A Bit of Disappointment

Hi Loves,

So tonight I have a little bit of a disappointment post. So this past weekend I was the MOH in a really close friends wedding. So fact in close I went to Disneyland with her, her fiance (now husband) and her son in September/October. Well I saw this post on Pinterest....

Source: disneytrivia.tumblr.com via Heather on Pinterest

And I thought it would be a perfect gift for them for their wedding. A signed picture and a Just Married Button. I had major plans for this signed picture. I was going to put it in a frame and then add a shelf and key hook to the picture frame. Well this is what they sent me in the mail....

All they sent me was a Postcard! A freaking postcard. No signed picture! No Just Married button! I am really disappointed. I've kind of lost trust in pinterest now too, since that's where I got the idea. I'm not sure what I am going to do now. Very upset :( 

Has anybody else had some major fails with Pinterest?

Love,

Heather

2012 London Olympics

Today July 27th, 2012...

Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics!!!! 

Source: vevmo.com via spring on Pinterest

I don't know about y'all but ever since I was little I can remember watching the Olympics. Summer Olympics are definitely my favorite. 

This whole week I've been watching the Today show coverage of the Olympics. They have been giving great sneak peak coverage. Seeing them interview the athlete's has been amazing. It amazes me the strength and passion these Olympians have. When I think about myself just beginning to run I think to the athlete's and how they've been doing their sport their whole life. It's definitely a dedication and they have it! 

My favorite sports to watch by far are Gymnastics, Swimming, and Beach Volleyball. I can't wait to watch the Fab Five and I hope they dominate at Gymnastics and bring home Gold for the USA! 

Source: mckaylamaroney.tumblr.com via Heather on Pinterest

The showdown between Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte! I want to see Phelps become the most decorated Olympian ever but let's face it Ryan is HOT so I want to see him win too just so I can stare at him, lol. It's going to be a great dual! 

Source: via Allie on Pinterest

And Beach Volleyball, I love watching them dig in and get serious.

Source: london2012.com via Leslie on Pinterest

I am full on routing for Team USA! Can't wait to watch all the events. What are your favorites? Are y'all watching the opening ceremony tonight?

Here's to Team USA! 

Source: lizzthelibrarian.blogspot.com via Lizz on Pinterest

And in case you've been living under a rock and haven't seen this, here's the 2012 USA Olympic Swimming Team with their take on Call Me Maybe

Love,

Heather

If You Really Knew Me

Hi Loves,


As so many bloggers are doing this fun little post, I thought that I would join in on the fun. So here goes nothing.

If you really knew me...

You'd know that I was an only child

You'd know that I always wanted siblings

You'd know that I have a huge extended family. Working on 25 cousins on my Mom's side.

You'd know I LOVE Diet Coke. I've tried giving it up several times only to come back to it. 

You'd know I believe I was a Southern Belle in a past life and that I was raised in the wrong area this time. (Good thing I'm moving back to the south) 

You'd know that I don't like Seafood but recently I've been wanting to try it again because of all the health benefits. 

You'd know that I've been overweight my whole life.

You'd know that I really want to lose the weight but I need some serious support and help. 

You'd know that I wear contacts/glasses.

You'd know I have horrible allergy induced asthma and have to use my inhaler almost every day during the summer months. 

You'd know I've only had one serious boyfriend. 

You'd know that boyfriend cheated on me and it gave me trust issues for a long time. 

You'd know I love fashion but I can't pull off the stuff that's out there. 

You'd know I love watching youtube beauty videos to get ideas but again still can't pull most looks off. 

You'd know I wish I was more of a girly girl. 

You'd know I love the beach even on a rainy day. 

You'd know I love school, learning, and teaching. 

You'd know I love shoes and have way too many. 

You'd know I love to decorate and change the house decor with the holidays/seasons. 

You'd know I need my alone time. Being an only child made me used to being by myself and when I don't get it I crave it. 

You'd know I get grumpy when I get hungry. I've learned to control it better as I've gotten older but it still happens sometimes. 

You'd know I was a dancer all through high school but the sport I miss playing the most is Softball (played for 9 years).

You'd know I long to be loved and find that great guy that I can call mine. 

You'd know I used to want lots of kids and now I don't know if I want any. 

You'd know I feel extremely guilty having not found a man yet and gotten married and had kids to give my parents grandbabies. As I'm the only child, I'm their only source for grandchildren. 

You'd know I am really excited to move but am going to miss my family. 

I'm sure there is plenty more but that's all for now. What should everyone know about you? 


Love,
Heather

The Big News I've Been Waiting For

Hi Loves,


So the time has come where I get to announce my big news. I am moving back to Georgia! Woohoo! I am going to be an Education Member at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. This is a year long position through AmeriCorps where I will be paid as well as get money to go back to school. I am very excited for this new path. 


I've always had that passion for marine animals and recently I've gotten the passion for teaching. This position will be a perfect blend between the two and will hopefully lead me into the career path I've been looking for. 


I'm very excited to start this next chapter of my life which begins September 1st. Now comes the task of figuring out all the logistics of moving cross-country. I don't even know where to begin. Have y'all had to pick up and move a distance away? What are your tips for deciding what to move? Any advice is welcome. I will keep you updated along the way :) 


Love,
Heather

Updates

Hi loves,


Happy Friday! I got some fantastic news this morning that I will be sharing with y'all tomorrow. I wanted to update on how my running progress is going. 


I am still working on week 1 of c25k. I've walked every day but haven't been able to quite run everyday. I will get there. I've looked at it this way, at least I am off to couch and moving. I've started to learn that running is definitely a mental thing. If I don't want to do it somewhere inside of me on a particular day then I'm not going to. Today I wasn't feeling into running so I just walked. But I still felt good after walking. 


Last night I met my sweet friend Courtney for dinner. We went to Chipotle. It was my first time to really eat there. I'd been to one when they first opened near me but I wasn't feeling good that day so I didn't eat. Courtney had suggested going there knowing we could eat mostly healthy. I ended up having a burrito bowl. It was black beans, chicken, fajita vegetables, their pico de gallo-ish salsa, gaucamole, and lettuce. That's all and it was a lot. It was so filling and delicious and only 505 calories for the whole thing, which I didn't finish. I love that you can go online and build what you eat/ate and see the calorie/nutrition information. It's a great tool for someone who is trying to become healthy. 


We ended up walking around the village we were in and did some window shopping as well. Afterwards we walked over to Whole Foods so Court could show me some of her things she's been eating as she's lost 11 pounds. She looks great. What are some of your healthy snacks and food? I'm horrible with food. Must get better. 


Well just a little update on my progress. Hope everyone has a great Friday.


Love,
Heather

What I'm Loving

Hi Loves,


Today I decided to link up with Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesday! 


I'm Loving that it is Blueberry season at our house. Yes, they do become a pain because we have 4 bushes and have to pick them every night. But they are so sweet, healthy, and delicious. 

So good and healthy. Lots of antioxidants! 

I'm Loving how clean the backyard/patio area is. I spent all day yesterday pressure washing the patio. Man, if you're looking for workout for your arms do some pressure washing. I'm so sore today. But I am very satisfied at how clean it is. Now we can enjoy the patio, pool, and hot tub for the short amount of summer we get here in Oregon. 

The before and after in one spot.

Now all clean and ready to enjoy! 

I'm Loving this delicious dessert I made. Really simple. Strawberries, Blueberries, Angel Food Cake, and Cool Whip Free. Put it all in layers. It's so light and refreshing for these summer evenings. And the blueberries are fresh from our backyard which makes it even better. Have y'all tried Cool Whip Free? It's very light and delicious. 

Yum, Yum!

I'm Loving that I get to have dinner tomorrow night with my sweet friend Courtney. We've been trying to get together a lot and it just hasn't worked out but tomorrow night we are finally getting together. 

I'm Loving that Big Brother starts tomorrow night. Big Brother is my favorite summer show. I actually made a friend last summer at work because we bonded over Big Brother and then realized we had a lot in common. Can't wait to see how this season turns out. Do any of y'all watch Big Brother? We can have Big Brother chats :) 

That's all for this week. If you want to join in jump over to Jamie's page. Have a great day. 

Love,

Heather

Run, Heather, Run!

Hi Loves,

So today's post comes to you via my new goal: to become a runner! I've heard and seen first hand how inspiring running can be. Now mind you I've never been a runner at all. I always hated it when I played sports. I've just had some inspiration the last couple weeks. I want to make myself a healthy and be able to workout no matter where I am.

I downloaded the C25K free app on my iphone. And I started it today!! Woohoo go me. Now it was a struggle to get through it and I will admit that I couldn't finish the whole thing. But you know what? I tried and got started.

Source: simpleblogging397.blogspot.com via Gabriela on Pinterest

I've decided that I will keep repeating week 1 until I can get through it completely. I can do this and I will this time!

Today while I was starting day 1, I noticed that its really going to be a struggle on my knee. Story behind that is when I was working on the beach at night two years ago, I fell into a hole (people like to dig them on the beach and not fill them back in) and I went one way but my knee went the other. I'm sure I pulled something because the sound it made was awful. But I didn't have time to go to the doctor so I just kept pushing through. I've never had it looked at and still have problems with it to this day. Well as I was running it defanitely was hurting. Do you guys have any tips on strengthening knees for running?

I asked on twitter if y'all had any running tips and Miss Brittany suggested that I get good shoes and start slow. Thanks for the tips girl (Go check out her fab blog). I think I'm going to find a local running store and go in and see what they have to say. Maybe that will help out the knee as well.

I have many goals for starting running:
     1. Start and Keep going
     2. Lose weight
     3. Be able to run 5k without stopping
     4. Continue running and gaining length.
     5. Sign up to run/walk the Disney Princess Half Marathon on February 22, 2013

Source: espnwwos.disney.go.com via Dominique on Pinterest

Now I know that last one is going to be a stretch. But I think if I put my heart and mind to it that I can do it. It's something that I've wanted to do for years. Well with the possibility of being only 4 hours away from Disney World around that time, I decided this was the year to start training towards that. My birthday is February 4th and what greater birthday present to myself than to become healthy and run a Disney marathon? I think it's a great goal!!

Honestly, if any of you have tips I will take them! Encouragment is also defanitely welcome. I know I am going to struggle at times but this is something I really want! I know I can do this and I will!

Love,
Heather

Do You Ever Wonder?

Hi Loves,


So the last couple days I've been reflecting on a couple life things that I wanted to share and question you about. So here goes nothing...


Have you ever wondered if you chose the right career path? My whole life I'd always loved Marine Science things: animals, the beach, etc. So naturally as I started looking into going to college that is what I chose. I went into school with Marine Science being my degree. While taking my basic core classes, I had to take a Psychology class and fell in love so I added that as a major too. As I was going through school, I didn't really think about the after college and what job I would end up having. Well of course I graduated from college in 2009 right as the economy tanked and I didn't have any job prospects as people in the Marine Science field weren't leaving their jobs or didn't have money to bring more people on. So I just went back home to Oregon and did nothing but look for jobs over and over and over. 


Finally in 2010, almost a year after I graduated college I got the opportunity for an AmeriCorps job at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. Fell in love with this job. Yes there were definitely some tough times. I had a hard time adjusting to working at night because I was not a night person. But I kept trucking along and fell in love with the center, the turtles, and the people I worked with. Towards the end of summer there was the possibility to apply for another position in a different department. Unfortunately I decided I could not apply and needed to go home because we just found out my Dad had Melanoma. So at the end of August the parents came out to Georgia and we spent some time there and in Florida before we all headed back home. 


Now I was back home again in Oregon with no job prospects. I tried applying for several jobs down at the Oregon Coast Aquarium even if I wasn't completely qualified. But still nothing. So pass by another seven months without me working. I applied to volunteer at our local zoo and was accepted. It wasn't paid but it was something to do in my field, sort of. So since I was going to be up there I applied for a Food Services position for the summer. I got it. I liked the people but hated the job. I was not cut out to work in food, at all. Just not my thing. I kept that job until it slowed down in the off season. 


That was October. Then I was back to no job again. My mom's friend works at our local school district and she told me to apply to be a Substitute Instructional Assistant, so I did. Well I never heard anything back so kind of forgot about it. 


Now fast forward to February. I went back to Georgia and Jekyll Island for the first ever South West Regional Sea Turtle Conference. I had a blast being with my friends again and being back with the turtles. I could've stood in the rehab pavillion for hours watching the turtles. Well during the conference, most of the presentations didn't interest me at all. I was bored with all the numbers and medical stuff. It was the presentations about Outreach and Education that really interested me. I loved those and took tons of notes on those presentations. This is when I started re-thinking my career path. 


Fast forward to 2 days before I was going to head back home to Oregon. I got a call that was going to change my career path. I got the Substitute Instructional Assistant Position. I was going to start as soon as I got back. No interview, they just wanted me :) I was so shocked and excited at the same time. 


So once I got back I got all my paperwork in order and started working. I always get nervous when I am starting something new but it didn't take long for me to relax and just enjoy. I cycled between schools and between mostly different classrooms. I was in the Special Education classrooms a lot and I thought that I would struggle but I didn't. I got a lot of encouragement from the teachers telling me I was a natural and doing a fantastic job. This made me so happy because I was loving being with the kids and helping them learn. I started to think that I would like to become a teacher possibly. 


So I stared checking out books from the library, reading blogs, things on pinterest, finding out the certification procedures, etc. Well as I started to tell my Mom what I was thinking about doing she put doubt in my mind. This doubt stemmed from the fact that teachers are losing their jobs right and left because in this state education does not get the support and funding it needs and deserves. So then I started questioning myself again. 


How can I still teach but keep the marine science aspect going? How about becoming an Environmental Educator? Sounds like a good plan to me. So I've started doing research on doing this. Starting with applying to work in the education department at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. I still don't know where that's going to go but my interview is this week. 


So right now, I'm going in that path of Environmental Educator. I still have the teacher thing in the back of my mind. I mean I love buying school supplies so can you imagine me setting up a classroom? I would love it. I love being with kids and seeing their eyes light up as they learn. So maybe teaching in a classroom setting can still be on the back burner. 


I'm not sure what my career path is in life. I'm beginning to realize that I will be working for the rest of my life though. Being 27 and having no steady job to start a retirement fund, or even afford everyday life, is proving to cause me stress. I just want to find something stable where I can start experiencing adult life because I am 27 and still relying on my parents. I'm ready to find my career path and become an adult. Hopefully this will happen soon. 


Do you ever question if you've chose the right life path? 


Love,
Heather