Temple, Watercolors, and Demolition

February was a very very busy month! I've been studying like crazy for my certification exam that will happen on May 15th! After the test I get to go to Texas for work. I have a three day work conference that I will go to in Dallas. Then I decided to take the rest of the week of and head down to Houston. I'll get to hang out with some old friends, Clayton as well as Jessi and her husband, Lewis. It will be a blast.

I was able to go through the temple in February and recieve my endowment. It was an amazing experience. I went through at Logan and was surrounded by most of my family and quite a few great friends! I have been able to go to the SLC temple and Draper since then. They are so beautiful. This Saturday, I'm going to go to SLC again with a couple of friends.I love going to the temple. I was going to try to go twice per week but while studying for this exam, it won't happen. Once per week until June. Then I'll try to go twice per week. I also decided that while I'm in Houston, I want to do a session. I will be going to Orlando in June for work as well, and I'd like to fit the temple in there as well.

Well, I completed my first official water color painting. It is based on a picture I took while in Belize. It isn't the wonderful water color but I think it turned out okay being the first one I've really done.I did do another painting one afternoon-in the middle of this painting. So I guess it is the first one I started and the second one I finished.

Work has been a little hard on me lately. I think I'm getting to the point that I want zero administrative/receptionist duties and I want to be doing solely HR work. I recently had a talk with my manager about it and he said there is a high possibility of me moving into a soley HR role here at AgReserves. I have to do some analysis of the workloads that each Administrat Assistant do and then we'll see. Other great news with work: I got raise this week! It isn't huge by any means but more is more and it is needed. So YAY!! :)









There are two demo projects happening across the street from me. It is pretty loud and as these massive pieces of building fall to the ground, our building shakes. I thought we were having a small earthquake the first time it happened and then I realized what was happening. The President keeps bringing up that people on that south side of the building are less productive because they are always stopping to watch the demolition. I told them they should have just put a small explosive in the middle of the building-it would be much faster! :)



I thought I had more to share but I really don't....I mostly study in my spare time. I'll try to have more exciting things/thoughts to share in my next post. Happy March!

New Beginnings

Well this week is the start of a few new things! I'll share all about them in just a minute.

Aubri gets so cold in our apartment that while we were
watching a movie, she put on her winter coat and a scarf!
I had to document that!!

Some proud accomplishments in the gym have been unfolding! Last week I went multiple days and was able to do 30-45 minutes on the elliptical followed by 15-20 minutes of swimming. Just accomplishing that is wonderful but then you add in the miracle that I didn't hurt massively the next day...makes this whole gym thing amazing! I love working out and I'm glad I've been able to lately. It helps relieve stress and tension and just feels good for all of me, my spirit, my body, my mind!

Last Saturday I used one of my Christmas presents. It came from Kayci and Preston! They paid for a 90 minute foot-zoning session for me. It was so cool! If you didn't know, there are zones in your feet that coorespond directly with different areas of your body. By massaging your feet and using essential oils you can stimulate different areas of your body. It can release tension, improve circulation, detox your body (clear out toxins),  give relaxation or energy, strengthen your immunce system, stablize emotions, among other things. I felt very refreshed afterwards and was actually quite surprised by the results and what I learned. As she was massaging my feet, certain areas that were extremely sensative cooresponded directly to pain I've been having in specific parts of my body. We worked the area of my neck pretty well and over the past 5 days, the pain in my neck has dereased significantly. I've decided that I'd like to continue to go but it'll have to wait a few weeks.



I started this week off by having a few friends over for a wonderful Sunday dinner. Aubri and I made lasagna and lemon squares and also cooked some ciabatta bread and asparagus. It turned out really delicious! We played games afterwards, chatted, and listened to Seth play guitar.



On Monday I had two friends from work over for one of their birthday's, Henry Kley. The Sunday night dinner had originally been a birthday dinner for him but he forgot about the Super Bowl...lame but we had a good time with out him. Grant and Henry Kley came over and we ate his birthday cake late. I had great intentions for his cake but a migraine hit and it took energy and time away from the cake. At least it still tasted good. It was a two layer chocolate cake with a strawberry filling. Happy 24th Birthday Henry Kley!!

Scary roads! I was going about
20 mph on the freeway!

Tuesday brought on whole new level of stress and preparation for my PHR Certification exam in May. I'm taking a prep course from a lady named Francis Humes. She is one of the best and has a 90% pass rate. It is every Tuesday night from 5:30-9:30! This Tuesday it decided to be nasty as I had to drive to the Larry H. Miller SLCC campus. But I made it safely to the building I needed to be in. During this first class we met each other, discussed the process to sign up for the exam, what to expect on the exam, created study groups, and took a pre-test. I failed, a big fat F! 31/68 a literal, very low, sad F! But so did most of the class. I have tons to study and practice and learn and I have to just take it one day at a time.

Watching Abduction with Aubri when I
should have been studying...oops!

Wednesday I started something new and exciting....a drawing/watercolor class!! It is at the Petersen Art Center in Sugarhouse. I had to put down a little more money than I was planning on supplies (and still didn't even get all of the colors of paint I was supposed to) but I can invest more gradually. These are real watercolors...not like those water color palets you buy at walmart! haha I like the class because everyone works on their own thing at their own speed. The teacher had me start out by practicing a few techniques. I blended colors to make other colors-learned which are complimentary next to each other, which are good to blend, and which colors make an ugly brownish-blackish color when you mix them. Then I practiced making colors less or more intense (dark red vs. light red or black vs. white). It was really interesting! Next week, I'm supposed to bring a picture of my own with either a lot of sky or water to start. I will start my first official, real watercolor project. I'll have some pictures next time!

Today I'm going to catch up on everything from this week. I'm going to make it to the gym! I'm going to study like crazy! It will be a crazy day but it will be great :) I have some fun things planned over the next few weeks and I will keep you updated on my exciting life!

It's Worth It!

Halfway through January, it is crazy how days can seem so slow yet time passes so quickly overall.

Well, I have signed up for an month of art classes, we'll see if I can improve my drawing skills. I'm excited for that! I was working on a sailboat this week and I can do it but I think if I have some professional direction on some of the basics of drawing again, I could be so much better!

The past week, I found out that I used up all of my PT visits through insurance. So I'm now on this home excerise regimend. It is just not as effective but I'm going to push through and do what I can. I'm going to the gym to swim and try to get some elliptical and bike workouts in. My friend, Nate, just showed me some stretches he does every morning. He's been pain free for 2 years just from doing these stretches. He was actually able to run a 1/2 marathon! So I'm going to start tonight and see if there is any improvement. I would love to run and hike and play again!

I've officially begun my studying for my human resources certification. There is a huge test in May that I'll be taking. As I've been taking time for studying, I wonder how I did this all day, every day, for most of my entire life!! After an hour of diligent studying my brain and body try to tell me that I've done enough and I need to relax now. It is going to take a little while to get back into the study mode, I once lived in. I'm hoping it'll kick in soon because I am a little behind on my study schedule already. Soon enough, I guess.

Last Saturday, Aubri and I went to the Bountiful temple to do baptisms. It was beautiful and the first time either of us had done baptisms there. Everything went smoothly and it was a visit we both needed! A great relief to just step away from the world and feel some peace. I also started Temple Prep on Sunday evening, which was fantastic.

I've started to play piano officially for the ward choir. We're starting off with the "Homeward Bound" song. It is beautiful! BUT it is a 4-handed piece. I'm supposed to be playing with a guy in the ward but he wasn't able to come to the practice this last Sunday. I'm thinking he better be here this Sunday because we're supposed to sing in Sacrament Meeting the next week. Him not being there brough a little stress to me but I'm doing okay now. If that song isn't ready we'll be singing "Abide with me" which is a hymn so I'm perfectly confident in playing that hymn. This kid who has been playing will be getting married in March and I guess I'm just taking over for him. I love playing so I'm excited.

I also had a couple of game nights this week. Wednesday night, I went and hung out with Adam. We got pizza and he introduced me to a few things. First, Sherlock. The TV show is on Netflix and I really enjoyed it! Second, playing Tetrus against someone! I've only played against myself before and didn't think I was too bad. But with Adam playing against me, I caused our games to lack in the length department. I felt bad but it was still fun. The last thing he introduced me to was, Street Fighter. It is a video game that I was skeptical about but it was a lot of fun. I wouldn't play all the time but a night here and there is just fine. We enjoyed ourselves for the evening. Then on Thursday night, we had our new friends, Nate and Seth, along with Henry Kley over to play games. We had a ball!

I found a quote that I liked and thought I'd share it. I believe it is for weight loss but if you substitute "body" for "mind," "spirit," etc. I think it can be applied to any goal you are trying to acheive:

"It will hurt. It will take time. It will require dedication. It will require willpower. You will need to make healthy decisions. It requires sacrifice. You will need to push your body to its max. There will be temptation. But, I promise you, when you reach your goal, it's worth it."

Welcome 2014

Well it is 2014 another year to take steps to be a better person as well as screw up and try again and again.

The past couple of months I've begun to draw and paint a little. My painting is just water colors and it is usually just a stress relief tool-they never look good but I don't really care. My drawings have actually been better than I had ever expected when I took on the task of developing a new talent. Here are two that I've done.






 Drawing has been really fun. I'm sticking to landscapes and buildings and such-no people or animals at this moment in time. I think those will be a ways down the road.If you have ideas of what else I should draw, I'd love any suggestions! One of my goals for this year is to learn one new technique per month and try to get two sketches done per month.






In December, I took a trip to St. George to visit my dear friend, Franchesca. We went to a house to see their Christmas lights. You tuned your radio to a certain station and then the lights flashed to the music. It was one of the coolest things ever. We ended up staying there for close to 45 min and then came again the next night to show Mamma Rosie as well; there were about 9 songs that they played through. 

A favorite pass time in St. George is going up to some red rocks and exploring. There are great views and fun climbing. We found this really cool old "house" there was an old firepit built into the far wall. I had some fun in there. There was a large rock that looked like a snake-so of course I had to have a picture of it "eating" me.



Some other St. George adventures included going to the Tuacahn Theater and watched a live nativity put on by a local ward there. It was a nice little presentation. We also went to the St. George Temple. We did baptisms. The first attempt failed-it was a very long wait. So we went to the movie Frozen (LOVED IT!!) and then went back to the temple. We went right in and it was a fantastic experience. Mamma Rosie treated us to the most amazing donuts at a place called the Fractured Prune. You get to create your own custom donut or you can pick from their specialty donuts. I had one that had a cherry glaze with coconut and chocolate chips on top. I can't remember the name but it was divine! St. George was a success!



Over Christmas we had a fun "Grandpa and Grandkids Movie Night" we watched  Dispicable Me 2. It was pretty good and we enjoyed ourselves for the evening. The rest of Christmas was fun hanging out with the family and eating lots of yummy food.






I brought in the New Year with Adam (he's the one I went to Savior of the World with from the last post). We watched Netflix and ate Cafe Rio. We also youtubed Dubai's new year celebration. It was pretty dang impressive. You should watch this clip it was just amazing.



On New Year's day, I slept in and then went and hung out with Chante'. We went and saw Frozen again (still love it :)), enjoyed a lovely breakfast lunch at Denny's, and then wandered around Quilted Bear for a long time! We read some awesome quote boards, took great pictures and were definitely ready to go before we finished looking at everything.

 

The next day my amazing friend, Matthew, moved to SLC. I helped him move in and then we hung out and chatted. I'm so excited to have him down here now. We'll have some great adventures soon, I'm sure! Since then, I've had my roommates slowly come home from the break, played some games, did a little more drawing, made way too many goals to actually accomplish, and relaxed while watching a new favorite show, Chuck.

Here's to more frequent blog posts for 2014 and to accomplishing all and more than what we want to this year!

At Tuacahn for live Nativity

Baby It's Cold Outside....

Well snow has fallen and the below freezing temperatures have set in. Temple square is beautiful with the lights and the snow sprinkled over everything. I have to take in the beauty so I don't complain about the cold and the slippery-icy roads :)

Monday night, I went ice skating at the Gallivan Center Ice Rink. Although I did this many years ago when I was very young, I put it on my bucket list-as something I would remember! It was tons of fun. I had one goal for the night: Don't fall! My roommate and I both accomplished the goal.

After ice skating I had the pleasure of meeting some Logan friends, Matt and Natalie, at Temple Square. I just love how people--who aren't in a rush--are so much friendlier and are usually in high spirits.

Last night I had an awesome experience of going to see Savior of the World. It is a production they do at the conference center theater. It is presented as a musical. This production focuses on the birth and ressurection of Christ. I constantly had chills through the entire show and tears were shed through most of the musical as well. The guy I was with, Adam, made the observation that there were always angels above each scene. They would take part in some of the singing but they were always there just watching the events "on earth." He said, "makes you think a little about what you do each day." Although we are taught that Christ and his Angels watch over us-it put into perspective what really might be happening all around us. We have angels around us to protect, watch over, and guide us.

Another very powerful scene was when the apostles were talking in the room where the last supper was held. They had heard that Christ was ressurected. As they spoke, Christ silently entered the room. As he began to speak, you could feel the spirit so strong, the apostles each went and touched the Savior's hands and feet to see the scars from the crucification. It was a scene of reverence and awe and I just thought about how close I'm feeling to God at this time and how I would react when he comes. I was able to connect to most of these scenes on a very deep level. I would encourage anyone to go see it. If not this year, next year!

Another wonderful experience I had last night was while talking with a friend on the phone. This friend is going through a lot of hard experiences right now. We had been talking for about 50 minutes and we had one of those quiet moments, not awkward, but quiet. This friend then says, "I just don't want to hang up, I feel so good talking to you, like everything is going to be alright." I was so touched by that. This friend also told me about how much I had supported and been there for them. I told this person that that was the Lord. He said, "maybe so, but you allowed yourself to be used as his tool." I thought about that afterwards and realized he was right. I have chosen to be a tool in the hands of the Lord. I wouldn't have it any other way!! Not only do I have the opportunity to bless those around me, I get to come closer to the Lord and receive blessings of service as well.

I have a testimony of the realness of our Savior and the Atonement he performed. I know that he is here to not only help us through our sins but other trials that may bring pain that we had no control over. He is here to rejoice with us and feel joy over accomplishments. I do know that someday "things will be okay" we just have to have faith in that.

 

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Everyone!!

Today, What Did I Do For My Being

Hello World-it has been a while!

I waited a little while to write because I felt like my health was overtaking my life--and it was--but I didn't want this to become a blog about the woes of my health. I have no problem sharing my updates but I also don't want to focus on that. When I focus on all the things going wrong, it makes it harder to deal with. I'm having positive thoughts. When somebody asks me how I am, I'm not letting my health define "how" I am. I can be happy even when I'm in pain--and that is my goal!

I saw this quote/motivational thought on pinterest and have adopted it as my guide:

I have created one or two goals for each of these questions and I will share those with you:

Mind: a)Read a "fun" book this month and b)Study 2 hours per week for my PHR exam (see below-I'll explain the exam)

Body: a)Do physical therapy(PT) stretches each day and b)Do pool exercises twice per week

Spirit: a)Study scriptures each day and b)study a general conference talk or broadcast each week

Relationships: a)Do one act of service per day and b)Write a letter each week

Creativity/Passion: a)Learn a new song on the piano
                    --I've selected "If You Could Hie to Kolob" by Marshall McDonald (watch it on YouTube)

There is a program online, as well as an iphone app, called "Lift." My friend Adam Black shared it with me. There are a bunch of categories that are goals and you pick your goals and set a time to do them. Each day you check back in and say what you did. It creats a string of posts of people who have done their goal. It keeps track of how many days in a row you do something and people can give you "props" or write encouraging comments on your posts. It is just this network of people trying to stop bad habits and create new ones. So I've inserted each of my goals and now I have people "cheering me on" and keeping me in check. You all should look it up and see if Lift can encourage you to work harder and stay on task for your goals.

I will explain the PHR exam-since most of you probably have no idea what that is. Working in Human Resources, there are three levels of cirtification: the first being a Professional in Human Resources (PHR). I will be taking a 3 hour exam next Spring and if I pass I will become "Cydnee Haws, PHR." This will enable me to take on much better and in-depth jobs. I'm starting to study now because this exam covers A LOT of material and I haven't had real life exposure to quite a few areas of HR. I believe with my studying, taking more trainings, mentoring from my boss, and prayers, I will be able to accomplish this!

This last week, I got two more injections in my back. It took a few days to feel better--I still don't know if it really has helped my back or not but I did it once more for my doctor. I've also been wearing this shirt made by Tommie Copper. They have a bunch of different clothing items as well as braces to wear on your wrist, elbow, knee, ankle, etc. These items have been infused with about 60% copper nylon. There are a lot people who wear copper bracelets and say that they have way less pain. The idea is the same with this clothing. I bought two shirts to try out. I wear them all the time-during the day and when I sleep. I've been doing this for about three weeks: Last night I decided to wash both of them at the same time and go a night without wearing one and see how I felt afterwards. Within an hour I was in a lot of pain in my shoulders and collarbone again. It was hard to sleep. I put one on this morning and didn't think much of it. As I've been writing this paragraph, I've been assessing my pain level, it is significantly lower. I'm still going to wait another week-and probably try a day without that shirt on see if the pain comes back that quickly again or if it was a one time thing. If I decide it works I may buy a few more products. I'm willing to try anything to get rid of pain!!

Speaking of trying anything for pain: I had dinner with my grandpa and step-grandma last night. They took me to Market Street Grill, it is one of our favorites. I ended up getting the special which was fillet mignon with crab legs and veggies. It was amazingly delicious. While eating, Grandpa Dan talked about some of this healing he does through meditation and spiritual processes. It is nothing that I'm even close to understanding but he asked that I be open-minded and see if he can help with anything. So I'm being open-minded and letting him "practice" on me. Anything that can take some more pain away is worth trying, even if I don't understand it right now. If I only did things I completely understand, I wouldn't get very far in life!

I've been reading 2 Nephi in my "Closer to Christ" scripture study. When I was reading chapter 19, I found a specific line very interesting to me. 19:19 says "and the people shall be the fuel of the fire." I was thinking that there can be two meanings of the word fire. The first being bad-disasters, sin, etc. or the opposite fire being good-motivation, testimony, light. The people, me and you, get to chose which type of fire to be. You get to choose how the fire keep burning no matter which situation you are in. You can still have a testimony and be motivated and have the spirit with you when you are in undesireable situations. Or, you can sin and gossip and destroy your body but you are fueling the fire for Satan. I found this to be a cool concept. How am I fueling my fire burning? How's your fire being fueled?

Health Update

Dear Friends and Family-

Many of you have been asking for an update on my medical situation. Some of you know more than others but I’m just going to tell everything I know!

My migraines: I saw a neurologist a few months ago. He gave me a new pill and I’ve been really careful with my diet-avoiding anything that can possibly be a trigger for migraines. I have only had a few migraines since then. I’m very happy with that progress.

My back: I have two bulging disks in my lower back and two in my neck. Because of this, I have a lot of pain in my back, neck, and shoulders. The pain is usually on the right side but recently has been extending into the left.  I saw two surgeons and a neurologist about their opinions on surgery. All three of them said no. I am going with a doctor named Mark Reichman (at the IMC in Murray). He prescribed: physical therapy, regular exercise to strengthen my core and to lose weight, do another injection, and take anti-inflammatory pills.

I’m seeing a physical therapist a few times per week and we are doing a technique called “Lumbar Stabilization.” Basically, when you look at a spine-there is support from the ribs towards the top and the hips from the bottom. The lower back only has muscles and tendons surrounding it. I have to learn how to stabilize those muscles to protect my back from getting more damaged. As I am able to stabilize then I will be able to do more with less pain. I’ve started swimming as well to help my back. I’ve lost a couple of pounds in the past few weeks from trying to eat better and going to the gym nearly every day. I will schedule for the injection soon.

Long-term plan-In 8 weeks I will check back in with Dr. Reichman. If the PT and dieting and such are helping then I will keep doing that. If there is no improvement at all-he will think about surgery. He said that by the time I’m 35, I will need to get the disks fused which is a start of other surgeries-which we obviously don’t want. But if it is the only thing that will get me out of pain, that is what we will do.

The rest of my body: I’ve been having a lot of pain in my arms and legs. It is hard to explain the pain sometimes. Pain in my joints-elbows, knees, ankles, wrists, and shoulders are fairly frequent but come and go. A few different times in my arms-there will just be constant dull pain and then when I try to do things with my hands-as simple as typing or moving an ice pack—and sharp pain will shoot up my arms. Sometimes it only goes to my elbows; other times all the way up towards my shoulders. There is also weakness fairly often. If Iay down and try to read or text by holding the book/phone above me-I don’t last very long. My arms begin to hurt and are extremely weak. Areas have also become sensitive to the touch; just touching the top of my arm-just above my wrist-can cause pain and sensitivity.

My legs are doing the same thing. Last Saturday, I went to Ikea with my aunt and mother. About 10 minutes into the store, my right leg began hurting in general-just dull, constant pain. Then with each step, massive pain would come. I couldn’t put any weight on that foot without pain. Within another 15 minutes my other leg was the exact same. I tried to push through it-but that was impossible. My aunt ended up pushing me on one of those furniture carts.

I talked to my neurologist about this yesterday. We went through all of the pain points associated with fibromyalgia. He is pretty certain that is what I have. He asked that I do an EMG and see a Rheumatologist. He wants these things done to make sure no major nerve damage is done. Tomorrow, I will go back for a nerve conduction study. I looked up the definitions online so I didn’t explain things incorrectly:

An electromyogram (EMG) measures the electrical activity of muscles at rest and during contraction. Nerve conduction studies measure how well and how fast the nerves can send electrical signals.

Nerves control the muscles in the body with electrical signals impulses. These imputlses make the muscles react in specific ways. Nerve and muscle problems cause the muscles to react in abnormal ways.

If you have leg pain or numbness, you may have these tests to find out how much your nerves are being affected. These tests check how well your spinal cord, nerve roots, and nerves and muscles that control your legs are working.

A rheumatologist is a board-certified internist or pediatrician who is qualified by additional training and experience in the diagnosis and treatment of arthritis and other diseases of the joints, muscles, and bones. **They specialize with things such as fibromyalgia.

I’m waiting on the rheumatologist until we find someone that accepts my insurance. That may still be a few months before I get in.

For now, I’m going to work with my current physical therapist and make sure that I’m getting enough exercise but not too much. Either one can hurt me more-I just need the perfect amount. Getting the right amount of exercise can bring up to 20% improvement.

I’m also on another medication. This is used to treat epilepsy but I take it at a lower dosage. Dr. Goldstein says that it is a harmless drug-it won’t damage my insdies by taking it for long periods of time. Taking the medications can bring up to 10% improvement.

Dr. Goldstein says that for someone with fibromyalgia having 30-40% improvement is great improvement. I will have to find the balance of not letting the pain stop me from living but know where my boundaries are so that I don’t hurt myself more.

I think that is a pretty in-depth summary of what is going on right now. It is hard to deal with and takes a lot of time to go to all the doctors, to physical therapy, to the gym, to do my PT stretches on my own, my own personal research…but I’m hoping that some improvements can come. I just have to take it one step at a time!!

Thanks for your support and concern!

Cydnee