A Little Something to Brighten the Gloom

Found this today on relevant.com, in their news snippets section.

The already spirited debate about climate change is about to get more spirited. Now, a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that climate change is irreversible, even if we cut our carbon emissions. You know what that means: Hummers for everyone! ...

I love the snarkyness in this. There is so much gloom to be had, but if we could all band together and laughing and crying...I think we will make it through just fine.
Fine indeed.

Natural is Best

Found this on another blog and wanted to spread the message.

I am currently in Roseburg, Oregon, where I hosted my
> sister-in-law's baby shower yesterday. One guest was
> missing - Christina Heyniger Howington. While I have known
> Christina since we went to elementary school it had been
> quite awhile since I had seen her. However, my brother and
> his wife were especially close with her and her husband. She
> and her husband, Heath and daughter, Alyssa (13) spent
> Thanksgiving with my family in Sunriver last week. She had a
> wonderful time and was thrilled that Christmas was near. All
> seemed perfect in her world. She was full of life, happy,
> energetic, and loved her husband of 17 years and their
> daughter.
>
> She began using NuvaRing 2 1/2 months ago and started
> having headaches. They were not severe so she didn't pay
> too much attention. On Thursday morning, she woke up with a
> severe headache and began vomiting. She also became
> lethargic and wanted to go back to sleep. Her husband rushed
> her to the ER where she had a CT Scan. The first diagnosis
> was an aneurysm. She was helicoptered to OHSU in Portland
> and the diagnosis was changed to a blood clot. Once in
> surgery, surgeons were alarmed to find multiple blood clots
> throughout her brain. They tried to get to all of them and
> planned to do another CT Scan the following day to be sure
> all clots had been addressed. Christina's brain began
> swelling and her condition became grave. She was pl aced
> into a medically induced coma to address the brain swelling
> and was put on life support. By Friday, her condition
> worsened and her brain began shutting down. She was taken
> off life support in a last attempt to address her brain
> swelling, but efforts were halted as it was determined that
> her brain had no further activity. Christina lost her life
> but became a hero as she was an organ donor. Her lungs are
> already in transport to California where they will save
> someone's life. Blood clots, however, have been found in
> other organs such as her liver.
>
> Doctors are VERY suspicious that this tragedy was the
> result of NuvaRing birth control. They said they have had
> "hundreds" of cases where women are showing up
> with blood clots after using this contraceptive. It is my
> goal to honor her life by using her story to save even one
> other person from this terrible fate. Please pass this
> information along. It's the last effort we can do to
> honor a truly amazing woman.
>
> Thank you for reading this.
>
> Jill Chartier Guevara

Augustine Colebrook, CPM, LM

Personally I have been taking nuvaring and have not encountered any problems...yet. But I do feel a tad over-hormonal than I would usually be. The thing that concerns me the most is any "investment" in drug companies. They make these outrageously priced drugs that you need to live...I don't think they had prozac in Jesus' time. I know that these drugs do help improve some peoples' lives, but I also know that they can rob you of life as well.

In my personal experience if you can avoid a RX that is the best thing possible. Doctors are all too excited to prescribe meds on the fly. For instance, right before my wedding (I was planning a wedding, graduating from high school, and working two jobs) I was feeling a little stressed, which is a normal feeling from life that should not be supressed, but something rather to welcome and cope with/grow from. My doctor at the time from just hearing my admittance to a little anxiety prescribed me prozac. I also said that I had asthma attacks maybe once every 1-2 weeks, I got a rescue inhaler and a medical inhaler. I also mentioned I wasn't quite ready to squeeze one out and she put me on nuvaring without a second thought.

I think that birth prevention and family planning are both very valuable things and I wouldn't openly choose to get pregnant. But I would rather have a very special and beautiful "surprise" than cancer in 30 years (because we didn't know the effects of the medications we so readily prescribe to anyone).

Another aspect to remember is how much healthcare lobbyists want your money. Our Congress and the FDA cannot be trusted to make healthy decisions for us at this point (unless things change because people start caring about their government and we have strong leadership). Legislations/regulations are so so so easily passed because lobbyists are throwing our government officials "donations". Drug companies are all about money...not your health.

I know that these are very personal decisions that we all need to make, I guess what I am getting at is that you investigate this to your heart's content and think deeply about what you put into your body. This is a decision that nearly every woman faces in her lifetime and it is an extremely important one at that.

Thank you for staying with me till the end!

Cob Houses

In my infinite/jobless boredom I have began to think of alternative ways of living. I have this lovely little daydream of someday not living so close to people that watch UFC on a daily basis or beat up their drunken sisters (oh how I love the apartment life). In this dream I have always wanted a little home that was almost cottage like. I want to live in a small space. Really similar to the apartment we live in now, which feels big enough for Shawn, me, Tiger, and Bandit.

I was looking around and found these really cute eco-friendly homes that you can make with your own two hands. Here you have it...Cob Houses!







They are reminiscent of the little hobbiton houses, but I love it. The house really can reflect your creativity and stays warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and lets you feel more like you are outdoors than in an industrial structure. I just get tired of the generic looking homes that are out there. If not a cob house, I would want a really old house that had a lot of natural wood in it.

I don't know...it's 1:11am and this is all I can come up with. Maybe I will dream about it tonight...

Still Here...

Hey all,

I'm still alive. Just being a little more quiet these days and introspective. Sometimes things don't go your way, seems like every time this thought gets a little easier.

With a stretch of sunshine in our beautiful city, I have spent some time walking the dogs. Mulling things over. Got laid off from my job (hence the melancholy...which isn't really melancholy, it is more of relief).

Something I have always been thankful for is the ebb and flow of life. It seems when the waters are too high, they find themselves backing down to the blue. Changes can be difficult but it is important to welcome them. Changes are what bring us to a better place in life (ultimately).

These days things are running a little more slower for me, which is a much needed change of pace. Lots of reading, photography, loving the dogs, my husband, and spending more time with friends (i.e. Katie).

As the season changes I am learning to be more thankful and in touch with my body. Something I'm sure we could all use right now.

Best Friends

Shawn took some pictures of my favorite lady and I...check it out! And don't forget to book Shawn Ingersoll Photography for any of your photography needs...shameless plugs are my favorite.












Courtesy of Shawn Ingersoll Photography (shawningersoll.blogspot.com///findthefound.com)

Ioanida and Wil

We had some lovely people with pretty faces at our house. Here's my best...