This is how I applied for and won an art-based scholarship.
Read Morelife
Thanks
So, I'm sure you've noticed a huge gap in posts. I mean, of course you have, because you're a regular reader and you love my wit, and you can't WAIT until you see a new post from me!Kind of like how I am with The Hermitage, Dreams + Jeans, and Fine Art Tips.A lot has been going on. I have been taking 17 credit hours this semester, and I can't remember the last time I've worked so hard and been so happy in that work. I'm telling you right now: If you've been in a slump, or maybe want to advance in your career but lack of a degree is holding you back; GO TO SCHOOL, even if it's just one class at a time.There's nothing that will revive you more than feeding your brain. It's the perfect time in the economy, too. Things are starting to bounce back, but it's slow going and business is still slow enough that if you wanted to, you could squeeze in a morning or evening class. Some of them are scheduled to only meet once a week, if that's all you can commit. There are loads of scholarships available, and enrollment is down, so they WANT you to go to school.But assuming you can afford one class per semester - maybe two - what would you take? What has always piqued your interest? Ancient Egypt? Art History 101- Prehistoric to the Gothic, or World History to 1500.What have you always wondered more about? How to really use Excel, so you can go up a paygrade at work? CIS 105 or Excel Level I.
Or, have you always wondered why rocks look like this? Take Geology 101! I liked it so much I took 102 as well.Why don't you do something for you? You've always wanted to try painting. Remember how much you loved watching Bob Ross? I recommend taking Color Theory first. It's been a challenge, but a good one!
Think about it.Besides school, we've had a few birthdaysand lost our two best friends :(Butter (aka Best Dog in the World) was 13, and Pepper (2nd Best Dog in the World) was 12. They passed away within a month of each other.Our new girl, Juniper, was a birthday surprise, and missed meeting Pepper by two days, but kept Butter company for the last month. She's adorable, and smart, and keeps us all on our toes.The horses have gotten hairy. They got a post-Halloween treat.Keira is still for sale. It's strange, I think she must be waiting for the perfect home. I've had several people interested in her, and a few offers, but they all fell through for various reasons. All she needs is time and attention. She's super smart and sweet, and responds well to training (see video on her page). I'm so surprised she hasn't sold yet, because she's pretty close to perfect. But that's just my opinion ;)I gave my first class lectureand we've had some rain.Coming up, I've got a post on a popular author, a round-up of my projects for the semester, an out-of-town writing conference (so exciting!), and after Christmas, I get to go visit my family. Please continue to keep my sister-in-law and our parents in your thoughts. This is our first holiday without John, and he is greatly missed.Here and now, it's holiday time in the desert, cool and crisp in the morning, sunny in the afternoon.I'm thankful for it all - my family, our health & home, the opportunities we have.And to you, for taking the time to visit.Much love,Heidi...If you'd like to do more online browsing, please stop by my friends' sites:Pb Crazyr. mccormack writestaysteele.comstrategicbongoTracyJoyCreative
Back to School
The first few weeks of school, my brain and my heart fought between being excited and happy, or heartbroken and crying.
Read MoreAnd So It Goes
I honestly have no idea what kind of person John would have become had it not been for the saving grace of Music.
Read MoreBear with me
like your lives are so empty and meaningless without my mindless blathering...
Read MoreFoggy morning, December
Thanks for hanging out with me on my foggy desert morning!
Read MoreHappy Thanksgiving
Thanks for reading ♡
Read MoreJane Says
I don't think I have ever seen a concert where the lead singer was enjoying himself so immensely
Read MoreMake Good Art
Please watch Neil Himself, and Make Good Art. I hope this inspires you as much as it did me.http://vimeo.com/42372767?utm_source=Ypulse+Updates&utm_campaign=ba9e633306-YDU5_25_2012&utm_medium=email
Gypsy Stallion Showcase (and) Why Am I Selling My Horse?
When I make my millions, I'll need to invest in some top quality bloodstock. Let's go stallion shopping!
Read MoreOnline Art Gallery
A selection of original artwork by some fellow Arizonans
Read MoreA Thousand Words
Back to the Mountains - a picture post
If you've been reading my blog for awhile, first of all, THANK YOU!! :) and second of all, you'll be glad to hear about a place familiar to us; our favorite spot in the beautiful White Mountains of eastern Arizona. This is where you first heard of it. Here's the follow-up from last year where you see our lovely tree burned to the ground.In celebration of quitting my job, the last hurrah before school started, and my husband having 3 days off, we headed back to the our favorite spot for a cool break from the 115° heat. Here are some AAaaaahhhh moments:
...and then my battery died.
The nice thing to know is that the area is bouncing back nicely. Fire kills forests, but in the ashes come new life. Grass is growing thick, and our camp spot had the biggest surge of baby Aspens that we've seen since we've been coming here. The wildlife will feed on the fresh new growth, and the whole cycle will begin again.
Thanks for coming along with us, and I hope each of you has a chance to get out and enjoy a nice weekend with your family.
Take care!
Heidi
I am Leo Hear Me Roar (or) Why I Quit My Job
I am a Leo. I totally connect with it. I've always loved cats, the color yellow, and the warmth of the sun on my face. And a big fluffy mane.I'm super-creative, super sensitive, I love being the center of attention. The biggest compliment you could give me is to appreciate something I've made or laugh at something funny I've said. It makes me happy to make others happy. And recognition. Just say,
Hey, Heidi, you did a great job.
In other words: I do it for the applause.
The biggest insult you could give me is to assume that I can't do something. In which case I will most likely treat it as a challenge to prove you wrong.I also have a cat named Leo.In this, my birthday month, a lot of changes have been taking place. First of all, I left my job as a magazine merchandiser. I have to say, it has been a great job for me the past three and a half years. The hours were flexible & the pay decent. I will miss the people at my two stores, the employees as well as the customers. Even though I worked for an outside vendor, the people at the store always made me feel I was part of the team. I absolutely LOVED making sure all of the magazines looked JUST SO: perfectly spaced, stacked evenly, and easy for the customer to browse, and appealing to buy. It helps to be crazy-detail-oriented and slightly OCD when making a magazine rack look so AWESOME.But my greatest pleasure of the job was helping a customer finding something to read. I love selling books.My biggest frustration with my job is that I had absolutely no control over what books we stocked. They came pre-ordered, shipped in cardboard boxes every week. Most were your big-name sellers: James Patterson, Nora Roberts and the like. We did get a few literary treasures, and I did my best to help guide people to new and noteworthy authors, and try new genres (like YA! - see my little YA section in the front there?)But every week, I'd have folks asking for something that we didn't carry. And I'd read Publisher's Weekly, hear about all of these great new titles out there, and on our shelves, in pre-plan-o-grammed slots, stood the same sorry old titles, month after month, collecting dust. Why? Is it someone meeting a sales quota? Does Nora Roberts have evil geniuses hitting the "buy" button at distributing warehouses? Who knows. All I know is, in the great scheme of things, I was simply the schlub unpacking the box in the backroom, and getting merchandise out to the sales floor. And then I'd walk into Barnes & Noble or even (shudder) Costco, and see the titles that PW wrote about that week. I mean, even the book page in People magazine had better titles than we had a t the store. Ugh.Once I had a customer ask me:
Are you the book BUYER?
I wish.Besides my frustration at my limited amount of input, I began to have physical problems. Today, in fact, I am going in for an MRI so the doctor can see a nice pretty picture of the disk in my neck that has bulged out enough to pinch a nerve, causing numbness and tingling through my arm to my fingertips, and a baseball-sized knot in my shoulder. Ouch.Thanks, in part, to:This is how magazines come shipped to the store. Each of those bundles* weighs approximately 25 lbs. They get delivered in these red plastic totes, and each tote weighs 40-50 lbs each. A typical delivery at my biggest store averaged 25-30 totes. I figured on a good day, unpacking new magazines, lifting and stacking the totes, and carrying stacks and stacks of magazines to the checkouts and the main aisle and then packing up all of the old magazines, for about 6+ hours, I would move about 1,500 lbs of merchandise in a day.So, while it is a very good workout, it's also a little hard on the ol' bod. And when my company announced that they were no longer going to have the accounts of the stores I serviced, I figured the timing was just as well. So I decided to move on. But I am very grateful for the experience. I learned so much in the past three years—not only about work, but about people, and a lot about myself.I do have a couple of ideas in mind about where I want my future to go, career-wise, but for the immediate future, I'm going to concentrate on some yoga & physical therapy, get back to nesting, being a mom, playing with my horses and writing a lot. (Insert happy face here)Which brings me to the last thing I wanted to share with you: pictures of our latest outing. You may recognize one of our favorite get-away spots in the mountains.
✢✢✢
*BTW: Shame on Oprah. For some reason, her magazines are some of the heaviest. I like Oprah, I think she does some really great stuff. But for someone who preaches how to make everything better all the time, she should really be printing her magazine on recycled paper. REAL SIMPLE is printed on recycled paper, AND they don't use that heavy-duty plastic wrapping either, and they are the lightest weight magazine I have stocked. THANK YOU, REAL SIMPLE! Rachael Ray also prints on recycled paper. Oprah, your magazine needs to get in shape.
✢✢✢
P.S. In brief: In recognition of one of the true pioneers of the feminist movement, and the founder of Cosmopolitan magazine, Helen Gurley Brown, who passed away this week at the age of 90.Here's a piece from NPR.
Frampton Comes Alive, Food, and Divorce.
My brother and I have lived 1800 miles apart since I was a sophomore in high school. It's been hard to live so far away from one of the few people on the planet who knows you better than anyone else.
Read MoreReally Good Pizza
For a home cook who's still trying to figure things out, it's pretty damn good. And you know what? We never have leftovers...And if you ever say YUMMO around me, I will slap you.
Read MoreWelcome to the Barn - New Site Launch!
My totally sexy new WordPress self-hosted site - beautiful, modern, and streamlined.
Read MoreSanta's Elves - Caught in the Act!
real life Christmas elves spreading cheer
Read MoreAn Ode to my Brother...by the way, you smell.
...we went through a phase where we literally wanted to kill each other...Then we became friends.
Read MoreJohn
This is my awesome brother John.
Read More