a blog by:
HEATHER ANDERS
Emotions with the Ocean.
6.23.2016
The ocean is fascinating to me. It harbors so many emotions on any given day, and no matter what I’m feeling, the ocean always feels in sync with my state of mind. More so, it can always pull me from whatever mindset I’m in and reset me.
Life has been, well, tough these last couple of months. I’m not especially good at opening up when things inside get hard, and I can usually reset fairly easily by powering up my laptop and pouring my thoughts onto paper (er…a computer…). But this time it just hasn’t been happening. This blog has gone through a lull because of it, and I think my overall state of mind has suffered severely from my inability to figure out this tangled mess of words that need to be released.
Among a slew of other personal things that have been going on in life, my father-in-law passed away seven weeks ago. To understand the depths of that void, you have to understand at least a little about him. While some people can be considered a solid ground, he was the solid ground. He was the constant in a world of uncertainties; he was my husband’s best friend. He never spoke of his successes, but he impacted thousands of lives just by being him. He was never too busy to help, and no matter the time or request, he never sounded inconvenienced. He was a teacher by nature, and his family values led his heart. His name could be written next to the word “patient” as the sole definition in the dictionary.
Three days before he passed away, I was walking on a beach in South Carolina. I do this weird thing when I’m by the ocean alone where I have a sort of mental conversation with it (I swear I’m not a total crazy person). I remember thinking that I felt so connected with the ocean because it holds all the emotions we hold as people, and expresses them as needed.
Some mornings on the beach possess an incredible calm. When the ocean is still and mostly flat, it looks so peaceful. But underneath that calm surface is still a body filled with undercurrents and uncertainty, just like our everyday lives. Walking out to the ocean on a calm morning, I take solace in the fact that even such a large piece of nature can cover it’s underlying emotions when the circumstances are right.
On the other side of things the ocean can be a nasty place when it’s angry. When it’s pushed and prodded by wind and storms, it rears a side that nobody wants to mess with.
And on a standard day the waves come in, readable and steady in pattern, allowing the people who have taken the time to understand and trust it to capitalize on its personality through an assortment of water sports. The ocean is no different than me, and probably no different than you.
The ocean makes me feel something that nothing else can. It allows me to feel fully and freely. It offers to take my emotions, my fears, my uncertainties, back out to sea with each returning wave.
Here’s to my return to writing and connecting. Thanks to all of you out there who have been extremely patient through my absence, to the many of you I’ve never met who have sent emails of concern and encouragement. The journey with this blog has been such a humbling experience for me; to learn about all the amazing people there are in the world who will love and support you even knowing nothing about you other than written word. You all are my rocks and I’ll commit my time back to you. Love to all…
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FILED UNDER: LET's get serious
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If you have a little one—and you’re not a superhuman mom—you’ve heard these words. And like me, perhaps you’ve even gotten a little frazzled by them.
As a mom, a wife, and a 40(plus)-hour a week marketing professional, sometimes it feels like I’m always in demand. On the days I walk into the office early to try to get a little more caught up, it never fails that someone else came in almost as early and needs my ear for just a minute. Or 45. And with the nature of my position, I just don’t have the leeway to say no, I really don’t have a minute.
I come home from work, and it addition to the energy-filled, hilarious spitfire that is our almost three-year-old, I’m greeted by the sweet little 6-pound Morkie who absolutely needs me to show him I’m just as excited to see him as he is to see me. Here’s a little snapshot of our entrance into the house on any given weekday:
APRIL 1, 2016 BY HEATHER ANDERS
We moved into our new house a month ago, and during the moving process decided it would be really neat to host Easter for each of our families this year. Both of our families are going through some hard times right now, so we thought it not only a great opportunity to christen the new house with lots of family love, but also a great way to take a little pressure off our moms.
So we had a weekend of Easter celebration. Husby's family came over on Saturday and mine came over on Sunday. That meant Adelyn got to do two Easter egg hunts. Albeit exhausted by Sunday night, she was not complaining.
Of all holidays, Easter is probably one of my favorites. Weird, right? You don't hear many people say that. Here's the thing. So many people talk about the real meaning of Christmas; but what about the real meaning of Easter? You guys, the celebration of Easter is the celebration of Christ rising from the dead. Say those words out loud.
SURPRISE A DAY WHILE MOMMY'S AWAY
MARCH 9, 2016 BY HEATHER ANDERS
Playing the role of a traveling mom is hard. Playing the role of a traveling wife is hard. But playing the role of the husband to the traveling mom and wife? It's probably harder.
Now don't mistake the reference hard as something I dislike. I love my job. I love traveling for my job. Loving it, however, doesn't take away the difficulty of leaving a pretty cute little 2.5-year-old, and pretty great guy I like to call Husby.
Last year my trips were proably the hardest on me. The guilt over what I was missing in Adelyn's ever-changing personality, the guilt over the things Husby was picking up the slack on while I was gone, the guilt over the guilt of still loving my job despite the guilt (say that five times fast). I was pretty hard on myself in a lot of respects.
But this year my trips seem to be the hardest on Adelyn. She's old enough now to understand that I'm gone, and she's old enough now to actually cry a sad cry at this notion.
WINTER HAIRCARE: PANTENE PRO-V REVIEW
JANUARY 14, 2016 BY HEATHER ANDERS
When it comes to anything beauty, my hair always comes first. Want to give me the best compliment of my life? Skip the eyes, skip the shape I'm in, skip anything and everything. Go straight to my hair. If you compliment my hair, I'm putty in your hands. Seriously.
Husby will attest that I'm borderline neurotic when it comes to haircare. I refuse to use drugstore brands on it, and oh my goodness if we're out of town and I forgot to pack shampoo and conditioner you had better believe we're in search of the nearest beauty store. My hair will forever be the one area I will not skimp on just to save a dime.
As such, when companies approach me to review haircare products on here, I always let them know up front that the odds of the product actually making it up for a review is incredibly slim. So imagine my own shock that I'm posting about Pantene Pro-V, a drugstore line that will actually become part of my everyday haircare now!