Today has been a day filled with all kinds of intense pain. In an attempt to try and divert attention away from the pain I decided that I’d do some editing of some pictures I took the other day. In my part of the world during the winter there is nothing better than the horror frost we get on the trees. This winter however I haven’t seen all that much, so the opportunities haven’t been there to take pictures. So when I woke up to this I made a break to snap a few pictures. There was a lot of fog along with so the conditions weren’t as perfect as I’d have liked them to be.It was one of those days where everywhere I turned I saw the perfect picture in front of my eyes.

I’ve been waiting very patiently to get some winter pictures this year, but that’s been next to impossible because winter just hasn’t arrived! So when this arrived my mind started going crazy thinking of the possibilities.

What do I like about winter? Your answer is right here in these pictures! The horror frost transforms things into a winter wonderland.

I could have kept going the entire day except for the fact that the frost started to fall off the trees. After a while it got frustrating because every time I’d go to take a picture melting frost would fall off the tree limbs and go down my neck. I’m just happy that I felt good enough to go out and spend some time doing what I love to do!

I don’t have a lot to say about my health today because I refuse to let pain control my life. This is one of those rare days that I just want to focus on something other than CRPS. Hope you all enjoy the pictures!

Today I’m posting some pictures that I had posted a couple of months back. The eagle is just one of those birds that you never get tired of looking at. These pictures were taken off our front lawn at our cottage on Vancouver Island. In some ways this is almost like a mini memorial because this year the tree that they were sitting in was taken down in a wind storm that hit.

I will always have all these amazing memories of sitting outside on our deck listening to them sit high above in this tree calling each other.You never had to go far to get a photo and we would watch them flying up and down the beach and out into the ocean to hunt for fish.

You really don’t appreciate how amazing they really are until you’ve watched them up close to see the power that they have. When I caught these two eagle on this particular day they were particularly vocal. There was a dead salmon on the beach that they kept diving after, so it was back and forth from the tree to the beach.

The unfortunate part was that I was only armed with a short lens so I had to do the best I could with what I had. They are such a powerful bird yet when you watch them they really do seem so graceful in the sky. I consider myself quite lucky to be able to watch them off my deck as they patrol the beach.

We’ve had many years of being able to sit on that deck with your morning coffee listening to nature at it’s best and so the tree that was right next door will be missed. It’s not the end of the eagles in the area because they have several nests up and down the beach, but it’s the end of a very special part of what makes our cottage so inviting! So I hope you enjoy some of the photos that I got.

Well I hope everyone had a great Valentine’s Day! It’s been a few extra days and I’m sorry about that. I’ve had a few hard days mixed in with a few days where time just didn’t allow for me to update. The great news is that after six weeks I’m able to drive again! So it’s back to being the shuttle to and from school for the kids. I’m still having problems sitting but I’m hopeful that over time that will go. I’m due in the next week or two for my follow up with the neurosurgeon and at the implant clinic where I’ll talk to them about the issues that I’m still having. Overall though slowly things are getting better!

So in today’s post I’ve just decided that today just has to be one of those days that I just don’t talk all that much about my health. In my last post I had let you know that I was hoping that this week would be the launch of my new Etsy shop that will be selling my photography. I’m still hoping that it will happen later this week, but I’m having trouble getting a couple of things into place. I’m hoping this will happen in the next day or two but if it doesn’t then next week will be the opening. So keep checking back because it’s going to be a great addition to my site. I hope people like what they see in the shop! I was looking through my pictures in archives today and came up with a few to post so here you go.

Another first that will be happening on my site is that I will be hosting my first ever giveaway. I don’t often do giveaway’s here but I thought that it was about time that I did a little something for all of you. So I will be giving away a free copy of “My Memory Suite” a digital scrap-booking software by My Memories. If you want to check out their site ahead of time please go to their site at www.mymemories.com and take a look at all of the great things they have. So stay tuned for details on that as I’ll be posting the ways that you can enter.

A couple of posts back I had mentioned that I thought it would be a great idea to start something called Testimony Tuesday. Well I would really like to start something like this but I don’t have anybody’s stories as of yet. I know that this is a very personal thing that I’m asking of people, but it only has to be as personal as you want it to be. I still think that when we are open that it helps us come together, helping us to relate to one another. Are you suffering from Chronic Pain? Do you have a story that you want to share with others to encourage? I’ll throw it out there and ask anyone who wants to get involved to contact me via my site email and I’ll fill you in on the details. See everyone next time!

Happy weekend everyone! What plans do you have for the weekend? I’m hoping myself to finally spend some time out of the house!! It’s been a while since I’ve been able to get out and play with the camera so that is definitely going to figure into the weekend in some way! I want to start incorporating more of my photography into this site. As I’ve mentioned on a few occasions I’m in the planning stages of my Etsy shop and I’m almost ready to launch. I’m just finishing up a few details and hopefully by next week it will be time to launch it!

So over the last month I’ve put up a couple of posts called Climbing My Everest  & Climbing My Everest #2. I really had no intentions of a third part but then I started thinking about what I was going to post on today, I thought to myself that I had to make this the third in the series. This week has been filled with all sorts of ups and downs as far as how I have been feeling. There have been days where I have felt ready to push for the top of the mountain, and other days where I feel as though it’s been obstacle after obstacle that sideline my efforts.

When your climbing a mountain like Everest you have to be prepared for any type of weather condition and be ready for any type of a situation that you might face. Your going to come up against some sections that are steep and require a little bit more from you mentally and physically, and others that are easier and require less effort. It means adapting and being prepared for things to take unexpected turns. Dealing with CRPS works in the same way, you always need to be prepared for the unexpected. You need to be able to adapt to a given situation, and remain confident that you can get yourself through it. That’s what it’s been like this week, just when I think I’m on my way to the top I hit a section in my climb that challenges me and takes more effort.

In a climb like this you have to expect that there are going to be times where you stare adversity in the face. What you do is up to you! You can either give up and turn back down the mountain, or you can overcome each obstacle as you climb. You also have to expect that sometimes things are going to take a bit longer than you had expected. If you stay positive and take on each stage as you get to it, slowly but surely you work your way to the top. You push on taking one step at a time putting one foot in front of the other. You going to have times where you tell yourself that you can’t take any more, but you can do it if you believe in yourself!

Ok! Here I am with probably attempt number three to get a post up today. When I woke up this morning I knew from the start that it was going to be a hard day. I’ve been dealing with dizziness and headaches along with an inability to concentrate. As is so often the case things changed overnight and I’m having a hard time dealing with it today. Even planning out today’s post just hasn’t happened. What I was planning to post for today will just have to wait until tomorrow. So instead today I’m going to put up a short post in regards to the changes that are coming up for Google Friend Connect.

As most of you know as of March 1, 2012 for those of us that don’t host our blogs on Blogger we will lose the GFC  on our blogs. If your host is blogger then you’ll continue to get my feed when I post. However if you don’t host on blogger and you like following my post then your going to need to find a different way to get my updates. So take a minute to check out these different ways in which you can follow me. I have three other great ways in which you can follow my site, first of all you can follow my RSS, or you can follow me on Facebook, or Twitter.

I really hope that people take a minute to check out these different ways to keep getting my feeds, because I want to stay in touch with each of you as well. I really appreciate those of you that have been reading my site! At the end of the month I’ll be removing the GFC widget from my site so if your following me there make the change to my RSS or one of the others asap! I’ll talk to everyone soon.

Hi everybody! It’s Friday and the weekend is upon us. A few pictures to kick it off! I’m finally starting to feel like things are back to a semi-normal state after my surgery. I’m still dealing with some issues and pain but at least things are going better, and I feel like things can start to get back into a regular routine. Of course that won’t happen until I’m able to start driving again in the next two weeks, but I’m inching closer to that day. If you didn’t already know, the reason I’ve been unable to drive is so that I allow the lead in my neck to scar in so that it doesn’t shift out of place again.

I’m doing much better though and I believe the worst of the surgical pain has come and gone. I’ve still got a lot of recovering to do but it only gets easier from here on out. I want to thank those of you out there that have contacted me and encouraged me through the last few months. In the last little while I’ve also had some fellow sufferers contacting me and encouraging me with their comments, and I want to say thank-you and tell them to stay in touch. Your are a big part of the reason that I keep fighting to win this battle.

In speaking with other sufferers something that has been weighing on my mind is how important it is to be a support network for each other. I’ve always felt this way but it can be hard staying in touch because pain works it’s magic, distracting and isolating people into their own little world. This distraction can often lead to depression, which if it becomes bad enough can sometimes lead to suicidal thoughts or even suicide itself.  I was recently reading that the suicide rate for people suffering from chronic pain is double the chance of someone not suffering from chronic pain. Using our support groups and networks around us can help bring that number down.

This leads me to something new that I want to introduce to my site, however I need some help from those of you out there who suffer from chronic pain. I’m going to add a weekly post that will be called “Testimonial Tuesday”. In some way shape or form we all have a story to tell in dealing with our pain. I’d like to hear some of those stories and share them here on my site. So if your interested please contact through my sites email for details.  Hope to hear from some of you soon!

I’m back for another exciting post even though I don’t have anything exciting to post about. I’m now about three weeks post surgery and slowly going mad doing nothing. It’s still at least two more weeks before I’ll be allowed to drive so I’m pretty much housebound at the moment. I have to be very careful at this stage in the game to not do something dumb that will cause the lead in my neck to shift. So for the time being I’m not doing much of anything but it’s not easy to do. It’s hard to watch your spouse running around doing a million things to try and keep the family running, but she does an incredible job!

This brings me to the purpose of my post for today. As a couple we try to split the work of raising a family down the middle, doing whatever it takes to get things done. Since being diagnosed with CRPS things have been more one sided with me doing what I can when I can. In the last couple of months with me going through all the surgeries and having to recover, all of the responsibilities have fallen on her shoulders. With everything that this family has had to go through over the last little while, she has had to be the one to hold this family together and keep it going.

This fight with my CRPS isn’t all about me. Although lots of times the focus of this illness falls on me, there is an amazing person who often doesn’t get the recognition she deserves for everything that she does. A person who gives every minute of every day doing whatever it takes to get things done. Often this will be done with sacrificing her own wants and needs putting the rest of the family first! I feel like the luckiest man alive because I get to be married to her, and take this journey through life with her. So in case you hadn’t already figured it out I’m talking about my wife!

The last couple of months have been every bit as hard on her as she’s had to do pretty much everything! CRPS affects her life in a lot of the same ways as it does mine. At times she needs to blow off steam just as much as I do, to try and deal with the extra stress it causes in her life. She had me laughing the other day because she was in the middle of her Wii workout doing a boxing exercise. All I could hear was “take this” take that” over and over. Later she told me that she was imagining herself beating up CRPS, and everything it has taken from our lives.

As a couple we fight this illness together, and we recognize what each of us has to deal with through all of it. When one of us needs to be encouraged then the other is there to do just that. I know this has been a long hard haul over the last several months and years for her, and I can’t begin to tell her how great full and appreciative I am for everything she does. There is no other woman like you! I Love You!

Photo by: Vietnamese Everest Adventure

I’m back with an update and I wish I had a lot to tell you about my health, but things are pretty slow going although progress is being made. The swelling from the surgery is taking it’s sweet time to go down and I have good times and bad times. Like I said before it’s just a matter of healing time over the next couple of months. Thanks again for all the well wishes and encouraging comments on my blog from all of my blogging friends.

In an earlier post I had mentioned that going through all these surgeries has been like climbing my own Mt.Everest, and as I started thinking about that post I thought about the fact that I had more to say therfore I bring you Part #2. The reason for this is because often this is the part in the expedition where people give up and turn back. When I was writing that last post I was in the middle of a storm. It is quite common to hear peoples stories of how they attempted to climb Everest yet they ran into a storm and were forced to turn back because conditions were to severe. Or that Hollywood movie is made where all but one are swept off the side of the mountain, and it becomes one persons story of survival.

If I were to parallel where I was just at I would have to say that is where I would have been at the time of the surgeries. It was blizzard after blizzard hitting me taking every ounce of strength mentally and physically from my body. I had to find some way to ride out the storm without turning back. In the stories people tell you hear about that little crack in the mountain side that people find shelter in. In my case I had to rely on God to help me weather that storm. There were periods of time where I thought that this was all too much and that I needed to turn back. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it would have been easier just to turn around and head back down the mountain to safety.

At this point in time it became more of a mental challenge than a physical challenge. If you ask the majority of climbers they will probably tell you that the mental aspect of the climb is every bit as important, if not more important than the physical. So this is the part for me I had to ask God to give me the mental strength I needed to get through that storm. He was my shelter through it all. I needed the ability to think clearly and make the right choices. Most of all though I needed the comfort of knowing I was going to make it through.

Photo By: National Geographic

I was committed to getting through this storm there was no turning back! I’ve made the decision to move forward and get to the top of the mountain however I’ve needed some guidance along the way. So where am I at in my climb? At this moment the storm has calmed down and the weather is starting to clear. My climb has resumed and I’m pushing for the top. How long it takes or what lay ahead is hard to say, but I can see it and I know I’ll get there. What a rewarding feeling it will be to get to the top!

Hi everyone! Well after a few glitches with the social networks everything is working fine again! So feel free to check them out and join me on those pages!

I’m back tonight with a short post because the two videos I’m about to include are going to do most of the talking. As I mentioned in the previous post this last couple of months hasn’t been easy on me or the rest of the family, with all the surgeries I’ve had to go through.  As hard as things have been though there remains one constant through all of this and that’s God’s presence and ability to show up when needed!

I’ve been dealing with a pretty intense fight in regards to pain over the last several weeks, and to be quite honest it’s been wearing me down. Something though kept telling me to keep going and to stop listening to that little voice that kept chirping in my ear telling me that I can’t take any more! So last night I opened up my laptop to start writing this weeks post. I wasn’t really sure what I was going to write about, so I started looking at music and some video’s which I sometimes look towards to find inspiration. Then I came across this!

As I watched this I knew I had to post it. Such an amazing story about a girl who wasn’t suppose to live but was healed by God’s touch, and parents that found comfort in worship! After watching this I knew that God had been speaking right to me and once again He’s there to pick me up and give me the strength to keep going.