All Hail 2012

I don't do New Years Resolutions, as my hubby would say, "Why wait for a special day? Just do it."

However, coincidentally our move, getting settled, and getting through the holidays lands at the beginning of the year. And I'm looking forward to what being in a different part of town and new place means for us.

Working out. I'll actually be close enough to a gym with good childcare. So I get to take a few pilates & yoga classes (and maybe Zumba, who knows?) while the boys get to play with other kids and different toys. I get a break from the boys and do something to actually make myself feel better about my body!

Time outside. Our yard was so full of sand spurs and sand combined with a lack of fence at the old place that it wasn't safe for the boys. We went to parks, but it was always a drive. Now we've got access to a swimming pool and green areas and a tennis court. A great playground with restrooms is about a 10 minute walk or a 2 minute drive. The zoo is now 5 minutes down the road and we have annual passes. The boys will definitely be getting more fresh air and outdoor exercise this year!

Reading & Writing & Crafting. I want to set some time aside each day and each week to work on different projects I've been trying to get done for the past year, or read a book, or get ahead on blogging. That may mean Jake takes the boys to the playground or the zoo and gives me an hour or two to work on a project, but I think it would be good for all of us for that to happen.

2011 turned out to be a crazy but wonderful year for us and I can't wait to see what 2012 brings!

Do yo make resolutions or set goals for the New Year? I'd love to hear them!
Share your thoughts and come join me on Google+, Facebook, and/or Twitter!

What has gotten into me? All ya'll are AWESOME!

I've realized over the past few days that I've gotten a lot more bold in certain situations. What on earth happened????

Up until very recently, I held very strong opinions about very many things. Or I'd form strong opinions quickly. Statuses that friends post on Facebook, links, articles, and not just online, but also in person. For now I'm going to stick with Facebook examples though.

But I'd never tell them. Sure, if it were something dangerous or hazardous, I'd mention it. But I'd usually try and find a back door of the conversation to slip it in.

I don't like confrontation! I hate it. I go out of my way to avoid it. Usually I'm good  just by ignoring posts I have a difference of opinion with, I just don't respond and I forget it was even posted. No one knows, no biggie. I'm a people pleaser and a peace keeper.

But in the past week, I've piped up on a vaccine article (ahhh, NO, not the hot topic of the century!). And tonight in one of my Facebook groups I tossed in an opinion on parenting that seems pretty much directly opposite to most of the other 138 opinions in there! Why would I do that?

Oh, and yesterday's post You Want Me to Eat WHAT Exactly? When did I start just laying my opinions out there for open criticism like that??? i'm starting to sound like my husband for goodness sake!

Up until this point, very few people have known how I really feel about anything. I play it safe, I can count on one hand the people that I regularly give a frank opinion to when it conflicts with theirs.

I like it. I'm not afraid anymore of someone criticizing me. And if they do, oh well, I can't be the only one out of the billions of people in the world that thinks that way.

And I blame YOU. In a good way! I'm very grateful to get past that. I really do think it's that all 24 of you, and more, because I see the stats even if you're not "following" stop by on a regular basis. Leave me comments and the come back again. Maybe you don't always like what I say, maybe some days it's downright boring. But I appreciate it, knowing that someone thinks it's worth it to spend time reading what I write has given me a confidence that I'm not even sure I knew I was lacking. Thanks! Ya'll are awesome!

When I was in 7th grade a friend's older sister overheard a conversation I was having, I was pretty passionate about whatever it was and was on a roll. Her words "I didn't even now she could talk that much!" Well, I can and I do. And a whole lot more people are about to find out.

Watch out World, I'm not keeping my mouth shut anymore!






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Starting from Scratch, 10 years later.

Well *sigh* deep subject. Life has really not gone the way I thought it would. I realized this weekend that I will have been a high school graduate for 10 years next month (yes, I had a June graduation). Granted you expect things to change in 10 years, especially when those years include a college career. Still, this'll be the third time that I will be altering my direction in a way that I never saw coming.

Fresh out of high school I was all about dance, until I had a handful of injuries, a couple growth spurts, and some feminine filling out that made it very obvious that even if I did fit the body type no sane company would take me on because I would be an insurance risk. So I flip-flopped my major and minor and graduated with a psychology degree.

Took a couple years off and headed back to school as a graduate student in the University of Missouri's Community Counseling program. It was a great program, but like all introductory classes should it made me think. Did I enjoy helping people? Yes. Did I like red tape and paperwork? No. Did I like counseling? Yes. Did I want to fight a system that put itself in direct odds with my personal moral and ethical codes? I don't know. It can be done, one of my professors was a wonderful Christian counselor who worked within that goofed up, secular worldview.  When we moved to Florida we lived about an hour away from a school that would actually transfer my graduate work. But I had already been on the fence and being away from my very young son for several days a week wasn't worth it.

The more I thought about it, prayed about it, and continued waffling back and forth about it. I decided that IF I wanted to continue that direction then it wouldn't be at a secular school, there was no point in throwing money into an education that I would only agree with/voluntarily retain about 40% of what they tried to feed me. So I began to look at seminary, downside of the counseling field, and the greatest upside, no one worth their salt will let you do it online. So unless we made a huge family move, yet again, it just wasn't an option.

More prayers later, and after more pondering I realized that although I'd make a great counselor in theory, I get too involved. I don't really do sessions, I do lunch. Maybe some more classes will be in my future, because I love learning and information; but I've come to realize that having a license will only inhibit who I am and open me up to all sorts of legal and "ethical" issues.

So now what? Well, I started up Milk Bubbles and have decided to just go for it. Hey, if I never try I'll never know and better to try and to flop than just play the bench. With that in mind I'm going back to school this Spring for Advertising/Marketing. Yep, back to undergrad. I don't think my pysch degree was a total waste of time, I can definitely use that with my new endeavor. Counseling skills and calling, well, I know plenty of people who have been wonderful counselors and mentors to me without having ever been awarded letters for it. So maybe one day, you'll see me Heather Schweich B.S., B.A., CMO...who knows?