I mentioned a while back that I wanted to retire my following of a popular 7 Quick Takes Friday list and instead do a list of 5 things because I always make up some stupid crap for the last 2 things when there are 7, and I’d like to not be restricted to Fridays. So here it is, my new random-thoughts list feature, please feel free to grab this image and make your own 5 Unrelated Things post!

1.

I am super excited that so many people read, shared, and commented on my Jesus is a Feminist post. This topic means a lot to me and I hope more Jesus people will start contributing to the feminist conversations.

2.

I have both expanded and narrowed the description of my blog. The new sub-tagline is: A blog about living consciously, which includes being conscious of the impact we have on our earth by green living as well as being conscious of our own bodies through natural health and wellness, fitness and nutrition.

You might notice that I took out reference to natural parenting and cloth diapering. It’s not that I have anything against mommy bloggers, but more that I am not one. If I mention my children it is because I am on this journey of conscientiousness for them and I mean to include them so that they, too, can learn to live consciously and intentionally. This blog is not for showing you pictures of their latest artwork or how we do crafts. Mostly because, uh, we don’t. I’m just not that kind of mommy.

3.

I met ladies from two of the most awesome fitness-related sites at BlogHer and I wanted to share those sites with you! Ms. Fit magazine is a web site with a huge variety of articles that combine fitness and feminism. How cool is that? I am fascinated. Then there is Fit Approach, I love the first paragraph of their site description: “We believe that kicking ass is best done in pretty shoes. We’ve learned that real women sweat, and sweat hard. We know that assertiveness, strength, and ambition are the ultimate feminine qualities.”

I hope you enjoy and are inspired by these newly discovered sites as much as I am!

4.

This week, I’m over at Dallas Moms Blog writing about our getaway to a nearby wildlife preserve, Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. We had a lot of fun and it’s only 2 hours from Dallas. I bet it will be even more fun in the fall when it’s a little cooler.

5.

I saved the best for last, this might be worthy of a post in itself. It is time for me to admit that my acne is out of control. I don’t know what is going on. It has been 3-4 months now of VERY severe cystic acne. Cystic acne is acne that comes from underneath the skin and is usually a result of something being wrong inside the body, not on the surface of the skin. I have switched skin product lines 3 times now. I have tried colloidal silver (internally), lavender and tea tree essential oils (externally), witch hazel, hydrogen peroxide, coconut oil, clay masks, etc. I can’t figure out how to stop it. I have been treated by a dermatologist in the past, in my pre-green living days, and she told me I would have to be on low-dose antibiotics and retinol cream for the rest of my life to control the cystic acne. I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT. It cannot be normal for someone to have to rely on antibiotics their entire life. And prescription strength retinol cream is safe for neither pregnancy or breastfeeding.

Possibly related to the skin issue: my GERD is back. This is an issue I had before I became a vegetarian and before I had kids. Everything I eat or don’t eat makes me feel sick. Although papaya enzyme worked for my GERD before, it isn’t working now. Something has gotten more severe. I am afraid it is related to my skin issue.

Here is my call for advice: to what kind of professional do I go? I refuse to accept what the dermatologist said about constant antibiotics. I frankly don’t trust Western medicine much at all, because I think it’s all going to end up in non-stop antibiotics. Going to a gastroenterologist also ended up in non-stop medications with side effects that I can’t take when pregnant anyway. I think this is beyond the scope of a chiropractor. Honestly, I am afraid that if I go to my naturopath, she is just going to tell me to go off gluten and dairy. On top of already being a vegetarian, this makes eating practically impossible for me on the go as I am.

Where would you go? Who would you ask, if this happened to you?