At Home with Heather

Today, I finally went back to one of my loves, Yoga. I started going to Yoga consistently about a year ago. I had always been interested in trying it out, so when a friend asked me to go last fall I decided to give it a shot. I was hooked from the first class! I go to a place called "Yoga One" in Charlotte. It's pretty intense yoga. They call it, "Power Vinyasa Yoga," which basically means you're getting any amazing workout. It really is cardio and strength training and stretching all in one! Most classes are an hour and a half, so you're really getting a workout.

They have a great studio which is decorated amazingly and really gets you into the feel. AND to spicen things up there are individual heaters all around the room, so the room is SUPER hot, like you walk in and you're like, "WHOA!" Kinda like a sauna. It really helps loosen your muscles and cleanse your body as you sweat it out. =) Plus, for me I tend to have a bit of trouble tightening up my stomach and arms, but yoga will do that for you.

Besides being a great workout though, I really enjoy yoga because it is all about mind, body and spirit. My instructor always seems to throw life lessons in there while you are suffering doing a "vinyasa" (a move that takes a lot of determination and strength) to help you push through and continue doing your best. I always feel better coming out of yoga.

After moving and getting married and wanting to spend every waking moment with Sam, I took a hiatus from Yoga. But I'm back now. I can only imagine how sore I'll be tomorrow. =)

So yesterday I spent THREE hours at Central Piedmont Community College trying to register. I had to take a placement test and the like as well. I scored 99% on the English test, but TOTALLY BOMBED the math. The last math placement test I took at my other school allowed us to use calculators. No such luck this time. =( I was seriously not happy with my results, but I guess math is Sam's specialty so I decided to just go with it. What can you do?!

After the placement test I proceeded to start to register for classes. I had about 6 classes as options to take. I was in utter disbelief when EVERY single one of them was CLOSED-filled up! WHAT?! CPCC has 6 campuses and NOT ONE has a single class opened that I needed. It was insane. I am feeling a little discouraged because I really wanted to get some of my schooling out of the way, especially while Sam is gone. I guess maybe there is something else better out there for me this semester. Usually when crazy things like this happen it is not too long before I see the reason things didn't work out the way I thought they were suppose to.

We'll see...

My birthday was yesterday. Sam's birthday was on the 4th. I sent him a book/poem/photo collage to help cheer him up. He loved it, but told me he was so sad because he couldn't do anything for my birthday, 4 days later, because he was out in the field. I honestly didn't think he would do able to do anything, so I didn't expect anything either. Well, I woke up on my birthday and went on my usual morning run. When I returned I saw the roses, balloon, cake and gift bag on my stove. I was SOOO excited. Sam had called our really cool neighbors, the Cauthens and asked them to make a special delivery for him for my birthday. I was totally surprised and elated! =) The gift bag had a "Full House" season 6 DVD in it from the Cauthens. I really like Full House. =) So then I went to lunch with BA, Eli, Renee, Haylee and Mrs. Swaringin. It was fun times. Later on I spent the night with my fam. All in all it was a good birthday. The surprise from Sam really made my day though...

p.s. he comes home three weeks from today-Hurray!!!

On Saturday night some family friends from MI came down to visit. My whole family came and hung out at my house and we had SO MUCH FUN laughing and reminiscing about old times.
On Sunday after church, we went to the mountains of NC and went hiking. We stopped in Boone and visited the hippie shops and took in the culture there. Then we headed to Blowing Rock and had a great time hiking on the trails and taking pictures. We found a great spot to chill and had lots more fun laughing and relaxing.

You know how your parents always tell you when you are young that when you get older you will love your siblings and actually WANT to hang out with them?! Well it really is true. I had a GREAT time with my family this weekend and we made some cool memories to add to our collection.

Sam update: He has semi-official word that he WILL be going to Kuwait and NOT Iraq. His four day leave should be from August 30th-September 2nd. He will fly out of the US on September 10th-ish?. I miss him so much, but I am so proud of him for being strong and doing what he is doing for our country. Please keep praying for him and us.

Love to all-
*heather joy*

This is how my dad's car looked after they found it after it had been stolen...That was the rock that they apparently used to smash ALL the windows. All the tires were slashed and the side mirrors were busted. We'll see if the insurance company covers the damages...

Last night was the first night I slept at home alone. I was really proud of myself, because I have been avoiding it since Sam left. Everything was fine. I have to admit I did fall asleep with the lamp on as a precaution, but turned it off when I woke up in the middle of the night. It was nice to sleep in MY bed again and I was pretty exhausted from all my travels this week.
Unfortunately, Sam is going to train in "the fab" as they call it-or "the field" to us civilians-starting tomorrow night. So I will not be able to see him this weekend. so that means...the job search starts tomorrow...

This week has been very adventurous! I have managed to spend the night in 5 different places in the past week, to avoid sleeping at home alone!

On Thurs-Saturday I went to Family Camp with some friends. Their church has a camping excursion every year called "Family Camp." It was actually a lot of fun. The good thing was we didn't actually camp. We got to stay in the cabin dubbed "The Mansion" and actually had beds and showers, as well as a t.v. That is what you call "Spoiled Brat Camping." =)

I went tubing with Bette Ann and another girl, Molly. It was a lot of fun despite the spiders and knocking into trees and crashing my tube over-bringing me under! We had fun making the memories.

Earlier this week, Sam called me and told me that he didn't think I would be able to visit him at Fort Bragg on the weekends. Fort Bragg is in Fayetteville North Carolina-about 3 hours away. Sam is doing his training there before deploying overseas. On Friday he called me and told me I COULD visit him on weekends, he just couldn't go off base or stay with me overnight. My whole world brightened when I found that I could see him. We arranged it so I could stay with his cousin, who actually married us. It worked out great because his cousins were very close to base and it was not hard to get there.

I had so much fun seeing him and being able to spend time with him. I think it was extra special because we realized that we weren't going to have much more time together, so we cherished every moment.

I think I will be able to see him next weekend too, before he goes to "the field."

So, I actually had a great week and a lot of fun. I'm going to head over to my sister's house tonight-but I think tomorrow I will attempt to sleep at home alone...eeek! =) Wish me luck!