Category Archives: Inspiration

“The Farm”

Posted on December 12, 2012

Around 1972, my mother’s parents, Anthony & Mary Rudis, purchased several hundred acres and a couple farmhouses south of Chicago, in-between the Crete, IL and Monee, IL townships. They farmed corn & soybean, and transformed the main farmhouse plot into a haven of Lithuanian cultural icons, and beautiful gardens. The… Read On →

Posted in Inspiration, Nature | Tagged conservation, corn, Crete, family farm, fishing, Illinois farmland, memories, Monee, nature, pine forest, playing, pond, soybean, the great outdoors, youth | 6 Comments

Things I’ve Learned From Self-Employment: Part III

Posted on November 23, 2012

November’s been a whirlwind & a half. A mercury retrograde started on November 4th, and although I normally don’t get affected by those things, this time it whooped my behind. Me, Me, Me While “me, me, me” is a great vocal warmup, it’s not a great philosophy for conducting one’s… Read On →

Posted in Inspiration | Tagged EFT, gratitude, gratitude list, grief, self-esteem, self-love, transformation, yoga, yoga classes, yoga instructor | 4 Comments

Things I’ve Learned From Self Employment: Part 2

Posted on October 24, 2012

Not everything works out the way you want it to, hoped it would, or planned for. In fact, it hardly ever does. Over the last weeks, I’ve learned a lot about what does/doesn’t work in a yoga class. I’ve learned about what types of places do/don’t work out for a… Read On →

Posted in Inspiration | Tagged compassion, control, dope slap, grace, grief, mental processes, perfectionism, self-learning, Three Stooges, yoga | Leave a comment

Grief: The World Keeps Turning

Posted on October 11, 2012

Over the last 2 weeks or so, I’ve been hit with some pretty serious depression & anxiety. Anxiety over the fact that I will die someday; so will the remaining loved ones in my family & circle of friends. Depression from recalling it was 2 years ago during early October… Read On →

Posted in Inspiration | Tagged anxiety, courage, depression, fear of death, gratitude, grief, Margarita Krupa, Mickey Krupa, processing grief | 4 Comments

Things I’ve Learned From Self-Employment: Part 1

Posted on October 7, 2012

As my dear friend & author Peter Darling celebrates his 10th year at Microsoft, I teeter on the brink of completing my 2nd full month of self-employment. What a short, strange trip it’s been… Self-care I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: self-care is the cornerstone to my… Read On →

Posted in Inspiration | Tagged ahimsa, letting go, Microsoft, self-care, self-employment, trust, trust the process, Winter Republic, workaholism, yoga, yoga instructor | 2 Comments

CAMPAIGN FOR CORTNEY – 2012

Posted on September 26, 2012

In 2011, my friend Cortney Malinowski’s life changed when she partnered with Cross-Cultural Solutions for a volunteer trip to Guatamala. CCS placed Cortney with developmental disabled orphans in Guatamala City. She was so touched by the tremendous gift of giving to others’ in need, she decided to volunteer again with… Read On →

Posted in Inspiration, People | Tagged Cortney Malinowski, Cross-cultural Solutions, developmentally disabled, Guatemala, health coach, HIV/AIDS, international service trip, Morocco, NYR Organic, online store, organic skincare, orphans, volunteer, volunteering, yoga, yoga instructor | Leave a comment

My Other New Life: NYR Organic

Posted on September 24, 2012

It took me 6 weeks to write this post, too. I guess I came up against my own judgement wall around the “Mary Kaye” model of business ownership. My entire working career has been in sales, marketing, and customer service. Now, I finally am part of sales & business building… Read On →

Posted in Inspiration, People | Tagged brain cancer, breast cancer, business coaching, business ownership, cancer, chemical free deodorant, consultant, direct sales, empowerment, humble, natural skincare, NYR Organic, organic skincare, team building, yoga instructor | 2 Comments

Air Prayers: taking good intentions to the next level

Posted on August 16, 2012

Back in June, I had the delightful surprise of being contacted by Christine Marzullo, the founder of Air Prayers. She started Air Prayers after her father passed away suddenly, in 2004. What I love about Christine’s organization, is she has tapped into the value of energy through prayer. She felt… Read On →

Posted in Inspiration, People | Tagged Air Prayers, balloon launch, building hope, charity donation, death, God, God box, grief, honoring loved ones, inspiration, Lurie Children's Hospital, peace, prayer, Ronald McDonald House | 1 Comment

My New Love

Posted on June 7, 2012

Sure, there’s a lot of cute guys in Chicago, but they’re too complicated. Humans in general are. Instead, I’ve given my heart away to the four-legged friend in the photo, Marty. And he’s given me his heart back! It was a tad unexpected, but these things usually are. (Full Disclosure:… Read On →

Posted in Inspiration | Tagged being present, dirt, dogs, games with dogs, happy dogs, love, loving speech, Marty, Midwest, positive reinforcement, running dogs, trail running, trail-ready, training dogs | 2 Comments

Chicago: A Healing Place (Who knew?)

Posted on April 20, 2012

The last few weeks brought crippling anger & grief about my mom. It was an anger, a rage really, that was deeper and more unexpected than I imagined. Fortunately, in the South Suburbs of Chicago where I currently reside, there are incredible natropath healers. Yes, this cultural wasteland, this non-descript… Read On →

Posted in Inspiration, People, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

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