Go team GO...

GO CARDINALS............











Just kidding.... Go steelers!!!! (I don't want to be kicked out of the family so I am rootin' for this team)

Ok, now I have to say something.

This is Dan again. While I normally don't care too much about writing on the blog here, I felt the need to talk about something. I got this email recently about the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). Normally I just delete all the forwards and stuff I get but this one caught my attention. To be honest with you I am normally turned off by politics, and I generally feel like you can't trust most politicians farther than you can throw them. But this is legitimately a concern to me. You know, I personally don't have anything against Obama, but I can never get over his stance on abortion. And from what I have read on the FOCA, it is likely to go down. I don't understand how people can justify this kind of laxity towards the value of human life. From what I have read, the FOCA includes complete abolishment of all regulations and restrictions on abortions, including partial-birth abortions, no need for parental consent in underaged abortions, and requirements for alll hospitals, including religious based hospitals (like Catholic hospitals) to perform abortions. I also read that this includes the right to allow doctors/mothers to NOT provide life support to children born after the attemped abortion is botched (although I dont know if this one is just fanatic rumors). Personally, I understand people disagreements on a variety of political issues. In fact, I have never really taken sides completely with any political party and I try to see the good and bad for what they are. But this seems like a black and white issue. I already know that President Obama has signed legislature to provide government funding for abortions in foriegn countries. If the FOCA is next, I am seriously bothered. I dont know what can be done, but you can check it out here: http://www.fightfoca.com/.

Being in medical school, I have frankly been a little disturbed by some of the professors that have taught us about abortions and such. Without going into too much detail, there really is a loss in some physicians minds of the sanctity of life. It is difficult for me at times to have to read and listen to doctors who so casually terminate fetal life. They have their justifications but many of them don't make sense to me at all. I have also been surprised by the risk that some of our prenatal screening programs carry for the fetus. Many of the procedures that women recieve as part of their routine prenatal care carry with them a significant increase in the chance for abortions (meaning unintentional, spontaneous abortions). Looking at the numbers, physicians tend to think that, "Well only 1-2% of the women who get these procedures spontaneously abort, thats not too much." Well if you look at the number of pregnancies during a year this is a VERY significant number of sponteneous abortions occuring. Many of the mothers are likely not even aware of the risks they are taking in getting these procedures. I don't want to freak all you mothers out, and I am certainly no expert, but there are some hard facts here that any physician will admit. These things are tough to sort out for any person, but I just think mothers should be aware. Most often this is only a problem in pregnacies over 35 (with such invasive procedures as Amniocentesis and Chorionic Villus Sampling), and many of the tests run on young mothers really have no associated risks. It is also becoming increasingly difficult for an OB/GYN to become board certified (and hence, able to practice) without learning how to perform abortions. The National Board of OB/GYN has tried to make it mandatory for all licsenced obstetricians to learn to perform abortions. There is no way I would do this man! Even if I had to drop out of school.

Ok, I'm done now. This is a blog man, it's made to speak your mind so feel free to agree/disagree, whatever. You won't bother me. All you need is love. Love is all you need. Texas is AWESOME by the way. Love it here. I used to think that people were stupid for liking Texas so much, but when you are here, it's a whole different story. Make fun of me all you want.
Peace.

It's been a while

It's been a while since I last posted. But there's not too much to wright about. January is the most boring month. My least favorite. Although it is better here in Texas where we get days like yesterday that almost hit 80 degrees outside. But really, January stinks. The high of the holidays wear off, the extra pounds gained from all the good food sink in and it's just a waiting game for spring. Here's a quick update. Work is going really well, I LOVE my new job. Dan is busy with school and studies all the time. Jay and I have become best friends. He follows me around everywhere and runs to greet me at the door when I come home from work. Dan and I really wanted a dog, but decided we didn't have the time for one, so we got a cat. Jay is the best cat and now I am glad we got him. We are still enjoying Texas and all the restaurants here. I might have to do another food post about all our good finds. I love our ward and have made a lot of friends. There are lots of activities going on and get togethers, so I am keeping busy with hanging out with all the girls from our new ward. We got the opportunity to go with the missionaries this week to visit an investigating family. They were wonderful and very interested in the gospel. It was a pretty amazing experience for me. So that's life in a nutshell.

Jay's name

Some people have been curious about where we came up with our new little kitty's name, Jay. I would have named him something cooler like John Lennon, but Jay was his name when we adopted him. He responds to his name, (he's 8 months old), so we figured we would keep it to not confuse him anymore than he already is. He is so sweet and cuddles with me every night, but I am a little concerned about him. He is really stressed out being here and doesn't eat or drink very much, if he even does at all. Hopefully he will get used to his new home. He has even won Dan over, which is a hard thing to do when you are a cat.

We adopted a baby!

We adopted a baby...

Cat!

He is so cute and cuddly, but very quiet and shy. His name is Jay and we rescued him from the Humane Society. He had a sad little story and it felt so good to bring him to our home where he will be loved. Dan wasn't so excited about getting a cat, he doesn't like them very much. But after he met Jay, he really like him, and so he decided we could have him!

Here are pictures of our new baby: