11 Tips for Putting the FUN Back into DysFUNctional I'm a lover of traditions around the holidays: cookie baking, music making, present buying and Santa spying. And while I enjoy spending time with family, for many a Norman Rockwell kind of...
Recent Blog Articles
The Dreaded Return of the Elf on the Shelf
It's time, y'all—time for the elves to show up in my mailbox. Really, they have been shoved in a basket in my laundry room since last December and my 10-year-old has already found them. Damn it. I couldn't decide if that was the perfect time to spill the truth, or try...
Can We Just Be Friends
The field of direct sales or direct marketing has taken off like wildfire. We all want our friends to be successful, to thrive in their chosen careers and to financially support their families. But when those careers come knocking on our virtual doorstep, a once...
Ready, Set, Shop … and Shop and Shop
We all know what comes after the cooking, football watching, eating and chatting associated with Thanksgiving: Shopping! In years past, this shopping took place on Thursday night and spilled over into Friday. There was no shopping mandate, no online edict coupled with...
Your New Obsession
CKO Kickboxing, one of the fastest-growing fitness franchises in the nation, is slated to open their first Midwest location at 616 Lofts on Monroe in early January 2016. President of CKO Grand Rapids, Shelby Reno brings over 20 years of fitness expertise and group...
Empower Your Employees for Improved Customer Service
To me, food service is serious stuff. Maybe it's because I love good food. Maybe it's because if I'm going to pay for the convenience of not making it myself, there's a certain level of service I expect. Regardless, I recently had two vastly different customer...
“They Told Me To Let Him Go”
Danielle Hawkins refused to believe that an aneurysm could cease the life she and her husband created. Teaming up with rehabilitation therapists, they proved to the world that love does conquer all. After her husband suffered a severe stroke at age 37, doctors on the...
The Battle of the Busy
I clearly remember it when it happened, almost exactly this time last year. I approached another mom, who is also a friend, on a field at our sons' soccer practice. As our eyes met, I felt like I was staring at a reflection of myself. Heads tilted and shoulders drawn...
Fur-Brained: The Benefits of Pets in the Classroom
Furry friends have always had a place in our hearts and in our homes—but what about our classrooms? With trends of rodents, reptiles, and fish in schools, we wanted to look at how collaborative care for an animal has contributed to students' learning. Pets in...
Gravity Wins: City Girl Attempts Mowing
I grew up in a condo, in a land where the sidewalks were magically shoveled in the winter and our little patch of lawn was maintained by men who would show up like an army, unload equipment of all sorts from their trucks, and mow, weed whip, and blow errant clipped...