A little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Well hello.  I know, I know all of you have been anxiously awaiting an update on my life and I aim to please.

First off, the job searing continues.  Everyday I look for and apply to as many jobs as possible.  Thankfully when looking for nursing jobs, most hospitals have all your info saved and you just have to click a few buttons and remind them of  your gender and ethnicity and bada bing.  Praise the Lord I am getting somewhere, talking to people and filling out questioners.  Nothing concrete yet but at least the job train is moving and I am not just sending applications out to the clouds.  And that darn questioner put my panties in a bunch because one time I failed one.  Have no fear, I didn't this time.  During the time of "preemployment" I have gotten a new perspective on the unemployed. As I sit in my parents house with no necessary expenses currently I have some stress about finding a job.  I cannot even imagine the stress for an unemployed bread winner of a family.  My heart goes out to anyone in that situation and I am praying for you.  

Insert awkward transition to lighter topics. 

For the past few weeks I have been nannying the family I watched last summer.  The timing was actually divine, she called me the week before I took my test to see if I could come work and I told her not that week because I had to hard core study and take the test but after that week we could talk.  Well since then I have been working 2-3 days a week which is awesome because I have been putting all that money directly to student loans (a full post coming soon with a whole bunch of Dave Ramsey).

So another thought floating around in my noggin' is how excited I am for the NAS series to start back up.   Even though our community has been great on the FB page I miss having a topic to write about each week. Sorry Morgan and Jen that at the moment I am fresh out of topic ideas but I will let you know if I think of one.  

I have also noticed lately that I am not good with keeping up my MyFertilityMD app.  Thankfully I am in a season of life that it really doesn't matter but I want to stay diligent.  However anyone who has diligently charted for at least a few months I think can agree that it becomes second nature to notice your signs of fertility without much thought.  

Well that is all I have today happening and what better way to end than on fertility and such.  

What a NFP Awareness Week

So I didn't realize that National NFP Awareness Week was actually something by the USSCB, how cool is that!

via 

For NFP awareness week I want to respond to this article in the best way possible.  I then realized someone was already on it. When reading the Buzzfead article, "We Asked 22 Women Why They Take Birth Control and These Are Their Answers" my heart broke over women believing the lies often associated with artificial contraception.

(Make sure you read all the way to the last paragraph of this post because I really think the last one is the best.)

"Because I deserve a say in what happens to my body and my life."  I couldn't agree more.  The pill is a carcinogen that turns off something that naturally occurs in the body.  It increases your risk of breast cancer and lowers your sex drive.  IUDs increase the risk of a STD. The rate of divorce in marriages that use artificial contraception is higher than marriages who don't use artificial contraception.  Yes you do deserve a say in what happens in your body and life I just hope and pray you do the research before choosing the pill.

"Because I wanted clear skin" Don't we all, but at what cost are you willing to get clear skin?

"To get my hormones in check"  That sounds like an awesome idea.  However the pill is more of a band aid approach that regulates them until you stop taking it.  Instead get your hormones in check by working with a doctor who cares about you and your fertility, like a NaPRO doctor.  Solve the problem, don't just put a band aid on it.

"I love children but am too young to young to want my own children."  Then why are you participating in the act that was designed to create children?  If you are too young to want children then you are too young to be having sex. 

"To unavoid unintentional pregnancy, so I don't need an abortion."  Did you know that the only 100% way to prevent pregnancy is abstinence, NOT birth control.  In addition, Mother Theresa says it best, "It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."

"I want to be a mom one day, but I have alot to check off my to do list first."  This is something that is so easy to fall into.  But why do we, myself included, think that a baby means the end of our life?  A baby is really just an extension and change of our life, our dreams are still reachable baby or no baby, we just have to want them.

"You try living with these cramps without birth control."  My comment to this one might come off as a little rude but I don't apologize.  Do you really think that no one has ever had cramps as bad as you.  There are millions upon billions of women in history and today who have cramps as bad as you and do not use the pill. In fact alot of them probably still have had to/do take care of the kids, cook dinner from scratch over a fire, collect water, milk the cow, and life goes on.  Imagine the grace if women offered up their monthly cramps, our world would be an entirely different place.

Those of us who have done our research and realize that Pope Paul VI in Humane Vitae was right along must live the Truth and proclaim it with our lives.  Thank you Catholic Sistas  for publishing an article "Why We Don't Use Birth Control."

“For the same reasons I don’t expose myself to formaldehyde, asbestos, arsenic, radon, phosphorus and other such things…. because they are class 1 Carcinogens- poison.”

"Because I don't want to break something that works as it should."

"Because it lowers your sex drive. And causes weight gain.  And I like having a sex drive." Because who doesn't. 

“Because I spend too much time and money on organic, non-GMO and hormone free foods to fill my body with hormonal birth control.”

“Because NaPro doctors can identify health problems like PCOS and endometriosis by looking at my chart…. and then they can HEAL my body.”

“Because I deserve actual health care and healing, not just a band aid.”

“Because I prefer acne over cancer.”"

“Because if I didn’t want to have a baby, I just wouldn’t have sex. (Gasp!)”

"Because it perpetuates the objectification of women as worthless sexual objects, constantly at the disposal of men in our commodity driven culture.”

"Because Natural Family Planning does work." Look at any NFP practicing couple who hasn't had a baby every cycle.  

“Because I’m not afraid to grow up.”

“Because siblings are a gift.”

“Because sex isn’t a right, it is a gift.”

Preach it sistas!!

UPDATE:  Since writing this post the blogging world has been on fire about this Buzzfeed article. Like this post from The Catholic Mama.  However, most remarkably is Buzzfeed's own post "We Asked 24 Women Why They Don't Use Birth Control and These Were Their Answers."  I could sing from the rooftops.  How amazing is it that Buzzfeed published these 24 reasons. Praise the Lord!!!  Also, please note the genuine joy overflowing from these women's faces who don't use birth control.  A little different than alot of the mug shots from the contraception women.  But I am just observing.  

NAS: NFP

Two weeks in a row linking up to the Not Alone Series hosted at Follow and Believe.    Thanks for the great topic! I never got around to contributing to NFP week so I am excited to have another chance to put my two cents in about NFP. (Enjoy my many memes :) )

First a disclaimer.  This is not meant to be a post trying to say why the Catholic Church teaches against artificial contraceptives or how NFP works.  So if you are reading this wanting to know either of those two things I can't claim that I can speak clearly enough to answer you.  This instead is about my relationship with NFP now and over the years.

When I first started learning about Natural Family Planning (NFP) in youth group I quickly decided that that it was weird and it was just going to be one of those things I didn't agree with the Church about.  Oh how young, naive and lost I was.   However as I learned more and more about the truth of our human sexuality, the sacrament of marriage, and NFP I couldn't help but fall deeper in love with the Church and the Truth it proclaims.

As a nursing major at a passionately Catholic school I have learned so much about the science AND theology of NFP.  When I graduate I plan on becoming a Creighton Model Practitioner because we need more individuals who are trained to teach NFP to single women and couples so that NFP can be more accessible.

Personally I try to chart using the MyFertilityMD app but I am not good at consistency.  I try to chart both so that I am more comfortable with my own cycles and fertility but also so that I can be prepared to begin my Practitioner education.  However, I am not always good about charting and I NEED to get better about that. (Ladies hold me to it!)

There is so much more I could say about NFP-Pope Paul IV's encyclical Humanae Vitae, the dignity that it gives women, the trust it brings to marriage, the mind set about seeing children as gifts from God and the fact that you aren't filling your body with harmful chemicals.  Oh I could go on and on. However could I suggest that you go visit 1Flesh.  It is a great website that answers questions and encourages and inspire those who already accept the truth of human sexuality, and so much more. At 1Flesh you can learn so much more than I could ever say.   If you want to know more information please comment, google and seek out more information.

I want to end this post with this great quote @Carrots for Michaelmas I stumbled upon after I began writing this post.  I just love that last line and it inspires me so much for the future and the gift of future children.  I think some of you will also like it. 

   "When Baby 3 arrives someday (hopefully), we’ll need a new vehicle because three car seats won’t fit in the back seat of our Camry. But if we believe that God became man and dwelt among us, died for us and was resurrected, surely we can trust that he can get us a van… "