Blog posts by category: Accomplishments
Category: Accomplishments
Posted by Beth Reeber Valone (The Detroit News) on Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 4:13 PMLudington boy named top sports kid by Sports Illustrated
How fun! Austin McCarthy of Ludington, a small town on Lake Michigan in northern Michigan, has been named the Sports Illustrated Kids Sportskid of the Year.
Austin, a 10-year-old standout hockey player who also plays baseball and soccer, got the surprise news Monday on CBS' "Early Show." He was named a finalist after a round of online voting in September and named Sportskid of the Year after another round of voting, according to his hometown newspaper, the Ludington Daily News. Newspaper articles, radio and TV spots and a Facebook campaign encouraged local residents to support him for his achievements in sports as well as in school and his community.
Watch the video for more about Austin and his honor. Congrats Austin!
Category: Accomplishments
Posted by Rachael Isaacson on Sat, Mar 28, 2009 at 06:54 AMTake charge of your happiness and your life
I am amazed at the success I am experiencing this year and am convinced now more than ever that you can take control of your life. You can turn your life into anything you want, into anything you envision.
I never imagined I would be creating the opportunities for myself that I have. Never imgagined I would rediscover my childhood dreams and see them come to life. Never dreamed I would be so satisfied in my career. Most of all, I never dreamed my family would fill me up with so much love and happiness that joy spills over into every thing I do.
My family is extraordinary. My husband is so much more than my husband. He is my best friend and teammate. He enables me to be the mother I am and follow my dreams. He enables me because of the kind of man he is; the most nurturing and loving father I have ever seen. He also keeps our house in amazing order, which gives me time for me. When we have time for ourselves we can give so much more of the good stuff to the world.
I am a happier person because of my excitement for my family's future, which in turn makes me a better mother. Happy mom creates happy kids!
I can't help but wonder why? Why is everything in my life going as I want it? I have been thinking about this for a few weeks and the answer is simple. It's because I changed my attitude. Because I started believing in myself. Because I took control of my life instead of waiting for my life to just happen.
I am fully aware that we are just shy of April and the year has really just begun. But the old me would wait for something to implode, would wait for some terrible tragedy to overtake my happy bubble or would wait for my career to fall flat. The new me realizes your life will be whatever you choose your existence to be. Your life is up to you to create. Your life can be the things that dreams are made of.
Things in my life are far from perfect. Finances are still strained, life is still hectic and stressful and I have family issues that would make you shudder. But I swear, the smallest flip in attitude - in the way you view life's challenges - can make the sun shine brighter and the future exciting instead of unknown.
What do you want your life to look like? What are your dreams? What is your definition of success?
Category: Accomplishments
Posted by Grace Stanczak on Thu, Aug 30, 2007 at 8:16 PMLocal mom plants a winning idea
My friend Rebecca loves flowers and plants. So do I. The difference is in how much we know about growing all that green stuff.
Flowers are one of my design domains. I won honorable mention in the contest of a national florist trade publication, but floral arrangement and botanical science are two different things. I’m content to teach myself the first. The second, I’d rather be taught. Though for now, whatever basics of plant growth and care I can grasp I am learning slowly, by the seat of my pants, in my own yard, part of which is pictured right.
In my last move I lucked into a two-acre spread and with it inherited 33-plus types, over 75 varieties, of flowering perennials. That’s a huge learning curve. When we signed for the place there weren’t even leaves on the trees and we knew nothing of the flowers and plants to come. There are about fifteen different garden plots, from tiny to extra-large. A couple I’ve darn near killed and have to repair. The rest I’ve managed to successfully maintain, modify or augment.
When we first moved in, I thought about getting into the Michigan State University Master Gardener Volunteer training program so I could learn about flowers beyond design while also learning how to better care for the gardens at home. But then I left the workplace and subsequently welcomed a pleasant surprise -who is now three - became loaded with other projects, and never enrolled. Rebecca, who’s also a stay-at-home mom, found a way to make it work. As a matter of fact, she went one better.
This spring, metro Detroit mom Rebecca Putman won the Michigan State University Master Gardener Idea Garden design contest. Visitors to the Horticulture Gardens at M.S.U. will get to see her pleasing gardenscape containing an intriguing yin-yang arrangement of native plants, non-native plants and native cultivars. A lot of love and forethought went into its planning, and a lot of knowledge.
Now there’s a local reason to take a day trip to Lansing. And one more nice thing to see when you get there.
Category: Accomplishments
Posted by Beth Reeber Valone (The Detroit News) on Fri, Jul 13, 2007 at 10:13 PMMichigan mom crowned Mrs. United States!
I'm not into pageants, but still this is pretty exciting news for Michigan: Stephanie Hunt, Mrs. Michigan United States 2007, is the winner of the Mrs. United States Pageant, which took place Sunday-Thursday this week in Las Vegas. Hunt is a 43-year-old a Flint native and flight attendant who makes her home in Pittsfield Township with her husband and four sons, according to a news release from Mrs. Michigan United States Pageant. During her reign as Mrs. Michigan United States, Hunt has been active as spokesperson for the National Organization for Rare Disorders and the Rubinstein-Taybi Family Research Organization, a group dedicated to finding a cure for RTS, the rare condition that afflicts her 4-year-old, Donnie. Way to go, Stephanie!
Photo credit: Mrs. Michigan United States Pageant
