Sunday, February 26, 2012

“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” ~Jim Rohn

Hello, all, and welcome to my blog!  My name is Heather.  I'm married, I'm a mom, and I love all animals.  In an effort to get a blog started and keep it going, I've decided to do a 30 day blog challenge entitled "About Me".  Once the 30 days are finished, I hope I've figured out something to write in that particular section.  It's been a long time since I've written anything, so I'm hoping this blog will oil my rusty writing muscles while I share with you how I'm learning to balance the storms of my everyday life as a bereaved mother, Heather-style!

Day 1:  A recent picture and 15 interesting facts about yourself.

Here I am on Valentine's Day at Sea Turtle Rescue, Inc in South Padre Island, Texas!

1.)  I love to travel and see new places, but I'm terrified of flying.  I'd rather drive for 5 days instead of hop on a plane to be there in 5 hours.  Flying also kinda disgusts me - germs everywhere!  I'm the weirdo handing out clorox wipes and antibacterial hand wipes to my fellow passengers, while my daughter encourages them to sneeze/cough into their elbows, not their hands.  Just ick.  I'd much rather be in my own vehicle with my own germs. 
2.)  My favorite dog breeds are American Pit Bull Terriers and Border Collies - both of which blessed my life for many years.  I will forever fight for American Pit Bull Terriers, if not for them, then for my daughter whose best friend happens to be one and I'll never let anyone separate them.
3.)  My husband and I were married by our friend who got ordained to marry us and we were married outdoors at my aunt's gorgeous lakeside resort in Minnesota.  Our wedding reception was a bonfire on the beach!  Our 3 dogs were there and wearing collars decorated with flowers and the wedding colors.
4.)  My husband and I have 3 beautiful children, 1 daughter here on earth and 2 sons in Heaven.  Our son, W, was stillborn on 12/19/06, no cause was ever found.  We had our beautiful daughter, D, just under a year later in 2007.  Our son, E, was diagnosed in utero with severe heart defects (Tetralogy of Fallot with Pulmonary Atresia) and also a seizure disorder called Miller-Dieker Syndrome.  He was born on 09/08/11 and amazed us with 3.5 wonderful days with him in our arms, soaking up our love.  E died due to the heart defects on 09/12/11 in our home, spending every minute of his life held by someone who loved him.  He was definitely a Momma's Boy and wanted to do nothing but nurse!  I love all of my children and ALL of them will always be a part of our family.  I'm hoping beyond all hopes that we can have another living child to raise and we'll get to watch our living children grow up, until one day when they're old and gray, they'll bury us - the way it's supposed to be!
5.)  After many years of being Pro-Life, I'm now Pro-Choice after being faced with that difficult decision between horrible and awful.  Regardless of the decision, it's a decision made out of pure love.  We chose life for our son, knowing he would most likely die anyway (and he did), but it was extremely difficult and not for everyone - I would never take that choice away from someone now and will fight for the right to choose.
6.)  I love to laugh and be silly.  A LOT.  
7.)  I started and run a support group for mothers who have suffered the death of their child(ren), mostly geared towards miscarriages, stillbirths, and infant deaths.  It has shocked me with how much it has grown and makes me so proud to see the amazing support everyone offers each other.    
8.)  I want to change the way our society grieves, views grief, and handles the bereaved.
9.)  I am a Harry Potter freak.  The books are falling apart and I've had to replace my DVDs...more than once!
10.)  I will wait forever for my Hogwarts letter and I get way too excited if I hear/see an owl...
11.)  I love to create with all sorts of mediums:  paper quilling, clay, wire, beads, drawing, coloring, and any crafts with my daughter.  But I have problems finishing crafts since I'm usually working on many at the same time.
12.)  I eat 2 jumbo bags of snack size Hershey bars every week.
13.)  I was a guest columnist for our local Sunday newspaper writing humor columns.
14.)  I hate heart defects with every fiber of my being and curse them for killing one of our sons.
15.)  I drive a mini-van and I love it.

Tomorrow's Blog Challenge?  The meaning behind my blog name....which is pretty self explanatory but I'll do my best!

12 comments:

  1. Awesome! So happy you did this!

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  2. Super proud of you Heather. I've always thought you should write more. You have always been so good at it!

    When's the first novel coming out? Since Hogwarts has already been done, I'm thinking you could make the main setting be some mystical, magical school called... Pigpimples!!! :-)

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  3. Yah! So happy to see you here in the blog world!! What a great way to start out too! I look forward to reading more about you and your beautiful family.

    x <3 o

    PS Do you have a link to the 30 day challenge list? I may need to jump on it and get writing a bit more as I have been a bit of a slacker as of late.

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  4. Yay for the blog being up! I'm going to add your link to my blog shortly. The challenge sounds like a fun.. I'd totally like to do it. Where is the list??

    - Leslie
    throughgreyskies.net.tc

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  5. Glad to have a new blog to follow. Looking forward to reading more.

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