My Life Today

As you can see I haven't posted to my personal blog in quite awhile. I'd like to say I was busy, but because I'm on the job hunt it may be perceived I am not busy at all. All I can say is I haven't found the time to sit down and write. So here is a quick update on my life:

• Gardening - This year I built a raised garden bed for my tomatoes. Although we do have quite a bit of garden space,the ground is too hard to plant organic veggies or any plant for that matter.  We planted tomatoes, green beans, and bell peppers toward the end of May. I've had a steady, ripe crop this year and this Saturday I plan to pull the veggies out of the ground and add the remains to our compost bin. Recently, I reminisced about what our garden looked like when we first moved in three years ago and thought it would be interesting and/or fascinating to see how much our garden and house has changed over the past three years. Check out the before and after pictures below:                                                    

August 2011

June 2008

• Health - As of September 1st, the scale hit an all time high, so I've decided to blog daily (or weekly depending on my mood and/or time constraints) at Natural Weight Loss Show.com. 
• Movies - My love for movies, especially documentaries, has grown exponentially over the last couple of years and I'm gearing up to produce a documentary that's been floating around in my head for over ten years. More to come on that subject, but in the meantime check out my Vlog at  Cheri's Vlog
• Photography - If you've ever met me you know that I love snapping pics. I can pretty much guarantee there is a pic of you posted on any of my social media sites. Check out my pics at:Flickr Photos. I know the pics need to be updated, but you can see my latest pics on my Facebook page (see Facebook link on the left side of this page). 
• Volunteer Work - I volunteer for Cinequest every year, because I love and appreciate the art of movie making  and the collaboration it takes to produce a movie, not to mention meeting the people behind the movies. I will continue to volunteer for Cinequest, but I have always had a passion for understanding and empathizing with children. I feel like I'm still a child at heart and consider adults to be grown up children. Like children, I love to be curious, discover and make new friends, so I'd like to utilize these qualities to help a child in need. So this week I'll be starting a new chapter in my life to do just that. I'll be training to be a Child Advocate/Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for an abused and/or neglected child. Check out the Promo Video at:
  Child Advocate Video 
  
  

  My life is not all peaches and cream, but whose life is? I'm keeping myself busy and plan to complete my AA in Technical Writing with a Minor in Computer Information Systems (Project Management) at De Anza College by the end of 2012. I'm also in between jobs at the moment, but am dedicating myself to finding the right career opportunity for me in the very near future. I continue to smile and persevere. I have goals and plan to achieve them!

Happy New Year 2011!!

You may have noticed I haven’t done a blog post in awhile.  I’d like to say I was simply too busy, but frankly I’m always too busy and yet somehow that didn’t stop me for the last couple of years. I needed a break to let some ideas simmer and am now getting back into it and I’m happy to do so. I hope you’re happy I’m getting back into blog posting, as well. I don’t think I’m going to do a blog post every week, like I had been, but you can always see my day to day updates from my Facebook Page. I will continue to do my best to write worthwhile blog posts, when I have the time.

In the meantime, I now have a personalized website for both my Professional and Personal updates. Check it out at:  CheriThomas.com.

Check out my 2010 recap video below:

Best of 2010 from Cheri Thomas on Vimeo.

I'm Back...again ;)

Obviously I have not updated this Blog in the last few months, but I have been thinking about how I’d like to redirect my Blog posts to reflect the title of the Blog, “Cheri Dreams”. So, after lengthy deliberation, I will now be writing all future blog posts about my aspirations, wishes, goals, hopes, desires and of course, DREAMS!

Basically, I’ll be writing about topics I enjoy and continuously pursue. I may add to this list from time to time, but my current interests include these five topics (not necessarily in this order):

• Gardening

• Healthy Cooking

• Social Media/Networking

• Entertainment (Film, TV and Photography)

• Writing

As I know no one likes to read long, drawn out blog posts, I’m going to start simple. Beginning next week, I’ll pick a topic from one of my interests above and blog about it. As I periodically update my other two Blogs, feel free to visit Cheri’s Vlog and Natural Weightloss Show. These sites will also be updated more often in the near future.

Albeit I do have other interests that include my career goal to be a Project Manager/Technical Writer, but I’d like to keep this blog for my personal interests. For more information on my career goals visit: CheriThomas.com (to be updated soon).

In closing, I’d like to leave my Blog visitors with the following video message:

Dreams are Whispers from the Soul

Keep coming back and feel free to post comments and/or suggestions.

Best of 2009

For me 2009 was up and down (more up then down).  As I do every year, here is a slide show highlighting my ups from last year:

Where have I been?

Well, I said I was going to catch up on this blog after the New Year, so here I am... To be honest, I may have neglected to update my blog, because lately my every day life has been, well, kind of boring. Actually, it hasn’t really been “boring”, I’m just saying my daily life would probably appear “boring” to the outside world.

So what am I doing these days, you ask? Or do you? I’m concentrating on school these days, but have found time to visit with a few friends and family members since I turned the “Big 40” (my last post).

I've decided to take this time in my life to “get it together”. In the past 6 months, I started working out at least 4 days a week, eating vegetarian, and concentrating on a Technical Writing and Project Management Certification. I personally feel so much better and have found that I’m smiling much more often then I have in the past. I do miss the hustle and bustle of working, but think I’ll be prepared this time around. I plan to update this blog more often in 2010, but we’ll have to see where it goes…

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with these thoughts (from Grey’s Anatomy monologue, but slightly revised by me):

We assume the really serious changes in our lives happen slowly…over time.

But it’s not true. The big stuff happens in an instant.

Becoming an adult, becoming a parent, becoming successful.

One minute you’re not and

One minute you are.

Ask any successful person and they can point to the one moment they became successful. It usually isn’t graduation day. Whatever it is…nobody forgets it.

Sometimes you don’t even know anything’s changed. You think you’re still you and your life is still your life, but you wake up one day and look around and you don’t recognize anything. Not anything at all.

A switch flips. Suddenly you are not playing dress up anymore. You own success.

What you may not notice is the moment that being successful changes you.

I'll be back in 2010 :)

Hey everyone, I've been really busy since my milestone birthday, but don't worry...I'll be back in 2010!

In the meantime, wishing everyone
Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year!

For all the latest on my life, check out my Facebook profile at:

My 40th Birthday Celebration

So I am now the big 40... Do I feel 40? You ask. Well I can say the number 40 makes me feel like I'm finally a "Grown Up". Meaning as a child I recall looking forward to being a grown up and now I feel like I'm there. 40 is definitely different than 30.

I now know who my true friends are and my family is more important to me than anything in the world. At 20 and 30 I questioned how I felt about my family, but now I know how I feel about them...I love them :) I want nothing more than to ensure my family is happy and I do my best to keep in contact with all of them. I also have new family from my husband, Dave, I love them just the same.

My friends...they are family too. A few of my friends, who were my friends at 30, are not my friends anymore and now I know it's for a reason. They wanted what they wanted, not necessarily what I wanted. I'm sure this feeling was the same on both sides. "These friends" are good people, but I know they didn't believe in me and I learned they are not to be trusted, but I do wish them the best. The friends I have in my life now...they know! I obviously feel the same way about them. We go through ups and downs, I get upset with them, they get upset with me, but there is LOVE on both sides and we all know it. They are the best and I'll never let them go!

As is standard procedure for my milestone birthday (20th and 30th birthday) I ordered a fun jump, invited friends, family (and their kids) and performed the Centipede. Check out these pics from the party:
Fun Jump________________Amanda & Katie (awesome friends)

Dee, Darla and Ted (my 2nd family)_________Joyce (mom in law), Me and Tanya (BFF)

The girls (toasting to my Bday)

Rushelle and Me (aka Shelly and Cheri)___Dave's cousins and me (Amanda, Michelle and Me)

My Bro (Brian) and Katie______________Me and Emily (my awesome niece)

Jenni, Cheri and Veronica_______________Deirdre, Selina, Bro, Darla, Cat and Tarah

Here is "the video" of me doing the Centipede:

This picture means the world to me! It's a picture of Dave and Emily the evening of my actual birthday. Emily whispered in Dave's ear (earlier in the evening) then they both told me to go pick up a movie at the video store. I could sense they were planning something, so I went to the video store. When I returned back to our house they cleaned, decorated, made party hats and surprised me with a mini- birthday celebration. How can I not love them? I do :)