Living in the moment

It's been a long time since I wrote a blog but I feel like it's time to start back up.

It seems like the past six months there have been lots of ups and downs...news of people passing away, news of sickness...a reminder that life is short.

Working in news, it sometimes seems like there isn't much good left in the world, but you have to live in the moment.

Do what you enjoy.

Make the best of every situation.

Give your best every day.

Take the time to spend time with those you love...family and friends.

Sometimes it's hard to not think about what the next step is but there may not be a next step...you may be exactly where God wants you to be even if it's not where you thought you would be or where you want to be.

That's when you have to trust that it is all in God's plan.

So why does God have you where you are?

How can you best serve him? 

And remember, you can always do something to bless others. 

A generous person will prosper;whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. ~Proverbs 11:25

Things I have learned as a new mom

I have been a mom for 5 months and it has been the best 5 months of my life so far. Everyone tells you that having a baby will change your life and it does for the better...no doubt about it!

Here are the top five things that I have learned so far...

1. Time is priceless. There will never be enough time in the day, so you have to make it count. You will never get everything done, so do what HAS to be done and don't worry about the rest. I do the dishes, wash bottles,and vacuum huge dust bunnies but that's about it. At the end of the day, I would rather spend the time with baby and dog.

2. Weatherly's smile can put me in a good mood no matter what...the only thing better is her little laughs and giggles.

3. I have equal respect for working moms and stay-at-home moms. I think moms just have to do what suits their family and their financial situation. I have friends that are both and I have learned from all of them. It is a juggling act either way...just have to remember balance is important.

4. My dogs are still my children and always will be. I know Abbie is a dog, but to me she is a person and member of the family. And Blondie is with us in spirit...and always will be.

5. I'm so blessed. I have a wonderful family, fabulous friends and a career that I enjoy. It's just the whole balancing act that I'm still trying to figure out...but I will soon...I hope :)

I know that I'm still a "rookie" mom and I hope I will continue to learn more so that I can be a good mom to Weatherly. For those of you that have shared your words of wisdom, thank you and keep them coming!

Blondie...RIP Sweet Dog

It is with a heavy heart that I write this ...we had to put our oldest dog, Blondie, to sleep today. She started going downhill quickly last night and was in rough shape this morning. The decision to put a dog down is never an easy one but seeing her in pain told us it was the right call. I can't imagine what it would be like to go through this without a fantastic vet or a supportive family.

Blondie has been around for half of my life...we got her when I was a junior in high school. She was definitely a member of the family growing up and came to live with Ed and I almost 7 years ago...to help keep Abbie company.

Blondie was a sweet, loyal dog. 16 years is a long life for any dog but especially one with a heart murmur. As she got older, she was high maintenance but Ed and I loved her so much that we just made those extra things a part of our life. One of us would get up and take her out in the middle of the night (it was Ed alot of the time), she had her own doggie socks so she didn't slide around on our wood floors, she had her own pill box with all her meds, and was the only one that didn't get yelled at for snoring or whining when they were hungry. I will miss doing all these things for her and more than anything am grateful that she did her part to get me ready to be a mom.

She never turned into that croutchy old dog and was so sweet around Weatherly. She would let the baby lay on her like a pillow and fortunately I captured it on camera several times because I will forever treasure those moments.

Blondie, we will always love you. Thanks for your unconditional love, your loyalty, and your friendship...rest in peace sweet dog.

Looking Back at 2013

2013 started out on a joyful note as we found out we were expecting our first child. After a fairly easy pregnancy, Weatherly Carol Heath came into this world on her due date, October 8. She is destined to be on time for the rest of her life now, right?

She has been such a blessing and a wonderful addition to our lives. The whole family is smitten, even Blondie and Abbie. It has been a big adjustment with little sleep, but completely worth it. We have had plenty of help from family and friends. Sonya’s family is here, so they stop by frequently. Ed’s parents stayed for two weeks in mid October helping out with the baby and cooking. Between the two families, we truly are blessed.

Ed is still loving his job at Boeing. We got to attend Family Day in early November and even the baby was able to see where her daddy works although I’m sure she didn’t realize how cool it is! It was neat to see where Ed spends a good chunk of his day and just exactly what he does.

Sonya is still the weekend meteorologist at ABC News 4. She was able to spend 6 weeks at home with Weatherly and then ease back in for two weekends before going back fulltime. She misses being home with the baby, but her crazy schedule means that Weatherly only has to go to daycare 3 days a week.

Our other big news? We bought a house in June. It’s less than five minutes from the tv station, so Sonya can come home on her dinner break to see the family. It’s been great to have more room and a backyard for the dogs. Weatherly had her room specially painted with hot air balloons and clouds…a good mix of “aviation and weather” J

Ed found the time to complete five sprint triathlons this summer…pregnant Sonya slept in those mornings J He also played soccer and Weatherly was able to go to the last two games of the season to cheer her favorite player on…go daddy!!

Abbie and Blondie are exhausted being big sisters. Blondie turned 16 last month and she is the cutest, toughest old dog for sure! Abbie doesn’t like it when Weatherly cries, so we call her the protector….Blondie settles for being an occasional pillow.

We hope that you’ll come visit us in Charleston…all five of us. We always have an extra bed and love to see family and friends.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Heaths!

 

 

 

Welcome to Parenthood!!

It has been a busy month as we welcomed our little bundle of joy, Weatherly Carol Heath, to the world! She was born on October 8, 2013. She actually came on her due date, which is something only 5 percent of babies accomplish. I'm hoping that means she is destined to be punctual for the rest of her life :)





The first two weeks were a whirlwind as Ed and I just tried to get enough sleep to semi-function. We struggled with Weatherly's weight...she wasn't packing on the pounds like she should. We finally figured out the right solution to get her to gain weight and for us to keep our sanity. At her one month appointment, the doctor gave us gold stars as our little girl was finally over 9lbs AND we seemed more alert and happy...(the truth is we were relieved she had made weight!)

We are blessed to have so much support and love from friends and family...all the calls, texts, visits, thoughts, prayers, and gifts have been amazing! Thank you! We were lucky to have Ed's parents stay for two weeks, his sister came for a weekend, and my parents and brother come to visit at least once a week. We are so fortunate to have such a great support group.

We are just living one day at a time and enjoying every minute of it. The dogs love their little sister and are enjoying all the company too. As I write this all three "babies" and Ed are asleep...hopefully I will be soon.  

 

 

Maternity Pics!

I just had to share these pictures from our maternity shoot earlier this month. One of my co-workers, Dave MacQueen, did an amazing job. Just waiting for our little girl to join us now :)

If anyone in the Lowcountry needs any pictures taken, I would highly recommend MacQueen Event & Photography!

Busy summer

It has been a busy, but fun summer for us and it's not even over yet...fall doesn't officially start until September 22nd!

We took a trip to the west coast to check out Seattle. Ed spent some time working and we got to catch up with one of Sonya's best friends, Sarah, and her husband. It was a neat place...definitely recommend visiting!

We moved into our new house in Mount Pleasant in June and we love it! Ed has been working on numerous little projects and we have been working on getting it ready for the baby too. The nursery is basically ready.

Ed did 5 sprint triathlons this summer at James Island County Park. He did great and only saw one alligator...fortunately the sighting was a while after he got out of the water!

I celebrated my two year anniversary at ABC News 4 at the end of August. It has been a fun ride so far and I'm looking forward to the future as our station will transition from being owned by Allbritton to being owned by a much bigger company, Sinclair Boradcasting.

The dogs are doing great...still spoiled as ever! They are ready to get another "rotten baby" in the house :) We are all looking forward to meeting our new addition...she should be here in about a month!

Hope the world is ready for another Wolfpacker...

because we are having a baby!

We are excited about starting a family and our new addition is expected to arrive in early October. So far, it's been a pretty easy pregnancy ...we just hope that trend continues through the second and third trimester. Hope all of you are doing well. Let us know if you are headed to Charleston anytime soon! Love, Sonya & Ed

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from the Heaths

We hope that this email finds all of you happy and healthy this holiday season!

It has been a busy year for us, but we have really enjoyed being back in the Lowcountry.

Our year started out on a fun note as we cruised to the Bahamas. It was a first for both of us and we enjoyed seeing Atlantis, petting and kissing dolphins in Freeport, going down the water slide on the boat, hanging out in the hot tub, and just relaxing together!

Ed “landed” a job at Boeing in the spring. He enjoys working for the company, which is good because he spends a lot of time there. He has traveled some for work and has been to Seattle several times. He hopes that one of these days I can tag along, which is great since my best friend Sarah and her husband live there. In his spare time, he is still playing soccer. His team did pretty well this year and played in the playoffs…woo hoo!

I’m still working as the weekend meteorologist at Channel 4 in Mt. Pleasant. I get to wear my reporter hat three days a week, which gets me out in the community. All the people at work tell me I get to cover the “fun stories” like going to the local monkey sanctuary, the PGA Golf Championship on Kiawah, and tracking down baby sea turtles. I get to be out on the water in boats a fair amount (hey, it’s a tough job but somebody has to do it…lol)! I am also still playing percussion with the Charleston Community Band. And this fall I got the chance to twirl with my high school band…it was awesome!

We did two sprint triathlons this year…one in April and one in July. We didn’t train as much as we would have liked because of work, but we finished. We had some real celebrities at the one in July…Kasey Kahne and Jimmy Johnson, NASCAR drivers, competed, which was cool. We ran a few races too…the Cooper River Bridge Run in March, James Island Connector Run in November, and the Holiday Festival of Light Fun Run in November. Ed is training for a half marathon in January and I’m not committing just yet..lol!

Abbie and Blondie still love being back in the Charleston. Blondie hit the big 15 this fall and is doing pretty well considering her age. She is still a happy dog according to the vet, which is great news for us. Abbie is 9, but still has her “puppy moments” when she runs around and gets really hyper.

We hope that you’ll come visit us in Charleston! We live in Mt. Pleasant, which is less than 10 minutes from the beach and downtown…great location. We have an extra bedroom at our apartment and always love to see family and friends.

　
Love,

Ed and Sonya Heath

So thankful...

On this second to last day in November, I wanted to say what I'm thankful for, because I truly am blessed.

1. I'm thankful for God because through him all things are possible.

2. I have an amazing family...my parents are loving and supportive. Whenever I need them, I know all I have to do is pick-up the phone or drive to their house.

3. My brother may have driven me a little crazy growing up, but he is one of my best friends and we usually talk several times a day. He also has one the biggest hearts of anybody I have ever met.

4. My husband...where do I start? He is sweet, supportive, and down to earth. He is truly the love of my life.

5. Abbie and Blondie...two sweet doggies that make me smile every day. They only get sweeter with age.

6. I'm thankful for the chance to know Nana, Ed's grandmother. For those of you that didn't know, Nana passed away at the end of September. She was a sweet lady that lived life to the fullest. The first time I met her she said," Any friend of Edward's is a friend of mine" and I will never forget it or her.

7. I'm thankful for my grandmother. She loves weather and I think she passed that passion for weather along to me.

8. I'm thankful for my friends who are all across the country. They all came into my life for a reason and I love all of them dearly.

9. I'm thankful for my career. I knew I wanted to be a meteorologist when I was 10 and I have been able to live that dream for the past 9 + years.

10. I'm thankful to be living in Charleston...Ed and I were able to move to my hometown over a year ago. It's been a great move for us as a couple...we are within several hours from most family and there is plenty of stuff to do. Plus it has won lots of awards lately too, which never hurts! ;)

I hope all of you have a great holiday season and are truly blessed too!

9 years in the biz...wow time flies!

It's hard to believe that I got my first job in televsion just over 9 years ago. I was still in college when I accepted the weekend meteorologist/reporter job at KTAB in Abilene, TX. I had never been to Texas when I took the job over the phone. It was a big step, but I wanted to follow my dream of becoming a broadcast meteorologist.

I missed home terribly, but my family and friends came to visit when I couldn't get back to the east coast. I made some great friends in the Lone Star state, who are still in my life now. I also got one of the best presents of my life (okay probably the best) when coming home to visit...Abbie. She was my companion when I was lonely and my travel buddy. I can't believe she will be 9 years old later this month, so happy birthday to Abbie! And for those that didn't know she was named after the city of Abilene, Texas.

My next stop took me to Wilmington, NC. It was a good move for my career and was my chance to get back on the east coast. Six months later, Ed and I got engaged on Wrightsville Beach, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. We got married while living in the Port City too. We also adopted Blondie from my dad while we were in Wilmington, so that Abbie would have a friend.




Next stop...Macon, Georgia. This was a move for Ed and I. I was offered a morning and noon job doing just weather and he got the chance to go back to school and work on his MBA. We throughly enjoyed having the same schedule, which meant working out together, training for sprint triathlons, and traveling on the weekends. WMAZ was a great station with amazing viewers and I think their support of me from day 1 was what gave me the energy to get up before 2am every morning.





Last stop Charleston? We sure hope so...lol! Ed has a great job at Boeing and I'm working at the ABC station doing weekend weather and reporting 3 days a week. It is home for me and a great place for Ed's family to come visit, so the plan is no more moving....looks like the Heaths are here for the long haul.

Congrats to Ed!

It's been a big year for him and yet it's only June!

He "landed" a great job at Boeing and has finished all six weeks of training. He already has projects that he is working on and may be visiting the Seattle plant later this month.

He finished all of his classes in early May and now has his MBA. I told him that he is now officially smarter than me...and I have no problem with it :)

And let me just say to all of our friends and family that have gone back to school after undergrad, KUDOS!

Ed "lands" a new job

One of the reasons that we decided to move to Charleston last summer was that there were more job opportunities for Ed. Well he finally "landed" a great job at Boeing (get it? They make planes...cheesy line I know!) He will be a manufacturing engineer to Boeing, although he isn't exactly sure what that will entail. He starts on Good Friday and will have training for several weeks.

He had been applying for numerous jobs in the area while still working part-time for his company in Wilmington and taking classes for his MBA...in other words he was staying busy! We are just thrilled that he will be able to do something within his area of expertise while also getting to branch out from his past two jobs.

And while Ed has a solid resume, we know it was all God's work and timing.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

Thanks for all the prayers....we know they helped too. :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Heaths!

We hope that this blog finds all of you happy and healthy! It has been a fun and exciting year for us as we moved from Central Georgia to the beach. In late August, we moved to Sonya’s hometown of Charleston, South Carolina.

                                         


Sonya is now the weekend meteorologist at WCIV, which is known as Channel 4 by folks in the Lowcountry. She not only does weather but reports three days a week, which means covering anything from sea turtles being released to school board meetings. Her new gig keeps her busy, but she is enjoying it so far. She has also rejoined the Charleston Community Band which she played with in high school.

Ed has almost completed his MBA and will finish his last class online this spring. He is still working part-time for his old company in Wilmington as well. The hope is that he’ll “land” a job here in Charleston soon. He is still playing soccer as often as he can. The fall season wasn’t what you would call “winning”, but he did get a lot of play time.

We competed in our first sprint triathlon in April. It was a 500 meter swim, 12.4 mile bike ride, and 3.1 mile bike ride in Charleston. We liked it so much that we did another one in June in Macon. We are happy to say that we are triathletes and are looking forward to doing more in the spring when it warms back up! We are also planning on doing a half marathon this winter, which Sonya says will be her one and only. We have already done two 5ks, the Race for the Cure and the James Island Connector Run, and plan on doing the Bridge Run in the spring, which is a 10k. Since we both hit 30 this year, we are trying to stay active!
                                         

Abbie and Blondie love being back in the Charleston. They have 3 pet sitters at their fingertips: Sonya’s mom, Sonya’s dad and Sonya’s brother. It’s a safe bet that they will never be boarded here!

We hope that you’ll come visit us in Charleston…after all it was named the #1 city in the country to visit by Conde Nast. J We do have an extra bedroom at our apartment in Mt. Pleasant and always love to see family and friends.