Giving In

**Please click on the hyperlinks if you want to read more about the specific medical terms I use**

I've been experiencing pain in my right shoulder for a couple years and I've known that I would need surgery to address the problem, but I've been avoiding it for as long as I can. Earlier this year I went to physical therapy, yes people I WENT to P.T..  I'm not good enough at pushing myself and frankly I don't specialize in shoulder disorders.  However, my shoulder never got better, so I decided to have an MRI. The MRI showed that I had a SLAP lesion.  This was bad news because I knew I would have to be off work for a minimum of 6-8 weeks if I had surgery to repair this. I didn't have the Paid Time Off (PTO) to in order to do this so I just kept putting it off. I went to see Dr. John Edwards in Bountiful, who happens to be LaVell Edwards son. LaVell was the head coach of the BYU football team and a good friend of my Grandpa Ernie Wilkinson.

After examining my shoulder, Dr. Edwards felt that the MRI may be a false positive . He decided to inject my shoulder with cortisone to see if that would help. It worked and I experienced pain relief for about 5 weeks but then it wore off so I returned and had another shot, which worked for another 6 months. The pain returned though and I decided to go in for a 3rd injection. Typically doctors will only do a maximum of 3 injections in a year because of the potential side effects of the cortisone. Dr. Edwards felt that since the injections were helping that was an indication that surgery would help. He proposed doing arthroscopic shoulder surgery including a subacromial decompression and distal clavicle resection. He said I would only be in a sling for 2 days and I could go back to work in 7-10 days. Wow, that was a lot less than the 6-8 weeks for the SLAP repair, so I gave it some thought and decided I just needed to have the surgery done and over with. Christy felt the same way because she was sick and tired of hearing me complain about it. 

The surgery was performed on Monday Nov. 28, 2011.Thankfully it was a false positive and I did not have a SLAP lesion. However Dr. Edwards said I may have suffered an injury to my clavicle at sometime as he removed an "old" piece of bone that was floating around.  It's now 4 days after surgery and I'm feeling pretty good. I only wore the sling for a day or 2, intermittently, and I start formal P.T. today. However, I got a jumpstart on the P.T. the day of surgery, as Ryley acted as my own personal P.T.  Watch the following video to see her at work. She's got one great imagination. 

Groupon Family Photo

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it in the past or not but I'm addicted to shopping online and I love a "good deal" as much as the next person. This past year I've been sucked into purchasing various deals from Groupon and Living Social including but not limited to 30 days of bootcamp (twice), a night at the Hard Rock Hotel in Vegas, three 16x20 Canvas photos (one was purchased for a gift), a Shutterfly photo book, a night stay at the Park Plaza hotel in Park City, a detailed carwash, etc.  I purchased a Groupon in May good for a photo session from Jolley photography and either an 11x14 or 8x10 and three 4x6 photos. It was my intention to have a family photo taken outside during the Fall to capture the beautiful colors. Well, life happened and things got crazy and the expiration date for the Groupon approached quickly. I scheduled an appointment and what do you know, it was on the only day of the week that was FREEZING and WINDY. It's a good thing the couple was able to shoot our photos in a studio in the basement of their home.

The photos turned out great. We were able to get an 8x10 pic of just the kids, a 4x6 of Easton, a 4x6 of Ryley, a 4x6 of the 4 of us and for ONLY (insert sarcasm here) $50 more, ONE digital print on CD so we could do whatever we wanted with it (I already had a Groupon for a 16x20 canvas photo). The photo below is the one digital photo we purchased. I'm so happy to get a good shot of the 4 of us. The lady who was editing the photo called to ask if we wanted her to touch up Easton's forehead. She wasn't sure if that spot was a mole or scratch. After talking about it with Christy, we decided to have her leave it. It's the remnants of Easton's first stitches he received about 4 days earlier. It was one of things we thought we would want to remember.  

Extreme Homemaker

On June 22nd I posted the following on Facebook

I got some replies that flew right over my head. i.e

I seriously didn't think twice about these comments. I was like, duh, yeah there's a show. It's on ABC, they makeover people's homes. I'm not sure if any of you have caught on yet either but in my post I said "Extreme Homemaker" not "Extreme Home Makeover" as I had intended.  A friend of mine pointed this out several days later. No wonder no one was volunteering. 

extreme |ikˈstrēm|adjective

1 reaching a high or the highest degree; very great : extreme cold.

• not usual; exceptional : in extreme cases the soldier may be discharged.• very severe or serious : expulsion is an extreme sanction.• (of a person or their opinions) advocating severe or drastic measures; far from moderate, esp. politically : their more extreme socialistsupporters.• denoting or relating to a sport performed in a hazardousenvironment and involving great physical risk, such as parachuting or white-water rafting.

homemaker |ˈhōmˌmākər|
nouna person, esp. a housewife, who manages a home.
makeover |ˈmākˌōvər|nouna complete transformation or remodeling of something, esp. a person's hairstyle, makeup, or clothes.
Obviously I was volunteering for the t.v. show, not to be an extreme homemaker, as for those of you who know me, there is nothing "extreme" about my homemaking except for maybe the "extreme" lack of homemaking. Anyhow, I went, alone from 8 pm- 2 am and volunteered doing odd jobs. When I arrived at 8 pm the house was framed and they were working on drywalling, painting, roofing, and landscaping. I was able to help by picking up trash, providing the manual laborers with water, shoveling dirt and carrying bricks. It was a great experience and I was glad I was able to help out a family in need.  I'll let you know when the show airs. Here is what the home looked like the next night. 

Home in Daybreak, South Jordan, UT for the Gomez family

We took the kids on a walk around the area the night after and took some photos by the lake across the street. Although it would be nice to have a home makeover, I'm just thankful I have a home, an awesome  "extreme homemaker" named Christy, and 2 happy healthy kids. I am the luckiest person alive. 

One was bit by the other, I'll give you one guess who 

Mommy and her babies

Another mommy and her babies

The lighting was perfect this time of night. 

The simple pleasures in life

This will be the pick I choose to show them in the future when one of them tries to tell me they don't like the other. 

Ry looks like she's on Splash Mountain

P.S. Sorry about the fonts, I couldn't get them to change and be uniform, but that's the least of my worries. Hope you enjoy. 

Prima Donna

One of our better purchases. Love this thing.

Never considered myself a Prima Donna, but after this weekend camping in the rain and cold, I'm officially calling myself one. Put simply, camping is too much work. And that's if things go as planned. Now imagine going camping with a 3 year old and 15 month old who is not yet walking. Oh and I forgot to mention the responsible Mom is not present. I'm not saying I'm irresponsible, but I can hardly manage 2 kids in a controlled environment like my own home, let alone in the wilderness with bears. There's an inside joke behind the bear story. Anyhow, let's just say I don't think I'll be invited back next year. I made the comment to Christy that I just wasted an entire day of my life, and she said "Ry had fun" and you know what, she did and so did Easton, and in the end that's what matters. I am one lucky girl though. After packing up at 9:30 p.m., taking the tent down in the rain and mud and getting home with a car full of stuff, I was able to sleep in my own bed, sleep in and wake up the next morning to find Christy had already unloaded the truck, put everything away, sprayed down the tent and not once did she complain. I'm planning the next trip though.

This is pretty much the look I had on my face all weekend.

Ry loves riding the 4-wheeler

Ry fell down and Aunt Sun was tending to her owie.

Blessing of the Hands

I've worked at St. Mark's Hospital as a Physical Therapist for 6 1/2 years. Day in and day out I'm given the opportunity to literally and figuratively touch other's lives. For the past 10 years St. Mark's has organized an event called "Blessing of the Hands". It happens during Hospital Week or now termed Employee Appreciation Week. The employees are given an opportunity to have their hands blessed by a number of different people from various religions. St. Mark's hospital is Episcopalian but they have a wonderful pastoral care program where they train people from all sorts of religious faiths. I don't consider myself a religious person, but I do consider myself a spiritual person. In the hospital, where people are sick, and perhaps near death or dying, it's' comforting to know that these people are available to patients, friends, and family members. They are also there for employees as often it can be emotionally difficult to work in this environment.

I chose to become a physical therapist because I wanted to help people, but I really believe that over the last 6 1/2 years my patients have helped me and taught me more than I will ever teach them. I've become a better person, more caring, more patient. I've made lasting friendships with patients and their families over the years.

Last Wednesday May 11 I was able to participate in the Blessing of the Hands ceremony. It's only the second time I've done so over the past few years, and I'm not exactly sure why, because it's something I need to do yearly. It is such a powerful experience. My hands were washed with water and they were given a blessing by 6 different individuals of various faiths. Each prayer was unique and special to me. As I said, I'm not religious but spiritual and I felt the presence of another Power that day. I was overcome emotionally and feel truly blessed that I am given the opportunity to touch lives and be touched each day.

The last blessing was performed by Arapaho healer Dorian Two Horse Sanchez. 

Lions and Tigers and....... Dinosaurs, Oh My!

Hogle Zoo opened their dinosaur exhibit this Friday and I thought Ry would love to go. Wrong!!!! She hated it. The dinosaurs were rather realistic looking and to a 3 year old that's terrifying. Easton on the other hand thought it was fun to roar back at them. He's 15 months old now and thinks all animals say "grrrr".

The ferocious T-Rex

On a funnier note, I caught this giraffe tongue tied with this pole.

Where were you?

I watched President Obama's address to the nation Monday night to announce the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Throughout the broadcast the reporters kept saying this is going to be one of those moments that we all will remember where we were and what we were doing at the time. I'm not so sure I will with this particular moment but I do remember a few events through my life and thought I would post where and what I was doing, as my memory is not the best.

May 2, 2011

I was at home, bathing the kids and getting them ready for bed. My friend Michelle Rios sent me a text to break the news. I was able to watch Obama's address to the nation.

September 11, 2001

I was a first year P.T. student at the University of Utah. We had a lab early in the morning, when I first heard. We then had to sit through pathophysiology class. There were no TVs in the building. I know people went next door to the University Park Hotel to watch the footage. It was so surreal.

As a 3rd year P.T. student I did an internship at Helen Hayes Hospital in West Haverstraw, NY. I was able to visit Ground Zero and following are pictures I took from the site. I'm so glad I was able to visit this site and pay respect to those that died. 

April 3, 2004

USA flag signed by visitors

You can see the windows blown out in this adjacent building. Chilling.

This is the subway station right next to Ground Zero. 

This cross was built from remaining metal from building. 

April 16, 2007

Virginia Tech Massacre. I was working as a P.T. at St. Mark's Hospital. I saw the news on the t.v. in the patient's room. 

April 20, 1999

Columbine shooting. I remember I was at a friend's house but don't recall whose. Saw the news on t.v. I was in college at the University of Utah. Pretty sure I was with teammates. 

April 19, 1995

Oklahoma City bombing. I was a Junior at Brighton HS. I just remember reading the newspaper and I distinctly remember this photo of the fireman carrying the baby. 

January 28, 1986

Challenger Space Shuttle Explosion.  I think I was in the 2nd grade at Chaparral Elementary School. I can remember we were going to watch the launch, but don't remember watching it. I just remember the teachers crying and the sadness of the event. 

I know there are so many other horrific and/or historic events like natural disasters including earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, tornados, etc, but I don't recall exactly what I was doing or where I was.    I suppose I should keep a journal so when Ryley and Easton ask me about those things I can remember. Some things are, as the events above, hard to forget, and I wasn't directly impacted, i.e. had a family member or myself in the event. I feel for those who were and hope that they can somehow find peace in these terrible tragedies. May God bless you. 

The Biggest Loser

So I've decided that sitting on the couch watching The Biggest Loser television show is not going to help me lose weight. Who would have thought?  I'm tired of watching these people shed pounds week after week and being jealous, so I've finally decided to do something about it.

As I mentioned in my last post I purchased a 30-day pass to "Boot Camp". Some of you may be wondering, What the Hell is boot camp? Is she joining the Army? For a mere $30 (deal from Groupon), normally $199 a month, I will willingly showing up at 5:30 AM Mon, Wed, and Fri for 4 weeks to have my butt kicked into shape.

So today was my first day and all I can say is "Holy Crap I'm out of shape". First off I set my alarm for 4:50 a.m. I allowed myself to push snooze once. Christy hates the snooze option by the way, and can't understand the benefit. Anyhow I show up at 5:30 a.m. for my first class this morning, not knowing what to expect. I wore my Garmin heart monitor, but unfortunately did not push START until 20 min into the workout. I can tell you though that my heart rate was into the 160s with the "warm-up". From 5:30-6:30 it was non-stop exercise. My only suggestion was that upon arrival I should have been notified of the location of trash cans in case of the need to vomit. Luckily this did not come to fruition but I can't tell you how many times I looked around for a can, just in case. After 40 min I had burned 600 calories, so I'm guessing I burned a total of 1000 since I didn't push the start button until 20 min in.

I was pushed to my limit today. I've been home for an hour and a half and I'm still coughing despite the use of my inhaler and my muscles are shaking. I feel sick to my stomach and have ran to the bathroom twice now for false vomit alarms. I'm getting flashbacks of conditioning days with Coach Nick at LSU and Jason at U of U during my softball days.

My ultimate goal is to lose 10-15 pounds and feel more confident about my body image. My partner today has been doing this for 1 month and has shed 28 pounds. He's changed his diet as well, which is my plan too. I'm going to take before and after pics, but don't think I'm posting them on here.  I'll keep you posted on the progress. I'm looking forward to a transformation and want to make Bob and Jillian proud!

Here's a link to their website for those that are interested. Would love to have a buddy to push me along.

http://fitclubutah.com/boot-camp/

Beep Beep Beep

Not much to say here. The video says it all. Think he learned a lesson after falling down stairs, breaking leg, and being in cast for a month? Now we just need to master the aiming. Hope this isn't predictive of aiming skills for potty training.

Spring Fever

Hoping the weather can make up it's mind soon. It's teasing us. Super warm one day and snowing the next, yes snowing on April 9th. And that's no April Fool's joke. Today was awesome though. Nothing better than coming home from work and still having  a couple hours to enjoy the nice weather with the cutest kids ever. Ry takes after her Mommy Christy. She loves playing in the yard and even has her own gardening gloves, shovels and watering can. Easton is experiencing grass for the first time (grass people, not weed), and like his sister isn't enjoying the texture so much. It's the only time I can get him to be still. He refuses to crawl on it. 

Softball starts next week and we've cut down to one night a week. Apparently 4 nights a week was too hard on my shoulder. I've been having shoulder pain for over a year now and I finally broke down and had an MRI after trying P.T. for a month without relief. Turns out I have a SLAP (Superior Labral Anterior Posterior) tear. In lay person's term, "something bad that needs surgery to repair". I've always said, "I will never have surgery on my shoulder". In fact, I NEVER want to have surgery on anything, but I may just break down and do it since it's affecting my everyday activities at this point. Unfortunately I don't have enough PTO (paid time off) or EIB (extended illness bank) hours to cover the time off, so looks like someone is going to have to deal for awhile. 

Christy passed her EMT class including the state exam and is a certified EMT. She starts the West Valley Fire Academy this Monday April 11th. She is determined to be a Firefighter, despite having a bum knee, and I'm not standing in this lady's way. She is one determined woman, and if anyone can do it she can. 

I started a new job at the University of Utah Hospital working as a P.T.  in acute care. For those of you who can't keep up, I now work full-time at St. Mark's Hospital, and PRN at Intermountain Medical Center and the University of Utah Hospitals. I also occasionally fill in at Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful. Chances are if you end up in a hospital in Utah, and need P.T., you may be seeing me. I've been super busy, but love being a P.T.  It's a very rewarding profession. 

I'm addicted to Groupon and Living Social and have bought some great things recently including kickboxing classes, family portraits, summer passes to Seven Peaks Water Park and my most insane purchase Boot Camp for 30 days. I start April 18th at 5:30 a.m. 3x/week. Somebody needs to kick my butt into shape since I'm not doing a good job. The next picture is how I imagine my instructor being the 1st day of class. 

"Get down and give me 50"

Strike a Pose

I was laughing so hard at Ry this night. She is so different from me is so many ways, but yet so the same.  She wants to wear a skirt with everything, even pajamas. I only wear skirts to weddings or funerals. She is soooo dramatic, but I think I am too, so we'll count that the same. I think she is a good singer. I am horrible, as is everyone in my family, no offense. She loves dolls and made me play Barbies the other day with her. I have to admit I think that may be the first time in my life I've played Barbies. My mom thinks it's hysterical that Christy and I ended up with such a girly girl. It's meant to be that way, someone needs to teach Christy and I how to put on makeup and paint our nails.

Suckers!

My sister Lindsey came over to cut Easton's hair. He desperately needed a nap and we were trying everything under the sun to keep him engaged. Thank you tootsie pops.

Let Me Down

As many of you with children know, being in charge of a 3 year old is impossible. THEY are in charge all the time. Well, here's' documented proof of the ONE time I felt COMPLETELY in control of my 3 year old.

Blast from the Past

I came across this video today. I had forgot about it. It's of Ryley when she's about 1, Easton's current age. Makes me laugh, hope it makes you laugh too.

To Be Continued......

Still have a few big things to blog about, things that are important to me, but will have to be another day. My mind needs to rest. Here's to not getting behind on blogging again. Cheers!

Easton turns 1

1st cake and ice cream at Nanny's house

Easton turned 1 on Feb. 10th. We decided we were not going to have a "big" birthday party, like we did with Ryley to make it easier on us, but instead we complicated our lives by having 3 "small" birthday parties, which meant 3 cakes. We celebrated with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins on Thu Feb 10th and on Sun Feb 13th we had 2 parties, one with Easton's 2nd family, the Valentes, and one with friends later in the day.  Easton was lovin' the cakes but I think 3 was too many. Easton got sick after the parties on Sunday and was sick for another 2 weeks. Pics from all 3 parties below.

PARTY WITH FAMILY

Christy's face screams FUN

Ry with her cousin Berkleigh

Ry and Eaton's cousin Hudson

Nanny baked this cake

Cousins Bella and Braxten with matching scars over their right eyes

Ry dressing up, as usual

Easton with Papa, Milt, Grandma Marge and Nanny

PARTY WITH THE SECOND FAMILY--THE VALENTES

Easton got a ton of presents 

The 2nd Cake--Purchased from Harmons

Easton smiling at Mommy 

My favorite picture of us

PARTY WITH FRIENDS

Fireman Theme 

Can't have a fireman BD without a firetruck 

Rachel and Sun 

Easton with Shelley and Dom

The 3rd Cake--Made by my friend Kim Pennington 

Mmmmm, can't wait for my 3rd cake 

"Do I really have to wear this hat?"

Traylynn, Mac, and Avery 

"I wish, I wish....." 

"Oh this is exhausting." 

Hmmm, feels like the other 2 cakes 

Avery had no problems digging right in  

Kristin and Brett 

Gage 

"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to" 

Pretty much think Easton was partied out by this point