Design Blackout

I have had some designs in mind for some new pieces. They will incorporate pieces from a geode I broke open with a friend. But that’s all I have right now for designs. I can think on variations in the basic idea but that’s it.However, this is not totally a bad thing. More of my focus is just being redirected into other areas. This is mainly my faith, my lab work, and my thesis.

I’ve been growing in faith and coming to trust God so much more than ever before.  This is not to say that I don’t have times where I’m not trusting in Him more fully or have it all together. But I’m growing. And that’s what matters.

Lab is interesting. I have some different cell lines I’m working with. I have some neat data from one and possibly another. I just need to repeat both some more to verify. One is just if a particular protein is present in the cell line. I don’t foresee this being a problem to repeat. But you never know what might happen in science. The simplest things can become extremely complicated. I still feel extremely confident in my ability to repeat the results. The other results I need to repeat is a simple procedure but I don’t have quite the confidence in repeating the result. I still feel confident it will be repeated a few times though. I wish I could say more but I will once things get published.

I have added some really neat geode slice necklaces to my etsy shop. The link below is to the geode section of my etsy shop. I also named my shop, La Fleur. I decided on that name a long time ago if I ever created a design line to sell.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/kkrhodes?section_id=10353431

Cool happenings on Etsy.com

I havn’t  had an etsy sale in a long time. However, my items have been favorited by many people and put in “treasuries.” My understanding of treasures is that they are groups of items with something in common. The first treasury I was listed in was for products made in West Virginia called Awesome find from: West Virgina. This is the link to the treasury: http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NjkzNTM0Mnw1MTIyMzIwODE/awesome-find-from-west-virginia?index=5. My item in it was pearl chandelier earrings.

 

This is a link to the item in my etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/78222065/pearl-chandelier-earring?ref=tre-512232081-11.

The next treasury I have been in deals with birds nests and other nest type things. Its called Nestiing and here’s the link: http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTYxNjI0NjJ8NjQxMjgzNjMx/nesting. My item featured in it is really cool. It’s a vintage salt and pepper shaker set composed of two baby birds and a momma bird perched on a nest. The salt and pepper come out of the two babies and they sit in the nest. I thought it was too cute when I found it. Here’s a link for it as well: http://www.etsy.com/listing/78762690/bird-shaker-set?ref=tre-641283631-15.

I’ll keep you updated on the coats and lab as O progress more with those.

Coats!

I had two awesome vintage leather jackets I am going to post on my etsy site, http://www.etsy.com/people/kkrhodes?ref=si_pr. I also came across two epic coats at the Goodwill. One has a fur collar. I’m not crazy about real fur but it’s vintage and already made into a garmet. However, the neat thing about this fur collar is that fur collars, whether real or faux, make a jacket so much warmer. At least they have in my case.

 

This is a close up on the collar. It stands up so as to cover the neck and keep your neck very warm. No need for a scarf with this coat!

 

Butyrate!

I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned one word, not even a syllable, about butyrate. It’s one the greatest things in the word to me! But then lots of things are great to me that are so-so to others such as sewing machines and chocolate pudding. Well, chocolate pudding is probably pretty awesome to lots of people too.

Anyway, back to butyrate. I’m sure you’re asking yourself what is it and why should anyone care? Butyrate is in a class of compounds called fatty acids. Fatty acids are used throughout the body as a source of energy. They can be further divided based on their length. There are short ones, intermediate length ones, and long ones. There are also other ways to characterize them but we won’t go there! Butyrate is considered a short chain fatty acid. It has only four carbons.

A neat thing about butyrate is that it can be used by the body from directly consuming it, like in butter and cheese, or can be gotten through fiber and dietary resistant starch. Fiber and dietary resistant starch, are as the second one sounds, resistant to your body breaking it down for energy. But this is no biggie. They pass through your stomach and small intestine harmlessly and enter the colon (large intestine). Your body still doesn’t break them down there either. The bacteria in your colon does for you! These are good bacteria that you want around. They break down the fiber and starch into several things. These include hydrogen gas, alcohol, and the short chain fatty acids acetate, propionate, and butyrate. Now you see where butyrate comes back into the picture! This is how butyrate “escapes” being metabolized by other tissues to get to the colon. It in a sense begins as another molecule and is created from that other molecule in the colon.

There’s other information I have to share with you about the colon. It’s lined with these cells called epithelia cells. They’re all the time dying and growing back. They have a special place, called a crypt, where stem cells live and keep producing more. Every few days you have all new epithelia lining the colon. So for a healthy colon you want these cells to die. Ones that do not die as they should have mutations and can become cancer. So now you know it’s really good these cells die often and the stem cells make more. Butyrate can enter these cells and causes them to die. They use it for energy but also causes other things to happen in the cells. Certain proteins are involved in cell death. Butyrate causes some of these proteins to be made at a higher rate, encouraging the cell to die. But, in the colon’s epithelia, this is awesome! It can possibly help to prevent cancer.

So the take home story is that you should eat fiber for a healthy, butyrate filled and cancer free colon.

 

The Intermediate Conductance Potassium Channel and the Dorsey Knob Photoshoot

So you may be wondering what the heck is the intermediate conductance potassium channel. Well, I shall tell you. It’s the lovely channel I work on in lab. My boyfriend said I should say it’s classified but I didn’t want to do that to you. I hate it when people mention something but then won’t tell you about it. It’s rude. Anyway, more about the channel, also called IK.

So my project with IK has been reall, really, really slow. My boss this week finally decided to not spend any more money on it. Crap! I need data for my thesis! But in the midst of darkness there is always light and that’s where two other professors came in. One gave me two cell lines, IEC-18 and Caco-2. The other suggested experiments with the IEC-18 that somewhat continue what I was originally doing.

I’m excited about the experiments with the cell lines though. I plan on doing experiments with them that don’t directly relate to what I was originally doing but is so much more interesting to me. We shall see what happens. I’ll get to relearn cell culture techniques. I have some basis stuff down but a post-doc in my lab has told some things inaccurately. I’m looking forward to having a seasoned researcher teach me differently. Then I will have inproved on a skill set I already have.

I’m sure your also wondering about the photo shoot I did today. I think It was very productive.

My boyfriend carried most of my jewelry store up the mountain while I walked the dog

Here are some of the items I took pictures of I am especially proud of.

Minions…little bastards

I realize that I’m going a bit overboard today, what with posting two blogs in a day. However, I said something so silly and funny yet insightful earlier that had to be shared. At least insightful in the Christian sense.

Part of what gives us troubles in our minds is just us. We’re sinful. It’s our nature. We can’t help it. Battlefield of the Mind, by Joyce Meyers,  focuses some on Satan. Satan, the Enemy, the Devil, whatever you want to call it, works very well to make us who are mentally and emotionally well unwell. I’m not saying there is a spiritual basis for mental retardation and other diseases along that nature. I’m not saying that there is a spiritual basis for all cases of depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, severe anxiety, and such. These are true illnesses with a biochemical basis. However, I do believe that we can at times suffer from depression and anxiety through Satan working on us. It’s still an illness that we can seek medical treatment for. However, to more fully beat it, we should focus on beating teh causes, whether genetic, personal, or spiritual.

The causes can be varied. We can go through some bad or stressful circumstances. These can be from a number of causes or various lengths of time. Satan can take these and make them worse. He uses many methods and tactics. He can start out small with little naggings like, “if only this were a bit different” in something that is going quite well. This can grow into a lie. Satan can implant all kinds of different lies by making something worse than what it is. He can also take a bad experience we’ve had and turn that into a lie about other experiences.

These lies can become even greater. They can start out with my co-worker doesn’t like me. This can then grow into imaginations and theories such as my co-worker is trying to sabotage me at work. Our enemy has an unlimited supply of patience too so it’s no problem for him to work on someone for year, decades to get these lies and worse in hos or her mind.

Satan has a multide of helpers for his goal of harming us. His minions…those little bastards! lol, finally got you to the silly thing I said earlier. At least my boyfriend and I thought it was funny.

Back to something a bit more serious if you think there’s any merit to what I’m saying. They way in which we fight off these spiritual attacks and become aware of our own mindsets that are not true and hindering us is through…

1. Praise the Lord!

2. Pray to the Lord!

Through prayer, you will grow closer to God. Studing his word is another way to do so. Praising Him also helps get you, and me, back into a healthier mindset.

“For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood, but against despotisms, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly sphere.” Ephesians 6:21

The Battle! … with Anxiety and Worry

My battle with anxiety and worry is going down! I have been reading Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyers along with the study guide. It has so many important messages that are common sense yet we don’t always realize them.

Something so important which I have been working to do to control my anxiety is trying to control my thoughts. It’s more difficult than it sounds. It’s hard to know what are the destructive thoughts versus the good thoughts. We are what we think so I want to think on positive, motivational, and encouraging things.

Something quite interesting the first chapter discusses is “strongholds” within our minds and thoughts. It gave an example of a woman who was abused by her father in childhood. Her father also abused her mother but not their son. The woman grew up with the mentality that no one was ever going to push her around again. That’s great she will stand up for herself now as an adult however she’s unable to take any directions from well intentioned men like her husband. It’s kind of like her way or no way. She’s been so scared by her father she cannot work as a team with her husband for fear of being abused and taken advantage of.

I’ve been thinking on this concept of strongholds in my mind and how its keeping me back. For a while, it was low self-esteem. I used to not think I was pretty or could do much. But by thinking I couldn’t do something, I created a self-fulfilling prophecy and failed at things I tried. However, some things have happened to me I remind myself of. It reminds me I am worth something and other people see that too. When I first talked about becoming a master’s student instead of a PhD student, I had certain obstacles that needed to be taken care of. My graduate director and another professor went out of their ways to resolve this problem. The assistant dean ended up taking care of it. If they did not see potential in me they would not have went out of their way to help me.

The book discusses ways to overcome these strong holds too. These include prayer and praise. I find it so interesting when I think about praise. The alternative Christian music I listen to has helped also. It acts often as a reminder that God is there and will provide for me.The more I pray the better I feel too. After church last night I felt so much better. Worshipping the talking to the Lord gave me joy and relief.

“A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealously is like cancer in the bones.”   Proverbs 14:30

This is so true. When we are not at peace, we become sick. Even if we don’t become sick right away it will catch up with us.