A Letter

Dear Blog,

I have not forgotten you. I promise! I have just taken a few months out for myself, but a lot has happened that I certainly want to share. First off I spent the first part of this year in Spain and France. It was marvelous to say the least and I certainly have more to come about my travels. Speaking of travels if any of you are looking to travel to France this summer, my friends, are renting their lovely place. I stayed with them the majority of the time that I was in the Provencal region so I can personally speak to their incredible accommodations. I also got to spend a bit of time at their family's place so if you are looking for something a bit larger I would highly recommend this gorgeous place. Neither will disappoint.

You may recall me moving last year. Well, after staying with my lovely gracious friends for several months I decided it was time to get my own place again. I am excited to be all moved into a great little house. It is nice to finally have all my belongings out of that ten by ten storage unit. By the end of this week my fence should be complete so that my incredible super pup will be free to roam as she pleases. This move has helped me to feel less displaced and much more settled.

Then several months back I mentioned making a career shift. A week from today that dream will be well on it's way as I begin my first class toward my Masters in Education. I would be lying if I didn't say that I am a bit apprehensive about returning to school, but I am also really excited. I have a really busy summer ahead as I will be in class four nights a week. I am excited about this new challenge and looking forward to the new opportunities that may be unveiled.

So, that is the long and short of where I have been. I have dropped into a blog or two here and there and even found a new one or two that I really like, but all and all I have been absence. So this letter is to just let you know that I have missed you, dear blog, as well as all my lovely blogging friends. I am back and I have lots more to share in the coming days, weeks, and months ahead. Thanks for your patience!

Sincerely,

Heather

Interview

So, I decided to ring in 2009 by participating in this interview. I found out about it over at Somi. If you have never checked out her blog I highly suggest that you head on over. Nilsa covers a little bit of everything from BlogSecret to just recently getting married and she is one of those bloggers that you will find there almost every weekday. I love that! To participate in this interview there are the following rules:

1. If you want to participate, leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.” (And your e-mail address, please.)
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Not too difficult, yes? So, Somi asked me the following questions.

1.) Name only one blogger you really respect and tell me why. I believe that the blogging world is similar to a collection of friends. In circles of friends there are typically different people who you would consult with on various things or for various reasons. Most recently I have huge admiration for this blog and journey. I truly admire boho girl's open heart, candor, and truth. Most recently she and her husband have adopted a lovely baby named Cedar. If you do not know the story of their adoption it is truly an incredible journey filled to the brim with amazing people. Her experiences remind me that often the road to what we long for is bumpy and drawn out, but that persistence, hope, and faith carry us through.

2.) If you had to pick a non-urban, U.S. destination in which to vacation for a week, where would you go? I would go anywhere that there were mountains, a small quaint downtown, and a lake. I can think of many places that I have been that fit this description, but I want to go somewhere new. Any suggestions that fall into this criteria???

3.) If you had $500 to spend on housing, food and entertainment for the trip mentioned in (2), how would you spend it? I would spend the majority of my money renting a small house where I could walk out my door and go on long hikes with my superpup. The remainder of my money I would spend on purchasing groceries. I love spending hours preparing a meal or making a new recipe when time is not a factor. The great thing about the mountains is that I barely need money for entertainment as I can be entertained by outdoor activites for free.

4.) Tell me about one person with whom you've lost touch. If you hope for a reunion, how would you like that reunion to take place? I was a United States Peace Corps Volunteer from September 2002 through November 2004 in Zambia. There were about 24 others that were apart of my group. I keep up with some of my fellow volunteers by phone, e-mail, or facebook, but one of my closer friends, Christina and I have completely lost touch. A bunch of us were together for New Years Eve in NYC to ring in 2005 and that was the last time that I have seen or talked to her. I would love to reunite with her. From a friendship that began in the bush of Africa we really would not need much entertainment. I would be all for a comfortable evening with no time constraints to sit outside, drink wine, and talk until there is nothing left but a comfortable silence.

5.) In 2008, what was your biggest achievement and your biggest failure/disappointment? I am going to take the liberty of beginning with the biggest disappointment first and then end on an up note here. Without a doubt the biggest disappointment of 2008 was the end of a long-term relationship with a man that I truly adored, the cancellation of our engagement, and the selling of our house. My biggest achievement in 2008 was the undercovering of a new path for myself which will include an extended trip to Europe, graduate school, and a new career path in 2009.

Well, that is it for the questions I was asked. Like I said if you are interested in participating leave a comment with your e-mail address. Happy New Year everyone!

All I Want for Christmas

I am noticing that a lot of my blog titles are song titles or parts of songs. This is not on purpose in case you were wondering. Anyhow, that is just a small aside which has nothing to do with this post.

Did you know that I love Christmas? Well, I do. The photo above is one of my Christmas tree last year. It is not the best photo, but you get the idea. I am lucky to have a photo of the tree at all as the lights on that tree were the lights from hell. Yes, you heard me right. I said hell. I mean a strand or two seemed to go out every single hour and this is not a joke. I would buy new lights and the same thing would happen. Now, I am a perfectionist admittedly, but I finally had to reside myself to the fact that I was going to have a fully decorated tree with lights that did not work as the light situation was truly making me loony. Now this was easier for me to accept considering that I was out of town on Christmas day and for several days both before and after.

When I was moving back in August several of my friends, who assisted, kept saying that I had more boxes labeled Christmas than anything else. They may have been correct. Honestly I am not sure what was in each box as I do not collect kick knacks or the like. However, I do have a lot of ornaments. I collect these. People have been giving me these ornaments as gifts for years which makes it even more fun. I have the NYC taxi cab to represent my internship and time in the Big Apple. Then there is the Gingerbread Man with the AIDS ribbon on his chest to remind me of my time in Africa. There is the Christmas tree that my best friend gave me that is broken in the least visible of places and it reminds me of my time in New Orleans. See that is where that tree was broken. It fell on the hardwoods of my house there as I was putting it up.

Getting the Christmas decorations out every year is one of my favorite things. I love decorating my house and taking the trip down memory lane that many of my ornaments offer. Unfortunately, since all my stuff is sitting in a 10x15 storage unit this Chritmas I am missing doing this. Somehow, it doesn't feel quite like Christmas for me without such traditions. Then I recall several other years that I did not go through the motions that I mentioned above. There was my time in the Peace Corps where there was no traditional Christmas celebration for two years. I recall that I spent my second Christmas there seeing the Indian Ocean for the first time.

So this holiday season as I am missing parts of my traditions I am reminded that none of these things are truly what make Christmas Christmas anyhow. Everytime that I feel some tiny bit of longing I recall all that I truly have to be thankful for.

What traditions make it seem like Christmas to you? What are you most thankful for this year?

Signs

Today I grabbed lunch by myself at a local Chinese restaurant. I was sitting there reading a book that a dear friend gave me called, "My Horizontal Life" by Chelsea Handler. For those who don't know her she was on "Girls Behaving Badly" and she is comedian. I must admit that she is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. Her book is one of those that literally has me laughing out loud in public places all by myself. I have gotten stared down multiple times for my odd behavior. I suppose laughing aloud is unacceptable. Anyhow, I must warn you that her book is a bit (OK maybe more than a bit) crude, but if you like a good laugh and are not easily offended then you may enjoy this read.

Anyhow, my lunch arrives as does my fortune cookie. For some reason I have gotten into a habit of opening my fortune cookie before I ever taste my Chinese food. In addition, after retrieving my fortune I throw the cookie away as I am just not in love with the taste. So, I open the cookie, pull out my fortune, and this is what I read, "You are headed in the right direction." It is ironic that those words are exactly the affirmation that I needed today. I understand that fortunes are like horoscopes in that many think they hold no meaning. Yet, today I choose to believe that my fortune holds some relevance for me.

It was almost exactly this time last year that I was sharing the news of my engagement with the blogosphere. The past year has been full of so many turbulences from accepting an engagement, to planning a wedding, to canceling a wedding, loosing one of my best friends, selling my house, etc. Now I am at the point where I am amending my dreams. It has been a long and confusing journey for me. I am in the beginnings stages of planning a new future for myself. I am working on booking a trip to Madrid and to France, training for a half marathon, looking into going back to school, setting up some one on one photography training, more to come on all this shortly.

So, today as I prepare to go on the first date I have been on in years with anyone other than my ex I am thankful. I needed confirmation "[that I] was headed in the right direction." What signs do you see around you or do you think such is nonsense???

It's Official

A week ago today I completed signing a zillion documents to finalize selling my first home to another couple. In some ways, I feel really relieved as I have been afforded a new sense of freedom. There is one less major thing holding me here, therefore when I am promoted picking up and moving across the country will be a lot less complicated. At the same time, I feel a bit displaced. I have driven past my old house at least twice since the paperwork was complete. I have had to talk myself out of driving by multiple other times.

During one of my stalking/drive by escapades I spotted the new owners carrying some things into the house. I wondered if they recognized my car as I drove by and if they had participated in similar activity while the house was under contract. They were a really cute couple and I could not help, but hope that they have as many great memories as I had there. When I ponder the things that I will miss most, about my house, there are two things that come to mind: the large trees shading the backyard and the chance to decorate it for another Christmas. I love Christmas and most particularly decorating for it. Some friends who helped me move said that they thought I had more boxes labeled Christmas decorations than anything else. They might be right!

This year has certainly been filled with lots of unexpected twists and turns. Many are curious about where I am headed from here. To be honest, I am not quite sure. What I do know is that I have been faced with too many decisions and for now I do not plan to make anymore decisions. I am in the process of realigning my goals. I have yet to fully understand exactly what that means for me. All I know is that I am in the midst of a discovery process. Where are you these days???

Disbelief

So, as of today I have news that is soooo unbelievable that I am almost afraid to mention, utter, write it, etc. but I can not hold it in so here it goes: I ACCEPTTED AN OFFER ON MY HOUSE TODAY!!! Can you believe it? It has only been on the market 2 weeks. I would be lying if I did not admit that this a bit of bittersweet news. Now, I will just keep my fingers crossed that all goes smoothly from here.

For Sale

Well, it is now official my home is on the market. As of July 1st my house became no longer my home, but my product to sell. The real estate agent said that typically you receive the most traffic during the first two weeks on the market. Of course, with this being a holiday week things have been a bit different. As a matter of fact, the first showing is occurring as I type this. I pray that those crossing the threshold of my home love it as much as I have. Selling my house is part of the closure of a previous chapter in my life. I will travel with the memories, but it is time to move on from the place.

One of my close friends is Catholic. She suggested that I go and get a St. Joseph statue. St. Joseph is the patron saint of homes. Supposedly you plant the small statue in your front yard, upside down, with St. Joseph facing your front door (unless you want to sell your neighbors homes). Once the house sells you are to dig up the statue, take it with you, and place it in your new home. I think that I will have to try this. What do I have to loose??

So, in the coming days, weeks, and hopefully not months I ask for your prayers, good energy, etc. that a fair offer will appear quickly.