around my hip. Also, lowering the freezing point means that this ice pack is COLD. Real cold. And it stays cold a lot longer. Make sure you wrap it up in a towel first because that sucker will stick to your skin. So if you're ever in need of some ice packs try it out, it works great and is slightly less than $20 :)
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Go Hug a Tree
Around here every day is earth day! It's hard not to be grateful when you live in such a beautiful place. There is little else that can fill me with such a sense of peace, happiness, wonder and spirituality as the great outdoors.
Happy Earth Day friends!
"Natures peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees" John Muir
Monday, April 21, 2014
Daydreaming
of red rocks
of tents and sleeping bags
of a puppy covered in dirt and us freckled and tan
of smores and bonfires
of lakes and rivers
of oceans and beaches
of green forests
of mountains
of hikes followed by naps in the shade
of climbing up cliff walls
of biking down rocky trails
of swimming in waves
of tank tops, short shorts, bathing suits, and hoodies at night
of hawks and eagles
of blue skies
of summits and canyons
of a renovated little bus
of driving... everywhere
and photographing everything.
of tents and sleeping bags
of a puppy covered in dirt and us freckled and tan
of smores and bonfires
of lakes and rivers
of oceans and beaches
of green forests
of mountains
of hikes followed by naps in the shade
of climbing up cliff walls
of biking down rocky trails
of swimming in waves
of tank tops, short shorts, bathing suits, and hoodies at night
of hawks and eagles
of blue skies
of summits and canyons
of a renovated little bus
of driving... everywhere
and photographing everything.
What are you dreaming about today?
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