Spiritual & Inspirational Sunday July 26, 2009

Welcome to my spiritual & inspirational Sunday post. Having collected quotes and scripture for over 25 years, my hope is that by sharing these quotes it will cause you to pause and reflect. Perhaps you will share a quote with someone who is in need of reading that very quote. 

On many Fridays for the past fourteen months I have assisted my close friend, Dr. Mark Houston, at his medical practice here in Nashville. His long time nurse wanted to cut back the number of days she works so he asked if I would come in on any Friday that I was available to assist. I take his patients from the waiting room, weigh them, find out what symptoms or reasons they have for being there, take their blood pressure, and if it is for an annual physical, I take their pulse and measure their waist circumference. (women should be under 35 inches, men under 40 inches).  

Dr. Houston is board certified in internal medicine, hypertension (high blood pressure), and anti-aging. He has a masters in nutrition. He hosts a hypertension and cardiovascular symposium in October where doctors can obtain continuing medical education. He is a big proponent of vitamins and supplements, often prescribing those to his patients not only for optimal health and anti-aging but to treat various illnesses. He also does hormone profiles and prescribes bio-identical hormones.

Knowing which natural supplements lower cholestrol, Dr. Houston created a product called LipidSirt using those components. LipidSirt became available about 8 months ago. In a three month study performed on patients with high cholestrol (these patients had not taken cholestrol lowering medicines and were given LipidSirt), LipidSirt lowered cholestrol and LDL by 25%.  He has another product that is soon to be released for lowering blood pressure called CardioSirt BP. In a pilot study, it lowered blood pressure by 15/17 mm HG. Athree month study will begin in October to see if those participants who are not on blood pressure medicines but have become hypertensive will see a drop in their blood pressure by taking CardioSirt BP. These type studies excite me especially when they show excellent results.

Working in Dr. Houston’s office is an incredible learning experience and very rewarding. Not only do I learn about the medical world but I get to interact with and learn about a diverse group of human beings. His patients are young and old, skinny and fat, fitness buffs and couch potatoes, healthy and sick, rich and poor, and they represent many different ethnic backgrounds. It is inspiring to actually see patients turn their lives around by changing their lifestyles and following Dr. Houston’s advice.

Yesterday, a husband and wife came in for the results of their physicals. The wife confided in me that she was very worried about her husband as his PSA was six. PSA is a prostate measurement and normal is 4.  Dr. Houston aggressively recommends further tests for most men if their PSA is greater than 4 and in younger men in lower levels if the rate of rise is too fast in a one year period. Her husband will be seeing a urologist on Tuesday.  As she shared her fears with me, I suggested she put them all in a box labeled God’s Box.  She said she tries to give them to God but finds she always wants to help God instead of totally letting go. I told her about my blog and suggested she check it out today as I would do a post on fear. This post is for her. I pray that her husband’s tests are accurate and benign. I pray that she gives God her fears and totally let’s go of them. Please consider saying a prayer for this couple.  Blessings.  …susan

F E A R

F.E.A.R.  False   Evidence   Appearing    Real

“By expecting the worse, I cut myself off from hope”

“If I am fearful, I am disconnected from God”

“Never measure the height of the mountain until you reach the top.  Then you will see how low it is”  Dag Hammarskjöld

“Negative thoughts dampen my soul and I like sunlight”

If you have a favorite quote on fear please leave it in a comment. Thanks.

Look for the second post in a series on Mountain homes.

The source of these quotes is unknown. Please contact me if you know the source so that I may give credit.

Mountain Homes- Front Entry

Welcome! Please forgive me for the sporadic publishing of posts the past six weeks.   Although I have one more day surgery to go, (next week pending keeping the infection in my ear area at bay)  I am preparing a series of mountain home posts ahead of time and hope to get those published while recovering.

I am joining Julia’s Hooked On Friday party because I am Hooked on Mountain Homes!

These homes were built in the Carolina mountains between Asheville, NC and Greenville, SC in a development called The Cliff’s Communities. There are six Cliff’s Communities located within 1.5-2 hours of each other. These are golf communities with gorgeous views. If you live in one area, it gives you the right to play golf at the other Cliff’s courses.  The Cliff’s were able to sign up Tiger Woods to develop his very first golf course in the US in a new development under construction near Asheville.

 

So many wonderful details! Doesn’t the stone and the timbers shout mountain living? Notice as you look through the windows on the front door, which I think is divine, is a direct view out of the windows on the back of the house.

I think the driveway pavers and border make a nice statement.

I am not as fond of the garage doors facing the street being the main focal point but realize this is so the view off the back of the house can be best utilized.

 

Doesn’t the home look dreamy at night. Notice the soffit details and the wooden beams accenting the garage doors. I like the arched window on the second level above the front door.

 

Though I am fond of the doors with the glass window panes, isn’t this a great design.

By the way, the builder of these gorgeous mountain homes is my son-in-law, Ray Foral. Ray is exceptional at pricing a home and coming in on budget. He knows his stuff. He knows how to treat his subs and he pays attention to construction details. Ray grew up in the Vail, Eagle area. With a background in excavating for mountain homes being built in Vail, Beaver Creek, and Arrowhead, he then joined a development company who built mountain homes. That company bought land in some of The Cliff Communities and moved Ray to the Carolina’s to head up those mountain projects. In the four years since marrying my daughter and moving to the area, he has built over 70 single family homes and duplexes ranging in size from 2,300 square feet-8,000 square feet with prices ranging from $800,000-$4 million.

Ray is a big fan of my book, Designing Your Dream Home, believing if all of his clients used my book there would be less change orders and better client understanding of the design and building process.

Ray has joined with two partners and formed his own construction company called Ridgeline Construction Group Inc. 201 E. North Street Ste 203  Greenville, SC 29601  864 313-0638 Though located in Greenville, SC,  they build in the Greenville and Asheville, NC areas.