WE ARE GROOT...Er, I mean Happy 10th Anniversary!

Nearly 13 years ago, I was a single, young adult that felt sure that I would always be single and alone. I was also that single person surrounded by happy and long relationships. Everybody had somebody--except me. And let me tell you...That sucks. I mean, was I doing something wrong with my life and choices? or did I just have a penchant for guys who would always either cheat on me with someone younger, thinner and prettier or just dump me quickly so they could be with the thinner, prettier girl (Which I did prefer to the cheaters). I felt sure that perhaps all the good guys were either taken or of a different persuasion.
Then one busy day at work, an acquaintance/friend called to tell me she wanted to introduce me to her friend who was visiting from Alabama. I told her no, that I was busy and I would meet him later at the bar (Maybe). But, as per usually she just did what she wanted and brought him up. I had to leave my customer (I was a hairstylist) and face a crowd of impatient people who had been waiting, to speak to her and him. Needless to say, I was not pleased and probably did not give off the best first impression. I was already sarcastic, cynical, jaded and a bit pessimistic and now I was pissy. To be fair, he was cute, had a nice smile and was charismatic buuut, unfortunately, he was with a person of irritation at the time. If you haven't guessed--this man was my future hubby.
 I got them to leave, finished my hectic day and went to the bar with my family and friends that night where I did in fact chat with him and have fun.

 At the end of the night we compared cell phones and he asked for my number and said he'd give me a call. I snorted in a most lady-like fashion and drolly replied 'Yeah. And I'll hold my breath.' But, I did exchange numbers, and he did call, nearly everyday. We had a rough go at starting a relationship (mostly because of other people) but he stayed determined and I stayed curious. A year later he proposed and a year and a half after that we had our wedding.
May 21, 2005
 I will not go into all the long details. Our wedding day was lovely. The sky was blue, white puffy clouds strolled through the sky, my family and friends pulled together to help out and to celebrate our union.

I felt beautiful, he looked handsome and I was overwhelmed with joyfulness and relief. It was a perfect day   (That happily did not put us in debt because we did much ourselves and with help. We also had over a year to plot and plan).                                        
Because of a fire later that year at my parent's house. Our video was destroyed along with the dress, which my mother had worn on her wedding day as well.
These pictures and a small few more are the only ones that we have left to memorialize that day.
(Also if you look closely in a couple of the pictures you'll see a certain awesome author sans rainbow hair) :D

For our honeymoon we stayed at a quiet hotel and watched StarWars in the theater.
The next day we went to Joe's crab shack (I LOVE CRAB) Yum!
And spent an interesting day at Cedar Point, where we were able to experience most of the seasons in one day.  Started with rainy and miserable, then scorching hot (Yes, I burned) then, cool and grey and then super frigid and misty. At that point we went home to unfreeze me. *G*

 

 

Cedar Point during the hot spell. I love me classic cars.

10 Years Later
And here we are, a decade later. Many, many things have happened in that time. We moved more times than I care to count. Had two beautiful Hobgoblins that are a mix of us both in every way. We have both gotten degrees at college and changed our careers as well. We have had blessed and happy days, we've had mundane days and we've had sad, stressful, scary days. But we have always been a team. We are partners in everything and have grown stronger because of these experiences.
We have even written and published a couple stories together, and plan to publish more.
So now you have a little glimpse into the beginning of Heather Geoffries and hopefully there will be many more opportunities to get to know us in the future.

Happy Anniversary to my hubby and better half. Life would be tedious and colorless without you. Thank you for giving me your heart and treating mine with care.

The Good, the bad and the Senile Dementia

Today, I am giving you a tour of my fabulous and exotic life. I have touched a little on my kids and my hubby, who is the other(better) half of Heather Geoffries but one thing I haven't opened up about is another rather large part of my life: My mother-in-law. She has lived with us for a few years and she is in the advanced stages of Senile dementia. Some days are kinda normal, some days lead to funny stories and some are difficult. The one overriding thing that happens when you take care of a person with Alzheimers or dementia and/or have small children is--You are exhausted.

The main thing that I have considered over the years is that unless a person has experienced this disease, it is very difficult for them to comprehend all the aspects of it. The closest I have come to seeing a good representation of it is in the movie "Folks!" with Tom Selleck. The movie is bittersweet and hilarious. Poor Tom ends up losing body parts and other things as the movie progresses. I cannot say more without taking the fun away. I'll just recommend that you see it and remember that as the horrifyingly amusing scenes happen---that is very much like my life.

Part of the reason I haven't shared before now is because of the Taboo of "picking on" people with mental illnesses and our world of "politically correct." Mind you, I don't want to pick on my pour MIL(mom-in-law) but, I come from a family that uses humor to deal with stressful situations--so, some of the stuff that has happened is pretty damn  funny.

The other reason is--Alzheimers isn't sexy. Heather Geoffries writes "Erotic Romances" therefore sharing some of my interesting days just doesn't jive with the smut writer(s) persona.

But then I thought, You know? One of the things I love about reading my favorite author's blogs is seeing the real them. Knowing that they are real people with real everyday issues. So, why not share a little of me? Why not? How about I show the world that yeah, I am happily married, yes, I have two small children that I home school, yes, I am a full time student and house wife and YES I am the full-time caretender of an elderly woman with progressive Alzheimers...and Me and my husband find time to write romantic stories that feature slightly messed up and jaded individuals who have to face their demons if they want a chance at happiness.

How do we get in the mood for smut when we have so many mood killers(kids screaming, MIL wandering, APA sucking the creativity from our souls?) And the answer is...

I do not have a clue. My husband and I ensure that we make time for romance and intimacy and we make time to put that down into word count. Also, there is some great advise I read in Em Petrova's How to write sex when you don't feel sexy. You should definitely check it out if you are struggling against the soul draining things in life.

I know my intro is long so I will save some of the stories and anecdotes for another day. Just know that there will be more to come. So hold onto your hats folks cuz the ride is just beginning.