Andy's Idea Factory

My lesson learned in the last four years is that only YOU will advocate the most for your health. Only YOU know your body best. Know when something is wrong, despite negative tests, medical brush-offs, and a lot of "yeah I have that too, nothing helps." Keep searching for the answer, because healing is within your power, and starts from within. Hypothyroidism  30 million women and 15 million men are affected by a low thyroid - known as hypothyroidism - caused by toxic environments, stress, and a poor food system. Four or five years ago (lost track) my the symptoms started with swollen, painful joints, which lead to the discovery of a gluten intolerance, so I cut out wheat, but the symptoms eventually returned about a year later. So then I cut out all grains, then sugar, then caffeine. Nothing made me feel better, just deprived. I was put on Vitamin D. Vitamin B. Nettles. Apple Cider Vinegar. Probiotics. Nothing made me feel better, just over medicated. I tried more e...

Yesterday was my first  Magic of Henna workshop with a great group of women in Moab, hosted by the Moonflower Market and Henna Sooq , and what an exciting afternoon it was!  I was thrilled that over half of the women who attended wanted to jump right in and try it then and there (I had planned on just doing a strand of hair with them)!  All of the participants had similar stories - either they dyed their hair with chemicals and wanted to switch to something natural for various reasons such as burning scalp, or they were sick of the gray and wanted to try something natural. Either way, they were all very eager and willing subjects - so awesome! All had brown hair and wanted to keep their brown color so we used a lot of indigo yesterday - more than I had anticipated - so some of them with longer, thicker hair were going to have to likely do a second round soon, but were ok with doing the top part of their hair. I started out with all my research - the history, the Ayu...

A lot of people ask me what I like to shoot best.  I'll be first to admit, I'm a super lucky girl when it comes to photography (among many things in my life) - I grew up behind the lens on that super-tough stuff called  film in the darkroom, I studied under an Ansel Adams long-time apprentice, and under several other great teachers, too. I have a degree in Visual Arts, and one more for good measure in Travel Photography. I'm well traveled.  And to me, what this all means the most is practice.   And practice always leads somewhere. I've been published, awarded, and covered.  I'm the volunteer Event Photographer for STARS , and as Marketing Director for YVSC I get to shoot all our events too. And on the side, I shoot for a little extra business here and there... a wedding a year, some headshots, some homes, some pets, some food, and random fun calls for things like engagement shoots or new skis, or an occasional instructional session... and I truly do love all ...

As you know from many blog posts about it , I am ecstatic about henna and what it's done for me, in order of importance: the overall health of my hair and scalp, the all-natural solution, the compliments-attracting color, the independence, the low cost... so of course, for all those reasons I am forever talking it up to my girlfriends - whether they already dye their hair or not, but especially if they do.  So far I have three friends who have gone with henna after my encouragement and all of them have gorgeous, lustrous, vibrant hair of various colors now! To continue to add validity to this topic, here's the story from the latest convert:  (Thanks Alicia for sharing!!) My henna experience…. Alicia Wright of Bella Sol Spa   I have to say first and foremost, I love henna! At first, I was nervous about my hair turning red, and I was not ready to take the plunge.  The grey hair that crept up on my head as my roots grew out had me frantic about solutions. Not ha...

View previous posts on Henna: 1- About Henna and my process 2- The first dying 3- Other products from Henna Sooq 4- Cleansing and Independence It's been almost a year since my last Henna post and I realized I have a few things to report that might be useful! If you've read the other posts, you'll know I'm a meticulous person. I like researching something until I know it fully, and then I like developing my own process and adapting it. I was made for an R&D department, unfortunately I'm not in that career, oh well. Accordingly, I've studied Henna until I'm blue in the face. I've found an awesome provider at Henna Sooq (my only complaint is that they run out of the good stuff so you have to plan ahead, a funny story on that to follow). And I've tried several new hair products now so that I'm proud to say there are no chemicals on my head any more. After two years, I feel I have this process honed. Here's what I continue to learn a...

Steamboat's regional population is around 18,000, and in the peak weeks of tourist season, the occupancy is doubled. For those 20-40 thousand people, there are seemingly as many photographers - as any gorgeous natural beauty attracts - who are gunning for your business. Personally, I don't advertise my services; I let word of mouth lead the right people to me. I have a full time job that I adore, and I let photography - a lifelong passion - remain a hobby so it remains a passion. Needless to say, people do find me.  When I search Steamboat Photographers on Google, I don't come up, so I'm not sure how clients do find me, but I'm thankful they do. Whether it's by referral or by synchronicity, it always seems the fun people find me. The quaint  weddings , the surprise engagements at Fish Creek , the happy newborn twins , the large Florida families with matching t-shirts; those are the calls I get, and I love it. I offer my services part time to one small realty ...

Reprinted from the Shift Network If you're a Gmail user, you may have noticed a new "tabbed inbox" system that is being phased in now and we wanted to give you a quick update about it so you can continue receiving all the exciting and transformative offerings you've come to the Shift Network for. Basically, Google has split your inbox into 5 separate inboxes and created tabs across the top labeling each "Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates and Forums. The problem is... they've also decided that THEY, not YOU, get to choose which emails go into which new inbox tab, unless you tell them otherwise. What does that mean? A lot of emails you've asked to receive will end up under the tab marked Promotions, even though they're valuable content and you've specifically asked to get them. Pretty much all emails from bloggers and other websites and people you subscribe to are being lumped into the "Promotions" inbox automatically, where you may...