- Pages
Friends For Better or for Worse….
"I, take you, to be my friend, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part. " This is a common wedding vow that so many of us have taken (or a variation of it) and we try our hardest to keep to it!Our partners in life are supposed to be our best friends so this makes sense to make a vow to one and other!We have other good friends in our lives; however ...
I had this dream…..
When I was 14, during the Yom Kippur War, I made a decision that I would move to Israel and be an active part of Jewish History, from Center stage. The first few days of the war, we were extremely worried that Israel might loose, and it was a devastating thought. I thought to myself, how could I ever explain to my kids that we finally had Israel after 2000 years and I was living in America. Now this was a very idealistic and naïve decision, especially considering I had never been her before. But it gave me direction in ...
Celebrating my Best Ex’s Birthday
Last week I had a wonderful day celebrating my Best Ex’s birthday. It has turned into a tradition, one that she actually started a few years back, on my birthday.[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="My Best Ex!"][/caption]A few years ago she invited me to her favorite restaurant for my birthday, since I had never been there before. Of course daughter #1 was invited too. We had a great time. The next year when her birthday rolled around I returned the gesture, and again we had a great time. Now I am happy to say it has turned into a tradition. This ...
From Slavery to Freedom
It is during this time of year that Jewish people all over the world celebrate the Festival of Freedom, the holiday of Passover. The emancipation of the Jewish People as slaves in Egypt. But with spring here and new beginnings fresh starts it is time for all people to think about Freedom and to release our selves from modern day slavery. First lets understand the words! Main Entry: free·dom Pronunciation: \ˈfrē-dəm\ Function: noun Date: before 12th century1 : the quality or state of being free: as a : the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action b : liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power ...
Friends, Friendship, You, Me, And Us
I recently have been thinking about some of my favorite songs about friendship, and so many of them have hit the nail on the head. "People who need People are the luckiest people in the world" or You gotta have friends", or Winter, Spring, Summer Or Fall, all you got to do is call, you've got a friend. Now these writers really knew what they were singing about.What is our life about and what meaning do we have in it without those that surround us, the people, the friends that are there with us, for us and for us to be there for them? It would ...
Generations of Friends
We recently hosted two 18 year old young men from the United States for 9 days. With one of them we have a 3 generation friendship! My parents were good friends with his grandparents, his uncle was on of my best friends growing up, and his Mom was in my sisters class....you get it, our families go Way Back!How fun is that to have the opportunity to meet the next generation. I could tell by the emails I received from his mom and uncle how relieved they were that he would be staying with me in this far ...
Should we or shouldn’t we? Would we or wouldn’t we? Could we or couldn’t we?
Honestly, do we always have to be honest or can we let things slide? Is being Honest a Gift of Friendship?How do be "honest" with your sister in law about something that she does that bothers you, and also not hurt her feelings? The first question that arises is "Should I even bring up the subject?"What is the subject? "Double Dipping". Now I start to laugh as I recall the famous Jerry Seinfeld episode with George doing his double dipping. Totally classic, but what happens when it is happening in your own home, with your SIL or even a good friend.To talk or not to ...
Traveling – The Bug
I am now in the process of planning my trip of a lifetime. From the time I met my husband, almost 20 years ago, we have been dreaming of traveling the globe with our kids and discover other cultures. We have saved and dreamt about this, my kids have heard about it since the day they were born, and it is happening now! We both are in love with Japan, so that is the main destination. We will be 10 weeks in Japan, learning all about their culture and doing all kinds of classes around Japanese arts and crafts, food, ...
The “Swingers”
The “Swingers”, a group that swings together, stays together…I am talking about a real swing, the type of swing that you drop 210 feet and then swing out over trees tops. Now that was scary and thrilling at the same. The scariest part was the fact that I actually had to release myself for the drop. I was thinking as I was pulling the pin out that was holding me up; maybe this is really just a bit crazy? But after I did it, Wow, what a thrill. I screamed like crazy, (that was fun too) and then started to ...
About Cathy
Cathy is a graduate of the University of Texas, and studied at The Art Center College of Design. She worked as a professional Photographer in Israel for 15 years. She runs My Stone Company with her sister, Jill, in New York, and good friend Lauré Warren, from MA. Cathy was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis at 18 and on her 21st birthday, had a total colectomy. At 31, she married. After four years and twelve unsuccessful in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, they turned to surrogacy to help them deliver three healthy children. In 2004, she began her journey with The Friendship Stone ...
Tips for Reconnecting with Old Friends !
While we are on the subject of summer fun - school reunions, family gatherings and old friend get together's, I thought it might be a good idea to make a list of tips . I have used all of them! Check out the cowboy boots! We were on a high school Theater Trip This summer I will be traveling and reconnecting with friends from school, summer camp and from a youth group that I belonged to as a teenager! It is going to be fun! Check out the hair styles And I can not believe that I am posting this one (hey it ...
Family Reunions
Here is our first Guest Blog ! This is what Lauren Steinman Watral has to say about herself First and foremost I am a wife and mother of 3 girls. Professionally, I created and developed a geriatric care management business to pursue my dream of a private practice. I am owner and founder of Raleigh Geriatric Care Management, LLC established in January of '09. Four months ago I received an unsuspecting email from a long lost cousin who had attended the funeral of my uncle in Yonkers, NY. While there, he expressed to attendees that perhaps it was time for a family reunion. After all, our ...
The Friendship Stone Story from Copenhagen, Denmark
Guest Blogger : Lori Webb As I prepared to interview Danish entrepreneur, Liselotte Østerby, founder of the newly launched website, http://www.thefairpages.com, I hadn’t even thought about the significance our time together would bring. Liselotte and I had been connected through a mutual friend, fellow American Expat, Bryan Traum and owner of Denmark’s first eco-lifestyle store, http://www.ecoego.dk Bryan had been working with Liselotte on the final elements of The Fair Pages and recommended (wisely) that I consider interviewing her for my forthcoming international book series, Entrepreneurial Profiles (link: http://www.entrepreneurialprofiles.com). The more I heard about the project, the more interested in it, I became. One amazingly beautiful, summer day, ...
Traveling as a Family!
Guest Blog : Abbey Fatica owner of Living My MoMent As a child, I got to go on tons of family vacations with my grandparents during the summer. Each year, we would go somewhere different. Up until I got into high school, I was well on my way to visiting every state in America. How exciting would that have been. Friends, extra curricular activities, college, marriage and eventually children got in the way of me finishing my trek across the country and after awhile I had forgotten about this quest that I now want to add to my bucket list. It has ...
Friends Family and My Hometown
Guest Blog : Shari - The Friendship Stone Team - Now in Canada! Every summer, usually for the best part of August I pack my bags and together with my daughter we travel to Ontario Canada for a visit with family and friends. I have been living in Israel for 28 years, but come summer time I become a Canadian again! This trip however I knew ahead of time that it was going to be different. My mom who is getting older (and wiser) has not been well so we are basically staying with her and not traveling as much as ...
Serendipity and a Souvenir
Guest Blog : Ayesha Mathews-Wadhwa of PixInk Brand Identity | Interactive Design | Integrated Marketing | Green Consulting | PR www.pixinkdesign.com It was a chilly day in Vancouver, Canada and I was famished. I stepped into Medina Cafe so hungry, any small and quick cafe to grab a sandwich would have sufficed. I was in dire need of wifi to finish some communications with clients. I should have known by Canada's European roots, this was no quick, American cafe. Feeling kind of lonely with my husband off with some colleagues, I clung to the menu for comfort. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but isn't it ...
Summer time is Reunion Time!
Guest Blog : Susan Graves Vousden On of our Facebook Friends! Thank you Susan! This past weekend I traveled home to attend my 35th high school reunion. I was excited to see all my old friends but also a little nervous. Some of them I hadn't seen in 10 years. All of us are in different places in our lives and I wondered if we would still connect in the way we used to. We planned to meet for breakfast on Sat at 10:00 and I hoped everyone would show up. I was worried for nothing. Everyone showed up..all 11 of us! It was ...
Girls Trip
Guest Blog : Dana from Feeling Fit with Dana Thank you Dana! I know that I have blogged about my trip to San Diego, but I want to look at it from a different angle. This was an all girls trip and we had a blast, but friendships were made and will not be forgotten. We started off by getting together Thursday night at the Sundeck at the Hotel Del Coranado. Some of the girls I was good friends with already and others I got to meet for the first time. We had a blast, hanging out, chatting and getting to know ...
Friends For Better or for Worse….
"I, take you, to be my friend, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part. " This is a common wedding vow that so many of us have taken (or a variation of it) and we try our hardest to keep to it!Our partners in life are supposed to be our best friends so this makes sense to make a vow to one and other!We have other good friends in our lives; however ...
I had this dream…..
When I was 14, during the Yom Kippur War, I made a decision that I would move to Israel and be an active part of Jewish History, from Center stage. The first few days of the war, we were extremely worried that Israel might loose, and it was a devastating thought. I thought to myself, how could I ever explain to my kids that we finally had Israel after 2000 years and I was living in America. Now this was a very idealistic and naïve decision, especially considering I had never been her before. But it gave me direction in ...
Celebrating my Best Ex’s Birthday
Last week I had a wonderful day celebrating my Best Ex’s birthday. It has turned into a tradition, one that she actually started a few years back, on my birthday.[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="My Best Ex!"][/caption]A few years ago she invited me to her favorite restaurant for my birthday, since I had never been there before. Of course daughter #1 was invited too. We had a great time. The next year when her birthday rolled around I returned the gesture, and again we had a great time. Now I am happy to say it has turned into a tradition. This ...
From Slavery to Freedom
It is during this time of year that Jewish people all over the world celebrate the Festival of Freedom, the holiday of Passover. The emancipation of the Jewish People as slaves in Egypt. But with spring here and new beginnings fresh starts it is time for all people to think about Freedom and to release our selves from modern day slavery. First lets understand the words! Main Entry: free·dom Pronunciation: \ˈfrē-dəm\ Function: noun Date: before 12th century1 : the quality or state of being free: as a : the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action b : liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power ...
Friends, Friendship, You, Me, And Us
I recently have been thinking about some of my favorite songs about friendship, and so many of them have hit the nail on the head. "People who need People are the luckiest people in the world" or You gotta have friends", or Winter, Spring, Summer Or Fall, all you got to do is call, you've got a friend. Now these writers really knew what they were singing about.What is our life about and what meaning do we have in it without those that surround us, the people, the friends that are there with us, for us and for us to be there for them? It would ...
Generations of Friends
We recently hosted two 18 year old young men from the United States for 9 days. With one of them we have a 3 generation friendship! My parents were good friends with his grandparents, his uncle was on of my best friends growing up, and his Mom was in my sisters class....you get it, our families go Way Back!How fun is that to have the opportunity to meet the next generation. I could tell by the emails I received from his mom and uncle how relieved they were that he would be staying with me in this far ...
Should we or shouldn’t we? Would we or wouldn’t we? Could we or couldn’t we?
Honestly, do we always have to be honest or can we let things slide? Is being Honest a Gift of Friendship?How do be "honest" with your sister in law about something that she does that bothers you, and also not hurt her feelings? The first question that arises is "Should I even bring up the subject?"What is the subject? "Double Dipping". Now I start to laugh as I recall the famous Jerry Seinfeld episode with George doing his double dipping. Totally classic, but what happens when it is happening in your own home, with your SIL or even a good friend.To talk or not to ...
Traveling – The Bug
I am now in the process of planning my trip of a lifetime. From the time I met my husband, almost 20 years ago, we have been dreaming of traveling the globe with our kids and discover other cultures. We have saved and dreamt about this, my kids have heard about it since the day they were born, and it is happening now! We both are in love with Japan, so that is the main destination. We will be 10 weeks in Japan, learning all about their culture and doing all kinds of classes around Japanese arts and crafts, food, ...
The “Swingers”
The “Swingers”, a group that swings together, stays together…I am talking about a real swing, the type of swing that you drop 210 feet and then swing out over trees tops. Now that was scary and thrilling at the same. The scariest part was the fact that I actually had to release myself for the drop. I was thinking as I was pulling the pin out that was holding me up; maybe this is really just a bit crazy? But after I did it, Wow, what a thrill. I screamed like crazy, (that was fun too) and then started to ...
About Cathy
Cathy is a graduate of the University of Texas, and studied at The Art Center College of Design. She worked as a professional Photographer in Israel for 15 years. She runs My Stone Company with her sister, Jill, in New York, and good friend Lauré Warren, from MA. Cathy was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis at 18 and on her 21st birthday, had a total colectomy. At 31, she married. After four years and twelve unsuccessful in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, they turned to surrogacy to help them deliver three healthy children. In 2004, she began her journey with The Friendship Stone ...
Tips for Reconnecting with Old Friends !
While we are on the subject of summer fun - school reunions, family gatherings and old friend get together's, I thought it might be a good idea to make a list of tips . I have used all of them! Check out the cowboy boots! We were on a high school Theater Trip This summer I will be traveling and reconnecting with friends from school, summer camp and from a youth group that I belonged to as a teenager! It is going to be fun! Check out the hair styles And I can not believe that I am posting this one (hey it ...
Family Reunions
Here is our first Guest Blog ! This is what Lauren Steinman Watral has to say about herself First and foremost I am a wife and mother of 3 girls. Professionally, I created and developed a geriatric care management business to pursue my dream of a private practice. I am owner and founder of Raleigh Geriatric Care Management, LLC established in January of '09. Four months ago I received an unsuspecting email from a long lost cousin who had attended the funeral of my uncle in Yonkers, NY. While there, he expressed to attendees that perhaps it was time for a family reunion. After all, our ...
The Friendship Stone Story from Copenhagen, Denmark
Guest Blogger : Lori Webb As I prepared to interview Danish entrepreneur, Liselotte Østerby, founder of the newly launched website, http://www.thefairpages.com, I hadn’t even thought about the significance our time together would bring. Liselotte and I had been connected through a mutual friend, fellow American Expat, Bryan Traum and owner of Denmark’s first eco-lifestyle store, http://www.ecoego.dk Bryan had been working with Liselotte on the final elements of The Fair Pages and recommended (wisely) that I consider interviewing her for my forthcoming international book series, Entrepreneurial Profiles (link: http://www.entrepreneurialprofiles.com). The more I heard about the project, the more interested in it, I became. One amazingly beautiful, summer day, ...
Traveling as a Family!
Guest Blog : Abbey Fatica owner of Living My MoMent As a child, I got to go on tons of family vacations with my grandparents during the summer. Each year, we would go somewhere different. Up until I got into high school, I was well on my way to visiting every state in America. How exciting would that have been. Friends, extra curricular activities, college, marriage and eventually children got in the way of me finishing my trek across the country and after awhile I had forgotten about this quest that I now want to add to my bucket list. It has ...
Friends Family and My Hometown
Guest Blog : Shari - The Friendship Stone Team - Now in Canada! Every summer, usually for the best part of August I pack my bags and together with my daughter we travel to Ontario Canada for a visit with family and friends. I have been living in Israel for 28 years, but come summer time I become a Canadian again! This trip however I knew ahead of time that it was going to be different. My mom who is getting older (and wiser) has not been well so we are basically staying with her and not traveling as much as ...
Serendipity and a Souvenir
Guest Blog : Ayesha Mathews-Wadhwa of PixInk Brand Identity | Interactive Design | Integrated Marketing | Green Consulting | PR www.pixinkdesign.com It was a chilly day in Vancouver, Canada and I was famished. I stepped into Medina Cafe so hungry, any small and quick cafe to grab a sandwich would have sufficed. I was in dire need of wifi to finish some communications with clients. I should have known by Canada's European roots, this was no quick, American cafe. Feeling kind of lonely with my husband off with some colleagues, I clung to the menu for comfort. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but isn't it ...
Summer time is Reunion Time!
Guest Blog : Susan Graves Vousden On of our Facebook Friends! Thank you Susan! This past weekend I traveled home to attend my 35th high school reunion. I was excited to see all my old friends but also a little nervous. Some of them I hadn't seen in 10 years. All of us are in different places in our lives and I wondered if we would still connect in the way we used to. We planned to meet for breakfast on Sat at 10:00 and I hoped everyone would show up. I was worried for nothing. Everyone showed up..all 11 of us! It was ...
Girls Trip
Guest Blog : Dana from Feeling Fit with Dana Thank you Dana! I know that I have blogged about my trip to San Diego, but I want to look at it from a different angle. This was an all girls trip and we had a blast, but friendships were made and will not be forgotten. We started off by getting together Thursday night at the Sundeck at the Hotel Del Coranado. Some of the girls I was good friends with already and others I got to meet for the first time. We had a blast, hanging out, chatting and getting to know ...
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Living My MoMent