Something LONG Overdue!

It's been a while I know!! 

All that means is that I've had ton's of time
to come up with something to say!
SOOOOO,

Let me kindly introduce you
to my new island! 

Welcome to St. Croix! 

It's been incredible so far.
going for jog's along the oceans shore,

waking up and smelling the salty air,

reading at the beach on my days off,

and being at the dive shop for the rest of them.

 

You can't beat Diving for a living! 

Just in the three weeks I've been here,

I've already swam with:

Giant Green Morays
Turtles

Octopus 

Stingrays
Lobsters

Crabs

Baby Trunk Fish

Shrimp

LionFish

Snapper
Barracuda 

Millions of Reef Fish

Cuddle Fish

And Sharks.

The only thing missing is everyone back home!

I catch myself thinking how much better it would be

if I had everyone from home here with me!

Everyone here is amazing
And I love all the people I'm here with.
But there's definitely people I wish would move out here! 

And be in paradise with me!

But it wouldn't be perfect

if it wasn't just for me.

My perfect piece of the world

where everything makes sense.

Because it's better than anything I could dream up.

 

"You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own.  And you know what you know.
And YOU are the girl who'll decide where to go."


It's All About What I Choose Now.

Testing out the Keyboard and seeing what we Create

Once upon a time there was a confused and lost little girl
and she was looking for a path to follow.
She needed a light,
a guiding radiance,

to lead her through the dark.

She was scared,

scared of the dark road,

scared of not being able to see through what lurked ahead of her.

This girl had sadly trusted false lights in the past, they hurt her, and they told her lies.
 This made the girl wary
and over time she wasn’t able to trust where any of the lights tried to take her.
 So she began to close her eyes.

The girl kept her eyes closed for so long that she eventually forgot that she no longer looked at the road ahead of her. Her mind had created a brighter and more beautiful road for her, a road that didn’t need light to see or guide her on her way through the dark. And when she dared to peek through the drapes of her imaginary road, she saw a darkness that was so expansive and corrupt that she quickly closed her eyes again and skipped down her beautiful, imaginary road, alone...

Other lights got jealous of the girls isolated paradise and they often tried to distract her and convince her to open her eyes again. But they always lead her down the wrong road or were false lights that would quickly fade from her sight. A few of the lights were true, they reminded her that the road in reality could be as beautiful as the road in her dreams. But the lights would burn out when she needed them most, or would leave her for the roads of others, leaving her in the dark. This made the girl sad.
She closed her eyes. And she wept.

Then one day the girl noticed a different type of light, and it noticed her too. The light took her in and never left her side. The girl was no longer alone and the light told her she had felt the same way about the other lights. That they were farce and all for show. But part of growing up is realizing who you can trust, who you can’t, and that we should never assume that the other lights intentionally hurt us.

This light told her she was beautiful and for the first time the girl knew she could trust the words. This light changed the girls walk forever, now she knows that sometimes she might trip or other people will lead her off track, but the light will always be there for her and that gave her the bravery she needed to open her eyes. Now the girl walks down her road with confidence and grace and people stop to tell her what beautiful eyes she has.

Paint on my fingers fills my world with color!

I woke up this morning and 

put my running shoes on..

because I was planning to go workout.

but as I walked through the craft room...

I just started grabbing paints and throwing them on the table!
I just couldn't help myself!

I had a 

"I NEED TO PAINT RIGHT NOW!?!"

moment! 

a few weeks ago my mom and I looked into "She-Art"

because it's a mixed media style 

that resembles my favorite artist A LOT

(Kelly Rae Roberts!)
except her's is like...

A MILLION TIMES MORE AMAZING!

but anywho!
something inside me said..

"Haley... grab that blank canvas and lets get crackin'!"

so I was feeling blue! 

not sad... but the color lol

and I threw on some distressed book pages for fun!

Next was add texture and color!
the red stamp popped really nicely

and the sponged yellow/gold helped create more depth.

Next came the girl! 

(she was kinda difficult...

but mixed media is a lot of impressionism 

so that made it a lot easier!)

being real boxy and using lots of outlining was key! 

then I used cotton squares and ink pads

to blur lines and blend! 

(Yellow was a hit!)

last but not least 

I added stamps, rub-ons, embellishments

and a cute quote! 

I think she turned out great! 

I'm excited to make more!! 

I call this craft morning!..

A SUCCESS!!
:)

Telling my old boss that I'm getting a new one....

Also known as quitting!

One would expect that quitting a job that's....
unsatisfying..
stressful..

overdramatic..

boring..
full of funk-balls with bad breath..
and basically a place that makes me hate waking up in the morning!

WOULD BE EASY!

but honestly it was kinda scary!

I freaked out for days!!

 planning out what to say..
making sure I said all the right things
not being to much of a... rude person?
but not letting them get the best of me!
BUT I DID IT!!

So I can officially say I've taken my first step....

Toward the rest of my life!! 

HAHA sounds so cheesy 

but for real!..
I'm now that much closer to moving to the beach!!

Today was a good day!
And I can't wait for tomorrow!

:)

The Basics

I guess my first post is suppose to sum up all the basics! so here it goes!!

My Name is Haley Kimbra Gilbreath

I'm 5'6" I love Sushi and my favorite color is green.
I craft! I swim! I love being in love! and I write!

I'm a hopeless romantic, I love to read, and I can't stand bad breath!
I love sunshine, TOMS shoes, and pearls! 

After highschool I went to college at UCO

Joined the Delta Zeta Sorority
lived up the city life in a house with 20 other girls
and still had no idea what I wanted to do with my life!

My parents decided to move after I went to OKC
little did they know I would be moving back in.

When my plans suddenly changed
  I was forced to call this little.. well no-so-little farm home.

Now I live in a little slice of FarmHeaven in Vian, OKLAHOMA

The grass is green and so are the ponds.

The cows are plenty and the neighbors few.

the nature is amazing but the isolation is tragic.

if it weren't so beautiful it would probably be my worst nightmare.

Water is and always has been my Obsession!

Since before I can remember I've been a swimmer.
I love the way I feel in the water.
the weightlessness, the way all my senses sky rocket

makes me feel more alive than anything else.

I've always wanted to work it into my future.

But I never knew how until a few weeks ago!
My family and I went ScubaDiving in St. Croix
All the people we met were amazing and it was incredible!

And as for working the ocean into my future.

I'm working on getting my DiveMaster training done
So that I can move to this beautiful island!!
I'm amazed by this incredible opportunity.
I can't wait to get this life I've only dreamed of underway.

I'm just a normal, everyday, ordinary girl.
I've been hurt, I've lost friends, and I've been heartbroken.

I've loved, I've laughed and I've smiled at the sun.
But now, I'm putting myself first, and I'm gonna live the dream! 

:)