Aha moment after Ladies Night

Wow I don't know how to describe how awesome the ladies that spoke tonight really are but I was so drawn in by all of their stories and how they got to where they are today and I LOVED each one.  All I could think of was this could be me someday and using Advocare as a vehicle for what God has planned for me!

I will be honest I have been so afraid of failing at anything that I really have limited myself to what I think I am capable of doing.  I learned tonight that I am CHOOSING to stay where I am in life because I am scared of failing, but by not ever starting I am doing what I fear most and am failing and I don't want to be that example to my children.  I have given up so much of who I am and what I want, loosing my drive in life, saying well my girls come first or making up some other excuse as to why I couldn't do something but the reality is that I CAN do whatever I set my mind to!  I need to start building myself up instead of tearing myself or my ideas down.

On my way home I was contemplating what I heard tonight and was listening to the Fish Christian Radio station and this song called "Overcomer" by Mandisa came on and it just hit me on such a personal level.  I can overcome this hand that I was dealt and I could choose to fight because my girls and myself are worth fighting for!  I need to grow as a person and step out of my comfort zone and move forward, moving my life in the direction that it was meant to go and on the path that Jesus has for me and my family.

Texas here I come!

So I  know this post is a little late but I thought I would cover what has gone on the past week or so.  The last post was about my back flare up which was pretty dang bad but thanks to my deep tissue chiropractor, who works miracles, I was able to go to Texas last thursday!!  My friends, sister, and myself were just waiting for my back to act up but the flight went so smoothly once we actually took off.

Wednesday I got my awesome Advocare gear JUST in time for Success School that weekend and was extremely excited to use them.  I got my stuff all packed and ready to go wednesday and then I was off to the airport at 3:00 pm.  We had to hang out for a bit due to our plane being delayed because the flight crew were late....thank you Spirit Airlines!...apparently its a regular thing according to a waitress at the airport restaurant we were at.  They are by far the worst airlines I have flown on.  Their tickets are cheap but you have to pay for all your bags, your seat if you want to get a seat next to who your flying with, and charge you for water!  Needless to say I will try avoid flying through them at all costs anytime I have to fly.

We got to the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport at 12:30 at night and it was 94 degrees!  Holy moly and I was in a sweatshirt and thought I was going to die.  We had issues getting our car rental but luckily someone else from Advocare had made extra reservations and we were able to use one of his.  As we were leaving one of my friends threw out, "You guys want to know what my imagination is telling me.....", sure what are those voices tellin ya?! LOL good times and that was the running joke of the weekend.  This is what happens when your just that tired!  By this time we were starving as we were not able to eat before we flew out of the airport...so it was time to try to find a place that was actually open.  We drove towards where our hotel was and went by a Denny's that didn't look like it was a good area so we moved on.  We spotted an IHOP but it took a lot of turns and going through very confusing construction on the roads before we finally got to it.

YUMMY FOOD!! by this time we were done it was almost 3:00am...then off to our hotel to catch some zzzzz's...but wait for it....We went to the wrong hotel!!! It was an extended stays but the wrong one, and who would have known that there were two so close to each other, literally seemed like they were only 10 to 15 minutes away from each other.  We had unloaded all our bags when we went to check in and had to load them back into the car and drive to the right one.  We finally got in at 4 am!! YES THANK YOU! We crashed and woke up at 11:30 to get ready to start off our Success School.

Needless to say we had some awesome speakers over this weekend from our SciMed Board to guest speakers such as Emmitt Smith and Walter Bond, as well as worship with Michael W. Smith was mind blowing and it ended too soon.  I cannot wait for Success school again and am so excited about what this year has to come!!

To move or not to move! That is the question

The past few days have been anything but peachy.  My back spasms and pain were so bad I could not sit, stand, or lay in any position that would make it feel better.  I got to the point where laying seemed to relieve the pain more than the other positions and I stayed that way as much as possible.  Who wants to deal with the pain right?! Not me!! Laying on the couch seemed like a good idea at the time but apparently I was wrong, it will only make my pain worse....go figure!

After staying up in pain all night and limping around I finally got to the point where I had to have my mom drive me to the ER.  The pain was horrible!!  Every time I tried to move my body would freeze up and it was like one giant spasm throughout my whole back.  It was next to impossible to move for me.  They helped get the spasms to stop and then I went straight to my deep tissue chiropractor and after about four visits I am feeling much better.  My muscles get extremely tight which causes them to lock up so stretching is a must for me and I have to do it about 5 or 6 times a day.  Its definitely worth taking the time to do my stretches instead of living in extreme pain.  I wish I would have known sooner that this is what was causing all my pain.  I was not sure if I would get well enough to fly on a trip coming up but in the end it looks like I will be good to go as long as I keep up on the instructions I was given.  Even though I still hurt its okay because this hurt is a good hurt.  The kind of hurt that happens because your using your muscles and joints again and they are having to get used to moving right. 

I am amazed at how much our muscles and bones all work together and how one thing gets out of place and it can cause several different problems due to that one thing.  He said walking at least 10 minutes a day is a good start but that I have to keep moving and keep everything working how its supposed to.  It's when we don't use our muscles that they tend to lock up.  I will be working through the pain because I know I don't want the alternative!  Luckily I have a Dr. that knows what he is doing and makes sure that he helps get me back on track and healthy!! 

Garage sale....body fail...

I was trying to raise money to go to success school and me and my friend decided to have a garage sale.  I started going through all of my girls baby items only to find I had way more than I thought I did.  I found 3 strollers, 2 cribs, a pack-n-play, 2 bouncers, a baby tub, 2 crib mattresses along with tons of baby clothes and a car seat.

I was feeling pretty dang good and decided I wouldn't bother my dad to help me and loaded his truck all by myself.  I got all but one big box loaded....just ONE box...I thought to myself "I am not coming back for one darn box!!" so I started pulling the items out of the box and shoving them into any nook and cranny that I could find...and it all FIT!!!! YAY ME!  I am feeling pretty dang good about myself right now and hopped into my dad's truck to head over to my friends house to drop it all off for the weekend garage sale.

Luckily her husband and friend unloaded the whole truck for me because I started to feel my back muscles spasming a little bit and like they were tightening up a lot.  Now of course through the whole process of loading up the truck my mom kept telling me DON"T overdo it Rachel, the last thing you need is to screw up your back again but I was like "hey its cool mom I got this! I will be fine just wait and see!!"  And my overconfidence and my refusing to ask for help did me in....the next several days my whole back would go into spasms so bad that my whole body would freeze up in excruciating pain.

On top of that my two year old decided to take one of those exercise bands and play with them so I told her to come put it by me and leave it alone.  Well she put one end by me which I picked up and then she bolted holding onto the other end and let go.  I jumped and covered my face with my arms and lifted my right leg to protect my body and it all went downhill from there.  WHY?! WHY DID I NOT LISTEN TO MY MOM!?  She was right and I overdid it and now have been dealing with the consequences of my actions.  I have been laying down on my couch switching from heat to ice packs off and on throughout the day while doing stretches that my AMAZING chiropractor has been telling me to do.  He said I put my back out when I yanked my leg up...good grief I would do something like that!

I have been going to Deep Tissue Chiropractic ever since I was in high school.  Dr. Taylor is the most amazing guy and has done wonders over the years to help with injuries that I have had.  He focuses on the root of the problem and fixes it.  Dr. Taylor is great at explaining why my back did what it did and what I need to do to fix it.  I literally could not get out of bed without being in excruciating pain and it took me a good half hour just to get sitting up and starting to actually stand out because the spasms were so bad.  After going to Dr. Taylor its A LOT easier to get out of bad and after a few days I am feeling a lot better than I was although we are still working on my muscles as they are very tight, I feel that this is a step in the right direction and truly believe that if I had not gone to him when I did I would have only gotten worse and worse.  I would recommend him to everyone that is suffering from anything being out of place or any muscular issue.  He is extremely knowledgable in his field and am so grateful for everything he has done for me over the years!  I HIGHLY recommend him as he really knows about what he is doing and his main concern is his patients and getting them better!  I truly cannot say enough about how amazing he is!!