A NEW BOOK IN THE NEW YEAR

As many of you know, I am one of the organizers of the Cafe of LIFE Book Club. We have a phenomenal group of women who sit down every other week together and study books that add to our lives. We have done a number of books with titles such as “Eat, Pray, Love”, “A New Earth”, and “Loving What Is”. We ended our year with a celebration of the year and it was amazing to look back on what we had accomplished together as a group in one short year! Years are short anymore. Time just goes by really fast! Anyways with the New Year here now, we are beginning a new book starting Thursday January 8th. Our new title is “Radical Forgiveness” by Colin Tipping. Sounds like an amazing title and I’m sure the book will be equally as amazing. We have a few new people who plan on joining us this time around and we welcome anyone who would like to add studying with a book club to their life. Let me put it this way, I guarantee this will become on of the greatest and most looked forward to hour and a half of your week. Come join us! If you have any questions, direct them my way and WELCOME TO 2009!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year to all of you. 2009 is destined to bring a lot of changes, good or bad is to be determined still. It is wonderful to celebrate and bring in the new year and even better that it is a chance to start off with a clean slate. It is a wonderful time to check back in with yourself and your life and see what things are serving you and what aren’t and take a moment to express gratitude for all that you have. I had a wonderful celebration with some friends down in Atlanta, Georgia where I spent the week. Choco and I drove down there on Saturday December 27th and just got home yesterday. It was a nice change in scenery and I do have to say that having a dog in warmer temperatures was a treat. Anytime we go for a walk here in Michigan, I have to be so layered and bundled up to even be able to step outside. Down there it was nice to throw on sneakers and a t-shirt or light sweatshirt and hit the sidewalk. Choco loved the urban lifestyle and I wanted to share a picture of him enjoying the champagne toast at midnight on New Years. It’s time to get 2009 started!

HAPPY HOLIDAY WEEK

So the Christmas holiday is upon us and it is an interesting and different energy this year about the holidays than I remember in the past few years. Everyone is keeping spending down to a minimum and saying that spending time with the family will be the best part of the holiday. Isn’t that what it is really all about. I mean, when did the Christmas holiday get to be so much about gifts and less about quality time spent with loved ones. I love Thanksgiving for that reason, just food and family and stories and celebration. It will be nice to get back to the simplicity that is Christmas. On the other hand, I love giving gifts. I love shopping for them and the actual giving part is the best, seeing my family and friends faces light up because I really put some time and effort into the choosing and buying aspect. I usually travel far and wide in search of the perfect gift for each person and spend a lot of time doing it. This year I decided that I was going to make everything happen here in Fenton. Not only will I be supporting our local economy, I will also be making things incredibly simple for myself. After all, I live in Fenton, MI and there is limited shopping here. I have 4 more gifts to buy and I am not sure what to get these particular people and I think that I may actually end up having to head out of town…on CHRISTMAS EVE!!! of all days. Oh well, I always have a way of making it all happen. If you are reading this, I hope that you find a lot of joy this Christmas week and through New Years and the beginning of 2009. Much Love.

One of My Favorite Moments

One of the greatest things about my work is being able to serve pregnant women as well as after the baby is born. There have been some really incredible women delivering babies lately and their stories are wonderful and amazing experiences that I hope to share with you at some point in the near future. I usually have anywhere between 10 and 15 women at any given time at all different stages of pregnancy. I hold all of them in my heart during this time however right now there is one that I am holding a special space close to my heart for. I recieved a phone call two weeks ago from a very frantic practice member that went in for a routine pregnancy check-up and they admitted her to hospital bed rest for the duration of her pregnancy which is at the very least 6 weeks. Now this particular woman does her absolute best to approach life vitalistically, and looks to do as many things naturally as possible. That was her plan for this pregnancy. Complications in the past has lead her to this bed rest period which is, in her case, probably the safest thing that she could be doing. So I have been able to visit and adjust her in the hospital for the past two weeks and have really enjoyed our visits. I have no idea if I am actually allowed to be adjusting in a hospital setting and I am sure that there would be ramifications if they found out…so I sneak it, so to speak. It is important for me to allow her to be at her best and whatever that takes I am going to do. I have been fortunate to have other things pulling me to Ann Arbor the past couple weeks but I will be there regardless. It is about service for me. This all is just about serving others. What else is there to do in life but to serve????

Choco’s 1st 5K


Our great little city of Fenton has a Holiday Celebration called Jinglefest that happens the first weekend in December. For the past 3 years, my family and I get together and run it. It is great fun because it is cold and snowy and the nights always end up being perfect for a winter run. This year we had an addition to the running crew as Choco joined us. I wasn’t sure if dogs were going to be allowed but I brought him anyways. There were about 200 people or so that ran it and 3 other dogs. In the beginning of the race Choco was really interested in making friends with everyone. By the time we were about 100 yards into it he realized that it was time to work and just got right into that mode. He ran the entire 5K right by my side and we finished strong. We have been on so many adventures during our first week, from riding in the car 4 hours one way to go snowboarding, play dates with new friends, a 5K, and a day with a friend of mine. He has been amazing and I am really excited that I will be able take him on my runs. I am looking forward to the time when he is ready to come to the Cafe of LIFE on a daily basis which will hopefully be just after the first of the year. This morning I dropped him off at the vet to get fixed which will hopefully take the edge off of his attitude that he gets sometimes. He is a great dog and we have had a lot of fun together and it has only been one week!

THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving is the greatest holiday. It is as good as Christmas though I think better because there aren’t presents distracting us from family. Time with family, great food, great wine or festive drinks, sitting around the fire in slippers and telling stories of years past. It doesn’t get better. The greatest part of the whole day is that it is all about giving thanks. There is so much to be grateful for and this is the day to let people know that. And for those you cannot tell for one reason or another, it is a day to hold a space of gratitude for them and all they have brought to life. Gratitude is a powerful driver and you can use it to create amazing things for yourself and your life. Remember to have gratitude…not just today, but use it and express it everyday! If you are reading this, know that I count you as one of my blessings.

EVERYONE….MEET CHOCO!!!!

Everyone…meet Choco!!!!  So I have decided to get a dog. This is Choco and he is a 2 year old chocolate lab that I cannot wait to get. Choco lives in Colorado Springs right now with a family that loves him however they are so busy with life they do not get enough time to be with Choco and he needs attention. My intention is to bring Choco into the Cafe of LIFE with me on a daily basis to be part of our LIFE parties that happen everyday. I am glad he is already 2 as he will fit into my life better than a puppy at this point. Choco will love some of the places that I hike and will get me back in my running sneakers. HE will have the lake to explore at my mom’s house and 200 acres of orchard to explore at my dad’s house and a cousin named Walter to play with. He will arrive in Detroit by plane around December 1st. You will meet him very soon!

ELECTION DAY 2008 – FINALLY!!!!

It’s election day 2008-finally!!!  
I do not get caught up in it all as I stay away from watching TV on a regular basis. I only watch one show per week as a ritual with my parents. And through this election season, I am very happy my life doesn’t revolve around the TV. We are completely bombarded by so many ideas through the media it becomes difficult to decipher between what are your own thoughts and those that were planted there by the media and advertising and campaigning. HOWEVER, in saying all that, it is important to vote and make the difference that you can. It may seem small, however you never know how far reaching voting today will effect your life and others. So get out there and make it happen. ROCK THE VOTE!!! (I love that phrase)
“You never know how far reaching something you think, say or do today will effect the lives of millions tomorrow.” -BJ Palmer  
Celebrate Election Day 2008!!

CELEBRATE CHILDREN

I have the honor of serving a lot of children in my practice. The innocense they have in viewing the world is priceless.
They come free of guilt, free of inhibitions, and they allow themselves to really be happy. I love that part about kids and especially when they learn to talk and want to discuss things in their world. Have you ever had a conversation with a child and really listened to their view of situations? It just makes me laugh, not at them, but at how far off center we get as adults.
You see, the stress that we create in our lives, is just that, CREATED. The Cafe of LIFE Book Club is reading an excellent book that helps to put it all into perspective. Along the way it is assisting us in getting to what is creating stress and suffering and whether or not it is even true. It really boils down to the fact that most of what is happening is our made-up view and opinion of the situation and not reality.
Children do not have a whole lot of opinions about things. Well maybe they do, but it usually only goes as far as what they do and do not want to eat. The rest of the world is approached from such an innocent place…and that place is fill with wonder and joy. Let’s learn from the children.

 

DURANGO

Durango, Colorado!!!  I visited such a wonderful place last weekend I have to share with you. It is a small town in southwest Colorado, very near what they call “The Four Corners” where Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah come together. I guess there is a monument there that you can straddle with your arms and legs and be in 4 states all at one time. I didn’t make it there however I did get to explore the area. Durango is a very conscious city. The people of Durango pay attention to what they eat and how they treat the land and environment. They recycle whenever they can, ride their bikes if it is possible, and respect others. It seems that many people are questioning standard western medicine there, thus leading to healthier births, childhoods, and lives in general. I have friends that practice chiropractic there in the city and are loving every minute of being in their small piece of paradise. Though it is more than a hop, skip, and a jump to get there, if you get a chance to go, TAKE IT!!!