2 years ago this summer I graduated college (yay!). After graduation I was so excited to be done with school and just get to live life. Well now that I haven't been learning stuff or studying new things for a couple of years and mainly just working and binge watching Netflix 24-7, I'm starting to feel complacent. I never knew I would have the desire to further myself intellectually again after graduating. Well, let's put it this way: I really didn't know what to expect after graduation. All I knew is I wanted to have babies (still do) but now I have a different path to get there that I wasn't expecting and I have more life to figure out than planned. I guess I hadn't thought about what I would do if I couldn't just have kids when I wanted to.
Anyways, last month I went to an energy healing class and learned about my chakras and how to take care of my spiritual and mental and energetic health. I've just scratched the surface of something I know is going to change the way I see myself and take care of myself and ultimately, will fortify my relationship with myself. Last night I wrote some goals on how I can move beyond feeling complacent and search for new ways to improve myself:
-Improve upon your skills. Don't let them burn out. Seek for ways to use them.
I saw a meme that I totally agree with, education is not filling a pail but lighting a torch. If that was the case, my pail would be pretty full and I wouldn't need to further my skills. However, especially in my field(s) of expertise, I need to continually improve upon my talents and grow them.
I plan to start taking drawing lessons next month so that I can create my own content and utilize it with my digital skills.
I also am going to start voice lessons again and improve upon my ability to sing.
-If you are dissatisfied with something, find a way to live it instead.
-Appreciate instead of compare. No one else is you or can be you. You need to be only concerned with being YOU.
-Seek to be in the light, find ways to do the things that make your heart sing.
-Prepare for being a mother today.
-Take care of every aspect that is you: spirit, mind, energy, body. Connect your health in all categories.
-Be a healthy you, even if it isn't what others are doing. Seek to be active.
-Spend more time reading and less time on your phone or watching tv.
So I came up with a list of daily things I want to start doing to have "me time," move beyond complacency, and feel like I'm progressing.
--Practice singing daily
--Practice art (whether it be drawing, sketching, or digital)
--Study art, intake and learn and grow my art perspective
--Improve the quality of my home (whether it be cleaning, working on a project, etc)
--Do something active (walk, yoga, etc.)
--Read
I'm excited to have goals to work towards and things that I can do to feel more like I'm investing in myself and being true to the part of me that is a go getter and desires and seeks for new interesting things.
Monday, April 17, 2017
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Infertility
A lot of my friends and family are aware that Matt and I have been trying to have a baby for some time. We had a miscarriage back in 2014 and have struggled since. After having very inconsistent cycles since the miscarriage, I went to a family practice doctor being 2.5 weeks late to figure out what was going on. He tested my thyroid, kidneys, and blood sugar, all were perfectly healthy and running great. He said the issue sounded like I wasn't ovulating every month.
This conclusion led me on a path I never thought I would have to face. With my parents moving to Oregon I was no longer covered with their insurance out of state which created it's own set of problems, let alone my infertility issue. I finally got my own health insurance, the best price I could afford which the benefits could be better but it covers me a decent amount. After that headache, I found an OBGYN my insurance covers and set up a family planning appointment. (Dr. Asay at Leavitt Women's Health Clinic)
Dr. Asay took a look at my history and pulled out this sheet of infertility treatments. I'm not going to lie, seeing that list and realizing I struggle with infertility was kind of a shock. She told me based on my symptoms and history, it looks like I suffer from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). What that means in a nutshell is that I have an imbalance of hormones in my system which are causing small cysts on my ovaries, making my body not ovulate on time and when it does, the eggs are not top quality eggs. This makes getting pregnant very difficult. Luckily, Dr. Asay told me this form of infertility is the most treatable form. She also said it's really easy to diagnose. Right now I am awaiting the results of my day 21 progesterone which tells the doctor if I ovulated or not and confirms the diagnosis.
With PCOS, it is not curable, but is treatable. The symptoms include painful periods, missed and infrequent cycles, acne on the back and chin, weight gain, hairs on the chin and stomach/back. I don't have hair on my belly or back but I have been noticing a lot of ingrown hairs on my chin as well as constant acne on my back and chin, I gained a lot of weight when I miscarried and while I'm healthy and in decent shape, I still weigh more than before my miscarriage. I also have very painful periods and I have missed my ovulation waaaay more than had it on time. (Basically my periods come at least a week late if I didn't ovulate.)
The treatment for PCOS is to take metformin or chlorid to induce ovulation which can result in multiples (which I'm totally fine with haha). The other treatment is to be on birth control when you're not wanting to get pregnant. So basically I'll always have to be medicated. Now, Dr. Asay does want to do a sperm analysis on Matt to make sure it's not just me or isn't me at all (though I highly doubt I'm problem free since I haven't had regular, normal cycles since my miscarriage.)
One of the causes of PCOS is having a miscarriage. HA!!! Oh goodness. Not only do I have to suffer from loosing my baby just from the sadness and emptiness I've dealt with but now I'll always have a reminder of that event because my ovaries are forever messed up.
It's definitely good that it's treatable and easy to deal with, I'm glad for that. I just know we have a long road ahead of us and I so want to be a mom, more than anything in the world. Having to deal with this is never ever something I would have imagined to happen to me or that people dealt with. They really should include infertility and issues that can come from trying to have children when they teach health education. I think if more people knew about infertility and how many people actually deal with it, maybe it would better prepare the women and men who suffer from it and could prevent unnecessary depression and shock when they find out they have it.
This conclusion led me on a path I never thought I would have to face. With my parents moving to Oregon I was no longer covered with their insurance out of state which created it's own set of problems, let alone my infertility issue. I finally got my own health insurance, the best price I could afford which the benefits could be better but it covers me a decent amount. After that headache, I found an OBGYN my insurance covers and set up a family planning appointment. (Dr. Asay at Leavitt Women's Health Clinic)
Dr. Asay took a look at my history and pulled out this sheet of infertility treatments. I'm not going to lie, seeing that list and realizing I struggle with infertility was kind of a shock. She told me based on my symptoms and history, it looks like I suffer from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). What that means in a nutshell is that I have an imbalance of hormones in my system which are causing small cysts on my ovaries, making my body not ovulate on time and when it does, the eggs are not top quality eggs. This makes getting pregnant very difficult. Luckily, Dr. Asay told me this form of infertility is the most treatable form. She also said it's really easy to diagnose. Right now I am awaiting the results of my day 21 progesterone which tells the doctor if I ovulated or not and confirms the diagnosis.
With PCOS, it is not curable, but is treatable. The symptoms include painful periods, missed and infrequent cycles, acne on the back and chin, weight gain, hairs on the chin and stomach/back. I don't have hair on my belly or back but I have been noticing a lot of ingrown hairs on my chin as well as constant acne on my back and chin, I gained a lot of weight when I miscarried and while I'm healthy and in decent shape, I still weigh more than before my miscarriage. I also have very painful periods and I have missed my ovulation waaaay more than had it on time. (Basically my periods come at least a week late if I didn't ovulate.)
The treatment for PCOS is to take metformin or chlorid to induce ovulation which can result in multiples (which I'm totally fine with haha). The other treatment is to be on birth control when you're not wanting to get pregnant. So basically I'll always have to be medicated. Now, Dr. Asay does want to do a sperm analysis on Matt to make sure it's not just me or isn't me at all (though I highly doubt I'm problem free since I haven't had regular, normal cycles since my miscarriage.)
One of the causes of PCOS is having a miscarriage. HA!!! Oh goodness. Not only do I have to suffer from loosing my baby just from the sadness and emptiness I've dealt with but now I'll always have a reminder of that event because my ovaries are forever messed up.
It's definitely good that it's treatable and easy to deal with, I'm glad for that. I just know we have a long road ahead of us and I so want to be a mom, more than anything in the world. Having to deal with this is never ever something I would have imagined to happen to me or that people dealt with. They really should include infertility and issues that can come from trying to have children when they teach health education. I think if more people knew about infertility and how many people actually deal with it, maybe it would better prepare the women and men who suffer from it and could prevent unnecessary depression and shock when they find out they have it.
Friday, February 5, 2016
THINX: For ladies only
Ok ladies! I decided I was getting rather sick and tired of stupid pads and tampons. They are the WORST solution for a woman with periods. Then I found this:
Behold! Panties designed for women with periods! So I got myself a pair (They're like $30 for one so I wanted to try one first then see how it worked before getting more pairs) Now, I read a lot of reviews and was a little skeptical, a pair of panties that can hold 2 tampons worth of blood? Hmmm.... So I decided to give it a go.
First of all, they offer a variety of sizes, styles, and levels of heaviness the panties can handle. I was a little disappointed when you couldn't mix a certain style with a certain heaviness of flow, for example, I wanted the heaviest flow which is the hip hugger style but I wanted to try it in a different style. I understand certain ones like thongs cannot work for really heavy days because the style just doesn't allow it but all the rest I could totally see being flexible. They have two colors, black and cream. I chose black but maybe I'll try a cream pair, I bet you could more easily monitor your panties flow intake if you can see the color change.
Now you really need to know your body and it's flow each month when committing to these panties. You need to know how long it takes you to use 2 tampons on your heaviest days. If you aren't too heavy, the heaviest panties, hip huggers, work great for about 8 hours. I am a very heavy girl on my first couple of days, especially the second day, so I can only wear the panties for like 2-4 hours tops.
These panties do require hands-on maintenance as they are basically a super pad inside your underwear. You have to rinse them out in the sink before washing on cold without fabric softener then hang dry. Because of this work, you kind of want to have a couple of pairs so that while one is washing you can wear another one.
So what are the pros?
-Every pair you buy sends a pair of reusable pads to girls in Africa where they cannot afford disposable pads and tampons and they are then able to keep attending school so you're being a huge help to others when helping your lady issues.
-No waste! Instead of your garbage filling up with those *cough cough* lovely used pads and tampons, you just simply wash the panties.
-Because you aren't buying disposable lady products, you are saving a lot of money each month.
-So much more comfortable than sticking a cotton tube in your lady parts and they don't disintegrate like pads do after worn for a while.
-On light days where there's spotting these are PERFECTTTTT!
-You have to wear panties anyways so might as well combine both forces, no sticky pads sticking to your legs/hips where it doesn't belong, sliding out of place, etc.
And the cons?
-You have to hand rinse each pair, which you know what's in them, so it's up to you if you find that tolerable. I myself would rather deal with that than trying to sneak tampons around and all that junk.
-Some people work long shifts at work or school so they may not have the time to allow them to wear panties for about 4 hours then clean them and change into new ones, especially at work where you'd have to hide the dirty pair until you can go home. I have the fortune of having a flexible schedule where I get to control when I go home.
-They aren't the best for sleeping, I still have to wear pads at least for bed. But there's also moments like swimming/temple attendance where you'd have to keep a small supply of pads/tampons on hand for moments like that.
-They are not 100% leak proof, if you have worn them longer than they can handle they'll leak and stain so like I said earlier, you must know your body very well.
In my mind, they are amazing and I'm going to get a couple more pairs. Are they the perfect solution? No, but oh my goodness they make you feel and look cute on your period and have so much comfort to them, it's amazing. This is just my review on them :)
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Interviews and Rough Digitals
Today I conducted three more interviews and I have been working on rough digitals for my posters in the exhibit.
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Source Materials Table and Interview-Gabby
I interviewed my niece, Gabby Reader, going into 1st grade, 6 years old. Unfortunately I was not able to record her interview so I will sum it up:
Gabby is still getting used to being around a lot of people in school. Most people are nice, there is one boy in her grade that was chasing people a lot and causing them to get hurt so he had to talk with the principal but he keeps doing it, even after being punished. She is still grasping the concept of why it's important to be nice to others. She knows in theory what a bully is but I got the impression that, like a lot of children, they think a bully only does extreme things. For the most part she hasn't heard people lie or spread rumors about others and people are generally nice. She thinks that a more awareness could help kids to reduce bullying and to help others be nice. Knowing my niece, she has had an attitude problem when we've had family get togethers so I wouldn't be surprised if she had attitude with other kids. She is not comfortable going to her teacher about bullies or mean people.
I didn't do a Source Materials Table earlier but here's mine even though I'm in the middle of gathering my data:
Gabby is still getting used to being around a lot of people in school. Most people are nice, there is one boy in her grade that was chasing people a lot and causing them to get hurt so he had to talk with the principal but he keeps doing it, even after being punished. She is still grasping the concept of why it's important to be nice to others. She knows in theory what a bully is but I got the impression that, like a lot of children, they think a bully only does extreme things. For the most part she hasn't heard people lie or spread rumors about others and people are generally nice. She thinks that a more awareness could help kids to reduce bullying and to help others be nice. Knowing my niece, she has had an attitude problem when we've had family get togethers so I wouldn't be surprised if she had attitude with other kids. She is not comfortable going to her teacher about bullies or mean people.
I didn't do a Source Materials Table earlier but here's mine even though I'm in the middle of gathering my data:
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Interviews-David
I also Interviewed David Adams, going into first grade. He was kind of shy so a lot of his responses were physical unless he had more to say.
Q: How do you feel about being in school with lots of people in class? Is it kind of crazy?
A: Nodded yes
Q: Have you ever known someone at school that has made you angry or annoyed?
A: No.
Q: Have you known someone that is different than you? Does things differently?
A: Shook his head.
Q: Have you ever seen someone be mean to someone else?
A: Shook his head.
Q: What would you do if you were at school and someone was saying to someone else that they looked ugly and fat? Would you say something or would you just kind of sit there?
A: I don't know...
Q: Do you think we should say mean things to other people?
A: Shook his head.
Q: How does it make you feel when someone is making you annoyed or frustrated?
A: Like I want to forgive them...
Q: When you're upset or having a bad day have you ever said something that wasn't nice that you didn't mean?
A: Shakes his head. I don't know...
Q: Have you ever heard someone say something that isn't true about someone else?
A: Shrugs
Q: Have you ever told lies about someone else?
A: Shakes head.
Q: Why is important to be nice to other people?
A: So that I can live with Heavenly Father again.
Q: What if you were sitting next to someone at school and they started to hit the person next to them? Would you try to stop them?
A: Yeah...
Q: What is a bully?
A: Someone that does mean things to other people.
Q: Do you think that sometimes people are bullies and they don't realize they're bullies?
A: Nods head yes.
Q: Do you think that if more kids thought about what they said before they did it that we'd have less bullies?
A: Nods head yes.
Q: How do you feel about being in school with lots of people in class? Is it kind of crazy?
A: Nodded yes
Q: Have you ever known someone at school that has made you angry or annoyed?
A: No.
Q: Have you known someone that is different than you? Does things differently?
A: Shook his head.
Q: Have you ever seen someone be mean to someone else?
A: Shook his head.
Q: What would you do if you were at school and someone was saying to someone else that they looked ugly and fat? Would you say something or would you just kind of sit there?
A: I don't know...
Q: Do you think we should say mean things to other people?
A: Shook his head.
Q: How does it make you feel when someone is making you annoyed or frustrated?
A: Like I want to forgive them...
Q: When you're upset or having a bad day have you ever said something that wasn't nice that you didn't mean?
A: Shakes his head. I don't know...
Q: Have you ever heard someone say something that isn't true about someone else?
A: Shrugs
Q: Have you ever told lies about someone else?
A: Shakes head.
Q: Why is important to be nice to other people?
A: So that I can live with Heavenly Father again.
Q: What if you were sitting next to someone at school and they started to hit the person next to them? Would you try to stop them?
A: Yeah...
Q: What is a bully?
A: Someone that does mean things to other people.
Q: Do you think that sometimes people are bullies and they don't realize they're bullies?
A: Nods head yes.
Q: Do you think that if more kids thought about what they said before they did it that we'd have less bullies?
A: Nods head yes.
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