Perspective + Stories + ExperienceThese stories and experiences are my own and mine alone. The opinions and truths stated do not reflect any company that employs me for my skills. I hope my thoughts and ideas inspire more people to come up with their own individual thoughts and share them too. Truth wins and there's a freeing feeling when you can create your own voice to inspire laughs, joy and internal discovery.

Heather

What I Think About Teen Trick Or Treaters

I’ve heard people talk about older kids trick or treating and they didn’t agree with giving candy to them. I kindly disagree.   Tonight, my 15 and 13-year-old sons are out there, with their friends and a pillowcase loving life right now.   These are good, kind, smart, funny young men who are not playing video games.   They aren’t on their phones or computers.   They’re laughing. They're running around, respectively.   They’re ordering funny costumes in advance and getting into character.   I learned that you have to teach someone how to apply nail polish if it’s their first time. Yikes! It was comical. And messy. I’ll always remember that memory.   For the record, my son suggested…
Heather
November 4, 2019
Food for thoughtHeather

Destination 40 Vacations are a Must

It all began when we began to approach 40. When Mark was turning 40, we planned a Mexico all-inclusive and invited any couples or singles within our friends and family to join if they wanted, here’s a group link just in case. We were going regardless, but hey, you only turn 40 once. No one was able to make it, but we had the best time together ever. It was also early November, So the place was maybe half full, mostly Canadians and Wisconsin. They were all awesome and great people. We had a free upgrade in suites, restaurant/beach access and premium shelf status! Couldn’t beat it. Every day was a clear, sunny 85-90 degrees. Ahhhhh….I want to go baaaaaack.…
Heather
October 20, 2019
Heather

Dancing with Our Stars – The Clear Winners Are…. These Guys

Remember those friends of ours I mentioned in the Desitination40 story? Well, here’s a good reason why my Mark and I agree they’re our people. Why their best friends I hope all grown-up, lifelong #NoRegerts married couples seek in life to be their people. A mirror couple to be BFF’s with. Cause you have similar foundations. We had quite a few of these gem couples in Iowa. We’re grateful to be related to quite a few. They exist here, too. Here's a story about one of those couples. AKA golden rule couples Golden rule couples aren't common like having beer on tap. They’re more like $5 PBR pitchers. Every town has them, but you have to network to find the…
Heather
October 20, 2019
Heather

Why Dermographism Woke Me

In hindsight, I should've listened to my skin sooner. I kept getting itchy, very itchy - and once I scratched, it tripled in itchy and turned into hives. My nose and cheeks flush red. Anything rubbing or touching my skin snuggly triggered the itch areas worse. I had no idea what was going on. So after nearly two weeks, I called my doctor. She observed and said it could be a viral infection. 'When you start to feel it come on, take a Zyrtec. Call if it gets worse.' I felt silly like I wasted a doctor's appointment.  I didn’t even think of taking allergy pills. I was using anti-itch cream on it, the clear calamine kind used for bug…
Heather
October 14, 2019
Heather

Good girls gone bad to even worse.

I actually knew this girl. I knew lots of girls similar with challenging childhoods. Hundreds of girls. Girls like her have a harder place to succeed from. These teens come from all race and zip code. What they shared was their cyclic life, raised generations deep in a void mindset. I think that when you see that spark of possibility, of hope and see that they truly want to break free and not be in this, you gain more hope, too. I think of the characters like Julia Garner as Ruth in Ozark.  Emmy and Shanola’s as Fiona and V on Shameless. These raw, authentic women keep fighting. Like phoneix who rise from the ashes each and every time because…
Heather
October 5, 2019
Food for thoughtHeather

The Stories Your Scars Tell Are Up To You

I used to be embarrassed by these two small scars on my left hand. That translates to 24 years of hiding or avoiding a conversation. "What happened to your hand?" usually occurs at some point or another and I didn't want to talk about it because admitting how it happened sounded weak to me. I didn't want to deal with judgments or pity. weak. So the years progress, and over time I grew from not necessarily hiding my hand to just not acknowledging that someone is looking at it, ready to ask, whether intentions were curious and innocent or not. I’ve spent the last year - year #25 -   thinking I’m a goofball. I should never be embarrassed again. Silly…
Heather
October 5, 2019
Food for thought

We’re All Just Older Kids, Even at Work

Let's make sure we're playing in the right sandbox. Our lives depend on it. At a recent conference in another time zone, I was among people that do the same stuff I do to some degree or another as a paid career. As we were eating lunch and getting to know one another, 'talking shop' as it's called, a beautiful and intelligent woman from Arkansas said with such politeness that at her work, there is a clique group of straight up, well, toxic people who would rather sacrifice being team players over some type of desired personal gain. She’s authentic in her descriptions with confession of struggling to stay optimistic at work. You could feel her heaviness in her heart.…
Heather
September 20, 2019
Food for thought

3 Things to Consider Before Shopping Facebook Ads

Facebook ads, no matter how cool, persuasive, funny and correctly targeted to you - are going to quite possibly be from a country far, far away. (And retargeted with every single ad just like it when you click) They are getting much more sophisticated in appearance. So if you open the ad, shop inside the pop-up and complete your order within Facebook, consider these three things before you buy. 1. You don’t mind that it’s on a slow boat from China. Yes, some things are worth waiting for. As long as it’s not last minute, meaning ten days out or less. In a world of next-day Amazon and our immediate gratification requirements of ‘Merica, it can feel weird to wait…
Heather
September 20, 2019
Heather

Rappers in Suburbia Paradise

I really like the man my teen son is becoming. I believe his group of friends are, too. They're good boys. They listen to music with meaning. Today marks a transitional day in the Oh Hey Heather house. Our oldest son has decided at 15.5 years, we should take the hardly used basement family room to convert into his bedroom. His friends use it most, anyway, for playing video games. He's right. His younger brother is excited to claim his vacated room, too. So the family project commences. I left work early this afternoon to surprise him and get started. I'm self motivated, too, because when it's all said and done, I claim the final smallest bedroom as a seven-year…
Heather
August 30, 2019
Food for thought

Hey Girl, Sit Down. And Learn From Sturgis Women.

If you’re using a public restroom, it’s because you gotta go. The term public restroom is loosely defined as anywhere you can acceptably drop the drawers and let out a self satisfying exhale of letting it go. Swanky department stores to weekend strong porta-johns that could use a bit more ventilation and blue water, they all qualify. Whatever spectrum of potty exposure you’ve put yourself in, when you gotta go, you gotta go. (If it’s bad enough, wooded areas or between open car doors will suffice). Nothing makes my bladder boil more than when you swing open that door to sweet freedom and find the seat covered in hover piss. When you’ve made eye contact with a toilet and there’s…
Heather
August 10, 2019
Heather

I got big Plains

The plains. So wide. Just wide. I mean, Iowa is wide. Headed to Bree’s new house in Iowa yesterday. Ohio has wide places. Ohio’s sunset last week This highway is so far ahead straight that it’s like you just can’t see that far straight ahead. Moments when I wish I had a fancy camera because this doesn’t do it justice. But this.  It’s just wide, open, uninterrupted consistency. They must of laser grid this for hundreds of straight miles. Very little anything of height but an occasional grouping of trees who managed migrate towards a small water pond in between fields of crops or wild grass. Billboards and road signs litter up when you get to a place of human…
Heather
August 4, 2019
Food for thought

The Willie Nelson Post That Almost Didn’t Happen.

My original post idea for this photo was going to be “Perfect song to begin a perfect day driving to an uncharted Adventure...” But then I hesitated. I decided I wasn’t going to post anything at all. I even put my phone away.  Why? Because I caught myself in time - I was afraid if any bikers or sarcastic individuals who know what the Sturgis tradition is, would make fun of me. Mock me. Belittle me publicly behind a faceless user name.  What if they notice the picture of our radio means we aren’t riding our bikes the whole way? I rationalized my delete button with “I’ll have a thousand things to post anyway. Between the past weekend with my…
Heather
August 4, 2019
Food for thoughtHeather

If America was a Company

I am so over politics.  I don’t even want to call it that anymore. It’s no longer politics or bipartisanship anyway. So for this story, I am going to use the analogy that our wonderful country is actually a company. We as Americans whether working, stay at home parenting, student, retired, volunteering – however you contribute(d) to the economy and progress of this country – are the employees. Then in business terms, our House would be like different department leaders meeting at the table to make big decisions for the company. Regardless of where you would sit at the table as an elected representative, you better be savvy enough to see the forest through the trees. The cause and effect…
Heather
July 12, 2019
Heather

Dear Husband, Here’s the Card Hallmark Didn’t Write.

I didn’t want to write a post on Facebook. I didn’t want to stand in the card aisle at Kroger reading card after card trying to find the one card some stranger wrote that came close enough to capture what I am trying to say to you so I can sign it as if it’s a stamp of approval. I also didn’t want to wait for a milestone year to say what I want to say right now. This is Anniversary #17. Not 20, 25 or 50. But 17 complete, season cycles of marriage. And here’s what I feel and think that I want to say about it. With great love comes a great fear. Not fear like basic realizations…
Heather
July 5, 2019
Heather

ABC’s The Bachelor Needs a Makeover

An Open Letter to the Bachelor Can you imagine the scenario: a perfect gentleman has a serious girlfriend whose parents aren’t frequently able to visit? Cue in ABC's The Bachelor, specifically the third to the last episode - also known as - the top 4 finalists' home visits. So here’s my vision of a new, revamped Bachelor season. Yes, a swooning, record-breaking season where you actually expand your demographic to a larger base of new psychographics. Here goes the plan: I don’t know about you, but at this stage in the show, I would think that if I was in love-love, I'd know by now. You're meeting the parents! You would have to at least know if it's serious, last…
Heather
June 13, 2019
Heather

Rain – The Nasty 4 Letter Word

The rain that most of the midwest, agricultural states have received this year is something awful. In my 43 years of living in WVa, then Iowa and now recently, Ohio - I have not experienced in memory this heightened concern. I'm not sure how many ways it's affecting so many unknown factors with farmers who still can't plant any seeds because it hasn't been dry enough. And it's May 22nd. And it just got cloudy again and we're supposed to get more. It kind of feels eerie when year after year, no matter which state we lived in, May meant the sparks of green on our daily commutes and drives. It was signs of the best time of year. Bright…
Heather
May 22, 2019
Heather

When You Know Where Everything Is

If you’re like me, you know where stuff is. For some, it’s a photographic memory, where you can see exactly where the random pack of 3M strips are or where that engraved flask is that he got from his brother’s wedding 19 years ago.  Only for crap though. I am glad networking events have name tags. But it’s impressive. Kinda like that refreshing baby boomer or veteran at Lowes that says, “Oh, you’ll find that on aisle 63, to the middle left next to the lumber aisle. I’ll walk you there. What kind of project are you doing?” Then we proceed to discuss it, he either commends us for the size of the task ourselves or recommends another option that…
Heather
May 21, 2019
Heather

If You Grew Up in Beech Bottom, West Virginia

If you lived in Beech Bottom in the 80’s and early 90’s – you know what I’m talking about. The playground of fearless equipment Sure, there were simple swings or a concrete dolphin to lay on, but you know why you begged your mom to take the wax paper to the park. You may have waxed that slide enough to think you were going to go up over the sides, and you may have. But the bravest, by far, road the giant stride. And if you were really brave, you let the older kids see how fast and high they could make you fly. Lock your arms in, and make sure you have a safe word. Dodd’s field If you…
Heather
April 28, 2019
Food for thoughtHeather

Can We Keep 2019 Hairstyles in Fashion – Forever? Please?

I do stuff to my hair for work. Or if I'm going somewhere nicer than usual. You know, a date or concert or something. But that's about it. Over the years, as I am sure everyone, even short hair folks, switched it up. Changed something. Color, style, length, part... We will do so in the future, too. Cut and color is always fun to experiment with, but can we please leave style methods as is, forever? Today's hair trends are my favorite so far and have held strong for a few years now. I hope it stays that way. Here's why. Your hair is styled either straight or curly. Flat irons and bigger barreled curling irons are a necessity, but the…
Heather
March 28, 2019
Food for thoughtHeather

Why Game of Thrones is So Addictive To So Many

So think about this. Game of Thrones. Why is it so fascinating to the point of a full-on merchandising frenzy of money business? I admit I may have a few bottles of GOT wine, a blanket, couple glasses, shirts, a House Stark bathrobe, etc. Sure, it’s film mastery like any other amazing vision like Avatar to Lord of the Rings to Ole’ HP and the wands. Yet on HBO and almost 10X longer and epic than LOTR. The emotion of S6:09 Battle of the Bastards still terrifies me and awe inspires my adoration of cinematography keeps my eyes open as much as possible. Maybe it’s the script…or screenplay genius that is the powerful moments of greatness from our top players…
Heather
March 27, 2019
Food for thoughtHeather

Accepting the New “Weak “- Shut Out The Mean Girl in Your Head

A lot of people are ashamed. Scared. Embarrassed. Too afraid to tell their story that brought them here today. I’ve done that all of my adult life. I felt the shame from people who knew little bits of my story back in high school and before I left town. With my head hung low. Why? Every. Single. Person. Every single person has a story. Sure, some are more graphic than others. More sad. More heartbreaking. More triumphant. More inspirational. It does not matter what size of mountain you climbed to overcome your own mind’s voice of doubt in yourself. What matters is that you climbed it and overcame it. And understand that just because you overcame that mountain doesn’t mean…
Heather
March 7, 2019
Food for thoughtHeather

What Your Children Teach You About Leaving Neverland

Sitting in a hotel room, two hours off my timezone and sleepless. Here's HBO with a new documentary. I'm curious. I didn't expect it to align with anything I'm already talking about. On the HBO documentary, Leaving Neverland, James Safechuck explains how his son is growing to the exact age that he was when Michael Jackson began abusing him in the early 90’s. He went over the emotions that realization caused him and he struggled. Wade Robson discusses this same phenomenon with his son, but it was triggered more at the point of fatherhood when his son was about 18 months old. The love of having a son and the innate need to protect him caused horrible mental pictures of…
Heather
March 5, 2019
Food for thoughtHeather

But Did You Die?

Today I found out I have a hole in my heart. I spent a week of wait for an echocradiogram after three weeks of figuring out the right blood pressure med for my new high blood pressure scare. The hole - It’s called a PFO. You can live with it. There’s a concern about blood clots passing through it and getting in the wrong stream but if I keep pumping in my blood pressure meds I should be fine. Translation: You're not going to die. I mean, I feel so much better. Not physically better. Still have the same new pain and breathing weird as before, but I feel better everywhere else. Cause I’m not going to effing die. This means,…
Heather
March 1, 2019
Heather

Walmart is Gaining Ground on Becoming Amazon’s First Rival.

I think Walmart is gaining ground on Becoming Amazon’s First Rival.I ran to Walmart today because I wanted the cheapest copy I could get on Blu Ray for Office Space. And they had it. With Deadpool on the cover! For $5 no less. So Funny I went ahead and bought Castaway and Fight Club too. I already had Fight Club, but it's got Deadpool on the cover. For $5. The things that they now stock on their shelves, like the $8 lounge Pants for my man child that are an illusion that looks like my son has little legs and he’s on a bear’s shoulders. It’s also where I find the best cat shirts that Hot Topix and Amazon don’t…
Heather
March 1, 2019
Heather

Yardscaping and Good Kids

Funny story really. My son’s friend was hanging out here the same time my parents from West Virginia were spending the weekend to visit. Well, it’s Sunday afternoon and they have their stuff packed by the door while we play one last game of train dominoes. So by their last trip to the car, three pairs of shoes sat there. I knew my stepmom was going to wear one of them back and a second pair were boots. Put the boots in a Kroger sack and noticed my Dad was already wearing a pair of shoes and put the black guy’s shoes in a sack. They head back to the mountains. About 45 minutes later, my son’s friend is looking…
Heather
February 24, 2019