Happy July by amanda

Fireworks, birthdays, independence, summer and life – those are just a few things that July means to me.  Independence Day is a great celebration.  I spent the day with my fellow office mates working.  Here at Living Light we tend to have class on the holiday, but I have great co-workers so it makes it do-able.  And no fireworks for me this year as I will be out of town this weekend helping at the Breast Cancer Walk.  FortBragg always has its fireworks display on the first Saturday of July because we have the most visitors that weekend for The Worlds Largest Salmon Barbeque.  In my 32 years of living in Fort Bragg I have yet to attend, but I know that it is a well attended event and a busy weekend in town.

My birthday falls right in the middle of the month, not fun when you’re a school age child by the way, but now I love it.  It opens up lots of time for me to do things to celebrate my happy day.  This year I am turning 33, a super fantastic number so it should be a great year.  My mom just celebrated 70 revolutions around the sun.  I am so honored to have been part of her celebration and I know she has many more to come.

Summer and life sum up the rest of my July. My son plays baseball and was selected onto the 11 & 12 year old All-Star team.  What that means is lots of driving and lots of time, but I love watching and am glad to cheer them on.  Life continues in the simple fact that it is summer vacation for the kiddos and that means finding them places to go.  I love the summer but it goes by so fast!

Speaking of cheering on, this week is demo week for our Associate Chef and Instructor students.  It is always a pleasure to see them prepare for them and see the satisfaction on their faces when they complete them.  They are preparing themselves to go out in the world and share their knowledge and love of raw food.  We still have two more opportunities to complete the Associate Chef certification so why not make plans now?  Enjoy your summer and hopefully we will see you in the fall!  

Finishing Touches by amanda

Putting the finishing touches on things has always been a hard task for me.  I admire people that finish things with ease rather than the trek that I seem to have to take.  Endings tend to be so permanent, and what fun is that?  But most times endings open a door to the other side and that, my friend, makes it all worth it! My children have been experiencing some endings and all three have done it with grace.  My dear 18 year old has graduated from high school, closing the door to a life he will look back on for years to come.  I remember those days like they were yesterday – so many great memories.  My other two children have finished a few things as well.  My boy finished grammar school and a baseball season all in a week, however he has moved on to the All-stars and Junior High of course.  My sweet girl slipped a 5^th dance concert under her belt with style.  She performed in three pieces this year and loved every minute of it, as did I.  I can’t express enough to everyone that things have to end, but there is always room to go back, complete and enhance.  I’ve recently gone back to school to complete my bachelor’s degree.  This has been a long time coming, but yet here I am ready to conquer the task. 

Here at Living Light there is always a next step waiting for you.  Lucky for you we still have a few openings in our Gourmet Completion series, beginning in just about a month.  Why not take advantage of this opportunity to complete another certification and open yet another door for yourself.  Whether it be the final game winning run, the last bow at the end of the concert or a new certification, you will never know what is behind the next door.