family values « Embracing My Journey ~ Living with passion & purpose!

Logging out and looking up

June 24th, 2010

Logging out and looking up: Choosing to see what we’ve been missing by Peggy Kendall

So there I am, driving my car, listening to the news, trying to scrunch my thin little phone to my ear as I talk to my husband, juggling sips of hot Starbucks half-caf mocha in between lane changes. Then something happened. I looked over to my right and there she was: my daughter. Yes, she had been sitting there the whole time. I was, after all, taking her to school. But as I set down my Mocha Grande, for the first time that morning I actually saw her. Read more...

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communication, family values, logging out, peggy kendall, technology

Living well and beautifully….are all one thing

October 23rd, 2009

As I continue on my journey of sharing the stories of those who have created the life of their dreams I am reminded of a quote by Socrates, ” “Living well and beautifully and justly are all one thing.” Life is beautiful and it is up to each of us to enhance that beauty day by day…. Today I am speaking with Susan Diamond, an amazing woman who is living both well and beautifully! Welcome Susan! Read more...

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family, family values, goal setting, gratitude, health, inspirational, Judiasm, prayer, self-esteem

Hey, Yo, You…and other ways to address your elders

August 20th, 2009

Am I fighting a losing battle? My daughter is 8, turning 9 in November and we have always done our best to raise her to be respectful to others including her elders. She was never permitted to call her friends parents by their first names, it was always Mr. and Mrs. Jones. Lately we are running into people who don’t want kids to call them by their proper name and they have begun telling my daughter “oh, just call me Sue” (instead of Mrs. Jones). Now my husband I don’t believe in this and we’ve passed this information onto our daughter who has politely told the adults that her parents prefer her to use Mr. or Mrs. In some cases, I’ve had parents call me and say “I’d prefer Sami call me Sue” to which I respond by sharing our reasoning and if they still prefer to be called “Sue” I tell them that we can compromise with Ms. Sue, so far this has worked. Read more...

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family values, manners

“The Sound of Music” ~ A family tradition

August 9th, 2009

As I sat in the auditorium listening to the music, I couldn’t help but be taken back to days long ago when I sat with my own parents watching “The Sound of Music.” To me, as a child, it was simply the story of a family who learned to sing and for some reason it was necessary for them to leave their homeland, traveling over cold and dark mountains to make their way to a better land. It was years later before I would truly understand the meaning of the Nazi’s taking over Austria and the reason for the von Trapp family to make their journey. Once I understood the ‘back-story’ the musical took on an entirely new meaning for me and I have never been able to watch the movie (on TV) or the production (on stage) in the same manner again. Read more...

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family values, sound of music

Jon and Kate plus 8

June 8th, 2009

Just recently I caught a glimpse of the media attention being paid to Jon and Kate Gosselin and I will share my two cents as I think this is an appalling situation which is being made worse by the general public. Yes, I can easily understand the fascination with parents raising 8 children…heck, I have one and it’s a day-to-day adventure, I cannot imagine having 8 to handle. But somewhere along the way, over the course of 5 seasons the focus has gone from a mom and dad raising a family of 8 within 3 years, to the drama of who’s sleeping with whom, what type of personality does Kate have, why does Jon tolerate being treated the way Kate treats him and what color nail polish will Kate wear next? I mean, really people….who cares? Apparently a lot of people…..as it was reported that the Jon and Kate show has had a huge increase in viewers with their opening episode last month. Read more...