Quick update

Well, I am getting worse and worse at keeping up with the blog. I used to be so good at it. Then I started getting busier and busier, and expecting a break, I thought I'd start posting again in June. Well, I'm still waiting for that break to come. It seems that whenever I have a little extra time it gets filled up quickly with tasks and errands that got pushed to the wayside while everything else was happening. Since I last posted Natalie turned 7 (will do a separate post with pictures), Kent had his birthday, Trevor and Natalie participated in their dance recital (it will need to be a separate post too), we got to visit with friends from out of town (will post with pictures), got to go to CA to visit family (yet another post), had to go to the ER once (I'll update about this after I meet with yet another specialist) and Kent went to Vegas for work for several days.
Our 15th wedding anniversary is in a week and a half, which seems completely crazy to me. I can't believe it's already been that long. This is kind of a bittersweet day. Sweet because we get to celebrate another year of being happily married, and bitter because it means that Justin's turning a year older just a month and a week after that... meaning he'll be 14 in less than 2 months. Yikes.
I also started physical therapy again for my back. My back was not great, but after my spill at pack meeting I was in as much pain as I was before. Since things didn't get any better after several months I had to decide to take my chances with PT and *hopefully* avoid surgery, or go straight to the neurosurgeon. I decided to roll the dice with PT, and so far things have been steadily progressing for the good. The guy I'm going to now has been recommended by people in my ward who have back problems, and they couldn't say enough good about him. It was truly an answer to my prayers when a good friend of mine texted me in information several minutes after I prayed for someone or something to give me some relief. He started me out relearning to breathe correctly. I've been breathing from my chest only to help protect my back. (You're supposed to use your diaphragm- so your belly expands, not your chest... who knew?) This small change has actually helped a lot. After I had done that he's been working with me to build up my core strength. This is usually not too hard, but some of the stuff makes me want to cuss... a lot. I generally manage to only do it in my head, but I may have mumbled a few things under my breath in frustration and in extreme pain, but I know that sometimes you need to have a little pain before things get better. One such exercise that I particularly despise is the IT-Band rolling. This is done on a hard foam roll. It may not sound like much, but I am almost in tears because of the pain from this STILL, and I've been doing it for weeks. It helps when I do it anyway, but I'm a little bitter about it. I realize that all this may not do enough to help me avoid another back surgery, but if I do have to go in again, I will go in stronger, having already learned some things to help me recover more quickly.
Well, I am the only one awake so I'm going to bed. I was outside for almost 11 hours today in the sweltering heat and humidity and I should go to bed so that I can do the same thing tomorrow!