HERO began in 1996 by a group of O.R. Nurses who wanted to do something about the usable waste the hospital threw away. They started collecting it in a donated storage unit to give to medical mission teams. In 15 years it has grown to a retail store, warehouse, and office space of over 6,000 feet. In 2010 HERO served 1,912 individuals locally and 55 medical mission teams who traveled all over the world. In one year, HERO can save 48 tons of usable equipment and supplies that would have otherwise gone to a landfill. All of this is able to be cleaned and redistributed to people like Juan and Shirley who are in desperate need.

HERO has big plans to have branch locations in other communities. If HERO can serve this many people in Fargo, ND-Moorhead, MN and surrounding areas- just think how many tons of supplies could be reused by people who need it! In order to keep HERO running, let alone growing, staff and board rely on grants and individual donations. $1,000 can go a long way and could provide 125 people with a bag of wound care supplies.

By helping to keep usable supplies out of the landfill HERO changes and saves lives.

Did anyone else get excited to hear Monster Mash on the radio on Monday morning driving to work? I certainly did!

I hope you had a wonderful Halloween! It’s a fun holiday and for the first time, I had no idea what I was going to be for Halloween until Saturday night (when I celebrated- Monday is a work night and that = too old to party on Monday). Mike decided to be Goose and his friend was Mavrick from Top Gun. Therefore, I wanted to have an aviation theme. On the way to the party, with Tink and Sailor costumes in the back seat just in case, we stopped at a Halloween store and I found a pilot costume!

We stopped at a store and picked up some $5 sun glasses and headed over to our friend’s house.

We had a lot of fun. Also, Mike got rid of the mustache after Halloween.

Monday was actually Halloween night and although there are a lot of kids in my neighborhood, and although I live in an apartment I have a separate entrance – more like a townhome… I didn’t get any trick-or-treaters I even had left-over goodie bags from my booze-free party the weekend before. Overall, it was – once again – a fun holiday.

What did you do for Halloween?

Thanks again to all who donated and will donate to HERO!

Not only do I work for HERO, I believe in it.

I know I said I wasn’t going to write about work, but this is an exception

HERO collects and redistributes donated healthcare materials (anything from Band-Aids to hospital beds) for our local and global community. By reusing these items, we are helping to keep them out of the landfills. It’s really a triple threat with a local, global and environmental focus. Every day, I see people come into HERO who would not be able to afford the wound care supplies they use daily in order to recover from a surgery. There are people who have health insurance, but it won’t cover the cost for a new walker for another couple months. Without HERO, they would have no options.

Of course, anyone can come to HERO and purchase items. About 50% of customers can pay the suggested handling fee and 50% can not. For the 50% who can not afford these necessary items, donors step in to cover those costs and give the gift of healthcare supplies and equipment.

As we’re beginning the Thanksgiving Season, I reflected on all I have been given. I remember my hardships and the people who stepped in to help me during my fire, depression, and when my tourettes syndrome was at its worst. Then I thought about others and the struggles they face today. What would I do if I ended up in the hospital- needing to pay for wound care supplies each month without having the budget for it? Where would I turn?

This Thanksgiving, I’m asking for your help on behalf of those who use HERO because of their needs. Please consider contributing a gift to help HERO continue to provide life-changing and life-saving supplies to our customers.

My goal is to raise $500 for HERO!

There is a way to donate on the side of the blog.

or scan the QR Code:

You can also send a check written to HERO (make sure to write “Margot’s Thanksgiving Gift” on the description) to:

5012 53rd Street South Suite C

Fargo, ND 58104

Follow the progress on my fundraising page here: http://www.razoo.com/story/Margot?referral_code=share

Continue the coversation: What are the organizations you are passionate about?

I want to start off this post with a warning: I do not endorse weight loss by unhealthy measures. I do not have prejudices against people who are heavier or overweight. This is simply my personal story about my weight loss.

I had always been the skinny girl in high school who couldn’t gain a half pound if you fed me gallons of ice cream each day (Which WAS definitely the case. I love ice cream!). People thought I had an eating disorder…when really I couldn’t gain weight when I was trying. In college, my terrible eating habits and depression (non-food related) caught up to me.

In short: In 2008 I gained 20 pounds up from my healthy weight.  In 2009, I lost it and got to my healthy weight. Well…that was a fun and awesome, but ended shortly during my senior year of college. I gained the most I had ever weighed and was pretty down about it. I kept buying new clothes and was stuck in a rut. Or in cheese. Man I love cheese…grilled cheese, cheetos, mac n’ cheese… cheese on a stick, cheese salad (please get my Forest Gump reference with shrimp?!).

Anyway…at some point, I decided it was enough. I was tired of trying to hide the fact I was getting bigger- by starting to slim down. I started eating healthier and got myself a nice purple water bottle. I slowly started to get back to my normal self. When I hit a plateau, I started the Shaklee cinch plan. It’s basically protein shakes and bars for substitutes for 2 of 3 meals. I am now about 5-7 pounds away from my healthy weight again and am feeling great! I’m so excited to be so close to my goal. I also just started using myfitnesspal.com and hope it will help me in the last trek.

Yet, in the end, it’s not about obsessing over numbers and pant sizes. It’s about living healthier and happier.

Having a strong support system is great too! I bring my shakes to work and my co-workers know about my lunch so it’s really difficult for me to cheat. I’m also attempting to find time to work out (I like to do it- it just takes so much time!) Hopefully, I’ll get a kick in the pants from some friends. We just started a facebook group that we can post to when we’re going to work out- or just to post some words of encouragement. I’m excited to get to my goal, but even more excited to continue to build relationships with others who are supportive and want to be healthy too!

Fresh perspective. Regrouping. Time
I realize I have been M.I.A. for quite some time now. To be honest, I’ve been so busy working. When I come home I want nothing more than to not be writing on my computer and replacing that with watching hulu. Yet, I want to keep this blog going. I just needed some motivation. I thought writing about things I’m passionate about at work would be a great blog series and topic. What I’m finding, is it is making me feel like I have to go home and work on …work (instead of something fun).

So, I’m nixing that idea and going back to unformalized (yes, it is now a word), unstructured, random-but connected, posts!

I hope to be posting more frequently and reconnecting with you.

I’m gong to be starting a blog series about professionalism in the workplace and in life. What is professionalism today?  Does the workforce need to relax a little and give in to the times of txt or should we take the time and add the “e” and write “text”? Does it matter? Why?

Here are some of the topics I’m interested in. I would like feedback about your ideas or if you have a topic to add.

• Grammar and sentence structure within: e-mails, texting (is it okay to text your boss?), applications and resumes.
• Work attire
• Does being on time really mean you’re late?
• At what point can a boss or supervisor be sympathetic to a personal situation and at what point is an excuse just an excuse?

I want this to be a discussion rather than me preaching my opinions into the vast abyss of the internet. Help me understand where the lines are for texting, e-mails, and applications. Do you have a co-worker who just “doesn’t get it” when it comes to being professional? What are your ideals?

Either comment or send me your thoughts under the “Contact” tab on the top of the page!

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Margot

It’s crazy that my friend, Jenna, from high school got a job in Fargo – so far away from Wheaton, IL. It’s also crazy that our friend Kyle visited in the same summer! I get to see two friends from high school, and I didn’t have to buy a plane ticket! Lucky me!

My friend, Nicole, who I worked with at the preschool was married! I had only planned on one wedding this summer, but so far have gone to 3 and there’s still one more this August!

(Preschool people)

A couple of nights ago, I realized I only have pictures of Bill from when he was born…so…..I decided he should have a photo shoot to make up for all the lost pictures we could have had. I’m sad I missed his super-awkward phase. He was definitely an odd duck…well- cat. He’s growing into his ears and face and is turning out to be a handsome little guy. P.S. for those of you who don’t know, Eli (pronounced “Ellie”) is Mike’s cat. She had Johnny last year and Bill and Lucy this year. Lucy found a home and Bill is still with us- for good. Here’s a couple of my favorite pictures of Bill:

I like to think of this one as his 3rd grade picture that was taken at just the right (or wrong) moment

Isn’t he cute?!

Well, that’s all the updates for today! Until next time…

-Margot

P.S. Still no word about Johnny, keep praying. Thank you for your help and support!

So, this is a little late…but…

The 4th of July is a holiday of family, lakes, and food for the Peterson family (my boyfriend’s family). I’m sure other families celebrate on a lake too…but for the past two years, I’ve gone to Strawberry Lake in North Dakota. Yep, ND has lakes too! This year, Mike forgot to ask off for work and was scheduled to work all weekend. He was unable to switch with someone and was going to come up on Sunday night for the fireworks and drive back with me on Monday.

I rode to the lake with our friend Alex on Friday night. We spent all day Saturday on the boat and eating delicious food.

Matt (Mike’s brother)

Matt helped Alex apply sunscreen

Scott and Connie, Mike’s parents, have a scavenger hunt every year. Mike didn’t make it but still ended up with the most gift cards! These are some of our prizes!

After a fun day full of food, sun, and playing words with friends against Mike’s parents, I fell asleep. Suddently………………….I woke from my slumber to find Mike in the bedroom doorway! He was able to switch his shift and got to the cabin early!

I said, “smile” but I guess he heard “growl” haha

Scott, me, and Sarah, watching the Washer’s tournament (like bags but with washers…)

Mike won the annual Washers tournament this year!

After the game we went back to the cabin, had some lazy time, then went and ate and shot off fireworks! It was a really fun weekend.

Look for more updates this weekend about other happenings in my life…I’m working tomorrow at my part time job so I’ll have some time to post more. Although it’s a little late…

How did you spend your 4th of July?

Johnny Hopkins is a one year old white, gray, and beige fuzzy and friendly cat who has gone missing. He got out of the house last weekend and hasn’t come home yet. We’ve called all the humane societies and pounds and he’s no where to be found. Please help us find our Johnny Bear.

If you’ve seen him or have him, please call (701) 388-9220 or (630) 209-7464 right away! We miss him so much. Please help us find Johnny!

Pass along this information to your friends and neighbors to keep a lookout for our lil Bear. Thank you for your help!

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated partially because I’ve been pretty busy with work and everyday life and partially because there hasn’t been anything really exciting going on. The past two weekends have given me some material though so here’s an update from my summertime adventures:

Two weekends ago, Mike and I went to a reception, a wedding, and celebrated our birthdays. The reception was for Sarah, one of Mike’s friends from college who was married in Florida and Jered and Amanda (my friends from college) were married in St. Cloud. I figure a picture is worth a thousand words – so here’s some pictures from the festivities!

Here’s the best picture we’ve taken together for awhile I’m not sure what wedding this was at (I wore the same dress to both) We’ll just say this was from Sara’s reception.

Her reception was really pretty and I got to see my LDS sisters whom I haven’t seen in YEARS! Andrea and I were pretty much best friends when she graduated. She moved to Seattle for awhile and moved back to Minneapolis and I hadn’t seen her in three years. Tif, my LDS big sis, I hadn’t seen since her wedding and I hadn’t seen Amanda, Allie, or anyone else for that long too. It was so nice to catch up and finally officially meet Sarah. She looked gorgeous and was so sweet.

After a couple of drinks, Katie and I had a photo shoot. This one pretty much summed it up.

Jered getting Amanda’s garter to….get this…AUCTION OFF!

Maybe I’m behind in the wedding trends or traditions, but I thought that was really clever! I believe it went for about $180? $200? I’m not sure, but a group of guys were scrambling to compete against Courtney, Joe’s girlfriend. So fun!

Now, at Concordia- well at Mick’s (a “Concordia bar”), when the song Piano Man comes on, every self-respecting aka drunk guy drops trou and sings. Well, when the DJ played Piano Man – it was nice- the guys asked Jered if it was ok. He said yes and they sang their hearts out. Not to mention that his mom was loving it! She was pretty much the star of the dance floor the whole night. It’s funny how you can meet a friend’s parents and say to yourself, “It all makes sense now!” I definitely had that moment when I met Jered’s mom.

The Birthdays

Mike’s birthday is June 27 and mine is June 28 – essentially everyone has fun and gets drunk on Mike’s and then they’re hung over for mine haha – but for real. It worked out well though. We went to Mexican Village where Mike got his free dinner then got our free birthday month drinks at Wow and Bucks. For my birthday, we went to dinner at Chili’s and realized it was a good choice because Friday’s was packed right next door. After dinner, we decided playing kickball would be a good idea! Now…here’s some pictures:

At Mexican Village

This is my friend Jenna. We went to high school together in Wheaton, IL. She recently landed a job at Sanford (a large hospital up here in Fargo, ND) and now we get to hang out again! Fun Fact: Jenna is the only friend from High School who has visited me (she visited when I was in college) – Fargo, ND isn’t typically the hot spot for vacations.

…it was a fun night

Kickball!

I feel like I’m on a blog roll…but I’ll keep the 4th of July update for later. I don’t want this post to get too long! (Yep, it already has). I’m going to go and enjoy some lemonade. Welcome to summertime!