Lucky Number 3

And what a great year it was!!! I've had this post saved to edit for a year now, and since this weekend is our 4th year anniversary, I thought I'd post it--that way on the next post, I can cover exactly 1 year! Lol. Well, 3 years ago (From last summer) on July 26th, 2007, Todd and I took the deep plunge to get married! and 4 years ago on July 24th, 2006, we had our first date at the Spanish Fork Carnival. And 4 years and 1 month before that, I thought he was a hot head return missionary, and he thought I was a brat! Funny how those things happen. Now onto year NUMBER 4! I think it's going to be epic! What do you think?? :)

Very belated: Andrews Cabin and July 24th

In July Todd and I were invited to spend the weekend up at our brother in laws, Andrews, cabin. We had a lot of fun and was sad that we had to leave early for my stupid work. Here are just some very belated pictures of it:

Apparently, Andrews cabin is a very nice place to take naps because those are the only pictures I got.

This is my nephew Charlie. He is so adorable.

And this is Todd and I out on the lake it a canoe! It was scary!

Then we ended the evening roasting some marshmallows and stuffing our faces! Yumm!

And last but not least, here is some pics of our 24th of July.

Looks exciting huh? ;)

We had a lot of fun. I LOVE July!

STAY TUNE!
More very belated July posts to come!!

New Summer Movies!

Check out my movie blog and read about what movies I saw this Summer and what I thought about them.

Click here: www.moviesbykara.blogspot.com

The cause behind all the madness

So I'm sure most people could care less that I have back pain, which is fine. But having it be apart of my life for a while now, I've been seeking for a lot of answers, and thanks to having a husband going into physical therapy, going to a physical therapist, and my 2 uncles being physical therapist, I have come to this: (Who knows, maybe this could be helpful information for someone else down the road).

This is where my pain is at.

My symptoms include pinching in the center when I extend my back, lower left pain and around the left hip, and sacrum pain.

And here is why:

Anterial Tilt

After doing some X-rays, I found out that my pelvis tips forward quite a bit, which causes my sacrum to stick out further, putting pressure on it when I sit or lay down for long periods of time.

S.I. Joint Dysfunction
After doing some test, I found that my left SI joint locks up. This could be caused by my anterior tilt, bad posture, and/or lax joints. Lax joints being my joints are more pliable- easily put out of place, because I'm "too" flexible (since when is being TOO flexable bad?) Anyway, when my SI joint locks up or is under stress (possibly due to my anterial tilt), it causes pain around my left hip as well.

Kissing Spine

All the therapist I have talked to think the pinching I am feeling, which causes the most pain, is due to Kissing Spine. That's when the Spinous processes bones touch during extension, causing a sharp pain or "pinch" in my case. This could be caused my my anterial tilt and the exaggerated curve in my lower back.

So, pretty much, all of my pain and symptoms are apart of one large crappy back pain cycle!

But now that I have come to understand what I have, I'm ready to fix it! And hopefully fix it for good! The way I will do this is by stabilization exercises, where I build muscle in my core and butt, tighten up muscles that have been elongated, and stretch muscles that have been shortened. I have been given certain exercises to do this, and I need to do them 2-3 times a day, and hopefully within time, maybe a month or so, my back will go back to it's usual self.

YAAAYYY!!!!!!!!!!

I feel like I have learned so much with this experience, even though it has been hard and it's not over, but it makes me realize what Todd is going into and what a great career it is. To want to help people in physical pain is a gift, a selfless gift, and I'm so glad people, like Todd, choose to do it just so they can help people live a better and happier life. :)

The annoying things that get you down...

It was the summer of 2009. I was studying for a biology test. (I HATE science!) I had been cramming the material in all morning long. Then, as I leaded to the edge of my chair to stretch with my arms way above my head, a horrible shot of pain ripped through my lower back.

And my back has never been the same since...

That was a year ago, and here I am now. In the same situation. Luckily being married to someone going into physical therapy has helped take the edge off of the pain, but it's never gone completely away. It's sad that something like "back pain" can just make everything else suck. I feel so frustrated about it. Why wont it get better? I have to admit that I haven't done EVERYTHING I can in the "physical therapy" world to fix it. Not only do I need to stretch 2-3 times A DAY- which I do, I need to build up muscle in my back, stomach, and butt! That's the hard part. I've never been good with "toning up." I prefer doing cardio. Which brings me to my next dilemma.

A couple posts back I stated that I had become unhappy with my body, and that I was finally ready to do something about it. Well, "doing something about it" to me meant, get up and go jogging. I use to jog and I LOVED it! And I was so excited to push myself and get back into it again. In fact, I told myself I wanted to be able to run the 5K for Salem days in August. I've always wanted to do it, but I never have (and I've lived her my ENTIRE life)! So I started. But to my great dismay, I found out very quickly that a bad back and jogging does NOT mix. I have never been in so much back pain in my entire life! And that's when i realized, I couldn't be a runner. Not now anyways. It's sad, now when I drive to work and see all these runners, instead of saying "I need to do that, " I think, "I wish I could do that." I believe I can get to that point again, but it just sucks feeling this way. Feeling like your so fragile and broken, watching every move you make to make sure you don't strain your back. My house is a mess because every time I try to pick up, it hurts. I feel bad for Todd. He is a better Wife than I am... in the manly husband way of course. ;) I know there's a lot more worse things out there than having back pain, so I really shouldn't complain. So now, instead of going jogging. I'm walking with my mom 3 miles 2 time a week, stretching everyday in the morning and night, doing strengthening excises 2-3 times a week (like palates or yoga), and then I'll be getting on my Elliptical 2 times a week for cardio. I haven't lost a pond since I started my exercise fix, but I'm not going to give up. Maybe this time around this new schedule will be a better one for me. For me, my body, and my back.

Our St. George Trip

After Todd's graduation and my crazy finals we needed to get away. So we decided to take a small but amazing trip down to St. George! We had been so sick of the weather tricking us here, and we wanted to go somewhere where we didn't have to drive forever, so St. George sounded like the perfect place. When we first got there we checked into our hotel, and then went to a dinner and a movie. A perfect and relaxing way to start off a vacation. Then the next day we woke up bright and early and drove down to Zion where we took most of our pictures.

Todd giving thumbs up on our first hike

The water fall to the Lower Emerald Pools

It's hard to see, but we're standing under the water fall

Moving on up...

I liked this picture

Just the two of us

I didn't realize to get to the upper pools was going to be this... rocky!

And here is my victory stance once we got past the steep rocky trail (Or I was airing out my arm pitts- I guess you'll never know) ;)

Beautiful Sights... of Todd that is! Isn't he a cutie!

And finally we reached the waterfall!

These next pictures are just some from the River Walk trail. Sooo much fun!

The River Side trail

Next we went to Weeping Rock. Here are some pictures of that:

By the end of the day I was taking more pictures of nature than of Todd and I. Ha ha!

Well, it was a fun filled perfect day at Zions, and when we got back to our hotel we fell right asleep to get ready for our next activity.

The Temple.

Isn't it beautiful! It was a great experience!

It was a short trip, but we had so much fun! Now its back to school for Todd and work for me. Even though that stinks, it makes trips like this worth the while. ;)

Todd's Graduation

On April 30th, Todd graduated from UVU with his Bachelors of Exercise Science, and I couldn't be more proud of him! He worked so hard and graduated with a 3.6 GPA! You go hun! Here is just a few pics we took of the eventful day:

Getting his diploma

It was fun because my sisters husband also graduated! Good Job Spencer!

The Graduates

The Callan Clan

The proud wives

Doesn't he look so handsome! Good job Hun! Now its off to Physical Therapy school! You'll do great! :)